*RRMMOO*
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming as fast as I can, Leo,” Adagio said irksomely as she approached the noisy emu’s pen with a bag of feed in her hand.
Soon enough Adagio reached the large bird’s trough and began pouring emu-feed into it. Feed which Leo hastily proceeded to devour at a rate nearly equal to that of it being sluiced, sending bits of the provender flying through the air and into the Dazzling’s poofy hair.
“Ugh,” The girl chagrined as she continued to fill the trough.
As much as Adagio was happy to be living on the emu farm - because it meant she got to live in a house as opposed to an apartment or a van down by the river - there was one aspect of farm-life that she wasn’t very keen on: the farming. The Dazzling had never considered herself to be either outdoorsy or an animal lover, so living and working on a farm full of emu wasn’t exactly her idea of paradise. But it was good enough, and thankfully most days working on the farm were fairly tolerable due to the fact that she usually had help from some combination of Aria, Sonata, Kiwi, and Su-Z.
Unfortunately though, today was not one of those days.
For various reasons, Adagio’s sisters and housemates were out-and-about in Canterlot City today. Leaving the Dazzling leader to tend to the emu by herself. She knew at the beginning of the day that the numerous tasks that went into caring for the emu would be arduous to complete on her own, but she was confident that she would be able to do everything without any help. However, by midday she started to feel differently. After only about half-a-day’s work the girl felt exhausted and she seriously doubted she’d be able to finish caring for the emu by her lonesome. She briefly contemplated just calling it a day after lunch but quickly concluded that doing so wasn’t an option. At least not if she wanted to avoid getting cussed out and possibly hospitalized by Aria.
The only real option Adagio had to ensure that all of her tasks were completed by days end was to find someone who was not only able to help her but also willing to do so, and fortunately after a few phone calls she’d found someone who met both criteria.
“Damn, these things are heavy,” Spitfire moderately repined as she plopped a full bag of feed down next to the trough located in the pen to Adagio’s right.
“Eh, this kind isn’t too bad,” Adagio said to her friend as she finished filling Leo’s trough, brushed the bits of feed out of her hair as best she could, and made her way over to the adjoining pen. “You should have been here when we first took over the place and Aria insisted we give the emu organic-blend feed. Now that stuff was heavy.”
“Seriously?” Spitfire said as she opened her bag. “You’re telling me there’s a type of feed out there that’s even heavier than this?”
“Yep,” Adagio replied as she entered the pen and helped Spitfire lift the bag. “If you don’t believe me we can run on down to the place where we get our feed from after we’re done here and I can show you.”
“No, no, that’s fine. I believe you,” Spitfire quickly replied as she and the Dazzling began filling the last of the troughs.
Amused by her friend’s hastily spoken response, the Dazzling gave a small chuckle which Spitfire was unable to hear over the sound of feed being rapidly poured into the metal trough.
Soon enough, the trough went from completely empty to completely full, and as soon as it did Adagio and Spitfire carried the now slightly lighter – though still somewhat heavy - bag of feed out of the pen. Once they were clear of the door the Dazzling and the CHS soccer player plopped the bag down on the ground, producing a loud thud that earned them the attention of a few of the emu for a couple of seconds. Though neither girl noticed the large birds’ gazes as they were too busy catching their breath.
“Man, I never knew how exhausting all this farming stuff could be,” Spitfire said between her breaths as she lifted her right hand up in a manner that suggested she was requesting a fist-bump. “Serious props to you and your sisters for being able to do all this day in and day out, Adagio.”
“Thanks, Spitfire,” Adagio said as she fist-bumped her friend. “But in all honesty my sisters and I can’t take much credit for doing all this stuff day in and day out anymore. Kiwi and Su-Z are the ones handling most of the farming these days.”
“Oh, right. I forgot you hired those two,” Spitfire replied as she headed towards a nearby bench and took a seat. “I take it from the fact that these emu are still alive that they’re pretty good farmhands, huh?”
A brief silence filled the barn as Adagio pondered her response to Spitfire’s question whilst she concurrently proceeded to join her friend.
“Yeah, they’re all right I suppose,” The Dazzling leader eventually replied, though with a hint of suspect in her voice, as she too sat down on the bench.
“You sure?” Spitfire asked with a furrowed brow. “’Cause it doesn’t seem like you’re sure.”
Adagio wasn’t surprised that Spitfire had noticed her unconvincing tone. The two girls hadn’t been friends for very long yet, but in the short time that they were the Dazzling leader learned that the high school athlete was a very mindful and observant person. She just always had a way of being able to read people both on and off the soccer pitch, and very little ever got past her because of this.
“Well it’s not so much Kiwi and Su-Z’s job performance as farmhands as it is Kiwi and Su-Z themselves,” Adagio elaborated. “I mean they’re both great and all and I’m glad they’re here helping us run the farm and everything, but there are times when, let’s just say…they get on my nerves.”
“How do you mean?” Spitfire inquired.
“Oh, where to begin?” Adagio asked rhetorically. “I guess for starters, there’s the fact that Su-Z is prone to sudden and unexplained mood swings. One minute she’ll be all happy-go-lucky and talking to her dog in that weird baby-talk voice and the next she’ll be all grumpy and irate and complaining about how her sister is a massive bitch. I swear, that girl must be undiagnosed bipolar or something.”
“Uh-huh,” Spitfire uttered to let her friend know she was listening with intent.
“And then there’s Kiwi with her stubborn and judgmental attitude,” The Dazzling then said, with a not-so-subtle inkling of spite in her voice. “I mean can you believe that she accused me of giving Sonata false hope when I told her I’d try and find $100 within the household budget so that she could get Rainbow Dash a nice birthday present? How the hell was I giving her false hope when I hadn’t looked close enough at the budget to know whether I could give her the $100 or not? Yeah, it was a longshot that I was going to find it, I admit that. But so what? Just because it was a longshot that meant I was giving my sister false hope by telling her that I might actually find it? Honestly!”
