Chapter 3
"Aria?" Sunset called as she unlocked the door to her apartment. She flicked on the lights in the entryway and sighed as she saw the apartment was in one piece.
When she called again and received no answer, she quickly put away her winter clothes and walked into the living room. She spied Aria sitting at the kitchen table, wordlessly swirling a finger on the glossed wood. The Siren glared at her as she entered the living room before going back to looking at the table with a bored expression.
"Ooookkkaaayyy..." Sunset thought, heading towards her room and putting her textbooks away. She walked back out to the kitchen, ignoring Aria's gaze and grabbing the rest of the leftovers out of the fridge.
After she had reheated the food, she grabbed a couple of plates and served some to Aria and herself. Sitting down across from the Siren, she said, "So what did you do while I was at school?"
Aria merely frowned, taking a bite out of her meal. As she continued on in silence, Sunset's expression grew more and more irritated.
Finally, Sunset could stand it no longer. She slammed down her fork, which clinked loudly on her plate. "Could you at least talk?" she snapped, eliciting a slightly surprised look from Aria.
"I have been trying to be nice. I have put up with school for another day, and I was hoping that maybe I could make a little progress with you." she declared, matching the glare that Aria was wearing. "I saved your life! The least I could get is a little gratitude and maybe some conversation while I'm eating."
Again, she was only answered with silence, Aria giving her a small scowl.
"Is it something I said? Or did?" Sunset asked, completely at a loss as to why the Siren was so resistant to talking. "I just thought -- you know -- that you'd be at least a bit grateful for me saving you from this insane weather?"
"You think I'm grateful?" Aria finally replied, her voice a low growl. "You could have just let me die, instead of bringing me here!"
"You didn't seem very resistant," Sunset pointed out, causing Aria to shoot her an even more irate glare.
"Yeah, I have no clue what I was thinking." Aria spat, getting up and stomping into the living room. As she entered, she spun around and cried, "You ruined my life! I have no home, no way of survival, and no way of regaining my powers. I should have welcomed the cold!"
Without another word, Aria flopped onto the couch. From what Sunset could see of her form, the Siren was quietly sobbing. Slowly getting up from where she was, she walked to the living room and sat down in the old easy-chair.
As Aria cried, Sunset tried to think on what to say. Finally, she sighed and said, "Like I said before: I'm sorry. I didn't know what the elemental magic would do to you three." She paused and bit her lip.
Aria had stopped crying and turned back to look emptily at Sunset. When Sunset saw she at least had Aria's attention, she continued, "I-I wanted to give you -- all of you -- a second chance. You might think I don't understand where you're coming from; and, in a way, you're right, but I have similar experiences. I still feel like most people don't trust me, but then I remember that I have a few friends who genuinely care for me, and some of those problems seem a little less fierce."
Aria remained quiet after Sunset finished. Quietly, Sunset heard Aria mumble, "I don't need your sympathy."
"No?" Sunset countered, raising an eyebrow. While she was hoping for a reply, none came from Aria, who just crossed her arms and closed her eyes.
Getting up from the chair, Sunset mumbled, "Fine. At least you spoke with me." She left the living room and quickly did the dishes. When she returned to the living room, she found Aria was still ignoring her. Perhaps she had fallen asleep again.
Leaning against one of the walls, she noted the time. "I guess I have some time left." she decided.
Before walking down the entryway and putting on her winter gear, she took the pendant and photo from her pocket and placed it on the kitchen table. Grabbing her wallet, she opened the door and walked into the hall, turning around and locking it as she left.
As she exited the apartment building, she shivered and rubbed her hands along her arms at the freezing temperatures outside. Pulling her scarf to cover her nose, she walked the short distance to the nearest bus stop.
***
Aria heard the door close as Sunset left for who-knows-where. Waiting a few minutes to see if the girl would return, she continued to lie in the now-dark living room.
After she waited to her satisfaction, she slowly slid herself off the couch. She switched on a lamp near the end of the couch, bathing the living room in a yellowish light.
She couldn't believe how Sunset had acted towards her, a Siren. Well, not a full Siren anymore, but she still had the grace and immortality of one. She had lived for thousands of years, and yet that girl acted like she knew more about life than she did!
She slammed a fist on the couch's armrest, and winced as her hand protested. She turned her attention to the kitchen and the fridge.
Making her way to the fridge, she scowled when she saw that it was mostly empty. She grabbed a bottle of water and slammed the door, smirking slightly at the small release of anger.
She sat down at the kitchen table, taking a sip from the bottle. As she set down the bottle on the table, her heart skipped a beat as she saw what was lying in front of her.
Her shattered pendant, piled in the middle of the table, glistened and refracted the light from the lamp out in the living room. Beside it sat the photo she used to hold the shards.
Slowly, she reached out and moved the pile and photo closer, tears starting to form in the corners of her vision. She stared down at the broken pendant, the deep red shards glistening.
Suddenly, she started crying. The tears flowed freely, falling onto the shards and scattering in a thousand directions. She cried for listening to Adagio; she cried for not arguing to stay how they were -- at least they were getting by; and she cried for abilities now lost -- her beautiful voice that would no longer be heard.
Why had she stayed with Adagio and Sonata, when things were clearly going to end in failure?
Blinking a few tears out of her eyes, she picked up the photo. So confident, so sure of victory; how quickly things changed. She stared at the photo for what seemed like eons.
