The best laid plans.
As the winter winds howled through Canterlot, Sunset Shimmer shambled through the streets on her way home after the day her world came crashing down on her. Despair gnawed at her thoughts, as the innocent girl marched ever onwards towards the safe solitude of her home. The words of her former friends playing in her mind, distracting her from all else. It was for this reason she didn’t notice the fuschia girl following her.
There wasn’t even any challenge in this, Aria didn’t even have to hide. She only had to follow her prey from a few feet back. Sunset was so absorbed in her thoughts that Aria suspected she might actually be able to walk alongside her and go unnoticed. Sunsets phone had buzzed and rang several times which drew no reaction, she crossed streets without checking for traffic, she even tripped over a busker banging on bongos on Borden Street. None of this caused her to deviate from her path as if she were only moving out of habit. Aria was still wary of this opportunity, but the potential brought a spiteful grin to her face.
Eventually, Sunset turned down an alley in the old industrial district. Aria hugged the corner in case her quarry came out of her stupor, and then peeked around the corner. She held her breath, her quarry had stopped. Sunset stood several feet away, just in front of a door on the side of the building opposite to her. Graffiti covered the walls, from gang signs to murals in many colors, some newer, and some faded with age. It took a bit of effort to see the door just in front of Sunset, almost hidden in the back alley artwork.
As Aria waited for Sunset to do something she noticed that the girl was sobbing gently, tears falling freely to the ground. She smirked at the sight, it served the bitch right after the battle of the bands.
Finally Sunset went into the decrepit old factory, leaving Aria to follow her further still. Upon entering, the first thing Aria noticed was that there was power in the old building, the second and less noticeable, was that she had been caught. Her eyes met Sunset’s, in that moment, the hopeless girl’s eyes went wide in a mix of terror and surprise. As panic consumed the girl in front of her, Aria froze.
She then quickly took in everything she could. This was an old employee’s entrance and there were piles of old newspapers near the door. There was a cactus on a shelf, neatly planted in a dog bowel labeled Kevin. There was also a newish coat rack with a couple leather jackets on it, including the one Sunset had just taken off. She also saw a picture of the Rainbooms sitting on a table by the coat rack. Finally, Aria saw a generic hallway with doors on both sides leading further in, but she couldn’t make out any details past that. After analyzing everything she could, she immediately turned and ran back out into the alley.
She bolted back down the alley and out onto the sidewalk. As she ran, the crisp fall air felt notably warmer. She started to sweat. Her breaths came as ragged gasps.
She didn’t slow until she was at least halfway to Joe’s.When she did stop a realization dawned on her. Sunset lived in that old factory.
Sunset Shimmer, the girl responsible for the Sirens loss of magic, for their loss, was a hobo.
As her panic faded, a smirk slowly formed on her lips.
Things were about to get interesting.
Back at Joe’s, Adagio was just finishing counting the drawer so that she could leave for the evening when the bell that hung above the door rang violently. Adagio looked up at the sound as Aria burst through the front door. Aria was gasping for breath as she doubled over with her hands on her knees. She was also covered in a layer of sweat as if she had just finished sprinting from San Fransiscolt.
“Aria?” Adagio asked, her tone betraying her surprise. “Are you alright?”
“I-,” Aria inhaled to steady her breathing, “I found that Sunset Shimmer bitch, and you will never guess what I found out.”
Adagio’s eyes lit up, a passion burning in her, her emotions did a flip, her feelings tumbled in her midsection. She quickly hid anything but the anger at the loss of their magic before responding to Aria’s question. “I have no idea, but do tell,” she drew out the last syllable predatorily.
Aria had walked up to the counter from her sister. She paused at Adagio’s demand, “Woah Dagi, I haven’t seen you this fired up since the battle o-… well, you know, anyway. So I found bacon bits walking along, she looked like someone killed her dog or something, and I decided to follow her. She never noticed, I mean I literally followed her for like thirty minutes and for most of that nobody else was even around, I mean who the hell is that oblivious.”
Aria didn’t notice the slight agitation on Adagio’s face as she went off on her tangent. Aria was not usually the one for tirades of useless information, but after almost bringing up the battle of the bands directly, Adagio was annoyed with the reminder of her greatest failure, and she just wanted Aria to get to the point. “As much as I like to be reminded about how a bumbling and oblivious teenager prevented us from going home or from getting everything we deserved during the moment that was meant to be our greatest success, please, just get on with whatever you are trying to tell me,” Adagio’s aggravation audible.
Aria paused, then resumed to report to Adagio. “Well, when I followed her she was totally out of it, and she didn’t notice not even when I watched her walk straight into her home,” Aria looked so smug as she revealed this.
