//------------------------------//
// Part 4: Dark Nights, but a Dazzling Dawn (Ending) 
// Story: Mistress - B-Side: The Sunset Side of the Story 
// by SizeofMT 
//------------------------------//


Part 4: Dark Nights, but a Dazzling Dawn



“Obviously it wasn't the first time I'd been in Adagio's head,” Sunset said, and eyed Adagio's dark doorway with a sad expression.

Twilight tried to remember to what Sunset referred, and her ears pricked up as it came back.  

“Oh, the music festival?”

“Yeah. I was more focused on my own problems with the time loop. Also I didn't have the skill with my empathy powers I do now. This latest time was... unlike anything I'd ever seen.”

“I'm assuming it's not just a siren thing? You didn't seem fazed by Sonata's mind.”

Sunset nibbled on the nail of her thumb for a moment. “I think Sonata's adaption to human life has enclosed her former thoughts. That or... look, I don't mean to be an jerk about it, but Sonata's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.”

Twilight scowled. “You should know better than to think like that, Sunset. She may lack conventional book-smarts, but she clearly has a maturity that has let her succeed in a normal life, plus she's a passionate creator and artist.”

Sunset sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Right, sorry... I'm getting tired, and a little crabby, even here.”

“Normally I'd say 'I told you so,' and insist we resume tomorrow, but first I suspect my words would once again fall on deaf ears, and even you must admit we're close to the end here. Do you feel up to one last dip into your memories?”

“For you, Twilight? Of course,” Sunset said and stretched. “If I start blanking out, just... poke me or something.”


Tou-h me.

H-ld -e

-ake m- you-s.


That static voice again...

Twilight didn't bring any attention to it this time. She was fairly certain what was going on now; Sunset's subconscious mind was breaking through this 'conscious dreaming' state Sunset used to review memories. At this point Twilight wanted to see this through, both for the final facts she could learn about Adagio, but also dig deeper into Sunset's thoughts. Why she was so insistent on pushing on even as fatigue and her injuries were making it harder for her to maintain focus.

“Let's get to it,” she said. “I want to see the changes in Adagio as things progressed.”

Sunset nodded. Adagio's gloomy door opened, and they entered.



 *     *     *



Adagio's Door




I dreamed of it again. That life. That beautiful, horrible life. Freedom to act and be as I so desired, whilst being desired by the lesser beings. To soar through the skies, dive the depths of the ocean, to be mistress of all I survey, with nothing to oppose me.

Or.. us, I suppose.

To know this feeling, to understand the gravity of being a siren, is to suffer now, to fall from such lofty highs is a curse that no pathetic human can understand.

I am cursed. That's the only way to describe it. Abandoned by my sisters, my powers, my own damn will to even get out of bed.

“I see what you mean by that sense of ego,” Twilight said. “Even now, she holds onto it.”

“You can take the pride out of a girl, but you'll never take the siren out of her I guess.”

My phone rings. Bar Spoon. Tolerable, as humans go. Unassuming, normally obedient. Rich family, yet seems content to run the bar in my place.

I sigh and answer, “what?”

“Sorry to call you this early boss, but you haven't been in recently. Everything okay?”

“None of your business.”

“Huh. Well, all the same, boss, we've got enough to resupply again, but the profit margin is... bleak.”

I sit up and growl. “So you're just calling me to state the obvious? Stop wasting my time.”

“It's that and I've got a thing tonight. You promised you'd cover the bar.”

Fuck. I did, didn't I?

“Yeah, well, I'm your boss, so how about you ignore your 'thing' and do as I tell you? You're closing, that's final.”

He sighed. “I figured you'd say that, so I've got a counteroffer. Look, I don't know what suddenly got into you, boss, but I've gotta go to this thing, and if you won't cover the bar, I'm quitting.”

Story of my damn life. Everything's leaving me. The problem is, the bar's the only thing keeping me afloat.

For the millionth time since that day with that bearded asshole pony, like the absolute loser that I am, I concede defeat.

“Alright, fine! I'll come in!” I end the call.

The gravity of what I just agreed to sinks in, but I force myself to ignore it. I climb out of bed and head into the bathroom, then look in the mirror.

I can see the fading bruise even through my gold skin. The remnants of the black eye I've been nursing for the last couple of weeks since that night.

“Just get going, Adagio,” I say to the human in the mirror. She's pathetic, and I shouldn't be her. But what choice do I have?

I shower, get dressed, put on... less makeup than I'd like (it's getting expensive to put on my war-paint in full), collect my bag and check for the taser I'd ordered. It works, it makes a nice satisfying crackle when I press the button. I feel a little safer holding it. I then head for the door, unlock the safety bolt, and...

My blood's run as cold as the ocean depths I once called home. I freeze in the fear that should be within the hearts of those I prey upon. I sweat and shiver like a coward. My teeth chatter.

This weakness. This is humanity. I'm... human.

So very human.

“No. You're a siren, Adagio! Grab the damn door handle!”

I grab it.

“Turn it!”

I obey.

No, don't! There could be someone out there! You're a human. You're vulnerable and weak.

My hand shakes so hard the knob rattles in my hand. I grab the taser in my bag and clench  my jaw.

“Coward,” I hiss at myself. “Open the door and get out there!”

The leaden door handle takes all the strength of a siren to turn. That's right. I'm that strong.

Outside, the corridor is smothered in the usual filth. I step outside. I flinch at the clack of my heeled boots on the carpet that's taken so much crap and abuse it's welded to the floor by the filth. I keep looking behind me in case someone's approaching me again.

Never again. I pull out the taser and push the button. Just in case it's broken in the last few seconds. It still works.

I'm pathetic...

Adagio walked down the corridor, gradually moving quicker as she reached the stairs and out of sight.

“She heads to the bar and it seems like a pretty normal day,” Sunset said. “But this is the first time she avoids that alleyway we passed by earlier in my memories. When she looks at that narrow gap between the buildings, it's like staring into a chasm if you're afraid of heights. A weird sense of vertigo, or that it'll pull her in.”

“Understandable trauma, that's for sure. Like you said, she may have made her bed by alienating her sisters and sticking to her siren mindset by considering everypony else beneath her, but all it did was make her vulnerable to this. I still feel sorry for her. Even if she hadn't changed, I still would have offered a hoof in solidarity, even if she would refuse it.”

Sunset shrugged. “Karma's a bitch, that's the truth.”

Twilight huffed. “... if you want to call it that, then so be it, but the twists and turns of fate cannot be understated. Adagio needed to hit this low to understand just how much stronger she has become by accepting love and tolerance into her heart.”

“On that note,” Sunset said and followed Adagio. “Let's move to the next memory.”

As they reached the stairwell door, the inside instead opened to a messy, broken down bar. Shady types filled it, all drinking and quietly talking to one another in hushed tones.

Twilight looked around and wrinkled her snout. “I'm guessing this is Adagio's former establishment? It's... certainly as expected for a failing business.”

Sunset led the way inside and hopped onto a stool, then the bar.

Twilight leapt and flapped her wings once, making the jump in one go.

At the far end was Adagio. She slugged down a drink, shoved the empty glass into a gathering of its empty brethren, and sighed so hard and heavy Twilight swear she saw alcohol fumes blow from her mouth as she stared at her cellphone.

“So, when is this?” she asked.

“You'll see.”

