//------------------------------// // Laid, bare // Story: The Worst // by SquiggelSquirrel //------------------------------// Fluttershy had never noticed how loud her kitchen clock was. Really, it was making the silence quite awkward. Tick… tick… tick… None of the Rainbooms dared be the first to speak, but it seemed Adagio had nothing more to say, either, and so the awkwardness dragged on. Tick… tick… tick… Eventually, it was Twilight who found her voice. “Umm… are you sure —” “YES, I'M FUCKING SURE!” Adagio exploded, slamming her fists on the table. “I KNOW WHAT FUCKING LOOKS LIKE WHEN I FUCKING WALK IN ON IT!” Twilight visibly flinched at each “F-bomb”, while a panicked Fluttershy attempted to make placating motions with her hands. It seemed unlikely that this outburst wouldn't have woken her mother, or indeed half their neighbours, but this didn't seem to be foremost in the siren's mind right now. When Adagio continued, it wasn't clear if she'd taken any notice of Fluttershy, but her voice did drop to a quieter, if no less vehement, tone. “They weren't wrestling and, 'oops!' just happened to fall on top of each other, and rip each other's clothes off right before I walked in. What I saw…” she shuddered, “they had… they were wearing… they were sharing a…” Adagio stopped waving her hands, and instead gripped her elbows. She looked thoroughly nauseous. “Oh gods…” her right hand moved up to rub her left shoulder as she gazed off towards the corner of the kitchen floor, “they weren't just… it wasn't…” she swallowed, then lifted her hands up so she could bury her face in them. “I don't think this was the first time. They must have… behind my back…” The rest of the girls exchanged glances. Applejack breathed a profanity of her own, and Sunset stepped forward to place a hand on Adagio's shoulder. “I'm sorry,” Sunset said, “that must have been really hard for you to see.” Adagio swatted Sunset's hand away. “Well, your 'sorry' doesn't help,” Adagio snarled, “I don't even know why I'm talking to you. You're probably all just waiting to laugh at me, and tell all your whole school all about the freakish perverts I have for sisters.” “No, we're not.” Rainbow Dash's voice came out a little more raspy than usual. “Really, we won't…” she glanced around before continuing, “look, I-I'm sorry I was so rough with you earlier, I mean, I was just worried about my friends, because, well, you did try and take over the world and all…” Rarity coughed nervously, but Rainbow continued “…but, y'know, it's not like I hate you or anything, and — well, that totally sucks.” “Oh, indeed,” opined Rarity, “that must have been a terrible shock for you, I can only imagine how you must be feeling.” Adagio snorted. “Yeah, well you can't imagine. I don't want you to imagine it, none of you…” a thought struck her, “Do any of you even have sisters?” Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity each raised a hand nervously. “Well, yes actually, three of us do…” Rarity's voice trailed off nervously. “How wonderful!” The mock cheeriness of Adagio's voice and the gleeful smile that broke across her face were momentarily unnerving, but both disappeared with her next words. “Then image how you'd feel if you walked in on them screwing each other's brains out. Go on —” she sneered at Rarity “— really try to picture it.” Rarity recoiled from Adagio's words with a disgusted expression. She and Applejack exchange an appalled glance. Further back, Pinkie Pie let out a strangled gurgling noise, the pinkness of her face deepening to match her hair, as her eyes unfocussed in the general direction of the ceiling. Adagio grinned nastily at the obvious discomfort she was inflicting on these girls, but she was surprised when none of their friends stepped in to stop her. Indeed, though she'd been expecting anger, a confrontation, a taste of the conflict she'd always thrived on, the way the other girls were looking at her didn't seem angry at all, just… kind of… Sad. They felt sorry for her, and it pissed her off. It made her so angry, it made her stomach churn, her body shake, and her eyes burn. The anger leaked from her eyes, and rolled down her cheeks, salty and wet. It paralysed her, so she couldn't even brush Fluttershy's hand from her shoulder. She wanted to hurt them, all of them. She dredged the depths of her mind for some cutting, soul-destroying remark she could use against them ­— something dripping with acid sarcasm, something that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. “You… you don't know, any of you. You're just tiny, pathetic, short-lived…” she hesitated, appalled at the feebleness of her own retort. Her anger was chocking her, filling her throat until her voice sounded shaky and feeble. “Eighteen-hundred and sixty-seven years, we've been together. We've watched empires rise and fall! We helped them fall! We were ancient when your great-great-grandparents were newborns! All of you are nothing!” She was shaking. Gods below, she was really shaking, and now Sunset Shimmer was reaching for her shoulder again… the stupid girl was still trying to be friends with her. “You really love them both, don't you?” Sunset may as well have punched Adagio in the guts. The sheer shock froze her trembling, and chilled her burning face. Did these girls have any clue who they were dealing with? Did they understand anything at all? “Love them?” she whimpered incredulously, “I HATE THEM! I can't stand them, either of them. Eighteen-hundred years, and all we've ever done is fight! They drive me crazy, I end up yelling at them all the time —” Adagio's face suddenly dropped to slack horror, her face paling. “Oh gods, we fight all the time. Is that how they flirt? Have they been coming on to me? They were yelling at each other while… Have they been getting off on our fights? Did they think I was…” Adagio clutched the sides of her head, her breaths coming short and fast. “I'm never gonna feel clean again!” she wailed. The next thing Adagio was aware of, she was surrounded by warmth. Squishy, warm, in some places bony, gentle warmth. Also, hair. Really a lot of hair. It took her several seconds to process this. Was she being… hugged? Adagio suddenly realised something. She was tired. So very, very tired. If the Rainbooms really wanted to believe that she was their friend now, she just didn't have the strength to argue any more. She could save that for the morning. She let herself go limp, wrapped in the combined bosoms of Fluttershy and Sunset Shimmer, waiting for them to decide when to end this. “Feel any better?” asked Sunset, as the two of them eventually pulled away. Adagio nodded. It was easier not to argue. Fluttershy spoke next. “So… would you like to sleep with us tonight?” Adagio chuckled at Rainbow Dash's sudden coughing fit. Fluttershy gave a tiny squeak and began to turn bright pink, adorably. “Yeah…” Adagio raised an eyebrow, “but just sleeping, okay? No funny business.”