//------------------------------// // Song of Ruin // Story: Sunset Shimmer Hunts the Undead // by Rune Soldier Dan //------------------------------// School had resumed. Life went on, and the world was quiet as February arrived. Such things could never last. “Dorm meeting,” Adagio called, offering neither context nor explanation. The addition of Twilight, however, made it clear this wasn’t about the heating bills. They gathered around the heavy inherited table, trading guarded expressions and shrugs until Adagio herded the last one in. She broke their nervous curiosity with a grin. “No worries, guys. This is a good meeting.” Manicured yellow fingers flipped a pamphlet onto the table: an image of glittered lightning with two familiar women and a set of dates in front. The Neo Dazzlings – the duo Aria and Sonata – were performing by Canterlot Mountain next week. Applejack’s infamous left eyebrow cracked upwards. “We ain’t sabotaging their concert, Daj.” Adagio held her hands in mock surrender, her face in a cheerful, effacing smile. “Look, I know this is a U-turn. You all have been extremely good to me and extremely patient as I bitched about my sisters whenever I heard their names. But we’re back in touch. They really seem like they want to bury the hatchet with me.” Sunset smiled politely and shared a glance with Applejack. Wallflower pointed a chewed nail to the pamphlet. “I hope they didn’t make peace by giving you tickets. It says here Canterlot University students get in free.” “Freebies, yes, but not for that.” Adagio fanned five gleaming silver tickets in her hand. “This week they’re having a rather more exclusive performance in the Canterlot Theater and Bar. Free food and drinks, and the first reveal of a song from their coming album.” A flickering magenta eye. A self-conscious tug at the curls, and a strategic bite of her painted lip. “These tickets are worth a lot. It means something that Aria and Sonata gave them to me. I’d like to go support them, and I’d like you all to come support me. Enjoy the food and music, and smack me if I get pissy.” Twilight spoke up with a neutral frown. “I remember hearing that bad things happened last time the Dazzlings played in Canterlot. Hypnosis-induced emotions, then siphoning them for power? Something like that?” “Real cool of you to bring that up.” But Adagio’s smile only lost a hair of its good humor. “Short version is the gems we wore were our connection to the flow of magic. We lost the ability to put magic in our songs when they broke.” Applejack swung her thumb between herself and Sunset. “Us Rainbooms were immune, not that it really matters with the gems gone. Anyway, Let’s go. We’ll make a shindig of it and be normal college kids for once.” The others readily agreed. Phones came out, checking the venue and rearranging other plans. Wallflower began playing a NetTube video of one of the Neo Dazzlings’ songs, and soon every head was bobbing along. A marketable tune devoid of much creativity, but still nice to listen to. They were still listening when Adagio retreated to her room. It would be a good time, this Friday – food and music with the others. Her friends if the evening went well, her bodyguards if it didn’t. The Canterlot Theater and Bar was a large, flexible venue, capable of everything from weddings to black metal concerts. The Neo Dazzlings’ audience leaned clearly towards the latter. Black eye shadow and spiked hair marked many in the line, mingling with hip-fashioned valley-girls. Applejack stuck out like a sore thumb. So would Twilight, had she not ducked fearfully between AJ and Sunset. No one seemed to care. Sunset supposed that was good. A hundred manicured nails tapped listlessly on phones. Silver tickets earned five seats in the VIP section: tables on a platform elevated from the mosh pit. Far from the stage, but with a fine view of it. The advertised food and drinks were perhaps lackluster – pizza, wings, and stacked cases of room-temperature Bud Pisswater – but such was entirely adequate for students on a budget. Twilight even made it better with a low-setting freeze-ray, chilling their beer quite nicely. They chatted. Laughed. Adagio kept glancing to the stage until a squealing, perky voice Sunset recalled all-too well boomed out from the speakers. “Helloooooooo Canterlot! Are you happy to see us?” The blue siren Sonata followed it with a ditzy giggle as she skipped onstage, waving both hands to the roaring crowd. Aria entered from the other side. Her pace was more sedate, and she flicked her hair disdainfully outwards. “I’m going to be real, Canterlot. You weren’t too good for us last time we were here, so you better be ready to make it up AND MAKE SOME NOISE, ‘CAUSE WE’RE STARTING YOU OFF WITH OUR FIRST SONG IN THE TOP FORTY, BATTLE OF THE BANDS!” “I wrote that,” Adagio grumbled. Applejack set a hand on her shoulder, but it was slapped off. For her part, Sunset settled back and tried to enjoy. It