Home is Where the Hearth Is

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Functional Family
Chapter 2 - Pink Notes
Chapter 3 - Sweet Carols
Chapter 4 - Slightly More Functional Family

Chapter 1 - Functional Family

"Target spotted," Sonata Dusk muttered softly to herself as she slunk from her bedroom into the shared living space of her and her sisters' apartment. Slowly, a smirk slid across her mouth as she gingerly took one bare footstep after bare footstep on the aged wood floor. There was a sudden creak. She froze. The sound seemed to echo in her mind; her heartbeat thudded in her ears as she observed the back of her quarry.

There was a faint ruffle of pages, but that was it. Barely audible to Sonata, her prey let out a yawn and then continued along like there was not a single care in the world.

Stifling a snigger, Sonata resumed her stalking creep toward her victim. Probably it was because she was invisible in the darkened living room. Although there were a couple of standing lamps turned on, the squarish room was large enough that shadows embraced the corners and the recesses near Sonata's bedroom. When the wall broke into an entrance on her left, she paused to sniff deeply. While pitch black, the kitchen still beckoned to her, as the memory of the leftovers sitting in the fridge of the fajita she made on Friday made her stomach growl.

As if on instinct, she ducked inside the kitchen, nary making a noise, when she believed she caught her target shift to glance at the sound she had made. Plastering herself against the shared wall between the kitchen and living room, she did her best to still her ragged breathing and adjusted the red, limp hat she wore. The white pompom that was on the end of it fell across her face, and she briefly batted at it playfully, before she shook her head and furrowed her eyebrows.

Between the temptation of the fajita and the distraction of the pompom, she was risking compromising the entire mission. She squared her shoulders and exhaled confidently. Then she shivered. It was, admittedly, a tad cold in the apartment. Probably had to turn off the heat for the night. If she was in bed, she could have snuggled deeper under her blankets, but she couldn't do that while there was a wild poof hair to cheer up.

Rubbing her hands together, she wrapped her bathrobe a bit tighter around her pajamas and cautiously peeked around the corner. She was still unnoticed.

Quietly giggling to herself, Sonata sneered and rubbed her hands together. She began to slink back out into the living room. Even in the dim lighting, she could see highlights of orange hair, which were done up in a few curlers, presumably to make them maintain their bouncy appearance. If Sonata was asked—which she never was—they made her target look old. Who wanted to look like they were their own grandmother?

Sticking out her tongue, Sonata instead glanced to the walls, where a few paintings, covered in a layer of fine dust, hung in various places. Straddling either side of a worn, splintering china cabinet there were two pieces, one of herself in an ornate, flowing dress from the Victorian era, another of she and her two sisters even further back, in the Elizabethan era. Those were fun times. She could still recall the cracking as they put on corsets. What were a few broken bones compared to looking pretty, right?

She held back a sigh, though, when she glanced at a torn piece of woven tapestry. Scrunching her nose for a second, she attempted to recall the name. Something weird. Bay-oo or something like that. Either way, it was only a small part, since Adagio had wanted it kept for a memory. Although crude by modern standards, the section had three young women, one with orange hair, another electric blue, and a third with vibrant purple, behind an armored man on a horse.

Sonata smirked. When Adagio had seen it before it was presented to that Duke Will guy, she had had that area ripped out. Good thing the people back then had plenty of time on their hands to repair things like that, right?

Shaking her head and slipping a tad closer to the back of the couch on which her victim was resting, she winced as one of her feet caught a splinter. Instantly her one toe screamed in pain, and she held back a tiny whimper before carefully withdrawing it close to her. She pinched at the base of the splinter and cringed as she felt it slide out, and then shivered.

While there were other paintings or pictures from their past, the small Bay-you tapestry section was probably the one that would have turned the most heads, if people were ever allowed inside. She traced her eyes across a couple more, one from Imperial Russia, another from one of the dynasties of China.

However, a couple were barely hanging on their nails, given that there were a number of cracks running down the wall. Exposed areas of plaster and even a bit of the frame of the apartment allowed a weak draft to worm its way inside. Every time the wind gusted against their apartment, which was facing north, it allowed the chilly breeze to sneak in with a whistle.

Outside the window, fat snowflakes descended like they were balls of cotton candy. From the one streetlight that was still working, they were painted in a yellow, golden glow, which almost hid the turned over dumpster across the road. A thin layer of white coated everything she could see through it, and she let out a small gasp as her eyes grew wide with excitement. Already she could envision the snowball fights she could get into with Aria. It wouldn't be hard to encourage her, just get a bit of snow on Aria, tell her she's a grumpy nincompoop or something, and then get into the battle of the century.

She scratched her chin.

She'd have to note that down. Another possible solution to the Christmas cheer problem. However, Aria was a different problem.

As she turned aside from the window, she let out a small sigh as she caught the partly-decorated Christmas tree in the corner. Aside from a single row of lights along the very bottom, and a couple of ornaments, it was naked. She winced, as Aria's snark about a pointless holiday came back, and she unplugged the tree before Sonata could convince her to help out instead.

The tree had been left like that since yesterday, and Sonata felt a small ball build in her throat before she swallowed deeply. Taking a long breath, she closed her eyes, counted to three, and continued her silent trek.Soon, she reached the back of the couch.

She could smell her victim's fragrance. Was actually quite nice. Must have showered and put on some lavender or something. Either way, it wouldn't stop her!

Reaching into her bathrobe, she pulled out a red and green hat somewhat like hers that she had sprinkled some tinsel on, and she readied to pounce. Before she could move, though, and despite how silent she was, her victim sighed and grunted, "Sonata, if you make one more move and try whatever harebrained scheme you got this time, I will pummel you into a pulp." There was a soft flipping of a page. "You have five seconds to go back to bed." Another page flip.

Sonata halted. As if to add insult to injury, the floorboard she stepped on creaked. She slipped the hat back into her pocket. For a second or two, she stood stock still, and then she heard, "One."

She swallowed.

"Two."

Glancing up to the right, she briefly caught another portrait of her and sisters. They were in flowing dresses of the late eighteenth century, and in an office, in frame with an average build man in a grey overcoat and a feathered hat. She blinked and frowned. What would good ol' Napoleon have done?

"Four." The threat of pummeling was imminent and Sonata flexed her fingers a couple of times. From the other side of the couch, there was a long, drawn-out sigh, followed by a disgruntled and grouchy, "Five."

As Sonata's target finished, Sonata exclaimed, "Allons-y!" With a deftness normally reserved for when she had to elbow her way to the Mexican food stand by the Dazzlings' apartment, she stretched both arms forward and launched herself upward. Making a split in the air so she didn't brush her target's head, she hopped over the couch, snatched the hat she had returned to her bathrobe pocket, and slammed it down lightly on Adagio's head.

Momentum carried her a fair distance past the couch after she landed, her bare feet making a light sliding noise as she scrambled to cease her motion. At the last second, just before she collided into the door leading to their apartment's public hallway, she came to a stop. She wiped her forehead. Her heart thudded in her ears for a moment, but the adrenaline high quickly faded, and she came crashing down to earth.

"Whew!" she exclaimed before she gingerly stood up. In her hastiness to stop, she had fallen onto her knees and nearly lost her balance. Pushing aside a lock of her ponytail, she turned around and grinned from ear to ear. As soon as she saw the result of her hunt, she held back a snicker as she met her sister, Adagio Dazzle's, glare confidently.

The hat she had put on barely covered the width of Adagio's hair, where she'd normally have her spiked headband. Since it had absolutely no support, it limply started to slide off Adagio's head, before it caught on one of her curls, and instead left the tube section and pompom dangling in front of her face.

Adagio said nothing.

Sonata's smile faltered but for a second, yet she kept her pearly whites shining in glee. Maybe it'd take just a bit longer for Adagio to realize what Sonata had done and get into the mood. However, those seconds turned into a full minute, with the two of them merely looking at each other.

Adagio hadn't even put away the book she was reading, One Thousand and One Ways to Make a Hit Job seem like an Accident. At least, that was until now. She growled softly and slapped the book shut with a loud "thwap!" Sonata flinched from it.

Her face turning a deep shade of red, Adagio didn't adjust the hat, which was still blithely hanging from her curls, and she grumbled, "Sonata Alto Dusk." Sonata gulped. Perhaps it had been a bit too rash of a decision to ignore Adagio's warning. The dreaded middle name call sent a shiver down her spine.

With a small titter, Sonata gave a limp wave and squeaked, "Hi, Dagi."

Grinding her teeth for a second, Adagio at last ripped the hat from her head and hurled it to the floor. It skidded a foot or so, resting just in front of Sonata. One of the bits of tinsel fell off from the pompom.

Sonata gulped. For a second, she swore her skin began to warm up as she spotted the fire burning in Adagio's eyes. In case the first time didn't pacify her sister, Sonata giggled again, awkwardly, and whimpered, "Uh, Merry Early Christmas?"

Adagio didn't answer. Sonata rolled her shoulders Uneasily scratching the back of her head, she switched her attention between Adagio, the Christmas tree, and then back to Adagio. "Uh, now y-you're my Christmas elf, and you have to help me with getting the Christmas tree up! Won't that be fun?" With an awkward chuckle, she slowly dug one of her heels into the hardwood floor. As she rotated it back and forth, she shrunk back a bit at Adagio's continued glower and muttered, "Or, uh, maybe not."

"Hey, Adagio, if you're done up in some stupid elf costume, at least come in here to boost my streaming numbers!" the voice of Aria Blaze echoed from her own bedroom. "These idiots dig dumb stuff like that. Especially because it's the whole 'Peace on Earth and goodwill toward Man,' stuff." Almost immediately afterward, she bellowed, "Oh, screw off you crap-eating, piss-covered, camping, no-skill, sack of—"

Cringing away, Sonata did her best to ignore the phrases that would make even some of the hippogriffian sailors whom they dominated in their early days as hunting sirens blush. Adagio simply rolled her eyes and snapped once Aria's tirade was over, "Yes, very peaceful, Aria. If you want to show all your sycophants my current humiliating state, then you'll have to get out of your room to do it!"

"Heck no!" retorted Aria with an indignant snort. "You realize what kind of killstreak I was on? That's the stuff they lap up even more!"

"Well, then you're just going to have to live with them never knowing what I looked like with a"—with a shudder, Adagio glanced at the elf hat—"Christmas hat on." She clicked her tongue playfully. "Such a shame!" When Aria didn't respond, Adagio's coy smile which she had gotten while bantering with Aria left instantly. Instead, it was replaced with a frown which seemed to carve a dark canyon across her forehead given the shadows that played throughout the living room.

Sonata started to inch back. Holding up her hands placatingly, she stated, "D-Dagi, I-I just wanted—"

"Can it!" Adagio cut in with a swipe across her neck. Instinctively, Sonata clammed up with a soft "meep" and nodded her head. Furrowing her brow more deeply, Adagio tightened her own bathrobe over her indigo-colored pajamas and got up. Although each step was muffled while she wore her bunny slippers, she still seemed to shake the entire apartment as she approached Sonata.

Briefly contemplating the meaning of her existence, Sonata's mind flashed constantly between the first taco she had had at CHS, as well as the last one she had eaten the previous night. Was she possibly in major trouble now? Probably. Was her life after losing her magic great? Not really. But at least she had Mexican food to comfort her.

Perhaps Adagio would be kind enough to leave her only in a full-body hand and foot cast, drinking pasted up tacos through a straw?

Snagging the front of Sonata's bathrobe, Adagio snarled and drew Sonata up close to her, practically nose-to-nose. With Adagio's breath blasting against her cheeks, Sonata whined as Adagio growled, "Stop. Wasting. Time! You thought that that was worthy of planning out?! Not, oh, I don't know, getting our revenge on the Rainbooms?!"

"Well, uh, they do kinda suck, and we're totally going to get back at them next year, like you keep saying, Dagi, but I thought, that, you know, maybe, possibly, perhaps—"

"Point. Now." Pulling her head back slightly to leave Sonata encased in shadow, Adagio sneered. "Or... I'll pour the rest of our Mexican seasoning down the drain." Although it was impossible, Sonata swore that Adagio's eyes glittered a vile shade of red for a second when she finished. Still, the threat was very real.

Sonata gasped. "Y-You wouldn't! What did that box ever do to you?!"

"Well, if you would answer me..." Adagio drifted off, but the guttural tone in her voice belied her frustration. She shook Sonata once. "If I got the truth, maybe I'd be nice. Or at least pour half instead of the whole thing down the drain." When Sonata blinked at her in a stupor, she chided, "Tick tock, Sonata."

Biting her lip and rubbing her hands together for a moment, Sonata peered down to the floor before she shook herself free of Adagio. It wasn't like her sister was keeping that tight of a grip on her. "I-I just thought you'd like to get into the Christmas mood!" she protested. Adagio arched an eyebrow. "L-Like, you and Ari have been so grouchy since all that stuff with the Battle of the Bands, and, you know, Christmas is supposed to be a happy time of year, and so I thought I could get you in the mood, you know?"

She shrugged. Since Adagio hadn't moved, she stepped back a couple of paces. More of the floorboards creaked. Laughing uncomfortably, she readjusted her bathrobe and mumbled, "Woops?"

Groaning and shaking her head, Adagio pinched the bridge of her nose. Her hair, not kept in place by the hairpin, bounced left and right with her motion. Some strands flopped in front of her face, and she pushed them away tiredly. With a disappointed grimace, she looked at Sonata much like their mother once did whenever Sonata had suggested using fish for food instead of ponies'—or other creatures’—negative emotions to feed.

Sure, it was fun seeing those peaceful ponies—and other creatures—punch each other out because of her and her sisters' singing, but it was also a lot of effort. Why would she have to go through all that when normal creature food worked well enough? When she had asked that, all she had gotten was a condescending look and an explanation about magical energy and all that stuff.

Basically, they needed to feed to keep their gems powered, but she never got a straight answer why they required that. It wasn't like they were going to starve. A seafood meal nourished her for a few hours. Same with tacos, even before she and her sisters lost their voices. Tacos tasted better, too.

Despite Sonata's tepid explanation and excuse, Adagio didn't really react to the logic. Instead, she just pinched her bridge longer, then finally muttered, "What am I going to do with you?"

Temporarily pondering the question, Sonata raised a finger and opened her mouth, but Adagio interjected before she could begin, "It was a rhetorical question, Sonata. You know, it doesn't need an answer." She sighed. Sonata lowered her finger. "Why can't you just scheme like the two of us?" Adagio inquired. With a side-eyed glance, she grunted, "Rhetorical. Question."

"Well, I don't know about that, Dagi, but you could just let me—"

"No, we are not just shooting them!" Adagio snapped back. Sonata squeaked and went quiet again. Gnashing her teeth momentarily, Adagio fell back onto the couch and gently massaged one of her temples. "Sonata. As much as I applaud that you want to deal with the Rainbooms, too—even when these ideas come infrequently—that's too obvious. Who did they wrong? Us. Who threatened to get her revenge on Sunset Shimmer when we were fleeing? Me."

"You sure about that, Dagi?" Scratching her head and humming in thought, Sonata paused and glanced to the ceiling. Although the details were a bit of a blur, given that vegetables and insults were being tossed at them. They might have also been chased by the school security, since they may or may not have had some students make graffiti mocking the two principals for fun, but that was not something she recalled. "I thought you were just screaming the entire—"

"Shut it!" Grunting loudly, Adagio once again cut her fingers across her neck. She bared her teeth. "I definitely swore revenge on her!"

"Oh, okay, sure, totally, Dagi. You swore revenge. Because you're cool. And awesome. And stuff." Sonata snapped her fingers and made a gunning motion with her index fingers. When Adagio rolled her eyes, with just the faintest grin visible on her lips, Sonata frowned and asked, "But, uh, if you and Ari are 'scheming' like you say you are, why are you reading that book?" She squinted. "Wait, is that a second book inside it?" She pointed at the copy of One Thousand and One Ways. A smidgen of a second book cover was inside the overturned book.

Adagio's face flushed. She yelped softly and swiped it. Emphatically shaking her head, she snapped, "It's research. Okay?"

"Like the soap operas you watch, too? What are they supposed to be—"

"Research! End of discussion!"

From Aria's bedroom, there came a loud burst of laughter, and Aria popped her head out. Her hair was frazzled, and she still wore a headset. "Yeah, that match couldn't have ended at a better time. What research, Adagio? How to be the best at wallowing in self-pity?"

As there was a sudden gust of wind outside the apartment, Adagio spun around on her seat and shot daggers at Aria. Aria merely smirked. She crossed her arms and leaned against the frame of her bedroom entrance. "What? I hit a nerve?" She snorted. "The tough and wise Adagio is now reduced to just watching housewife shows and reading sappy romances?"

"I can and will cut off your supply of Diditos and Alpine Nectar, Aria Treble Blaze!" With an accusing finger, Adagio jabbed toward Aria and frowned. Outside, the snow started to beat more persistently against the apartment. What little Sonata could once see out the glass was now nothing but a sheet of white with a single glow of orange from the streetlamp in the middle. The howling wind continued to find ways through cracks in the foundation to tickle at her exposed ankles.

After a particularly violent blast rammed up her legs and sent icicles down her spine, she staggered back a few paces to escape whatever hole was nearby. In the meantime, Aria blinked in surprise at Adagio's outburst and then threw up her hands in frustration. She brushed one of her messy pigtails aside and snarked, "You know, I just wanted a nice, long weekend before this stupid holiday. Do you know how hard it was to"—she hesitated for a second—"convince my boss at the mall to let me get a weekend plus a Monday off?" With a bemused glower, she stared directly at Adagio.

For the moment, Sonata seemed to be forgotten, and the siren swallowed tightly as she watched her sisters slowly march toward each other, both of them furiously grinding their teeth. Balling her fists a couple of times, Aria huffed, "At least I'm doing what I can to support us." She thrust a finger at Sonata. "Even Sonata has that Mexican joint job." She rolled her eyes. "You just wallow away!"

"I do not 'wallow', I merely remember what we once had," retorted Adagio with an indignant thumb of her nose. Resting her hands on her hips, she snarked, "And I am at least trying to come up with plans of revenge, but no-one else wants to help me!" At that, there was a splattering of snow on the window, and Sonata jerked her head toward it for a second.

Creeping back another couple of paces, she yipped in surprise when she brushed against the bristly limbs of the Christmas tree. She glanced behind her. It wasn't a real Christmas tree like she remembered back a hundred or more years ago. No chopping it down, or putting candles on instead of electric lights. Granted, she might have put a few too many candles on one year and managed to burn down the entire house they lived in, but that was just a minor detail.

Besides, they got a new one shortly thereafter, anyway. What with siren magic and all that.

Sighing as she fondled a couple of the plastic needles on the tree, she gingerly grabbed the string of lights that was only halfway attached to it. For a moment, she envisioned what it could look like if it was done, with a bright row of lights, plus tinsel bands. Maybe also a big candle on top that had a high likelihood of not burning down the place. At least fifty percent. Okay, maybe thirty.

Either way, it needed that old-school vibe.

Scratching her chin, she shook her head and mumbled aloud, "We're just normal now. Can't we act like a normal family?" She glanced back at her sisters. From her angle, all she could see was Adagio flailing her arms, much like a cat when it was batting in a fight, at Aria. Although partly obscured, it sounded like Aria was doing the same. Sonata huffed. It wasn't even really a fight. Just something to show they were frustrated with each other, probably.

Peering back out the window, she frowned. It wasn't that she didn't dislike what the Rainbooms did to her or her sisters. After all, why would she sometimes dream of frying them all with a giant magnifying glass, stringing them up like Christmas lights, or drowning them in a giant bowl of melted ice cream? She snorted. The last one might have just been because of indigestion.

Either way, getting back at the Rainbooms had been on her mind. At the same time, it was the Christmas season. It seemed like with every breath, the air was electrified with cheer. People's steps tended to be lighter. Their thoughts were frequently brighter. Yet, even before losing their magic, it was always a bit gloomy wherever they lived.

Although it was just a coincidence, when they were banished by Star Swirl, they were dumped on Earth right around Christmas. Even just recalling that left a small pain in her gut. However, that was usually all the talk that she heard from Adagio, although this year it was more about the Rainbooms than Star Swirl.

Still, at least during Christmas, wasn't it best to at least move on? Revenge was so last month. Besides, there was a bigger problem.

What was she going to do if they had no money for Christmas tacos? They were Christmas tacos! Maybe she could make burritos or fajitas instead, but tacos! That were Christmas-y.

At the very thought of the recipe idea she had, she licked her lips and let out a soft moan. However, her reverie was broken by Adagio and Aria's continued spat. Adagio had managed to push Aria back a bit, but otherwise they were in the same situation. And neither appeared worse for wear.

Glancing at one of the paintings over the Christmas tree, Sonata just sighed and hung her head. "What would you have done, Mr. Genghis?" Seeing that her sisters were still completely absorbed in their squabble, she simply trudged toward her room. As she passed her elf hat, she paused, then tiredly leaned down and snatched it before continuing on. Despite the creaking floorboards, the trip on Adagio's dual-book, and then nearly bonking her head on her door from her stumbling, her sisters paid her no heed, although they had stopped their slap-fest.

Instead, they just slowly circled each other, and Sonata gave them one last glance before entering her room and closing the door. I guess no Christmas for us this year, she mused to herself as she threw her hat over the small dresser she had. Although her throat felt tight, no tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.

It wasn't like this was the first time she or her sisters fought. In a way, it was, as Adagio would call it, ironic, that they, who spread hatred, tended to dislike each other. Granted, it was worse after losing their magic, but still.

