Welcome

Chapters

Podunk Town
Composure
Once Upon a Time, In the Magical Land of...
Dreams
Pillow Talk.
Idea.
Starswirl the Bearded
I love you.

Podunk Town

A stoic girl with orange hair and yellow skin was currently using a power sander on the back door of a home. The door was about one fourth of an inch too big for the door frame, giving it issues when someone tried to shut it. Quietly and carefully the girl worked, polishing off just a little bit at a time along the side of the door, making sure to check each time if the door fit. Polish off too much and the door would let in cold or hot air over time. Eventually, the girl was satisfied when she open and closed the door slowly, determining the door was just the right size. She quickly cleaned off the sander and put it away in the shed nearby. making her way to the front of the home, the girl knocked harshly on the front door; About ten seconds later, an old woman with a bright smile answered.

"Oh, did you fix the door sweetheart?" The old woman smiled.

"Yes ma'am." The girl quietly responded.

"Would you like to come in? You look like you could use a rest dear. I just finished making some pancakes if you want some."

"No thank you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

The old woman sighed, "Well, you don't work yourself too hard now. Tell your grandfather I said hi."

"Yes ma'am, you have a nice day."

"You too dear."

The girl promptly turned and left once the women closed the door. She had to hurry home, she was suppose to be back to work in the fields ten minutes ago. It wasn't terrible that she was late but it definitely wasn't something she wanted to make a common occurrence.

Pollyville, short for Pollyanna Village, was a small town across the mountain from Canterlot City. Canterlot was capital city, and appropriately enough, it sat right in the middle of the country. All cities could reach Canterlot with little trouble, assuming they had proper transportation, but the cities to the south-west were just far enough that it was annoying to drive to Canterlot, but taking an airplane was a waste. Pollyville was the answer to that. It was a nice, quiet little town just a short distance from Canterlot that gave travelers the opportunity to either refresh themselves before they made last stretch, or stop for the night and continue in the morning.

Despite the steady flow of tourist, Pollyville was a very backwater, podunk town. It itself had nothing to offer you couldn't get in Canterlot, and most of the people living in it were farmers. Only half of the townsfolk had phones, the only computer was in the general store. Everyone who had a slight spark of ambition or intellect usually left the town and headed towards Canterlot right as soon as they graduated high school. The girl walking home was actually an ace student herself, one who frequently dreamed of becoming a singer or voice actor; She wanted to stay though and look after the farm. She felt her sisters were equally talented and smart, even if they didn't get the best grades, and someone had to look after the farm and their grandfather.

Even if she couldn't pursue her dreams, she lived a happy life. Honest work had a way of keeping your thoughts simple. She loved her grandfather and didn't mind taking care of him up to his final moments, it also helped she was generally fond of the other town folks. She went out of her way to help them on principal due to the beliefs her grandfather taught her, but she couldn't deny the warm feeling seeing someone happy after fixing a problem. Sadly, the only villager who had an issue with the girl just started walking up to her.

"Hey Adagio!" Sunset put hand on the girl in a false, friendly manner. "Late getting home are you? I feel bad for your POOR younger sisters!"

Adagio quietly continued to walk as she ignored her.

"Hey!" Sunset shoved Adagio back, putting her face up against hers "I was talking to you."

Adagio tried to walk around her, but Sunset just pushed her back again.

"What, am I not worth your time, miss too cool for all the other students? Because you get the top grades in class, that means no one is worth your time huh? It's not like it matters, everyone knows you cheat anyway!"

Sunset shoved Adagio onto the ground and sneered. "For someone who's so great apparently, you could at least try not to be such an eyesore. Can you really call that rat's nest on your head hair? Are those rags suppose to be dirt brown, or do you never wash them? And really, would it kill you to put on a little deodorant? This is why you've never gotten a boyfriend before, you know, everyone always talks about how disgusting you are when your back is turned.

Adagio calmly rose back up, and starting walking away.

"There's a reason only the old timers like you, you ugly bitch!" Sunset yelled after her.

Adagio didn't think her fellow classmates hate her that much. She didn't really talk to any of the other classmates, but that's only because she had to hurry home after school and tend to the farm. Because of that, she never really cared much for maintaining her image. Sunset always messed with her the most, but sometimes the other students got in on it too if her sisters weren't around. Grandpa told her that all the kids around that age acted like that because of puberty. It wasn't her, it was just high school, things will get better once everyone's a little older. She knew she was a good kid, and that's all that mattered.

Adagio wiped a tear away and sighed in frustration. She couldn't go home and let her sisters see her like this, that would cause drama and waste even more precious daylight that could be spent on the fields. she sat down on the grass nearby and tried to meditate for a couple minutes while staring at the general store's sign.

PENS AND COUCHES.

If anyone passed by and looked at Adagio, they would think she was trying to burn a hole into the store's sign with her eyes. She was always scowling to some degree. It's not that she was mad, or always in deep thought or suffering some deep turmoil, the answer was actually quite simple.

Adagio was near-sighted.

She was always squinting, or rather, scowling to try and read anything remotely far away. To everyone else, they thought that meant she was always pissed off. The reason Adagio never got glasses or contacts was also rather simple, along with a bit sad. She was unaware she was near-sighted. She thought that everything was suppose to be a bit blurry looking at that distance, and everyone else was just much better at adapting to the distance than she was.

Feeling better, Adagio rose back up and continued walking home. She grimaced at the position of the sun, she probably only had two hours at most left in the field. reaching her home, she hurried in to drop off her backpack and drink a quick glass of water. The sound of coughing made her freeze.

"Hello?" She called out.

"Welcome home Addy! You were out late today, secretly partying while grandpa's out?" An old man teased.

He was smiling.

Before her stood a man who moved around and acted one-fourth of his age. While most people recognize and remembered her grandfather for his impressive beard, the first detail Adagio always notice was his gentle smile. It was a rare occasion of Starswirl to frown, and it was usually in jest. There wasn't a man she respect more than her grandfather. Normally, the first thing she would've done was hug him, but right now, he was the last person she wanted to see.

"Welcome back, I didn't expect you to be back from your trip so soon," Adagio replied.

"I get homesick easily!" He cheered. "Where were you today? Out playing with a friend?"

"No." she calmly said, not looking him in the eye.

"Oh, what were you out doing?" Starswirl questioned.

"Miss Matilda needed her door fixed." Adagio quickly replied.

"Oh! Well good on you to help her!" Starswirl laughed, while rustling her hair. "Now what's eating you up?"

Adagio suppressed a sigh. "Nothing, I didn't want to get home late."

"That expression isn't 'I got home late,' that's a 'my feelings were hurt' face. What happened Adagio?"

Adagio knew her grandpa would find out in a heartbeat, sometimes she didn't even know why she tried. "I was teased a bit."

"Who?"

"Sunset."

Starswirl wrapped her granddaughter in a hug. Both of them knew logically why Adagio shouldn't take it to heart. They've had that talk before. But emotions don't listen to reason. Adagio quietly sobbed into her loving grandpa's shoulder for a few minutes before breaking the hug.

"Feel better?" He said.

"Yes." she whispered.

"Anytime Addy, I love you." he gently responded, stroking her shoulder.

"I love you too grandpa." she sniffed.

Wiping away her tears, she give him a very brief smile before walking into the bathroom and washing her face. Having her sisters see her cry would never do. She nodded to her grandfather as she headed to the front door, but stopped when she heard him cough again. She turned around and looked at him closer.

"Are you feeling alright?" Adagio asked.

"Of course, why do you ask?" He smiled.

"You look tired, and a bit skinnier than you used to be."

"Looks like that exercise regimen has been working then." Starswirl stated in a serious tone.

"You haven't been exercising." Adagio narrowed her eyes, "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"There's nothing to worry about, I just got a small cough. You're worrying me too Addy. Don't push yourself too hard, alright?" Starswirl warned.

"I'll be fine." She quickly dismissed him and hurried outside before he badger her further.

She winced again as she heard her grandfather sigh as she passed out the front door.

Adagio grabbed a hoe out from the tool shed and headed towards the fields. It was getting close to fall so it was time to plant new vegetables. Beets, cabbages, carrots, broccoli, collards... The girls had finished up gathering the summer harvest a week ago and had been preparing the fields once more.

Falling in line with her sisters, the other two stopped and looked at her expectantly. Making sure her face showed no sign of her previous distress, Adagio calmly spoke up.

"Miss Matilda needed her door fixed," she explained.

The other two nodded their heads and went back to work. The three silently went about their task, now going faster since there were three working in harmony rather than two trying to compensate for their missing worker. An half hour went by before one of them cleared their throat.

Adagio's ears perked up as Sonata quietly started to sing, a gentle tone that had no melody that gave the impression of relief. Aria smiled, but didn't join in just yet. Adagio on the other hand, started to slightly panic. She could hide her emotions from her sisters just fine with words, but nothing was hidden between their songs. She knew it would be suspicious if she didn't join in.

Aria added her voice to Sonata's, adding a slightly teasing tone to it, one that was good natured and full of warmth. Sonata's turned playful too and the song was a lighthearted one full of mischief.

Adagio gulped and cleared her throat. Raising her voice a sorrowful tone joined the other two, clashing against it. Her sisters stopped and looked at Adagio in concern, they would question her later, no doubt, the farm work waited for no one.

The other two joined, now singing a soothing melody, one full of compassion and love, trying to heal their sister with their voices. The three combined in harmony, singing a sad melody that slowly bled away the pain, purifying the pain in Adagio's heart.

