My eyes open wide as I snap awake, my heart pounding and my head swimming. The first sound I can make sense of is the heart-monitor at my side. I'm in a hospital. I look down to find that I'm naked apart from a hospital gown and a... chastity belt?!

"I'm not taking any chances!!"

The echo of Adagio's voice sends my brain reeling. I remember what happened before I blacked out.

A couple weeks had passed since we came back from the city, and even if she was spending less time on the gems, Adagio looked as stressed-out as ever. Feels like she's always been that way now, but I guess she had a little something extra to be worried about today.

"We have to get this perfectly the first time," she says while triple-checking the big, circular, pentagram-looking rune-thing she'd drawn on the floor with red markers, "because even if none of us get hurt, we may only have one shot at this."

I look back and forth between the remains of our gems on three little pedestals on one side of the arrangement, the book we used to turn into a snake-woman on the other. If I understood her technobabble, we were gonna use our own life energy to wake the magic up, then use the book's to fix our gems. Or something. She'd spent the last few days trying to make sure it would actually work, having procured some extra measures in case things went wrong. Sonata was looking at the safety gear Adagio had picked up for the three of us.

"I get the protective goggles, boots, kneepads, vests, helmets, and gloves, but do we really need the chastity belts?"

We're treated to the sight of our usually-collected leader turning red again. "I'm not taking any chances!!"

I shake my head a little for poor Adagio. That website must have scarred her for life. When she's satisfied with the circle drawing, we all head to different rooms to gear up. Splitting was called for partly because Adagio was worried one of us would stumble, fall on her circle, smudge it somewhere, and risk turning us into eggs or something when we started, and partly for... privacy.

The belt has gotta be the most embarrassing, most uncomfortable thing I have ever worn.

So we all go back to the room dressed in the safety gear mostly over our street clothes, some kind of miracle happens and Sonata doesn't spill anything on the circle, knock anything over, or otherwise do anything to mess it all up in five seconds. Adagio is going over the procedure again like she's hoping we'll start singing along if she does it enough, and then we get started.

At first, everything is fine; we stand where she said we should, hold a tune like she said we should, glowy lines pop up where she said they would, I feel the little tingles she said we would, and the gems start to react like she said they would, but after a little bit of that, I turn my head to see how the book is holding up and I see it smoking. The magic's making noise now, something that never really made sense to me. I don't have time to think about how it happens before I see the gems, namely my gem (Adagio labeled which was which, I was not brave enough to risk the lecture by asking how), all crackling with red energy. The book has caught fire by the time it happens, but right before my eyes, I see it, I see exactly what Adagio has been promising all this time; my Royal Heartstone is whole again.

My breath hitched, messing up my part in the hymn we were channeling the magic with. It's only for a split-second, but the look in Adagio's wide eyes tells me she caught it. One stray arc of energy is all it takes to startle Sonata into screaming, which makes the circle go haywire. Before I know it, the book is making some god-awful screeching noise as it goes up in smoke. Arcs of energy are firing this way and that, the center of the circle starts to glow a blinding white, and I don't know which one hit me first, but as their bodies glow just as bright and fade away right in front of me, Adagio and Sonata's screams are the last thing I hear.

Sitting up in the hospital bed, I can vaguely hear one of the doctors saying something about my condition, how I'm not hurt. Just a little shaken up, but not hurt. I'm still alive. I wish I could say the same for my sisters.

I don't know how much I cried, but by the time they let me go, I've got nothing left. I don't see any of the safety gear I had on me, so I get dressed in just my street clothes and stumble out in a daze to find one of the Rainbooms is there to bring me home. It's a good thing I've got nothing left, because I might have slugged them square in the face and never stopped if they'd shown up sooner.

It's Fluttershy. She's the one they sent. I think I know why, but I don't care enough to ask her. With the way she keeps her head down, her hair would hide most of her face anyway, but I can still see that she knows what went down, and that she's not jumping for joy about it either. She doesn't try to make small-talk on the way, doesn't say anything about any feelings, or how she totally understands what I'm going through, or even any of that being-there-for-you spiel. She just walks with me, not saying a word, but making it feel like I'm not totally alone now. She doesn't say any of the expected stuff, but I can still feel it all from her. I don't know whether it's helping or not.

