Chapter 1
It was a Friday night. The gang was all together for a hangout. Pinkie would no doubt turn it into a sleepover just because it was a weekend. Rarity was painting Aria’s nails, Sonata and Fluttershy were cuddling bunnies, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were having a furious gaming match, Pinkie was doing Celestia-knows-what on her laptop while Adagio lounged on the bed reading some magazines and Sunset sat in the recently installed windowseat, gazing out.
The Sirens had joined them not too long ago. The trio were surprisingly easy to get along with once they bothered opening up. They were now a solid part of the group, bringing the original, close-knit group of five into a somehow even tighter crowd of nine. There were still times the group had to be on their toes, as one or all of the Dazzlings would show their resentment or despondence at their lost magic, but for the most part, everything was open between all of them.
However, there were still many things the Sirens hadn’t let the other six girls know about them. The trio rarely spoke of their time in Equestria or what they had been up to since being banished. Usually, the former brought saddened expressions to the trio’s faces and the latter increased the number of whatever their current rage meter was on. Best to leave them alone. Still, there was something about the trio that bothered Sunset, something she had slowly been unraveling for the past hour.
There was something off about the Sirens, Adagio in particular. Sunset hadn’t noticed at first. It had been something that would be easily missed in any other group of friends, so she didn’t pay much mind to it at first. When the Dazzlings first asked them for a chance at redemption, it had been easily brushed off.
A knock sounded at the door to the music room and the band glanced over. All of them were immediately wary of the three figures standing in the doorway, watching them. At once, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were on their feet, not wanting their friends to get hurt if this turned physical quickly.
“What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash demanded with narrowed eyes.
The three Sirens stared at her, unimpressed by the show of bravery the two were putting on. Adagio looked first to Aria and then to Sonata, both giving her a nod. As Adagio remained in the doorway, the two other Sirens walked forward to stand a pace or two in front of her. This threw the group for a loop since Adagio was usually always at the front of the group.
Adagio cleared her throat and said, “The girls and I have been talking lately-.”
“Sonata hasn’t shut up about it for a month,” Aria interjected irritably, catching a glare from Adagio.
“And we were wondering…” Adagio took a deep breath. “Perhaps you could teach us about this… friendship?”
Now the group was really confused. The Sirens, the musical group that fed off of negativity and hatred, wanted to learn about friendship? Sonata seemed to sense their shock because she grinned and bounced slightly forward. “We’re Sirens, so we were raised to value being adored over everything else. The only way we knew how to be loved was to cause strife among others. Our gems helped us do that, but… well, we want to try being loved and adored a different way. Maybe… you know… you could teach us how to be nicer?”
“Why are you coming now?” Rainbow Dash asked. Her eyes switched from one enemy to the next, keeping all three of them in her sights. “Why not come to us directly after the Battle like Sunset did?”
Aria snorted. “Yeah, we needed to calm down and get ahold of our anger before we could even accept that you won. Adagio kept running herself in circles trying to figure out how you cheated.” All three shot pointed looks to Sunset Shimmer, who gave them a somewhat sheepish grin. “So, we talked about it first. Unless you wanted to be pounded into dust by three furious Sirens?”
Rainbow Dash scoffed. “You couldn’t beat me if you tried,” she boasted, flexing her muscles.
“Have you ever won an arm-wrestling match with Sunset Shimmer?” Adagio smirked. Rainbow Dash faltered and the siren leader chuckled. “Imagine her strength times five hundred thousand. Each of us has the strength of at least ten whales and the weight of about two. Had we gone to you right after the Battle, our rage would have dictated our actions and you would all be comatose.”
“If not just plain dead!” Sonata chirped.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash glanced to one another and gulped at the implication. Both took several steps back toward their friends. Once they were further away, Aria and Sonata moved to stand beside Adagio once more as the lead siren finally stepped into the room.
“Now that we have a grip on our resentment,” she continued as if the mini conversation hadn’t happened. “We want to… at least try to understand the concept of friendship. We’ve never been very good at playing nice with others, so we were hoping you could teach us.”
The Rainbooms glanced to one another uneasily for a moment before a pink blur shot forward. Sonata stepped in its path smoothly and accepted the hug from Pinkie. “I’d love to help you figure out friendship!” the party-planner cheered. “Once you’ve got it down, we can invite everybody to a ‘reformed Dazzlings’ party!”
