“This day is going to be perfect ~!” Adagio Dazzle wickedly sang to herself as she brushed her hair in front of the bathroom mirror, getting ready for the day she’d been waiting for all week.
Yes, it was finally the day that Adagio’s new girlfriend, Raven Inkwell, was coming over for a date. But this wasn’t just any normal old date, oh no, this date was also doubling as a way for Raven to get to know her sisters, Aria and Sonata, a little better, which was something she insisted on if the two of them were going to be dating.
“Aaaaand…done.” She stated as she finished brushing her hair and stared at the mirror with a mischievous smile, admiring her own reflection. “You are one beautiful and devilishly cunning creature, you know that?”
Once she stopped extoling herself Adagio tightened the waist belt of her robe and opened the door to exit the bathroom, only to find both Aria and Sonata standing just outside, staring at her with impish smiles on their faces.
“What?” The Dazzling leader curiously asked her sisters.
Both Aria and Sonata simply chuckled in response. It wasn’t unusual for Sonata to give such a giddy response, but hearing Aria giggle like a school girl nearly sent chills up Adagio’s spine.
“Oh, nothing.” Sonata eventually, and rather playfully, answered.
“We were just enjoying hearing you sing about how perfect today will be.” Aria explained, somehow sounding both sincere and derisive at the same time.
All Adagio could do in response was give a small sigh and roll her eyes. This wasn’t because she was embarrassed about her sisters hearing her singing though, but because she was getting tired of having to keep up her ruse. See, neither Aria nor Sonata knew her real reason for bringing Raven over to meet them, and she needed it to stay that way, no matter how exhausting maintaining her deception was becoming.
“Don’t worry, we promise we’ll be on our best behavior today.” Sonata spoke up, believing Adagio’s reaction to be because she was afraid that their teasing would continue throughout the day.
“Yeah, what Sonata said.” Aria concurred, now sounding 100% sincere. “We’re really happy that you found someone, sis.”
For the briefest of moments, Adagio felt a genuine sense of happiness that her sisters were being so supportive of her new relationship. She quickly got over it though as she knew she couldn’t have them being on their best behaviors today.
“Thank you both, but don’t worry about being on your best behavior.” She warmly replied as she pulled Aria and Sonata into a hug. “The whole point of this is for Raven to get to know you both better, and I want her to get to know just how wonderful my sisters are every single day.”
“Aww, Dagi.” Sonata sweetly replied as she returned the hug, almost moved to tears by her sister’s kind words.
“Um, thanks?” Aria replied as she too returned the hug, though feeling confused as Adagio usually complained about how she and Sonata were every single day.
The hug didn’t last long as Adagio soon broke it and headed for the bedroom.
“Now if you’ll excuse me I need to get changed and ready for when I go to get Raven.” She said as she walked away, leaving Aria and Sonata alone again.
“That was weird, don’t you think?” Aria asked Sonata once Adagio was out of earshot.
“What do you mean?” Sonata replied, staring at her sister with a confused expression.
“I mean, since when does Adagio think we’re wonderful?” Aria clarified. “Most days she makes some comment about how we’re either annoying or incompetent.”
While Sonata was fully aware of how Adagio usually regarded both of them, she just assumed her good mood today was because of her new relationship Raven.
“Oh it’s just because she’s in love.” She said. “Remember when I came out about my relationship with Dashie? I was so love struck for a while that I was nice to everyone. I even gave the mailman a hug that one day.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Aria admitted, though clearly still skeptical.
“You’ll understand when you find someone someday.” Sonata slyly commented as she headed towards the kitchen to make herself some breakfast.
Aria didn’t say anything as she watched her sister walk away. She simply raised a single eyebrow as she tried to figure out if Sonata was taking a shot at her with that little comment or not.
It was 12:00 noon and Adagio was leaning against the Wondercolts statue as she waited for Raven to arrive for their date. While she was waiting, she went over her plan again and again in her head, trying to make sure she hadn’t overlooked any important details.
“Adagio! Sweetheart!” Raven’s voice could be heard calling out to her from just up the street.
Adagio broke her train of thought and turned her attention to the direction the voice was coming from, only to see Raven rushing up towards her with a large wave of her arm.
“Here we go.” She softly stated as she modestly waved back, steeling herself for what she knew was about to come.
“Oh it’s so good to see you!” Raven enthusiastically exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Adagio in a big hug. “I missed you so, so much!”
You just saw me two days ago. Adagio impassively thought to herself.
“I…missed you too.” She said aloud as she returned the hug, even giving Raven a small tap on the back in the hope that it would calm her down a bit.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to meet me here.” Raven gratefully said as she broke the hug. “I’m excited to meet your sisters but I wanted to make sure we still had some alone time on our date.”
“Oh of course.” Adagio sweetly replied. “It wouldn’t be much of a date if we didn’t have some alone time, now would it?”
“I guess not.” Raven happily chuckled. “So, was there anything you wanted to do before we go see your sisters?”