Adagio’s jaw dropped. The girl who defeated the sirens, the girl who entranced her. She now knew where to find her. As her face normalized, a catlike grin developed. Her inner turmoil balanced out, whether she wanted revenge or… she wasn’t sure what else she wanted, but the option was there. “Aria, you magnificent fool! You have stumbled into something absolutely perfect.”
“There is just one catch,” Aria said as she looked towards the ground.
Adagio’s grin faltered. “What do you mean a catch?” she asked as the volume of her voice rose. Adagio was not one for surprises, which usually disappointed Sonata.
“Well, I kinda walked into her ‘home’ right behind her, not knowing that it was where she crashed. Before you say anything, I didn’t realize that she lived there because it was an old factory. I figured she was just looking for a place to smoke or something when she walked in,” Aria explained. “Anyway I followed her in, and there she was. She had just hung up that ridiculous jacket she always wears. There was a framed picture of her loser band, and some other home decor items. Then she saw me, and I didn’t want to hang around so I ran.”
She was amazed at what Aria had done, not only following the girl that had defeated the trio, but also going all the way to her home. Adagio gawked at Aria, she wondered if those bubbly, goody-goody sisters in charge of CHS knew that Sunset Shimmer was more a vagabond than even the Dazzlings. Her thoughts were torn between revenge and the fact that she could now see the girl who haunted her waking thoughts, and danced in her dreams.
The bell on the front door jingled, causing Aria and Adagio to turn their heads to a would be intruder. Instead, Sonata walked in, a huge grin on her face.
As the door closed behind her she turned to her sisters. “You guys will… uh wha-” the blue girl broke off mid sentence. Frozen in the twin gazes of her sisters. “Whaaaat?” Sonata asked as Aria face palmed.
“Sonata, dear, you have absolutely terrible timing.” Adagio deadpanned.
Sonata leaned on the front counter outside of Aria’s reach, “what like interrupting you making a thirty-seven year plan to get back at Twilight Turner? You might be a bit late, I think H.P. started on that fifteen years ago.”
Aria could never keep up with Sonata, something that Adagio related to. Even so, in this one sentence Adagio realized that while she didn’t understand what Sonata was talking about, it sounded suspiciously close to truth. “You were listening at the door, weren’t you?”
“Yepperoni sisteroni!” Sonata chirped as she pulled a tupperware bowl out of a messenger bag that was slung over her shoulder. “Anyway, I was in the kitchen at the house, and I have combined the magnificence of tacos and nachos.” She said as she opened up the container revealing her strange culinary creation, “I call my new creation the Tacho.
Adagio’s face scrunched up at the smell of Sonata’s latest antics.
“Why didn’t you just call it the naco?” Aria asked with a bored expression.
“Because Disney has the rights to that, I mean, duh.” Sonata rolled her eyes.
Aria snapped as she lunged for her younger sister. “Look here you littl-!” only to be cut off by Adagio.
“Girls! If you don’t mind, I am tired and would like finish closing the store. So take your ridiculous squabbles elsewhere,” she snapped at them. Then she turned, “Aria we will talk later,” she said, as the two left Aria glaring at Sonata.
Adagio stepped gently through the apartment, so as not to disturb Sonata. She didn’t want Sonata involved in whatever Aria believed they were doing. Her earlier conversation echoed in her mind. She found it difficult to believe that she could now find the muse that subjugated her imagination.
As she passed through their abode small imperfections in the otherwise spotless decor brought moments with her sisters to mind.
A stain on the carpet where Sonata spilled grape juice, Aria had been furious for weeks.
A series of cracks on the coffee table, courtesy of Aria losing a bet on some televised sporting event or another. They really should have replaced that table, the cracks were very noticeable, which made it look tacky.
Then passing Sonata’s room she flinched at the sheer amount of colorful ‘oddaments’ that covered the door. From cartoon characters to confetti, it was all there screaming Sonata. On a whiteboard around eye-level Adagio read in childish scrawl ‘blue fish gurl, don’t poke the glass!’. She made sure not to make any noise as she made her way further down the hallway.
She finally came to Aria’s door, a simple ‘KEEP OUT’ sign the only adornment. Adagio knocked quietly, still not wanting to disturb her sister in the previous room.
“Go Away!” Aria shouted.
Adagio massaged her temples before opening the door. “It’s me,” she sighed.
Whompf. A pillow engulfed Adagio’s face.
“To be fair, I did tell you to go away,” Aria smirked from her chair.
She sat in front of a computer, the web browser pulled up to some Mystable page or another. Aria herself was facing Adagio with a proud smirk on her face. She wore a white tank top and a pair of loose black shorts.
Adagio took in the room for a minute, closed the door behind her, and proceeded to sit on the bed. She wasn’t really comfortable in Aria’s room, something about all the random band posters with more than thirty musical groups staring down at her, and no less than fifteen looked like they were some kind of cult.
