The Sunbutt Has Been Doubled!
By Eris H. Discordia
Sunset Shimmer awoke this morning with a smile, and even before opening her eyes, she could see the light shining through her window. Sitting up with a long stretch and yawn, she finally opened her eyes to spot the little dust particles floating through the air. She counted them in the light as they fell, and shuddered in pleasure at the sun's warmth behind her. It was almost as if Princess Celestia were embracing her from behind and telling her she still loved and appreciated her.
Sunset Shimmer did not like the gravity laws of this planet that told her how the sun rose here. The sun was 93 million miles away? And it spun with the earth in its orbit as the moon orbited the earth? She could not wrap her mind around Isaac Newton or any of those weird guys who died a long time ago. It was bad enough she had to learn about Star Swirl. In fact, she was deep in thought just recently about the possibility of Isaac Newton being one of the Apple Family's long gone ancestors. That would account for Applebloom's love of messing with chemicals like an alchemist.
As much as she hated to admit it, life was a lot simpler in Equestria. Too simple. However, this new life surely provided her with new knowledge, which is now what she truly desired above all else. Either that or seeing her mentor once again. She found herself hopping out of bed and twirling with her covers and sheets to lay them perfectly upon the bed, singing simply of how perfect and awesome Celestia was to her. Even dancing in the sunlight and praising Celestia for how flawlessly she had risen the sun in the morning. But, Principal Celestia surely could not raise the sun, and even if Princess Celestia were raising the sun in Equestria, the same couldn't be said for here, as her magic definitely could not stretch pass the dimensional planes to have done so. But, Sunset sure loved to imagine.
However, this obsession was quite new, as Celestia not only had forgiven her for her attempt to take over Equestria, but she knew the princess was fairly grateful for her help in dealing with the Dazzlings just recently. The letters which warmed her heart accounted for that. But these letters just weren't the same, and she could not find refuge in this dimension's alternate counterpart; Principal Celestia. It just felt far too weird.
The sun was certainly a star, and Sunset knew people wished upon these stars, so what made the sun any less eligible for doing so? She got down on her knees and looked up to the sun in the sky, tears forming just ever so slightly. "Oh, Sun... I wish that I could have my own personal Princess Celestia... and as weird as that sounds, I know it'll be for the good of me. I get so lonely at home, in this miniature castle in this other world... As much as I feel strange to refer to it as such, but I wish I could have a Princess Celestia here with me. One that loves to have fun, tell jokes, do new things, meet new people, and be like me... a teenager in high school... able to fit in with everyone else and yet still stick out in her individuality..."
Such a wish could never be granted in this world. There was no magic, unless the Inspiration from the Magic of Friendship was activated like in the battle against the Sirens, but Sunset doubted that would ever happen again.
"Who am I kidding?" Sunset sulked. "I may as well get used to living alone..."
She shed a tear on the edge of the window, and the tear gleamed in the sunlight. She stood up and wiped her eyes, going then into the bathroom to get ready for school.
Crowds of students were gathered in the front hallway by the door, making it nearly impossible for Sunset to squeeze in. She was still bummed from earlier, so she kept her head low as to not look anyone else in the eyes. She wouldn't even try to fake a smile. She was close to hoping someone would ask her what was wrong, but no one did. They all were talking about someone. Sunset could tell. She knew how gossip worked. She stopped in her tracks and rose her head to listen in closely to everything around her.
"Dude, she's smokin' hot! If there had been magic at this school before, it don't even compare to this!"
"I hear she's from the same place--"
"Hey look! There she is!"
Sunset's eyes darted all over the place, she turned her head everywhere, trying to reach her sight around the other students, until she saw the top of a tall figure's head walking deeper within the crowd. She held her purse close and tried to cut through the rivers of teens. "Please, I must get through! Excuse me," she found herself repeating this over and over. She unknowingly bumped into a familiar face from behind, and once they both turned to greet one another, the sight made her drop her purse.
"It's you, oh brother!" Aria Blaze groaned, crossing her arms. "You need to watch where you're goin', Bacon Hair! I'm tryin' to find Adagio and Sonata in all of this."
"But... how?" Sunset stammered, picking up her purse and still trying to spot the figure which everyone had been talking about.
"The same school that accepted a flying she demon to walk among their ranks would have no problem doing the same for three homeless sirens, it's complicated," Aria muttered, noticing that Sunset was kind of not listening at all. "Hey! Are ya even listening to me?!"