“Guh, I’m already regretting this,” Aria grumbled.
“It’ll be fun, y’all,” Applejack chuckled, walking forward to throw an arm around the punk siren’s shoulders. “You’ll see. It’ll take some time before anyone at the school trusts ya again, but we’ll be with ya every step of the way!”
“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash agreed, pumping a fist. “Besides, I’m sure they’ll get over it. It’s not like they haven’t been brainwashed before. All ya gotta do is apologize and they’ll be good from-.”
Aria raised a hand, shrugging from Applejack’s arm as Sonata released Pinkie from her death grip. “Hold on,” the purple siren growled. “Who said anything about apologizing?”
“Don’t people only do that when they’re sorry?” Sonata added in confusion.
The Humane Five shared a look. “You’re… not sorry?” Rarity inquired slowly.
“Why would we be?” Sonata responded. “We were feeding. Adoration is our main source of energy and sustenance. We were just kinda hungry.”
“Well…” Sunset murmured. “We’ll figure it out. Either way, we’re glad that you’re giving it a chance at all.”
The entire group moved forward with their arms outstretched. Sonata and Aria stepped in front of Adagio once more and closed the group off from their sister in the back. Adagio simply watched the hug happen, not taking part herself.
Sunset remembered that Pinkie had tried to break away from the current group hug a few times so she could grab Adagio and make her join, but Sonata had held her fast. They really were strong if they could restrain Pinkie Pie. Still, that interaction had been fine and what had happened was to be relatively expected.
Over the weeks, the Dazzlings had been joining the Rainbooms in their outings, The group had begun splitting off, two people for each Dazzling. Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer went with Aria, Applejack and Pinkie Pie escorted Sonata around, and Rarity and Fluttershy accompanied Adagio. It had been tense at first, especially between Rainbow Dash and Aria, but the group had warmed up to them little by little over time.
Sunset herself had made certain that the Dazzlings felt included in the get togethers. She remembered the conversation she’d had with them in the darkened hallway and knew that the same somewhat aloof attitude would be directed at them if she didn’t step in. So, she had pushed her friends to actually converse with and learn about their new friends. In doing this, plenty of things had come to light.
Sonata’s favorite human food was nachos, but she wouldn’t turn down a well-made taco if offered. Aria enjoyed listening to jazz and gothic rock, along with slower pop songs reminiscent of the Dazzlings’ music style. Adagio could eat even Pinkie under the table, neither gaining a single bit of weight (Adagio due to her bizarre physiology and Pinkie for Pinkie reasons). Sonata loved to bake, Aria was a pro at motor racing, Adagio enjoyed taking long walks at night to clear her mind. Sonata was a casual gamer, Aria loved cats, Adagio’s hair was sentient. Things came to light once the groups actually began befriending one another.
However, the most interesting, to Sunset Shimmer at least, had been revealed during the latest outing together. It was the reason she was pondering now, trying to unravel the mystery.
The group had gone to the mall to hang out and shop (Rarity). She and Adagio had hit off very quickly with their taste in clothing, finesse, and decorum. The pair could talk for hours about every aspect of a single outfit. So, to celebrate the Dazzlings becoming part of the group, Rarity had decided to take them shopping, dragging the others along just for fun.
“I really like this skirt!” Sonata gushed as she held up a miniskirt, similar in color to her favorite outfit, but with hints of green tastefully lining the hem and waistband.
“That would look very good on you, dear,” Adagio called, side-eyeing the skirt to be sure it really would. It did seem Sonata’s style and would complement her skin tone beautifully. Without looking, the golden-haired siren called, “Aria, that jacket will clash with your new shirt. Try a different color.” There was a grumble as the siren in question began rustling for a new jacket to try.
The group watched the trio and Rarity rummage through the racks of clothing, smiling as they all seemed to be having fun. It was clear all three of the Sirens enjoyed shopping for clothing, as even Aria was looking through each rack for something new to wear. This was something the three definitely had in common and Rarity was ecstatic to have enthusiastic shopping buddies (buddies who were actually enthusiastic about shopping, not just because… Pinkie…).
“Reckon we’ll get outta here before nightfall?” Applejack asked the others as Sonata bounced to another rack and threw a deep purple blouse into her arms to try on.
