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                      'tis the season                      
                       -by Sunnybun-                       
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                  promise to be dazzling                   
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Author's Note
posted on mobile, sorry if weird formatting
if i continue this, it'll probably end in sundagio  
assume i won't though
promise to be dazzling
The first thing to touch her consciousness was the smell.
Crisp, cold air filtered into her nostrils as she came to reluctantly. The next sensation that came to her was the all-too-familiar numbness of her fingers, and the chill that settled upon her entire body. Then, she opened her eyes and saw scuffed-up combat boots tapping expectantly.
"It snowed last night," came a voice, gravelly and familiar. "Get up. Sonata's waiting for us at the bus stop."
Adagio sat up slowly, attempting to blink the sleep from her eyes. She was conscious enough to send a glare up at Aria, who looked almost as cold and disheveled as Adagio felt, shivering arms crossed over one another.
As gracefully as her stiff limbs would allow, Adagio stood wordlessly, brushing past Aria. Unusually, both her and Sonata were awake before Adagio, and being told only where to go, Adagio sensed trouble. It was never good when her sisters thought they could scheme behind her back.
She bee-lined for the bus stop, and never bothered looking behind her to see if Aria was following her or not -- the tell-tale crunching of her boots against the snow was information enough. Adagio didn't bother to make idle conversation, or ask what the fuss was about, as she knew it would only start an argument that neither of them had the energy for. The rushing of the frigid winds past her ears and the dull pounding of her head were the only things truly keeping her company.
Adagio eventually spotted a matted mane of blue and turquoise hair, sat shivering on a metal bench which had been frozen ever since last night's snowfall. Adagio sat on the bench, too, leaving a generous space between herself and Sonata, while Aria remained standing in front of them.
"Let me cut to the chase," Aria started, and already Adagio felt like tearing her own hair out. "We've been thinking about a homeless shelter."
Adagio narrowed her eyes sharply, opening her mouth to speak, but Aria had anticipated her refusal, as it would seem. "We sleep in cardboard boxes like stray animals," she said flatly, "We are not independent. And now that it's started snowing... This just isn't sustainable."
Then, Adagio finally identifies it -- the tiredness that permeates all three of them, bleeding through Aria's tone, sounding dangerously close to desperation. Even though her pride would never allow her to admit it, Adagio was incredibly tempted by the promise of a building with food, blankets and presumably central heating.
"Go ahead."
Sonata wrung her hands in her lap nervously, and Aria just blinked, once, twice.
"Just like that?"
Adagio pursed her lips. "You two should find somewhere to stay, yes. I will figure something out for myself."
Then, Aria exploded. "Are you fucking crazy? It's twenty-six degrees outside, the forecast predicts snow for the next week. You'd really rather die from frostbite and malnourishment than get help?"   
Ah, it seemed like Aria had somewhat expected this, too, Adagio thought, a tad bitterly. "Unlike the both of you, I will not give up so easily."
"It'll only be for a little while, 'Dagi," Sonata offered softly, almost inaudibly. When did Sonata get so close to her? Adagio stood up suddenly, refusing to meet Sonata's watery eyes. "Just until the snow lets up."
"Don't call me that." Adagio said, resolute. She wasn't changing her mind on this. She turned and walked away, not in any particular direction, and most certainly not towards the alley with the dismantled cardboard box she had used as a bed the previous night.
As she walked, the sounds of Aria's exasperated groans and Sonata's quiet sobs followed her, no matter how much distance she gained.
Adagio watched the inky night sky. The wooden park bench she had chosen as her bed for the night was much more pleasant than the metal one at the bus stop. Though her thin clothes didn't do much to insulate her from the cold, it was still nice to not have a frozen piece of metal trying to make it worse.
She found herself thinking about that odd cardboard fort they had made for themselves in that alley. It was probably soggy and wet from the snow by then, and she couldn't risk going back there to be found by her sisters, but she also couldn't deny how nice it would feel to be sheltered.
She didn't feel angry at them, she supposed, but it still stung in its own unique way, for them to sink as low as to suggest a homeless shelter for humans. That blasted friendship magic really did take more than just our voices, she mused to herself, tinged with melancholy.
