When Aria had said that they would need dresses, Dawn had been rather confused. She already had all the clothes that she would need for the forseeable future if not longer, in her own opinion. But Aria had said it was necessary and that she already knew exactly where they could ‘pick one up’ for the red girl.

And so, they were once again on the bike, this time driving into one of the wealthier areas of the city. Big houses with their own big gardens and yards flew by them left and right, which confused Dawn. This did not seem like an area where any sort of boutique or shop for clothing would settle down, for that matter she had not seen any businesses here at all.

She finally got her answer, sort of, when Aria pulled into the driveway of one particular house at the very end of the street. It stood out from the rest by looking like it was the oldest building in the entire block. It also looked completely empty in comparison to the neighbouring ones.

They came to a stop next to the entrance and after securing her bike, Aria pulled out a key from her pocket. Stepping towards the door she shoved it in, twisted, and pushed it open. Dawn followed her into the building.

It was big. Very big, atleast for her.

From the spacious entrance hall, wide stairs led up to the second floor, while more rooms opened up to the left and the right. The walls had many interesting objects displayed, swords, masks, paintings and many other curios. The only thing that they had in common seemed to be that they were all old, antiques and keepsakes from previous times, most likely inherited or bought. Underneath them, most of the furniture was concealed by white blankets, only the table in the dining room was left bare. The entire building radiated a feeling of older times

It seemed so strange that they were here. Dawn supposed that a relative or associate of Aria lived here, yet when she asked it was confirmed that the entire estate and all the things inside it was, in fact, owned by her.

Pretty impressive in Dawn’s opinion.

Of course, Aria had not been the sole owner until recently, but that was a topic Dawn felt both would not want to talk about right now.

So she just followed her friend around, as they made short inspections from room to room, until they had made their way into one of the bedchambers.

While Dawn continued to look around the room and inspect all the items displayed on the four walls, Aria slipped into closet and began rummaging around. It took her only a few minutes before she came back out with pieces of clothing in her arms.

“So, I know I already kinda asked that.” Dawn asked as she turned around to her friend. “But why do we need fancy dresses?”

“Because we’re going to a fancy place tomorrow and we both need to be dressed the part.” Aria replied. Her eyes were scrutinizing the dark blue dress while she spoke, turning it this way and that way to make sure it was still whole. Eventually she seemed to be satisfied and layed the elaborate clothing onto the bed.

“Alright!” She exclaimed and spun around to face Dawn. “Now we need yours.”

“Wha- Mine?” That was all that the red girl could get out before she was already yanked towards the chamber’s closet.

What followed were about half an hour worth of dresses, which Aria took from all three of the villa’s bedchambers. That was a lot of options. But even when they had quickly narrowed down the selection to only a few pieces from each room, actually choosing one was a stupidly difficult choice for Dawn.

This try-out-period also gave the red girl the opportunity to look into all three rooms separately and compare them in terms of style and décor. Very quickly she concluded that the first room was indeed Aria’s. The second one was even bigger and lavishly decorated, everything screamed luxus and pomp. Even though, like every other room, things had obviously been packed and taken away, leaving only bigger pieces of furniture and wall-hangings. This personality clashed horribly with what she had experienced from Aria so far, so she safely concluded it to be not her personal chamber. The other one, from what she could glean off posters and leftover plush animals, was the room of a younger girl. Definitely not Aria too, so there was only the first option left.

The dress they went with in the end came out of the overly luxurios one’s extensive closet. In comparison to the other inhabitants, this one was both humble and… conservative, to say the least.

A purple dress that ended just above her ankles. The fabric was soft and there was simple black and golden stitchings along her shoulder area, stylizing a sort of ying-yang pattern; symbols that were always formed in a balanced manner from the two different colours. Dawn found it mixed well with her hair, it was very modest and would likely not stand out much, both things she appreciated. She was also very glad that she had found a fitting coat for her upper body to repell the cold outside.

If they even were outside, which she doubted. But so far Aria had not revealed much more details, something that frustrated her friend. The only thing that Dawn had been able to get out of her was that their destination would be a restaurant of some kind, nothing more. To be fair, she had not drilled strong enough to even hope of getting more sophisticated information.

