Aria Blaze groaned as she stuffed her fingers in her ears, her head burning, ready to explode from the constant chatter, music, laughter and the occasional “beep!” indicating their next stop, which meant another thirty seconds or so added to the long dreary journey home.
She hadn’t wanted to take a bus; in fact, Aria would have done anything to avoid it, whether it meant paying Adagio to take her home, or walking home with Sonata, or following the everyday group of girls who took a similar route (while staying out of sight so she didn’t scare them off).
But, no, Adagio just had to leave early for a job interview, and Sonata just had to fall sick, and the group of girls just so happened to not show up that day, leaving Aria with the only option left: crawling onto a seatbelt-less mode of transportation, with so many students that she barely ever managed to sit down, and so much noise that, as mentioned before, she was ready to explode; to lift someone up by the collar and slam them into the nearest wall.
But Aria was forced to calm down, take a deep breath and wait until she got home so she could bash up the punching bag hanging outside. She couldn’t risk being kicked off the bus, being lost out in the open and not getting home till nightfall.
“Hey, you know those evil sirens who got their pendants destroyed? Heard they totally got rejected by like everyone! Hahaha!”
Aria slammed her fist against his cheek, knocking him back onto a pile of students, who all stopped their laughter and looked towards her like she was crazy. But Aria didn’t care, as she was fuming.
“Those ‘evil sirens’ are on this bloody bus, you jerks!! Next time, maybe you should think before you speak next to the one who will very gladly KICK YOUR ASS!” Aria screamed.
A screech. Aria stumbled back, the movement of the bus coming to a halt.
“Alright, that’s it! You!” The bus driver pointed a finger at Aria. “Off the bus!”
“Wha- But-” Aria fumbled, but couldn’t get another word out.
“No buts! Off the bus, NOW,” he repeated. Aria grumbled in defeat and marched off. She could just feel the aura of the smirk from the guy with the totally mashed up teeth. Or at least, she hoped so. This might actually be worth it.
But the moment the door slammed shut behind her, Aria Blaze’s feelings were quickly replaced by worry: she had no idea where she was, where her house was, or anywhere in between. She wasn’t one for paying attention, and there weren’t any people nearby to ask for directions. Geez, where was she? In the middle of the Sahara desert? Well, not that she wanted to talk to anyone anyway.
Aria Blaze let out a deep sigh and trailed down the path, the burning heat from the sun worsening her already pounding headache from the bus ride. Still, having nothing better to do, she continued on her way. Maybe there’d be at least someone who’d help her.
One hour later, and Aria Blaze had found nothing. The only people willing to help her had absolutely no idea of anywhere near what she described, and everyone else was either too busy or simply just turned away from her. Her headache had gotten worse every second of the journey through what felt even more like a desert. Occasionally, she stumbled on the path, assuming she was tripping over rocks or sticks that were in her way. Her mouth was dry, and sooner or later, her stomach let out a loud rumble, but still Aria kept walking. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to give up, but that there was no harm in trying. Giving up would only make things worse for her. Well, not like anyone but Aria herself cared anyway.
“She shoots, and scores! The crowd goes wild!”
Aria Blaze stopped in her tracks, the recognizable voice extremely clear to her. But as soon as she tried to grasp who it was, she lost it. Which sucked, because it only made her curious. Curious to take up time she didn’t have. But then again, she wanted to try everyone, even if this person sounded like one of those stuck up jocks.
Aria peered around the corner, and the moment she spotted the vibrant rainbows colours glistening in the sun, she felt ready to scream. No bloody help here! Of course, it just had to be one of those Rainbums or whatever they’re called! Ugh, this was just a waste of time, as she’d expected.
Aria slowly stepped back, but her knees buckled from underneath her again, and she slipped on a nearby pile of leaves, falling onto the ground. She winced, and tried to get up, but could already feel the presence behind her. Here we go…
“Woah! You alright?”
The words almost flew past her. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was one of those blasted pony girls, who spent most of their time fighting against sources of evil magic such as themselves, actually asking if she, the ‘evil siren’, was alright?
No, she must’ve been hearing things.
“If you’re here to yell at me, or annoy the crap out of me, I don’t wanna hear it. I’ve had enough to last me the rest of my infinite life time on this stupid planet, and do not need you to pile anything on top of that!” Aria Blaze snapped, before forcing herself to stand up again. In the rush, she could barely stay on her feet again as her vision blurred.
