It's been almost five days since the young girl, Sonata Dusk, had stood up against her sisters at the café. I mean, what's up with that? I vaguely remember hearing from Rainbow that she must have been the annoyingly stupid sibling that every family has. Even thought there is still a bit of tension between the girls and Sonata, I couldn't help but still feel sorry for her. I mean, look at Sunset. Yeah, she's helpful and kind now, but from the stories I hear, it seems that not everything about her was 'all that peachy'. I'm just quoting Pinkie Pie on that.
Anyway, from time to time, during the rest of the week and towards the holiday, we keep bumping into Adagio and Aria. And it's not always a simple pass-and-breathe when we accidentally meet in public. Somehow, the biggest surprise was awaiting us when we met up outside the school. A popular spot was our morning rendezvous that Rarity said they occasionally meet at to discuss everyday things. Also, it's a portal to another world. Who knew? I sarcastically think to myself, whilst remembering it's where Sunset is from.
"So there I was, just minding my own business," I hear Pinkie say, as we're walking over to the statue that the girls found me by. "Just walking into the coffee shop to get my coffee, but I was early, so I just walked straight into the shop anyway, but there was a queue so I joined it and stayed in line, whilst trying to peek ahead." She runs over and peeks her head around from behind Applejack, who'd just arrived a minute before. "And then that's when I saw something crazy! I saw that lead singer siren girl taking people's orders!" She adds, throwing her hands into the air dramatically, throwing a few streamers in the process. Some of the girls and I chuckle at her display of emotion.
"Is that so, darling?" Rarity responds, sitting beside me as she writes in her diary, smiling a little as she looks through a very fashionable pair of glasses.
"Yes indeedily!" Pinkie replies, plopping herself down beside the portal, sticking a hand through it before getting it yanked back out but Sunset. "Aww. Spoilsport." She sticks her tongue out at Sunset, as if to make fun of her and we all begin laughing as Sunset returns the gesture.
I'm always curious about why the statue has this portal in it, but I'll decide to ask about it later. The reason why, is because I hear some soft and in-tune humming of the music video Rainbow Dash showed me for a fundraiser coming our way when we almost ran into each other on our way to this exact spot. I notice the girls all look in the direction of the humming as Sonata makes her way past us, as if we weren't even here. I call out to her but she continues humming as she enters the school. I can't help but wonder what's going on with her today.
But as I'm about to get up, I watch a girl tripping up over her own feet at the steps and dropping all her books in the process. I see Dash get up to go and help her, like I was going to, but Sonata turns around and helps her pick up her books instead. We're all a bit surprised at how nice this Siren could be, well, I say we, but I saw how much she just wanted to be herself. Then again, some comment she makes sends the sound of a cry our way as the girl she helped then runs inside the school.
Sonata just stares at her hands, then slumps down onto the stairs. Except I've noticed her bedraggled, let down hair has now fallen around her head as she crosses her arms and hides her face in them. Now that was kinda unexpected. I just watch the girls all look between each other as I hear a soft sobbing. I quickly look around before shifting into my superspeed, take a page from the back of my school book, write a note, then zip over to Sonata, and tap her shoulder after placing it in her exposed hand.
All of this happens in less than a second or two, but I do see a hint of recognition from Dash at what I did, so I quickly hold a finger to my mouth as the rest of us begin to talk quietly amongst ourselves. I notice her look up then over her shoulder from my peripheral, then look around to see who'd tapped her shoulder. I look away as I begin talking with the girls again.
As it was only a few minutes before our morning lecture was to start, I notice that Sonata has started to come over to us. There wasn't much space for all of us, but I shifted a little bit closer to my right, towards Rarity, just to let her in. At least my friends are a bit more accepting of her after what happened with her breakup between herself and her sisters.