All of a sudden, as if a switch had been flipped, she realized why she stayed with her fellow Sirens. No matter how dysfunctional they acted, how much they appeared to hate each other, they were like family: the only thing akin to friends she knew. And now they, too, were gone.
Aria realized she couldn't go on like how she was. Yes, there was no point in continuing on in what could have been, but she had been going about it wrong. She knew what she had to do.
Grabbing the pendant shards and photo, she wrapped them in her fist, and waited for Sunset's return.
***
The bus carrying Sunset lurched to a stop near the Canterlot Shopping Center, the giant complex sprawling across a large area. The parking lot of the center was starting to fill with the evening's shoppers, the many streetlights reflecting off the cars.
As Sunset stepped off the bus, she pulled her toque more firmly over her head. A gust of wind whipped at her scarf and hair, blowing streams of snow across the parking lot.
Pushing open the glass doors, she entered the food court area, the smells of fast food hitting her nose immediately. She took off her mitts and toque and stuffed them into a couple of her coat's pockets, glancing around the area to see which direction she should head off in first.
She decided to go left, moving through the food court. She looked up as she walked, staring through the glass canopy of the food court at the light-polluted clouds above.
She passed a few clothing stores, pausing momentarily on whether to go in to one of them. Deciding against it, she moved on, she could always go to one of the large chain stores if it came to it.
The hubbub of shoppers filled her ears as she continued walking semi-aimlessly.
As she passed a jewelry store, she stopped, something sparking an idea. While this place was too far outside her price range, that didn't mean she couldn't get something like a necklace for Aria someplace that was significantly cheaper.
Mentally noting the idea, she moved on, stopping a moment later as she spotted a couple of her friends. What were they doing here? She tried to turn around and go back the way she came, but she saw that they spotted her.
She saw Pinkie tap the shoulders of Rarity and Rainbow Dash and point in her direction and wave. Slumping her shoulders, she waved back and started towards the trio.
"H-hi girls." she said, avoiding their gaze as she got within speaking distance.
"Hey Shimmy! Long time no see!" Pinkie giggled, quickly hugging the girl.
"Sunset, darling. I thought you said you had homework tonight, what are you doing here?" Rarity asked, placing her mitts in her purse.
Rainbow Dash pushed past Pinkie and got right in the face of Sunset. Shooting an accusatory glare at her friend, she said, "What gives, Sunset? You've been acting weird whenever we've been around you. I want to know what's up!"
She crossed her arms and glared expectantly at Sunset. Realizing that her friends would not take a hand wave at why she was here when she said she would be studying, Sunset sighed, "All right, I lied. I didn't really have any homework to do today, but it wasn't an excuse to avoid you."
"Oh really?" Dash said, remaining unconvinced. The expressions of Rarity and Pinkie echoed Dash's sentiment.
"It does seem kinda hanky," Pinkie agreed. "Did you think you could get away with finding a new pastry recipe and not telling me about it?"
"Pinkie, how about we let Sunset tell us what she means." Rarity suggested, shaking her head at Pinkie's accusation.
"I-- I--" Sunset sputtered, trying to think of what to say. She shifted her eyes between Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie.
"Yes?" they all asked in unison.
"I found one of the Dazzlings and brought them home." Sunset admitted quickly, looking for a hint of understanding from her friends.
Rarity gasped at Sunset's revelation, placing a hand over her mouth; Pinkie gasped as well in an over-the-top fashion; and Rainbow Dash's face started to grow red.
"You what?!" Dash yelled almost directly in Sunset's ear.
"She didn't--" Sunset began, trying to explain herself to her shocked friends.
"That explains why you've been acting so weird: she's got you under a spell so she could start at world domination again!" Dash spouted, pointing an accusing finger at Sunset.
"She's an evil enchan--" Pinkie began singing softly under her breath, earning a glare from Sunset.
"No she didn't!" Sunset screamed, her face growing a light shade of red mixed with purple. She declared, "I found Aria on the street, starving and probably unable to survive the night; is it too much to show a bit of mercy?
"She's powerless and broken, for buck's sake! She can't do anything to harm us now; can't you give her a second chance?" She finished her rant, folding her arms in front of her chest and glaring at her friends.
The trio avoided looking at her and stayed silent, unsure of what to say at her outburst.
When her friends remained silent, Sunset threw up her arms in disgust. "I can't believe you!" she exclaimed, an angry fire in her eyes. "You're a bunch of hypocrites! You can give me a second chance when Twilight is around, yet you can't when she isn't and there's a girl -- no -- three girls who are in almost the same situation as me? Where's this supposed magic of friendship that you embody?"
Without saying another word, she pushed past the trio and stomped off, a red haze clouding the top of her vision. Grinding her teeth, she marched towards another store, her decision set in stone.
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Sunset's reaction at the end seemed a bit over-the-top, especially since Rarity didn't even say anything.
5562567
I don't know about over the top, but it felt rushed - Sunset isn't the type to just explode like that. Might have worked better if the argument got to build up more.
5563910
Might have been building up even before they met. Add is the stress with dealing with Aria...
But the gutter is such a wonderful place to be. All this icky… I am guessing this is slime. Maybe?
Arias decision was obviously to start singing and dancing show tunes as Sunset walks through the door.
Hello my baby,
Hello my darling,
Hello my ragtime gaaal!
Sunset really lost her cool there. I think that while she has a point, she could have handled that situation quite a bit better.
6367242
While she did lost her cool there, she has a quite reasonable and understandable reason as to why. The elements of harmony are meant to be harmonious towards everyone, no exceptions.
She has every reason to be angry but still damn