Adagio had done some running in her life before. How many arguments did she instigate all too eagerly – all too hungry for negative energy – only to wind up in the middle of a bar-brawl or a gunfight? Too many times to count.

Or what about the night Shimmer and her goons shattered the Dazzlings’ pendants and their dreams? Bereft of what little magic this world left them, the siren sisters had no choice but to put as much distance between themselves and the mob of freshly-disenchanted teenagers who, at best, wanted to keep pelting them with garbage. At worst? It didn’t bear thinking about. The only thing to do was run away.

All this was to say that it would have been such a pleasant change of pace to be the one doing the chasing…

If only her quarry were someone she didn’t care about.

“I’ve already figured you out!”, she hollered at the fleeing suspect, as she wove through the thinning evening crowds. Adagio kept in steady pursuit, with Shimmer lagging only a few paces behind. “Running won’t save you, now!”

The perp did not respond.

“Who is she?!”, Shimmer gasped, as she finally caught up.

“The only idiot she can be!”

The thing about hoodies was that they weren’t exactly designed for long, voluminous hair. Adagio had it the worst, of course, what with the curtain of golden curls bouncing around her shoulders, but even though her sisters were straight-haired, they, too, kept theirs long – all the way to the waists.

The suspect held her hood in place as she ran, but she wasn’t looking where she was going. Crashing into some blue-haired pretty-boy, she stumbled to the ground and had to catch herself with both hands. That’s when the tyrian-and-sea-green twintails popped loose.

There went Aria Blaze’s disguise. Adagio might have already known it was her, but now Shimmer saw, too.

That tumble cost her some precious distance, too. Aria was arguably the fittest of the trio, but her idea of fitness was being able to beat anyone who tried to mess with her or her sisters into the pavement as brutally quick as possible. She could punch all the bags she wanted, but unfortunately for her, so long as she neglected cardio, she was going to run out of breath by the time she was cornered into a fight.

Meanwhile, Adagio went for a jog every other morning. She had an image to maintain, after all.

So, to put it simply, she was legitimately gaining on her sister.

Aria seemed to realize that, too. With the nearest exit still a long ways away, she abruptly swerved into a nearby shop.

It wasn’t until Adagio followed her through the open doorway (with Shimmer, not quite so motivated by her rage, huffing and puffing, seconds behind her) that she understood why Aria had darted into a dead end.

In the middle of this tiny electronics outlet, Aria Blaze stood with a water-pistol pointed directly at her pursuers. The sole clerk lay on the carpet nearby, pitifully weeping as he crawled behind the counter with a fresh wet stain on the crotch of his khakis.

“Hold it!”, barked Aria, her fist raised to smash the ludicrously-expensive ultrascreen TV next to her. “One more step and you're footing the bill, Shitter.”

Disappointingly, Shimmer actually hesitated, as though any legitimate court of law would look at the security footage and hold her to account for this damaged and almost-certainly insured merchandise.

Adagio brushed aside her sister’s warning with a strained-through-the-teeth, “Please, sister dear. How much could your little hostage possibly be worth? A million, tops?” Then, turning to Shimmer, she teased, “That’s pocket change. I'll just add it to your tab.”

“Uh… thanks…?

“Hah!”, Aria sardonically barked. “Somebody’s got herself a sugar-mommy. Wonder how that happened.”

“Not you, too–” Adagio took a step forward, only to have to duck back out of the way of an arcing jet of water, which sparkled and glimmered with the magic of Equus. Streaming over her head by the narrowest margin, it instead splashed the face of the mall-cop who’d apparently been approaching from behind. This musclebound refrigerator of a man immediately dropped to his knees in abject grief and whimpered incoherently into his hands. Something about kittens?

When Adagio turned back around, she was staring down the nozzle of her sister’s gun. “Next one’s going in your eye, Puffy, if you don’t get your fat ass back outside.” Aria cocked her head towards the black scrying-orb built into the ceiling, and pointed her chin at the slowly-accumulating bystanders with their phones out. “You don’t want everybody to see you crying, do you? I hear they’ve got a Rodeit board just for videos of public meltdowns. Someone could score some hefty karma if they get a good angle on a minor celebrity like you, you know.”

And just like that, several of the rubberneckers’ phones fixed on Adagio specifically, thirsty for those juicy, made-up internet points.

