One month prior:

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were sitting in their normal booth. Their favorite diner was some hole in the wall downtown, barely visited by people that weren’t regulars. It was a place where the customers didn’t mingle, the staff was surly, and the food was bad. The only positives it offered were relative privacy and cheap calories.

Adagio was fuming.

“How in the hell are we still on the bottom rung of this world? We’re literal monsters with magical powers.” She clenched her fist in frustration. Aria and Sonata exchanged a glance and sunk a little deeper into the worn and tearing upholstery of the booth seat opposite to their leader.

Sonata meekly tried appealing to her: “W-well ever since those girls broke our gems and took our magic we haven’t really been able to do anything like we used to… we’re just ordin-”

“Do NOT say ‘ordinary’!” Adagio menaced through grit teeth. “We are sirens! Do you even remember what that means? We were feared once! Creatures adored us! They obeyed us! Can’t you remember what it was like to have the rich and powerful bowing at our feet? And now... look at us,” Adagio growled, “we’re weak.”

“We could workout!” Sonata offered.

“Ugh, she didn’t mean physically weak, egghead. She means we’re small-fry now,” Aria grumbled.

“I am not an egghead! You’re an egghead!”

“Shut-up!” Adagio interjected, “We don’t have time for your bickering. We need to come up with a plan to regain our glory and conquer this pathetic trash-pile world once and for all. Then, we can finally find a way to return to Equestria and dominate like we've always been destined to.”

“Aw, I kinda like it here though!” Sonata said, “There’s tacos… and the clothes are really cute!”

“We can’t use our singing anymore, so that’s out. And other than the Rainbooms, there’s basically no magic here,” said Aria, cynically. “We’re screwed. We can barely afford rent as it is. I’m tired of doing odd jobs and cam shows to get by.”

“Believe me, no one hates it more than I do. But we’re biding our time,” said Adagio. “There has to be some magic leak between this world and Equestria, some tear somewhere, or a portal still open that pushes everything that leaves Equestria to here instead of to some other dimension or realm or whatever. If we can just get enough power to find it and open it…”

Aria sighed: “It’s pretty hopeless if you ask me. It could be another million years before something magically powerful enough to exploit trans-dimensional physics falls into our laps.”

“Trans-dimensional… whaaa? My head hurts,” said Sonata.

Adagio rolled her eyes. “She means there’s no magic left here and there might not be for a very long time. So we’ll be stuck selling overpriced corndogs and Dippin’ Dots at the mall for eternity.”

“Ooh, I love Dippin’ Dots! ...Oh wait, that’s bad though, right?”

“Yes. It’s very, very bad. We leave for Harmony University in a few days and we know those Rainbooms will be there. This might be our last chance to destroy them and redeem ourselves. But we need a plan. So I need you two to focus and come up with something. Now!”

“What do you want us to do?” Aria said, “No magic, no power. That’s pretty much the end of it if you ask me. I mean we can’t do the singing thing anymore, so what options do we have?”

“Maybe we could just… ask the Rainbooms for help? Or like, be their friends or something. They seemed pretty nice, all things considered,” suggested Sonata.

“Ugh, no, no. no, you’re both idiots! I can’t believe I’m stuck here with you two nitwits!” Adagio cursed.

Aria leaned her head against her elbow on the window sill she was sitting next to.

“Well there’s always that. We could easily take control of the whole school if we’d just use it...” She spoke more to herself than the other girls but Adagio was quick to reply.

“What? How could you know of something that powerful and not bring it up until now?”

Aria grumbled. “Well, we’re not supposed to talk about it, so… ”

Adagio scrutinized Aria for a moment, and then realized what she was referring to. All the intensity drained from her face in an instant..

“Oh. I see… That. The answer is no.”

“Why not?” Aria sat up, suddenly showing her pent-up rage. “Adagio, we could be unstoppable if we used it! We haven’t even tried!”

“I said no!” Adagio slammed her palms onto the table and stood up, glaring down at Aria and a scared-looking Sonata. “If we use that there’s no telling what will happen, but I know it won’t be good. Nothing good ever came from her...”

“Hey, keep it down!” A large and grizzled looking man behind the counter of the bar of the diner shouted at Adagio. “Don’t make me kick you out again!”

Adagio huffed and sat back down. Normally she would have retorted, made some wounding comment to the man, or outright threaten him, but she realized with distaste that she was indeed afraid of the man. Ever since they hand lost their powers, a lot of stuff had scared her. The world was suddenly a lot more dangerous without magic, and survival had become more difficult. Their powers of suggestion were gone, and the laymen no longer turned a blind eye to their aggressive way of life.

