//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: A Dazzling Sunset // by Fuzzyfurvert //------------------------------// A Dazzling Sunset Chapter 12 “No, you’re doing it wrong.  Look, follow my lead.  Make sure your feet are planted firmly, then shift your weight like you’re going to take a step.  Yeah, bend your knee a little.  Then bring your hip up while bending the other knee.” “Like this?” “That’s better than before.  Now when you reverse, you’ll feel the wave motion going up your spine to your shoulders.  Move those counter to your hips while keeping your head still.  The point is to look like a snake, the head and feet don’t move, but everything else is in motion.” “I bet this comes a lot more naturally to a sea creature than either an equine or ape.” “Quit complaining.  You’re getting there, Sunset.”  Adagio grinned, facing Sunset, her own body a harmony of motion and waves.  Her hips swung wide, guided by the small movements in her legs, the kinetic ripple tapering as it traveled up her core to her shoulders and chest.  “Though...you have slimmer hips than I do, so maybe you want to try having more motion up top and letting it shrink going down to your feet.” “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”  Sunset sighed, smirking tiredly.  She wasn’t actually that annoyed to be the focus of Adagio’s attention, but then again, she’d always assumed she was a fairly decent dancer.  Adagio took issue with that.  Sunset adjusted her stance, moving her hips in time with the siren and trying to feel that elusive rhythm the other girl seemed capable of just latching onto. “I wonder what kind of cutie mark you’d have, if you were a pony.  Like a pair of dancing shoes, maybe?”  Sunset’s smirk widened.  “Or a chrome pole and spot lights?” Adagio chuckled, a genuine smile on her lips as she swayed to the beat in her mind.  “How would a pony stripper even work?  That would have to be the most unrewarding talent ever.”  She turned, adding a little bit of rotation to her dance.  She looked back over her shoulder, peeking through her hair to see if Sunset continued to copy her or just watch. “We wear clothes sometimes.”  There was a long moment of silence, then, “How do you make your butt do that?  Shake each cheek independently?” Adagio chuckled again, holding out her arms to either side and arching her back as she sent rapid oscillating moves through her tush and skintight leggings.  “It’s called ‘twerking,’ and it is an art.” “Yeah…” Sunset whistled, coming to a stop and just absorbing the sight with unmasked attraction. “It is.” Sunset stared in silence for a minute, watching Adagio’s body move and not even trying to stop her imagination from running wild.  Sweet Celestia, look at her go...is it wrong that this feels like the best Hearth’s Warming or birthday ever?  Does it matter, really?  Why shouldn’t I feel like this about someone else I’m attracted to?  Sunset smirked, crossing her arms over her chest as she pictured a couple of the ‘unspeakable things’ she’d like the siren to do to her as soon as possible.  Most of them involving copious amounts of nudity and more than a little of select bodily fluids. The twisting, tightening she felt low in her core was pleasant.  It felt good to be in lust with someone that obviously returned the feeling; instead of the one-sided pining she’d forced herself into the last four years.  It felt good to have a friend that was just as messed up as she felt.  Sunset loved her human friends at school and wouldn’t trade them for the world.  But having another Equestrian native she could share with, mock the eccentricities of the human world with scratched an itch she didn’t even realize she’d had.  The fact that this friendship was already starting to morph into a relationship was like icing on a cake.  It made the whole even more special.  Sunset growled under her breath, watching Adagio move and work the assets of the human form the siren was blessed with.  Her insides tightened even further and she wasn’t sure which she wanted to bury her hands and face in first: Adagio’s bouncing mass of blonde-orange curls or that jiggling backside. “You look good like that.  Like…really good.  But I can’t dance without some real music going, Adagio.” Adagio matched Sunset’s smirk with a playful sneer.  She spun around on her heels and came to a stop with a flourish of arms and hair she knew Sunset couldn’t match.  “You bet I look good!”  She chuckled, her sneer turning into a true smile.  “But you don’t need music, Sunny, just start moving and find the beat of the world around you.  Or use your heart beat.  It’s really all about timing and rhythm.” “Easy for you to say.  You’ve been dancing for centuries.”  Sunset threw up her arms.  “I’m the amateur here.” “You can say that again.” Sunset narrowed her brows and stalked the couple of steps forward it took to put her toe to toe with Adagio.  The siren kept grinning, puffing out her slighter chest to meet Sunset’s approach.  