“Hehe,” Spitfire chuckled lightly under her breath.
“Did I say something funny?” Adagio asked as she turned to face her friend, sounding slightly offended.
“No, no. I’m sorry,” The CHS student apologized. “It’s just…never mind.”
The Dazzling raised one of her eyebrows.
“All right,” Spitfire then said, taking her friend’s subtle gesture as a sign that she should continue. “It’s just…it seems to me that the reason Su-Z and Kiwi tend to get on your nerves sometimes is because they remind you of yourself and your sisters is all.”
Upon hearing Spitfire’s claim, Adagio dawned perhaps the most befuddled expression she’d ever given.
“Excuse me?” She asked in her befuddlement.
“Hey, I’m just callin’ it like I see it,” Spitfire replied. “From the way you just described how those two can be sometimes it sounds to me like they bug you because you see parts of yourself and your sisters in them.”
“Uh-huh,” The Dazzling then uttered, still sounding totally confused. “You care to explain that particular interpretation with me, Spitfire?”
“If you want me to,” Spitfire said.
“Oh, I want you to,” Adagio confirmed.
“If you insist,” Spitfire replied. “Well from what you said about Su-Z, I don’t think it’s the ‘undiagnosed bipolar’ thing that gets on your nerves. I think it’s that, at any given time, she’s either very similar to Sonata or very similar to Aria, which means that at any given time you’re dealing with either twice the jauntiness or twice the irritability that you’re used to.”
At first, Adagio thought Spitfire was talking crazy-talk. But the more the Dazzling thought about it the more she thought her friend might actually be on to something. Su-Z was, at most times, on one far-end of the temperament spectrum or the other. She was either blithe and carefree just like Sonata or bothered and irascible just like Aria. There really wasn’t much of a middle ground with her.
The Dazzling leader had her doubts though that this fact about Su-Z was truly what bothered her in regards to the girl, but she couldn’t deny that it was at least a possibility.
“And as for Kiwi,” Spitfire continued. “I think her stubbornness gets to you so easily because you see a part of yourself in her that you don’t like.”
This, Adagio perceived to be nothing other than one hundred percent crazy-talk.
“Really, Spitfire?” The Dazzling said incredulously. “You think that’s why Kiwi gets on my nerves? Because when she’s being all stubborn and judgmental I see a part of myself in her that I don’t like?”
“Well I didn’t say anything about when she’s being judgmental,” Spitfire corrected her friend. “But when she’s being stubborn, yeah. I think you see something about yourself that you don’t like in her and that’s why it bugs you so much.”
The more Adagio listened to Spitfire expatiate her theory, the more she thought her friend was way off the mark on this one. The Dazzling leader was no expert as to the innermost workings of her mind, but she knew enough about herself to know that what bugged her so much about Kiwi’s stubbornness wasn’t on account of her seeing an unflattering reflection of herself within the PostCrush girl. It was because of the simple fact that she was just as equally stubborn as Kiwi, and like two positively charged ions it was just in their nature to clash with one another.
However, despite how wrong Adagio knew her friend’s assumption to be though she didn’t feel offended by it. Quite the opposite actually; she found it to be rather amusing.
“Well, Spitfire, if that’s what you believe then I have to say: I think you have a promising career as a psychiatrist ahead of you,” The poofy-haired girl said in an amiably sarcastic manner as she got up from the bench.
“Like I said, I’m just callin’ it like I see it,” Spitfire just as amiably replied as she too got up from her seat.
“Come on, let’s go get some lemonade,” The Dazzling said as she headed for the barn doors. “Unless you just want to head on home now.”
“Are you kidding?” Spitfire asked oratorically as she followed alongside her friend. “After how hard we just worked there’s no way I’m passing up some lemonade before I go.”
Within seconds, the two girls were out of the barn and making their way over towards the house.
As Adagio and Spitfire walked towards the house, the Dazzling took note of the setting sun off in the distance. It was very low, about two-thirds of the way gone over the horizon already, and as she looked out upon the descending orb of light she felt a sense of gratitude that she and Spitfire had finished their work inside the barn before it had set completely. Tending to the emu during the daytime was bad enough, tending to them after dark was even worse.
“So how is it you got stuck doing all this farm work by yourself?” Spitfire inquired as they walked. “What happened to Kiwi, Su-Z, and your sisters?”
“Oh, Aria and Sonata are out looking for new jobs today and Kiwi and Su-Z are at a deposition or something with the IRS,” Adagio answered. “Apparently that whole tax fraud case involving their old label still isn’t over.”
“Ouch,” Spitfire replied, feeling sympathy for the two former popstars, before fully realizing what it was the Dazzling leader had just said regarding her siblings. “Wait, did you say that Aria and Sonata are out looking for new jobs?”
“Yep,” Adagio confirmed.
“So, does that mean you three aren’t going to be the librarians at school anymore?” The student athlete then asked with the slightest indication of worriment in her voice.
It was at this point that Adagio realized she hadn’t told Spitfire about how she and her sisters were in need of some new jobs to help bring money in so that they didn’t lose the farm. As a matter of fact, she hadn’t told anyone about her and her sisters’ financial plight. As far as she knew the only person outside her household who knew anything about it was Sugarcoat, and that was because she’d been the one who’d informed her, her sisters, and her housemates that if they didn’t bring in more money soon they’d end up losing the farm.
“No, just Aria and Sonata,” The Dazzling explained. “See we’re a little low on money right now so we figured it best if only one of us stayed on as librarian at CHS and the other two found some new jobs.”
