Life isn't a walk in the park, unless you're in the park.
The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and the chiming of the ice-cream man filled the air. A beautiful summer day in the bustling town of Ponyville. Children filled the playgrounds, running and laughing while their mothers gossiped by the tables. Teenagers gathered at the local arcades to spend their hard saved allowance. They crowded around the flashing and beeping games, trying eagerly to drag out their school-less vacation as long as they could. Adults reluctantly toiled through their jobs, waiting till they could go home and relax. The beauty of this joyful chaos was lost on one girl, who walked alone down the sidewalk.
Aria Blaze was her name. Formerly one of three immortal sirens out for world domination using mind control magic, She and her sisters were now just ordinary human girls in the real world. It had been hard to adjust to no longer being immortal, realizing what was just a blink of time is now the rest of their lives. They pulled through together though, and were prepared to face the world. That had been nearly six months ago, and they quickly settled into routines. Now it was Saturday and Aria was languidly walking through the park as she did every other Saturday. It was her time of peace, away from her sisters. Not that Adagio and Sonata were bad, but sometimes Aria needed time away from Sonata's silliness and Adagio's ego. They had faced thousands of years together and she wouldn't dream of leaving them. Not that she'd tell them that.
A flick of her head and she shook the sentimental thoughts from her head with a wave of waist length hair. Hair that was't in it's usual twin-tails. Her teal-striped purple locks were pulled back into a single ponytail at the base of her neck. Not nearly as high as Sonata's, that was a bimbo's hairdo. Something Aria was happy to tell her all the time. This was topped of by a light green ball-cap to keep the sun from her eyes. She was wearing a simple red shirt under her favorite green vest. To finish off, she was wearing knee length jean shorts and white sneakers.
Her feet thumped softly against the concrete as she moved down the path by memory. She kept her violet eyes down, rebuking herself for forgetting her sunglasses. Still her feet pulled her forward. This walk was almost ritualistic and she wasn't going to skip out because it was a bit sunny. Her walk's route was the same almost every time. She would enter at the main gate, walk the path that looped the entire park, then walk the inner paths. A two, maybe three hour journey, depending on how fast she moved. An idle glance to her watch showed it was a little after noon, reminding her she hadn't eaten since breakfast. A thought punctuated by her stomach rumbling.
A flash of a smile graced her face as she thought of the one benefit to being fully human now. She could eat and actually feel satiated, every day. Before, they had been forced to survive on scraps of energy. The most they had ever been able to absorb had been at a soccer match that rioted, and that had only kept them full for less than a week. They couldn't risk causing a fight they couldn't control, or they could end up hurt. Immortal didn't mean invulnerable after all. Then they got 'rainbow'd' as Sonata put it. Now, a burger with fries was better than anything she'd tasted. So good she almost punched a bus boy once when he assumed she was done with her food.
Aria knew she wasn't considered the nicest person, but even she could tell things had changed. Without the ever present hunger pains, she found herself insulting Sonata less cruelly and more playfully. Following her nose, she made her way to a hot dog cart to purchase some lunch. Eight dollars and a rant later, Eight dollars!? For a hot dog and a soda!? Jeez, thanks for the deal., she was sitting on a bench, munching on a mustard-and-mayo-only while sipping a cola. She sat down her drink and tugged her cap lower. She didn't like the sun in her eyes. It made them watery and irritated, and reminded her she was just human. A swig of her drink was accompanied by a belch that drew a dirty look from a nearby woman. Ignoring it, Aria got up and tossed her trash away. Hunger quelled for now, the girl continued down the path with a bit more pep to her step.
Pep that vanished like smoke when Aria laid eyes on someone walking her direction. Someone with long red and yellow hair that fell in waves, pale orange skin, and wearing the same outfit as the last time Aria saw her. Sunset Shimmer was strolling towards her without a care in the world. Aria's eyes narrowed slightly, before she started walking towards her with purpose. Aria's quick approach was noticed by Sunset who recognized her after a double-take. Seeing the girl's worried look, lavender hands were raised to chest height as Aria slowed.
"Easy there Shimmer, I'm not gonna hurt you, i just wanna talk." placated Aria, as Sunset eyed her suspiciously.
"You're one of the Dazzlings, why should I trust you? You might be planning something." Replied Sunset, who crossed her arms and glanced around. "I don't even know your name, y'know." scoffed the red head, her body tensed and ready to run.
"Oh. It's Aria Blaze, and I'm not planning anything. I do have something I'd like to say to you though." Aria remarked, before casually waving a hand for Sunset to follow "C'mon, there's a bench right over here. We can even sit on opposite ends. That way you can run away if the big bad powerless Siren scares you." With that last barb she turned and walked back to the bench without looking back, a smirk on her face.
