Appledagio

by Rune Soldier Dan

Together

Applejack woke alone and cold, though the rain had stopped. Five minutes before her alarm went off the sound of the bathroom shower roused her to wakefulness. Why someone would take a shower both evening and morning she didn’t know, but it wasn’t worth a fight.

The chill was good. It forced her from the bed, serving as distraction to move past the night’s events. She sat up and stretched, giving both a pained and relieved grin as her back cracked loud enough to be heard. Not the most comfortable sleeping position, curled up like that next to another.

...Her first time.

The memories fought the chill, and won. They flowed through Applejack’s brain as she mechanically went through the motions of starting her day. She tugged a cotton shirt over her head, smiling at just how darn sexy Adagio looked in flannel. Almost more arousing than seeing her naked.

Half-dressed and wearing a bathrobe to make up the difference, Applejack pounded on the bathroom door. “Bacon and eggs, girl. How do you want yours?”

“Poached,” Adagio called through the running water.

Applejack gave a wry smile. “I can’t do poached. Sunny-side up, or scrambled?”

“Scrambled, then.”

“Okey-doke,” Applejack said. Then, with her smile growing, “Y’all look great today.”

No answer came, and Applejack departed for the kitchen. She felt like whistling, but that would have interrupted the easy grin as she fell into the memories. Flannel. Orange curls. More than sights, too. The feel of Adagio’s breasts against hers, and her soft back beneath Applejack’s hands. Their legs rubbing against each other. And the smell – Adagio may have once been a siren, but she sweat like anyone else. Beautiful.

Applejack toyed with the braid as she worked. She ran it under her nose like a mustache, and giggled.

The bacon sizzled beautifully. She had forgotten to ask if Adagio wanted spice in the eggs, so she left them plain. The girl could always add some pepper.

Another memory. Applejack’s body kept working, even though her mind flinched.

“This little companionship of ours ends tomorrow.”

That’s right. Tomorrow had come. The night was over, and so were they.

But all that was before Adagio came onto her. Maybe…

Stiletto footsteps interrupted. Adagio came down the stairs, already in her tumble-dried clothes from yesterday. Not a piece of mud on them, and her makeup was back on, too.

“Rain’s done.” Suddenly a fair bit jittery, Applejack gave weak conversation.

“Mhm.”

Adagio offered nothing else. She poured drinks for them both, and brought them to the table while Applejack loaded their plates. Applejack finished the job and turned, grinning bashfully as she presented the food.

Adagio was on her phone, tapping away with a bored expression. Her eyes didn’t move up as Applejack slid the food into place. One hand picked up a fork while the other tapped and began shoveling in the eggs.

Applejack sat on the other side. She ate quietly, eyes moving from the siren to her food. Waiting – for anything, really. A friendly glance. A coy smile. A teasing bit of sexiness. Even a backhanded compliment would be welcome. Adagio was like that. She was mean and condescending, but she had her good side. Most of all, she was going through life just like Applejack. An outsider in her own circle of friends. Problems and doubts. Hard work and bouts of loneliness.

That last part could be fixed. Lacking a beer to steady her, Applejack downed her coffee in one go and brought the mug down like a gavel.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said, but got no further.

“No,” Adagio replied.

Applejack blinked. Adagio blinked, and raised her eyes to stare back. Her expression was an unreadable frown, forming an odd counterpoint to Applejack’s confusion.

Adagio knew, of course. Like she could read minds, though Applejack supposed it wasn’t a huge leap of logic. “I told you. My friends would abandon me, and yours would start an inquisition.”

“That sounds like an excuse,” Applejack said. It came out a little harder than she intended.

The frown twitched on the yellow face. Adagio’s eyes returned to her phone. “Maybe.”

Then, “Sonata, Aria… a thousand years together, and during that time we felt like the only real people in the world. Now it’s all crashing down, and I won’t do anything to make it worse.”

The eyes moved back to Applejack, narrowed above a determined grimace. “I have to win them back. I’m sorry.”

That was that. Her eyes went back to the phone. Applejack did the dishes, then got fully dressed and walked outside. The sun shined brightly, and the orchards still glistened from yesterday’s rain. A darn pretty sight, and Applejack made sure to watch long enough to feel good about it.

