A feeling Adagio was getting better-acquainted with was the one that came when someone looked worried about her, with the most common cause giving her such a look right now.
"She locked you in a room... and if she hadn't gotten to you in time, you c-could have been-"
While she didn't like to scowl at Fluttershy, Adagio felt validated this time as she crossed her arms. "I'm not some frail little ragdoll, Sweetie, I'd have walked away just fine."
Aria's voice sounded in Fluttershy's head.
"You never get sick, Adagio."
Maybe she had a tougher body than her beauty would suggest? Were the sirens just really resilient in general? That or, considerable misfortunes aside, Adagio was some kind of lucky. Lacking any type of injury to immediately point to, Fluttershy wasn't sure she could argue that Adagio needed to be more careful, but she still wished she could do something to keep her safe in the meantime. Unable to think of any preventative measures off the top of her head, Fluttershy found herself just a little annoyed with Luna. "Are they even allowed to lock people in rooms?"
"Actually, no, that was what the officer wanted to address when he understood the situation. That said, I don't bear a grudge because I'd rather there be no additional friction between us and the rest of the school, I actually felt a twinge of guilt for assuming the worst in Luna, and..." Cheeks tinting pink, she sighed. Suppose there's no avoiding it. "The steam thing was completely my fault anyway."
Frowning, Fluttershy tilted her head. "I'm not so sure about that. P-please don't take this the wrong way, but it sounded like you barely understood the situation. Did Luna even actually say that it was supposed to be a punishment?"
Rolling her eyes, Adagio chuckled. "Nonsense, I'm sure there was a structured reason for the Detention class if I'd just asked, but to me, it was just another way to kill time."
Blinking slowly, Fluttershy re-checked everything she knew about school to confirm that yes, detention was a standard school punishment, starting from time-out in kindergarten. Even if that wasn't quite the same thing... Anyway, she briefly shared this knowledge with Adagio, who wore a skeptical face throughout.
"That makes no sense. A punishment is supposed to teach the wrong-doer not to do what they did again, often reinforced with pain. What pain is there in having to sit still for a while? How does it demonstrate not to do bad things anymore?"
Again, Fluttershy tried not to think about the sirens' upbringing. "W-well, um... I-I don't get detention very often, so I'm not sure, but, I think the idea is that the kids in detention would rather be doing something else, that it's really boring, though I don't know if it's painfully so."
Adagio raised an eyebrow. "Being stuck in a boring room for a while? Doesn't that already describe the hours of a school day? What does it say that their idea of punishment is to endure more of the same, but without so much as a subject to later be graded on and theoretically benefit from?"
There was a short silence as Fluttershy thought about it. She had no answer, but it did raise a question. "What, um... y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but, what did they do for punishments in Coltlantis?"
"It depended on the crime, of course, as it would with any sane society." She snapped her fingers. "Let's say someone cheated on a test in Coltlantis. The most likely penalty they'd face would be similar to your detention, but giving the cheater an answer plate (we couldn't really use paper underwater, long story) and at least a dozen tests (custom-made for their punishment) to fill out, the number of tests multiplied for each time they've been caught cheating. They'd be required to get a perfect score on each and every one or do them all again, and with none of this bubble-in business they have here. Ironically."
It took Fluttershy a second to get the 'ironic' part, but when she did, she giggled, which drew a little smile from Adagio as well. "Then, the punishment for cheating in Coltlantis was something like forced studying?"
"The punishment for cheating on tests, yes, though again, it depended on the specific details. If the guilty couldn't or wouldn't do as they were supposed to, they'd typically be seized and led off to the nearest form of extreme discomfort, Cacophony Chambers being particularly popular. For certain values of the word, anyway."
She chose not to ask how often, if at all, Adagio and the others were punished. Their current punishment, which she already knew to hurt them badly, seemed like pain enough without being made to relive bad memories. If she wasn't already.
Didn't you say you'd stop doing things that hurt her?! What do you call this?!
It wasn't on purpose!
It never is! Just stop digging up her past before you really open old wounds!