Sunset Shimmer... Yes, the person responsible for the misfortune of herself and the only creatures that she still cared about. She found she didn't even have the energy to be angry at Sunset anymore, she was just so tired.
As if punishing Adagio, snow began to fall, sprinkling onto her face and into her hair. Were she a different woman, someone capable of it, she was sure she'd have started crying by now. Instead, she closed her eyes and didn't hope for anything in particular.
Thankfully, this snowfall did not come with quite as much wind, so she was easily able to hear the crunching of footsteps that were approaching her. She did not bother to open her eyes.
"Adagio?"
Her eyes snapped open, meeting with fiery red and yellow hair, and unmistakable blue eyes. Her mouth opened, then closed again, as she found herself without anything to say at all. Sunset Shimmer, once again rendering her mute. Were she less cold and hungry, she might have felt amused by that, in some twisted way.
Sunset seemed to take Adagio's silence as some sort of invitation. "What are you doing out here? You know there'll be a blizzard tonight?"
Adagio swallowed the boulder in her throat. "I like the snow," she said lamely, closing her eyes again, mostly to avoid looking Sunset in the face.
"Do, umm..." Sunset hesitated, and Adagio could hear her shifting uncomfortably in place. "Do you need someplace to stay?"
She had sort of been hoping her non-answer would have been enough to drive Sunset away, and she couldn't say she particularly expected nor appreciated the misplaced sympathies.
"No." Adagio said simply.
"Okay."
There were some shifting sounds, what sounded like a piece of paper, then she felt a comfortingly warm hand unfurl one of her own and place something in it. Sunset was giving Adagio her number.
Then, without saying anything else, she walked away.
She's surprisingly good at minding her own business, Adagio mused, drifting impossibly into the place between awake and asleep.
Truthfully, Adagio had looked awful.
Her once curly hair had become dull and lifeless, a shell of its former self. The bags under her eyes suggested weeks of improper sleep, and to top it all off, her thin frame informed of a lackluster diet. Sunset wasn't stupid, she knew what a homeless person's first winter looked like. And while it left her with an uneasy feeling to leave someone suffering alone like that, she could tell from Adagio's response that she wasn't keen on accepting help unless she decided it on her own terms. Sunset had also been headstrong and homeless like that, after all.
For most of the day, her thoughts were like that. Adagio cycled in and out of her conscious mind, causing her to become mentally absent from her classes, or in a more recent case, become absent from her friends' conversation.
"Sunset? Are you alright?"
Ironically, the softest voice among her friends was what took her out of her reverie. "Uh, sorry, Fluttershy. I was just thinking about something."
"Well, whatever it is seems mighty important to ya." Applejack commented, imploring.
"It's nothing, really. I'm okay." She insisted, and they all seemed to relent, going back to their own conversations. She took a moment to thank whatever powers above granted her with friends that were so respectful of her space -- she really hadn't planned what she was going to say to them about Adagio yet.
She made an effort to seem more present in their conversation, mostly to avoid seeming inconsiderate. She didn't only think of Adagio, though.
But... where were Aria and Sonata?
Of course, friendships can fall apart, which she was aware of. But what those three had seemed like it was more meaningful than friendship, they seemed like family. They were the only three people who had been through exactly what they had been through, and Sunset imagined that all they really had was each other.
Yet, Adagio was alone on that park bench.
Suddenly, Sunset's phone vibrated noisily in her pocket, causing her to jump. "I have to take this, one second." She said apologetically to her table, walking to a more secluded area of the cafe.
She briefly glanced the caller ID, and found she didn't recognize the number. Despite herself, her heart caught in her throat. Could it be...?
"Hello?"
A pained, yet familiar voice came through the phone, and Sunset wasn't sure if she should smile or cry. "Need help. Alley near Sugarcube Corner, way in the back."
Sunset heard her phone indicate the call was hung up, then she took it away from her ear and stared in disbelief, before finally launching into motion.
She had the forethought, at least, to tell her friends she had something to take care of, then she was out the door. Thankfully, the cafe her friends had chosen to have dinner at was close to Sugarcube Corner.
Without thinking twice, she walked briskly into the darkened alley, and it crossed her mind that it could be a trap, but... She also didn't think Adagio had the energy to fake the way she sounded on the phone, like she was bracing herself, or was injured. Fear coiled in her stomach at that thought.