Sunset opened her mouth to tell Adagio just what she thought of this little dancing lesson when she paused.  Over the distant sounds of Canterlot City on a saturday and the ever-present hum of the HVAC units on the roof, was a quiet thread of guitar.  The strumming was joined by the ratatatat of drums a second later, a full song bursting into being just at the edge of her hearing.  Adagio must have heard it too, as they both started to look around. “Is someone playing music?” “What is that?  Some sort of pop country crossover?” Sunset looked back at Adagio, one eyebrow raised.  “Where is that coming from?” “Hell if I know.”  Adagio turned around and stepped over to the edge of the roof, looking down into the parking lot below.  “Wait...I think it’s coming from that window down there.”  She pointed at it for Sunset’s benefit.  “What’s in there, the kitchen?  Maybe your friend with the hat is playing it?  Sounds like something you could line dance to.” Sunset snorted.  “Yeah...that does sound like AJ’s style.  Heavy on the rock side with a hint of the blues.”  Sunset smirked again and elbowed Adagio in the ribs.  “But hey, now there’s music, I can show you that I do know some moves.” Adagio eyed Sunset seriously, her intonation intentionally flat.  “I am prepared to pass judgment on your badonkadonk skills.” Sunset skipped back a step, clapping her hands and bouncing on the balls of her feet.  She smirked at Adagio, letting the faint rock and roll tune catch her ear and lead the rest of her.  She hopped into the air and came down solidly, boots planted wide as she cocked her hip and rolled her shoulders.  “This might be highschool cheerleader-tier dance moves, but I rock ‘em!” Adagio rolled her eyes and folded her arms loosely behind her back.  Her brows shot up when Sunset threw out her arms and bent at the waist, shaking side to side more or less on the beat of the distant music.  With Sunset’s trademark jacket off and the move spilling all that two tone hair forward, she could see where Sunset’s shirt rode up, exposing honey colored skin and a hint of pink cotton under those blue jeans.  Honestly, Adagio mused, the girl has rhythm, she’s just never danced for any reason but fun.  I still remember those days—vaguely.  I bet I could whip her into a force to be reckoned with on the dancefloor, given a little hands on tutoring. The siren chuckled to herself when Sunset’s shaking became increasingly erratic and frantic looking.  “You know, if the point of these ‘highschool cheerleader-tier moves’ is to show off your assets, it kind of fails if I’m not behind you.  Your hair hanging down in front ruins the view from this angle too, but at least it’ll cover you up when you pop out of your top.” “You’re...just...jealous!”  Sunset panted, slowing down to toss her hair back again so that Adagio’s view was free from any distractions.  “You couldn’t pop out of your top without the help of explosives!” Later, Sunset would reflect on that moment and wonder if the multiverse was run by Discord, or if her sense of ironic timing was just on point.  Either way, no sooner had the word left her lips then the entire building shuddered and all the windows down the Arts and Band wing of the school shattered.  The echo of the sonic boom hit them a second later, forcing her to clap her hands over her ears.  In front of her, Adagio was standing still, eyes fixed over Sunset’s shoulder, pupils shrunk to pinpoints. She turned, time seeming to dilate so that she moved with glacial slowness.  Her hair still filled most of her view when a shape, all sleek lines and dark, streaked up past the far edge of the roof.  Sunset jerked her head up, trying to track the movement and squinting against the midday sunlight.  She gasped, eyes going wide, when the figure came to a halt a dozen or so yards above them in the sky. Aria Blaze floated there, scalloped semi-transparent wings fanned out like the fins of some deep sea hunter.  Her skin glowed with a faint purple light, like Adagio’s earlier golden aura, her gigantic twintails glistening as they waved about more like a squid’s tentacles than hair.  Aria’s eyes were the worst, glowing an angry red that completely washed out her natural mulberry. “Damn...I was looking forward to demolishing the whole building to find you dykes.”  Aria smiled, shark-like fangs bristling in her mouth. “But here you are first thing.  Today really is my lucky day!”  Aria sneered, dropping from the air to land on the roof in front of Sunset with bone jarring force.  She reached out and grabbed Sunset’s shoulder, her nails digging into the soft flesh there.  “Bye bye, Sunny.”  Then she casually flicked her wrist and tossed the redhead away from Adagio and out over the machinery that littered the building’s roof.  She didn’t even bother watching. Aria kept her eyes on Adagio, her smile growing obscenely wide.  “‘Dagi...I’m going to give you one chance here.  You see the power I have now.  That black eye I gave you last week will feel like a gentle breeze,” she flexed a fist, the knuckles popping audibly, “compared to what I could do now.  