Band Geeks.

— 𝄞 —

Downtown Canterlot was a bustling social hub of suburbia: populated by high school sweethearts that got married right after graduation, the kids they had soon after, and any other fortunate soul that found themselves stumbling into the town's warm, loving arms.

Yes, white-picket neighbourhoods painted the outskirts of the town with doting parents, family dinners and summers spent abroad, in some whatever-wherever tropical getaway. Whatever was in season that year, of course. Cul De Sacs twisted, giving way to seedy apartment buildings, back alleys and desolate parking lots, the closer one found themselves in the direction of the city.

The cloud of smoke that lingered around the loading bay behind Canterlot Mall wasn’t a foreign sight by any means; especially on late Friday evenings such as this. Aria Blaze perched herself atop the loading dock, kicking her legs against the wall as Sonata continued to laugh at something that had happened earlier that day, at school. If Adagio had been paying more attention, she probably would have given a roll of her eyes and a click of her tongue; but instead, she smiled down at the phone in her hands, trying her best to fight the giggle that bubbled in her chest.

Aria pulled the cigarette from her mouth to blow out another steady stream of smoke, watching the older girl intently as she tapped out a message in some chat box, locked her phone, and pressed it against her folded arms as she returned herself to Sonata’s one-sided discussion about how hard it is to shove mathletes into lockers now-a-days.

“I mean, I know there’s budget cuts or whatever, but did they really need to slim down the lockers?”

Adagio adjusted her stare, all tenderness hardening into a half-formed scowl as she queried a brow. “You… What? They didn’t-”

“No, no,” Aria waved her off, scoffing and turning her attention back to the bluenette, “I wanna hear her out on this.” She offered the cigarette to the other girl, who accepted it readily, sucking in her own mouthful of nicotine and smog.

Sonata flicked away the tapering ash as she blew smoke out through her nose. Adagio waved it away with a wince, taking a step back to keep herself free from the smothering stench. “You really shouldn’t be doing that. If the coach finds out you’ve been smoking she’ll-”

“And how will she find out?” Aria asked, leaning against her palms as she looked down at her. “Are you gonna snitch?”

“I don’t need to snitch if she comes to practice reeking of smoke, dumbass.” Adagio glowered. “You shouldn’t be smoking either. Don’t you play the tuba or something?”

“Trumpet.”

“Whatever,” Adagio waved her off. “You aren’t as attractive as you think you are. Smoking doesn’t make you cool.”

Aria snorted. “Ohhh, smoking doesn’t make you cool,” she taunted, turning to Sonata who laughed along with her. “When did you become such a square?”

The older girl held her firm glare, snapping her eyes from Aria only to throw daggers at Sonata, who faltered a bit before rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. Aria cleared her throat and took back the cigarette to finish off the rest, dubbing it out against the loading bay beside her once she was done.

“Well, anyway. What’s the plan for tomorrow? We can hang out at my place since my parents won’t be home till late.” Sonata clasped her hands behind her back and stepped away from the wall to let Aria hop down, dusting off her jeans and tucking her shirt back into her belt.

“As entertaining as sitting aside and watching you two get drunk sounds,” Adagio checked her phone, “no can do. I already have plans.”

“What? With who?”

Adagio flicked Aria on the tip of her nose. “That’s none of your business, is it.”

“Ow!” Aria recoiled and clapped her hands over her face, eyes already stinging. “Man, screw you!”

Adagio tossed her hair over her shoulder and quirked a brow as Sonata attempted to comfort the injured girl, rubbing her back with a small frown of her own. The oldest teen rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Grow up. I thought you were supposed to be tough?”

She unlocked her phone and smiled down at the new message on the screen, letting out a dreamy sigh before she once again typed out a response. Aria muttered under her breath, but swallowed thickly as Adagio shot her with another piercing scowl.

Adagio huffed out a breath and slipped her phone into her pocket, keeping her hands tucked away after she adjusted her bag. “Well, this really has been fun, but I have to get home.” She jabbed a thumb behind herself as she began walking backward in that direction. “Have fun playing tonsil tennis or, whatever it is you two do when I’m not there.”

Sonata and Aria both let out an indignant squeak, faces flushing red as they sputtered out defiances and curses. Adagio only smirked and shook her head, turning back to walk home.

The night seeped in through the fabric of Adagio’s cheer uniform, even as she tugged the fleecy jacket tighter around herself. She shuddered, hunched her shoulders, and swore at the stinging of the cold against her exposed legs. Maybe it was time to consider wearing tights to school? She groaned inwardly.

Adagio kept a firm grip on her phone until she was safely out of the dimly-lit backstreets of outer Canterlot, and let out a sigh of relief once she found herself back on the sidewalks of well-trimmed suburbia. She crossed garden after garden, counting off lawn gnomes until she came to the tacky, sunglasses-wearing flamingo of her neighbour’s yard. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, the headache still prevalent whenever she thought about just how the elderly couple next door had thought it a good idea to spend actual money on the thing.

Slipping her hand from her pocket to open the door, Adagio let out another sigh once the warm air engulfed her and she stepped inside. She kicked off her shoes, careful not to get any grime or muck on the carpet, and ran a hand through her wind-swept bangs. “I’m home.”