Seeing an unfamiliar look on Fluttershy's face now, Adagio frowned. "Sweetie? You alright?"
Caught, Fluttershy flinched, but didn't want to risk Adagio's trust by lying to her face. "I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
Blinking twice, Adagio gave a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry," she softly replied, "I might miss my old form every once in a while, but I'm well and truly over my 'home,' and I'm sure the others are too."
She thought I was worried that talking about how people were punished would make her homesick? I don't even know where to start...
...Then again, if Adagio was willing to share, maybe this was a good opportunity? She hesitantly met Adagio's eyes. "W-well, then, um... would you mind if I asked a few questions?"
Adagio chuckled. "Always so curious, and yet I don't really know that much about you. I'm not opposed to telling you what you want to know, but I'd like some information in exchange this time."
Fluttershy smiled. "Sure!"
"Thank you." She didn't quite plan it, but this seemed like a fitting enough dating activity. "So, tell me about yourself. You use Equestrian magic, are you from another world too?"
Fluttershy had entertained the fantasy a few times when she was younger, but she still shook her head. "No, I was born in this town, and I've been here all my life."
Adagio nodded. "How about your family? You know Aria and Sonata are all I have, but-" the question came with a hint of a smirk, "-is there anyone you'll have to introduce me to some day?"
A prickly feeling working across her cheeks, Fluttershy gulped. "Uhm... w-well, there's just me and my mother now, and..." And I may need to wear a bag over my head if you two ever meet.
Strangely, Adagio either didn't pick up on a chance to tease her, or didn't care as she frowned again. "Something happened to your father?"
Blink. "Oh, yes, he... passed on, when I was a little girl." She managed a tiny smile before Adagio could respond. "Please don't worry, I've had plenty of time to grieve." This got an understanding little nod. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?"
"Hmm... Just this for now; what is it with the animals? Did a stray cat endear itself to you once, a talking animal cartoon leave an impression on you or something?" She considered the possibility that Fluttershy had acquired a cuddly little friend to help get over her father's passing, but wasn't about to verbalize it.
"Umm..." Scratching her head, Fluttershy wore an apologetic smile. "Sorry if this sounds a little boring, but I wouldn't say I took an interest in animals at any point in my life, I've just kind of always liked them."
Adagio nodded again. "I see. That's all I had for now, your turn."
Fluttershy's grin grew much brighter. Part of her felt like she was being asked to pick out her own Christmas presents! "You said once that, i-if anyone in Equestria remembered you, that they wouldn't remember when you only wanted to defend your home. Can you tell me about that?"
It wasn't exactly a fun story, but Adagio couldn't help giggling at the enthusiasm. "Before the three of us were thrown out of Coltlantis, we were essentially a protection measure for the city. The gems you saw were once very different; considered holy relics by the more superstitious, wonders of advancement in the field of magic by pretty much everyone else. In short, they were made to influence minds through song, something they did quite well. I, Aria, and Sonata were chosen (well, I earned the right to wield them through trial and chose those two as my backup for how well we harmonized together) to use the gems to fend off trespassers in the local sea. For reasons not worth going into, Coltlantis had some enemies, and many more factions they just didn't want poking around, so incoming vessels had to be intercepted."
"Luring them away?"
"Precisely. We'd go out, serenade the crews with pleasant melodies while implanting the idea of returning home or just visiting some other island-"
"Island?"
"While construction did begin well below sea-level, Coltlantis didn't sit entirely at the bottom of the sea during its healthier years. Would have made our jobs easier, certainly, but can you imagine foreign relations without somewhere to stop and rest on the surface? Not everyone had gills, Sweetie."
"Hehe! I guess not."
"Right, so, we'd steer unwanted visitors away, then most of them would fail to get home safely. Did you know that the sea is an incredibly dangerous place if you don't know what you're doing? I would have thought the people (all-encompassing term) serving as navigators on those vessels were aware, but it seems being sent off-course was all it took to ensure that they'd perish in storms, smash themselves into large rocks, sail straight into leviathan territory, or just go in circles until most of the crew was starved, insane, or both. Naturally, those who lost ships that had been on course for Coltlantis, whether they were welcome or not, blamed the city they couldn't reach without permission as having maliciously attacked them, which didn't help matters politically. Those in charge, in response, decided that scapegoats were needed."