The song went on for about ten minutes before all three stopped for a group hug. Brushing away a tear, Adagio went back to work on the field.

Composure

The three sisters walked into school, giving each other a nod before going their separate ways. There was a saying around town that they could walk into a cemetery and make the dead seem lively. They weren't far off the mark about Adagio, even around her family the girl never had much to say. Some think it was because Sunset bullied her over her unusually deep voice, others believe she was as nasty as Sunset but was smart enough to stay in the good graces of the elders. There were very few who even thought that deep down, Adagio was just really shy and happened to have a mean face, they were halfway correct at least. Adagio was near-sighted, but wasn't exactly shy. Those few soon found out as she quietly glared at them while being polite, but dismissive during chats. No one really wanted to be Adagio's friend, but no one wanted to upset the older folks either, so the general rule of thumb was to leave her be. The truth was that Adagio was following a very simple rule her Grandpa told the three of them all the time when they were growing up.

"If it's something nice, say it twice! If it's something rude, change your attitude."

Adagio was never out to get anyone, but isolation and Sunset made her life hard, so she never had anything nice to say to anyone. Her Grandfather told her say the truth in love, so with all honesty, Adagio never talked to anyone because all she had to say were insults. Instead, she meditated and try to have a positive outlook on things. She clung on the belief that eventually things would get better. She had her whole life ahead of her after all.

Aria Blaze's situation was similar to Adagio, although much simpler. Aria did not have a positive attitude in general. Even around her family she didn't smile much. Even as a little girl she seemed to look at everything with contempt, puberty only made it much worse. She seemed to hate everyone and everything and she more than happy not to have any friends. But she loved her family, she treasured them more than anything, and she knew how much Adagio and Sonata tried to be good girls. She didn't want to give her sisters any more grief than they already had, and more than that, she didn't want them to be disappointed in her. So she quietly fumed and tolerated all the bullying coming her way, staying perfectly silent, not letting anyone know how much she hated this town and everyone who lived in it.

Sonata Dusk was definitely the most cheery of the three. Around the dinner table she would babble on about trivial things: cool things she saw, a new song she came up with, something funny that happened in school, jokes she came up with... Grandfather loved hearing Sonata talk and encourage all thee of them to share how their day went. One time when Grandpa was absent and Sonata was feeling down, she snuck in how one of the girls at school gave her a bloody nose by tripping her, thinking the girls weren't really paying attention. The two jumped up from their seats and interrogated her while checking to see if she was okay. Dinner time wasn't just the highlight of Starswirl's day, but Adagio and Aria's too. All of them loved to hear Sonata talked and paid close attention to everything she said. On that day she learned that both of her older sisters could get very scary when she got hurt, and Adagio was not as cool headed as she came off.

Although Sonata loved to babble around her family, in front of others she was terribly shy. She was a very emotionally sensitive girl, and being Adagio and Aria's sister caused others to bully her by association too, although not as much. Even the small amount was too much for her, and because of that Sonata became very withdrawn from others. On good days in group events Sonata could get along with others, but since she spent most of her free time outside of class with her sisters she was ostracized as much of the other two.

And this is what Adagio fully believed about herself and her sisters, but any well grounded adult could recognize what was wrong with them.

They're just teenagers.

Adagio did have moments where she thought positively of others, even when they weren't being nice, but she so locked up in her own thoughts and feeding her own troubles she never jumped on the chances to socialize that were presented to her. For a teenager, she was handling them wonderfully, but that didn't change the fact the reason she was so crabby around anyone besides her family is because she was a hormonal kid who thought she was different from the rest, just like all hormonal kids who think they were different from the rest. Since she was a bit coddling towards her younger siblings, she had a slight subconscious bias that they can do no wrong, and they're innocent, lovable children. In truth, all three of them would encourage other students to give them trouble occasionally by sneering at them or giving them the stink eye.

That's simply how life goes.

Adagio walked into her classroom. It was a small class with about 17 kids around her age. Pollyville was small enough that everyone went to the same school, instead of there being a elementary, middle, and high. Classes were separated by grades instead of students, and seven teachers managed to handle 12 classes. She saw Sunset near the back row, giving her a look of contempt. Making sure not to make eye contact, Adagio sat down in her seat and pulled out her books.

Flipping open to the correct page, Adagio started to jot down notes right as the teacher began to lecture. Math wasn't Adagio's best subject, she frequently would have to ask the teacher or Aria for help after class. Squinting extra hard to make out what the teacher was writing on the board, Adagio diligently went about her tasks of taking notes, let letting anything distract her.

Not even the spitballs getting shot into the back of her hair.

Adagio didn't know who was shooting them, but it wasn't hard to guess. Suppressing a sigh, she tried her hardest to focus on note taking and ignored the wet impacts hitting the back of her head. She knew it was a bad idea to try and ask the teacher to get Sunset to stop. Her family was one of the most wealthy in Pollyville and have subtly used the threat of stopping donations to various places to get others to overlook Sunset's behavior. Adagio gave a gentle scoff, for a town named Pollyanna Village, this place wasn't very happy; or at least, didn't bring her much joy.

With the three hours over, the class was dismissed for lunch. Adagio gathered her belongings and hurried out of the classroom, she didn't want to get harassed anymore than she had today. She gave a sigh of relief when she made it through the lunch line with no problems. She saw Sonata sitting with the little kids. Her youngest sister was making jokes and goofy faces at the kids while eating, much to their delight. Adagio gave a tiny smile, Sonata was always good with children.

Seeing Aria sitting by herself, Adagio sat down next to the middle sibling and nodded her head at her. Aria nodded back and the two started to quietly eat their lunch.

"Report." Adagio quietly said before taking a bite of her burger.

"I didn't punch out anyone's teeth today." Aria said in a slightly bitter tone.

"Proud of you." Adagio praised her.

Adagio calmly grabbed the back of Aria's hand with her own and gave a gentle squeeze. She gently stroked Aria's hand with her thumb while eating her burger. It was the same thing Aria said everyday, but it wasn't a joke, Adagio knew that. Grandpa always told her to never hesitate to show when you appreciate something, so Adagio made sure Aria knew she appreciated how hard she tried. The two silently enjoyed each others company before Adagio got up. Aria gave her hand another squeeze before letting go and Adagio headed back to class.

The rest of school went how it usually does, Sunset bothering Adagio to some degree, Adagio taking notes, and then Adagio staying after class for an hour to get help with everything she didn't understand, which was usually a little over half the material. Aria and Sonata informed her that they would be home late. Sonata was asked to babysit Button Mash, and Aria had to go grocery shopping. Adagio hurried home to try and get a head start on the farm work.

She entered her home and dropped off her backpack in her home. Adagio frowned. Her grandpa would've already greeted her loudly with cheer by now.

"Grandpa?" Adagio called out, "I'm home."

No response.

"Grandpa?" Adagio called out louder. She walked over to his bedroom and opened the door. "Gran..."

Starswirl was on the ground coughing up blood, he grasped his throat and collapsed to the floor.

Adagio gasped and ran over to his side. She hesitated touching him. What if moving him hurt him? What was hurting him? A face doesn't normally turn that red, even when sick, does it? Should she try to get him into bed? She wished her sisters were here. They would probably be freaking out like her but at least her sisters would be here.

"Grandpa, speak to me!" Adagio commanded.

Starswirl groaned in pain and managed to wiggle a little bit before curling deeper into a ball. Adagio put both of her hands under him and braced herself. Taking a deep breath and using her abs, Adagio quickly lifted her grandfather and gently put him down in the bed. She calmly left the room and then sprinted downstairs once the room was out of sight. Grabbing the phone, she nervously jammed 911 into the keypad.

"Hello, this is 911, what is your emergency?" The professional voice on the other side answered.

"My grandfather's sick," Adagio forced herself to say calmly. "He can't move or speak, he looks terrible. His face is red and he coughed up blood." Adagio stopped to think for a second. "I think he's having trouble breathing."

"What is your address?"

"56 Whacker Drive. The second turn off on the left takes you to a farm that's about 7 miles out, the road is a bit bumpy and-"

"Calm down dear, it'll be fine. I'm sending an ambulance right now."

"Thank you." Adagio released a breath she didn't know she was holding."

"Just monitor your grandfather and let us know if his condition changes."

"Alright."

Adagio jumped a little when the phone line cut off. Adagio hurried back upstairs, and then ran back downstairs and grabbed a washrag and ran it under cold water. Grabbing a couple extra pillows, Adagio ran back upstairs, almost slipping on the steps, and stopped herself in front of her grandfather's room. Calmly walking in she readjusted him and put a cold rag on his head.

"Take deep breaths Grandpa, an ambulance is on the way."

fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang. Adagio stopped pacing back and forth, not even realizing she was pacing, and dashed downstairs. Forcing herself to not yank open the door, she saw two paramedics.

"We're here because you-"

"He's upstairs, hurry!" She barked out, turning around and heading back upstairs.

She rushed back to her Grandpa's room to make sure he was still breathing. After readjusting his washrag she turned around to see no one followed her. With a spike of panic in her heart she charged out of the room and almost body rammed a paramedic carrying a stretcher.

"Is this the room?" The paramedic asked.

"Yes, he's in here!" Adagio squeaked.

The two men put Starswirl onto the stretcher and started carrying him out.

"Is he going to be okay?" Adagio asked, trying to hide the dread in her voice.

