Recompense and Redemption

by CoverArt

Relaxing

The east side of Canterlot isn’t the best place to live. In fact, it’s the worst part of Canterlot. Gangs, drugs, prostitutes, any aspect of the underworld is available here, for the right price. The cops don’t come to this side of town, why would they? The gangs control the Eastside, even if they fight amongst themselves for who is the ‘most’ in control. So, there’s gunfire every now and again, sometimes not even that. Just a dead body found in an apartment or on the street. Ah, home.

Obviously, we wouldn’t live here if we didn’t have to. It’s cheap housing and the landlord is a complete pushover. With a pout and the flick of my hair, we don’t have to pay rent for another month. We would pay if we had jobs, but it’s a lot harder to fake the paperwork required to get a job then it is to fake the paperwork required to go to school; so, we did what we had to do to survive.

I let out a breath as I start to head off of the bus. Our apartment is two blocks away, but I’m not worried about walking in such a dangerous neighborhood. We made friends with the local gang leader, Chrysalis, as soon as we moved in, and her ‘boys’ make sure nothing bad happens to us. It’s not ideal, but it was necessary at the time. I slide a pair of ear pods in as I take out the mp3 player they were attached to, it was a piece of junk really, but it was a gift from Aria and Sonata, a birthday present actually, so it was one of my most valued possessions.

I scroll down the list of music till I get to one of my favorite relaxing bands, Flagship. They’re not the best band in the world, but they have some great music to just lie down and listen to, or in this case, walk and listen to. I hit play and let the music do its work.

Going out on the eastside, where I lived months ago
Owe it all to a feeling, that I love

I walk down the sidewalk, avoiding the trash that clutters it. The street is fairly empty of people at least. A couple people here and there, some just hanging out, others walking. I wonder if something is going on, there are usually more people on the street. Then again, I’ve never really walked the street during a school day. I shrug to myself, it’s more than likely nothing. Though that kind of shows the mindset around the neighborhood.

Running round circles in New Orleans
With a girl that I used to know
Spending all of the money, that I don’t own

A car passes by me, turning the corner as I reach it. Glancing at it, I see it’s Chrysalis’ car. I always thought she worked during the day but I guess being a gang leader is a full-time job. I probably should tell her that the six girls may or may not be coming around, so she can let her guys know they’re under her protection. I’ll check in at home first though, I really just want to relax.

I'm faded
Ah, sure enough
You said it's alright, nothing's right

Faded
Can never get enough
You said it's alright, nothing's right

I turn my head looking at the empty lot that serves as the neighborhood’s park and junkyard. Several dozen tires litter the space, some arranged in walls and little structures that the neighborhood kids put together. From what I understand, the park is a kind of safe zone, anyone can go there without fear of drugs, alcohol, or death. Of course, these rules are broken from time to time, but they’re not taken lightly. The full weight of what counts as ‘law’ in this part of Canterlot is brought down on anyone caught doing something they deem illegal in the various ‘parks’ in East Canterlot.

And you cut me off
Yeah, you passed me by

Ahead of me is the apartment complex my sisters and I live in. It’s a simple brownstone, almost completely the same as the rest of the block, the only difference being a slightly different brick color on the upper floors due to a fire that happened years ago. Like the neighborhood itself, the building was dirty, cramped, and, most importantly, home. We live on the top floor of the building. Thankfully though, while the building looks rather small, it’s pretty deep; each floor has a few rooms that can hold a family, or in our case three sisters.

Hanging out all of the time
I never really want to go
Calling all of the people that I know

Opening the door, I’m greeted by a small, pretty, black cat with emerald green eyes, trying to run out. Somewhat expecting it, I was prepared to catch her before she ran out. Picking her up, I pet her a bit, pulling the door closed. This is Jasmine, Ms. Fairweather, the second-floor tenant’s, cat. She tries to get out every chance she gets but, being such a friendly cat, she’s easy to stop. I bring her up the staircase to the second-floor landing, setting her down. Giving her one more pat on the head I turn, smiling, and head up the staircase again.

