A Talk Amongst Equestrians
If one were asked to describe Adagio Dazzle in this one moment, the word they would undoubtedly come up with would have been "impatient". Tapping her finger frequently upon the table, the eldest Siren sister glanced around at all the happy customers of the café, watching all of their faces as they chatted amongst each other, and looking, for the most part, just annoyed with it all.
"We haven't waited that long, Adagio."
The voice caused Adagio to turn, and now she looked upon the disapproving face of Sunset Shimmer, who was sitting right next to her in their booth. After a few moments had passed, the Siren formed a smile upon her face.
"My dear Sunset. It is the fact that I am being asked to wait at all that bothers me."
Sunset rolled her eyes.
"You know, for an immortal, I'd have figured you'd be used to the passage of time by now."
Her words earned a brief chuckle from her companion.
"How droll, dear. And besides, I'd have though that a Princess of all people would be able to make her arrangements on time."
Sunset looked to her with another disapproving scowl.
"Like you say, Twilight is a Princess. That means she's probably very busy. Heck, it was lucky she was able to make it here today at all."
Flipping aside some of her hair, Adagio crossed her legs and reclined back into her part of the booth as she replied to that.
"Maybe so. Still...I hope you realise that I'm not going to want to stay here all day, Sunset."
While the look on Sunset's face made it clear that she would have wanted to speak up further on the matter, she immediately stopped, for something had just caught her eye. A new arrival, now entering the café with the familiar door-bell people had come to expect of those entering. Sunset's face broke out into a genuine smile as she stood up from her seat, catching Adagio's attention as she did so, before giving a wave and calling out.
"Twilight! Over here!"
Princess Twilight soon caught sight of her friend, and smiled right back before starting to make her way over to the booth. When she was close enough, Sunset moved out of the booth entirely, approaching her royal companion and embracing her in a friendly hug, which Twilight was more than willing to return.
"It's so good to see you again," Sunset remarked.
Twilight giggled.
"Likewise, Sunset."
When they parted, the young Princess looked to the side, right at Adagio, and gave her former enemy a smile no less real than the one she'd just given Sunset.
"And it's good to see you too, Adagio."
Adagio smiled back, and while she still had a tint of irritation about the Princess' lateness, the tone of her voice gave the impression of "no hard feelings".
"Always a pleasure, Princess."
Twilight nodded, and after a gesture from Sunset, the two former ponies took their respective positions back in the booth. Before any of them could speak to each other however, one of the cafe's waitresses passed them by, and Sunset cleared her throat, gaining the former's attention. There was a smile and a nod on the part of Sunset, which the waitress apparently understood, given the nod she gave back. With the waitress now on the move again, Twilight looked to her friend with confusion, prompting her to explain.
"I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of requesting some food before you arrived."
Understanding dawned on Twilight, and she regained her smile.
"Oh, it's no problem at all."
Leaning forward, Adagio raised an eyebrow, her face a curious one, as she finally addressed the youngest of the three of them.
"So, Twilight, how fares Equestria?"
Looking to the Siren, Twilight sighed.
"Oh, you know, same old same old. I'd have come over sooner, but we had a surprise visit from this ambassador from Manehattan. It took me nearly an hour before I finally managed to get through his talk. Plus, there was all those talks about what to do with the Changelings after...recent events."
Adagio chuckled.
"My my, the wonders of politics, eh?"
Twilight giggled to this.
"Well, I suppose you get used to it...eventually."
All three of them took this moment to laugh together, but when it died down, Twilight looked over to Adagio with a look of interest.
"You know...that invitation is still on the table, Adagio. You and your sisters can come and visit Equestria whenever you like."
Nodding to this, Adagio sighed.
"I appreciate the offer, Princess. Truly, I do. But, as I said before, my sisters and I have grown quite fond of this little blue ball. I doubt we'll be going back anytime soon."
Although Twilight seemed a touch disheartened by that answer, she soon looked up with confusion when she noticed that Adagio was actually snickering to herself. After sharing an unsure glance with Sunset, both of them stayed silent as the Siren started to explain herself.