"Don't worry, we're taking him to the hospital now." The larger man of the two answered.

Adagio almost screamed that he didn't answer her question. burying her hands into her face, she took a deep breath, held it, released it, and tried to calm down. Regaining a smidgeon of her nerve, she followed the two into the ambulance.

The vehicle hurried down the road, bouncing from the bumpy terrain, as Adagio stared at her grandfather. He looked like he was being tortured. It tore Adagio's heart apart and made her feel helpless. More than anything she wanted her grandfather to look and her say that everything was going to be alright. Unable to watch him suffer any longer, Adagio forced herself to look out the window. She needed to keep herself calm.

She saw her sisters as the ambulance passed by them, they had a look of horror on their face.

Adagio screamed.

"Are you alright?!?" The smaller of the two paramedics called out.

"I'm fine!" Adagio halfway shouted in a shrill voice. Taking a deep breath, she repeated herself. "I'm fine," she said much more calmly.

"Please try to stay calm, we're almost to the hospital." The larger one said in a much more comforting tone.

"Yes, I'm sorry..." Adagio murmured.

The ambulance pulled into the hospital and hurried Starswirl in. Adagio jolted when an arm stopped her from going any further.

"Ma'am, please take a seat in the waiting room." A nurse gently, but firmly said.

"But!.." Adagio stopped herself, "...yes ma'am."

Adagio sat down on a bench. She didn't know if it had been a minute or an hour but she almost jumped again when she felt an hand lay on her shoulder. Both of her sisters were staring at her with a look of fear and confusion. Adagio took a deep breath and put on a mask of neutrality.

"Grandpa's in the emergency room. I found him on the floor of his room, coughing up blood." She stated.

"Is he going to be alright," Sonata croaked, starting to cry.

"Yes." Adagio said.

Aria bit her lip in frustration, "You don't know that!"

"Grandpa is going to be alright," Adagio insisted with a bit more force.

"But-"

"Grandpa!" Adagio cut Aria off, "... is going to be alright," she said with authority.

The two looked down at the floor in concern, unable to stop worrying. Adagio pulled them into a group hug.

"Grandpa is going to be alright, okay? I promise. I'll make sure everything is going to turn alright."

"Promise?.." Sonata whimpered.

"I promise." Adagio said in a soothing tone.

Adagio held her two younger sisters close to her chest for the next ten minutes as they cried. After a while, their cries turned into sniffs and they both took a seat next to Adagio.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Adagio stated.

Walking into the restroom, Adagio quietly walked into a stall and locked the door.

She fell to her knees and broke into tears.

Once Upon a Time, In the Magical Land of...

The three sisters sat in the waiting room, all wearing different expressions. After crying Aria had a permanent scowl on her face as she held Sonata's head close to her chest. Adagio wrapped her arms around them and occasionally gave one of the two a squeeze when it felt needed. She looked slightly guilty, worried that Aria was mad at her for leaving them alone. She continued to maintain a mask of neutrality while pacifying her sisters.

In reality, Aria was mad at herself. After Aria had a couple minutes to calm down, she realized her eldest sister was probably just as worried as she was; Her eldest sister that she just yelled at. Gritting her teeth, Aria tried her hardest to remain calm and support her sisters. She didn't know if she was helping Adagio at all, but she hoped that simple close contact was doing something.

Sonata was inconsolable, she clung onto her sisters as if letting go would mean never seeing them again. The very thought of her grandfather dying destroyed her heart, and every time she thought she couldn't feel worse, another memory of him would pop into her head and break her into little pieces all over again. Running on emotion alone, Sonata did the first thing she always did whenever she felt completely helpless.

She began to quietly sing.

In a scared, shaky tone, Sonata whimpered out a slow melody, one of desperation, seeking love. The two responded instantly, closting their eyes and adding their low hum to hers; Adagio and Aria's both scared, but full of warmth and love. Sonata's voice filled with warmth too, responding to her sisters. The three basked in each others love.

For five minutes, the three gently hummed a melody of fear and love, trying their hardest to calm each other down. Adagio, regaining her bravado, opened her eyes and saw most of the medical staff staring at them. Noticing Adagio stopped, the other two took notice of what was happening and all three proceeded to act like deers in headlights.

"Oh, um!" The nurse nearby cleared her throat. "Would all three of you be relatives of Starswirl?"

"Yes, we are his granddaughters." Adagio coolly said.

"Please follow me."

Aria and Sonata jumped to their feet, and then looked sheepish as they saw Adagio calmly get up. They followed the nurse into a empty room with two seats and a bed. The three looked around nervously, disappointed that they weren't taken to their grandfather.

"Please take a seat, I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news."

Sonata moaned in fear and Adagio wrapped her arms around her. Motioning for Aria to take a seat, Adagio sat down next to her and put Sonata in her lap.

"Please continue, nurse." Adagio said calmly.

"Yes, well... We examined your grandfather, he has tuberculosis. "

The three of them froze at the word. None of them were familiar with diseases. With the mood they were in though, they felt that the nurse just told them their grandfather had minutes to live.

"I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with the term. May I have an explanation for what is please?" Adagio forced herself to say calmly.

"Tuberculosis, to put simply, is a bacteria that usually attacks the lungs, but can strike anywhere in the body. If not treated it can be fatal."

All three of the girls froze in shock.

"F- fatal?" Adagio wheezed.

The nurse gave a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, that's only if it's not treated. People rarely ever die from tuberculosis when they have treatment. Your grandfather has been given his first dose just now and we're keeping him overnight just in case anything goes wrong."

Adagio let out a sigh in relief and regained her composure. The other two were not as relieved.

"Can we see him?!?" Sonata begged.

"I'm sorry, Tuberculosis is highly contagious. There is a high chance that any of you three might have caught it. I'm afraid we're going to have to examine you three."

"P- please... I- I want to see..." Sonata whimpered. Adagio squeezed her tightly and held her hand.

"Thank you very much, miss..." Adagio made a hand gesture.

"Miss Redheart." The nurse replied, "Can we examine you right now?"

"May I have a minute with my sisters?."

"I understand." She said, nodded and walked out, quietly closing the door behind her.

"Girls, listen closely." Adagio said softly, but with authority. "Grandpa is going to be fine. We're going to get examined, and go home."

"We can't just go home and, and!.."

"Aria, calm down," Adagio ordered, putting Sonata down and pulling both her sisters in close. "I don't want to leave Grandpa here too, but all we will do is cause the staff trouble. We all will get up early in the morning, and head back here before school, alright? I promised everything was going to be okay, and I mean it. Whatever is wrong with Grandpa, we'll handle it, I swear."

Aria opened her mouth to yell again, then closed it. She looked at Adagio with tired eyes, no longer wishing to fight. "Okay..." she said meekly.

"Sonata?" Adagio nudged her gently.

"Y- yes?.." She sniffed.

"Are you going to be able to walk home okay?"

She wiped her tears away and looked Adagio in the eyes. "Yeah..."

"Alright, let's thank the nurse for helping us, get ourselves checked, and go home."

Luckily, all three of them checked out fine. Adagio spent the next twenty minutes with the doctor trying to work who Grandpa had contact with over the last month to see who he might have gotten it from, or worse, given it to. For being old, Starswirl was surprisingly mobile and social. The man seemed to love connecting with others and while Adagio had nothing but respect for him, this was the one time she wished her grandfather was a bit more reclusive.

The walk home was painfully silent. Adagio thought that they were quiet before, but this was on a completely different level. She never notice the little noises her sisters made while moving. The way Sonata would occasionally hum or gently giggle to herself. How Aria would quietly scoff at a thought she had. It made Adagio wonder what sort of noises she made that no one really thinks about.

No one ate dinner that night. Usually, the girls would spend an half an hour in front of the radio listening to music before going to sleep, but all three of them headed to bed immediately. Adagio stared at the ceiling of her room for a couple minutes before realizing she was still in her casual wear. Sighing, she slowly went about the task of getting in her pajamas and flopped back into bed.

Adagio couldn't understand how tired her mind and body could be yet how wide awake she was. Flipping her pillow over to the cool side multiple times, she tried counting sheep, imagining songs, staying perfectly still, emptying her mind... Nothing, nothing worked. She was about slam her head into her pillow out of frustration when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." Adagio called out.

Sonata crept in slowly, closing the door behind her. She quietly made her way to Adagio's bed hiding the lower half of her face behind a pillow.

"Adagio... Can you read me a bedtime story?"

"What?"

"Whenever I can't sleep or I'm really sad, Grandpa would read me a bedtime story." Sonata murmured.

"Grandpa reads you bedtime stories." Adagio said in mild disbelief.

Sonata shyly nodded her head.

"Does he still read you bedtime stories?"

"Y- yeah, why?"

"...It's nothing. You want me to read to you?"

"Yeah, please Adagio? I c- can't stop thinking about Grandpa..." Sonata started to cry.

Adagio quietly rose out of bed and walked over to her youngest sister. Wrapping her in a hug, she massaged her shoulder with one hand until Sonata stopped shaking.

"Let's get grab a book." Adagio said in a soothing tone.

"Thanks..." Sonata sniffed.

The two quietly walked down the hall to Sonata's room, not wanting to wake Aria. Upon entering Sonata's room, Adagio gave the bookshelf near her bed a closer look. Sonata never seemed like the type that liked to read, but she had collected over 40 books over the last 15 years, penny pinching here and there. Adagio herself only questioned her once when they were younger, and Sonata seemed to be embarrassed over the matter. A lot of things clicked in her head at once; Sonata didn't really seem like the type who liked to read, but she definitely came off as someone who liked being read to. Adagio imagined that more often than not, Grandpa probably read a chapter to her before she would go to sleep.