Rainbow Dash snorted. “If Rarity has her way, we won’t be out of here until tomorrow night.”
The group shared a laugh at that, but were surprised when Adagio, Rarity and Aria strolled over to them, bags of clothes in hand. “What?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “But… you were just… how?”
“Someone’s tongue-tied,” Adagio chuckled, stroking a hand down Rainbow Dash’s cheek. “Don’t worry, Rainy dear, we’ll tell you someday. For now, shop-a-holic’s secret.”
“Ready!” Sonata called, bounding over to her sisters and friends. “Can we head to the food court now? I wanna see if there are any specials going on!”
Sunset laughed as she led the group out of the store and in the direction of the food court. The group chatted idly as they walked, wondering where to go after lunch. Sunset looked to the Sirens and noticed Sonata and Aria walking in front of Adagio again. She noticed they did that when the group was in crowded places. She pondered on what could be causing it, but her eyes widened at what unfolded seconds later.
As the girls passed an arcade, two grown men barreled from the game store, one of them knocking his elbow into Adagio’s side as he went. So focused on chasing down his friend, the guy didn’t notice and didn’t look back to apologize. Sunset and Applejack were going to go after him when Aria appeared in front of him, arms crossed and stance strong. The guy slammed into the siren and cocked his head up at her.
“H-hey, what gives?” he demanded, glaring up at her.
Deep violet eyes flashed and Aria leaned down to grab him by the collar. “What gives?” she snarled into his face as she lifted him above her head. “You bumped into my sister without a single apology, douche.”
“Hey n-now,” the suddenly-terrified man gulped. “It w-was an a-accident! I-I’m sorry, I w-was just horsing around-!”
“Horsing around?” Aria growled. “Well, why don’t I horse around and accidentally throw you through a window?”
Tears of fear welled in the poor guy’s eyes and Aria nodded. “Thought so. You’re going to apologize and then we’re never going to see each other again, got it?”
“Y-yeah, anything you want!”
Aria dragged the softly sobbing man back to where Adagio was waiting. The flaxen siren was taking deep breaths through her nose and, in all the excitement with Aria, Sunset hadn’t even noticed that she was trembling slightly. The purple siren forced the perpetrator to his knees and yanked his head back so that he was looking up into Adagio’s glare.
“Well?” Aria demanded.
“I’m sorry!” the man shrieked, catching the attention of anyone who hadn’t already been watching. “I’m sorry I bumped into you, please forgive me! It’ll never happen again!”
Adagio took a deep breath through her slightly parted lips and nodded. “Just… watch where you’re going next time…” she murmured softly, shocking her friends. They would have expected an explosive temper demanding more penance than just a simple apology, but Adagio nodded to Aria. The strongest of the siren sisters stepped back and allowed the man to scrabble as far from them as possible.
Sonata and Aria glared at all around them, prompting the others around to slowly go back to what they were doing. As the number of eyes on them diminished to six pairs, the two of them turned their attention to Adagio. The fiery siren seemed more reserved than usual and appeared paler than her regular healthy, glowing yellow.
“You alright, Dag?” Aria asked gruffly, her voice still in protection mode.
“Yes,” Adagio sighed. “I think… I’ll head home and lie down for a bit. I’m not feeling at all well.”
“Stupid prick!” Sonata huffed with a pout. “He should know better than to run in a place like this. Even I know that!”
Aria moved closer to Adagio. “You want me to drive you there?”
Adagio shook her head. “I can’t ask you to give up your day of fun for me,” she murmured. “I’ll be fine walking. Have fun, you two.”
“At least let us keep your bags,” Sonata suggested. “So no one tries to rob you on the way.”
“As if you two wouldn’t know if someone did,” Adagio chuckled, handing over her items. “I’ll see you back at home.”
With a wave at their dumbstruck friends, Adagio made her way toward the nearest exit and began her trek back home.
Aria had gotten a thorough chewing out from both Fluttershy (on hurting others) and Applejack (when she refused to say why she had attacked a total stranger so ferociously). Neither siren seemed to care that they had traumatized a relatively innocent individual, and had continued on toward the food court as if nothing had happened at all.