Fluttershy's smile had long vanished. "I'm sorry."
Shrugging, Adagio briefly scanned the rest of the food court again. "Don't be, the shallow attempt at appeasement didn't work and they got what was coming to them anyway mere weeks after we left. Tell Princess Twilight that if her historians think it was the four or five fleets showing up at once that doomed Coltlantis, they're wrong; that conflict began and ended with hubris."
She picked up her drink by the rim of the glass, her focus on gently swirling it around as her voice grew a little too calm. "I might have felt a pang of guilt for taking the gems with me when Aria, Sonata, and I slipped out of the city in the middle of the night, but with how often our armed forces boasted their superiority over all others, regularly belittling the three of us for how much better they'd handle the trespassers, I just couldn't be sympathetic when they were overrun. The three of us watched from a distance as they fired up their last resort, and, well..." There was just a hint of grim satisfaction in her tone as she set the glass down hard. "Let's just say that they didn't brag much about that ever again, either."
Part of Fluttershy wanted more details, but her heart demanded that questions about Coltlantis be stopped right now. Adagio might not have been saying so, but Fluttershy could tell that the story bothered her.
Technically, you only asked her about the defending-her-home part, she told you the gory details on her own. Does that mean she's been wanting to tell someone this?
There was one way to get an idea. Fluttershy gave her an earnest little smile. "I see, thank you for telling me." That Adagio just smiled right back before taking a slightly more relaxed pose conveyed that she was probably happy to stop talking about it.
"Anything else, Sweetie?"
You were hurting her again. You are such an idiot. "Uhm, w-well-" She was surprised to hear Adagio giggling, a warm smile sweeping her anxieties away.
"Sweetie? I'm glad Coltlantis perished."
There was a slow, fearful blink. "W-what?"
More giggles. "Written all over your face, Sweetie, and you have nothing to apologize for. For reasons I'll go into if you still want to know, I'm not the least bit bothered that my birthplace was destroyed partly just because-" she lowered her shades to wink, "-I've had plenty of time to grieve." She just held a wide smile as Fluttershy processed that information, then erupted into little gigglefits of her own. When she came out of it, however, her face was serious.
"Can... c-can I say something?" A nod urged her on. "I'm not sad it was destroyed either." Part of her felt like a monster for even thinking it, but Adagio just raised an amused eyebrow as if to say 'Oh? By all means, do tell.' "Well, i-it's just that, in all the times you've mentioned Coltlantis? It sounds like a horrible place, the thought of living there is scary, and the thought that you and the others lived there is painful. More than that, a-and I know this is awful of me, but-" her head unconsciously retreated behind her hair, the rest coming out in a squeaky whisper.
Adagio, showing no sign of offense, leaned over the table a little. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"
"Um... I, I-I said... I'm g-glad it's gone, because..." She gulped, planting her feet firmly on the floor in the vain hope it would help her stop shaking. "If it were still s-standing, they might have let you b-back in some day, and you'd n-never be here... with me."
Her eyes widening, Adagio broke into a bright shade of red before giggling and looking away with an awkward, happy, embarrassed smile plastered on her face. "You're q-quite a charmer, you know that?"
Fluttershy blushed too, even if she smiled at what might have been praise. Whether or not Adagio was flattered by the sentiment that someone could be glad a city was destroyed to allow them to meet, she didn't want to dwell on.
"I won't speak for the others," Adagio went on when she managed to reign in the heat in her face, "but I think I'll count that among my blessings too. Was there anything else you wanted to know, Sweetie?"
