There was another presence in the room. Looming over her, a monstrous figure; tall and muscular with two bright blue eyes.

Bright, cruel, blue-ish irises that were surrounded by a sea of black, like a void.

The figure was shrouded in her own shadow, cast from a raging fire behind her. The flames crackled like the screams of… people. It consumed the furniture, the walls around her; everything.

Still, she could see the creature’s eyes. And its teeth, two rows of sharpened daggers, with cruel fangs that stood menacingly. IT was snarling down at her.

Massive hands with fingers long as sharp like claws lunched towards her, too fast for her to even attempt to dodge. Where they touched her skin it flared up, as if it was burning hot, taking up an almost blinding shade of orange. She could not look at it, it burned.

The creature lifted her up, before slamming her face first against a wall, right into the fire.

Her skin was now actually burning, as she could feel the flames scorching her face. Her vision went white, her voice could not form words even though she needed to scream out.

One hand held her head against the wall, as the other pulled back. Then she felt two claws like knives, digging into her skin.

Slowly, they cut through her back, two lines on either side of her spinal cord, right next to her shoulder blades. She could feel blood trickling from the open gashes. Then her head seemed to split.

One pushed foward, angrily snarling out, trying to set itself free.

The other held back with an iron grip upon her. Not allowing the destruction of what it had so carefully set out.

The creature flung her to the ground. Despite her pain, she tried to stand up, to defend herself somehow.

Before her was a mirror, a flat surface that showed her someone. She could only assume it was her own image.

The side of her face that had been forcefully pressed into the searing hot flames was not scorched black. Instead it radiated like a heated piece of metal, much like her arms where the creature had touched her. Burned skin glowed a bright orange, right next to her normal reddish hide.

Yet she did not feel pain or fear.

From behind her she could the creature, its voice raspy and angry. For as she turned and stared at it, she saw it steaming as if it was the one being burned. It seemed to her that it was melting, slowly getting smaller and smaller.

“ I will get my claim!“

“No you won’t. We lost. Just accept our fate.“

There was another presence in the room. Standing in the doorway, looking through the halfway opened door. Looking at her carefully. Then the figure moved away, having spotted her stirring.

Dawn slowly rose from her sleep, mind still sorting itself from the chaos of the nightmare. She could not recall an awful lot, just traces of two voices, somehow familiar to her. That, as well as an almost literally splitting headache. Thankfully, it was getting steadily better.

Yawning, she shuffled out of the bed and out of the room. She could hear Aria moving in the living room, maybe preparing breakfast again?

Aria.

Yesterday’s conversation popped back into her mind and immediately her body locked up. Only with effort did Dawn manage to get herself into the bathroom. There she splashed cold water in her face, then sitting down on the ground. She needed to think of what to do now.

Should she just act like nothing had happened? No, she had to talk with Aria, somehow. Preferably without getting the person that provided her the means of living a life pissed off.

“Hi“, Dawn said carefully.

Aria just watched her passively, no emotions crossing her face. She did nothing while Dawn sat down and started to nervously clasp her hands together. They both looked at eachother for another whole minute, until Aria broke the silence.

“You look like shit.“ She grumbled, while turning to move to the kitchen. “Didn’t sleep?“

“I… had a nightmare.“ If Dawn could have seen Aria’s expression, she might have interpretated the fuchsia girl’s frustration as being directed at her. But she did not, and so she just continued. “Don’t remember anything anymore, just that it felt really hot and… voices, I think… that’s it.”

“Uh-hm, so you had a hot dream where you were not alone? Sounds less like a nightmare to me and more like your mind wanted some action. Didn’t really think that you had such notions in you.” Aria

Dawn’s already red cheeks darkened rapidly in colour. For her it felt like her tongue was twisting around itself in her mouth, desolving what she intended to say into a mess of flustered stutters. It was the first time Aria, or anyone, had explicity talked about such things with her. Dawn had just never thought about this kind of thing, she always had other stuff on her mind; the other girl caught her completely off guard and she was not prepared on how to respond to it.

If nothing else, Dawn felt remarkebly less afraid. Especially when Aria started to chuckle and carry a basket with toast onto the table, which already had plates and a few other breakfast necessities.

“Calm down, I was just kidding. C’mon, eat something.”

“Youhgble… not hungry.” The redhead just mumbled, after she finally regained control of her vocal abilities.

In the ensueing silence, she wondered if she should really try and talk about what she had learned yesterday. It did not seem like Aria thought about it. They could just ignore what had happened and continue to…

“D-did you have something planned for today?” She asked carefully.

“Nope. Today we just lay back and be lazy!”

Dawn managed a nod for that. To avoid further questions for now, she made herself half a toast with some jam and began chewing on it rather halfheartedly. But eventually, she had to start talking about it, otherwise it would most likely follow and pester her constantly.

“[small]Aria… If you don’t mind…[small]Ehm, a-about yesterday.” Immediately the temperature seemed to drop. Even though the fuchsia was drinking from her mug as if nothing were wrong.

