Ignored

If there was one time that could safely be called the busiest of the entire school day, it would undoubtedly be the lunch hour. Here, when the school bell had rung and the classroom doors burst open, students from all over Canterlot High would pour out in droves, eager to get to the cafeteria to meet up with their various friends and cliques, as they did every day. Today was no exception, and before long, that very cafeteria was abuzz with the sounds of near two hundred students chatting away with one another. But, amidst all the different groups that could be found here today, one table bore three particular students for whom the school had a rather noteworthy history. The Dazzlings, aka, the Sirens of Equestria. Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. All three of the Siren sisters were busying themselves with their respective lunches at this moment, with Sonata especially wolfing hers down with great enthusiasm.

“Unf! Tus ish wrilly gud!”

To that, Adagio turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

“Sonata, how many times do I have to tell you not to talk with your mouth full?”

Swallowing, Sonata frowned at that.

“Hmph! Pinkie doesn’t mind it!”

Adagio rolled her eyes.

“Maybe not, but she’s not here, is she?”

Sonata turned to her lunch, grumbling about the restrictions placed upon her by her sister. As for Aria, she just sat in-between the other two, as usual, casually poking her lunch with a fork and not really seeming all that excited about it. Had her sisters looked to her, they’d have noticed this more-than-average level of apathy in her, but, they soon found themselves paying attention instead to someone who only now arrived at their table. Looking to all three of them with a smile, it was none other than Sunset Shimmer, who, like them, was a native Equestrian. Clearing her throat, she caught their attention immediately.

“Mind if I join you?”

To that, Adagio shrugged her shoulders.

“Knock yourself out, dear.”

But, before she accepted that invitation, the former student of Celestia took a step to one side, revealing that, there, standing behind her, was another girl. With her hair kept up in a bun and adjusting her spectacles in a nervous manner, this youth was Twilight Sparkle, formerly of Crystal Prep. Noticing this second arrival, Sonata began to smile widely.

“Hiya, Twilight!”

Chuckling slightly, Twilight afforded the Siren a small wave.

“Um…hello.”

Sunset, smiling warmly to the girl, gestured to a nearby chair, and Twilight nodded in response. Without a word, the two took their respective seats, sitting opposite from where Adagio and her sisters were. Once there, Adagio leaned forward slightly, looking to Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

“So, enjoying your time here thus far?”

Twilight looked to the elder Siren, smiling and giving a brief nod.

“Oh! Yes, it’s wonderful here. So much less…regimental than Crystal Prep.”

Nodding, Adagio swept aside some of her copious orange hair before replying to that.

“Well, I hope you enjoy it here. It may have taken a while for my sisters and I, but I confess the place has rather grown on us somewhat.”

Hearing that, Sunset looked to her former rival with a smile. No words passed between them, but the Siren and ex-unicorn gave each other a knowing glance, eventually leading to a nod between them. Twilight looked from one to the other, not quite sure what was going on, but nevertheless decided to keep quiet. Instead, she turned to Aria, who had remained silent during all this. Although her expression clearly gave the impression of wanting to be left in peace, Twilight, apparently not having picked up on that, spoke to her all the same.

“So…Aria, right? How…how are things with you?”

The middle Siren sister looked up, raising an eyebrow, before giving a brief grunt.

“Fine, I guess.”

Twilight seemed a little taken aback by that, only to look to Adagio once more as she spoke.

“You’ll have to forgive my sister, Twilight. She’s never been the friendliest of Sirens.”

To that, Sonata turned to her older sister with a big smile.

“That’d be me, right, Dagi?”

Adagio rolled her eyes somewhat before replying.

“Yes, yes, Sonata.”

Twilight let out a brief giggle at this interaction, only to stop when something else caught her eye afterwards. Her gaze became fixed upon something behind where the three Sirens were sitting, which caught not only their attention, but also Sunset’s. After a while, the former Crystal Prep student finally broke the silence.

“Huh…I think there’s some boys over there who seem a bit…erm…interested in you.”

Sunset turned to see where Twilight was looking, and sure enough, as she’d said, there was indeed a collection of boys on a table some ways away from them who were giving the Dazzlings looks. And those expressions made it clear that “interested” was an understatement, as some in their number would not have been amiss with flashing hearts in their eyes. However, when they noticed that Twilight and Sunset were staring at them, they soon turned their attention over to their own lunches, hoping beyond hope to go unnoticed. But, rather than go over there, the two girls sat where they were, watching as Adagio let out a brief chuckle.

“Oh, I assure you, it’s nothing to write home about, Twilight. After all, when you’ve spent as long as we have getting others’ attention…it sort of becomes second nature.”

To that, Twilight gained a look of slight confusion, prompting Sunset to lean over and attempt an explanation.

“Trust me on this, Twilight. You should have seen them before they turned good. This school did not know sex appeal came that intense until these three turned up.”

Looking to her, Adagio frowned slightly.

“I promise you, Sunset dear, our appeal has not diminished in the slightest, good or otherwise.”

Again, a knowing smirk passed between the two older girls, and all the while, Twilight looked from one to the other before starting to develop a slight blush upon her cheeks.

“Oh…um…that’s…nice?”

Shaking her head in a desperate attempt to get those kinds of thoughts out of her, Twilight turned once more to Aria.

“It must be nice, getting that kind of attention all the time.”

To that, Aria scoffed a little.

“Sure. Whatever.”

Hearing that, Twilight looked a little unsure, turning to Sunset.

“Um…was it something I said?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Sunset looked to Aria with a frown.

“Something bugging you?”

Looking to Sunset, Aria narrowed her eyes a little before replying.

“You tell me. Notice anything about those guys back there?”

Needless to say, Sunset was a little confused by this, but nevertheless began to look over to where the earlier boys were. Like before, they were once more staring at the Dazzlings. However, while she, at first, didn’t really notice anything that might upset Aria, Sunset, over time, began to take note of something odd. From where she was sitting, it appeared as if the guys over there were giving a great deal of attention over to Adagio, and even to Sonata. But as for Aria, while she’d occasionally get a glance or two, she was comparatively less of a focus.

“Huh,” Sunset remarked.

To that, Aria nodded.

“Exactly.”

Sunset gave her a look, seeing that same annoyed expression on her face, and decided that it might be best not to press the issue. However, to her irritation, Adagio had not felt that way, and turned to her sister with a slight smirk.

“Awww! Is our sister feeling left out?”

Aria gave a scowl to her older sibling.

“Well it’s not like you've ever had anything to worry about, Adagio! Everywhere we went in this world, it’s always been you and Sonata getting all the lusty looks. But me? It’s like I’m not even there most of the time! Only when we had magic and could enchant people with our songs did anyone ever look at me that way!”

Aria then turned to Sonata, looking equally as annoyed.

“Those times I did get some fans of my own, it was only when you two already had more than you knew what to do with!”

Sonata, not worried by the clear anger her sister was displaying, instead looked past her and to Adagio.

“Huh. I never noticed that. Is that true, Dagi?”

Considering that, Adagio shrugged her shoulders.

“Perhaps. You’ve got that whole sweet and innocent thing going, and I, naturally, get attention because of…well…all this.”

In that typical Adagio way of hers, she struck a pose while sitting, earning her more than a few eye-rolls from those around her. Aria, by contrast, kept her gaze firmly on the elder Siren.

“Oh sure! It’s all well and good for Adagio, right? Always the centre of attention! Whoop-de-doo!”

And with that, she let out a snort of anger, looking down at her lunch with fury. As for everyone else, they all passed nervous glances to each other, now fully feeling the awkwardness that had set into their little gathering. That is, except for Adagio, who regarded her angry sister carefully. After a while, she let out a sigh before reaching over and giving her a playful pat on the head.

“Oh, Aria. If you really wanted that kind of attention, you should have just said so. I know just the thing to get you out of this funk.”

Looking to her, Aria swatted her sister’s hand away before raised an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah? And what would that be?”

Smirking, Adagio gave her answer.

“Why, a boyfriend of course!”

Silence fell after those words, during which, the girls all reacted in several ways. Sunset seemed incredulous, Twilight bearing another full-grown blush, Sonata clasping her hands and squealing with joy, and Aria herself keeping her eyebrow fully raised before letting out a dry chuckle.

“Oh, of course! Get a boyfriend! Why didn’t I think of that?”

With Aria’s sarcasm as clear as day, Adagio frowned somewhat.

“There’s no need for that, sister.”

But Aria rolled her eyes again.

“Adagio, if getting a guy to be with me was that easy, I wouldn’t be having this problem in the first place, now would I?”

Adagio chuckled a little before answering that.

“My dear sister. I’m not suggesting you do this yourself. After all, you’ve always had difficulty with that attitude of yours. Plus, our…well…failed take-over probably hasn’t earned us many admirers…aside from hormonal teenagers of course.”

Slumping back into her chair, Aria folded her arms.

“So…my sisters are gonna get me a boyfriend? Sure, that's not depressing in the slightest.”