They spent the rest of their time in the food court talking about the sirens' journey, how they'd been in their late twenties when they first took up the job, essentially teenagers as far as kelpies go, that they did it for a few years without incident before being banished, roamed Equestria for a few months causing chaos in a sort of revenge-by-proxy on the civilizations that aggravated Coltlantians in the first place (which Adagio conceded to have been kind of hollow), and got banished again. They'd only been here for a few years, though Adagio wasn't sure the exact date of their arrival, having explained that it was only when they lost hope of returning to their own world that they started keeping track. There was another short bout of apology and assurance that it wasn't necessary before they headed back to the clothes shop.
I'd love to see the history lesson.
I'm a tad indifferent to the history part. (I myself came here for the romance element.) But you might as well put it in, if you think it would be entertaining.
Hopefully there will be more making out soon
I look forward to that bonus chapter.
I get squee-fits whenever I see this story update. I am all for you updating it when you feel like you can do it best, rather than burn out early. Keep up the good work boss!
It'd be interesting to see how you of all people would handle an in-story infodump like Adagio's history lesson... most of the time those end up very dry and repetitive, but if you're going to go for it I'd be interested to see how you handle it with your style,
A bit. You've started using summary of the talk instead of an actuall dialogue a tad more often than previously. Still rocking though.
Was that the one with Blueblood and sirens?
Please work at the pace that will make this whole story an extremely enjoyable read not just for us, you readers (mostly me), but also a fun piece to write for you (You). Because if you'll lose interest due to fatigue or lack of inspiration - no one will be happy in the end.
No pain, no gain, but we all just want to have fun here.
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Older than that, actually, but still about Blueblood. 'Like Mending Glass,' one chapter of which took me a solid month to push through even when I had plenty of time to write.
I'd like the history lesson. This was a bit more interesting than the last chapter, and I like Adagio's backstory. It's interesting.
wait, how much more are you going to do? won't the others find out about their little relationship? Will the Dazzlings and Rainbooms ever get along? Will Sunset stop being awkward around Adagio? Can they figure out how Pinkie works? who knows?
Time is fucked up between worlds. Even without this little tidbit.
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The story should end with everything neatly resolved, don't worry.
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I wasn't sure how to communicate that Starswirl flung them forward (which I guess qualifies as a headcanon of mine now?) in a way that it would make any sense for the sirens to realize that that was what had happened. So I didn't. But it did. In this story, anyway.
This Adagio is best Adagio. This story is nothing but conversation between two people(mostly) and it is one of the most interesting stories on the site. One reason is because we all love a good ship but it takes a great writer to keep things interesting.
Thank you for this fic!
I personally would love the history lesson, either as an extra here, or as a bonus chapter
I dunno.
Why not both?
It is. Not that I know of experience, but having to sit still and do NOTHING for an hour sounds like torture.
Basically. But you can't distrct yourself with a book or laptop.
I fon't see the irony.
I, dare not ask.
Fair enough.
Hardly.
I understand.
Right, gotcha.
Sounds like mermaids from Greek mythos, but less luring sailors to their dooms.
... Dark.
... You scare me sometimes.
What?
Clever.
I would be very happy to listen to that story.
6813857 Well by your words it seemed like you were going to end it soon. Looks like i'm going to have to work harder on my fic to get it out before you finish up.
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Sorry if that was misleading, but when I say it's 'winding down,' I mean there aren't a whole lot of important events left to take place in the story, but considering that I can drag a simple sick day to 16k words and that I thought the date 'chapter' would have been finished like a month and a half ago? I'll be lucky to be done before summer.
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Fluttershy could have mentioned that Pony Twillight read about sirens in a history book. Adagio would have asked an appropriate question and they both would came to the 'sent forward in time' conclusion. With sirens not having anyone I doubt they would care much.
Also, history lesson - yes, please.
I'd much, much rather see slower updates than burnout.
This story has gone pretty far in establishing the relationship now. There's some stuff I'd like to see with secondary characters (the other Sirens, the Rainbooms) finding out and reacting but I can see how you think it's winding down. Certainly, I think the other Sirens are going to be a lot more accepting than Aria expects. To a slightly lesser extent, I want to know what's going on with them, actually, since there were hints they're developing their own outside relationships.
Bonus? Bonus!
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...That probably would have worked, yes.