Like the reason they were going to that place. Her current bet was that Aria wanted to either treat her to dinner at a high-quality place, which Dawn found unnecessary because Aria’s own cooking was pretty good itself, or there was some sort of an extra surprise.

As Dawn stepped down the staircase and into the dining room, she caught sight of her fuchsia friend sitting at the bare table, apparently lost in her own thoughts.

She had been afraid of that.

After all, they had been rifling through the closets of Aria’s dead sisters. She knew the girl well enough to understand that showing her thoughts and emotions openly happened only sparingly, probably like now. After a few moments of pondering, Dawn made her way to the toilet. She managed to stall for a few minutes at the very least, before she actually entered the room and sat down besides her friend.

“So, we’re done here, right?”

Aria just ‘mhm-ed’.

“Question: If you owned this house for, like, a long time already. How come that you all lived inside an apartment? I mean, wouldn’t it be easier to have only one, especially to conserve money?” Dawn asked while she quietly hoped that she could manage to avoid the touchier topic.

“We just wanted to get away from all this.” Aria replied. “Y’know, you spent so long in the same place, and it is nice and personal of course. But eventually, we just got… the urge to live somewhere else for a while. Money wasn’t really that much of a concern, and it cut away at our travel time for many things.”

“Actually, there is a problem with the apartment.” Dawn turned back towards her friend, cocking her head in curiosity. She could think of a few things that could be a problem, or atleast the start of one. Of course, she herself could be a reason, even though she had hoped to avoid that.

“How bad is it?” She asked tentatively.

“Not extremely problematic, but enough to warrant a change of sorts.” Aria explained. It was a bit strange to Dawn how her friend could be so nonchalant when talking about a problem concerning her living arangments.

“To summarize, my landlord has been acting up a lot recently. He wants to raise the rent by quite a lot, among other reasons because there is another person living there now. Then there is a whole lot of other stuff he is complaining about, things have been rather tense the last few months.” Aria gestured around the room. “So, you’re kinda right with what you said. I was thinking for the last few days, maybe we could just ditch the apartment and move into this house again?”

“Uh, well… Yeah, why not? That would be really cool.” Dawn sputtered a bit there, her mind had taken a moment to fully understand that she could be living in this house. There was a small bit of unease in her, a reminder that she would still be sleeping in a bed of one of Aria’s deceased sisters. But Aria seemed okay with it, afterall she wouldn’t have made the offer otherwise. As selfish as that may sound, she could live with it.

“Alright.” Aria said as she clapped her hands together. “We should still have a car in the garage to get our stuff, it’s not that much so I think we can bring it all here before evening.”

“Don’t we have a to make a check-up by the hospital?” Dawn asked even as she was already standing up from the table.

“Yeah, but that won’t take long. And even then, we can always bring the rest in tomorrow. The whole paperwork should also not be overly time consuming, so don’t worry. We’re not in a haste.”

“Alright. Let’s get going anyway, the sooner we start the better, right?” Dawn said enthusiastically.

“Good, she doesn’t seem to suspect anything.” Aria thought to herself as she followed the red-skinned girl outside.

The sharp wind whipped around them, as Aria drove through the streets and into a specific parking lot. It was a building relatively near their new home, which was of course very practical. It also meant that most likely, the people attending the restaurant could be placed into the better situated or dowright rich echelons of society. Atleast if they came here more regularly.

And it certainly seemed fancy from the outside, Dawn had to admit that as they dismounted from the bike and Aria secured it. It didn’t really help her though. There was a subdued nervousness inside her, she had trouble placing the actual cause of it.

One option, the simplest, was that things had moved a lot recently, they had moved. Going from an apartment to a mansion in a couple of days was rather overwhelming, the bed and corresponding chamber in particular had felt so big and empty at night. And now she stood here in a fancy dress, her hair done in a beautiful braid (Aria had more knowledge of that then she would have thought), before an establishment that catered to people better off than many. She felt too strange here, like being a foreign organism.

Aria didn’t though. She seemed to blend right in. The way her body moved, her poisture, she acted nothing like the girl Dawn was living with. Like a dancer she walked, fluid and with practised grace. And that was the second option of Dawn’s nervous state.

