Tuesday, December 29, 2015

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Helping people overcome their challenges will make you a better person.

Morning

At ten in the morning, Celestia arrives at the dorm. "Good morning, everyone," she says. "I'd like to introduce your new classmate."

A woman with enormous neon green hair that looks like she dyes it with piss mixed with lime gelatin, wearing a heavy black fur coat, pushes a wheelchair into the dorm. The girl in the wheelchair is wearing a wine-colored coat and has a thick black fur hat on her head, as well as a dark purple muffler wrapped around her face. A pair of thick blankets are in her lap, pulled up to her chest.

Twilight and I exchange nervous glances. We were told the new girl would need a lot of support and that she'd been in an accident, but...I wasn't expecting something like this!

The woman ducks back outside and returns a moment later with two large suitcases and a laptop bag. As soon as she closes the door behind her, the girl in the wheelchair takes off her hat and unwraps the muffler from her face, shaking out her long ponytail, which is glacier blue with darker blue stripes.

I can't believe it...

I went to school with this girl back in Seaddle!

...this is Sonata Dusk!

"Sonata?!"

Sonata's raspberry eyes widen in recognition and she smiles shyly, giving me a little wave.

Twilight stares at me. "You know her?"

The green-haired woman blinks at me. "You know my daughter?"

"Well, yeah," I say. "I just moved here from Seaddle in August. We used to go to school together."

Pinkie lets out a gasp. "Hey. HEY! I remember now!" She points from me to Sonata. "When you were telling us about yourself! Remember, Twi-Twi?"

"Huh?" Twilight asks, tilting her head.

"Yeah!" Pinkie says. "Flash said there was only one really cute girl at his old school and her name was Sonata! Right?"

Sonata's eyes widen and she blushes furiously, playing with her hair.

I rub the back of my head. "Heh...y-yeah, that...sounds about right." Did I really say that?

...Pinkie actually remembered me saying something like that?

Sonata's mother smiles. "Well, it's good to know Sonata will have a familiar face around here," she says. She gives me an appraising look. "And a cute boy, at that..."

Twilight coughs and steps forward. "Hello, Sonata!" she says brightly. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm Flash's girlfriend."

Sonata's smile drops slightly. She looks up at her mother and makes a gesture.

"Oh! Right, sorry dear." Sonata's mother reaches into her coat and pulls out a large tablet computer bound in a vinyl protector, which she hands to Sonata. Sonata spends a moment writing, then holds up the tablet for all of us to see.

It's very nice to meet you all. I'm Sonata Dusk.

"I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie says happily.

I frown. "Sonata? What's...with the tablet?"

Sonata's eyes turn sad. She reaches up to the collar of her blouse and unbuttons the top two buttons, spreading it open.

Twilight gasps. Pinkie screams.

The ice-blue skin of Sonata's throat is covered in horrific scars.

Sonata's mother sighs. "I don't know if your principal told you all, but...Sonata and her sisters were in a terrible accident on Halloween night. My other two daughters, Adagio and Aria...they were killed. Sonata almost didn't make it." She puts her hands on Sonata's shoulders. "She only got out of the hospital two weeks ago. Her throat was torn apart...the doctors worked miracles on her, and at least she won't need a breathing tube, but...they don't think she'll ever speak again."

"Oh my God," Velvet says, hands flying to her mouth.

Sonata is crying...

Pinkie rushes forward and envelops Sonata in a hug. Sonata stiffens, eyes wide.

"Pinkie, give the girl some space," Cadance says.

Pinkie backs away, eyes wet and sad. "That's so terrible," she says quietly.

Sonata's mother starts to cry silently. "While...while she was in the hospital, we decided to leave Seaddle. There's just too many bad memories there now. Plus, Canterlot has better hospitals and doctors, and...I've heard good things about Canterlot High School and its online curriculum. I want Sonata to be in school and have friends, but...I also want her to be able to get an education even if she's...not able to go to school. Canterlot seemed like a good place for that."

"It's also an excellent place for a girl with Sonata's handicap to keep up an active and healthy social life," Celestia says. "With Canterbook, she can talk to everybody she wants to all the time..." She smiles at Sonata. "And let's be honest. Teenagers these days prefer texting to talking anyway, right?"

Sonata smiles at that and nods.

"Is she already registered?" Twilight asks.

"She is," Celestia says. "We set up her Canterbook access on the drive over here."

Twilight pulls out her phone. A moment later, Sonata smiles down at her tablet and taps the screen.