"Um, hi." Spoke Sonata, a bit stronger than Fluttershy's soft voice, but still quiet and shy. "I don't really know much about friendship, but I was there most of the time when you all appeared from that mirror that the girl had used." My eyebrows raise in surprise at the same time some of my friends gasp.
In case you're wondering, Sunset had previously mentioned to me since Sonata's family break up throughout this past week about the stories and adventures between the girls and the magical mishaps they'd all been through. But I had to believe that Sunset and her friends were shocked to hear that Sonata had been the only one of her sisters to see the events that transpired in the mall that day.
Somehow, during the rest of the day, Sonata still has her dumb moments, but has classes with one of two of us for the rest of the day. I help her out in science with Twilight after lunch as we try to turn light into a single colour beam with a prism and some filters. I hear from Fluttershy how she was able to hum along to the music in her class, but still struggled with her singing In their little after-class session. But when it came to being in Sunset's class, that's where she didn't show up for once.
"I don't get it, darling," I hear Rarity say from beside me during our joint free period, as we sit on the roof of the observatory alone. Trying to look for her. "Where would Sonata be? I know she's shown how she really feels since we last saw her, but I actually feel sorry for her if she goes back to her old ways." She leans her head onto my shoulder as we share this moment out of any prying eyes. "Oh, if only I'd given her something more noticeable, like a new bag or hoodie, or something! Her current fashion sense is just dreadful and her hair being down is enough to render her invisible to me-- um, us!" I roll my eyes mentally as I wrap an arm around her, cutting her off.
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Smiling, she leans her head against my shoulder as we share a brief but tender moment together. Although, it was shattered the moment we felt alone completely, as we heard some singing coming from down below. Leaning towards the edge, I peek over carefully to find Sonata just singing softly as she rocks in place, crouched and looking upset. From up here, I could tell she was in need of some support, mainly because she was hidden behind some bushes. Her voice cracks a bit as she sings too.
"I'll be right back, sweetie." I say, giving Rarity a soft kiss on the cheek, making her blush a little and looking a bit dreamy towards me. "Don't go anywhere just yet." I get up after she gives me a hug, then pats her skirt down and continues to wait for me.
With one last look at her, I run with my superspeed through the observational dome, down the stairs, slowly through the library, then pick up speed again to get down to Sonata, sliding a bit as I come to a stop near her. Jogging normally, I follow the sound of her singing as I dodge a girl with dark green hair again. I can't help but get the feeling she's someone I've met already, but put the thought to the back of my mind as I come around the corner and peek around the bushes.
"...so that as time goes on, it's obvious not to see." I hear her sing in a less raspy but still not perfect voice, as I quietly make my way to her, well try to. "That there's no longer the magical flow of sound in m--." She stops short abruptly as I accidentally crack a twig underfoot. "Who's there?" I hear from her in an upset tone. Raising my hands, I come around and sit near her.
"It's just me." I say, not very convinced with how calmly I said it. "We were worried about where you'd gone." She freezes, then just tucks her face into her knees and looks away before I give her a side hug, secretly throwing a thumbs up to Rarity above me, after spotting her shadow. A few minutes later, I hear a somewhat rushed movement of footsteps nearby after I manage to calm her down from her rocking.
Stepping out from behind the bush, bringing Sonata with me, Fluttershy, Sunset and Rarity all come over and ask if she's okay. Back behind the bush, I'd calmed her down by asking her about what makes her happy just to help her cheer up. Her face still looked down, but I could sense a feeling of trust and respect towards the girls and I. I might also be a bit of an idol now to her too, I won't tell me friends about it, but I snuck off, with superspeed, to buy her a mildly spicy taco after saying she was hungry.
"Are you okay, Sonata?" Fluttershy asks gently. "Did something horrible happen?" She stands beside her as she just nods gently.
