//------------------------------// // A Whole New Problem // Story: A Dazzling World // by Spyder27 //------------------------------// Chapter V: A Whole New Problem A new type of game has to be played. Originally, the game was intended to gain back the power I once had, but now, the board has been flipped and a new tactic needs to be developed. The night’s wind blows against my back harder than usual, and unfortunately, the clouds mask the stars and the moon itself, blocking the little light that may reveal the world around me. To be honest, I usually think about my own life on this familiar walk home, but tonight, as with most nights since then, I can’t stop thinking of her. The memory of Sunset Shimmer opening that gift is… imprinted in my mind. That memory has been haunting almost each day of mine and I can’t help but smile at the thought. Despite the ice covering the sidewalk, I’m able to walk without slipping once.  Looking down as I walk, I see my own reflection in the ice, the smile that doesn’t let go of my face most times I think of Sunset is still there. Why do I feel so happy when I think of that moment…? Honestly, I should have been gone that night… There’s no logical reason in my mind to be happy from Sunset’s happiness. It cost me close to thirty dollars and she’s the one who ruined my life. If anything, I would have expected me to feel even worse after she opened that damned box, but… Seeing her bright cyan eyes widen with wonder and excitement made my heart pound. The slight tint of pink on those orange cheeks, the wave of her fiery hair… It was nice to see her happy, as confusing as it is. Honestly, it makes me go crazy at times, just trying to figure out why it affected me like that. It makes me want to get her another gift, but with the little money I have, I don’t have anything to give…  One part of me is glad that I can’t give her another gift. Sunset Shimmer is the bitch who took my life away and I’m wanting to reward that? Yet… another part of me feels excited at the thought of seeing her smile again. I can’t help but think about the way Sunset’s mouth tilted upward, how her bright eyes glowed with happiness, and how her hands oh so gently touched the gift... The more time that passes, the more I want to see it again. The more I just want to see that smile one more time. Bringing my hand up to my hair, I gently scratch my head, more out of irritation than an actual itch. Honestly, as happy as it has made me to give Sunset a gift, I know this won’t last… I’ll need to find something less expensive to be happy. I suppose just finding out that I, Adagio Dazzle, can be happy in this world is the hardest part. I’ve successfully moved my piece to the desired space, now I just need to keep moving forward. The hardest part about this game of life is deciding where to go, which space to approach. In this case, my decisions are all invisible. I’m not sure what to do now. Unfortunately, with life being a game of chance, I may end up losing if I make the wrong choice… I exhale all the air from my lungs, instantly taking a big breath and rubbing my left cheek with my hand. It finally doesn’t sting anymore and the purple mark is gone, leaving no detectable mark on my face. Even the cut on the back of my head healed. I guess that in of itself warrants a smile from me. The only mark left from that night being the one in my mind. I shake my head slightly, walking past Halo Bakery with a smile. All of the stores are closed tonight, even the bakery since tomorrow is Christmas. A big holiday for everyone. I even have the day off tomorrow, so maybe I’ll finally get a full night’s sleep. Maybe it’s just my smile or the fact that almost everything has healed, but I feel pretty good about life today, even if I can’t think of what to do next. I suppose a full night’s rest will help me make a decision, whatever that one might be. It’s not like I have to be up early tomorrow, thankfully. Though, I suppose that is… sad in it’s own right. Most Christmases, I was with Sonata and Aria. We would celebrate in a small manner, giving each other little gifts we bought or made for each other while condemning the rest of the world. Once, we even sang a small Equestrian song to help Sonata go to sleep from a stomach ache. Incidentally, I believe we were near that big Christmas Tree in town square. It was a nice time, as much as we all may have denied it.  This Christmas, they aren’t here. Aria isn’t here to criticize the choices I make and Sonata isn’t here to be excited about every little thing. In that sense, I guess I’m alone this holiday… Well, I am alone. Period. There’s no sense about it, that’s the truth of it. With a frown, I rub my fingers through my hair again and walk through the open gate to the apartment complex. The trees around the complex and the lack of street lights made it quite dark, but this happens every night around here so it isn’t particularly unusual. Feeling around in my purse, I find a flashlight I took from the nightclub a couple nights ago. It isn’t very powerful, but at least it offers a little light tonight. Turning it on and aiming it in front of me, I look at the pathway towards my apartment, smiling that there’s no one on the sidewalk.  