A short drive brought her to Adagio’s car, sitting right where Applejack had guessed. The ground had dried enough that her old truck did the trick. A hook, a careful gunning of the engines, and the car slipped out of the ditch easy as could be. She even did the favor of towing it to the house, figuring Adagio wouldn’t much care to retrace her walk.

Adagio waited on the porch, phone still in hand. Wearing that careful frown Applejack had never seen before today.

“Thanks,” Adagio said. Her other hand toyed with the car keys.

“Got your game?” Applejack asked with as much cheer as she could muster. Not a bad effort.

Adagio paused. Fashionable boots shuffled on the wooden porch, and she said, “Yes.”

“Cool.” Applejack nodded. To her own surprise, she was content. Disappointed, yes, but things weren’t so bad.

She grinned, knowing full-well a splotch of mud found her cheek during the tow. Country charm, and all. “Y’all are going to be fine. You find a day that works with their schedules, and you play with them. And if they don’t like it, you find something else to have fun with. I can’t see y’all not getting past this after living together for so long. Just be patient. You got different hobbies, your lives are going in different directions, but that don’t mean you can’t stay close.”

A smile broke through Adagio’s frown. “Like you and yours?”

“Ex-actly,” Applejack said with an over-pronounced drawl.

Adagio gave a soft chuckle and threw back her curls. The smile remained, and the phone went into her purse. “Well. I already gave my life-lessons yesterday, so I guess that makes us even.”

“Reckon it does,” Applejack said gently. She scratched the back of her head, eyes closed. “I’ll keep your advice in mind, so don’t worry about me. I’ll meet someone some day.”

“Maybe you already have.”

Adagio moved with the words, stepping down from the porch to enter her car. Applejack’s eyes opened to see nothing but wisps of orange curls brush past, close enough to catch her shoulder on the way by. She turned, but only saw Adagio’s back.

No last words, no parting wave. The siren drove off, leaving Applejack alone.

…Not alone. Applejack retrieved her phone from the kitchen counter, finding three new texts had arrived. One from Applebloom saying she’d be home in an hour, and two from the Rainbooms’ group chat making plans for a bike ride. Applejack responded to both, typing easily with one hand while the other fingered her braid.

She paused. Gave a sad little smile, and began pulling the braid apart.

---

Monday came, and Tirek’s Revenge still owned the school. Its trailer played in the halls. Gossip filled every discussion with its characters, monsters, and story. The Rainbooms were no less into it than on Friday, although had the kindness to change topics now and then. Applejack confessed her lack of ability to play during the bike ride, and the girls reacted as they always did: with positive affirmations and a group hug.

Applejack quietly marveled at how the chatter that drove her to near-rage last week now didn’t faze her. Seemed like one of those friendship lessons Pony Twilight used to talk about – no need to pretend you like something you don’t. Your friends will accept you regardless of

differences.

There was Adagio, talking with Sonata. The blue siren grinned from ear to ear, babbling excitedly and clutching a small package to her chest. Adagio gave a lazy, confident smile in return.

Applejack offered a little wave. Adagio didn’t even look.

“No surprise,” Applejack mumbled, and she went about her day. She kept her eyes open, though. Couldn’t help it. Told herself it was just curiosity, and watched Adagio pass the game to her third. Aria didn’t react quite like Sonata, but it started a conversation between the two that culminated in each checking calendar apps on their phones. A date was selected, and they parted in what passed for good cheer from Aria.

Maybe the game had sparked reconciliation, or maybe none was needed in the first place. Either way, Applejack couldn’t have found Adagio alone if she wanted to. She caught sight of the orange curls between every class, yet always with another siren in tow. The trio gossiped, argued, and sneered at the other students with no change in sight. All seemed back to normal, and Applejack reminded herself that was a good thing.

The reminders helped a little bit. There was a hole in her gut, yeah, but it would close. It always did.

Ninth period came. History class, and halfway there a hand caught her arm.

Adagio.

“Locker room.”

“We got two minutes,” Applejack said.