Sunset snapped out of her searching trance. She rubbed her head and giggled quite nervously. "Heh heh...yeah, I'm listenin',...uhh..."
Aria scoffed at her and began to walk off in the crowd. "I'm gonna go find the others, then....we're comin' for you."
Sunset darted off to follow the figure. "Yeah, cool story bro! Gotta go, see ya later!" she shouted back at Aria as she managed to squeeze through two thick teenage hipster boys playing on their retro Gameboys. Her purse got stuck, and she turned around to pull it through, until she felt a slender finger poke her from behind on the shoulder. She jumped in her startled disposition, and saw it was the tall female figure she had been seeking. She was a lot taller than the other students, even taller than Principal Celestia! In fact, she couldn't beat around the bush that these two bore striking resemblances. At least, in her eyes, as it did not seem that everyone else even noticed.
"My dear cousin, Sunny!" the tall girl exclaimed, hugging Sunset and picking her up to twirl around as she buried her face in her breasts. "I was looking all over for you!"
Sunset pushed herself away from the tall girl wondering why she was addressing her as "cousin Sunny" but caught sight now of how she looked. Her extremely pale pink skin, but her deep red blushes and thick glossy lips coated in a sparkling diamond like gloss only Venus could ever dream of getting her hands upon. Her tall figure, but sexy wasp shape gave her a breast to ass ratio that made other girls cower away in fear. She was wearing a blue denim jacket, open to show she was wearing a rainbow tank top. As both upper bodywears were midriff, showing off a lot of her mid to lower abdomen, she also wore short blue denim shorts with rainbow stockings and white, red, and pink sneakers.
Either she was trying to start a new trend, or she knew nothing of how to dress like a normal human being. That only meant she was not human.
"If they actually believe that she's a student, they're all flippin' idiots!" Sunset wanted to shout aloud, but she was afraid calling out this new student would trigger some bad memories and instead make her own self look like the bad guy, targeting the new girl because she was getting more attention.
Sunset was perplexed, not knowing what to do other than to call Twilight to help. But, that was risky as well. Calling Twilight this late into the year, and for someone who isn't even a threat yet? Maybe this new girl wouldn't be so bad, if she weren't giving off such a dark aura of something terrible to come.
"My dearest cousin, is there something wrong?" the girl asked her, flipping her long ponytail and moving the single long bang from over her right eye to show a peculiar looking shape of her pupil. It was in the shape of a sun with eight prongs separated from it, all part of the same pupil.
Many others were around them when she had done this, but Sunset got the feeling that only she could see it. Then this girl was most likely an Equestrian. Only another Equestrian could help her then. But... why did she remind Sunset so much of Celestia?--
"Sunny! Woohoooo! Are you that shocked to see me after so long? All those fun times we had together, good times, eh? Good times!" the girl exclaimed, hugging Sunset and stroking her hair as she broke away from the hug, smelling her a bit as well. She whispered in Sunset's ear.
"Your sweet fragrance is like a ballerina dancing within my lungs. You'll do perfectly."
Sunset slightly hinged back, now going pale in great fear as she was so unsure as to what to do. "I...don't...who....are..." She gripped her chest and she began hyperventilating. Her vision began to double as her mind was flooded with dozens of disturbing thoughts, almost like she was resisting an illusionary mind control. She could not bear her own weight anymore, and as her shaky legs trembled, she sought for something to grab on, and the new girl was the closest one. Sunset ultimately missed her grip and was only able to lightly touch her hand before collapsing unconscious on the floor, slightly but still noticeably twitching.
"Sunny! SUNNY! Please, wake up!!!"
Sunset could hear the surprised gasps from others, as well as the new girl calling out her name in obvious worry. But she could not do much else: movement, speech, even opening her eyes was impossible. And soon, remaining conscious to hear anything else faded away as well.
"Sunset!"
She could feel warmth again, on her forehead. A welcoming slight singe of a hot towel, burning first, immediately followed by a soothing wave of heat traveling through her blood.
"SUNSEEEEET!"
Who was that? The voice sounded so far away. Opening her eyes to find out, Sunset's vision was blurred to the point where she couldn't even make out whose face she was looking at. There appeared to be more than one.
"Dagi, is she dead?"
"No, you imbecile! Look, she's opening her eyes."
"I still don't care either way. Hmmph."
"Aria, don't be like that! You were the first one she encountered, right? You should care more than either of us!"
"Why are we here in the first place?"