Adagio purposefully left out the part about her and her sisters potentially losing the farm if they didn’t start bringing in more money. It just didn’t seem pertinent to her that Spitfire be made aware of that little tidbit of information.
“I was willing to find a new job if either Aria or Sonata wanted to remain librarian, but much to my surprise neither of them did,” The poofy-haired girl continued. “So, yeah, I’m still going to be the librarian at school.”
“Oh, okay. Cool,” Spitfire said in an uncharacteristically elated manner.
Spitfire’s enthusiasm confused Adagio. She had figured her friend would be happy at the news that she would be the one who continued to serve as school librarian since it meant that the two of them would be able to continue seeing each other fairly regularly, but the sheer level of ardor the girl just showed told her that there was more to it than just that.
Adagio may not have been as astute as Spitfire was, but she was still most definitely above-average in terms of intuitive recognition. And thanks to this she sensed an opportunity to have a little more amiable fun with the girl.
“My goodness, Spitfire, you seem awfully happy that I’m the one who’s staying on as librarian,” The former siren replied in a suggestive manner as she closed the gap between herself and her friend. “Could it be because you’re hoping my sticking around CHS means that you and I will become…closer?”
“Oh, Adagio,” Spitfire said seductively as she stopped, wrapped her arms around the Dazzling’s waist, and stared longingly into her eyes. “I’m hoping that you staying on as librarian means that you and I will become as close as two people can possibly get.”
Spitfire suddenly taking hold of her caught Adagio completely off-guard. And even though the Dazzling was all but certain that her friend was just messing with her right now, the scene of intimacy that was now unfolding between them quickly became a bit too real for her to handle.
“Nope, nope,” She hastily said as she gently pushed herself free. “I’m sorry, I’m not into girls, I shouldn’t have done that, I don’t know why I did. Just please, please don’t ever give me those bedroom-eyes again, Spitfire.”
“Oh darn,” Spitfire remarked in an overly-exaggerated, sarcastic manner before she started making her way towards the house once more. “I guess this means I’ll just have to settle for courting one of your sisters then.”
Adagio found herself not only thrown for a loop at this, but also found herself unsure if her friend was still messing with her or not.
“Y-You’re not serious about that, are you?” She asked tentatively as she caught up with Spitfire.
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” Spitfire simply replied.
Despite the Dazzling’s uncertainty about Spitfire’s earnestness about courting her sisters, she couldn’t help but let out a small and muffled snicker. Regardless of whether the girl was actually serious or not, she was just glad to have someone like Spitfire as a friend. Someone who wasn’t so easily intimidated by her shenanigans. Someone who could not only be just as mischievous as her but could also turn the tables on her mischief by doing something completely unexpected. Spitfire of course had many other wonderful qualities other than these, but for Adagio the fact that the girl was such a kindred spirit to her own was what made her feel so lucky she got to call the aspiring athlete ‘friend’.
“But going back to me being happy about you remaining as librarian at CHS,” Spitfire spoke up as the two of them made their way ever closer to the house. “The real reason I’m glad you’re the one staying on is because I think that, between you and your sisters, you’re the one who’s made CHS a better place the most.”
Once again, Adagio found herself caught completely off-guard by her friend.
“I mean no offense to Aria and Sonata, I know they’ve both done a lot for the school too,” Spitfire continued. “But I just feel that of the three of you you’re the one who’s had the biggest impact on everyone. Of course you and I are close friends so I’m probably biased, but you know, that’s just my humble opinion.”
“Is that so?” The Dazzling leader said. “Well you’re probable bias aside, how is it you figure I’ve had a bigger impact on CHS than my sisters?”
“Ah come on, Adagio, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Spitfire replied. “In the short time you’ve been a part of CHS you’ve helped me realize that not making the Canterlot University soccer team wasn’t the end of the world, helped Moondancer accept her feelings for Twilight, and helped show those two crazy girls from River City around the school. And that’s not even half of what you’ve accomplished.”
“Uh, Spitfire, those girls from River City left CHS half-way through the day and never came back,” Adagio reminded her friend.
“Well, yeah, that’s true. But you stuck with them up until that point,” Spitfire said. “I mean, with as nuts as those two were I’m pretty sure anyone else would’ve given up after about five minutes.”
The Dazzling leader agreed with this, but didn’t say so aloud.
As Adagio recollected her brief yet memorable experience dealing with the two outlandish girls from River City, it brought to mind many of the other noteworthy times she’d had since becoming a CHS faculty member. She started to recall not just the instances Spitfire had mentioned but a plethora of others as well. Most were fairly pleasant memories, like when she’d helped Sweetie Belle with her singing or when she’d managed to talk some sense into Rainbow Dash after the Rainboom had learned of Dolly’s existence, but not all of them.
“I guess I have made a difference at CHS, but it hasn’t always been a positive one,” She said sullenly. “I’m sure Raven would attest to that.”
“Oh, um, y-yeah,” Spitfire reluctantly concurred. “I suppose you did kinda make a…little mistake when it came to her, huh?”
Adagio’s mistake when she’d chosen to manipulate Raven’s feelings for her had been anything but little. Because of her, the poor girl had ended up getting hurt during a scuffle between Sonata and Aria and wound up being taken to the hospital with a broken nose and mild head injury. And on top of that she’d also manipulated her sisters into having the scuffle in the first place. The whole incident had been of her making, and even though she’d never intended for things to escalate to such a drastic and dangerous level she’d been the one who’d set those calamitous wheels in motion.
“But you made things right with Raven and she forgave you!” Spitfire quickly added with fervor. “You apologized to her, took her out on a real date, and made her that promise that you wouldn’t be so careless with other people’s feelings again!”