“No!” Adagio promptly responded, with a bit more emotion than she intended. “I mean, I told Aria and Sonata I wouldn’t be gone long so we should probably just head right to the apartment.”
“Alrighty then!” Raven blurted out as she wrapped herself around Adagio’s arm. “Lead the way, darling!”
“Ahehe.” Adagio muttered in embarrassment as she began walking, hoping that no one she knew would see her on the way back to the apartment.
The first few minutes of the walk were spent in relative silence, with only the occasional cooing sound from Raven as she blissfully clung to her girlfriend, much to Adagio’s chagrin. Eventually though, Raven let go of Adagio’s arm and instead opted for simply holding hands. Adagio wasn’t too thrilled about this either, but figured it was better than being clung to.
“So I thinking maybe for our next date we can go to the amusement park.” Raven randomly said about halfway to the apartment. “What do you think, dear?”
It took every ounce of self-control Adagio had to keep her cool. She’d expected some small talk during the walk to the apartment, but she hadn’t expected Raven to already be planning other dates.
“M-maybe we should see how today goes before we start thinking about future dates, Raven sweetheart.” She anxiously said, trying to sound as composed as possible.
“Oh don’t be ridiculous, my precious cheese puff.” Raven responded as she moved shoulder-to-shoulder with Adagio.
Cheese Puff?! Adagio heatedly thought to herself. Is that supposed to be a cute pet name because of my hair?!
“Today is going to be perfect.” Raven lovingly continued. “I’m sure I’m going to love your sisters and they’re going to love me. Now about the amusement park, I was thinking maybe we’ll go there next weekend, then for our next date we can…”
Adagio just rolled her eyes back as her and Raven continued walking hand-in-hand towards Sunset’s apartment, Raven planning more and more dates as they went along.
“…and then I’m thinking we can take a trip together after that, someplace nice like Manehatten or River City.” Raven rambled on.
“Uh-huh.” Adagio absent-mindedly replied, having stopped listening to Raven and her date planning about ten minutes ago.
“Then after that I think we might finally be ready to get married.” Raven affectionately said as she leaned her head against Adagio’s shoulder.
And that was the straw that broke the camel’s, or in this case Adagio’s, back. Planning dates was on thing, but planning marriage was taking things too far for the Dazzling. She snapped out of the funk and was prepared to let Raven have it when she noticed that they’d arrived at the apartment.
“Oh thank Celestia we’re here.” She stated in relief.
“Are we?” Raven asked in disbelief as she looked over to the apartment. “Oh wow, the time just flew by, didn’t it?”
“Yes, ‘flew by’.” Adagio sarcastically remarked as she walked up the approach. “Come on, Aria and Sonata are waiting.”
“Coming, dear!” Raven replied as she flowed Adagio.
As Adagio reached for the doorknob, she that this was it, this was the moment of truth. She grabbed the doorknob, turned it, opened the door, and braced herself for whatever was to come next.
“We’re here.” Adagio hollered as she stepped inside, followed closely by Raven.
Initially there was no response, much to Adagio’s surprise. Soon enough though, Sonata came rushing over, from seemingly out of nowhere, and practically shoved Adagio out of the way to get to Raven.
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” The pony-tailed Dazzling exclaimed as she grabbed Raven’s hand and started shaking it. “It’s so good to finally meet you, Raven! I’m Sonata, in case you didn’t already know.”
“Well of course I know you, Sonata. We met at the faculty and staff meeting last month, remember?” Raven politely replied.
All of sudden, Sonata’s cheerful expression vanished, replaced by an expression of anxiety.
“Oh my gosh, I don’t, I’m so sorry!” She frantically apologized as she stopped shaking Raven’s hand.
“Oh it’s fine.” Raven assured her, taking no offense at Sonata not remembering meeting her. “I don’t really leave much an impression on most people.”
“No, it’s not fine!” Sonata shouted as she turned to face Adagio. “I’ve already screwed things up, haven’t I? I knew I’d ruin everything! Please, please, please forgive me, Dagi!”
Just then, Sonata felt a hand touch her shoulder from behind.
“Chill, Sonata.” Aria calmly instructed her sister. “Everything’s fine, but you’re gonna ruin it if you keep freaking out like this.”
“You’re right, you’re right.” Sonata said in between deep breaths as she rubbed the temples of her head in an attempt to try and calm down. “Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean.”
“Um, is she okay?” Raven concernedly asked as she watched Sonata.
“Oh yeah, that’s just what she does when she gets too worked up.” Aria indifferently answered. “Hey, Raven.”
“Hi, Aria.” Raven agilely greeted back with a small, friendly wave.
“You guys are just in time, lunch is almost ready.” Aria informed Raven and Adagio as she pointed to the kitchen with her thumb. “We made homemade pizza.”
“Yes, pizza!” Sonata chimed in, once again cheerful though still slightly frantic. “Pizza will make everything better, come on!”
“Sonata, chill, remember?” Aria called out as she followed her sister into the kitchen, leaving Adagio and Raven alone at the front door.
