Back months ago, following the conclusion of the Battle of the Bands, the sirens had run off in fear and shame. The projectiles of fruit, food and drink rained down on them from the audience as they managed to escape. Sunset could remember trying to follow. That even though the others were adamant about leaving them to their own fate after what they had done, she instead felt guilty. Okay, yeah, what the sirens had done was wrong, but surely it could be no more unforgiveable than Sunset’s actions three years prior at the high school. She had explained her reasoning to the other girls as the night wore on. Twilight had already left through the mirror by then, so she couldn’t back Sunset on her decision, but regardless she was shut down, most notably by Rainbow Dash.
So without support from the others (save the quiet encouragement Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie), Sunset had taken it on herself to find the Dazzlings and hopefully extend a hand in assistance and eventually friendship. It went on for weeks. Whatever spare time Sunset could find, she spent looking around the city and asking passers by for information on the three girls to no avail. Her plan upon finding Adagio, Aria, and Sonata wasn’t clear, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it. Eventually, Sunset just assumed that the three must not have wanted to be found and if that was the case, she would respect that decision. Still, for a time afterward, Sunset felt like a hypocrite. How could she - someone who had tormented a school and so many people be offered a second chance - while they were cast aside and forgotten by everyone else, Equestrian demons or not? She TURNED INTO a literal demon, so Sunset couldn’t say much about who was deserving of forgiveness and who wasn’t.
So to see the Dazzlings before her now, seemingly fine and doing well on their own, and decked with matching Shadowbolt uniforms no less, was absolutely a surprise. Looking into the others’ faces, Sunset could see the spark of recognition in their eyes almost immediately. While the other two appeared confused and - in Sonata’s case - almost fearful, Adagio gazed towards Sunset with interest, a much less predatory smile than she had been known to wear gracing her features.
“Um, girls? Am I missing something?” Cadence questioned as she noticed the lengthy pause.
“Oh, nothing much Dean Cadence. It’s just we’ve met Sunset here before attending this school. I suppose you could say it’s rather shocking to see eachother once again.” Adagio’s wine colored eyes never left their hold on Sunset’s own, but her voice carried a slight hint of amusement.
“Oh! Well then, that makes this much easier than I originally expected.” She clapped her hands together pleasantly. “ Now, I need to return to my office to complete the final process for your transfer Sunset, but I’m sure that your friends here will take care of you. Should you need any other assistance please feel free to ask.” With that she turned down an adjacent hallway leaving Sunset alone.
The redhead girl was stuck. She was hoping to come here with a blank slate, having no one recognize or bring up what she’d done in the past. Despite Sunset’s relief to see that the three were unharmed however, after months of hiding - or whatever the three before her had been doing - they were suddenly face to face. Her body was tense in anticipation for what they would say or do as she turned to face them. Like when they had first met, Adagio was leading the way, her lion’s mane of hair making her look more imposing than someone of her stature should appear. Aria and Sonata stood a little ways behind, the former’s scowl a bit less severe than Sunset remembered, but her pigtails ever present and arms crossed as she gazed at the former unicorn in suspicion. The latter merely looked towards her in interest but her eyes still held the spark of uncertainty about Sunset’s actions. She was leaned forward slightly.
“Well well well. Sunset Shimmer, it has been a while hasn’t it?” Adagio began. “I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you were playing ‘buddy-buddy-friendship-is-magic’ with your friends last I checked.”
“Yeah, like, what are you doing here?” Sonata asked confusedly.
Sunset’s immediate instinct was to shut down and ignore the question. The mention of the others - her former friends - was still an incredibly sore topic even if she wanted others to think she wasn’t affected. But for now, they didn’t look like they were trying to be overly hostile, save for Adagio’s natural attitude. She cleared her throat.
“I just thought it would be a nice change of pace,” Sunset responded with a nervous glance to the side. “I needed something to challenge me unlike at CHS, so it shouldn’t be a shock that I came somewhere that claimed to be the best of the best,” she continued. “I’m more surprised to see you here. Thought you all might have skipped town with how hard it was to find your after that night.”