Grandpa...

Adagio mentally berated herself. Grandpa needed help tomorrow, Sonata needed help now.

"This story is my favorite!" Sonata proudly presented her a colorful book.

Adagio took the book and read the cover, "...Starswirl the Bearded and the Wicked Sirens?"

"Uh huh!" Sonata beamed. "Grandpa made this for me!"

Adagio didn't know Grandpa wrote books, the cover looked really nice too, on it was a cartoon unicorn with rainbow hair and a silly wizard hat. He was throwing a smug grin towards the reader as he jumped over a chasm. Adagio gave a lighthearted scoff, it fit her Grandfather perfectly to make a silly looking children's book like this. Still, this explains how Sonata was able to get so many books. Her family couldn't really afford much, instead choosing to wisely saving money for when winter got rough. If Grandpa made somewhere between one third to half of her books...

"Alright, come here." Adagio motioned.

Adagio gently climbed into Sonata's bed, raising the covers for Sonata to join her. Adagio pulled back in fear when Sonata jumped onto the bed and practically tackled her. Getting glomped, Adagio tried to regain her sense of composure and Sonata tightened her grip.

"Thanks Adagio, I really appreciate this..." Sonata nuzzled her chest.

"No problem..." Adagio weakly said. Clearing her throat, she cracked open the book and-

"You forgot the title!" Sonata pouted.

"What?"

"You have to read the title out loud first before you open the book!"

Rolling her eyes, Adagio closed the book and held the front of it up close as she squinted...

Starswirl the Bearded and the Wicked Sirens.

Into the palace the handsome unicorn trotted.

Wondering what his princess plotted.

"Never fear, your majesty, I am here!" Said the dark gray blue colt.

"It is because your here, that I have fear!" The alicorn teased the dolt.

"What great evil, shall I vanquish this time?!?"

"Sirens have come, committing a great crime!"

"Say nothing more!" The unicorn cheered, "For nopony could possibly defeat Starswirl!"

"It's an eyesore!" The alicorn jeered, "That somepony could possibly make me hurl!"

"I'll defeat those sirens in ten seconds flat!"

"Then I hope you pull extra time out of that hat."

"Tell me now, why do you say that?"

"Because it's already been, ten seconds flat!"

So the gentlecolt left, in a hurry.

"But not once, did he worry.

"For he was Loving Frost's student, the prodigy unicorn!

"And with his powerful magic, surrounded his horn.

"With all his skill, and all his talent.

"The unicorn struck a pose, looking so gallant.

With a bright flash,

He landed with a splash!

The village he went to save, the innocent townponies he sought,

Was sinking under the waves, the ponies mindlessly fought!

"A cute little pony, joins our play..."

"Astute little pony, won't you stay?.."

The sirens sang, their voices so lovely.

Racking his brain, hitting so roughly.

Starswirl grit his teeth, he wasn't a knave!

He refused to succumb to a watery grave!

"Here I am, the righteous and the willing!"

"Here I stop, the wicked and the killing!"

And with a snap, crackle pop,

Lightning struck the Siren's top.

Lashing and smashing, bashing and gashing!

He was stunning and cunning, they were succumbing and running.

Soon the town was no longer flooded and the ponies were safe.

The siren's could not overcome Starswirl's good faith.

But among the puddles, he heard a wail.

In fear, his face went pale!

Adagio gasped as she read the next couple lines, "...Adagio," she murmured, looking at the book, "Hey Sona-"

Adagio stopped when she saw that Sonata had fallen asleep. But how did... "I didn't read this to dwell upon the past." Sonata had fallen asleep, and she should sleep too. Resolving to get some rest tonight, Adagio snuggled in close to her sister.

"Goodnight Sonata, I love you..."

She kissed her sister on the forehead, and closed her eyes. She wasn't alone anymore, and she planned to keep it that way, no matter what. She wasn't going to leave grandpa behind.

Dreams

Aria glared at her ceiling, feeling as if it was mocking her. She scowled at the moonlight through the window, she sneered at her pillow and blanket, she growled at her stomach for feeling hungry after skipping dinner. Aria felt everything was mocking her. Mocking her inability to sleep, mocking her bad attitude. Mocking how today, of all days, she dared to be more social and struck up a conversation with Button's mom, who was also shopping. Mocking how she got home late and wasn't there for Grandpa or Adagio, mocking how she didn't pick up on how scared Adagio was until the situation was almost over. Mocking how it was Sonata who calmed everyone down when Adagio asked Aria to comfort her. Mocking how much trouble she makes for her family.

Mocking how absolutely useless and annoying she was to everyone around her.

Aria slammed a fist against against the wall-

Crack!

...A few seconds later, Aria remembered to breathe. Shakily moving towards the spot on the wall she hit, she examined it closely and found a dent.

"Ohhhhhh noooooo..." she whimpered.

Great, now I put a crack and a dent in my wall right as Grandpa ends up in the hospital. I can see it now! "Oh hey Aria, I know money has been rough this year with the medical bills, but I went and got another part time job to compensate. What's that? You made a dent in the wall? Don't worry, I'm sure Sonata can a get job too. After all, unlike you, she's good at talking to people when she's not scared senseless! Good job protecting her from all the bullying, big sister!"

Aria grit her teeth a raised her fist. Catching herself, she held her hand closely to herself. She stroked the top of hand with her thumb, trying to calm herself down. You're losing it, don't do anything else stupid tonight. Just... just stop thinking about...

Aria sighed, she knew she wasn't going to stop thinking about this. Maybe she could find something to do. "Grandpa always said if you can't stop your brain from running in circles, you might as well try to do something productive." It was too late to do farm work. It would be a bad use of time and energy to try and clean a barn or two in the dark by herself. Her sisters are sleeping. The house doesn't need to be cleaned. She already finished all her homework

Aria didn't want to think about this, but it would better to confront it now than later.

She and her sisters are probably going to have to get jobs. Adagio has a decent reputation around town due to her always lending a helping hand and having the patience of a saint. Sonata and herself though are a lot more antisocial. Aria was aware she had a temper issue, and she was sure the town was as well. She hoped she didn't have that hard of a time getting a job. Poor Sonata is probably going to have it the roughest, she loved her little sister dearly, but Sonata had a fragile heart. She hoped that she was strong enough to support both Sonata and Grandpa through this. She envied how well Adagio handled problems thrown her way...

She shook her head, she was getting off track. Sonata did fine with children, maybe she could get a babysitting job of some sorts, or hopefully a teacher's aid for the younger students. Adagio could probably do anything well. She was like a cat: she always landed on her feet no matter what was thrown at her. Aria... she didn't know what she could do well. All she was good at was farm work, and that's only because of repetition! She wasn't good at anything else!

"What if I can't get a job?" Aria started to sob. "What if I can't get a job and my sisters are stuck supporting me? What if they can't support me? What if I never manage to become a contributing member of society?.. Why can't I just be normal like everyone else? I just want to be able to work and talk to people without it being awkward!"

Aria quietly sobbed in her pillow, trying her hardest to keep her voice down. Once she stopped hiccuping she started to quietly sing to herself.

Music. Music was the magic that brought her sisters together. Even though the three of them didn't have much in common, all three of them loved music, especially singing. Every night all three of them would sit in front of Grandpa's old radio, taking turns on what channel to listen to... "I might not be good at anything, but at least I can sing."

Aria wiped her eyes after calming down. She wasn't a good for nothing. Sure, both of her sisters are better singers than her, but she can sing just fine too, and she loves it. Too bad singing isn't gonna land her a job, especially in a no name town like Jollyville... But still...

She got up and walked over to her dresser, inside it, she pulled out a form.

The Shores Conservatory of Music

It was an application form to a rather famous conservatory that only the best of the best singers graduate form. Aria doodled out her info on it for fun one day while daydreaming attending it. If she could end up becoming a famous singer she wouldn't care how much money she make, being able to sing her songs to everyone... The very thought of it made Aria's heart flutter. She could never send the form in though. Even if by some chance she did get accepted, there's no way they could afford to send her there. It was a nice dream, but that's it, nothing more than a dream.

Aria groaned. Her goal was to be productive, not think about depressing things.

Well, it's not productive exactly, but I could read. Yeah, that works, just read a book and relax... Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, She bent down near her bed and pulled out a medium sized box. In this box was Aria's forbidden guilty pleasure, a shame that she would never survive her sisters learning about, something she would take with her to the grave.

Romance novels.

She has always secretly dreamed of meeting her soul mate. The one person on this planet that won't drive her nuts, the one who always be able to bring a smile on face and sweep her off her legs. Someone to go on dates with, laugh with, cuddle with, make out with...

Aria blushed. She wanted to relax, but not get THAT relaxed. Maybe it would best to read something not so romantic... Pulling open her box, she shuffled through her books, looking for anything that wouldn't keep her up all night. Aria stopped when she came across her most precious book. A book she never actually read.

It was a book Grandpa made for her. She couldn't really bring herself to open the thing. The idea of reading a romance that Grandpa wrote, who is... well, GRANDPA, was just absolutely silly. Still, he said it had romance, but wasn't primarily about romance. Somewhat intrigued now on what Grandpa possibly would write, she cracked open the book...

