Home is Where the Hearth Is

"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.