Out of the Cold

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 1

The school bells of Canterlot High let loose with their resounding clangour, signaling the end of the day for its students.

Filing out of their classrooms, the murmuring, amorphous mass of students entered the halls of the high school. It was the first day after the Christmas break, and the last couple of weeks of the semester had reviews, tests, and exams in store for the teenagers, who were still more concerned with what they had got for the holidays, rather than the impending crackdown they would have to do to pass the semester.

Sunset Shimmer sighed as she exited her last class. The teacher had droned on about subjects in biology which she had learned and memorized years ago as Celestia's student. But, hey, when you're keeping the guise of a teenager, it isn't particularly prudent to go about interjecting that you could teach the exact same thing, albeit much more engagingly.

As she weaved her way through the crowd of students, she heard her name being called over the din of random students greeting each other and friends catching up on each other's lives.

"Sunset Shimmer!" a high-pitched, overly energetic voice cried. Even with all the students, Sunset could tell the direction of the voice and recognize it as Pinkie Pie.

A pink arm bounced up and down over the crowd of students as Sunset made her way to one of her friends, who was conveniently standing near her personal locker.

Pinkie Pie was standing with the rest of her friends and was fishing through her giant mass of hair. After a few more seconds of searching, she uttered a quick "Aha!" and yanked out a small key, which she then used on a locker near Sunset's.

One of Sunset's other friends sighed at Pinkie's strange sense of storage, her locks of purple hair swaying slightly even after she stopped shaking her head. "Pinkie Pie, can't you just use pockets like the rest of us?" Rarity asked.

"And waste space when I could be storing last week's shortbread?" the pink girl responded, agape at the suggestion. To emphasize, she pulled out a slightly off-color, square pastry from her jacket's inner-pocket, popping the thing into her mouth.

As Rarity gagged, Applejack asked, not one bit surprised, "And how long have ya had that in yer jacket?"

"Since last week." Pinkie replied, completely deadpan.

"Uh, not to change the subject," Rainbow Dash broke in, fiddling with one of the tuners on her guitar, "but what did everyone do for their Christmas break?"

As everyone traded stories of their experiences, and the gifts they gave and received, Sunset quietly opened her locker and started donning her winter clothing, stuffing a few textbooks into the magenta backpack on the floor of the locker.

"Sunset, darling, what did you do for your Christmas break? None of us have really chatted since we got together for Christmas Eve." she heard Rarity ask, breaking her from her thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, I mostly spent it catching up on some reading that I wanted to get done, watched a couple of movies, nothing special really." Sunset answered, putting on a dark crimson wool coat. "Well, I did volunteer to play a few carols at a nearby seniors' home for Christmas, but aside from that, not much."

"Well, that's kinda lame." Rainbow Dash stated harshly, ripping a riff or two on her guitar. Somehow, a distorted and amplified sound came from the instrument, despite it not being connected to any amps.

"Didn't you get anything cool for Christmas? Like a new guitar or gaming console?" she continued.

"Gee, I wonder if that's what you got, Dash." Sunset quipped back, silencing the brash girl.

"Didn't you have any family come--" Rarity caught herself as Sunset looked down despondently at the ground as she put on a toque matching her winter jacket.

"I'm dreadfully sorry, dear. I forgot that you're all alone in this world." she apologized.

"That's all right," Sunset muttered in reply, wrapping a red scarf around her neck. Her friends could be insensitive at times, but they meant well. It’s not like they had much more experience than she did with the whole friendship thing.

"You could always visit Equestria for Christmas now that the portal's open!" Pinkie commented, somehow grabbing all of her snow gear in one armful and twirling around to appear fully garbed.

Scratching her chin, she went on, "Although it might be rough going through the first time, those first meetings with the pony versions of us and Principal Celestia would be AWKWARD."

"Thanks for making me feel so much better, Pinkie." Sunset said sarcastically, shooting an annoyed, half-lidded stare at the girl.

"No problem!" Pinkie answered, plastering a giant grin on her face, Sunset’s irritation flying right over her head.

"We're sorry that you were alone on Christmas, Sunset. Next year we'll try and convince our parents to let us visit you." Rarity said, placing a comforting hand on Sunset's shoulder and giving her a sympathetic smile.

"Darn tootin'!" Applejack agreed, rummaging through her locker to find her winter clothes. "Ain't nobody should be alone on that day, it just ain't right!"

"Thanks girls," Sunset replied, giving them a half-hearted smile. "But I know that Earth's tradition is for family to be together on Christmas; I couldn't ask you to do that."

"I'd have been happy to have visited you, Sunset," Fluttershy piped up, the first time she'd spoken the entire time. "One of our family's friends' dog had to be taken in to our vet-clinic; I could have visited you afterwards."

"Thanks, Fluttershy." Sunset replied. "I'm glad you would've done that for me."

The yellow girl smiled softly, brushing a strand of her pink hair away from her face.

Sighing, Sunset picked up her backpack, saying, "I wish I could chat longer, but the physics teacher dropped a bunch of homework on us. I should study if I want to pass."

"Pfft!" Dash chuckled, waving her hand in a downwards motion. "Or you could be like me and take it easy; I know I've got this in the bag!"

"That's because you have phys-ed, two spares, and drama class!" Rarity protested, glaring at her friend. "I don't know how you're going to get into the universities you want if you won’t take school seriously."

"They'll be begging to take me based just on how awesome I am!" Dash declared, Rarity's logic going right through her.

Before the topic could turn into a heated debate, Sunset prepared to leave, looking for an opening in the slowly thinning crowd of students.

Breaking her concentration from Rainbow Dash for a moment, Rarity said, "Do be careful, Sunset. There was an awful cold snap over the afternoon today, are you sure you don't want one of us to drive you home?"

"No, it's all right." Sunset replied, turning around to look at the group again. "My place isn't too far away, plus I could use the exercise."

Rarity stared concernedly at her friend, lifting a finger to hush Dash for a moment. "Very well," she sighed. "Just be careful, no-one should be out in this kind of cold for long."

"Thanks for your concern," Sunset said, taking her chance to slip into the mass of students and to get to the main exit of the school.

Breaking through the students, she burst through the front doors and into the courtyard. Groups of teens were nestled into the corners of the courtyard, a few laughs making their way to her ears.

A fierce gust of wind whipped at Sunset's loose hair, managing to find a crack in her insulation against the cold.

Sunset squeaked and shivered as the icy blast shot down her neck and back before tightening her scarf a bit and pulling it up to her face. Now she knew why the students that hadn't left yet were grouped as close as possible to the wings surrounding the courtyard.

As she passed the statue in the middle of the courtyard, she ran her mitted hand along the edge and briefly knelt down and tapped on the side of the base facing the entrance. Instead of making a hard tap sound against what appeared to be stone, Sunset's fingertips slipped inside the base, ripples forming as she drew her hand back.

"At least Twilight is keeping the portal on." she thought, getting back up from the snow-covered ground.

She was glad that she now had another friend, one much wiser on certain subjects than she whom she could communicate with, even if it was the medieval equivalent of texting. Although she was always dreading that someone would trip or somehow stumble onto the portal leading to Equestria: it would be rather embarrassing if students started disappearing, or worse, became traumatized by such a strange occurrence after returning.

Another gust of wind blew through the courtyard, creating small wisps of snow from the relatively fresh dusting they had received this morning.

Shrugging her backpack into a more comfortable position, Sunset started her trudge towards her small, yet comfortable apartment. Thankfully it was only a ten or fifteen minute walk away.

She waved goodbye to some of the students as she walked out of the courtyard. Most stared awkwardly at her and a few gave a hesitant wave back. The only student who gave a hearty wave goodbye was the strange girl who helped them during the Battle of the Bands a few months back.

