Another day passed without Artifex Frost present. Then another; then another; then another; then today. With school having come to a close only minutes before, Sunset might have expected to at least see him in between the other students who were leaving. Yet again, however, that crowd was devoid of any sign of him. Once or twice, she had thought he might have been darting between students; each time, though, it was another person.

She craned her neck, now standing just outside the school grounds. Desperately, she looked for a familiar yellow-jacket, or at least icy-blue hair, or a hint of a golden notebook. The pattern persisted; not one of those things appeared.

Soul did, however, as did Rarity, and Clyde, and the rest of their little group. They, too, joined Sunset in looking for Artifex. They, too, had the same result.

They were all at their wits' end. It seemed as if Artifex was deliberately avoiding them whenever possible. And whenever he couldn't, it seemed that he fought hard to keep interaction to a minimum of three or four sentences. This made discussing anything difficult; in Rainbow's case, frustratingly so.

"I just want to talk about what to do for the quote project," she vented, "but even then he insists on not talking at all!"

"But he answers you, at least," Fluttershy pointed out.

"Yeah, with grunts and murmurs! He might as well not be answering at all!" She threw her hands up in the air, body shaking and quivering with anger.

"If Ah didn't know better, Rainbow, I'd say yer thinkin’ 'bout beating some sense into him," Applejack said.

"Trust me," she growled, "I'm considering it."

Soul held Sunset close. Their tight frowns and furrowed brows matched perfectly. They said nothing, letting their silence speak for them.

"He hasn't responded to anyone's texts?" Swift asked.

"Not to mine, at least," Rarity said, "though, I'm not sure if that's because of this, or because I've texted him quite a lot." She frowned. "Goodness, I do hope I didn't come off as confrontational."

"How many messages did you send?" asked Clyde. Rarity gave him her phone; he counted the texts. "Thirty-five? That's not too bad, I don't think. We send each other more, anyway." He gave the phone back.

"But look again, Clyde. No response; and only the top few have been read."

"It's the same with me," said Fluttershy. "Though, I haven't texted him that much..."

"I see. What about you, Pinkie?" At her boyfriend's utterance, Pinkie sharply turned her head. "Did you text Artifex?"

"Yeah..."

"Did he respond?"

"No..."

"How many did you send? A lot?"

"N-not exactly..."

She took out her phone and tapped on the messages button. Then she gave her phone to Swift.

He tried to scroll, but found that he couldn't. "Wait, that's it? Seriously?"

Pinkie nodded, but Swift remained incredulous. "I would have thought you'd have texted him at least ten times, Pinks."

"I would have…but I think after the fifth text I got the idea he didn't want to talk."

Swift handed her her phone. "Did he respond to anyone?" A resounding series of "no's" and "nada's" followed, and Swift shook his head. "Well, that confirms it; he doesn't want anything to do with us right now."

Applejack crossed her arms. "In other words, he really is avoiding us. And there ain't much we can do about that."

While they stood, mulling and despondent, a certain trio of girls approached. Sunset recognized them, and offered a curt nod of acknowledgement.

"Hey, Sonata," said Soul. Then he blinked, surprised. "Oh? Aria and Adagio! Why are you here?"

"Because Sonata wouldn't stop bothering us about 'meeting up with the gang,'" Aria characteristically grumbled. "And Adagio couldn't say no. God, she's gone soft..."

"I heard that! And I'm just trying to be more considerate to our sister," Adagio seethed.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, what's with you guys? Someone piss in your porridge this morning?"

Once the disgusted looks had passed, Adagio asked, "Does it have something to do with Artifex?"

Sunset rubbed the back of her head. "How'd you guess?"

The former villain crossed her arms, not smirking. In fact, she appeared somewhat despondent herself, not as sassy or saucy as she normally was. "Because lately everything has been having to do with that boy." She looked slightly away, and lowered her voice. "And for good reason, I would imagine."

The way she said that, Sunset wondered if she knew exactly how hurt Artifex was. A quick look at Sonata showed her that some secrets had decidedly not been kept hidden; and who could fault the Siren?

"Well, you're right," Rainbow huffed. "We're still trying to figure out a way to break him."

"How delightfully violent," said Aria.

"I meant make him tell us what's going on with him, Aria." Rainbow glared at her. "I'd never want to hurt my friends like that."

"Sure, whatever you say, kid."

"Anyway," said Sonata, "did you guys come up with anything?" At their defeated shaking of their heads, she frowned. "Oh, well…that stinks. I was hoping you'd have come up with something by now."

"Trust me, we're trying," said Soul. "But it's way harder than it looks."

