The night air was cold in the town of Canterlot, with the sky above clear and showing off many sparkling stars. Most in the town had already gone home to be with their families, or closed up shop for the day. But on one road, beside the coastal region of the town, there was a solitary figure walking down it. Sunset Shimmer, former apprentice of Princess Celestia of Equestria, now a permanent resident of this human world. While her self-imposed exile had once been a source of great discomfort for her, nowadays there was nowhere else she'd rather be. She'd made friends for herself, something she'd once never thought possible, and for once, her life was a happy one. Walking down the road, she had a smile upon her face. Having just come from a party hosted by one of her friends, Pinkie Pie, it was hard not to smile about such things.
But now she was heading home, enjoying the great silence around her in contrast to the loudness of the party she'd left. The only sound she could hear was that of the waves lashing upon the nearby beach. It was a soothing sound, and as Sunset turned to look at it, she couldn't help but think to herself how beautiful the sea looked, bathed in the glow of the full moon above. She smiled as she looked upon it, but that smile soon faded once a new sound could be heard. It was a splash of some sort, and at first Sunset merely took it for another crashing of the waves. But as she looked closer, she could see something or someone moving in the water. It was too dark to see properly, even with the bright moonlight, but Sunset's curiosity demanded that she discover what was out there.
So, straying from the road, she began walking out onto the deserted beach, squinting her eyes so as to try and see what was there. After a few moments, something caught her eye to her right. It was a rocky outcropping, jutting out of the sand of the beach and extending outwards towards the waters. Whatever was moving, it was around there, so that was where Sunset now found herself moving towards. It didn't take her long to reach the rocks, and so she looked around for a bit before finding something that she knew shouldn't be there. It was a pile of clothes, neatly folded. Sunset looked towards the sea briefly and thought about this. Someone out on a midnight swim? At this hour? Turning back to the clothes, she reached out and picked up the item on the top of the pile to examine it more closely.
Immediately, Sunset's eyes widened with shock when she got a good look at them. With a combination of both light and dark purple, the clothes before her were very familiar, as were the knee-high boots that accompanied them. Standing up, Sunset spun around and looked out to the sea to try and see who she suspected was now out there. In mere moments, her instincts were proved correct, as a figure now emerged from the water at great speed, flinging her massive orange hair backwards in a dramatic fashion. Adagio Dazzle, leader of a group of Canterlot High students known as the Dazzlings and, more importantly, a former Siren of Equestria. Though there had been bad blood between them and Sunset's own friends, the Rainbooms, things had thankfully calmed down a great deal between them.
As she looked out at her former rival, Sunset took note of how she practically shone in the moonlight, her fingers trailing through her soaking hair. Although an admittedly beautiful sight, Sunset's face soon erupted into a massive blush when she finally noticed that Adagio was not, in fact, wearing anything for her late-night swim. Turning, Sunset felt that maybe it would be best to give the girl her privacy. However, fate seemed to have other plans, as a mis-timed step from Sunset caused a stone to come loose from where she was standing, which then fell into the water below with a loud splash. This, naturally, caught Adagio's attention, and she turned to see what was causing the noise. Her gaze caught sight of Sunset immediately, and the two girls just stared at each other in silence for a few uncomfortable minutes. Eventually though, Adagio broke the silence, placing a hand on her hip as she did so.
"So...come to enjoy the view?"
Sunset's blush, if possible, became even more fierce, as she began to fumble her words in defence of her being here. However, Adagio let out a brief chuckle before shaking her head a little.
"No need to get so upset. I'm only joking."
Sunset began to calm down a little, watching as Adagio started swimming closer to the rock. In mere moments, she was there, turning around and leaning against the rock behind her, with her legs gently swaying in the water before her. Sunset watched her carefully for a while before clearing her throat a little, taking a few steps close and kneeling down before speaking to her again.
"So...what are you doing out here?"
Adagio turned her head around as much as she could, though with all that hair her face was still obscured to Sunset.
"You're a smart girl. I'd have thought you'd recognise swimming when you saw it."
Sunset rolled her eyes a little at that. It was clear that the girl was in no mood for polite conversation, or at the very least wasn't prepared for it. Sunset sighed a little with this, realising that for all her and her friends' efforts in reaching out to the Dazzlings, there was still some animosity. It was to be expected though. After all, this was a case of the victorious speaking to the vanquished. Nevertheless, Sunset knew from experience what unhappiness looked like, and right now it was plastered all over the former Siren. So, clearing her throat again, she spoke up.
"Adagio...if there's something wrong, then I'd like to help."
Adagio still had her head facing away from her, and for a moment, Sunset wondered if she was just wasting her time here. However, after starting to look away from the leader of the Dazzlings, she began to hear her speak up again.
"I suppose..."