Despite Spitfire’s passionate reminder that Adagio had made amends with Raven and that the girl had forgiven her, the Dazzling’s spirits didn’t lift any. Though she did appreciate her friend’s efforts to try and raise them. For Adagio, the fact that the incident had occurred at all far outweighed the fact that it had concluded on a relatively good note, and she simply couldn’t find it within her heart to forgive herself for it no matter how much she wished she could. As far as she was concerned, she’d committed a truly unforgivable misdeed. Even if the person she’d harmed had forgiven her.
“And I don’t think anyone can say that you haven’t kept that promise,” Spitfire continued. “Not after how you managed to talk Violet down when she was planning to jump off the school’s roof.”
Upon hearing Violet’s name uttered, Adagio immediately snapped out of her despondency. She didn’t quite return to the mildly fervent spirit she’d been in before she’d started talking about Raven, but she at least didn’t feel so forlorn anymore.
“Seriously, if talking someone out of committing suicide isn’t the epitome of displaying empathy then I don’t know what is,” Spitfire concluded.
As the memory of her encounter with Violet on the roof of CHS came flooding back into the forefront of her mind, Adagio recalled the multitude of emotions she’d experienced during the ordeal. Surprise, when she’d discovered Violet sitting on the roof’s edge. Anxiety, when Violet started talking to her in an eerily calm voice and asking questions like, ‘How far up do you think we are’. Anger, when she’d learned that Violet’s ex-boyfriend had distributed a nude photo of her online. Horror, when Violet explained that she was planning to kill herself by jumping off the roof. Sadness, when she’d told the girl the story of her own battle with suicidal thinking. And relief, when Violet had ultimately decided to come down from the ledge.
To say that the whole incident had been an emotional rollercoaster for Adagio would’ve been a gross understatement. As far as the Dazzling was concerned, it had been one of the most intense and frightening moments of her life. One that, unfortunately, hadn’t truly ended for her.
After Violet had come down from the roof and spoken with the school’s district psychologist she’d agreed to be taken to a mental hospital for a few days for observation, something Adagio had a bit of concern with. She hadn’t had any objection with Violet receiving some professional help, but what she had had some disagreement with was the girl being confined to Smith’s Grove Mental Hospital, a place that was more than 50 miles away from Canterlot City. More than 50 miles away from her friends and family. She hadn’t voiced this disagreement though since Violet had agreed to the confinement and it was only supposed to be for a few days, though given that those few days had turned into a few months she wish that she had.
About a week after Adagio had talked Violet down from the roof she began looking for the girl around CHS, but she never saw her. About a week after that she began making inquiries with Violet’s friends about the girl’s whereabouts and condition, but none of them had known anything. Eventually she’d resolved herself to go to Smith’s Grove and check on Violet, but due to the hospital’s long distance from Canterlot and her having to share the only car in the household with four other people she’d been unable to make the trip out there. And because of that, the turmoil within her continued to linger.
Even though she’d saved Violet’s life that day on the roof of Canterlot High, Adagio felt that she was not yet done helping the girl. She felt that she needed to continue being there for Violet, that she needed to be there for the girl during her recovery, though she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was simply because she’d been the one who’d convinced Violet not to jump and felt a sense of responsibility for the girl’s well-being, or maybe it was because she felt that she needed Violet’s help closing this lamentable incident in her life as much as she felt Violet needed her help to do the same. Whatever the reason, the Dazzling knew that she could no longer dawdle following up with Violet, and just as she and Spitfire reached the porch of the house she resolved herself to visit the girl within a week’s time.
“Hey, Spitfire, can I ask you for another favor?” She said as she reached into her pocket for her keys.
“As long as it’s not to drive you to the feed store to get more of those heavy-ass bags, sure,” Spitfire replied half-jokingly.
“Don’t worry, I don’t need a ride to the feed store. But I may need a ride somewhere else,” Adagio said as she inserted her house key into the lock. “This weekend I might need your help getting to -”
The Dazzling stopped herself mid-sentence as she turned the key into lock to unlock it, only to find that it was already unlocked.
“You okay, Adagio?” Spitfire asked shortly after Adagio had abruptly cut herself off.
“The door’s unlocked,” The former siren whispered to her friend, a hint of alarm evident within her voice.
“Oh,” Spitfire whispered back, a hint of alarm now evident within her voice as well. “M-Maybe you just forgot to lock it when we came out.”
“No, I know I locked it,” Adagio affirmed.
Wondering if perhaps her sisters or her housemates had come home while they were in the barn, the Dazzling quickly turned her head towards the driveway to see if the household car was parked in it. But when she saw that it wasn’t she felt her heart skip a beat.
Someone was in her house. Someone who didn’t belong there.
“So what do we do?” Spitfire inquired.
“What do we do?” Adagio said as she steeled her courage. “We see whose inside.”
And with that, the Dazzling turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. As she did so, she expected the sight of some stranger standing in her house to enter her view, but such a sight never came. She never saw anyone, not even once the door was fully open.
“Hmm,” She uttered wearily as she cautiously entered the house, followed closely behind by Spitfire.
“Doesn’t look like anyone’s here,” The CHS student said softly as she looked around the empty room. “I think you just forgot to lock the door, Adagio.”
Even though she was certain she’d locked the door before heading out to the barn, Adagio started to think maybe Spitfire was right. Perhaps she had mistakenly left the door unlocked after all. Perhaps she’d simply been remembering a different time when she’d locked the door. The thought swirled around in her head for a moment until she heard the sound of a door creaking open just down the hall, and then she knew that she’d been right. Someone was in the house.
“Who’s there?!” She shouted down the hallway, readying herself for a potentially dangerous confrontation as she did so.
A couple of seconds passed before someone emerged from one of the rooms down the hall – the bathroom - and when this someone did emerge all fears of a confrontation immediately vanished from Adagio’s mind.
