Chapter Five

10 Hours 47 Minutes Until Execution

Princess Twilight giggled as she listened to my story. “So within a short time, you were already the favorite of your little drug ring that you worked with? I don’t know much about drugs, but I read somewhere that criminal gangs usually don’t take promotions lightly, I guess you really must have been superb at what you did.”

It was an odd thing to compliment someone on for sure, especially coming from a Princess of Equestria. I raised a brow in suspicion as I replied, “You read books on criminal activities and gangs? That’s an odd thing for a Princess to have any interest in…”

Twilight blushed as she looked away bashfully. “I had a phase where I was really fascinated with bad boys...”

“Got a thing for troublemakers then?” I smirked as I teased the mare, somehow a bit amused at the thought of Twilight trying to impress some bad boy in school or something. Perhaps during her awkward teenage years, she did plenty of embarrassing things. Had I had more time, I would have gladly asked the mare about her “bad boy” phase, but given that I was scheduled to die in less than eleven hours, I decided it might have been for the best that I moved on.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “It seems to be all I attract anyway...”

“Oh, woe is you...” I rolled my eyes, not really feeling much in the way of sympathy for a Princess who was beloved by many and permitted to sentence others to their death.

In another pathetic attempt to “connect” with me, the Princess grew serious eyes and leaned in as she spoke. “You know, Adagio... It’s perfectly normal to be scared... Death is a natural fear that we all have after all...”

I raised a hoof to cut her off. “First of all, I don’t need a lecture from the mare who sentenced me to death… If it weren’t for your decision, I wouldn’t have to deal with this problem… Second of all, death for us sirens is nothing like you ponies...”

“How so?” Twilight tilted her head in confusion.

I sighed as I realized I’d have to spell it out for her. “You lot are going to die eventually no matter what you do. You’ll never see it coming, but you know it’s always going to happen. You can’t avoid it, you can’t escape it. That’s the fate of a mortal; to die eventually, and to not know what it’ll happen.”

“Yes, and?” Twilight asked.

“And, we’re not like that. So long as we keep feeding and keep our heads down we can live as long as we like, but that means that when it comes time for a siren to die, we usually have to choose our own death. That’s the difference between us, you die involuntarily at any moment and we are forced to pick when we kick the bucket...” I explained.

“I see... That could drive somepony crazy for sure...” Twilight admitted.

I shrugged. “For some sirens it does, others they welcome death after such a long life of suffering. The oldest of our kind... I’m not sure... They’re fairly cryptic and they don’t have a lot to say, so stories about them are scarce... I imagine they have a unique perspective on death though...”

Twilight nodded, a smile on her face. “I’d love to hear more about them one day.” The joy of learning never ceased to get old for the Princess, she could find excitement learning about virtually anything probably so long as she was taking in new information.

“Yeah, well you may as well give up that dream... They almost never come to Equestria and I don’t know much more about them; even if I did though, I am only going to be alive for the next eleven hours at best, so it’s not like I have much time to see if I could arrange a meeting with them for you...” I grinned as I made the snarky comment.

Twilight frowned and looked away. “Guess I’ll have to just settle for passing curiosity...”

“I guess you will...” I stated.

There was a short pause before Twilight opened her mouth to speak again. “So you said the other two sirens didn’t know what you did for money. I imagine it was a hassle keeping that a secret for so long from them... I’d have probably let something slip after the first month...”

I grinned at that comment. “I’ve always been good at keeping my cards close to my chest. Many secrets do I keep.”

“Evidently...” Twilight rolled her eyes. Obviously noticing this prior.

“The fact that I’m telling you this only comes from the fact that I’ll be dead soon so it won’t matter if I tell you all of this...” I pointed out.

Twilight smirked as if she knew already. “I figured as much, considering you didn’t exactly strike me as the biggest fan of myself prior to this... I knew all I was to you was an ear to listen when this began... It never bothered me though.”

“Why are you still here then? Why bother? You could have just left me down here until the execution and then fried me... What do you gain out of this, Twilight Sparkle? What’s your angle?” I squinted with suspicion. It was all odd. A pony that helped defeat me before, and now gave me a death sentence acted as though she was interested in my life story, but why?

