Sunset finally rolled out of bed around eleven. She didn't get much sleep the night before. She didn’t know if it was the burning determination or the fearful anticipation at the big day ahead of her, either way her rest wasn’t a pleasant one. 'Here we go,' she told herself as she rolled out of bed and made her way into the shower. After she finished cleaning herself up for the morning, she went back to her room and began cycling through her chosen tools of war: Her cellphone, her backpack, a microphone, a black baseball bat, and her journal.
She had been sure to bring Twilight up to speed on recent events. The Princess of Friendship had agreed with the Principal and Vice Principal in that this plan of hers was needlessly reckless. She even offered to come through the portal and go with her, but Sunset insisted on going alone. Twilight made her promise to send a distress signal if anything happened. Twilight also mentioned that she would keep the portal open for the next few days just in case.
Sunset then brought her attention over to the bat and the microphone. If it came down to it, then she could try using her voice as a weapon, just like what happened during the Battle of the Bands. If all else failed, she wouldn’t hesitate to start swinging the bat around. Unfortunately, the bat didn’t fit all the way inside of her backpack and she suspected that she wouldn’t be allowed onto any of the city buses if she was seen carrying it around out of fear of it being used as a potential weapon. This meant that she would have to travel to her destination by foot.
Sunset then walked over to her dresser and picked up the sheet of paper that Celestia had printed out yesterday. She grimaced as she studied the address. 'It’s gonna take me almost two hours to get there from the apartment by foot.' Sunset checked the time on her phone. 12:27. 'Guess I’d better get moving.'
Sunset put on some jeans from her drawer and threw on a brown winter coat that hung lazily from a chair in her room. She stuffed a handful of breakfast bars from her kitchen closest into her coat pocket before taking off.
***
It was nearly a quarter to three by the time Sunset had arrived in front of a small brick house with a black iron gate out front. To be honest, she had been expecting something a bit flashier, considering who the possible inhabitants were. The house itself, much like the neighborhood around it, was worn down, decrepit, and beat-up looking. She was sure that it must have looked beautiful at one point, but the effects of time had reduced it to nothing but a mere shadow of its former glory. The condition of the living area reminded Sunset of her descent from being a future Princess in training, to a delinquent runaway.
Sunset looked down at the piece of paper in her hands and then at the series of numbers that had been bolted down onto the house’s front porch. She confirmed that she was indeed at the right place. A quick inspection of the gate revealed that it would open by simply sticking her hand through and flipping the latch on the other side.
Upon reaching the front porch, Sunset noticed that the screen door was unlocked. She pulled it open and knocked gently on the storm door.
She stood patiently for several seconds, but no one answered.
Sunset knocked again, a little harder this time, and then pushed the doorbell.
Again, there was no response.
Sunset was about to mentally curse at having walked all that way for nothing when the sounds of footsteps were suddenly heard from the other side. The door cracked open slightly and a single dark purple eye became visible. “Whaddya want?”
“Aria, is that you?” Sunset asked.
“Huh?” The door creaked open a bit further and the face of 1/3rd of the demonic trio became exposed. After Aria got a good look at Sunset, her expression shifted from confusion, to surprise, to anger, all within the span of a few seconds. “Get lost.”
Aria got ready to slam the door shut, but was shocked out of her wits when the door flew back and crashed into her face. Sunset forced her way in, knocking Aria onto the floor, and then pointed the other end of her bat at the center of the siren’s face. “Where is she?!”
A startled yelp could be heard from somewhere in the back, followed by a series of rapid footsteps.
Stepping over Aria, Sunset ran through the house and eventually found herself inside a small kitchen. Standing in one of the corners with several random pieces of silverware clutched under her arm was Sonata.
“Leave us alone! We didn’t do anything!” the light blue Siren called while throwing forks, knives, spoons, and other objects that one might find in a kitchen at the home intruder. Fortunately, Sonata had terrible aim. She either missed Sunset entirely, or the projectiles were effortlessly swatted aside by the bat.