“V-Violet?” The Dazzling leader uttered in disbelief as she stared at the Snapshot girl.
“Adagio!” Violet Blurr elatedly vociferated as she ran up the hallway and wrapped her arms around the Dazzling in a great big bear hug.
The sudden impact of Violet’s body against hers nearly sent Adagio falling backwards, but fortunately she managed to remain upright.
As Adagio looked down at the girl hugging her she had to blink a few times to make sure that it was actually Violet Blurr who was embracing her. Not just because she was so surprised to see Violet, but also because she wasn’t entirely sure that it even was Violet. The girl wasn’t wearing any of the unique articles of clothing that she usually wore. Not her purple skirt and stripped leggings, not her canary yellow top, not even her spiked headband with roses in it. Instead, she just had on a plain old white shirt and a pair of navy pants. Really the only distinguishing feature about the girl right now was her grayish rose and magenta hair with light rose highlights, which told Adagio that this was indeed Violet Blurr.
“It’s so good to see you again!” The Snapshot girl said as she let go of the Dazzling.
“Um, y-yeah. It’s…good to see you too,” Adagio replied, finding herself unable to think of anything else to say at the moment.
A large, slightly unsettling smile appeared on Violet’s face as soon as Adagio said this, one that the Dazzling feared might be a precursor to another incoming bear hug.
“Um, h-hey, Violet,” Spitfire greeted the girl, sounding just as flummoxed as Adagio had. “How are you doing?”
“Hey, Spitfire,” Violet greeted back. “I’m good. Thanks for asking.”
Her fear of a second bear hug sedated thanks to Spitfire’s intervention, Adagio hastily tried to wrap her mind around what was happening. Though the task proved to be a rather difficult one for her given how utterly bizarre and preternatural the whole situation was. A seemingly endless series of questions cascaded through her mind at such a rapid pace that she barely had enough time to register them. Questions like, ‘How did Violet get to the farm’, and ‘How did Violet get into the house’. But amongst all of these many questions one and only one repeated itself fairly often and fairly loudly; ‘Why is Violet here’.
“So I guess you’re probably wondering why it is I’m in your house, huh, Adagio,” Violet then said, almost as though she were psychic.
“W-Well, yeah, I was,” The Dazzling confessed. “Among other things.”
“Hehe, I figured as much,” Violet replied in an overly blithe manner. “Why don’t we sit down and I’ll tell you how it is I ended up here, hmm?”
Violet then proceeded to gaily make her way over towards a nearby couch.
“Just a fair warning though, some of what I tell you might sound a bit bizarre, but I swear that it’s all true,” The girl said as she sat down and patted the seat next to her. “I’d never lie to you, Adagio.”
Feeling a sense of unease, Adagio discreetly shifted her gaze over to Spitfire for a moment in an attempt to see if her friend was feeling the same way. And not surprisingly, it appeared that Spitfire was indeed feeling just as perturbed as she was. At least if the subtle expression of bemusement on the girl’s face was any indication.
As much as Adagio wanted to confer with Spitfire before engaging Violet with her questions, the Dazzling didn’t think that was the best course of action to take. There was something about Violet’s overly upbeat disposition that she found to be…unsettling. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but something that made her believe that right now it would be best if she did as the girl requested and took a seat next to her.
“All right,” She said as she made her way over to the couch and sat down on the spot Violet had patted, followed soon after by Spitfire taking a seat in a nearby chair.
“Okay, so remember how after you convinced me to come down from the school’s roof I was taken to Smith’s Grove Mental Hospital?” Violet inquired.
“Yeah, I remember,” Adagio replied. “That Dr. Loomis woman said she wanted to keep you there for a few days for observation to make sure you were no longer a danger to yourself.”
“Yep, that’s what Dr. Loomis said all right. Pretty much word-for-word,” Violet said. “The only thing is though, she kinda lied when she said ‘a few days’. After spending about a week in the hospital I asked Dr. Loomis during what I thought was our last session when I could expect to be released, and you know what she said? She said, ‘I’m afraid not for a while, Violet’.”
“But why?” Adagio asked. “When you agreed to go to Smith’s Grove you already seemed to be in a much better place than you were when you were up on the roof, so how is it that after a few days in the hospital Dr. Loomis still thought you were a danger to yourself?”
“See that’s where thing start to get bizarre,” Violet replied. “I mean, I’d felt that all of the sessions Dr. Loomis and I had had up until then were fairly good ones, so it made no sense to me that she thought I couldn’t be released after a week of being in the hospital. I tried to explain to her that since I’d arrived at Smith’s Grove I hadn’t had so much as a single thought of self-harm and she just reiterated that she felt I couldn’t be released.”
“That is pretty bizarre,” Spitfire chimed in. “Did Dr. Loomis say anything else? Like maybe what her reason was for feeling that you couldn’t be released?”
“Yeah, eventually she did explain that. And that’s where things get really bizarre,” Violet said. “She said that the reason I couldn’t be released wasn’t because she felt that I was a danger to myself anymore, but because she felt that I might be a danger to others.”
“What?!” Adagio hollered, practically jumping out of her seat as she did so. “Why in the world would Dr. Loomis think you’d be a danger to anyone else?! You’re one of the most amiable people I’ve ever met!”
“Aww. Thank you, Adagio,” Violet replied affectionately as she clasped the Dazzling’s right hand with both of hers. “You are such a nice person.”
“Uh, t-thanks, Violet,” Adagio said tentatively as she gently tried to free her hand from Violet’s grasp, though to no avail.
“I mean it!” Violet loudly stated, sensing Adagio’s hesitancy, as she tightened her grip on the Dazzling leader’s hand. “You’re just so nice and kind and considerate and so many other wonderful things!”