But, before Adagio could respond to that second bout of sarcasm, Sunset beat her to it.

“You know…you might be onto something, Adagio.”

As one would expect, this caused all heads to turn in Sunset’s direction, with Aria especially looking incredulous.

“Seriously? You’re going along with this? I’m not some petty girl who needs a guy in her life to feel better.”

Sunset looked to her in a serious manner.

“I know you’re not. But you’re clearly bothered by the fact that your sisters get all that kind of attention more than you. If you had someone special, at least who’d want to go on a few dates or something, it’ll at least show that you’re not being ignored.”

Aria scoffed at that.

“Oh yeah? Good luck with that.”

Sunset opened her mouth, only to be stopped when Twilight began to speak up herself.

“Um…if you’re going to do this, finding her someone special, would it…er…be okay for me to write up about it?”

Looking to her, Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“What? Why?”

Poking her index fingers against one another, Twilight began to meekly answer.

“Well…I’m still new to a lot of this, and if I know ahead of time that someone is going to get herself a boyfriend, it might help me if I were to take a few notes.”

For a moment, Sunset looked a bit concerned.

“…Twilight? This isn’t going to be another study, is it?”

To that, Twilight frantically shook her hands in a defensive posture.

“Oh no! I think we all know how well that went last time. This is just…curiosity.”

Watching this back-and-forth, Aria slapped her forehead in frustration.

“Ugh! This is so humiliating!”

But to her chagrin, she soon found Sonata moving forward to hug her tightly.

“Don’t worry, Ari! By the time we’re done, you’ll have yourself the sweetest, most loving guy we can find you! Won’t that be fun?”

Looking to her bubbly sister, Aria let out a sigh, speaking in her usual dismissive tone.

“Oh sure, letting others get me a guy because I can’t get one on my own. I can just feel the joy already.”

“Yay! That's the spirit!” Sonata answered.

A Few Questions

“Er…anyone care to explain what we’re doing here?”

Aria’s confusion was, at the very least, shared by her sisters, as both Adagio and Sonata shrugged their shoulders in response to the question. Presently, all three of them were sitting together in a part of the school that had become a favourite haunt of their human friends; the music room. While the lunch hour, along with the rest of the day, had long ended, there was nevertheless a great deal of activity going on outside, as students lingered on the school grounds to spend time with one another. As for the Dazzlings, they sat patiently, alongside the only other occupant of the room; Sunset Shimmer. However, they didn’t have to wait much longer, as the creaking of the door alerted them all to a newcomer. There, closing the door behind her, was Twilight. All four of them watched as the spectacled girl fumbled about with some notes in her hands, before making her way over to a chair opposite the Dazzlings.

“Sorry I’m late. I just needed to get a few things in order.”

Rolling her eyes slightly, Adagio spoke up.

“Twilight, dear, I was under the impression we were going to get our sister here a little action. Pray tell, what exactly do you intend to do?”

Adjusting her glasses, Twilight smiled brightly before responding to that.

“Well, this whole thing has got my mind racing with all sorts of questions! I figured, if we’re going to find someone special for Aria, we can’t just go around asking every guy who crosses her path. We need to be smarter than that. Find out what kinds of guys she likes and so on.”

To that, Adagio glanced over to Sunset, and together, they shared a ponderous look. When it was done, the elder Siren looked back to the former Crystal Prep girl.

“You may have a point, dear.”

Turning to her sister, Adagio developed a small smirk.

“So, sister, care to fill the good scientist in on your little fancies?”

The words had been tinted with slight mockery, to which Aria gave her sister a well-earned frown, but even so, she let out a sigh before leaning into her chair and shrugging her shoulders.

“Sure. Whatever.”

Squealing with delight over the prospect of a new test subject, Twilight turned to her notes, whipping out pen before starting to write down, occasionally glancing up at Aria.

“Okay, first thing’s first. There’s the obvious question of whether you’re actually bothered by dating humans.”

Looking to her, Aria raised an eyebrow.

“If it bothered me, I wouldn’t be looking for one in the first place.”

Twilight nodded at that.

“I understand that. But, it’s my understanding that, while the three of you certainly look human, you are, in fact, Sirens, yes? And you still feel like Sirens despite outwards appearances? Like a sort of phantom limb scenario?”

Aria turned to her sisters, and between them, they shared a look, before turning in unison to the young scientist, giving a brief nod, confirming that this was indeed the case. Nodding back, Twilight continued writing before speaking up again.

“Given that…was it strange for you to start becoming…erm…intimate with humans after your exile here?”

Aria shrugged her shoulders.

“We got used to it.”

However, her words were met with a brief giggle from Adagio, causing Aria to scowl in her direction. Yet, despite that, she kept quiet as the elder Siren spoke.

“Oh, Aria. Let us not forget that, of the three of us, you were the last to take an interest in humans.”

Aria frowned, pointing an accusing finger at Twilight while keeping her eyes focused on Adagio.

“Could you blame me? All that two legs and hands and…and…they were just weird!”

Turning, Aria’s expression softened slightly as she spoke to Twilight.

“No offense.”

To that, Twilight’s eyes shifted from left to right before gaining a degree of uncertainty in her expression.

“Um…none taken?”

When that was done, Aria looked back to her two sisters.

“It was easy for you two though! You took to humans like fish to water.”

Again, she turned to Twilight.

“No pun intended.”

And again, she turned back to her sisters, though this time, she was kept from speaking when Sonata spoke next.

“Oh, come on, Ari! We were stuck like this! You couldn’t blame us for wanting to pick out a guy or two. They were the only kind here!”

Nodding, Adagio turned from Sonata to Aria.

“For once, our sister has a point. While it would have been preferable not to have such strange creatures as our only option, the fact is, they were, so that was all there was to it.”

Aria looked away, grumbling slightly at that.

“Yeah…well…I got used to them eventually, didn’t I?”

Chuckling slightly, Adagio nodded.

“Indeed. Even you couldn’t hold out on your urges forever, eh, sister?”

As before, Aria grumbled in response, and as she did so, Twilight turned to Sunset, who seemed equally as intrigued by all of this as she was. However, as she continued writing, the spectacled girl gained a look that made it clear that she’d just had an idea of some kind.

“Say…have there ever been any male Sirens?”

To that, all three of the Dazzlings looked in her direction, eyebrows raised, prompting her to explain.

“I mean, before, when you lived in Equestria, weren’t there any males of your species you could get together with?”

Thinking on that, Adagio flipped some of her hair aside before looking to Twilight with seriousness.

“I’m afraid not, my dear. As far as my sisters and I are concerned, we are the only Sirens there have ever been.”

Frowning at that, Twilight looked to each of them in turn before focusing on Adagio alone.

“But…that makes no sense! How could a species just turn up one day, all siblings, with no others?”

Hearing that, Adagio let out a brief chuckle.

“It’s Equestria, my dear. Trust me when I say that strange things are pretty much the norm over there.”

Twilight stared at them for a while before, slowly, turning to Sunset. The Equestrian exile thought about it for a moment before, reluctantly, giving a sigh and a nod, confirming Adagio’s assessment of her home-world. Letting out a sigh of her own, Twilight turned back to her notes again.

“Okay then, no male Sirens. So I’m guessing you resorted to ponies back in the day?”

Aria, turning back to face her, gave a nod to that.

“Yeah...those were the days. Back then, all we had to do was look at a stallion and they’d love us!”

For a moment, she cast her older sister a glance.

“Well…stallions or mares, depending on who you ask.”

To that, Adagio gave her sibling a brief smirk.

“Well…why limit yourself to merely one of the options on a buffet table?”

Together, all three Sirens shared a moment to giggle, all while Twilight continued watching them all, with Sunset having moved over closer to join her. When the laughter died down, Aria eventually resumed her earlier scowling look.

“Still…I suppose humans weren’t too bad, once I got used to them.”

Her face lighting up, Twilight held her pen tightly as she kept her eyes on Aria.

“So…when you look back over your time getting together with humans…would you say there were any particular types you liked?”

Folding her arms, Aria gave a brief shrug of her shoulders.

“I dunno. There were plenty, assuming Adagio didn’t get to them first.”

The words were tinted with slight annoyance, which was caught by her older sister immediately.

“Well, you can’t blame the poor dears if they have better taste, now can you, sister?”

Naturally, this earned Adagio another frown, but, perhaps because she wasn’t in the mood for further conflict, Aria instead turned to Twilight once more.

“There were plenty of guys I’ve known over the years. None were ever really that special to me. A fisher’s son back in Athens. A recruit to the legions of Rome. Maybe a painter or two during the renaissance.”

Hearing that, Sonata developed an almost nostalgic look on her face.

“Yeah, I loved those days! Remember when that one guy wanted to do a picture of Dagi?”

Adagio nodded to that, smirking slightly as she gained a look of fondness herself.

“Indeed…”

However, her expression soon turned sour afterwards.

“…but he could never get my hair right! Some artist!”