When we get to the apartment, I don't look twice at her before going in and closing the door. From the sound of her fading footsteps, she was expecting that. I head to the living room where the red, blurry remains of Adagio's circle still coats the floor. The ashes of the book, some miscellaneous scorch-marks, and the gem fragments are all I find. I see bigger chunks than I remember. They had almost finished reforming.

I feel like garbage for remembering that my gem was whole when everything went wrong, but I still want to see it again, so I inspect the scene more carefully. I find the safety gear I was wearing, thrown haplessly to the side, which gives me a better picture of what happened when they found me. I'm almost surprised not to see any burnt shoes, shredded clothes, cracked goggles, big piles of dust, not even smoking bones or a big, messy spread of Adagio's hair anywhere, but I know my sisters are gone. Looking around, I see something I hadn't noticed by the remnants of my sisters' gems; a little white object shaped just like my Heartstone.

White as a sheet. My gem has turned white.

They both died for this, and it was ruined anyway. Instinct was to rage, scream, cry, throw the damn thing out the window, but I can't even let go of it. Instead, I go to my room, root around my dresser until I find the black necklace I had when we came to this world (does it make any sense to think some of the magic must have logically been in our necklaces too, or...?), and fasten it around my neck. Looking in the mirror, I almost feel sick.

I decide to keep the the pieces of the other gems too, those and mine kept as mementos of my sisters. As I flop down on my bed, it occurs to me that I've got all the stuff in their rooms to remember them by too, but none of it would mean as much.

Ten minutes later, I realize I'm still wearing the chastity belt. I told the doctors the key was at home, so they didn't need to call a locksmith, but it's only now that the embarrassment for being caught in the stupid thing is kicking in. If I had nothing left, I guess I must have got something back. Anyway, I get up, head for the key on the kitchen counter, right where Adagio said it would be, get the damn belt off, and then go to sleep.

The next morning, I find I've done something extremely odd for me in having gone to sleep so early. I figure I might as well go to school. Don't know what else to do today, and I know I have to keep moving forward, like we've always done. Besides, if I just lay around for the next few weeks, I'll probably get picked up and absorbed into Sunset Shimmer's little reject rehabilitation program. I wonder if Pinkie Pie used to mix narcotics into her cakes or something, or if Fluttershy hosted dogfights before she got sucked in.

I know all their names, because they're the only ones that insist on talking to us at school. Adagio has been-... had been... bending over backwards to do every little thing she thought they wanted us to, always going along with every invitation for fear of getting rainbow-blasted again, or maybe even just beaten up, if we refused. Despite that, she never made any secret that we were still hoping to fix the gems, maybe so we wouldn't get in trouble for having lied about it. Sunset would always just smile in a "Yea, sure, whatever" kind of way before making the next friendly suggestion. I bet she's laughing now.

It annoys me a little that all of the Rainbooms apparently know my number, but the texts force me to admit that someone still cares, even if it was just in that obligatory I-heard-there-was-death kind of way humans did. So, I pack a lunch (I don't care if it'd be cheaper to eat at the cafeteria, school food sucks) and head out, starting my first day as the last siren.

Walking to school, I think about funerals. Did we-... I... have money for two at once? Would anyone even show? Would I want them to? Would they want them to? I have no idea what to do about that.

You know that feeling you get when you realize at the last minute that you're doing something dumb, but don't wanna look dumb by backing out of it and going home? It's the one where you plow through anyway and just feel dumb. That's what I got when people started looking at me as I walked into CHS. I guess it was one of the Rainbooms that found me, just me, and brought me to the hospital, because it looked like everyone I passed knew something had happened. I never asked Fluttershy how she knew I was there in the first place. Hope they don't want cab fare, Sonata was the one that found a job in this part of town.