Murmuring agreements resounded throughout. Then they were replaced by a temporary silence.

"So why bother?" Aria spoke up. All eyes turned to her, shocked at the harsh question. "Clearly he wants nothing to deal with you."

Rainbow balled her fists. "Listen, Aria, just because you have some problem with Artifex, doesn't mean we're going to stand by and do nothing."

"And yet here you are, making a hissy fit, thinking that'll solve anything." Aria rolled her eyes, disgusted. "So he's been kinda a dick for a good month now. So what? Maybe that's how he always was. Or maybe that's how he wants to be now."

"You don't know Artifex like I know him," replied Rainbow angrily. "He's better than that!"

"Then maybe you don't know him as well as you'd like to think." Aria smirked. "Which, if you ask me, tells me that he's not worth all this worry."

Held back by Applejack and Rarity, Rainbow could do little but sputter, "Don't you dare talk about him like that!"

Sonata directed her frown towards her sister. "Aria, if you're going to be mean, then maybe you should leave."

Her sister glared back evenly. "What? I'm just telling it as I see it. And as I see it, nothing's getting done, and nothing will be done, so drop it. If Artifex doesn't care to tell you what his problem is, than he isn't someone you want to be friends with." She looked around the group. "Besides, that's what friendship is, isn't it? A bartering chip between people, where one side gives their benefits, and the other gives theirs. And if one doesn't give their fair share—like, say, they lie, or take more than they should from the other side—then that friendship is over." She sneered at Sunset. "What do you say to that, 'Student of Friendship?”

Sunset refused to be dismayed by Aria's harsh words. She expected it from her; Aria had always been the harshest of the three. "That's now how friendship works, Aria. And no matter how much you try to deny it, no matter how much you want us to think otherwise, we know that Artifex is our friend."

"Really? Then, tell me, Sunset. If he's your friend, then he must have told you something, anything! Because that's another part of friendship, isn't it? Saying what you're feeling."

Sunset noticeably looked away, unable to keep her gaze. "Then…maybe we haven't reached that point yet in our friendship."

Aria shook her head. "Which just proves my point. Since none of you have been able to 'get to that point,' then he can't be worth the effort. If he doesn't open up, that's on him, and you shouldn't have to expend so much energy on just trying to crack open a door."

Mean as the girl was, there was a certain logic to her words. Maybe Artifex truly wasn't comfortable with their presence. Perhaps he had grown annoyed with them, and, in response, he secluded himself, hoping to drive them away. If that was the case, then what Aria said made sense. This was a friendship train going Nowhere, onboard Friendship Airlines to the island of Nowhere, sea-bound for the Nowhere Ocean.

But that was the problem with what Aria said. It went nowhere, too; at least, nowhere past wherever it started. Inherently, it was flawed, because it was too quick of a rationalization. It had no substance to it. No support past what Aria instinctively and intuitively knew. An argument without an acknowledgement to the counterclaim; was that really an argument?

Just as she was about to point how the Aria's words' fallacy, Adagio spoke up. But her voice was soft, yet also sharp; reprimanding, yet restrained.

"Yet Artifex trusted Applejack there enough to tell her about Ruby. And he trusted Rainbow enough to tell her just the same. And he showed no ill-will towards Rainbow when she told her friends who Ruby was, and what had happened all those years ago." She looked straight at her sister. "He demonstrated remarkable heart, in not only forgiving us for what we did, but understanding and allowing us the privilege to know what had hurt him the most; what had made him, him. So perhaps he does value us, if only somewhat, and in his own way, if, again, only somewhat."

Aria sneered. "Well, look at you, Adagio, defending some guy you barely even know, let alone interact with. What, you got the hots for him?"

Adagio didn't answer; an unusual thing, since Sunset figured she'd be quick to deny it. She shook her head, pushing the thought aside. "I'm not sure you'd really understand, Aria, so I'll try and put it simply. We care for Artifex a great deal. It's only natural that we want to help him if we can. That's what friends do."

The pig-tailed Siren snorted. "Yeah. Some friends. If you really were friends, then you'd have solved this issue by now." She turned to Adagio. "This was stupid. Can I go now?"

Adagio didn't respond. Aria threw up her hands. "Ugh! Whatever, I can drive myself home. You guys can walk for all I care!"

They watched her go, drawing with her that cloud of negativity that had covered them all. Yet once she was gone, the effect remained. It was as if there was simply too much to be able to remove it all.

October afternoons had never been so morose before.

Pinkie shook her head. "Poor girl. She needs to get a boyfriend."

Rainbow, finally released from Rarity and Applejack's clutches, blew a strand out of her face. "She needs something, that's for sure."