“Wow, your sister’s are really…something.” Raven amiably commented to Adagio.
“Oh you don’t have to sugarcoat it, Raven. They’re crazy.” Adagio very bluntly, and yet somehow ardently, replied. “But they’re family, so I’m stuck with them.”
Raven didn’t say anything in response because, frankly, she couldn’t think of anything to say. She just stared off into the kitchen with an apprehensive expression as Sonata and Aria scrambled to get lunch ready, much to Adagio’s delight.
“Oh don’t worry, you’ll get used to them.” Adagio genially assured the poor girl as she placed both her hands on Raven’s shoulders and slightly led her towards the kitchen. “Now let’s get some pizza, I’m starving.”
“O-okay.” Raven tentatively said as she let Adagio lead her from behind, not noticing the wicked smile that was forming on the Dazzling leader’s face.
“…it was the most I ever threw up and it changed my life forever.” Sonata said as she finished her story.
“I…imagine something like that would.” Raven affably responded, trying desperately to hide how queasy she now felt.
It had now been about 40 minutes since Raven and Adagio arrived at the apartment, and in that time Raven had learned more about the Dazzlings, particularly Aria and Sonata, than she ever wanted to know. She’d learned about the time Sonata had entered a taco eating contest and ended up vomiting for a full minute straight, the time Aria had purposefully drove through the red light of a busy intersection just to freak Sonata out, and the time that all three of them competed together in an episode of the TV game show Double Dare that the network refused to air because it wasn’t deemed ‘family friendly’ enough.
“So Raven, what’s your family like?” Aria chimed in, both because she wanted to get a conversation going before Sonata started another embarrassing story and because she was curious about Raven’s family.
“Oh, well, I’m an only child so it’s just me and my parents.” Raven answered.
“No siblings, huh? Must be nice.” Aria casually commented, earning her some rather intense glares from both Sonata and Adagio that she simply ignored.
“Not really.” Raven despondently admitted. “Both of my parents are attorneys so they often work long hours, and as a result we don’t get to spend a lot of time together. I always figured if I had a sibling then maybe…maybe I wouldn’t feel so lonely all the time.”
There was a brief moment of uncomfortable silence, as none of the Dazzlings knew how to respond to that.
“But don’t need a sibling anymore, because I have Adagio now.” Raven declared, suddenly happy again, as she leaned her head against Adagio’s shoulder. “As long as I have you, my sweet cheese puff, I’ll never be lonely again.”
“Aww.” Sonata earnestly remarked.
Even though Aria didn’t say anything, she couldn’t help but give a small, sincere smile at the touching scene in front of her. She even resisted the urge the laugh at the fact that Raven had just called Adagio her ‘sweet cheese puff’.
Adagio, however, was less than happy with what was happening, for multiple reasons. One, she still didn’t like being called a ‘cheese puff’, obviously. And two, she didn’t like the direction the date was now heading. She needed to get things back to the way they were a minute ago, but how? How?!
And then Adagio got an idea. She didn’t like the idea that came to her mind, and she knew that it would be a long shot, but it was all she had.
“Oh of course you’ll never be alone again, my sweet little Raven.” Adagio affectionately said as she lifted Raven’s head off her shoulder, and then proceeded to kiss Raven square on the lips.
“Hmm?” Raven uttered as Adagio passionately kissed her.
Although Raven was taken by complete surprise by Adagio’s kiss, she quickly melted into it. She wrapped her arms around Adagio and fervidly returned the kiss, making the already passionate scene even more intense.
“Aww!” Sonata sweetly muttered as she not-creepily-at-all stared at Adagio and Raven’s make out session, the scene reminding her of the times she and Rainbow Dash passionately made out.
“Oh gag me.” Aria remarked as she looked away from the make out session.
Perfect. Adagio thought to herself upon hearing Aria’s comment.
“Is something wrong, Aria?” She innocently asked her sister as she broke the kiss.
“Look, I’m happy that you’re in a loving relationship, sis, but can you please not do…that…in front of us?” Aria reasonably requested, trying not to let on just how uncomfortable she really was at having witnessed such a public display of affection.
“Speak for yourself, Aria.” Sonata casually chimed in. “I don’t mind a little smooching.”
Aria quickly turned towards Sonata, unable to believe that she’d just undermined her like that.
“Okay, first of all, that wasn’t ‘a little’ smooching, Sonata.” Aria inimically countered. “They were going at it so hot and heavy I thought they were going to start having sex right here on the table. And second, you don’t mind that stuff because you’re a pervert.”
“Excuse me?!” Sonata heatedly asked as she suddenly stood up. “I am not a pervert!”
“Uh, yeah, you are!” Aria just as heatedly replied as she too stood up. “When you like watching other people getting intimate that it means you’re a pervert!”
Adagio just looked on as her sisters continued to argue, filling her with delight as her plan got back on track. That is, until she felt a small tap her shoulder.
“Um, should we maybe intervene?” Raven softly asked her girlfriend, worried that Aria and Sonata’s argument may get confrontational.
