Setting up a picnic usually took a little longer than twenty minutes, but one phone call was all it took for Pinkie and Applejack to combine forces and put together a basket to bring to a table on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres. They didn't meet up out here very often, but Sunset, Pinkie, and Applejack all trusted the other half of their group when they said Sugarcube Corner was a little too public for what they wanted to share.
The basket wasn't touched until well after explanations were over, which meant there were no spit-takes, to Pinkie's slight disappointment. More distressing to her still was learning of the three secret friendships, as evidenced by her quivering lip and watering eyes, but none would have guessed that it was actually guilt that drove this reaction. When asked why, she collapsed sobbing on the table.
"I did it too! I've been friends with Sunset Shimmer for muh-huh-unths!!"
Sunset blinked twice.
"...Pinkie," deadpanned Rainbow, "we've all been friends with Sunset Shimmer for months."
Any sign of emotional turmoil vanished from the pink partier as quickly as it had come. "Gasp! Everyone was in on it?!"
Eyerolling, facepalming, and a dope slap followed before Applejack moved things along.
"So, lemme get this straight;" she indicated Rarity with one finger, "Sonata swings by yer place one day an' you never tell anyone 'cuz ya didn't wanna make a fuss, an' that grows into, uhh..." Turning rosy, she quickly moved to Fluttershy. "A-and, Adagio talks to you while yer' waitin' on that bench like usual, makes a habit of it, and you start to fall for her after a whi-"
"It kinda sounds like they didn't know that they fell oh-woah-oh for each other," interrupted Pinkie.
"Right. So we got you two hookin' up with two'a the sirens and-" she pointed to Rainbow next, "-you playin' online sometimes with the last one?"
She'd have been casually leaning back in her seat if picnic tables had something to lean back on. "Yep."
There was a skeptical eyebrow from Applejack. "And that's all yer doin'?"
The question drew a blush. "I'm straight, and I'm pretty sure she is too!"
Sunset's head tilted. "You asked?"
"W-well, no, but..." She started to smile self-consciously, letting out a nervous giggle. "Y'know the final boss-fight in Populace Immoral 5 I was telling you guys about? Where big, brawny Sirhc Greenvalley was punching the boulder in a volcano? I was playing as Sirhc at the time, and from her comments, I've got three guesses for why Aria's aim was way off during that part."
There were some slightly scandalous giggles from around the table before Rarity cleared her throat. "That does sum up the situation, yes, and we're all sorry to have kept the three of you in the dark for so long."
Grinning, Sunset dismissively waved a hand. "Oh, it's oka-"
"It kinda ain't," interrupted Applejack. Glancing around, she found that the table was dead silent, drawing a sigh. "Well, Ah mean, Ah don't wanna go makin' a big mess over this, but don't it make anyone else just a little uncomfortable?"
Her expression guilty, Rainbow's hand shot up. "Yes! Super uncomfortable, that's why I blabbed!"
There were some giggles before Applejack returned her attention to the three secret siren befrienders. "Now, Ah definitely don't think that what'cha done with those girls is a bad thing, just..." She shrugged, some measure of hurt clear in her face. "Why didn't any of ya tell the rest of us sooner? If ya wanted us to keep quiet, we could have, it-"
"It's," Rainbow interrupted, "really not as easy as it sounds, AJ, trust me." She gingerly clasped her hands on the table. "Like, even now, I'm just wondering who out of the nine of us is gonna slip and expose everything first, but I don't think any of us wanted to hide anything." She turned to Fluttershy and Rarity. "Am I right?"
Both nodded, though Fluttershy wore a particularly apologetic frown. "I-I'm sorry I never, I mean, y-you girls almost guessed it a few times, but I always covered it up, b-because-" She was startled by a hand on her shoulder, whipping her head in that direction to see Applejack giving her a gentle little smile.
"We get why y'all did it, Sugarcube, and..." She had to hide her eyes with her hat. "Shoot, if Ah were in yer shoes, Ah might'a done the exact same thing."
She was clasped in an especially soft and grateful Flutterhug, which she returned with a light pat on the back.
"Pinkie Pie," asked Rarity, "are you quite alright?"
"Sure," she answered with a perky expression, "why do you ask, Rari-bear?"
Rarity gave her a sad stare. "I saw that frown, Miss Pie. I know I'm in no position to throw stones for keeping secrets, but if there's something you'd like to put forward, now is the time."
Pink, poofy hair lightly deflating, Pinkie made her I-Just-Dropped-A-Cupcake face. It was a very sad face for Pinkie. "Well, I guess it's like, we could have been friends with the Dazzlings the whole time?"
Sunset frowned too. "It's really not that simple, Pinkie."