"She doesn't say much..." Sunset mused as she passed the girl; the other students had called her Vinyl Scratch. The girl went back to whatever music was on her high-quality headphones, bopping her head to the beat.

The sun began to sink below the skyline of Canterlot, creating mammoth shadows along the streets of the city. A number of homes and business still had Christmas decorations up, the multicolored lights creating bright dots on the road and sidewalk.

The tunnel effect created by buildings along the streets made the already frigid wind even more potent, the gusts able to bite through Sunset's winter gear.

After a few minutes of walking, Sunset spied an open coffee shop and bolted inside, breathing a sigh of relief as the heating began thawing her limbs and hands and the smell of roasting coffee, mixed with other smells of doughnuts, tea, hot chocolate, and other treats filled her nostrils.

Digging through her dark jeans, she pulled out a leather wallet and grabbed a few dollar bills, ordering a hot chocolate and Boston Cream. A short time later, the man who filled her order brought it to her at the booth that she slipped into.

She thanked him and took a sip of the hot chocolate, letting out a soft, contented moan as the liquid helped the heating of the building warm her body. Slipping off her winter jacket and toque, she grabbed her backpack and opened her physics textbook. Might as well get a bit of studying in; it wasn't like she was expected back home, right?

Continuing to sip on her hot chocolate, she worked through a few of the textbook's practice problems in her head, occasionally munching on her doughnut.

Soon the sun disappeared all together from the sky, a few clouds beginning to form on the horizon muddling the last few pink rays of sunlight. As she finished her doughnut, Sunset sighed, closed her textbook and whipped out a notebook, jotting a few things down before putting that back in her backpack along with the textbook.

Leaving a small tip on the table, she moved to put her jacket and toque back on when some movement in her peripheral vision grabbed her attention. In the artificial light of streetlights and store windows, she spied a silhouetted form stagger along the street.

While she would have normally paid it no mind -- probably some poor drunk after all -- she continued to watch while putting on her jacket. The figure reminded her of someone, although she couldn't quite place who.

As the figure turned the corner to an alleyway between a couple of buildings on the other side of the street, she realized why she couldn't place them at first. Despite their disheveled appearance, she recognized the giant pigtails the figure had. It was one of the Dazzlings. But what was she doing heading into an alley, and without the other two with her?

Quickly donning the rest of her clothes, she pulled on her backpack and dashed out the door, narrowly avoiding crashing into someone as she left.

Bolting down the sidewalk, she called, "Hey! Stop!" Her cries went unheard as a strong wind gust blew straight in her face, blowing her voice in the opposite direction.

The Dazzling just continued on down the alley, breaking line of sight with Sunset as they turned the corner.

Running out into the street, Sunset nearly fainted as a car stopped mere inches in front of her, the driver slamming down on the vehicle's horn.

"Sorry!" she cried, raising her hand in an awkward thanks.

With an accident barely avoided, she turned her attention back to the alleyway. Hopping onto the sidewalk, she almost slipped and fell on a patch of ice one of her feet landed on. After a few seconds of steadying herself, she rushed into the alley, the streetlights providing a faint glow to the passageway.

Illuminated by the streetlights were a few garbage dumpsters, one of which the figure she saw was rummaging through. A couple of feral cats hissed and growled, then fled as Sunset slowly approached the former Dazzling.

The Siren paid her no mind, too busy searching the dumpster for possible scraps. Much closer than she was in the coffee shop, Sunset gasped silently in sympathy as she saw the state the Siren was in.

Wearing a threadbare hoodie and pair of sweatpants, the thin frame of the Dazzling member was halfway inside the dumpster. What protection against the elements the clothes provided did nothing to hide the fact that they hung loose on the Siren -- too loose to be healthy.

Sunset cleared her throat, startling the Siren and causing her to hit her head on the dumpster's lid, swearing as she rubbed it. The Siren turned to face Sunset, gasping in anger and fear and backing away like a cornered animal when she recognized who she was.

"You!" she hissed, holding a piece of thrown-away food that she had grabbed from the dumpster close to her chest.

"Isn't it enough that you got rid of our voices and damned us to fight for survival?" Looking down at the scrap in her hand, the Siren cried, "Can't you just let me die in peace?!"

Cautiously keeping her distance, Sunset put down her backpack and sighed, "I didn't know what would happen when our magic defeated you--"

The Dazzling glared at Sunset.

"--but I'm sorry that you lost your singing voices. Where are your friends?" Sunset asked, glancing behind her shoulder.

Sinking to the ground, the Dazzling started shaking -- out of cold, sadness or fear, Sunset couldn't tell -- and whimpered, "They left me."

"What?! I thought Sirens stuck together?" Sunset exclaimed, genuinely surprised.

"Well, we're not really true Sirens now, are we?" the Dazzling snapped back, letting the half-rotten food slip from her hand to the frozen ground, still slowly shaking.

"Do you have a place to sleep?" Sunset asked after a moment of tense silence.

The Siren remained quiet, crossing her arms and avoiding Sunset's gaze.

Sighing and opening her backpack, Sunset grabbed her leather jacket that she always wore around school and slowly stepped toward the girl. Keeping a reassuring smile on her face, Sunset bent down and started to place the jacket on the Siren before she pulled back in resistance.

Her heart slowing down from its startle, Sunset tried again to place the jacket on the Siren. This time the girl offered no struggle, quickly wrapping the jacket around her emaciated body when Sunset let go.

"Come on," Sunset said, holding out an arm for the Siren to grab. "You're coming to my place; I'm not going to have someone's death on my conscience."

Author's Note

So hey, I've actually returned to the world of the writing. :applejackconfused:

Anyway, I watched Rainbow Rocks recently, since it came out on Netflix (no camcorder quality for me this time!). And I have to say I liked the Dazzlings. It wasn't until that a flux of popular Christmas-y fics that involved them were written that got me to get really interested in them, though. This got me on a fic-reading binge involving the Dazzlings, and I have to say they've surpassed all the characters that I've liked so far on the show.

So, I decided to try my hand at writing a redemption fic involving one them. While Adagio is my favorite Dazzling, I chose Aria because she gets the least love from the fandom (I don't know why; I like the grumpy straightman character trope), and Sonata already has too many (braces for flame war).

Anyway, hopefully you stick around to enjoy the ride.
Rush and Pony on!
T4E

Sunset's winter outfit taken from Harmonizing by SkycatcherEquestria on Deviantart or SkycatcherEQ on Fimfiction. Used with permission.

Chapter 2

The Siren only glared at her offered arm. Sunset smiled slightly wider, trying to put her at ease. Finally, after a visible internal struggle, the Siren grabbed Sunset's hand and slowly got up from the ground.

Sunset quietly gagged as the Siren rose up; she could now easily smell that the Siren hadn't bathed in weeks, perhaps months given the grime that was on the purple girl's face.

As Sunset led the Dazzling out of the alley, the Siren paused, looking uncertain. Turning around, Sunset gave another reassuring smile, cringing as another strong gust of wind whipped at her hair and scarf.

After the wind gust had died down, the Siren slowly followed Sunset as she made her way back to her apartment. They walked in relative silence, only a couple of angry grunts coming from the Siren when Sunset blocked another gust of wind from ripping through the minimal insulation her worn clothes provided.

Entering the lobby of the small apartment building where Sunset lived, the pair walked in to one of the two elevators, which chimed softly as its doors closed.

Sunset glanced at the Dazzling, now easily seeing the dirt and grime that covered her. A few patches of her hoodie and sweatpants had rips or holes in them, and the stars on her pigtail ties were chipped and a couple were outright missing.