“Look,” said Aria threateningly, “I know you have… issues or whatever, but you’re holding us back now. We could have been back in Equestria and living like royalty by now if we had used it during our peak. If you want to bitch and moan about it, at least don’t yell at us for not trying hard enough. Come on Sonata, let’s dip.” Aria got up, pushing Sonata out of the booth and making for the door. Sonata followed, looking back and forth between her two companions as if to ask what she should do.

Adagio watched them go. They left the door and she found herself alone in the booth, the setting sun casting a single harsh ray across the table. She fumed for a few moments, thinking. Then, swallowing her pride, she got up, paid the tab, and ran after her allies.

“Fine,” she panted when she finally caught up to them. “We can use it… But we do it my way, understand? We’ll crush this school and the Rainbooms and suck every drop of power from this world… or we’ll die trying.”

Aria smirked and crossed her arms.

“Okay. You got it, boss. How do we start?”

Adagio smiled viciously. “I have a few ideas. We’ll make sure this school”

Present day:

Sonata was lying on her bed on her stomach with her feet kicked in the air behind her, filling out a quiz on the internet to figure out what type of cheese product she would be based on her answers. She had just chosen her favorite food group - all of them - when her roommate Pinkie Pie came in. Although she didn’t really ‘come in’ so much as she slunk through the doorway and flopped immediately onto her bed. Sonata looked up from her phone, concerned.

Pinkie had been acting strange for about a week. At that time, just after the previous weekend, she had come back to the room looking… deflated. Her normal animated demeanor had become sluggish, quiet, and a lot less cheerful. Her wardrobe had changed too. That day, like most other days that week, she had put little to no effort into her outfits, which were normally bursting with color and personality. Instead, she had chosen gray hoodies, muted tees and plain sweatpants. She spent most of her time in bed, or doing minimal effort studying.

“Um, Pinkie Pie, are you alright?” Sonata asked, like she had done each of the previous five days.

And like each of the previous five days, Pinkie responded very simply with a sad sigh: “Abso-tootly…,” although on that day, she didn’t even bother to force a smile. She just crawled into her bed, turned her back to Sonata and tugged the bright pink blanket up over her head.

Sonata closed her phone and sat up in bed facing the blanket lump that was her roommate.

“Did you wanna watch a movie or something? We could stay up late bingeing Gilmore Girls if you want? Or Pretty in Pink... or Legally Blonde? I kind of looked through your DVDs, I hope that’s okay…”

Pinkie’s reply was muffled by the blanket: “No thanks… I’m kind of tired…”

It was barely 8:00 at night.

Sonata had been instructed to watch Pinkie Pie without getting too close. When she had found out that Pinkie would be her roommate, Aria and Adagio were furious, and berated her for filling out the roommate survey with what they said were ‘stupid answers’. But then they decided that maybe it was a good thing. Sonata could spy on one of the Rainbooms and probe her for information. Maybe even determine the source of their magical powers. It made Sonata nervous. She didn’t like being under so much pressure, and she was worried Pinkie wouldn’t like her because of the battle of the bands incident a couple years prior. Unlike the other two, Sonata was genuinely excited to go to school and meet new people. She didn’t want to be a spy. She didn’t want enemies.

But Pinkie Pie had been an amazing roommate from day 1. When they were unpacking their stuff and setting up their room, Pinkie had listened to every one of Sonata’s suggestions, and made it a fun process. They had baked different snacks together almost every day since, And even though Sonata couldn’t really bake, Pinkie always asked for her help. They had started sending each other dumb videos on their social medias and watching them together, making little inside jokes to each other whenever they passed in the halls.. Pinkie invited her to do stuff outside of the room too, and listened when Sonata talked. She didn’t ever make fun of her or say she was ‘the worst’ or bully her.

Sonata got off her bed and circled around Pinkie’s so that she was on the side where Pinkie’s face would be.

“Umm, I’m not really good at, like, talking or whatever but… if you wanted to, you know, do that… we totally could and that would be fine. Like if you need to vent or whatever…” Sonata trailed off, scratching the back of her head, suddenly feeling that her communication skills were lacking.

“That’s okay. Thanks though…” Pinkie said.

Sonata anxiously tapped her fingers together, a habit she had picked up after years of being a Dazzling. Touching her forefinger to her thumb rhythmically helped to keep her mind from wandering. She looked around the room, searching for a way to somehow fix her roommate, even though she didn’t really know the cause of Pinkie’s strife.

Her and Pinkie’s beds were side-by-side in the middle of the room, pushed against the back wall with about two feet between them. They were both raised about four feet off the ground. Pinkie’s bed had two wide storage drawer towers beneath it, while Sonata’s had a mini fridge and a very old chest. On one side of the room were two desks, on the other two closets, and on the side opposite to the beds was a TV stand filled with DVDs, on top of which sat a medium-sized smart TV.

Sonata went back to her bed and rummaged through the fridge for a minute, then left the room.

