Stories I'll (Probably) Never Write, #4! · 7:20pm Jan 13th, 2016
So, I ship Adagio a lot, apparently. It was (kinda) suggested somewhere that I think up something for the members of Team Harmony that I haven't already, which I kind of did.
FlutterDagio is my most famous work (for now!),
SunDagio is my favorite pairing for The Queen of Fluffies,
I had an idea that would fit either version of Twilight Sparkle that I won't be delving into because it'd most likely be more of the same, be it via Fluttershy and Adagio's dynamic or that of Twilight's pairings with Discord,
Pinkie with Adagio was another blog post,
Adagio and Rarity have been shipped a few times, I think,
I know I saw someone working on RainDagio somewhere,
so that leaves Applejack, for whom I actually have an idea!
The premise is that one way or another, Adagio winds up at Sweet Apple Acres following the Battle of the Bands, doing farm work, with or without Aria and Soanta to help. It could be that she was forced into it for some reason (unlikely, I guess, but it would put what's coming in an interesting light...), or maybe she agreed to for what might have been personal reasons, either to feed herself and her sisters/followers/whatever they were now with the results, or just to feel that she has some measure of power over her situation by doing something to improve it. Whether she's getting paid in apples or cold, hard cash might not even make a difference to her.
Thing is, while proving more adept at manual labor than a diva would have been given credit for (will explain that in a bit) and just a little too happy to point it out, Adagio takes some kind of spill and winds up injured, probably in the form of a leg wound (broken bone, maybe) that leaves her unable to even walk without a sufficient crutch. I'm thinking something like a ladder breaking under her while she's either picking apples or retrieving something from a high shelf, something coming down hard on her leg.
Applejack might have one of two responses off the top of my head:
1. Remorseful over someone getting hurt while having shown primarily positive behavior (her idea being that if someone can happily, or at least eagerly, work toward a harmless goal (like feeding their family and proving they don't need that nasty hypno-magic while they're at it) must be proof that they aren't so bad) during an honest day's work, feeling that that kind of luck shouldn't go to people that really put an effort in... Even if they were kinda annoying about it.
or,
2. Smug satisfaction, thinking that while Adagio may have been surprisingly good at whatever they assigned her to, her haughtiness was aggravating, giving Applejack condescending looks every time she transported two bushels by herself in half the time it took Applejack to move one, so getting taken down a peg serves her right.
Of course she was never jealous! Not even a bit!
(No time to get a Liarjack image to work here, moving on)
Whatever her response, Granny Smith or Bic Mac pulls her aside to very quietly share that Adagio got hurt on their property, possibly under their supervision, and possibly even against her will. That does not bode well for them from a legal standpoint, and if the sirens ever realize that, Sweet Apple Acres may be up a creek, doubly so if they bring it to The Flim-Flam Brothers, whom might have a bone to pick with them or just be happy to take easy money from a case like this. (I like to imagine them as having legal degrees. You know why.)
From there, we get our main conflicts.
A. Does Applejack come right out with the truth, letting Adagio know her options with no duplicity whatsoever because it's the honorable thing to do, or does she go through an increasingly-difficult song and dance of keeping Adagio in the dark until she gets better, silly shenanigans pretty much every chapter as she's forced to hide the truth for the good of her family? Depends whether you favor the Drama or the Comedy tag, I think, but Applejack struggling with whether or not it's best to be honest sounds like a very fitting conflict for her even if it's mostly used for laughs.
B. Or maybe it doesn't matter because even if Adagio learns she could sue a Rainboom for quite a lot of money (If the movies are content to ignore these girls' legal status, so will I for now), she staunchly refuses to do so. Maybe it's because the idea of her accident and resulting weakness going public enough for a court case is too humiliating to consider, her pride not allowing her to look like a frail little girl even in front of her oldest companions, let alone a court full of witnesses with a chance of cameras. Maybe it's because she thinks resorting to a lawyer, letting someone else handle her problem, is just another way of admitting defeat, another way of crying to mommy and daddy to take care of her because she's too worthless and incompetent to do it herself.
Whatever the reason, her stubborn pride refuses to let her do anything but tough it out under her own power... which Applejack can sympathize with, quite a lot.
C. Aria, Sonata, or both either learning about the lawsuit option right away or figuring it out later and telling Adagio, not satisfied with her above responses. When they know the score, they might continually urge her to just sue already, as they (I imagine?) can't do it without her, the victim, on board with the plan, the struggle of her stubborn pride vs. cold pragmatism and a chance at revenge slowly shifting to mutual understanding, forgiveness on both sides, all that friend-makey jazz...
And then someone contacts the Flim-Flam Brothers, who might know a way around needing Adagio to press charges...