Huffing, Sunset followed after her, a light blush on her cheeks. Thoughts ran through her head; Was this a good idea, Should she call someone? Who? Rainbow? She'd probably try and fight Aria. Rarity would just ask about the state of her clothes. Applejack might work, she's level headed enough. Pinkie would want to throw a surprise party for the Dazzlings. Fluttershy might know what to do, but she'd be too shy. Princess Twilight was on her side of the portal and Sunset didn't have the journal anyway. Before she made a choice, her frantic musings were cut short by a sharp call.
"HEY! Shimmer!" Her head snapped up to see Aria, a few dozen meters away, half turned around with a slightly annoyed look on her face. "Don't just stand there!" Sufficiently rebuked, Sunset jogged ahead to catch up. By the time she made it, Aria was already seated on the right edge of the bench, grinning up at her. "Well about time. Have a seat." She gestured towards the bench, letting Sunset sit down.
"So, uh, what did you wanna talk about? Nobody's seen you or the other two for months." Sunset's tone seemed earnest enough. "We looked around, to see if you needed help, but we never found anything." She perched on the edge of the bench and fiddled with her hands in her lap, unsure what to do, nervous. Aria barked out a short laugh in surprise, smirking.
"Really? You actually tried to find us? Ha, We don't need your help." Aria rolled her eyes, glancing off at a child screaming at his mother. "We can afford to wait till we can get jobs we like. I'll put it that way."
Sunset nodded absently, before clearing her throat "O-Okay, um, how are you adjusting then?" She asked, a hesitant smile on her face. Aria glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow.
"We're fine. We can actually eat and digest food for nourishment now. We don't need to rely on negative energy. I personally don't mind not being starved all the time." A flash of a smile almost slipped by Sunset's notice, who grinned lightly. "Plus it kinda sucked. We were always on the move so people wouldn't pick up on the fact we were instigating fights. We'd stay in a city for one apartment lease, then move to another state. We just renewed our current lease for the first time."
"That's good. What about the others, uh...Adagio and Sonata, right? How are they doing?" The question seemed innocent enough, but Aria could read the subtext. Sunset was worried that one of them wasn't adjusting as well as Aria. It was understandable, Aria had been upset at first.
"They're fine. We held together and moved on. It helps that we were turned human fully. I've seen sirens in the past who's Song Gem got broken, and they slowly starved away. Of us, Adagio got over it quickest, I'm not surprised. Always in control and ready with a plan. She's already applied for most of the ivy league. She intends to become a politician." Sunset involuntarily shuddered at the thought of Adagio's sharkish smile on an election poster, which pulled a chuckle from her companion "Yeah, scary thought. She's gonna be on top one way or another. That's just Adagio. Sonata was next. I think seeing Adagio pick herself back up gave her confidence. She insists she can get her singing voice back with time though. Me? All I really had was my musical talent, and then half of that was stripped away." Aria sighed softly, reaching into her vest pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. She looked at the pack, conflicted, before sighing and stuffing them back in her vest. She caught the sideways look from Sunset and stuck her tongue out "Don't judge me. I quit after we became humans. No need shortening my already short life. I just keep them to prove I can resist. Plus letting bouncers bum smokes is a sure fire way to get into a club without paying cover."
Sunset blushed lightly "oh, well that;s good. Smoking isn't widespread in Equestria, so I find it gross how many people just fill themselves with poisons. What?" She asked, seeing Aria's face light up with surprise before the siren laughed.
"I almost forgot you're from Equestria! Damn, whats it like now, over a thousand years later? Is Sol Invictus still princess?" Aria asked, sitting forward with a eager look. "Does she still insist everyone play nice with each other or else?
"Well yeah, The Princess still believes true peace is possible if everyone worked together. And did you say Sol Invictus? Princess Celestia hasn't been called the Unconquered Sun since the mad King Sombra took it as a challenge and she had to banish the Crystal Empire. Jeez, you three are really old. Princess Celestia doesn't use her power like that anymore." Sunset mused, thinking back to her many hours researching in the Royal Archives for Princess Celestia. Noticing Aria's flat stare, she blushed "Um, n-not that it's a bad thing to be old. I actually have a lot of questions. Things you can answer because you were there!"
Aria stifled a laugh and sat up a bit more, as if to lean in "oh yeah? Hows this. I'll tell you a fun fact about this world, and you tell me one about Equestria. I'll go first. The Roman Colosseum was built for my sisters and I. We charmed the Emperor into building it so we could stir the crowds into a frenzy. We'd sing at the start and end of every show to harvest their negativity. We practically ruled Rome for a decade before we moved on.