With an exhausted groan, Sonata rested her head against her door for a second. By now, it seemed that Adagio and Aria had switched back to spitting insults at each other. If Adagio would simply lighten up a bit, and Aria would learn how to take a jab at her, they'd probably get along significantly better. Maybe they could bond over taking one of the Rainbooms and extracting information on the rest of the group from them?

Sonata hummed. Probably another one of her ideas that Adagio would call "extreme" or "insane" or "psycho," but if it worked, it worked, right?

Untying her bathrobe, she hung it on a peg on the back of her door and flopped onto her bed. For a moment, she simply kept her face down on the mattress, which hugged her and beckoned for her to go to sleep. Instead, she rolled to her side and watched as snowflakes descended in front of her window. Whether she was the lucky one to get the view, or the unlucky one to get the room that had the draft because of said window, she couldn't decide.

If nothing else, the increased blizzard-like conditions made it look like the weather was dumping fat flakes of icing sugar through a strainer. As the thought left Sonata's mind, she felt her stomach rumble, and she moaned. Pushing herself off the bed, she twisted onto her back and hastily slid herself under the sheets.

After a contented sigh, she brought the blankets as close as she could to herself, and then simply stared at the ceiling. The soothing glow from the streetlight, while not as intense as in the living room, was enough to give her a view of the entire room. Along the back wall, a couple of posters for First Course hung on the wall, and she stared longingly at one of the band members. A couple of pony figurines rested on her dresser, and she glanced at the one that appeared to be staring right back at her.

While maybe her sisters thought it was juvenile, the show that was tied into the figurines was rather fun to watch. And then she had found out about the fandom on the internet...

She shuddered.

If someone ever invented brain bleach that worked, she'd invest every cent she had into that business.

As she forced the images from her mind, she switched her attention to the guitar and saxophone that were hanging on the wall. Although it was dark, she could still catch some of the oxidation creating a thin, skin-like layer on the saxophone, and the guitar definitely could have used a dusting off. A few pieces of scattered sheet music were piled underneath them.

She sighed. What point was there of using them if it reminded her of her lack of singing ability?

Snuggling deeper under her covers, she closed her eyes and squeezed them tight as Adagio snapped at Aria some more. "At least I have a mature hair style!" Adagio quipped, loud enough that it came through Sonata's door clearly.

"Oh, yeah, because everyone wants to lose things in their hair and pull out something different when looking for it!" Aria snarked back.

When Adagio let out a loud growl, she stomped across the living room. Her muffled steps started to head in one direction, and then a second or two later, a door slammed shut. While faint, Sonata caught Aria chuckle and enter her own bedroom.

Afterward, the apartment was silent, save for a couple of minutes of Aria talking to whatever audience she still had for her stream. Eventually, though, she went quiet, and Sonata whimpered. Under her breath, she muttered morosely, "Maybe I'm not that good a sister after all." Her lips quivered, and she drew her covers over her head.

Soon, all that she heard was the soft pitter-patter of snowflakes against her window as darkness started to consume her mind.

Chapter 2 - Pink Notes

"Thanks, Gummy!" Pinkie Pie hummed to herself as she snatched a spoon, bowl-first, from her pet alligator, who dumbly blinked at her when she took it from him. When his mouth was free once again, he let out a small hiss and flicked his tongue out. It slapped onto one of his eyes and slowly slid down.

"No, silly! We aren't making those cookies yet. We have to get closer to the Christmas party before that happens." Smirking as she poured in a bowl of flour and then mixed in an egregious amount of melted butter, she tittered and bounced to the soft beat of the fifties Christmas music that was carrying through the Sweet Snacks Cafe. Outside, snow beat heavily against the glass, piling up drifts of it and looking like frosting on a cake.

At the mere thought of that, she felt her mouth water, but she shook her head. Tasting her own treats, which she was kindly allowed to bake at her employer after they closed for the night, was a recipe for disaster. She chuckled. Recipe. Pun totally unintended.

Scattered around the kitchen, various utensils of various cleanliness and bowls sticky with batter laid well-used, casualties of a bakery battle of epic proportions. It was always a tale of love and passion with Christmas goodies. Improvisation was the rule rather than the exception. Maybe a cookie dough recipe called for a touch of vanilla, but instead one used some cinnamon. It'd lend a completely different flavor, but still be all "Christmas-y".

In the end, so long as they were close enough, and one had fun making them, and poured their heart into it, the goods would turn out just right.

Glancing back out of the kitchen, she watched as a couple of silhouettes hastily pushed their way through the delzard. A deluge and a blizzard. Scrunching her forehead, she paused in her mixing of the batter and questioned if the new word was too much, or if something else would be better. Bliphoon? Squaluge? Pnow?

She shook her head. Too many options. Not enough words.

As she pondered the nature of the English language and if it could properly fuse words like its sister tongues, she jolted from her stupor as there was a resounding clank. She whipped around. Gummy was standing in front of one of the stoves and was poking his head in. Along with a can of canola oil.

Pinkie giggled. "Oh, Gummy, you need to coat a tray, not the oven, you silly gator!" At that, she skipped over and snatched the can before taking Gummy. Wriggling in protest, the alligator blinked lopsidedly when he was placed back on one of the cutting surfaces in the kitchen. He croaked and gummed on her fingers.

With a little giggle, Pinkie scratched his nose before putting the can away and closing the oven. Which was turned on. She could catch the small hiss of natural gas. Shrugging, she turned it off, and returned to making her recipe. The flour and butter had been mixed, but all that was needed now was the sugar! And maybe a bit more butter.

Her feet clicked on the tiles of the kitchen as she hastily popped over to where the sugar was kept, then poured in a good two cups of it. After raising up the bag of sugar, she frowned, then shrugged. What was another cup between friends at the party, right?

After dumping a bit more sugar into the batter, she quipped, "Shortbread really is short! Sugar, flour, butter. More sugar. More butter..." She hummed. "Oh, and a pinch of salt!" When all was ready, she beat down the batter, kneaded it into a pan, and then slipped it into one of the ovens. As she got up, she heard Gummy growl pleadingly again, and she turned around.

In his own way, he was stuck to the handle of the door to the employee restroom. Little by little, he used his tongue to turn the handle, and it soon clicked open. He blinked at her.

"Gummy! We can't mix work and play!" Pinkie shook her head. "Have to get this in the oven and then..." After flipping the oven to the right temperature, she clapped her hands together and coughed. A cloud of flour caked her nose and cheeks, and she giggled.

Making a mental note of the time when the shortbread went in, she twirled around, tidied up the kitchen in ten seconds flat, and then brushed off her apron. While she would have preferred to have it part of her standard attire, the chance of giving Rarity a heart attack—likely, given how much she already balked at Pinkie's style—was a bit too high to go through with it.

With a sigh, she took it off and let it rest on a stool she had pulled in from the cafe bar. By now, Gummy had waddled into the restroom, and she followed. As she was about to call out to find him, she stopped and paused, resting a fist on her hip. Gummy gawked at her from the bowl of the sink, which he had managed to fill with water.

Gummy blinked. Each eye. Individually.

"That's for washing our hands, Gummy," Pinkie tsked, gently grabbing her pet from the sink and taking him under her right arm. "Still... I suppose we have a bit of time." After she made sure he was dry, Pinkie leaned out of the restroom doorway and checked the time again. She had enough, probably. At least for a quick mosey.

She clicked the door shut. Taking a five second breather, she went to the mirror above the sink and stated, "Cupcakes. Pie. Ladybug. Cinnamon. Chocolate rain." She waited a moment, and she heard a faint whirring. Stepping back from the sink, she watched as the mirror slowly rose from where it rested, and behind it revealed a passageway she could crawl through.

Its metal plated sides were just wide enough that she didn't have to worry about her poofy hair to get in her way. Granted, she could crawl, or...

She smirked.

Wrapping her fingers around the bottom of the mirror, she hopped up and then thrust herself forward. With a squeal of delight, she slid down the tunnel, and it gradually started to incline downward, just enough that she never quite stopped. After half a minute of slowly slipping down it, she picked up speed and the rush of air started to whizz past her ears. Gummy nommed on one of her fingers, and she could feel him waggling back and forth from the torrents zooming past them.

Shortly, she landed on some concrete with a grunt, and she rubbed her thighs. She hissed. "Probably need something for the landing, huh?" Taking Gummy into her hands, she stroked his head a couple of times before setting him into her hair. He quickly latched onto a lock and began to gum it. With a snicker, she focused her attention on the large door in front of her, and she straightened her skirt before she marched ahead.

Just as she was about to walk right into the door, which was easily ten feet tall and around a couple feet thick of solid metal, it swung open, revealing a chamber with another door. As soon as she passed the first door, it slammed shut with a heavy bang, which echoed through the hallway. When she reached the second door, it slid to either side, providing her a view of yet another, which, when approached, shot upward.

One more followed, which likewise split apart, and behind it, showed yet another chute. However, as she reached it, there was a loud buzzing, and her hair began to be yanked up. With an excited "whee!" she was sucked upward into a second chute, rocketing through a separate tunnel and tube. Gleefully throwing up her arms, she giggled as the air whooshed past her. The breeze managed to knock off any stubborn bits of batter that had remained on her person, and she felt Gummy occasionally bonk against her arms.

As soon as the tube ride began, it ended with a soft "pompf" as she landed on a massive mattress. Bouncing a few times, she giggled and then sprang up in one motion. Gummy continued to rebound, flailing and flopping like a rubber alligator. Every time he hit the mattress, there was an almost inaudible squeak.

Steepling her fingers together, Pinkie glanced around the room. Darkness. Exactly as planned.

Without her sense of sight, it made the bunker feel much larger than it was. Of course, she'd have to eventually bring the lights up, but...

She spun around, just as there was a beep, and she pointed at the terminal that had roused. It occasionally blinked a green light, which pulsed and cast a glow throughout the immediate area, revealing glossy, see-through screens and metal walls behind them. As if they were waiting for one of them to rouse, other computers began to whir to life. When each one booted up, Pinkie switched to point to each one.

To the left of where she fell onto the mattress, there were a number of terminals providing readouts of weather predictions for the next month, with the ever-important December twenty-fifth highlighted in bright pink. Additionally, a smaller, but still bold date of the twenty-third was visible. Both indicated snowy, but not too snowy weather. Absolutely perfect.

On Pinkie's right, a large map of Canterlot City stirred, and glimmering lines traced their way along the glass on which it was displayed. Soon enough, each fluorescent line sketched a path of the streets of the city, and blinking dots darted along them. For a moment, Pinkie merely watched them, then she scratched her chin and jogged toward the map. Throwing her head back to look at Gummy, who had now managed to wrap his tongue around a low-hanging pipe from the cafe, she stated, "Gee, Gummy, you're eager to have me come down here."

Shrugging, she held back a giggle and quipped, "Good thing nop—no-one said the code phrase. That'd be pretty awkward to explain to everyone why I have this down here." Glancing back at Gummy again after catching a bit of movement on the map, she added, "Really lucky that we were able to dig this out with some spoons when I wasn't working or in school, right?"

Gummy gave a muffled growl and swung from his tongue. Painstakingly, he lowered himself from his perch to the floor.

"Right," muttered Pinkie as she went back to looking at the map.

Caressing her chin, she peered intently at the map, watching as the different lights of activity went about. She furrowed her brow and hunched forward, her demeanor slowly growing darker to match the eerie glow of the bunker. Even her hair deflated slightly, although it never went quite straight.

She narrowed her eyes. What could Gummy possibly have sensed? What did the gator, with its flank forever blank, know that she didn't? Sure, Gummy was, well, Gummy. But her own senses tingled enough to trust that something was up, and that was why he had alerted her by going to the restroom door.

Flashing her attention to another screen, she watched as a couple of printouts spewed from the computer beneath it. She tapped the screen, her disposition remaining pensive, as she gazed at the brown, curly-haired boy as he grabbed a couple of rubber chickens and marched out to a Christmas party, the invitation she saw on the small feed of him on the display.

When she heard Gummy make a noise, she looked up. "Not creepy at all, okay?! I just want to make sure he gets on the right path." She blushed and twisted a finger through her hair. Gummy merely gurgled.

"Well, it's my job to protect everyp—one here, so I need to make sure that someone is able to fill my shoes!" With a glance back at the screen, and the readout of Cheese Sandwich's current vitals, she sighed. "But he is—" She shook herself. "No! Not about me!"

She inhaled. "When darkness is everywhere, it's up to me to save the day." Hunching further and shuffling between computers and then back to the map, she continued in an even, emotionless voice, "Even on a wintry night like tonight, there's depression. People aren't happy, but they should be! That's where I come in." Stealing a peek at Gummy, she asked suddenly in a chipper tone, "You got that, Gummy? In case they make a movie about me, I gotta get the brooding personality down pat."

Gummy simply licked his eyeballs. Again.

"Yeah, you're right. Too cliché." With a tired raspberry, Pinkie waved a hand dismissively before she went back to the map. Playing her fingertips across it like it was a delicate soufflé, she pulled up a few more displays of various people. She hummed. Nope, this one wasn't feeling uncheerful. Neither was that one. Not that one, either.

Scratching her chin, she looked to Gummy for any clue, but the alligator just snorted through his nose and then started to gum on its tail. Pinkie shot him a deadpan stare. Of course now he'd choose to be unhelpful. Figures.

She sighed. If he wasn't going to be much assistance, why did she sense that he wanted her to go down here? Brooding was all fun and games, but there was only so much she could do before it started to consume her and she wanted to stick to dark corners, speak in a gravelly voice, dress in black, and repeatedly scream, "I'm Pinkie!"

Humming to herself and scratching her chin, she snatched up Gummy in a single swoop. He wiggled a couple of times, blinked at her, and then settled into her grip, which she turned into a gentle hold while she stalked the bunker. "So," she began as she started to stroke his scales, "you aren't going to tell me what I should be looking for, but it's obviously a party emergency, or you wouldn't have been insistent to get me here."

She pursed her lips. "You know I have to protect this city's cheer. Did you sense a disturbance in the party plan?" When she glanced down at Gummy, he simply stared at her, his purple eyes reflecting the various colors of lights from around the room. "One of my friends?" she added. Another blank look.

"I guess I could check on them," mumbled Pinkie as she spun on her heels and reached up on the map to pull up a few more names to display. Dancing her fingers across it, she let out a couple of "uh-huhs" and "okays" and then declared, "Ha! Prince—I mean Principal Celestia! It must be her because she doesn't have any students in the school!"

At that, Gummy yawned, and his tongue lolled out. While his forked tongue played across her skin, she held back a giggle and patted him on the head. He quickly withdrew his tongue.

After a few seconds, the blinking name of Principal Celestia disappeared and displayed a grainy feed of her sitting in a tram while she rested one of her arms tiredly against the railing near the exit. Her face was flat, and dark circles hugged the bottom of her eyes. It was a bit difficult to make out the entire scene, because she was crowded around by a number of other people. Beside her, one teen girl, dressed in a t-shirt that read, "21% Awesomer!" was tugging on her arm.

Celestia glanced momentarily at the youth, then smiled. Since she straightened up, Pinkie caught her wearing another shirt with a similar tagline to the girl's. In fact, the entire tram appeared to be filled with people all wearing shirts from the same kind of TV show. Pinkie scratched her head.

For a moment, she watched curiously as the girl produced a pair of toys and jabbered—silently, because the sound upgrade for her super-secret spy map was an extra hundred bucks a month—to Celestia; she brought close the toys, a white alicorn mare and a greyish draconequus, and pressed them together. Even without noise, Pinkie could envision the overacted smooching noises the girl made while pressing the toys' muzzles together.

Celestia merely smiled. A couple of her hairs curled up from her head, and she scooted closer to the exit. With a placating nod, she waved the girl off as the tram stopped with a jerk. She sighed, grinning again, and got up when the crowd had left. At that, Pinkie frowned and shook her head.

As much as Celestia appeared uncomfortable, she wasn't unhappy. From what Pinkie could tell, at least. Also, apparently Celestia liked that TV show she heard that everyone raved about. Who knew?

Shaking her head, Pinkie clicked her tongue and muttered to Gummy, "Weird, but not uncheerful. Maybe..." As she trailed off, Gummy squirmed and protested before reorienting himself toward a part of the map. Pinkie traced her gaze from him to where he was pointing, and her eyes lit up. "Of course! Twilight! Sci-Twi! Twiggles! She's so super obsessed with making sure everything is right, she's probably fussing over how much tinsel to put on a Christmas tree!" Blowing a raspberry, she tittered, "Silly me!"

After punching in the commands on the map again, she brought up a view of Twilight sprawled out on her couch, shaking like she was weeping. "A-ha!" Pinkie exclaimed when she saw the image. "I knew it! Christmas cheer is—" With a gag, she stopped and looked at the rest of the view, and saw that Twilight wasn't so much crying as she was guffawing, to the best of her ability to see. The teen was watching TV, alone, and it was that show she'd heard about that followed those two nerds who have to interact with this non-nerdy lady, and one of the nerds was basically Twilight but a guy.

She didn't really see what was so funny about it. In the end, it looked like Twilight did, since she pointed at something happening on the TV screen and burst into another fit of laughter.

"Huh, thought she would have liked more enlightened works," Pinkie mumbled to herself as she closed down that feed and glanced back down at Gummy. "You've been no help, mister! Would have been better if I just started asking everyone if they were sad or not." Gummy blinked.

Furrowing her brow, Pinkie stooped down while her hair began to grow limper. Every brain cell was firing on maximum power. Perhaps she just chose the wrong friends and acquaintances? Then again, she was friends with literally everyp—everyone, and that meant she had far too many options to go through. Still, it was the best possibility, so she sighed and pondered aloud, "Maybe it's Dashie? She can't do sports stuff like she can in the summer, and with all this snow..."

Her mind made up, she whirled back to the map and keyed in Rainbow Dash. After a few seconds of flickering, her mouth hung agape as she stared at Rainbow Dash, who was twirling around in a flowing, very much not cool and awesome dress. The length went well past her feet and created a trail at least two feet long, and it was sewn in pink. All of it.

Eyes watering, Pinkie could feel her brain being seared with secret knowledge, and she could only think what would happen if—She mentally cut herself off. Didn't need to muse about what would happen if Dash thought she was being watched, because Dash suddenly halted, glanced around her bedroom, and then stared right at Pinkie through the display.

Although it seemed like an eternity, it was probably only a couple of beats, as Dash quickly went back to her prancing. However, Pinkie killed the feed. She'd probably have to drown the memory out with half a dozen cans of Crimson Bovine. Shivering as chills worked their way down her spine, she shot a look at Gummy and muttered, "You know, I'm glad that I was able to set up a bunch of hidden cameras powered by Equestrian magic, but then there are days where I'm not." She swallowed. "Today...

"Did you just want me to come down here to plan about world domination?" Holding up Gummy so she could look directly into either one of his eyes, she worked her jaw in thought. She turned around to see the clock above the tube entrance. It ticked down, but not to the end of the world or anything like that, just for when her plans would go in motion.

Recruiting other teens who loved planning and attending parties hadn't been the easiest, but it had so far worked out. All she'd have to do is wait until the President’s birthday, and lure him far enough away that other people wouldn't influence him. Would only work with her party planners' help, though. With Christmas upon them, it would reconvene in the new year.

"Please! It's already planned out, you silly gator!" She pressed her nose against his and daintily tapped on his nostrils. "Boop!" When he wrinkled his nose, just barely, given the length of his maw, she giggled and turned him back around.

"We just need a break, Gummy, then the President of this country will be so knocked off his socks that he'll have to make me Party Planner of the Universe!" Drawing her lips back in a manic grin, she broke into a fitful cackle that echoed through the bunker, albeit it was absorbed somewhat into the noise and hum of the computers there.

In the middle of her fit, she abruptly stopped and hummed, "You know, that's a really awkward name for a place. 'Country in which we live'. You'd think someone would have come up with something better, right?" Gummy didn't answer her, instead wriggling and growling in annoyance as she tried to hold onto him. Shortly slipping out, he waddled a couple of feet closer to the map and then stuck out his tongue. It splatted onto a second alert near the bottom, right over a blinking, red dot.

"Gummy! Now I have to sanitize the screen again!" Pinkie whined as her pet alligator continued to indicate somewhere on the map with his tongue. With a sigh, she stomped after him and snatched him back up. Rotating him around and shaking her head, she clicked her tongue and declared, "You remember how many bits I had to sell to get that? Don't—" Before she could continue admonishing him, however, she spied the dot.

Briefly, she stared at it, and her eyes widened in shock. The map never did that. At least, it wasn't supposed to do that. Then again, maybe it was something other than what it meant, and it was just a glitch. Or perhaps something super important, like a flash sale of cupcake liners or rainbow frosting.

However, the longer she looked at it, the more her heart started to skip. There was only one reason for that, and it was someone experiencing a horrible case of the Christmas Blues. If that was the case, then her job as the main party planner for Po—Canterlot High School wasn't getting accomplished. No-one was meant to be morose or depressed while it was Christmastime! Everyone should be skipping around, enjoying the snowflakes, the lights, the candy—especially the candy—the presents, and time with family. All of it!

Whimpering softly, she put Gummy back down and fought back a couple of quivers of fear. After having installed the map, she'd only seen the red dot once, and that was just a test, because she had Rainbow Dash show Fluttershy some sad tales about beavers, and that would have gotten anyone down in the dumps. Except Dash, because she thought the story was awesome, since the hunters got some "sweet action scenes" in.

Either way, the crippling depression alert was not going away, so it was obviously someone in dire need of an injection of saccharine joy into their lives. They could go back to being mopey after the Christmas season. That way she always had some work to keep her in business.