Her hair was matted and greasy, some of the teal highlights barely visible. Sunset could also swear that there was a small patch of dried blood on her head as well, although with all the dirt and grease it was impossible to tell for sure.

This was a far cry from a once beautiful creature (although she did admit to her friends that the 80s-like clothes that they wore to school were a bit gaudy), broken and starving, voiceless and ambitionless.

Sunset had obviously been staring long enough at the Dazzling for the other girl to notice, casting an aside glance before glowering in her direction. Deciding not to push matters too much, Sunset pressed the button for the fourth floor and the elevator started its climb.

After a couple more seconds of silence, Sunset said, "W-we were never properly introduced, I don't think. I'm Sunset Shimmer, what's your name?" She gave the Siren a friendly smile, hoping to figuratively crack the ice a bit.

The Siren only glared at Sunset for a moment, then sighed and looked away from her. "It's Aria," she finally muttered. "Aria Blaze."

Sunset only nodded. Obviously Aria didn't really feel in the mood for talking at the moment. "I want to apologize again, Aria. I never intended to harm any of you girls."

"Well it's a bit late for that," Aria huffed under breath as the elevator doors opened with another chime.

"Be patient, Sunset." Sunset reminded herself, sighing mentally. "If Twilight and the others could forgive me, I can do the same for her."

Exiting the elevator, Sunset and Aria walked down the carpeted hallway. Sunset stopped in front of one of the doors at the far end of the hallway, reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out a keyring.

Fumbling to find the right key, she finally opened the door to her apartment, flicking a lightswitch in the narrow entrance, casting the apartment's hallway in artificial light.

As she set down her backpack by the door and opened a small wall-closet on the left side, she pointed down the hall and said, "The bathroom is at the end of the hall on the right of the living room; take as long a shower as you want."

Aria muttered a neutral response, but pushed past the girl and made her way down the hallway, dropping Sunset's jacket on the floor as she went. A moment later, Sunset heard a door slam, followed shortly by running water.

Sighing contentedly, she finished putting away her winter gear and entered the living room, throwing her backpack on the leather couch. In the middle of the room was a large tree, blocking part of the view out of the windows.

Mechanically, Sunset went behind the tree, bent down and plugged in an electrical cord. The tree lit up with reds, greens, blues and yellows, reflecting off some of the ornaments and the waxed exterior of her Les Paul, which was on its stand in a corner near the partial wall of the connected kitchen.

After closing the blinds on the windows, she walked down the hall to her bedroom, hanging her leather jacket that she had grabbed from where Aria dropped it on a small knob on the back of the door. She was going to have to get that cleaned before she even thought about putting it on again, but it wasn't like it had been doing her any good against the cold in her backpack when she found Aria.

Cracking her neck to release some previously unnoticed tension, she opened one of her dresser drawers and started digging through it. After a few moments of searching, she had gathered a spare set of clothes for Aria to wear and went out and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Aria?" she called. Receiving no answer, she cracked the door open and asked, "Is it all right if I bring in a pair of clothes?"

The running water of the shower, combined with some low, off-key singing was the only answer she got. Aria must have been enjoying her first shower in a long time to not hear Sunset's question.

Deciding that she would leave the clothes anyway, Sunset spied Aria's old hoodie and sweatpants and quickly switched them out for the spare set of clothes. As she closed the door, she felt something inside one of the pockets of the hoodie. Reaching her hand into the pocket, she pulled out a small paper bundle which was wrapped around something.

Curious as to what it held, she walked into the kitchen and placed the worn clothes on top of the garbage container. Sitting down in one of the small kitchen table's chairs, she unwrapped the bundle, revealing the thing to be a broken red jewel. After a few seconds of staring at the shards, she recognized it as the broken remains of one of the Sirens' pendants.

Putting down the broken pendant, she saw that it was wrapped in a photo. Picking it up, she looked at the photo, which was of the three Sirens, for once actually happy, standing near a banner of the Wondercolts. A few students were milling about in the background, and she could just barely see one of her boots facing away from the camera.

"They must have taken this right after I gave them the tour..." she realized, putting the photo pack down. While it was crumpled, it wasn't really that damaged. Aria must have carefully wrapped and re-wrapped the photo around the pendant shards many times for it to look as worn as the photo was.

Breaking her out of her thoughts, she heard the opening of the bathroom door and quickly hid the pendant shards and photo in one of her jeans pockets.

A couple of minutes later, Aria skulked in, wearing the clothes that Sunset had set out for her. While Sunset's clothes would probably not have fit properly on the Siren anyway, the fact that Aria was little more than bones made the magenta long-sleeve shirt and black jeans all the more loose-fitting.

Aria's hair was still visibly quite wet, although she apparently was able to dry it enough so that it wouldn't drip water onto the floor. Without being tied into pigtails, her hair fell well past her waist.

"Is there anything to eat here?" Aria muttered, brushing one of her long bangs out of her eyes.

"She finally speaks." Sunset thought semi-sarcastically. Putting on a friendly smile, she said, "Sure I'll fix something up quick."

With a "humph" from Aria, whether it was just something she normally did or it was actually out of satisfaction wasn't clear to Sunset, the fiery-haired girl searched through the kitchen cabinets. A moment of searching later, and she pulled out a couple boxes of mac'n'cheese along with some leftovers from the fridge.

"You were lucky that I found you," Sunset began, setting some water to boil for the noodles. "They were calling for the temperature to drop to around minus twenty."

"Yeah, thanks, I guess." Aria mumbled, swirling a finger around on the table in apparent lack of interest as she sat down.

Setting a dish of leftover lasagna in the microwave to reheat, Sunset pushed further, "How-how did you end up on the streets?"

"I already told you!" Aria grumbled, crossing her arms and glaring at Sunset.

"I was just curious," Sunset replied, taking out the reheated lasagna, putting some macaroni on the plate, and handing Aria the plate along with some cutlery.

As soon as Sunset let go, Aria dug into the food, her ravenousness causing her to forgo any table manners she otherwise might have demonstrated.

Chuckling under breath, Sunset placed some more leftovers in the microwave and sat down across from Aria, who had already finished most of her plate. She smiled as Aria quickly went up for more macaroni when she finished her plate.

"You know you could have come to me or one of my friends for help, right?" Sunset asked, getting up as the microwave finished heating her food. She sighed as Aria only glared at her in return.

"Well you're talkative." Sunset muttered, lightly munching on her food. The only answer she received was another glare from Aria as the Siren went up to get a third helping.

"She needs it more than I do." Sunset decided, watching Aria serve herself the rest of the food left on the counter.

As Aria sat back down, she brushed some hair out of her eyes and eyed Sunset, who calmly stared back. Rolling her eyes, she went about finishing her food.

"Look," Sunset began, breaking the tense silence the kitchen had fallen into, "you have every right to be angry at me. But I don't appreciate being given the cold shoulder when I just saved your life."

Aria only stared at Sunset. Sunset couldn't tell if it was because Aria was in shock from her experiences and the cold, or if she always acted this way. Getting up, she took Aria's plate and placed it in the small kitchen sink along with her own.

Without saying a word, Aria pushed her chair back from the table and left the kitchen, flopping onto the old leather couch in the living room and flicking on the bulky cathode-tube TV. She flicked through a few channels before settling on one that was playing a marathon of some crime thriller series.

While she washed the supper dishes, Sunset asked, "Do you mind turning that down? I need to do some homework soon and I don't need the TV distracting me."

She heard an annoyed grunt come from the living room, but the volume of the TV did decrease.

Finishing the dishes, she went out into the living room and grabbed her backpack. She walked down the hall and into her bedroom, ignoring the irritated gaze of Aria and keeping the door ajar to keep an ear out for any activity from the Siren.