Adagio had the same class. “We’re skipping.”

She pulled, hard enough that Applejack would have had to dig her heels to break free. Instead, she followed. Playing hooky for the first time in eleven years, fast-walking to clear the halls before the bell rang.

They passed the empty gym, then the locker room door. Adagio rounded a bend in the room and stopped. She kept pulling, twisting Applejack’s wrist to bring the farm girl between her and the wall. Silent and forceful, Adagio let go and shoved both hands against the lockers to trap Applejack.

Nearly a head shorter and half as strong, Adagio glared scant inches from Applejack’s face. Her arms trembled with fear or adrenaline, and her mouth was tight beneath its makeup. The magenta eyes swallowed Applejack’s vision, and she wondered if they held some trace of the siren’s old power.

Distantly, muffled by doors and glaring eyes, the class bell rang.

Applejack reached around, pulling the girl into a hard kiss.

No. Applejack fought down the urge even as she felt the eyes demand it.

Adagio moved closer, pushing their chests together. Applejack brought her arms around the siren in a loose embrace. She smiled gently into the eyes, and the frown beneath twitched upwards.

“You have no initiative,” Adagio grumbled, though she smirked with the words.

“You look like you got something to say,” Applejack replied. “Don’t seem healthy to kiss when you need to talk.”

“And you’re a pussy, too,” Adagio groaned. The smirk dissolved to an unsteady laugh. She stepped back and folded her arms. “Fine, fine. Look: In case you haven’t noticed, I’m still figuring out how to human. I’m not one of three mystic sirens who stand above the weeds anymore. Like you said, I’m a weed now too. There are a lot of other… ‘real’ people in the world, and I’m the last of us to figure it out.”

She ticked points on her fingers. “Sonata has friends with her work. I know she hangs out with the goth kids, too. Aria has been friends with Trixie’s gang for a while, and now she’s in their band. They all have something else, and I don’t. I’ve been in that ‘us three are the only real people’ mindset, which meant them moving on meant I was alone. You were right, I didn’t bring the game for you. Doing a good turn didn’t even factor into it, I was just thinking about how the look would be on Aria’s face. It was the first time I ever spent any amount of time with a human, and it was just...”

She paused. Shrugged helplessly, and resumed. “Normal. You were cool, and it was fun to hang out. You didn’t put your boot on me or beg for mine on you. Honestly, it got me wondering what I missed in all those years of ignoring humans. I always used to zone out when the other two talked about other friends, but today I listened. Their human friends are real. They seem fun. Why not me?”

Again, she stepped close. Pushing against Applejack. Yellow hands gripped peach wrists and pinned them to the lockers.

Applejack once heard she was too responsible for her own good. Maybe that was right, because even as the hypnotic eyes drew close and the orange curls tickled her arms, she asked, “The other two okay with this?”

“Didn’t ask.” Another shrug, this one forceful. “I don’t need their permission, and if we fight, we fight. We fight every day, and this will give us a new thing to fight about.”

Adagio gave a cruel smile, reminiscent of a dream. Arousing and scary, and Applejack’s mind went to leather straps and whips. Applejack swallowed hard, staring as the mouth formed words. “Besides, I’m the leader. I set the rules.”

“So… it’s okay?” Mouth, eyes, curls… there was no escape for Applejack’s gaze. She trembled fully, her own mouth breaking to a nervous grin. “B-being like this, you know, outside the locker room and stuff? Like, boyfriend-girlfriend? Except I mean with–”

“You know how you said you shouldn’t kiss when you need to talk?” Adagio cut in. “Don’t talk when you need to kiss.”

“So why ain’t you kissing?” Applejack asked, just to buy time for her mind to catch up with reality.

Adagio tilted her head up, pressing so close her legs interwove with Applejack’s. “Because you need the damn practice, that’s why. Now don’t pass this off as a joke, don’t laugh and give some affable countryism, and don’t dare say something kind and respectful. I know you’re nice and sweet and all that, but there’s a time when a girl just wants to mash lips and that time is now.”

Applejack stammered. Giving a quiet sigh, Adagio released the arms, moved just a little bit back, and placed a palm on Applejack’s chest.