Twilight giggled and shrugged. “No angle, I was just curious.”

Was it possible? Was Twilight Sparkle merely the type to just do things out of morbid curiosity? It was certainly possible, after all, she used to be a librarian and her personality up to that point showed she had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. There also was the possibility that the mare had ulterior motives, but as I pointed out, it wouldn’t really matter if she did, I’d be dead in a few hours and I didn’t quite care if my knowledge was used to harm other sirens at that point.

“Curiosity can get one into a lot of trouble, you know?” I replied with a grin.

“You sound like you speak from experience....” Twilight said, her voice sounding so sure.

Was it possible that Twilight had me more figured out than I knew? What if the naive girl thing was merely an act.

“Sort of...” I responded quietly. “I guess that leads us into the next part of this story...”

“I was waiting for you to say that... I was assuming things get a bit out of control soon?” Twilight asked with a raised brow.

“You have no idea...” I shook my head.

After that day, I spent a lot of time at work learning the ropes of how to move the bigger products from Striker. A good week or two of training and I was dealing with the best of them. Striker was selling his goods so he was happy, and I was making mad bank so I was happy. Material possessions may not have magical powers that they can grant me, but I’d be damned if I couldn’t admit that they definitely made a girl feel good about herself. I was buying up all the best of the best, living higher on the hog than ever before. Sure, I still held onto a shitty apartment so as to not go too lavish and become obvious, but on top of buying designer clothes like I was before, I was treating myself to the best of the best when it came to dining.

On one occasion, I actually tipped a waitress a hundred dollar bill for a meal that only cost $31.50. Yeah, I know, I’m not generous often, so for me, that’s a big deal, Twilight. How much is a hundred in Equestrian bits? I have no idea, I’m not an economist.

With money in my pocket and jewelry covering my body, I was at the very least content. I wouldn’t say happy, but I definitely had a few of the voids in my life filled with material goodies. There was seldom a problem that buying a new something or other couldn’t make go away for me at that point.

Eventually, though, my two idiot cohort sirens began to sniff their nose around, noticing my nice things. Probably jealous or something, who knows what goes on in their empty heads.

Coming home from lunch at a restaurant with Striker, I was greeted by a suspicious looking Aria who sat on the couch with her brow raised. “You’ve been out and about earlier than normal lately… I thought you worked at night?”

“I decided to try and get out more during the day to have some me time…” I half-lied. It was at the very least somewhat true, as I was making time for myself.

“Yeah well… How are you affording to go out so often? Busses aren’t free. Not to mention you haven’t been eating here, so you’re clearly eating out somewhere…” Aria asked as she crossed her arms.

Her expression told me that she was definitely suspicious of my behavior as of late, and I couldn’t entirely blame her because I wasn’t exactly putting the maximum effort into keeping this new lifestyle a secret. I was practically flaunting it in front of them.

“I got a promotion at work… I’m making a lot more money now…” Again, a half-lie because I did actually receive a promotion and I was, in fact, making more money… It just wasn’t at the job that Aria thought it was.

“That must be a hell of a promotion… You’ve got more bling on you than a rap artist… Are those real gold bangles?” Aria eyed up the bangles on my right wrist which I placed my hand over and moved them closer to my chest with my arm.

“What difference does it make?” I asked. “Why am I being put on the spot here?”

Aria leaned forward, reaching to grab a cigarette from a pack sitting on the coffee table. She lit the stick and inhaled before looking up at me with those arrogant annoying eyes of her’s. “Well… Sonata and I are busting our asses off to pay our share of the rent… It isn’t exactly cheap to live here in Maryland… And here you are wearing fucking Walter Steiger’s…”

I blinked at the fact that Aria was smart enough to even recognize what brand of footwear I was wearing. She must have googled them or something.

“Those are some nice shoes by the way… custom made, obviously… Interesting because those are usually a few hundred… Sometimes up to a thousand… How much did you pay for those?” She asked.

