There was an unexpected upside to beating a man to death. Sonata Dusk sat beside a dumpster in an alley in the bad part of Crystal City, licking blood from her fingers. It wasn’t the nourishment she had intended that night, but it turned out to be just the thing she needed.

Overall, her evening was looking up. After running her car out of gas, running her cell phone out of battery, and an attempted mugging at an ATM, it would have taken a miracle to turn things around. And that’s what she had gotten.

Some random thug probably didn’t intend to change her life for the better by robbing her. He hadn’t been very good at that, though, and now he was dead. And she was feeling awesome.

Sirens like herself fed on negative feelings. Hate, jealousy, fear. Just before she’d cracked the man’s skull open, he’d been utterly terrified. The emotion in his blood tasted sweeter than anything she’d ever sampled before.

It was as if her eyes had been opened anew to the world. After the fiasco at the school, where she and her sisters had been stripped of their magic, Sonata could still sense negative emotions, but was utterly powerless to feed on them. The scents and miasmas of emotion stayed just out of reach, frustrating her. But now, the negative energy of the world had suddenly turned from taunting her to feeling most inviting. She had just learned to get it from a new source.

It was, like, the best night ever.

Sonata pushed herself up, her head buzzing. She swayed, and gripped the dumpster for support. She’d never felt anything like this before. Her vision was clear, a red haze fading as the taste slowly left her mouth. She felt better than she had in weeks. Her hands shook, but it was more to do with unexpected energy than weakness. Definitely not weakness. She smiled.

Staggering out of the alley, she had some trouble going in a straight line. Sonata chalked it up to her body trying to go in so many directions at once, trying to rein in and control the infusion of power she’d just gotten. Who knew the solution to her problem was literally inside everyone around her?

Sonata walked a couple of blocks back to her car. There was so much energy vibrating around inside her body that she felt like skipping, but settled for flexing her fingers and wiggling her hands. She was still riding the high, but her mind had begun to sharpen up again.

She unlocked the car and put it in neutral. A push with just one hand got it moving. Sonata grinned even wider. Oh yeah, I’m back, baby. Down the street, she could just see the lights of a gas station. In just a few minutes she was there.

After filling up, she went inside to pay, passing the large cash only sign that had prompted her to go to the ATM. The clerk sat behind a thick plexiglass barrier. Their eyes met as Sonata walked up. The reflection of herself in the shiny plastic showed that her teeth were still on full display in a wide grin.

The clerk did not smile. He stared at her like she was crazy, keeping at least one eye on her while he made change from the money she gave him.

Sonata wondered if she could break the glass. Her fingers itched to try. Or maybe it would be easier to sing a little song and get him to do whatever she wanted.

Her fingers went to her throat. Oh-! Her voice had been taken away by those girls at school.

The clerk froze as he saw her manic smile suddenly change to a dark scowl. He stuffed her change through the slot and backed away.

She could smell the fear coming off of him. She couldn’t feed on that, though. But with her newfound discovery…

She suddenly realized that there were at least three security cameras pointed at her. She stared at one. The clerk stared, too. She turned back to face him, her lips turning up again. The cameras had saved his life, and she wanted him to know that. Based on the extra shot of emotion she sensed, he did.

Sonata turned on her heel and went back outside. As she got into her car, it occurred to her that the ATM had also probably had a camera. Well, there was nothing that could be done about it now. She’d cleaned up the mess from the whole head-smashing thing pretty well, so there shouldn’t be any reason for anyone to look at the tape.

She drove back to Canterlot, practically having a one-siren dance party in her car. Sonata didn’t remember the last time she was in such a good mood. Usually, Adagio and Aria would call her stupid or something and it would ruin her day.

After this, though, her sisters would see what she could really do. Sonata had discovered a way out of their predicament. They could get their power back and emerge from the shadows they’d been forced to crawl into.

Actually… A thought struck her just as she came into view of the secluded house she shared with her sisters. Should she tell them? What if she was wrong about this?

No, there was no mistaking that surge of power. Using blood to ingest the fear and emotion they had been denied was a stroke of genius. She was definitely on the way back to her old self. The real reason Sonata shouldn’t tell Adagio and Aria was that once they too started drinking blood, the three of them would be back to the status quo. Sonata was going to keep this little secret for herself. Her sisters were never going to look down on her again.

She pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. There were a few lights on in the house. Both her sisters were probably still awake. Her mouth grinned of its own accord. Showtime!

Aria was at the computer, looking even thinner and more skeletal than usual in the electronic glow of the monitor. She turned, stubbing out her cigarette when Sonata came in.

“How’s the surfing?” Sonata asked.

“What.”

“You know, how you’re always on the computer surfing the net, or couch surfing when you’re sleeping.” Sonata pointed to the rumpled blanket and pillow on the couch. Aria slept there to be closer to the computer.

Her joke didn’t get a reaction. Aria just turned around to get back to her online poker game. The counter indicated that she was up by several thousand dollars.

Adagio was in the kitchen eating something. None of them were very good at cooking, so an unidentifiable item on a plate was a common sight. That made Sonata smile again. A liquid diet was sounding better and better all the time. Especially since all Adagio seemed to do these days was eat, attempting to replace the nourishment she had once savored. It wasn’t working, but it had done a number on her body.

“Why are you wearing that stupid grin?” Adagio asked.

“I went out for pizza. I had a great meal.” Sonata only just realized that her original goal of driving around in the middle of the night hadn’t been met, but even pizza wouldn’t have made her so happy.

Adagio let it go and Sonata went on through the kitchen. She mounted the stairs to her bedroom, to be alone with her secret.

She sprawled out on her bed. Remembering her dead phone, she plugged it in to charge. As the screen lit up, she selected the music app and put in some headphones. She settled back to think about what she should do next.

If her plan was going to work, she’d have to find another person to murder.

Sonata’s brows furrowed at the thought, but then she shrugged. Well, if that’s how it has to be.

It might be cool to be a superhero, prowling the city at night and taking out criminals. Nobody would miss them. That sounded like a lot of effort, though, and nobody would like a superhero that ate people.

She was only mildly disappointed by the infeasibility of superherodom. That sounded like it would require a costume, and Sonata had never been great at that kind of thing.

The song shifted to something faster, one by the Hollywood Undead. That tripped another line of thought. She was technically undead, being immortal and feeding off the life force of others. But did drinking blood make her a vampire?

Well, as long as it doesn’t make me a zombie. Although she found herself curious as to how brain might taste, especially one charged with fear.

This would clearly require more nights out for research. But the power would be worth it. Dagi and Ari would see.

Tomorrow, Sonata decided, she would kill someone and drink their blood.

Author's Notes:

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