was a catchy song, now modified to be about a band determined to rise at all costs. Not exactly a great moral, but she’d be lying if she claimed her foot didn’t tap with the chorus. Other songs followed. Equally catchy, though Sunset found herself losing interest with each one. The beats jammed pleasantly in her ears, and the Dazzlings were better singers than she could ever be. But Sunset craved warmth and emotion in her music, and these lyrics were… cold. Empty, even, or at least not filled with anything good. Self-entitled songs of deserving the best, and how wrong others are to deny you. Parents who don’t understand (so steal their car), and boyfriends who don’t deserve you (so make sure they know). One song about how rare and lovely a girl felt in name-brand beauty products, and Sunset couldn’t tell if it was ironic. The screaming crowd sure seemed to like it. The sirens talked a little between songs. Sonata was the cute, ditzy one, always pining for Aria’s favor, and Aria was the mean one who didn’t care. They traded scripted jokes and barbs, with every line lapped up by the audience. Sonata even had a wardrobe malfunction onstage, drawing howls and cheers. Sunset groaned and glanced around: Adagio stared to her sisters with rapt attention, but the others looked bored or annoyed. Applejack had irately plugged her ears against the throbbing speakers, Twilight tapped on her phone, and Wallflower blew heavily into her cupped hands. Breath misted out the other side. ...Yes, it was cold in here. Like they were still outside, in February’s slush. No, worse. Sunset trembled and folded downwards, rubbing her stiff hands together. An icy wind pierced right through her jacket, but there was no breeze at all. It wasn’t like this before… did the furnace break? Even that didn’t explain things with two-hundred sweating, jumping bodies sharing space with her and the music. A strange sound came from above: a neighing horse, somehow both mournful and malign. Sunset looked up and saw nothing but… snow? Some special effect, yet it gave a chilled bite upon touching her hand. The cold departed, leaving her uncomfortably warm. Maybe she was sick. Definitely she was irate. “Alright, Canterlot!” Aria’s voice boomed too loudly from the stage. Something bright and blue shined on her neck, forcing Sunset to blink away with a headache on top of her misery. “I wasn’t sure if you would deserve it, but you’ve been a great crowd. What say we finish this off with a first-ever look at our new song?” The audience roared its assent. Blue glowed at Sonata’s throat as well, hiding her grin in its shine. “Get ready for… The Rise of Tirek.” A dull metal bass ground through the speakers, followed by grainy plucks at Aria’s guitar. A disturbing melody to make the skin crawl, far less comfortable than the canned tunes they played before. Sunset felt nauseous and at this point it was hard to pin down a source. “This sucks,” Applejack moaned. “It was your idea,” Wallflower snapped, then took a mocking country accent. “All, ‘Howdy y’all pardners, let’s go to the hoedown shindig, y’all.’” Applejack gave a low grunt, staring back levelly. “I like you better when I forget you’re there.” “Look, we’re all a little grouchy.” Sunset growled her best effort at reconciliation through the headache, churning stomach, and fresh waves of bitter cold. Twilight arched her nose arrogantly. “I’m not.” “Oh, screw you, egghead.” The words tumbled without thought from Sunset’s lips. She ignored the lyrics from the stage, and Adagio’s surprised glance. “Let’s get out of here before one of you idiots embarrass me.” “Well, lookie here! The plaster’s coming off mommy’s little angel.” Applejack sneered and stood, but not to leave. Two tough hands planted solidly on the table. “It’s always other people’s fault, never Sunshit’s. Ain’t that right?” Twilight gave a wicked smirk. “She’s not on my level, but she’s a heck of a lot closer than you three. You’re lucky we hang out with you.” Wallflower poked her hard in the ribs. “Please. If it wasn’t for me, the Space Nazis would have killed you all.” “Well if it wasn’t for me, Sunset Demon-Shimmer would have beaten them to the punch!” Applejack jerked a thumb proudly to her chest. Sunset wrinkled her nose and smirked. “Pony Twilight gets the credit for that and you know it. Stick to being a workhorse, it suits you better.” “Well I think being a villain suits you better,” Wallflower said, glaring at Sunset. Applejack shoved the green girl roughly on the shoulder. “Pot, kettle, black.” “The hell are you looking at?” Twilight snapped, meeting their fifth’s gaze. Adagio blinked slowly, staring through them as though lost in thought. She blinked again, eyes clearing as they looked away. “Nothing,” Adagio said quickly. A few shouts came from the mosh pit beneath them. Someone had thrown a punch. The guttural melody played on. Twilight pushed up her glasses with a flourish. “Thought so.” “Bitch,” Sunset