"W-wow, really?" Sunset was surprised by the knowledge, but after thinking about it, it made sense. "You've really seen a lot. Maybe you should write a book about yourself. About your time in the human world I mean." She rubbed the back of her neck, looking around. Their little bubble of conversation was mostly ignored by the hundreds of people enjoying their summer. The former unicorn blushed lightly "I'd buy it." At Aria's cheeky smirk, she huffed "I'd like to read the personal account of history by someone who lived it." She defended, though a smile pulled at her lip.
"Yeah yeah, I know. I should write it down before my human brain starts to forget it." She put her arms on the back of the bench, leaning back "Really though, I'm a musician at heart. Singing was important to me, and it was taken away." Sunset bit her lip, but noticed that Aria didn't mention she was the reason it was taken. "We had a gift, and we abused it. Sure, we needed negative emotions to fuel our spells, but we could sing just fine otherwise. We could have lived luxuriously as rock stars but we wanted more. Now we can't even hold a tune, and it's our fault. You and your friends were just protecting yourself."
Sunset was shocked by Aria's response, having expected them to be bitter and resentful. "You're really not mad at us?" She asked meekly, swallowing nervously. Aria seemed fairly calm, but Sunset was worried about setting her off. "I figured you'd see us as having doomed you to a short life, since you were immortal.
Aria turned and looked at her for a few seconds before speaking. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about originally. We were. We were furious. Me in particular. If you had found us within the first month or two, we might have ended up attacking you. Eternity was ours, for as long as we wanted. Then you stripped it away and left us with a normal human lifespan." Aria waved away Sunset's half formed protest "But we got over it. The three of us are a team. We don't abandon each other, and we help each other through the tough times." A soft smile crept across her features as she thought of her only family. "Besides, all three of us can play most instruments. Adagio practically lives inside a piano, Sonata plays a mean saxophone, and your truly is one of the greatest guitarists alive.""She bragged, buffing her nails on her vest and smirking. Aria's smile faded, and she looked at Sunset seriously "I wanted to say thank you. What you did will be better for us in the long run. We squandered our voices trying to live in the past. Now, we have a future, a life, ahead of us." Then she blinked and smirked at Sunset "Hey, you owe me a fun fact, remember? Quid pro Quo.
Sunset smiled brightly to herself, glad to hear how Aria felt, hoping this could lead to the Dazzlings accepting friendship from Sunset and her friends. "Well, Princess Luna turned into an evil tyrant named Nightmare Moon, wanting to bring night eternal. Princess Celestia banished her to the moon for a thousand years, but Twilight Sparkle and her friends purged her dark side and saved her." the former unicorn chuckled softly "Still, it sounds like the three of you are doing all right. I'll be honest, I was kinda worried we'd find you three in an alley, or as Jane Does in the obituaries." She admitted, rubbing her arm with a chuckle. The siren next to her shivered and shook her head.
"Jeez Shimmer, you're pretty dark. We weren't stupid enough to not acquire legal bank accounts. Adagio planned for most everything. except rainbow unicorn attacks, I guess." Aria mused, before glancing at Sunset with an eyebrow raised "Really? Eternal night? That's just silly. Good thing she was stopped. It'd suck to someday go back to find it all frozen." An idle look at her watch showed it was almost two.
"Yeah, it wasn't a great plan. In fact, Princess Luna admitted she kinda just ran with the first plan she thought of. She's doing much better though. Started a very popular astronomy club, Twilight said." The two shared a light hearted chuckle, enjoying each other's company. Aria smiled warmly as the talk of Luna brought back memories.
" I used to watch the stars every night, but I've memorized them all. There's no more mystery or wonder. The same damn stars just rotating all year. I miss Equestria's nights. Princess Luna would paint a new portrait in the sky every night. I can't remember any two being the same. When I was no bigger than a guppy, before we got our magic, I'd swim to the ocean surface with my sisters to watch the sunset." She winked at the girl next to her, who blushed lightly "And then we'd watch the moon rise, and Luna's canvas come to life. It was always so beautiful." She glanced back at Sunset, the two locking eyes. Violet and Cerulean lingered on each other, probing the depths of their souls.
Aria saw the eyes of a girl disgraced, one who rose oh so high, only to plummet to rock bottom. She saw the struggle to climb from that self dug hole, to put herself out there and not let the past define her. She saw Sunset's resolve and confidence, as well as her fear and pain. The desire for a new day peaking out behind hesitation and worry. Aria saw the eyes of a woman who would never stop reaching for tomorrow.