“Fine, fine,” assured Adagio, backing out of the store. She had to admit, for such a blunt instrument, her sister was doing a surprisingly-competent job of working the crowds.

“However…”, she intoned, and casually sauntered up to the blubbering wreck in uniform. She snatched the earpiece out of his ear without any contest. After a quick wipedown on his sleeve, she cleared her throat and spoke into the attached mic, “Attention, boys and girls. This is Adagio speaking: big sister to the dipshit of the day. As such, I'd like to try talking her down, first, if it’s no bother,” she purred. “If you’d still like to make yourselves useful,” she added, “I’d be ever so grateful if you ushered all these busybodies away. They constitute a safety hazard, wouldn’t you agree?”

– “…Why’d you put on a Southern accent when you said that…?”, murmured Shimmer. –

The handful of mall cops arriving on scene actually gave an adoring salute to Adagio, as though she genuinely fit into their command structure, and immediately set about clearing away the onlookers. A chorus of “Nothing to see here”-s and “Move along”-s stamped out all the idle chatter.

“As you can see, two can play that game,” taunted Adagio, as she felt the last camera’s glare turning away from her skin. There was a reason the siren sisters left all the talking to their eldest.

Aria was unfazed. Just as Adagio opened her mouth to taunt her again, the insolent brat stepped on her words. “Lemme guess what you’re gonna say next: ‘you should try sticking to your strong suit’?”

She was spot-on, but Adagio refused to let her know that.

So Aria kept running her mouth. “Yeah, well, I am.” She twirled the water-pistol around her finger. “I still got this magic gun, don’t I? That’s the strongest suit I got.”

Shimmer tried to interject, “But it’s two against–”

Aria cut her off. “Puffy’s a priss, and you’re piss-useless in a fight without your buddies. What’s it you do, again? Mind-reading?” So she had been spying on the investigators at least as far back as then.

“…You won’t get away with–”

“Yeah, you can shut the hell up already.”

Aria spritzed Shimmer directly in the face, sending her spiralling back to the bottom-most pit of despair. She crashed to the ground with a horrid wail.

“This is between me and my sister, anyways.”

“It is,” agreed Adagio, stanching, as best she could, the anger flaring up in her heart at what Aria just did to her nemesis. Maybe there were some other emotions in there, too, but as long as Adagio didn’t let them into her voice, they weren’t real. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, sister dear. Let’s start with why you’re acting against my orders, hm?”

“Orders?”, Aria snorted. “What kind of authority do you think you still have anymore, Puffy?”

“The authority that comes from being the eldest, smartest, and most driven of us.”

Aria rolled her eyes, but before she could retort–

From the floor, Shimmer sobbed, “–Wh– wh– wh– what orders…?”

Adagio crossed her arms. “My standing orders to my sisters, as of our disempowerment, were to lay low and stay out of your band’s hair wherever possible. It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that running off alone on any ill-advised revenge schemes would just end poorly for all three of us. Such as now.”

“Hah!” There was nothing friendly about Aria’s smile. “I don’t see how you’re any worse off. Got yourself a new doll to play with. Good for you. Luna knows you need it. When’s the last time you got laid?”

“Not as long ago as yours,” Adagio deflected, though it was true that she’d been enduring a bit of a dry spell. A one-night-stand here or there, but nothing that entertained her heart. To her (concealed) embarrassment, Sonata was the only one still in the game, so to speak.

“Yeah, well. Maybe I just don’t like fuckin’ monkeys the way you do.”

Adagio didn’t care to discuss her sexual preferences with her middle sister in the middle of an open shopping mall, so the only thing to do was to change the subject to something Aria couldn’t ignore and stubbornly drag the conversation back from. “I should think it’s because you’re always cooped up in your room, playing your video games and driving up our internet bill. Is that where you found your new toy, by-the-by? Dregslist or somesuch?”

“This little number?” Aria inspected the plastic children’s toy in her hand. “Nah, I snatched it off some kid at the waterpark. When he found it missing, he was crying just as hard as everybody he thought he was playing with.”

“You can’t have forgotten, sister dear, that it’s Foalbruary– Footbruary. Whichever. The pools have been closed for several months now, sister dear. You mean to tell me you’ve been sitting on Equestrian magic for that long? Without telling us?”

“Yep,” she yepped, with a definitive click of the lips on the plosive.