Pinkie flailed her arms in random directions for a few seconds, though as always, she was careful to keep it out of friend-smacking range. "IknowIknowIknow, but still! It's been way, super hard to give them space like you said (which is a weird thing to give someone, because then they wouldn't be able to breathe), so instead I just stayed away from them and that's been really hard too! But I did it, I'm in the same class as Aria in sixth period and Adagio in eighth, but I left them alone no matter how sad, bored, or generally un-smiley they looked, but now I know that we could have been throwing secret siren parties for weeks?!"
Internally bracing herself, Sunset kept an even tone. This was going to be painful, but the point had to be made. "And what would we be doing with them at those parties?"
Her brain in party-mode, Pinkie beamed. "Tons of stuff! We could play games, eat cake, sing son-"
"Sing?"
The table was silent for a long moment. Sunset sighed.
"I haven't talked to them about it since before they started coming to school, but they're probably still sore about their voices." She focused her attention on Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy. "Have they said anything to you guys about that?"
Rainbow's wince said it had come up in conversation, and her guiltily rubbing the back of her head said there may have been hurt feelings at the time. "I, it, it might still be kind of a soft spot, yea."
"Indeed," added Rarity with a frown, "there's no song in the world, or Twilight's, that could be sung to win them over right now."
Adagio's voice echoed in Fluttershy's head.
"I, I suppose that we should count ourselves lucky we can still speak at all, but I can't help thinking of telling someone they should be glad only one of their arms was torn off."
That was what Adagio had said on the matter the day Fluttershy nursed her, and nothing had really changed since then. Looking at Sunset, she frowned too. "Has T-Twilight said anything, since the last time?"
Sunset shook her head. "Nothing substantial. Actually, judging by the long pauses between her messages and the occasional odd word-choice? I don't think she wants to say it, but she might not even know where to begin, with or without the gems."
"What about you," asked Pinkie, "you were a magical brainiac too, right?"
Even if she blushed a little at the title, Sunset cracked a smile. "Well, maybe, but I only looked into chaos magic for a few days as part of a project, so I doubt I'd be much help."
"They were Coltlantian artifacts," blurted Fluttershy, "some actually thought they were holy relics, but Adagio said they were more like magically-advanced, uh... things. Would that help?" The rest of the table gaped at her, which made her shrink down a little. "I-I asked about their home once, so..."
"...Well," Sunset eventually offered, "I guess that's something, but Coltlantis was destroyed over a millennium ago, and almost nothing is known about their methods. Still, I'll pass that tid-bit along to Twilight soon."
Though if I tell her that she was directly involved in destroying irreplaceable Coltlantian artifacts, she'll probably blow a gasket.
"Anyway," she said with a hopeful smile, "at least when the sirens have more friends of their own, letting go and moving on might be easier for them."
There was another of those long, quiet moments as the others traded looks. Rainbow resisted the urge to make fun of Equestria's weirdness with punny names again, so the silence was broken by Applejack this time.
"Ah'm just gonna say it; why're you so calm 'bout all this? You were tryin' harder than anybody to get closer to the sirens and they acted like you were a hole in their boot. Don't it bother you even a little?"
Sunset let out a little laugh. "Of course not, why would it?" Five stares held her, which had proven to be a worryingly effective tactic for making her spill her guts. She'd have lamented the loss her status as an incredibly convincing liar, but what she'd gained in exchange was too precious to even think about trading back, even if it drew a little frown from her now.
"Well, okay, I'm not thrilled that none of them ever came to me," the smile made a hesitant return, "but believe me when I say I'm much happier that this is happening at all. I'd love to have them join us at Sugarcube Corner sometime, but from what they told you three," she indicated the trio that had passed along the sirens' thoughts, "it sounds like we'll have to wait a bit longer."
"From what I gather," offered Rarity, a thoughtful finger on her lower lip, "Adagio has some kind of operation in the works, though I'm unclear on the specific details."
All eyes turned to Fluttershy, which only made her a little nervous this time. Just the same, her expression was warm and cheerful. "Our d-date yesterday, it was to pick up some cute outfits that she'll be wearing to school."
Rainbow's fist shot upwards as she rose to her feet. "Freakin' called it!!" It only took a few seconds of unamused stares for her to sit back down, smiling sheepishly. "Heh, heh... sorry."
Rarity might have liked to comment as well, but she knew that at the time, Adagio and Fluttershy had no idea of what she'd been doing with Sonata. That was the only reason she didn't take offense to not having been contacted for giving one of the sirens a makeover.
"If it works out," continued Fluttershy, "I think Aria and Sonata might be doing the same thing soon."
Pinkie clapped her hands together, beaming a bright, sparkly-eyed grin. "And that might finally get them some friends! All it takes to get started is talking to someone for a few minutes, and this might finally be the icebreaker!"
"Yea!"
"Eeyup!"
"Hear-hear!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Yay!"