The door opens but I don't pay it any mind. Street Tough, my hired muscle for the usual assholes who come to my bar to have a fight, gives the new guy a stare, but nothing's said.  

It's probably just someone who's car broke down around the corner and they're looking for a phone or some shit.

Does that even happen any more? I still remember a time when it did, back when we used to watch TV at the orphanage and the usual sitcoms and other human refuse that counts as entertainment was on the flickery, faded and bulbous screen and mono-speaker. Back when I didn't even know what I was besides the strange, persistent dreams of flight, talking horses and magic. It was also back in the era of those giant-ass bricks people used to make phone calls, an exclusive right for the high-strung business elites. I marvel at the high definition screen, internet access and absolute freedom of talking to whoever the hell I want from my smart phone and any amusement I find about the progress of technology is lost on the depths of my sour mood.  

The booze helps, but for some reason it, like most intoxicants doesn't affect me as much as a human. Small victory, I guess. Or a crappy one. Everything's cursed. I can't even get drunk on the cheap to forget about how awful things are.

“Orphanage, huh?” Twilight tilted her head at Adagio. “Did you get to see that far back?”

“Nah,” Sunset said with a raised hoof and a shrug. “Unfortunately I wasn't given long enough to dig that deep before my spell was broken by Radian's device.”

“That's a shame. I would have liked to have seen Adagio back then. The time dilation of the banishment we know about, but we still don't really know how long the sirens have been in the human world.”

“Old enough to remember ye olden timey tube TV's and O.G. cellphones. That makes her decades old at least, and definitely older than she looks.”

The new figure approaches the bar and quietly asks for a beer and whatever I was drinking. Bar Spoon tells him it's called a Siren's Sorrow, which was just what I called it as a stronger version of a Maneland iced tea cocktail. It's not cheap, either, and he has to pick through his change to pay for the drinks. He's definitely here for me. Interesting.

Well, not that interesting. It's either a fan or a stalker. Either way, I glance at the taser in my bag as the guy approaches, then sits on the stool beside me. I keep focused on my phone.

The guy places the glass in front of me. I bring it closer. No sense letting it go to waste, but I tell him plain.

“Not interested. Get lost.”

He mumbles and stammers quietly to himself as he glances around, unsure what to do.

I hope he'll take the hint.  

He then takes a deep breath and sips his beer. He relaxes, as if he's only recently become confident and is trying to break in the new mannerisms.

He says, “how can you tell you're not interested when I haven't told you why I'm here?”

Damn it. So much for just gliding through this crappy day.

I toss my phone on the counter and give him a look. Street Tough also slowly approaches until he's looming over the geek.

He's a skinny, forgettable looking guy. Green hair, yellow stripes, cut short and messy. He looks too young to be at a bar, but also burdened with something, a level of cynicism, that belies a human slapped with how lousy life can be, so he's probably in his early twenties. He's wearing a warm but plain jacket, a buttoned shirt and pants that look like they're part of a uniform for an office job or something... there's a logo on his breast pocket but for what, I can't be sure.

I then notice a roll of paper sticking out of his pocket. One of the posters we had printed for the Starswirled music festival from years back.

I grab his offered drink and gulp it down to help ease my desire to vomit from being this close to a new human.

“No autographs.” I smirk as I anticipate him shrinking away as I add, “you can have Street Tough's, if you want.”

The geek looks at the mirror behind the bar, then gulps as he notices Street Tough's reflection.

I'm surprised as he recovers, focuses again and asks, “why do you think I want an autograph?”

I squint at him. “Because of the poster sticking out of your pants, moron. And that better be the only thing sticking up down there, or I'll once again direct you to my friend, Mr. Tough.”

Like the well trained dog that he is, Mr. Tough cracks his knuckles and is ready for my command.

I go for the coup-de-grace. “And if you plan to leave and follow me later, I'm perfectly prepared.” I take out my taser and push the button. It snaps in time with the geek's flinching brow.

“You heard the lady,” Street growls.

That should get rid of the freak.

But no. He carries on, “I'm here to help you! Or... I need your help, I guess. Both! See, I'm trying to harness Equestrian magic and-”

Equestrian magic.

Equestrian. Fucking. Magic!?

This prick isn't just getting in my space, but he's flat out mocking me about even talking about the one thing I can never have again!?

I grit my teeth and hiss, “get out!”

Tough follows my words and grabs the asshole by the collar, but the geek's still trying. He's determined, that's for sure.

He takes out his phone, a weird model that doesn't look like any phone I've seen before. He rapidly taps the screen a few times and throws it onto the bar as Tough pulls him from the stool. The geek hits the floor at the same time as the stool, and Street Tough's on him before this ass can recover.

I look at the phone and, for one panicked moment, I swear it's a makeshift bomb or something. It's covered in odd pieces of electronics, diodes and whatever else. But it isn't what it looks like that shocks the the most.

I see it! Faint waves of light emerging from the components sticking out the cellphone.

Then I feel it.

Equestrian magic. It washes over me like a cool breeze on a summer's day. Or diving into the ocean after a few days hunting for conflict in arid Saddle Arabia. I feel a little bit more whole for the first time since I was broken. I'd almost forgotten the feeling...

I hear the whooping and hollering of the clients watching Street Tough as picks the geek up and gets ready to throw him out.

He said he wanted to help. And he could actually manipulate magic. Could he really help me?

I doubt it, but I want answers. I want to know how he's able to harness magic like this. Maybe so I can steal it and use it to my own ends, but this phone isn't going to last by the looks of it. The thing smells of burnt solder, plastic and rubber, and the exposed parts are starting to glow red from the heat.

I carefully clutch the phone and call out, “wait!”

Everyone calms down, Street stops and turns, and the geek looks like a deer in the headlights as he stares pleadingly at me.

“Boss?” Street says and asks for the final word. Good boy.

I look at the phone again. Magic bent to my will, even by a human-made device...

I demand, “how? How is this phone giving off magic? Just who are you?”

“My name is Radian Wave,” he says, still pathetically huddled in Street's arms. “I'm a scientist. And I think I can give you your powers back.”

So he's interesting after all.

I pick up the toppled stool, nod to Street Tough and gesture for Radian to sit.  

“Explain. Now.”

The scene muted as Radian talked and gestured with his arms about his process.

Adagio watched with rapt attention.

Sunset said, “so he did. He explained it in minute detail. The way he discovered magic the same way as many of Canterlot High School's students did, with me stealing your crown, and my Twilight tearing the veil between our worlds even worse when she became corrupted by the magic she stole with her device. He then goes over his plan to use Adagio help, as someone still sensitive to magic, to help him create and tune the device you now own, and the one more purpose built for powering electronics that you saw in Adagio's apartment.”

“So we know this part,” Twilight added with a nod, “shall we move back to the apartment and continue with Adagio's thoughts throughout Radian's stay?”

Sunset gave Adagio a long, concerned look. “Actually, there's one last thing I wanted to cover. It goes back to Adagio's reaction to the alleyway.”

“As you wish.”

The scene returned after some back and forth with Adagio and Radian.

Radian scratches his neck. “There's just one problem.”

“Oh, here we go,” I groan. I know what he's going to ask before he says it, and I become painfully aware of how quickly I've sobered up over his explanation of what he wanted to do, but my sobriety and his machine both had the same solution.

Money.