Swallowing hard and wiping away a bit of sweat from her brow, she reached out to the map, tapped a few times directly on the dot to make sure it wasn't broken, and then zoomed in. She winced as the computers in the bunker whirred to life for a moment as they attempted to connect to the not at all creepy feeds she had basically everywhere in the city.

Again, thank Celestia for Equestrian magic.

While it took a minute or two for the feed to finally appear, she recoiled when she spotted who it was. Sonata Dusk. One of the Dazzlings? Hadn't she blocked the sirens' depression alerts because they were meanies and almost conquered the world? And not in the fun way that she had plans for?

As she continued to rack her brain on whether she had put in those block filters correctly, she spotted Sonata's ostensibly sleeping form quiver a few times, and she could barely catch a glint of tears. Immediately a lump began to form in her throat, and Pinkie instinctively started to rub her neck. There weren't really any other indications of what was going on. It was, after all, rather late—not that she needed sleep. Sugar was enough to keep her going—so whatever had set Sonata off wasn't apparent.

Still, it was one of the Dazzlings, and they had almost taken over the world, and all three were probably still evil. Maybe wanted heads on stakes, that sort of thing.

Despite the plain reasons to not assist, simply for the fact that living could never be overrated, her heart still tugged and felt like it was being squeezed in a vice as she continued to observe Sonata. While Pinkie was one of the girls who saved the world, and she had perfect excuses for not helping, at the same time, it was her Celestia-given duty to help any and all stay cheerful during the Christmas season.

What would it say about her or her friends if she didn't at least try to assume the best about Sonata? Maybe she would turn over a new leaf when reached out to. It wasn't like there wasn't precedent with their own resident she-demon who almost led an army of teens to their deaths by trying to invade a land of ponies with magic and who knew how to use it or anything.

No offense, Sunset, she habitually murmured in her thoughts.

With a small hum, she began to pace around in a circle and occasionally shot glances at Sonata's form on the map. Even if she risked her life and limb and baking time, she should do what she could to help Sonata. Perhaps a pool party would cheer her up? After all, they were fish things before becoming regular girls, so maybe a reminder of the water would clear her mind? Of course, that didn't work in the winter, and indoor pools were boring.

If not a pool party, then maybe a trip to the aquarium? Same logic as the party, but as she began to plan out a possible itinerary for it, her mind jolted, and she smacked her forehead. Sonata would be seeing other sea life, and realize she could never return to that. Probably would make her more upset, if anything.

Pinkie blinked.

Maybe Sonata would like it, but she'd be so enamored with remembering the sea, she'd think herself a fish-horse thing again and try hunting all the sea life! Then she'd go to jail for all the damage she'd caused, and be all over the news, and probably ruin a bunch of other people's Christmases, and it'd just be horrible and she'd never want to be Pinkie or anyone else's friend ever in the history of everness!

So... maybe not anything sea-related. Perhaps it was because of all the cold and snow? If that was the case, then she could maybe pool money together to go down south, but then there were all the safety problems, and both could be just as likely to get stabbed in an alley somewhere, which, while maybe exhilarating, was not a recipe for staying alive long.

Pausing for a second, she blinked, then asked Gummy, "What do you think, Gummy?" Gummy merely looked back at her. "Yeah, you're right," she grumbled. "Should I even do it if it means messing with canon? Like, a bit early, right?" At that, she glanced back at her pet again, and caught the alligator blink in a slow, asymmetrical fashion.

"True..." she drawled, leaning back on the computers and crossing her arms in thought. "That wouldn't be very 'friendship is magic' of me..."

Before she could ponder for much longer, however, there was a faint smell of something acrid in the air. Sniffing and snorting, she looked up as she caught the nearly-transparent wisps of smoke drifting in one of the ventilation vents that connected to the cafe. "Huh," she mumbled. "Somepon—someone must be burning something." She shrugged. "Oh well, I can think about this—"

Like a car crashing into a wall, she halted and gave a soft squeak. In an instant, her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks, and she spun around on her heels. "Gummy! The shortbread!" she shrieked, then bolted for the chute that had deposited her in the bunker. As Gummy blinked and gave a small growl, she leapt onto the mattress that had softened her fall into the bunker and scrambled back up the tube while screaming, "I hope they're not too overdone!"

Wriggling and slithering as best she could, she struggled against the air currents of the pipe and fell back out the chute by the series of doors. Coughing for a second, she dashed to the first door. She tapped a foot impatiently as each one opened on its own, slowly, painfully, and loudly. When there was room, she darted forward, and when she reached the first chute, she paused, then calmly opened a small door that was to the left, then darted up. She popped up outside the cafe in the alley, and then quickly grabbed her keys from her hair and unlocked the kitchen door.

Upon entering, she was hit with a blast of heat, and saw the roar of a fire bursting from the oven in which she had left the shortbread. Placing both hands upon her head, she screeched in surprise, then looked down in a deadpan manner as she felt Gummy waddle up beside her. He glanced up at her. "You could have reminded me," she grumped.

He merely growled. He stuck out his tongue.

With a snort, Pinkie dug into her hair again and managed to pull out a fire extinguisher. If other people were around, it'd be a mix of asking how she had that there, or simply "that's Pinkie," but there was no-one to comment. Secretly, even she wasn't sure sometimes how things got in her hair, but they were always there when she desperately needed them.

Pulling the pin of the extinguisher, she unleashed the entire bottle on the stove, and soon the entire kitchen was covered in a foamy mess. The flame retardant did wonders, but it coated every surface. She gave a small huff as she wiped some of it off the table. Crossing her arms, she kicked the extinguisher away and mumbled, "Well, guess it's overdone."

Gummy clicked a couple of times.

"Yeah, you can say that again, buddy," she murmured. After taking in the scene for a moment, she gasped. "Sonata! And we need to figure out how to make her happy and—" Groaning, she ran her hand down her face and sighed, "After I clean this up, I guess."

She paused. Shooting a look upward, she smiled and muttered, "Well, I guess I'll just have to see her in the next scene."

Gummy blinked.

It was Pinkie. He didn't need to try and figure it out.

***

"Oh, a fajita and ice cream taco with extra cheese and chocolate sauce? Yes, please," Sonata muttered to herself as she rolled over in her bed. Aside from soft snores and the occasional murmur in her sleep, her bedroom was quiet. Since drowsiness had overtaken her, the weather had grown even snowier, and great flakes of white beat against her window, caking the glass before slowly melting from the heat inside the apartment.

With a grunt, she twisted again, ruffling some of the sheets and making her snort and cough. Blearily, her eyes partly opened, and she saw the world through blurry vision. There was a soft glow from the street, and for a second, her sleep-addled brain thought it saw a silhouette cast a shadow on her night stand. However, when she looked a bit harder, it appeared to simply be something from outside, and she yawned and closed her eyes again.

Shifting her weight, she mumbled something incomprehensible under her breath, and then whispered, "Goodnight, creepy shadow sleep demon."

With another huff, she rolled to her side and tucked her hands under her cheek. Her mind paused for a moment. There was a shuffle in the room, and then she heard a voice state, "Goodnight, Sonata! Dream of cupcakes and cotton candy!" Sonata smiled. How nice of the not sleep paralysis demon to wish her well.

Then her eyes shot open.

Startled, her bloodstream pumped instantly full of adrenaline, and she scrambled into a sitting position, her pupils wide in fright. At the end of her bed, there was a shape that looked vaguely human, and had a massive poof of hair. The light from outside played through it, making it look like it was on fire, and all she could see were a pair of glowing dots staring directly at her. On the foot of her bed, radiant purple orbs occasionally winked in and out of existence.

Briefly, her lungs froze, and her heart thudded heavily in her chest. Despite trying to breathe in, she couldn't get enough air to even squeak out a "what." All she could do was whimper and shiver, and gaze back in abject horror at the being at the end of her bed. Was it a nightmare? Was her brain currently punishing her for failing to cheer up her sisters?

She pinched herself. Wasn't a dream. Silhouetted demon was still staring at her from the foot of the bed. Now it was smiling. Nothing but a razor-thin line of white. And a giggle. Oh, a giggle. Perfect.

She was dead.

As her mind flashed to her last thousand years of existence, she could only imagine all the tacos she couldn't eat, all the burritos she hadn't tried. What would Adagio or Aria say when they found her in the morning? Would they toss what was left of her taco mix? Would they honor her last wish of donating it all to the nearest Mexican restaurant?

With a whimper, she pulled her legs up and desperately tried to get enough air to fill her lungs. At last, it seemed to catch, and as she was about to shriek, a hand reached out and covered her mouth. There was a soothing "shhhh" and then she caught the pink skin of her observer. Along with the chipper voice, it sparked a bit of familiarity in her brain.

After a few seconds, she blinked and then frowned. One of the Rainbooms. Great.

"Oh, yeah, you're totally here," Sonata grunted, which made the other girl turn her head. As it revealed a poofy, pink mane, Sonata tried to place her name. Twinkie Tie? Crazy Drummer Girl? She shrugged. Either way, if she was seeing one of the girls who had left her without any power, it must have been a dream. Or a nightmare.

What would one of them be doing in she and her sisters' apartment without the rest of them, in the middle of the night? That'd be simply too absurd to possibly occur. She could only snort as Twinkie continued to project an aura of confusion, as she gave a perplexed, "Huh?"

"Well, duh," Sonata quipped as she threw up her arms in disgust. As she did, she caught the twin purple orbs of whatever was with Twinkie disappear, out of sync, then reappear. She forced back a shudder before she held her gaze on it long. Instead, she pointed a finger at Twinkie and stated, "You're a dream vision, obviously. Maybe it was that quesadilla that I had for breakfast..."

Twinkie gagged. "Don't tell Twilight you had that! She'll be mortified by it in..." She paused and giggled. "Nah, that'd spoil the surprise!" At that, she shimmied a bit closer and leaned in, revealing her blue eyes that glittered like twin diamonds. Although she had a smile on her face, there was a tad hint of sadness that pulled at her cheeks. After a few seconds, it morphed into a concerned expression.

"You okay? You were totally freaking out that I was some monster coming here to suck your blood, or eat your bones, or suck your blood and eat your bones and also make you perform Mariachi for the rest of your undead life and—" Sonata grimaced. Despite the challenge of ignoring the words that were spewing from Twinkie's mouth, Sonata managed to let them filter through without paying them much heed. For the most part, she was rambling on about different things that she thought Sonata believed that she'd do.

Granted, having to cater sugar foods at a diabetic convention and not make any money from it sounded a bit more specific to Twinkie than her.

As the other girl continued to blabber, Sonata rested her chin on the palm of her hand and simply watched. Arching a brow in a bemused manner, she finally asked, "Are you a sleep demon or not? When is this dream going to turn into something horrible already?"

For a second, the other girl stammered and then stopped yammering about the fates of Sonata. Instead, she merely gazed at Sonata, and it was almost like gears were turning in her head. At last, she simply stated, "Um, I'm not a sleep demon." She reached out and pinched Sonata's nose. As Sonata recoiled and covered her sniffer, Twinkie exclaimed, "See! You're awake already." She tittered. "Silly. I'm also not Twinkie Tie, I'm Pinkie Pie!"

Sonata's heart suddenly sank. Had she blabbered the name that she thought Pinkie had? It was impossible, unless Pinkie was a mind reader. Maybe she was. Did mind readers eat lots of sugar and play drums?

"All right, if you're not a sleep demon or nightmare, then what are you doing here?" Crossing her arms and pouting, Sonata shot Pinkie a glare. She waggled a finger at Pinkie and added, "You know, I'm still pretty mad at all you Rainbooms." She indicated her empty neck. When she did, Pinkie winced, if barely perceptible, and she scratched the back of her head.

"Yeah... well, about that..." Pinkie mumbled. "Oops? Don't be so evil next time?" Awkwardly, she shrugged her shoulders and then reached down to grab the two purple eyes. As she did, she pulled it back up and revealed a green lizard thing, like a mini-alligator or something. It looked at her for a second and then opened its maw. Where teeth should have been, there was instead nothing but gum.

Pinkie started to stroke the mini-gator.

Nonplussed, Sonata raised a hand in emphasis to say something, but ultimately remained silent instead. She pursed her lips and hummed before she meekly asked, "What are you doing here?" Pinkie blinked in shock. Had she seriously not been expecting to be prodded about that?

As she continued to stroke the lizard, Pinkie simply smiled, revealing a gleaming white set of teeth. Unnaturally white. Unnaturally perfect. Sonata could only scratch her chin in thought. Usually it was only Adagio getting all the cosmetic jobs to be as "perfect as possible." These looked natural, somehow, given she had seen how much Pinkie had eaten at the cafeteria when they had proposed the battle of the bands.

Granted, she might have been the sole reason that Taco Tuesday only had one run at the school, but that was neither here nor there. She had learned moderation afterward. She'd only eat twenty tacos, if given the chance. Far less than literally every last one in the cafeteria.

Maybe she'd have to propose a Fajita Friday or Burrito Bonus as concepts. Would just have to go back to the school, and probably not get beaten into a pulp by a bunch of angry teens.

"You catch all that?" she heard Pinkie ask, and Sonata looked up. With a curious hum, she tilted her head, and Pinkie suppressed a giggle. With a playful poke of Sonata's arm, she declared, "Silly! I was explaining that I was petting Gummy, my pet alligator! That's what I'm doing here!" She pointed right to the floor, where he still stood at the end of Sonata's bed.

Suddenly, jabs of pain shot through Sonata's forehead, and she massaged her temples as she held back a hiss of irritation. Seriously, was she stupid, too? With a renewed bit of vigor and exasperation, Sonata stated gruffly, "No, what are you doing, in my room? How'd you get in? What are you going to do? Bonk me to death with your drumsticks?"

Snorting and sniggering, Pinkie covered her mouth with a hand and then shook her head. She set Gummy back down. The alligator protested, then turned to stare at Sonata. He didn't blink.

Sonata, for her part, nodded her head, and Pinkie stated, "Okay, well, I'm totally not here because I managed to jimmy the lock in your window, and I definitely wasn't doing that just so I could slip in and kidnap you, after observing you in your sleep for a bit to see if you suffered from sleep paralysis demons—congrats! You don't—and I definitely wasn't planning to forcibly reform you with the power of friendship, and then use you to force your sisters to reform, and then get your powers back and then use those powers to take over the party world!"

Despite not being the one who spoke it, Sonata felt her chest tighten and her lungs scramble for air just from listening to Pinkie's monologue. At the end, Pinkie inhaled loudly, to the point of sounding like she had inhaled about half the room. If Sonata wasn't still in shock, she would have noticed a couple of items on her dresser move slightly from the flow of air.

As Sonata's brain parsed Pinkie's information, she gave Pinkie a flat, half-lidded stare. Dully, since her mind was still processing, she said, "What."

"Nothing!" Pinkie replied cheerfully, pressing a hand to her mouth and suppressing a giggle. Beside her, Gummy merely gazed at Sonata. Now that he was more visible, he did not blink once. Once. Despite both eyes peering in slightly different, wall-eyed directions, it was as if the two slit pupils were boring into her own soul. She shuddered, the blackness consuming her thoughts.

Catching Sonata watching Gummy, Pinkie picked him back up and asked, "Wanna hold him?" There was a brief flash of mirth across Pinkie's mouth as she stated, "He doesn't bite. Really." She pulled up part of his lip and revealed the complete lack of any teeth. "See?"

Gummy wriggled his tail and gave a couple of growls. Even though she didn't wish to keep her gaze locked with the alligator, she couldn't help peer at him. As she caught the reflection of Pinkie on his eyes, she shuddered. In the back of her mind, she still couldn't quite figure out why one of the Rainbooms wanted to spend any time with her. Was it some kind of scheme? A way to get her to break and share any secrets Adagio might have been cooking up? Not that Adagio really told her anything, anyway.

Pinkie caught Sonata's hesitation, and she shrugged. Placing Gummy back down, she stated, "It's like you're having a flashback to some horrible memory after you lost your magic." Wincing, she added, "No offense."

At that, Sonata briefly recalled the night of losing her singing. While all three had been distraught and hastily retreated from the stage, she had also been hungry. After all, conquering the world promised to be draining, and already she had worked up an appetite beyond just wanting to feast on emotions. Also, said hunger for emotions was basically all translated into human hunger after becoming a proper girl.

Although Adagio and Aria had basically fled, she had stuck around for a moment when she spied a taco stand that had been set up to one side of the stadium. From what she had seen, it appeared empty and ripe for the picking. Although she should have ran, given that she was probably being chased, the promise of a fresh taco, or even partly fresh taco, was too tempting.

When she arrived there, her heart almost dropped when it was clearly empty. Except for the one geeky kid who was walking away with the last one. For a second or two, she had paused to contemplate, then walked up to him and pretended to be interested in him. Maybe it was a bit soon right after the battle failed so hard, but also, he was one of those geeky kids. Micro Chips, or something, and it was easy enough to promise an evening out, and that she was totally reformed now that she didn't have evil magic controlling her, and she had snatched that taco, no problem.

And then she never saw him again. For good reason.

She held back a gag, then felt something gnawing on one of her toes through the blankets. Glancing down, she spotted Gummy, who was straight as an arrow, on the edge of her foot, gumming on her toe. Although there wasn't any pain, her reflexes instantly kicked in, and she shrieked loudly.

Pinkie covered her ears, and Sonata kicked frantically. For a second or two, Gummy held on, then his jaw slipped from her toe, and he catapulted through the air. After soaring in an arc, he impacted Sonata's saxophone, which fell over and echoed with a loud "clang!" It was silent for nary a moment, as the guitar wobbled on its wall hanger, then it slipped off. With a resounding crash, it whacked into the dresser and then toppled onto the ground. There was a sickly twang from one of its now broken strings.

Sonata winced. If neither of her sisters heard that, she'd be surprised. Also, Pinkie had better pay for fixing things.

As if to answer her worry, there was a sudden pounding on the wall shared by her and Aria, at the far end past Pinkie and near her dresser. "Sonata! If you don't go back to bed right now, you'll have a new first course: out the window!" After a beat, Aria huffed, "That didn't even make sense. You're making me more of an idiot every day!"

With that, there was another grunt, and Aria stormed back to her bed, since the floorboards creaked momentarily and then there was another squeak from her bed, and then pure quiet. Sonata gulped. Pinkie held back a chuckle instead. While Sonata's heart continued to pound, she breathed in a few times and shook herself.

As her mind settled, Sonata glanced to the right and stared morosely out the window. Even when she had an intruder in her room, her sisters cared more about their own problems than her. Granted, they were sirens, or former sirens, and that carried with it a bit of streak of independence, even if they worked together. If Adagio had had her way, she would have simply ordered the other two around completely and never taken their input for anything.

If Aria had wrested control of the Dazzlings, then there could have been any number of outcomes. Might have just fought the entire school and pounded them into submission. Maybe some kind of rap battle. Who knew?

Regardless, her mind danced with the various thoughts swirling through it. If Pinkie had anything malicious planned, she probably would have sprung it by that point, so she was more than likely safe. Probably. Or, Pinkie might have been planning some death by chocolate or something, but that wouldn't work. Sonata was immune. She'd rather die by tacos.

Outside, the weather seemed to worsen by the minute, as fat snowflakes fell from the sky and plopped onto the glass pane. Slight sheets of condensation from the temperature difference coated the edges around the seal of the window. Probably by morning, they'd have grown even larger.

Drawing her legs closer to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and sighed. She caught the faint scratching of claws as Gummy scrambled back up onto her bed. From the slight tearing noise, he probably had left a mark or two. She winced at that. Either she'd have to learn sewing to patch it and risk stabbing her fingers, or risk Adagio discovering it, and probably get chewed out and questioned. Probably get called an idiot or something again.

With another pained inhale, she switched her attention to Gummy. The alligator gazed at her once more, his expression completely blank. Not even the tiniest bit of curiosity or the like. Was there even a brain behind those eyes?

Continuing her stare, she swallowed and hung her head. Her bangs flopped in front of her eyes, and she frowned when Pinkie shifted in her spot. After a few seconds, Pinkie muttered, "Uh, sorry, I suppose maybe, possibly, kinda, sorta, we might have gotten out on the wrong foot. What with me appearing in your room and all, and being one of the girls who did kinda take away your magic and all that stuff." Sonata glanced up from her mopey position and shot Pinkie a death glare.

Awkwardly scratching the back of her head, Pinkie tittered, "But, you know, you were kinda evil." She momentarily looped a finger around her ear and declared, "And you made people go all—" In a flurry of motion, she spun her hand more frantically, and Sonata rolled her eyes.

The point was received.

Placatingly, Pinkie held up her hands and mumbled, "No offense."

"None taken," Sonata finally murmured dejectedly. Was there much point being upset? It wasn't like she could influence anyone to be her thrall and thereby get back at Pinkie or any of the others.

With a shake of her head, Sonata buried herself further into her dejected position. Whistling gusts of wind battered against the window, buffeting fat globs of snow onto the glass. Sonata didn't react, and the room fell silent.

As there was a sound from Gummy, Pinkie gave a soft hum and then Sonata heard her move. "Aw, don't be all mopey, dopey! Pinkie is here to help!" Although a couple of tears threatened to trickle out, Sonata managed to keep her composure. She raised her head to stare at Pinkie. The girl had a hand outstretched, her face gleaming brightly. Somehow her teeth managed to twinkle.

Sonata had heard an expression while at CHS: "It's a Pinkie thing." As she continued to inspect Pinkie's open posture and friendly grin, she mentally shrugged and gave a nod. Might as well go along with it being a "Pinkie thing." She still only stared at the proffered hand.

While seconds ticked down, Gummy randomly licked at his eyes with his tongue, and the howl of the wind continued to pick up. Pinkie's grin slowly expanded, although Sonata could tell that she was beginning to strain at it, given the slight quivering of her cheeks.