“Come on, or do you want to stay here and freeze into an icicle?” Aria’s typical snarky comments were still the same, even when her voice purposefully lacked her rougher edges. Then, startling Dawn and causing a small and muffled yelp, the fuchsia girl simply grabbed the other’s arm and hooked it into her own.

Again, the second option. Simply put, Aria was beautiful right now. And she was bringing the amnesiac girl to a fancy restaurant, intentionally teasing her with the big surprise she had planned.

If Limestone would ever hear of this, she was sure that they would never hear the end of it.

The thing, or the problem, was that she would have a point, somewhat. Dawn would have to be blind if she were still unsure wether or not Aria cared about her. Because she did, both of them did. And it did make Dawn really happy.

Yet… she was also aware of how people from outside might view them. And the problem for her was that she had no idea how to act here. Right now, she just tried to act normal and not let her friend figure out that she was feeling a bit jittery.

Because she could not deny that Aria, as she gently guided her through the entrance deeper into the lavishingly decorated halls, was not stunning or that she made her feel very fuzzy in her chest right now.

No focus! You’re thinking too much into this, you’re making it way weirder than it is. Just stay calm and enjoy this. She yelled at herself in her own mind. Then she tried to calm down via controlled breathing, as they stepped into a lounge area of sorts.

The room was quite sizeable, with many round tables of varieng sizes and even more elegant chairs sitting around them. It was decorated very tastefully, and the many candles gave the whole a warm, some would maybe say romantic, ambiente. All the people sitting in pairs or groups were chatting with eachother, some laughing.

Dawn, however, felt almost intimidated by it all. Then she saw the table that the both of them were steering towards. It was nicely decorated with flowers and a trio of tall candles already burning. Her guts were squirming and her arm held Aria even stronger.

“Dawn, why don’t you go and wait over there at that table?” The look that the fuchsia girl received was one of equal confusion and outright shock. “I’ll just prepare a few things, won’t take ten minutes.”

Aria would have left then and there, but she didn’t. That was because Dawn looked like she was starting to panik, her eyes slowly widening and her hands trembling slightly. Putting on her best comforting face, Aria took the two cardinal red hands into her own.

“Hey, don’t worry.” She said with a soft voice. “I know these people, I trust them, so you can too. And no matter what, I won’t be far away. It will just be a few minutes and then you’ll see me again. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

Against all odds, Dawn felt herself calm down at the unusually soft voice of her friend. The thought of being so suddenly separated in an unknown place full of unknown people had thrown her into a sudden anxiety attack. But listening to the almost melodic, crystal clear voice of the person in front of her easily took away all these fears.

She nodded and let herself be escorted to the intended seat, still unwilling but now in an agreement to stay put for the time being. Once the employee had wandered off, Dawn started to look around the place. It was really fanciful.

Near her was some sort of upraised part of the floor, where no tables or chairs had been positioned. This part of the room was also decorated more. But as of right now, it did not interest her at all.

Figuring that she could not complain against her friend’s sudden disappearance, Dawn began to let her eyes wander around the room, once again trying to distract herself by looking at people. She of course picked those that would likely not notice her staring. Generally, they seemed to be all dressed in well made or expensive looking suits and dresses. But there were only a few that stood out from the rest to her, wether by their distinctive frame or other such things.

One example was a large and muscular man, his red face framed perfectly by a deep black suit that also made the greying hairs in his beard stand out. He was chatting amiably with a woman wearing a long and sleek dress that blended black and green together well. Her skin was an almost cold shade of black, but her hair was of a dark turquoise, long and like silk. But not just their complementing looks caught her eye. It was also their shared air of regal authority; the aura of two strong-willed people, who where still in genuinely enjoying each other’s company, it seemed. Dawn watched their mannerisms for a few minutes, unconsciously smiling, before she turned her gaze elsewhere.

Not much later, she found another table with rather interesting occupants. This time it seemed to be two young women, maybe just as old as she herself likely was. These two seemed to be talking with eachother as well, yet Dawn felt like they were not in such a good mood like the rest of the people here.

One had smooth alabaster-white skin and was wearing a beautifully crafted dress that mixed different shades of purple, violet and pink, while her own purple hair remained the darkest of all the shades. Her partner had the skin of soft yellow and long pink hair that was tied up in an elaborate knot, instead of the stylish freefall that the first one had. Her own dress covered nearly her entire body and was devoid of any embroidery or other decorations. It was pure black, looked like something one would wear to a funeral.