While Sunset was decent at math and physics, it didn't stop the subjects from being as boring as could be. After what felt like an eternity reviewing subjects in her textbooks, she stopped and got up from the bed she’d been sprawled on. Accidently knocking her backpack off the bed as she got up, she opened her bedroom door and walked out into the hallway.

The living room was silent, although she did spy a bit of Aria's hair over the couch. As she entered the living, she quietly giggled to herself as she saw the rather interesting position the Siren had adopted.

Aria's unkempt and loose bangs covered most of her face, only her nose poked through the mass of hair. A light snore came from beneath the hair, signaling that the Siren was fast asleep.

Sunset glanced at the clock hanging on the far wall of the living room, and jumped a bit. More time had passed than she had originally thought: she was going to have to go to bed soon if she wanted to wake up early enough to get to school.

Turning back down the hallway, she searched her linen closet, pulling out a flannel blanket. She walked back to the living room and gently pulled the blanket over Aria, who shifted a little as she let go, then turned off the lights and unplugged the Christmas tree.

Yawning, she turned back and went into her bedroom. After readying herself for bed, she pulled out the novel that she was working on and read for a bit. As she turned off the lamp on her nightstand, she mulled over the events of the day before sleep soon overtook her.

***

A shrill and insistent beeping broke through the haze of sleep in Sunset's head as she opened her eyes to glare at her alarm clock: six-forty-five came too early for her liking.

Groaning, she turned off her alarm clock and slowly stretched. As she got out of bed, she slipped her feet into a pair of sunset-orange slippers emblazoned with her cutie mark. She stretched and yawned again and opened her door, shuffling down the hallway and into the living room.

She could tell that Aria was still fast asleep as she entered the living room. Giving a tired smirk, she walked into the kitchen and turned on one of the lights over the stove before turning and opening the fridge. She grabbed a carton of eggs and moved back to the stove.

Soon the sound of sizzling eggs filled the apartment along with the smell of toast and coffee.

Sunset quietly hummed to herself as she flipped the pair of eggs she was cooking. "Hopefully I can make progress with Aria when I get back from school." she mused as she continued frying her eggs.

When her breakfast was ready, she slipped into one of the chairs around the table, jerking up as the photo and pendant that she decided to slip into one of her pajama pockets poked her. Reaching in to the pocket, she placed the re-wrapped pendant on the table.

After she finished her breakfast, she grabbed the pendant and quickly went to her room to change. Throwing on a dark sweatshirt, she put the pendant in her jeans pocket, deciding to confront Aria about what she found in the Siren's old clothes this evening.

She stared sadly at her leather jacket as it hung on the door, wishing she had a second one, but she was not wearing it after Aria wore it and got it filthy. Grabbing her backpack, she stuffed her textbooks and notepad into it and walked out of her room, ready for another school day.

The clock informed her that she still had some time before she had to leave, so she quietly sat down in the old easy-chair in the living room and turned on the TV. She scrambled to lower the volume as it turned on, wiping her brow in relief as she saw the quick blast of the TV hadn't woken Aria.

Watching the morning news, Sunset noted the frigid forecast for the next few days. She looked over at Aria, who had shifted during the night to lie on her side, her long hair reaching and slightly spreading out on the floor. She sadly smiled at Aria before looking back to the TV.

Soon, she turned off the TV and grabbed her backpack, moving out into the entryway and putting on her winter gear. Unlocking the door, she quietly left the apartment and locked the door as another day of fitting in as a teenager awaited her.

The walk over to CHS was just as cold, if not more so, than the one she had the night before. She hugged her scarf closer to her face as a gust of wind blasted full force on her.

Soon enough, she saw the wings of the high school appear on the horizon, relief flooding her as she saw the end of her frosty torment.

Stepping up her stride a bit, she again waved to a few students who were arriving from either the bus or their parents dropping them off. She was met only with cold stares.

Lowering her head, she watched her feet move as she approached the entrance of CHS, pushing the doors open and sighing as the heating of the building along with that of the student body started to permeate her body.

Thankfully mornings were not as busy in the halls as the late afternoons and Sunset quickly pushed her way towards her locker. As she reached it, she put down her backpack and searched through her pockets to find her locker key.

After she put away her winter gear, she proceeded to her first class, although her mind kept drifting to Aria, hoping that she wouldn't find the apartment in disarray when she returned. All through the morning, she moved from class to class, lunch hour finally rescuing her from the droning of her teachers.

Entering the cafeteria, she grabbed a tray and waited in line. After she was served, she searched the crowd, soon spotting her five friends at their usual table.

"Hey Sunset!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as Sunset sat down beside Applejack.

Sunset mumbled a response, her mind turning yet again to the Dazzling in her apartment. Absentmindedly, she munched on her food, a couple of her friends exchanging glances as she continued on eating quietly.

"Is something on your mind, dear?" Rarity asked, breaking through Sunset's thoughts.

"What?" Sunset asked, shaking her head to clear it of the haze. "Oh, not really. Nothing more than usual anyway."

"Don't you worry none about your exams." Applejack said, biting on an apple and giving Sunset a reassuring pat on the back. "We all know that yer smart; almost as smart as Twilight -- no offense."

"None taken." Sunset replied automatically, smirking as her friend tried to cheer her up with one of their inside jokes.

Obviously her expression still remained clouded, as her friends all gave her concerned looks. However, they decided to not bring it up: if something was bothering Sunset that was important, she knew to tell them.

"Hey, does anyone want to hear the new song I came up with?" Rainbow Dash asked, strumming a few power chords. At her friends' rather lack of interest, she huffed, "Fine, the solo needs some work anyway."

"Can't you talk about something else than your guitar, or sports, or how 'awesome' you are?" Rarity asked, taking a dainty bite out of her sandwich. "You've been unbearable at points since we stopped the Dazzlings."

"You do have to admit; my guitar playing was awesome there." Dash stated, giving a quick belch after taking a swig of soda just to annoy Rarity.

"D-did you ever stop to think of what happened to those girls after we defeated them?" Sunset asked halfheartedly, nudging the last few scraps of food on her plate with her fork.

"No." Rainbow Dash bluntly stated, flicking a string on her guitar.

"Nope." Pinkie piped up.

The rest of her friends echoed the same sentiment, casting another round of strange looks at Sunset.

"Not really, dear." Rarity said. Scratching her head and raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Why do you ask?"

"I-I was just wondering. Like, maybe we should have gone after them. They've sung all their lives, taking something like that away from them could be pretty catastrophic." Sunset said, finishing her drink.

"If you ask me, they got what they deserved." Rainbow replied, shooting Sunset a weird look. "Those girls were a bunch of wh--"

"Wonderful singers!" Rarity interrupted, placing a hand over Dash's mouth. After receiving a few questioning looks from the group as well as a glare from Dash, she continued, "Well, objectively speaking of course." When she still received a couple of unconvinced stares, she laughed awkwardly, "And while their necklaces were still active. Go team?"

"Whatever." Dash muttered, taking Rarity's hand off her mouth.

A moment later, and the school bells were clanging again, signaling that the students needed to get to their next class.

"Well, I guess I've got to run, girls. See ya!" Sunset exclaimed, grabbing her backpack and heading out the cafeteria doors into the crowd of students scrambling for class.

***

"Finally!" Sunset mentally cheered as the school bells rang once more to end the day. Pushing back against her desk, she got up from her seat and put her biology textbook in her backpack.

As she left the classroom, she was caught in the sea of students, once again all milling in the halls of the high school. At least this time it started to thin faster, as friends needed not to catch up on as many things as yesterday.