Was she supposed to do something? Human customs never clicked with her some days, and especially when she was still in somewhat of a stupor, it made even less sense. After she pondered for a few more seconds, she blinked. It was a handshake. Right. Normal human behavior.

She arched a brow. "Why should I shake it? It could have something to knock me out on it." Crossing her arms, she huffed, "You did say that you were here to kidnap me—"

"Ah!" Pinkie held up a finger. "I specifically and in no uncertain terms told you that I was not here to kidnap you and reform you against your will, remember?" Shoving her hand a bit further forward, she exclaimed as she winked at Sonata, "This is what friends do when they first meet." With Sonata's mouth still wrinkled in a bemused frown, she tittered, "We're totally meeting for the first time as friends, right? Before you were all evil and mean, but now you're just normal, and we can definitely be friends!"

By this point, she was starting to jiggle with what Sonata could only assume was excitement or anticipation. Conversely, all she could think about was how it would probably tick off her sisters more if they found out. Perhaps a bit of her confusion came through, because Pinkie weakly chuckled, "I may feel a teensy weensy bit bad for leaving you a way to not eat."

"Uh, we aren't starving." Perplexed, Sonata leaned back slightly from Pinkie, and she sized her up. As she said that, her stomach rumbled, and she blushed faintly. "Could go for a midnight taco snack, actually." When Pinkie shot her a knowing look, she laughed and looked away. "Or burrito. Or sushi."

"Well, you still can't eat, you know..." Pinkie rotated her free hand on its wrist.

"Emotions? Mind control people?" Sonata sighed. "Yeah, true."

"Yeah, well, anyway, I kinda felt a bit bad, and you also don't have a way to express yourselves!" At that, Pinkie's eyes went wide, and she pushed her shaking hand toward Sonata further. With an insistent whine, she added, "Like, we saved the world and all that stuff, and Equestria, and anywhere else, but you know, if my friends could have done it without making you deafer than a doornail when it comes to singing, I'd go for that." She blushed. "Although, I guess I was a bit on the an-ger-y side because you had all been influencing me and my friends..."

As Pinkie finished, Sonata stared at her offered hand more closely. In her mind, she could already envision Adagio having a fit and Aria probably getting ready to toss her out of the apartment, but what did it matter? Couldn't make Christmas much worse, could it?

Besides, Pinkie seemed like she was all right, all things considered. Another foodie, she supposed. Plus, the sincerity in the girl's eyes shone like twin candles, glittering and sparkling like they were caught in the sunlight itself. What harm could there be if Sonata took the hand?

At her decision, Sonata gave a small shrug and reached past her legs to clasp Pinkie's outstretched hand. Limply starting to give it a shake, she muttered, "I guess I can't look any worse than I already do in Dagi and Ari's—gack!" Before she could finish, Pinkie yanked hard on her arm, which made her tumble forward in her bed and into the waiting embrace of her new friend. Or a supposed friend.

Instantly, Pinkie wrapped Sonata up in an embrace and exclaimed, "Yeee! Hi, new friend!" She paused for a second. "Hmm," Sonata heard her mutter, "feels like somepony else might have said that at some point." After another beat, Pinkie shrugged and, while still keeping her grip tight on Sonata, proclaimed, "Oh well! Reduce, reuse, recycle!"

"What."

"Doesn't matter. New friend friendship squeeze!" Without warning, there was a tight press on Sonata, and Sonata gasped as she felt her ribs be squished together as Pinkie tightened her grip. Spots started to form in front of Sonata's eyes, and she gagged and hacked as she strained to push herself back. Yet, somehow, Pinkie's vice-like hold grew more constricting and lost none of its strength. If anything, it became even more powerful.

With all the breath she had left, Sonata choked out, "Air!"

As if she hadn't thought about it at all, Pinkie let out a weak giggle and then her embrace slackened. Almost immediately, Sonata inhaled deeply, the rush of fresh air making her vision swim. The dots and circles that had been hazing her swiftly vanished. She held her head and massaged her temples. Between breaths, her chest had a few spasms before it finally became nominal.

If it had gotten much worse, she probably could have had a few broken ribs. Remembering correctly, she may have heard a few cracks, though. She checked. After prodding a few times, she didn't feel any lasting pain, so it was most likely only her imagination.

Brushing herself off, Sonata straightened her pajamas and pulled herself back under her sheets again. As soon as the warmth of the blankets hugged her tight, she furrowed her brow and stated, "Okay, well, thanks, friend, I guess." She huffed. "Whatever 'friend' means."

Pinkie opened her mouth. However, before she could say anything, Sonata huffed, "Now, I would like to get back to a dream I had about hosting a Mexican restaurant with First Course, okay?" She whimpered. "They were all singing about cooking tacos." Wiping one of her eyes free of a tear or two, she quiveringly added, "It was beautiful."

"Nope! No can do, bestie!" Pinkie proclaimed as Sonata closed her eyes. As much as the darkness of her room promised to embrace her into sweet slumber, she couldn't escape the seizing hands of Pinkie. Pinkie hauled her back up to a sitting position, and Sonata grumbled as she slowly opened her eyelids.

After cracking them open enough to see Pinkie, she frowned and mumbled, "For realsies, I need my sleep!" Sighing under her breath, she added, "Because that Mexican restaurant looked really good." She rubbed her stomach again afterward.

Seeing that Pinkie still wasn't moving, and Gummy was now climbing onto her hair, Sonata snorted and flicked both her hands in a shooing motion at Pinkie. "You've made a friend, now go do it somewhere else!" At that, she batted away Pinkie's hands and then went back to lying down on her bed.

For how long she was allowed to attempt to sleep, she wasn't sure, but eventually, there was a perplexed and bemused "hmph!" from Pinkie. As much as her brain warned her that it was a mistake to engage with Pinkie, Sonata peeked from under her eyelids at Pinkie, who was frowning.

Despite how stealthy Sonata believed her motion was, Pinkie appeared to pick up on being watched immediately. Although her cross grimace didn't change, she did state, "I came here for a reason, and you're going to help me figure out what it is!" Leaning down, she pulled Sonata, again, into a sitting position. Sonata groaned. One of the blankets slid off, leaving her feeling all the colder.

However, the words Pinkie had stated intrigued her. Either Pinkie was there on a wild goose chase, or Pinkie somehow had sensed her issue with her sisters. Chewing on her thoughts for a second or two, Sonata could only tilt her head in curiosity. Some of her hair flopped over her eyes, and she blew it out with a wimpy puff.

"Oh?"

With another hum and huff, Pinkie briefly scratched her chin and then glanced at Gummy, who was now hanging off of one lock of her hair. Pulling him off, she looked him in the eye, then muttered, "Maybe I shouldn't have revealed my ho—hand so early, Gummy." In a louder voice, she turned back to face Sonata and exclaimed, "Well, I heard that you were feeling pretty down, and I thought I'd come here to help you cheer up!"

Puffing out her cheeks a tad with a pout, she clarified with a small bit of sadness in her voice, "No-one should be unhappy around Christmas! It's, like, the whole reason for the season!" As she threw up her arms for emphasis, there was a tiny burst of confetti along with a party horn that disappeared just as quickly as it materialized.

Sonata blinked and coughed away the confetti. Who could have known, though, that she was so dejected because of her sisters? It wasn't like any of them went to CHS still, and she kept fairly insular when she worked, same with Aria. Who had blabbed? Who could have told?

As the questions went through her mind, her thoughts ground to a halt as she realized, How did she even know I was upset tonight?

Suddenly, her blood ran cold, and she stared into Pinkie's blue orbs. Was she being spied upon? There was no way there was a hidden camera in her room somewhere, was there? That'd be silly. No-one had that kind of ability, right?

Pushing those prying thoughts from her brain, Sonata instead crossed her arms and gave Pinkie a side-eyed look. Pinkie flinched an almost imperceptible amount under it. She darted her gaze to either side, to avoid Sonata's look. Faintly, a couple of sweat drops twinkled in the glow from the streetlight outside.

"So, if there is a person who knows I'm all mopey," she began while Pinkie only squirmed all the more, "who was it?" At that, trickles of perspiration formed on Pinkie's brow, and she tittered and wriggled. Something was up, and Sonata would get to the bottom of it. And then probably have Aria "deal" with whoever it was. If Aria would still talk to her, that is.

"Well, uh, you see," Pinkie replied, her eyes darting from left to right and resting on various objects throughout the room. She gulped. "The thing about that is, you'd probably think I was crazy if I told you." From her skirt, she pulled a couple of handkerchiefs and dabbed furiously at her forehead. She leaned from one side to the other as she stated, "You know, it is just a bit weird..."

Crossing her forearms, Sonata arched a brow at Pinkie and asked, "Oh?" She didn't say anything else, just remained inquisitive and stared at Pinkie. As every second ticked by, Pinkie coiled closer into a sitting fetal position before she suddenly sprung up in excitement. Although she wasn't sweating as much, she still did what she could to avoid Sonata's gaze.

She glanced at Gummy. Gummy peered back. "It was Gummy!" When he was mentioned, the alligator opened and closed its mouth a couple of times, the gums slapping together with a wet, sickly sound. Pinkie tittered. "Yeah! He has this, uh, sadness sense, and he showed me where to go!" Face going a deeper shade of red, she huddled into a tight ball. "Yep! Totally him!"

"Your alligator..." Sonata began with a drawl. "Your alligator told you?" Confused, bemused, and befuddled, Sonata pointed at the pet and arched a brow. Scrunching her nose in thought, she gave a curious hum, and Pinkie frantically nodded her head.

"Yep! It's abso-positively impeccable!" While Sonata continued to remain silent, Pinkie's mouth cracked into an uncomfortable smile. Sonata merely gave her an incredulous look. Before Sonata could open her mouth to protest, however, Pinkie proclaimed, "And he pointed me to you! So now I can make your frownies go upside downies, and then it'll all be better, and you'll have more friends, and you won't ever ask how I found out about you!" Giggling nearly uncontrollably, she added, "Deal?"

Sonata's gaze bored practically through Pinkie. If confusion was infectious, her expression would have probably been the most virulent strain of it around. She finally muttered, "Huh?"

"Christmas is no time to be mopey!" Jabbing a thumb toward her chest, Pinkie straightened her shoulders and posture and declared, "I'm here to make it all better!" There was a growl from Gummy, and she patted him gently on the head. "And Gummy, too."

Sonata scratched her chin. "Hey, if your alligator is so smart and magical, then how come he didn't know about my sisters?" If she was honest, something didn't quite add up, but then again, it was late. Or early. Whichever was most appropriate to being woken in the night.

"Pfft!" With a dismissive wave of her hand, Pinkie rolled her eyes and smirked. "Oh, I've put a blocker on those alerts months ago. Like they were sooo sad and mad and grumpy and frumpy and—"

Pinkie's eyes went wide. Gasping, she clamped her hands over her mouth for a moment and then peered briefly at Sonata. There was a coy flash in her expression, and after releasing her silencing grip, she clicked her tongue a few times. Shaking her head, she merely laughed and shrugged. "I mean, he was focused on you! Because you're the... nicest?"

With a panicked, wall-eyed gaze, she tilted over near Gummy and muttered under her breath, "Almost said the secret part out loud." She got another croak or growl in response.

"Said what part out loud?" Sonata inquired. "I don't follow."

Momentarily blinking at Sonata, Pinkie shot a quick glance at Gummy and then reached out and patted Sonata on the shoulder. With a comforting smile, she told Sonata in a faintly condescending tone, "Don't worry about it." She poked Sonata once in the chest and ordered, "Just tell me what's up, and ol' Auntie Pinkie Pie will cook up something that'll make your down get out of town!"

Sonata gawked at Pinkie. Was she trying to get secret information out to the Rainbooms? Had Star Swirl, if he was still around, put Twilight Sparkle up to something? Maybe he wanted them finally removed as a threat to Equestria? Not like they could, what with their missing powers, but who knew what he knew, if he knew anything? Maybe Twilight wasn't even friends with him. Maybe he was dead.

But there was no way that Pinkie could be as interested in Sonata's plight as she acted. They were enemies! But also friends. Frenemies? Eneriends? As she tried to figure out the right word for it, her head started to throb, which made her groan. Massaging both her temples, she closed her eyes and contemplated.

As she did, Pinkie leaned in and wriggled excitedly. To Sonata's credit, she didn't immediately push away the person who was violating what little personal space she was used to, but she also could have used an extra inch or two of freedom.

Biting her lip, Sonata gave some muffled grunts a couple of times and faintly rocked from side to side in thought. Confliction dancing across her face, she pushed herself back from Pinkie and gave a muted mumble. Pinkie eagerly pushed ahead. With a sigh, Sonata hung her head and muttered, "Fine. I guess you're going to keep bugging me until I break." Softly, she griped, "The worst, for realsies."

Leaning to one side as she thought, she gave a quick recap of the night, with particular emphasis on how irritated Adagio had been. When she finished, she watched Pinkie ponder, and she added, "Like, for realsies, they're just being awful." She balled a hand into a fist, but then slowly unclenched it. "Like, I totally get being mad about us losing our pendants." Pointing past Pinkie, she indicated a small pile of red on her dresser. As if it sensed it had people's attention, the remnants of her magical pendant glittered with a subdued sheen.

"I'm still angry about that, but"—she sighed—"you know, it's just that it's Christmas, and why should we be upset during Christmas?" At that, she got a nod from Pinkie. "But Adagio and Aria are just grumpy. Depressed, maybe? I don't know. Just, even before we lost our magic, they didn't get into the groove much, and now they don't want to at all."

Brushing down her hair and twirling it a couple of times around one of her fingers, she muttered, "Usually they at least pretend for me, but Adagio wouldn't even help set up the tree this year. She at least suffers through it normally." She allowed her one hand to fall to the mattress. It thumped dully and weakly.

With a gasp, Pinkie clasped both her hands to her cheeks and gawked at Sonata. For a second, she merely flapped her mouth, trying to probably form words instead of looking like a goldfish, but no words came out. Finally, she sputtered a couple of times, but the shock and surprise still plastered her face.

Finally, with a couple more coughs and stammers, she exclaimed, "No Christmas tree!" At Sonata's head shake, Pinkie sprang up to her knees and grabbed the ex-siren's shoulders. Shaking Sonata, she yelped, "How could they not have a Christmas tree up?!"

All Sonata could do was weakly murmur a response as her world bobbed up and down. Pinkie continued jostling her for a moment or two, then slowed. At last, she relented and gave a nervous titter. "Uh, well, yeah, that's bad." Sonata only whimpered, since her head throbbed from the constant motion.

"They're just like mean, ol' Windi... days! Yeah! Gusty days! Really bad. Just like Jack Frost, or Faust, or whatever they call him!" Pinkie swung an arm emphatically, to the point of almost smashing into Sonata's bed's frame. She narrowly grazed her knuckles instead and whispered, "Horsefeathers!"

"I know it's horrible!" Sonata whined as her lips pulled downward in a frown. "It's the totally worst thing around! Who can be upset at Christmas?!" After a second, she blinked and muttered, "Right. Me, too." Sighing, she glanced aside and instead stared at one of her bedroom posters. First Course Christmas music probably wouldn't have helped at all, except for maybe her. When she first played their music, Adagio had snapped the CD in half.

Apparently they "had no talent" or something. Not like she and her sisters did now.

Pinkie patted Sonata's shoulder. With a genuine smile, she made sure that Sonata was looking at her, and then stated, "Hey, we'll make all three of you have a great Christmas! As friends, hopefully!" She took her hand off and held it out again. "To friendship?"

Sonata stared at the offered hand again. While she had already shaken it once, it was mostly just because she didn't see a reason not to, rather than a desire to really be friends. But, there was something about Pinkie, that despite how she was a bit over the top, she did appear to actually want to see Sonata improve. When that realization arrived, Sonata's throat tightened, and she huffed.

Reluctantly stretching forth her hand, she muttered, "Sure. To friendship."

"Grr-reat!" Pinkie exclaimed. Another show of confetti somehow materialized from her hands as she threw them into the air in glee. As she saw them settle on the floor and bed, Sonata pinched the bridge of her nose. Cleaning that up would be both a pain and awkward to explain. Definitely couldn't vacuum it up, not without Aria hearing and raising a fuss. Adagio slept through anything, unless it was a soap opera.

She snorted. "Can I go to bed now? I'm pretty sleepy." On cue, she fought back a yawn as Pinkie suppressed a giggle with her hand.

"Not yet! I think that I have an idea on how to cheer them up!" Prodding Sonata in the arm with an index finger, Pinkie proclaimed, "You're going to invite them to the school Christmas party I've hosted every year for the past... three years!" At Sonata's bemused expression, Pinkie added, "Principal Celestia let's me use the school to host a party for all my friends, which is the entire school, so you, and the cheese puff hair one, and the grumpy one—"

"Dagi and Ari," Sonata interjected, although she couldn't help but snicker at Pinkie's mostly accurate depictions of her sisters.

"Right, right, well, you can all come, and it can be a party meant specifically for you, to right those upside down smiles!" Before Sonata could react, Pinkie had looped both her index fingers into the two edges of Sonata's mouth, and she pulled Sonata's cheeks upward in the shape of a smile. Sonata held back a snarl.

After a few seconds, Pinkie pulled them back, and Sonata's cheeks flabbily returned to place. Wiping her fingers off, Pinkie added, "No-one can resist a certified Pinkie Pie classic!" She hastily continued, "And no-one has ever proven that the punch is spiked, except when Spike sleeps in it."

Sonata huffed. "I guess, but I don't think they'd like it." Hanging her head and feeling her hair fall onto the back of her neck, she mumbled, "They don't like a lot of things about this year."

"Ah, don't worry about it. You can even help out with the 'Sorry We Took Your Powers but You Were being kinda Evil but Do You Want to be Friends' Christmas party!" Throwing up her hands again, Pinkie mimed a "ta-da!", but Sonata barely reacted. Face falling flat, Pinkie quipped, "Eh, the name's a work in progress. Probably, anyway."

For a moment, Sonata assessed Pinkie, then she slowly nodded her head. Was there really a point in arguing any further? It wasn't like she had any ideas for what she could do otherwise. It was unlikely that Adagio or Aria would be keen on trying Christmas tacos, even if it would probably knock their socks off. So, giving whatever Pinkie had in mind a shot couldn't hurt anything. Theoretically, anyway.

"Yeah, sure, I can help, I guess," she grumbled in reply. She squawked when Pinkie pulled her into another hug. However, it wasn't quite as rib-cracking, and she managed to wriggle out of it. When Pinkie shot her a puppy-dog-like begging frown, Sonata huffed, "Now, for realsies, I'm sleepy." She glanced briefly at her pillow. "And, uh, the longer you're here, the creepier it's getting."

"True, true," answered Pinkie with a sagely scratch of her chin. After a second, her eyes brightened and she declared, "Well, I guess I'll see you shortly! Sweet Snacks Cafe! Tomorrow! Be there or be square! Although, it is hip to be square..." She shook herself. Snapping her fingers a couple of times at Sonata, Pinkie grabbed Gummy with a quick "yoink!" and then headed toward the window. She pulled up from the bottom of it, and it remained fastened in place.

Frowning, Pinkie glanced back down toward and then strained further. She grunted. She groaned. She moaned. Despite her attempts, to the point of Sonata slipping out from under her sheets to get up to help, the window remained closed. Then Pinkie smacked her forehead. "Oh, silly!" she proclaimed. Grabbing the lock on the middle portion of the frame, she undid it and then opened the window.

As soon as she did, frigid air blasted into the room, leaving the ground caked with snow and ice. Sonata shivered, and Pinkie hopped partly through, to straddle the sill. Giving a final salute, she exclaimed, "Don't forget! Goodnight, new friend whom I'm not kidnapping to forcibly reform and then use her sisters to take over the party world!"

With that long-winded farewell, Pinkie rolled over the sill and into the snow below. Sonata blinked. As Pinkie left, the window closed behind her, and the lock slid back into place.

As the room descended into silence, Sonata shivered and rubbed her arms with her hands. After a few seconds, all she could think to ask was, "What?"

Chapter 3 - Sweet Carols

Scrunching and crunching chunks of snow compressed under Sonata's boots as she wandered the streets of Canterlot City. Around her, the bustle of the city echoed and hooted, rattling her enough that she shivered more out of instinct than out of true chill. Although there were not many people out on the sidewalks, the roads were currently still filled with cars. They weren't bumper to bumper, but given it was only a few more days until Christmas, she presumed they were all last-minute shoppers searching for the right gifts.

From the sickly yellow sky, snowflakes occasionally floated down, to rest either on the brown piles of dirty, mushy snow before melting into them, or to gently descend onto Sonata's nose. When they became too numerous, she sneezed and wiped at her nostrils, only for the process to eventually repeat.

The section of sidewalk that she was on transitioned from beaten down, unshoveled snow, to more recently cleared, albeit still untended cement and slushy gunk. With each footfall, her boots gave disgusting squelches or squishes, which only made her already downcast demeanor fall further. Thankfully, she had thus far avoided being splashed by any of the passing cars, although she had come close once or twice to getting a free shower in the salty wastewater.

By now, the sun had set well past the horizon, as Pinkie had later texted her, somehow, despite not being given her number, that the time to meet would be later in the evening. Apparently the cafe was only being given to her after closing hours, which was well into the night. Granted, that didn't really bother her, since she did have a shift that day, but when she'd normally be in the apartment, either sleeping or eating, and otherwise doing her best to stay out of her sisters' way, she was out in the cold.

