Siren Duty

Aria laid on her bed with her headphones plugged in her phone and volume turned up. Her head steadily bobbing to the music as she read her History textbook. Had this been any other day, homework wouldn’t have even been a thought in her mind, considering it was something she actively avoided. But after carefully weighing her options, she decided that doing homework was better than listening to the ‘spirited debate’ going on between Adagio and Sunset in the kitchen.

Aria tapped her pencil to the music while occasionally, jotting down a few notes. “Electronic, supersonic…~” she hummed the lyrics. “Feel that bass go- Hey!” Aria felt her right headphone be yanked out of her ear. Looking up, she saw Adagio standing in front of her. “Can I-”

“Shut up!” Adagio commanded. “Who does that insufferable little bitch think she is?!

Aria didn’t know how to respond. Was Adagio talking to herself or to her? “Uhm-”

“I mean, I don’t recall anyone dying and putting her in charge, do you?!” Adagio glared at her.

“Uh...no? Aria answered hesitantly. “But, I don’t really know what you’re talking about so…”

“Who do you think I’m talking about, moron.”

Aria’s brow creased at Adagio's insult. “I said I don’t know what you’re talking about, not who you’re talking about, moron,” she retorted. “Obviously, I know you’re talking about Sunset.”

Adagio scowled and mentally kicked herself for not paying attention to what Aria said. “Whatever,” she shook the embarrassing moment from her mind. “The point is, she’s a bitch, and I’m through with her bossing me around.”

Here we go again, Aria thought. Rolling her eyes, she mentally prepared to listen to Adagio gripe and complain about their predicament, Sunset, and life, in general. “What happened this time?” she asked dully.

“Sunset is - was downstairs trying to bitch me out for not going to school today. Me!” Adagio pointed to herself while pacing the floor. “Like I'm sort of child needing reprimanding. I am a thousand years old. She doesn't get to tell me what to do!”

Aria rubbed her temples as she listened to Adagio's rant. This wasn't the first time she and Sunset had gone at it before, and Aria was confident it wasn’t going to be the last, but why did they always have to come to her to vent afterwards? Surely, they must know that she doesn't care about their petty arguments. So, why did they always have to involve her? Why couldn't they go to Sonata, who just loved to listen to people talk? Why did she have to be the bridge?

Picking up her book, Aria resolved that this was a fight she didn't want to be concerned with and therefore, wasn't. Realizing Adagio was only venting at the moment, Aria figured if she just pretended to take an interest in whatever holier-than-thou nonsense that was spewing from Adagio's mouth, she'd go away. Hopefully.

“I mean, how dare she!” Adagio ranted. “For her to even think that she can come into my house and start ordering me around, like did she actually think I was just going stand there and to take that?” Adagio looked to Aria for support.

Aria just nodded absent-mindedly as she skimmed through the pages. Who wrote this book? She thought, looking over the text was littered with a number of historical inaccuracies. That never happened…that happened 20 years later…he didn’t invent that…he definitely didn’t invent that. “My god, whoever wrote this is an idiot,” she whispered to herself.

“Aria, are you listening to me?” Adagio questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Yep.” Aria lied.

“So, you agree with me then?”

Aria had no idea what Adagio was talking about, but it was too late not play along now. “Uhhhaaaabsolutely,” she smiled. “You’re in charge, you do whatever you think is best.”

Adagio nodded in agreement. “You’re right, I am in charge,” she said. “So, it’s decided then. Our agreement with Celestia is over. Tomorrow I’ll go to her office and tell her we’re done. She can send us back to juvie if she wants.” Adagio nodded once more, solidifying her decision, then exited the room. “Good talk, Aria.”

“Glad I could – wait, what?!”

Aria was not going back to juvenile detention. She hated it there. It was boring, smelly, and the food was disgusting. Of course, the one time I choose not to pay attention to Adagio, she goes and makes a rash decision, she thought. Tossing her book aside, she slid off her bed. Aria flung open her door and jogged down to the end of the hallway, where Adagio’s room was. “Adagio!” She busted through the door.

“Ahh! Aria, what the hell are you doing!?” Adagio scrambled to cover herself with her towel. “Get out!”