One punch, one simple back hand...and you go flying.  So here’s the deal, ‘Dagi, you submit to me and I won’t swat you away like the lamprey you are.  I’m the big fish now, you have to do what I say, when I say it, or wham!”  Aria punched her fist into her open palm for emphasis. Adagio flinched at the sound.  She took a step back, her teeth clenched tight enough for her jaw to complain.  Her eye ached, the phantom sensation of that punch flooding her memory all over again.  Her arms came up, almost without thinking about it, into a defensive posture and she opened her mouth.  Aria crossed the distance between them in a flash, sending up a cloud of dust and debris in the process, batting her arms aside with enough force to numb them to the shoulder.  Adagio didn’t even have enough time to gasp before she felt a hand made out of iron clamp around her chin and force her to look into Aria’s red eyes. “Choose your words.  Very.  Carefully.”  Aria chuckled.  “Your life might depend on my mood more than you think.” Adagio swallowed roughly and pulled her eyes off Aria to look off as best she could.  “Is...Sunset...okay?”  That wasn’t apparently what her former coven member expected to hear, based on the dumbstruck expression on Aria’s face.  “I will...find a way...to make you pay for it...if…she isn’t…”  She saw flash of red and yellow then looked back at Aria, trying to smile as best she could with her cheeks being squished with strength normally reserved for industrial machinery.  “Yeah...that’s right, I’m concerned...for not myself this time.  It’s weird for me too...Aria.  You should try it sometime.  Friendship...is a hell of a drug.” “I’ll pass.”  Aria frowned.  “Who needs friends when I can rule the entire world?  I’ll have the humans sift through the rubble of this school until I have every last scrap of magic here.”  She tilted her head and clicked her tongue.  “Tsk.  It’s almost too bad your…’friend’...will not be there to lick my boots like the rest of this world soon will.  Almost.” “It’s probably for...the best.”  Adagio shrugged, shaking her arms to get some feeling back.  She opted, instead of grabbing at Aria’s arm, to plant her foot into the other siren’s hip and push as hard as she could.  It did her no good.  “Sunset’s not the boot...licking type.” No matter how hard she pushed, Aria’s grip on her wouldn’t budge.  Aria didn’t even seem to be exerting any effort to lock her down either.  It might as well have been a statue she was kicking viciously at than a flesh and blood girl.  I knew the magic gave us strength, but this is ridiculous!  Her cheeks were starting to sting under Aria’s fingers, her arms were still numb and if she didn’t do something soon, things were going to from bad to worse real fast. “It doesn’t matter what her type was, Adagio.  She’s gone.”  Aria sneered.  “What matters is you submitting to me for a change.  Give in and maybe I won’t toss you down to live with the thralls.  You have a chance to keep at least a little bit of your status, Adagio.  That’s already more than you ever gave me.”  She pushed forward, arm out and supporting the former lead siren by just the jaw.  She grinned wider as Adagio scrambled uselessly, those spiked boots kicking and sliding on the loose debris of the rooftop.  They got closer to the edge of the roof and Aria laughed loudly.  “I always knew you were an idiot, Adagio!  You had this power and you did nothing.  You wasted it on that carpet-muncher instead of the real issue.  Typical.” Aria stopped at the edge and lifted Adagio up over the lip until those purple leggings dangled out into the open air.  “You could have come and put me down, but you were soft.  Pledge yourself to me and maybe I’ll let you serve me as a footrest!” Adagio groaned painfully, grabbing at Aria’s arm as she was dragged and then wrapping her arms around it when her feet swung out free from the rooftop.  Struggling to speak, she spat her response back at Aria.  “I’m...gonna go...with ‘no.’You always were...the direct...overconfident type, weren’t you?” “Yeah,” Aria’s grin turned sinister, “and look where that got me, hmm?” Adagio, her face deformed by the squish of the hand holding her aloft, answered with her own smirk.  She kicked her legs back, swinging herself away from the roof to kick forward again and use the momentum to make the powered up Aria look surprised and take a step back when Adagio’s legs came up to wrap around Aria’s neck.  At the same time, from behind the tall air conditioning units, Sunset reappeared with a running tackle aimed at Aria’s lower half.  Sunset plowed into the back of Aria’s knees and their combined efforts twisted Aria back and around while also letting go of Adagio’s face. Sunset and Adagio hit the roof like graceless sacks of potatoes, the wind knocked out of them.  Meanwhile, Aria rolled with the hit and spun in air lazily, a beat of gossamer fin-like wings lifting her above them.  