Ignoring her sisters, Aria kept her eyes on Twilight.

“But…no, I’d say there’s no particular guy I’m more into.”

For a moment, Twilight looked a little disappointed, but perked up again soon afterwards.

“Well…I suppose I’ve got enough to be going on. Thanks for answering my questions.”

Aria nodded in response, before then looking to Sunset, who stood up from her chair, placing her hand upon Twilight’s shoulder before then looking to Aria.

“So…are we actually going to be looking for someone for her now?”

To that, Adagio gave a smirk and a nod.

“Indeed we are! And in fact…I think I know just the place!”

Seeing the look on her sister’s face, Aria developed a slight grimace.

“Why do I always feel nervous when you talk like that, Adagio?”

The Direct Approach

“You know…I probably should have figured this would be your first plan.”

There was a sense of slight annoyance to Aria’s words as she spoke them, but, as for her expression, none could say. Because, at this moment, both of Aria’s sisters, as well as Sunset and Twilight, were currently standing on the opposite side of a door from her, in the changing rooms of one of Canterlot’s more popular locations; the public pool. While this may have been a strange thing to consider, given the time of year it was, there had nevertheless been some unseasonal warmth to the place, so many had taken to coming here far more than usual. There were children, families and friends all enjoying themselves here, or just lounging around the side trying to get a tan. Regardless, this was the place where Adagio had come to enact her brilliant plan, and so stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the door to her sister’s booth.

“Come now, Aria! You know as well as I do that if you want some kind of loving attention, the best way to get it is just to flaunt what you’ve got!”

Folding her arms, Sunset looked to her with a raised eyebrow.

“Adagio, I know you three have a history of…well…flaunting, but do you really think this is the best thing to do? Just show off her body and hope it gets her a guy?”

Looking to her fellow Equestrian, Adagio chuckled somewhat.

“But of course, my dear! What my sister wants is to have the same kind of attention that Sonata and I enjoy. And you know guys, right? Once they catch sight of her, they’ll be falling over each other to speak to her.”

Sunset considered that for a moment, letting out a sigh as a clear sign that she’d acknowledged that there’d be little argument here. She gave a quick glance over to Twilight, who seemed to at least be in the same frame of mind as her, but was soon distracted by the distinct sound of a door opening. All turned in unison to see, as expected, that Aria was indeed coming out of her booth, and, as befitted her environment, had donned a swimsuit to wear for the occasion. It was nothing spectacular, just a simple bikini top and shorts, both of which were coloured her usual green, the same tone as her vest. With a towel wrapped under one arm, she regarded the four girls looking at her before raising an eyebrow.

“Take a picture why don’t you? It’ll last longer.”

With a blush creeping onto their faces, Twilight and Sunset both looked away. As for Adagio, she clasped her hands together as she looked her sister over.

“Oh, Aria! You look positively radiant today! Now go and blow those boys away!”

Aria rolled her eyes at that, starting to make her way past Adagio. But, as she neared Sunset, the latter stopped her, leaning in and speaking in a hushed voice.

“Um…doesn’t it bother you that your own sister talks to you like that?”

Looking to her, Aria shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s Adagio. She talks to everyone like that.”

Sunset considered that for a moment before eventually giving a nod, acknowledging that rather obvious point. Aria moved past her in earnest at this stage, and without saying a word, Sunset, Twilight and Sonata all turned to Adagio. The elder Siren gestured away from the pool, and after giving a nod, the other three girls began to follow her away. They walked together until they were in their chosen spot, that of a small area surrounded by bushes, just a little bit away from the pool itself. Once there, they knelt down, with Adagio looking more than a little confident.

“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. We stay here, keeping an eye on things. But I doubt we’ll wait long. Aria will be sure to find someone soon.”

Looking to her, Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“I know it’s good you have confidence in your sister, but…do you really think it’ll be that easy for her to catch some boy’s attention?”

Turning to her, Adagio gained that infamous smirk of hers.

“Sunset, darling, we’re Sirens. Any one of us will be the centre of attention in any given place we happen to be. Remember when we first arrived at your school?”

Sunset sighed at that.

“Yeah…good point.”

For a while, they turned their attention to the pool. Even with all the hustle and bustle of the usual visitors to this place, it was not difficult for them to spot Aria. True to her Siren roots, she strode through the place with the usual swagger of her kind, as if she owned the place, eventually happening upon a deck-chair by the side of the public waters. Setting her towel upon it, she got herself comfortable, reclining on it in such a way so that nobody was going to be able to not notice her. Before long, she’d even whipped out a pair of sunglasses, placing them over her eyes before getting back to the business of doing nothing. Sunset watched for a minute or two, occasionally glancing to her comrades, wherein she noted that Twilight, as usual, had taken to bringing along a small notepad, and was furiously writing on it as she observed the middle Siren sister. Shaking her head at this, Sunset afforded herself a brief chuckle at her friend’s behaviour, before turning back to Aria.

“So…how long do you think we’ll have to…?”

But, she was prevented from saying anything further, as Adagio raised as hand, stopping her mid-sentence. At first, Sunset didn’t understand, but she then noticed that Adagio had regained her smirk from earlier, still watching the pool as she did so. Turning, Sunset now understood why, as there, walking past where Aria was lying, were a few boys. They were about their age, and while they had been chatting amongst themselves for a while, many of them turned their heads towards Aria as she laid there, looking utterly dumbfounded at the sight of her. Seeing this, Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“Okay…maybe it was easier than I thought.”

Adagio cast her an I-told-you-so look, which, needless to say, got on Sunset’s nerves a bit. However, she remained silent, instead watching Aria. The boys from earlier had come and gone, but there was no question that she’d started to catch people’s attention. A few more boys of similar age came and went, and even, to Sunset’s surprise, a few girls, all of which looked to Aria with varying degrees of interest, from simple blushes all the way up to full-on lust. At the end of it, after about twenty minutes of waiting, something of note finally happened, as the four hidden girls saw that another boy was starting to approach her. However, unlike all the others, he did not simply stare at her and walk by, but rather sat nearby on a similar-looking deck-chair. Aria too seemed to have noticed him, taking off her sunglasses.

“And there we have it,” Adagio remarked.

Smiling, Sunset gave her a quick nod.

“You know, I was doubtful of this at first but…it looks like you were right.”

Flipping aside some more of her hair, Adagio’s expression was a cocky one.

“Naturally.”

Rolling her eyes slightly, Sunset turned once more to Aria.

“Hopefully, when this is all done, Aria will be feeling better about herself. At the very least she’ll know now that she’s not ignored, like she used to.”

There was a round of nods all around at that, with all four of them keeping their eyes firmly on Aria and her new gentleman-caller. Things seemed to be going well between them for the moment, with lots of talking and smiles, though none could hear from this distance what was being said. After a while, Adagio clasped her hands together before letting out a sigh.

“Well, it appears our work here is done. My sisters feels good again and we can all go…”

“Wait!”

The elder Siren had not been expecting to be interrupted, and so looked down with a frown at the one who’d done so; Twilight. The spectacled girl, for a moment, looked a little embarrassed about having done this, and so cleared her throat in a nervous manner before speaking up again.

“I’m sorry, it’s just…I think something’s happening.”

Hearing that, they all turned, and sure enough, Twilight seemed to be right. Aria, for some reason, was moving position, getting off her chair and gathering up her towel. The boy, for his part, actually seemed both concerned and confused as to what was going on, a look soon shared by the girls themselves. They watched, in utter silence, as Aria began to storm off from the boy and the pool itself, and upon seeing this, all of the others, without saying a word, began to move off, leaving their hiding place. Making haste, they walked in earnest back to where this had all began, the changing booths outside of the pool itself. There, they saw that the one Aria had used was once more closed and locked, leading to shared glances of concern amongst the four of them. Knocking on it slightly, Sunset spoke in a soft tone.

“Aria? Is…is everything okay?”

Before any other words could be said, the door flew open, causing the girls to take a step backwards. Aria was there, dressed in her usual attire, with her swim clothes stuffed in a bag in her hand. But, it was her expression that caused the most concern, as it appeared, for a brief moment, almost like she was afraid of something. Seeing this, Adagio spoke.

“Aria? What going…?”

But, she didn’t get the chance to finish, as her sister simply walked right past her, with her expression now her usual annoyed look.

“I don’t wanna talk about it! Let’s just go!”

And with that, she was off, walking swiftly away from the pool, leaving all of the girls behind her. Naturally, all of them looked to one another for clarification as to what had just occurred, ultimately summed up with Sunset’s next words.

“Okay…what was that all about?”

Explanations

To say that Sunset was nervous right now would have been a great understatement. It had been a full day since the incident at the pool, and nobody had spoken to Aria since it happened. As for Sunset, she had been thinking about it for every single moment that had passed, and now, she stood outside the door to the music room, where she knew the Siren would be found. Hesitantly, she raised a hand, grasping the knob, before letting out a long sigh and finally opening it. Sure enough, Aria was there, staring out of the window on the other side, arms folded and not even bothering to turn and see Sunset enter. Her expression now a concerned one, Sunset closed the door behind her, making her way to stand beside her friend. There was silence between the two girls for a time, but, in the end, it was Sunset who broke it, though her words were tinted with clear nervousness.