Adagio sighed, “Look. About earlier, I don’t want Sonata involved. She isn’t the brightest and to be honest she probably wouldn’t want anything to do with this.”
Aria had moved away from her computer to retrieve the pillow that had pomfed into Adagio upon entering her room. “Yeah, I agree that she isn’t very bright.”
“But?” Adagio arched her eyebrows.
“No but, well except maybe yours, that is a big butt. You might wanna lay off the snacks,” Aria remarked with a chuckle.
Adagio’s eyes narrowed, “Really? Butt jokes, is that what you want to contribute?”
“Uh, in case you forgot I am the one who found her. Without me you wouldn’t even get this chance. What about you? What are you going to contribute?”
Adagio stopped herself and took a breath before continuing, “for now just keep an eye on her. We can figure out what to do later, we just need to know more about her.” As she finished she turned and left Aria’s room, closing the door behind her.
Her heart was beating fiercely as she marched down the hall to her room, her hands shaking as she tried to hold herself together. Every step she took she felt further away from the sanctity of her room. Her legs were heavy, and they got heavier with every step she took. Tears welled up in her eyes, making her vision blurry. As the tears fought to flow, her emotions grabbed at her to pull her back down into a well of guilt.
And then, she was there. At the end of the hall, right in front of her simple wooden door. She took the doorknob in her hand and pulled the door open.
She took a step as everything she had been holding in started to overpower her. She took another step into her haven. She then reached back to hide her shame, to prevent her sisters from seeing the weakness that held her. She closed herself off from the world in the most literal way she knew how to.
As she shut her door she fell back against it, sliding down into a sitting position, her head in her hands. Her breathing was erratic and tears flowed from her eyes. Every dam she had built up burst all at once. The tears flowed freely down her face onto her skirt and passed that onto the carpet. She sat for what felt like hours awash in the emotions.
Adagio couldn’t keep up the mask in her room. She closed herself off as soon as she got there, she cried and vented out all of her weakness. Her tears and sobs seemed unending.
She abhorred the guilt and feelings of regret. Her weakness angered her. She sat against her door shaking and crying, unable to muster the drive to escape her self imposed isolation.
She grabbed two handfuls of her hair, pulling just hard enough to induce a small amount of pain. The pain told her that it was all real, that she brought everything on her and her sisters. It told her she was mortal, and reminded her that she had imposed at least this on many an individual on the path she had lived.
She herself would have been an excellent target for a siren to feed on, the irony of the situation was not lost on her. It had take several years of habit before Adagio had been curious as to the fallout of what the sirens did to feed. Once after a particularly large feeding frenzy Adagio had gone back to see what happened with the villagers they had pushed to the absolute furthest. She had to use her song to escape being burned as a witch. At the time she had thought the mortals overreacted, but now she truly understood the darkness which she had championed into the lives of those around her.
A flash of light caught her attention. She looked up and dried her eyes. She noticed the last fading ray of sunlight through her bedroom window, reflecting off her closet mirror. The ray slowly slid down the wall as the sun worked its way down below the horizon.
She stood up and walked over to the mirror. The moment she looked at the reflection, all she could see was a mess. From the room to the girl, her life was a hollow shell of what it had been. Her hair lacked the luster it was known for, her eyes lacked their former sheen, and she had in fact gained weight. Despite the new chance that her and her sisters had gained from Joe, and the life they had built she still missed her former majesty.
As she continued to inspect her reflection she paused at where the ray of sunlight sat, making her posterior glow slightly. She smirked and struck a pose.
“It is getting big,” she said with faux astonishment. As she stuck her nose up at her new physique she realized that she felt a little better. She proceeded to pick up the clothed scattered around the room.
The sun set over the horizon, and the ray vanished leaving Adagio alone in her room cleaning.
Thanks to this amazing individual for acting as a pre-reader and editor.
This was particularly rough to write, Adagio probably has some issues she is working through. I hope I was not too intense.
If you catch a mistake please let me know. 
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thank you. This made my day. I miss that show.
Rare to see a repentant Adagio. Also Sunset is bound to be having one hell of a meltdown by this point.
I need more of this and I need it now
9123225
Holy crap! Vaguely Freaking Demented commented on my story!
Sorry had to get that out, been holding it in for... a while, I see you on literally almost anything I read.
Back to the next chapter!
9242579
I’m flattered that means something to you. Honestly this is the first time anyone has reacted as if my commenting was a noteworthy event.
9243201
I see you in just about every stories comment section I read, either A) you are secretly me from another dimension or B) you read almost as much as ShortSkirtsAndExplosions writes. You are one the two most recognized commenters I see on the site, the other being FanOfMostEverything. I just did a double check, and I made it two stories in my read list before I found you in the comment section. It is just really exciting to see someone who I recognize as a reader comment on something I wrote.
9243229
Fair enough. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Looking forward to the next chapter