"This girl is from Equestria, and she knows magic. Maybe she can send us back, I've concluded."
Sunset opened her eyes to find each of the Dazzlings standing beside the bed she was lying on in the nurse's office. Aria Blaze, whom she had met with earlier, Sonata Dusk, and finally, Adagio Dazzle. She quickly sat up to cover herself with the sheets, having the hot towel fall off of her head in the process. "Wh-Wh-What the heck are you three doing here with me?!" she cried, looking around for the nurse but finding no one.
"Geez Louis, chill!" Adagio shouted at the bacon haired girl, balling up her fist at her and threatening to strike. "I'm nit here to get chummy with you, let alone spend anymore time 'getting chummy' with anyone else in this damn world. We just want to go back to Equestria. And we know that you know how."
The mirror! Sunset thought, If I let those three go back, who knows what'll happen! But... Twilight and her friends should be able to handle them... right? Oh brother!.... First that girl and now them? Can't I get a break?
"I... I'm not so sure I can help right now," Sunset told them with a nervous chuckle, "I feel so light-headed and groggy, I couldn't possibly make escape plans--"
"Don't pull any B.S. with us!" Aria barked at Sunset, until being calmed down by Adagio, who smiled deviously to the girl before her.
"We've waited centuries before and we can surely wait centuries again," Adagio said, sitting beside Sunset and looking to her with her eyes narrowed to a seductive gaze. "I'm sure you can't, however, and we'll surely terrorize you until you break. If torture is necessary, we won't hesitate to go as far as possible until we crack into that thick skull of yours!" Adagio rose her fist to Sunset, who flinched and closed her eyes, shielding herself.
This was a lose-lose situation. If Sunset did not tell them, they'd terrorize and torture her, but if she did, they'd do the same to Equestria once they got back. There was no way she could live with any decision. She opened her eyes and looked into Adagio's. That cold, direct, authoritative gaze, that evil demonic smirk. Did she change at all? Could she change? Sunset wasn't bent on converting these three into the ways of friendship, but if it meant she could save Equestria from more trouble...
"I'll...." she hesitated to say it, but she gripped her shoulders and sighed, looking at Adagio now with confidence and a smile. "I'll do it."
"Atta girl! I knew we could count on you to tell us--" Adagio began, but was cut off by Sunset before she could continue to go on any further.
"--Only if you can prove you're worthy of going back." Sunset crossed her arms, thinking she had trapped them, but Aria snapped and choked her into the wall behind her bed.
"You snively little twat! You've got some nerve pulling some crap out of your ass like that!--" Aria screamed, about to punch Sunset, but finding her fist to be stopped by Adagio.
"Let me be the one to act in any way to this deal, Aria," Adagio told the other siren, who took a deep breath and released Sunset from her grip, letting her sink back into the bed, gasping for air. "Now... Sunset Shimmer, is it? What exactly do you want us to prove? Surely we can't sing for you, our gems have been destroyed."
Sunset rubbed her neck and looked to them all again with her beaming confidence once again. "Friendship. I want you all to prove your friendship. If you show me you can go back and not have to leave me to worry about you three causing any trouble for anypony else back in Equestria, then I'll show you the way. If not, then torture and terrorize me all you like. I'll never crack to you if that's the case!"
"Alas! I thought we were the bad ones," Sonata squeaked. "But... maybe she's right--"
"Fine. We'll do it. If it means getting out of this world, then we'll do anything necessary," Adagio replied, with a rather blank but calculative look.
Then there was silence, an exchange of sight between Adagio and Sunset, almost as if they were communicating telepathically.
Sonata watched this in marvel, while Aria could care less.
"We'll need a place to crash, if you'd be such a good friend," Adagio told Sunset with a smile.
"Just make sure Aria doesn't choke me to death in my sleep," Sunset replied, smirking right on back.
Aria scoffed, "Like I'm making any promises..."
"Ooo! Ooo! Sunny, Dagi, Ari! What can I do?"
Aria said, "Shut up."
Then Adagio, "Don't ruin this for us..."
Then Sunset, "Don't eat all my food, please."
Sonata cried comically into her hands. "Why you do this?" she whined with a defeated tone.
"Then it's a deal, we'll be waiting for you outside after school," the leader of the sirens announced, standing up from the bed and leaving for the exit of the nurse's office. "Sonata, Aria, let's head out. Let's allow our new 'friend' to get some rest, eh?"