The six of them spent a little longer ironing out details, first and foremost that no one was to go spying on the sirens when they were with their respective Rainboom buddies. It was easily agreed on, but Rarity wanted to make especially sure, for reasons Rainbow insisted not be asked. That led to Pinkie expressing her sustained surprise that Fluttershy was the one to tame Adagio, Fluttershy replying that she wouldn't put it that way, just that Adagio was holding back to make her happy, for which she was very grateful. Applejack then asked her about Art class and shared her new hunch about that sketch from a while back, both of which led to Fluttershy locking up and sinking under the table until she could be lured out with a juice-box.
A little later in the afternoon, the group dispersed, everyone having agreed to honor the sirens' wishes by continuing as normal until the time was right, then see how things unfolded from there. That there wasn't a single hint of opposition to embracing the three as friends was like a flock of pronking lambs in Fluttershy's heart; just warm and happy and covered in soft fluff. That, of course, led her to her still-kinda-secret girlfriend, who would probably like to know how things went with the others today...
---
DING-DONG!
Sonata answered the door again, smiling just like she did earlier today. "Hi the-... Dr. Seuss? What're you doing here again?"
Giggling a little at the silliest of the nicknames the sirens had given her, Fluttershy smiled. "I just wanted to let you three know that the others agreed to keep things private and that there's nothing to worry about."
"Oh, we know," Sonata said while patting one of her pockets, "Rarity already called to pass it on, but thanks anyway!"
"Oh." Somehow, it hadn't occurred to Fluttershy to do that. Did she actually have Adagio's number?
...Could she get it now? There was no reason why not, right? The worry had been that her friends would see it in her phone and now her friends all knew about it anyway, so-
"-euss, Earth to Dr. Seuss, do you read, over? KRRRSHK!"
Fluttershy blinked twice. "Whuh, huh?"
Sonata giggled. "Thinkin' about Dagi naked, huh? It's okay, I do the same thing wi-" She was cut off with a series of spastic arm movements as Fluttershy went all rosy.
"N-n-no! I, I-I wasn't-"
"Is that so?" came a familiar, velvety voice from just behind her as faintly muscular arms slid over her shoulder and around her midsection, "And, what about now?"
Turning her head, Fluttershy found Adagio holding her in a gentle hug, her arms wrapped around Fluttershy's torso. Despite the predatory gleam in her red-violet eyes, Fluttershy only smiled a dopey smile. "Hi."
Adagio giggled. "Hello, Sweetie." She doesn't look very surprised, was slipping out the window and creeping around the side of the house not sneaky enough? Or does she just expect this from me now? I'm happy to oblige, but still...
Neither that nor the nudity question from a moment ago were answered as Fluttershy stretched out her neck to deliver a peck on the cheek, to which Adagio responded with a long, soft lip-lock. This might have escalated further, but both were a little taken out of it when Sonata, hands pressed to her cheeks, all but shouted "AWWWW!!"
The couple blushed, but neither had stopped smiling, even when they heard Aria's exaggerated yakking noises from inside. Shaking her head a little at the purple prude, Adagio smiled at the soft, cuddly girl in her arms, her voice gentle. "Would you like to come in for a while, Sweetie? I'll be making dinner in a bit."
Quietly awed by the fact that the suggestion had come without a hint of suggestiveness, from Adagio of all people, Fluttershy smiled back. "S-sure!"
---
While Fluttershy certainly enjoyed the way Adagio picked her up and brought her inside in the traditional princess-carrying pose; the carrier's hands supporting her legs and back while the carry-ee's arms gently encircled the carrier's neck, a tiny part of her was opposed. She was left on the couch, Adagio sitting next to her, and Aria and Sonata occupying cushy chairs to their sides, by which point she determined that her tiny dissatisfaction stemmed from wanting to be the one doing the carrying. Whether or not she had the physical strength to lift Adagio for longer than a four-second emergency-sprint, she didn't know.
"So," began Aria without looking away from the TV screen on which her digital rampage was displayed, a controller in her hands, "everything cool with those three?"
Grinning, Fluttershy nodded. "Everything's okay, none of us will tell a soul until you want us to."
"On that note," said Adagio as she leisurely leaned backward on the couch, "we'll likely need to be careful about how that's timed, even when we have a social circle of our own. No need to hammer out specifics right now, but it would raise a few eyebrows if we revealed everything on the same day, most of all you and I, or Nata and Rarity."
"Yep," giggled Sonata as she picked up a controller and tagged into Aria's bus-throwing mayhem, "if we were all "Hey, did we ever mention that we've been secret friends with those guys for months now?", it'd probably be more fuel on the can't-trust-'em-as-far-as-we-can-throw-'em fire."
It was a point they hadn't discussed at Sweet Apple Acres, but one that had occurred to Fluttershy before. She shrugged a little. "I guess so."