Sunset looked into Aria's Violet orbs and saw uncertainty, wariness, and a fear of letting others get close. Her eyes spoke of watching centuries of people growing old and dying, fading to dust in a moment. She saw ancient oceans and forgotten places. Her face was free of wrinkles, yet her eyes showed the weight of her age all to well. Yet buried deep within their depths she saw hope, hope for a better tomorrow. One without constant hunger, and filled with joy and love.
Almost in sync, the two girls blushed deeply and looked away from each other. Aria crossed her legs and arms, scowling at the ground to hide her red cheeks. Sunset cleared her throat and looked up at the blue sky and white clouds. A few furtive glances and it was silently agreed to move past what happened, though their blushes were slow to fade.
The two girls sat in relative silence for a while, before Aria spoke up. "So, I never asked, what were you up to today." asked the siren, attempting to change the topic. "I walk through this park every week, never ran into you before. Of course, I only visit on Saturdays. Do you come here often?" Sunset shook her head and grinned.
"Rarity wanted us to meet at her shop this morning so she could fit us for dresses. Apparently she had some 'summer inspiration' and just had to make us each a dress. I think she plans on inviting us to something. So yeah, I got to go second after Rainbow Dash and was done fairly quickly. Then I said my good byes and left. I mean yeah, I like hanging out with them, but I like a day to myself here and there. It's from years of solo study as Celestia's personal student, but it's calming to be alone." She leaned back, sighing as a soft breeze blew by, tousling the two girls' hair. "I don't usually come to the park, unless I'm feeling homesick. The greenery reminds me of Equestria. As I left Rarity's though, I just felt like walking and ended up here." She shrugged, not too concerned with it. "I got a ride there, so I can just walk home too. It's only about thirty minutes."
Aria nodded sagely "Yeah trust me I know. I have to take some time away from my sisters or they'd drive me crazy. Adagio constantly wanting to nitpick and lecture, Sonata always begging for new toys, or wanting to go to a theme park." She shook her head and glanced around. "Just so you know, try not to talk about theme parks around Sonata. She won't shut up about how cool they are." Aria vented, tossing a hand in the air. "Its like, I get it Sonata you wanna ride roller coasters, just stop talking about it. Ugh, she's just the worst." She grumbled, with no real venom in her voice, before perking up again "You said you were Celestia's student? Well that kinda explains some things." She scoffs teasingly.
Sunset smirked and nodded "Yeah I may have had a bit of a leg up in my education, but I wasn't her student nearly as long as Twilight was." Grinning, she leaned towards Aria a bit "Sonata sounds like Pinkie Pie when she goes off on a tangent. I sometimes wonder if she has a third lung or something so she can talk and breathe at the same time" Sunset quipped, causing Aria to burst into laughter "Then there's Rarity, who I saw scold a guy to tears for not color coordinating his hat to match his shoes." Aria only laughed harder, holding her sides. Several passerby's looked at them like they were crazy before hurrying on their way. Sunset giggled lightly, Aria's mirth somewhat contagious. "I could keep going about the rest." She offered, Aria waving a hand as she got control of herself.
"N-No, heh, I might pass out, hah. Another time." She chuckled, blushing as she pushed her hair out of her face "You're alright Sunset Shimmer, I think we could hang." Aria smirked, before holding out her hand, fist closed "So? Wanna be friends? That's what you're all about, right? Making friends with your enemies?"
Sunset looked at Aria, then her outstretched fist, before pressing her own fist against it "Sure, lets be friends. My name is Sunset Shimmer, nice to meet you." She said, smiling happily.
Aria's smirk grew to a wider grin "Names Aria Blaze." She pulled her hand back and put her hands behind her head. "This day ain't what I expected it to be." Sunset's short laugh showed she agreed, the girls sporting matching grins. "I've been meaning to find you and have this talk, but I didn't think it'd be so soon." admitted the lavender siren, followed by her poking Sunset in the ribs and getting a squeal in return. "Hey, wanna go get some food? One over priced hot dog doesn't fill you up for long. my treat." Standing up, she turned and looked to see what Sunset would do.
"Ehhh, why not. I'll take some free food." Sunset drawled, rolling forward onto her feet and moving next to Aria "Lead on, Miss Money bags." She teased, as the two former enemies walked towards the park's main gate as friends.
"That's the spirit, Shimmer. Just keep it under twenty bucks."
Sunset smirked and poked Aria in the ribs, relishing the yelp "Sure."
fin.
Author's Note
Well there we go. A oneshot written in one shot. I hope its not too terrible!
