Paying it Forward

“Ah, Sunset, there you are!” the girl turned around, the door to her flat slipping shut behind her. The landlord, an elderly lady that had seen her fair share of years, had just stepped out of her ground level room, and was doing her best to get Sunset’s attention. “Do you have a moment?”

“Sure, Ma’am! What’s up?” Sunset smiled as she made her way down the stairs and towards the closest thing the apartment had to an office. She had gotten up late today thanks the Rainbooms holding another jam session at the school last night, and she had been more than eager to just flop on her bed and pass out, especially due to the fact that she was still hunting for the Sirens a near full week since the Battle of the Bands.

“Well I just wanted to let you know that there’s a new guest going to be joining me for a little while.” the woman nodded, smiling as slowly as she explained the situation. “I was hoping that you would greet her later, after your classes are done.”

“Oh, um, sure?” Sunset was slightly confused as she agreed, tilting her head slightly. “I’m not against it, but… What makes this person so special? You’ve never asked me to do this before.”

“Well…” the woman looked around cautiously before looking up at Sunset’s looming face. “You weren’t exactly the warmest girl before recently- no offense, dear!- and, well, this girl needs it I think. She may be running away from an abusive boyfriend, what with her bruising and such.”

“None taken.” Sunset muttered with a roll of her eyes, followed by a tired sigh as she shook her head before focusing on the last bit the woman said. “And spousal abuse huh? Yeah, I’ll try talking to her.”

“Thank you, dear.” the elderly matron smiled warmly. “Now you go have a good day at school now.”

~

Sunset shook her head as she removed her helmet, her hair thanking her for freeing it from its confines. Her moped resting securely in Sunset’s stall, the girl retrieving a blanket like cover from the back storage bin and draping it lovingly over the machine. Next to Guy, Sarah, Rachel and her magic journal,- her guitar, her leather jacket, and her magenta top emblazoned with her cutie mark- Mary was one of her most prized possessions.

When she had first arrived on this world from Equestria the loud noises of vehicles scared her, and yet now she couldn’t imagine living without her bike. She was looking forward to getting a real motorbike next year, when she had finished saving up that is. For now she laid an affectionate pat onto the moped’s rear end before heading into the apartment.

The day had gone well, all the girl’s planning to meet up sometime this weekend to plan out some silly idea Rainbow had proposed, Sunset smirking as she remembered just how energetic the athletic teen had been. She reached out and grabbed the door, pausing as she opened it. The front landing was an absolute mess, the rugs all askew and… were those muddy footprints?

“Sunset, you’re back!” the elderly woman popped out of her room to the side, a worried smile on her face. “Would you go check on the poor dear? She’s been in a right awful state all day.” Sunset relented as the woman made fervored shooing motions with her hand before retreating back into her room.

She made slow steady steps up the stairs, doing her best not to step on any of the muddy footprints lining the stairs, pausing whenever a thump or small patter of footsteps echoed through the stairwell. She eventually found herself in front of the door leading to the flat across from hers.

“Excuse me?” Sunset called out after knocking on the door, the scuffling inside the room quieting down. “Can I come in? I’m in the flat just across from you.”

Sunset stood there in silence, hands resting at her side as she waited. She wasn’t being ignored, she could hear soft footsteps slowly approaching the door, the doorknob creaking as it slowly turned.

“Hi!” Sunset began as the door started to open slowly. “My name is… Sunset…” her voice started to die off as the figure behind the door revealed herself. “Shimmer… S-Sonata…?

The Siren gave a small, startled cry as she stumbled backwards over herself, landing on the floor with a thud as the door opened fully. The cyan coloured girl lay on the floor, trembling slightly as she looked up Sunset, tears starting to build in the corners of her eyes. She looked unkempt, her long hair was a mess, the pony crudely contained in what looked like dirty elastic bands. Her outfit was equally messy, looking worn and covered in mud and other stains. The most shocking part of the Equestrian’s appearance was the marks across her skin, welts, cuts, and bruises splattered across her, especially one bad looking one around-

“Your eye…” Sunset said softly, bending down so she wasn’t looming over top of the poor hurt girl so much. She reached out, Sonata whimpering as the amber hand approached. “Sonata, what happened to you? Where are the other two?”

Sonata had looked away when Sunset had asked her what happened, and exploded into a mess of cascading tears, vicious trembling, and heart shattering sobs of pure, unfiltered sorrow. Sunset rushed across the floor, grabbing the crying form of Sonata and pulling her in close, hugging her and whispering gently as she rubbed the back of the girl’s head.

It seemed to go on for hours, the landlady stopped by when Sonata had first started to cry and tried to help, but left when she heard the phone ringing. Eventually the Siren quieted down, Sunset’s should would have been soaked thoroughly if her jacket wasn’t in the way. The girl gave one last shuddering sob, pulling out of Sunset’s embrace to wipe at her face.

“Feeling better?” Sunset asked gently, resting a hand on Sonata’s leg. The girl gave a small sniffle and a nod, blinking as she looked away. “That’s good. Everyone needs to take a moment to let their emotions out.” Sunset smiled as she rubbed the girl’s leg.

“I-I should go…” Sonata stuttered, her voice cracking and hoarse as she stumbled trying to get up.

“Hm? Why? What’s wrong?” Sunset said, following the Sirens movements. She stood in front of the doorway, Sonata starting to look worried as Sunset refused to budge.

“C-C-Come on… Please!” Sonata whined, struggling as she tried to get past Sunset, the unicorn shaking her head.