Of course, it might just be that I'm here by myself, and the three of us were always kind of a unit. That might've gotten me weird looks even if Adagio and Sonata just felt like staying home that day. I'm still going with the assumption that everyone knows what happened, because the looks I'm getting are less "Oh, go die in a ditch already" and more "Are you okay? Does it still hurt?"

...Shut up, Sonata comes up with names for facial expressions. I mean, she used to. I wonder if she'd have been getting the same kind of attention as I am if she'd been the one coming alone. Would Adagio? I can see her getting the same looks, at least until she walked past these people and they turned their heads. I think all three of us got that, really, but especially her.

Is it wussy to say I miss them? It hasn't even been a day yet.

Sunset Shimmer sits across from me at lunch. I can tell without looking at her that she's trying to be sensitive as she says she's surprised I could come back to school so soon. I know what she's expecting, I know what she wants me to do, but not only do I not get all tearful about my dead sisters, I don't even glare at her. No yelling, no swearing, no throwing food at her, nothing. She wants some emotional outburst outta me, even getting all sentimental herself to draw it out, but I don't give her a thing. I explain in dry tones that I'm just going to move on, catching myself at the last second before I say anything about the other two.

Pointlessly spiteful? Maybe, but I take the petty victory with hidden satisfaction as Sunset sighs, dispenses a bit of the talk I figured Fluttershy would yesterday, invites me along for the weekly game of Sewers and Sphinxes if I'm still interested (long story), and goes away.

Class isn't any less boring than usual. I wasn't thinking it would be, but it's eerie seeing something that never changes, no matter how drastically something else has changed for you. The rest of the world keeps spinning. That's why I, we, had to keep moving too. Sonata used to ask tons of questions in class, possibly because the teachers had a knack for asking "Does anyone have any questions?"

I didn't always get to watch, but if she was just ticking them off on purpose, it might be the cleverest (is that a word...? Yea. Feels like one.) thing she ever did. Adagio won some Rainboom approval by rigidly doing her work, answering questions, sitting up straight, everything model students are supposed to do. Not that it matters now, but I think Sunset knew what she was up to and just pretended not to notice, like she was afraid the ever-present threat of them ganging up on us if we got out of line again might make things awkward if she didn't ignore it.

It's funny. I'm more vulnerable than ever now and I don't even care.

So, about that Sewers and Sphinxes thing. Apparently, the nerd version of Twilight learned we have some of the rulebooks and invited Sonata (and consequently all three of us) to join her, Sunset, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and a brawny dolt named Bulk Biceps for a near-weekly game together.

"Ugh, why are we even going to this thing, Adagio?"

"Because as long as we're under their watch, they won't have to come after us, Aria. We've already shown that we can't be trusted not to pull something again if they let us slip away, so we do what they want until we can fix the gems."

"And then?"

"Do what we should have been doing all along; use our talents to find willing servants to adore us!"

Adagio acquiesced, because of course she did, but I actually had some fun beating Rainbow Dash at racking up a bodycount and looting the most gold. The way it works is a little complicated, but if you can get somebody to put a dungeon together on paper and switch between two or three different rulebooks on the fly, you and everyone else in the party can have imaginary, dice-rolling adventures together, doing pretty much anything you can think of. I wouldn't say they were 'friendly' get-togethers, because when we weren't rolling dice, talking strategy for monster encounters, or doing the slow role-playing stuff (ugh), things always got tense, uncomfortable, or both.

Like, last time, I actually thought Fluttershy was gonna wring Sonata's neck for making her character poison some duke while framing the next in line for the throne for it during the queen's funeral. Unbeknownst to the royal court, Her Highness's gruesome end at the hands of a rogue guard-minotaur was also our party's doing. Anyway, we all profited from it, so I don't know what Fluttershy's deal was. Sonata did roll a Chaotic Neutral character, so her Lawful Good druid really only had herself to blame for trusting her.

Thinking about that was how I got through the day without dwelling on being alone for the rest of my life.