Even though I’ve already made this track home a dozen times since then, I still get an uneasy feeling, walking past a certain crack in the sidewalk. Technically, that’s where I was ambushed the night of Sunset’s visit to my workplace. No matter what night it is, it doesn’t make this walk any less stressful. The last time that gate was left open, I found myself face down on the concrete. It’s funny. Normally, people would find it a relief to not hear anything as they walk, but I just find it agonizing. When will someone come out of the darkness? Every second, the question replays in my mind every night I have to walk home. Every little sound makes me grip the revolver in my purse even tighter and I bite my bottom lip subconsciously. I smell the typical scent of trash and animal urine, but that’s not what I’m trying to focus on.  The sounds of snow crunching quietly increases behind me, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. They are so quiet that I wouldn’t have noticed them… before. I feel a cold sweat begin to overcome me as my finger locks around the trigger. I think they sound big enough to be human…? I… Why aren’t they running? Unless this person isn’t my attacker… Every part of me tells me to just turn around and look at who this is, but my spine seems to be stuck in place, my neck not wanting to turn. I try to calm my nerves by pressing my other hand into my cheek and closing my eyes for a second, still analyzing the sound of each footstep. Slowly, I pull my revolver out of the purse, keeping it in front of me. For some reason, a couple of tears slide down my cheeks, even though I’m not crying at the moment. I don’t ever want that to happen to me again… I already know I’ve been worthless so far, but I just found out that I can be happy in life. I won’t give that up… Turning around quickly, I aim the flashlight ahead of me as well as my revolver, my finger’s pressed against the trigger. It’s hard to see anything at first due to the snow, but I finally see who is following me… A big feeling of relief hits me as a small chuckle comes from my lips, unsure if I’m annoyed or amused. In front of me stands a brown and white furball of a cat. It’s pretty big too, crunching the snow as it walks. After a brief pause, the cat continues walking towards me, going past my legs and going further down the sidewalk. A small sigh of relief exits my lips, putting my gun back in my purse and wiping the sweat off my forehead. Just… Damn… Why do I have to be this afraid of something? I used to be at the top, but now it can’t be helped. Turning around, I walk further down the sidewalk and shake my head slightly.  Opening my door, I walk inside quickly and try to turn on the lights, but none of them come on. Great… The electricity is out. I know I replaced those bulbs recently, so there’s no way they could have just burned out. If the electricity is out, the heater probably won’t work. I guess I should count myself lucky that it’s not as cold as other nights tonight. A sigh leaves my mouth, bringing hot air to my lips as I lock the door behind me. I drop my purse and my bag on the ground next to the couch, sitting down to pull my boots off. I would see if there’s anything to eat in the kitchen, but I already know the answer to that question. Gently, I pull my socks off one at a time before standing up to take my jeans off. I pull my shirt off and sit back down on the couch, lying down and resting my head on the pillow that is already set up. For a moment, I can’t help but remember Sunset again as I pull the blanket over my body. The way her smile brightened up anything around her… Why is Sunset special? I helped multiple people at that damn homeless shelter… Yet seeing Sunset smile is the thing that makes me happy. A part of me calls out as I close my eyes. I want to see her smile again… Why did it make me feel so good? I want to see her cheeks flush once more, to see that happiness… I don’t know why I do, I just do… Funny that it’s Sunset Shimmer’s smile. My enemy… Her smile… I just want to… see it one more time… ========================================== The dark red sky booms over us, leaving a giant echo as lightning strikes in the distance. The dirt in the air disgusts me, but we’ll have enough time to rebuild. We’ll have time to make anything that we desire. I can’t help but chuckle at the thought. We’ll even have the opportunity to go back to Equestria. We can finally take it for ourselves, if we’re not stupid. I need to plan for it. Looking at Sonata to my right and then to Aria on my left, a big grin comes across my face. “Leave them to me, girls. I have some… unfinished business to deal with. You two can decide what to do with these dogs.” I look down in front of the stage at the giant audience, controlled so easily by our simple song. Using my new wings, I fly up to get a better look at these pathetic worms who tried so desperately to stop us from our goal. Admittedly, they put up a good fight for the moment, but that only shows how much stronger we need to be to conquer Equestria. Slowly, I lower myself towards this hill where they put up their last fight. There, Sunset Shimmer slowly brings herself to her hands and knees and tries to reach for the microphone. Swiftly, I smash my foot into her hand, crushing the microphone in the process. Of course, her tear-stained and defiant eyes look up at mine, trying to look like she won’t be defeated so easily. I can’t help but laugh at her miserable look. “Y-you won’t… win, Adagio…” Her voice is as weak as a dog’s toy that lost its damn squeaker. Slowly, I lower myself to her face, tracing her chin with my index finger.  “Oh, poor Sunset~ Trying to seem so confident and heroic, huh? Let me guess, you’re going to say that you’ll find a way to beat me, right?” With a cackle, I stand up and kick Sunset’s face, knocking her back down to the ground. “Look around you, Sunset! Do you see your ‘friends’ moving to your side?” I ask, laughing almost as hard as I can. “Oh, wait, now that I notice it, they don’t seem to be moving at all, huh?” Moving over to Sunset’s body, I grab the back of her scalp as hard as I can and make her look around us. “See? There’s Rainbow Dash~ There’s Applejack~” I point my index finger at their collapsed bodies that were approximately five feet away from us. “Then there’s Fluttershy and Twilight~ Oh, and how can I forget about Pinkie Pie and Rarity?” I can’t help but cackle at their defeat, throwing Sunset’s face back to the ground. Of course they’re worthless. Sunset’s weak body tries to get up again, only for my foot to land harshly on her back.  “Y-you can’t do this, Ada-” Her voice is cut short as I pick her up by the throat, flying up over the audience with her. “Can’t do what, Sunset?! Look around~ I’ve already won!” Sunset, through her swollen eye, looks around her and tears begin to stream down her face as she sees everyone under my control. Wait… Why would I… I cackle, grabbing Sunset’s neck with both hands. “I’ve won. You’ve lost. And now, you and your friends won’t ever get in my way again~” Gripping harder, I can’t help but feel sad happy at this sight. I…  “Y-you can be happy too, Adagio…” Her voice gets weaker by the second as her hands grab onto mine. This is wrong… This is right. I’m finally at the top and she can’t stop me from doing what I want with her world. Please stop. Give me one reason why. In the reflection in Sunset’s eyes, I see my own face and can’t help but grin widely. Just as ugly beautiful as always~ I don’t want this. I have wanted this for so long, and now, it’s finally here.  My eyes connect with Sunset’s as she mouths the word, “Please.” This… is happiness. Please… No more… =================================== My eyes shoot open as fast as possible, sitting up and looking around me with a loud gasp escaping my lips. Every pore of my body seems sweaty and I feel incredibly hot despite this blasted cold. The couch is still as rough as always and my pillow is still here. What the hell was that…? My lungs breathe in multiple heavy breaths as I bring my hands to my face to try and wipe off the sweat and to comfort myself in a way. My heavy breaths won’t stop as I bring my legs closer to me and sit in a fetal position. Even my hair is wet… My mind feels fuzzy, probably from waking up just a few seconds ago. Though, that dream is still as vivid as if it was real life. My heart races from the memory and my mind feels fearful of what may have happened in that dream… Why exactly… did I dream about that? And most of all… why did it feel awful? It felt so… horrible. Like watching torture over and over again, but you’re the one being tortured… But why? That was my ideal reality. I wanted to win that damned battle so bad and I keep regretting that loss. Why did I hate seeing that so much…? Standing up slowly, I rub my own shoulders and back, trying to comfort myself from what was apparently a bad dream. I don’t know why I felt so bad dreaming about that. That would have been a dream come true, but…  Shaking my head slightly, I look at my body and I feel slightly dirty due to all the sweat. I think I still have a bit of shampoo left and half a bar of soap. It feels really icky to keep all of this sweat on me. With a heavy sigh, I pull off the remainder of clothing I wore to sleep and walk to the storage closet, grabbing a pink towel. Being a little hopeful, I hit the wall where the heater is and smile when I hear it start to run. So, the electricity is back on.  Walking into the bathroom, I look at myself in the mirror, noticing my back. For a brief moment, wings flashed in the mirror and I… had red eyes…? Rubbing my eyes, I look again and see my normal self. Well, I should say my normal human self. I can’t believe I’m starting to think that this human form is my normal body. Gently, I turn on the faucet and cup my hands, catching water in them only to wash my face with it a moment later. I take a deep breath as I wash my cheeks and my forehead, looking up at my reflection in the mirror.  