Edge of Town
"Alright, she should be around here somewhere." Rarity says as the group approach the hills outside of the city.
"I hope this is worth all the trouble. If she can't help us, we're at square one again." Dash says as they continue their search.
"I should definitely write Twilight about this. She'll be able to get a message to Adagio." Sunset Shimmer pulls out her journal from her backpack as Fuchsia looks on curiously. As she brings out a pen, the group hears a noise a short distance away. The group reach a clearing where they find Lyra looking over the edge of a steep hill. Just ahead of her is a homemade go cart. Inside sits her best friend, Bon Bon, wearing a helmet.
"Lyra are you sure about this?" She asks nervously.
"Don't worry so much Bonnie. As long as my calculations are correct there's really nothing to worry about." Lyra says as she looks over a small note pad. She looks up, noticing the large group approaching. "Hey Rarity, never thought I'd see you out in nature."
"These are extreme circumstances. We came to find you because..." Before Rarity can finish, Rainbow Dash moves forward.
"Spill the beans. We're on to you."
"So you've pieced together that I'm just one Lyra out hundreds sent across time and space to collect information about different dimensions to subjugate them for our chrono lord, but that we decided to take a stand against him and keep our respective realms safe from his evil machinations." As Lyra finishes everyone is struggling to comprehend.
"Wait, you're a what now?" Bon Bon says in disbelief.
"We just wanted to find out what you knew about this world's Twilight Sparkle. You know, the one that isn't a princess." Dash responds.
"Oh, hehe. All that stuff I said before? Just forget it." Lyra says nervously as the girls trade odd looks. "Yeah, me and Twilight used to be real close friends before I transferred to Canterlot High a while back. Me and her used to make up all these weird theories and conspiracies back in the day. But she really started to take things a little too far, and before long that's all she spent her time doing. Eventually we went our separate ways. I don't know what she's doing now." As she says this, she accidentally bumps up against the go-kart, sending it slowly drifting over the edge.
"Uh Lyra?" Bon Bon says as it goes down the hill, picking up speed as she screams, Lyra completely oblivious to her friend's predicament.
"Well we think she took one of our friends for some super crazy reason." Pinkie says.
"Do you know where we might find her?" Sunset asks.
"Well, we did always have our secret lab. Well it was actually more like our secret hangout where we did our little studies on our theories. It's in the basement of the old Harriott hotel." As she says this, a crash at the bottom of the hill can be heard, still going entirely unnoticed by her.
"I know where that is." Fuchsia says.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Applejack says as the others follow behind her.
"Hey can I come too? Where you guys go, mysterious happenings are not far off. Plus, it'll be good to see Twilight again and catch up."
"Fine, but this isn't a meet and greet. This could be seriously dangerous. Got it?" Dash says.
"Ha, seriously dangerous is my middle name. Well actually it's Winifred but that's besides the point." As the group departs Lyra finally remembers Bon Bon and slowly peers over the edge of the hill.
"My legs!" She hears her friend scream out as she pulls out her phone and dials the paramedics.
"Really should have remembered to carry over that 1." She writes in her note pad before running off to join the others.
Unknown to Sunset and the others, Adagio and her group are well on their search for Sonata as Winona leads them through the streets as they race to catch up to her and Aria. "Did we really have to ditch your truck?" Wiz Kid, almost out of breath.
"Had to, they were taking way too many twists and turns to keep up, especially with all of this traffic." Curly explains.
"Terrific." Whiz says sarcastically. He then looks over at Adagio. "I mean, not that it's a problem for me. I could do this all day." He stops, doubling over, sweating heavily.
"One moment please." Curly say, before leaning over to talk to his friend. "You want me to carry you?"
"No, not in front of Adagio."
"Dude, I know you like her but we are in kind of an emergency situation. I doubt seeing you get carried around is her primary concern right now. And really, she stroked your chin once."
"Fine, but can I have a little dignity?" As he says this he quickly falls to the ground. "Ow ow, my ankle! I think I twisted it or something. You guys go on ahead without me."
"We can't just leave him here." Adagio says as she makes sure to keep Aria in her view. "Can't you help him?"
"I can probably carry him." Curly says.
"As long as I don't slow you all down." Whiz says as the athlete lifts him onto his back.
"Alright let's go." Curly says as they continue to follow. "Put it on a little too thick there." He whispers.
"Hey I'm a techie, not a drama club member."
As the others finally catch up to Aria and Winona the dog stops and begins sniffing around. "What's wrong girl?" Aria asks as Winona looks a short distance away and begins growling. The group look over to see Trixie and Lavender Lace walking in their direction. She pulls toward the two before finally getting out of Aria's grasp. Rushing to the surprised girls she begins barking and jumping at Trixie.
"Get away from The Great and Powerful Trixie you mangy mutt." She declares as Aria and the others catch up to her. "You'd do well to remove this mongrel from my presents."
"Sorry your royal highness." Aria says sarcastically, grabbing Winona's leash.