The entire interaction had served to confuse Sunset Shimmer beyond belief. Why was it so important for that man to apologize so vehemently? He hadn’t hit Adagio very hard and the group was likely to never see him again. She and Applejack were just going to explain what he’d done, but Aria had demanded retribution. The Sirens had done a good job of maintaining their malicious nature for quite some time, but this proved that they were still capable of cruelty under certain circumstances. Sunset could relate to that, but it was still perplexing to have a person cowering just for an apology.
More perplexing was Adagio’s reaction to the whole ordeal. From experience (…Fluttershy…), Sunset had recognized the signs of an incoming panic attack. Adagio worked to keep her breath steady and her shaking under control, but for the barest second before the man had been brought to her, Sunset had seen the lead siren’s pupils dilate. Was she afraid? Could it be that…?
“Hey Sunny!” a cheerful voice cut into her reverie and startled Sunset from her seat. Right, never look too deep in thought when spending time at Pinkie’s place. “Whatcha thinkin’ bout?”
Sunset glanced around, finding the room devoid of all other life. “Where are the others?”
“They’re out grabbing pizza,” Pinkie responded. “So, why ya thinkin’ so hard?”
Sunset rubbed her neck as she responded, “I was just pondering some stuff.”
“Wanna tell me about it?” Pinkie asked, stopping mid-bounce to properly settle and wrap her arms around Sunset’s waist. It was a move she had learned from Fluttershy last week. It helped people become more comfortable.
“It’s just…” Sunset bit her lip. “I think Adagio’s afraid of being touched by other people.” Pinkie blinked. “Like, she seems fine with touching other people, but whenever someone goes to touch her, she’s always protected by Aria or Sonata. Haven’t you noticed?”
Pinkie hummed in thought as she squinted her eyes. “Yeah, I think I get ya. The only time I saw anyone touch her when we first met them was when Aria and Sonata lifted her on the table. Otherwise, she was caressing everybody else and being all sexy touches and intoxicating caresses and wow, she probably has such soft hands-.”
“You get the point,” Sunset chuckled, interrupting her friend’s slowly dawning fantasies about a certain diva’s hands. “I just… do you think the reason she never participates in the group hugs is because she’s terrified of being touched by other people?”
“Maybe!” Pinkie agreed. “But don’t worry, Sunny. Now that you’ve told me about it, I know just the thing to help her!”
Sunset paled as Pinkie dashed from the room. She hoped her friend had correctly read what she had written. She didn’t want anyone to be put into an uncomfortable situation, especially not because of some simple late-night musings.
Sunset knew something bad was going to happen. Call it a unicorn’s sixth sense, but she just knew that something was going down that was going to be terrible. And she was right. Not even five minutes ago, she’d gotten a text telling her to come over to Rarity’s place for a surprise party. The text also told her that everyone was already there, which meant the party was as much a surprise for her as it was the guest of honor.
Rushing toward Rarity’s house as quickly as she could, Sunset felt her heart pounding as she spotted Adagio up ahead. The golden-haired siren knocked at the door calmly, clearly confused at what was happening. Sunset arrived just as the door opened. She slid inside, reaching out to stop Adagio. Before she could, the lights flashed on and the rest of their friends, minus Aria and Sonata, moved forward to hug the unsuspecting siren.
“I hope you’re surprised!” Pinkie cheered as she snuggled against Adagio’s neck. “We all wanted to give you a hug! How’s the group hug feel?”
The blood drained from Adagio’s face. Sunset felt her heart sink as the lead siren’s pupils fully dilated. Tremors shook through Adagio’s body as the others leaned back to look at her. Fluttershy immediately backed away, recognizing the signs instantly and rushing to find a bottle of water. The others still hadn’t let go and were merely watching Adagio in trepidation.
“Darling?” Rarity prodded cautiously. “Are you alright? You’re looking a bit pale.”
“Yo, Adagio, you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously. She didn’t like this. Something was wrong. It was supposed to be a good-natured hug, but Adagio looked ready to break down.
“P-please…” the trembling woman whispered, her voice hoarse as her body went limp. “M-make it… s-stop…”
Applejack took charge upon hearing that. “Someone clear a space on the couch! Rainbow, go get some towels. Rarity, open the windows. Pinkie, go sit in the corner for a minute, we can’t have her gettin’ overexcited. Where’s Fluttershy?”
“Got some water,” Fluttershy called, bounding back in from the kitchen. Normally, she would reserve this kind of behavior for injured animals, but the sight of Adagio doing something she herself did on constant occasion drove her to help the poor woman.