Okay, I was wrong, very wrong! The girl in front of her simply had to look at her through half-open eyes, her morning drink sat down on the table and her arms crossed, to start the panic that had been building up in the memory-less girl.

[small]”Sorry! You know what? It doesn’t matter-anyways! I’mgoingtogonow!”[small]

Dawn’s hand had startled to tremble. Everything felt colder. This had been a bad idea. She just wanted to understand Aria, maybe so she could do something, so she could maybe help her. But now she felt more than doubt. Dread.

She feared Aria, as stupid as that was. The girl had been nothing but helpful to her, at no point had she actively threatened her. But the dread was still present.

So, she stood up and began to walk away. She would just retreat and…

“Where are you going?“ Aria asked suddenly, her voice cutting through the air, making Dawn stop where she was. Slowly she turned around to face her.

“To m… the bedroom, w-why?“

“Because their is nothing in your room for you to get, really. Snacks are under the coffee table and the remote is also on it. Now start the TV while I get myself something.“ The girl said while searching through some contents. Then Dawn could hear a couple of glass objects being moved around.

Still unsure, and still somewhat shaken from… recent conversations, the red girl obliged with the order and started the device. Approaching footsteps alerted her that Aria was seemingly finished. In fact, she was, as she came back with a familiar short glass filled with some liquid. Alcohol.

“Is that really… good? Now?“ She carefully asked, setting down on one end of the couch.

“Trying to keep me away from doing stupid things, are you now?“ She did not know how to take it. Was she serious right now, or not? There was a challenge between the words, but what kind? She had no good answer; no good choice in this situation, it was to choose one side and stick with it.

“Y-Yes if I can! You helped me, and I told you y-yesterday that I would help! That’s what fri-“ The word, the one that she had hoped to hear from Aria, the one she felt a strange connection to; she could not speak it aloud. Her tongue just locked up.

With a resounding Thud, Aria’s foot stood on the coffee table, making Dawn wince. Her eyes scrutinized her, seemingly accusing her. “Sorry, what was that?“

“N-Nevermind, I-“

“No no, say it.“

“…“

“Say it.“

No return. She had to put trust into her, otherwise this would not work.

“That is what f-friends do.“ She found the determination somehow, her chest filling with warmth, even though the room was already warm enough.

Aria smirked. Then she plopped down next to Dawn onto the couch, grabbed her drink and took a big sip. Then she turned her head to the girl next to her and raised it as if in a toast.

“Well then. Consider this your first opportunity to be one.“

“R-really?”

“Yeah.” Aria put the glass down on the table, far away from them both. Looking at Dawn, she brought a calm and pleasant expression to her own face. “And, for what it’s worth. I’m sorry. Now, let’s watch some stupid movie!”

The end of the year was approaching fast. It would only be a couple more days before it. So much had happened in the last two to three months, she would call anyone insane who’d have explained it to her preemptively. But, here she was. Here they were.

Snow crunched beneath her boots. People were doing this and that, she ignored them if she didn’t recognize them. If she did, she avoided them.

There was not much room for the joy of celebration in her heart, she left that to her younger sister. Of course, she had left it to Nata, now it was a somewhat different matter. Her new roommate, her friend, was much more interested in the decorations and everything really.

Over the last days she had watched Dawn Fire, her behavior and her speech pattern, the usage of particular words especially, anything that she could recognize as similar enough. It was more of a hunch really, a strange feeling of familarity that had only intensified in the last days, but hunches and feelings was what had brought her and her former sisters far in this world, often enough to take them seriously. And in her experiences, coincidences should always be looked after. Adagio had hammered that into Aria’s head for basically her entire life. Among other things she could appreciate, alteast in hindsight.

Her hair was largely covered by her trenchcoat, she would not have to worry too much about being spotted by someone she knew and did not want to meet, which was everyone she knew except maybe seven people.

Current theories aside, she did actually enjoy the new presence in her life. The sometimes silly thoughts and antics were actually very familiar to her younger sister, but Dawn was far more attentive and had obeyed every single rule until now. And since christmas day, the girl had been increasingly optimistic in her attitude. She actively tried to help cooking or cleaning, anything really, while also always ready to test out something new.

Yet even with all the similarities to her youngest sister, Aria didn’t have the drive to mess with her like she had done so often with Sonata. And she had tried, in the beginning she almost fell back into that old habit of hers. But it just felt… wrong.

She still teased her from times to times, how could she not? Dawn certainly brought her no shortage of opportunities; the difference was that those little jabs were completely harmless. In comparison, the banter between her and Limestone was more pointed but that related to the fact that they knew the other could take it. And with her sisters, it could look more like they genuinely argued and had a distaste for eachother. Which was not even entirely wrong.

The relationship between her and her sisters had been a complicated mess. More than one time had they fought and split. But eventually they got together again, after hours or days of sulking and isolation. Sometimes it took them years. But in the end, they always came back, they stayed together.

Adagio... Sonata…

Aria was lucky to notice the two girls before they did her. Considering how one of them was practically a neon sign in the snow, she really should have seen her sooner. Trying to avoid acting suspiciously, she began walking towards a nearby hedge that would cover her from them.