“I'm broke,” he says, predictably, “and I can't afford the parts for the more specialised, focused machines. I spent most of my cash building a version of my phone that didn't catch fire... or explode.” 

I loathe stating the obvious, but for a smart guy, he sure is stupid. I can't help but laugh.

“Do I look flush with cash? I'll give you a moment, Mr. Scientist, in case the trashy bar doesn't clue you in.”  

He glances around my crappy bar, then bites his lip. “Oh. Yeah. I hadn't thought of that.”

“I sank everything I have into this dump. I even had the great idea to turn it into a trendy jazz club or some pretentious cocktail bar to squeeze more cash out of rich idiots, but no. My funds dried up long before I could even start making the necessary changes.” I don't know why I spilled the beans. I guess to hope this asshole would leave me to my misery, only reciting it all just made me feel even worse.

I sigh hard and heavy. I can't even keep myself upright as I lean on the bar. “Story of my life, one failure after another. Everything I do turns to ruin, and what little I have left is tied to this place.”

“Well, maybe we could-”

I slap the bar and growl, “there is no we, idiot!”  

With that, I'm so done for the day. I just want to hide.

“Just... get out, I say and stand. “I don't care enough to have you thrown out any more.” It would probably just cost money anyway. Money I don't have, nor will I ever have. “I'm going to go and see if I can balance the books...”

Radian whispers, “balance the books?”

He sounds confused. Not in a way that evokes misunderstanding at what I said, but rather why I said it.

“Watch carefully,” Sunset says.

“Yes, Radian, it's a little thing called living life. All this magic nonsense doesn't mean a thing here, not when there's bills and employees to pay and-”  

He slams his fists on the bar, and my heart practically stops.

I'm about to be attacked!

I start backing away.

Please, no!

No! NO!

Not again!

Anything.

Someone, please help me!

He... isn't swinging at me?

I swallow down the panic as he just stares at his fists for a moment.

Twilight's lips trembled for a split second. “Poor Adagio...”

“That isn't the only time either,” Sunset said and pawed the bar with her hoof as her head dropped low. “Just to get it out of the way, there's a moment later where she also has another close-call panic attack, and again related to Radian losing his temper.”

“Some sort of squabble between them?”

“Not exactly,” Sunset lowered her head even farther. “When I first met Radian at the cafe, he returned home so angry at the reawakened hatred he felt for me, he wanted to find where I lived and planned to... I don't know, either attack me or break into my home to find where the Equestrian portal was, or any information about it. He was becoming more confident in what he could do, and he snapped at Adagio over the matter when she suggested keeping away from me. She at least recognised I could be a threat, and that something that overt would lead me to investigate back and become a threat to her since she knew I had access to magic. These are the only two times Radian's ever done that to her. Otherwise, he's so eager to please her.”

“A former fan, and an enemy of an enemy working together,” Twilight said, recalling the what Sunset had told her about his early days in Canterlot High School. “I can see why you were constantly getting conflictive information about whether to help them or not. They both have redeeming qualities at these points, just as they both have goals to work against us.”

Sunset stood upright but still looked disheartened. “That's the long and short of it, sure. As for how Adagio came around?”

The scene resumed.

“You know what?” Radian said, stood and scowled as my heart continued to race. “I gave up everything to chase up a dream I've had since school. Home life and CHS chewed me up and spat me out. I pushed myself as hard as I could to try and make myself something professionally, only to get ground up as some goddamn nobody, working in a side-lab on bullshit! I've had to give up everything I had just to prove my theories! I've sacrificed everything for this! I'm screwed if we can't work this out.”

He's not attacking... okay. I force myself to calm. Street Tough remains nearby and I reform my plan if he gets closer. My taser is within reach, but I still want to get out of here.

I take a short breath and shrug. “Not my problem.” I try to head for the back room so I can fully collect myself.

Then he grabs my shoulder. I reach for my taser and Street Tough approaches.

But the look Radian's got in his eyes. There's a fire in there that's so not what I expected from a skinny geek. And it's not rage at me, but... something else.

Something more. Admiration. Like he sees me as something else, something forgotten and dead, yet he's trying to make me understand. To poke at the embers of what I used to be.

“You just don't know what you are. You've forgotten. You're Adagio Dazzle! A siren! You almost ran Canterlot High and would have run the whole damn world!”

But I'm not a siren any more, am I? I'm just a human. Able to be taken down both like a human, by a human.  

But the fervor of his voice. The focus and determination of his gaze. This goes beyond just wanting funds for some machine. Far, far beyond it. I feel a flicker of something inside me.  

A gentle flame of my very own.

Left in the gap from my siren stone.

Tender, gentle but promise-filled.

And this soul from it's been instilled.

Did... I just... start forming a song?

Forget it. I need to focus. I don't... I don't know what this feeling is any more. It's not me. Not the me in the now.

I ask, “you know what I am- what I was, and you still want to help me? Why would you do that? Are you crazy!?”  

His eyes bug out. He throws his arms up and he screams, “YES!! I'm certifiable! I took my whole life, my engineering PhD, my whole career as a scientist and burned it all for you! You're a goddess, and it's time you remembered that! To hell with 'balancing the books!' You're Adagio  Dazzle! It's our time, you just need to believe in me!”

I freeze. Or... the opposite? I feel warm. Hot, and not in a sexual way.

Well, maybe, but... damn it, I'm confused!

That speech! That passion! I used to feel that. It's like he has that spark. Something deep and mighty, an overwhelming force of prowess, and knowing what you're capable of.

Like a siren should be. A self-assuredness that nothing else can topple. The embers spark, and smoulder. I feel a fire.

I... wait.

I snap to. Radian's being taken away by Street Tough after I didn't respond to his...

Seriously, what was all that?

He was worshipping me!

And the other assholes in the bar are laughing at him.

No. They're laughing at me!

I grab an empty glass and throw it at the nearest asshole. It shatters on his dumb, gawping face and slashes his cheek and brow. Then the shrapnel makes others behind him duck and cover.

The hell did I just do?

No, not throwing the glass.

I'm smiling.

Really smiling! That old, familiar grin for when things are going my way. I feel strong. And I don't need this hellhole any damn longer! I'm ready to fly again!

I point my finger, and announce, “everyone, get the hell out of my bar!”

One of the scum storms up to me. No doubt a friend of the dick I just hit with my glass. I snatch up my taser and let him get nice and close.

“What the hell do you think you're doing, you crazy bit-”

I stab him with the taser, right in the neck. I watch him convulse and gibber as his muscles contract and he loses control. It's hilarious.

Once he hits the floor like the filth he is, I get ready for any more challengers, and scream, “I said get out!! We're closed! Forever!”

“I'd be lying if I said it was the most hopeful way to recover her fire,” Twilight said as the patrons left (or were forced out by Street Tough) and Adagio just bemusedly looked around the place. “But it's hard for me not to feel happy for her finding a purpose again. And to inspire her to start thinking in musical lyrics like that?”

“Yep!” Sunset chuckled. “I know humans get it as well, but a real Equestrian native always has that capacity inside them to sing. That and it goes to show that, despite relying on their stones, the sirens knew music. They just hadn't relied on their own talents before the Battle of the Bands.”

Satisfied, Twilight smiled and asked, “so, what's next?”