Adagio said nothing in response as she desperately tried not to wince at the growing level of pain within her right hand. Though with each passing second that Violet continued to clutch it the Dazzling found it increasingly difficult to do so, and soon enough she could feel herself slowly beginning to grimace, forcing her to once again try and free her captive appendage.
“Um, Violet? Quick question,” Spitfire interjected. “If Dr. Loomis said she didn’t feel you could be released, then how come you’re not still in the hospital?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Violet said as she abruptly let go of Adagio’s hand, much to the Dazzling’s relief. “It’s because I left during the big breakout last night.”
A couple of very visible looks of shock appeared on both Adagio and Spitfire’s faces when they heard Violet say this.
“The b-breakout?” The Dazzling leader asked, sounding noticeably shaken.
“Uh-huh, the breakout,” Violet replied in a manner that suggested she was oblivious to the distress of the other two girls in the room. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it on the news or something. Every patient at Smith’s Grove broke out last night after one of Dr. Loomis’ other patients got out of his room. I think his name was Michael…something. Eh, whatever, doesn’t matter. The point is that this other patient unlocked every door to every room in the hospital after he got out, freeing everyone. And since Dr. Loomis made it clear that she wasn’t going to let me go anytime soon I took it as my opportunity to leave.”
Violet’s explanation of how she’d gotten out of the hospital left Adagio with more questions than answers. Questions such as how Violet had made the trek from Smith’s Grove to her house in just a little under 24 hours, or why it was that she’d chosen to come to the farm of all places. But before she could ask any of these many questions Spitfire spoke up once more.
“Just one more question, Violet,” The student athlete said with no small hint of trepidation within her voice. “Did Dr. Loomis say why it was she felt you were a danger to others?”
“Yeah, she did. And it’s the most bizarre part of all of this,” Violet answered irksomely. “She said that I was suffering from something called…what was it again? Obsessive love disorder? I don’t know, something like that. Anyways, she said that because of this disorder it was a possibility that I could be a danger to Adagio.”
Without even thinking about it, Adagio instinctively shifted herself down the couch a bit, away from Violet.
“Huh?” She uttered distraughtly.
“I know, right? Isn’t that just one of the most ridiculous things you’ve ever heard?” Violet asked, right before wrapping her arms around the Dazzling in a big bear hug for the second time today. “I mean, how could Dr. Loomis possibly think that I’d be a danger to the girl I love with all my heart?”
Similarly to when Violet had hugged her earlier, Adagio had to take a few seconds to make sure that what her brain was currently processing was correct. Not that the person hugging her was Violet this time though, that part she got just fine, but rather that Violet had said that she, Adagio Dazzle, was the girl that she loved with all her heart. Though the Dazzling’s brain soon found it difficult to continue its processing, as Violet’s tight hug quickly restricted the flow of oxygen to it.
“Violet…air.” The Dazzling leader said as soon as she realized that she was short of breath.
“Oopsie, sorry!” Violet apologized as she let go of Adagio. “I guess I don’t know the strength of my own love, huh?”
“Hehe,” The Dazzling leader uttered deliriously as a serious case of déjà vu came over her, recalling that Raven had said something very similar to her once.
“Hey, you know what I just realized?” Spitfire said quickly as she vehemently got up from her seat. “I never got that lemonade I was promised.”
The student athlete then took a few steps forward and lightly grabbed ahold of Adagio’s arm.
“You think you can come into the kitchen with me, Adagio?” She said as she gently pulled the Dazzling up from the couch. “You know, so you can show me where the lemonade is.”
“Yeah, lemonade.” Adagio simply replied in a daze as she slowly started to make her way over towards the kitchen, followed closely behind by Spitfire.
“Ooh, lemonade. Can I have some?” Violet asked just before the two girls left the room.
Adagio didn’t say anything in response. She just continued walking slowly into the kitchen, prompting Spitfire to turn around and answer Violet.
“Uh, sure, Violet,” The soccer player said. “But, um, we’ll bring a glass of it out here to you. You look so comfy sitting there that I don’t want you to have to get up.”
“Huh. You know, I do feel pretty comfy sitting here,” Violet replied. “Thanks, Spitfire! That’s really nice of you!”
“D-Don’t mention it,” Spitfire said tentatively before turning back around and quickly rejoining Adagio, who was already in the kitchen.
“Why does this keep happening to me?” The Dazzling leader uttered softly and absentmindedly to herself as she opened the refrigerator door. “Why is it that I keep attracting these love-sick girls like I’m some sort of love-sick girl magnet? I’m not even into girls. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I don’t suppose it does,” Spitfire just as softly said as she leaned in close to Adagio. “So, what are we gonna do about Violet?”
“Ha,” Adagio chuckled, now sounding a bit more with-it, as she pulled a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge. “I’m going to level with you, Spitfire; I have no damn idea what we’re gonna do about Violet. And you know why? Because the way I see it we have a classic no-win scenario here.”
“What do you mean?” Spitfire inquired.
“Come on, Spitfire, you’re smart enough to see the reality of this situation,” The Dazzling replied as she opened a nearby cabinet and started pulling glasses out of it. “There are only two options we have here. Either I rebuke Violet’s feelings for me or I pretend to accept them, however deranged they may be. If I do the former she’ll most likely slip right back into her suicidal mind frame and try to hurt herself again, but if I do the latter and string her along she’d probably end up getting hurt at some point just like Raven did.”
Adagio ceased removing glasses from the cabinet and placed both her palms flat on the countertop.
“No matter what I do, Violet will get hurt,” She said somberly as she stared down at the glasses she’d already gotten down.
“Or you’ll get hurt,” Spitfire added. “If Dr. Loomis’ analysis of Violet’s condition is correct then we can’t ignore that she could hurt you if you upset her.”