I growled and placed my foot in front of me as I took a firm stance and crossed my arms. “What difference does it make? I can wear whatever shoes that I want.”

“Sonata and I are struggling just to pay the fucking rent and electric and you’re wearing shoes that probably cost more than a month’s rent… It kind of seems pretty unfair to me…” Aria grunted.

“Hey, we agreed to split the rent three ways. We each pay $500 a month, and then we each pay a third of the utilities… I pay my share on time, every month, I don’t see what the issue is…” I defended. See Twilight, I am reasonable!

Aria shrugged and took a drag from her cigarette. “It just kind of seems unfair that like… You make so much more than we do and yet you only pay a third of the rent, leaving you with tons of money to do whatever with and we’re stuck with maybe $100 a week to live on…”

“So what? It’s not my fault you two can’t get more money.” I hissed.

Another shrug came from Aria. “Doesn’t seem fair that you’re more or less rubbing our faces in how much you have though…”

“Just because you two are obligated to be broke and look like bums doesn’t mean I have to be. Am I supposed to just live like you two just because you can’t make enough money?” I was starting to get annoyed at the entire ordeal, the nerve she had in getting mad at me because she was a pathetic loser who had no financial prospects.

“I was thinking maybe you could pay a bigger share of the rent? I mean you make so much more than we do to where you could afford more of the rent than you’re currently paying… That way Sonata and I have some money for ourselves for a change?” Aria asked.

Oddly enough, her words sounded like a request, which I wasn’t expecting from her. I expected it to come off as a demand, a demand that naturally I was going to reject regardless because the entire notion was unfair and stupid.

“Since when did you become such a fucking socialist? I pay my fair share, if you want more money for yourself, get a better job or pick up more hours!” I growled. Socialism is an economic system, Twilight. I learned about it because Striker had talked about his distaste for it as well. How does it work? Fuck, I am not about to explain an entire economic system to you Twilight. No! Stop that! Stop begging! I won’t! Okay fine! It’s more or less a system where everyone is required to contribute, and those who make the most contribute more or something like that. I’m paraphrasing and I don’t know too much about it, but I guess it’s like some Robin Hood kind of shit. Who’s Robin Hood? You have to be kidding me…

“Selfish much?” Aria chuckled as she blew smoke in my direction.

I swatted the smoke away with a grunt. “Selfish for wanting to keep what is mine?”

Aria sighed and shook her head. “And you know we can’t find better work… We’re undocumented sirens from another universe, remember? It’s not like we can fill out half the paperwork necessary to get most jobs. We only get away with what we have because we found holes in the system or people who don’t ask a lot of questions…”

“It’s not my fault that you’re a loser who can’t think outside of the box, Aria… That’s why you’re not the leader…” I crossed my arms again and smirked.

“I fail to see how you’re behaving like a leader? A leader lets her subordinates sink while she dines on the finest meals?” Aria raised a brow.

I stepped forward and placed my foot on the coffee table to get her attention. I leaned down and met her face to face. “A leader teaches her subordinates to learn to get better and fend for themselves, even if it’s via the school of hard knocks. Get creative…”

Aria didn’t respond, she instead looked away and continued smoking. Her stupid face was getting on my nerves, so I turned toward the door and decided to get a head start on some sales for the night. “Whatever… I’m going to work… Don’t wait up for me…”

As I approached the door, I heard Aria call back to me. “Adagio…”

Blinking, I turned my head and gave her my best “what the fuck do you want?” face.

“If you’re…” She paused.

“What?”

“If you’re doing something bad… Like that you’re not supposed to… I would suggest you stop… You put all of us at risk…” Aria said calmly.

I smirked and shrugged. “I don’t have a clue what you’re on about… Now goodbye, Aria.”

“See ya…” She replied before turning her attention to a book she had left on the coffee table.

I needed to clear my head, so I headed out the door.

10 Hours 30 Minutes Until Execution

“You and Aria seem to get along the least of your circle of sirens…” Twilight pointed out as she sipped from a mug. The Princess had opted to pour herself some more coffee and when the thermos she had brought was empty, she summoned a guard to go and make more so as to not interrupt the story for too long.