Sunset waved to them all as they left. Adagio flipped her hair, Aria crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at Sunset to mock her, while Sonata was the only one to wave back. She remained there waving for a good second or two before Aria dragged her away.
With a long sigh, Sunset had laid herself back down on her back, her head on the pillow, staring at the ceiling and contemplating what she could do to assure herself she'd be able to change the Dazzlings. What she could do to deal with this mysterious new girl, who appeared right on top of her, pinning her down by the arms.
Sunset was about to scream, but found that she couldn't move her body at all.
"Don't do that, Sunny," the girl said, smiling and licking her lips. She sat up on Sunset's body to straddle her, almost. She rubbed down her chest and abdomen and savored the soft feeling which she had. "You've developed well, Sunny. You should be 18 now, am I correct?... But anywho, I noticed you speaking to those Dazzlings, those wretched sirens. I'll save them for some other time, because you know full well what I'm here for. I'm here for you, Sunset Shimmer."
Sunset looked to her with great fear and confusion in her expression. She then felt a soothing wave rush over her body, and her thoughts became more clear, almost like she could speak to her from her mind.
"You've guessed correct, now speak."
Sunset boomed, "What the hell do you want with me?!"
"What a loud mouth you are! Calm it down, girl. I want nothing more than to restore you to your former glory. I knew what you were, who you want to be... Don't you want to be a Princess like Twilight and Celestia?"
"No! Not anymore! That's not who I am anymore! How do you know this?"
"Screw how I know. I wanted to bring you back to my world so that I could have a friend to rule with. My sister and niece are dead. My pupil hath betrayed me!" she began to look rather dramatic, motioning a fainting position and then laughing. "Twilight and her friends declared me unfit for friendship, unfit to deserve to call anyone a friend!... so I came here, to see how you'd react. I know of your demonic form, I know how you treated everyone before your change. I figured, if you could change and become good friends with everyone here, why not become good friends with me, eh?"
"So, you're the Celestia of that world you speak of?! Wh...wh-whoa..." The curiosity was eating at her. "Wh-What things have you done? What could possibly deem you 'unfit' for friendship?"
"That's for me to know, and for you to find out," the other Celestia said. "And please, don't call me Celestia anymore. Call me Sola."
Sunset knew just enough Latin to determine the meaning. Her mind worked quick. "Sola? Sun... or... Alone?"
"The less you know, the better... I just don't want to see myself in that world for another second alone anymore! And I could tell you felt the same way here, Sunset Shimmer! Be honest with me... you don't like this world all that much as you force yourself to, do you? I was wondering, why stay here? It just seems like you're torturing yourself at this point, right? So why not come back with me? To become a pony again? To help me rule my kingdom, to be my princess?"
This was a no-brainer. "I'm sorry... it's just that,...well, I don't know you at all! The most I've gotten from you is the fact that you're a creepy version of Celestia who can somehow use magic in this world, your name, and the fact that you like to cause trouble, it seems. Going back with you on such short notice seems a bit silly, and I'm sure even you'd see that!"
Sola smiled, and this peculiar smile shook Sunset to her core. Such a cold chill pierced through the air, as Sola's tilted head and half-shut eyes cranked up the chill factor to a hundred percent, leaving Sunset traumatized. All from just a single smile. It was like looking into the face of Cheshire Cat, no... not even that. Something much worse. Beating Sola would prove to be impossible without Twilight's and the others' help, and Sunset quickly began to try and formulate a plan.
"Don't even try and think up a way to stop me," Sola said with a loud laugh, slamming down her palm onto Sunset's chest, forcing the girl to yelp in pain. She dug her fingers in deeper, and deeper. "I swear to myself, with each passing moment that you do not agree to come back with me, I'll assault one of your friends here, and send them back to my world as an expendable soldier. Once I reach a reasonable number, I'll unless them back to here, and then to your previous world, creating a multi-dimensional war that will only end in my victory!"
Sunset screamed in pain as she felt Sola digging her fingers into her skin, and she saw she was losing blood from this now. She wringed herself in agony and tried to escape, to even escape Sola's gaze, but it was futile. She couldn't even close her eyes.
"Sunset Shimmer!" the nurse cried from the next room, and both Sola and Sunset could hear her approaching quickly.
Sola laughed maniacally and slipped through Sunset's body and through the bed, disappearing from sight. "The clock's ticking..."
"Sunset Shimmer! Are you alright?" the nurse asked her as she entered the room, finding the girl staring blankly at the ceiling and still hyperventilating. She gripped at her chest and gasped loudly, sitting up in her bed and catching her breath.