She smiled – not cruel, not mocking. Just a friendly, inviting one. Wide enough to show teeth, and let the dimples shine through the makeup.

“Relax.”

The mind surrendered its race. Applejack moved, bringing her hands to Adagio’s shoulders. But she didn’t pull. She pushed, and kept pushing until the back of Adagio’s legs reached a locker room bench. One hand kept pushing while the other steadied, lowering the yellow girl to a lying position.

“There we go,” Adagio said. But Applejack didn’t hear. She followed, squeezing atop her trendy girlfriend and bent down low.

One kiss, then another. Applejack’s strong hands cradled the other’s arms, then moved to the curls.

A third, longer kiss. Adagio shuffled in place, her grin on the wane. “We can’t stay long. We’ll get busted as soon as gym starts.”

She began to get up, but the strong hands moved. One caught her shoulder while the other pushed down, bringing Adagio fully prone.

She stared, chuckling weakly into Applejack’s gaze. Applejack wondered if her own eyes had the siren’s power, now staring with green-eyed control at the girl beneath.

“Last gym of the day was at two,” Applejack whispered.

Her hand relaxed, the mind above suddenly wondering if it had gone too far. But Adagio only grinned, cat-like and confident.

Applejack matched the smile. She lowered herself, pressing downwards with her lips leading the way.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading.

Comments

[Ice Star]

Thank you for writing!

[forbloodysummer]

After Principal Celestia and the undead, I figured you rather hated Adagio. So this story was a very pleasant surprise! I particularly appreciate that while it deals with Adagio adapting to her new situation and adjusting certain things accordingly, it doesn't try to redeem her, and even highlights why she'd resent that. And it's lovely that the central relationship doesn't waste much time doubting itself because of those alignment differences. Revealing that Adagio had been flipping burgers but then not having the story make a big deal of it was a lovely touch, too.

This is the best AppleDagio story I've read. I'd previously thought the ship hadn't a hope of being convincing, that there was pretty much nothing about either character that would appeal to the other, but you sold it really well. I will add this to the uncommon siren ships group, if you don't mind.

Thanks for writing this

[forbloodysummer]

8710681 I forget the context now to know which would fit better, but according the the internet they're very similar. I hadn't heard conversationalist until now.

[QueenMoriarty]

8710756
Replies on separate chapters don't send alerts. They won't see your message unless they come back to this story.

[forbloodysummer]

8711210 Given that I was wrong, that appears to have worked out in my interest on this occasion

[QueenMoriarty]

An absolutely lovely story, and the first one I've seen to produce a believable Adagio romance that wasn't built on a fundamentally unhealthy understanding of relationships.

[Midknight_Stardust]

Ohohoho you teasing motherbucker...nice job! Adagio and Applejack are cute as fuck. Would love to see you try your hand at Adagio x Rarity or Aria x Fluttershy...that would be something else xD

[Rune Soldier Dan]

8710100
8711196

Fixed, thanks. And thanks for the nice words.

An absolutely lovely story, and the first one I've seen to produce a believable Adagio romance that wasn't built on a fundamentally unhealthy understanding of relationships.

*Reads "romance"-tagged story about Adagio being an utterly unrepentant, evil person with zero care for let's be real, it's always Sunset the main character as a human being, but she's a sexy dominatrix so she's completely worth pursuing.*

*Punches random bystander.*

[Gpizano]

Good work and an interesting pairing, would like to see more of it if possible. XD

[Head of Common Mockery]

Well, this was awesome. A fascinating pair, but you seem to have pulled it off.

[Tethered-Angel]

I regret putting this off reading this for so long. It was fantastic

[Natedogg2006]

One of the best fics I've read in a while. Honestly, I've been getting discouraged with what I've been finding lately. This turned that around. This paring is one of my secret favorite obscure pairings, and this story is now my favorite of them. Thank you so much.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

8857530
Thank you for the nice comment! For what it's worth, there might be more Appledagio on the way... I'm toying with the idea of making an episodic shipfic for them. :)

[Frizzy]

Loved it.

