//------------------------------// // Sonata Dusk // Story: The Sirens Song // by stormfury12 //------------------------------// Sonata sat quietly in the forest near her home. She swayed gently back and forth to the sound of her melodic humming. The wind blew gently causing her lone blue hair to flow in the breeze. It was so peaceful out here. She wasn't a loner by any means, but she liked it when everything was simple and calm. Simplicity was what Sonata loved most, and to her this was perfect. "Sonata? What are you doing out here?! You're gonna get hit by a tree or something." Sonata turned towards the direction of the voice. It was one of the ponies that lived in her town. He was a lumberjack, and was busy chopping away at the tree. "If ya don't move you might get hurt." He paused his chopping and waited for Sonata to move, but she didn't. She began to giggle loudly. "I can get hurt if I'm just sitting here silly head." She laughed a little and went back to her humming. "Well if you don't move this giant scary tree is gonna smash you up!" The lumberjack yelled. He held his axe with some of the magic from his horn. He was growing tired of this. "The tree's aren't scary! They're pretty!" Sonata called back. The lumberjack replied with a long groan. "Look if you don't move now things are gonna get messy Sonata." He snapped back. "Messy? Then we'll just have to clean it up!" She started to sway some more with a large smile across her face. "Go! Get out of the woods! Now!" The lumberjack was tired of playing around and snapped. "Get! Get going! Go!" He yelled. Sonata looked at the ground sadly. She didn't want to go back into town. She wanted to stay here where it was peaceful. "But the ponies in town are mean to me!" She called back. "Please don't make me go!" "I don't care! I have a job to do, so get your plot outta here." He nodded towards town, and Sonata whimpered a little before slowly walking down the path towards town. Soon she exited the woods and felt gentle rain drops hit her. She didn't like the rain, it scared her. Ever since she was a filly the thunder and lightning had terrified her. It was only raining now, but with each step she grew more and more paranoid of a clap of thunder or lightning strike. She was so busy thinking to herself that she didn't notice a mare walking in front of her. "Watch where you're walking!" Sonata had accidentally bumped into the mare causing her to drop several bags of vegetables. Tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots rolled around the dirt path. "Dang it Sonata! You're such a ditz! Go do something!" "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Here let me help." Sonata jumped over and started grabbing veggies and throwing them into the mare's bag. The veggies Sonata had picked up were covered in mud and dirt, and she began to throw them into the one bag remaining that had fresh veggies. "Stop it! Sonata!" The mare rammed into Sonata's side sending her flying into a mud puddle. "You idiot! They're all dirty now! Do me a favor and leave me alone!" She yelled and quickly walked off. Sonata remained in the puddle for a moment. All she had wanted to do was help a little. She sobbed quietly and pulled herself out of the mud. "Oh look Sonata's playing in the mud like a filly!" A couple of colts walked by and began to laugh. They didn't bother to stop or anything, but they spoke loud enough for Sonata to here. Her cheeks flared up and she felt her eyes grow watery. "No! I wasn't! I just fell..." Sonata whipped her eyes off trying to get rid of the tears and ended up getting some mud in them. She shrieked and fell backwards again into the puddle. "I...I didn't mean to...." After a few minutes she finally found the will to pull herself up. She continued down the dirt path until she reached her house. She went inside and took a long bath. She let herself soak for a while, and listened to the gentle raindrops on her roof. She took deep breaths and began to hum softly to herself. Sonata loved to sing, but no other pony seemed to appreciate it like her mom had. Her mom had always made her feel good about herself, but now she was gone, and Sonata was all alone. She continued to hum, and tried to ignore all of the negative thoughts that were flooding her head. After several minutes she felt herself smile, and become calm. Suddenly out of nowhere a clap of thunder made her jump out of the water with a loud shriek. She slipped on the floor and fell over on her side. "Why am I such a ditz...." She moaned. After a few minutes of just laying there she got up and dried herself off. "So