“Oh don’t worry, they argue like this all the time.” Adagio assured Raven. “It’s best to just stay out of it.”
As much as Raven felt uneasy just letting Aria and Sonata continue arguing, she trusted Adagio’s judgement and didn’t say anything further.
“Well…at least I’m not a liar like you, Aria!” Sonata angrily remarked, trying to find anything she could use against her sister.
“What are you talking about?! I’m not a liar!” Aria irately responded.
“Oh yeah?” Sonata stated with a devilish smile as she turned to face Adagio. “Hey Adagio, did Aria tell you about the emu farm she bought with all our money?”
It was then that something inside Aria snapped, not so much because Sonata had blabbed about the emu farm but because she’d had robbed her of the chance to come clean about it herself, which she had intended to do right after the meeting with Raven.
“WHY YOU LITTLE…!” The pig-tailed Dazzling shouted as she tackled Sonata to the ground, causing Adagio and Raven to spring up from their seats in shock.
“Have to admit, didn’t see that one coming.” Adagio faintly said to herself as she watched her sisters grapple with each other on the kitchen floor, unsure of what to do.
Even though Aria and Sonata had had plenty of fights in the past, this was the first time any of them resulted in physical confrontation. Fortunately though, the fight seemed to only consist of hair-pulling, slapping, and verbal insults, for the time being at least.
At the moment, Aria was on top of Sonata, pulling on her pony-tail while Sonata tried to push her off with her left hand.
“YOU ARE SUCH A BITCH!” She yelled right in Sonata’s face, just before she was successfully pushed off by Sonata’s efforts.
“I’M A BITCH?!” Sonata countered as she climbed atop Aria and began pulling her pig-tails. “I’M NOT THE ONE WHO SPENT ALL OUR MONEY AND THEN TRIED TO COVER IT UP!”
“Guys, please stop fighting!” Raven pleaded, desperately wanting the conflict to end.
“I WASN’T COVERING IT UP!” Aria tried to explain through the pain of having her hair pulled, ignoring Raven’s plea. “I WAS JUST TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO YOU GUYS!”
“Sonata, Aria, please stop!” Raven once again pleaded, even louder this time.
“OH PLEASE, YOU WERE JUST TRYING TO PROTECT YOUR OWN ASS LIKE ALWAYS!” Sonata replied, so filled with rage that she balled up her right hand into a fist.
“STOP!” Raven shouted as she threw herself onto Sonata just as the girl was about to deliver a punch.
*CRACK*
The sound of bone breaking could be heard as Sonata’s elbow made contact with Raven’s nose, sending Raven’s head flying back and into the kitchen table before her whole body fell to the floor. All the Dazzlings could do was look on in horror.
“R-Raven?” Sonata fearfully said as she got off Aria and crawled over to Raven, giving her a small nudge. “Raven?”
Raven didn’t respond.
“Oh fuck, she’s bleeding!” Aria alarmingly pointed out as she got up from the floor, noticing the blood coming out of both Raven’s nose and the back of her head.
“RAVEN?!” Sonata once again said in complete terror as she continued to shake Raven, desperately trying to get her to respond.
“Stop shaking her, she’s hurt!” Aria shouted as she pulled Sonata off of Raven. “We need to call an ambulance!”
“Oh god, oh god, oh god…!” Sonata frantically began repeating as she felt a full-blown panic attack coming on, fearful of just how much she may have inadvertently hurt Raven.
While all this had been happening, Adagio had simply been staring on in complete and utter dread with her hands over her mouth. She found herself frozen by fear, unable to either speak or move.
“Adagio, call 911!” She heard a voice calling out to her, though she could barely hear it through all the terrifying thoughts running through her head. “Adagio!”
Adagio managed to break out of her terrified state enough to realize that it was Aria trying to get her attention.
“W-what?” She confusingly asked, as if just coming out of a haze.
“Call 911, damn it!” Aria shouted as she tried to administer first aid to Raven.
“R-Right, 911.” She replied, still in a slightly delirious state, as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed.
As she put her phone up to her ear and waited for an answer, Adagio did a quick scan of the room to access the situation. Aria was trying to get Raven’s bleeding under control as best she could and Sonata was sitting on the floor watching Aria with tears flowing down her cheeks and the most horrified expression she’d ever seen. Just before the emergency services operator picked up, she couldn’t help but wonder how her plan had taken such a wrong and terrifying turn.
It had only taken the ambulance about eight minutes to arrive at the apartment after Adagio made the 911 call. When the paramedics asked what had happened Adagio informed them that Raven had simply slipped on the floor, hit her head on the table, and fell flat on her face, hoping to avoid any possible assault charges against Sonata. Once Raven had been stabilized, she was moved into the ambulance and rushed off to Canterlot hospital, which was where the Dazzlings were now waiting.
“Dammit, how much longer until we know something?” Aria irritatingly asked as she paced around the waiting room, upset at the fact that they’d been waiting an hour so far with no word on Raven’s condition.