“Obviously, this being Adagio, while he kicked her butt back into gear, it didn't take long for her to start to factor him into being a tool. A useful tool, and one she didn't want to discard, but... well, you'll see. For now, Adagio sold the bar and assets, paid off her the loan and it left her with enough for Radian's components and a little grocery money, but that's it.”

Adagio walked into the backroom to make some phone calls as she liquidated the bar, and the pair followed, and found themselves in Adagio's bedroom. Lots of pink helped illuminate the room from the small ray of sunlight coming in from the first signs of dawn, and the room was much nicer compared to the rest of the apartment.

Two figures filled the king sized bed, snuggled under the covers. A large mass of messy orange hair came into view as Adagio sat up.

“How long was this after the meeting at the bar?”

“I think two days? They had started to trust each other, but between Radian's mishaps with getting his device working properly and misunderstanding how Adagio's body would respond to magic being blasted at her, things were progressing steadily. Radian was working on the project, Adagio was briefing him on what she knew about magic and Equestria. This was the next big step, though.”

I hate that I enjoyed that as much as I did. I know I could have 'scratched the itch' alone, like the first time, but it's more fun with two people. That and it'll solidify his reliance on me. It may seem pathetic, but I'm only human.

I look over at Radian. He's still sleeping. I was his first.

It wasn't mine. I didn't really care about what humans looked like, they all kinda blurred together, so I'd had casual flings before. Teenage boys and the occasional girl when I was biologically one myself, especially as I came into my powers as a siren. I could sway people to listen to me and give me what I wanted. Money, pleasure, things... whatever I wanted, all I needed to do was ask sweetly and people would melt.

But they meant nothing. I'm sure people would judge me for that, but I always considered my body to be... well, not me. It was a temporary form, and that once me and my sisters had recovered out powers, we'd be back in Equestria and forget all this as a bad dream, or at least rule here and nobody would be able to say a thing against us.

Things changed when we became indisputably human. I hadn't slept with anyone since losing my powers. Suddenly this body felt more sacred in a way. Final and all I was, and ever would be.  

When I wrote 'Find the Magic,' it was partially from that revelation, to hold certain things closer and enjoy the little things, since that was all that mattered. Sure, the song was also made to make money and keep the Dazzlings in the public sphere and, yes, me and my sisters still hadn't fully honed our voices and had to just sing a handful of lines well enough to repeat them and auto-tune them with Reincloud, but we were acclimatising to human life.

I was in denial though. Aria was as well, but Sonata was increasingly eager to... please humans for a better life. I certainly wouldn't put it past her.

Twilight grimaced, but Sunset reminded her, “this was before she came around.”

“I know. It still hurts to witness this side of Adagio; to think so low of her own sister like that.”

“From what I could gather, the sirens just had a hedonistic side that they gladly explored. They had flings when they were growing used to the biologically human selves, what with the hormones and all, but even Sonata hadn't sunk so low as to trade sex for favours. The people at that talent agency she joined were stand-up people, who looked after her, and she worked her ass of for them in return.”

I smirk to myself. Oh, sure thing, Adagio! Sonata's the desperate one. I think this while I'm sitting in bed with a guy I've known for a couple of days, and screwing him to keep him on my side.

It's the pragmatic approach. I doubt he can restore my powers, as his experiments have failed to restore what it is to be a siren. I need my stone for that after all. Still, it was fun while I had hope. I'd forgotten what it felt like. Besides, he ran into Sunset; there's a chance she and her annoying friends might find a way to lure him over to their side. This is strategic.

From my bedside drawer, I take out a small decorative box. My old heart. My siren stone. Once the core of my power, as part of me as my hooves or fins. It's still missing pieces and cracked. Still inert and dull, but I still feel a little comfort holding it again. But it will never fuel my songs again.

So no, while Ray... Radian can manipulate magic, I decide it's time to drop the pipe dream. That's not to say it's not worth chasing up on his energy conversion device. If he can make me some money, I can leave him.

I can leave him... can't I?

Sure. Sure I can. I'll take my share of the cash, he'll be rich enough to follow his own dreams. I owe him that much for letting me feel magic-

No... feel hope again. Once upon a time I would just use him and leave him, but-

“Good morning.”

I gasp and quickly return my stone to its resting place, then look at him.

I... find myself smiling. It feels right.

“Hey,” I reply, and stand up. I grab something to put on. An old merch t-shirt and my panties from last night. Feeling a bit more presentable, I ask, “you sleep well?”

Radian smirks and says, “like you wouldn't believe.” The smile changes, becomes more sincere, as he thinks on our night together and he nods to himself. “About last night. Thank you.”

Those teens thinking they'd hit gold came back to me, and I turn around with a a dismissive huff. I remember the bragging, before I told these early jerks to get lost as I left with their cash or I took some embarrassing photos to manipulate them into giving me things.

What was this feeling? Was it because of how I now considered my body as more... me than before? That Radian thanking me for giving of myself, rather than acting smug, means something else?

No. It can't be. He's just more polite than most.

I smirk over my shoulder and reply, “like I said, it was convenient. And more fun than going solo.”

He sits up and gives me this... weird, warm look. “Be that as it may, it meant a lot to me. I won't forget it. Ever.”  

The hell is wrong with my heart? It felt... puffy for a second. Floaty. I can't keep looking at him, nor can I think of what to say.

It was convenient. That was all. I had to keep reminding myself this, and he needs to drop this attempt in making me what I used to be. The idiot girl who failed over, and over, and over again.

After calming myself, I face him again and say, “listen, Ray. You know what I am. Or was, I guess.”  

He stops that weird smile and answers, “a siren. I don't really know much beyond that, or even what that truly means.”

“We were one of the greatest threats to Equestria. We roamed, sowed disharmony and strife, we fed and demanded attention. Simple as that.” I pace back and forth, but keep looking at him. I need to see his expression. “We were beasts. Intelligent beasts, but beasts nonetheless. We had no grand goal or moral principles; we desired to feed, and we wanted the pathetic ponies to worship us.”

I feel homesick talking about this, and can't hold back the sigh. I need to see the sky, so I head to the window before continuing.

“It wasn't until the gathering of the greatest of Equestria's heroes that we were bested. Even then, all they managed to do was banish us here, to this world.”

“How long ago was this?”

Typical nerd. It's all about the details. Yet I can respect that; the details are ammunition when it comes to manipulating people, and I can't help but chuckle as I realise we share some common ground.

“Isn't that the trick? I have no idea. What I do know is that we sirens, me and my bandmates... no.” I can't call them that. Despite everything, it feels dishonest. I don't know what's wrong, but just trying to distance myself from them like that makes me feel like I'm going to cry.

I correct myself and continue, “me and my sisters are older than we appear. I don't remember when or where we appeared in this world, and at the time, we'd forgotten everything about what we were, but I remember we went through several foster homes and orphanages. We were younger, at least physically. Maybe ten years old or so? I remember no matter where we ended up, little fights and building resentment had us moved from place to place.”

“Are you biological sisters?”

Again with the facts...

“I don't remember that either. Maybe?”  

I pause and try to think back, but as it's always been, it's fruitless. Even as Aria, Sonata and I finally restored our powers at the Battle of the Bands, no grand revelation came to us. Maybe it was because we didn't have a chance to contemplate our history before those insipid Rainbooms defeated us, but that's far fetched. It was also beside the point.