Underneath her deep purple winter jacket, she still wore the uniform of her employer. The Sizzler, to be specific. Whether it was a blessing that she worked at a Mexican restaurant, and thereby knew the ins and outs of the cuisine, or a curse, given that she couldn't partake of the food while on the clock, she couldn't be sure. Regardless, it was her part in keeping the Dazzlings out of living on the streets.

She even got an employee discount.

Broken from her reverie, she yelped as a car went careening by, and she jumped out of the way in the nick of time. A wall of brown water went flying from the puddle that the driver had dashed through, and Sonata tsked as she felt some droplets splash on her. There was one dark splotch left on her jacket, and she groaned.

Given that it was one of their coats that the Dazzlings had had for a number of years, Adagio was probably going to throttle Sonata if she saw the stains that had been left by the passing vehicle. As she desperately patted her coat down to try and get the snow off, she whimpered and shook her head.

With the overcast sky, all she could see was light pollution bouncing off the clouds. No stars were visible, even through cracks in the cover, and the only bright light was a plane that had to have been passing overhead. Just like her, the weather was about as dreary as it could be.

Kicking at some of the hardened snow on the curb, Sonata grumbled under her breath at the car, which was now well and truly gone, and spun back down her path. At the moment, she was just off one of the main streets, so the majority of her peripheral vision was filled with lighted signs, the occasional neon bulb, and stores—which were open, anyway—advertising their best deals to drag in more shoppers.

Since she had only gotten off work, she figured that probably Pinkie was the same way. It was, by her guess, another five minutes to the cafe, and from there, however long she'd be made to work away for Pinkie.

As her mind wandered to the cafe and meeting with Pinkie again, her heart started to pound in her chest. Adagio and Aria had been cross already when they complained that she had spent half the night getting the Christmas tree up. Sure enough, the tree had been covered with ornaments, tinsel, and lights, but it was not her doing. Unless she had become a sleep decorator instead of a sleep taco eater.

Although it didn't appear her sister did, she had investigated a bit further and found a couple of candies had been snuck into some of the branches of the tree. While she couldn't prove it, if it was somehow Pinkie who had set it up...

Sonata growled and shook her head. "Just Pinkie things," as the students at CHS said. Time and again.

Momentarily pausing to stare into a store that was still open, Sonata sighed as she caught a number of younger teens happily chatting with one of the people working behind the counter. It might have been just a simple candy shop, but even seeing a functional group around Christmas pricked a spear tip into her heart.

She swallowed. For a few more seconds, she observed the group, then closed her eyes, inhaled, and moved on. There was little point thinking about it, not when it was unlikely to happen for her.

As much as the other sirens claimed she was stupid, it wasn't like she didn't know what was going on. Just because she sometimes had trouble following, didn't mean that she wasn't just as capable. After all, she had been the one to suggest a hundred years ago to cause a panic around the stock market. Maybe it backfired a bit, but all that emotion was a treat to feast on and was more than enough power to get a few of the survivors of the market crash to do what they needed to do.

Granted, Adagio still whined about what they had to sell to stay afloat. It really was only within recent memory they had to lay lower, what with the advent of the internet and phones and all.

As she thought about that, her own phone buzzed, and she sighed. Pinkie text, more than likely. When she pulled it out, she caught an image of Pinkie in the notification header, and she nodded. Not surprising at this point.

Although it was innocently asking when she would be over and if she was on her way, Sonata furrowed her brow for a moment before she answered an affirmative. Was Pinkie trying to fish for more info from her? Considering she basically seemed to have free rein of the Dazzlings' apartment and knew far too much about her, what could Pinkie gain?

Sonata shrugged. She wasn't far off, anyway.

Pulling her jacket closer to her chest, she shuddered as a gust of wind carried down one of the side streets which she had chosen. Some of the flakes that had fallen from the sky were shot directly into her face, and one up her nose, too. At that, she hitched, her breath stuttered a couple of times, and then she sneezed. As she did, she heard a small scraping, looked up, and caught a loose eavestrough shaking a bit looser.

Before she could react, the snow that had accumulated inside of it slid out, and she gave a small squeak before it landed squarely on her head. It scattered in a brilliant cloud of white, and she coughed and gagged a couple of times before she managed to wipe herself off.

Pinpricks of icy cold poked into her cheeks from the snow, and she held back a couple of shivers. After making sure that her hair wasn't completely soaked, she grunted and marched off. Each footstep cracked loudly on the pavement of the sidewalk, muffled only slightly by the mushy snow underneath. Infrequently, she'd hit a piece of salt or ice melter, and it'd crackle or snap as it shattered under her beat.

She grimaced. If either of her sisters knew what she was up to, they'd at best decry it if not keep her away from it. In her mind's eye, she could see Adagio practically dragging her away, yet also in that imagined scenario, she saw Pinkie doing what she could to try and keep her there.

At that, she gulped. Maybe it was still just nerves, but could it possibly be that Pinkie was being truthful about wanting to make her a friend? Did she even want to be friends with the Rainbooms?

Halting and looking at her reflection in a nearby puddle, she bit her lip and brushed back some of her hair. Since it was rather cold, she had undone her ponytail so she could have a bit more insulation from the elements. She pushed aside a bang or two, and frowned, looking deep into her magenta eyes. As a siren, she'd have laughed at the idea, even if it might have led to a few fun adventures.

Now? What point was there to fight it? Was she going to get her magic back or something and do what she could to get her revenge on the Rainbooms? Was there even much reason to do that, if they, or at least Pinkie, were willing to bury the hatchet?

Clenching and unclenching her fist a couple of times, she finally slumped her shoulders. Her mind felt fuzzy. Swirling feelings between loyalty to her sisters and ending the frustration and anger she still harbored to an extent with the Rainbooms left her head throbbing. A couple of veins pulsed painfully near her temples, which she gently caressed before looking up and down the street.

If her memory of the city was correct, turning the corner would get her to Pinkie's cafe. As if to confirm her thoughts, a rusty pickup truck moseyed by, and she caught a glimpse of another Rainboom, the one who played backup guitar to that rainbow-haired one.

Sonata smirked. Watching that one take the lead and almost end up disqualifying her band was rather amusing. Although it was a stand-out solo, she had to admit.

The jalopy of a truck wound around the corner that she had noticed, and a minute or two later, she heard the slam of a door and the girl call out for Pinkie. Her voice was distant, but still audible enough.

As the realization that she was near and had to make a final decision sunk in, Sonata swallowed and gave a small shudder. Would Pinkie's friends be as welcoming as Pinkie? Was it simply a plan for her to be seen in her sorry state and made fun of?

Squeezing her eyes shut, Sonata shook her head and gingerly took one step forward. Same with the next. And the next. Soon, she was back to her normal pace, with the streetlights guiding her toward the cafe, as well as casting long shadows in their yellowish hue.

She pulled out her phone again and quickly checked the time. It wasn't too late that her sisters would start wondering. When she had late shifts at the Sizzler, she sometimes was there for a while past when she thought she'd return. After all, sometimes she did what her colleagues described as something special. Like that time she managed to ignite water. Without any oil or grease floating on top of it.

Regardless, there was at least some leeway before Adagio and Aria would have gotten suspicious. If she was questioned, she'd probably just say she had to put a grease fire out or something.

As she rounded the bend, she stopped as she took in the cafe. Although there were no patrons left there, it was lit up as brightly as could be. Shafts of golden rays from the restaurant's dining room gleamed on the wet pavement. While it was a flat, box-like rectangle, it still managed to have a bit of charm, given the giant gingerbread man that had been set up by the entrance.

In the parking lot, there were a total of four vehicles. The truck; a prim, clean, and white sedan; a muddy and older SUV; and a pink scooter. At the latter, Sonata arched a brow. Even in her transportation choices, Pinkie was noticeable. The other two vehicles she had no clue about.

When she switched her attention back to the cafe, though, she could see some movement in the kitchen. Although most of it was hidden behind a door and wall, there was one open section for passing orders to and from the back. Every so often, Pinkie or another one of the Rainbooms would pass in front of the gap, and she could see that they were all chatting and laughing about something said.

She stepped a few paces closer, then stopped at the edge of the parking lot. For a second, she inwardly asked what they had that her sisters didn't, and she bit her lip. Did they tolerate each other well, or did they actually enjoy their company?

She pushed the thought from her mind. Instead, she stared at Gummy, who had appeared in one of the windows and was peering back at her. Even though he was small at her distance, she could still see him individually blink his eyes. They seemed to dig right through her soul.

Shuddering, she drew herself straighter and strode forward, her boots slapping on the wet pavement of the parking lot. Every inch took her closer to the peering, empty eyes of Gummy, who, as she got close, slowly smacked part of his tongue over one of them and slowly drew it down.

Sonata forced back her reaction of gagging and went up to the door. However, in the dimmer lighting conditions, she missed a patch of ice, and as soon as her booted foot stepped on it, she staggered forward. With a yelp, she wheeled her arms a couple of times, then impacted against the glass door of the cafe.

She groaned. Within seconds, it clicked open, and she heard Pinkie exclaim, "Hey, new bestie! You know you're supposed to pull on the door, not push, right?" At that, Sonata moaned again and peeled herself off the glass. There was a large, smudgy imprint from where she hit.

"Gummy was just saying he spotted you, so I thought I'd welcome you in!" Pinkie chirped. As Sonata's vision cleared, she saw Pinkie reaching out a hand, and Sonata cautiously took it. With firm strength, but not excessive force, Pinkie pulled Sonata forward and through the open door. Instantly, Sonata's nose was hit with the aroma of baking, the sweet scents dancing through the air and making her mouth water.

A knowing smile crossed Pinkie's lips. With a smug wink, she stated, "If you help out enough, you can try someone else's treats." Sonata arched a brow. Hissing under her breath, Pinkie muttered, "Because the goodies are supposed to be a surprise for the party. No-one else should know what they taste like!" Furtively shooting a glance behind her, she added, "But I'll make an exception for you."

Before Sonata could answer Pinkie, Pinkie perked up and bellowed, "Hey everybody! Sonata's here!" There wasn't an immediate response, and she frowned before barking, "So you can take five in there!"

"Do you think she's done yelling?" a soft voice inquired. The speaker was behind the wall to the kitchen and Sonata couldn't spot her.

"Well, she probably wants us all to meet that new friend of hers," another stated in a southern drawl. "Truth be told, she was already having us work harder than a herd of pigs getting to the nearest mud bath, so I ain't against it."

"That name sounds familiar, if it's one of the—" a third speaker began before Sonata saw a snugly-dressed girl poke her head around. Despite working in a kitchen, she seemed to be a bit on the obsessed side with flashy, jewel-encrusted fashion. Her face fell flat. "Oh. Pinkie, darling, might we have a word about your choice of—"

"Gee, Rarity, I thought you'd want an extra set of hands to keep yours from getting dirty with baking," Pinkie quipped, which made Rarity blink before blushing slightly. Scratching her head, Rarity mumbled, "Well, possibly. Um—" She sighed. "Sonata, was it? Um, nice to, uh, meet you? Again?"

Twisting a lock of her hair around an index finger, Sonata shot a look between Pinkie, and then the other two teens who popped their heads through the doorway on the left to the kitchen. One was the bassist for the Rainbooms, the other the percussionist. Sonata focused. Names were not her strongest suit, but her mind had a ninety-five percent confidence it was Shutterfly and Crappleback, or something. However, she didn't have a chance to even wave to say hi before Pinkie grabbed her.

"Hi Applejack, hi Fluttershy! Sonata and me are gonna just do a teensy-weensy tour of this place, and then it'll be right back to baking for all of you!" Despite the cheery declaration, Pinkie's face darkened, and she snarled, "Understand?" When her friends nervously shuffled on their feet, she added, "Those confections aren't going to cook themselves, are they?"

After a couple of awkward mumbles of agreement, Pinkie repeated, just as harshly, "Are they?!"

"No!" all three exclaimed in unison, and Pinkie's countenance brightened.

"Right! So take five, and then it's back to work, work, work!" At that, Pinkie pushed Sonata, who had not even had a chance to take off her jacket or other winter gear, past the bar in front of the kitchen. As she led Sonata to one end of the cafe, she explained, "So this is where I normally work! I take everyone's order, and get them the best version of it they could possibly hope for!" She gestured to one of the booths near the windows. "Isn't it exciting, new friend? Can I call you 'Nata?"

"Uh..." Sonata mumbled as she pushed herself away from Pinkie. "I guess?" Glancing around the booth area, she murmured, "Don't you do what anyone else would?" She shrugged. "I don't know, it's what I do at the Sizzler." With a sigh, she shook her head and started to doff her winter clothing.

As her frown deepened, Pinkie quipped, "Hey, don't look like you put out a grease fire with your face. We can still make everything better!" Motioning back to the kitchen, she shuffled forward and leaned near to Sonata. "I kept you coming here a secret. We're going to work on some baked goods together! Because it'll be fun as friends!"

Biting her lip, Sonata hung her head and nodded. When she looked up, she felt an itching sensation in the side of her head and switched her attention to the window. Gummy was still gazing at her. Every second she met his stare, she felt as if she were descending deeper into the pits of her own soul. Were those two black slits only pupils, or windows into the next plane of existence? Did Gummy know things that no-one else did? Did—

"Hey," she heard Pinkie say as there was a sudden snapping of fingers in front of her face, "no time to snooze! It's time to groove! Get into a baking groove, that is." Grinning from ear to ear, Pinkie hauled Sonata back into the kitchen, where she was assaulted by an even stronger smell of sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and other confectionery goods that would combine together into something delicious.

Not as perfect as a taco or enchilada or something, but still, pretty good.

So far, the kitchen appeared to be mostly orderly. A single table in the center of it was stacked to the brim with recipe books, bulk ingredients like flour or sugar, and also pans for making the baked goods. Mostly transparent wisps of flour drifted up from one of the mixing bowls as Fluttershy gingerly mixed together some ingredients that Sonata couldn't see.

When Fluttershy spotted Sonata glancing at her, she shrunk back behind some of her hair and continued stirring things. Sonata grimaced, then switched her attention away, as a tiny, vice-like grip on her throat appeared practically out of thin air. She rubbed her throat. Was that the thing that Adagio had warned about not having when they used magic to get their way? Guilt?

She shook her head. Following Pinkie's suggestion to toss her winter clothes into the same pile as the others, she followed Pinkie toward the table. She caught a clang to her left, and saw Applejack bending down to grab something from the tray underneath an oven. When Applejack had pulled out a glass dish, she sauntered over to the table as well and plopped it down next to a page.

Rarity was in a corner, where there was a micro counter on which she was gingerly adding large sprinkles to something garnished in melted chocolate. Looked like balls.

For the kitchen itself, it was tidy enough that Sonata didn't have to worry about tripping on anything, although as the minutes dragged on while Pinkie prepared her own baking, it grew to be more disheveled. Not unlike the Sizzler's, the more she thought about it.

As Pinkie reached down for a couple of spoons and a fork, revealing Gummy in the cupboard, somehow, Sonata asked, "Shouldn't I be helping, or baking, or whatever?" Pinkie spun around and shook her head.

"Just watch and learn! We'll get to your stuff last!" proclaimed Pinkie in a sing-song manner. At that, she twirled back and removed Gummy from the cupboard. The alligator snarled and growled. As she placed him down, Pinkie exclaimed with a gasp, "No! Fluttershy! Don't ruin it! You have to include this much butter, and—"

Blinking in surprise, Sonata watched as Pinkie yanked the bowl out of Fluttershy's grasp and began to vigorously mix. With a hasty swipe at a nearby stick of butter, she managed to slice it in half while still stirring and then threw in a dash of cinnamon and brown sugar. "This is the best way to make gingerbread!" At that, Fluttershy cringed back, but she nodded.

"O-Okay, please calm down," she muttered.

"I'm entirely calm! The whole baking process is calm! I AM CALM ITSELF!" screamed Pinkie as she gave one, final, harsh whip on the batter and then passed it back to Fluttershy. Her demeanor instantly changing from anger to serenity, Pinkie stated, "There, now it'll be just right."

Fluttering her eyelids a few times, Fluttershy simply swapped from looking at Pinkie, then back to the batter, then back to Pinkie. Dipping a finger into it, she gave a quick taste of the dough, and what twinges of fear she still had vanished. She blushed faintly. A grateful nod was all Pinkie received, but it was enough for her to spin around and focus on Applejack for a moment.

As she started to correct Applejack on some of her baking technique, Rarity piped up from her corner, "Sonata, um, how is, well, life?" Sonata looked over, her gaze withering. When Rarity met it, she wilted with a soft titter and scratched the back of her head. "Aside from other extenuating circumstances, of course."

"What I think Rarity means to say is, 'sorry for—'" Before Fluttershy could finish, Sonata held up a hand, and Fluttershy let out a soft "meep."

"Could be better. Could be worse, I guess," grumbled Sonata as she moved to lean back against one of the ovens. There was a thin layer of flour on some of the elements of the stove top, but she didn't bother to brush them away. All she did was watch the baking process unfold. Applejack was taking Pinkie's rather forceful suggestions in stride, while Fluttershy finished kneading the gingerbread batter out and started to cut it into various shapes.

"Yes, yes, of course," Rarity replied as she finished putting on the last of her dessert's decorations. "Um, you seem like a dear, but, well, when you—"

"I get it," Sonata interjected. For a second or two, her chest tightened as she mentally finished the sentence. Was it really the Rainbooms' right to say that they were acting in an evil way? They were sirens, they were trying to survive. But there wasn't a point of exploding at Rarity. Not without a way to get her magic back.

"What was it like there?" Tilting her head up, Sonata gave a soft hum of confusion at Fluttershy's question. Fluttershy cut up a couple more cookies. Working her jaw, Fluttershy rolled the remaining batter into one last ball, and as she got one more sweet out of it, she added, "In Equestria. Through the portal. Sunset hasn't talked about it much, and Princess Twilight wasn't really focused on it when she was here."

"Yes, it is a rather mystical place, to us, anyway," Rarity agreed. Waltzing over to the center table, she slid her tray of chocolate balls next to another finished dessert, a gumdrop cake, and she moved closer to Sonata. "Surely you would have some memories of it?"

Hanging her head to ponder, Sonata nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. She moved into a slightly different position and propped one of her feet against the door of the oven. Although Pinkie didn't say anything, one glare from her left Sonata feeling like ice was trickling down her back, and she hastily withdrew the offending limb.

She licked her lips. Why did they have to be so nosy about her? Were they trying to get some information to stop her and her sisters? Maybe find a way to send them back to Equestria to face whatever crimes Star Swirl would dredge up for them?

However, peering at their sincere expressions, she couldn't really conclude a reason other than pure curiosity. Mentally resigning herself, she stated, "Well, sure, I guess." Scratching her chin, she muttered, "So, before we, like, tried taking over Canterlot, Dagi and Ari had to rescue me." At the blank looks the two girls gave her, rolled her shoulders. "What? I liked exploring.

"Anyway, the deep ocean was so dark but pretty, and I wanted to see if I could find something that we could use in our performance there in Canterlot." Pawing at her hair for a second, Sonata lolled her head from one side and then the other before she stated, "But, uh, I might have been duped. A bit. I thought I saw a really cool gem, which I thought would go well with Dagi's fins, but it kept moving on me. So, I kept diving and diving, until I could barely see, and, well, uh, it might have been a Trapper Gorgon."

"A what?" Fluttershy inquired, although she bit her lip like she knew whatever it was, it was bad news. As Sonata opened her mouth to reply, there was a small explosion of flour as Pinkie helped Applejack pour in some to the dough she was making, and Sonata held back a couple of coughs.

As the air cleared, leaving all the girls dusted in a small layer of white, Sonata gestured wide with her arms, miming the basic shape of a fish. "They're basically these huge fish that could swallow a grown-up siren whole! Big teeth as big as me, and little, tiny lights that they use to lure in anything that is attracted to it."

"Like angler fish, you mean?" quipped Fluttershy, who had begun to brush off the various caked layers of flour from her clothes and hair. When she earned a nod from Sonata, she rubbed her hands together and mumbled, "But wasn't it dangerous to go off alone?"

"Oh, yeah, totally," Sonata concurred as she dismissively waved a hand. Cracking her neck, she added, "Like, Dagi put me on bass harmonies because of that, which used to be Ari's job, but she said that I pulled a boneheaded move out of all boneheaded moves, or something. If it weren't for Ari noticing me wandering off, they would have lost track of me and I would have been fish food." At that, Sonata sighed and looked off. "Ari was pretty cool as she ripped out one of that Trapper's teeth and—"

Fluttershy paled. Although Sonata didn't notice, she did stop when a hand was placed over her mouth and Rarity shushed her. Without a word, she pointed out Fluttershy, who was taking a few deep breaths and shakily shot the pair a smile. After a few seconds, Sonata gave a small "oh" of realization, and she stammered, "She... uh, said it was really mean and should go back home and think about what it had done?" She tittered and darted a sheepish glance at Pinkie, who was finishing up with Applejack.

"And this was your life, in the sea, before coming here?" Rarity inquired with a shudder. She tightened the stylish, purple and blue frock that she was wearing and added, "It sounds absolutely dreadful!" She paused. "Well, I suppose that does explain why you were so, um..." Rotating a hand as she thought, she arched a brow and then looked at Sonata with a slightly apologetic smile, "Testy? Aggressive?"

"Oh, what sounds absolutely, positively, super-duperly bad?" While she had only been with Applejack a second or two ago, Pinkie reappeared in between Sonata and Rarity, Gummy currently residing on her head. Although she couldn't quite catch all of it, Sonata swore that Gummy's eyes independently went to stare at both her and Rarity.

"Just... how Sonata was almost fish food," Rarity stammered, then turned her attention to the table instead. "Perhaps she can tell you. I definitely have lots of... scrumptious finger foods to prepare!"