"It'll work out," Aria said in almost apathetic fashion before nodding to a third controller on the coffee table, "wanna join in?"
Cyan eyes rapidly darted back and forth between the controller and the onscreen chaos a few times. "Uh, n-no thank you."
"Not into the rough stuff, huh? Guess I can respect that." Another virtual garbage truck was sacrificed to the vicious reaper of pixels, but Aria noticed that other than the fire and explosions from the TV, the room had gone very quiet. She glanced at the others to see Fluttershy sitting there wide-eyed and glowing while Sonata and Adagio made the exact same motion of looking back at her with a scandalous hands raised to their mouths, though they did little to hide the smirks. Her word choice sunk in, making Aria blush almost as brightly as Fluttershy. "F-for the love of, I didn't mean like that!!"
Sonata wore a wide, satisfied grin. "But you still totally said it!"
"I meant violence, gut-rending, bone-crunching violence!" She winced a little as Fluttershy covered her virgin ears, but the fluffy-haired punishment for this was already staring her in the face.
"And yet, you didn't just say 'violence,'" Adagio pondered aloud as she leaned forward, her smirk and raised eyebrow starting to make Aria sweat, "you said 'the rough stuff.' Why is that? Something on your mind lately, Ria? Something you want to share?"
Aria did her best to sink down into her seat. "No."
"You're sure?"
"Yes." She was equally surprised and relieved to see Adagio backing off so early, but maybe she wanted to behave in front of her favorite Rainboom.
"Alright then, but remember that you can always talk to us, about anything."
"Uh-huh..."
Things were quiet again as the onscreen action continued, but Aria didn't dare look at either of her tormentors. Then Sonata asked anyway.
"So, top or bottom?"
"ARRGH!!"
Two sirens giggled as another turned red, but even she started to chuckle by the end of it. The three of them carried on, Fluttershy just watching in silence.
They still smile, she thought to herself, even without their voices, without- well, I don't know if it meant more to them than anything in the world, but- even without something very precious to them, they can still smile.
And somehow, that made her sad. Not that they could find any measure of happiness, that was great! Just, that anyone could carry on despite a painful loss, and she knew there were a lot of them in the world, made her think of her father. He was gone now, and nothing would ever change that, so the best thing she could do was to let go. Was the same true of the sirens' voices? She didn't want to think so, especially when-
Once more, Fluttershy's world stopped. It was just an instant, but one in which her brain struggled to keep up with itself as a number of thoughts crashed together at once. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata would never forsake their ability to sing if they had any hope whatsoever of getting it back, which was why the subject probably still hurt them. The problem, Adagio said, was that when they tried to project their voices loudly enough, they broke, but their speaking voices were unchanged. She said she wasn't really sure about how it worked either, that something happened when they shouted, sneezed, got the hiccups, yelled, or laughed too hard, but talking at an indoor volume was okay?
If that was the case... Fluttershy had a theory. A theory that, while she knew it was foolish to put such hope in so soon, she couldn't stop from splitting her face in a wide, painful smile. This got the Dazzlings' attention as they paused the game to look at her.
"Uhh," started Aria, "Squeaky? You okay there? Lookin' kinda..." there was a flicker of a nervous grin, "haha, scary."
Sonata looked a little uncomfortable too. "Y-yea... What's she doing, Dagi?"
Their fearless leader studied Fluttershy with a hand raised to her chin. "I don't know, but..." A little smirk forming, Adagio started to blush. "I think I like it..."
Aria covered her eyes. "Wow, and, ew."
Sonata didn't. "Dagi, you're a real freaky bit-"
"I HAVE AN IDEA," blurted Fluttershy, startling the sirens into silence. She gave the three of them an apologetic little grin. "Uh, I-I mean... I have an idea, f-for, uhm..." Horror seized her when she realized what she was about to suggest, but if there was even the tiniest chance that she was right? It was an easy thing to test, and from somewhere in the back of her mind, a long-accumulated confidence stepped forward, bringing with it such certainty that if she was wrong, she'd let them throw her out of the house stark naked. She had the undivided attention of all three, the combination of their stares and what may come with the next few minutes kicking her heartbeat into overdrive and sending ripples of fire and ice through her skin.
"What if you sang quietly?"
Not even Adagio gave her more than a blank, numb stare of shock in response. Her confidence took a baby-step backward, so she had to say this quickly.
"I-I mean, if your voice b-breaks when you talk louder, and they're-it's f-f-fine when-when, the rest of the time, I-I thought, w-what if, what if you j-j-" she bit her tongue, the stabbing pain bringing tears to her eyes as she cupped both hands over her mouth. She feared she'd start bawling then and there, but a gentle hand on her shoulder reminded her that she wasn't talking to complete strangers, but someone she loved, someone that might have even loved her back, and two people that... well, she was pretty sure they trusted her.