I think I'm losing the feeling
The feeling felt years ago
I can't get them back but they tell me they're in my soul

I push open the front door to the apartment, pulling my key out of the lock. It’s very dark in the room, though that’s probably from Aria taking a nap on the couch, err, her bed. See the apartment only has two bedrooms, so while Sonata and I take the two bedrooms, Aria uses the couch. I take a moment to let my eyes adjust to the dark, using the time to take off my shoes. I move towards the hallway, being as quiet on the hardwood floor as I can be. It’s not exactly hard, the floor was fairly new when we rented the apartment originally and we didn’t do anything to break or weaken it, so there wasn’t any creaking or squeaking to any of the floorboards. The hardest part was not stubbing my toe on a wall or anything, even if it’s during the day, with the blackout curtains Aria got for the living room, the apartment is pitch black.

I'm faded
Ah, sure enough
You said it's alright, nothing's right

I make it down the hall, where there are three doors: one leads to the bathroom, one leads to my room and the third leads to Sonata’s room. Glancing down I see there’s light showing through the crack between the door and the floor. Sonata was probably reading one of her manga books or listening to music. It’s the most common thing for any of us to do really. Whether it really is ‘music’ or not, our magic is tightly bound to music, and because of that, it’s of high interest to most sirens. That doesn’t mean our tastes are all the same though. For example, while I like most genres of music, my favorite is alternative rock, while Aria prefers heavy metal. Sonata, funny enough, doesn’t talk about what kind of music is her favorite. Even when we manage to sneak a peek at the songs she listens to they’re all over the place in terms of genre. I sigh before turning away from her door. I won’t disturb her; mostly because I don’t want to answer the questions she most definitely has just yet.

Faded
Can never get enough
You said it's alright, nothing's right

Opening my door, I’m greeted by my, admittedly, sparsely decorated room. Its purpose is for me to sleep and relax in, not much else, but that’s how I like it. I’m more likely to shirk off responsibilities if I’m working in my room then if I was in the living room or kitchen. It still has some stuff though. Obviously, it has a bed and a dresser with a mirror over it. On the dresser, I have some of the makeup that I’ve managed to obtain throughout our time here. I also have a waste basket and laundry basket but as one would expect there’s nothing special about them. On top of the bed, however, is my pride and joy: A nicely cleaned and maintained acoustic guitar. I bought it years ago when we were first settling in, from a flea market. It was in terrible shape but I got it, wanting to make it mine. For the last couple years, I spent all the spare money we made and used all the favors I could spare to get the parts to refurbish the guitar, and it’s finally done. Smiling to myself I put down my bag before grabbing the guitar and falling back onto my bed. Unfortunately, with Aria sleeping, I don’t want to play or even tune it; the walls here are kind of thin, so instead, I simply place it on the ground before closing my eyes, letting myself go into my thoughts.

And you cut me off
Yeah, you passed me by
You pissed me off

Of course, the first thing that comes to my mind is the discussion with the six girls. While not the thing I really wanted to focus on, I should probably think of what exactly to tell my sisters. The truth no doubt, but if there’s one thing I learned on the streets of East Canterlot, it’s that there are many different ‘truth’s. The whole truth, partial truth, technical truth, all manner of variation. I don’t know why I’m dwelling on it though. I should just tell them the whole truth, though, what was the whole truth? The six didn’t have a clear answer, and I didn’t want to wait around for them to make one. In hindsight, it might have been stupid, but I didn’t want them to come to a rash decision. They had no reason to trust us, they still don’t. Really, the truth is that they may or may not help us. It feels like a stupid thing to tell the girls though, they expected me to come back with an answer and I came back with more or less a shrug. Still, they deserve to know what happened.