"Aw, I think I heard a bit of it. I thought it was really sweet how her sisters stood up for her." Pinkie patted Sonata on the head, which made Sonata wince. When Pinkie withdrew the offending hand, Sonata gingerly rubbed her head.

"Yes, I'm sure that you would think that, when you apparently believe that alligators and other reptiles are acceptable pets. Why you decided to exchange your stuffed toy for a real one is beyond me." As soon as the words had left Rarity's mouth, Fluttershy cringed and Pinkie Pie gasped in shock. Placing both hands over Gummy's head, probably to stifle his hearing, Pinkie stomped up to Rarity. For a moment, they merely glared at each other, and at last Rarity reached out and pushed Pinkie back.

All the while, Gummy still hung out on top of Pinkie's hair. When she turned to confront Rarity, he still managed to keep his head in the same position, almost like an owl able to rotate its neck to an absurd degree.

"Just what are you getting at, Rares?" demanded Pinkie. Thrusting a finger toward Rarity, she hissed, "Alligators are perfectly good pets and just as good a plushy of one!"

"Of course, darling, and cooking ants with magnifying glasses is also a completely acceptable and normal past-time." Rolling her eyes, Rarity checked her nails momentarily and then rubbed them along her chest. She folded her arms together. With raised brows, she pursed her lips and stated, "They are, in fact, not."

Gasping again, Pinkie's jaw almost slammed into the floor, and she exclaimed, "It is, too! Someone has to—" Before she could finish, Fluttershy cleared her throat and Pinkie whipped her head, bones possibly cracking and snapping from the twist she had to perform, and she stared at her friend.

Fluttershy rubbed an arm. Awkwardly, she stated, "Well, I will have to agree with Rarity on the second point. That is pretty mean. How would you feel if Gummy had the same thing done to him?"

"He'd think it was a nice sauna and thank whoever was warming him up, duh." Like she was explaining things to a young child, Pinkie snorted and raised her head defiantly. "Like, he's coldblooded and all that."

In unison, both Rarity and Fluttershy gave exhausted sighs, and Rarity pinched the bridge of her nose. By that point, Sonata began to tune them out, since Rarity then went on about how alligators probably carried all manner of diseases in their scales, and Fluttershy chipped in regarding the ants. Sonata was on Pinkie's side regarding the ants. They were everywhere, and it was neat how the magnifying glass made them all smoky and stuff.

Drifting her eyes toward some of the other parts of the kitchen, she spotted a tray that had nothing on it, as well as a number of bowls, a couple of eggs, and a bag of sugar near it. Before she could investigate the recipe that was resting next to the cookie trays, she felt a tug on her arm by someone and glanced to her right. Applejack smirked and gave a small wave.

Silently thumbing back toward whatever she was baking, Applejack led Sonata over to the table, while Pinkie and her friends locked into the philosophical debate on what constituted an acceptable pet. "They'll be like that for a tad while, I reckon," Applejack drawled candidly. Pushing her cowboy hat back, she wiped her hands on her jeans and chuckled, "This ain't the first time Pinkie's had a discussion about the ants." She scratched her head. "Can't remember her having a pet gator, though."

In a nonchalant manner, she gave a grunt and then tossed Sonata a couple of measuring cups. "How 'bout you make yourself at home here, and help me with finishing up Great-Great-Granny Fuji's homemade shortbread?" Giggling again, she added, "With extra apples, of course."

Consternated, Sonata inspected the cups momentarily and then peered back up at Applejack. Not any kind of condemnation or the like? She always seemed like she would be one of the most ardent defenders of Pinkie's group of friends, yet it was like there wasn't a single drop of bad blood between them.

Sonata hesitated. Mind rushing through conflicting feelings, her heart throbbed like it had been stabbed straight through. Sniffing back a couple of tears, she nodded when Applejack pointed out a couple of drawers from where she could grab a cutting knife. From there, she could chop up some apples into the cups and then add them to the batter.

However, she didn't move immediately after her instructions, and she carefully wiped her eyes. As she cleared off the wetness, they stung and smarted, which instantly brought the tears back. Although she managed to keep them from rolling down her cheeks, she could feel her eyes reddening and growing puffy.

Applejack frowned, and her forehead wrinkled in concern. Smiling as reassuringly as she could, she asked, "Hey now, what's going on?"

Rubbing at her eyes again, Sonata rested the two cups on the table and sighed, "Just, like, no-one has really treated me like this before." She gestured to Pinkie and the others, who, while still arguing, weren't really raising their voices that much, and certainly weren't as belligerent as her sisters could be. "The three of us pretty much tried to conquer the world, and you beat us, and now you're just, like, okay with it all?" She threw her hands in the air. With a grunt, she whined, "It's making my head hurt!"

Holding back another chortle, Applejack scratched the back of her neck and stated, "Well, I reckon that I oughta do what I can to be nice. Pinkie says that you're all right, so I'll give you a fair shake." At that, she held out her hand and Sonata limply took it. For a second or two, Sonata forced back a couple more sniffs, and then she shook herself. With a weak smile, she wiped at her cheeks and Applejack added, "Ya don't seem too bad to me, and, well, we have a bit of experience with making buddies with people who hated us."

She coughed. "Not that she's here right now, mind you."

For a second, Sonata blinked as she tried to process Applejack's words. Rushing back through all the faces that she and the other Dazzlings saw while at the school, she paused as she cringed internally. A few memories rushed back. A dark hall. Stalking a single, fiery-haired girl.

Adagio had done her homework more than she or Aria, so they just followed her lead on the taunting. The phrase, "Too bad, so sad!" popped into her mind momentarily, as well as Adagio forcing her to shut her mouth.

How many times had she almost spilled the beans for her sisters' plans? Probably more than once.

Either way, she finally placed who Applejack was referring to, and she gave a sheepish nod as she mumbled, "Oh, yeah, I guess that's right." At that, she inhaled and no longer felt the stinging of tears threatening to trickle down, although her chest was still tight and probably a couple dozen kaleidoscopes of butterflies were flapping around in her stomach.

With a sigh, she reached down for the cutting knife and grabbed a couple of apples from Applejack as the two of them started to chop up enough fruit for the shortbread. Absentmindedly, she allowed herself to be absorbed in the rhythmic clunking of the knife blade onto the cutting board that Applejack had gotten. Soon, her nose was assaulted not only by the sweet scent of sugar and spiciness of cinnamon, but also the tangy aroma of the apples in question.

In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but chuckle a bit at how Applejack seemed to be obsessed with everything apple. Probably would have enjoyed an apple taco recipe, or something.

Regardless, they continued their synchronized slicing, and eventually filled both measuring cups. With a wordless smile, Applejack grabbed the one that Sonata held and then poured both into the batter. Already, the dough for the shortbread was looking thick and gooey, but after she kneaded it in briefly, it was a bit softer.

Sonata gazed at it for a moment, as her mind wandered to what they could possibly taste like once done. Mouth watering, she could practically taste the butter and sugar within the dessert. When she caught Applejack laughing softly, she blushed and then wiped her mouth. Drooling in front of new acquaintances was probably not the wisest of ideas.

After a few seconds of kneading the dough, Applejack paused and then shook her head. Dodging a gesticulating Pinkie, who was still going on about alligators, and now also about how magnifying glasses were useful tools at stopping an ant takeover, she grabbed a shaker of some icing sugar and trundled back over. She shot a glance at Pinkie, rolled her eyes, and stated, "Now, this here recipe will also need some c—"

"Spice?" Sonata interjected as she cleared her head. One of the blessed c-words that she knew. The epitome of flavor itself. Before Applejack could protest, she darted over to her winter jacket, rummaged around, and returned with a spice bottle of a reddish powder, unlabeled. However, it was unmistakable enough that Applejack raised an eyebrow. It was unlabeled, but the reddish relish was unmistakable. Applejack arched a brow.

"Cinnamon, not cayenne spice," Applejack finished. To accent her unamused demeanor, a few hairs flopped in front of her face. Blowing them aside, she declared, "Why in the devil do you have that?" Although she was calm, a couple of veins started to visibly throb along her neck, and she sputtered a couple more times before she exhaled. "Nope. Never mind. I don't want to know."

"Well, since you asked, I usually keep one around in case I have some Mexican food and I don't find it spicy enough." With a playful raspberry, Sonata waved a hand disdainfully and tittered, "It's like, how hard is it to make me sweat a bit? Hello! Tacos are supposed to be hot!" When she received a blank stare from Applejack, Sonata tittered and muttered, "I-I'll get the cinnamon."

As Applejack continued to watch her, Sonata traipsed over to the indicated spice cupboard by the consternated teen and dug through it. "No," she mumbled as she grabbed one container and chucked it aside. It sprayed thyme in a cloud of green. After snatching a second, she shook her head again. "Nada." As she tossed the container of paprika, it sprayed its contents across the floor.

"Let's see," she muttered softly as she pulled out a fifth, after dumping more seasonings and spices onto the floor. Dipping a finger into the shaker, she pressed a dab of the powder onto her tongue. Immediately she gagged, and the minuscule amount of spice she had in her mouth expanded into a faint mist of crimson bronze. Eyes watering, she flashed Applejack a thumbs up and coughed and stumbled her way back to the table. With a groan, she fell forward and slammed the shaker onto the tabletop, before she held on for dear life as her mouth continued to sting and smart.

"Thanks," quipped Applejack as she rested the shaker of cinnamon near the one of cayenne and fastened her grip on the table. Reaching out a hand, she hauled Sonata up. After pulling Sonata to her feet, Applejack snickered. "You might be a pert adventurous, but maybe you should straighten that head on your shoulders, too." She patted Sonata warmly.

Thumbing a finger back at the still arguing friends, who were now deep into whether ants were or were not the bringer of destruction to kitchens everywhere, she stated, "They look mighty busy, don't you think?" Without waiting for Sonata's response, she added, "Don't worry. They won't stay upset at each other for long." She shrugged. "Just Pinkie—"

"—being Pinkie. I get it," finished Sonata, who forced back a couple of giggles of her own. Exchanging a grin with Applejack, Sonata held back a quiet gasp as her chest tightened. However, it wasn't a sickening or worrying feeling, more like her heart was being hugged. Warmth imbued into her, and she fought back a couple of tears as she looked away to wipe at her eyes.

Was this what friendship, proper friendship, felt like? When was the last time she laughed with her sisters rather than either at them or someone who was misfortunate enough to suffer their ire. Racking her brain, she wasn't entirely sure. When was the Shakespearian era again? They all had such amusing accents, and people there found theirs the same.

Regardless, Applejack went back to the dough and looked back at Sonata. "Say, while I finish this, how about you tell me a bit about your childhood, er, fryhood?" She rubbed her head while frowning. Working her jaw for a second, she muttered, "Or whatever you call it." She pointed at the batter. "Don't need too many hands throwing feed to the hogs, you know?"

With a small start, Sonata shook her head at Applejack's perplexing countryism, and Applejack sighed, although she did her best to hide an infinitesimally weak smile from her lips. Aside from the slightly raised corners, she appeared more bored than amused.

"Ah, well, forget about that. Either way—" Applejack started to dig into the dough with her fingers "—what was it like as a young Sonata Dusk?" With a heavy slap, she folded the shortbread batter over a couple of times, doled out a small amount of flour onto the tabletop, and then repeated. All the while, she earnestly stared into Sonata's eyes, and her own flickered with curiosity.

That, or it was just the lights flashing as Pinkie bellowed about how ants leave kitchens wasted and desolate of desserts. Jerking both their attentions to the outburst, Sonata and Applejack exchanged bemused shrugs. Fluttershy winced while Rarity merely twisted some of her hair around a finger. Awkwardly giggling, Pinkie quickly defused from her tirade and then went back to the slightly less loud, insistent speech about the difference between alligators and ants, and how one was a loyal companion, the other ate food humans should eat.

Thinking for a moment and tapping her chin, Sonata finally mumbled, "Eh, I don't think it'd be very interesting." At Applejack's prodding grin and reassuring nod, she wriggled uncomfortably where she stood and she gave an uncomfortable smile. "Well... I guess all the other sirens thought I was weird? Like, I'd rather go out exploring than be stuck in Sirenelia all day thinking of ways to get more thralls. Like, don't get me wrong, being waited on hoof and fin is fun and all, but where's the excitement?

"I don't know. Dagi and Ari are like, half a century older than me, and they always treated me like a baby there." Furrowing her brow, she grumbled, "Just because I might not clue in as quickly doesn't make me stupid!" With a humph, she crossed her forearms and grunted, "It's not like my plans were any less crazy than some of Dagi's!"

"You said that ya'll were separated by fifty years?!" inquired Applejack, her eyes going wide at Sonata's statement. After she pounded the dough a couple more times, she sprinkled a bit of icing sugar on it, followed by dumping a few pieces of sliced apples into the batter. Lastly, she reached over to where the two shakers were and grabbed one and shook a light dusting onto the pastry.

Slowly nodding, Sonata sighed as she moved to take the other shaker. After all, wouldn't want Applejack taking the wrong one. As she did, she heard a faint rattling from Pinkie, whose hair was twitching a few times, and her left leg gyrated once. With a final jerk, Pinkie stumbled back and then paused. Sonata arched a brow.

With only a pensive "hmmmm," Pinkie pondered for a moment, glanced at Sonata, then looked back at her friends. She held up a finger and dove in on one final point, as she said herself.

"What was that all about?" Sonata asked, pointing at Pinkie before peering back at Applejack. Applejack responded with a shrug.

"Pinkie sense. She gets them sometimes." Pursing her lips momentarily, she then stole a furtive peek at Pinkie before she briefly leaned in and muttered, "It's a bit wacky, and some days I think it's nothing but hooey, but it always seems to come true." At that, she pulled back and quipped, "But you didn't hear that comment about the hooey stuff from me." She winked.

"Right..." Sonata mumbled. Blinking a few times, she blankly peered off and attempted to ingest the information about Pinkie. Even though it had only been a day, she already had a list of things to categorize as "just Pinkie." She shuddered and switched her attention back to Applejack.

"A-Anyway, yeah, I think like, Dagi's fifty-three years older than me? Ari's a bit closer." Hemming and hawing and leaning her head to one side, she grudgingly admitted, "Like, we fed off magic, you know? That stuff kept us young basically forever." She shrugged. "At least, that's what I was told."

With a whistle, Applejack nodded her head and chuckled, "Wonder how Apple Bloom would feel being that much younger than me and Mac?" At that, she brushed back her hat, sighed, grabbed the spice shaker again, and continued on with the dough. Sonata merely smiled.

"Swimming through ocean currents always felt so fun!" she exhaled with a wistful moan. Shortly thereafter, she frowned and hung her head. "But never went that far from home. Wasn't really encouraged." Applejack gave Sonata an interested look, but continued on with her work.

As a few distant memories rushed back to her mind, Sonata added, "And the sirens sang. Like, all the time." She shrugged. "I mean, yeah, part of it was because we preyed on hippogriff society, dragged off a bunch of seaponies, and used them all as thralls to do our work, but that's no biggie, right? There was still a lot of pretty singing." When she finished, Applejack raised both her eyebrows and paused for a second. Sonata grinned uncomfortably. "What?"

"You ever, uh, enthrall people over here?" Applejack worked her jaw a bit as she asked that. "Well, aside from, uh, I guess everyone at the school."

"Eh, they weren't really enthralled. Not fully, anyway," replied Sonata with a nonchalant wave of a hand. Tapping her fingers a couple of times on her chin, she added, "Don't think we really did that after all those witch hunts in the fifties..." For a second, Applejack gave her a blank look, then her eyes sparked with recognition, but before she could interject, Sonata merely huffed, "Eh, no biggie, like, for realsies."

"Right, well, uh, sounds like you have a few hundred tales that you could tell, but, what do ya know? Shortbread's ready to bake!" Twisting quickly to the side, Applejack pounded down the batter into a tray and then hastily grabbed it. While she kept her back to Sonata, she fiddled with a couple of the instruments on the oven, then slid it in.

"Gonna have to watch it closely. Don't want it to burn!" After that, she sniffed at the air. Inhaling deeply a couple more times, she hummed and muttered, "Is someone cooking some of that spicy, eastern food?"

Sonata shrugged.

Opening her mouth, Sonata was cut off as Pinkie exclaimed, "...and that's why ants have secretly infiltrated all levels of government and need to be carefully controlled, or they'll turn us all into food-making machines for their evil queens!" With a small bow, she remained oblivious to the perplexed gazes that were watching her by the rest of the kitchen, and she rose while smirking. "Thanks for coming to my TED Talk."

Although her friends remained confused, with Fluttershy especially mouthing a few words to herself as she traced a finger through the air, like she was visualizing a math problem, Sonata merely blinked for a second or two. She hadn't heard much of the speech. Then again, her new friend did just finish something important, probably, so what was something she should do in return?

After pondering, she began to clap, which echoed throughout the silent kitchen, and she winced when the others turned to look in her direction. A couple more claps gave way to an awkward gulp and a cessation of activity, and she gave a weak wave. Rarity and Fluttershy gawked further. Finally, Rarity shook her head and merely shot Pinkie a glare as the latter moved toward Sonata.

As she slid in next to Sonata, Pinkie wrapped an arm around her and declared, "How's about you and me work on your special sweets to make your sisters..." She scrunched her nose. Humming softly to herself for a moment while she thought, she inquired with a small titter, "Dance on their feets?"

Rolling her shoulders, she grunted in a noncommittal way and then let Sonata go. Straightening, she stiffened and whipped her head to glance at Rarity, who was about to taste one of the chocolate balls that she had made earlier. Rarity and Pinkie stared at each other. As she was frozen halfway reaching for the chocolate, Rarity blushed and then slowly retracted her offending arm.

Pinkie motioned with her fingers that she was watching Rarity, and then did the same to Fluttershy, although the latter was starting to bundle back up. While she dug through the pile of clothes for all her things, she stated, "I have to go. I have another shift at the animal shelter tomorrow, and I don't want to be sleepy." She shuddered. "I'd be a bad example to the sloths there."

"Hmmm, yes, and I should be going shortly, too," Rarity interjected as she waved Fluttershy a goodbye. After a minute or so, their friend had departed, and Rarity glanced back at Pinkie, "But I suppose I can stay for a smidgen longer. I should ensure that all of my confections are ready for the party."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie exclaimed as she gave one curious glance at Applejack, who was still observing the shortbread baking away. In her sweep back to look at Sonata, she paused and furrowed her brow at the shaker of spice that was on the table. She grunted in thought. However, she finished her circle and then grinned from ear to ear when her eyes landed back on the former siren.

Poking Sonata in the chest, she proclaimed, "You and I are going to make some of the best sugar cookies around, and you're going to be in charge of making it all up!" When Sonata pressed a hand to her chest, her face growing paler and her eyes dilating, Pinkie vigorously nodded her head and then tittered. "You'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen? No-one could be silly enough to start a fire just by turning the oven too high, could they?"

As her face grew warm, Sonata twisted one of her fingers through her hair and mumbled, "Yeah, I totally would never do that." In the back of her mind, she winced as she heard the desperate voice of Adagio clammer for all of them to flee one of their previous apartments. After deciding to learn how to make classic fish and chips, Sonata had somehow managed to set alight a soaking wet sponge which she had used to clean up some of the flour and crumbs that she had sprayed across the kitchen while covering the fish strips in them.

It wasn't a grease fire. It was a wet sponge. Drenched in water.

Swallowing loudly as the memory faded from her mind, she chortled and pressed a hand over her mouth whilst glancing away from Pinkie. "Totally crazy. Like, for realsies. Nuts." Pinkie beamed. As she snatched Sonata's hand, she dragged Sonata over to another counter, where a bowl and a bag of sugar and flour had already been set up.

Before Sonata could react, Pinkie pulled an apron and chef's hat from a drawer that appeared far too small to hold articles of clothing without wrinkling them. In one fell swoop, she tied the apron around Sonata and shoved the hat onto Sonata's head. Sonata's various loose hairs shot out in all directions as they were flattened down, and she frowned before ripping the hat off.

Pinkie petulantly pouted for all of five seconds before she shrugged and muttered, "Guess you don't need that." She huffed and pranced over to one of the fridges along the far wall, opposite the entrance to the kitchen. As she pulled out a tray of eggs, Sonata stared dumbfoundedly at the recipe that had been set up against the bowl. Although it was simple, with less than a dozen ingredients, her breathing started to ramp up.

Flashbacks to the last time she attempted baking roared back with a vengeance, but before she could relive the great Pie Horror of 1893, Pinkie waved a hand across her vision. With a start, Sonata stepped back and matched Pinkie's concerned stare, before she shook her head and grabbed one of the measuring cups.

It couldn't be that hard, could it?

As Pinkie swiped a couple more things from cupboards for the desserts, Sonata heard Rarity inquire, "So... Sonata, you've, erm, enlightened us a tad on Equestria, but what of your time on Earth?" Sonata glanced back and caught Rarity snatching one chocolate ball while Pinkie was still buried in a cupboard, but before she could eat it, a pink hand popped out of a nearby container of baking powder and slapped it out of Rarity's grip.

Blinking a couple of times, Rarity barely registered when the hand withdrew, but she looked over to Pinkie, who was now giving Rarity a glower. When Pinkie returned to digging in the cupboard while muttering where she put the vanilla, Rarity coughed. "What I mean to ask is, dear, what do you do around Christmas? Surely, for beings who have been here for years, you must have developed some traditions."

Sonata hummed. As she scrunched her forehead and glanced up at the ceiling, she continued pouring the flour, which she had opened to fill the measuring cup. Within only the few second span of her distraction, the cup overflowed and spilled flour across the counter, while kicking up a cloud of powdered flour. She hacked a couple of times and grimaced at the mess.

