Raison d'Etre

Aria stood across from me, fingering the blue pendant we all wore now.

“So, what happened?” she asked. The grouchy tone was still in her voice, but those that knew her also knew her angry grouch from her regular grouch.

Adagio shook her head. “I’m not sure,” she said. “We fed on those young lovers but didn’t alter their behavior negatively, nor did we need to feed.” She sighed. “And that doesn’t even explain why the portal affected us each differently. It burned me and Sonata, but it only soothed you.”

I smiled for a moment. “Maybe because she was already in pain,” I said, a tear slipping free. “Pain we couldn’t see.”

Aria looked down, her gaze drifting to the knife on the counter between us. She had come clean to us after we pulled her off the junkie that had attacked me, admitting to the cutting and the self-loathing. It had hurt me to see my sister being in such a dark place and not even realize it. Dagi and I had decided then that it was more important to help each other as we once had, before our banishment, before the recriminations and hate had made us snipe at each other.

“They look like our old gems,” I said, drawing us away from the uncomfortable topic. “But why would the portal give us our Song back?”

“Maybe it just restored us?” Dagi said. “Like hitting a reset switch on a breaker box?”

“But why?” Aria pressed. “We were banished and barred because of our Song.”

“Maybe these aren’t like our old Songs,” I said, drawing a curious look from my sisters.

“Well,” I said, tapping my fingers together nervously. “We had to choose what emotions to draw on, and remember how back in the old days, our gems were clear? They only turned red after years of feeding on negative emotions.”

“So what does blue mean, then?” Dagi asked. “Happiness and sunshine?”

“Hope,” a quiet voice said from behind us.

We turned to find Fluttershy standing there, another of her care packages in her hands. She looked slightly tanned and stood just a bit taller than previously.

“You all have something you didn’t have before,” she continued, putting the box down on the counter. “You have hope.” She pointed at each of us in turn. “Adagio has a job at a restaurant, respected for her professionalism and willingness to work hard.”

She looked at me. “You are getting quite the reputation at Sugarcube Corner as a great confectioner and Pinkie speaks highly of you. That’s enough for me,” she smiled and patted me on the shoulder.

She looked at Aria. “I’m not sure what troubled you, but I can see that it doesn’t really weigh on you as much as the last time I was here.” She either didn’t see the knife or didn’t understand its significance.

“How do you know so much?” Dagi said, genuinely curious.

The slender girl smiled sadly. “When you’re used to abuse, you learn to see the signs,” she said. “You also learn to observe people, listen to what’s being said. How else do you think I found you the first time?”

I blinked in surprise. I had never thought about it, honestly.

“The question is now,” she said, looking at us in turn. “What do you do?”

“Are you sure about this?” Aria asked as we looked at the small apartment.

“It’s got plenty of space, and it’s well within the budget that you have with two incomes,” Fluttershy said. “It’s also out of downtown and still relatively close to both of your jobs.”

Adagio fingered the keys nervously, uncertain. I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder.

“I’m willing if you are,” I whispered. “We need out of that place, and I don’t think I could stay there anyway after what happened.”

“What’s the catch?” Aria said. “There’s always one.”

Fluttershy spread her hands. “No catch,” she said. “I just care.”

“Why?” Aria fired back.

“Everyone deserves some kindness,” she said. “And with the right situation, anyone can move on from the past.” Her eyes went distant for a moment.

Aria scowled, but I recognized indecision in her face. She looked over at us, and I smiled.

Adagio closed her hand around the apartment keys, nodding.

Aria slowly smiled too and seeing one on her face after so long was wonderful.

Maybe it was time to move on from everything.

I sat on the fire escape of our apartment, Aria and Adagio trying to settle our meager belongings in some sense of order. I looked out over the bright lights of the neighborhood, feeling at peace. Aria and I had made a deal that when Pinks and I started the catering, she could help until she found something permanent and would get a share of the income. It had helped her mood, and I’m sure that Pinkie wouldn’t have any problem with that.

I reached out and grabbed the railing to stand up and hissed as I felt something bite into my fingertip.

I stared at the small drop of blood on my pinky, and seized by a strange - and yet vaguely familiar urge - I started humming softly, following my instincts. The melody flowed from me smoothly and my pendant lit with a soft glow. A light mist of silver surrounded my finger, and when it and my song faded, the cut in my finger was gone.

I felt my eyes pop open, and I scrambled to my feet, climbing back into the apartment.

“Guys!”

My head hurt and my eyes itched, but this had been an informative little trip to the library. Adagio and Aria were sitting at the table with me, several dusty books in front of us.

Aria pushed hers away. “Nothing!” she rasped. “Everything in this one tells us what we already know.”

I shut mine as well, the artwork inside horribly inaccurate as to what we looked like. “I don’t remember ever trying to get seafaring ships to crash onto rocks,” I muttered. “What good are dead sailors? You can't feed on the dead.”

Adagio whistled, drawing the silent ire of a passing librarian. “This might explain something,” she said, setting the book down on the table.

“It’s not about us, not directly,” she said. “But it does reference us in regards to harpies. In some mythologies, we were natural enemies, since we drew on emotions and harpies would drive their victims mad.” She shook her head. “But I don’t remember any harpies in Equestria, at least not when we were there. Hadn’t been for centuries.”

“There aren’t any sirens there now, either, Adagio,” Aria said. “We were probably the last three. But what does that have to do with the fact that our Song now apparently heals wounds?”

“Well,” I said, thinking. “Look around. I can see every emotional aura but anger in here. Boredom, excitement, sexual desire, and exhaustion. But nothing negative. No anger or hate. What if these gems can only store energy and our Song tap into them for…whatever?”

“There isn’t any more information in these books,” Adagio said. “We need access to Equestrian tomes. They’d be more accurate anyway.”

“We could ask Fluttershy,” Aria said. “She’d be able to get them.”

“No,” Adagio said, closing her book. “We’re not going to move in shadows anymore.”

She stood and started putting the books on the return cart.

“We ask directly from now on,” she looked at me. “When is that party for Sunset Shimmer?”

“Tomorrow,” I said. “Sugarcube Corner. She should be there around eleven?”

“We’ll talk to her then.”

I saw Sunset standing by the soda stand, shivering and pale.

"You ok?" I asked. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"I think I might have," she whispered, frowning.

"You don't look so good," I said. "You should sit down." I guided her to a chair. I went to get her a drink when Aria came up to me.

"Do you feel that?" she whispered.

I blinked for a second, then closed my eyes.

Hate, rage, and murderous intent hung in the air, fading slowly. I shivered.

"There shouldn't be anything like that here," I said. "Everyone here is a friend. It's a celebration."

"Whatever caused them, it's gone now," Aria glanced at Sunset. "We should talk to her now."

I nodded.

To be concluded in Chaos Theory