As one would expect, the lunch hour of Canterlot High brought the usual level of high activity and chatter amongst the various students there. However, unlike most days, this plethora of youths was not gathered in the cafeteria, as was the norm, but rather, outside. For there, parked right in front of the school, was a convoy of vehicles from the local hospital. Doctors and nurses from the place had arranged themselves here, and were currently in the process of speaking to many of the boys and girls that now came to them. Some entered the parked vehicles, writing down forms as they did so. Others simply waited outside, speaking to their friends to pass the time. Among this latter category was Sunset Shimmer, and her collection of friends.
"You know...there was a time when I would have never considered doing this."
A giggle caused her to turn, seeing Rarity standing nearby.
"Much has changed since then, darling. But even so, it is nice to see so many here at CHS being this passionate about all this."
Walking beside her, Applejack smiled widely, placing a hand upon the young fashionista's shoulder.
"Eyup! Us Apples have been donatin blood fer years! Pretty sweet ta see so many others takin up the cause."
Sunset nodded to this, turning around to see more and more of her fellow students stepping forward to give blood. The doctors and nurses were all there, helping them through the process and making sure everything was in order before the deed was done. Among the crowd, Sunset could even see Principal Celestia, who sat with many of her students, calmly trying to help those with issues of nervousness before they stepped forward themselves. Naturally, such nerves immediately brought one thought in particular to Sunset's mind.
"So...how long has Fluttershy been in there?"
Sighing, Applejack shook her head.
"Quite a while. Ah tell ya, if Rainbow weren't in there, y'all couldn't get that girl anywhere near those needles, even if it were fer a good cause!"
Sunset nodded, but, shortly afterwards, a smile touched her lips, as she saw, nearby, that Fluttershy and Rainbow were now finally leaving their respective place. The girls all walked over to meet with them, and as they approached, they noticed that Rainbow was right in the middle of helping her childhood friend out, as though the latter found it difficult to walk.
"Are you okay, Fluttershy?" Sunset asked.
Looking up, the animal carer formed a small but genuine smile upon her face.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about me, Sunset. I'm just...a little tired, that's all."
Sunset smiled back, placing her hand gently upon the girl's shoulder, giving a slight nod.,
"It's fine. We all went through the same thing, remember?"
A round of nods from the other girls all confirmed that sentiment, and that, at the very least, helped to make Fluttershy feel at least a little bit better. But, she was still clearly tired, so Rainbow and the others all helped her along to the nearest chair, which had been provided in their dozens for students in just such a state. As their friend rested herself, Sunset again looked around, seeing many of the other students all looking pleased with themselves over what they'd done here today. But, as she scoured the crowd, she couldn't help but notice that, away from it all, there were two in particular, a doctor and nurse, both women, who were discussing something in private. The look on their face made it clear that it was an important issue, and while she knew she shouldn't interfere, something compelled Sunset to walk towards them.
"...it's impossible, I tell you!" the nurse said.
"You keep saying that, but it's still happened!" replied the doctor.
"Um...is everything okay?"
The voice of Sunset caused both medical personnel to snap their heads in her direction, and as soon as they saw her, they quickly composed themselves, with the nurse forming a courteous smile before replying to her.
"It's Miss Shimmer, yes? Can we help you with something?"
Clearing her throat a little, Sunset clasped her hands together and formed a smile of her own as she began to speak up.
"Yes, um...I know it's not my place, but...is there something bothering you two?"
At first, the two didn't really know how to answer that, but, after looking to one another, they shared a glance, silently trying to figure things out for themselves. In the end, it was the nurse who once more spoke to the former unicorn.
"It's not a problem per se, it's just...something unexpected."
Sunset raised an eyebrow, prompting the nurse to continue.
"Miss Fluttershy, the girl who just came to us, and about five other girls from this school...they appear to all have an extremely rare blood-type. And I mean rare, as in there's about a million-to-one chance of us ever finding it."
Sunset took on a more intrigued expression.
"These other girls...they wouldn't happen to be Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow and Twilight, would they?"
The two seemed rather taken aback by that, and the doctor, at long last, added her own voice to the mix.
"How...how did you...?"
She didn't finish, but Sunset already knew what she was going to ask, and so answered pre-emptively, bearing a knowing smile as she did so.
"They're all friends of mine. And trust me when I say that them and coincidences tend to go hand-in-hand."
That, in some small way, seemed to cause the two before her to relax somewhat, and the nurse once more started to speak to her.
"Yes...well...the point is, this blood type is so hard to come by that most in our profession could go their entire careers without seeing it. But to have six all have it at the same time? That just doesn't happen!"
The doctor stepped forward, looking to Sunset with curiosity.
"Those friends of yours wouldn't happen to be related, would they?"
Sunset shook her head.
"Not that I know of."
The doctor sighed.
"Pity. That would have at least gone some way to explaining this."