I shuffle around to be a bit closer to Rarity as the five of us enter the back of the school together. Then with a quick check Rarity sneaks off, after quickly grasping my hand, to finish her self-study almost without us noticing. Well, I noticed anyway from her hand holding mine, so I suspect they did too. After a minute of just talking to her, Sonata and Fluttershy seem to have a really good bond. One that would take a lot longer to reach if it was anybody else. Turns out that Sunset's idea to get access to the roof paid off.
Still an odd idea though, nonetheless. Plus, she kinda admitted with a faint colour to her cheeks for being stuck up there one night just to sing a song about herself. We laughed a little as we waved goodbye to each other as Sonata heads off with Sunset to their joint History class. As it was a free for me, I decided to just take a walk around the school seeing how I have already completed my homework for the day. Again. I still have no idea why I can do things or why I'm here, but something catches me off guard as I round a corner.
I found Pinkie Pie talking to Vice Principal Luna's adopted daughter, Melody Symphonía. It kind of looked like an argument, but Pinkie was surprisingly just taking it in pride with a big smile and without a care. I sense the opposite type of feeling from what I'm seeing, so I'm about to turn away with a grin but Mel says something and Pinkie Pie just stops talking, then she faints on the corner of my peripheral. Before she even hits the floor, I run over with superspeed and catch her mid-fall as I catch Melody's face with a warm look but with shock.
"um, I-I-I-I ..." Stutters Mel, before holding her head in her hands, shaking it then running off after adding with a loud mumble: "Why did I have to say that? She'll hate me." as she runs off around the corner. I get the feeling that it's not going to be the end of what I have just seen between these two.
Well, Pinkie is still out cold, so I just shift her into my arms, getting a smile to appear in her face as I speed off and carry her to the library, where I bet Rarity and Twilight would be now. I was almost right. Rarity is here, but I can't see Twili-- Oh wait, there she is. Her nose stuck in a book again. I catch the title of it as she makes some notes and realise she's probably trying to study the science between the portal from our world to some distant pony world I keep hearing about from Sunset. Anyway, I smile as I head over to a few beanbags and place Pinkie on them as I slide to a stop.
The rush of wind from my arrival made Rarity jump audibly, whilst Twilight just looks up and places her hand on the papers before they had a chance to move. Good reflexes. I think silently to myself, smiling a bit in the process.
"Um, darling, why is Pinkie Pie sleeping?" Rarity whispers as I come over and sit with her before I could say hi to them.
"She's not exactly sleeping." I respond, hopefully just as quietly, but earn myself a 'SSHHH' from the table behind us and from Twilight, so I speak even quieter as we both decide move to an emptier seating area. "I was walking around after completing my work and found her talking with Mel." Rarity nods, leaning onto the back of her hands, pencil in hand. "I sensed what they were talking about was okay somehow, but as I went to turn away, Mel says something and Pinkie just faints, so I catch her just as she starts falling and Mel runs off... With a soft blush on her cheeks!" We chuckle very quietly, Rarity covering her mouth with her free hand as I just lower my head a bit.
"I guess we're not the only ones between our friends with relationships then, darling." Rarity replies, with the hint of knowledge to her voice as she tilts her head and winks as I hear a soft thump in the background. "I may or may not have seen Rainbow react to one of AppleJack's comments as she looked eye to eye with Dash." She giggles a little bit, as Pinkie suddenly slides into a chair opposite us, making us jump and RayRay 'eep' a bit. Oh, a new nickname I could give her. I think. And I wish Pinkie had a bell to warn others of her arrival. I add in afterthought.
"Heya!" She whispers. Enthusiastically too. "What cha talking about?" Somehow, she pulls a cupcake from her hair and eats it carefully.
"Nothing much darling," Rarity responds, as I pull out my phone after it buzzed. "Just discussing something about the school work." I secretly squeeze her leg gently under the table for covering so well, which she returns with a smile.
One thing still bugs me however. Well, two things, but one isn't as important. The first thing...
...Why would Pinkie Pie faint from something Mel said?
The second thing...
Who is that green haired girl I keep dodging without noticing I've dodged her?