In a moment, I gasp loudly and almost throw myself against the wall behind me, seeing my reflection. My hand covers my mouth as my wide eyes analyze the mirror again, seeing myself sprawled against the wall. I could have sworn I saw… I shudder for a moment, thinking about the image of a blood lusted siren with horns on the head… I just need to get rid of all this sweat. Then maybe I’ll feel better. Stepping into the shower, my hand grabs the faucet knob and turns it to the hot water, but making sure to aim the water away from me. It often takes a while to get hot, so I would rather not get drenched in freezing cold water, even if it would help me wake up. Tilting my head high up, I close my eyes and frown. “1. 2. 3. 4. 5.” I count off the numbers steadily, getting all the way to 8 before I open my eyes again. Aiming the water back at me, a relieved breath is exhaled, feeling the warmth on my skin. Skin. Huh… Rubbing my hands up my arms, I can’t help but feel a chill go up my spine despite the hot water. It almost feels… like a dream. My past as a siren. Being in Equestria. All my memories of that world are either gone or foggy… Mainly, I can remember some ponies and basic concepts in Equestria, but other than that, I fail to remember how some of the cities look like or how… I looked like. Gently, I press my head against the wall of the shower, sighing at the thought.  It all circles back to that dream I just had. All I wanted was to win that battle, to win and go back to Equestria. That would have been the ultimate dream, but… I felt so uncomfortable watching that play out. I don’t know why, it just hit me so suddenly. If anything, I would love to see Sunset’s flame be put out in my arms. I would love to be at the top again… Right…? ========================================== Turning off the shower, I grab the towel and swiftly begin to dry myself off, making sure to dry as much as I can from my head to toe. I don’t necessarily want to be frozen solid when I leave this room. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be a problem I have to deal with if the heater stayed on throughout my shower. Opening the door to the bathroom, I am pleased to hear the heater still running, with my apartment warmer than before. Walking into my bedroom to find clean clothes, I notice it’s morning outside. So, it’s Hearth’s Warming… Well, Christmas actually. A holiday everyone is supposed to be together and celebrate another year of happiness… A year of happiness.  Picking up a shirt from inside one of the drawers, I can’t help but think about this whole year. This hasn’t been a year of happiness for me. If anything, it’s been one shit show after another. I haven’t felt happy in a long time… And now that I know I can be happy in this world, I don’t have anyone to celebrate it with. Hell, I haven’t even opened Sonata and Aria’s recent postcards. Sometimes, it just feels forced. I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t want to send anything, I pretty much ruined our bond right after we lost at the battle of the bands. I close my eyes, softly pressing my hand into my forehead. Why can’t I… ever do anything right?  Suddenly, I hear the doorbell to my apartment ring, waking me from my thoughts. Who would be ringing my doorbell…? Quickly, I pull a pair of pajama pants on and quickly walk to the living room, looking out the peephole to see who it is. I haven’t really had someone ring the doorbell before, so it’s a curious feeling once someone actually does. Unfortunately, I don’t see anyone outside, but the corners of a box are slightly visible. What is a box doing here…? With a hesitant breath, I open the door and I’m greeted by the sight of a wrapped gift. It isn’t really big, nor small, it’s just a box. A present decorated in a purple wrapping paper with diamond designs thrown all over it. Looking around me, I don’t see anyone who could have dropped the present off. Who would have given me a gift? Who was just here…?  Picking up the present, I bring it inside the apartment and set it on the coffee table. Unfortunately, the gift doesn’t have a tag stating who it’s from. I let out a small sigh as I finally pull the wrapping paper off the gift. I suppose this might be from Sonata, she is the type of person to try and give people gifts when she can. Person… I just called Sonata a person.  Shaking my head, I finally open the box and my eyes widen at the sight of what’s inside. Inside of the gift, a purple hand-knitted scarf lays in the box, neatly folded and positioned in the box with a note on top of it. My hand reaches inside and grabs the note, taking a closer look at it.  “I’m sorry I hit you, Adagio. I’m sorry I visited you that night a few weeks ago, but I hope you can have a merry Christmas. You’re still worth something, whether you see it or not.” Instantly, I can feel my hand get shaky and my eyes begin to leak another couple of tears… Putting the note down, I cup my face in my hands and try my very best to not cry. “No, Sunset… You don’t have to be sorry… Please don’t…” My voice begins to break and I finally can’t help but cry. “Y-you helped me find out happiness exists for me… I don’t hate you anymore…” The tears begin to collect in my hands before I rest my head on the couch. My sobs are only interrupted by my deep breaths. Gently, I push my face into the pillow and try to mask the sound of my cries. Why does life have to be so… cruel? Sunset is right, but I made her feel bad all that time ago… “I just want a friend…”