Sunset's head snapped back towards Adagio's direction, watching and listening to her intently. There was a brief cough from the girl, a clear sign that she wasn't comfortable in speaking on such intimate terms. But even so, she kept on speaking.
"...there are times when I just...want to feel a little bit of home."
Sunset tilted her head in confusion over that, and as Adagio turned to face her, she saw the look and began to explain herself.
"Did you know that we Sirens are creatures of the sea? From birth to death, the oceans were our home. Our domain. Our...our everything."
Adagio looked down at the water around her, raising one hand and making circles in the surface with her index finger. The girl's face made it obvious that this was something that bothered her a great deal. And while the scholar in Sunset would have wanted to ask many questions, she knew all too well when somebody just needed their space. So that's exactly what she gave Adagio now, remaining silent until she started speaking again, which she did moments later.
"My sisters and I would spend many a day swimming against one another, always keen to see who was the fastest. We'd go to the surface and hear the sounds of the waves crashing against the coast. We'd play tricks on pony sailors. To us, the sea was like air to you surfacers. We could never imagine our life without it."
Deep down, Sunset could feel where this was going, but even knowing that, it didn't make it any easier once Adagio started speaking about it. Lifting her hand out of the water, Adagio looked at the little pool of water she'd collected in her palm. She stared at it for a few moments before gaining a look of great anger, clenching her fist hard and allowing that water to seep through her fingers and back into the sea.
"But then...you know the rest. The sea was taken from us, just like the rest of Equestria. We became beings of the land. We could never go back to the deep like we once could. Sonata tried once, back in the early days of our banishment. She couldn't stand the thought of no longer being able to go back to the sea. She swam out, tried going down as deep as she could...and if it hadn't been for Aria and me pulling her out...she'd have drowned."
Sunset clasped her hands over her mouth in horror over having heard that. She knew that, like her, it must have been a difficult experience to no longer be in the place they'd called home for so long, but to go that far because of their grief over it, that was something she'd thankfully never experienced. Images were conjured up in her mind now after hearing that. Images of a terrified and unsure Sonata crying on the beach with her sisters doing their best to comfort her. Needless to say, Sunset felt sorry for them. Granted, she too had lost her home, but they had been cut off from theirs in a way that was, in many ways, much worse than what she'd known herself. Looking upon Adagio, she saw the Siren look out at the sea before them, her expression now one almost of contempt.
"And the worst part? The waters that should be our rightful home...are right here! We can see them. We can touch them! But we can never be one with them again. The best we can hope for is to know it as you surface folk know it...scratching the surface, and nothing more."
Adagio let out a sigh, her anger subsiding for the time being as she looked down at herself and her body through the clear waters.
"You may have lost much, Sunset, but us? What we lost can never be brought back...thanks to that bearded interloper."
Sunset looked away, feeling terrible over what she'd just heard. Adagio was right, that Sunset could always go back one day, have her home, her magic once again. The option was there for her. It was not there for them. Compared to what the Sirens had been through, her transition from pony to human was child's play. Turning back towards her old foe, Sunset began to fumble her words a little. What should she say? What could she say? What words could possibly alleviate what must have been centuries worth of anger over this issue? However, before she got the chance to say or do anything, Adagio began to move, making her way to the shallower water beside the rock and standing upright, her body glistening thanks to the many droplets of water that covered her. As Sunset watched her approach, the leader of the Dazzlings took a few calming breaths before looking at her.
"...It's fine."
Sunset tilted her head over that.
"It's...fine?"
Adagio chucked a little.
"Yeah. I just need to vent about this kind of thing every once in a while. I've got used to it, this life on the land. I'm still angry about it, and I still need to let that anger out every once in a while...but...I'm fine with it...more or less."
Sunset looked at her carefully, seeing that there was no lie in her eyes over those words. After some silence between the two girls, Sunset gave the Siren a small smile, which was promptly returned. A few moments later, Adagio spoke up again.
"And...thanks. It was nice to say this to someone for once."
Sunset smiled even more after that.
"No problem. If you, Aria or Sonata ever need to talk to anyone about that stuff...me and the other girls can help you."
Adagio chuckled a little.
"Good to know. Still, I'd better be getting back home. No doubt Sonata will be driving Aria crazy without me there to keep the peace."
Sunset nodded at that and watched as Adagio took a few steps away from her and onto the more sandy part of the beach. However, realisation struck Sunset and she cleared her throat again, catching Adagio's attention. As the Siren raised an eyebrow, Sunset explained her intent by holding up one of Adagio's discarded clothes. Looking down at herself, the Siren facepalmed herself briefly before walking back to Sunset.
"For as long as I live, I will never get used to wearing these things."
Sunset chuckled at that.
"Preaching to the choir on that one, Adagio."
And in that moment, the two shared a laugh together, feeling that, just maybe, things between them wouldn't be so bad after all.