I don't know if they're just feeling merciful, but the Rainbooms let me go home by myself, unmolested by offers of replacing my sisters or whatever. I head to the nearest mirror to see my white gem still hanging around my neck. Nobody said a word about it, so maybe no one even noticed it. I touch it for several long minutes, but I can't remember what my gem felt like before, so I don't know why I bothered to try making that comparison.

I amble around the apartment for a bit. It's all mine now. Eventually, I settle on how I want to pass the time; flop down on the couch, curl up into a ball, and close my eyes.

"...Do you think she's gonna cry now?"

The sound of Sonata's voice freezes my blood. Part of me is pissed, because I haven't been lying here alone nearly long enough to go insane. Then I hear what is unmistakably Adagio's evil chuckling.

"We weren't gone long, I'm sure she didn't miss us that much."

I sit up so fast it makes me a little dizzy, tears stinging my eyes as I snap "I DID miss you!!"

Then I stare in numb shock at the translucent figures of Adagio and Sonata. They hover off the ground, their hair and clothes gently swaying as though underwater. In the back of my mind, I'm expecting Adagio to make some smartass comment about me underestimating her if I thought she would die so easily, or Sonata to make some stupid pop-culture reference, but both of them just smile gently as Adagio talks to me all soft and quiet-like.

"How are you feeling, Aria? No wounds, no injuries?"

"I-I'm fine," I squeak, "just... you died."

"Yea," says Sonata, frowning as she looks down at her spectral form, "that kinda bites."

I'm not squeaking anymore. "'KINDA BITES'?! I got you two killed!!"

Adagio's eyes narrow, and once again, I know I'm going to obey her before she's even given the order. "Pull yourself together, Aria!"

I close my mouth, feeling like I'm being scolded for slamming the door again as she keeps going.

"Yes, Sonata and I are-" she briefly examines a see-through hand, "-...indisposed, but we need you to keep your head on straight."

"S-so, what," I half-plead, "you two are just... ghosts now? Shouldn't you have gone t-to, I dunno, w-whatever comes after dying? Is this it?" I had so many questions. "Did you g-go there and get sent back? What was it like? All sea foam and clear skies, or b-black like the trenches, just stark-white purgatory? Are you here f-for-"

"We don't know!" Thankfully, Adagio's interruption stops me from babbling on like a dork. "I don't know what happened during or after the ritual, but Sonata and I met up in a void somewhere."

Sonata frowns at me. "It was pitch-black loneliness for hours, totally sucked." Then she grins. "But like, we could absorb feelings again!" Back to frowning. "We didn't really see anything but grief and sadness, though, and that's always so sour!"

"Indeed," sighs Adagio, "but it gave us the strength to emerge from... wherever we were, which brings us to-..." Her eyes widen as they lock on my gem. "...Is that...?" My brain is lying on its side as she floats closer to me for a better look. "It's... it's in one piece! I suppose that fits, yours was the first in the circuit, but why is it so pale? Did you paint it to hide it from the Rainbooms or something?"

I step back, shaking my head. "Why should I think you two are even real?! How do I know I'm not just tripping hard on survivor guilt?!"

Adagio tilts her head a little, doing that bemused eyebrow thing at me. "I suppose a little doubt is healthy... Alright, check the cabinet over the sink, second to the right, look in the little garlic powder jar with the red lid and you'll find my notes for the Sewers and Sphinxes campaign I was putting together for our next game." And then she waits, looking at me in a "your move" kind of way.

I head to the kitchen, go straight for the seasoning drawer she told me to, look for the garlic powder (really, I just look for a red lid), and twist it open to find that there's nothing but a rolled-up piece of paper. Whether these are actually her notes or not (can we still play like this, if I roll the die for everyone...?), I had no idea I'd find this here, or that we were out of garlic powder. I can't remember a time we used the stuff, actually, so Adagio might have picked up the bottle while we were raiding expired food from the supermarket again. I guess one thing they do right in this world is food, because you can usually eat stuff a surprisingly long time after-

Anyway! I never cook, so I had no way of knowing about this, which means Adagio just told me something that couldn't have been pulled from my own brain. I smile.