"Or at least get laid."

"That…I'm not so sure about."

"Nevertheless," Adagio finally said, "she brings up a point."

Everyone looked at her, shocked. "How does being mean prove a point?" Rarity asked, appalled.

"I mean that there must be something more we can do. If we can't get Artifex to talk to us directly, then there must be something we can do indirectly." She placed her finger on her chin. "Perhaps if there were some way to ease into that topic of conversation. Or, at the very least, calm him long enough to truly ask."

“But even if we did do that,” Fluttershy said, “how do we know if it will even work?”

“We don’t; that’s the point,” replied the former villain. “That’s what’s frustrating Aria right now, I think. She’s not just being mean—admittedly, she was quite on the harsher side today, I’ll say that—she’s genuinely mad at us and our wasted efforts.”

“You mean she cares?” Rainbow incredulously asked.

“In her own way, yes. And she, of course, would never admit it.” Adagio smiled slightly. “She’s gone soft, too.”

“So what you’re saying is,” Sunset clarified, “we’ve focused on whether or not we can, that we’ve lost sight of actually doing it.”

Adagio nodded. “Precisely. So beset are we by worry that we cannot see where we are headed, nor can we remember our original destination. Which means it would be far better to act and take that risk, than to hold back and worry about the consequences.”

“Hasn’t that been what I’ve been doing?” Rainbow huffed. “I’ve literally gone up and pestered about what’s with his attitude for about a month now.”

“And he never answers why,” Adagio finished for her. “So we change our method. Our approach. If we can’t talk about him to him directly—”

“We do it indirectly,” said Sunset. “So… basically what you said. But, once again: how?”

“The Fall Hallows’ Eve Event,” Sonata suddenly said.

They turned to her. “It’s gonna be big,” she continued. “Like, really big. Bigger than the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands. Supposedly, it’s gonna be open for kids not just in Canterlot High, but those who are just outside the sending district.”

“Oh, right,” Pinkie piped up. “Yeah, they were thinking of letting in some Crystal Prep kids, if their principal would allow it.”

“Which she probably won’t,” mumbled Rainbow, much to the confusion of Sunset and the remaining two Sirens.

“We’ll question that later,” Adagio asserted. “Now, what exactly does this Fall Hallows’ Eve Event have to do with Artifex?”

Sonata took a moment to find her voice. “Well, from the way the Principals have been selling it, it seems like every student at Canterlot High is required to go, since it’s so new and they want everyone’s feedback. So that would mean that Artifex would have to go either way, whether he liked it or not.”

Pinkie’s eyes lit up like a bunch of fireworks. “Right! And because of that, we’d be able to actually find him and talk to him!”

“That’s a big if, though,” said Swift. “Knowing Artifex, he might be hesitant to even consider going or not. Even if it is mandatory, how do we know that Artifex won’t just… I don’t know, skip out?”

“We don’t,” admitted Adagio, “but we should consider it as a definite possibility nonetheless. So let’s assume he does go.” She looked all around the group. “What then?”

“Well,” Rarity mused, “if the Event is as good as it sounds, then he’ll probably have a lot of fun—as will the rest of us, I do hope.”

“And maybe he’ll have so much fun that he won’t be so cold and distant,” said Pinkie.

“Ooh, that would be nice,” Fluttershy murmured. I haven’t seen him smile in a while.”

Sunset noticed Adagio adopt a somewhat disturbed expression, but thought little of it. “Okay, then what?”

Soul shuffled his feet, then rubbed the back of his head. “Uh… we talk? Probably?”

“And hopefully,” said Clyde, “we start to drift towards discussing his behavior as of late.”

“And if all goes well,” Applejack started, “we talk it out, ‘n then we sort through the problem as friends.”

“And things go back to normal,” concluded Rainbow. She twisted up her face into a frown. “But that sounds too guess-y for my tastes.”

“It does ride on a lot of guesswork and assumptions,” said Adagio with a nod. “But right now, it’s all we’ve got.”

“Adagio’s right,” said Sunset. “And it’s better than nothing. So we’d best work with it.”

“Still, that’s a long time away,” Swift reminded. “What are we going to do until then?”

They, quiet, found no immediate answer. But it was only when the clouds parted, and the sun shined and warmed the land, that Sonata spoke for all of them.

“We help him. In any way we can.”

Then her moment of confidence fell, and she looked at Sunset. “I mean—that’s what friends do, right?”

Sunset smiled. “That’s right, Sonata. Friends help. Friends always help when they can.”

Sonata beamed, and gradually, her smile spread to the others’ faces. For the moment, their uncertainty vanished; and for the day, that was enough.