She looked down at the table the two girls shared, while her partner was holding her hands together and seemingly speaking very quietly to her.

Dawn could not stare for long however, as a man in a suit walked onto the raised platform and gathered the attention of the entire room. The lone girl did not listen to him at first, as she looked around for her own friend and so she only registered that tonight something special would be happening. People clapped as the man took his microfone in hand and raised an arm towards the entrance of the stage.

“And so, I am very happy to present to you, once again, our very special pesnya ptitsa nochi.” Dawn’s head turned around faster than her neck would have liked. From somewhere in the room, her head barely registered a muffled gasp. She knew these words, she had heard the old man, Aria’s friend, at the mechanic shop call her that, or atleast a shorter version. When Dawn had asked, Aria had told her what it meant. Song bird of the night.

Indeed, there she was. Stepping on the stage with her eyes closed, yet as direct as she always was. The embroidery on her dress, until now pretty much invisble, lit up under the lights directed at her. Her piercing purple eyes opened, finding Dawn near her she winked.

And then Aria Blaze started to sing.

At first there was only a melody. Her voice was clear like crystal, soft and beautiful. Dawn would have never expected this from her friend, who always seemed to be a bit deeper and rougher than others.

Yet here, the sound of her voice was like a gentle river, flowing without interruption and linking together tones flawlessly. Her heartpace was getting faster as her eyes widened.

There was a pause, where it felt like a falling pin could be heard.

Then Aria started to sing the first of her lyrics. The words mostly escaped Dawn’s mind, later she could not recall what they had been about. But she did not need to remember them. The melody itself was telling her a story.

It was wonderful. It was breath-taking.

It was enchanting.

It made you understand what it was about, even without saying it directly.

The melody was soothing but also somber, carrying with it the tale of loss and struggle. Even when Aria raised her voice, she never shouted, always keeping in that smooth flowing tone, with which she seemed to weave words and tunes together.

She never made a pause before the next song followed the last one, maybe there wasn’t even multiple, but one single piece? Dawn could not have been able to tell, so enraptured she was. Even her sense of time alluded her completely.

She just sat there, struck and surprised like so many others in the room, listening to her friend. Sometimes, she could feel tears forming in her eyes. Other times, she closed her eyes and focused on the melody alone, a smile grazing her lips.

In the last minutes, Aria started to raise her voice in volume and strength. . Then, she began to let the melody slowly fade out, bringing her song to rest on one final note.

Immediately, the whole room was filled with applause. Many were standing up, while they were clapping, whistles and shouts of appraisal were given. Dawn was contributing to this as well; she could not bring herself not to applaud what her friend had just delivered.

Aria simply gave an elegant bow towards her odience. She smiled gently as they appraised her, even as she turned and walked off the stage. Before she fully left the spotlight though, she gave another well-practised bow and a wave with her hand.

Not long after and she entered the room again through one of the more normal entrances and beelined towards the table that Dawn was still sitting at. As she passed through the room, people stood up to speak with her, they thanked her for her singing and they complimented her. She always said only a few polite words, enough to satisfy them so she could continue her on her way.

“And? It seems like you enjoyed the show.” Aria said as she had finally reached the table that the red girl was sitting at. Her typical smirk adorned her face.

“Yes!” Dawn replied happily. “It was beautiful, Aria. I didn’t know that you could sing so wonderfully.”

Aria chuckled. “Well, I figured it may ruin the surprise somewhat if I had told you. Now, if you want to, we can eat dinner here. They have a really good kitchen and-”

Aria’s gaze suddenly shifted to a point away from them. Her body tensed up like an animal that was aware of a rival nearby. She remained calm to the outside, but Dawn was able to pick up the signs that her friend had spotted something that put her on alert.

Following her eyes, Dawn tried to find what- or whoever it was, yet in the surrounding crowd she could not be certain enough until the couple literally stood before them. When they did, Dawn recognized them from before.

The black-clad girl was somewhat clinging to her alabaster companion, looking like she was very unsure of what they were doing. Her head poisture reminded Dawn of Marble Pie, who acted similar when trying to hide behind a cascade of hair. This girl, however, still had her’s in the knot and thus lacked the hair-cover.