Pinkie and I pull out our phones as well.

Sonata smiles, wiping her eyes and sniffling.

"Let me message everybody else in the dorm," Pinkie says. "Just because they're not here right now doesn't mean you can't be their friend already!"

Sonata nods happily.

"I'm actually surprised there are so many kids here during winter break," Sonata's mother says.

Velvet puts a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "Well, with the weather the way it's been, it made more sense for us to come down here to spend Christmas with our daughter and her boyfriend than for her to come to us, and Flash's parents are..." She frowns.

"Overseas," I say. "That's why I transferred here to begin with."

"And I'm in between families!" Pinkie says cheerfully, linking her arms with me and Twilight.

Sonata's mother blinks at that. "You know...I think you and Sonata are probably going to be best friends," she says.

Sonata shoots her mother a mildly irritated look.

Twilight frowns. "Umm...Mrs...?"

"It's Pizzazz," Sonata's mother says. "Just Pizzazz."

"Err...right," Twilight says. "It's just...there's one little problem here. There aren't any first-floor rooms, and, well...we've set Sonata up with a room on the third floor..."

Sonata pushes herself out of the wheelchair and stands, throwing her hands up as if to say "ta-daaa!" She then sits back down, rearranging her blankets.

"Sonata can walk," Pizzazz says. "In fact, it's good for her to get a little exercise each day. But she's still very weak, so she needs to take it easy. The doctors want her to use the wheelchair as much as possible for about another month."

"Oh," Twilight says with relief. "That's good. I thought that might...be a problem..."

Night Light tilts his head curiously. "Say..." he says, looking at Pizzazz. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

Pizzazz shifts uncomfortably. "I...I don't think so," she says.

"No, I'm sure you look familiar," he says. "Honey, doesn't she look like the singer from that one punk band?"

"You know, she sort of does," Velvet says.

Sonata begins making VERY frantic shushing gestures.

Pizzazz draws her coat more tightly around herself. "Sonata, I have things to do," she says brusquely. "I'll leave you to get settled in and get to know your new friends. I'll text you in a little while, alright?" With that, she sweeps out of the dorm.

"Whoa. That was..."

Sonata writes something on her tablet and holds it up for all of us to read.

Mommy REALLY doesn't like it when you bring up her old music career.

"I don't blame her," Night Light says. "Her band really sucked."

"Night Light!"

"Uhh...no offense..."

Sonata rolls her eyes and writes on her tablet again.

None taken. They really DID suck.

We all laugh. Velvet shakes her head. "Well, I'd better get started on lunch while you all get Sonata settled in. I hope you like Christmas leftovers, Sonata. We're still working through ours..."

Sonata gives her a thumbs-up and a big smile.

Daytime

Twilight and Pinkie help Sonata upstairs while I carry up her things. Pinkie sits her down at the desk chair while I set her bags down on the bed.

"Would you like me to unpack for you, Sonata?" Twilight asks.

Sonata nods vigorously.

"Would you like Flash to leave while we unpack?" Twilight asks. "I know I wouldn't want a strange boy seeing my underwear all over the place."

Sonata lets out some raspy, weak snickers. She shakes her head and smiles, writing on her tablet.

It's cool. I kinda want more company right now.

I sit down at the foot of the bed. "Hey...I'm sorry about your sisters," I say. "It...it really sucks."

Sonata sighs and bows her head.

Yeah.

"Did you know Sonata's sisters very well, Flash?" Twilight asks.

"Only by reputation. I actually don't really know Sonata all that well either. I just remember having a few classes with her, seeing her at lunch and stuff...you know." I give Sonata a sheepish smile.

"But you did say she was cute," Pinkie says.

Sonata smiles brightly at that.

"You also said she was an airhead," Pinkie adds. "Oh...sorry."

Sonata blushes. She writes for a minute.

Yeah...I know I'm an airhead. Aria never let a day go by without telling me how dumb I am.

"Well that's not very nice of her," Twilight says.

I snort. "Aria wasn't a very nice girl," I say. "She was always rude to everybody. Never smiled. Real grump."

Pretty much. She really was the worst.

Sonata's eyes fill with tears.

Pinkie puts a hand on her shoulder. Sonata sniffles and looks up at her gratefully.

"What about your other sister?" Twilight asks. "What was she like? If...if it's too painful to talk about, then..."

Sonata shakes her head and writes.

Adagio...she was in charge and she never let any of us forget it. She was...

Sonata looks at me, tilting her head.