"Wh-What?!" she cried, looking around in a puzzled state, almost like she was waking up from a dream. "What... was I doing?"
The nurse sighed, in relief and disappointment. "Sunset, don't scare me like that. You had me thinking there was really something wrong. You just can't go yelling and screaming like that for nothing, y'know."
Sunset looked to the nurse, then to her pillow, seeing a deep wet spot of sweat there. She could not deny what had just happened, but there was no way she could let the nurse know. She had to derail her and move on to a different subject. "Nurse?... may I get a cold towel this time?"
--To Be Continued--
Getting out of school after this horrible day was the easy part. Luckily, Sola's popularity made it easy to slip out of the doors at the end of the day fairly unnoticed, aside from a few goodbyes and hugs and whatnot. Sunset's main question was if she was really using magic to draw all these people into her, and if so, it obviously did not work on those who could posses magic themselves. At least, strong magic.
Come to think of it, Sunset had not seen Rainbow Dash or the others at any time today besides lunch and the few classes she had with one or even two of the girls. They seemed to be unfazed by Sola's magic, if she was using any, but if not, they just had more sense than the other students here. The possibility of her using magic was really high, because even the Dazzlings were unfazed by her allure.
Sirens and allure. Those two words fit together a bit too well. Sunset had done her studies on mythology as well.
She got to the outside of the school where the three Siren girls were already waiting for her. She at first was a bit startled, then unsure as to what to do, still traumatized from what Sola did to her earlier. She hid her arms behind her back in an attempt to look cute, pinched her arm to drive the negative thoughts away, and put on a big smile.
As she suspected, Sonata smiled right back. "Sunset Shimmer, you're just adorable!"
That was highly unexpected.
"Uh... hi girls! Ready to head back to my place?" Sunset began, maintaining the smile she had plastered onto her expression. "We can head back now!... if..."
"Quiet," Adagio quickly demanded of her, then closing her open palm to symbolize a shutting mouth. "We're listening in on any after school noise. Who knows if or when a fight could break out, 'cause you know that spells a good meal for us Sirens." Adagio gave her trademark evil smirk, but Sunset beat it down with a simple question:
"Why?"
The big-haired Siren turned quickly to Sunset, who blushed and began stammering like a child caught in an act. "What did you just say to me?" she questioned her in a growling tone.
Sunset caught herself before she went too far in backing away from Adagio, holding her arms up to her chest to almost shield herself from any onslaught of Adagio's incoming wrath. "I was only asking why you Sirens' only eat negative feelings. Can you not eat other things?"
Sonata squealed with excitement and rose her hand to speak. "Ooo! Dagi! Can I tell Sunny about that one time where I raided a taco place and ate all the tacos? All the tacos?!"
"No," Adagio replied coldly, shutting down Sonata's enthusiasm and rendering her blue and embarrassed. Turning again to Sunset, Adagio began her explanation to the girl's prior question,
"That's how it's been for a thousand years, and that's how it'll be for the next thousand years. It's never changed and it won't now... well, for Aria and I, that is. Who knows what's going on in Sonata's head on this matter."
Sonata appeared to be chasing a butterfly and trying to catch it.
"To be honest, as fun as she is to have around at times, she can be a real pain when it comes time to do as Sirens do. She's grown too accustomed to this world and its ways."
Sunset exhaled deeply in a sigh and looked down to the ground and rock below, kicking a small rock into a crowd of slightly bigger rocks. "But..." she said lowly, "if your meal does not come, do you go hungry for the day?"
"Well, yeah, of course," Adagio replied, crossing her arms and leaning on the wall of the building. "There's nothing like a good taste of discord, y'know?"
Sunset shook her head at that. "No, I don't know. I don't know at all." She then looked to Sonata, who had failed trying to catch the butterfly and had grown slightly sad. She wondered if Sonata felt like an outsider to her Siren sisters, if they really appreciated her like they should have. If they did at all. She felt a deep empty sorrow for whatever despair Sonata held within her being. On the outside she was chasing that butterfly, but on the inside she was chasing the love and appreciation of her Siren sisters.
This gave her an idea.
Aria sighed with frustration. "Another night of starving half to death, I guess. Let's just head back with Sunset--"
"Wait!... You don't have to starve," Sunset finally said with a wave of sudden enthusiasm. "I know exactly where we could go and you can still enjoy a good meal the way you like it, as well as trying something new!"