A young unicorn colt barreled out of his room and ran towards the ballroom in the castle. Living in a Royal Castle deep within a magical forest is nice, but being in a secluded tower in a secluded castle in a SECLUDED FOREST made it very easy for anypony to lose track of time.

Aria chuckled, "anypony, really?.."

The colt had a light gray coat with a tinge of blue in it. His mane was a mess of colors, making it look like a rainbow. Somewhat small for his size, the colt had an ego more than large enough to make up for his height. His magenta eyes shined with intelligence; He was an adolescent, but also a prodigy, at his age he had already created five new spells. He usually wore a cocky grin on his face, but at the moment his face was ridden with concern.

The colt's name was Starswirl. He was the apprentice to the Alicorn of Creation, Loving Frost. He grew up making pottery with his earth pony parents. Not being so good with his hooves, he got frustrated and eventually made the very first transmutation spell in history. Loving Frost was making a tour of the country when she saw him cast his magic. Starswirl jumped at the opportunity to learn magic from the princess.

And now he was jumping down the stairs in fear.

Loving Frost made it very clear he had to attend social events. She also made it very clear what would happen if he DID NOT attend said social events. Starswirl held court in her place for day, and one day is all it took for him to gain a new level of respect for his mentor and a healthy fear of how stupid nobility could be. Not wanting to sit on a throne for 8 hours straight just to listen to one pony complaining about what another one did, he quickened his pace.

For once, Starswirl was glad that Frost forced him to exercise. He would have already been gasping for air when he skidded around the corner. The poor youth almost cried tears of joy when he saw the doors leading to the dance room. He slammed the doors opened.

"I'M HERE PRINCESS FROST!" Starswirl cheered.

The colt's grin slowly turned into a frown as he realized everypony in the ballroom was staring at him.

"Wonderful, my most exuberant student." Frost smiled at him. "I'm glad to see you're only an hour late this time."

"A- an hour? But..." Starswirl stammered.

He didn't understand! He was checking his clock all day while trying to create a...

"I DID IT! HAHA, I DID IT!!! I DID IT PRINCESS, I WENT FORWARD IN TIME USING MAGIC! I-..."

Everypony was glaring at him now.

"I... I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"It's quite alright my student, your excitement is understandable."

Starswirl gave her a hope filled smile.

"I'm sure a day managing the court tomorrow will help you to control that excitement."

Starswirl's head drooped, his worst fear had come true.

Frost chuckled, "Oh Starswirl, I am sorry, truly. But I'm afraid I can't let you off the hook, no matter how good your excuse is; especially since you always have one!"

"I understand Princess..."

"Starswirl slowly trotted over to the food stand to grab a drink while he sulked. It wasn't fair, he wasn't playing around or causing mischief. Why the princess have to punish him for simply studying magic? And each and everyday she always told him the same thing every time she kicked him out of the tower. "Make some friends!"

Starswirl almost jumped when he felt a hoof poking his shoulder.

"Hey!" A young pretty unicorn mare said. "Is it true, did you really time travel?

Starswirl puffed out his chest and grinned. "Of course! Doing something like time travel is easy for me, I'm the best wizard in the world! There's no unicorn more magical than me!"

She giggled, "Wow, really? My daddy says it was foolish to take a commoner on as a student, but you definitely act like royalty."

"What? Your Dad's full of it. Doesn't matter where you come from, you can do anything as long as you study hard enough!"

"Really, do you think I could learn how to time travel?"

"Yeah, it's easy, I'll have you jumping through time in, well, no time!" Starswirl frowned. "Well, once I work out how I time traveled in the first place..."

The young unicorn extended her hoof and fluttered her eyes at Starswirl. "My name is Platinum."

Starswirl stared at her hoof for a second before quickly shaking it. "S- Starswirl! I'm Starswirl... Nice to meet you."

"And it is nice..." Platinum pecked him on the cheek. "To meet you."

Starswirl sat there with his jaw hanging open as she slowly trotted away. He didn't notice his mentor sneaking up behind and-

The book gently slid out of Aria's grasp. Her worries of grandpa and self worth were long gone, now replaced with with thoughts of a castle full of strange creatures who could preform magic. Her conscious slipped away into a pleasant dream...

Pillow Talk.

Sonata awoke feeling numb. Normally, she would bounce out of bed and help Aria wake up while Adagio make breakfast. Today she woke up feeling drained. With a sound mind, she would have questioned why she felt so tired, but she was too exhausted to even wonder why. So she sat there with her eyes closed, half asleep. She was next to something warm that had a familiar smell. Whatever it was comforted her greatly, and she snuggled a little closer to it.

Then Sonata remembered what happened yesterday. She let out a small whimper and buried her under Adagio's neck.

"Are you okay?" Adagio whispered.

"Yeah..." Sonata muttered, "Just worried."

"We already know grandpa is gonna be fine." Adagio stroked Sonata's hair. "Everything is going to be fine."

"I know, but I still feel bad."

"Why?"

"Well..." Sonata hesitated. "I'm not really the brightest girl around town, and-"

"Sonata," Adagio cut her off, "You're very intelligent, I know you-"

"Stop that!" Sonata yelled, "that's what you always say, but let's face Adagio, I'm dumb! I try my hardest and I only get C's and D's on my papers."

"There are many different forms of intelligence Sonata."

"I'm not good at anything though... I'm bad at farmwork, at school, I don't have any hobbies besides singing, and I don't fit in with the rest of the students at school."

"Really?" Adagio gave a small chuckle, "So when you sit at a table with a group of four or five, and you're laughing and joking along with them, you're not fitting in?"

"It's not the same! I'm that girl who you hang out with in groups but never on your own. I don't really have any friends!" Sonata pouted.

"I thought Aria and I were your friends." Adagio questioned.

"Family doesn't count."

"That's a shame." Adagio mused, "I guess I don't have any friends either."

"What are you talking about? People always come to you for help! Students ask for help with questions, teachers ask you for favors, adults around town ask you to fix things! Everybody knows you Adagio!"

"You might be exaggerating a bit, but I suppose that's right. Although Sonata, I'm very much in the same boat. I may know a lot of people, but I don't hang out with any of them, none of them are my friends."

"Yeah, but... people look up to you."

"Is that what's upsetting you? You feel no one looks up to you?"

Sonata grimaced and shuffled around a bit.

"I know that every little boy and girl in town would give anything to have you be their cool big sister." Adagio gently teased.

"Yeah, I can relate to little children, I don't think that's a good thing." Sonata grumbled.

"No, if you could relate to little children, you would be arguing with them, trying to steal their toys, and do a poor job trying to trick parents into giving you something you want." Adagio smiled. "Sonata, you are great at empathizing with children and are careful with their sensitive emotions. That's not just a skill, but a reflection of one's heart. I could not say the same of Aria or I."

Sonata blushed.

"Sonata, listen carefully, I'm going to tell you something grandpa told me once," Adagio closed her eyes. "Adagio, you're 14 years old, of course you're not ever going to feel good enough."

"What?" Sonata blinked.

"Sonata, you're 16 years old. Aria is only one year older than you, and I'm 18." Adagio sighed, "of course you're going to feel not good enough. Not also does the culture we live in try to give impression we need to be a huge success, but we're biologically hardwired to think we're inadequate. You know all those stories about adults doing stupid stuff as teenagers that they look back at with fond memories?"

Sonata nodded her head.

"You're becoming an adult, you're going to want to compare yourself to others, you're always gonna feel not good enough, you'll want to improve but not be sure how, and most of all, you're going to argue back with authority figures."

"I will not!" Sonata yelled.

Adagio simply smiled.

"...You did that on purpose." Sonata sulked.

"You aree a very intelligent girl, you have many talents that you might find hard to notice yourself. You are appreciated; I don't know what I would do without you and Aria. I have spent most of my life with you, and I think you're growing up to be a very respectable young women."

Sonata squeezed Adagio tighter. "Thank you..."

Adagio kissed her on the head. "No problem sweetheart, now go wake up your sister while I make breakfast."

"How come you always have to ruin my bad mood?" Sonata joked.

"Sorry, I'm just a terrible older sister," Adagio threw back, "being the tyrant that I am, I believe I will force you to eat blueberry crepes today."

"Really!?" Sonata squealed as she kissed Adagio on the cheek and bounced out of bed. "Thanks, you're the best!"

Sonata hummed happily to herself as she headed out of her room. Sonata was sure it would be alright, even though she felt like it wouldn't. Adagio said it would be alright after all, and she's never wrong. Just like she knew it would be alright, she knew talking to Adagio would make her feel better. The experience really reminded her how much she loved her family, and she started worrying about grandpa again.

"No," Sonata thought to herself, "I almost caused problems at the hospital, and I don't wanna make breakfast suck with my bad attitude. Adagio said it would be alright, I have faith."

Sonata smiled, she had this down to a formula now. She sneaked into Aria's room and tiptoed over towards the bed. Leaning in close, she carefully rolled Aria over onto her stomach. Gently, she started massaging her shoulders.

"Mmm..." Aria smiled.

"Hey Aria..." Sonata cooed.

"Mmm?" She mumbled.

"Wake up!"

"Ah!" Aria jolted awake.

Sonata braced herself for Aria to yell at her like usual.

...

Aria wasn't yelling at her like usual. In fact, Aria wasn't getting up like usual, or even getting that irritated look like usual. Aria laid motionless in her bed looking miserable.

"Aria, you okay?" Sonata asked.

"Mmm-Hmm..." Aria assured.