D. (I guess?) Adagio showing more and more of a human side while living with the Apples, probably pretty predictable, but AJ grows to admire her work ethic, relatively strong sense of family (in regard to Aria and Sonata, at least, even if she isn't willing to degrade herself by crying to a judge for their sakes), Adagio increasingly seeing the benefits of letting her guard down, letting others do things for her not because they have to (UnderHerSpell), but because they choose to, so it's not her power they operate under, but their own, something she may grow to admit scares her when she starts regularly admitting when she's wrong.
I mark all of that as a conflict for the attachments and such, being unsure of their feelings vs. their obligations to particular parties, if that's even an issue, but I've been writing out this post up and down for about an hour and a half now and I think my mind is drifting.
...As you can see, this is quite an open-ended 'story,' and as I won't be writing it, I'm afraid I won't be investing the effort to bring it together more than that, but as ever, anyone that wants any of these ideas is welcome to them. 
Now, I said I'd explain why Adagio (and the others, if they're made to work) was so much stronger and faster than a girl like her should be, and the short version is that the sirens were once hulking fish-creatures in the other world, very strong even without their magic. Maybe they were someone's idea of magical super-soldiers gone awry, maybe they were part of an ancient and powerful race that since fell into turmoil (nobody's perfect), and maybe they were something Discord whipped up ("How to make a mess today...? Ooh, huge, monstrous fish-horses that could fold an Ursa Major into a pretzel, but instead prefer to sing all the time? Well, if everyone insists...") just for giggles, but the bottom line is that they're all used to being strong enough to always be in control, part of what makes them, Adagio especially, so stubborn.
Naturally, their considerably-weakened human state combined with being unable to even stand up without searing pain leaves Adagio very annoyed. And possibly prone to adorable pouty-faces.
Funny moments might include, but not be limited to:
-While she'd never admit it, Adagio enjoys being carried places when necessary, especially by Big Mac.
-The first dinner she shares with the Apple family, angrily grumbling that she once fed on pure power, that their common cuisine is beneath her and it's disgraceful that she's reduced to eating like they do. "Unlike Sonata, Aria and I had standards."
Then she takes her first bite, of anything, and goes quiet for a very long moment. Applejack may either smugly try to get her to enjoy a side of eating her words with that meal or smile and ask if it's really so bad, but either way, words and reason are lost as Adagio digs in like a rabid wolf tasting bacon for the first time, the Apples watching in silent horror, more-so when one tries to get her attention and she looks up, her eyes nothing short of feral before she comes to her senses again.
(Bit with Applebloom asking Granny if it's okay if she sleeps in her bed that night, Granny going "That's funny, Ah was 'bout to ask you the same thing!")
After a short, embarrassed apology, she explains that while negative energy made her feel stronger than any dish could ever hope to, the flavor is complete garbage compared to this, that she's never tasted anything so lovely in her life!
...Which leads to the possibly first sign of a give on her part as she quietly swallows her pride and says their cooking is, without a shadow of a doubt, better than her old diet. Seconds, please?
(Big Mac cuddles a familar doll in the fetal position that night)
-Adagio watching Big Mac cutting wood with a chainsaw at some point, Applejack getting annoyed about the lewd stare she's watching him with, even if he's wearing a shirt. To undermine her voyeurism ("an' that's the ONLY reason!!"), Applejack opts to switch places with Mac, only to find Adagio watching just as intently, drawing a blush and some very self-conscious wood-cutting.
Then they learn that it wasn't either of them she was observing, it was the chainsaw, which she later caresses in almost erotic fashion. (because it's a powerful tool, and to her, nothing is sexier than power.) There are no words from anyone.
-Rainbow Dash challenging Adagio to a crutches-race after tying one of her own legs, Adagio smirking and going all "You're on!"
They might not get all that far before someone (Fluttershy?) chides Rainbow for challenging an injured person to anything physical and Adagio for accepting, then possibly getting help for carrying her (mostly) against her will back to the house.
-Unable to do regular farm work, Adagio sulks in the house most of the day, Applebloom happening along with something that catches her eye. AB smiles, saying that while she can't do 'big girl' chores yet either, she's allowed to do smaller jobs, like peeling apples or sorting barrels or something, that she's even come up with a little game for it!
Cut to Applejack walking in to find Adagio cheerfully absorbed into Applebloom's little work-shanty (maybe even if her singing voice is still damaged) and doing her part to help even in a humble way, though she's mortified to be caught bonding with a little girl like this. May lead to another moment where she sets pride aside, quietly admitting that she had fun with Bloom, even if she claims it was mostly the doing-something-useful part.
I can kind of see her denying it all and claiming she was just humoring Applebloom the whole time, but looking into those big, watery eyes and saying she really didn't like her at all would be a hard bluff even for her.
-And finally, Adagio and Applejack regularly butting heads over various issues (that AJ can't handle something on her own, Adagio needing to take her medicine to get better faster, one way or another to cook a particular dish, whether or not it's rude to always wear a hat indoors, etc.), their respective stubbornness possibly leading to sexual tension. Maybe. I picture people saying "Just kiss already!" even if this were all completely free of the shipping context.