"That's sounding dumb already, like anything you say can ever sound smart," Aria remarked, receiving a hand on the shoulder by Adagio, whose look told her at least give it a try. Aria blushed and groaned like an angry teenager going grocery shopping on a Saturday morning would. "Fine," she murmured.
"Okay girls! Let's go now!" Sunset exclaimed to them. "Hopefully, I have enough money for all four of us..." Then she let out a nervous chuckle and began sweating at the forehead. Sweet Celestia, please let me have enough money.
Sonata looked up in awe at the tall red letters spelling Chinese words which she knew she could not read for the life of her even if she tried. The building itself was almost shaped like a takeout noodle box with a red dragon design stretching down for the dragon's open mouth to be used as a door.
Aria looked as if she were about to puke and merely shook her head in shame. "Is this the best you can do, Sunset Shimmer?"
Adagio looked rather unimpressed. "Oh well, regardless of how repulsive this place looks, she promised us a good meal that we can surely enjoy. I say we trust her on this and simply follow her footsteps. We want to become good friends, don't we?" She took Sunset's hand and looked to her in a seductive fashion, fitting action for the Siren which she was.
Sunset blushed and smiled. She's being too nice for this to be true, this is all an act, Sunset thought, giving in to holding hands with Adagio as they walked in. The tables were red, wooden, and rather close to the ground, dining area was full of paintings of various scenes in nature and of the gods which controlled them, and the bathroom was right behind the farthest seat in the building. The ordering room, conveniently placed next to the entrance, had a colorful menu of Chinese and far east Asian cuisines which could only be ordered from here if one wanted it done in a quality that would rival the taste of food originally from far east Asia. Of course, the Sirens were far too confused and uninterested, save for Sonata, to even begin to fathom ordering anything from this seemingly repulsive menu.
A small quarrel between two siblings broke out; and immediately the Sirens began listening in.
"No fair!" the youngest sibling, a boy who appeared rather feminine in the face, cried out to his older sister, who was pushing him back from a fortune cookie she held opened in her free hand. "That one was mine! You're stealing all my luck!"
"Too bad," the sister said with a giggle, reading from the fortune, "Sometimes the ones who seem the worst to you are the ones you can find yourself to love the most." She stuck her tongue out at the paper and crumpled it up, putting it in the shirt of her younger sibling. "Ew, you can have it."
"Th-that's not nice!" he cried, reaching into his shirt and pulling out the fortune, holding it close to him. He looked almost as if he were about to cry. "If... if only that fortune were true..."
Adagio saw the quarrel between them and felt a strange feeling within her chest. A sinking feeling, almost like she were drowning under a sudden wave of pressure she could not shake off of herself. She sighed it off and shook her head, beginning to think a bit deeply about this situation she was currently in. The thoughts confused her and drove her into a submission she never knew she could have. She was mainly questioning herself on as to what she felt submissive for.
"Feeding off of small quarrels, I see?" Sunset said, turning her head around to see the sirens drawn completely in to the quarrel like fish hooked on a line. They had not even heard what she had said to them.
Adagio caught herself from the trance she was in and sighed deeply, placing a hand upon her chest, feeling the area where the gem used to be.
"It's just not the same without it," she said in a melancholic tone. She turned to Sunset, only to see her ordering the food, then she turned to her Siren siblings and led them to a table to sit down, sulking over memories of the past. How easy it was to get a hold of disharmony themselves. But now, it was like having to have to be served. The meals had to come to them, and if one did not, they could not eat.
Sonata exhaled deeply upon taking her seat, and she leaned over the table to lie upon it. "Adagio... will we ever get back to Equestria? If these humans call it homesickness, then I think I got the worst case of it, eh..."
Aria groaned. "For once, Sonata's right... well...." she tried to say something, but was too hardened to do so. She uncrossed her arms and leaned back, one arm over the back of the chair so she could watch Sunset order the food and talk to the man whom was working with her order. "Hey, girls... I say we ditch her. I'm not liking this plan of hers, at all. You really aren't considering becoming friends with this dumb bimbo, are you?"
Adagio sighed and looked down to the colorful, swirling designs of the carpet below her feet. "I... I was, actually... No, I am."
Aria gasped. Sonata kind of squealed.
"Look, I was bent on betraying her in any way possible, actually. I hated the idea, I swear to you I did. But,--" Adagio blushed and bit her bottom lip a bit. Her eyes almost seemed to flutter. She then stopped herself and cleared her current posture, straightening herself and blushing even harder. "I'm more concerned about us finding any way to get us home. If it means becoming friends with her, then I'll do it."