"We're trying to find Sonata and Winona was supposed to lead us to her." Curly explains, still carrying Wiz Kid on his back, causing a bit of laughter from Lavender.
"Ah, geez." Wiz says in embarrassment as he is put down.
"Well we certainly haven't seen her if that's what you're asking."
"We weren't." Adagio says as she can sense something off with Trixie as Winona continues to sniff her, refusing to budge. She then looks over at Lavender Lace who is clearly nervous about something. "Are you alright?"
"She's fine. Aren't you?" Trixie says as the blonde girl says nothing. "Lavneder!"
She almost chokes swallowing heavily. "M...maybe we should tell them Trixie." She mutters out as Aria quickly puts two and two together.
"What did you do to Sonata?" Aria blurts out as Lavender and Trixie trade nervous stares. She rushes forward, pinning Trixie to the wall of a building with her left hand as she raises her clenched right hand. "Where is she?"
"Aria!" Adagio calls out as her sister stops herself, though still keeping Trixie in place. "That's enough."
"I want to find our sister."
"I do too, but let's just handle this rationally alright?" As Aria begins to calm down, Trixie seizes the opportunity and places her teeth firmly in the purple haired girl's arm, giving her and Lavender the opening they need to make a quick escape. Aria clutches her hand for a moment before she and the others give chase.
"Next time, learn to keep your mouth shut." Trixie scolds her band mate as they race down the street. "Let's get to the park. We'll have some fun with them there." She says with a smirk. The two look back to see Winona, quickly gaining on them. Trixie quickly takes out the vial of dust a throws a bit of it into the animals face, causing her to jump around in a panic.
"Are you okay girl? What's wrong?" Aria says as the dog almost snaps at her.
"Get back!" Adagio says as she looks at Winona. "Wait. It's okay girl, just hold still." Adagio holds her hands out toward her and the dog begins to calm down. "That's it, good girl." Winona rolls over and allows Adagio to rub her stomach.
"How did you do that?" Aria asks in shock as she and the others are in awe.
"It's...just something I picked up. Come on, we can't lose her."
"It looks like they're headed toward the amusement park. Lucky for us it's closed until Saturday." Whiz Kid says as the group pursue them. They spot Trixie and Lavender heading into the "House of Horror" attraction.
"Okay girl, stay here okay. Ticki, you stay here and keep Winona company. Whatever is in there, I don't want you to get hurt." Aria says as she puts the ferret down on Winona's head and the two lay outside of the attraction as the others move inside. As they attempt to move through the darkness, Curly pulls out his cellphone to give them some light as they move down the halls.
Adagio looks around at the dimly lit walls, decorated with every form of scare possible before turning her attention back to her sister, who clearly has a look of distress on her face. "Are you okay Aria?"
"I'm fine." She responds bluntly.
"You know you can tell me anything. You don't have to keep it bottled up. Trust me, I know what that's like. What's really bothering you?" Adagio places a hand on her sister's left shoulder as she finally comes out and says it.
"I hit Sonata okay. I lost my temper and I hit her." Aria says as the others stop.
"What happened?"
"It was something stupid. I overreacted to something and she was only trying to help and I messed up. Now she's in real trouble and it's my fault."
Adagio grabs her sister by the hand. "Listen to me. Everything is going to be alright. Stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault."
"Sure feels like it's her fault." They hear Trixie's voice over the loud speaker. "If not for her we would have never had the chance to catch poor little Sonata Dusk on her own."
"Where is she Trixie?" Adagio shouts.
"I'm afraid by the time you figure that out it will be too late."
"Okay Trixie. You've had your fun. Now come out in the open, tell us where Sonata is and go home before I have to find you and make you." Curly says confidently.
"You low brow, knuckle dragging goon. You think you can intimidate The Great and Powerful Trixie. Allow me to show you the power I now wield." Immediately, the flashing, multicolored lights inside the attraction come on, not making it any easier to see as smoke machines turn on as well with Trixie laughter sounding over the loud speaker as Lavender activates the background sounds and scares. For added effect Trixie has her pour some of the powder into the water for the smoke machine as it spreads into the room.
"Yeah it's called smoke and mirrors and cheap party tricks. I've been in here a hundred times. Trust me it's going to take a lot more than that to..." Curly brags as he suddenly stops, having breadth in the vapors. Wiz Kid accidentally bumps into him, backing up. "Watch it small fry!" He shouts, shoving him.
Wiz, himself exposed to the fumes strikes back. "Why don't you watch it?" As the two begin to fight Aria attempts to break them up.
"Knock it off you two." They shove her to the ground as she unknowingly breaths in the fumes herself. "That's it!" She throws herself into the mix as Adagio looks on, then turns her attention back to Trixie's voice as she taunts them.
"You should no better than to challenge the might of Trixie!"
Adagio looks around the room as the red mist covers the floor. She stops, noticing something very familiar about it before figuring it out. She quickly rushes over to Aria to get her out of harms way. "Aria, listen you have to snap out of this. Just listen."