But where she showed uncertainty, her partner radiated calm confidence. Looking directly at Aria, she directed the other without forcing her, acting more like crutch.

“Good evening.” She said. It sounded so polite, so nonchalantly. An outsider might assume the two parties did not know eachother. Yet Dawn could see the recognition and the added worry in the eyes of both of the newcomers, Aria… well she could almost taste the disdain her friend had for those two.

Nevertheless, they were in a somewhat crowded place. Making a scene was not something that Dawn Fire really wanted and she was certain that Aria would also avoid it. Also, she was probably the only one who did not know the opposition. Dawn was maybe in the best position to defuse this.

Maybe she could learn more about Aria? No, she had bigger priorities. She trusted Aria, if there was anything important, she would just ask her friend about it directly.

“Good evening to you as well.” The redhead said with her best attempt to be polite, making a small curtesy. “Can we help you with anything?”

This seemed to work, somewhat. The more regal of the two girls smiled gently and answered with her own little bow.

“Yes, actually. We just wanted to congratulate Miss Aria here for her performance. You see we know eachother a bit and the two of us were surprised to see her here.” Her timid friend answered with a rather quiet voice.

“But oh, where are our manners? My name is Rarity Belle and this here is Fluttershy Petalwing. A pleasure meeting you here.” The alabaster girl made another short bow.

“My name is Dawn Fire. Nice to meet you too.”

“Forgive me if I am being rude here.” Rarity said. “But what brings you to this wonderful place?”

Dawn glanced to her friend, unsure of what to say, but she did not find any directions in the other’s expression. “Aria invited me here. We live together in the same apartment, for convenience.” She of course left out her own amnesia’s part in the story.

“Ah, naturally. We ourselves have come here to take our minds of recent stresses, if you will. Experiencing this performance was not something either of us expected, though we certainly do not complain. It has been quite a while since we heard you sing, my dear Aria.” The purple-haired one said.

“Indeed, it has.” Aria replied. “This time you even let me sing to the end.”

Rarity gave neither word nor facial reaction as an answer, though she turned towards Dawn when she saw the clueless expression. “We were all part of a musical competition, not that long ago. A band battle, if you will. Fluttershy, several friends and my small self went up against Miss Blaze here and her sisters, in the finals no less. In hindsight, I have to admit that it wasn’t the most peaceful event.”

“For this, we’d like to extend an apology towards you and your sisters.” The other girl, Fluttershy, spoke up with. “None of you have to accept of course. But we hoped to maybe get to know you.”

“It is good to see that you have regained yourself after the finales.” Rarity spoke again.

“On account of all… present Rainbooms, that is our band name dear,” she quickly shot to Dawn with a sheepish smile. “We would like to bury the hatchet, so to speak.”

Dawn did not realize that she had grabbed Aria’s hand until she felt in twisting in her own grip. She had not been able to help or stop herself. As soon as the polite girl in front of her had mentioned Aria’s sisters, Dawn had tensed up. Her skin prickled and goosebumps stretched all across her body and it was definitely not the good kind.

Surprisingly, Aria seemed to relax in her hand. She lost the tension of an animal that had encountered an enemy. Her lips pressed together for a moment, unbeknownst to the other girls, Aria had to supress a cruel smirk.

“Well, I am afraid that I will not be able to speak for my dear sisters. So. you will have to do with my own personal answer. Which would be Fuck off! Regarding the others, they did not have the good fortune I received and didn’t take our loss well at all. If you want to ask them about it, I would suggest meeting them at their new place. Dawn, we’re going.” Throughout her answer, Aria had managed to stay utterly calm, even while venom filled her voice. Both girls flinched unwillingly several times, as if the words had been yelled at them. They just stood there, while Aria lead her companion towards the exit. Then the fuchsia girl turned around again.

“Oh, my bad, I forgot to give you their new address. Thanatos Street, I’m sure you know where that is, west from the entrance, tenth row. They are right next to eachother.”

They did not reply, as their faces distorted in shock. Dawn wanted to say something, but even if she would have known what, her friend pretty much dragged her out of sight and towards the parking lots.