I shrugged at that statement. “She’s a stupid bitch.”

“Why is there so much animosity between you two?” Twilight asked.

“Need I repeat myself? She’s a stupid bitch.” I rolled my eyes.

Twilight sighed and took another sip from her mug before offering me the thermos. Shrugging it off, I decided to pour myself another cup, since I wasn’t going to need to worry about staying up all night at that point.

Once I had enough in my mug, I took a long sip as Twilight continued her commentary. “So, you didn’t want to share anything that you earned with them? That’s a little cold, Adagio… I mean even if you don’t like them per say, they still have been with you for a long time. It didn’t bother you to think that they were suffering to pay the rent and that you were living like a queen?”

“What are you a communist now?” I raised a brow as I sipped again from the mug.

“A what?” Twilight blinked.

A sigh escaped me as I shook my head. “Never mind… And no… I didn’t feel bad. Those two are idiots and didn’t figure out how to make the big cash in the human world and if I told them how they’d fuck it up somehow. If they were trying to get into the drug business, they’d get busted and make it harder for me to deal, and then, of course, I’d have to bail them out of jail.”

“You have very little faith in them, huh?” Twilight frowned.

“My lack of faith in those two is well deserved, they are incompetent at best and useless at worst. I have had to devise all the plans over the years and I kept us safe. Those two, however, they only remember the few instances where my plans didn’t work and we got royally fucked over, but I never saw either of them pitching ideas!” I growled.

My entire life with those two sirens was more or less a big babysitting job. I was always taking care of them and providing for them, and neither of them ever showed an ounce of appreciation for it. Instead, they only recalled my blunders, but never all those nights where we didn’t go hungry thanks to me.

“So you feel unappreciated by them?” Twilight tilted her head.

“Do not try to analyze me, Twilight Sparkle, but yes, I did. Those two always bitched about the times where I let them down, but not once did I get a thank you for managing to save us numerous times, or keeping us fed. They are a couple of ungrateful twats!” I growled.

Somehow getting out my resentment for those two made me feel slightly better like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was difficult holding things in forever, but telling Twilight about my loathing of my companions somehow relieved a ton of stress that I had been carrying.

I was half expecting an angry response from her, or maybe some kind of mediator approach that told me to try and consider their perspective, but instead she just nodded and gave an, “I see.”

It was odd, Twilight continued to become more and more difficult to figure out. I couldn’t even begin to understand her, even though earlier that night, I thought I had her all figured out. Now I found myself doubting my assumptions, wondering if Twilight was merely cleverly playing me. The gears in her head turned to a different tune, and it was clear to me that she didn’t tell me all she knew.

Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Twilight smiled. “So you liked designer shoes huh?”

Blinking, I was a bit surprised to hear her ask about that but partially happy to hear it. “Yeah, the ones I had were custom-made as Aria said. I got little spikes on the front of them, and the heels were made to be more comfortable to walk in. I was definitely drop dead sexy wearing them.”

Twilight giggled and nodded. “It does increase your confidence to wear something that you feel flatters you, doesn’t it? I’m not much for fashion, but even I can’t deny that a very beautiful dress that was tailored to fit my figure makes me feel… Great about myself…”

“I bet the stares of a few stallions helps too doesn’t it, Princess?” I smirked.

A blush came to Twilight’s face as she found herself stammering. “Well… I… Uh…”

I nodded as I confirmed my suspicions. “So… Stallions do it for you then?”

Twilight turned her attention back to me as she got over her embarrassment over my previous comment. “Huh? Oh… Well… I suppose mares are nice too… I’ve had a crush or two on both…”

“So you’re not a lesbian then…” I grinned.

“Not entirely no… I guess I’m bi? I don’t know. I like both, but I’m picky I suppose?” Twilight shrugged.

It was strange discussing the Princess’ sexual preferences but somehow I found the subject enjoyable.

“What kind of girls would you like?” I asked.

Twilight blinked once more as she looked up in thought, rubbing her chin with her hoof before looking back at me and shrugging. “Hard to say?”