"Oh, don't mind me. It's just...I find it so amusing how opinions can change. When my sisters and I first arrived here, all we could do was try and get ourselves back to Equestria. And now..."
Looking down at the table, her expression became a thoughtful one.
"...now we can't imagine being anywhere else."
Seeing this sincerity in her, Sunset cracked a smile herself, reaching forward and placing her hand upon hers. Adagio looked up, and watched as Sunset spoke to her with clear honesty in her tone.
"I know the feeling, Adagio. And believe me...we're glad to have you."
It took a few moments, but the eldest Siren gave an appreciative smile to that. Watching this occur between the two, Twilight herself couldn't help but join in on the smiling, albeit with one far wider than the other two. But before she had a chance to add her voice to matters, the waitress arrived yet again. This time, she was deftly carrying three plates of food, which required no explanation whatsoever. Giving her a much-needed moment of silence, the three girls watched her place the plates upon their table, before giving them a nod and a smile before, finally, moving off again. Twilight now had a chance to see the meal Sunset had arranged. It was a fairly basic selection, some salad and a few small snacks. Nothing fancy, but enough for a gathering such as this.
"Looks good," the Princess commented.
Sunset smirked to this.
"I thought you'd like it."
The three of them then began to eat their respective meals, with a look of clear enjoyment upon their faces as they ate. After a few bites though, Twilight turned to Sunset with an inquisitive expression.
"So how are things with the other girls?"
Sunset turned to her, swallowing her current bite before answering.
"They're doing well. Pinkie was going on a lot recently about some new recipe she and Sonata are trying out at Sugar Cube Corner. Causing quite a few happy customers I hear. Rainbow's been competing against Indigo...again. Rarity finally managed to get some of her dresses into the city, thanks to her connections with Coco. Fluttershy says the animal shelter has been doing great. And Applejack has been getting on with the annual apple harvest down on her family's orchards."
Twilight nodded to each and every mention of her friends, but when Sunset was done, the Princess started nervously twirling her finger in her fair slightly.
"And, um...is everyone else doing okay?"
Immediately, Sunset knew the hidden meaning behind her friend's words, and looked to her with a knowing smile.
"Flash is doing okay too, Twilight."
After a moment of looking somewhat embarrassed, Twilight returned to her earlier smile, giving Sunset a look of thanks before getting back to her plate. A silence hung over the three Equestrians for a time, but it ended when Sunset glanced over at Twilight again. The Princess had, for some reason, stopped eating her food, and was instead simply staring at her hand as she held one of her snacks between her thumb and forefinger. Briefly, the ex-unicorn turned to Adagio, who also seemed to notice this, before simply coming out and speaking to Twilight.
"Er, Twilight?"
Twilight turned her head to face her.
"Hmm?"
Thinking for a moment, Sunset just came out and said it.
"What...are you doing?"
Realising that she had been watched, a blush immediately formed on Twilight's face, and she set her hand down almost instantly as she tried to fumble an answer.
"Oh! Hehe! Sorry. I was just...um..."
Raising an eyebrow, Sunset finished her sentence for her.
"Looking at your fingers for some reason?"
After letting out a sigh, Twilight nodded, looking to her friend with a more serious expression.
"Well, can you blame me? I may have been a human a fair few times by now..."
She glanced back down at her hands.
"...but I'll probably never get used to them. And not just hands either. All these different...things."
Chuckling slightly, Sunset nodded in agreement.
"I know what you mean. It took a while for me to get used to it too."
Taking a sip from a nearby cup of tea, Adagio, who had simply been observing the two former ponies for some time now, decided to chime in.
"Indeed. I don't know about either of you, but my sisters and I were rather...shall we say...unnerved by it all?"
Looking to one another, all three of the Equestrians shared this moment of mutual agreement, nodding to each other for a time before Twilight once more looked down to her hands and spoke up.
"I mean...take these hand things. They're like weird...bony...tentacles or something. It's so strange to me to think that all these humans need them to pick stuff up."