"You're real!!"

She and Sonata giggle a little at me for this, but I don't care. At least on some level, I have my sisters back.

"And if you're still not sure," Sonata says with a big grin, "I can show you which file the porn stash is in on the laptop!"

My jaw drops. Adagio is giving her a deadpan stare, but Sonata just keeps smiling proudly for a full minute of silence. I slap a hand against my flushed face. "Y'know what, Sonata? I don't need to go check that one, because only you would say something that stupid."

There's a pause. Adagio snorts, then tries to muffle her giggles with a hand over her mouth. Sonata sticks her tongue out at me at first, but she starts laughing too, I join in, and for a minute, it's like nothing has even changed. Somehow, I'm still smiling when I ask them.

"Why doesn't this bother you guys? Being turned into the snake-monster was one thing, but you guys are dead, and it's like you don't even care."

That they both frown and look away instead of at each other tells me they both have their own reasons. I point this out, and Adagio is the first to show that she doesn't feel like keeping secrets anymore.

"I think our brief imprisonment gave us both some time for reflection. I'm not exactly pleased to have caused my own untimely demise, but considering that I didn't take sufficient measures to prevent this, it-"

"Are you going to ignore the part where I messed it up first?"

She doesn't answer right away. I can tell by the look on her face that she doesn't want to let me or Sonata hear that it might be our faults.

"...Regardless of what happened during the ritual, I was too hasty in my attempt to fix the gems. Given a few more weeks, I likely could have composed something more stable, as opposed to a bare circuit that would get the job done with physical protection worn almost as an afterthought." The conviction in her tone and the severity in her face give me chills. "I don't regret having wanted to repair them in the first place, but if my current state is the price I pay for trying, so be it."

"Well, hey," Sonata offered with a weak little smile, "don't act like it was all your fault. Who was it that kept pushing you every day, right? "Hey Dagi, can we fix 'em yet?" "Can we get our magic back soon, Dagi?" "Man, my job sucks! When can we get our power back and blow this joint?" ...It's like, maybe you wouldn't have been in such a rush, y'know?" She floats over to me, pointing a finger just under my chin, her sad smile unchanged. "Me and Dagi are goners, but you've gotta make the most of this now. Okay? No arguments."

I might have argued anyway, but with the way she and Adagio are smiling at me despite their own losses, it's a full three minutes before I stop crying like a bitch. "What... w-what am I supposed to do?"

"Whatever you want," Sonata answers with a cheerful grin.

Adagio nods. "She's right. Your life is entirely your own now, I can't tell you what to do anymore. But," she added with a characteristically coy, knowing little wink, "lacking anything better to do, I'll be around to offer advice."

"Yea," cheers Sonata, "I dunno how long we'll be floating around like this, but you've totally got us for support!"

For the next minute, nothing important happens. Really. On a completely unrelated note, Adagio ponders the idea that tearful, emotionally-charged group hugs may be thwarted by two of the participants being incorporeal while Sonata laughs about the idea of someone falling on their face for trying. Adagio is halfway through asking if I've tested my gem at all when the doorbell rings, and since we've recently learned that neither she nor Sonata can touch solid objects, answering it is up to me.

"Lemon?"

Our friend from the city gives me a sad smile. "Heya. I, heard about... y'know... Just wanted to see how you were holding up."

My mind goes blank. "...What?"

Looking away, she rubs the back of her head. "I'm not super close to my sister, but I know how I'd feel if I lost her. So, if there's anything you need, um..."

Oh, I think to myself, everyone else still thinks Adagio and Sonata are gone. Judging by the way she doesn't seem to notice them floating behind me, I have the sneaking suspicion that no one else can see them. Good thing I already confirmed that I'm not crazy.

"I-I, y-yea, it's..." I don't know what to tell her. "CanIgetaminute?!"