Shortly afterwards, the nurse turned to her.
"This has never happened before!"
Here, the doctor formed a slight smirk.
"Well...in that case, allow me to tell you a tale."
Both Sunset and the nurse looked to her with surprise.
"Wait...you've seen this before?!" the nurse remarked.
The doctor nodded.
"Yep. But it was decades ago. Back when I first started this job. These three girls, sisters I think, they came into the clinic to donate blood. And they all had that same type. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked."
The nurse seemed rather impressed, but Sunset, by contrast, took on a more thoughtful expression.
"...Sisters?"
Turning to her, the doctor nodded.
"Um...yes?"
Sunset looked away, thinking hard on what she'd just learned, all while the other two just shrugged their shoulders at one another. Slowly, Sunset turned to them again, speaking in a slow manner.
"These sisters...do you remember anything about them?"
The doctor raised a hand to her chin, thinking on that one.
"It was years ago, but...they did have this odd feel about them. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on."
Letting out a sigh, she continued.
"I probably couldn't describe them for you, but I do think I recall one of them being called by name at one point."
Again, she seemed to think hard on that.
"Dago...Adag...something like that."
Sunset's eyes widened, and she muttered something under her breath.
"That...no...don't be silly, Sunset. It...it couldn't be!"
The doctor and nurse glanced nervously to one another before, finally, speaking to the girl once more.
"Are...are you alright, Miss?"
Sunset, realising how she must have looked, shook herself out of this state, putting on a smile and nodding to them.
"Yes, sorry about that. But...um...I don't suppose there's any chance the blood of those three girls is...well...still around?"
The doctor chuckled.
"I'd say there's a pretty good chance of that. The thing about blood types this rare is that, well...it's pretty rare for them to be needed."
Sunset's smile widened.
"I'm glad to hear it. Could you tell me where that blood would be stored?"
Looking to her, the doctor seemed less than certain about all of this.
"Well...yes...I suppose I could, but...why would you want to know?"
Slowly, Sunset turned, a look of determination upon her face.
"Let's just say...there's a question that needs answering."
"So, any idea what they want us for?"
The annoyance in Aria's voice was as clear as day, and Adagio, as per usual, couldn't help but roll her eyes at it. Along with Sonata, the three Siren sisters were making their way down one of the many hallways of CHS, heading straight for their destination; the music room. They walked with purpose, clearly trying to get there as swiftly as possible, but even as they did this, there was a look of uncertainty about them. Adagio's normal confident expression was replaced instead by thoughtfulness.
"There was something about Sunset's message...I couldn't quite put my finger on it."
Sonata turned to her, bearing a wide smile.
"Oooh! Maybe they're throwing a surprise party?"
Naturally, such a remark earned her the scornful frown of Aria, prompting her to look away.
"Or...maybe not."
Adagio shook her head to her sister's antics, keeping her eyes forward as they maintained their pace. At this speed, it didn't take them long for them to get to the room in question, but when they finally reached it, they stopped. They could hear familiar voices on the other side, many of which were tinted with what sounded like apprehension. She couldn't make out the exact words, but she was fairly certain her and her sisters' names were being thrown around in there. Under normal circumstances, she might have simply entered, looking like she owned the place, but now, with this feeling of hers, she simply gave a knock. A moment of silence passed, and when it ended, she heard the clear sound of Sunset on the other side.
"...Come in."
Adagio raised an eyebrow to the tone in which she'd responded, but nevertheless, did as requested. And when the three of them entered, they saw them. All of their friends, Sunset, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Twilight, were gathered here, all sitting in chairs or simply, in Rainbow and Applejack's case, leaning against nearby walls. After looking them over, the Sirens all entered in earnest, closing the door behind them, and as they approached the assembled group, Aria broke the silence between them.
"Okay...what did we do now?"
Sunset raised a hand, speaking in a calming manner.
"No, Aria, you're not in trouble. It's just...there's something we need to discuss."
Naturally, a remark like that prompted a great deal of concern among the three sisters. But, even so, they continued to walk further into the room, taking their place among a trio of seats that had already been prepared for them. While Aria folded her arms and frowned at the girls, and Sonata poked her fingers against each other nervously, Adagio's expression was blank, as she studied each of the faces before her. Her tone similarly reflected this as she finally spoke.
"Well...I trust you didn't ask us here just to sit in silence, Sunset?"
The former unicorn looked to many of her colleagues, most of whom seemed just as uncomfortable with answering as she was. But, in the end, and after taking a few deep breaths, the Equestrian finally started explaining things.
"You probably know that, a few days back, the girls and I donated blood."
Adagio nodded, leaning back into her chair and sweeping aside some of her hair as she did so.
"Yes yes, a noble act of course."
But Sunset's tone was nowhere near as dismissive as Adagio's as she continued.
