//------------------------------// // Blazing Cold Shoulder // Story: Hot & Cold // by Shadow Moonlight //------------------------------// Ugh. I hate this stupid world… Stupid Adagio…stupid Sonata… Could’ve been lounging about in Equestria where we should’ve been this whole time, but nooooo! She just had to rope us into her BS!  …huh? Who are you supposed to be? You wanna sit with me? Pfft, you think I’m that dumb? Listen, buddy I’m way out of your league. Any corny pick-up lines you got ain’t gonna work on me. You just wanna talk? Do I look like a licensed therapist to you? I…seem troubled? Well, I…I guess you could put it that way, b-but so what if I was?! Not like it’s your business, anyway… Woooow, you must really want a date, don’t you? I know how you hu—people are. You get into a girl’s head and the next thing they know, they’re out on the streets begging for money. You would never do that? Tch. Well, you could’ve fooled me.  …alright, alright. If you wanna talk, this booth’s open, but don’t think of it as me warming up to you. I still don’t even know who you are. …you don’t really know me either? Well, you’re certainly making a good first impression. Hold on, you…remember me? I’ve never even seen you before.  You were at Canterlot High. Oh, great, just what I need right now. Listen, you simpleton, I wasn’t the one in charge of what we did. Adagio’s the one who always wore the pants.  Would’ve been nice if I could’ve gotten a shot at it for once… Huh? Did I want to be the leader? Of course, I did! You know how many times I’ve had to endure stupid and unnecessary shenanigans from Adagio’s “amazing plans”? She kept steering me and Sonata wrong for most of our lives!  We always ended up stuck in a roadblock because she never bothers to think anything through! Everyday we were going from place to place causing problems for people, like usual, and we always ended up on the wrong side of it all! Adagio’s just too full of herself to admit her own faults, and she won’t let anyone else have the spotlight! Why am I even telling you this stuff, anyway? You wouldn’t understand any of this. Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the reason why I think that’s the case is because we’re from different worlds! I’m a humanized siren from a land of creatures your society lives in denial about! Yeah, go on, laugh about it! Everyone here thinks I’m delusional or just so out of touch with reality. Whatever, I don’t even care… You care? You’re just gonna lie to my face like that, huh? Genuine? You don’t even know me. All you know is that I was one of the girls that screwed with your head. In what way could this possibly be genuine? Did one of your friends bet you to talk to me? You…don’t have any friends? Figures, I guess that should’ve been a given. Why am I so rude? What? You’re close to giving up? Good, I don’t need you here. I don’t need anyone in my life! I don’t need…anyone… … … … *sniff* *sniff* Do I look freaking okay to you?! Why don’t you make like a tree and leave or something?! Stop saying you care about me! You don’t care! You don’t know me!  Oh, la dee da! You learned more about me today than any day before, well maybe you should also learn not to be so freaking nosy! God, you are so freaking dumb…  I’m…I’m lonely too… You think this was my choice?! All I’ve wanted most of my life was some actual respect from somebody, and no one’s ever done that! Sonata’s so freaking dumb, a starfish has more of a brain than her! Adagio’s a sociopath as you’ve already seen.  I…I don’t mean to be hostile, alright? I just can’t trust anybody…I never had anyone I really could trust, to be honest… How am I supposed to trust you? You’re some rando I don’t even remember that comes up to me in a random cafe? How’d you even know I was here? Oh…yeah. I guess I do come here pretty frequently, now that I think about it. Still, what reason do I have to give you the benefit of the doubt? Yeah, I know you said you have no friends, but a lot of people don’t, so why come to me? Especially after I was one of the girls that used you? You… don’t think I’m evil? Well, uh…guess that makes one of us, but that still doesn’t answer my question. How am I supposed to trust you? Give you the chance to earn it? Well, that’s definitely reassuring. Look, I’m not that good of a person. You’re just wasting your time. …huh. Yeah, I guess I’m not as bad as I think if I feel remorse, but that doesn’t really change it.  You want…to help me improve myself? Seriously, why are you trying so hard?  Because you like me? Riiiight, and this is where I’m supposed to say some sappy love response in return, right? Well, I’m not gonna do that. That sort of crap would work on Sonata. Seriously, you like me even after all the crap I’ve caused at your school? Are you like, a masochist or something or do you have Stockholm Syndrome?  Look, it doesn’t matter. I’m not just gonna get with a guy who randomly started talking to me in a cafe. I know we share some similarities, but that doesn’t mean I trust you. I didn’t even know you up until a few moments ago. You just want the opportunity to be trusted? Well…I guess I could give you that, but if you break it…don’t bother coming back to me. So, uh…you play video games?  Well, there’s this arcade downtown that I like to go to clear my head, and…it’d be nice to have some company for once, I guess.  Cool, let’s go then! Uh, by the way…what do they call you around here? Huh. That’s cool, I guess. I’m…Aria. Aria Blaze. Sh-Shut up! It’s not “pretty”! Don’t make me regret this!  I guess…I guess this world isn’t as bad as I thought. Still don’t like it, though…