“She wouldn’t do that!” Adagio snapped softly, though with a volume loud enough that it nearly reached the living room. “Violet may be a danger to herself but there’s no way she’s a danger to me or anyone else!”
“Violet’s not in a mentally stable place right now, Adagio,” Spitfire calmly reminded the Dazzling, placing a supportive hand on her friend’s shoulder for added measure. “There’s no telling who she’s potentially a danger to.”
As much as Adagio wanted to continue refuting Spitfire’s claims regarding Violet, she found that she couldn’t. No matter how much she wanted to believe that someone as good-natured as Violet was incapable of being a danger to someone else, she had to admit that the girl’s behavior thus far had been so erratic and irregular that it just might be possible for her to have a severe enough psychotic episode that she could bring harm to another person.
“Okay, you may be right about that,” She capitulated as she gently brushed Spitfire’s hand off of her shoulder and went back to taking glasses out of the cabinet. “But it still doesn’t change the fact that I have no idea what to do about Violet.”
“I know,” Spitfire said as she grabbed the pitcher of lemonade and started pouring drinks. “But I think I might have an idea of how we can get out of this mess. Without either you or Violet getting hurt.”
“You do?” Adagio replied with a mixture of surprise and elation. “What is it?”
“I don’t think we have time for me to explain it,” Spitfire said as she discreetly glanced over her shoulder at Violet for a split-second. “Just follow my lead once we’re back in the living room.”
Adagio also glanced over her shoulder at Violet for a split-second, and when she did she saw the girl still seated in her comfy spot looking over at her and Spitfire with a not-so-subtle expression of impatience plastered across her face.
“G-Got it,” She told her friend with a small hint of unease in her voice, brought about by Violet’s slightly unsettling staring.
Soon enough, Adagio and Spitfire finished pouring their glasses of lemonade and headed back into the living room.
“Here you go, Violet,” Spitfire said as she handed one of the glasses she’d been carrying.
“Thanks,” Violet replied, somewhat virulently, as she took the glass while Adagio retook her seat next to her. “You two sure took your time getting these drinks. Any particular reason for that?”
The obvious hostility evident within Violet’s voice only made Adagio’s already frayed nerves worse. She didn’t know what it was Spitfire was intending to do, but the Dazzling hoped to Heaven above that whatever it was it would, at the very least, calm the Snapshot girl down.
“Oh, we were just talking about you two becoming a couple,” Spitfire casually replied, right before taking a sip of her lemonade.
Adagio was extremely grateful that she hadn’t yet taken a sip of her lemonade, because she knew that if she had she would’ve performed the mother of all spit-takes upon hearing Spitfire’s response to Violet’s question.
“You…you were?” Violet inquired in astonishment.
“Oh yeah,” Spitfire affirmed after finishing her sip of lemonade. “Adagio just couldn’t stop talking about how happy she is that you confessed to her and how happy you two are going to be together. Right, Adagio?”
Adagio couldn’t tell for certain, but she was fairly sure that all the color had drained from her face in the short time Spitfire had been talking.
The Dazzling had no idea what it was her friend was doing. Was this the idea Spitfire had mentioned earlier? Was her idea essentially to force her into an obviously unwanted relationship with Violet? Adagio didn’t want to believe this to be true, but she was having a difficult time convincing herself otherwise. Even still though, she trusted that Spitfire had a good reason for saying what she had and that she was leading up to some other endgame.
“Y-Yeah. That’s right,” She told Violet. “I…I can’t wait for us to, um…start a new life together, Violet.”
Any sane person would’ve easily deduced that Adagio’s words were just short of being sincere, but thankfully Violet wasn’t exactly sane right now and she ate them right up, as evidenced by the blinding expression of joy that lit up her face.
“Oh, Adagio!” The Snapshot girl vociferated as she embraced the Dazzling leader for a third time. “I’m so, so happy you want to be with me!”
“Uh-huh,” Adagio simply replied as she returned the hug in a very minimalist way, feeling tired of them by this point.
As Violet continued to hug Adagio for an unusual and uncomfortable amount of time, the Dazzling eventually shot Spitfire a looked that seemed to silently say, ‘Please continue with your plan already’.
“Yeah, I’m happy for you guys too,” Spitfire started to say, after spending more time watching the long hug in silence than Adagio would’ve liked. “The only thing is though, Violet, Adagio brought up a problem with you two being together.”
“A…a problem?” Violet said as she immediately broke her hug with Adagio.
“Yep. A big one too,” Spitfire informed the girl. “Adagio pointed out that since you escaped from the hospital it would be practically impossible for you two to be together. She said that Dr. Loomis probably called the police after she noticed you left and that they’re out looking for you.”
“Oh. I…I suppose that’s probably true,” Violet admitted sedately.
“Uh-huh,” Spitfire continued. “And it’s probably a fair assumption to make that if the police take you back to the hospital then Dr. Loomis may never let you out of there?”
“Y-Yeah,” Violet agreed despairingly as tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.
As the current conversation between Spitfire and Violet progressed, Adagio felt that she was beginning to understand what Spitfire’s plan was.
“So taking that into consideration, Adagio figured it would be best if we took you back to Smith’s Grove,” Spitfire went on. “If we did that - that’s to say, if you went back willingly - then Dr. Loomis might take it as a sign that you’re on the road to recovery and let you out after a few more sessions with her.”
Violet said nothing, though the look on her face told both Adagio and Spitfire that she was in deep contemplation over Spitfire’s proposal.