Sunset was about to close in on Sonata but never got the chance as a sudden weight had jumped up and latched itself onto her back while holding her neck in a chokehold. “What’s your deal?! The Battle of the Bands wasn’t enough for you?!” Aria shifted all of her weight and leaned back in an attempt to knock Sunset off balance. It didn’t work, and the Siren was effortlessly shaken off.
Aria groaned in pain after falling to the ground with a loud crash.
Sunset then turned around just in time to duck underneath an attempted swing with a frying-pan by Sonata. Sunset charged forward and slammed Sonata against one of the kitchen’s walls. “Last time I'm gonna ask! Where's Adagio?!”
“My, my! Breaking and entering? What would that Princess friend of yours think if she saw you now?”
Sunset stepped away from Sonata and saw the group’s leader, Adagio, standing at the kitchen’s entrance with her usual sly smirk. Adagio maintained her aura of overconfidence even as Sunset marched up to her and pointed the bat in the siren’s face.
“I have a few questions for you, and I’m not leaving until I get some answers,” Sunset threatened.
Adagio’s smile grew just a little bit wider. “Oh? Are you insinuating that my wonderful little sisters and I might have done something naughty?”
“I’m not in the mood for games,” warned Sunset. She then pushed the front end of the bat so close that it was almost touching Adagio’s nose. “Now answer me, did you or your sisters do anything to the students back at Canterlot High?”
“I don’t know what you’re smoking,” Aria quipped while dusting herself off, “But whatever it is, it'd be nice if you split some with me. Or better yet, give some to Sonata so she’ll finally shut-up for once.”
“Hey!” the light blue siren called out taking offense.
Adagio lifted a hand into the air and signaled for her sisters to stop talking. “Tell you what, Sunset. It’s been a long time since we’ve entertained any guests here inside our humble abode. So how about you follow me to the living room, get nice and comfy, and then you calmly explain to me what this is all about?”
Adagio’s expression then changed into one of utter annoyance as she took note of all of the broken dishes lying around all over the kitchen. “And in exchange, we won’t call the cops on you for breaking in here and making a mess. Does that sound like a deal to you?”
Sunset slowly backed away from the siren and lowered the bat.
***
Adagio was sitting on a dark green couch that was positioned adjacently to where Sunset was sitting. Aria had gone into a different room in the house while Sonata sat next to Adagio in order to jump to the rescue if Sunset started swinging again, not that she would have been much help.
“So, let me see if I understand correctly,” Adagio stated in slight amusement. “The students are behaving like a pack of savages because of someone who’s airing their dirty laundry online. And because of your reputation, everyone assumes that it’s you. So far so good?”
Sunset gave a small nod in confirmation.
“And you came all of this way because you think that we might’ve had something to do with it?” Adagio asked again.
The death glare from the siren’s old enemy was the only answer that she needed.
Adagio dragged her fingers through her fluffy orange hair and smirked. “Okay, Sunset. Let’s pretend for a moment that we did have something to do with it. What would you even do about it?” Sunset gripped the handle on her bat in a show of aggression. Adagio saw this and laughed. “Are we supposed to feel threatened just because you stormed in here with that thing? Please! Don’t even bother unless you actually plan on using it.”
Suddenly, the siren clutched her stomach and began coughing violently while Sonata frowned. Adagio reached into her pocket, pulled out a napkin, and spit up a yellowish substance into it. “Sonata, go get me one of the garbage cans and a blanket. I think I’m about done for the day.” The other siren sped out of the room in a hurry, eager to do as she was told.
“Are you … feeling alright?” Sunset asked.
Adagio leaned back in her seat and tried her best to relax. “You were just playing the role of the big scary home invader a little while ago, now all of a sudden you're worried about me? What is it with this new generation and teenagers pretending to be something they're not? And to answer your question, no, I’m not okay. None of us are thanks to you and those annoying friends of yours. My sisters and I don’t have much time left. I’d give it, maybe, half a year at best for the other two. Not sure how much longer I have, but I’d say my time’s just about up.”