“Yeah? Well we wouldn’t have had to be here if you and those Raingoons hadn’t stolen all our magic,” Aria snarled. She was cut off though as Adagio raised her hand to silence her with a stern glare. Suddenly the fire in the purple teen seemed to die out, and she pursed her lips while looking away from them all. “Whatever. Sorry,” she muttered.
“Now, far be it from me to call someone a liar, but even I know that was a lie,” she said casually back towards the amber girl. “Why are you really here? It seems rather unusual that someone like you would want to leave your life behind for this.” She gestured around the hallway they were walking through. For a while, she looked Sunset up and down analytically. “What? Trouble in paradise?”
“That’s none of your business!” Sunset spat venomously to the surprise of the other three. “I came here, for a change of pace, like I said. If you don’t believe me, fine, not my problem - but that’s all you’re getting from me.” Sunset’s fists had clenched at her sides until her knuckles turned white. In the back of her mind, she realized that her back teeth were aching from being ground together. It took some effort, but Sunset eventually calmed herself down. They were stopped in the middle of the long hallway.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
She suddenly felt a touch on one of her clenched fists. Quickly looking down, she saw a blue hand resting gently on her own. Sunset didn’t know why, but she allowed Sonata to slowly ease her hand open once again. It was very calming. Uncharacteristically, the usually oblivious girl had a serious look on her face as Sunset let her continue.
“We didn’t mean that,” Sonata murmured softly. She glanced back at the other two, who still seemed to be in shock from Sunset’s outburst, before Adagio’s face softened in apology.
“Yes. That was...insensitive of me. I’m sorry.” It was strange to see someone like Adagio, who carried herself with such pride, apologizing. But still it happened.
“I didn’t mean to pry. As you can see, we’re still getting the hang of this normal human thing...What?” she asked upon noticing Sunset’s confused stare. Then it dawned on her. “Oh, I suppose this is a bit strange for you isn’t it. You thought we’d still be mad at you over what happened. Correct me if I’m wrong.”
“Um, among other things, yeah,” Sunset replied uncertainly. “Eh - listen...you don’t need to apologize. That was my fault. Sometimes my anger gets the best of me you know.” She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment with her free hand. Sonata still had a grip on the other…
“Hmph. Well it’s nice to know that one of you lot has some bite to you at least,” Aria stated with a smug look. “Consider me impressed.”
“Listen Sunset. While we are still a bit sore from what happened back then, it’s more out of siren pride that we lost than genuine anger at you. Back in Equestria, among our kind, the weak died and the strong survived. You just proved yourself to be the strong ones.” For a while it looked like Adagio’s face was trying to hide real resentment, before the look was gone.
“I know you have quite a few questions about what happened between us after the Battle of the Bands. And we’ll answer them, but maybe another time. Lunch perhaps? If we finish the tour, you can see where all of the classrooms, club spaces, and the like are located. Does that sound alright with you?”
“S-sure. No problem. And... if it’s any consolation, I’m sorry what happened back then. With your pendants. I tried to find you guys after it was over to see if you were alright, but you were gone.” Sunset explained.
“It was probably better that you didn’t find us. Just because we’ve had some time to cool off doesn’t mean we weren’t livid back then. It probably would have been a hazard to your health if you did. We’re centuries old Equestrian sea monsters, and even through the portal, it was only our magic that suffered. We kept most of our strength,” Aria commented with an uninterested glance at her nails. “Would you have really wanted to come across us back then knowing that?”
“Well, when you put it that way…”
“Okay, c’mon! Enough with the gloomy stuff! We’ve spent enough time here. I wanna show Sunshim here the rest of the school already!” Sonata complained by her side, the seriousness having left her tone. Without looking back to see if the other two were following, she all but dragged Sunset through the hall, letting the few that were nearby hear as she yelled in excitement.
Sunset allowed it though. She noted silently that this was quite a change when they all met the first time with Sunset showing them around CHS. Even so, for whatever reason coming to Crystal Prep felt like the best thing she could have done. Despite meeting old enemies (were they even considered that anymore?), it seemed like things would turn out alright. But still…
Sunshim….?