I shake my head. “It doesn't matter. We've been together for as long as I remember, so Aria and Sonata are my sisters, and that's that. Biology has nothing to do with it.”

He keeps quiet, so I carry on with my story.

“It came to me last night as I slept. Certain things both here and back in Equestria ring so very similar. I suspect we were just as clueless and driven by instinct as infant sirens, considering how easily we just continued the same behaviour as we grew bigger, stronger and smarter. I remember, when we were juvenile, potent yet still vulnerable, that we would have to coerce our way into villages and towns to let us close enough to use our powers to feed, offering to sing and just let the little ponies enjoy themselves.”

They almost feel like good times, but were they really?

“Later, we could go where we wanted, when we wanted, and do as we pleased. That was our first mistake; our dauntless pride in our powers, once more the source of our failure, just like when we reached our full power at the Battle of the Bands back in Canterlot High.”  

That should deter him. He seemed convinced to want to help me when we were back in Canterlot High School, but knowing what I truly am must make him doubt this as well.

Instead, Radian's looking at me, and occasionally off to the side as he considers what I've just told him, but he doesn't seem deterred.

So I head back to my bedside cabinet and take out the box with my siren stone. This time I feel vulnerable, for what I'm even thinking of doing by taking it out in front of someone else.

“My point is that you deserve to know what we are, so there are no doubts. What you stand to unleash if you succeed. For years now, I had given up on even thinking about these memories. I was truly just... adrift, living life as just another human. Until I met you.” 

Oh crap. Did I just say that?

He gets a dopey, enamoured look on his face.

I scowl and say, “ugh, don't look at me like that. It's like a lovesick puppy. I'm not about to start fawning over you and whispering sweet, tender nothings in your ear, you creep.”  

And now he looks broken.

I sigh as I realise I went too far. I need him compliant and grounded, not crushed.

“And don't go looking all depressed either. I've nothing but contempt for humanity, but... I suppose I like you. Enough, anyway. You're clever, competent and driven. I wouldn't have slept with you if I didn't respect you. But that's beside the point. I need to ask you something.”

He seems satisfied. Time to stick a pin in the situation. Finalise the deal.

I sit next to him on the bed and ask, “you're getting close to being able to finish your main machine, right?”  

“There's a couple of parts left, but they'll arrive by the time I need them.” He looks to the side and his eyes dance and dart about, like he normally did when working on his machine; he's working something out. He then nods and continues, “I just need to finish putting it together, test it can produce the power I believe it can, and we can start looking for a buyer. And if we can get your powers back, that will be substantially easier.”  

I smirk. I can't help but like his attention to detail. “Right, because I can just tell someone to buy it. It's far easier if there's an actual desire fulfilled too.”

That's a pragmatic way to look at it. I can respect that. He isn't just chasing one tune, he's forming a whole song around his magic manipulation machines.

Stop it! How does he keep doing that to me? Keep making me hope like that?

I have to kill this line of thought. I can't do it.

“What if I told you not to bother with my powers? We just finish your machine, and I can still help you find a buyer.”

He cocks an eyebrow at me. “What changed since last night?”  

Twilight tilts her head. “It's so strange to see her bounce between her usual confidence and this broken version of her.”

“Like I said, she's got the ego still within her, but so much of it is fractured. It's a bit like her stone; we know what it was capable of and, despite still looking mostly intact, it's just unable to muster up the power she once held.”

I take the siren stone out of its box and hold it close to my cheek as my mind flashes to Equestrian skies and oceans. I wish I could stop thinking of that blissful freedom/  

“I just don't think it's possible without our gems. While I thought about me and my sisters back in Equestria, these were literally as much a part of us as our hearts. Even more important, even... our hearts of stone. They've been with us ever since we got here, separated but we always knew they were dear to us. When we didn't know what we were, if anyone tried to take them, we would become violent and angry. Savage, biting and clawing and kicking until whoever made the attempt relented.”

“Instinct, huh? Like beasts, as you said.”

“And now that I think back, those little conflicts probably fuelled us through these gems. Foster parents arguing over our behaviour, maybe even being influenced by us without us knowing, once more sowing ill will, and we just fed on that energy like always. And the more we fed, the stronger we became, and the more we remembered what we were.”

Ray was absorbing every word I was saying. It was... nice to just let all this out. I was used to keeping everything hidden, either because most humans would think I was crazy, or from people who knew about magic and might use what I said against me. But then I'd also been alone for years. I missed having people around me that understood. That I could be frank with and open.

I continue, “we even grew as our powers were restored, becoming older. I remember the revelation of our banishment not long before we found a diner, where we quietly sang in the corner to feed on the chaos within. We were in our apparent mid teens by that point. Aria voiced her hatred of this world, now that we knew it wasn't where we came from. Then I saw and felt Equestrian magic explode from Canterlot High School, we found a way to get transferred there... you know the rest.”

He nods and strokes his chin. “And with those stones broken, you don't think you can truly restore your powers.”

“I appreciate what you've tried to do for me, Ray. I honestly, truly do. I truly believed you could do it as well, and I can't blame you for failing. But...”

I realise I'm staring him deep in the eyes. I barely even realised how much I'd missed simply talking to someone. And how this human in particular seems to understand me.

It hits me like a freight train. I don't want to let him go. I want- I need him here. With me. He's worth too much.

“... Let's just finish your invention, find a buyer, and maybe we can just... continue as we are, hmm? Work out what happens together.”

That sounds so nice. The freedom to do as we desire. Make the most of this human world.

He fidgets under the covers and suddenly looks restless. Almost angry.

“Addy, I'm not much of many things. I was a wimp in school, I had my ass kicked over and over, and even when free to live my own life, I could never stop thinking about getting to Equestria and studying magic. But I'll say this much; I'm a damn good scientist. I'm proud of what I've been able to do. I don't do shit in half-measures.”

He goes to stand from my bed, but he's still naked. He blushes and grabs a pillow to cover himself, then continues, “I won't stop trying to get you your powers back until I've tried every single thing I know I can. If that means finding how to contact Equestria itself, so be it.”

I can't believe he's not only still going to try, but he's willing to go to these lengths. It's hard not to get caught up in his hype.

“You're certain?” I say and stand up.

“Beyond all reason, Addy.”

“Despite what I am? Despite what I might do?”

He nods. “I swear it. A hundred times.”

“There's that determination again,” Twilight said, and also giggled. “After seeing him so down on himself or angry, it's nice seeing him as I know him.”

“It's hard not to feel inspired, that's for sure,” Sunset said and grinned.

“I've been doing some thinking about Radian's cutie-mark.”

“Oh, that thing that's... oh, what was it? There's the small star and big star either side of a symbol. It's been a while since I studied the topic. I know it's an electricians symbol for a component, which is fitting for his past career as a scientist and engineer.”

“That's right,” Twilight said and sat so she could raise a hoof. “An amplifier, to be precise. But more than that, he's capable of making those around him much greater than they are. That's his real talent. He amplifies ponies, people. Anyone and anything.”

“Huh,” Sunset rubbed her hoof on her head. “I hadn't thought of it like that. Though I guess you'll see it before your eyes in a second.”

Ridiculous. A human willing to try to the bitter end to make me a siren once more? I can't help myself from laughing.

“You're a strange, weird little man, Radian Wave. You stand on the cusp of having everything humanity could ever want; money, fame, actual human power. All these, beyond the dreams of avarice and you don't even really need me any more, and you honestly want to give me, a beast, her ability to twist people and drive them into a fury?”