Fluttershy opened her eyes, but nothing had changed. The world hadn't split open, the sky hadn't fallen, and the sirens didn't look even a little upset with her. If anything, they looked lost, trading unsure glances until Adagio, gently rubbing Fluttershy's back, asked a question in a soft voice.
"What do you mean, Sweetie? That if we're just quiet, we should be able to sing again? Did Sunset Shimmer say that, was it an idea from Twilight Sparkle? What brought this on?"
She needed a minute before she could steady herself enough to verbalize a reply. "I, n-no, it's not from anyone, it just hit me a second ago. You s-said that, uhm, I-I mean, I think you said, that it was only when you were l-loud enough, s-so, I mean..." She gulped, her heart shuddering at the very idea of getting their hopes up for nothing. "Have you tried? Just singing quietly?"
There was another silent look-trading session before Aria shrugged. "What would you sing when it's so quiet hardly anyone's gonna hear it?" She was almost startled by Fluttershy's instant answer.
"A lullaby?"
Another short silence, this one broken by Sonata bursting into gigglefits with a wavering grin. "W-what, like, just like that? Sing quiet and it'll work great?"
"Have you tried?"
"Why would-"
It was the forcefulness in her voice that did the startling this time. "Have you tried?" It was like a needle in Fluttershy's heart when Sonata looked back at her as though she'd been scolded. If she had pony ears, they would have been down.
"N-no..."
This time, it was Fluttershy that was startled as Adagio cleared her throat. The others looked to her as though she'd just said she was going to cut a finger off.
"Well," she uttered, "lullabies aren't exactly our bread and butter, but if there's even a chance...?" Aria and Sonata, her two oldest friends, watched her in stationary silence as she raised a steadying hand to her chest, closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and held a hushed note. None of them could rightly call it singing, but it was a far cry from the screechy Hell that had been their performance just before being booed off the stage at the Battle. She dared push a little harder, but backed down to softer keys when she felt her voice giving. Staying as low as possible, she varied things a little more, letting herself gently hum a few bars of the lullaby Fluttershy had sung for her the day she was sick.
And nothing was wrong.
It was soft, it was modest, but it was her voice, a much gentler version of what she remembered. Her heartbeat picking up, she opened her eyes to see her two band-mates gaping at her with their eyes nearly bulging straight out of their sockets and Fluttershy beaming the biggest, brightest, most dentist-worrying smile she'd ever seen her make. Adagio's speaking voice was soft and tearful as she smiled at the three of them. "Join me?"
The four of them practiced a lullaby together. Aria and Sonata were as shaky as Adagio had been at first, but the three of them worked out their range fairly quickly, singing very softly, but almost flawlessly for the first time since their gems were destroyed. When the lullaby stopped, it wasn't because the song was over, but because none of the four girls could hold together through their tears. She would deny it to her dying day, but Aria was the first to break down into inelegant blubbering as the sirens all but launched at each other, stammering and crying and and squeezing each other in clumsy, but fully-reciprocated hugs. It wasn't all happy crying, because overjoyed though they were to have even this much, they knew they'd spent the last few months without it for no better reason than having been too scared to try such a thing, but pain wasn't high on their list right now.
Emotionally raw though they were, the three didn't forget about Fluttershy, who was startled for different reasons when they latched onto her as one, their tears matched with her own, their grateful mutterings met with wordless blubbering that vaguely conveyed wishes for their continued happiness. It wouldn't make up for what they had lost, all of them knew that, but for now? It was something, and something they intended to cherish every day of their lives.
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Adagio is now officially River Song
Sitting here, fanning my face and crying like a bitch... Damn it Eyeswirl! Killing me with this! *deeeep breath* Okay... I'm okay.
God damn it I'm such a sap. I really loved this chapter, and it did enough to make me cry so you did something right.
Also, my next clopfic is taking a little bit longer than I thought, due to my latest project having most of my focus.
This... was looking at a master practising his craft. You make it look so easy, and yet we all know from reading thousands and thousands of fics that this is one of the most difficult of arts.
I'm going to say it -please don't take it as an insult- this.. was a DISNEY moment!
Thanks for the link and the support,
and now I am extremely glad that I changed from father to mother in my story.
Fluttershy is a savant at all things soft and quiet.
Because Chris and Boulder are the real OTP.
Aw, that was so sweet. Fluttershy just gave them an amazing present that they'll not forget anytime soon. Thanks for the chapter!
Yes, it definitely feels like it's in the final stretch now. At least Adagio addresses that keeping secrets to seem trustworthy can end up backfiring.
When you said the Sirens were going to sing a lullaby, the first thing I thought of was this one, even though it's not really appropriate.
Beautiful
I LOVE this story! I LOVE it! Started as a guilty pleasure for all the good teasin but it turned into one of my favorite stories on the site and evolved into an even better story.