Neither Adagio nor Sonata gave any response. The two of them just continued to stare off into space like they’d been doing since they’d arrived, lost in their thoughts; Sonata upset about having been the one who hit Raven and Adagio upset at the fact that this was all because of her stupid plan.
“Excuse me.” A young-looking doctor with dark tangelo hair and a folder in his hand said as he approached them. “Are you the girls that came in with Raven Inkwell?”
“Yes!” Sonata declared as she sprung up from her seat and ran up to the doctor with a distressed look on her face. “How is she?!”
The doctor opened the folder in his hand and examined its contents before answering Sonata’s question.
“Well her nose is broken, but that seems to be the worst of it.” He informed them. “There don’t seem to be any indications of a concussion or skull fracture from her head injury, but we’re running a few more tests just to be sure.”
“Oh thank goodness.” Adagio sighed in relief.
“Any chance we can see her?” Aria asked the doctor in an almost pleading manner.
“You can if you’d like, but just know that she’s still unconscious and most likely will be for the next few hours.” The doctor told them as he pointed to a set of doors. “She’s in room 5, just head though there and it’ll be on the left.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Adagio said as she and her sisters made their way towards the set of doors.
“One more thing, girls.” The doctor said before they got too far, causing them to turn back around. “Are any of you related to Ms. Inkwell at all?”
“N-no, we’re just friends.” Adagio quickly answered, before Sonata or Aria had a chance to.
“I see. Then would any of you happen to have a contact number for her parents?” The doctor asked. “Our records seem to be missing that information and we weren’t able to get it from her phone because it was locked.”
All three Dazzling quickly shared glances with one another in a silent, inquiring gesture, even though they were fully aware that none of them knew how to reach Raven’s parents.
“We don’t, but we know someone who might.” Sonata replied aloud. “We’ll let you know if we find it.”
“Alright, thank you.” The doctor said before walking away.
Both Adagio and Aria just stared at Sonata for a few seconds.
“Um, who exactly do we know that would have Raven’s parent’s number?” Aria curiously inquired as the three of them continued towards the set of doors.
“Celestia.” Sonata coolly explained. “I’m guessing the school’s files will have at least one of Raven’s parents listed as an emergency contact, and Celestia’s the only one who can remotely access the student files to find it. We’ll call her after we see Raven, and while we’re at it we should probably tell her that Raven won’t be at school tomorrow.”
There was a brief moment of silence as both Aria and Adagio were surprised by Sonata’s sudden ingenuity.
“Wow, good thinking, Sonata.” Adagio complimented her sister.
“Yeah, good plan.” Aria concurred.
Sonata didn’t say anything in response as the three of them arrived at room 5. They just stood outside the room for a few seconds as they mentally prepared themselves for what they were about to see. Aria was the first to go in, followed by Adagio, then Sonata.
Sure enough, inside the room was an unconscious Raven, lying in a hospital bed with gauze wrapped around her head and some kind of cast taped across her nose. On the whole, she didn’t look too bad, but it still wasn’t a pretty picture.
“R-Raven?” Sonata softly said as she stood over the top left side of the bed.
“She can’t hear you, Sonata. She’s unconscious, remember?” Aria gently reminded her sister.
“I know, but…but…” Sonata tried to say as tears started to form in her eyes. “I…I need to tell her how sorry I am. It’s my fault that she’s here and…and…I need to tell her I’m sorry.”
Unable to hold back her tears, Sonata covered her face as her guilt weighed heavy on her conscience.
“It’s not your fault, Sonata. It’s mine.” Aria said as she embraced her distraught sister, tears of her own now starting to flow down her cheeks. “I’m the one who took our argument too far. I never should have attacked you. If I hadn’t, Raven would’ve never gotten hurt.”
“You’re both wrong.” Adagio very solemnly stated as she took a seat in a chair next to the right side of the bed. “This is entirely my fault.”
Both Aria and Sonata broke their hug and stared at a very dejected Adagio, who was now fighting back tears as well.
“Don’t be silly, Dagi.” Sonata tried to comfort her sister as she made her way around to the other side of the bed. “I know each of us feels like we’re the one that caused this, but this isn’t your fault in any way.”
Once she was close enough, Sonata got down on one knee and placed a comforting hand over Adagio’s left hand.
“Aria and I were the ones who were fighting.” She continued. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You don’t understand. I…I wanted you two to fight.” Adagio began to confess, no longer able to hold back her tears. “This whole date, it’s purpose was to have the two of you scare Raven off.”
“W-what?” Sonata asked as she removed her hand from Adagio’s.
“What the hell are you talking about, Adagio?” Aria crisply inquired, almost accusingly, as she advanced on Adagio. “What do you mean you wanted us to fight?!”
“I didn’t want you to physically fight!” Adagio clarified. “I just wanted you two to argue so much that Raven would leave me alone!”
Both Aria and Sonata were extremely confused. Nothing Adagio was saying made sense to them. Sonata got up from her kneeling position as she tried to figure out what was happening. Aria reached down and grabbed Adagio by the collar with both hands.