Their trip back was silent. Of course, normally there was little room to talk on the back of a motorcycle, but this time Dawn felt like Aria had been put in a sour mood. She had a vague idea why that was, though of course she lacked the details.

So deep in her own thoughts and contemplation, Dawn only noticed them slowing down when the bike drove off the road and came to a standstill.

“Are you alright?” She asked her friend, worry clear to hear in her voice.

Aria took her helmet off first, shaking her long hair free and dismounted from her bike.

“I just need a moment to calm down. Got my wings ruffled up a bit.” She said.

Dawn just nodded. Looking around to pass the time in silence, she saw where Aria had parked her vehicle. They were right in front of a sizeable building, in a sort of courtyard with a statue in the middle. The lack of sufficient light made it hard to see much in the way of significant characteristics, so Dawn could not say what this building was.

“You know,” Aria broke the silence, her voice laced with a somber but also reminiscing tone. “this is the school where that competition was held. And where we lost it all. This is where everything started.”

“Oh.” It was the only thing that she could say.

“Aria, ho-“ She stopped herself, hesitating for a second before turning away. “Forget it”

“Not a chance now.” Aria smirked. With a few fast steps she stood in front of Dawn and looked her straight in the eyes.

They looked at each other for what felt like minutes. Aria studied her faciel features, noted the serious look. With nothing of her previous attitude left, she asked: “Let me guess, you want to know how it did happen to them?”

Again Dawn hesitated, averting her eyes from her friend. She wanted to know, it felt to her like this competition was in some part responsible for it. The way that Aria had brought out her sisters’ death, she had intended to shock them of course, but if Dawn was right, then she also wanted them to feel guilty.

“No!” She made her decision.

“Huh?”

“I don’t want to you to tell me. Not just because I asked and you feel oblieged to answer me.” She said to the surprised girl in front of her. “You are my friend Aria. You tell me when you want to.”

At first her features were unreadable, as if they could not decide how they should act like. Then, surprisingly, they softened up. Aria smiled, as if she was genuinely touched by what she had just heard. “… Thanks. That is really considerate from you.”

Dawn smiled too. Her chest felt a bit fuzzy as they stood here, before them the school building. Nobody else was in the streets right now. It was as silent as the city could become, the everpresent snow muffling what noises were made by distant cars. In their thick coats, the two of them were warded well against the cold, but still, standing next to the other somehow felt more comfortable.

Dawn blushed slightly, hoping that Aria would not notice it in the dim light. Itching closer to her, she opened her arms for a hug.

It took the other a second to realize the intention, a second in which Dawn desperately hoped that she would accept it. But she didn’t, leaving her standing like this awkwardly.

“Not right now, okay?”

Dawn nodded and smiled embaressed, her heart betrayed her in simply brushing off the rejection. At the very least, Aria had not been harsh. Still, it stung her. Just a bit.

“Hey Dawn, come on, I want to show you something.”

It startled her, when the soft fuchsia hand grasped her own, breaking her from her inner thoughts and leading her towards the school building. The thing that Aria seemed to walk towards was a statue. As far as she could make out in the dim light, it was a horse rearing up on its hindlegs. They stopped directly in arms reach of it.

“Pretty interesting statue, don’t you think?” Aria said to her. It threw the red girl a bit into confusion, was she trying to take her mind off things? Because she could not think of any other reason for her to suddenly take an interest in this thing.

She took a closer look at the carved figure towering above them. It was a nice piece, she had to admit, and…

Her skin prickled. Madly.

Where her chest had been fuzzy before, now it got rapidly stronger to the point she had trouble keeping her breath even. The air around her also seemed to have lost its chill. Instead it was rich and warm and she found herself drinking it in her body. At this point, she did not notice anything outside of her and the statue.

Her left hand reached forward, closing in on the smooth-looking stone. It was a weirdly intoxicating feeling. Her body felt on edge, hairs standing straight, a rush of energy flooding her veins; but whatever she felt it did not feel like enough, just a small taste.

Skin met with marble. She drew in a deep breath.

It felt like electrizity was shooting through her entire body. She did not scream, even though her body demanded it.

It was painful, it was definitely alarming if she could have formed coherent thoughts right now. But it felt great, she could not argue against that.