I shrug. "Like I said, I mostly only knew Sonata's sisters by reputation." I tilt my head back, thinking back to Seaddle... "Adagio Dazzle. Mostly I remember her stupidly huge hair and bitchy attitude." I look at Sonata. "Sorry."

Sonata's actually smiling happily, even though her eyes are still wet. She fiddles with her tablet for a minute, then holds it up to display a girl with a very curvy figure in a tight-fitting purple outfit with a miniskirt and tights. Her frizzy orange hair is larger than her head and torso combined.

"Wow-wee," Pinkie says. "That's a lot of hair."

"How did she even keep her head up with all that?" Twilight wonders, staring.

Sonata snickers again, then looks down and sighs. She swipes the photo off her tablet, then writes again.

The thing is...we fought all the time, but we were always together. Always. Now they're gone, and...I'm all alone. I just...I don't know what to do...

She lets the tablet slide into her lap and buries her face in her hands. Her shoulders shake with silent sobs.

Sonata Dusk...

She used to be a cheerful, bubbly airhead...

Now she's a broken mess who's lost her most precious people...

---

The three of us do our best to comfort Sonata. When she's finished crying, Pinkie takes her to get cleaned up, while Twilight and I finish unpacking her stuff. By the time Sonata is presentable again, if a bit puffy-eyed, it's time to go downstairs for lunch.

By unspoken agreement, we avoid asking Sonata anything too personal for the rest of the day, instead letting her direct the conversation. She asks us all kinds of questions about us, the other dorm residents, and Canterlot High.

A couple hours after lunch, Sonata is visibly tired, so Cadance takes her upstairs and puts her to bed.

"That poor child," Velvet says.

"What she's been through...it's terrible," Twilight agrees.

"It's hard to believe that's the same girl who used to spaz out over Taco Tuesdays at the school cafeteria," I say.

"Huh?"

"There...was this one video that went viral at my old school," I say. I pull out my phone and do a search for 'taco tuesday girl'; it takes a few minutes to find it because the video is so old, but once I find it, I show it to the others.

Pinkie giggles.

Velvet stifles a laugh. "Oh...my..."

Twilight's cheeks puff out with a restrained giggle. "I...I see what you mean," she says.

Pinkie draws in a huge gasp. "Hey! Hey wait a second!" she says. "You guys! Today is Tuesday!"

We stare at her. Twilight frowns. "Pinkie...I'm not sure that's such a good idea..."

"She might be...a bit embarrassed about that..." Velvet says.

"Actually, I think she enjoyed the whole thing. She sure giggled whenever anybody brought it up."

We all sit and think about that for a minute.

"You know..." Twilight says slowly. "I...could use a change from leftovers."

"I'm so over turkey right now," Pinkie agrees.

Velvet looks at us. "Well...me too, honestly," she admits. She pulls out her phone and starts texting.

A minute later, Night Light and Shining Armor walk in from...wherever it is they've been all afternoon. "Yeah, hon?" Night Light asks.

"Boys, we've decided we're having a taco party tonight," Velvet says. "We're going to need a couple dozen tacos...get an assortment. Also nachos and beans and whatever else."

"Dear, it's...it's not even four yet..."

"I didn't mean go right now," Velvet says. "I just wanted you to be ready to go out and get the food at dinnertime."

"Sure, Mom, we can do that," Shining Armor says. "I thought we still had leftovers to—"

"We're sick of them," the girls all say flatly.

"Can't argue with that," Night Light says.

Evening

At dinnertime, Shining Armor and Night Light walk in with four huge bags of tacos. We all work to spread out the huge feast in the dining room, as well as plates, silverware, and drinks, while Cadance goes upstairs to wake up Sonata and bring her down.

When Sonata sees the taco banquet waiting for her, her eyes go wide and she lets out several squeaky, muted giggles, then wheels herself up to the table.

We don't "hear" much out of her all during dinner. The eight of us utterly demolish the crunchy, beefy feast. After we've had our fill, while Night Light and Shining Armor are cleaning up the garbage and Velvet is dealing with the leftovers, Sonata pulls out her tablet.

Thank you.

I shrug. "It was Pinkie's idea, really."

No, you had to have told them about me and Taco Tuesday.

"Well, yeah..."

After that, Pinkie, Twilight, Sonata, and I watch television together in the lounge until bedtime.

Sonata may not be able to talk anymore, but her butt sure can...

We may need to re-wallpaper the lounge tomorrow.