Aria slammed her hands on the table in raving anger. "What the *hell*** do you mean, Adagio?!"
"Aria, quiet yourself!" Adagio shouted back at her, calming herself down and getting Aria to settle down as well. "Look, if we become friends with Sunset and actually learn something from this horrible experience, then we get to go back to Equestria, right? Sunset's a pro at making friends by now, so she can tell if someone is faking it, I'm sure. You forget she's an Equestrian like us. Odds are she already knew of our plan to betray her in like, some damn Judas scenario. When we go back, we can't continue living the life we had, we simply can't."
"And why is that? Why can't we?!" Aria cried, her looks of anger and aggression turned into ones now full of fear and defense. "Wh-Why do we have to change our lives for her? What are we getting out of this?"
Sonata looked to Aria, tears slightly building in her eyes. "Aria!" she whimpered, placing a hand on Aria's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Being a Siren, she could feel deep into Aria's being; she felt a hard exterior of anger and wrath, but upon digging deep into Aria, she began to feel nothing but sadness and a thirst, the same thirst, that homesickness which Sonata herself said to have had. She felt the same feeling in Aria.
Aria slapped Sonata's hand away, shouting loudly at her, "Hands off, you idiot!"
That was when people began leaving.
"Girls, stop that!" Adagio commanded them, trying to separate the two before Aria had the mind to lay her hands on Sonata in any attempt to harm her.
Aria pushed Adagio's hands away and rose her fist at her, about to punch her in the face, but Sunset sat the plates of food by each and every one of them. The aroma of rice and the sweet and sour sauce from Aria's plate, then the barbecue sauce from Adagio's plate, then the soy sauce from Sonata's. All three were pleased to see a meal before their eyes: rice and barbecue chicken for Adagio with a side of egg rolls and broccoli; rice smothered in soy sauce and shrimp for Sonata with a side of broccoli and cooked sliced carrots; rice smothered in sweet and sour sauce and thin slices of steak with light bbq sauce, being overpowered by the sweet and sour sauce. And of course, with a side of broccoli.
This presentation of food was enough to get them to stop and marvel at the beauty before them. At least in this new world they needed not to fear about eating meat. Apparently, Sunset was still a vegetarian, as no meat was on her plate of rice, broccoli, and egg rolls whatsoever.
"That quieted you, didn't it, eh?" Sunset chuckled, taking her seat. She looked around at the rest of the restaurant around them and noticed it was completely empty, save for the remaining four of them and the workers. "Nice job, scaring everyone off like that. You girls must have put a lot of effort into the performance of yours. Either you were really arguing, or you just wanted some alone time with me." She laughed after saying that, showing it was merely a lighthearted joke.
Sonata giggled, of course she would be the first to do so, ready to take the chopsticks and dig in, despite not knowing how to at all. She even held them improperly, trying to get one of the shrimps from her plate into her mouth, but wad unable to firmly capture it with the eating utensils. "Ugh, this is too hard!" she groaned, throwing the chopsticks down on the table. She crossed her arms and pouted like a three year old, blushing heavily while she did so. "I just wanted a shrimpy..."
"Aria," Sunset said to the siren sitting directly in front of her at this table. "Look... I know you want things to go back to the way they were, but I'm sorry to say that was well over a thousand years ago. Things in Equestria aren't like they used to be, y'know? Things have changed, demon beasts released, the whole place has gotten used to beasts and having to deal with them. Especially in Twilight and the others' case." She took Aria's hand with her own. "Don't you see? I can't send you girls back in the state you're currently in. I don't want anything to happen to you if you try to plan another strike. There may be far worse consequences than banishment this time. You could be sent to the moon, imprisoned in stone, disintegrated, blasted off into the distance, sent to Tartarus, trapped within a labyrinth! I couldn't live with myself knowing I could have done something, anything I could have to prevent that from happening."
Aria caught what Sunset was saying. She turned to her with a look of burning wrath. "Are you saying I'm weak? Do you think that us Sirens are too weak to defend ourselves?!"
"Aria, no!" Sunset tried to tell her, but Aria stood up and stormed out of the building. Sonata almost got up to stop her, but Adagio halted her.
