//------------------------------// // … where the heart is // Story: The Worst // by SquiggelSquirrel //------------------------------// “Adagio?” Aria tilted her head, sloping her shoulders and frowning at her big sister. Moments before, Adagio Dazzle had been standing in front of the portal, stroking the surface while seemingly lost in thought. Now, she was staring at her younger siblings with intense puzzlement. Seconds dripped past while the girls stared at each other in silence. Eventually, Aria grew uncomfortable with Adagio's gaze, and had to speak up. “You wanna stop staring at me? Portal's right there. Equestria. Your frickin' obsession for the last eighteen centuries.” Adagio continued to stare. “What!?” moaned Aria, “I have something on my face? You've changed your frickin' mind? What's wrong now?” Adagio's gaze fell for a moment, then shifted back up to her Sisters. “What…” Adagio began, hesitating, “what about you?” “We'll be right behind you, of course.” “No, I mean, what do you want?” Adagio glanced from Aria to Sonata and back again. Sonata's expression was blank; As usual, it was unclear how much of the conversation she was following. Aria, meanwhile, stood dumbfounded, for several seconds, until Adagio continued: “I mean, if it was just you two — if I said I didn't care — would you want to go back to Equestria?” Aria's face twitched. Her mouth moved silently. It took her several more seconds to form actual words. When she did, it was with a cry of exasperation. “You decided to ask us this now!?” Adagio hesitated again; For just a moment, Aria wondered if her elder sibling was about to freak out, or break down, all over again. Then the moment passed — Adagio's expression hardened, and she began glaring back imperiously. “Yes,” she answered, “I just now decided to ask you. So?” Aria shifted her weight uncomfortably. “I'm fine with it. Whatever.” “That's not what I asked.” At this point, Sonata spoke up: “Um, 'Dagi? It's just… we only just became not-un-sisters again, I don't wanna not go somewhere you two are going without me.” Adagio rolled her eyes at this. “I'm not talking about splitting up, Sonata. I just want to know if we're going back to Equestria because we all want to, or just because I want to.” “What does it matter?” grumbled Aria, “we're going either way, right?” “Just answer the damn question!” snapped Adagio. Aria struck a rebellious pose, but quickly wilted under Adagio's glare. “Well… honestly, I don't really care, either way — it's not like we're gonna get our magic back wherever we are, so…” Sonata nodded, smiling until Adagio turned a wild-eyed stare her way. “Uh, well,” the youngest siren faltered, “I mean, this place… it sucks, right?” She offered Adagio an uneasy grin, which faded, as Sonata's gaze drifted off to the side, to something no-one else could see. When she continued, her voice was… different, somehow — softer, and more subdued. “But… if we go back now, is it… is it gonna be like before, before…” she raised one hand to her chest, making a grasping motion in the air where her pendant had once hung, “… before we got our magic?” she re-focussed on Adagio, a worried expression filling her face. “No,” Adagio replied, her voice low and hoarse, “not like that, ever again, I promise.” She sighed. “But it won't be the same as when we had our magic, either. We'll — we'll have to get jobs, earn money, live like… like 'normal' ponies.” “Oh!” exclaimed Sonata, her voice and expression immediately bouncing back. “Then no, I don't really care either way, so long as we're all together.” She grinned. Adagio's stare passed back and forth, from Sonata's cheerful grin, to Aria's uncomfortable squirming. “But…” she began, weakly, “you… you were gonna 'make friends' with the Rainbooms, just so we could go back. You were ready to do just about anything they asked, just so we could go back… weren't you?” Aria looked, if anything, more uncomfortable than before. “Well, yeah…” she muttered. “'Cause we knew you wanted to go back,” Sonata grinned. The sounds of distant traffic followed this proclamation for over a minute, while Adagio stood in silence. Then, as the other girls watched, she began to… shudder. At first, Aria thought it was a coughing fit. Adagio was making strange snuffling noises, and raised one hand to cover her mouth. She leaned back against the side of the statue's base, and her shoulders began to shake. Then Aria noticed the way Adagio's eyes were watering, tears welling up and threatening to spill. “Oi, 'Dagi,” at her sister's odd behavior, Aria was starting to panic. Was Adagio really crying? “It's no big deal, OK? I know, we're useless, we should be all worked up about getting back, I'm sure we're such a disappointment, just yell at us already and get it over with, will ya?” Adagio pulled her hand away, steadying herself enough to speak. At first, Aria was certain she'd misheard, or misunderstood her sister's words, but then Adagio repeated herself, grinning insanely. “I don't care either! Equestria sucked!” “But… then why… ?” “Because I thought you wanted to!!” exclaimed Adagio, howls of laughter bursting from her chest as she sank to the floor, while her sisters stared in astonishment. Looking down at her sister, Aria thought back on all the years ­— no, centuries — that Adagio had worked them to exhaustion, driving them to pursue any hope, however faint, of getting home. And now, she was saying she didn't even want to get back? It had all just been a misunderstanding!? All that hard work, just because… Because Adagio had believed that her sisters wanted to go home. As angry as it made her, Aria couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. And once she started, she found she couldn't stop. Moments later, all three Sirens were in hysterics, Aria managing to brace herself against the base of the statue, while Sonata simply rolled around on the floor, clutching her sides. The Rainbooms watched in bewilderment for several minutes until, clutching her journal, Sunset Shimmer ventured forward. “Um… so… should I tell Princess Twilight… ?” Gasping for air, Adagio waved a hand in Sunset's direction, “T-tell her… never mind… we're staying.” While Sunset hurried off to write an explanatory note to the Princess, Adagio lay gasping, while her sisters continued their howling. Eventually, their laughter died down, and the three of them lay, exhausted, staring up at the clouds. “Hey…” said Sonata, “so… now what do we do?” Neither of her sisters answered, right away, but Aria turned her head to look at Adagio. And after a few more moments, Adagio smiled. “Let's…” she said, “let's go home.” The Rainbooms (and Twilight) stood around the base of the statue, watching the three former Sirens walk away, luggage in tow. As the three of them moved beyond earshot, Pinkie Pie was the first to speak. “So, this counts as a happy ending, right?” “I guess so,” replied Sunset. “I mean, they did promise to behave themselves. I don't know if they'll keep to that now that they aren't going back, but…” “Well,” opined Fluttershy, “I think it's wonderful, that they worked out their differences.” The other girls nodded. “Oh, indeed,” said Rarity, frowning slightly, “but I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of them from now on.” “Yeah,” chuckled Rainbow Dash, “I totally think Adagio's gonna wanna see more of Fluttershy!” “Yeah…” smiled Sunset, while Fluttershy blushed furiously, “A happy ending.” And they watched, as the sisters continued to walk, talking cheerfully amongst themselves. As Adagio stopped, abruptly, while the other two continued walking. As Sonata and Aria turned back to face their sister, dropping their luggage, and walking slowly backwards away from her, hands raised placatingly. Adagio wasn't moving much, but was she clenching her fists? Sonata and Aria exchanged a glance, then broke out into a run. Adagio's enraged scream echoed down the entire length of the street, easily loud enough for the Rainbooms (and Twilight) to hear. “YOU DID IT ON MY BED!?!?” — The End