“Well, I saw your friend… What’s her name… Rarity? A gaudy fashion obsessed bimbo like her? How about her?” I grinned.

Twilight grew a minor look of offense as she defended her friend. “First of all, Rarity is far from gaudy or a bimbo… Second of all… I don’t know. She’s pretty, and I admire her, but I wouldn’t say I’m attracted to her… I sort of like something… Different…”

“Bad girls then?” I smirked.

“I… Suppose you could say that?” Twilight gulped as she looked away.

“What about someone like me? Would you go for someone like me?” I could feel the smirk on my face growing as I teased her.

“Are you coming onto me, Adagio?” Twilight raised a brow.

I laughed and shook my head. “Relax. Do you really think I actually believe I could seduce you into letting me go? Or even seduce you at all? It wouldn’t benefit me to do so. It’s just a question.”

Twilight paused and eyed me up and down as she thought it out. “Hmmm… Nice figure… sort of a punky vibe from you… Cute eyes… Wild mane… I probably wouldn’t be able to keep my hooves off of you if you were in my bed…” Twilight admitted with a smile.

I rolled my eyes. “You really are into troublemakers aren’t you?”

“I guess so…” Twilight shrugged.

“Well, I’m apparently the biggest troublemaker of them all, Twilight. I’m a murderer after all, right?” I asked.

“I… Suppose so…” Twilight’s words were soft, lacking conviction. It sounded like she had a hard time admitting that she felt I was indeed a murderer, which was part of why I posed the question, to see if she would tell me more about her own thoughts on the crime I was convicted of.

“I won’t deny it… I shot Shimmer. My hands were on that trigger, but I am hoping that after this story is over… You’ll at least understand how I ended up there with that gun in my hand…”

Twilight inhaled and exhaled before nodding. “We only have about ten and a half hours left, we should probably continue the story…” She added.

It was clear she wanted to avoid that subject until she knew the entire story, so I decided to give her what she wanted.

“Well… What happened next… Might surprise you…” I began.

So, after my overly long conversation with Aria… What? No, it wasn’t really a fight… Okay fine, after my overly long spat with Aria, I wanted some time to cool off. Dealing with her always pissed me off when she got like that. That’s not to say Sonata didn’t piss me off too, but she did so in a different way, more like she just annoyed the hell out of you with how dumb she was, whereas Aria made you want to tear your hair out. There was also the fact that Sonata was such a crybaby. For a siren, she was an astounding weakling.

With those two always waiting for me when I got home, it was easy to see how I got stressed out all the time. They were like a never-ending babysitting job that I was being punished with.

I had taken the bus downtown to get some time away from my apartment. I could get a head start on my sales as I mentioned before, and clear my head.

The bus ride over was relatively unpleasant with a homeless man asking me for cash repeatedly so I could say no over and over. It didn’t seem to do much in the way of making him stop bothering me, so I was forced to deal with him the entire trip. Yeah sure, I’m heartless, Twilight. He probably would have just taken the money to buy booze anyway. I’m not a charity case. Okay, maybe I gave him a ten before I got off the bus, but I made sure to tell him to stop bugging people too.

After my unpleasant bus ride, my mind was starting to clear up as I made my way to a familiar street corner. I decided to hit up the old spot and see what happened, after all, it was there that I made the sale that got me noticed by Striker, maybe lightning would strike in the same place twice. Yes, thank you, I know that was a clever metaphor.

I leaned up against the wall and decided to light a cigarette. As I stood there, I admired my reflection in a window across the street. A taller woman with a black blouse that left the top two buttons open and the shirt untucked stared back at me as she puffed a cigarette. She was sporting a sexy pair of acid washed jeans that accented her long legs perfectly, and of course expensive custom shoes to complete the look.

For a moment I wondered how intimidating I would look to passersby. Looking intimidating is a very crucial part of drug dealing, Twilight. It can mean the difference between someone trying to jack you for your wares and someone thinking twice before trying to cross you. I think you need to be a drug dealer to get it, Twilight.