“Welcome back Deedee,” Chrysalis sneered, rounding the living room door to lean against the frame with folded arms. “You’re home late. Out with your geek friends as usual?”

Adagio made a noise in the back of her throat and kept her eyes low. “Where’s mom?”

“Work.”

She pressed her lips together and tightened her grip on the strap of her bag, trying her best to keep her breathing levelled. Adagio mumbled under her breath and moved toward the stairs, only to be cut off by the taller girl’s arm blocking her path. Adagio spared a quizzical glance upward.

Chrysalis shook her head with a breathy chuckle. “And where do you think you’re going?”

“To my room. To change out of my uniform.”

“Hm. Good call,” the older girl looked her up and down, “aren’t you cold? It’s a bit short, is it not?” Adagio fought the warmth that crept into her cheeks, keeping her eyes forward and her jaw squared.

When Adagio moved to force her way past, Chrysalis barged the younger girl’s chest with her shoulder, causing her to stumble backward and hit her head against the wall. Adagio readjusted her bag back onto her shoulder and dropped her eyes again, pursing her lips to stop them from quivering under her sister’s scrutinous eyes. “Did I say you could go yet?”

She was quiet. “N-no…”

After a few moments, Chrysalis pulled back to let Adagio up the stairs and leaned against the wall between the living room and front door once more. “Oh, and another thing, Deedee?” Adagio paused and turned back to look at her sister expectantly, forcing all malice and contempt from her features as best she could. “Make sure that the next time your little freak friends come over that they stay out of my room. Pretty sure one of them stole something.”

“They wouldn’t do that. We don’t go anywhere near your room.”

“So you’re calling me a liar?”

Adagio’s throat tightened. She wrung her bag strap.

Chrysalis scoffed, a wicked smirk turning her features dark. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt since I’m so nice, and because I know you know what that would mean for you.” She held Adagio’s gaze, challenging her to look away first. “Oh, and make sure you don’t come home reeking of cigarettes next time you wanna come stumbling in at all hours of the night. You’re just lucky it was me here and not mom. It would be a real shame if she found out, right?”

Adagio swallowed.

“Right?” Chrysalis repeated.

Adagio dropped her eyes, flinching. “R-right.”

The older girl snorted. “You can go now. I just hope you have something in your wardrobe that doesn't make you look like a little tramp.”

Adagio scurried up the rest of the stairs and threw her bag against her drawers as she slammed her bedroom door behind her. She leaned back against it, letting herself drop to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. Adagio ground her teeth, wiping furiously at the hot tears that stained her already flushed cheeks. She let out a frustrated growl and kicked the leg of her bed frame, gripping at her hair as she screwed her eyes shut.

“One. Two. Three. Four-” She swallowed and breathed, pressing her palms firmly against the sides of her head, as if that would work to contain her bubbling anger. “F-five. Six-”

A buzzing in her pocket interrupted her and her breath caught in her throat before she fished the small device out frantically, ready to chew out whoever dared to speak to her right now.

“Hey! Did you make it home safe yet?<3” It was Sugar Belle. Her heart swelled.

She typed out a response, then paused, deleted it, and typed out another. Adagio bounced her leg anxiously, eyes darting from where she had thrown her bag, to the bottles of moisturiser and perfume she had knocked off of her drawers, and back to her phone. “Come on,” she muttered, wrinkling her brows.

After a few more seconds without a response, she tossed her phone through the bars of her bed frame, sucking in a breath at the way it clanged against the metal. It just made her more angry.

How stupid could she be? What if she had broken it? She couldn’t afford to replace it. Neither could her mother. Her mother. Her mother always told her to be more careful with things. To take more care of them. She growled once more and kicked her bed again.

Adagio gripped at the sleeves of her hoodie, kneading the fabric until she wore her fingers tired. She bit her lip, stopping only short of drawing blood. She paced until it was all her mind could focus on. The back and forth. Left and right. In and out.

Her phone buzzed again and she glared at it before taking a deep breath, closing her eyes, and circling her bed to look at whatever Sugar Belle had replied.

“I’m so sorry:( Do you want me to call you? I don’t know if it’ll help but I’m here to listen. You can yell and curse all you want. You don’t need to hold yourself back from me.”

Adagio sniffed and hit the call button.

Author's Note

prologues: done 😎

So here's a little look into what Adagio's home life is like!
If there's any confusion about why Sugar Belle is here, please read the prequel to this story if you haven't already: Adagio Undefeated.

With the prologues done we can finally move onto the real story, but I wanted to give you all a feel for each character and their dynamics within their own segments of the story!

I really appreciate all the support this AU has received on here, as well as on my tumblr and twitter (which will be linked below)-- and if you want more segments of content, make sure to check those out! I've been making little art pieces as additional content too.

I also wanna give a thank you to sunsetslight and phoenixflamiing for proofreading and helping with some edits for this chapter!

As always, comments and thumbs up are appreciated!
If you would like to support me and my writing, please consider donating to my ko-fi! Or, get in touch about a commission!

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