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Mmm-Mmm..." Aria slightly shook her head.

Sonata noticed the book laying on the floor.

"You stayed all night reading didn't you?" She accused.

"No," Aria rasped, "I just..." She hesitated. "I just wanted to get a little light reading in before bed."

Sonata frowned, and layed down on the bed next to Aria.

"I'm sorry Aria, I was so nervous about grandpa I bugged Adagio and slept with her. I didn't even think about how you're doing."

"I'm fine," Aria said a little too fast. "I just spent too long reading last night, that's all."

Sonata was very perceptive of people's emotions, but she wasn't very good with words. She grew up with Aria and Adagio, and she knew Aria was lying, but she didn't know how to make her open up. She knew Adagio was telling the truth about everything being fine, but she didn't know how to convince Aria that Adagio wasn't just putting on a brave face. So, she did the only thing she could think of.

She got in Aria's bed, wrapped her up in a tight hug, and held her. The two sat in silence for what felt like hours to Sonata.

"Hey Sonata..." Aria whispered.

"Yeah Aria?" She whispered back.

"How can you be so optimistic about all this?"

Sonata frowned. "I'm not, I was really scared last night too."

"But here you are trying to cheer me up." Aria argued.

"That's what family does silly, we look out for each other." Sonata giggled.

The two stayed quiet.

"I wish I was as brave as you and Adagio are." Aria admitted.

Sonata didn't know what to say to that.

"I see you both keep going, and I think 'I gotta act tough, I have to be okay too so I can help out.' But while I'm trying and failing to act brave, you two are already way ahead of me," Aria sighed. "I just want to be somebody who can help out when things like this happen, not cause trouble."

Sonata burst out into laughter.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Aria accused.

"Us!" Sonata chuckled.

"Us?"

"Adagio was right, we're a stupid bunch of teenagers!"

"Adagio called us a stupid bunch of teenagers?" Aria sounded hurt.

"No, but we totally are." Sonata broke off the hug and looked Aria in the eyes. "Alright, now listen up silly. When Adagio knows things are going to be fine, or has a plan, she'll say 'Don't worry, everything is going to be alright.' But when Adagio isn't sure things are going to be okay, and can't think of anything, she'll say 'Don't worry, I'll think of something.'"

Aria found more than a few holes in Sonata logic, but felt reassured by how certain she sounded. Besides, Aria knew Sonata was probably right.

"Adagio knows were gonna be okay," Sonata continued, "and let's face it, Adagio is scary smart. We both know Adagio could be an evil genius if she wanted to."

"Adagio being an evil mastermind?" Aria raised an eyebrow. "Would that make us her evil henchmen?"

"And Grandpa the mad scientist!" Sonata cackled. "Together, we'll rule the world!"

"Get real, Adagio would crumble right when she would have to trick someone." Aria rolled her eyes. "I mean, I've never seen her lie or talk behind anyone's back. Heck, I've only seen her talk to a boy once and she practically crumbled up into a ball. That girl is a pure as the driven snow. Can you possibly imagine Adagio trying to deceive, seduce, or manipulate anyone?"

"Yeah, That'll be the day!" Sonata giggled.

The two laughed over the silly idea together, gradually settling into a pleasant silence.

"...Oh! I forgot Adagio was making us breakfast!" Sonata shot up from the bed.

"French toast?" Aria said with cautious optimism.

"I don't know, but she promised me blueberry crepes, so I'm pretty sure she made your favorite too." Sonata shot Aria a smile. "Come on, we've kept her waiting!"

The two sisters chatted happily while heading down the stairs. Aria motioned Sonata to stop though when she heard Adagio.

"May you explain to me what drug resistant tuberculosis entails?" Adagio said calmly.

Sonata seemed to wilt slightly. "What's wrong-"

"Shh!" Aria covered her mouth while listening closely.

"...Is it fatal?" Adagio said.

At the word 'fatal', Sonata and Aria felt as if their hearts stopped.

"...What are his odds? ...2-250,000 dollars?" Adagio stuttered. "...I see, thank you. ...Yes, I can come down later today to discuss the matter further. ...Thank you, good bye."

The younger siblings watched Adagio hang up the phone. She stood there unmoving, staring at the wall. The smell of burnt french toast snapped Adagio out of her trance, and she turned around the see her sisters.

Silence.

"...I have bad news." Adagio finally said.

The two said nothing.

"Grandpa's illness was worse than they thought. He's going to need some very expensive treatment." Adagio coolly stated.

"Are we..." Sonata took a second to collect herself. "Are we going to be okay?"

"Don't worry Sonata..." Adagio gave a strained smile. "I'll think of something."

Idea.

Blueberry crepes, a ham and cheese omelet, and french toast laid uneaten on the kitchen counter. All three of the girls ate cereal instead. No one said anything as they ate, but the tension around the table was unbearably thick. Growing up on a farm, all three of them were very aware of the importance of conserving resources. Normally, leaving cooked untouched food to be wasted, especially food that had somewhat expensive ingredients, was unheard of; And yet, they could not bring themselves to touch it. They all came to the same conclusion on their own, eating their favorite meals right after hearing about Grandpa's condition would be like celebrating the progression of his illness. Even if it wasn't true, the feeling remained pressing down harshly on their hearts, turning their stomach into knots. They ate their cereal slowly, none of them very hungry.

Aria emptied what was left of her cereal down the sink and headed towards the shower. A five minute hot shower in the morning was one of the highlights of Aria's day. She would frequently daydream of one day visiting a natural hot-spring with her family. In fact, Aria has always had a strong connection with water, a trait she shared with her sisters. After a hard day's of farm work, the three of them would frequently play in the nearby pond together. The more she thought about it, she realized the only time she really ever heard Adagio laugh without any reservations was when the three of them were swimming together.

Her mind left the pleasant subject and went to another one, How Sonata's singing voice has gotten better. She loved to hear her sisters sing as much as she loved to sing herself. Without thinking about it, she started whispering a sad, mournful tune. As more of heart entered her song, her volume increased. Last night, she was overcome with self doubt. She was told everything would be alright, no thanks to her. Now she was full of fear, for her family, and her future. Her voice beautifully belied the uncertainty she felt, keeping a strong, steady melody flowing out. Soothing her spirit and healing her heart. Between the three girls music had always felt like a holy sanctuary.

Two other voices joined in outside of the bathroom, full of strength and hope. Aria realized she'd been standing still in a cold shower for ten minutes. She turned off the shower and hurried out of the bathroom. Outside, Adagio and Sonata waited for her. Aria hung her head in shame, she wasted water during a time where they needed money the most and showed weakness in front of them. The two wrapped their arms around her, trapping her in a tight hug. The warmth of their bodies felt wonderful against her cold skin. Aria tried to hold it back until a sob slipped out.

She openly cried in her sisters' arms.

Life had an interesting way of making one overestimate the nearby future. Whether it was getting a new job, going on a trip, dealing with confrontation, or anything really, the mind had a special way of making one imagine every possible way it play out, and in turn, dread it. Some of Aria's worst fears came true: Grandpa was fatally ill, a massive debt was starting to rear it's head, and she was about to fail in helping take care of her family needs.

Yet, the morning chores on the farm still had to be done, and the three of them still had to go to school. Regardless of the tragedy, life would not take the time to stop and respect her drama. Whether she liked it or not, the day continued to play out like any other day, and it escalated her paranoia even further. She had every intention of taking the day off, but then Adagio, being Adagio, had to be completely understanding and sympathetic, while also stating she intended to still go to school. Upon hearing Adagio was still attending, Sonata also said she would be going. A completely unintended peer pressure put on from her sisters guilted Aria into going too.

And so, Aria did what she did last night and stared at the school doors in regret. She already felt like she took all the mental abuse she could handle today. Six long hours of attempting to study, focus, and not let other students bother her sounded like torture at the moment, and she almost turned right back around and headed home.

Almost.

The song in the shower and her sisters' compassion helped Aria brace herself for what was ahead. It's only school. She told herself. You do this five days out of the week normally, you can do this now. This isn't going to be a problem.

Pre-Algebra was unusually peaceful today. Once every other day at school at least one student would mess with Aria or one of her sisters; Usually someone trying to get in Sunset Shimmer's good graces, as she seemed to hate Aria and her siblings. Nobody had messed with them at all yet, in fact, some students when out of their way to hold open a door or politely greet them. Aria wished that they would act like this some other day so she could fully appreciate it. It wasn't until the third student randomly apologized to her that she got it. Somehow, word of her grandfather's condition must have spread around town.

Even if Aria didn't absorb what the teacher was saying, he pretty much was just explaining what was in the textbook. History was a different story, but she had good grades in that class, she was fairly certain she could take blow. She made a half hearted attempt to take notes in Science, and slowly made her way to the cafeteria.

She smiled when she saw Sonata talking and laughing with other students. Aria was a spiteful girl, but she had never once wished ill on her sisters. If her younger sibling could find relief through socializing, even when Aria herself couldn't relax, then she was happy for her. Spotting Adagio sitting at a table alone, she plopped down next to her and let gravity slam her head into the table.

"Are you okay?" Adagio quietly asked.

"Sorta." Aria replied.

"You can take the rest of the day off you need to."

"I'll manage."

Aria didn't see Adagio frown.

"You should eat something." The older sibling scooted closer.

"I'm not hungry."

Adagio sighed, "I'll find something easy for you to snack on."

"I don't want anything." Aria sulked.

"Aria, please." She insisted.

"...Fine."