A good fifteen minutes or so passed and I made two sales from snot-nosed little brats who were likely just buying some weed to go to a high school party or something. I had chosen to only carry weed that night, as I didn’t want the drama that came with the harder stuff. Given my performance record, Striker let me pick my stock whenever I liked and seldom asked questions. He knew that I wouldn’t come back with whatever he gave me and instead I’d come back with cold hard cash, this was the nature of our relationship.

After finishing my cigarette, I decided another one was in order, after all, it was a stressful day. No, I don’t have a problem, Twilight.

No sooner than when I had ignited the flame and set the cancer stick ablaze did I see a familiar car pull up, one that I thought I’d never see again.

That expensive vehicle shined in the moonlight as it pulled up directly next to me and rolled down its tinted window to reveal the young face that was shared between this girl and one of my worst enemies. I paused for a moment and reminded myself that this was a different girl entirely.

“Hey, cutie.” She smiled.

I couldn’t tell if she was merely teasing or trying to butter me up to get me to sell to her, not like it mattered, I knew she had some cash after the bills she dropped the last time I had seen her.

“Hey… Welcome back…” I replied, trying to play it casual.

“I thought I’d get another look at your face…” She giggled. I suspected she was partially high already given her demeanor.

“What’s your pleasure, kid?” I stated, trying to keep the conversation strictly business.

“Kid? You’re probably not much older than me by the look of it…” She giggled.

I rolled my eyes. “What do you want? I have a business to run here…” I grunted at her.

“How about… Your entire stock again?” She grinned.

This girl had to be crazy, I thought. Was she just going to keep showing up to buy my entire stock every time I saw her? How much pot could one girl smoke? I wondered if perhaps she was holding parties and gave away free pot to all of her guests, not like I cared what she did with it once it was paid for.

“I have way more on me than last time… Looking at around eight grand. You still game?” I raised a brow.

She reached into her purse behind her in the back seat of her car and withdrew a considerably sized wad of hundred dollar bills and waved it. “Money isn’t an issue… Let’s make it interesting though…”

“I’m listening…” I crossed my arms after putting out my cigarette and tossing it aside.

“How much to know your name?” She asked.

“Five hundred,” I quickly blurted out. I don’t know, it was the first number I could think of, Twilight.

Nodding she counted out the bills and waved them in my direction. I stepped forward and reached for them only for her to pull them back playfully. “Tell you what… I’ll throw in some extra if you come to smoke it with me?”

I looked away. “I… I’m probably not supposed to… I have a policy about fraternizing with clients…”

“I won’t tell if you don’t…” She spoke with an innocent tone, waving the bills once more.

Caving, I sighed and nodded. “Yeah… Sure, I guess… Just… Don’t tell anyone I did this, alright?”

She gestured with her head to go around the car and get in the other seat. Absentmindedly, I followed her silent instruction and made my way to the other side of the car and stepped in, sitting down carefully as I shut the door. I must have been insane, I actually voluntarily got into the car of the human version of my worst enemy. I didn’t know what I was thinking, perhaps my fight with Aria had impaired my judgment.

“Buckle up.” She pointed to the seatbelt next to me.

Sighing, I grabbed the device and clicked it into place as she nodded and started the car up.

After we began moving, I decided that the silence was killing me. “This is a nice car…”

She nodded. “It’s alright… I have been thinking about getting some upgrades for it. Just haven’t gotten around to it…”

She said that like the car wasn’t already obnoxiously expensive.

“So… What do you do for a living?” I asked.

She grinned. “Why the interest?”

“Someone doesn’t just drop that kind of coin on pot so frequently and not make great money, or have something they are trying to get away from for that matter…” I commented.

“I take it you are good at drawing inferences?” She asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

“You have to in my line of work, but… I acquired the talent elsewhere, let’s just leave it at that…” I replied.

She nodded. “Fair enough… So… You still haven’t told me your name…”

“It’s Adagio… Adagio Dazzle…” I said plainly, my eyes stayed on her, squinting in suspicion as I watched her every move.

“Adagio… That’s a great name… It’s so… Beautiful…” She smiled.

“You can butter me up all you like, but I don’t give discounts…” I responded.