She glared down at the two girls below for a moment and then looked out in the direction she’d tossed Sunset a minute earlier.  “Oh...there’s more roof over there…” Aria smiled back down at the two girls like a shark looking at a wounded seal, “that’s why you’re still alive!” Adagio coughed raggedly and pushed against the roof of the school to lift her shoulders off the shingles.  The fall caused lights to flash in her vision and she shook her head to clear it while next to her, Sunset was already getting back on her feet.  For a brief moment, their eyes met, Adagio’s purple meeting Sunset’s blue eyes turned black.  The girl had a faint red glow all over her, a snarl on her face and canines way larger than a human or pony had any right to.  Sunset’s hair too, was starting to rise around her head in defiance of any breeze or gravity, like the fire it vaguely resembled.  Adagio’s eyes widened as the girl seemed ready to transform into something more, but then movement caught her attention.  Aria came back down like a meteor, right on top of them. “This time I’ll make sure you go off the edge!” Sunset, mid-crouch, yelped in surprise as she was lifted into the air by two iron-grip hands this time.  The yelp turned into a scream when the world went sideways and she was flung from somewhere several dozen yards above the roof away toward another wing of the building.  She caught a brief glimpse of the dark roof flashing away to reveal the green of the lawn far, far below.  She was moving fast, but in that moment, Sunset didn’t really feel any fear.  She was past fear and right into rage.  She’d been tossed aside—literally—by Aria twice in this fight.  Aria considered her nothing more than a nuisance at best and that really irked her.  Being over powered really ground her gears.  But what took the anger cake was that it made her unable to help Adagio.  Her friend.  And now she was going to die and that would just be the fury frosting on top!  In her last fleeting moments, Sunset’s yelp became a roar as she clenched her fist and curled into a very mad ball. Then Sunset hit the wall. Adagio gasped, one hand reaching out as Sunset vanished past the edge of the building in a blur.  “Sunset!”  She flinched when she heard a muffled impact and the shattering of glass.  A second later, the roof vibrated with Aria’s landing, and Adagio turned wide, wet eyes up at her former coven sister. Aria flicked her wings out dramatically and struck a pose, her nose turned up.  “You know, I’m glad it was music that did the trick.  The two nincompoops you sent to fetch me weren’t sure if it was that, or if it was kissing another girl that triggered the magic.  That would have left me with tonguing Sonata—and while dragging you to the bottom will be sweet—I’m glad I don’t have to savor it with the taste of vomit in my mouth.”  She tilted her head, one corner of her mouth turning down.  “Not sure why it worked this time, but really, who cares?  So long as I get to rub my power in your face for a change, then all the better!” Adagio rolled awkwardly onto her knees and struggled to stand up.  Her leggings were ripped in several places and she could feel scrapes and cuts on her legs to match.  Her jaw and throat ached, but she didn’t spare her injuries much thought.  As soon as she could move, Adagio took a stumbling step in the direction Sunset had flown.  “Sunset!”  Behind her, Aria’s villain laugh skipped a beat and stuttered unevenly as it started.  She wasn’t reacting the way Aria assumed and a small part of her took pride in that tiny show of defiance.  Mostly, however, she just wanted to know if there was even a miniscule chance that Sunset was still alive.  This wasn’t Equestria.  Magic was only a sometimes miracle here. But she had to hope. Aria’s grin slipped more and more into a scowl with every shaky step Adagio took away from her.  This wasn’t how she’d briefly envisioned this encounter going.  Adagio running from her, sure, but more in fear than concerned for some dumb bitch.  She’d expected weak counter threats.  Taunts.  Insults, for crying out loud!  Never in all her years would she have thought Adagio Dazzle would be more concerned for someone other than herself.  The siren had practically invented the concept of being a diva.  ‘Prima Donna’ was essentially Adagio’s middle name.  She knew with every fiber in her that Adagio was made of three parts ego and one part fluffy curls, so this sudden departure from type left her feeling unbalanced. “I really don't like being ignored.”  Aria growled, voice low and fist clenched. Her twintails whipped around heedless of any breeze. “Especially by you, Adagio.  I've come too far to let my victory be spoiled by your infatuation with yet another redhead. Turn and face me, or so help me, I will put you in the same hole as Sunset!” Adagio stopped at the edge of the roof, looking out over the school parking lot. Two stories below, doors had been thrown open and the sparse student and faculty members present we were quickly scrambling to evacuate the building. Concerned and confused mumbling drifted up towards her while muffled alarm sirens began to wail in the background.Across from the library, on the first floor, there was a wide hole in the wall that the humans were all avoiding. Adagio’s jaw dropped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. “Turn around!” It took a few seconds, but Adagio turned to face Aria.  