Ah, well, there's still more story to go.
Oh, I forgot to say, but things like having Adagio think talking about punishment methods might be construed as making her homesick really help sell your version of her personality and keep her an interesting character. I can't say it's true to canon, because she doesn't have much in canon to be true to, but it helps sell the 'former villain with alien morality' angle.
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It's a misuse of the word irony, but she's talking about the fact the underwater society was lacking 'bubbles'.
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I'm glad that's working out, because consistently getting the 'alien' feel right is a bit tricky at times.
Irony is the difference between what's expected and what actually happens, right? Or does the play on words not work there?
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Sort of. Irony is currently transitioning definition. The older definition was that 'irony' was the 'use of words for things other than their literal meaning', which this might technically fall under. The newer usage is a lot looser and so harder to pin down since people seem to use it both for when things are very fitting and when they're the opposite of fitting.
The important bit is that it works as dialogue, since people are rarely 100% accurate in their word choice there.
That was freakin hilarious lol
I was usually a diligent student in high school, as in I don't get into trouble. I only ever had detention once throughout high school, and I gotta agree with Adagio. You just sit there and even give some papers to write up on your wrongdoing. My reaction to this was like... what
I like that author's note. "I need to slow down before I go crazy. Next chapter up tomorrow night probably."
I can't wait for your history of Coltlantis and the Sirens chapter, I find your worldbuilding with those three fascinating. I'd love to see Fluttershy and Adagio visit an aquarium together, or maybe bring Sonata and Aria too, since I think you were doing an interesting exploration of how Fluttershy interacts with the other two sirens back when Adagio got sick, and I'd love to see more of that.
6813857 It's comic-canon that the Sirens were flung forward in time, even if it's generally a crappy issue of the comic. And without any movie or tv disagreeing with the comic, that's as close to official canon as you're going to get.
Take all the time you want! I'd prefer to wait because the story is a fantastic read and if your exhausted it's going to show up in story as well.
I love how much Fluttershy and Adagio are still themselves but it's apparent how much they have changed between the first chapter and now.
Nice way of putting in some history as well, it read like a conversation instead of an info dump.
Nice little chapter that gives FS more details about Adagio. The coltanian's hubris, despite the fact that the three siren's did so much to keep them safe, is a little sad. But, it happens many times in life. "You don't know what you had until it's gone" I believe is the term.
Little things like this show you just how much Flutters has been influenced by Adagio, I couldn't really see her saying this line at all except for how much this story shows her small, subtle changes as it goes on. A sweet sentiment though.
I'm good with a longer History lesson on Adagio's life in Equestria, though I am mostly here to see the two of them together and some interactions between them and others.
As for updating, do it as you can/want to, and know when to stop. Or, at least, find an end point, and consider a sequel if you want to place this down for a bit, but not fully abandon it. I tend to do that alot with what I've written, to the mild annoyance of my reader's.
Sad to hear that this will be over in the next few months, but, well, when I think of this story, I can't believe how many chapters there are. It's just an easy read for me that time tends to flow by. *Probably re-read this story about 5 times in total by now.* I do hope to see more of these two from you, since it is ending semi-shortly, I am suspecting that alot of scene's I had in my head won't happen, but maybe if you revisit this with a sequel, or small side chapters, I'll get to see them.
Ooookay... here's a few (cutely dressed) horses for you.
i.ytimg.com/vi/h_2LuqRjlSw/maxresdefault.jpg
Now hold them for a while.
Context: 'Hold your horses' - slow down if you feel like you need a breather, don't worry about sitting on completed chapters for a few days to give yourself time. We like the story and we will wait. I promise. We're not going anywhere and we'd like you to stay here and be awesome.
I'm really digging the history lesson we've received in this chapter. Interesting back story you're giving Adaigio; it's piqued my interests, and I'll be looking forward to the bonus chapter, once this story is over.
That's something I was hoping would happen, or maybe a mumbled utterance of "sexy fish"
*I am not sure if kelpies are fish or any taxonomy details. I just want to see Adagios reaction to being called simply a fish