Can't stop
Fighting for all I know
Can't stop
I gave up two months ago

Thinking about the meeting deeper though, I’m kind of surprised Sunset was so willing to give us a chance. She’s probably right, there are probably hundreds of stories about the ‘evil’ sirens and how they tried to destroy Equestria. Like most legends though, they’re ten percent truth, ninety percent fiction. This is no different, we went to Equestria, and we did do wrong, but ‘taking over Equestria’ never even crossed our minds, not that it would have. Still though, it’s understandable for someone who heard those stories to not trust the people those stories were based on. I guess it has to do with her past here as well. She did kind of have a whole magical reform before we showed up, if the stories are to be believed, and we made sure they were credible. Admittedly, even if she chooses not to help us, it’s nice to have someone else from our world around.

I don't know where I'm going
I don't know where to go
Holding on to the feelings that I know

The others of the group are kind of a mixed bag. The shy one and the hyper one both seem to be very willing to give us a chance, which I’m grateful for. They definitely seem the nicest. Rainbow Dash would probably need a lot of convincing, which would involve who knows what. She might just accept us because that’s what the others are doing. She seems the type to care more of what her friends think then what she thinks. Applejack though was the interesting one. She accepted what I said as fact without any questions. I wonder if it has to do with her connection to the magic. If they come to talk I might ask them. Lastly, there is Rarity. She seems like she wants to accept us, but is being realistic about it. She was and probably still is worried I’m doing this all as a deception, which admittedly, I probably would have beforehand to make sure they didn’t interfere, now though, desperation outweighs such things. Hopefully, with a bit of convincing from her friends and us, she’ll be on board. Really though, who knows, this could all be pointless speculating and they just will never show up. Hopefully not though.

I think I find this funny
I think I'm gonna take it slow
I'm thinking about the people that I know

I sigh a bit as my playlist comes to an end, it doesn’t last nearly as long as I want it to. I start to open my eyes to see how long I’ve been lying there, but as I open them I’m met with Sonata’s figure right over me.

“Gah! Sonata! What have I told you about startling me like that?” I ask, my heart racing at a thousand beats per second. As I actually focus on her face now, I can see just how tired and down she looks. It doesn’t help that my comment made her smile falter.

“S-sorry Dagi, I just got excited when I noticed you were home,” She steps back a foot or two. I wasn’t really mad at her, especially not nowadays, she’s the one who took our defeat hardest and she hasn’t really recovered yet, I’m sure my news isn’t going to help. Before I answer however, Aria walks into the doorway, rubbing one of her eyes with a hand.

“What’s going on, you two are so loud,” She ends with a yawn. She seems to be taking the whole situation well, but I can see that it’s affecting her just as hard as us, but she is the oldest sister, and she seems to think being strong for us will keep us from falling apart. While effective in some regards, I don’t think it’s to the level she thinks it should be.

Well this is it I guess, they’re both here and they’re expecting some sort of answer on how it went out of me. I take a moment to sit up, glancing towards my curtained window.

“They didn’t give me an answer. I asked them to come here if they decide to help us. It seemed promising because a few of them believed me, but some of them have their doubts. “

Glancing back to them, it seems Sonata deflated a little, hardly noticeable to anyone except someone who knows her like we do. Her smiled ran away completely, but there is still a glint of hope in her eye. I do like that about her, even when she takes things as hard as our situation and the banishment, she still seems to find hope. It’s part of the reason why we decided to try and live in this world instead of just letting ourselves rot.

Aria on the other hand, didn’t seem to change at all, she continues to have a continuous glare and kept her arms crossed. She was a lot harder to read, even for me being her sister, but she kind of prides herself on it anyway. I have a feeling though, this news doesn’t surprise her, honestly it wouldn’t’ have surprised me, and it didn’t when it happened. What surprised me was who accepted us and who didn’t. Well at least this is going better than expected.

“So there’s still a chance they’ll help?” Sonata asked, drawing my attention back to her. I gave her a small smile and nodded, how could I not smile, just thinking the same way makes me feel better.

“Yea Sonata, there’s a chance, a good one I say,” As if to emphasize my point, the door-bell rings.

Author's Note:

The song that I used in this chapter if Faded by the band Flagship. A Very good band I recommend, and I thought it would be interesting to incorporate it into the chapter and story in general. I hope you all like it.