As she descended deeper into the dark, she eventually saw a small figure crumpled behind an unassuming trashcan. They turned their head, and Sunset saw the unmistakable orange hair.
"Hey," she said quietly, and when she knelt to get a closer look, she had to hold back her gasp. Adagio's lip was bleeding, her eye was swollen and it seemed like she was having trouble keeping it open at all. "Can I bring you to my place?"
Adagio grunted, and when Sunset moved to help prop her up and get her moving, she did not resist.
Adagio drifted in and out of awareness in the back seat of Sunset's car.  
"Give me your money," the deep voice replayed in her mind. "Or you're not gonna like the plans I got for you."
"I don't have anything."
"Guess it's time for plan B."
He'd searched all her pockets, and when he found her words to be true, he had gotten angry and begun beating her. She willed every part of her body to fight back, to no avail -- she had shut down, and all she could do was take it.
Once it abated, she had dragged herself to a nearby payphone -- thank the gods the city had never decided they were going out of style -- and dialed the number seen on Sunset's paper through blurry vision.
"Time to go inside." Sunset's voice swam in her head. She blinked, then felt a warm hand take her own. She allowed herself to be lead into an unassuming apartment building, and once inside, promptly passed out on the nearest piece of furniture.
Her return to consciousness was slow and steady, guided by an aroma of home-cooked soup. Once she tried opening her eyes, though, she found that one of them was not feeling particularly cooperative. In fact, it hurt like hell.
"Fuck." She groaned, as the pain all over her face and the pounding in her head proved to beat out the smell of good food for a more unpleasant awakening.
"I've got painkillers. You'll have to sit up to take them, though." Sunset said matter-of-factly, punctuated by the rattling of a pill bottle.
Then, it started coming back to her, albeit in pieces. The reason she didn't recognize this room was because it was in Sunset's apartment. She was in Sunset's apartment.
A stabbing pain in her side. She hissed.
She sat up as carefully as she could, trying not to further aggravate any bruises she couldn't quite remember getting just yet. Adagio held out her hand expectantly, trying to avoid Sunset's pointed gaze as an appropriate amount of painkillers were sprinkled into her hand.
Adagio took the water from the nightstand next to her and gulped the pills down with it greedily.
"It's five past ten." Sunset informed her, screwing the cap back onto the bottle.
Adagio took a moment to do the math, and as it turned out, she had a blissful eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. It was enough that, despite how she felt physically sore and spent, her brain had gotten up to speed much quicker than it had at any point in the past six months.
She risked a glance at Sunset, who she then realized was sat beside right beside her on the bed, then immediately became disarmed by the genuine concern in her eyes.
"I..." Adagio began, though her voice came out rather scratchy. She cleared her throat and tried again. "You've been very accommodating. If there's... anything I can do to repay you, let me know."
Then, she tried to get up, and what a mistake it was.
Her entire body felt like it had been run through an office shredder. She winced, sitting back down immediately.
"Yeah... Your ribs aren't broken, but you must've taken a pretty bad blow to your side. It'll probably be a couple of weeks before it fully heals."
Adagio scoffed, closing her eyes. "What are you, a doctor?"
"No, just someone who's been in a lot of fights." She chuckled good-naturedly, then Adagio felt her weight leave the mattress, and heard her pad across the room. "Stay there, soup's almost done."
Ah, yes. That soup. It smelled heavenly, if she were being completely honest, and she thought it might even be enough to remove the chill that had taken up permanent residence in her bones. In any case, it certainly beat out dumpster-diving as far as nutrition went.
Sunset came back with a tray of chicken noodle soup and a few soda crackers, placing it on the bed next to Adagio, then turning for the door again.
She couldn't help it -- she dug in eagerly, savoring the warmth as it warmed her whole body, and these simple crackers had never felt like such a delicacy.
"So, you got into fights, huh?" The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them.
Sunset stopped in front of the door, but did not turn around. "Ah... Well, you know about my past at Canterlot High, right?" She said awkwardly.
It was obvious she didn't want to talk about it, and that's what made Adagio push for more. "You don't seem the type to get into petty high-school fights."