“Start. Explaining.” She fiercely demanded through gritted teeth.
It took Adagio a few seconds to steel herself before she began.
“I never agreed to be Raven’s girlfriend.” She started pensively. “After Raven told me about how her boyfriend dumped her she said that she was only going to date girls from now on and asked me if I’d be her girlfriend. I told her no because I’m not into girls, but she didn’t listen. For the rest of the day anytime she saw me she’d blow kisses at me or hug me or any of that other lovey-dovey crap. I kept telling her I wasn’t her girlfriend but it never got through to her.”
It was at this point that Aria decided to let go of Adagio.
“Eventually I knew that the only way to get her to leave me alone would be to scare her away, and that’s when I got an idea.” She continued. “I figured if she spent enough time around you two and your arguing that she wouldn’t want me to be her girlfriend, so that’s when I planned this date. I did everything I could think of to escalate tensions between you two in the hopes that Raven would never want to see any of us ever again.”
Adagio’s explanation only fueled Aria’s anger, so much so that her right hand involuntarily formed into a fist.
“But I swear, I never meant to escalate things to the point of physical violence!” Adagio said as she stared Aria right in the eyes. “I never meant for anyone to get hurt!”
Aria found that she couldn’t contain her anger and rage any longer. She lifted her right arm up and back as she prepared to let Adagio’s have it.
*SLAP*
But Sonata beat her to it. Both Aria and Adagio were so focused on each other that neither of them even noticed Sonata until she slapped Adagio across the cheek as hard as she could. Aria lowered her arm as Adagio put a hand to her now aching cheek and looked up at Sonata, who stared back at her with fire and fury in her tear-stained eyes.
Sonata never raised her voice, and that was the worst part. She just stared at Adagio with her soul-piercing, judgmental gaze before silently walking out of the room.
“You’re lucky she did that.” Aria spoke up with quiet fury once Sonata was gone. “I would’ve decked you until all your teeth fell out.”
Adagio didn’t say anything. She just dejectedly stared at the floor as she thought about just how much she’d screwed up this time.
“This shit needs to stop, Adagio.” Aria continued. “All the lies, all the manipulation, it needs to stop. Because if it doesn’t, you’re going to end up all alone; no friends, no sisters, no anyone.”
And with that, Aria walked out of the room as well, leaving Adagio alone with the still unconscious Raven to contemplate her actions.
“Dammit.” She softly uttered as she watched her tears pool up on the floor.
About an hour later, Adagio was still sitting alone in Raven’s room. Neither Aria nor Sonata had come back since leaving and, if she was being honest with herself, that was probably for the best. She realized her sisters needed some space from her right now, and she couldn’t blame them.
“How am I going to make all of this right?” She quietly, and somberly, asked herself, worried about how she was going to make amends with both Raven and her sisters.
No matter how much she thought about it though, she couldn’t think of a good answer. All she could come up with was to apologize as profusely and sincerely as possible, but she had the feeling that just saying ‘sorry’ wouldn’t be enough, not for this.
“You really fucked up this time, Adagio.” She defeatedly told herself as she buried her head in her arms. “You really fucked up this time.”
Just then, she heard a noise coming from the bed.
“Ugh…” Raven softly muttered as she slowly began to regain consciousness. “Ugh…”
“Raven?” Adagio stated in startled amazement as she lifted her head from her arms and sprang up from her seat.
“Ugh…A-Adagio?” Raven asked as she tried to sit up. “W-what happened? W-Where am I?”
“Take it easy.” Adagio instructed her as she gently laid the injured girl back down. “You’re in the hospital. You hit your head and your nose is broken.”
“H-hospital?” Raven said as she noticed the cast on her nose and brought a hand up to the back of her head, only to have it ache at her touch. “Ah!”
“Don’t worry, the doctor said it’s just a bump.” Adagio informed her as she guided Raven’s hand away from her head and back to her side. “There’s no damage to your skull or brain.”
“H-how did I get hurt?” Raven confusingly asked. “I…I don’t remember.”
Adagio bit her lower lip as she contemplated how she was going to answer. She could have easily just told Raven what she’d told the paramedics, that she’d slipped and fell, but that would’ve been another lie, and she now knew what the cost of lies could be.
“You tried to get Aria and Sonata to stop fighting.” She began to explain. “You jumped in to try and separate them when Sonata’s elbow hit you in the nose and sent your head flying into the table. Sonata feels terrible about that by the way.”
Raven remained silent for a few seconds as her memory of the incident slowly started to return.
“Y-yeah, I remember now.” She said as she scanned the room. “Are Aria and Sonata here too?”
“I…I’m not sure.” Adagio dispiritingly replied. “They were here when you were brought in, but they left about an hour ago and haven’t come back since. I don’t know if they’re still around the hospital or not.”
Even in her hazy state, Raven could tell Adagio was withholding crucial information from her.
“What’s going on, Adagio?” She acutely inquired. “Why did Aria and Sonata leave?”
Adagio knew this moment would eventually come. She knew that she was going to have to tell Raven everything.