About fifteen minutes passed, and Sonata returned, bringing with her a warm, sweet, and slightly burnt smell. She shut the door, crossed the room, and dragged a swivel chair from one of the desks over to Pinkie’s bedside.

“So umm, I made confetti cookies! Well, they kinda turned into one big cookie and I think the outside might be a little overdone but… umm… I was wondering if you could, you know, tell me how they taste?” Sonata gulped and held the tray out to where Pinkie’s face probably was.

Pinkie Pie didn’t say anything. She didn’t even move. Sonata was worried that she might have fallen asleep in the time it had taken her to bake the cookies.

But then one pink hand slithered out from underneath the bedspread. It flopped around in the air a couple times, searching for the cookie tray by feel. Sonata held the tray higher and closer to Pinkie’s bed until the hand found it, crawled over the still warm-surface, and snapped off a sizable chunk of colorful confetti confection. Then the hand retreated back under the covers and a few moments later, the sound of crunching told Sonata that Pinkie had eaten the cookie.

Sonata smiled and stood up. “I’ll leave the tray on your nightstand if you want more. It’s okay if you don’t though. They’re not even close to as good as you make them.” Then she started walking back to her bed, satisfied that Pinkie was at least well enough to still eat junk food.

But a hand on Sonata’s wrist stopped her. She looked back at the bed from where the hand had come. Pinkie was peeking out from a little hole she had made in her blanket fortress. Her eyes were puffy and slightly red, and wet lines trailed down both cheeks. Her pink hair hung limply around her face.

“They’re a little crispy but… I think they’re really yummy, Sonata… Thank you.”

Sonata smiled. “They’re not that yummy. But... you’re welcome. I was getting worried there for a sec. I guess you had a crummy weekend, huh?” She put the tray down then hopped up on Pinkie’s bed, sitting with her legs over the edge.

“Yeah… kinda…” Pinkie readjusted under her covers, and popped her head out the top so that she could talk with Sonata without being muffled by the blankets. “I found out the girl I like is into someone else… and all my friends have felt super distant lately... and I’ve been really moody for some reason… and I just… ugh…” Pinkie let out a quivering sigh, scrunched her face up, turned, and started sobbing into her pillow.

Sonata nodded, frowning. “Yeah… I kinda know what that’s like. Well, not exactly that, but being overwhelmed and stuff… I’m sort of the ‘third-wheel’ of the Dazzlings. That can get pretty stressful sometimes. But you can let it out here when you need to. I can bring snacks and stuff!”

Pinkie sobbed and wiped a tear from her eye, turning to look back at Sonata.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

Sonata raised a perplexed eyebrow.

“We’re roommates, right? And… um… friends?” She looked towards the plate of cookies on Pinkie’s nightstand, suddenly a little embarrassed. She had never really used the ‘friend’ word before. Adagio, Aria and her never really used terms like that. They had just always been together, for as long as Sonata could remember. They weren’t family, technically, but they avoided talking about the subject of their relationship altogether. They were a trio. That’s just how it was.

The slightest, almost imperceptible hint of a smile tugged at Pinkie’s lips.

“Yeah… of course we’re friends.”

Sonata breathed a little sigh of relief and continued:

“And, I dunno… I guess I just… missed your smile.”

Sonata’s heart jumped when when she felt Pinkie’s arms wrap around her in a tight embrace, and sent shivers up her when she heard Pinkie say:

“Thank you… I really needed to hear that...” this time with a slight smile and warmth in her voice.

Sonata stiffened. She hadn’t been expecting such a reaction, but Pinkie’s happiness and acceptance of her as a friend made her feel happy. She slowly lowered her hands onto Pinkie’s back to return the hug. Her heart was beating a little faster. She had never been embraced before, and Pinkie’s body was warm and somehow soothing. She could feel Pinkie’s hair on her skin, trace the curve of her back and feel the squeeze of her arms around her own back.

After a few seconds, Pinkie pulled away, releasing the hug, and sat back up. She looked rough, but at least she wasn’t crying anymore. She rubbed the last of her tears from her eyes with the butt of her palm and said:

“Sorry about all of… this. I just get like that sometimes. I’m good at hiding it from my friends but I’m not used to living with a roommate yet. Sorry to unload on you... But it makes me really happy to know I can vent with you. And you can do the same if you ever need to. And umm… if your offer from earlier still stands… a movie would be nice.”

A few minutes later the two roommates were sitting side-by-side at the foot of Pinkie’s bed, a single blanket wrapped around both of them, eating burnt cookies and watching Gossip Girl. Pinkie leaned her head onto Sonata’s shoulder, and smiled, happy again for the first time in nearly a week.

Author's Note

I have 3 more chapters prepared right now. After that, chapters will come out less frequently so that I can focus on making longer, higher-quality entries.