much for relaxing..." She mumbled. She walked downstairs after drying off and pulled out a large stack of picture books that she had checked out from the library. She loved books, but found normal books to be a little too difficult and intimidating to her. She liked picture books. She always felt the stories would come alive through the pictures. Sonata spent the rest of the day reading, and reading, and reading. While she read she hummed to herself slowly. Singing little songs here and there while her mind was being absorbed into the pages. If there was one thing she loved more than nature, and books, it was without a single doubt singing. Eventually she ran out of picture books and sat there staring up at the stack. She was debating with herself on going out and getting a new stack or re reading these again. After several minutes of internal conflict she decided to go out and check out some new ones. She jumped up and lifted up the towering stack of books with a smile. Slowly she opened the door and walked outside. The sky was still sad and gray, but it was no longer raining. Sonata smiled some more, maybe her luck was getting better. "Wow picture books? How old are you?" Sonata turned to see a group of colts. They always mocked her. "N...none of your business!" Sonata spat. "And have you guys heard her singing? By Celestia it's terrible." Another colt laughed along with a mare. "T...that's not very nice..." Sonata shrunk away from them. All of them loomed over her. "I mean all of us can hear it, it sounds like a drowning dog." Sonata felt her tears return. "I...I think I'm good..." She whimpered. "Wow Sonata actually though of something! You mean to tell us that you, Sonata Dusk, actually used you peanut sized brain?" They erupted in cruel laughter. Sonata backed away from them in fear. "Please...stop." She begged. They were backing her into a corner. She heard insult after insult thrown at her. She wanted to run away, but her legs wouldn't budge or move. "Please! Please stop!" She begged and began to shake. "Stop crying like a little filly! Just accept it Sonata! You're an idiot, a terrible singer, and completely useless!" A colt spat at her. "We say these things so that you won't ever come around, but you always do. We just can't get rid of you!" "All I wanted to do was go to the library!" She sobbed. "The library huh? And what would an idiot like you want from the library? More picture books!" He flung one of them into the mud, it had been one of her favorites. "Stop it!" "Hey you losers!" A stern voice broke through the crowd of insults and laughter. "Why don't you just mind your own business!" The voice belonged to a mare with a long purple mane tied back into two long straight pigtails. Her bangs fell messily on her face. Next to her was another mare, she had an orange fluffy cloud like mane, and breath taking purple eyes. The purple mare ran forward and slammed into the colts stomach and sent him flying. "Get your plots out of here or I'm going to smash them all!" She yelled. The crowd looked at one another then at the colt who was lying face down in the mud. In a frenzy they all dashed away. "Are you okay?" Asked the orange haired one. She trotted over and helped Sonata up. "Yeah. I think so. Thankzies ....that was really nice." Sonata thanked them with scarlet cheeks. "Thankzies? Is that even a word?" The purple one asked. "No dear, but its adorable at least. How rude of us not to introduce ourselves. I am Adagio Dazzle, and this young mare here is Aria Blaze." Adagio smiled kindly at her. Sonata couldn't help but smile back. "I'm Sonata. Sonata Dusk." She replied. "Not to be too quick or anything hon, but we couldn't help but hear that you sing?" Adagio raised an eyebrow. Aria remained in her place and was rubbing mud off her hooves. "Oh yeah, but no pony seems to like it very much." Sonata trailed off. Adagio smiled again, which made Sonata feel better, and pulled her in close. "Well what a coincidence, Aria and I were searching for a third member for our group! It's a singing trio, and we think you might be a grand addition." "For realzies!?" Sonata felt joy fly through her body. Some other ponies who would accept her. "I'm..I'm kind of a ditz, and the other ponies think I'm stupid..." "Intelligence and singing don't go together dear. We don't care how smart you are." Adagio hugged Sonata kindly. Sonata felt happiness take over her. Maybe she would finally be in the company of friends, and she would no longer have to fear bullies. She looked at Aria who simply rolled her eyes. She felt happy. Sonata smiled from ear to ear.