"Thank you." Adagio squeezed Aria's hand before heading back into line.

Aria watched her walk off. A full minute passed by before she realized that she'd been doing nothing other than staring at the general direction Adagio left in.

"What am I doing?.." She moaned.

Going to school was a bad idea. Of course, it's always good to not lose points for attendance, but Aria grew up on a farm; The routine schedule of managing the fields and having to wake up early everyday kept her healthy and made it very hard to play hooky. She could easily afford to miss a day or three of school. She wasn't absorbing any of the knowledge, she's wasn't resting at home, she wasn't at the hospital, where she should be right now...

"I'm wasting my time, why did I even come here?!?" She growled.

Because your sisters were attending and that scared you. She mocked herself. You're afraid to look weak, especially in front of them. You want to look impressive, and make your family proud, and instead you're just making things worse for yourself.

Aria gently smacked her forehead against the table.

There is absolutely NO WAY today could get any worse.

"Aww, what's wrong Aria, feeling under the weather?" A haughty voice called out.

I stand corrected.

"I heard your grandfather is really sick. Looks like you got no sleep last night, poor thing..." Sunset mocked. "Should you really be at school? What your grandpa has is contagious right? You could get us all sick too!"

Aria clenched her fists. No, she's worked too hard on her attitude this school year, she's not going to lose her temper now.

"Why, you look absolutely dreadful, you should go lie down! I can see your face already started to sag a bit... oh wait, that's how it always looks, my bad!" She laughed.

Glaring at Sunset, Aria rose from her chair and turned to leave. Maybe she could just wait in her classroom for Psychology to start. Sunset generally didn't mess with her in the classrooms unless she was in really bad mood.

"And where are you going?" Sunset growled.

Aria had already risen from the table and turned away to leave. Sunset stuck out a foot to trip her. Bad luck seemed to be the theme for the week, and it held true for Aria as she tripped and smashed her face into the side of the table.

Sunset swore under her breath. "You okay?.. Come on, get up! It didn't look that bad..."

Rising to her knees, Aria shakily lifted her hand up to her nose and wiped away blood. Hearing a loud clank, she saw Adagio drop a tray of food, staring at her in horror. If looks could kill, the stare her older sister gave Sunset would be on the top ten most wanted list; but before Adagio could give Sunset a piece of her mind, Sonata literally beat her to the punch.

Aria watched in slow motion as Sonata grabbed Sunset by the wrist and forced her to turn around. Before Sunset could complain, Sonata had adjusted her stance, pulling her right leg back and pushing her leg left forward. Smoothly, in one motion, like clockwork, she twisted her torso and hips slightly while jutting her right arm out like a spear, and leaned forward slightly while pushing up the heel on her right foot. Sonata exhaled the deep breath she took while flexing her pecs and biceps and relaxing the other muscles in her body. Lastly, she kept her fist loose up until it connected with Sunset face, where she clenched it into a tight ball, keeping her thumb on the outside.

Any boxer would have recognized a perfectly executed straight punch. Sunset didn't, but she definitely felt it. Aria wasn't the only one bleeding anymore.

"What the hell?!?" Sunset spat out a tooth. "You ratty little blue bit-"

Snarling, Sonata grabbed Sunset by the collar and pulled her face up close.

"DON'T YOU EVER HURT MY OLDER SISTER AGAIN!" Sonata roared.

It was right then Aria and Adagio learned that Sonata wasn't as innocent and fragile as they thought. While Adagio was somewhere between shock and terror, Aria couldn't help but feel an odd sense of pride in her sister well up within her. Looks like the two older siblings weren't the only ones protective of their family, although she wondered where Sonata learned to throw a punch.

"Ms. Dusk!" Harshwhinny yelled out. "What is going on here?!?"

Everyone froze and stared at the most dreaded teacher at the school. Sonata looked at Sunset, then Aria, and lastly, her still clenched up fist.

"I pow'd Sunset Shimmer right in the kisser." Sonata said with a blank expression.

"Principal's office," Harshwhinny commanded, "right now."

"Wait." Adagio coolly injected. "Sunset Shimmer struck Aria first. Sonata didn't just-"

"Then they BOTH can go to the principal's office!" Harshwhinny voice raised an octave. "NOW!"

"Hey," Sunset argued, "it was an accident! She hit me on-"

"No lip Ms. Shimmer, especially not from a bloody one!" Harshwhinny roared. "Either head to the nurse's office, then to the Principal's, or straight to the Principal's!"

"But-"

"NOW!!!"

Both of them hurried out of the cafeteria.

"Ms. Harshwhinny," Adagio helped Aria to her feet, "please, Sonata isn't-"

"Whatever Sonata is, she just assaulted another student." Harshwhinny growled. "Ms. Dazzle, I trust you'll escort your younger sister to the nurse's office?"

"Of course Ma'am, but if I could just-"

"Good," Harshwhinny cut her off, "I'm going to find a janitor to clean up this mess."

The siblings sighed as Harshwhinny briskly walked away.

"Are you okay?" Adagio calmly said, just above a whisper.

Aria grunted as she popped her broken nose back in place. "Yeah."

Adagio gave Aria a knowing look.

"No." Aria admitted. "Today sucks."

"Let's have the nurse check you out," Adagio gently spoke, "After that, you should go home, get something to eat, and sleep."

"But what about the fields?"

"I'll handle the fields today." Adagio smiled.

Aria frowned. "What about Sonata?"

"Aria," Adagio's tone was soft, but full of authority, "I will take of everything, I promise. Now promise you'll go home and rest. I don't want you to get sick too."

The gentle reminder of their Grandfather's situation made Aria cringe.

"Alright," she relented. "I'll head home after the nurses' office."

"Thank you." Adagio gave Aria a gentle squeeze.

Aria spaced out the rest of the walk down. She absentmindedly took note of Adagio guiding her to a bed as she explained the situation to the nurse. Her nose throbbed in pain, but it didn't bother her, oddly enough. After everything that happened today, getting her nose broke seemed to be the final straw. Aria was now in a emotionally dumb state, staring at the speckles on the ceiling and making out shapes in them.

"-Fall did'cha?"

"What?" Aria snapped out of her stupor.

"Took a nasty fall, did'cha?" Nurse Snowheart repeated.

"Oh, yeah..." Aria tried to focus.

"There there sweat heart, I know you've been having a hard time lately, but tomorrow is another day."

"I have a good feeling tomorrow isn't going to be any better..." Aria murmured.

"Well, I doubt you'll get another broken nose!" Snowheart laughed.

Aria always tried her hardest not to tempt fate, but she always felt it was unfair when somebody just calmly jinxes her like that.

"It's a real shame about Starswirl," Snowheart continued. "All of Pollyville loves him dearly. Why, with a tight knit community like this, I wouldn't be surprised if you had a goodie basket or ten getting dropped off on your doorstep!"

Aria's brain rebooted as she had an epiphany.

"The town loves Grandpa?" She asked.

"Oh of course! Starswirl really went of his way to help us all out when he was younger. A lot of us owe him a favor or two. Don't worry dear, I'm sure somebody will help look after you girls while he's recovering... Dear, where are you going? Aria?!?"

Aria hurried out of the nurse's office, she had an idea on how to help Grandpa!

Starswirl the Bearded

Adagio started the day just fine. Having a heart to heart with Sonata did her spirit as much good as it did her little sister's. She rose, heard her siblings chatting, and lost herself in a pleasant tune while making breakfast.

Then she got that phone call.

Adagio was certain, that by the end of school, she would think of something. She was a resourceful girl, everyone said so. Heck, even Sunset at one point sat back and said nothing when the two of them and three other students had only 15 minutes to finish up two hours worth of a group project. Her cunning, quick wit, and ability to think outside the box were the only things she allowed herself to get a bit prideful over at times.

She was walking to the hospital, and she had absolutely no idea what she was going to do.

With the incident involving Aria and Sonata, Adagio decided it would be wise to take the rest of the day off and visit Grandpa early. She would probably want to walk her sisters home after school, and she couldn't afford to start tending the fields late today if she was doing them with only Sonata, or by herself.

250,000 dollars.

That's not impossible.

She had been telling herself that all day, every time she did she believed it less and less. Getting a loan of some kind was not ideal. Literally anything else except letting Grandpa die seemed better in her head. Adagio shivered and swore that it wouldn't come to that. Getting a job is out of the question. She doubted that even if she were to quit school and get two full time jobs that it would cover the payments needed. She wasn't even sure if they could pay the treatments needed if all three of them were to get two jobs each.

She felt she didn't have enough info to go off of. Are there payment plans made in mind for those who aren't wealthy, like her family? How long will it take to cure him? What are his odds? How did he even get it in the first place?

...

How did her grandpa get drug resistant tuberculosis?

Adagio wasn't an expert on the matter, but she was pretty sure drug resistant illnesses come from an already existing illness the person had. Grandpa was never sick with tuberculosis before... so how?

Adagio shook her head and sighed. She was getting so frustrated and overwhelmed that she stopped actually trying to work things out.

Logically, you get an illness by either eating, breathing, drinking, or touching something you shouldn't. Grandpa just got back on a trip relating to personal business, so, whatever he did it got him sick. He didn't want to talk about it; possibly someone he was close to had the illness and was dying?

Grandpa knew far too many people for her to guess who. Whenever their family got into a pinch, he'd pull out a little black book full of names and numbers and call up an old friend...