Approaching her locker, Sunset cringed slightly as she heard her name being called by Pinkie. She turned around and put on a rather forced smile, her need to get home causing her patience to run a bit thin.

"Hi girls!" she called, turning back to her locker.

"Hey, what's got you in such a rush?" Rainbow Dash asked as Sunset hurriedly put on her winter gear.

"More homework," Sunset lied. In reality, the homework she received today was next to nothing. That was where being protégé to Celestia had at least one of its pros: you had consistent tasks.

"Real killer. I wish I could stay and chat, but I want to get a good start on it before I get too tired." She finished putting on her scarf and turned to head towards the exit.

"Oh, no you don't!" Rarity proclaimed, grabbing one of Sunset's arms. Staring concernedly into Sunset's eyes, she said, "I'm not having one my friends going back out into that horrid weather for a second night. I'll drive you home."

"I-I appreciate the offer, Rarity," Sunset said, squirming out of the white girl's grasp. "But it's really no big deal. It's not much colder than yesterday."

Rarity gave Sunset a warning glare. Sunset gulped. She knew that that face that Rarity had meant she wouldn't take "no" for answer. Sighing, she said, her shoulders slumping, "Fine. I'll wait by the exit."

Pushing her way through the thinning crowd of students, she stopped beside the front entrance, looking through the glass doors at the courtyard outside.

She could tell that it was windier than last night; wisps and small tornado-like drifts of snow were blowing in multiple directions. A moment later and Rarity appeared, dressed in a fluffy white parka and mitts and earmuffs that matched her hair.

Her friend motioned for her to come, to which she hesitantly complied. As she followed Rarity outside, Sunset put up an arm to block some of the fierce wind in the courtyard.

Soon they were out in the parking lot, the gales becoming even stronger now that there was no building to deflect them.

Rarity fished in her parka's pocket and pulled out her keys, clicking the fob for her car to unlock its doors. A white Mini chirped as she pressed the button, and Rarity opened the passenger door.

Thanking her, Sunset sat down on the leather seat, placing her backpack on the floor. She'd never admit it, but she still had some lingering apprehension whenever entering one of these things. The fact they propelled themselves without steam, magic or horsepower was off-putting to her.

Getting into the driver's seat, Rarity turned the ignition, the small car's engine rumbling to life. After fastening her seatbelt, Rarity said before driving out of the parking lot, "Are you sure you don't have something bothering you, darling? I didn't want to make a fuss, but you're making a different fashion statement than you normally do. I mean, you'd never part with your leather jacket."

"Oh, yeah." Sunset muttered, rubbing her arm awkwardly at Rarity's prodding. "I spilled some jam or something on it. I'm going to have to get it cleaned."

Unconvinced, Rarity just shook her head and replied, "All right. Just make sure you tell us if you do have something that is bothering you."

"Yeah." Sunset breathed, taking her mitts off.

The rest of the quick drive was made in complete silence. As Sunset got out of the car, she thanked Rarity again and waved as her friend drove off.

Turning around, she entered her apartment building and went up one of the elevators.

Author's Note

Aria's trio selfie of the Dazzlings is based on The Dazzlings by ZeldaronDL. Used with permission.

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.

Author's Note

What was Aria's decision? Will Sunset win her over (not in that way; get your head out of the gutter!)? Find out next time! Same pony time, same pony channel! Or you could just read the next chapter, whichever you will.

Rush and Pony on!
T4E

Chapter 4

Sunset slowly unlocked her apartment door, and was surprised to find Aria slouched on the couch watching TV. After putting away her winter gear, she picked up the small bag she was carrying and walked into the living room.

From this distance she could see that Aria was asleep, completely oblivious to the program on the television. Sunset picked up the remote and turned off the TV, Aria jerking awake at her movement.

Yawning and stretching, the Siren actually gave a small smile at seeing Sunset. She rotated into a sitting position, fixing her hair a little.

Sunset spotted that Aria had placed the broken pendant and photo on the small stand beside the couch. Looking back at Aria, she cocked an eyebrow expectantly.

Now fully awake, Aria mumbled, "I thought about what you said." She scratched her arm nervously.

"I wondered if that was why you were out here," Sunset replied, slowly nodding her head. "And what do you have to say?" She calmly waited for Aria's response.

Taking a deep breath, Aria began, "I don't regret everything I've done--" She twiddled with her loose hair as she went on, avoiding Sunset’s gaze "--but maybe it's time to move on and start over."

Giving a friendly smile, Sunset went over and sat next to Aria, quickly hugging the girl. "I'm glad that's what you decided." she said, pulling out a small box from the plastic bag she held and presenting it to Aria.

Taking the box, Aria gave Sunset a confused look. At Sunset's encouraging expression, she ripped off the wrapping paper covering the box, revealing its plain, white surface. Opening the box, her face lit up in surprise as she pulled out a small, gold-colored music note attached to a necklace chain.

Speechless, she finally uttered, "D-did you get this for me?"

Sunset hummed an affirmative.

A few tears forming along the edges of her eyes, Aria choked, "No-one has ever done something like this for me." She sighed and put the necklace down, "At least, not out of their own free will."

"I just wanted to say that you don't have to be alone anymore, but, I think you know that now." Sunset replied, a couple of tears welling up for her as well.

Aria tried the necklace on, the music note resting almost exactly where her pendant used to be. To Sunset's surprise, Aria gave her an awkward embrace. Realizing her show of emotion, Aria let go of Sunset and crossed her arms, saying, "You know I'll deny this if you mention it to anyone, right?"

Sunset laughed. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." She got up and put the bag in the garbage. Pulling open one of the kitchen drawers and grabbing a knife, she asked, "You hungry?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Aria replied from the living room.

Quickly dishing up a couple of sandwiches, Sunset walked back into the living room and sat down next to Aria. She handed the Siren a sandwich and calmly bit into her own.

As she was eating, Aria noticed Sunset's guitar that was set up near the kitchen. Finishing her food, Aria pointed at the instrument, asking, "Can I see that?"

Surprised at Aria's interest, Sunset hesitatingly replied, "Sure." She got up and grabbed the guitar by the neck, walking back and handing it to Aria. She sat down on the old easy-chair and watched Aria fiddle with the tuners of the instrument.

Stretching out and propping a leg to support the guitar, Aria plucked a few strings to check their tuning. Satisfied, she slowly started playing a few notes, jerkily at first, but soon more smoothly. Soon she was playing a sad classical piece, hints of Spanish influence peppered throughout.

Sunset watched quietly for a couple of minutes. Suffice it to say, she was impressed that Aria could play so well considering the only time she had ever seen the Siren being musical was singing harmony for the Dazzlings' leader.

"That's beautiful," she lauded, inadvertently breaking Aria's concentration and causing her to hit a few bad notes. As Aria went back to playing, she asked, "Where did you learn to play?"

Sighing, Aria planted her strumming hand on the strings to mute them. "Nowhere where you could." she answered, striking up the piece again.

"Why not?"

"Because," Aria began, watching her fret-hand and strumming a few chords, "it was destroyed during the Inquisition."

"Th-the Inquisition?" Sunset gasped as Aria went back to picking the guitar strings. "But wasn't that over five hundred years ago?"

"You thought we were just dumped here in North America when we were banished? We've been in this realm for over a thousand years." Aria glumly looked at the guitar, soon finishing the piece.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry." Sunset said, taking the guitar back when Aria offered it to her.

"Life gets boring after spending a couple of hundred years doing nothing but singing and playing second fiddle to Adagio. I had to do something to keep from going nuts." Aria stated, flopping back on to the couch.