“It’s a long story.” She austerely stated as she pulled her chair closer to the bed and took a seat. “See, I…”
And then Adagio revealed everything, from the moment she came up with her plan to the moment she confessed to her sisters. By the end, Raven was left with a mixture of emotions, most of them bad.
“I know that what I did was wrong; really, really, wrong.” Adagio grievously said once her story was finished, her head hanging low in despair. “And I don’t expect or deserve your forgiveness, but I am sorry. With all my heart, I’m sorry.”
New tears formed in Adagio’s eyes as she apologized to Raven. She was afraid of what Raven would say or do next, but however awful it might be, she knew she’d deserve it. She prepared herself for whatever hell was to come when, all of a sudden, she felt a gentle pat on her head.
“I’m sorry too.” Raven gingerly apologized.
Adagio, confused out of her mind, quickly brought her head up to see Raven staring at her with a sad smile on her face.
“W-what are you sorry for?” She asked Raven, unable to think of a single reason why she needed to apologize to her.
“For trying to make you be my girlfriend.” Raven clarified as she removed her hand from Adagio’s head. “I told you about how my parents work a lot and how I’d often feel lonely, remember?”
“Y-Yeah.” Adagio confirmed.
“Well, when I got my boyfriend I didn’t feel lonely anymore. In fact, I was the happiest I’d ever been.” Raven went on. “So when he cheated on me and dumped me, I was afraid of being alone again, more afraid than I’d ever been in my life. I was so desperate to find someone else that I didn’t even consider your feelings when I started hounding you about becoming my girlfriend. I just figured that you’d eventually start having feelings for me if I kept pushing hard enough.”
At this point, Raven started to feel tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
“I was so selfish and thoughtless.” She admitted. “And because of that I put you in a position where you had to resort to deceit and manipulation. I’m the one who doesn’t deserve forgiveness.”
The weight of Raven’s guilt finally caused the tears in her eyes to start flowing down her cheeks. She wiped them away from her right eye first, being mindful of the cast on her nose, but before she could wipe them away from her left eye, Adagio grabbed hold of her hand.
“We both made mistakes.” The Dazzling solemnly stated. “And if you can forgive me, I think I can forgive you.”
All of a sudden, and as if by magic, Raven felt the sad smile on her face transform into one of happiness.
“Deal.” She simply replied, causing Adagio to also give a happy smile.
“And you know, you don’t need a boyfriend or girlfriend to not feel lonely.” Adagio informed her. “All you really need is a friend.”
“Adagio.” Raven began to say, picking up on what the Dazzling was hinting at. “Will you be my friend?”
“I’d be happy to be your friend, Raven.” Adagio replied as she slightly tightened her hold on Raven’s hand.
The two girls just smiled happily at each other for few moments until they both heard the sound of two sets of footsteps coming into the room. They turned their heads towards the door just as Aria and Sonata entered.
“Raven, you’re awake!” Sonata gaily shouted in relief as she ran up to the left side of the bed. “I am so, so, so sorry I hit you! Can you ever forgive me?!”
“It’s all right, Sonata. It was an accident, I don’t blame you for anything.” Raven assured the distressed Dazzling.
Sonata, in response, simply started crying tears of both joy and sadness. Joy because Raven wasn’t made at her, but sadness too because even though Raven chalked the incident up as an accident she still felt guilty for hitting her.
“What’s been going on here?” Aria quizzically asked, noticing Adagio and Raven holding hands.
“N-nothing.” Adagio embarrassingly replied as she released Raven’s hand.
“Uh-huh.” Aria suspiciously uttered in response.
“Um, were you two able to get ahold of Celestia?” Adagio asked, desperate to change the subject of conversation.
“Yeah, we were.” Sonata callously answered as she wiped her tears away and looked coldly at Adagio. “She was able to give us the number for Raven’s mom and we gave it to the nurse at the desk on our way back.”
“That’s good.” Adagio wistfully remarked as she turned her head to the side, unable to stand the sight of Sonata’s icy-cold stare.
The atmosphere in the room between Adagio and her sisters was so frigid that Raven could have sworn she felt a chill go up her spine. As understandable as their feelings towards each other may have been, she didn’t like seeing them like this.
“Don’t be too mad at Adagio, you guys.” She pleaded to Aria and Sonata. “This is all as much my fault as it is hers.”
Both Aria and Sonata looked at each other in surprise, finding Raven’s words difficult to believe.
“If I hadn’t kept bothering her about being my girlfriend none of this would have happened.” Raven continued. “And I know that that’s no excuse for what she did to you, but she really is sorry and she wants to make amends for everything.”
The sincerity in Raven’s voice was enough to convince Aria and Sonata that what she was saying about Adagio wanting to make amends was true, but they still weren’t sure if they were over their anger enough to begin the healing process just yet.
“Please, just give her a chance to make things right.” Raven beseechingly concluded.
The two Dazzlings looked over to Adagio and saw a genuinely pained expression on her face, one that proved without a doubt that she truly was sorry.