"You can never have too many friends Addy!" Starswirl laughed, "trust me, there's a very magical quality when it comes to friendsh-"

"The little black book!" Adagio exclaimed.

A couple townsfolk passing by backed away from her outburst. Blushing, Adagio quickened her pace.

How could I forget? The little black book! Even if no one can help pay the atrocious amount of money needed, someone might have an idea on how to proceed...

It wasn't anything solid, but it was taking a step towards solving the problem. Feeling slightly better, Adagio took a deep breath and tried to relax.

Grandpa is feeling ill, try to have a positive attitude for him.

"-Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Adagio flinched.

"How can I help you?" The nurse asked again.

Adagio didn't notice she entered the hospital.

She collected herself. "...I'm here to see the patient Starswirl."

"Relation to patient?" The nurse asked.

"Sunny Smile, I fixed your broken chair last week, you should know who I am."

"Yes, but there's a professional procedure to uphold." Sunny beamed.

Adagio repressed a sigh.

"I'm his granddaughter," she managed to say with a straight face.

"One second please." Sunny typed away on her computer.

Adagio resisted tapping her foot, frowning, creasing her eyebrows, and everything else that would give the impression she was antsy. If she could resist sweating, she'd do that too.

"...Alright, your grandfather is on the third floor, room 324~!" Sunny winked.

"Thank you Sunny." Adagio turned to leave.

"Adagio dear," Sunny called out, stopping her, "I know this all seems very intimidating, but out of everyone this could happen to, your grandfather is the one man I'm certain can pull through this."

"Are you and my grandfather close?"

"Everybody in this town knows that man! He's lived here for over 30 years. Why, I knew him since I was 20 years old... I remember back when he shattered a rib. I was assisting the doctor, and it was the first time I've ever been present during a surgery."

"I never knew Grandfather shattered his rib." Adagio frowned.

"Oh yes," Sunny nodded, "The man waltzed right in with a smile on his face. When the nurse asked him what he was here for, he calmly puked blood all over the floor and pointed at it!"

"Yes," Adagio sighed, "yes, that sounds like Grandfather."

Sunny giggled. "After working out what was wrong, we took him to the emergency room. As it turns out, poor Starswirl was allergic to morphine, and had to undergo the surgery without any drugs. The whole time he was laughing and making jokes as the doctor poked around in his chest with his scalpel. He made what would have been a nerve wracking situation a funny one. We were expecting him to scream and moan from the amount of pain he was in, and he never even flinched once.

"Adagio, I know with your grandfather's age that this looks bad, but anyone can see from simply looking in that man's eyes that he's still full of life. He's lived his whole life as if he was on a mission, I doubt he's going to give up now."

Adagio didn't know what to say.

"Don't worry dear," Sunny continued, "Things are going to be okay, one way or another."

I'll make sure of that.

"Once again, thank you Sunny..."

Adagio was instructed upon reaching the third floor that she had to wear a face mask at all times in grandfather's room. readjusting her mask for the third time, she quietly opened the door and walked in.

He was smiling.

On his lap was an open sports magazine, something Adagio knew he never cared for. He wasn't reading, but instead staring out the window. The sunlight hit his beard at just the right angle making it glow. Whether it was intentional or not her grandfather always had this mystical air around him. Adagio knocked gently on the door to signal her arrival.

"Well if it isn't my favorite granddaughter." Starswirl rasped.

"Aria and Sonata would cry if they heard that." Adagio smiled.

"Why? You're all my favorite granddaughters." He grinned.

Adagio pulled up a chair next to him.

"How are you feeling?" she said gently.

"Fit as a fiddle!"

Adagio stared at him.

"... Just a little under the weather."

Starswirl started to sweat as her granddaughter was as still as stone, unblinking.

"... How is it that you never met your great grandmother and yet you both give me the exact same glare when you're upset?"

"You met up with someone who had drug resistant tuberculosis, did not take safety precautions, and brought it home to your granddaughters."

"Yep," Starswirl sighed, "That about sums it up. How'd you know?"

"You were healthy, you left, you came back sick."

"It never took you long to work things out Addy."

"I'm flattered, but really Grandpa, what were you thinking?" Adagio shoved her right palm into her face.

"I wasn't Adagio, I'm sorry." Starswirl said gently.

"How did you get it?"

The room was silent. Adagio watched in concern as her grandfather had trouble finding the right words.

"It's complicated," he finally said, "it's also something I'd want to tell all three of you at once, if I could."

"Alright." Adagio was willing to accept that.

"Do me a favor Addy."

"Yes grandfather?"

"There's a small wooden chest in my closet, it's locked. The left wall of the closet is actually fake, knock on it seven times and say the words 'Loving Frost.' The wall will open up and you'll see a key hanging off a nail in the wall. Could you bring that key, the box, and your sisters here tomorrow?"

"That's a lot of trouble to keep a box locked."

"It's a very important box." Starswirl shrugged.

"Grandfather, you have a habit of downplaying extremely serious matters. Just to make sure, this box doesn't hold something like your will, does it?"

Adagio started rubbing her temples as her Grandfather looked away.

"Grandfather, I know that expression, what could be worse than your will?"

"I'll explain it to the three of you tomorrow." Starswirl said, sounding a little more somber. "If you could not open it before that, I would appreciate it. I left a note in there just in case... Well, in case I wouldn't be around to speak to you three. That note isn't a very nice though, I wrote it when you three were just babies, and I use to be a very cranky old man before you three brightened up my life."

Adagio had a hard time imagining her Grandfather as unsociable.

"One last thing, just in case." Starswirl spoke up.

"Hmm?" Adagio snapped to.

"That note says to destroy the contents inside, but I have changed my mind since then."

Adagio's grandfather stared at her. It was a look full of love, pride, and oddly enough, concern.

"Adagio, your sisters are wonderful girls, bless their hearts, but they're are a little too impulsive for me to fully trust them. I watched you grow to be a responsible young lady who's watched over her own sisters like a mother. I deem you worthy of wearing the necklace inside that box."

I love you.

Sonata was the kind of girl who just did what felt best at the moment. She only complicated that slightly by thinking about repercussions of her actions. Singing felt good, and nobody cared really. She also found no one cared about her partaking in the harmless occasional gossip now and then along with listening to the radio. There were a lot of things like that. Eating all the sweets after grocery shopping made her sisters upset, who's opinions of her she valued highly. So things that were considered bad behavior she stayed away from. Because of this, Sonata always came off both simple in mind and simple to understand. She likes pretty things, and feel good songs. She's happy when she's put around a friendly crowd or her sisters. Showering after working in the fields feels great. food tastes good. Nothing really out of the ordinary.

And then there are weird hiccups like with Sunset. Disobeying brought punishment, but she got sent to the principal's office before, and getting gently scolded wasn't a big deal really. She hit Sunset which would make her sisters' upset, but she also hit Sunset, which would make Aria high five her later, and Adagio would 'forget' to take dessert away unlike the usual punishment. Also, most importantly, she hit Sunset, which was awesome. She debated hitting Sunset again, because one, who cares, and two, especially not Sonata.

Adagio would be mad.

...

She'd get over it.

And with ease, the unassuming ditzy blue haired blonde of the school threw another punch on the local rich brat.

"SONATA, WHAT THE HELL!" Sunset screamed, holding her bruised cheek.

Worth it.

Sonata covered her ears as Sunset started to scream at the top of her lungs.

Now that she got that out of her system, she started to worry about more important things, like Grandpa. How in heck were the three of them ever gonna get enough cash? Heck, the number was so big she couldn't even really recall what it was at the moment.

Sunset's screaming wasn't really helping to jog her memory.

"What is going on out here?" The principal shouted from his office.

"Sorry Sonata, I don't know where Adagio went, she didn't come back to class. Didn't she take Aria to the clinic?"

"Sorry dear, Adagio left shortly after she arrived, and Aria got a look in her eye before rushing out of here. Maybe she went back to class? No? Well, you three didn't get the chance to eat right? Maybe they went to the cafeteria."

"Sorry sweetheart, your sisters didn't come back, maybe you should try asking the last person you saw them with."

"NO, I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOUR SISTERS ARE, AND WHY THE HELL WOULD I TELL YOU ANYWAY?!? YOU PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE TWICE YOU CRAZY BI-"

Sonata huffed as she walked through the hallway. The principal decided to punish her by making her stay in detention after school for an hour. Any other day and she wouldn't have cared, but being in school was painful right now, and more than anything, she wanted to go see Grandpa. To make things worse, she couldn't find her sisters anywhere, and she lost her schoolbag in the Cafeteria, which had all her books in it. At this point she was surprised she hadn't played hooky.

...Why not play hooky? What was she doing here? Schoolwork? She had more important things going on right now than schoolwork. Was Grandpa okay? Who's going to tend the fields? What happened to her sisters? Sonata huffed again as she started stomping down the hallway. Screw school. Making up her mind, she marched towards the front gate, she was about twenty feet out from the school grounds before she heard someone yelling after her.

"SONATA, WHERE ARE YOU GOING!" Harshwhinny screamed.

"HOME!" She yelled back.

"WHAT? NO, COME BACK!"

"MAKE ME!"

It was then Sonata learned that Harshwhinny could sprint dangerously fast while wearing high heels.

SONATA PROCEEDED TO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO BECAUSE HER ACTIONS DEPENDS ON WHAT ARIA WAS DOING TODAY, AND WHO KNOWS WHAT THE HELL THAT WAS. THE UNIVERSE STARTED TO UNRAVEL WHEN-