Pinkie hurriedly cleared a spot on the couch, moving off to the side as Applejack lay the prone woman on the cushions. Adagio proceeded to curl into a shuddering ball, her body convulsing as she attempted to hold herself together. Fluttershy knelt beside her and tapped the cushion near her, offering the water bottle. Adagio merely whimpered and curled tighter into herself. Rainbow Dash came down the stairs with towels in her arms and Fluttershy went about pouring some of the water onto one. As gently as she could, she dabbed at Adagio’s arms, hoping the cool sensation would help the shuddering siren calm.
“I tried to stop this,” Sunset groaned, dropping into a chair. “I cannot believe I was too late…”
“I don’t understand!” Rarity murmured. She kept her voice low so as not to startle the volatile Adagio. “It was only meant to be a warm, friendly hug. Pinkie said that she hasn’t had any since becoming our friend, so we were going to surprise her.”
“I told Pinkie that Adagio was terrified of being touched by other people!” Sunset growled. “It was an assumption at the time, but apparently it has some real truth to it. This is all my fault. I should have just kept my big mouth shut.”
Rarity patted her hand comfortingly. “It’s not your fault, Sunset. You and Pinkie were just trying to help Adagio in your own ways. It’s just… this wasn’t the best approach.”
“I’m really sorry,” Pinkie whimpered from her corner. “I didn’t know it would be this bad. I just… everyone deserves a hug-.”
She was interrupted by the door slamming off its hinges and two figures storming inside. Eyes flaming, the other two siren sisters glared at everyone present. Aria released an animalistic growl as Sonata approached the couch. Fluttershy scrambled away upon seeing the cold gaze directed at her and the youngest siren knelt beside her sister.
“Dagi?” Sonata cooed gently. “Dagi, I’m going to touch you, okay? It’s going to hurt for a little while. Can you be strong enough for me to lay you down?”
Adagio released a pitiful whimper and Sonata smiled. Gently, but quickly, she placed her hands on Adagio’s arms and extracted them from her legs, laying her sister flat on the couch. Adagio gritted her teeth, her eyes still dilated as sweat coated her face and neck. Sonata grabbed up the water bottle and tenderly placed it against Adagio’s lips, allowing the elder siren to take a few sips of the cool beverage.
Meanwhile, Aria stood between them and the rest of the people in the room. Stone-faced and silent, the twin-tailed siren simply glared at all those present. Once Sonata stood beside her, the two of them formed a protective line in front of Adagio.
“Why would you do this?” Sonata demanded, her usually bubbly, cheerful voice devoid of any mirth. It left the high lilt sounding far more malevolent than any of them had ever heard from her. “Was this the plan the whole time? Lure us away so you can torture our leader? Just so you know, Aria and I followed Adagio’s plan, so if you still hate her for coming up with the plan to brainwash your school, you must still hate us for helping.”
“Or is this because we never apologized?” Aria snarled. Her voice had deepened to a deadly baritone. It hadn’t reached such low pitches since she was in Equestria. “Still pissed that we don’t regret a thing we did?”
“No!” Pinkie shouted, jumping forward. “This was my idea! I didn’t know what would happen to her, but I thought it was unfair that she never got any hugs. I’m really sorry, I didn’t… I didn’t know…” Pinkie’s hair deflated a bit. She never wanted to hurt anyone. She just wanted to make people smile.
The two standing Sirens surveyed her for a moment before relaxing just a little. Aria shot Sonata a glance and cocked her head at them. The blunette nodded and stepped forward as Aria moved back to watch over the weakened Adagio. The group waited nervously, wondering what the youngest siren had to say.
Sonata cleared her throat and explained, “It’s not that Adagio doesn’t like to be touched. She’s a Siren, touching is kinda our thing. But when we were in Equestria, Dagi stumbled on a curse that let her feel and see every resentment and bad memory of the person she was touching.” The group gasped at this, shooting worried looks to the yellow siren.
“It was helpful because it helped her find out how to get under people’s skin and feed our amulets, but she had to be the one to initiate contact if she wanted to control it. Other people touching her made the power go out of control and her mind would be flooded with every single bad memory and sense all at once. She can’t take it. How many of you touched her?”