"But it turns out that, aside from me, all of our group shared the same blood type. An...incredibly rare blood type."
The Sirens looked to them, suddenly seeming somewhat more interested as Sunset now gestured to Applejack.
"AJ's family have donated in the past, and so I did some checking. Turns out that both Big Mac and Granny Smith have it too. And if Apple Bloom were to donate when she reaches the right age...I think it's safe to say that she'd have it. Same goes for Twilight's brother, Shining."
To this, Aria shrugged her shoulders.
"So it runs in families. Big deal."
Sunset narrowed her eyes.
"It is a big deal. Because there's another family that also shares this blood type. This rare, one in a million blood type."
Raising a hand, she gestured to the three of them.
"Yours."
Here, all three of the Sirens' eyes widened, and Adagio spoke in a more serious tone than before.
"...Excuse me?"
Sunset sighed, looking down at the ground as she continued in her explanation.
"Look...after I heard about the other girls, I did a little digging around. Your blood, that you donated a few decades ago, was the exact same type as all of theirs."
She looked back up to them.
"I knew that couldn't be a coincidence, so I went out to where the blood was being kept."
The look on the Sirens' faces made it obvious that they wanted to speak, but, for some reason, they remained quiet as they kept on hearing what Sunset had to say to them. And when she spoke, it was with a degree of obvious hesitancy.
"Adagio...do you remember your son?"
The elder Siren was taken aback by that question, but it took only a moment to regain her composure, replying to Sunset with a slight frown upon her face.
"I always remember Forte. What of him?"
Sunset's eyes flickered for a time, but nevertheless kept their gaze squarely on the oldest sister.
"You told me once that he had children, and that you kept note of them through the centuries."
Adagio nodded.
"I did. But, as I said to you, I eventually just lost track of them all. Why are you asking about this?"
Sunset took a moment, taking in a further few breaths as she carried on.
"Do you recall the names they had?"
Again, Adagio nodded.
"Of course. Firefly. Sparkler. Surprise. The list goes on."
Sunset paused, staring at the Siren before her, which was not something that put anyone here at ease in the slightest. But, in the end, she let out a sigh, slowly glancing over her shoulder to the girls behind her.
"It's just...those names...appeared a few other times down the line."
At first, Adagio didn't know what to make of such a statement, but soon found herself looking to the other Rainbooms. There was a time of hesitancy among the girls, looking to one another as if daring them to be the first to speak. After almost a full minute of this, Rainbow turned to Adagio, and while she appeared to stumble in her words for a bit, she eventually got them out.
"My Grandma...even my Great-Grandma...they were called Firefly."
Adagio's eyes widened, but she said nothing, as Pinkie then added her voice, sounding far more serious than one would normally expect of her.
"My Mother's name was Surprise."
The silence that followed was as uncomfortable as you could imagine, as eyes darted everywhere from Adagio to all the rest of the assembled girls. As for the Siren herself, she appeared to be in a state that she rarely, if ever, found herself; speechlessness. What she was now learning was, in a profound way, affecting her. Even though nobody had said the one thing she knew was on everybody's mind, she sensed it was coming. It was almost as if it wasn't going to be real to her, until someone actually said it. Sunset, seeing her like this, knew from looking that this was the thought running in her mind. So, in the end, she decided that she would be the one to give her former foe the answer she sought.
"Adagio...when I went to your stored blood samplers...I asked that they compare them to that of the girls, and..."
She took a deep breath, then another, and another, before finally, at long last, just coming out and saying it.
"You...and the other girls. You're...you're related."
As had happened frequently, silence followed those words, and this one was long. In fact, nearly five minutes passed before anyone said anything, and when they did, it was Aria, letting out a rare chuckle before crossing her legs and leaning back into her chair.
"Nope, not buying it."
Sunset sighed.
"I know...I found it hard to believe too. But, they did the checks on the blood. They matched, as only relatives could. Adagio is their ancestor."
Aria's smirk faded, and she slowly turned to her sister. The latter was still silent, looking down at the ground and seeming far more contemplative than she'd ever been before. Nobody wanted to disturb whatever train of thought she was having right now, especially when, finally, she looked up and stared at Sunset right in the eye.
"...You're certain?"
Sunset nodded.
"There's no question."
Adagio saw nothing but honesty there in her expression. This was no trick, no deception and no prank. Sunset had meant every words of it, which, naturally, was difficult for her to take in.
"That is...not something I was expecting to hear."
Again, Sunset nodded.
"I know the feeling. But then...I suppose we should have seen this coming."
Aria turned to her, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah? And how do you figure that?"
Sunset looked to her as she explained.
"Well...think about it."
She gestured to her nearby friends.
"These girls, these perfectly normal humans, were able to absorb and use Equestrian magic that radiated out from Princess Twilight's crown. And consider also how that same magic eventually found its way into this Twilight. Having that happen to those with no known connection to magic would have been an almost impossible thing to explain."