“Are…are you okay?”

Aria said noting, merely frowning as she continued to stare out of the window. Sunset knew in her heart that the girl was bothered by something, and even more so that probing might lead to further conflict. Even so, she was her friend, and she was uncomfortable about something. That alone was more than enough motivation for the former unicorn to keep talking to her.

“You know…it looked as if you were doing pretty well back there…with that guy, I mean.”

And yet, nothing but silence came from Aria. Folding her own arms, Sunset looked out of the window herself, while still speaking to the nearby Siren.

“If…if it was something he maybe said to you, you know you can talk to us about it, right?”

At long last, Aria spoke up, though her voice was clearly angered.

“It wasn’t him. And I thought I told you that I didn’t wanna talk about it?”

Turning to her, Sunset’s expression softened somewhat before continuing.

“I know, but…you’re my friend, Aria. And…well…I’d like to think you can come to me if you need help.”

Aria, still staring out of the window, narrowed her eyes to that.

“There’s nothing to help! It’s my problem!”

To that, Sunset took on a slightly confused look.

“Your problem? What problem?”

A brief flash of hesitancy crossed Aria’s eyes, as she cast a glance over to Sunset before looking back to the window.

“It’s…it’s nothing! It’s something stupid. Not something I wanna talk about.”

Hearing those words, Sunset continued to stare at her, gently placing a hand upon her shoulder.

“Aria…if something is bothering you, you know getting it off your chest is going to be the first step to feeling better about it.”

Aria rolled her eyes.

“Ugh! You sound like Fluttershy!”

Sunset chuckled a little.

“Maybe…but that doesn’t mean it’s not true, right?”

At long last, Aria turned, looking Sunset right in her eyes. There was no hint of deception or mockery there, merely honesty. Sunset had meant every word when she said she wanted to help, and when Aria saw this, her own expression softened considerably. She opened her mouth, as if to speak, only to shut it tight again as she regained her earlier serious look. Then, to Sunset’s surprise, she walked off, briskly making her way to the door of the music room. Opening it up, the Siren poked her head out, checking to make sure the hallways were clear, after which she closed the door shut, and even, to Sunset’s confusion, locking it. Turning to face her once more, Aria marched towards Sunset, stopping just a few feet of her, before looking to her with utter seriousness.

“Okay, I’m gonna talk about this, but you gotta swear that you’re not gonna tell anybody what I say, okay?”

Although a little taken aback by that, Sunset soon shook herself out of it, raising one hand as if she were about to swear a national allegiance or the like.

“I swear, I won’t tell anyone what you tell me here.”

Aria stared for a moment, until she was satisfied that the girl had meant that. When the promise was done, and Aria cast another nervous glance in the door’s direction, she let out a sigh, before speaking to Sunset in earnest.

“I…I just freaked, okay?”

Sunset’s expression was one of confusion after hearing that, prompting Aria to explain herself.

“Look…I was doing all my regular stuff. I struck a pose, I flirted, I talked in that tone I know the guys like. But…as we were talking I just…I felt like I needed to be out of there, away from him.”

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, only to be stopped when Aria beat her to it.

“I know what you’re gonna say, and no, the guy wasn’t the problem. The problem is that…I knew where things were going there. It’s like it’s always been whenever I was with a guy, I’d do all the right things, say all the right things and then…well…you can probably figure out how that ends.”

The look on Sunsets’ face made it clear that she did indeed understand, however, her curious look returned soon afterwards.

“Aria…I don’t understand. I mean…I thought that was what you wanted? Some admiring looks, some…some intimacy. All that stuff?”

Aria nodded, folding her arms as she did so.

“I did, but…when I started thinking about it and how I might actually get it, I…I don’t think I actually wanted to go through with it.”

For a moment, she hesitated, looking away from Sunset.

“At least…not that way.”

Needless to say, that earned Sunset’s attention, as she raised an eyebrow before speaking again.

"That way? Um…what way?”

Aria looked to her, and as before, she showed clear nervousness about it all. However, also like before, Sunset’s expression was a reassuring one, and that did a lot to put the middle Siren sister at ease.

“Sunset…for all the centuries, the thousands of years my sisters and I have been here…we’ve been able to get pretty much whatever kind of guy or girl we wanted.”

Looking away, Aria frowned slightly.

“And when this whole things with you and the others started, I was all set and ready to get right back into the game, if only to know I hadn’t lost my touch.”

Soon afterwards, her expression became one of discomfort.

“But…there’s something different now. Something about the idea of me getting together with a guy that I’m not too sure about now.”

Sunset, upon hearing that, tilted her heads slightly.

“Aria…what is different?”

Turning back to her, Aria regained her frown from earlier.

“Can’t you figure it out? It’s our magic!”

As one would expect, Sunset looked rather taken aback by that. However, after Aria let out another sigh, she began to speak in a somewhat softer tone.

“Look…I’m not saying I used magic to get them in the first place. Like I said, my sisters and I had more than enough going for us to guarantee that magic wasn’t really needed to get people’s attention.”

For a brief moment, a slight smirk had appeared on her face as she’d said that. However, it vanished almost as quickly as it had come, returning instead to her earlier look of uncertainty.

“But…our magic…my magic…what it did guarantee was something far more important to me.”

Sunset stayed silent, waiting patiently as Aria got her thoughts together, before the latter spoke up with utter seriousness.

“That I…I was in control.”

Sunset, briefly, didn’t understand that, and seeing that expression caused Aria to let out a sigh as she started explaining herself, moving over to the nearby window as she did so.

“Look…when I was with a guy…I was only ever comfortable doing what I did with them because I knew that, when push came to shove, I was the one on top, the one in charge. I never needed to worry about them or what they might say or do to me, because I knew that all it’d take was a few notes from me to keep them liking me, wanting me.”

Turning away, the middle Siren sister’s face became one of concern.

“But without it…I don’t have that certainty. I don’t have that control. Now, if I get with a guy, I have no idea what’s gonna happen! I don’t know if he’ll stay as long as I want him to, or if things between us are gonna go well. And when I realised that, I…I was…”

But, Sunset had already heard enough to understand, and so finished her sentence for her.

“You were scared, weren’t you?”

Aria looked to her, somewhat surprised to hear that. And in these few seconds, the two girls shared a look of understanding, ending when Sunset finally broke the silence, adding her piece.

“Believe me…you’re not the only one who knows how difficult it is to be with people when you no longer have any power over them.”

Needless to say, Aria felt, at the very least, marginally more comfortable around Sunset after hearing that, a knowing nod passing between them. Even so, she still looked, of all things, almost ashamed with what she’d just admitted to. Sunset, seeing this, gave her all the time she needed to get things together. After a minute or two of uncomfortable silence between them, Aria exhaled deeply, speaking up in a lower tone than normal.

“Maybe…maybe we should just call this whole thing off. If I’ve got this kinda baggage going on, it’s probably not a good idea to keep trying to find someone.”

But Sunset, hearing that, shook her head.

“I disagree. You may not be comfortable going all out with physical intimacy, like you used to, but that’s no reason to stop trying to find someone to be with. I mean…”

A thoughtful look crossed her face for a moment or two before she carried on.

“…there must have been someone. Someone you and your sisters didn’t have to use magic on for them to stay close to you. Someone…someone you didn’t feel the need to enchant.”

Hearing that, Aria looked away, a brief look of nostalgia crossing her eyes.

“There…there was one.”

Smiling at that, Sunset walked over to a nearby chair, sitting upon it and gesturing to another one close by. Aria, seeing this, got the message soon afterwards, shrugging her shoulders before taking a seat herself. After thinking things over for a bit, the Siren finally started explaining things.

“It was shortly after my sisters and I got dumped in this world to begin with. In the place people today called ancient Greece. We’d travel from place to place, scraping by on whatever negative energy we could scrounge up. And by this point, we’d already gotten used to humans, and Adagio especially had been with more than her fair share of them.”

Aria reclined further into her chair before continuing.

“Then, one day, we got on this boat, travelling from Athens to Thessaly, when this storm hit. We were swept way off course, running aground on this tiny island, right in the middle of the Aegean. The ship was wrecked, and we knew we weren’t getting off the island until a trading ship or something came our way.”

Looking away, that same nostalgic look returned to her.

“That island…it was a small farming community. And we found this guy, an old-timer, who offered to let us stay with him until a ship arrived. Since he and those around him weren’t enough to give us our usual energy, we had to play nice, offer to work on his land and stuff.”

A chuckle escaped her at that thought.

“That month was probably the most honest labour my sisters and I have ever done.”

But, her smile faded a little afterwards.