Turning to her royal companion, Sunset added her voice to matters.
"Let's not forget standing on two legs. I can't tell you how many times I nearly fell over when I first came to this world."
Hearing that, Adagio gave Sunset an incredulous look, scoffing slightly, which earner her the attention of both her and Twilight. With their attention, the eldest Siren started to address them.
"Oh, you think you had it bad? How about having to learn to have legs at all? Remember, Aria, Sonata and I all came from the sea! There was far more that we had to get used to than either of you!"
Sunset frowned.
"Like what?"
Taking a moment to think on that, Adagio soon came up with an answer.
"Well, for starters, walking. For creatures that were so used to having to swim everywhere, it was tough. And then..."
The Siren turned away slightly.
"...there was our breathing."
A silence followed those words, and Twilight and Sunset looked to each other with confusion, before the former finally asked what was on both of their minds.
"Your...breathing?"
Adagio nodded, looking and sounding somewhat more melancholic than most were used to experiencing from her.
"Yes. The first time we came here, all those thousands of years ago, we tried going back to open water again. Almost drowned from it. Knowing we could never go back to our own environment...the kind of place we would once call home..."
A look of sadness crossed her gaze as she finished her words.
"...it was...difficult."
Immediately, a look of guilt formed upon both Twilight and Sunset's faces, and after a while to really take in what their companion had just said to them, it was Sunset who spoke next.
"Oh. I...I'm so sorry."
Then, to the surprise of both of them, Adagio actually laughed, before then speaking up in a far more up-beat manner than before.
"Think nothing of it. It was a long time ago after all. We're used to it by now."
While certainly relieved that the somewhat sad tone had passed, Twilight nevertheless felt rather awkward at how this discussion had gone just now, and so, after clearing her throat, started to speak again.
"Yes, well...I think it's safe to say that these humans, no matter how many friends we make among them, are always going to be pretty strange to all of us. No wings, no magic, no hooves..."
Looking to her friend, Sunset interrupted her with an opinion of her own.
"And the clothes! Seriously, when I first came here, it took forever to get used to the idea that nudity was taboo in this world."
Letting out a dry chuckle, Adagio nodded before including herself in this particular part of the discussion.
"Indeed. Coming from a world where nobody batted an eye at it, it was quite a culture shock."
After hearing those two viewpoints, Twilight looked to Sunset and Adagio and started to form a look of curiosity. It was a sentiment reflected in her tone when she spoke up to them again.
"Did you two ever..."
Briefly, she glanced around herself, making sure that nobody nearby could hear them, before finally finishing her sentence.
"...you know?"
Though it took a moment, Sunset soon understood her friend's words.
"You mean, go au naturelle?"
Twilight nodded slightly, leading to Sunset letting out a short laugh.
"I'd be lying if I said I'd never thought about it, if only because it would have felt more natural to me."
Hearing that, Adagio looked to Sunset with one of her infamously sultry smirks.
"Well...don't let me stop you."
Looking to her, Sunset now bore a disapproving frown.
"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?"
Laughing a bit more loudly, Adagio soon responded to that.
"Of course. Me and every boy in the school, most likely. I can just see the stares already."
As one would expect, Twilight couldn't help but blush at the direction this conversation had gone in all of a sudden, and once more, she let out a nervous chuckle to it all.
"Well...in that case...let's just be glad that the magic mirror has a sense of modesty...apparently."
Sunset turned to her and nodded.
"Agreed."
Adagio followed suit.
"Yes...sadly."
After a brief moment of yet more silence between the girls, Twilight let out a sigh, reaching up and feeling her bare forehead.
"You know what? Most of all...I miss my horn when I'm here."
Smiling, Sunset glanced down at her own hands.
"And I miss my hooves."
Her eyes drifting down to her right arm, Adagio placed her left hand upon it, feeling the bare skin she had there.
"And I miss my fins."
To that, both Twilight and Sunset looked to her with incredulity, prompting her to speak to them with a tone that somehow managed to be both sultry and indignant at the same time.
"What? They were very nice fins."