Her surroundings returned as she fell to the ground, her arms shooting out reflexively and holding her face away from the snow below her. Every single muscle in her body was tensing up, as if readying for a fight. She was sweating profusely, she felt like she was overheating.

“Are you alright?” Aria was kneeling beside her, sounding as if she spoke through water.

“Wha-what was that?” Dawn sputtered as she clutched her chest. Her skin still prickled, like needles were trying to grow out of her. Her hands felt swollen, her spine ached and her head was pulsing painfully.

Yet it only held on for a minute or so, before dulling. The only thing left was the occasional twitching in her limbs. What remained however, was the pure energy she felt in her body.

“I don’t know.” Aria said after a while, as she helped the other girl back onto her feet.

“Actually, I think it was probably not that important. Maybe you just forget it.”

Her voice made Dawn relax. After all, she could trust her friend. Back on her feet, her mind was slowly getting more and more dizzy. Which as weird, because she could not remember drinking anything while at the fancy place.

Speaking of which, she had to think of that beautiful song Aria had sung. Its flowing melody seemed to fill her ears once again, making her smile.

“Infact, you really look tired to me. Come on, let us get home.”

And so her friend carefully lead her back to the bike. Telling her to hold on again and driving back to the apartment. Of course, Dawn did exactly as her friend had told her.

As they pulled out from the streets, and as they made their way up the stairs, Dawn let the evening go through her mind again. Her anxiety before Aria had surprised her with that wonderful performance. Those two girls. How Aria had driven them home and made a short stop to calm down. And then she had felt so tired, so they had hurried back.

All those emotions must have robbed her of her energy. She just felt so tired.

“G’night, Aria.” She mumbled before slipping into her own room. She had enough energy to change and make herself bed ready. But when she hit the bed, she passed out almost immediately.

Carefully she peaked through the narrow doorslit, knowing full well that her eyes would be all to visible, especially when there was no light on either side of the door. She waited, one minute, two, five. There was no movement from them both, until she had counted to exactly three hundred. Looked like Dawn was finally and fully asleep.

Still stepping lightly, Aria made her way down the stairs towards the enourmous living room. Falling down into her own personal comforter, she released a sigh she had not noticed holding.

“I really am a bitch, aren’t I?

This pang of guilt did not last long before being squashed. Still, it left somewhat of a bitter aftertaste. Aria shook her head.

“Ugh, no matter! I’ll figure out why she is dormant. Just gotta have to keep an extra eye on her for the next days.”

Beep

Beep

Beep

She was getting closer, she knew it. The readings that her device was giving her had lead her to this very place, she just had to get to spot of the strongest concentration.

Everything around her was dark, it was deep in the night. Her parents did not know where she was right now, if her measures worked, they would not figure it out. If they did, she’d likely sink into the ground from the shame alone.

There! The signal was spiking.

Her steps were getting faster.

Then she stood before it. The source, the hot spot. Another one.

And again, it was here at this school. Why was it always at this school?

In last year’s summer she had picked it up the first time. A new frequency, a new kind of signal.

If she were correct, a new kind of energy. And then it was gone. Her equipement had not been calibrated for this, she had not made anything for it yet. It had been luck, technically a mistake in her settings that were just right to sense the sudden pulse.

The second time, in fall, she had been proven that this was something special, something different then all she already knew about. And that time she had been able to pick up more. Enough data to start working on the first crude prototype. It had lead her here, but she had not been able to find a lot. True, she had not been observing the place at all. Still, nothing unusual.

As she upgraded her devices and formulated theories and thesies, her scanner picked up another spot. On the bridge where the accident had happened, right in the center of the blast zone, she had gotten strong signals. Yet when she had returned only hours later, there was nothing left. She did not know the answer as to why.

Still, she had again gathered data, refined her sensors, and waited.

And now, she again found this energy. She could count herself fortunate that she had made taking her device with her all the time a habit by now.

This time she was more prepared. The signal was feiner then it should have been, but she could get so much from this.

Canterlot High School, Twilight thought to herself as she unpacked her equipement. What is happening here?

Author's Note

Oh, Aria. What have you done?

And what will you do now?

(F*ck up Rarity and Fluttershy with guilt again, that's what)

Things are starting to pick up here.
What are your thoughts on things so far?

See ya.