Dazzling Sunset: Past Scars

by Snowflake Dissonance

Changing Norm [Added 31/12/2022]

Canterlot High was finally beginning to settle down. The Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands were behind them. The student body had returned to themselves once more, and companionship throughout the school was more solid than it had ever been.

Thanks to her contribution during the Battle of the Bands, Sunset Shimmer had been mostly accepted among the other students. There were still plenty that regarded her warily, and a few still occasionally spoke of her past, but those were small incidents. Most of the students welcomed her with open arms now that she had proven she was on a better path.

The trio of Sirens had returned to the school a few days after the Battle of the Bands, taking care to hide their new gems from the rest of the student body. The last thing they needed was for the students to attempt returning them to their previous state of starvation before they even figured out how to use these new jewels. Sunset had given them a second chance. They weren’t going to let it go to waste.

Initially, the students treated them the way they had Sunset Shimmer, but the reception rolled right off the three women. They had spent their entire lives creating and feeding from negative energy, so the attitude of the rest of the school was nothing new for them. If the other students wanted to intimidate them, they would have to find a different way to do it, much to the aggravation of the student body. The tactic had worked on Sunset Shimmer, so for it not to work on the Sirens frustrated those who held a grudge for the Battle of the Bands.

Since the negative reception wasn’t doing any good, the other students simply settled for glaring at the sirens in disgruntled silence whenever the women passed by. Adagio led the trio through the halls as usual, relishing in the looks being thrown their way. Sonata bounced along without a care and Aria met the heated gazes with icy stares of her own.

“Do you think they’re practicing again?” Aria grumbled at Adagio.

“Likely,” Adagio replied. “It’s the only way they can access their magic, so it makes sense.”

Sonata hummed in thought. “Do you think we should play instruments?” she asked curiously. “It might be fun.”

“Sirens don’t need instruments when we have our song,” Aria pointed out.

“But we don’t have our song anymore,” Sonata reminded her. “Which means we should try to find other ways to eat.”

Aria rolled her eyes. Sonata had her there. Without the ability to sing, they were left to simply absorb whatever energy was in the air around them. That wouldn’t help them if they were hungry unless they were in a crowded place. Instruments would allow them to evoke emotions without having to sing.

Hurried footsteps caught their attention and they all turned to find Sunset Shimmer racing closer. She skidded to a halt when she caught sight of them and grinned. “Oh! Hey you three!”

“Hey, yourself,” Aria snorted. “What’s the rush?”

Sunset ran a hand through her hair sheepishly. “I’m running a little late for practice,” she chuckled. “I overslept this morning and had to run all the way here.”

The sisters looked from the guitar on her back down to her legs and Sonata said, “That explains why you have nice legs.” Sunset’s cheeks darkened.

“You ponies always were fond of running everywhere,” Adagio snickered.

“You three didn’t?” Sunset asked in confusion. “How did you get around if not with hooves?”

“Didn’t you see our forms?” Aria raised an eyebrow at her. “We only had front hooves. We flew everywhere else. It would be practically impossible to get anywhere outside the water otherwise.”

Sunset hadn’t thought about that. But flying through the air made sense. In a way, it was just like swimming. “Huh, that’s really cool.” She checked the time on one of the hall clocks and winced. “Uh, I still gotta go, but do you three wanna join us for practice? You don’t have to sing, but since you like music, I just thought…”

“That’s sweet of you,” Adagio said. “Sure, we’ve got time before classes start.” She glanced at her sisters. Both gave nods of agreement and Adagio gestured to Sunset. “Lead the way, Shimmy.”

Sunset rolled her eyes at the nickname and headed in the direction of the music room. Students waved at her in greeting, but it didn’t escape Sunset’s notice that their friendly smiles fell the second they turned their attention on the sirens. A chill swept down her spine even though she knew none of the students really treated her like that anymore.

Melodies could already be heard in the music room as the quartet arrived and Sunset lifted her hand in a quick wave. “Hey, sorry I’m late! Woke up late today.”

Rarity stopped playing her keytar and gave her a wave in return. “If you needed a ride, darling, you could have simply said as much. I would have swung by to get you on my way here.”

“Thanks for the offer, Rarity, but I’m fine,” Sunset chuckled. She moved off to the side to unpack her guitar as she added, “I like getting the exercise. It reminds me of my roots a little.”

“You mean as a unicorn?” Applejack asked.

“Yup.” Sunset strummed a few quick notes on her guitar. She looked around when there wasn’t a snide remark and noticed the sirens were no longer in sight. That was weird, where did they go?

Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “Alright, now that Sunset’s here, we can start going over the new arrangements Fluttershy wrote for the songs.” Fluttershy smiled proudly and handed copies of the new music to the rest of the group.

Sunset accepted her sheets and let the sirens’ sudden disappearance fall to the back of her mind for the time being. She would have to find them later to figure out what happened, though.

Slightly down the hall from the music room, the trio leaned against the wall. They could hear the conversation inside just fine without having to be too close. They all remembered what the Rainbooms’ music had done to them before. With Sunset now among them, the sisters didn’t want to take any chances. Listening from outside would do just as well.

“She likes taking a run,” Aria snickered. “Wonder if she’d be down to go on morning jogs with Sonata.”

“She probably would,” Adagio said as she looked over a poster advertising the robotics club. “It would give them the opportunity to bond.”

Both glanced at their youngest and found Sonata bopping along to the music. “No thoughts, just music,” Aria chuckled, flicking Sonata’s ponytail. “At least their arrangements have gotten better.”

Adagio listened as Sunset’s guitar joined Rainbow Dash’s and she smiled. “Yes. Yes, they have.”

Author's Note:

I thought the original beginning was a little too fast, so I added this to help. I'll be honest, I don't know if it worked but I'm happier having it.

Comments

[Vaguely Demented]

Nice to have some more interactions between them.

[Snowflake Dissonance]

11465436
Yeah. I didn't like how fast everything moved before, so I tried to give things a little more room to breathe without making it feel like it was dragging. Always a treat to see your name in my notes.

[Akwolfgrl13]

❤️