"But noooOOOO! 'You can't waste your time on those silly instruments, Aria; they'll just distract you from gathering the energy we need'." she ranted, imitating the voice of the Dazzlings' leader, who Sunset surmised was Adagio. A few angry tears streamed down Aria's face as she scowled at the memory.

"But that didn't stop me from practicing in secret, huh? You orange, lint-ball headed bitch!" she hissed, wiping a few tears from her eyes.

Sunset sunk into her chair slightly at Aria's outburst. When the Siren remained silent, Sunset said, getting up and placing the guitar back on its stand before placing a comforting hand on Aria's shoulder, "It must have been difficult. But they must have meant something to you, why else would you keep that photo?" She pointed to the photo and pendant still on the stand.

"They were the only family I knew!" Aria tearfully admitted, shrugging Sunset's hand off as the last reserves of tears started to flow.

"It's hard. But at least you know that you can soon have friends to fall back on." Sunset stated, sitting back down in the chair. At Aria's silence, she went on, "How about you come to school with me tomorrow? I'm sure Principal Celestia will let you back with some explaining."

"And have my dignity destroyed by an angry student body? Not a chance!" Aria exclaimed, shooting an annoyed look at Sunset.

"Don't be so melodramatic," Sunset said, waving her hand down in amusement at Aria's reaction. "Do you plan on doing anything else while I'm there?"

"No," Aria huffed, blowing a few of her bangs out of her eyes. "Fine. I'll go--" She pointed a finger at Sunset "--But if someone ends up with a black eye, it was in self defense."

"I don't think you'll need to worry about that." Sunset chuckled. Checking the clock, she said, "Probably should get ready for bed. Morning comes early."

As Aria got up, Sunset said, "You take my bed tonight. You still need to rest up after what you've been through these past few months."

Smiling thankfully, Aria headed down the hallway to prepare for the night. Sunset sighed and sat down on the couch. A warm feeling permeated her body as she felt that she made some good progress with the Dazzling.

Soon enough, the apartment was dark and silent as the two girls slept. Sunset muddled over the past couple of hours. She'd have to apologize to her friends tomorrow. She was out of line in accusing them at the CSC, even if she felt she was right. Hopefully the next day would go better.

***

Groaning, Sunset awoke. She’d had a rocky sleep, and she was aching from being in such a compressed position on the couch. She slowly got up and opened a couple of the blinds on the windows.

The horizon was starting to glow a soft pink, signaling the start of a new day. Stretching her back, she felt a few pops as she walked down the hallway and knocked on her bedroom door.

A moment later, Aria opened the door. Sunset stifled a giggle. The Siren's hair was completely riddled with bed-head. Stifling another snicker, she looked mirthfully into Aria's irritated gaze. "Let's get your hair fixed, shall we?" she said, this time failing to hold back a laugh.

After a short breakfast, the two prepared to get ready for heading out into the cold weather. Aria's hair was let simply loose, although her bangs had been done up how she normally had them.

"This isn't exactly my idea of a good fashion statement," Aria murmured as she held up a neon-pink parka.

"Hey, be thankful that I still had a second set of winter clothes, aside from some boots." Sunset snickered. "Besides, it'll match the blush on your face right now."

"You have no idea how hard it is to suppress the urge to strangle you." Aria groaned, reluctantly putting on the parka. She was thankful for the warm clothing, and that the Dazzlings decided to get new shoes shortly before their stint at CHS.

The walk over to CHS was made in relative silence. Neither girl really wanted to talk to avoid getting a cold blast of wind in their mouth.

The morning sun reflected off the fresh layer of snow on the buildings and sidewalk, almost making the cold temperatures worth the picturesque display.

Soon, the girls reached the school. Sunset held the door open for Aria, who tried burying her face behind her scarf as the pair entered the hall. At first, they received no notice, although a few students soon pointed and stared at Aria, the effect spreading like wildfire amongst the students in the halls.

Sunset scowled at their gawking, but pushed through to her locker, Aria quickly following. After they put away their garments, Sunset motioned for Aria to follow her to Principal Celestia's office.

Along the way, groups of students glared at Aria, the Siren covering her face to try and avoid any more embarrassment. None of the students came to confront her though, seeing she was with Sunset, who still appeared to carry some intimidation factor with her.

Reaching Celestia's office, Sunset knocked on the door. A few seconds later, they heard, "Come in!"

Opening the door, the two entered the office. Principal Celestia was working on forms, quickly scribbling a signature down on one and placing it in a folder. As the two girls entered, her expression hardened as she looked up and saw Aria.

"Well, this is certainly surprising." she stated dryly, stamping a different document.

"Principal Celestia, Aria here wants to be allowed back to CHS. She's sorry and promises not to cause more trouble." Sunset said, giving the principal a pleading look.

"I'd like to hear that from... Aria herself." Celestia replied, looking sternly at the Siren, who flinched slightly under her authoritative glare.

Taking a deep breath, Aria began, "I-I am truly sorry for what happened here." She looked at Sunset, a small hint of respect in her eyes. "I guess when Sunset found me living on the streets, something started to change. As she said: I swear that I'll try to stay out of trouble; I guess I'll just have to let people get used to me, though."

Celestia glanced between the two girls. Softening her expression, she said, motioning a hand to sit down, "Very well. Sunset, you may go. I want to speak with Aria in private."

Reluctantly, Sunset obeyed and gave Aria a reassuring smile before leaving. She heard the office door close behind her, followed by muffled voices. While she would have liked to stick around, she had no idea how long they would take, and she needed to get to class soon.

Trudging down the hall, she bumped into a blue, silver-haired girl, causing the girl to drop her textbooks.

"Watch where you are going!" the girl began, her voice a rather annoying showman's accent. "Wait, Trixie remembers you: you were with that Dazzling!"

Trixie leaned in close to Sunset, smirking wickedly. "Well, let your new friend know that Trixie is not easily mocked. She will have her revenge for those three causing her to make a fool of herself!" Dramatically Trixie emphasized her point by throwing a fist in the air.

Sunset gave the school magician a bored stare, eliciting an annoyed glare from Trixie at her lack of response. "Really?" was all she could think. Putting a hand on her forehead, she replied, "Trixie, what are you going to do? Magic wand her to death, smoke bomb her until she disappears?"

At Sunset's remark, Trixie sputtered a few incoherent phrases, grinding her teeth on her bottom lip. Finally, she snapped, "Just let her know Trixie is on the hunt!"

"Whatever." Sunset muttered, watching the irate girl stomp off down the hallway. Continuing on, she made her way to her first class of the day.

***

Lunch break had rolled around again, and Sunset made her way out of her English class. While it wasn't the easiest class, she probably enjoyed it the most, if only because she could study more of Earth's culture via her assigned books.

She stopped by her locker, placing a couple of unneeded textbooks inside. After she had finished, she started walking to the cafeteria. As she walked down one of the more empty hallways, she heard scuffling and a few angry voices.

Turning the corner, she saw a group of students struggling with Aria, who was managing to put up a decent fight despite the odds. As soon as she saw the group, she dashed towards them.

One of the teens turned his head, spotting Sunset running towards the group. "Quick guys! Let's scram. It's Sunset Shimmer!" he called, distracting a couple of the other students who both received a quick fist in the face from Aria.

Not wanting to face the wrath of Sunset, the group quickly let go of Aria, bolting down the hallway. Sunset could see both of her old lackeys in the group as they sped away. She made a note to bring this up with Celestia or Luna after school.

Aria slowly sat up. A few bruises were already starting to appear, and her hair was mussed up, but aside from that and a bit of dirt on her borrowed clothes, she seemed all right.

Stretching out an arm for Aria to grab, Sunset asked, "What happened?"