Sunset blinked in confusion. “Thanks to us? What are you talking about? None of us have even seen you guys since you ran off stage.”
“Are you really that naive? I guess it shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise.” Adagio smirked with satisfaction as she took note of the irritated look on Sunset’s face. Sonata came back seconds later with the items that her sister had requested. Adagio threw the napkin in the trash and then wrapped the blanket around her torso. “But I’ve always had a soft spot for children, so being the kind and responsible woman that I am, I’ll explain it to you, slowly. I wouldn’t want you to miss anything with that walnut sized brain of yours.”
Adagio’s expression suddenly became serious as she placed a hand over the area where her neck met her chest. “That counter-spell that you and your friends used may have destroyed our Heart Stones and stripped away our magic, but it didn’t change what we are deep down inside. Me, Aria, Sonata, we’re still sirens, and we still need to feed on negative emotions in order to survive.
"We can still sense it in the air, but without those stones, we have no way of taking any of it in. The only other option is if another siren were to transfer that energy to us directly, like a bird feeding its young. But as far as I know, we are the only ones of our kind in this world. In other words, you've doomed us to a slow and miserable death. If you look closely enough you can tell that we aren’t exactly at one-hundred percent.”
Sunset appeared stunned by the news. She leaned closer towards Adagio and Sonata and really zeroed in on their features. They both looked a little pale now that she was paying attention, Adagio more so than her sister. Both of Adagio’s eyes looked tired, sunken, and droopy. Sunset then noticed that Adagio had lost weight. Sonata had nearly all of the same symptoms as her sister, although not quite as severe.
"It's a terrible thing, having such a violent hunger constantly gnawing at your insides. Always being surrounded by the one thing that can save you, only to find that it's just out of reach. That's what you've put us through. But hey, at least you managed to save everyone from the three evil sirens."
Sunset appeared deeply saddened by this. “Can’t you get by on regular food?”
“What, you mean that junk that humans live off of?” Adagio questioned. “You ignorant foal ... that's almost like asking if a pride of lions can survive off of plants instead of meat. It won't work.” Adagio closed her eyes and fell back in an effort to go back to sleep. “Best of luck hunting down those imposters. I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job, hero.”
Sunset was at a complete loss. She came here expecting a fight against the three monsters who at one point had enough power to threaten the entire planet. The pitiful state they were currently in wasn't what she had expected to find, and it was unsettling to know that she was the one who had caused it. Not only that, but it was becoming more and more apparent that she was wrong about them being the ones targeting her and the other students, which meant that she would have to find a way to see if Applejack or any of the other girls were responsible. The challenge with that was that none of them wanted to talk to her.
Sighing in frustration, Sunset stood up and got ready to leave, only to pause mid-step as her mind began formulating an idea. “Wait a minute, Adagio!”
“What is it this time?” the siren groaned without opening her eyes.
“How about a deal?”
Adagio cracked an eye open. “You think that you can bargain with me? This should be amusing,” she said sarcastically.
For the first time in over a week, Sunset found a reason to smile. “How’s this for amusement? If you help me figure out who’s terrorizing the school then I’ll ask Twilight about getting you and your sisters a new batch of Heart Stones.”
Sonata’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates but Adagio still looked unimpressed. “As tempting as that sounds … you never did give me an answer. What would you do if it turns out that we really are this ... Anon-a-Miss person?”
“If you were, and you came clean now, I might still help you.”
Adagio closed her eyes again and shuffled around underneath the blanket. “Why would you do something like that for us? We’re still technically enemies, in case you forgot.”
“Simple,” Sunset fired back. “We may not like each other, but that doesn’t mean that I want you and your sisters die like this if there's something that I can do about it. That and I could really use the extra help.”