“The guy…he had a son. Scrawniest kid you could ever meet. He and me, we were set up together, working one side of the nearby farmland while Sonata and Adagio worked the other. And as we worked, we…we got to talking.”

Sunset watched her, enthralled by this story, always staying silent as Aria continued.

“As the weeks rolled on, we…well…I kinda started to like him. He was the first guy I’d met in this world that I didn’t need to cast a spell on to make him interested.”

Gradually, a smile formed on her face.

“And he was interested. Oh sure, he blushed every time he looked my way, which was kinda cute, I guess. But…even then, I knew. As for me…it was weird, being able to get a guy without magic. It felt…nice. Different from what I was used to.”

Looking straight at Sunset, Aria’s expression was, to the latter’s surprise, a contended one.

“When he and I were together, I…I didn’t even mind that we were stuck on that island. And when a ship finally came for us, and we got off…I found myself actually missing him.”

She turned, a slightly sad look in her eyes.

“And even now…I still miss him. I know he’s probably dust by now, just like everyone from back then…but I can’t think of anyone I’ve met in this world, anyone I’ve been with…that I actually enjoyed being with as much as I was with him.”

At long last, it seemed as if her story had come to an end, and Sunset, sitting there staring at her, had listened to every word of it. She thought long and hard about what she’d just learned, thinking over her words carefully, before looking to Aria with a soft expression.

“Aria…I think…what you’ve been wanting isn’t what Adagio might want. All these years, you’ve been getting together with guys, when you can, but…have you ever felt…you know…happy with it?”

Aria looked to her with a raised eyebrow, prompting Sunset to explain herself.

“I mean, I know you might have been physically satisfied. Like Adagio said, you’ve got urges just like any Siren. But…did you ever feel at those times that you were…well…happy on the inside about it?”

The Siren stared at her, opening her mouth to speak, only to shut it again when being asked that question. She looked away, appearing deep in thought for a moment, before looking right back to her, letting out a sigh.

“No…I don’t think I have been.”

To that, Sunset actually smiled.

“Okay…now we’re getting somewhere. What you’ve wanted all these years is something emotional. Someone to make you feel good without having to charm or seduce them. You wanted someone to make you feel safe around them, right?”

Again, Aria thought on that, and again, she gave a nod, confirming what Sunset said.

“Yeah…I guess I have. Kinda weird to think of it that way though.”

However, her expression became that of a frown soon afterwards.

“Wait…does that mean I’m gonna have to look for one of those sappy types of romances like in those bad love books and stuff?”

To that, Sunset let out a brief chuckle.

“No, I don’t think that would suit you in the slightest.”

But, moments later, she looked to her more seriously.

“But I think that, from this point on, you shouldn’t just be looking for someone to share your bed or shower you with flirty compliments. You need to find yourself someone you can talk to, someone you can feel comfortable with.”

Leaning back into her chair, Aria gave out a huff.

“Ugh! I don’t even know how to start doing that!”

Smiling, Sunset leaned forward placing a hand upon Aria’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. Now that we now what you really need, I think it’ll be better for us to help you find someone.”

Aria thought on that, and after a long silence, looked to Sunset with an appreciative smile. But, before either of them had a chance to say anything else, they were interrupted by a knocking on the door. They turned, somewhat surprised by this, but both got up to walk over to it. Unlocking the thing, Sunset opened it to find, on the other side, that Adagio herself was standing there, hands on hips, looking at her sister.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you all day!”

Aria rolled her eyes at that, after which she gave her sister a softer look.

“Yeah…well…thanks for being worried about me, I guess.”

Adagio, hearing those words, looked a little taken aback by them, for which Sunset could not blame her, given Aria’s usual personality. Looking from Sunset to her sister and back again, Adagio took note of the fact that Aria seemed to be lacking the uncomfortable look she’d had since the pool incident, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

“Is…is everything alright here?”

Sunset opened her mouth, only to close it again before looking over her shoulder to Aria. There was a silent glance between them, during which Aria seemed a little worried. But, Sunset, offering her a small smile, looking back to her sister.

“Everything’s fine, Adagio. I think we can move ahead with helping Aria now.”

Needless to say, Adagio was a little surprised by that.

“Okay…anything I need to know about?”

Again, Sunset looked to Aria, and when she turned to face Adagio once more, she simply offered her a smile.

“Let’s just say we need to take things in a different direction now.”

Dates

With the weekend in full swing, the town of Canterlot was seeing a great deal of activity in every single venue it had to offer. The local movie theatre, the park, the pool and pretty much everything in-between had a huge number of people, young and old alike, trying to enjoy themselves. One of these places, a small café on a street corner, was of note because, today, it was where Aria now found herself. She was sitting by a small corner table, by herself, looking around at the other customers of the place. Every once in a while, she’d look at her watch, counting the minutes as they went by, letting out a sigh as she did so. It would have been fair to say that she looked nervous at this point, as well as concerned, but even so, she remained where she was. However, in time, she turned, looking over to another table, before speaking in a hushed voice.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

There, sitting around that other table, were her friends. There were her sisters, Adagio and Sonata, as well as Twilight and Sunset. Each of the four girls were dressing in different ways to try and disguise their identity, with most electing to wear sunglasses as part of it. Looking over to Aria as she spoke, Twilight lowered her own sunglasses before speaking to her with a smile.

“Don’t worry, Aria. I made a list of all the possible people at Canterlot High that you might be able to have a nice time with. After matching up all of their known attributes and personality traits, I came to the conclusion that our choice here today would be ideal for you to have this little get-together with.”

Needless to say, Aria looked to her with slight confusion, leading to her looking instead to Sunset, who let out a sigh before summing things up for her.

“She looked over the guys at the school and found one she thought would be good for you.”

To that, Aria nodded, a look of understanding now plastered over her face. However, as she looked around the rest of the cafe, nervousness continued to grip her.

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

Looking to her sister, Sonata smiled widely, speaking in that bubbly way she was known for.

“Don’t worry, Ari! We’ll be here if anything goes wrong! All you have to do is talk to the guy, put on a smile, act cheery and things will go on from there.”

Aria considered that for a moment before putting on a slight frown.

“Yeah…I’m not sure if I can do that whole…you know…nice stuff.”

At long last, Sunset added her own voice to the mix.

“Look…let’s just see how this plays out. Nothing is forcing you to stay with this guy longer than you’re comfortable with. If you want it to end, it’ll end, and we’ll be here to help, okay?”

Hearing that, Aria thought for a moment, before giving a small smile to her friend. However, she hadn’t the chance to say anything else, as the sound of the café door opening caught her attention soon afterwards. Turning, she and the others caught sight of the newest customer to the place. A boy, their age, taller than most, who wore distinct green dreadlocks and a beanie hat. Aria, naturally, got back into position, sitting and trying to keep herself as calm as possible. The others too began to keep to themselves, lest the guy spot them. As for the boy himself, he looked around the place for a while before catching sight of Aria, after which he broke out into a smile and gave a brief wave. Nervously, Aria waved back, and watched as the boy began to approach her. After getting into his own chair, the guy finally spoke up.

“Hi.”

Aria, forcing a smile, spoke back.

“Yeah…hi.”

Looking around the place, the boy continued, his voice far calmer than Aria’s right now.

“I gotta, say, I was pretty surprised to hear you wanted to go out like this.”

Aria nodded.

“Yeah, it was…well, I guess I just…you know?”

Despite her fumbling her words, the guy continued to smile.

“You know, we never were introduced. I’m Sandalwood.”

To that, Aria gave a nod.

“Er…yeah. And I’m Aria.”

Hearing that, Sandalwood chuckled.

“Yeah, I…I already knew that, Kinda hard to forget you, to be honest.”

Aria, in spite of her situation, chuckled in response.

“Sure…I guess it would.”

Curiosity gripped her at this point as she kept her eyes on the boy.

“So…what exactly did Twilight say to you when she told you about this?”

Sandalwood shrugged his shoulders.

“Only that you were interested in dating and that you were hoping for a fun time out at a café.”

For a brief moment, he looked away, slight confusion crossing his face.

“Although…she did mention a whole bunch of scientific stuff, but…I didn’t really get it.”

Aria nodded to that.

“Yeah…she does that.”

Despite the boy continuing to look happy at being here, a silence fell between them. It lasted quite a long while, a few minutes at least. Both of them looked unsure about the other, neither seeming to know what to say or even how to say it. As this transpired, the other girls watched from the nearby table, never interfering, and yet looking more than a little pained to see this whole thing unfold. After a long and near-agonizing wait, the silence was broken when Sandalwood spoke up again.

“So…I’m guessing you like music and stuff, right?”

Aria nodded to that.

“Um…sure. I mean, I don’t do a whole lot of singing these days because…well…you know.”

Immediately, a look of guilt crossed Sandalwood’s face.

“Oh…right…sorry.”

But Aria shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s fine. What about you? Big music fan?”

Sandalwood considered that for a moment.