“Give us a minute.” Aria said as she moved towards the hallway, gesturing for Sonata to join her.
Once Aria and Sonata were out in the hall, Adagio gave a small, defeated sigh.
“They aren’t going to forgive me.” She despairingly stated. “I messed up too badly this time.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.” Raven compassionately countered. “They’re your sisters. It may take some time for them to forgive you, but I’m sure they will eventually.”
Adagio simply gave a Raven a warm smile in response.
It wasn’t until about a minute and a half later that Aria and Sonata reentered the room, both with their arms crossed and very stern expressions on their faces.
“Alright, we’ve decided we can forgive you, Adagio.” Aria informed her sister. “But only on three conditions.”
“Name them.” Adagio firmly stated, willing to do whatever it would possibly take to earn her sister’s forgiveness.
“One: No more lying and manipulating.” Aria started off. “And not just with us, with everyone.”
“Done.” Adagio agreed, even though she knew keeping that condition would be extremely difficult for her.
“Two:” Sonata chimed in. “You handle all the motivational speaking at CHS for the next week.”
“Done.” Adagio once again agreed, feeling that that condition would be easier than the first one.
“And three:” Aria began to say as a devilish smile crossed her face. “You have to take Raven out on a real date.”
“What?!” Adagio exclaimed as she jolted up from her seat, caught completely off guard by that last condition.
“Um, that’s really not necessary.” Raven awkwardly stated.
“Maybe not for you.” Aria impishly replied as she turned her attention to Raven. “But it is for us. After all, we’re not the only ones Adagio hurt with this little scheme of hers.”
“That’s right.” Sonata just as impishly concurred. “If Adagio wants to make things right with us, she has to make things right with you too, and that means taking you out on a real date like she was supposed to. We’re talking dinner, a movie, all that romantic stuff.”
As much as Adagio really wanted to make amends with her sisters, she wasn’t too keen on the idea of taking Raven out on a real, and romantic, date, since she wasn’t into girls. She looked over to Raven who simply gave her a shrug that seemed to say, ‘Do we really have a choice?’
“Okay, done.” Adagio conceded. “As soon as Raven’s out of the hospital I’ll take her out on a real date.”
“Good.” Aria remarked as she and Sonata quickly wrapped Adagio in a sisterly hug. “We really didn’t want to stay mad at you.”
“Yeah, we love you, Dagi.” Sonata warmly said. “Even if you can be a big dummy sometimes.”
“I…I love you too, girls.” Adagio replied through fresh tears as she returned the hug. “I’m so, so sorry for everything.”
“We know.” Aria reassuringly informed her sister. “We know.”
There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as the Dazzling hugged and made up. Even Raven found herself shedding a few tears at the heartwarming scene. That is, until she came to startling realization.
“Wait, you said you gave the nurse at the desk my mom’s phone number, didn’t you Sonata?” She inquired.
“Um, yeah?” Sonata answered as all three Dazzlings broke their hug, wondering why Raven was asking her that.
“So, that probably means that she knows I’m in the hospital and is on her way over here right now.” Raven very candidly stated.
“I guess.” Sonata agreed, still wondering where Raven was going with this.
“Okay, you guys should really leave before she gets here.” Raven bluntly told the Dazzlings. “She’s going to have a lot of questions and you don’t want to be around when she starts asking them.”
At first, none of the Dazzlings could figure out what would be so wrong with Raven’s mom asking them some questions. But then they all remembered that she was an attorney and, given that Sonata had technically assaulted Raven, they understood what Raven was getting at.
“Yeah, we should really go.” Sonata said in a very trepid manner.
“Agreed.” Aria stated.
“We’ll see you later, Raven.” Adagio said as all three of them headed for the door.
“Bye, guys.” Raven said as she waved goodbye. “And don’t worry, I won’t say anything about Sonata’s elbow.”
The Dazzlings all remained quite as they made their way through the hospital and towards the exit. The silence was only broken when they reached the parking garage and Sonata felt how cold it was now that it was dark.
“Brr. When did it start getting so cold at night?” She asked as she rubbed her arms for warmth.
“Yeah, we just sort of skipped over fall and went right into winter, didn’t we.” Aria commented as they reached their car.
“Let’s just go home.” Adagio exhaustingly remarked as she opened the front passenger side door. “I need to rethink my life.”
“That’s gotta be the smartest thing you’ve said all day, sis.” Aria playfully said she got in the drivers seat, earning a giggle from Sonata as she got in the seat behind her.
As much as Adagio wanted to make some smart comeback to Aria’s statement, she figured it best to just let it go and simply rolled her eyes in response.
Soon enough, Aria started the car and they were off, weaving through the parking garage towards the exit. As Adagio looked out the window and recapped the day’s events in her head, she couldn’t help but be curious about one that had happened.
“Hey, Aria.” She said as she turned her attention to her sister. “What did Sonata mean earlier when she said you bought an emu farm with all of our money?”
“That’s a story for another time, Adagio.” Aria simply replied as she pulled out of the parking garage and headed home.