Your Magic, White Rabbit

by TheLadyTwilight

Day: 2

Adagio awoke with a start, jolting upwards as a loud voice penetrated her ears. She reached up to cover them: her head hurt, and she had experienced the worst of dreams…now wasn't a good time for her to be bothered.

"Hey! You can't sleep here."

Oh, that's right… she thought, tears welling in her rosy eyes. It's not a dream. Not anymore. Obeying the policeman who was speaking to her, she slowly got up off the park bench and began to walk away down the dirt trail. She wrapped her arms around her stomach as it growled with hunger. It hurt. Everything hurt. Every day, things just went from bad to worse, and from worse to absolute shit. Now that her voice was gone, she was broke, homeless, and starving. How is this my life? she thought. She continued to walk, scuffling along, her legs and body aching in protest. And as tears streamed down her face, slowly she stopped, and collapsed onto her knees. How…how could I let life just slip between my fingers? I'm better than that…I'm not a waste, like them. My sisters…

"Aria, Sonata…I'm sorry." Adagio whispered, curling forward until her forehead touched the dirt.

Sunset Shimmer sat at her desk in math class, tapping her chewed pencil against it in a steady rhythm. Usually, math was her best and favourite subject, but today she just couldn't focus. Her mind kept skipping back to last night, to her encounter with Adagio Dazzle like a broken record. It was only a small coincidence that they were at the same place at the same time, but something seemed off about it. She just couldn't place her finger on it. She was alone… thought Sunset, brow creasing. And there were bags under her eyes. She was so dirty, too. If I didn't know better, I would've thought she was homeless. her train of thought was soon cut off by the sound of the bell ringing. She got out of her desk and gathered her things, then proceeded to make her way to her locker, pushing and shoving past the other students. She grabbed her lunchbox and headed down to the cafeteria, where her friends immediately waved her over.

"Hello, Darling!" Rarity chimed as Sunset sat down. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing alright," Sunset replied. "But guess what."

"Ooh! Ooh! What!?" Pinkie Pie chirped excitedly, leaning over the table.

"I saw someone last night."

"Oh boy, Sunset hooked up. Don't kiss and tell, ya know." Said Rainbow Dash flatly.

"No, you don't get it," she said. "It was Adagio Dazzle." At this, they all perked up and leaned forward.

"What?" asked Applejack. "Are y'all being serious?"

"I kid you not, Applejack. But there was something off about it…" said Sunset quietly.

"Well, spit it out, dear!" said Rarity.

"She was alone, and she looked terrible."

"Serves her right," snickered Dash. "She deserved everything she got."

"I don't know, Rainbow Dash. I couldn't help but feel kinda…bad for her."

"Don't feel down, Sunset. That Adagio Dazzle was no good anyway, and neither was Aria or Sonata." said Rarity, grabbing her for a side hug.

Sunset decided against speaking out then, eating her lunch in thoughtful silence. There's something wrong here. I know there is...

Adagio had no idea how long she sat there, sobbing and wailing into the damp earth. She would have cried for longer, except for that her tear ducts had gone completely dry. She stood up, still hunched over, stomach growling. She looked around with a hawk's gaze for somewhere, anywhere to eat. Then, her eyes caught on to a filthy green dumpster not far away. Internally she was retching, but it was her only shot.

—–-—–-

She stood in front of the dumpster, then bracing herself to the best of her abilities, flipped the lid open and began to dig through in search of food. Lost in her search, she was unaware of a man walking towards her. Only when she noticed his shadow looming over her did she turn towards him, taking a bite of a half-eaten pizza slice she had found.

"Miss, are you okay?" The man asked.

"W-what?" She asked quietly, dropping the slice in shock. Why would anyone speak to her that kindly? She didn't understand it in the slightest.

"Are you alright?" He asked once more, continuing to step towards her.

"I…I'm…I…I think so…" she said blankly, eyes wide. She had no idea what else to say. Why did this man, this stranger, want to know if she was okay?

"Mhm. What's your name?"

"A-Adagio Dazzle…" she said.

"That's a pretty name."

"Thank you…"

"Why don't you come with me? We can get you cleaned up." Adagio did nothing, said nothing. This seemed wrong. Something about this man wasn't right.

"Why?" She asked.

"Well, such a pretty girl as yourself deserves to not have to eat from a dumpster." He held out his hand for her to take. Despite her suspicions, Adagio found herself subconsciously stepping forward, and she took it. They walked away together.

Sunset once again pulled out of the school parking lot, half asleep at the wheel of her car. She slowly and sleepily crawled her way through the winding streets to downtown Canterlot. Practically asleep, she began to lay her head down on the wheel and just drive at 30mph throughout the streets. But what she didn't see was the orange-haired girl running out into the street, shirt falling off of her shoulders. And then, she went completely unconscious, her foot becoming heavy on the gas, the car jerking forward, faster, faster still. 40mph. 45. The girl looked up at the car, her rosy eyes widening, standing still like a deer in the headlights. And then, Sunset was jolted awake by a loud thump against her car, followed by a bloodcurdling scream. She practically flew out of the car, frantically looking for the source of the sound, and when she found it, she nearly fainted.

Adagio Dazzle laid on the pavement, a pool of red rapidly growing by her head, her legs bent at awkward angles, eyes staring blankly up at the sky, chest rapidly rising and falling. Sunset fumbled around for her phone, and with shaky hands, dialed 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I just hit a girl with my car."