I will not write this because:
-Structurally, it's kind of a mess
-Little idea how it would end
-Stubborn Vs. Stubborn calls for a lot of angry shouting, I think, something I'm not sure I could write for long without it getting dull and repetitive.
-Applejack herself doesn't seem all that important to most of what I've described, and I feel like it would all work just as well if she were being shipped with Big Mac here.
-This feels like kind of a weird interpretation for Adagio; so obsessed with power and pride that she forsakes pretty much everything else at first, even her own standing her own well-being and a fairly easy chance at revenge on one of the girls who took quite a lot of her power. Not 100% out of character for what we saw, maybe, but I don't know if she'd be much fun to write like this.
-Not much in mind for Aria and Sonata as much more than what might as well be villains for this story (though maybe they're mostly off at other Rainbooms' places, like all three are living with someone to be reformed and AJ got Adagio?), let alone the rest of the Rainbooms.
-and as ever, time, though at least now this idea is out of my head.
...They might be cute together, though.
So, let's see, Adagio's been shipped with Aria, Sonata, Aria AND Sonata, (don't ask), all the Rainbooms including Sunset Shimmer, pretty sure she's been shipped with Sci Twi, I've seen her shipped with Nightmare Moon, wow, ain't she a Helen of Troy. For those who don't get it, she was the original Launcher Of A Thousand Ships. Rather literally.
3683712
Adagio/Nightmare Moon? Where did that happen? And was it any good?
3683985
It was a clopfic. Surprisingly well written though for the life of me I can't remember the name, long story short, they're in Tartarus/Hell/whatever, pretty sure it's anthro, and GLADOS is the Warden. Yes that GLADOS.
3683992
That suddenly sounds a lot less interesting, actually.
3684065
Eh, it's OK.
I like your mini-story ideas, they are a fun exercise in "what-ifs." But while you are making a complete list of Adagio ships you have seen, I think you are forgetting a certain ship. Some author wrote a really good BloodDagio a while back and I hope someday to see it finished.
Tbh, this premise doesn't seem shippy at all (aside from the whole stubborn vs stubborn headbutting, which leads to angry making out with possible sex, but that's a porn territory (clop, in case you'll make them (sea)horses)), but more a humility/family values/friendship based on respect story, or similar kind of jazz.
Also, it's a bit difficult to picture Adagio in a romantic context with someone who she has 0 in common (aside from physical attributes, like having flat chest in RD's stereotypical case, PUFF in Pinkie's or giant muscular butt in case of AJ). Someone may argue that FS also doesn't have much in common with Dagi and look where that got! But excluding such obvious things as crazy amount of talent, hard work and dedication on authors part (which will allow to ship anybody even with a potato in a believeable and heartwarming way), those 2 have a lot of opposite traits which allow for some very amusing dynamics.
3684287
I like to think I'll finish all my stories eventually, but there's only so much I can write at once.
3684347
1st rule of shipping; any ship works if it's well-written!
...Seriously, even the potato thing, made easier if it's a Portal crossover featuring PoTaTOS, but I agree that what I've described here doesn't sound all that romantic on its own. I could have implied that there would be a lot of tender TLC moments involved with AJ helping the wounded siren get around, taking care of her pretty much all the time, and a bit of Florence Nightingale Effect going on there as the two most bull-headed girls in the city are forced to show each other's soft sides on a regular basis, but I guess it kinda depends on the interpretation of Applejack we're working with.
Or heck, if that feels too cheap a way to get them interested in each other, have the other Apples do most of the nursing, perhaps primarily when the two are mad at each other and Adagio has no choice but to hear a little about how AJ means well as she's being taken care of, muttering something semi-compliant and maybe even grateful, and AJ later hearing that Adagio said something nice, even if not necessarily about her.
I can totally see AJ being too stubborn to take care of Adagio, in a "someone's gotta pick up the slack 'round here" sort of way. Tending to Adagio would then fall to Applebloom and Granny, each of whom would at some point tell AJ she's being too harsh on the wounded and if she'd just take the time she would see the two have a lot more in common than she thinks.
If this were ever to be written, I imagine for the end it'd be AJ getting very minorly injured (sprained ankle) and Adagio taking care of her.
I can't shake of the feeling that I've seen the "formerly evil/bad character is broke and works on Apple farm and gets close to AJ" formula a lot already and I feel like it's been done to death. Part of it is the idea that AJ can't have an episode or a story that doesn't revolve around either her family or being part of Elemtents of Harmony. Whether that's true or not and whether it can be done properly or would be, I can't help but imagine a lot of people assuming it's "another one of those" and skip it, with few giving it a chance.
And in all honesty? I don't see those two together. At all. I would've said the same thing about FlutterDagio, but still...