“Um…I guess? I mean, I listen to Flash’s band every now and again, but…I wouldn’t say it’s a big interest.”

Aria nodded, thinking hard on their conversation for a while before speaking up again.

“So…what do you like?”

To that, the boy’s face lit up again.

“Well…there’s this movement in the school right now to petition city hall to stop building that new mini-mall down the street. Did you know there’s this really important bush that’s been there for years now? They wanted to tear it down to build that place! Can you believe it?”

Aria stared at him, at the enthusiasm upon his face, and it would have been clear to anyone watching, of which there were four in fact, that she had little to no interest in that whatsoever. However, for the sake of her date, she forced yet another smile, giving a nod.

“Oh, sure, that sounds…great?”

But Sandalwood, apparently nod having picked up on that, continued to smile in earnest, now speaking at a mile a minute, almost as if Aria had given him permission to do so.

“I know, right? I mean, it’s almost like what they tried to do with that duck pond a few years back, but, people got angry and…”

And that, pretty much, set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Sandalwood would sit there, continuing to go on and on about all the environmental issues he had to talk about, and all the while, Aria would sit there, taking it all in, pretending to be interested, her only respite coming when the nearby waitress would come and serve them some soda or a cake. However, while she was no longer uncomfortable around the guy, it was now as clear as day that she was growing increasingly bored with him. She had no investment in either him or what he was saying. Needless to say, by the time it was all done, about an hour later, she looked more than dissatisfied with how the date had progressed, looking like a student who’d just been put into a particularly dull class of some sort. But Sandalwood, for his part, had not picked up on this in the slightest, even when he finally finished talking.

“You know…I gotta say, Aria, it was awesome that you wanted to hang out today.”

Again, Aria forced a smile.

“Hmmm…yep. It was…kinda…you know…it was a date alright.”

As before, Sandalwood smiled, before turning and looking at a clock on the nearby wall.

“I hope you don’t mind, but, I kinda made some plans with some friends and…”

But, before he got the chance to finish, Aria’s face lit up, speaking with more enthusiasm than she had for this entire encounter.

“Sure, go!”

Sandalwood paused for a moment, looking to her with uncertainty, to which Aria then realised what she’d done.

“Oh! I mean…awww, really, do you have to go?”

But, as before, the boy did not pick up on any sarcasm, instead letting out a sigh.

“I know, it’s a bummer. Still, it was nice meeting you, Aria.”

Another forced smile came on Aria’s part, and she waved him goodbye, watching as he made his way further and further away from her, and then, when he was finally out of sight, she banged her head down on her table. Seeing this, the other girls got up from their own table, making their way over.

“Ari? Is everything okay?” Sonata asked.

Hearing that, Aria dragged herself up to look at her, her expression that of one who was utterly drained.

“I did not know what boredom truly was…until I met him.”

Twilight considered that, whipping out a notepad before looking over them for a while.

“Hmmm…I’m surprised. All of my calculations led me to think that he was a sure thing. I wonder what happened?”

To that, Aria shrugged her shoulders.

“Don’t know. Don’t care. I’m just happy this was a one-time thing.”

However, a look of concern crossed her face as she slowly turned to face the young scientist.

“Unless…you’ve got more guys in mind?”

Ignoring the concern in her voice, Twilight broke out into a massive smile.

“Yep! Sure do! About a dozen of them in fact!”

Again, Aria banged her head against the table, leading to Sunset turning to Twilight and speaking in a hushed voice.

“Um, Twilight? Are you sure you want to keep doing this? I mean, I know you want to help, but…don’t you think this should be something Aria decides for herself? After all, having someone else pick out a guy for you doesn’t really sound like a guarantee for a fun date.”

But Twilight, adjusting her glasses slightly, looked to her friend with a smile.

“I assure you, Sunset, there’s nothing to worry about! All of my research assures me that, on this list, there’s bound to be at least one person Aria can connect to.”

Looking down at the Siren in question, who still had her head buried in her table, Twilight reached over and gently patted her on the head, still smiling.

“Don’t worry, Aria. I promise you, this is the best idea ever!”

Noticed

“This was the worst idea ever!”

The anger and irritation in Aria’s voice would have been plain even to a complete novice at reading people. Her expression was a deep frown right now and, as she stood in one of the many hallways of Canterlot High, all she seemed to want to occupy her time with was standing in front of one locker and repeatedly banging her head against it. Nearby were all of the people who had been trying to help her over the last few weeks. Adagio, Sonata, Sunset, and finally, Twilight Sparkle, who was looking particularly disappointed right now, going over a lot of the notes in her hands.

“I…I just don’t get it! Everything pointed to those guys being perfect for you! How could everyone on my list have been a failure?”

Aria, still banging her head, spoke up in response, her tone one of annoyance.

“Out of curiosity, did you actually talk that much to them yourself before pushing them on me?”

Twilight considered that for a few moments, only to find herself shutting her mouth with a look of slight embarrassment. Even though Aria wasn’t looking at her right now, she could tell just from the silence what the response was going to be, and so just kept on doing what she was doing. Sunset, giving Twilight a reassuring pat on the shoulder, looked to Aria with concern.

“Aria…you know you can’t keep doing that forever, right? What do you hope to accomplish by banging your head so much?”

Frowning hard, Aria responded as she continued banging her head.

“Maybe I’m hoping I’ll give myself amnesia or something if I do it long enough. Or maybe it’ll just give me a bruise that’ll ache for weeks. I don’t know, but either option would be better than what the last week has put me through!”

Sonata, stepping forward, looked as cheery as ever as she spoke to her sister.

“Awww, come on, Ari, don’t be like that! What about that Micro Chips guy? He was pretty nice, right?”

Aria scoffed before answering.

“Yeah, sure…until I found out he already had a girlfriend.”

Realisation crossed Sonata’s face after hearing that.

“Oh…right.”

The words also had the effect of making Twilight look more embarrassed than before.

“Yeah…I guess I sort of forgot to task about that before putting my list together.”

Adagio, who had been standing quietly this whole time, shook her head at this display before taking a step forward and addressing her sister directly.

"Aria, I know I usually ask for the best myself in most cases, but you really shouldn’t be so picky with your lovers! Granted, most of them were dull…and even a little irritating, but you could have at least gotten some fun out of them.”

At long last, Aria stopped her head-based assault on the locker, turning to her sister with a disapproving scowl.

“Adagio, I told you already, I’m not looking for that. I’m looking for…for…”

After thinking about it, Aria let out another grunt of annoyance before, as she’d been doing this whole time, giving a particularly loud headbutt against the locker.

“Argh! I don’t know what I’m looking for! But…I’ll know it when it happens, alright?”

Adagio folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at that response.

“Well…it’s hardly how I'd look for some companionship…but, do as you will. Though I will say your current strategy hasn’t really been getting you anywhere, now has it?”

Needless to say, Aria was growing increasingly irritated with such comments. However, before she got the chance to say anything, Sunset walked beside Adagio, speaking to her in a softer tone.

“Adagio…maybe it’ll be better if we give her some space. It’s been a long week and she’s clearly not in the mood for this right now.”

The eldest Siren looked to the former unicorn with a degree of scepticism, staring at her and seeing the concern on her face. Looking back to her sister, Adagio noted the way she just looked tired after all of this, even without the continual head-banging. Gradually, she let out a sigh, her expression softening from what it had been this whole time. Slowly, she reached forward, giving Aria a quick pat on the shoulder, before gesturing to Sonata. The blue Siren gave Aria a concerned look before following her older sister. As for Twilight and Sunset, they stayed a few moments longer, after which they too left her to be with her thoughts. Aria herself just stayed the course, until the sounds of her banging her head were the only thing that could he beard in the hallways, like some kind of strange ticking clock. During it all, the middle Siren sister kept on grumbling under her breath.

“Stupid…annoying…never gonna find anyone…stupid…waste of time…”

However, it was here that she heard it; somebody clearing their throat. For a moment, confusion gripped her, as she knew that the other four had already left, and so, slowly, she began to turn. There standing just as few feet away from her, was a boy. Slightly shorter than her, he was clad in a bright white button shirt, his brown hair cut into a pudding-bowl style. And right now, he was poking his index fingers together, looking somewhat nervous as he looked to her. Aria, for her part, frowned slightly at seeing him.

“Um…can I help you?”

Eventually, and after a few false starts, the boy spoke.

“Well…um…it’s just that…well…I kinda need to get to my locker and…you’re banging your head against it.”

As one would expect, Aria hadn’t really given much thought to the locker she’d chosen for this, and when she turned to look at it, she found, to her slight embarrassment, that there was now a noticeable dent in it where her head had met it. After looking from the boy, to the locker and then back again, she paused for a moment, before finally stepping to one side.

“…Sorry.”

The boy, in contrast to how she might have expected, actually smiled in response.

“No biggie.”