Her response elicited a small chuckle from Adagio. “I have two more questions then. How do I know that you’d keep your end of the deal? And if you do keep your promise, how do you know that we won’t try another bid for world conquest the moment that our strength returned?”
“I suppose that you can’t know for sure if I’d keep my word or not," Sunset admitted. "But you don’t have much of a choice since it’s either you take a leap of faith, or you wait around while you and your sisters waste away. And that whole world conquest thing? It didn’t work out so well the last two times that you tried it. If you really want to get beaten a third time, then be my guest.”
Sonata and Sunset were both staring at Adagio in anticipation for her next answer. She contemplated Sunset’s words over and over again before coming to a final decision. “Big words for an insect. You’re lucky that I’m not in much of a position to refuse.”
Sonata squealed in delight before assaulting Adagio in the largest hug that her weakened muscles could muster. “Oh, thank you Dagi! Thank you, thank you, thank you! We’re not gonna die! I can't wait to tell Aria!”
“Don't celebrate until after we have our magic back,” Adagio said while doing her best to shove Sonata away. “Sunset, I want you to start from the very beginning. Include all of the details this time, and don’t leave anything out.”
***
“... and the pictures were uploaded onto the internet the next day. Because they were taken on my phone, they all thought it was me. You know the rest from there. So, what do you think?”
Adagio sat upright, tapping her leg in deep thought. Throughout Sunset’s story she had considered dozens of possibilities, only to eliminate most of them as she was provided with more information. At long last, she came to an ultimate conclusion. “I believe … that I know who it is.”
Sunset gasped in equal parts surprise and joy. “What?! Who is it?!”
“But before I tell you that,” Sunset groaned and tapped her foot against the floor impatiently, “Why are you so anxious to find out who Anon-a-Miss is?”
“What do you mean why? They're hurting my friends! They’ve turned the school upside down and they’re making it look I’m the one who's doing it!”
“So, you want CHS to go back to how it was before, and then you want to make up with those friends of yours and live happily ever after, as if none of this ever happened?”
Sunset didn’t answer at first. She could sense that Adagio’s question had a deeper meaning than what appeared on the surface. “What are you trying to say?”
“I can understand wanting to clear your name. But your friends? I don’t think welcoming them back with open arms is such a good idea.”
“What do you mean?” asked Sunset.
“Up until this all started, you probably thought that you all had a bond that would last forever. And yet all it took was something as minuscule as a few strokes from a keyboard to shatter the fairy-tale. Don’t you find that a little strange?”
Sunset didn’t like where this conversation was going. Her common sense told her to ignore Adagio and leave, and yet she couldn't bring herself to pull away. “Your point being ... ?”
A predatory like grin snaked its way across Adagio’s lips as she lowered the boom. “The way they kicked you to the side without any hesitation, them not giving you a chance to explain your side of the story despite all that you had been through; the only way that I could see that happening is if their friendship with you was nothing but a facade.”
Sunset didn’t say anything. She had already considered that maybe they never really trusted her to begin with, but dismissed it as her fears driving her towards paranoia. However, hearing the same thing from Adagio was beginning to make her question that. 'Wait a minute …' Sunset’s eyes shot open and she jumped from her seat. “Nice try Adagio. You almost had me for a minute there, but it won’t work.”
Adagio tilted her head to the side in confusion.
“You’re just trying to get inside my head like you did before. Well, it won’t work a second time.”
Sunset expected to see Adagio’s expression change from its usual smugness into at least some form of annoyance, but it remained unchanged. “From what I picked up during my time at that school, you turned into a demon and then you literally tried to kill them. But then, right after you were defeated, they flocked over to you and outstretched their hands and offered to make peace. Odd when you consider how much time you spent tormenting your peers.
“Now think for a moment. Who in their right mind would forgive years of past mistreatment, just like that? It sounds to me like they were only keeping you around as a pet. They probably just wanted to show off to everyone how they had successfully tamed and domesticated big bad Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset flinched. That last comment had struck a nerve. “Stop.”