A laugh exited her as she heard that statement. She reached up and adjusted her glasses. “I’m not exactly looking for better prices… As for what I do… I’m an heir to a family fortune. Let’s just say that money has never and will never be a problem that I have to face…”

“Sounds lucky… Must be nice being a spoiled brat…” I grunted as I looked out the window, not particularly interested in making small talk with her.

“Not as much as you’d think… But I won’t bore you with a ‘rich people have problems just like you’ sob story…” She smirked.

“Thanks… I wasn’t interested in hearing one anyway…” I replied with a yawn.

“How long have you been dealing?” She asked.

“Not long enough… It’ll be a while before I can retire from this job… Especially with my shopping habits…” I commented as I thought back to how poor I was at saving money. The moment I had money in my hand, I was already planning on how to spend it. There was always money in my pocket, but I was always needing to do more work to keep the supply up. A night like that night was a blessing, only having to do a few sales and then sell my entire stock in one transaction, that meant after I was done, I could head home early and count my bills.

My mind was already thinking about what I’d do with my cut the next morning.

“I can see that… Your outfit is cute… Gold is so your thing, it suits you…” She commented as she made a turn.

Part of me was wondering why she was so complimentary, but another part of me just didn’t care. In my mind, she was another customer and I was just doing what I had to do to make a sale. It was just business as usual, the only difference is that this sale was to a girl who looked identical to my mortal enemy.

I had decided it was wise to keep my eye on her, to make sure she wasn’t trying anything funny.

“Thanks… So where is your place exactly?” I asked, trying to keep the subject casual.

“It’s right around here, we’re pulling up to the gate now.” She pointed in front of us.

I looked forward to see an expensive looking metal gate with the word “Shimmer” stylized into the metal. The girl tapped a button hanging off her key ring and the gate began to open for us. I had to admit, I was somewhat in awe when I saw the house in the distance. A girl like me seldom saw such a lavish place, maybe only once or twice in Equestria when I was feeding off of some mouth breather who had a load of cash, but nothing like this place.

The house was gigantic and immaculate, you could probably fit two entire schools in this place.

As we came up the driveway, she parked the car in front of the steps leading to the entrance and looked over at me with a smile. “We’re here.”

Nodding, I stepped out of the car with her, craning my neck to try and see the top of the building, but with no luck. A building like this was something that most people probably wouldn’t get to look at up close.

Sunset came around to the door and opened it as she gestured with her hand for me to follow her. A deep sigh escaped me as I nodded and proceeded into the building with her, not certain of what was going to happen from there.

As we entered, I looked around the house with intrigue, noticing that I didn’t see a single sign of anyone else inhabiting the large building. “Hey… Are you the only one who lives here?” I asked with a raised brow.

“Just me and Moon.” She shrugged.

“Moon?”

“Oh, he’s my dog. He’s around here somewhere… Did you want anything to drink, by the way?” She asked.

She seemed so innocent, so nonchalant about letting a total stranger into her house. It was odd, to say the least.

“I’m good…” Said as I stuffed my hands into my pockets.

She nodded and gestured toward a room to the left. “Shall we then?”

I only shrugged as I followed her lead and we ended up in what appeared to be a living room. The girl gracefully sat herself on a couch, patting next to herself for me to join. I stood there with hesitation at first, but after a few seconds, I decided that it was safe and I joined her, sitting down and trying to relax.

“So, let’s see the goods?” She giggled.

Shrugging, I reached into my bag that I had brought with me and began withdrawing every single bag of marijuana I had, placing it on the coffee table. She just sat there idly with her legs crossed as she watched me unload my entire stock onto her table. Nodding, she reached forward and withdrew a bag and opened it. She gave it a good sniff and nodded approvingly. “You must have some good connections to get stuff this good…”

“I can’t reveal any trade secrets…” I replied instantly.

She laughed at my cautiousness. “Relax, I’m not trying to open up shop, that means I couldn’t buy from you anymore… Nah, I’d rather get served than do the serving…”

The girl reached across the table and snagged some rolling paper she had kept there and within a few short seconds had fashioned the marijuana into a joint with skill and expertise. It was clear she smoked quite often.