Aria, raising her eyebrow at this, regarded the lad as he made his way over to his locker, opening it up before slipping off his school bag and starting to offload some of his book. Aria, for her part, looked away from him, leaning against another nearby set of lockers while folding her arms. There was silence from her for a while, and during which, the boy looked to her, seeing the uncomfortable expression she wore. He looked, in all honesty, hesitant over something, mentally wrestling with a decision, before finally just speaking up.

“You, er…you okay?”

Aria looked to him, narrowing her eyes somewhat.

“Personal problem. Nothing to worry about.”

Her tone was straight and to the point, but while the boy could, like most, tell that she didn’t want to talk right now, he nevertheless did so.

“Look, I…I know it’s not really my place, but…you know, people always say it’s best to talk about stuff if it’s bothering you.”

To that, Aria let out a dry chuckle.

“Trust me, kid, I’ve been hearing that for a while now. And after all that, I’m still alone, aren’t I?”

Hearing those words, the boy gained a look of curiosity.

“Oh. You’re…you’re looking for someone?”

Aria, realising what she’d let slip out, widened her eyes, before turning away so she was no longer looking at him.

“It’s nothing! It’s just…just harder than you might think.”

Again, the boy seemed hesitant about all of this, and for a minute or two, he glanced back in the direction of his locker, taking out a particularly large book before trying to stuff it into his bag. When that was all done however, he looked back to Aria.

“Um…don’t take this the wrong way, but…I’m actually kinda surprised that you’d find it hard to find someone.”

The middle Siren sister looked down at him, an incredulous look upon her face, which prompted the boy, who was more than a little nervous at this point, to start explaining himself.

“Well…it’s just that…you know…you look…I mean…you’d be at least noticed, right?”

Raising an eyebrow, Aria, rather than getting annoyed at such remarks, started to speak to him in a somewhat playful tone.

“You’re saying you think I look good?”

Naturally, the boy started to blush at that, turning to look at his locker again.

“Well, I…I don’t want you to think I’m too forward in saying so but…yes?”

For a brief moment, Aria looked taken aback by this, but, soon afterwards, regained her slightly mocking expression.

"You do know that flattery will probably get you nowhere with me, right, kid?”

The boy, keeping his eyes away from her, continued to blush fiercely as he nodded.

“Sure, but...I mean…you look good, but, it's not just looks, you know, It’s…er…other stuff. Like the way you stand, looking all tough and stuff. And, if I'm being honest…your voice is kinda nice?”

To that, Aria seemed a little confused.

“My voice?”

Looking to her, the boy nodded again.

“Yeah. It’s like…you’ve got this sort of huskiness to it that…well…sounds kinda…attractive. To me anyway.”

At this point, Aria was looking far less uncomfortable than she had been when her day began, and started to regard the boy more intently. After a while, she placed her hands upon her hips, looking to him with a raised eyebrow.

"You don't talk to a lotta girls, do ya, kid?"

He looked away at that, embarrassment all over his face, prompting Aria to smirk once more as she continued asking questions.

“What’s your name, kid?”

At that, the boy looked somewhat nervous, darting his eyes left and right to avoid looking her in the eye.”

“Oh, it’s…erm…it’s Wiz. Wiz Kid.”

Immediately, Aria slapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a snicker on her part.

“Did…did you just say Wiz Kid?”

Lowering his head, Wiz buried his face in his hands as he responded.

“Don’t. Every joke. Every pun. Done to death. Seriously.”

Shaking her head a little after recovering from her halted laugh, Aria wiped away a tear from the moment before looking to the boy with a smile.

“I’m sorry, it’s just…did your parents hate you or something?”

Looking to her again, Wiz didn’t seem bothered by the remark in the slightest, instead shrugging his shoulder before speaking up with a somewhat deadpan tone of voice.

“Oh, no, they loved me. In fact, I often choose to believe that their choice of name for me was them being so blinded by love that they failed to take into account how silly the name might sound when other people say it.”

Hearing that, Aria laughed again. However, unlike the first laugh, this one sounded very different. A slightly higher pitch and, if anything, more feminine than how she usually sounded. The moment she realised this, and how it might have sounded to others, she slapped a hand over her mouth, looking utterly mortified, and hoping deep down that Wiz hadn’t caught it. But, sadly, he had, and now looked to her with slight shock in his expression.

“Did…did you just...giggle?”

Lowering her hand, Aria’s eyes darted about nervously.

“Um…no?”

Slowly, a smirk appeared on Wiz’s face.

“You did! You giggled!”

Frowning, Aria balled her hand into a fist, raising it in a menacing manner towards him.

“Kid, if you tell anyone about this, I swear...!”

Wiz raised his hands in a defensive posture.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed. I mean...well...it actually sounded...kinda nice, hearing you laugh like that."

Despite fighting against herself in this, Aria, still taken aback by this, found a tiny blush creeping onto her cheeks. But, by way of centuries worth of self-control, she forced it back, regaining her earlier frown and shaking her fist a second time.

"Kid...one...more...word!"

But he was far from intimidated, instead leaning into the nearby locker, laughing heartily at what he’d just experienced. Now, to those who knew Aria, they might have, justifiably, expected her to just lose it right there, perhaps even hitting the guy. But, as she stood there, hearing him laugh, she stopped, her face morphing from one of anger, to one of confusion, before eventually turning to one that was a mix of shock and recognition. Wiz, when his laugh had died down, saw this look on her face, becoming just slightly concerned about it.

“Are…are you okay?”

Aria, lowering her fist, looked away from him, a slight look of nostalgia now crossing her face.

“Yeah. It’s just…when you laughed, you sounded like…”

But, she shook her head after that.

“It’s nothing. Just…just thinking about someone else.”

Wiz looked to her for a moment, curiosity upon his face, before shrugging his shoulders. He turned to his locker before closing it, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. When this was all done, he looked to Aria once more, his expression a soft one.

“You know…it was kinda nice talking to you, Aria.”

Aria looked to him, and though she seemed hesitant at first, she soon gave a nod, fondling her arms as she did so and bearing a neutral expression throughout.

“Yeah…sure.”

Wiz nodded to her before starting to walk off, moving past her and no doubt heading to some other class of some sort. Aria watched him go, her expression one of uncertainty. But, before she could say or do anything, she heard the sound of approaching footsteps coming from behind her. Turning, she saw, to her surprise, that the four who had left her, Adagio, Sunset, Sonata and Twilight, were all walking back to her. The looks on their faces made it clear that they wanted to speak to her, and when they finally reached her, it was Adagio who did just that.

“We stopped hearing the sounds of you banging your head at last. Everything okay?”

Aria, looking to all of them, gave a nod.

“Yeah, I…I think I’m okay now.”

Sonata, hearing that, gave out a loud sigh.

“That's a relief! We were super worried about you, Ari!”

Sunset nodded to that.

“Yeah, we were actually wondering if you were gonna do that all day or something.”

Aria chuckled slightly.

“Well, you don’t need to worry about that. I’m fine.”

The girls all smiled, clearly happy to hear that. As for Twilight, she moved closer, her face an expectant one.

“So…you ready to get back into it? I’ve actually made a whole new list if you're interested!”

Needless to say, Aria did not seem interested by that, looking to Twilight almost with a sense of fear at having to go through more failed dates. However, as she considered that, a new thought grew in her mind, leading to her putting on a small smile.

“Actually…I think I have a different plan.”

The girls all looked to each other with confusion for a moment before looking back to Aria, who, to their surprise, turned away from them. She looked down the hall, to where Wiz was still walking, and, taking a deep breath, called out to him.

“Hey! Wiz!”

The boy stopped immediately, turning to see her before calling out himself.

“Yeah?!”

Knowing she’d got his attention, Aria called out again.

“What are you doing after school?”

The boy seemed taken aback by that question, but, after thinking about it, shouted back the answer.

“Well, I’ve got some homework and a little basketball practise, but…after that…nothing really.”

Smiling, Aria shouted once more.

“Wanna go and grab a milkshake at Sugar Cube Corner?”

Wiz, hearing that, gained a slight blush, and was momentarily lost for words. But, after regaining his composure, he gave the Siren his response.

“Um…Sure?”

Aria smiled and nodded.

“Great! I’ll see you there then!”

Wiz gave a thumbs up, but soon looked away, bearing a look that made it quite obvious that he had no idea how he’d gotten himself into this situation. As for Aria, she turned back to the others, seeing the dumbfounded looks on their faces. Folding her arms, she took a moment to enjoy them like this, bearing a smirk as she spoke to them.

“Thanks for your help, all of you. But…I think I need to go and get ready for a date.”

And with that, she was off, walking past them and heading off elsewhere, leaving many of them speechless. After a good five minutes of them staring blankly at both her and each other, it was Adagio who spoke up, breaking the silence.

“Alright…would somebody care to explain what just happened?”

Sunset, hearing that, turned to see Aria walking off, noticing the somewhat confident way in which she did so. It took a while, but eventually, the former unicorn’s expression softened, and she broke into a smile as she turned to Adagio once more.

“I think…you’re sister’s gonna be okay.”