Rainbow Dash had no idea what she was talking about. She tried her best to work out her problem; shaky legs, skin paler than usual, and the anger that came with it. There was no doubt about it; this girl was sick, and, evil siren or not, Rainbow was going to do something about. Besides, it wouldn’t be nice to tease someone in such a condition.
“I just want to help you,” she started saying slowly. “I know what’s wrong, and I want to help you.”
Aria Blaze could barely comprehend her words, but the one word “help” was clearly present, and she knew what the topic was about.
“I don’t need your help! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to find my way home, because somebody on the bus had to be so rude as to force me to get kicked off! And I’m not going to do it with the likes of you!” Aria Blaze yelled. She turned around quickly, but her head failed to catch up, and she could feel the world spinning around. Again, she couldn’t keep her balance, and fell, the ground meeting with her already sore head. She felt like it was going to crack open.
“Hey! I told you I’ll help you. I mean it.” Rainbow Dash skidded onto the dirt next to her, shaking Aria’s shoulder gently. She placed a hand on her forehead. “Oh god, you’re burning! Okay, I’m going to help you, just…”
By this point, Aria could no longer comprehend anything — sound, sight — and was left with nothing but the pain. Her eyelids forcing themselves down, she only mumbled in response.
“Don’t need… your help…”
It’s different, Rainbow thought, as she stared ahead at the pale siren’s face. I know it is. She removed the cool, damp cloth and again checked her temperature. Well, at least it was starting to cool down now.
While she waited, Rainbow thought back to the previous events. For starters, she wanted to prevent Aria from collapsing, because Dash honestly thought she was going to be much heavier. But now that she got a better look, she was looking kind of skinny…
Rainbow Dash frowned lightly, stood up and headed out to the kitchen.
Aria Blaze murmured quietly, before blinking her eyes open. She stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, until she felt the energy to move. She rolled over and looked around. The room was empty. She forced herself to sit up and leaned against the bedpost.
I can’t believe, after all that, she still offered to help me, Aria thought and licked her lips. Her eyes fell on the glass of water next to her — the cool, clear glass of water — and, not really thinking straight, she picked it up and took a huge gulp. Well, she would (probably) thank the girl for that later.
The door creaked open, and Aria quickly placed down the almost empty glass. Biting her lip, she looked to the side.
“Oh good… you’re up. I just made dinner,” Rainbow Dash said, peering down at the glass. “I see you finished it for me. Sucks, I was thirsty.”
Aria froze and turned towards her. “That was— I’m sorry, I—”
Rainbow Dash chuckled, grinning. “Don’t be silly; of course it was for you!”
Aria blushed. “R-Right…” She sighed and pulled off the blankets, shivering a little as she felt the barely cold air against her skin.
“Oh, is it too cold? Sorry. I’m sure the dining room will be warmer, and I can get you a jumper if you want,” Rainbow Dash said hastily.
"No, it's fine," Aria said quickly, standing up. She took a deep breath to steady herself on her feet, then slowly walked towards the door. Okay, she was good.
"Why… why are you doing this?" Aria asked. It was a reasonable question, really. These girls knew the sirens were immortal and no amount of sickness was going to change that. Aria felt better, but it wouldn't have mattered to her if she hadn't have gotten help — she would've just kept walking. Well, maybe.
Rainbow leaned against the door frame. “Because you look like you need help. Should there be any other reason?” she asked.
“So, what, you’re just going to help any random stranger that looks like they need help?” Aria asked.
“No… but you aren’t a stranger,” Rainbow continued. “Now, are you going to come out and eat, or—”
“No, of course I’m not a stranger! That makes it even worse! You know who I am, blue human pony person, and yet you’re still doing this! Why?” Aria asked, but in all honesty, she sounded like she was begging. She bit her lip and looked away.
Rainbow frowned slightly, but then hid it with a small smile and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Rainbow Dash.”
“W-What—”
“You know, during the entire Battle of the Bands thing, I never did hear anybody mention your name,” she continued, ignoring her.
Aria Blaze blinked, and stared ahead. “A-Aria Blaze…” she said, taking her hand.
“Okay, good. Let’s go downstairs and eat something; you look like you need it.” Rainbow turned to head out the door.
“But you—”
“Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of your own stomach rumbling,” Rainbow Dash said, grinning as Aria’s stomach did indeed let out a loud rumble. She sighed in defeat and followed her downstairs.