But Adagio demanded an explanation. “Why the Discord not?!”

“Supposed to be a surprise.” Aria spat on the carpet. “So much for that, now.”

Adagio took a step back. “…A surprise. In Footbruary.”

“Starting to put the pieces together, are you?”

“I… have an inkling.”

Aria dropped the hand she held in front of the television, because she must have known Adagio was too invested in this narrative to lunge at her, now. She relaxed a bit, but kept her gun pointed at her sister. “…All this hard work, all this patience, all for nothing. Nothing ever goes my way.”

Adagio chose not to bring up that Aria was specifically selected to become one of the first three sirens in existence. The moody little mope could spin the highest of honors into another of life’s indignities whenever she was in one of her states. It came part-and-parcel with the girl’s special talent.

“You know, I thought I was doing something nice,” Aria continued. “That’s what you were doing here, weren’t you? Shopping for consolation presents?”

Shimmer let out a feeble, “…Your anniversary…”

“Of the day you killed us,” Aria bluntly stated.

“I didn’t–”

“We weren’t gonna die. Now we are. You did it. That’s killin’. Doesn’t matter how slow.” She aimed her gun like she was going to shoot Shimmer again, but when the Rainboom started sobbing even harder, all on her own, she just shook her head and went back to her discussion with Adagio. “The 22nd’s tomorrow. I thought Tuna might be out shopping for the big-ass feast she always cooks, but none of these Rainbooms work at a grocery store, so she wasn’t gonna be a problem.”

Speaking of, Sonata still hadn’t texted Adagio back, had she? Now wasn’t a good time to check, unfortunately.

“And you, I figured the deadline to get something was too close. Surely Miss Big Plans got her milestone anniversary presents well in advance, I thought. She ain’t gonna be at the mall while I’m wrapping up the last couple presents.” She snorted. “And then you had to go and strut into the food court right after I spiked Shitter’s soda. What’s the big idea, Puffy? Why’d you wait until today? Was five years not long enough to be important? What’re you waiting for? Ten? Twenty-five? Fifty? We don’t got too many more left, after that.”

“The big idea is that I don’t trust you and Sonata not to paw through my closet for your presents like a pair of brats, up at midnight two days before Giftsmas. For your information, I placed the order for the centerpieces back in Juguy, and I have the receipts to prove it.”

“…Whatever.” The utterance of a graceless loser. “Doesn’t change the fact that you ruined all my hard work. Spoiled yourself like those Giftsmas-brats.”

“So this was your gift? Getting our revenge all on your own?”

“Yeah. Thought you’d be happy.”

“Happy?! I don’t know how you came to that conclusion! Setting aside the rank insubordination, have you forgotten that Sonata has – despite her best interests – made friends with one of them?”

“Yeah, well, she’d get over it. She still hates the others.” It was clear that she hadn’t given more than a couple thoughts to Sonata’s feelings. “Anyways, I was gonna deliver that one” – she pointed the gun at Shimmer – “in a box, straight to your room, all tied up and ready to get your fun in. Ain’t that what you’ve been jilling yourself to, every other damn night?”

Adagio refused to give that comment the legitimacy of a response. Not here. Not in front of Shimmer. “So not only would you have shattered what tenuous peace we had with these brutes, you’d have brought them to our doorstep! Was that seriously your plan?!”

“You’d find a way to weasel us out of it. I know you would. And it all woulda been worth it, just to see you get that evil look in your eye again.” She shook her head. “Though now, I’m starting to think it’s never coming back. You’ve gone soft, Pufferfish.”

“I have not.”

The clerk, who’d been peeking over the counter, ducked back down again the moment Aria started shouting and waving her gun around.

“You totally have! You get on my case for rotting in my room all day, but all you’ve done for the past five years is sit on your ass, drink our booze, watch TV, and put on a nice, smiling face for the monkeys every time you go outside! I haven’t heard a single damn peep from you about getting back at the Rainbooms, or getting our gems back, or going back to Equestria! You still wanna call yourself leader, Adagio, so tell me: what’s the plan?”

“There is none.”

The gun-waving stopped. “Say that again?”

“There is no plan,” Adagio admitted. “There’s no plan to mire ourselves in a pointless cycle of revenge. There’s no plan to go back to poisoning every good thing we have with our hunger for strife. There’s no plan to go back to a home that doesn’t even remember us, and wouldn’t want us if it did.”

