The Terrible Singing of an Unrepentant Siren

The sun coming in the window woke Sunset Shimmer up. She rolled over and bumped into the girl in the bed next to her. Sunset sat up, rubbing her face.

Adagio stirred, and opened her eyes for a moment, shielded them with her hand, then closed them again.

“Good morning,” said Sunset.

“Mmm,” said Adagio.

“So uh... it’s tomorrow.” Sunset smiled. “And I’m still here.”

Adagio swiveled her face in the direction of Sunset. “Yeah.” said Adagio, her eyes still mostly closed. “S’great.” She unstuck a spiral of hair that had been stuck to her mouth, smacking her lips to rid herself of the feeling of hair in her mouth. “Can you make me breakfast?”

Sunset just looked at Adagio for a moment, then laughed.

Eventually they made it to the kitchen—Adagio somewhat more laboriously than Sunset—and Adagio slumped down at the table while Sunset got things together for breakfast.

“Are eggs and toast fine for you?” asked Sunset.

“Yeah,” said Adagio. Then she lifted her head up. “Wait, so eating fully-grown chickens is a pony taboo, but eating baby chickens is fine?”

“There’s... not a baby chicken inside eggs.”

“Oh.” Adagio blinked slowly. “That’s a disappointment.” She slumped back down on the table.

“So I take it you sirens were carnivorous back in Equestria?”

“Yeah. You don’t have fangs and pointed teeth for eating hay.”

Sunset put a frying pan on the stove and turned the heat on. “So what did you eat?”

“Oh, you know. Fish. Sea creatures. Anything that swam too close, really.”

“Have you tried seafood here?”

“Yeah, it’s a let down. Nothing like eating something still alive.”

“Ew.”

“It’s just that fish taste best when they’re still moving.”

“Okay stop.”

“The satisfying crunch and squish when you—”

“Okay, okay! No more! I was planning on eating in a few minutes, here!”

“Hey, you asked.”

“And I’m sorry I did.”

Once everything was ready, Sunset brought over the eggs and toast and they ate together.

“Hey, so...” Adagio started then trailed off.

“What is it?”

“How are things going to be between us?”

“We’re friends,” said Sunset.

“So tomorrow at school... will you eat lunch with me?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“You should eat lunch with me every day.”

“Well, like I said, I still want to sit with the girls at lunch sometimes. You sure you don’t want to come to our table?”

Adagio sighed. “No, not at all.” She played with the crust of her toast on her plate. “Maybe... you could eat lunch with just me for the first few days?”

“Then we’ll see?”

“Yeah, then we’ll see.”

“Okay, I can do that.” Sunset took a sip of her orange juice. “But you should try and make some other friends, too. With the girls, with the other sirens again, or new people all together.”

Adagio pushed her plate away and slumped on the table. “This sounds like a nightmare.”

“Just take it in small steps—like practicing singing the other day. No rush, and I can promise none of the girls or me will judge you or be hard on you.”

“Alright, alright.” Adagio stretched her arms out on the table, far enough across that Sunset had to move her cup or have it knocked over. “I’ll do all these terribly annoying things.”

“It’ll get easier. I promise.”

“It better.”

After they were both finished, Sunset cleared the table while Adagio continued to sit.

“Hey, you should take me home now,” said Adagio when Sunset was done.

“Yeah? No rush—you can hang around for a bit if you want.”

“No, I’m good. I got some homework and studying to do and stuff.”

“Right, you got to keep those marks up, hey?” Sunset said with a grin.

“What’s with that tone? It’s a lot of work to do that well in all my subjects.”

“I just still think it’s funny how you’re so lazy and somehow also this academic overachiever at the same time.”

“Hey, I do what I gotta do, I don’t do what I don’t.”

“Whatever you say.”

When Sunset was ready, Adagio got her hoodie and followed her to the door.

“Hey, hang on,” said Adagio.

“What?” asked Sunset looking back.

“So... are we allowed to kiss sometimes?”

Sunset blinked. “What?”

Adagio looked to the side. “Or maybe not? Apparently there are all these rules to friendship and other things? But hugging is okay?”

“Hugging is okay, kissing is... yeah, probably not right now.”

“Hmm,” said Adagio. “So when would that be okay?”

“Um... again, it’s not really as simple as I think you’re thinking it is—”

Adagio rolled her eyes. “This seems unnecessarily complicated. I mean, we kissed last night, and it was pretty great, but there were, you know... there were bothersome things going on at the time, so...” She let out a breath. “I think it would be great without all those things.”

“What... are you saying?”

Adagio stepped closed until she was an inch away from Sunset. “Can’t we kiss again right now? Just a little bit would be okay, right?”

“Uh, that’s...”

Adagio put her hand to Sunset’s cheek. Sunset backed up and found herself against the wall, and Adagio closed the distance. Sunset’s face flushed and she blinked quickly, her eyes darting to the side.

Adagio let her hand drop away from Sunset’s cheek and smirked. “Finally I see you embarrassed.”

Sunset let her head fall back to bump against the wall.

“But I really don’t understand any of these rules,” said Adagio with a shrug, “and I do want to kiss you again, so sorry—”

Adagio reached around the back of Sunset’s head and pulled her forward, and leaned in to meet her in a kiss.

“Yeah, that was better,” said Adagio when they parted, an angled grin on her face.

Sunset just looked at her, her mouth still hanging open a bit. She shook her head. “Adagio, you are impossible.”

“Yeah, I know.” She moved past Sunset and opened the door. She looked back. “And you know that, too, and are friends with me anyway.” Adagio smiled for a moment, then went out the door. “Okay, come drive me home now.”

Sunset laughed resignedly and followed her out the door. She’d signed herself up for a lot, it seemed, but she wasn’t too worried. If more people saw this side of Adagio, Sunset was sure she’d be able to make some friends, and that would take some of the pressure off of her in the future.

As she locked the door, she paused, touching a finger to her mouth. Sunset smiled. And she didn’t mind the thought of something more than friendship between the two of them—but not for quite some time, Sunset told herself optimistically. Provided she could keep Adagio from moving things along at a cluelessly lightning-fast pace.

She went down the stairs to find Adagio waiting by the door out of the building, her hands on her hips. “Hurry up.”

“Your homework just can’t wait another minute?”

“Oh sorry, which one of us here is on a full scholarship?”

Sunset just walked past her out of the building. “Hey, you’re one of the top students in our grade, right?” She stopped and turned to face Adagio. “I don’t suppose you know who is the top student?”

Adagio raised her eyebrow. “No.”

Sunset grinned. “You’re looking at her.”

Adagio sighed. “You gotta be kidding me.”

“Hey, I’m the failed star pupil of Princess Celestia herself.” She shrugged. “You can’t compete with that.”

They walked together to Sunset’s car.

“Alright then,” said Adagio. “Next time, you’re helping me with school work, too.”

“Oh, I am, am I?”

“Unless you want to just do it for me?”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Ah, worth a try.”

They talked the whole ride back to Adagio’s place, and even a bit longer in the parked car before Adagio finally left. As Sunset drove away, she was a bit anxious of what the dynamic would be like if Adagio were to hang out with her and the girls, or if Sunset was with Adagio and the other two sirens—as Sunset was confident the trio would reunite once they had gotten enough time apart—but looked forward to it, all the same.

She would show Adagio that at least a few of the people in this universe would take her side, and stand with her when the world—any world—tried to tear them down.