Aria Blaze hadn’t seen such a spread in months. She could already feel her mouth watering at the perfectly cooked sausages, mashed potato and roast vegetables, along with the beans still sitting in the pot on the table. It was just an ordinary dinner, but after living off nothing much but what they had left, which was mainly bread, Aria felt like she was in heaven.
“You… you made all this?” She breathed out. Aria wouldn’t admit it, but she was impressed.
“Yep!” Rainbow Dash said cheerfully, grinning.
“It’s…” Aria tried to think of the right words to say, but shook her head. “W–Well, it’s nothing better than what Sonata can do,” she said, folding her arms and blushing.
Rainbow Dash saddened on the inside, but just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, tacos, I bet.” She sat down, immediately helping herself to the food on the table.
Aria sat down too, but unlike Rainbow, she didn’t know where to start. Obviously, living off negative energy for hundreds of years, she never really needed to eat much human food, and actually ever using cutlery when she did so was rare. Okay, so this one's the ‘knife’ for cutting, and this one's the… ‘fork’ for picking the food up and eating it… well, she remembered that right… hopefully.
Aria Blaze used the weird utensil sitting in front of her on the table to pick up some sausages, then the… spoon to get the vegetables and potato. She then picked up the knife in the left hand and the fork in the right hand and started to cut her sausage.
Or tried to anyway. She took what felt like 2 minutes to cut the first piece off and eat it, before moving onto the next one. After another long and enduring try, she groaned and placed her hands down.
Rainbow Dash looked up, her mouth full. “Wha?” she mumbled, before swallowing. “Sorry. What is it?”
“Argh, these stupid human things! I can barely get through my meal!” Aria complained.
Rainbow snickered. She stood up, walking around to Aria’s side.
“What?!” Aria snapped, confused, her eyes following Dash as she walked towards her.
“For starters, you’re holding them in the wrong hands. The knife—” Rainbow took it out of her hand, “—goes in the right hand, and the fork—” she took the fork out and switched the two, “—goes in your left hand.”
Aria blinked. “W–Well how was I supposed to know that?!”
“I’m surprised you don’t…” Rainbow mumbled. “Okay, now try.”
Aria grumbled and went back to cutting the sausage. In ten seconds flat, the piece was cut.
“Uh, thanks…” Aria whispered.
Rainbow smirked and went to sit back down. “You’re welcome.”
After eating everything that sat on the table in front of her, Aria Blaze leaned back against the chair, holding her stomach. With this amount of food, she could survive at least a week or two, and she only had one person to thank. She stood up, looking around. She swore Rainbow— uh, that, um, blue girl was only heading up to shower, but she couldn’t hear anything. She headed up the stairs cautiously and walked towards what she assumed was the bathroom and knocked on the door.
“Hello? I’m, um, just going to leave now and, uh, thanks for everything, and yeah… bye,” Aria said, turning around to walk away. After receiving no reply, Aria felt… curious? No, that wasn’t it. Scared? Definitely not! But she felt she was on the right track. It was a new feeling, one she never felt before.
Nevertheless, Aria Blaze found herself going through every single door in the house, and it wasn’t till she reached the light blue door that she found her laid out across the bed, asleep. She was also fully clothed, so Aria came to the conclusion she was probably too tired to shower.
Wait… why would she be tired?
Aria Blaze walked in, and her eyes fell on the digital clock, the date written below. Her eyes nearly popped out of her sockets. It had been at least three days since Aria left school on the bus! Three days! Had Aria been keeping her up? Okay, sure, Rainbow had taken it upon herself, but that didn’t stop her from feeling bad— wait, what?
Aria took a deep breath. No. So what if she felt bad? So what if she was worried? Nobody was ever going to hear this from anyone but herself, and she wouldn’t tell anyone. She looked back towards Rainbow, and, gulping, she walked over to her. She very carefully lifted her up, as not to wake her, and slowly slid the jacket off her shoulders. At least that would make it a bit more comfortable. She lay her back down in a better position for sleeping and then grabbed the blanket, placing it over her, all the while, her cheeks burning. She could imagine what Adagio and Sonata would think of this, but kept reassuring herself that they would never find out.
Aria Blaze tiptoed out of the room and closed the door quietly before heading back downstairs. It was late, and she should probably head home, but… simply put, it was late. And she still didn’t know how to get to her house, or anywhere inbetween, but she knew where she was. That was a good start. Besides, Rainbow couldn’t have much say in the matter if she was asleep. She walked up, locked the door and spread herself out on the couch, staring up at the pale yellow ceiling.
Now, Aria had a question for herself… why was she doing this?