"I'm afraid we can't do anything at this point," Adagio told her, getting her to sit back down. "Let's just let her be and try to enjoy this meal, I suppose--"
Sunset ran after her as quickly as possible. Aria caught sight of Sunset coming for her, and she began running away. Sunset, not being blinded by anger like Aria was, found that she could possibly catch her in a short amount of time. Running down the sidewalk of a busy street, Aria scanned for anything she could use to her advantage, and she knocked over a garbage can in an attempt to slow Sunset down. The girl merely hopped over the obstacle.
"Athletic, aren't ya?!" Aria screamed, cutting off into a dark alley and continuing to run, but Sunset was still hot on her tail. "Dammit girl! Hop off!"
Aria found herself in the middle of a street, with cars speeding straight for her, unable to stop in time, only able to honk their horns and avert their direction to at least dodge the girl in their way. She stood there, ready to accept her fate, finding it more of a suiting end than befriending a pony and losing a past which she worked so hard to preserve. She saw it as a trophy she'd work till the end for, to obtain the past life of being a true siren, living in Equestria and causing great disharmony with her sisters. What would a life alone in this human world bring for her? She could only see a blanket in death, to cover herself in with this cold world. She was ready for it to end.
"You wanna bring me back? Over my dead body," Aria muttered under her breath, ready for those to be her last words, until Sunset tackled her out of the way and managed to push her and herself out of the incoming traffic, sparing them both from what would have been a messy scene on the streets, accidents and only more death and destruction.
Sunset pinned Aria down by the arms, but the siren got one arm free and smacked Sunset in her face. Sunset merely turned the other cheek.
"There! Are you happy now?!" Sunset screamed at her, bringing her other cheek closer to Aria. "Don't you want something to hit? Huh?! Bringing her fist up to your own sister, and all you can do is slap me? Go ahead! I've got my other cheek to you, why don't you hit that one too?!"
"St-stop! Stop yelling at me!" Aria screamed, closing her eyes and losing the will to keep her hands up any longer, letting it fall to her face in her sorry attempt to cover it.
"I know you want things to go back to the way they were, Aria," Sunset said, realizing that she too wanted that very same thing this morning, "but you have to see that times have changed, Equestria has changed! Those ponies aren't the same ones you were dealing with a thousand years ago! You can not waltz into that world, cause mayhem, and think you'll get away with no consequence! That didn't work then with Star Swirl, and it sure as hell won't work now!"
She noticed that Aria had begun crying.
"Don't you think I know that?!" Aria screamed at her, escaping from Sunset, only to fall to her knees then curl up in the fetal position. "I... I just didn't want to go it all alone... I don't want to change, because there's no way anyone will want to be friends with us after what we've done. You don't understand how it is! When they see me, all they'll see is a demonic siren! They'll look at our cunning Adagio, that adorable Sonata, and the hot-headed Aria, and all they'll see are monsters... that's all we are to them. So I said fuck it! I'll just get my power back in Equestria, find another gem, and with my sisters we'll show them that these monsters aren't anything to be taken lightly!"
Sunset rubbed Aria's shoulder, then down her back, getting her to calm herself. "I've been down that same road, Aria," the girl said, almost with a giggle. "You remind me so much of myself not too long ago... back during the Fall Formal, I too became something horrible... something I could have refused to become. A she-demon... I'd look in the mirror, and that'd be all I saw. Regardless of how much redemption I'd receive, I thought that deep down on the inside, I'd still be seen as that horrible, ugly demon... and not even as a real girl anymore..."
Aria sat up and wiped her tears away. "Easy for you to say... you became a demon... I was born one."
There was a long silence between them. The cars drove past, and the sun was steadily getting lower and lower. Sunset could only imagine what Adagio and Sonata were doing alone right now. Maybe wondering where they were? Wondering what had happened? If they'd ever come back? Sunset did not want them to worry about their sister either.
Sunset sighed, about to stand up so she could help Aria do the same, but the silent Aria embraced her tightly. She began crying loudly into Sunset's chest and burying her face deeper into her jacket and shirt. Sunset was taken by surprise, but then simply sighed and hugged her back.
"Aria, you said that I was implying you weren't strong enough," Sunset said calmly, stroking her hair and her back. "But... finally coming to terms with having to change something for the better is one of the strongest things anyone can do... I don't see you as a demon, Aria... I see you as a friend. Those Sirens you ran from, they see you as sisters... I don't want you to lose any of that..."
Aria still could not find anything within herself to say. She simply continued letting it all out, letting her past go, letting that image of her being a helpless demon burn away with the flames of time. She wanted to give it a try. She truly wanted redemption.
to be continued