murmured. Her headache was boiling now, bubbling cruel, thoughtless impulse to the fore. She flicked a hand with all the skill of her pickpocket days, slapping Twilight’s glasses to the sky. ...It felt good. A grin played across Sunset’s face as Twilight knelt and scrambled for the plastic frames. Wallflower tossed her leftover pizza onto Twilight’s back. “Now you get on my level, dork!” Twilight snarled and kicked, knocking one of Wallflower’s legs out from under her. Applejack chortled and scraped her own plate onto Wallflower, drawing a sneer from Sunset. “Rootin’ tootin’ honorable cowgirl you are, hitting ‘em while they’re down.” Applejack began stomping around the table to Sunset, smiling tightly. “Maybe I should hit you while you’re up?” Sunset sauntered to meet her, one shoulder at a time. The anger had nowhere else to go. “Maybe you should, huh? Or maybe I should send you to pound town where you can–” While Sunset postured, Applejack had sped. Two fast steps closed the distance and lent speed to her punch. A fist like swinging granite hit Sunset mid-taunt on the right of her face, sending her spinning to the ground. She landed, dazed, at the edge of the VIP elevation. She saw Wallflower stomp on Twilight’s fallen glasses. The purple girl reached up and yanked her by the hair to the ground. Theirs was not the only fight – everywhere there were brawling guests, upended tables, and hurled bottles. Violence had engulfed the dancers below. Everyone was fighting… Except Adagio. She walked coolly down the stairs, but there was no time to contemplate. Applejack loomed above Sunset, all signs of mocking humor replaced by feral, unthinking rage. The prone Sunset could give no defense. Applejack’s savage, cowboy-booted kick sent her a meter out, then down into the mosh pit. Goth kids staggered over her, then lurched drunkenly back to the fray. Valley-girls stomped on her back with heeled shoes, though Sunset barely felt it. Sparks danced in her eyes, Her vision blurred, doubled, then blurred again. ...So cold. Cold enough to pin her limbs. The freezing snow had returned, and as her dizzy gaze went skyward she fancied she saw ethereal white horses frolicking in the rafters. Then her eyes fell to a mound of orange curls picking their way carefully through the melee. Her vision faded to shadows, then darkness. No sight, no touch. Only the throbbing speakers, and the cruel duet singing chillingly from all sides. “Bring the rage and bring the pain, Step on insects, kill for gain. Tirek rising in our mind, Coming up, the world to find. Looking down with gaze so cruel, Just like me looking to you’ll Be sorry for every slight, Every bicker, every fight. Tirek Rising, free for all, Blood is running through the hall. Smash the window, take the jewels, Rise of Tirek, end of rules. Not a sin if we don’t cry, Not a crime if watchers die, Tirek rising, king of lies, Tirek rising, Tirek – rise!” Adagio wasn’t sure how she made it through the mosh pit untouched. It wasn’t from any conscious effort on her part. Was she sleepwalking? Hypnotized? Or just struck dumb from the reality before her? It was one thing to suspect, but to see… All she should be – all she ever should have been – stood onstage. Red or blue gems, what did it matter? She could see the green mist of rage-plucked magic in the air, flowing steadily towards her sisters’ gems. Glutting them with power, while the carrion pranced above. She emerged before the stage. Her sisters leered down to her, and leaned close. They had stopped playing. Nobody cared. “How?” Adagio asked, voice trembling with religious awe. “We cut a deal,” Sonata said in a low, smug tone, leaving aside her ditzy facade. “You could say we got a new manager.” This close, Adagio could feel their power. She could hear it singing from the cold jewels at their throats. She could almost taste it in her own voice, after so long without… “Who?” Aria squatted on the stage, almost bringing herself to eye level with Adagio. She slipped out of the guitar strap and reached into her pocket, giving a mocking laugh Adagio should have found infuriating. “Come on, Adagio,” the purple siren teased. “Weren’t you listening to the song?” She pulled the hand from her pocket. Something bright glinted between her fingers, and leather straps trailed behind. “I wasn’t lying back in the restaurant when I said we missed you. We spent a long time unfairly blaming you for the loss, and now’s our chance to make it up.” A purple hand reached down to Adagio. It turned upwards and the fingers uncurled, revealing a flawless blue gem set in a choker. Aria smiled – cruel, but no longer mocking. Police klaxons echoed in the distance. “It’ll be even better than before. Earth, Equestria, whatever we want. But we need your voice to make it happen.” The hand reached lower, now close enough for Adagio to touch. She stared at the gem, barely hearing Aria’s next words. “So, what do you say...” “...Leader?”