"I guess it's the start of paying my dues," Aria grunted, taking Sunset's arm and pulling herself up. A small trickle of blood oozed from one of her nostrils.

At Sunset's concerned face, she wiped her nose with her hand. "It's nothing to worry about." she said, rolling her shoulder around to stretch it.

"I shouldn't have left you after Principal Celestia talked with you, classes be damned." Sunset said, bowing her head regretfully.

"Thanks." Aria replied.

The two made their way to the cafeteria, although no more students bothered them. Entering the room, they stopped as the entire student body in the cafeteria turned to look at them.

Once again, Aria shielded her face from the crowd, although it really did nothing in the end. Sunset prodded Aria forward toward the line of students getting served the day's meal.

A few students went back to their food, but most still glared at Sunset and Aria.

When Aria's turn to get served arrived, the Siren winced at the withering look Granny Smith gave her, but tried to give a thankful smile after she received her food. Aria waited by the side of the serving area whilst Sunset was served.

Spotting her friends amongst the crowd, Sunset motioned for Aria to follow her. The two sat down at the table her friends were at, the group eying Aria, although not maliciously.

"Hi girls." Sunset greeted, sitting down next to Fluttershy, who softly squeaked as Aria sat next to Sunset.

The rest of her friends mumbled a greeting, avoiding eye contact with her and Aria.

"This is Aria Blaze," Sunset began, putting down her drink and motioning to the girl next to her. "She's a new friend of mine."

"Really? You're her friend now?" Rainbow Dash spat, pointing her finger at Aria, who glared back. "Don't you remember any of the trouble she and her two friends caused?"

Leaning her face into her palms, Sunset shook her head, saying, "Do we really need to do this again?" She took her head out of her hands and gave Dash a disappointed look.

Dash huffed and went back to looking at and eating her food.

Clearing her throat, Rarity said, "I want to apologize to you, Sunset. You were right for calling us hypocritical for not being willing to give -- Aria, was it?"

The purple Siren gave a slow nod, mainly remaining focused on her food to avoid any possibly awkward conversations.

"I'm sorry for not giving her a second chance," Rarity finished, reaching over and placing a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "I can't speak for all of us, but I'd be willing to get to know Aria more."

"I was wrong to go as far to say you were hypocrites, though." Sunset pointed out, poking her fork in and out of a piece of salad.

"Ooo!" Pinkie exclaimed, noticing the necklace that Aria wore. "That's pretty!"

"Thanks." Aria mumbled, keeping her eyes down.

"That's why I was out at CSC last night," Sunset explained as a couple of her other friends commented on the necklace.

"So, anybody want to hear that song I wrote yet?" Rainbow Dash asked, pulling out a black Stratocaster from its case underneath the table.

"Actually, I have a better idea." Sunset replied, looking at Aria with a knowing glint in her eye. "Give me the guitar," she stated, opening and closing her hand to emphasize her request.

"What? I just got this baby for Christmas!" Dash exclaimed, clutching the guitar to her chest defensively.

"Just give her the guitar, RD." Applejack sighed, smacking the jock lightly upside the head.

Reluctantly, Dash gave Sunset the guitar, who offered it to Aria. Aria looked up from her now empty tray, and pointed at herself. Sunset gave a reassuring nod.

"You have got to hear this." Sunset told them as Aria slowly took the guitar from her.

Quickly checking the tuning, which she found to be somewhat flat, Aria readjusted it and started playing a few chords before breaking into an up-tempo song.

Rarity hummed in amusement at Aria's display on the guitar; Pinkie, Applejack and Fluttershy watched silently while Rainbow Dash sullenly glared at Aria as she continued playing.

Soon, Aria finished with a small flourish and handed the guitar back to Rainbow Dash, who yanked it from her as soon as it was in reach. She grabbed a pick and turned her back to the group, playing a progression of power chords.

"That was quite impressive," Rarity complemented, causing Aria to blush slightly at the praise.

Before anyone else could speak, the school bells let loose with their clanging. The body of students started to leave the cafeteria and head to their next set of classes.

Sunset got up and grabbed her and Aria's trays, stacking them on the nearest trash container after dumping any rubbish in the bins. Grabbing her textbooks, she bid farewell to her friends as Aria followed her out. She looked at the Siren, whose face was largely unreadable.

"I'm going to see Principal Celestia," Aria stated, catching Sunset by surprise.

"Do you want me to come?" Sunset asked, starting to follow the Siren as she walked towards the principal's office.

"I'll be fine." Aria tried to assure her. "Those punks were the only students who bugged me." She gave a quick wave and walked down the hall. "I'll see you after classes." she called as she turned the corner.

Unsure of her next course of action, Sunset sighed and slowly started her way to her next class. If Aria said not to worry about it, there was no point in trying to argue with her after only starting a new and flimsy friendship.

***

The end of the school day came around once more, releasing its hold on the students and setting them free for the evening. As the students poured out from the classrooms, Sunset sighed and waited by her locker, searching for any sign of Aria.

Craning her neck, she spied a head of purple and teal hair making its way towards her. Soon Aria pushed her way through the students, no worse for wear than when Sunset saw her last.

Sunset sighed in relief when she saw that no more students decided to pick a fight with the Siren. Unlocking her locker, she asked, "You ready to go?"

Aria mumbled an affirmative, running her hand tiredly through her hair and taking the borrowed parka from Sunset.

After the two girls had suited up, they exited through the front entrance into the cold late afternoon. The sun had already sunk below the cityscape, but thankfully the wind had seemed to have died down substantially.

The pair received a few hard looks from some of the students that were gathered in the courtyard, but for the most part, they were ignored.

As they walked out of the courtyard, Sunset turned to look at Aria and asked, "So how was the first day at school?"

"It could have been worse." Aria replied, stepping carefully around a patch of ice on the sidewalk. She put up an arm to block a gust of wind.

"I'm sure my friends will warm up to you eventually." Sunset said, placing a comforting hand on Aria's shoulder.

Aria stared apathetically at her hand, jerking her head around as she heard the sound of arguing voices coming up ahead from a small alley. She paused momentarily, a glimmer of recognition lighting up on her face.

Sunset stopped to look at Aria, confused at her sudden halt.

"That's Sonata and Adagio!" Aria exclaimed, pushing past Sunset and dashing across the street towards the alley.

Caught off guard by Aria's sudden movement, Sunset hesitated for a few seconds as a car passed, then quickly followed the Siren, who had now reached the opposite end of the street.

As she reached the alley, Sunset heard a tired, yet rather innocent-sounding voice ask in disbelief, "Aria? I-is that you?"

Entering the alley, she got a sense of déjà-vu. Illuminated by a passing car's headlights, she saw Aria standing in front of her, arms crossed and staring down at two shabbily-clothed figures. One was the blue Siren who had reminded her of an evil version of Pinkie, if Pinkie sung all the time and in an eerie harmony, that is.

The other she recognized as the leader of the Dazzlings, Adagio, who was just getting up from where it seemed she fell from dumpster-diving. The voluminously-haired Siren cringed back as she saw Aria. She slowly back away, looking behind her in surprise as she hit the back wall of a house that was blocking exit from the ally.

"Sonata? You're alive!" Aria exclaimed, rushing up to hug the other Siren.

Squeaking in surprise as Aria embraced her, Sonata looked at Aria in confusion before noticing Sunset. "Who's that with you, Aria?" she asked. Suddenly, a light of recognition appeared on her face. "Oh, it's the she-demon girl!" She managed to give a slight wave despite Aria's grasp around her body.

Confused at the Siren's statement, Sunset gave a small wave back. Sonata's comment didn't sound antagonistic. In fact it seemed friendly even with its negative connotations.