Pinkie hopped back from the cupboard, then quickly grabbed a dry towel with which she soon wiped up the majority of the flour into a single pile. While she was doing that, Sonata sighed and answered in a monotone voice, "Nothing, really." She shrugged. "Well, I kinda got them to go along with a gift exchange, but I don't think they ever really cared for it." Sticking out her tongue and blowing a short raspberry in disgust, she grunted, "I always got them something nice like a new earring or necklace or maybe a new book, once that Gutenberg guy's printing press took off, but they only got me boring things."

Blowing a derisive blast of air between her lips, she griped with a growl, "I got stupid things like paintings from museums or 'nuclear football codes'." She mimed retching. "Like, one year, I was hoping I'd get one of those new SportGirl console things, and they got me a big ol' briefcase with some weird dials on it." Huffing, she used a hand puppet to be "Adagio" as she forced her voice to sound sultrier and deeper, and mumbled, "'Oh, Sonata, you're getting this because you'll forget where you put it in a few days. Be a dear, and if anyone asks you where it is, just say you don't know. Because you won't.' Blegh!"

While there had been a bit of noise from Applejack and Pinkie in their cooking, the kitchen's hum completely died as she went on with the information about her and her sisters' minor Christmas tradition. Sonata barely noticed. In a way, she was looking right through Rarity, as she imagined Adagio sitting down on a couch, in her pajamas, staring at Sonata as she said those exact words.

And she was technically right. Where those "nuclear football codes" went was completely lost on Sonata. One moment, they were in her room, next, they had disappeared, with her recollection of them suspect.

With the kitchen silent, Sonata started to feel the searing sensation of eyes boring into her, and she shook her head to regain her senses. All three remaining girls were gaping at her, with Rarity's jaw practically dislocated, given how far it had fallen. Rarity only blinked in shock, while Applejack exchanged glances between Pinkie and Sonata.

At last, Rarity managed to regain her composure with a shiver, and she calmly and collectedly worked a couple of her fingers. She flicked away whatever grime on them was and prodded, "Pinkie, darling, did you have any idea that we are interacting with a girl who could have the FBI and CIA on us?"

"You bet! But I already returned those codes with my patented 'Sorry for Almost Causing World War Three' balloons!" With a small "squee," Pinkie unscrewed a cap on the vial that contained vanilla extract, and she held back a giggle. "They don't even know it was stolen by her. It's fine!"

Sputtering a couple of times, Rarity threw up her hands and grunted, her irateness clearly audible from the grating "ugh" that escaped her lips. Glaring daggers at both Sonata and Pinkie, Rarity huffed and crossed her forearms. She remained silent. After assessing Sonata again, she muttered, "Of course you did. Is there anything else you would deign to let us know?"

"Gee, have you been studying with Sci-Twi, Twiggles, Human Twi, or—" When Pinkie met Rarity's unamused frown, with her forehead crinkling in extreme frustration, she hastily threw in, "Nope, nada, nothing, zilch!" A few beads of sweat trickled down the back of her neck. She tittered as Rarity scrutinized her.

"I mean, that's not as bad as our Hearth's Warming 'traditions,'" Sonata broke in, emphasizing the last word with air quotes. Forcing back a shudder, she drew her arms close to her chest and worked her right heel into the floor as she thought. She breathed deeply. Going a wee bit pale, she shakily stated, "Because we needed to survive off creatures' negative energy, we always had to be careful. Windigos gobble down major places of bad feelings, and we caused a lot of it with our songs.

"So, our grandma and grandpa were alive when Equestria was made, and fought back the Windigos. They knew how to keep it from getting too bad." Sonata grimaced as she pushed down a small sniffle. "But... well, the hippogriffs worked at imprisoning, or depowering us, or banishing us." She swallowed. Despite her efforts, her eyes started to smart, and she could sense a couple of warm trickles make their way down her cheeks.

"Dagi, Ari, and me never really got declared old enough to hunt for thralls. We were kinda forced to." Biting her lip, Sonata avoided the gaze of the three teens there, and she snorted as she failed to stave off the emotions, breaking down at the memory. "So, every Hearth's Warming, since everywhere was too happy to be preyed on, we went to the Mareianas Trench and just thought. Remembered." She wiped a tear or two away. "There's a reef there that glows so prettily, and we'd just talk about how we were all that we had. Sure, Dagi and Ari are annoyed by me sometimes, but we still all look out for each other."

She coughed. "We have to." Sighing and staring into the overfilled bowl of flour, she muttered, "We did, anyway."

When she finished, her chest heaved a couple of times, as she failed to suppress the heaviness of her heart. It was supposed to be a pleasant time of year, and dumping all of the ancient memories and experiences she had was probably not the best way to win over anyone there.

If she still had her magic—the thought of that sent a shiver of frustration up her spine—she'd have probably been feeding off the empathetic sadness that the group appeared to be reflecting. Pinkie had stopped her mixing of batter, Applejack was no longer paying attention to her shortbread, and Rarity had frozen halfway into putting on her jacket. All three's faces were plastered with concern.

"Ya'll being ornerier than a barn full of hogs in heat makes sense now," Applejack muttered before she was shot a look that very clearly demanded what the point of that metaphor was from Rarity. With a shrug, she asked, "What? Am I wrong?"

"No..." Rarity exhaled. Slipping the rest of her jacket on, she walked over to Sonata and gently stated while placing a hand on her shoulder, "Sonata, darling, that was an awful upbringing, and I wish that you could have had something better. But..." She winced. "You know, you still, ehm, enthralled people? And wanted to do so to us?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," huffed Sonata. Jerking her shoulder so Rarity lost her loose grip, she grumbled, "Probably would be in the same shoes if I were you." Rarity blinked and then nodded.

"Not quite the right analogy, dear, but I understand what you mean." At that, Rarity worked her jaw and muttered, "I believe." Switching her attention to Pinkie, she declared, "Then I shall be off, Pinkie. Applejack. Do take care of—" she broke concentration to longingly stare at the chocolate balls for a moment. After shaking herself, she repeated with a small titter, "Do make sure these aren't frozen. It's only a couple of days to the party, after all."

"Like I would commit such heresy, Rarity!" Pinkie quipped back. For one second, her expression carried abject horror, then she frowned and pointed at Rarity with her mixing spoon. "Unless you're joking. You're joking, right?"

Only giggling, Rarity daintily waved to the others and then slipped through the door. Briefly yelping, she stumbled into view out the opening to the bar and then glanced down at her feet, where there was a faint growl and slapping of gum against gum as Gummy rolled a couple of feet from where she accidentally knocked him. She huffed and rolled her eyes before marching out the exit.

As she did, the oven that Applejack was watching dinged, and the teen swiftly grabbed a couple of oven mitts, slipped them on, and removed the shortbread from it. After setting it on an unused cutting board, she inhaled a deep whiff of the shortbread and let out a long, satisfied sigh.

She smacked her lips. "Hmmm," she mumbled as she pursed her mouth into a focused frown. "Smells a bit tangier than usual." Glancing over at the bag of apples that she had used for the shortbread, she grinned. "Ah, it's just a tarter batch, I guess!" With that, she pushed back her hat and wiped at her brow.

"Well, I reckon that I oughta be going, too. Unless you got some other tale there, Sonata." Her eyes shrunk. With a hasty, panicked wave of her hands, she tittered, "Just so long as it ain't another one that makes us all get all philosophical like, you hear?"

"Nah, not really." Racking her brain for a brief moment as she removed the excess flour from her measuring cup, Sonata poured the flour into her own bowl, since Pinkie had grabbed another to make her own batter, and stated, "Well, I guess we usually pigged out on the fish that were by the reef. Didn't really keep us full, but they sure were tasty!" She beamed, then shrugged. "I guess we just had a day where we didn't actively try and hate each other."

"Well, golly, that's just... swell that ya'll dedicate one day to not strangling each other. Real spirit of Christmas, if ya ask me," Applejack mumbled. Switching her gaze from one girl to the next, she finally trotted over to the bundle of clothes near the door to the cafe floor. While she donned her gear, she added, "I'll, uh, see you around, I guess. Pinkie invited you to the party, right?"

"Duh!" Pinkie interjected. "What do you think I am? A pony, who totally isn't pretending to be a human, who forgets her human counterparts' plans? Like, wow, AJ, that's funny!"

"Uh, that's not at all what I said, but I'll take that as a 'yes.'" Wincing, Applejack massaged one of her temples. She simply gave a nod and friendly wave before leaving. She also shrieked when she stumbled near the door. Almost banging into it, she grouched, "Pinkie! Get your pet gator out the way! One of ya'll are going to trip on it when you pack everything away!"

"Gummy! Stop trying to put your plans of world conquest into motion so soon! You'll make it no fun!" Sonata whipped her head up so she could gawk at Pinkie, who merely shrugged. Arching a brow, she went back to her batter as Pinkie handed her an egg to crack.

Already, she had mixed in the flour and sugar, and it was just a matter of adding in the wet ingredients. For once, she deftly broke the egg on the rim of the bowl, and the yolk settled in perfectly. After tossing the shell into a nearby garbage, her heart skipped a beat at something not going horribly wrong with baking for once.

As soon as she thought that, she jumped when Pinkie jerked, and her elbows banged on the counter a couple of times. When her spastic movements stopped, she hummed and muttered, "Jiggly elbows. Weird..." She peered at Sonata for a second, then the mixing bowl, and then Sonata. "Very weird. The Pinkie Sense says you need to be careful."

"Uh... Okay," replied Sonata. Bemused, she frowned for a moment before grabbing the recipe and checking the next steps. Butter and vanilla extract. Wouldn't be much more to get things ready. As she grabbed the extract, she inquired, "Why are you making it, too? Thought you said that it was my dessert to make?"

"Yepperoni! That's right! Just have a feeling that we may need... uh, more?" Sealing her lips with a zipping motion—and sound—Pinkie clammed up and went back to her own mixing. From where she was standing, the smell of the vanilla extract drifted to Sonata, and the sweet, heady scent of the plant left Sonata's mouth watering.

As she returned her focus to her batch, she gulped when she noticed about a sixth of the bottle of extract had poured out into the small teaspoon measure she was using. Overflowing to the brim, it had spilled into the mix, although it wasn't too much extra. Probably would just leave a strong taste of vanilla behind.

After assessing the situation for a few seconds, she mentally resigned herself, and then tipped the measure over. At first, it splashed into the rest of the extract and did nothing. However, when she was about to head to the butter, she caught a scant scent of smoke, then she saw a spark in the mix. Instantly, it burst into a tower of fire, and she simply stared at it, her mind reeling and left empty.

She hadn't even put in that much extract, all things considered!

A shrieking fire alarm ripped through her only thought of "why me", and Pinkie sprang into action beside her. Stretching almost to an impossible degree, she snatched a fire extinguisher and unleashed the torrent of suppressive gasses into the inferno. Almost immediately, the roar died down, and after half a minute, every last tongue of fire had disappeared.

Sonata, still standing in the same place, as her brain processed the last minute, finally moaned, and her posture slumped. Slouching and whacking her head onto the counter top, she simply groaned, whimpered, and whined with each hit. The scorched smell of burnt flour and sugar assaulted her nostrils, although she barely cared. Was there much point when she had failed, again, at basic cooking? If this was going to be part of her attempt to get Adagio and Aria into better Christmas moods, she was doing a bang-up job.

As she was about to go in for a third round of face-desks, she felt Pinkie rest a hand on her shoulder, and Sonata stopped. Dully looking up from the counter, Sonata merely stared at Pinkie, who stated, "Hey, it's all good. Mistakes happen." She peered at the bowl. "Usually."

"Egh," Sonata groused. Instead of whacking her head on the counter again, she just rested her chin on it. "Whatever."

As her throat welled up and a pit seemed to swallow whatever enthusiasm she had had for the baking, she caught Pinkie traipse off somewhere and open a door. Pinkie cheered and her voice seemed to carry off somewhere. For how long she was away, Sonata didn't know, nor did she particularly care. Maybe Pinkie was leaving her to wallow, or Pinkie had completely abandoned her to see how far badly she had failed.

How does that even catch fire without a match?! she demanded internally, not that she expected an answer. If Aria was there, she'd probably be calling Sonata the worst baker of all time. Which, granted, was probably not far from the truth.

Before she could gripe to herself much further, there was the sound of someone coming in from outside the cafe, and a moment later, Pinkie was back. Sonata glanced behind her. With a coy smile, Pinkie grasped something behind her back, and she buoyantly bounced over to Sonata.

"Guess which hand," she drawled with a cheeky grin, and Sonata rolled her eyes before pointing to Pinkie's right.

"That's right!" Pinkie chirped, and she whipped out an envelope and revealed she was holding two more. "Normally I'd keep it for the party, but it's so exciting, and you're looking extra mopey right now, so I thought I'd give yours early." She tittered as Sonata took it, and she quipped, "Besides, this way the story can wrap up all nice and clean and you can have those warm, fuzzy feelings of spreading good cheer to all those you care about during Christmastime!. Besides wouldn't it be totally weird for you to just have this at the party to give to your sisters with no explanation at all kinda like you had something else you did before this but didn't because there wasn't time and things were getting suuuuuper long already?" When she finished, she inhaled deeply to catch her breath.

"'Story?' 'Wrap up?' What're you—" Sonata cut herself off as her mind smarted from such a nonsensical statement.

"You'll see," teased Pinkie with another giggle. She slipped the two other cards next to her winter jacket, and she bobbed excitedly on her feet while waiting for Sonata to open her envelope.

Perplexed, Sonata ripped open the tab and revealed a simple card with a bright blue star on it. Flipping it open after checking with Pinkie, she gaped when she read the brief message. "Hey, new bestie!" it began. "The music store in Canterlot Mall had discounted singing lessons that could be bought for the first three months of next year! I thought that since you and your sisters were all grumpy and mopey from not being able to sing anymore, I'd get you all lessons! That way, you can all sing absolutely, positively superfabutastic again! Oh! We could all then form some supergroup! Call it the Rainlings or the Dazzbooms or the Razzliooms! Oh! Or the Baddies-turned-Goodies-and-Friends-Fantastic-Group-of-Harmony-and-Friendship! Doesn't that roll off the tongue?! I can't wait! I'll have to remind myself to plan a party for it! I'm so nervocitied! "

Teary-eyed, she barely noticed the signature of three balloons and a P underneath or registered the rambling at the end of the letter. Quiveringly, she smiled and shot Pinkie a shocked stare. In her chest, glee and anger wrestled for control. In one vein, how dare Pinkie remind her of what she had lost. It was likely impossible to get her voice back, and even if she could, it wasn't the same. Simultaneously, she also could envision herself performing again, with her sisters, and maybe they could be adored in a different way. Because they actually were good and not brainwashing everyone.

Shifting her gaze back to the letter, she folded it again, and sniffed, "T-Thanks." Before she could really think further, hot tears trickled down her face, and she forced back some whimpers and snorts. As she shook, she was suddenly wrapped in a warm, tight hug from Pinkie, and unlike the previous night, her ribs didn't crack.

"Don't mention it, new bestie!" Pinkie cheered, although Sonata could catch the slight quiver in her voice. After a few seconds of silence, while the two remained locked in an embrace, Pinkie finally muttered, "Like, really, don't, because it's supposed to be a surprise to your sisters."

Sonata chuckled, then pulled back. "Sure," she mumbled with a nod.

When she brushed herself down, she glanced over at the burnt mix, and she whimpered, "But my—"

"Ah, ah! I said I was making mine in case we needed more, and we need more!" Beaming and resting an arm on Sonata's shoulder, Pinkie quipped, "Don't worry! It'll still be whatever shape you want for the cookies! That's close enough to making it, right?" When Sonata remained silent, she added, "Eh, it'll be good enough."

"Can we make them into little sombreros?" Sonata inquired as she checked the dough Pinkie had made. It was already rolled up into a large ball. All it'd need to have done to it was cutting it up. Before Pinkie could break in, she blushed and muttered, "Because, you know, they know I like Mexican food."

Pinkie smirked. "Sure thing, 'Nata! Let's just—" She paused and peered at the shaker of reddish spice that was on the table in the middle of the kitchen. Walking over to it, she hummed, "Say, who left this shaker of cayenne out here? Was someone wanting to play a prank?"

As Pinkie took it back to a different spice cupboard, Sonata winced, and she softly hissed, "D'oh!"

Chapter 4 - Slightly More Functional Family

"Oh, where are they?" Her mind racing with possibilities, Sonata trotted in a circle, pacing and stomping nervously on the tiled floor of the gymnasium of CHS. In her ears, the bubbling and burbling of conversation as groups of teens, dressed in appropriately light winter colors, slowly drifted in from the cold and found their cliques with which to speak. Even in the dim conditions, only broken by the sparkling display on the stage of an icy landscape, with lights to simulate the shimmering of sunlight, she could see that her sisters had yet to arrive.

Apart from when some early arrivals came while Sonata, Pinkie, and some of Pinkie's friends were finishing setup, Sonata had been ignored. Whether it was because people recognized her and did what they could to veer as far away from her as possible, or if she was simply not that interesting, she wasn't sure.

Probably didn't matter much, anyway.

She was partly hidden behind the bleachers, which had been moved back, but not taken apart, and she only occasionally saw glimpses of the main entrance to the party. However, she was moving frequently enough that she knew she would have seen Adagio and Aria if they were there, since she had a zoomed out view of the entire event.

In the center of the gym, a large table had been set up with various pastries that some others had brought, and the goods that Sonata and Pinkie's friends had made. Stringed across the rafters of the ceiling, banners with decorations of snow, icicles, and Christmas tree lights danced as the lights on the stage twinkled. Outside, through the windows that allowed small bits of illumination from the street in, she could see flakes of snow hitting the glass. They quickly melted, leaving streaks along the transparent surface.

Whenever she glanced at the crowds, she wrung her hands and felt her heart twist and turn, along with a couple of stabs in her gut. While she wasn't really averse to attention, normally, returning to the place where she had tried to enthrall them all, along with her sisters, and doing it so blatantly surely didn't do much for popular opinion of any of the Dazzlings.

She could only shudder at some of the thoughts they most likely had toward her.

Around a tree that had been set up near the entrance to the gym, various boxes, which could only be presents, or at least fake presents, were being arranged by Pinkie. She darted to and fro, and while not every student who entered provided her with another container, a plurality did. At the rate that Pinkie was stacking them, it'd be enough for the entire party. Or, that's what she could determine by mental headcount alone.

With a sigh, she paused her frantic pacing and leaned against the bleachers, watching the rest of the party. Over the next minute or so, the stream of students entering slowed, and eventually, as she spotted the clock over the entrance hit ten after, nearly ceased entirely.

Any attempt at picking out a single conversation was impossible, given the din of yakking, plus the low croon of various Christmas tunes that Pinkie had hooked into the speaker system of the gym. She caught some of the jocks laughing about something related to hockey, and then a number of the geeky students huddled in a different corner, faffing with a robot that Micro Chips had brought with him.

For the briefest moment, he looked up when she started watching them, glanced around, and then noticed her. Her heart skipped again, and her cheeks grew hot as she stepped back. However, before she did, he gave a single wave, and she uncomfortably waved back.

When he went back to the robot, she slunk back a bit further and caught herself pulling an index finger out of her hair, which she had twisted around it. With a nervous titter, she started tapping her fingers together as she counted down the seconds. As she did, her mind drifted further into what could have been delaying her sisters.

Had she been abandoned? Had they gotten into some kind of accident? It was rather snowy out there, and Aria was the one in charge of getting her and Adagio there.

As soon as she recalled that it was Aria who was doing the chauffeuring, she winced. If she wasn't going at least twenty miles above the speed limit, she was running lights. Among other things. If there was any kind of police presence along the way...

Squeezing her eyes shut, she shook her head. They were probably just late. Adagio did like taking her time occasionally. Mostly. Almost always. Every time.

Sonata scratched her head. In fact, was there a time where Adagio didn't want to be over-prepared? Even when they were getting ready for the last song of the band battle, she had almost made them be late because she was fixing something with her outfit.

With a snort, she replayed the invitation that she gave her siblings. While not completely obvious, she did imply that it was something for them. Providing only directions and not a location might have been coy, but would they have returned to CHS if they knew it was going to be there?

Breaking from her reverie, she was suddenly jostled by Pinkie, who appeared next to her, and Pinkie gave her a quick side hug. When she released Sonata, Pinkie inquired, "What's wrong, 'Nata?" She gestured to the party. "Not in the party mood?"

"I guess. Just thought that Dagi and Ari would be here by now," Sonata answered with a tired sigh. Hanging her head, she slowly broke free of Pinkie and began to pace again. Every time she passed Pinkie, the girl's frown deepened, and Sonata's brain continued to spin and wheel as she attempted to settle her nerves.

Between the worry about her sisters and the anxiety regarding how they'd react, her stomach felt like it was in a million twists and turns, before being swirled around in a whirlpool. As her breath continued to come in short bursts, she glanced up at Pinkie and demanded, "Do you think they'll come?"

Pinkie smirked. Taking Sonata back toward the party, she proclaimed, "It'll be fine. This is a happy Christmas story, after all." She shrugged. "Eh, maybe a bit bittersweet, but still." When she finished, she pulled Gummy out of her hair and handed him to Sonata. "Gummy thinks it'll be okay, too. You can hold him if you want. He is a great comfort gator." At that, Gummy opened his jowls and clamped them shut again.

As he sprayed Sonata with some flecks of spittle, Sonata tilted her head, wiped her nose and cheeks, and asked, "What're you talking about?" She pushed Gummy out of her vision. When she did, the alligator growled and squirmed, and Pinkie shrugged before putting him back in her hair.

