Day: 1
"Your magic, white rabbit, has left it's writing on the wall.
We follow, like Alice, and just keep diving down the hole.
We're falling, and we're losing control.
You're pulling us, and dragging us, down this dead end road."
-White Rabbit, Egypt Central
………….
"Got the music in our hearts, we're here to blow this thing apart!"
It had been two weeks since it happened.
"And together, we will never, be afraid of the dark!"
Two weeks since they had lost everything.
"We'll sing our song out loud, get you dancing with the crowd, as the music, of our friendship, survives! Survives!"
But to Adagio, it seemed like it was just yesterday.
"Got the music in our hearts, gonna blow this thing apart! And together, we will never, be afraid of the dark! We're here to sing our song out loud, get you dancing with the crowd, as the music, of our friendship, survives! Survives! Survives!"
It had been so clear that night, and yet now…now it seemed as though the storm clouds outside were crying and sobbing, like a son or a daughter may cry at their mother's funeral. The winds, too, were howling in pain and sadness, creating a sort of melancholy song: a lullaby, perhaps. A dead body, maybe two, maybe even three or four, would look completely natural in the storm- monsoon, more like. The glass doors to the tiny diner rattled, and the lights flickered on and off, on and off. It was hard to not take notice of these events, and such things usually annoyed her: the noise made it hard to think. Yet, it didn't bother Adagio in the slightest. Not today.
'Maybe this rain is because of what happened…' she thought as she stared absently down at the dark, steamy surface of her coffee. Maybe the sky was crying for her. 'No,' she quickly corrected herself, shaking her head. 'That's completely and utterly stupid. It sounds like something Sonata would say. A rainstorm, because we split up. That ditzy little twit…still a pain in the ass even when she's gone.' Adagio chuckled to herself at the thought of Sonata's frivolous antics. Always the silly and eccentric one, Sonata mostly just pissed her off, but there were occasions where the blue-haired girl was genuinely funny. And then there was Aria, the serious one, always competing with Adagio for power over the trio. She shook her head as she gently reached down and picked up the steaming cup, blew, then took a sip.
The reaction was immediate. Her mouth felt like it was being set on fire, and the taste of the brew itself resembled that of battery acid. Coffee was a foul thing, truly; Adagio had only tasted it once before, when Sonata had insisted upon going to Starbucks to get them all pumpkin spice lattés for Halloween. Halloween was positively awful in and of itself, combined with the lattés…it was a traumatizing experience, and yet she still sat there, drinking the foul brew once more. For what reason that was, she had no idea. Maybe to take her mind off of all the recent events…but then again, maybe not. It only served to further remind her of her sisters in crime, after all. She resisted the urge to spit the drink out all over the counter, and maybe gag a little. Just to be dramatic. Instead, she set the mug down rather violently and forced herself to swallow it.
'Never again…' she thought. 'Never again will I subject myself to such wretchedness.'
…….
"Bye, girls!" Sunset Shimmer called to her friends as she began to walk away, waving her hand at them. None of the five girls: Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, even Fluttershy seemed to hear her, though. Instead, they continued to talk amongst one another, heading in a massive clump towards the waiting buses. Sunset's hand slowly fell down to her side, shoulders slouching with disappointment. 'They could wave back to me sometime. That would be nice.' thought Sunset as she blew out a loud puff of air, sharply turning her back to them. After a few moments of wrestling with her tiny, raggedy backpack, Sunset managed to get her bright red umbrella open and above her head. Bracing herself to the best of her abilities, she headed out into the storm, trudging in the direction of the school parking lot.
The cold raindrops fell in sheets and buckets, the wind swirling around her in a raging torrent. It felt like a hurricane, like at any given moment Sunset could be swept off her feet and carried away into the stormy skies. She shivered as she shut her umbrella and opened the driver's side door to her old VW Beetle. Tossing the sopping umbrella in the back and jamming the keys into the ignition, the engine roared to life. She quickly pulled out of the lot and started on her way to downtown Canterlot. There, the buildings towered far above, reaching into the darkened sky. The crowded streets and sidewalks were always bustling, but now, she was the only one on the roads. Canterlot, the city that never slept, was silent, probably due to the storm. Slowly, she wound her way into the "bad" part of town, as addressed by many: the slums. She stopped at her favourite diner, then headed inside. But as soon as she opened the dirty, rattling glass doors, she stopped dead in her tracks. Her blue eyes were immediately drawn to a cloud of frizzed orange hair, and a very familiar face.
"Adagio Dazzle?"
…….
"Adagio Dazzle?"
Adagio's head shot up and snapped to the left, where she saw none other than Sunset Shimmer, the harbinger of her downfall. Red and yellow hair, blue eyes, leather jacket…She gritted her teeth, "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" She yelled, getting up and walking over to her. She forcefully grabbed Sunset's jacket and shoved her against the wall, causing the other girl to whine in pain.
"Ow-" Sunset was cut off by Adagio, who began to shake her, slamming her head against the wall.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Adagio shouted, throttling Sunset.
"You get your hands off her!" Said the waitress, from the back of the room, placing her hands on her hips. Adagio gave Sunset a death glare before releasing her iron grip. Then, she left, slamming the doors behind her.
……
Sunset stared, bewildered, as Adagio Dazzle left the diner. She walked slowly towards the waitress, a short and chubby woman who's brown hair was tied up in a bun atop her head.
"You okay, hon?" Asked the waitress.
"Yeah, I'll live. But…do you know what that was about?" Sunset asked the waitress.
"She came in about a half hour before you, and she looked mighty awful. That's all I know, sugar. She's probably just one of the crazy folk."
"Huh, I wonder what she was doing here…" said Sunset, rubbing the back of her head.
"Ya know her?"
"Yeah, she used to go to my school. But I thought…"
"What?"
"Never mind. The usual, please."