The purple haired girl pushes Adagio off. "Why should I listen to you? You weren't here when we needed you. You care more about Equestria than you do me and Sonata, just like you always have."
Adagio, now on the ground looks up at her. "You're right. I was so focused on what I was doing there, that it was the only thing that mattered. But that's about to change now." She closes her eyes and focuses, holding her palms out toward the ground as the red mist begins to be drawn toward her as it is slowly absorbed into her skin. As it begins to clear up, Aria, Curly and Wiz Kid pass out on the floor of the structure. Adagio gets down and puts her sisters head into her lap. "Aria, are you alright?"
Aria opens her eyes and looks up at her. She begins crying, hugging her sister tightly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."
"It's okay, it wasn't your fault. And you were right about one thing. Just stay here and rest, okay?"
"What are you gonna do."
"What I have to."
"What are you doing?" Trixie says in a panicked state as Adagio siphons every last ounce from the smoke. "More, we need to use more!" She shouts as Lavender sparingly puts another dose of the powder in. Trixie watches the monitors as Adagio makes her way to the room where the two are located. She grabs the vial from Lavender and pours all of it into the machine. The effort proves just as useless as Adagio absorbs it just as quickly as it is pumped out. Before the two realize it, the siren is standing in the doorway, blocking their only escape.
"It's over Trixie."
"Nothing is over until I pull out my last and greatest trick." She swiftly flashes the bracelet on her wrist and holds it in Adagio's direction. The orange haired girl tilts her head slightly as she wonders exactly what it is Trixie is doing. "Why isn't this working?"
"Maybe because it's a cheap, dime store bracelet with a plastic gem in the center."
"What, it's not possible. She said it would work. She said...She tricked Trixie." The realization finally hits her as she falls to her knees.
"Who Trixie?" Adagio receives no answer from the girl, who is still in shock, which quickly turns into anger as the others enter the room, having shaken off the after effects. The eldest siren picks up the vial and observes the residue. "This was made from our pendents."
"I thought you found all the pieces. How is that possible?" Aria asks.
"Who gave you this?"
"And where's Sonata?"
"You...You had to ruin everything!" Trixie lashes out. "I was going to really be great and powerful but you had to get in the way. You just couldn't let me have this, not even this once."
"Trixie, this is bigger than just a band." Lavender Lace says. "There is something seriously wrong here. We have to tell them." Trixie stands up, teary eyed, slowly backing away from the group and hurling a smoke bomb that obscures her from sight. When it clears the others look around for her to no avail. "I'm sorry, really I am for what's happened. I can show you where to find your sister. It's the least I can do."
"Thank you." Adagio says.
"What about Trixie? Do you really want to just let her go?" Curly asks.
"No, I want to give her a fist to the face, but right now, finding Sonata is our number one concern." Aria says as the group heads out. As they walk, she notices Adagio looking a little wobbly in the knees. "You okay?"
"Fine I've just never tried that without my pendent before."
"How did you even manage that?" She asks as she sees her sister's eyes change color for a moment.
"It started to flare up a couple of days after I started going back to Equestria. I guess it was a sort of parting gift from Sombra. I can feel the negative energy around me and soak it up like a sponge."
"Adagio?" Aria says with concern.
"It's okay, I can control it. Really I'm fine. Let's get going. Who knows what kind of trouble Sonata's in."
Twilight's Lab
"So that's basically my life in a nutshell." Sonata says as she finishes explaining her origins to Twilight. The young scientist has chosen to temporarily release her hands from the restraints so that she can eat. "Thanks for the tacos. These are my favorite. You'd be surprised how hard these are to come by where I'm from."
"Don't mention it. Now, let's get back to business shall we. I have so many tests to run and so little time to do it." Twilight grabs a remote and presses a button that locks the sirens hands down once more. Sonata looks over and sees a picture of the girl with two others.
"Who's that?"
"My brother Shining Armor and his girlfriend Cadence."
"They seem nice."
"They are. They're about the only ones that I can talk to that don't make fun of me."
"I have my sisters and a lot of new friends too. It's nice to have really good friends like that. People who will support you when everyone else tries to put you down."
"Yeah, it is." Twilight takes a long look at the picture before getting back to work.
"Hey, that's a piece of one of our pendents." Sonata says as she looks down at Twilight's research table.
"Yes it is."
"You should really be careful with that. It's really dangerous."
"That's exactly why I'm going to test it. Trixie gave me a very good idea of what it can do. But now it's time for me to see first hand what this is truly capable of. After this no one will ever call me crazy again."
"I know how you feel. People used to always call me stupid and ditzy. I guess sometimes I did things that weren't always considered the brightest, but now I have friends that focus on my good qualities instead of the ones everyone used to look down on me for. Everyone should have friends like those."
Twilight stops for a moment as she holds the gem fragment with a pair of tongs. "You seem like a very good person Sonata Dusk. That's why I hope this doesn't cause you too much discomfort." she says as she approaches the restrained girl with the glowing gem stone.