“Oh please, you act like I haven’t seen you naked before.” Aria rolled her eyes as she closed the door.

“That’s beside the point.” Adagio replied, wrapping herself in the towel. “What do you want?”

Aria climbed on Adagio’s bed and sat Indian style. “I’m here to stop you from making the fourth biggest mistake of your – and our – lives,” she said.

“fourth?” Adagio arched an eyebrow.

“Mhm, let’s see.” Aria recounted all of Adagio’s past decisions on her fingers. “Taking those gems, challenging Starswirl, mind-controlling a school, getting beat up by that old lady,” she chuckled. “And now. So, wait, that’s actually five mistakes.” Aria held up her palm.

Adagio glared evilly at the girl before her. “You know, our immortality has yet to be tested since we lost our powers and you clearly have a death wish so-”

“Whoa, relax.” Aria scooted back, out of Adagio’s swinging range. “I’m just saying, you haven’t been on your game lately when it comes to making good choices. So, I’ve come to to be the voice of reason.”

“Oh, this ought to be good.” Adagio scoffed.

“Just hear me out, okay.” Aria patted the bed.

Adagio sighed and rolled her eyes, but took a seat.

“Okay,” Aria began. “Me, you, and Sonata have been together a painfully long time. And during that time, I’d like to think that we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well. Like I know that when you get upset or frustrated or, things aren’t going your way, you tend to – and no offense – make really bad decisions.”

Adagio growled and folded her arms over her chest. “Look, you little-oomph!”

“Shut up. ” Aria commanded, hitting Adagio in the face with a pillow. "I wasn’t done."

“Well, I am.” Adagio threw the pillow back in Aria’s direction. She got up to walk away but felt Aria grab her wrist.

“Adagio, please, just let me finish. After that, if you don’t want to hear anymore, I’ll leave.” Aria reasoned.

“Fine,” Adagio conceded, snatching her wrist away. “Continue.”

Aria took a deep breath. “I was going to say that, even though, you’re annoying and demanding and completely full of yourself like all the time; to the point where I just want to repeatedly punch you in the face…” She heard Adagio scoff. “…you’re a good leader and…I’d follow you anywhere, bad decisions and all.”

Aria could see Adagio’s face soften at her words. She knew Adagio wasn’t expecting her to say anything along those lines, and if Aria was being honest with herself, she wasn’t either. But she was glad she did.

“You really feel that way?” Adagio choked.

“Yeah.” Aria nodded. “And I’m sure Sonata feels the same way. But, Dagi…I don’t want to go back to jail.”

Adagio let out a heavy sigh as she took her seat back on the bed. “Me either,” she said, shaking her head. “I just…it’s hard living this way.”

“I know.”

“I mean, we used to be free once.” Adagio paused, remembering a time long ago. “But now…we’re trapped. Trapped in this world and in these bodies.” She looked at her hands. “And to top it all off, we’ve got Miss Former She-Demon telling us what we can and can’t do.”

Aria fell back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. “Yeah, life kinda sucks right now, but it could be worse.”

“How in Tartarus could it possibly be worse?” Adagio inquired.

“I don’t know.” Aria shrugged. “We could’ve been turned to stone like Discord.”

“Yeah, what a sad day in Equestrian history that was.”

Aria chuckled at a thought that popped in her head. “Hey, can you imagine the how much more chaos we could’ve caused if Discord got banished with us.”

“I don’t think this world would have survived.” Adagio giggled.

“I miss that old goat-face.” Aria smiled.

“Mhm, me too.”

The room fell silent as Adagio and Aria reminisced on their past in Equestria. After several moments past, Aria sat up. “Well, this has been fun,” she said, placing a hand on Adagio’s shoulder. “But, I’ve got one more person I need to talk to.”

“She’s not here.” Adagio replied.

Aria rolled off the bed and onto her feet. “Oh no, if only there were a way I could get in contact with her,” she said sarcastically, pulling out her phone and dangling it in front of Adagio.

“I hate you.” Adagio smirked.

“I know,” Aria acknowledged with a smile. “I hate you too.”