“We all deserve to Dazzle again.”

He didn't just say that. Sweet, merciful skies and oceans, that was awful.

I roll my eyes and put my stone back in the box. I hope he'll take the hint and stop before he says something even dumber.

Yet, Ray carries on, “but beyond that, I don't think you're going to make the same mistake a third time. You know what I see when I look at you?”

He stands. The pillow falls.

And right in front of me. Just all hanging out.

His penis.

Twilight gasped and covered her eyes. “Oh, Sweet Celestia! You could have warned me!”

Sunset laughed. “Sorry! I guess I've grown used to seeing all sorts of weird, lewd and crazy stuff when looking into people's minds. Besides, that wasn't the big thing I remember from this memory!”

Twilight gave her the most evil glare. “I- what!? Big thing!? Was that on purpose!? I admit I seem to have a thing for humans, but this is too far! I didn't need a biology lesson, Sunset!”

Sunset laughed even harder.

He grabs my shoulders and gives me another of those deep, soulful gazes, even if I can't help but keep glancing down...

“I see a woman who's actually brilliant. A genius. Maybe even peerless. You were held back by your powers, and simply cruised on them. But like you said to me, a few too many victories and you thought yourself invincible enough to screw up. Somewhere, buried behind that 'heart of stone', is your real strength, but you haven't tapped into it fully yet. “

It's becoming very easy to keep focused on his eyes as he keeps going with his speech.

“If you applied yourself in school like you have these last few days, I know for a damn fact you could've been anything you wanted to be. If you had your powers now, with what you've learned, you'd be truly unstoppable. And if you're right, and we can't get you your powers back? I want to be beside you, because with both of us? Together?”

I just- what was this? Again? I feel...

“We can achieve anything we set our minds to. I believe in you, Adagio, whether you're human or siren. If I can harness Equestrian magic itself, just imagine what you could do if you really tried!”  


That faintest light, shall my life renew?

Do I have the strength to see it through?

A quickening heart as my soul soars high.

Strike free of the old and tarnished lie.

Is this it?  

Could it be?

Am I free of this endless mockery?

Dare I hope?

Or give in?

Is this at last a battle that I can win?



From my heart's arrest, can I break the chains?

Dare I take wing once more, despite these pains?

A fire once more burns, so deep inside.

I will stand above it and never hide!

This is it.

It can be.

I will rise evermore and I'll never flee!

I can hope!

Won't give in!

It's my greatest of vows, I'll once more be free!

I'll be free!

Ooh, ooh,

I'll be free...


Where in the depths did this all come from? How can he still believe in me after all this crap? I'm just a human!

But he makes me believe I'm something more. I don't even realise my mouth's open and I feel it again. My heart's making that weird, fluttery sensation once more. I finally understand why.

Singing is the most important thing I have left. It was a tool when I was a siren, as one would wield a sword, or a painters brush, or a writers quill. I created with my voice as naturally as breathing. After the loss of our powers I found a reason to continue. Especially after all the hard work me and my sisters put in learning to sing without our powers making it as natural as breathing.

When my emotions are at their zenith, the lyrics flow. I create. I weave the words into rhythm and give them the ability to instil my will onto others. It's another way to remember how my songs used to control emotions, but now it takes effort. It makes it seem more fulfilling. I master my heart to also master to master this gift.  

It is my strength. Adagio Dazzle at her most superlative. I desire to make others feel my soul through my songs, so that they may better adore me.

Now I realise that Ray is like that too. He's creative, but driven by logic instead of pure emotion. He's my mirror; I feel as I think, as he thinks as he feels. He wants to perfect that knowledge by inventing, leaving a tangible object that people can recognise as Radian Wave just as much as I want to have people remember my words and be affected by them.  

He wants to make the world a better place, sure, but he has that pride in him that wants leave his mark too. I care little for altruism for altruism's sake, but I understand his goal. Just as I've longed to do as I've come around to a human life. To leave a legacy.  

I was annoyed at the time, as he started ignoring me, but I said something just the other day that helped him solve a piece of the puzzle concerning his machine. He went into this extreme sense of focus. He was determined to note and figure out the solution, and didn't care what happened around him. That was Radian Wave at his utmost. He will fight with every fibre of his being to get what he wants if he perceives it as right.

“Ah,” Twilight said and smirked as she let her gaze wander to the window. “That makes perfect makes sense now.”

“What's that?”

“Do you remember what Radian said, when he used his device to disable me, Celestia, Luna and Cadance? When he ran off after Adagio after she lost control from being forced to transform back into a siren?”

Sunset gasped, then nodded. “Yeah. 'I'm sorry! I can fix this!! I have to fix this!!' Can't fault him for his consistency.”

“Just as well he still had you to bring him back to his senses.” 

We are of a kind. I understand him, and his motivations. I adore his strength.

I want him for that reason. I don't know how I should be feeling about that. I can't tell where the selfish or the jealous or the possessiveness begins or ends, nor any of the maelstrom of my heart and mind's complexities begin, but I want him all to myself.

I feel it again. Songs, and lyrics, and... and...

Damn, he smells of musky sweat and sex. After all the fun we had last night, things got messy and very dirty. The best kind of fun.

I bury the fluttery feeling deep down, pull myself in close, and say, “let's have a shower. We're both real sticky.”

It's a deflection though. Something he sparked alight back in the bar still burned, but now I'm aflame. He's so certain he can do this that I can't help but want to see what he does. To see how far he can go. But I need time to think things through.

So we head into the bathroom, and take that shower.

Together.

“I guess that really was when Adagio first genuinely changed,” Twilight said and clopped her hooves together. “Good. That puts me at ease.”

“Yeah, at that point, she formulated the plan to involve me and ask about returning to Equestria, and obviously the clever manipulation that made me believe they were dying only made me more willing to help however I could.” 

“Did she change much more from what you saw? I know there were a few days after your last meeting where she apparently got back in touch with Aria and no doubt divulged their plan.”

Sunset shrugged. “Unfortunately, no. There's was a moment where she got drunk with Radian and they had a heart to heart as well, talking about his past but we already covered my involvement and his parents earlier. The fact she was the one who instigated that conversation was a big deciding factor too. She saw his troubles and legitimately cared about his well-being enough to want him to get it off his chest. Empathy. So yeah, all these moments and factors stopped me losing my temper when she slapped me, and made me go ahead with helping her, even if I had suspicions about her motives.”

“Was there anything else you suggest we cover?”

“Well,” Sunset glanced at the door to the front room of the apartment. As she seemed to think it through, it swirled into a void.

“I did say I'd show you some of the more complicated aspects of Adagio's mind. Brace yourself.”

Twilight looked back and forth between the door and Sunset, gulped, then they both entered.




*     *




*




*    *




*




Twilight was underwater. She panicked, and held her breath, then felt somepony tap her back. She turned to see Sunset wave her hooves in front of her face, raising and lowering them slowly, trying to calm Twilight down.

She relaxed and realised that, despite not being able to breathe, the reality was... this wasn't reality. She didn't need to breathe here, but she couldn't speak either. Opening her mouth, trying to make any noise at all, was muted.

Sunset waved her deeper into the murky depths, as they kicked with their legs into the deep.