6981278
Glad you're enjoying! Assuming that you're crying for the same reasons they are in that chapter, I mean. Mostly.
And, no rush. My favorite new saying that relates to stuff taking a while: Rome wasn't built in a day, but it sure burned in one.
6981296
I think part of what made that last scene work was the build-up. It wouldn't have had the same impact if it had come 100,000 or so words sooner, let alone at the start of the story, so it probably has as much to do with the investment of the reader. It's not as simple as "write good, get instant emotional impact," is what I mean to say there, if that makes sense.
And yes, Disney fits for our little lover of fairytales.
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Isn't she, though?
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Huh. That actually makes some kind of sense.
...So, was the moment in the volcano some kind of belligerent sexual tension, or a moment of domestic violence? Being pushed into lava so a lady can walk over on you implies either that Chris was leaving the boulder for Sheva, or some level of masochism on the boulder's part.
I am reading entirely too much into this.
6981331
There will be much humming of quiet melodies through the siren house after this point, yes.
6981425
Fitting for the sirens, perhaps, but yea, not really fitting for the scene here.
...Though would you believe I've already written a parody for that song in another story about Fluttershy in a secret relationship? Something like a year ago? No idea when I'll get around to publishing that part, though. :s
6981548
6981609
Glad you enjoyed!
6981778 Ah, but that is precisely what I meant. Whatever you say about Disney, they sure know how to build up and execute the perfect Daaaw!
...You're John Lasseter writing under a secret alias, aren't you?
Another great chapter.
Oh yus. This is the good feels.
Savor those tears. These sort of feels don't come around often.
Mhmm. My bleeding heart.
Okay, the end to that chapter? Feel-inducing.
The thing that I was wondering about for a while now is when you write your characters, are they staying the same personality/background-wise in your every story and it’s just the events that are different? As if SfaCF's Adagio is the very same crying wreck of a leader Adagio that was wall flowering with her legs shaking in “Smile” (still no idea what Sunset’s reaction ‘Yea, they are…’ with perplexed stares following meant) just from a different timeline? Is it true to say that sirens in SfaCF spent the last 30 years as teenage girls in human world according to “Here comes the sun”?
Another moment – during this chapter I had a though of “Come one girls, stop interpreting every little thing as sexual implication. What, are you teens with hormones going crazy? Oh, I forgot you actually are.” Which once again made me wonder is Starswirl making sirens stuck in physical age of teenagers (with all hormonal fun that goes with it) was a very intentional little cruel joke of his?
The chapter itself though? Everything I could have ever wanted for sirens. 10/10.
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Wha?..
Chris? Who? Whaaaa?
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Thank you kind sir, it's not often I get a good laugh this early in the morning.
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Nah, no relation between stories unless stated otherwise. Which, as far as I recall, was never apart from direct sequels. I try to write them differently every time, different backstories, slightly different personalities, possibly even different lifespans. No real headcanons on any of it, because the lack of concrete material with these three gives me plenty of room to explore.
Oh, and, Sunset's line in I Can Smile was meant to hint that she was watching Adagio a little more closely than was strictly called for, that and Adagio's fondness for unicorns being included because I'm a near-obsessive Sundagio shipper.
Hm. I never actually established their age in that history chapter, did I? Oops.
Well, maybe I can get to that in the next chapter. Starswirl didn't do anything special to them, just flung them through the portal and, as far as they know, left them to rot. (though in the comic, it said he thought of it as his greatest failure, so he must have cared at least a little)
I'm thinking they came out as teens for the same reason Sunset and Twilight did;
plot convenience for the moviesmagic is bugfck crazy in the human world.And it's not over yet!
Pinkie being unable to resist going 'didn't know that they fell oh-woah-oh' early in the chapter was meant to hint that she liked Under Our Spell. I thought it was clever at the time.
Slightly obscure reference, I guess. Rainbow's boulder-punching anecdote referred to a scene in Resident Evil 5, in which the protagonist punches a boulder to knock it off a ledge. It's a jarring moment even to this day, but kinda par for the course as far as Capcom's (company that makes Resident Evil) writing goes.
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I try.
Also: We know that since both ended up in the lava, Boulder probably got over Chris in a blink when it laid non-existent eyes on Wesker!
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I actually liked that little moment a lot. Nevermind, a little brainfart on my part. I should probably start taking that proper sleep advice.
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Hmm. After the abuse from Chris, unless Boulder is into that sort of thing, I could see Boulder jumping on the Wesker train.
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A year ago? So what you're saying is that you're a time-traveler. Now the name makes sense.
As an aside, it was a mildly amusing piece of meta-humor to have Rainbow Dash be the straight one.
Amazing gift, Flutters. Also, Flutter-thing strikes again! (Love those) What are we at now? Fluttersigh, Fluttershrug, and Flutterhug? Aw yiss.