“I’m not letting you leave, Sonata. Look at you!” Sunset held the girl at arms length, frowning as she looked at the girl struggle away. “You’re obviously hurt and need some help, let alone the fact that you’re alone! I never saw the three of you apart, plus the fact that you just spent the last however many minutes crying when I mentioned the other two. So please, Sonata… Talk to me.”

Sonata relaxed, letting out a soft, exhausted sigh as she went limp in the arms of Sunset, mumbling softly.

“Why…?”

“I’ve, um, been searching for the three of you for the last week.” Sunset smiled sheepishly, earning a confused look from Sonata. “You three ran away so fast,- er, not that I blame the three of you- and I was wanting to talk to the three of you.”

“After all that we did to your school?” Sonata shook her head in disbelief. “No… No- this… this is some sort of plan! I-”

“Sonata, please!” Sunset pulled the struggling girl in closer, wrapping her arms tightly around the Siren. “I just want to help, I promise! I’m a bad girl too, remember? What did all the students say about me during those games?”

“That you were the biggest meanie the school had ever seen… You tried to take over the school apparently…” Sonata was slowly calming down as she spoke, ceasing her struggling to break free. “But… Why are you doing this? What do you stand to gain from trying to be nice to a monster like me? ...Um… What’s with that look?”

“Oh! Uh…” Sunset had separated from Sonata now that the Siren had relaxed again, holding her once more at arms length, only to freeze up at the rather uncharacteristic seriousness of the girl’s question. “S-Sorry! I was just…”

“Caught off guard by how intelligent I sounded? I’m used to it…” Sonata sounded bitter as she shimmied free from Sunset’s grasp. “I’ve always been the idiot of the group…”

“Hey now! Why would you say that?” Sunset was taken aback, as if she were the one being insulted by Sonata’s self deprecation, only to grow deadly calm as a small thought wriggled into her mind. “Or… Or is that what the other two…”

Sonata looked away, grabbing at her arm as she turned around slightly, causing Sunset to let out a deep sigh as her face met her palm. The three of them had been together for Celestia knows how many years, and during the events at Canterlot High School they seemed so closely knit. Yes, the other two had groaned when Sonata made an obvious comment, but it never seemed like either of them were being malicious to the girl.

“Sonata… I’m sorry that this ever happened to you…” Sunset started, walking forward and resting a hand on the girl’s shoulder once more. “I’m sure the events from that day were just… hard for the three of you, and I’m sure they didn’t mean any of what they said. But until you talk to me, I won’t be able to help you more than just being a shoulder to cry on. Literally.”

“Would you girl’s like a small snack?” the landlady had appeared at the bottom of the stairs, calling out before she started to make her way up the still muddy steps.

“Come on, Sonata. Why don’t we take a break from all this heavy stuff and have a quick bite? She makes a mean homemade hummus.” Sunset smirked as she ruffled Sonata’s shoulder, the girl still somewhat gloomy, only to have the entire situation fall into giggling when the Siren’s stomach growled hungrily. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

~

“Thank you for the food…” Sonata said awkwardly, sitting deadly still before turning to the retreating and whining loudly. “Are you sure I can’t help you clean up the mess?”

“Sonata, if you move from that chair…” the elderly woman spun around and delivered a glare warning the girl to just try and move from her seat, the ancient Equestrian monster quailing from the elderly Human woman.

“Hey, Sonata?” Sunset snuck into view from behind the corner leading to the kitchen. “Um… How do I put this… You need a shower, like, really bad. Why don’t you come over to my flat and use mine? I think my stuff will suit you better.”

“I-” Sonata started to object only for the landlady to appear from behind Sunset, a small, well-meaning glare on her face as she stared at the cyan girl. “Alright…”

“Awesome! You can also crash in my room while you’re here, too! No offense but she likes to snore in her sleep.” Sunset winked as she helped the girl up, the pair giggling as they departed from the room, Sunset waving warmly to the woman shaking her head at the amber girl.

“So uh, I know I’m being really pushy with you right now, but I hope I’m not pushing you away, cause I really just want to make sure you’re okay.” Sunset stuttered as she opened the door to her flat for the other girl.

“I, uh… I really do appreciate it, Sunset… I’m just…” Sonata froze just inside the room, Sunset squirming around as the door shut behind them.

“Hey, I’m here for you, alright?” Sunset smiled warmly as she stopped in front of Sonata, pulling the girl’s head up by her chin. “Why don’t you go have a shower? Wheel on the left is for cold water, wheel on the right is for hot water.”

“Thank you…” Sonata said, the corners of her mouth threatening to pick up as she looked up at Sunset. Sunset chuckled as the girl retreated towards the washroom the door shutting gently signaling for Sunset to head up to her bed and retrieve her magic journal from her backpack, sitting on the lip of the mattress as she opened it up to a blank page, putting the pen to the paper as she started to write a letter to her closest friend.

Dear Princess Twilight,

You’re not going to believe this but I found one of the Sirens! Sonata, the blueish one, was brought in by my landlady, and… She’s not well. I don’t know what exactly happened after the Battle of the Bands, but it can’t have been good. She is covered in small cuts and large bruises, and is just filthy, like she has been living on the street. She’s extremely hesitant to talk to me, regardless of the topic, but I’m going to try my best to be a good host…

I just have to figure out what to do about Sunday. Me and the other girls were planning on getting together to hang out, and I’m not sure how things would go between them and Sonata. I know you can’t be here, Princess obligations and all, but do you have any advice on what I can do?

I won’t be around to respond tonight most likely, I’m going to be doing my best to focus on Sonata and try and be a gracious host. Plus I gotta go and make my sofa up to sleep on, can’t force the guest onto a lumpy sofa when there’s a perfectly good bed after all! Wouldn’t be very friendly of me.

Hope you are well!

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer~*