When she did, Adagio could see storm clouds of rage gathering in the other siren’s eyes.  Adagio clenched her fists, snarling back at Aria before breaking into a toothy grin of her own. Aria sagged where she was, going limp and letting her arms, wings and twintails droop.  She fixed Adagio with a tired, exasperated glare.  “Look...look, just pick one, okay?  Either sad and distraught, or above it all.  At this point, I don’t even care which.  Do you care that Sunset is a smear on the ground or not?  Trying to keep up with you, emotionally, is exhausting.” Aria took a deep breath and let it out through her nose, fanning herself with her hands.  “You know, I was feeling a little awkward about you showing concern for Sunset.  I was thinking, ‘this isn’t the bitch I know.’ I mean, where were the insults and slurs?  The promises of retribution and violence?  It’s been what, a baker’s dozen of decades since you last broke down and started looking for a human to get freaky with?  That went well, didn’t it?  I was enjoying the streak of not getting chased out of town with torches and pitchforks just because you had to mack on some mayor’s or preacher’s daughter.”  Aria reached back and ran her fingers through one of her long pigtails, flicking her head to the side menacingly. “I care about Sunset, Aria.”  Adagio squared off her stance, her grin still intact and rising up haughtily.  “Bringing up the past isn’t going to get under my skin this time.  The world has changed, I’ve moved on.  Sounds like you need to, too.” Aria frowned, showing teeth as she snarled quietly.  She jabbed a finger at Adagio.  “I have moved on!”  Aria surged forward in a blur, crossing the distance to Adagio in the blink of an eye and slamming to a halt just inches from the other girl.  Aria sneered, her voice whisper soft.  “I moved to the top.  What makes you think you get the right to wear that smug smile anymore, Dagi?” That's when the guitar music started, an electric screech echoing loud enough to drown out the wails of the emergency alarms coming from below.  Adagio took a step back from Aria, one foot on the raised edge of the roof, her other foot sweeping out into the open air.  Adagio spread her arms out in a slow ballerinas pirouette.  “It's time to tango!” Aria gaped at Adagio for a second and then leaned to the side and looked around Adagio’s hair and down into the courtyard formed by the Canterlot High school building.  At ground level, across from the library, was a massive hole in the wall.  The students and faculty that had evacuated the building were looking at it in rapt fascination.  Aria’s jaw fell open as she realized she’d somehow managed to hit the band practice room. Out of the rubble walked Sunset Shimmer, a teal colored guitar in her clawed hands.  Sunset’s hair whipped up and around her head like flames while her eyes were a cold black with blue pin points.  Fire sparked from her fingertips as she strummed at the strings with a claw.  Sunset paused and adjusted a tuning peg, then let out more sparks sliding her fingers down the neck.  Sharp fangs glistened as she shot a wide grin up at the sirens.  “Tango nothing, it’s time to rock!” More loud guitar sounds echoed out of the band room from the massive speakers and amps.  Trapped between the two, the humans looked back and forth from a demonic Sunset to two of three creatures of legend that had all tried to enslave them before.  Unsure murmurs passed through the small crowd. “I swear to god, if I hear the opening bars to Freebird, you are a dead woman!”  Aria shouted from the roof.  Heads swiveled back toward Sunset as the noises resolved themselves into a song.  Heavy bass thumped out of the subwoofers while the amps turned the notes into a metal scream.  One of the shell-shocked teachers pulled out a lighter and held it—lit—overhead. “Just because it’s old doesn’t make it a classic!”  Sunset roared over the music, her hair-turned-bonfire flickering wildly.  She hit the whammy bar, teachers and students alike starting to nod along.  “But adding a little metal makes everything better!” “‘Bout time she played something good.”  Adagio chuckled, her hips already swaying to the rapid beat Sunset was laying down.  Throwing up one hand, pointer and pinky finger extended, Adagio nodded her head hard enough to send rippling waves through her curly locks.  She opened her mouth and together with Sunset, they launched into the lyrics from a more magical time in the human world. “I stopped an old man along the way/ Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies/ He turned to me as if to say, "Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you!"