First Date

While the sun was shining brightly in the sky, it wasn’t exactly a hugely warm day. The season was truly setting in for many, and most were out and about on the streets of Canterlot, dressed for winter, be it thick coats or even just simple scarves. However, out on the edges of the town, there was a place that kept its own warmth. A small café, busy at this time of day, with patrons both old and young coming and going. It was a pleasant enough place, small and cosy. The kind of place where one might spend the afternoon with friends. However, that was not the agenda today for one customer in particular. A teenage boy, with a distinct pudding-bowl haircut. Wiz Kid, of Canterlot High, who was currently sitting quietly in a corner table, big enough for two. Every once in a while, he’d glance to his watch, seeing the seconds pass by, and when he did, he’d let out a sigh.

“It’s fine. No problem. I am early after all.”

Then, almost as if the world itself had heard him, he turned to the sound of a bell, signalling that the front door of the café had been opened. Once he saw who had arrived, he broke out into a small smile. For there, standing in her own winter coat, was Aria Blaze. This girl, a Siren of Equestria, scoured the place, until finally setting her eyes upon Wiz, who helpfully waved to her to give her a better chance of spotting him. She too smiled, though in her case it was halfway to being a smirk, and as she began to walk towards him, she unbuttoned her coat, slipping it off to reveal her regular outfit underneath. Once at the table, she hung the coat off the back of the vacant chair there, before sitting down. Wiz watched her, a degree of nervousness in his expression, before finally breaking the silence between them.

“So…any trouble getting here?”

To that, Aria simply shrugged her shoulders.

“Meh. Not much. You?”

Wiz shook his head.

“No problems here either.”

Aria opened her mouth again, only to be stopped when both she and Wiz realised that they were no longer alone. One of the café’s waitresses, a girl their age, had walked up to their table, and was holding a paper pad and pen in her hands. After giving a customary smile to the both of them, to which Aria rolled her eyes, she spoke up.

“Can I take your orders?”

Wiz smiled back, reaching over for a nearby menu, which was understandably small, given the venue, and looked over it briefly before giving his response.

“Yes…I’ll just have a tea for the moment thanks.”

Nodding, the waitress wrote that down on her pad before looking over to Aria. The latter spoke up before the girl had the chance to do so herself, and her voice bore its usual dismissive tone.

“Coffee. Black. No sugar.”

Though somewhat taken aback by this abrasive response, the waitress nevertheless continued to smile, jotting down the order before making her way off to prepare it. Now alone again, Wiz kept his eyes on his date, staying silent for a few moments before he finally thought of something to say.

“So…have you been keeping well?”

Looking to him, Aria’s expression softened a touch from what it had been when the waitress had been here.

“It’s been fine. My job at that clothes store has been working out fine. Better than I thought it would actually.”

Nodding to her, Wiz chuckled a bit.

“Kinda hard to imagine, you behind a counter.”

Aria returned the laugh somewhat.

“Yeah…it’s a long story.”

Looking up to her date, curiosity struck her for a moment, causing her to raise an eyebrow before speaking up to him again.

“So what about you? I gotta admit, I don’t really know that much about you, Wiz.”

To that, the boy shrugged his shoulders.

“Not much to say really. I’m part of the math club…and I can already see you losing interest.”

Surprised by those words, Aria found herself letting out a dry laugh once more.

“Good one.”

But Wiz slumped his shoulders a little.

“Awww. I was hoping to hear you giggle again.”

Looking to him in earnest, Aria narrowed her eyes.

“I thought we agreed that you’d never bring that up again?”

Smiling, Wiz nodded.

“Maybe…but I’d still like to hear it again one day. It was…nice.”

Despite herself, Aria found herself blushing slightly, which she did her best to hide by looking away from him.

“Yeah…well…whatever.”

Leaning forward slightly, Wiz opened his mouth to speak, only to be stopped when the waitress from earlier returned. As asked, she was carrying a small tray, with one tea cup and one coffee. After setting them down gently, she smiled to both youths, to which only Wiz returned it, before making her way back to the counter. Now alone again, Wiz took his tea and blew on it a little before taking a single sip, after which he looked up to his date.

“So…you getting on okay with Sunset and the other girls?”

Taking her own drink, Aria likewise took a single gulp of it before answering.

“They get on my nerves sometimes…but yeah, I gotta say I enjoy having them around.”

Raising her eyes to him, curiosity gripped her for a second time.

“What about you? Any friends I should know about?”

Wiz shrugged his shoulders before answering.

“Not that many. There’s Flash. I sometimes help him out with the equipment for his band. There’s also Bulk, Micro Chips and Sandalwood.”

At the mention of that final name, Aria grimaced slightly, turning away from the boy. Wiz noted this immediately before addressing her.

“Ah…that’s right. You two dated once, right?”

Aria turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

“You heard about that?”

Wiz nodded.

“Yep. He said he enjoyed it. But…I’m guessing you weren’t really that into him?”

Putting her coffee down, Aria shook her head.

“Not really. He was nice, I guess, but…he just wasn’t for me.”

For a moment, there was silence between them, after which, Aria looked to Wiz again.

“You bothered by that?”

The boy considered that for a moment before shaking his head.

“Nah. He got over it pretty quickly. And as for me, I don’t mind that you’ve dated other guys.”

The Siren looked to him, letting out another hearty laugh briefly.

“Trust me, you have no idea.”

This time, it was Wiz’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

Aria nodded before explaining herself.

“Kid…I’m a lot older than you. And I mean centuries older. In that time…well…my sisters and I have had our share of guys….and then some.”

Needless to say, Wiz looked rather surprised at that.

“Wow…centuries?”

Aria nodded.

“Yep. Millennia, in fact.”

Wiz looked away for a moment, considering that before looking back to the seemingly-young-looking girl before him. After a while, he chuckled nervously before speaking up again.

“Well…you look pretty good for it.”

Chuckling herself, Aria brushed aside one of her long pigtails.

“Yeah, I know.”

However, after a few seconds of silence between them, Wiz looked to her with an intensely curious expression.

“What’s it like? Living so much longer than all the rest of us?”

Aria looked back to him and shrugged her shoulders.

“Just something you get used to, I guess. We were always long-loved, outliving the ponies of Equestria. That just carried on with you humans once we got sent here.”

Wiz kept on nodding at that, clearly fascinated with those words. But, after a while, he seemed ponderous for a moment, before finally speaking up again.

“And you been with a whole bunch of guys in that time?”

Again, Aria nodded.

“Not as many as my sisters, but yeah.”

Briefly, Wiz looked away, and when he finally looked back to her, he seemed, for lack of a better word, hesitant as he spoke.

“So…what made you want to date me exactly? I mean…you must have had some pretty amazing guys in all that time. Why go for me?”

Aria paused for a moment, clearly having not expected that question. She sat and thought about it for a while, occasionally sipping her coffee as she did so. When she finally spoke up again, her expression was one of uncertainty, perhaps even nervousness.

“I dunno. I guess…for the first time in my life…I just wanted a guy I could talk to. Go on a date with without wondering about…you know…needing stress relief afterwards.”

It took a while, but Wiz finally got the meaning behind those latter words, and a fierce blush crept onto his face as a result. Seeing this, Aria folded her arms and laughed a little.

“Don’t get too embarrassed, kid. Hanging out with Sires, you’re gonna hear that kinda thing a lot.”

Wiz laughed nervously in response to that, but afterwards, he fell into silence, poking his index fingers against one another as he looked to his date.

“So…am I…okay? As a date?”

Raising an eyebrow, Aria looked him over for a little bit, before developing a small smirk.

“I can tell you this much. I’ve talked more with you in the last five minutes than almost any guy I’ve been with before.”

However, for a moment, her expression became somewhat more serious, and even a little sad, causing her to look away briefly.

“Well…except for one.”

Wiz, naturally, was curious about that, but elected to stay silent, especially when Aria looked back to him.

“So, bottom line, you’re doing fine. Besides, aside from that milkshake at Sugar Cube Corner, this is only our first real date. It’s hardly fair to judge your potential as a boyfriend after just one bout in a café together.”

Wiz laughed a little at that.

“Yeah…guess it is.”

Still smirking, Aria reached forward, pacing her hand upon his in a display of gentleness most wouldn’t usually associated her with. This caught his attention, and as he watched her, he saw her look to him with interest in her eyes.

“Although…I’d say you’re off to a good start.”

It took a while, but eventually, he broke out into a small smile.

“Well then…here’s hoping I keep it up.”

Leaning back into her own chair, Aria let out another brief chuckle before replying.

“Oh, trust me on this. If you don't…you’ll know.”

As one would expect, this led to yet another bout of nervousness from Wiz, as he sat there in silence while Aria took another sip of her coffee, keeping her eyes on him the whole time.

“No pressure, right?”

Author's Notes:

Originally, I was going to do this as a separate story, but after doing some thinking, I decided to simply make it a final chapter of the established Aria fic