Producing a zippo lighter from her purse, she smiled as she flicked it open and ignited the joint. Her eyes locked onto me as she leaned back in her seat and took a long drag, holding the smoke in for a few seconds before releasing it. “Fuck… That’s good…”

Sunset smiled at me and offered the joint to me then. I looked at it and then at her, truthfully with as much as I had sold, I had never once tried the stuff. “I… I haven’t really ever gotten high…” I replied.

She blinked. “Really? But you sell the stuff.”

“Part of what makes me a good saleswoman is that I don’t dip into my stock,” I stated with a matter-of-a-fact tone.

Grinning, she leaned forward and came closer. “Just close your eyes, okay?”

At first, I didn’t want to, I didn’t trust anyone enough to close my eyes and just let them do what they wanted, but for some reason I closed them anyway, allowing her the freedom. She came closer and placed the joint between my lips as she instructed.

“Relax yourself… Take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds…” She said.

Following her command, I inhaled the smoke from the joint, holding it in my lungs for a few seconds as she told.

“Savor it… Then… Release…” She gently commanded.

As the smoke exited my mouth, I found myself leaning back in comfort. “Wow… That’s… Actually really nice…”

“See, you should come over and smoke with me more often…” Sunset Giggled.

“I’ll consider it…” I said before taking another inhale and passing it back to her as I exhaled the smoke.

“So… Adagio Dazzle… You’re a drug dealer…” She began.

“How did you figure that one out?” I replied with a sarcastic tone.

“I’m curious though…” Sunset said.

“About what?” I raised a brow as I watched her take another puff.

“About what else you are…” She grinned.

“What’re you talking about?” I asked.

“What makes Adagio Dazzle tick… Surely there is more to you than the fact that you sell rich girls pot, right?” She smirked.

It was odd to see her or anyone for that matter interested in my life, but I shrugged, not really knowing what to say or where to start even. The reality was that most of my life was probably uninteresting or stuff I couldn’t tell her.

“Don’t know what else to say… I guess you could say I’m a loner? Shy of my two idiot Si-“ I paused and corrected myself before I said something I shouldn’t have. “Two… idiot roommates… And my supplier, I don’t really associate with anyone… Hell even hanging out here is rare…”

“Not a people’s person?” Shimmer blinked.

“I guess you could say that… Actually no, you definitely could say that. People suck ass…” I grinned.

She offered the joint back to me which I graciously took and inhaled once more. She leaned back in her seat and smiled. “Yeah, they definitely can…”

The rest of the few hours that I spent there went by with casual small talk, getting to know each other. I did more listening than talking, but I came to learn that Sunset grew up traveling a lot, seeing all over the world with her parents, but they had died a few years ago and now she was the owner of this estate all by herself.

From the first time I came over, I could say that Sunset Shimmer was a mysterious person, someone who didn’t tell you everything she was thinking. I could sense a calculating nature about her, something about her demeanor always left one guessing.

I could barely believe what I had done when it was time to leave, I had spent the entire evening with another version of Sunset Shimmer, the same girl who assisted in making me lose my magic and stranding me in this hellhole world. Yes, you played a role in that too, Twilight…

After she drove me home, she sighed as we pulled up close to my apartment. I had purposefully instructed her to park a good block or so away. The last thing I needed was questions from Aria or Sonata about why I was hanging out with a human version of Sunset Shimmer.

She looked over at me with a smile. “So… When’s next time?”

“I beg your pardon?” I blinked.

“Oh come on, do I have to pay you again to come smoke with me?” She giggled.

“Look… I just did this because that’s what you paid for…” I rolled my eyes.

Nodding, Shimmer winked as she reached into her bag behind her and offered me a hundred. I stared at it for a moment before snatching it from her. “Incentive… To hang out again.”

“Fine… Whatever…” I rolled my eyes.

“See ya later…” She winked as I stepped out of the car. As she drove away, I stood there wondering what chain of events I had just set into motion.

Author's Note

Aria, stop being such a communist.