Small, bioluminescent jellyfish floated hither and thither and illuminated a path, onward and downward.

Then they found the floor. A grey, placid and dead coral reef. Jagged rocks and stones. The skeletons of long-dead marine life strewn about.

Then Twilight would have gasped, if she were able.

The skeletons of ponies. There were thousands of them. And beyond that, a shine in the light, amidst the murk.

Glimmering gold scales, and a flash of red.

Adagio, as a siren, buried amidst the bones. She was still, with only the ever-so-subtle ripple of water around her neck revealed any sign of life as she breathed through gills, her scales parting and closing as she did.

Twilight looked across at Sunset, who nodded towards Adagio's stone.

They swam closer, and looked within.

There, within the red crystal, was a pony. She was a dead ringer for Adagio, but normal in size and petite in build. A smooth, gold coat and her mane was still orange, streaked with yellow and curly, but tied up in a simpler ponytail and lacked the sheer volume of which Adagio was famed.

Her eyes slowly opened, and she looked through the crystal at Twilight. Or through her since they weren't there. This was a memory, after all. Or was it a memory? Maybe a vision. Or a dream.

The Adagio within the stone scraped her hoof against the inside, trying to escape, and the grand sirens form shuddered and stirred. A dull rumble echoed through the water as the siren bared her teeth, and her eyes flashed open, golden and feral. She writhed and clutched her forelegs around her chest.

Twilight and Sunset both watched as strands of light seemed to pull around the pony inside the crystal, and the pair settled back down as both forms seemed to fall back to sleep.

Sunset tugged Twilight away. A strong current dragged them back upward, then toward the door, and they were ejected from the memory.





 *




*    *




*




*     *




The Hub




The pair were spat out, slid across the floor and crashed into the lockers. It was painless, though a nonetheless shocking.

They both stumbled onto their hooves.

Twilight paced back and forth and screwed up her face. “I don't even know what to make of that.”

“A dream, or a memory,” Sunset said. “If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that was specifically from the siren side of Adagio. You know, after our talk about there being two versions of her, the one associated with her siren past and one that's been formed as a human or a pony, at least once upon a time.”

“What are you saying exactly?”

Sunset sat down and rubbed her head, her snout wrinkling as she took some time to gather her thoughts.  

“Allow me to theorise. What if Adagio used to be a pony, and became a siren at some point? And that what we just witnessed was a lurking, buried figment of that siren's past? And that, as she was separated from her stone, the pony version has been allowed out to live again? That this is why she's been able to turn... as crude as it sounds, good? Like, she still has a lot of her experiences as a siren locked within, but the core of Adagio was a pony like anyone else?”

Twilight sat on her haunches and frowned. “It's possible. We know the siren stones have an empathetic affectation of their own. If that was part of their change into sirens, that took over as its own personality? And that the imbalance we witnessed when you tried to get to know Adagio is Equestria was a schism of sorts between the two?”

“Like a parasite.” Sunset glanced around the floor, organising her thoughts. “A really damn powerful parasite, but still. They use the base personality as a template. She's been flipping between the two ever since in a battle between our magic, based in friendship, and the negative emotional stuff, like Starlight uses? Just far, far stronger?”

Twilight closed her eyes as she tried to consider what she saw. She eventually shook her head. “I don't think we can make any real conclusions now, but it's obvious there's a lot more to Adagio to consider. All the more reason to keep her close and get to know her better. And certainly to try and help her however we can, to save the goodness inside her from whatever lingering evil the siren stones present, even if they're now inseparable. Perhaps we can help her awaken to her own past, to discover where she came from?”

“I guess so,” Sunset said and suddenly slumped. “Sheesh, I'm tir-”





*    *    *

*    *

*




???




“I know where I am. Sunset... what are you hiding? And why so fervently?”




Sunset's Inner Garden




Twilight was back at her own statue, but she couldn't see the figure. Instead, she decided to just investigate the trails of light that flowed from her horn, or... to her horn. It was hard to tell. Either way, they weaved to Twilight's closest friends, then split from there.

As soon as she made that connection, other, smaller columns formed around them. She looked closer at Applejack's

They were chiefly of her vast and proud family. Little Apple Bloom, growing up big and strong. She was as tall as Applejack already, though gangly and slim. And Big Macintosh, as rugged and mighty as ever. Granny Smith, ever the spirited elder of the Apple family. Each of them had other strands, and an expansive web formed beyond Twilight's ability to see. She could have studied these forever.  

Likewise, Applejack's power co-mingled with Twilight's other friends, and their closer circles also shared this power.

More and more columns, all smaller as they grew farther away, made it appear as if a great garden of statues. Even ponies tied directly to Twilight had a place of prominence, like Starlight Glimmer, who was connected closely to Trixie. Or Twilight's own ties to the Hooffields and McColts... so many individuals and groups across Equestria that Twilight had told Sunset about in their journal conversations.

Then she saw motion. Two statues were moving, as if ships sailing and their masts were atop the fog.

Those depicting Adagio and Radian slowly and gracefully moved in from the dark, sliding between the vast array of statues, only to come to rest near Twilight's column, and more power began to swirl from them and into her statue.

Adagio's shifted between her human, pony and siren forms. Each as beautiful as the next, but all bore the same sinister sneer, but the faces occasionally blinked into a kinder smile. It felt appropriate.

Radian's statue, however, was similar to the depictions of her friends. He stood proud, surrounded by radio towers that crackled with power.

Twilight narrowed her eyes and moved closer to her own statue.

She heard sniffling again.

“Hello? Sunset? I know you're here.”

The voice gasped, and Twilight saw movement as she squinted into the dark.

“I won't hurt you. Come out,” she said.

“I know you won't,” the voice said. “But... I don't know if I have the strength...”

“Of course you do! The Sunset I know is proud and strong. She's hard headed and fiercely protective, yet so kind!”

“I'm not the Sunset you know...”

“Please, I just want to talk.”

This Sunset sniffled again, and came out of the shadows.

Twilight almost gasped, or recoiled, but she resisted the urge.

It was Sunset, but it was a twisted and split form, similar to Discord's draconequus body, only Sunset was part human, part pony and part... the she-demon.

Sunset noticed Twilight's hesitation and smiled dismally as she then stared at the floor. “I know, I'm horrible.”

“No, nothing like that. You're just... not what I was expecting. I'm assuming you're the side of Sunset she tries to hide away.”

Sunset nodded, but continued to stare at the floor. “I'm the refuse of Sunset's being. The example she always thinks of when comparing herself to... well, all of this, but especially you. The parts of her she draws upon whenever she needs to, but buries me back under when she's done.”

She gestured high, at the columns and their heroic ponies. Most floated away, barring Twilight's, and there were the human versions of Twilight's friends. Once more, they were given a heroic appearance, but Twilight noticed something immediately.

Sunset's friends were put on a similar height and sense of importance than Twilight's, just a fraction lower. Then there was Sunset's column.

It was hiding in the shadows of her friends splendour, and in a state of disrepair. The figure of Sunset upon it was filled with flaws, chips, cracks and even without these aspects, it was a crude rendition of the real woman that Twilight knew.

Sunset rubbed her human arm against her clawed, she-demon one. “Yeah, it's kinda ugly. Sorry...”

That she was so down on herself seemed to make sense. Sunset had no problems tackling her anger and pride, but Twilight needed better answers.