Sunset turned around, and Adagio swore she could have seen the cogs in her brain turning as she considered whether or not to entertain this line of questioning. The former siren opted to focus on her soup rather than pressure Sunset with her gaze.
"Well, before that, too. I was an orphan."
That made Adagio stop. She had a hard time imagining the Sunset standing in front of her to have anything but lovely parents and a good upbringing. "Oh," she said dumbly, suddenly losing all interest in probing for more information. She really didn't have it in her to listen to a sob story, and she was a little afraid of what might happen if she were to consider that Sunset was a person just like her.
"Anyway, enjoy your meal. There's a TV in the living room if you feel like getting up. I'm gonna go run some errands, so... Make yourself at home."
Sunset left abruptly, closing the door with a gentle click behind her, and Adagio began kicking herself.
'Oh'? That's all you had to say?
Adagio would've liked to antagonize Sunset, or make her uncomfortable, treat her to a fraction of the life ruining that she'd inflicted upon the sirens, but those feelings were all missing when faced with the fact that she'd just saved Adagio.
Despite everything Adagio had done, Sunset saved her last night.
It feels nice, she realized, to be trusted.
But that still wasn't going to stop her from doing some well-deserved snooping.
Now that the painkillers had kicked in, Adagio's second attempt at getting up was much more successful. She had no plans to steal anything from her savior, just get a better look into her life without, god forbid, having to ask her about it.
She started in the room she was staying in, and there was nothing of interest -- she figured it an extra bedroom. Strange... Why rent an apartment with an extra bedroom but no roommate?
She moved on to the bathroom, the living room, the kitchen, but there really wasn't anything of note, until she saw it. The door at the end of the hallway, which she could only assume to be Sunset's room.
Adagio opened the door, of course, with very little in the way of hesitation or guilt. She scanned it quickly, spotting group photos taken exclusively with her friends and no one else. True to her story, she didn't seem to have any photos with family. She was not just an orphan, but presumably one with absolutely no relationship to her birth parents. How intriguing.
Once she had exhausted all the most obvious spots in the room and found nothing, she got on her knees and pressed her ear to the floor, peeking underneath the bed. She saw a grocery store plastic bag and tugged on it, finding it a bit weighty. When she opened it, she found that all that was inside was a bottle of alcohol, seemingly opened and half empty.
It clashed with her image of goody-two-shoes Sunset Shimmer, with a perfect life and perfect friend, and she wasn't sure what to do with it.
I wonder if her friends know that she helped me yet.
The sound of the front door latch unlocking shocked Adagio out of her thoughts. Shit, how long have I been in here?
She realized it must be Sunset returning, so she quickly shoved the bottle back into its rightful place under her bed, ignoring the pain that her rushed actions caused her bruised body. Once she'd gotten it put away, she heard footsteps approaching the bedroom door, which was slightly ajar. She stood up rigidly, pretending she hadn't just been peeking in Sunset's personal things.
The door opened, and she breathed a sigh of relief to see Sunset Shimmer in front of her. If it had been one of her friends, that would have been very, very bad, Adagio thinks.
"Well... Not exactly what I meant by 'make yourself at home', but..." Sunset offered tentatively, a small smile pulling at her lips. "Not much to see in here, anyway."
Adagio breathed a sigh of relief, before she could even think about why she was doing it. She saw Sunset's expression falter, and if she had to wager a guess, she would say that Sunset was thinking about that unassuming bag under the bed. Mercifully though, they both silently decided not to say anything about it. "Feeling better?"
Adagio blinked, and gave it some thought. "More functional, definitely." She tried not to think about long it had been since someone had shown her this kind of care, and she was starting to get a little suspicious of Sunset's motives. Could it be blackmail?
Finally, Adagio noticed the bag that Sunset was holding in her hands. She quirked her brow.
"Oh, this is just... personal hygiene stuff. Even if you only stay for a couple more days, you're probably gonna want it."
Suddenly, Adagio felt very conscious of her appearance, and for the first time in a long time, she felt the heat of embarrassment warm her cheeks. Stunned by the kindness, all she could think to say was, "Thanks."