Of course, she would run into the Rainbooms. Because why not?

If it had been just Pinkie, well she would still have avoided her, or tried to atleast, but it would not have been that bad of a situation. Instead she had almost run into the cowgirl and the athlete. The rainbow-coloured paragon of pride she particularly despised. It had been her boisterous attitude, among other things, that made Aria cast dark thoughts. Though, that insufferable girl came nowhere near to the contempt she had felt towards Sunset Shimmer.

Though, how ironic would it be if she'd actually...

Normally, she barely even spared this damned band any more thoughts. But everytime she saw on of them, her hate returned. The only reason that she had never really snapped at Pinkie was because of the other Pie sisters, and with increasing exposure as well as sufficient self-restraint she could manage the hyper-active girl.

This was not as bad, but she still wanted to just go as far away as possible.

On the other hand, maybe this was an opportunity for her. She could gain a potential lot by listening in on them, if she was lucky.

Why shouldn’t she be? Coincidences had been somewhat piling up recently. The strange surge she had felt a week or so before christmas, coupled with a car accident she had learned about from overhearing Steel Rain; the mysterious appearance of Dawn Fire and this strange familiarity she felt.

A shout alarmed her to the presence of an addition to the group of hated enemies. Skipping through the snow was the unmistakebly happy pink Pie-family member. Fortunately, she was not coming from a direction from which she could have seen their impromptu listener. Still, one always had to be extra careful with Pinkamina Diane Pie. Underestimating her was something that Aria had stopped doing for a long time now.

“HEY GIRLS! HOOOW ARE YOU?!”

“Hey Pinks, we’re fine so far. And you?!” The rainbow-haired athlete greeted her back. Pinkie did not reply, instead she stood dead right before them and opened her arms wide. Only for the athlete to hesitate and squirm, a reaction most disappointing for the one offering a hug. Indeed, Pinkie’s happy smile malformed into a frown, although she didn’t pull her arms back. Instead she simply turned to the farmgirl.

“Aww, shucks. Alright.” Finally, the arms clad in an obnoxiously bright winter coat could embrace another body, and so they did with full force. It certainly seemed to lift the girl’s mood considerably. Afterwards she again turned to her first target, arms again wide open.

“… Yeah ok-Hey!”

The girl had the air pressed out of her lungs, her feet trying to find purchase above the ground, as she was lifted upwards. All the voiced disapproval could not stop Pinkie from doing her thing for a whole other minute. Only then did she relent and put her friend back down, gently of course.

Then they resolved to do what friends always seemed to do: they talked, a lot. Yes, Aria should have known that, in fact she had counted upon it. But there was a fine difference between important talk that could give her valuable information and stupid friendship talk. Because that one was usually utterly useless to her. She did not care a bit about who felt how right now and this and that.

“It still really surreal to me. I mean, it has been only a week now since… y’know the gravestone was placed. And that makes it ten days since she died. I just, it doesn’t feel like such a short time.”

Wait, what? Aria must have overheard something. THIS was important.

“Yeah, Ah understand what ya mean Rainbow. Sometimes it feels it all happened weeks, if not months ago. Then suddenly it’s like it was just all yesterday. Drives me crazy.” The other two nodded solemnly, even Pinkie had dropped her overly happy demeanor. She still smiled, but it was a sad one. “Applebloom has been helpful, thankfully. Keepin’ me straight and occupied if I need be.”

The others nodded.

“Hey Pinks? Did Twilight ever write back?” Rainbow picked the conversation up again, sharing hopeful glances with the farmer.

“Not yet, Dashie, not yet. She needs a lot more time than that, I think. I mean, we betrayed her trust and abandonded the one person who she tasked us with reforming. The one who saved us from the Dazzlings, who tried her absolute best to be a good person.” The pink girl’s gaze had drifted away from her friends, staring vaguely into the empty air. “But Sunset is dead. Maybe it is our fault. Maybe not. Maybe there was nothing that we could have done on that Wednesday.”

“Eh, y’alright Pinkie? You’re staring…”

Immediately, she snapped back into place, smile on her lips. “Yup, I’m fine. Hey, why don’t we stop being so gloomy constantly and go to Sugarcube Corner for some milkshakes?”

The others didn’t really follow her, as much as they were dragged. But they did not seem to mind too much. They seemed a bit happier already.

How interesting. Aria though, a grin slowly spreading across her face. You were indeed right Dagi! So many coincidences, accumulating so nicely!

Making sure to avoid the Rainboom’s line of sight, she began to make her way back towards her apartment.

And I only find out about all this NOW! Strange that Limestone’s sister never babled that out of her mouth before! Well to be fair, I never really asked her why she had been so down so sudden. No matter!

For now, she would have to observe, while also researching for as much information as possible. But everything was pretty much confirmed and laid out before her, her theories almost completely proven true. Aria had truly a lot to think about.

There was also the matter of her landlord that would need resolving, wouldn’t take much time…

Actually…

This, she might just use it for her benefit.

Author's Note

Things are starting to heat up, if you will.

Mm, this chapter feels a bit wonky to me.
Hope you enjoyed it anyways.