With hanging heads, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie and Rainbow all raised their hands. Sonata shook her head with a sigh. “That’s five lives’ worth of terrible memories and emotions you’re all trying to bury, now filling Adagio’s head.” The teens winced guiltily. “Ari and I walk ahead of her when there’s the potential for someone to touch her. If we can stop them, Adagio doesn’t break down. Our emotional link helps us know when she’s in a place where someone could make contact-.”
“Or lets us know when someone has made contact,” Aria finished, dabbing lightly at Adagio’s head with as much towel as possible between her hand and her sister’s forehead.
Pinkie looked down shamefully. “I’m really sorry,” she whispered. “If there’s anything I can do to make it up to her, I’ll do it.”
“P-promise?” came Adagio’s shaky voice. Pinkie immediately puffed back up and hopped over, being careful to remain a safe distance away.
“You name it, Ada!” she exclaimed earnestly.
Adagio blinked. Her pupils were still somewhat dilated, but she seemed to be regaining herself. “If you don’t mind… could I have one of those triple-decker chocolate ice cream lemon cakes with caramel frosting? I’ve been wanting to try it since I saw it on the menu at Sugarcube Corner. It would make me feel so much better right now.”
Pinkie’s entire demeanor brightened up. “One cake coming right up!” she shouted, dashing for the kitchen.
The others kept their distance as Adagio used the back of the couch to lift herself into a sitting position. There was silence for a few moments before the lead siren sighed. “Guess this ruins some of my image. A seductress that can’t be touched. How embarrassing.”
“Or exotic,” Rarity piped in hopefully. “Imagine all of the stories that could come out of something like that. The poor plantation owner, so enamored with the goddess of a woman he has fallen so deeply for, only to find out that she cannot be touched, for one single touch will kill her. Yet she continues to taunt and tease him with her suggestive caresses and seductive embraces. It all culminates in the plantation owner finally losing his battle of wills and indulging himself in a single, simple hug from the woman he so wishes to call his own. And there, in the middle of his gorgeous fields, the one he loves dies in his arms from his own lack of control. Ooh! How tragic!”
By the end of the spiel, all three sirens were chortling at the imagery. They had actually created a similar scenario at one point a hundred or so years prior. Sonata had been the gorgeous seductress at the time, but it gave the same image anyway.
“My, I hope someone writes that,” Adagio laughed, wiping her eyes. “I would love to read it some time.”
“I hear laughter!” Pinkie cheered. “That means we did good, right? We made them laugh again? Are they smiling?”
Sunset giggled and called, “Yes, Pinkie, they’re smiling again.”
“How great!” the pink powerhouse chirped, waltzing back in with a three-layered cake in her hands. Setting it on the table in front of the couch, she retrieved a fork from her nest of hair and handed it to Adagio. “Dig in!”
Without waiting for a second order, Adagio attacked the cake voraciously. As everyone watched in mild shock, the cake—ice cream and all—was gone within minutes, leaving a contented Adagio wiping her mouth daintily. Aria and Sonata smiled, happy their sister was okay again.
“That was scrumptious,” Adagio purred. “Remind me to invite you over for our birthdays.” She shot Pinkie a wink as she stood and cautiously stretched. Her head no longer felt dizzy, so she fell into her usual stance, smirk firmly in place.
“I hope this dissuades any further attempts at hugging me?” she inquired of the sheepish group.
“Yeah, we’ve definitely learned our lesson about that,” Rainbow Dash chuckled in embarrassment.
Adagio nodded. “Now, as I see it, there’s a party set up. Why don’t we enjoy it?”
All of the girls agreed excitedly. Adagio relaxed back on the couch with her sisters. Aria and Sonata leaned just close enough to feel their sister’s warmth but not touch her. As the trio watched the party unfold before them, Aria turned to Adagio.
“So, when are we going to tell them that Sonata and I read minds, too?”
Adagio smirked down at her and patted her head. “Sirens must have some secrets, Aria,” she chuckled darkly. “Especially if they’re well-hidden. We’ll tell them after each of them does something particularly embarrassing they’re trying to hide from the rest of us.”
“Blackmail isn’t very good, Adagio,” Sonata giggled up at her sister.
The flaxen siren placed a hand to her chest in mock hurt. “And, pray tell, dear Sonata, who said I was good? I’m just no longer evil.”
With matching wicked grins, the three Sirens turned their attention back to the party, watching their new friends enjoy themselves.