It was a fickle thing, immortality.
Time brought with it change; evolution; the rise and fall of empires; and everything that came after. Adagio Dazzle had been blessed with an abundance of time. She wasn’t the only one, of course. Aria and Sonata, her sister sirens, had also been banished to the human realm, to waste away into nothing.
That had been Starswirl’s intention, at least. To strip them of their magic— leaving them defenseless in a world full of peril and suffering— a world suited for monsters of destruction, such as themselves. It had been a fitting punishment, but one that had proven fruitless. For it may have been true, the once three great sirens of Equestria had been stripped of their ability to manipulate and overpower; to dominate nations with a simple pitch note and harmony; but that had been all. Magic, as it seemed, worked differently in this world; and although their subjective magical abilities may have been useless here, their innate properties still lingered.
And so, as the landscape continued to twist and change with the times, Adagio Dazzle was cursed to watch it pass her by.
Adagio blinked thoughtlessly down at the pristine marble before her.
No. Thoughtlessly wasn’t the right word. There were many thoughts— too many thoughts. But none of them were distinguishable enough from the mess of noise that had consumed her brain over the last two weeks.
Since she had heard the news.
Since Sunset Shimmer had died.
Her black heels sank further into the mud as she stood there, reading and re-reading the engraving etched into the cold stone, that stood to represent an end. “Sunset Shimmer. 1999 - 2078. Beloved wife, aunt and friend. Hope Shines Eternal.”
Adagio let the cold seep into her skin; it was the only thing she could feel after all this time. The dull patter of rain against her umbrella harmonised with the whitenoise in her head. The downpours of spring couldn’t compare to the grief she felt for something so out of her control.
Fangs, dulled over time, chewed at her bottom lip. It was all she could do to stop herself from breaking. She had done the same thing at the funeral, just over a week ago, as Twilight Sparkle had delivered such an eloquent eulogy.
“Sunset Shimmer will live on in the hearts of all those who were lucky enough to have known her.”
And she had been right. That was what stung the most. Even after all these years, Sunset Shimmer had a vice grip on the infernal organ pumping in Adagio Dazzle’s chest— the cold, merciless device that kept her here. Kept her alive. Kept her heels glued in place.
It was such a terrible thing: to love something that death could touch.
For you see, Adagio had loved her, once. Two generations ago, she chided herself, but her admiration for the other girl— her kindness, her smile, her laughter— the warmth in all she was; it captivated her.
Their relationship had never been anything serious. Adagio wouldn’t have allowed that. Still, even now, she longed to feel the other girl’s fingers tangled in her own. To feel her strong arms— protective— wrapped around her waist as they lay together on long, winter nights. Those had been Sunset’s favorites, she had whispered into the shell of Adagio’s ear. The way the night stretched on, giving them more time together. Just together. Just time.
They had broken up after Sunset had graduated college. Or rather, Adagio had broken up with her. Claimed they were growing apart, no longer seeing eye to eye, or some other lame excuse that had sounded convincing at the time.
But the truth of it was that Adagio knew their time together wouldn’t last. These things never did. Not with her, at least. How could they?
A siren, cursed to walk the earth for eternity, while devoting herself to a lover who continued to grow; who continued to age; while she, herself, could not.
She had been a monster once; but that was just cruel.
And that was the most remorseless part in all this. To live on as all those around you wither away. To never have the fortune to love. Starswirl, in all his vices, proved more of a monster than Adagio could ever be.
A lifetime ago she had made up her mind to not confine Sunset to suffering: a constant reminder of her own mortality, where each passing year her bones would grow heavier, while Adagio survived in her prime.
Sunset had gone on to marry Twilight, having rekindled their friendship after college— it didn’t take long for love to blossom, either. They married in their 25th summer, on the lakebed of Camp Everfree, at the Rainbooms’ insistence. Adagio had reluctantly been in attendance. Despite the ire that worked through her veins, the jealousy that bubbled under her skin, and the envy for a life she could never hope to have, there was one thing that remained undeniable.
Sunset Shimmer had been beautiful on her wedding day. A section of curls tucked into a half-bun as the rest of her flaming tresses danced down the length of her back— chasing each other to the ends. The ceremony had been gorgeous. Everything the former Unicorn deserved; and who was Adagio to spoil that for her, due to some… some part of her that longed to kiss the other girl. To hold her and be held in return.
But that didn’t happen. That couldn’t happen. Adagio Dazzle had returned home that night, alone. The pain had engraved itself into her ribcage and— even now— Adagio could recall just how hard the mahogany floors had been that evening as she sat there, wailing her curses to any God that would listen.
Adagio still found herself praying that this was all some sick joke. That Sunset Shimmer and her friends had concocted a plan— some cruel revenge for the battle of the bands all those years ago— and that someway somehow, she would pop up and out of the ground like nothing had happened.
She stared, hard, at the feeble line between the two years etched onto Sunset’s gravestone. A line that encompassed every experience the other girl— no, the other woman— had ever had.
For Sunset Shimmer it had been a lifetime; for Adagio Dazzle it had only been a moment.
Author's Note
Inspired by a prompt given to me by a friend.
I have a lot of thoughts about Adagio and the other sirens, and all of the semantics that surrounds them and their banishment.
This is only a short one-shot but it was something I really wanted to write.