"Spoilers," she quipped with a bit of a singsong warble to her declaration. She coyly brought up a finger to her lips and made a shushing motion. Before she could add anything else, she was tapped on the shoulder by someone in the party, and she quickly dove back into the crowd. "Party emergency! Someone drank all the punch!"

"But, what spoilers?" Sonata called, raising her voice as Pinkie disappeared. Left alone, she gave a begrudging glance around the gym. Whenever she laid eyes on someone, they either focused more intently on whomever they were speaking with, or they simply avoided her gaze altogether, even if they initially had looked at her.

With a small whimper, she reached both her hands into the small pockets of her blouse, the same one that she wore to the final band performance, and she whined plaintively. It wasn't like she could really get any other nice outfits than that one, but that more than certainly identified her as one of the girls who almost enslaved the school.

"Don't worry about whatever Pinkie says. It's just, well, Pinkie," she heard a laid-back voice say from behind her. Glancing back, she frowned deeper when she saw Sunset Shimmer approaching her. While wearing her usual leather jacket, she wore a light cyan dress. She held two cups of punch. "Want it? I got it for you."

For a moment, Sonata eyed the drink, then grunted, "Yeah, sure, why not?" She huffed. "Seems like everyone is fine with Pinkie just being, well, weird." When she heard a snicker from Sunset, she snorted and grumbled, "Yeah, I know. Coming from me? 'Taco Girl' Sonata Dusk?" Faintly grinning at her statement, she hung her head and let out a single, sad laugh. "Funny, isn't it?"

"Well, about as funny as talking to someone who wanted to take over the world." At that, she punched Sonata lightly in the arm, which made Sonata rub it. However, there was a self-assured, and reassuring, half-cocked smirk on Sunset's face. "I may or may not be talking about myself there, too." When Sonata's expression fell, she added, "And, really, if I can make a turnaround, who's to say that you girls can't, too?"

"Dagi, I guess," Sonata replied with a shrug.

"Sonata Alto Dusk!" As soon as the words reached her ears, Sonata's blood turned as frigid as the temperatures outside the school. Sunset craned her neck to look around Sonata, before she turned her attention back to the siren. Silently, she nodded and Sonata breathed out a couple of times before she turned around.

While there had been a crowd around the entrance of the gym, as students who were friends with each other stalled and stopped to chat before moving elsewhere, that mass of teens had quickly retreated to reveal two other girls, both covered in snow. Sonata gulped. Adagio's head was caked in white and occasionally dripped more thoroughly melted sections onto the squeaky clean tile of the gym.

Aria was behind her, with her pigtails also highlighted in ice. Both of the other Dazzlings were glowering and shooting figurative daggers at Sonata. If looks could kill, not only would she have been torn into her constituent atoms, she'd probably have defied physics and somehow had her matter completely erased.

With each heaving breath, Adagio's snarl grew larger, and Sonata could catch a couple of veins pulsing in her neck. As Adagio continued to glare at Sonata, Pinkie slipped up and silently reached out to take Adagio's jacket to put with the others. Uncannily noticing the motion, Adagio shot a single, side-eyed frown at Pinkie. When she realized she was noticed and not appreciated, Pinkie smiled widely and slipped back into the now gawking crowd.

Sonata merely stared back at her sisters, her heart thrashing against her chest. While she had prepared, at least somewhat, for the probable confrontation, actually putting all those theories into practice was something else. She could only stammer a couple of times before Adagio held up a finger to silence Sonata. As she did, Aria adjusted her pigtails, and then crossed her forearms over her heavily stuffed, black jacket.

Slowly, the music that had ground to a halt when Adagio had her outburst started playing again, and at least the fringes of the party resumed. However, those that were close to the Dazzlings continued to gawk, at least until Adagio met their gazes with her own fire, and they started to inch away, before breaking into other groups.

"H-Hi, Dagi, Ari," Sonata finally managed to gulp out. It was enough that Adagio whipped her head back to glower at Sonata. Her motion was fast enough that a mushy chunk of melting snow slopped off the side of her hair and splattered on the floor. If she were any angrier, she'd probably be steaming and evaporating what was left on her.

"What. In. Mother's. Name. Is. This?!" Adagio demanded. Spreading both her arms wide, she indicated the entirety of the party, and Sonata stammered again. "We followed your directions. To. The. Letter. You lead us right into the heart of the Rainbooms' lair?!" Sonata caught Sunset snicker at the name. Finally marching forward, she stalked toward Sonata, who remained stock still, and eventually seemed to tower over her sister. "Speak, Sonata."

"If you're smart, 'Nata, you'll suck up to Adagio now and she might not turn you into paste," Aria quipped from the entrance. With a grunt, she leaned back against the doorframe, and she shot a student a grimace. "What're you looking at, idiot?" When the student, who was a tad younger than the rest, bolted, she grinned and started to fiddle with one of the stars in her pigtails.

"You're really straining the whole 'we have to stick together' crap that Adagio wants us to follow." She snorted and after making sure that her star was on tightly, added, "You know how many lights I had to run because of Little Miss Perfect needing to have her outfit impeccable? She took two, bloody, hours!"

"Ah, a woman of culture," Sonata caught Rarity state from somewhere in the crowd at Aria's statement. While she did, Adagio switched her attention to Aria and swiped a hand across her neck. Aria merely snorted.

With her distractions removed, Adagio redirected her focus to Sonata. Despite not really having much power any more, she still managed to appear like she was capable of destroying Sonata's entire world. Laser beams not required.

Pushing her face closer to Sonata's, she growled, "Well? Have anything to say for yourself?" Impatiently, she tapped one of her feet against the floor as Sonata stuttered and sputtered. Despite having words in her mind, Sonata could barely get them out, as her tongue practically fought against her to remain uncontrollable.

Sweat breaking out on her forehead, Sonata nervously wiped at her brow and glanced around. Anywhere other than the two infernos of fury that were currently raging in Adagio's eyes. On top of that, she also felt like she was going to melt into the floor, as she started to fan herself and start and stop with, "Well, I, uh, that is, uh—"

"Cut to the chase," interjected Adagio. Furrowing her brow and glowering again at any student who was staring at them, she snarled, "I despise being around all these humans." Fixating her gaze on Sunset, she narrowed her eyes further and hissed, "Especially her."

"I'm hurt, Adagio," Sunset snarked back.

Tapping her index fingers together, Sonata glanced above her at the banner, which Pinkie had designed herself. It was meant to be noticed as one entered, but probably her sisters were so irate that they didn't spot it. While she strained to even point up toward, Pinkie popped up beside her and gave a couple of reassuring nudges.

At the new arrival, Adagio's forehead wrinkled, and she snarled, much like an animal of some description. Eyeing up Pinkie, she hissed, "What do you want, Rainboom?"

"Well, I just wanted to say that this was partly Sonata's idea, because she wanted to invite you to the annual Christmas party—which has never had spiked punch—because you were being a bunch of Scrooges!" When she finished, she cracked a massive grin, and she poked Sonata again in the ribs. "See?" she whispered. "Easy peasy, lemon squeezy."

Perking up a bit further, Pinkie held up a finger and proclaimed, "Oh yeah! This is also a surprise for you guys!" She jabbed upward a couple of times, and Adagio sighed, her eyelids half-furrowed, and she followed Pinkie's indication. With a small start and a growl, her eyes shrunk a tad when she more than likely read the name of the banner.

Sonata followed Adagio's gaze. As much as she had argued against it during its creation, the banner had spelled out on it, in garishly Christmas-y reds, yellows, and greens, "'Sorry We Took Your Powers but You Were being kinda Evil but do You Want to be Friends' Christmas Party Extravaganza!" For what seemed like an eternity, Adagio continued to peer at it, but eventually she looked back at Sonata, and she appeared to be slightly—infinitesimally—less frustrated. Instead of five veins pulsing across her neck and face, she only had four. A marked improvement.

"You got this," came a whispered comment from Sunset. Although it was probably meant as encouragement, it only made Sonata's knees clack further together.

"Ugh. Deal with the idiot how you want, Adagio, I'm getting punch." With that grumble, Aria hauled herself off the doorframe and swaggered her way toward the punch bowl. As she did, the entire crowd parted for her, and she gave a condescending sneer toward anyone who held her gaze for more than a second or two. Although it was faint, Sonata could hear as Aria passed close by, "Stupid humans."

Swiping a plastic cup, she filled it with punch, took one sip, and spat it back out. "I thought you said this punch was spiked?!" she barked at Pinkie.

"I said it wasn't!" retorted Pinkie with a wide smile. "Cross my heart. Hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye!" From her blouse, she pulled a cupcake and slammed it into one of her eyes. Blinking happily, she wiped it off and tittered, "See? Pinkie Promise!"

Wordlessly, Aria gazed at Adagio and pointed her thumb at Pinkie. Arching a brow, she opened her mouth, as if to say, "what the heck," but otherwise remained mute. Adagio simply shook her head and flicked a finger to motion Aria back over to Sonata and her.

Still dripping with cupcake icing and batter, Pinkie poked Sonata in the ribs, and Sonata felt two cards being slipped into her fingers. She gripped them, and she stole a quick glance at Pinkie, with a silent thanks passing between them. When Pinkie met her gaze, she beamed and repeatedly shot her a thumbs up before slipping away from the group. She did manage to hiss, "It'll all make sense now!"

Sunset's presence was still felt. Although she had not interjected with much, Sonata could sense that she was watching, and more than likely prepared to act if Adagio and Aria did anything. Given that Adagio was occasionally switching her attention to behind Sonata, she could only assume that Sunset was enough of a deterrent.

Clearing her throat and feeling her face flush deeply, Sonata brought the cards that she had been given by Pinkie up and checked them. The only indication of to whom they belonged were stickers of her sisters' musical pins. A treble clef and golden diamond for Adagio, a purple star and Segno notation for Aria.

With a quick sigh and a nervous gulp, she held out Adagio's and calmly stated, "Here." Although she controlled her voice, her heart was fluttering at a mile a minute. Everything inside felt like it was being twisted and ready to be wrung out, squished out of her and leaving her empty. As long as she held the letter out for Adagio, her forehead grew sweatier and sweatier.

Without a word, Aria waltzed by and swiped hers, while Adagio continued to simply gawk at what was being proffered to her by Sonata. As the seconds dragged on, she started to regain some of her composure, and shifted her gaze around to spy that she was being observed by the majority of the party members.

For possibly the first time in her working memory, Sonata noticed Adagio's cheeks turn a bright shade of crimson, and Adagio growled. Slumping her shoulders slightly, she shot most of the teens there another practiced glare that had been leveled at Sonata dozens of times in the past few months alone. More blobs of snow fell off her hair and plopped onto the floor with a splash.

As the cold droplets of water wet her legs, Sonata pushed the card a bit closer to Adagio and repeated her encouragement. Adagio finally sized up the letter and then snatched it with a huff. Taking one second to look at the sticker, which Sonata had to admit she wasn't even sure how Pinkie got, she ripped open the seal.

With each tear, a few snippets of paper fell to the floor, and soon she had withdrawn the card. Her eyes skimmed its contents momentarily, and then she twirled it around and jabbed a finger at the short message, stating that it was a few vocal lessons for the start of the year, and that maybe she'd not be as evil as before if she knew how to sing without magic.

Sonata had to force back a smirk at Pinkie's candid writing, and she stated, "I got one, too." She pointed at Aria. "And Ari's is the same." Scratching the back of her neck, she tittered and mumbled, "Uh, these last few days have kinda opened up my eyes."

"I heard that one before!" Pinkie quipped from somewhere in the crowd.

"You. Spent. Time. With. Them?!" Adagio hissed, her eyes shrinking to mere pinpricks and her animalistic scowl forcing Sonata to cringe back as it felt like a freezing hand gripped her heart. Taking one look at the card, Adagio issued a guttural growl, and she tossed it to the floor. She thrust a finger at Sonata. "That's where you were all week, wasn't it?!" Furiously jabbing a thumb back at her chest, she snapped, "You decided to betray the two of us, just to work with them instead?!"

"No, no, no!" Sonata hastily declared as she waved her hands defensively. "I-I wanted to be angry with them, but they were just... nice." For a second, she scanned the crowd and spotted Applejack, who gave her a nod. She smiled back. Pinkie poked her head up through a different spot in the party and waved. For the most part, the other students were doing their best to ignore the drama. The few that were paying attention recorded it with their phones.

As that realization sunk in, Sonata gulped, but she forced it from her mind and continued, "We're just normal girls now, Dagi. What can we do to get back at them? Like, for realsies, what?"

Chewing on her lip for a few seconds, Adagio furrowed her brow and then grabbed Sonata's hand. Sonata yelped. With a huff, "You're just pitying me! I don't need it! I led a serenade of sirens for over a thousand years. I don't need any—"

"And what do you think you're going to do, Adagio?" Sunset interjected, which made Adagio twirl back to face the girl behind their downfall. Spitting and stammering, Adagio's eyes darted left and right before she stepped back and crossed her forearms. With a couple of stutters and spurts, she instead grabbed Sonata's hand again and started moving.

"I-I don't have to explain anything to you, Sunset Shimmer! Just know that—" She snarled when Sunset interrupted.

"Your pendants are shattered, you know," quipped Sunset. When Adagio halted entirely, she grinned. For a second, Adagio clasped her hand to her neck and then whipped around to glower at Sunset. Sonata could practically taste the tension. It was about as thick and soupy as a London fog.

Nonchalantly leaning to one side, Sunset matched Adagio's haughty and defiant stance and added, "Sonata's right. Why are you wanting to hold onto all that anger, especially right around Christmas? It's almost a new year. Shouldn't you think of a way to move forward?"

"Yeah, Dagi," Sonata broke in with a nod. "Can we just act like a normal family, even for Christmas?" With a whimper, she brought her hands together and practically fell to her knees, a begging pout forming on her face. As her pupils dilated, she forced a couple of tears to trickle down, and she saw Adagio roll her eyes in disgust.

For a second or two, the party grew quiet, as if expecting Adagio to answer. In the light from the streetlights outside, as well as the soft glow from the Christmas tree, Adagio appeared like she was painted in a pastel palette. Some of the reds and greens from the lights glittered off her wet hair.

As the seconds dragged on, Sonata's expression grew more plaintive, and she caught Aria tapping a foot impatiently by the door. A couple of whispers about getting someone to show the Dazzlings out made its way to her ears, but she heard Pinkie instantly silence it with a loud shushing noise.

"You said it was partly your idea?" Adagio finally asked, her voice a bit calmer than earlier. Likewise, some of the frustration evaporated from her, but she still kept a wary eye on Sunset.

"Y-Yeah, somewhat. I wanted to get gifts, but then Pinkie, uh, well, beat me to it." With a titter, Sonata scratched the back of her head.

"You know, it was kinda thoughtful of Sonata to get us to come out here. Was going to be a boring Christmas, otherwise," Aria chipped in from the rear. When Adagio shot her a glare, she simply shrugged and added, "Besides, I'm getting tired of all this, Adagio."

Staggering once, Adagio grimaced like she had been slapped. She gaped at Aria. "Aria Treble—"

"Don't give me the middle name treatment, Adagio, I'm not a hundred anymore." At that, Aria brushed aside some of her hair and strained out a bit more melted snow. With a small smirk sent Sonata's way, she stated with a small chuckle, "Besides, this is kinda like the old gift exchanges we used to do. Guess it's just better gifts for all of us."

Switching her gaze between Sonata and Aria for a moment, then taking in the room, Adagio went silent. She licked her lips. After furrowing her brow, she kicked one of her heels against the ground momentarily, and then stared up at the ceiling, toward the banner. Although it was faint, especially in the dimmer light, Sonata caught a couple of tears slip down Adagio's cheeks, which she quickly wiped away before she even sniffed.

Adagio coughed. Fixing her gaze on Sunset, she finally huffed, "Well, I guess that maybe I can honor my sister's request. This once." She started to shoulder off her jacket, and then snapped, "That doesn't mean we're friends, Shimmer!" All she got in return was a snarky snicker.

After slipping off her woolen, purple winter coat, she tossed it toward one of the younger geeks, who was tapping on his phone with someone. When he looked up, his face blanched as could be, she simply snarled, "Hang it up." She paused for a second. "Please, I guess."

"Wow. Adagio Bass Dazzle actually being polite," shot Aria, who earned a single, small growl from her sister. As she caught Adagio's ire, she laughed and undid her own jacket, which she just hung up on one of the hangers that were on one of the bleachers. It was little more than a makeshift coat rack, but it worked. Sonata spotted Aria put it next to her own. A rarity.

With a bit of warmth rushing through her body, she went in to give Adagio a hug, but Adagio held up a hand. "Don't. Touch." She primped her hair briefly, and she huffed. "Need to fix this when I get home." As she started to fiddle with it to at least straighten it out, she turned her back on Sonata, who grinned and went in anyway.

Yelping in surprise, Adagio glanced down at the arms wrapped around her waist, and she sighed. Aria chortled as she approached, and Sonata simply stated with a wistful sigh, "Merry Christmas, Dagi. Merry Christmas, Ari." Adagio's posture slumped further.

"Ugh, do I have to?" Adagio began before she dragged a hand down her face. Gingerly, she patted one of Sonata's arms, and then she mumbled, "Yeah, Merry Christmas, 'Nata."

Giggling at the nickname, Sonata pulled back when she heard some feet trot up, and Pinkie exclaimed, "Oh! Don't forget to give them these!" Before Sonata could thank Pinkie, Pinkie had shoved a couple of cookies for each siren into her fists, as well as a couple of shortbread. Sonata blinked. She hadn't even tried the shortbread that Applejack had made yet! The sugar cookies she made her sisters would have to wait. Applejack's recipe looked like it was to die for, and she was going to experience it with Adagio and Aria.

As she divvied the spoils with her sisters, she proclaimed, "Gotta try these apple shortbread pieces first! They're making my tummy rumbly!"

"Ugh, do you have to talk like you're thirty?" Aria huffed. However, she eyed the shortbread for a second and asked, "Is it supposed to look like it's been run through a grater with a million apples?" When Sonata shrugged, she simply huffed, "Whatever. On three?"

With a shared nod, the three sirens counted down. As they reached two, Sonata heard Pinkie exclaim, "Oh, so that's what that twitchy hair and arm meant! Extended ending with a Season One twist, but the twist is actually a twist! What a twist!"

Curious, Sonata popped the shortbread in her mouth as she mentally resolved to ask Pinkie what the heck she meant after. Almost instantly, the pastry started to melt in her mouth, exploding into a burst of sweetness, soon complemented by the tanginess of the tiny apple chunks throughout it. With a small moan, Sonata peeked at Adagio, who inspected it, before shrugging and taking a bite. Adagio's eyes shrunk, and she stopped chewing to peer at the dessert.

Frowning and holding back a whimper, Sonata inquired, "Gee, Dagi, don't you like it?" She sniffed at the spice on the top of the tray of shortbread. "Seems all right to me."

"It's not 'all right,'" Adagio began with a snarl. Momentarily glaring at Sonata, she perked up, "It's to die for!" At that, she snatched the piece that Aria still held and swiped a couple more from the tray.

Sonata arched a brow curiously. As she opened her mouth to comment on Adagio's reaction, she screamed when Pinkie popped up to Sonata's right and whispered, "Psst, you almost forgot this." Stuffing a hand into her hair, Pinkie retrieved Sonata's shaker of cayenne pepper, and Sonata gasped.

She snatched it from Pinkie. "For realsies?! I can't believe I was such an airhead and forgot this!" As Sonata spun to bounce over to her jacket, Pinkie's right arm jerked, and she spasmed a couple of times. Pinkie yelped.

"Jerky arm and twitchy ma—hair!" Before Sonata could react, the convulsing Pinkie swiped and bumped into Aria, who had wandered closer, her face alight with confusion. Aria staggered and stumbled back into Sonata, who was knocked to the ground. As she collapsed, Sonata's grip loosened on the shaker, and it went soaring through the air. The cap, not quite sealed tight, undid itself with the force of the launch.

Heart sinking, Sonata reached out a hand before impacting the ground, and she screamed, "'Dagi!" Her world seemed to slow to a crawl as Adagio, who was just finishing her third piece of shortbread, looked up. Crumbs dotted her cheeks. Then her eyes shrunk to mere pinpricks as she tracked the shaker of cayenne through the air. She brought up an arm and started to close her eyes, but it was too late.

In a cloud of red, the shaker dumped itself over Adagio. Sonata meekly stared at her. Adagio gazed back, eyes reddened. Tears streamed down her face.

"Oooooh, so that's what all those jerks and twitches meant! A twisty, twist, twistery, twist!" Pinkie beamed brightly. "How twisted! I wonder if this'll help her practice for those singing lessons?"

Adagio shrieked."

Author's Note

Well, as usual, I think I went a bit above and beyond for my recipient's request, but now they have a massive story gift to look back on during future Christmases! :pinkiecrazy: I'm glad that I had the opportunity to write this, as I've not done this character duo before, and I like excuses to write the Dazzlings in any capacity. Penning Pinkie's personality was also entertaining (and you have no idea how hard it was to not just make a fourth wall breaking joke with Pinkie jumping in and declaring no personality was written, because it's just her). In the end, hopefully the warm fuzzies were provided, and a Merry Christmas is had by all. :twilightsmile:

Like I always do, I want to thank EverfreePony for their help editing, because it feels like these last few times I've dropped stories on them in short order and they've always come through. They're the real hero of the show! Likewise, I thank December Breeze for the cover art, as the work helps add to the coziness of the fic.

Finally, thanks rpglover for the seed that planted this story idea. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and that this monster of a story has kept you entertained! :pinkiehappy:

Until next fic!
T4E