Adagio had been correct in her belief that she was starting to understand Spitfire’s plan; her friend was trying to convince Violet that going back to the hospital was the best thing for her, even if it meant lying to her in the process. Though just because she was finally beginning to get the plan didn’t mean that she was completely on-board with it. The Dazzling leader wasn’t entirely sure that lying to Violet about her reciprocation of the girl’s amative feelings wouldn’t lead to problems down the road. Problems similar to those she’d experienced when Raven had had amative feelings for her. Problems that would lead to Violet getting seriously hurt.
However, given that the endgame in all of this was to get Violet back to the hospital, Adagio felt that the lie was worth the risk. She didn’t like having to lie to the girl, period, but if it was what was needed to make sure she got the help she needed then that was that. No way around it. The Dazzling only hoped that Dr. Loomis would be able to help Violet get over her obsessive love disorder so that neither of them ended up needing to go to a medical hospital as a result of her lying.
“I-If I go back to Smith’s Grove, will you visit me, Adagio?” The Snapshot girl eventually spoke up.
“Of course I will, Violet,” Adagio replied without hesitation. “I always meant to visit you after you went there initially, but I…I didn’t. And I’m so sorry for that.”
Feeling she needed to show more commiseration, Adagio took a hold of Violet’s hand in hers.
“But I promise, if you let Spitfire and I take you back I’ll visit you every week,” The Dazzling assured the girl.
Once again Violet initially remained silent, causing Adagio to worry that the Snapshot girl wasn’t going to agree to go back to Smith’s Grove. But soon the Dazzling leader felt Violet grip her hand in a gentle and caring way, and when she did she knew she had no reason to be concerned.
“Okay, I’ll go back then,” Violet said with a small smile, one that contained a mixture of both joy and sorrow.
“Thank you, Violet,” Adagio replied, returning Violet’s duplicitous smile.
“Okay then,” Spitfire said as she finished her lemonade and got up from her seat. “If we’re going to Smith’s Grove we’d better get going now. It’s a long drive there and it’s already kinda late.”
Adagio immediately got up after Spitfire finished speaking, but Violet didn’t. It wasn’t difficult for the Dazzling to tell that the Snapshot girl was nervous about going back to Smith’s Grove, so in an effort to help her feel more at ease she reached out a supportive hand to her.
“It’s going to be okay,” She assured Violet.
Violet dawned another small smile and took Adagio’s hand, and soon after all three of the girls were piled into Spitfire’s car and on their way to Smith’s Grove Mental Hospital.
The drive to Smith’s Grove was a long one, just as Spitfire had said it would be, and during the trip none of the three girls spoke so much as a single word to one another. The weight of the evening’s events weighed heavy on each of them and none of them felt there was anything more to say until they reached the hospital, which they did in just a little over an hour.
When they reached the gates of Smith’s Grove they were let in by a security guard and met at the front entrance by Dr. Loomis, who had a couple of orderlies escort Violet back to her room almost immediately. Adagio and Spitfire were only able to get a quick goodbye to Violet before the Snapshot girl was taken inside the hospital. Not surprisingly, once Violet was out of earshot Dr. Loomis asked the two girls what had transpired between them and her patient. Adagio and Spitfire explained everything to the psychiatrist from the time they’d found Violet in Adagio’s house to when they’d left it, and much to their surprise Dr. Loomis said little in response. She mostly just thanked them for bringing Violet back to Smith’s Grove and then went into the hospital herself, leaving them alone.
Seeing as how they’re business at Smith’s Grove was complete, Adagio and Spitfire got back into the car and started to make their way back to the farm. Like the trip to the hospital, the trip from it was a long and quiet one. It wasn’t until they were nearly back at the farm that the silence between them finally broke.
“Listen, Adagio,” Spitfire began to say solemnly. “If you want to keep what we just went through with Violet a secret from your sisters, I totally get it. All you have to do is tell me you never want us to speak of this again and I swear that I’ll never speak of it again.”
“Thanks for that, Spitfire, but it’s all right. I’m going to tell Aria and Sonata everything,” Adagio informed her friend. “After what happened with Raven I don’t think it’d be a good idea to keep what happened tonight from them.”
“Okay,” Spitfire simply replied as she pulled into Adagio’s driveway.
As the two girls made their way up the driveway, Adagio noticed two things that indicated to her that her sisters and housemates were now home. The first being that her car – or rather hers and Aria’s and Sonata’s and Kiwi’s and Su-Z’s car, since they all shared it – was parked up near the house, and the second being that there were lights on inside the house. Not long after making these observations, Spitfire slowly pulled up behind the other car already in the driveway and put hers in park.
“Thanks for everything today, Spitfire,” The Dazzling leader said as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “I don’t know how I would’ve handled Violet or gotten all the work around here done without you.”
“Hey, what are friends for?” Spitfire said just as Adagio opened her door and stepped out of the car. “Have a good rest of the night. I’ll see you Monday at school.”
“You too. And yeah, see you then,” Adagio replied before walking away.
“Hey, Adagio,” Spitfire called out to the Dazzling before she got too far, causing Adagio to stop and turn around. “Just so it’s one less thing on your mind; I wasn’t being serious when I said I’d try to court your sisters.”
A small chortle could be heard escaping Adagio’s mouth upon her hearing this.
“Well, that’s a shame,” She playfully replied. “I was kinda looking forward to having you as a sister-in-law, Spitfire.”
Spitfire just chortled back mildly before shifting gears and backing out down the driveway.
Adagio watched her friend leave, and as soon as Spitfire was out of view she turned back around and headed for the house again. As she walked, she worried about how she was going to explain everything that had happened this evening with Violet to her sisters and housemates, and how they would react to it.
More specifically, Adagio worried about how the stubborn and judgmental Kiwi Lollipop would react to it.
“Why do I have the feeling this night is far from over with?” The Dazzling sighed softly to herself as she stepped onto the porch and reached for the front door.