She smiles at me, all warm and understanding. "Yea, sure, take your time."

I close the door and bolt for my bedroom, where I'm sure Lemon won't hear us. My spectral sisters float through the wall a second later, Adagio in particular looking concerned.

"Aria? What's the matter?"

"You guys are ghosts!!"

Sonata huffs, crossing her arms. "Well, ex-cuuuuse us!"

"No, I mean, what do I tell her?! What do I tell everyone?!"

They share a quick 'Oh' look. Sonata answers first.

"Just tell everybody. Simple." I stare at her in disbelief. "What? All ya gotta do is tell everyone that we were trying to get our magic back by drawing on the floor and setting a magical snake-lady book on fire to fix our busted gems that used to be part of our bodies before we were chucked over the fence by a unicorn wizard, and that me and Dagi are haunting you now. Then we can all be ghost-buddies together! What could go wrong?"

"Other than everyone thinking I'm going into batshit-insane denial?"

"So?"

"So," Adagio picks up, her face contemplative, "it may be better not to tell anyone at all. We're here for you, Aria, but physically speaking, you're alone, and quite vulnerable. Even if your gem is truly in working order again, letting the Rainbooms know about it won't end well for you. Hell, they may even think you sacrificed us to repair it, and unless you want to live on the run, nowhere will be safe for long. You could tell them just about us, but it may be better to use any sympathy you can get at this point by letting them believe Sonata and I have departed. You can tell whoever you like, if you wish, but there's little practical benefit to doing so."

It's rare for Adagio to be the one Sonata angrily pouts at. "Other than not having to lie to everybody?"

Adagio shrugs. "Like we've never done that before?" She turns to me again. "I know I usually handled the talking in such instances, but I'm sure you can do it if you have to."

I scratch my head a little. "Uh... Well, what if, like, what if I only told a few people? Like, if we only let Lemon know and see how it goes from there?"

"You know what happens to secrets the more people know about them, Aria, but as I said, it's your decision."

And just like that, it's up to me. Adagio and Sonata effectively aren't much more than voices in my head now, so I'm in charge. Just like I always wanted to be.

And it's terrifying!

I agonize for the better part of a minute, but neither of them say another word to help me make the call.

I could tell everyone that my dead sisters are ghosts that follow me around now. What's the worst that could happen?

I could do the opposite, keep it to myself for life, or as long as possible. I can lie just as smoothly as Adagio does, right?

Or maybe I just let the few people close to me in on the secret. I could start with Lemon and see how it goes from there, provided anyone I tell doesn't go spilling the beans and causing a huge, out-of-control mess of misunderstandings, problems, and general weirdness.

What should I do?

Author's Notes:

...Starts on a bit of a somber note, huh?

Well, I hope you were smiling again by the end, reader, because while I didn't include a Comedy tag this time, there's no Sad tag either. Truth be told, the genre of the story is something I hope you'll be helping me decide!

But first, disclaimer: While I'm excited about this idea and couldn't find anything forbidding it in the FAQ, I'm not 100% sure stories in this format are allowed, and I'll re-work it into a normal, uninteractive story if it's not. It'll be much less fun that way, but if rules rule that it's overruled, then those rules are rules. I've seen stories with audience participation before, but not quite like what I have in mind here. In short, it's like a Choose Your Own Adventure, but with only one path, and your comments will decide which one is taken from chapter to chapter.

Please don't argue with each other about the 'best' possible path, because if you know my writing, you know it'll end on a happy note no matter what. I'm sorry if that cheapens the experience for any of you, but lasting doom, gloom, and tragedy just aren't my style.

Now, here's our first choice, with another one due at the end of every chapter, short or long!

-Tell just Lemon about the ghosts
-Tell everybody (starting with Lemon) about the ghosts
-Tell nobody about the ghosts

The plan is to wait at least three days before I even get started on the next chapter between choices, because that's around the time people tend to stop commenting, but I can't guarantee I'll always get started on the next one that soon.

**Next chapter started, voting closed! (sorry!)**