Adagio had gone straight to the bathroom with the bag in her hands, and after putting all of it onto the counter, she looked into the mirror. She couldn't help but grimace at her own reflection. She looked awful.
Her eye was definitely bruising, her hair was flat and lifeless, and she had a cut on her lip that... Actually, had it been cleaned while she was asleep?
She put a finger on her lip, recalling that when she entered the apartment, she had collapsed onto a couch, but woken up in a bed. So, Sunset had taken care of her while she was sleeping.
Adagio felt some rush of an unidentifiable emotion, which she promptly decided to ignore, in favor of running a warm bath. It'd been a while since she had access to facilities like this, so she figured she would pamper herself rather than take a boring shower. Needless to say, she spent a good amount of time taking care of herself while she still had the chance.
She changed into a pair of pajamas that Sunset had loaned her. It was nothing she would've picked, and they were a couple sizes too big for her, but they were the final piece of the puzzle that left Adagio feeling refreshed and content.
She went to twist the handle of the bathroom door when she heard a voice boom on the other side of the door, coming from what she guessed was the living room. She pressed her ear against the door.
"What the hell were you thinking? I mean, Adagio? Are you serious?"
"I know what you might think of them, but I was in her place once. You should've seen her, Dash. She's homeless for fuck's sake, was I just supposed to leave her there to die? Is that what you would've done?"
Adagio's breath caught in her throat, the answer to her questioning on Sunset's motives becoming clearer and clearer; she was just a really good fucking person. It made her throat feel tight, but she stamped it down.
"Well... Fine. No, I wouldn't. But, when are you gonna tell our friends?"
Sunset sighed audibly. "It's only been one day, and she's still recovering. She got beat up pretty bad, Dash. I don't think it's the right time yet."
Silence fell for a few moments, then, "Okay. I'll keep your little house guest a secret for now. But just so you know, I'm not totally on board with how you're dealing with this."
Sunset chuckled sheepishly, "Yeah, I didn't really expect you to be. Thanks. Oh, and here's your guitar pick."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
The door to Sunset's apartment opened and latched again, and Adagio was reminded of where she was. She opened the bathroom door and walked out, and Sunset stared at her sort of like a deer in the headlights. Cute, Adagio found herself thinking, then, Wait, what?
"So... you must've heard it all, then, huh?"
"Mmm," Adagio hummed, "Most of it, yes. You've not told anyone you're harboring a criminal, I understand."
"It's... not exactly something I've offered up in conversation, no," Sunset said, amused despite herself. "How's your side feeling? Any better?"
Unsettled, Adagio gave a curt nod, unable to fully digest how truly caring Sunset was being towards her. "As well as it can, anyway. The painkillers have helped." She paused, then followed with, "Your friends don't seem too keen on me, hmm?"
"For now, but they'll come around, I know them."
"I'm not exactly seeking their approval, you know," Adagio said, rolling her eyes, "I've only just barely started to care for y-" She stopped herself, clamping a hand over her mouth. I did not mean to say that out loud.
Sunset pretended not to notice, probably for Adagio's benefit, again. "I wasn't really expecting you to, honestly."
She walked into the kitchen, not far from where Adagio was still standing. "I dont cook much, so I was planning to just order some food for dinner, if you have any preferences let me know."
Adagio just stood there awkwardly, without much to say. Before the incident, the sirens didn't eat food, and after it, they wouldn't have had enough money to go to a fast food joint.
"Right. Burgers it is, then."
Unfortunately, Adagio got full rather quickly. She wasn't exactly used to eating more than one meal a day, much less a meal with nutritional value, so Sunset had put away her leftovers in the fridge.
As the sky got darker, Adagio found herself once again unsettled by how quickly she'd allowed herself to become comfortable in Sunset's home. She knew she needed to start thinking of alternatives, and fast -- the last thing she wanted was to become dependent on the person who had caused her downfall to begin with, even if she did seem like a genuinely nice girl.
But, the only other option for her was the homeless shelter, which would mean admitting to Aria and Sonata that she realized she'd been a complete idiot. No, she couldn't face them just yet... So where did that leave her?
Tomorrow, she thought, burying herself beneath the warm blankets, and quickly falling into restless dreams of fiery hair and ocean eyes.