Sunset's expression then became more serious.
"But...if those girls had a tiny bit of Equestrian in their ancestry, even one diluted from centuries of inter-breeding with normal humans...that might have been enough to allow them to do such a thing."
Aria seemed thoughtful at that, as indeed did Adagio. But, Sunset wasn't finished there.
"Besides...if ever you needed proof...then look no further than the way in which they used their magic."
To that, Adagio finally broke her self-imposed silence.
"What do you mean?"
Sunset gazed at her, measuring her expression as she delivered her continued words on the matter.
"For a while, there was only one way by which they were able to gain any kind of access or control over their powers."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Through song."
Adagio's eyes widened, and Sunset continued.
"For a time, Rainbow, Applejack and all the rest could only control the magic of Equestria when performing some kind of music or song...just like a Siren."
That, at the very least, seemed to do the trick, as any trace of scepticism had been completely wiped from Aria's face. She turned to her sister, who seemed to have already accepted this new knowledge more readily than she had, and was now simply letting it sink in. Nobody spoke up to her, for she clearly seemed to be getting her thoughts in order, going over all the implications this would have undoubtedly meant for her.
"Well...if nothing else...I suppose I should be happy that my son's blood has survived so long."
Sunset cracked a small smile to that sentiment, as indeed did many of her friends. But, as before, they said nothing, watching as Adagio's face morphed between several different expressions. In the end, and to the surprise of all of them there, she actually started to LAUGH. Naturally, this was an odd situation for all concerned, but, after a few moments of this, her chuckles died down, and she exhaled deeply as she smiled at all of the girls.
"To think...because of one night doing what I love doing most...I ended up eventually creating the very people who would one day defeat us. How ironic."
In spite of how serious the mood had been until this point, that one statement seemed to release everybody from whatever thoughtful mood they'd been in. Instead, there was simply a chorus of like-minded laughs and giggles all around, even from Aria, though she admittedly tried to refrain from doing so. When that laughter ended, however, the middle Siren rolled her eyes somewhat, letting out a groan of annoyance.
"Ugh! Does this mean we all have to start acting like one big happy fami-"
But, she was halted, as Pinkie, who'd been as silent as everyone else here, suddenly leapt out of her chair, straight for Sonata. The youngest Siren opened her arms, embracing the party girl as she came to her, and as they hugged, they both bore wide and happy smiles.
"Yay! More family!" Pinkie shouted.
"Eeeee!" Sonata happily squealed back.
Many eyes rolled at this display, none more so than Aria of course, and as the two bubbly girls went about what they were doing, Adagio looked once more to Sunset, leaning forward and placing a hand upon her knee. As one would expect, this caught the former unicorn's attention, and she looked on in surprise to see Adagio bearing a happier and more sincere smile than most had ever seen on her.
"Thank you...for letting me know I have more family than I thought...even if they are a few generations apart from me."
Sunset was, naturally, taken aback by those words, but soon relaxed into a smile of her own, placing her hand upon Adagio's and giving her a nod.
"No problem."
But, moments later, she bore a more snarky expression, complete with raised eyebrow.
"Although...I'm hoping you understand that it'll probably be inappropriate for you to flirt with them after this."
To that, Adagio leaned back into her chair, flipped aside some of her hair, and let out a hearty chuckle.
"Me?! Stop flirting?! Not on your life, my dear!"
Sunset sighed.
"Yeah...probably should have known that was coming."
But, she was distracted when the distinct sound of Rainbow's often-used cackle was heard, prompting her to turn just in time to see the tomboy in question look to her newly-discovered relative with a smirk of her own.
"Guess this means we get to call you Grandma now, right?"
Adagio's smile faded at that.
"Only if you add "world's sexiest" to it when you do."
Rainbow snorted.
"Yeah, not gonna happen."
Raising a hand to her temple, Sunset began to rub it as she let out a sigh.
"This...is going to take some getting used to."
However, as she continued to try and cope with all of this, a thought came to mind. One that prompted her to look to Adagio with a curious expression.
"Actually...there is one mystery that I wasn't able to solve."
All three Sirens looked to her, causing her to continue.
"Why did you three donate blood?"
At first, they looked to her with incredulity, which prompted Rarity to speak up from behind her.
"Sunset has a point. I mean, pardon us for saying this, but...the three of your weren't exactly the most charitable individuals at the time."
Sighing, Adagio began to answer.
"Well...it was considered something of a fashionable and popular thing to do at the time. And Sonata, being Sonata, thought it might be fun for us to go ahead and donate."
Turning, she gave her younger sister a scowl.
"...It wasn't."
Here, Sonata giggled nervously.
"Well...it gave us this happy ending...right?"
To that, Adagio narrowed her eyes further.
"Tell that to the needle mark I've still got on my arm!"