Figuring that having your greatest talent taken away would destroy your happiness. You are utterly amazing Flutters; giving them at least part of it back. Their returned happiness brought a tear to my eye.
Sucks that the story is winding down. I rather enjoy the flirty nature of Dagi against our fair Flutter. I know there are a few chappies left but it makes me go 'aw' all the same. I love your story Eyeswirl.
Keep up the good work, I'll be sure to read the next one.
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"Fluttercry" is another one, but difficult to use in situations lighthearted enough to be playing with her name.
"Don't cry when it's over, smile because it happened."
Though, yes, I'll probably miss writing their dynamic too when this story is over.
...Which makes me glad Adagio and Fluttershy will probably both be making appearances in the two spin-offs I have planned.
This is great.
What's with the weird size changing? But yeah, that's, kinda funny.
Oh my!
That's a new one.
Ooh, good point.
Gotcha.
Sounds hilarious.
She would fit right in in a Dr Seuss book.
No please, go on.
Worth a try. Still though, Adagio's got some pretty good upper body strength to be able to lift you up like that. I mean, I doubt Fluttershy's that heavy, but, still a human body's a human body, bones, muscle, water, adds up.
That's what she said! I'm not even remotely sorry.
I love this girl.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Whoa there! Keep it kid friendly!
What have you got to lose?
It worked. It worked...
Daaw!
(Even if this isn't over, which is great, if you had ended it here, I wouldn't have complained. It works.)
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It was meant to indicate that Pinkie was saying those parts quietly without a weirdly-formed sentence to narrate it. Sorry if that bit wasn't clear.
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OK.
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There are two now? The purple-cobalt spin-off is the obvious one, but what could be the 2nd one about?
Edit: sudden realization. I would not be surprized by a particular musical number performed by Rari, Nata, Shy and Dagi for Dash and Aria
Well that was sweet. A little sad they won't be getting all of their voices back, but it's still nice.
6982825 you could always use it in the alternate meaning of cry, like 'she fluttercried out to stop'
6983613 I got a large sum of fake internet dollars that says their problem is that they don't know how to sing and have never trained their vocal cords. They've been using magic for so long that they've gotta start from scratch to learn how to sing for real.
You can't just start belting. You'll just have your voice crack. It's a skill. It takes practice.
Hah!
I see Pinkie's a fan of that one, too.
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You would lose a great quantity of fake internet dollars with that bet.
I've heard that theory before, and I don't buy it for a second, because the way talents are typically presented in this show, there's no reason to think the sirens alone should have to "earn" theirs where everyone else (especially ponies) are just granted theirs at an arbitrary point. If the message is that you should have to earn it to be skilled, why does everyone else get a free pass there?
If starting from scratch and training up to be great is an important, unskippable part of the process, why does everyone just magically get their talent without any questions asked? When Twilight bungled Starswirl's spell, why did the other five not have to go through the long and grueling process of starting from nothing? Did they already 'earn' theirs from years of use, even though it was granted to them at all by entirely magical means? Rarity's special talent wasn't even making clothes, it was finding gems, but Applejack wasn't working in a mine, was she?
(In context, if not seeing the Sonic Rainboom due to Starlight Glimmer's interference kept the other five from earning their special talents, wouldn't that mean that the cutie marks are essentially the same as the gems, just with tramp stamps instead of stones?)
Or do we skip over that part because it's the protagonists and therefore completely different? Is it fine when all the heroes have to do is put in a few minutes of effort for the full reward, but not anyone else?
Even if it is solely the gems that granted them the ability, they've been using them for quite a while now, and use of training wheels typically has the effect of training, as far as I understand it. If it granted them the skill, something they would have to put conscious effort into using (I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like "Gem, make me sing good for the next few minutes." and the rest happening on its own without direction), why would they completely forget it all the second the gems were lost? Was that hard-wired into the things for some reason, or did their destruction just happen to result in purging their memories of every time they'd ever sung before?
In reality, yes, you generally have to work to be good at things, and even talent only goes so far, but if the rules of this universe are happy to handwave that part, then why are the sirens left out? You could make the case that they were bad guys and therefore 'deserved' to have their talent ripped away from them (ignoring all the times the 'good guys' did something harmful and got off with nary a slap on the wrist, a la Tanks for the Memories, as well as that doing such a thing to anyone is presented as sick and wrong when Starlight Glimmer does it), but I don't recall anyone else being punished for their crimes with what the show equates to destroying their identity. Taking some amount of their power, perhaps, but not what may amount to their special talent.
...Yeesh, that got rambly.
TL;DR: I don't know if any of this will be addressed in canon, but for the purposes of this story? The sirens know perfectly well how to sing, they are essentially crippled, and what they're able to manage here is the equivalent of limping.
Really Looking forward to the rarinata fic. Sounds adorable.