“Hah. I knew it. I fuckin’ knew it.” For a moment, Aria seemed to be taking it in stride, shaking her head and pacing back and forth. Then her fist came down hard enough on the display shelf to crack the particle-board. “You’ve been wasting our time this whole– this whole time! And we don’t have much left!”

Oh, if Adagio still had her spines, they’d be punching clean through her jacket. Her voice raised, her stance widened, her hair standing up on end, she shouted, “Has it not occurred to you that all of this idleness has been in the interest of protecting the two of you ingrates?! I loathe these humans as much as you do, but–!”

Aria wasn’t intimidated, no matter how big Adagio got. “Do you, now? ‘Cause I dropped the human you hate the most right into your lap, and what do you do? You go on a date with her!”

Adagio couldn’t help but deflate, slightly. “This– This has not been a date! All this has been is me cleaning up the mess you made!”

“You got coffee together. Literally the most basic first date you can do.”

“I needed information from her!”, Adagio defended.

“Then why didn’t you ditch the bitch once you had it?”

“That Dash girl never would have trusted me without Shimmer’s word.”

Aria waved the idea off. “I’m sure you’d trick that dumbass into telling you something.”

Adagio found herself pitted against a terrible choice: if she wanted to convince her sister it wasn’t a date, the only way out was to admit that Aria was overestimating her abilities. There had to be some way to eat her crabcake and have it, too. “Let’s just say I was hedging my bets.”

“Sure you were.”

Drat. Adagio put it too delicately; Aria wasn’t convinced at all.

But the middle sister did have something else to say. Lowering her water-gun, she announced, “Look, Adagio, I’m done here. Present’s a bust. I said my piece. Now, I just wanna go home and play Princess of War. You coming?”

Adagio just stood there, gobsmacked. The gall!

“Hello? Equus to Puffy. Tell the mall fuzz to let us go and we’ll dip.”

Even Adagio’s composure could only hold up for so long. The rage was getting harder and harder to bottle up. After several seconds’ silent glaring, Adagio finally recovered enough clarity to string the proper words together.

Those proper words were not very kind. “…You want to go back to your cave, you rotten little eel? You’re going to fix this” – she pointed at Shimmer – “first.”

“What, you want me to kill her? Here? With the cameras and witnesses and everything?”, she asked, deliberately misunderstanding the directive. Aria knew damn well what her sister meant.

Nevertheless, for the ears of the concerned mall cops nearby, Adagio had to clarify. “No, you cheeky dolt, what you’re going to do is undo the waterborne curse you’ve put on Shimmer and her friends, and you’re going to apologize to them before they get it in their heads to kick our asses about it.”

Aria shook her head again. “Can’t do that.”

“What do you mean, you can’t?”

“I mean I can’t.” She holstered the pistol in her belt. “You ever try to un-shoot someone with a real gun? Yeah.”

“So you’re saying it’s permanent.”

At this knowledge, the volume and intensity of Sunset’s cries only increased, because of course they did.

Aria shrugged, crossed her arms, and leaned against the TV. “Maybe. Or maybe it goes away. Dunno. Don’t care, either.”

Flinching, Adagio pointed out, “And yet you still shot at me?!”

“Relax, Puffy.” She raised her hands pacifyingly. “The guy behind you was my target. I just needed to scare you.”

“Just to scare me? –Give me that,” the eldest demanded, taking a step forward.

In an instant, Aria’s hand was on the grip again. “…No?”, she replied, with the same incredulity as though she’d been asked to surrender her bloodstone pendant.

“No?!”

“That’s what I said. It’s mine.”

“I don’t trust you with it. Hand it over.”

The pistol was fully drawn, now, and pointed straight at Adagio’s chest. “Why don’t you take it from me?”

That was it. Adagio had had enough. With an arm raised to cover her face, she lunged at her sister.

Aria had time for one shot, and it landed true. Dead center-of-mass.

Unfortunately for her, it splattered uselessly against the impermeable polyester fabric of Adagio’s puffer coat.

Half a second later, Adagio’s handbag collided with Aria’s face.

Author's Note

It's Aria Blaze! It was kinda obvious. If you somehow didn't guess it was her, tell me who you did guess in the comments.