[Alexander The Godslayer]

Before I start, I should say, I’m probably gonna review both “Appledagio” and “Me and My Siren” here.

But to start with the first one, well, simply put, I absolutely LOVED it, like, way more than I dared expect. Not because of any preconception about you, but just, well, it’s rare enough already to find content for such a rare ship, and even rarer to find it and for it to be this good.

It’s always rare, also, to find stuff focusing on Applejack and Adagio like this. Like, I dunno if it’s personal experience or what, but on one side, Applejack is often treated like just “one more” in the fandom (what with the Background Pony jokes) and Adagio often feels eclipsed by Sonata and Aria somehow (which is weird because I thought Aria was the least popular one? Whatever). And yet, here we are.

I don’t even know exactly what that is that made me love the first fic so much. I think it may be the combination of several things? Like, I found myself empathizing a lot with Applejack in the first chapter, having a hard time telling her friends that one little thing. Another thing I really liked were those dreams (or whatever they were) that Applejack was having when she and Adagio were sleeping next to each other, and… I don’t know, I just loved that whole part in general. There was so much tension and good stuff in that one! And then there’s the fact that you played it “hard to get”, like, it really felt for a moment like Applejack and Adagio weren’t going to end up together, so I was SO happy when they actually did. XD

So like, this fic went immediately into my favorites, right away. Only things I could “critique” are basically just nitpicks, one is that the way that Applejack’s and Adagio’s bodies are described seems to contradict how they’re presented in canon (though it’s not like the fandom seems to pay too much attention to that, as they often just see repeated/reused models/templates), and that it kinda bugged me that Applejack is addressed as the only one in her group that’s not straight (I just hate this idea that the one queer couple has to be the exception to the rule), though… I think I caught hints of Sunset possibly also not being as straight as perhaps Applejack assumed? Well, it’s up to you in the end.

Now, about “Me and My Siren”, I’m also loving that one quite a lot, and I think going for just small, stand-alone stories was probably the right path (not to mention, I dunno if it was intentional or not, but the way that the first chapter of “Me and My Siren” is presented works wonderfully for establishing the present situation to even those who didn’t read “Appledagio”, which in turns makes me wonder if that’s also why you didn’t list it as a sequel or what, but eh, details, details), and I’m also loving them.

I think I’ll save my individual comments for each chapter for a review for that fic on itself (especially since I’ve got some inquiries that are probably better voiced) there, but for the time being, I think all I can mention is that I’m a bit concerned as to how very few of the chapters actually explore Adagio and Applejack with each other, and I wish there was a bit more of that. I could recommend maybe like, go check one of those Tumblrs offering “OTP Prompts”? Actually, no, never mind, that’s probably a bad idea. ^^U

Oh well, I’ll probably try to review new chapters of “Me and My Siren” from here on, and for now gonna get to writing the other review giving thoughts on each chapter individually.

I wanna reiterate, though, that I absolutely loved “Appledagio”, and I thank you a ton for writing and sharing this wonderful fic. :D

Yours, “Squeeing when Reading” Alexander, the Godslayer.
See ya in next review!

[Rune Soldier Dan]

8998120
Thank you for the kind words.

I think I’ll save my individual comments for each chapter for a review for that fic on itself (especially since I’ve got some inquiries that are probably better voiced) there, but for the time being, I think all I can mention is that I’m a bit concerned as to how very few of the chapters actually explore Adagio and Applejack with each other, and I wish there was a bit more of that.

I do need more, yes, and there are more coming in the (not next two chapters >_>) pipeline. It's just that their pairing isn't explosive enough to generate easy conflict without adding third parties into the mix, and one can only write so much tender fluffy romance before it all looks the same. >_> But there will be satiation in both comedy and feel-goods between the two, I can comfortably guarantee.

As noted in one of my post-chapter comments, feel free to note me with chapter ideas.

[Alexander The Godslayer]

8999858
Glad to know that! Looking forward to those chapters, and really, any as well, because I've been enjoying them all one way or another.

And oh, so chapter ideas are welcome? Good to know. Mh... I'll see if I come up with something.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

9325109
Thank you! I enjoy this little ship. :)

[fanreader999999]

Mm