Because it was there,
Aww so sweet, I wanted to cry at the end :')
And that was the story of how Adagio proceeded to kick Aria and Sonata out of the house
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/11/12/762782__twilight+sparkle_questionable_vulgar_dilated+pupils_and+then+they+all+fucked_spark.png
So little more I can say that I haven't about this story. The ending of this chapter was wonderful. I am really happy to start seeing more of Fluttershy interacting with all three of them. I do love the continued poking at Dash about her relationship with Aria. I am happy to see that this isn't the last chapter, though I can understand why so many thought it might be.
It is also rather funny to see how used to Adagio's antics Fluttershy is getting, to the point that Adagio sneaking up behind her is starting to not even faze her anymore.
As always, looking forward to more.
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[youtube=bS2Tp4wfnkU]
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A bit of column A, a bit of column B. Adagio sitting in front of her definitely colored her artistic inspiration.
I finally got 'round to reading this chapter. and.. okay, no surprise how much ive lavished so much praise on this. I LOOOOVEEEEEDDDD IT!!!
seriously. that moment at the end felt magical. baby steps. beautiful steps. such happy tears...also, i love how the Siren-rainboom groups are starting to show. CANNOT wait to the spin off stories, and ill be sad when this one ends.
this story is why I'm starting to now ship Adagio with Fluttershy more than Sundagio. well. makes my pairings clearer. hehehe.
That was a great chapter It was so cute and that end was wonderful I think it is very nice on what gift Fluttershy gave I do hope they can get their singing voices back I think that would be so awesome I WANT MOAR SOON! If that is alright with you
Well that ending made me tear up. Well done. Very well done. The emotion and the conclusion to this was actually kind of clever and it's always nice to see some heartwarming growth of this pairing. Keep up the excellent work.
Don't feel bad about skipping over the dialogue. We know how it would play out anyway and the last thing we need is wasting time on nothing we don't already know or repeating what was estabilished many times already and yes Cloud Kicker, I understand you want to go and fight and others don't want you to go but you want to even though they tell you not to but you feel its your duty AEFGHAHFHGASHGAHFWSHA (yes, I'm talking about "Life and Time of a Winning Pony", or "How to Repeatedly Ruin A Second Half of a Great Story with too much pointless dialogue"). And since it meant we got that ending bit here sooner, but not too soon, it was all worth it.
The feels, man. They were real. As most things in this story, it was all worth waiting for.
I'm not sure if I've commented yet, and I feel a bit bad about that since giving feed back on stuff you like is important. So I'm going to fix that here.
The fic is bloody brilliant. It's probably in my top five, and I've read a lot of fics on this site.
Please keep up the wonderful work~!
Ooh, ooh! Are you going to be including some of human Twilight? And of the fics lasts that long, the event of the next Equestria girls movie? I've been wondering about that for a while now.
EDIT: Holy, crap, the downloaded chapters don't include the author's notes! So you may have already answered those questions.
Damn internet. the only reason I've been downloading them to read is because it's been down for a while now. I use free WiFi from places to download fics and get my pony fix that way, hehe, the download option is best option.
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Glad you're enjoying!
Unfortunately, no, Sci-Twi and the events of the rest of the canon Equestria Girls movies will not be part of this. That's probably for the best, because while I'd love to include Sci-Twi here (and the rest of my stories in general), she'd probably just function as Dorkier, More Bookish, And Even More Awkward Fluttershy, especially if she met this interpretation of Adagio.
...That said, I'm writing my own version of Friendship Games with the sirens included, and the Shadowbolts are due to make their first appearance in the next chapter.
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Indeedy. I think the charm in that story started bleeding out a little after Luna's appearance.
And how many times did they make that stupid 'duty' joke? Wasn't even funny the first time.
Four girls bursting into blubbery, happy, huggy tears may do that.
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This chapter has gotten a much more positive response than I was anticipating! I thought there'd be at least a few comments saying that the soft-singing explanation made no sense or that someone should have gotten mad and started some drama or something, but nothing of the sort so far.
I've been planning this little cluster of chapters since I picked this story up again, so I'm glad to see it went over so well.
6993372 Whoa, that's awesome. I've already got the chapters for it downloaded for later enjoyment.
One of the biggest draws with this fic is the way you write Adagio, Aria and Sonata. Especially Adagio~<3
Uhg, it really grinds my gears that they didn't at least show us whether or not they were still around. I'm hoping that doesn't prove the head canon that without their gems they were doomed to slow starvation Which was kind of a head canon I really hate. And I normally don't give head canon's I don't follow enough thought to dislike them.
So anyways, thanks for telling me about the other fic~! I'm sure it'll be awesome.
6993372 You did an excellent job. I just hope I can match the sheer brilliance and heartwarming aspects in Queen Mommy.
seriously I need more like buttons
This story deserves more likes