“And what do you do with a dog that starts biting the hand holding its leash? Get rid of it. They've been playing you like a pipe since day one.”
Sunset cut Adagio off before she could continue. “If the next words that come out of your mouth aren’t about who you think Anon-a-Miss is, then you can forget about me helping you.”
The siren rolled her eyes. “The hillbilly and that girl with the purple hair. It’s their little sisters.”
By the look on Sunset's face, Adagio could see that she didn't follow, so she began her explanation.
“First of all, you said that ‘Piggly Wiggly’ was a family name. I'm pretty sure that the redneck and that little girl both spawned from the same set of cousins. She’s probably the one that started this. Secondly, at the walking marshmallow’s slumber party, there were eight people in the house besides you. Your five friends, the parents, and purple head’s little sister. It’s possible that she might have snatched your phone up while your back was turned. Children can be sneaky like that if you don't watch them carefully.
“And you sound positive that Anon-a-Miss has to be a student who goes to the school. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think that I remember seeing those two during the Battle of the Bands with some other girl who was around their age. Unless you know something that I don’t, this sounds pretty clear cut to me. I’m surprised that you weren’t able to figure this out on your own.”
Sunset was skeptical at first, but the more that she thought about it, the more sense that it made. Applebloom knew about the origins of Applejack’s nickname and she had been the one who had originally suggested that Sunset might have been the one who had done it. Sweetie Belle was in the house during the party and Rarity would occasionally bring up during casual conversation that her sister was pretty handy with computers.
"No way ..." Sunset mumbled to herself as realization began to settle in. If Applebloom and Sweetie Belle really did have a hand in all of it, then that only left two questions. The first was if Scootaloo was a part of it as well, and, secondly, why did they do it? She never once messed with them, not even during her reign over the school. Had she perhaps wronged them in some other way?
Sunset was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of her phone vibrating. She checked her coat pocket and saw that she had a new text message. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw who the message was from. Rainbow Dash, the very one who just the other day was prepared to use her face as a punching bag. She became even further bewildered upon reading the message that she had been sent.
‘We need to talk. Meet me in the gym room at school tonight at around 7. The back door will be unlocked. AJ and the others will be here too. It’s an emergency!’
'I thought Rainbow and the rest of the girls hated me. What’s going on? Was this sent by accident? And what’s this about an emergency?' Sunset thought to herself.
‘I'm a little surprised that you're talking to me again. There’s something that I need to tell you and the rest of the girls and I think it’d be best if I did it in person. And what's this about an emergency? Is someone hurt? And if it's that late at night, then why meet up at school?’ Sunset typed back.
She waited with bated breath until her phone rang again.
'Just trust me on this. We really need to talk. See you at 7.'
Sunset tossed the message around in her head several different times, carefully picking apart what she had just read. Something clearly wasn't right. “I gotta go," she said while gathering her belongings. "After what you said earlier, I should let you starve, but I promise that I’ll keep my end of the deal. And remember, this is the only time that I’m going to lend you and your sisters a hand. You’re on your own after this.”
Sunset was almost at the front door before she was stopped by the sound of Adagio’s voice. “Before you go, I have some advice that you’d do well to remember. It may even come in handy one of these days if you take it to heart.” Sunset turned around in confusion.
“Just because someone stands by your side, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re on your side. Be very careful about who you decide to call “friend”.”
Sunset made the same facial expression that one might make when presented with a difficult math problem before dismissing the thought from her mind. “Whatever, Adagio. I'll see you some other time,” and with those parting words, she left out the door.
Adagio sat on her couch in silence. A few seconds later, she turned to her sister. "Hey, Sonata?"
"Yes, Adagio?"
"Go get me the medicine. Oh, and my sleeping pills too while you're at it. The pain is starting to flare up again."
Sonata took off while Adagio tried her best to get comfy on the couch again. She had had enough excitement for the day. All she wanted now was to rest in peace without being disturbed.