"How'd you end up with those new clothes?" Sonata inquired, although she received no response aside from Aria continuing to embrace her.

Sunset noticed the poor condition that Sonata's and Adagio's clothes were in. Although they were slightly less worn than Aria's were, the winter jackets which were over what appeared to be their clothes that they wore during their time at CHS didn't look like they provided much more protection against the cold.

She also spotted a few rips along the thick pantyhose that the pair wore. They obviously had at least a short while where they lived somewhere, if Aria was any indication of what they were wearing when they abandoned the purple Siren.

"Uh, Ari? You in there?" Sonata inquired, knocking a fist lightly on Aria's head. She winced when she realized that she might have provoked the girl.

When no verbal or physical retaliation was felt, she looked back at Aria, who had finally let go of her. The purple-haired girl smiled at Sonata, something which she didn't expect.

"Wait, you're not going to punch me?" Sonata asked timidly, rapidly glancing between Aria and Sunset.

"Why?" Aria asked, although her face showed that she knew why Sonata asked.

"Because you hate it when we get in your personal bubble." Sonata replied. Scratching her head in befuddlement, she mumbled, "I have no idea what's going on."

"You rarely do, you ditz!" Aria laughed, giving Sonata another quick hug.

At Sonata's amazement in her change in demeanor, Aria explained to Sonata the events of the past couple of days, filling her in on every possible detail.

As Aria informed Sonata, Sunset observed Adagio, who was still hunkered against the back wall and softly illuminated by a streetlight, watch Aria with dilated eyes. Her mouth was clenched in a tight expression of a mix between anger and fear, the two emotions battling for full control. Sunset looked back at the two Sirens as Aria finished her explanation to Sonata.

"Don't you see, Sonata?" Aria said, placing both her hands on Sonata's shoulders and lightly shaking her. "We don't have to hide anymore! I mean, sure we're going to have to suck it up for a while, while everyone is angry with us, but we don't need to fear what people will do. Not with people to help like Sunset. I even have an idea for people to get used to us faster."

She looked pleadingly at Sonata, "What do you say?"

Another car drove by, briefly lighting up Sonata's blank stare at Aria. Sunset could swear she could almost hear the gears turning in the Siren's head. After a moment of silence, Sonata piped up, "Okay! I was getting sick of trying to find not-rotten tacos anyway."

"Your mind never ceases to amaze me, Sonata." Aria muttered, flashing Sonata a small smile.

With a quick clearing of the throat by Sunset to grab her attention, Aria looked at Adagio. Her former leader was visibly nervous, a few beads of sweat quickly forming then freezing in the cold weather.

Moving away from Sonata, Aria walked slowly towards Adagio. As she reached Adagio, the yellow Siren laughed uneasily, holding up her hands defensively.

"Aria! Funny meeting you here!" Adagio said, shuffling along the wall away from the approaching Siren.

"You left me to die!" Aria screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Adagio.

Adagio paled at Aria's outburst. She gulped and felt the corner she was now trapped in. Sliding down to the ground, she whimpered, "I'm sorry! I don't know what I was thinking. We were looking for you, honest!" She looked up fearfully into Aria's eyes, choking out: "It was a mistake. I've had too much time to think on this; we should've stuck together!"

"You made a mistake, all right." Aria growled, readying a fist to deliver a forceful strike.

Sensing that the situation was about to get out of hand, Sunset dashed up behind Aria and grabbed hold of her shoulder. As Aria looked over her shoulder at Sunset, the fiery-haired girl sent a barely visible stern yet knowing look at the Siren.

Turning her gaze back to Adagio, who had raised her arms to shield her face, she sighed and shrugged off Sunset's grasp. After hesitating a moment, she held out her arm to Adagio.

When she realized that she was still untouched, Adagio lowered her arms, looking at Aria's silhouetted arm in astonishment. She continued to stare amazed, almost a full minute passing.

Aria moved her arm slightly to emphasize that Adagio should grab hold.

Cautiously, Adagio reached out and took hold of the offered arm, shakily getting to her feet. She smiled a silent thanks at Aria, brushing a bit of her dirty, curly hair out of her eyes.

"I have a feeling I'll be having two more guests tonight?" Sunset asked, stepping back out onto the sidewalk.

After a quick glance between amongst the three Sirens, Aria said, "Yeah, I think so."

"Well, let's hurry home. It looks like it might be getting ready to snow soon." Sunset stated, looking up at the clouding sky.

The group left the alley, thankful the wind had stopped at least for now. As they walked, Aria asked, "Do you think Principal Celestia would be willing to have two more returning students?"

Sunset glanced over at Sonata and Adagio. "They'll have to explain themselves like you did, but I don't see why not."

A relieved look passed over Aria's features as she dropped back to talk between the two Dazzlings.

Soon they reached Sunset's apartment building. Turning around as they entered the lobby, Sunset asked, "Who's up for some pizza? My fridge is bare and I have no desire to cook!"

A quick chorus of hungry moans came from the Dazzlings, which was all the answer Sunset needed. The group entered the elevator and continued down the hallway to her apartment as it finished its climb, chatting all the way.

***

Dear Twilight,

How're things back in Equestria?

It's been crazy here these last few months since you've last visited. Multiple holidays; being buried in papers and exams; and a million other things. Rainbow Dash keeps wanting to have another battle of the bands soon. She says that it needs to be done the "proper way" now that there isn't any threat leering over the school.

Speaking of, recently the Dazzlings resurfaced. Not in a bad way, although it is rather sad. I never realized that Siren's relied so much on their singing to survive. It all started when I found one of them in a back-alley a couple of months ago, completely at the mercy of the elements and wasting away.

Maybe I was soft, but I felt like she needed a second chance. She was resistant at first (you have no idea how resistant), but I'd like to think I helped reform her, although I think it was mostly time that really convinced her; I think some of my actions were just the catalyst.

A few days later we found the other two Sirens too, not really any better off, but it was amazing to see how much a little mercy can change someone when Aria (that's the first one I found) was the one to do the forgiving, rather than, say, me.

The school has yet to fully adjust to three more ex-villains attending, but they're warming up to them. The Dazzlings might have lost their abilities to sing, but they still have a lot of musical talent. Princess Principal Celestia allowed them to form a music class, and they'll be overseeing the next musical recital (whenever that is). They're slowly starting to reintegrate, but right now it's mostly just me and the Elements that they hang out with. But hey, baby steps, right?

These past few months have had their ups and downs, but overall they were quite exciting. I hope you'll visit soon!

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer

FIN

Author's Note

Well, that's that.

Hopefully you enjoyed this story, I know I had fun writing it. Originally, this was written as a oneshot, but more ideas came a couple days after I first finished it, and I rewrote this into chapters. Some of the scenes are lifted completely from the oneshot (the first chapter is completely from it), some scenes had their order changed or their structure altered, and some of it is entirely new.

I also want to give a massive thanks to AShadowOfCygnus for pre-reading this. His suggestions and edits were a great help, and he was also the voice of sanity and reason whilst editing this, and I don't think this story would be half as good if it weren't for his help.

Also I want to thank SkycatcherEQ and his fic An Open Door for inspiring me to get back into writing. If he never wrote that story, I don't think I would have posted another story on this site.

Oh, and this was supposed to come out much sooner, hence the reason for Christmas decorations still up in many places and other references to it being a recent holiday, but re-writes and edits caused it come out much later.

Anyway, comment and let me know what you thought; any constructive criticism is welcome. Hopefully I think of more writing ideas in the future with the Dazzlings, because even though I know their personalities aren't completely canon here, it is really fun writing them.

Rush and Pony on!
T4E