Twilight said, “we are our own worst critics, aren't we? All our perceived flaws, amplified a dozen times.”

“Not if it's all true,” Sunset said and sat against her column and buried her face in her knees. “I rely so much on my friends to keep me afloat. I cause them so much trouble...”

“I won't deny it's our friends that keep us grounded as much as they boost us to greater heights, and help assure us that the worst aspects of ourselves are either put in realistic perspectives. I'm certain Sunset knows this, I'm surprised you-”

Sunset cried out in pain, and morphed fully into the she-demon. The deep, dark skin, horns, sharp teeth and claws. The bat-like features like her wings and upturned nose twisted into a hateful scowl and she leapt to her feet.

She screamed, “she denies me! Punches me down as her lowest point! I'm sick of it!”

She then shifted into her pony form and sneered. “She holds herself back and bows down to everypony around her like a weakling, when we should strive for our deserved greatness!”

With one final shift into human form, Sunset grabbed Twilight's horn and wrenched her head around, staring daggers down at her. “All because of what you did to us, you uppity, pompous bitch!” She shoved Twilight's face down into the ground and pushed her over.

Twilight struggled and kicked free, but didn't fight back, instead she retreated.  

If this was in the depths of Sunset's mind, it made sense this was the darker recesses of herself she buried away. Buried for so long and only used as tools? No wonder they had become severe and hostile.  

All her past flaws; her time as Celestia's prideful and impatient pony pupil, her days as a cruel bully at Canterlot High School and, last but not least, the wrathful creature she had become when corrupted by magic.

Sunset shifted back into her merged form and all the anger, pride and cruelty faded. “I'm so sorry! I can't control it! You probably hate me!”

Twilight shook her head. “I know what you are. I think, anyway. I can't hate you, because you're all still part of what Sunset ultimately became. You are the core from which Sunset has strived to overcome, and the example that she still draws upon. The pony that, even if her earliest days, had such promise.”

Sunset returned to her pony form, and bowed her head.

“Just as you are the remembrance of her former life, that through which she strives to become greater. The old pride, which she continues to borrow to this day, to be the best she can be, to fight for those that cannot.”

Sunset shifted to her human form, and gritted her teeth, even as tears trickled down her cheeks.

“And you're the promise of greatness, once contained and uncontrolled.”

Sunset shifted to her she-demon form and buried her face in her clawed hands.

“But now you have flourished. Your strength, brought to bear as easy as breathing.”

The demoness closed her eyes, and changed. Her skin from its dark red to her natural tan, her features softened and became human. Most of all, her wings and horn remained.

Daydream Shimmer whispered, “you know me so well... but of course you do. I've always wished I could be as great as you are, Twilight.”

“You are,” Twilight said. “If there's one thing I've seen tonight, it's exactly who you are, and you're as great as I am in so many ways.”

“I once wished that was true, but...” Daydream sighed and her glorious form reverted back to the amalgamate of her innermost traits. “Now I don't want it. The mistakes I made are many, and dire. Problems and pain strewn across the human world, the troubles I've made for you in Equestria...”

Twilight shifted to her human form and pulled Sunset into a hug.  

“Stop it. You can't keep blaming yourself. The damage and tears between the worlds are what they are, there may never be a way to stop it, but just think of what you did tonight! You faced down a siren and helped bring her back from the brink of either savaging Equestria, or even dying from her flawed stone! You convinced Radian, somepony who once detested you, to forgive you! He cares about you now as well! If that's not absolute proof that you, Sunset Shimmer, are an amazing person, then I don't know what else would. What else do you need?”

Sunset stepped back and stared Twilight in the eye.  

“You.”

Twilight's mouth fell open and she frowned. “What?”

“Your love,” Sunset said again with a gentle but pained smile. “And I know I'll never-”




*

*    *

*    *    *




“I'm awake!”

Twilight winced at the half-yelled words, and looked up from the linoleum floor of the hub.  

Sunset staggered and shook her head wildly, her mane flowing about. “I'm up! Sorry, I think I almost drifted off for a moment there! What were we talking about? Oh, the Adagio two form thing?”

Twilight stood and cleared her throat. “Sunset? I... went to that garden again.”

“Ah, figures,” Sunset said and used her magic to sort out her mane. “Sorry, I really need to-”

“We need to discuss what I saw. What I heard.”

Twilight shifted back into her alicorn form, pulled up two desks, and placed both herself and Sunset on top of them, face to face.

“Twilight? You're kinda spooking me here.”

“I don't mean to be, but I'm worried about you. The garden seems to be your subconscious arranging of how you consider those around you, as well as yourself in a critical way. There's statues based on how you envision your friends and associates, even mine, at least those of which you're aware.”

Sunset's face sunk, “Oh, heck, who was it? Please don't tell me I think down on Dash or something! I love her so dearly, but she's so rarely around and sometimes she can be so harsh with people.”

Twilight smiled. “No, nothing like that! You're beyond kind with everypony you know! They all look beautiful and true to their strengths. Even me. It's deeply flattering.”

Sunset sighed with relief. “So what's wrong?”

“Firstly, it's how you see yourself. All through this exploration of your memories, you've been showing off, reliving small moments about your friends and how you've helped them. You've demonstrated your ability to fight and reason your way through situations. I thought it was just good humoured bragging. Celestia knows I'm familiar with that with Rainbow. But it's become apparent you still have some deeply rooted issues.”

“Oh. I guess I am still a bit of a mess, aren't I? I can't keep my finances in order, and I know I get into some fights I really shouldn't. I still lose my temper and have those old, negative urges.”

Twilight shook her head. “These are flaws, and you should be accepting of them. I know I get caught up in details all the time. I sometimes feel prideful, and inflate small problems into bigger ones, but none of us are perfect. I met a manifestation of your old selves, the aspects you draw upon at times when you're struggling.”

“A manifestation? Like, of my subconscious?”

“She's everything you've refused to accept about yourself or chosen to bury,” Twilight said. “These aspects of you, like them or not, still have a purpose. Unless you're seeking to damage yourself for some reason. Or make yourself seem worse. She was made up of the prideful mare who fled through the mirror after refusing to make friends back in Canterlot. She's the cruel bully that Radian hated most of all in school, and she's the she-demon, your absolute capacity of wrath and anger.”

“You've seen my at my best and my worst,” Sunset said and stared at the floor. “And you're right, I always think of my self-imposed exile from Equestria, or how I treated people like Ray and the other students in school, or how I lost control because I just wasn't good enough and fell on old habits. I never will be good enough for the one thing I've always wanted, but shoved aside as something that I could never achieve or earn.”

Twilight stepped across the desks and put a foreleg around Sunset's shoulders. “That's fine. But she was harbouring something else that I've never heard you talk about, but I've heard... little hints of it throughout tonight.”

Sunset looked deeply uncomfortable. “Oh... oh no. I didn't...”

“Did you want to talk about it?”

Sunset's tan cheeks burned red and she covered her eyes. “Oh boy. Uh... um.”

Twilight gave her friend a tighter hug. “I guess there's a lesson to be learned that those who dig their way into the secrets of others will eventually have the same turned back on them. I never knew you... felt that way about me.”

“I- it's just a crush!” Sunset's embarrassment turned to a gentle anger. “It's stupid.”

“No its not,” Twilight said. “It's buried alongside all your other disaffected, but hugely important parts of yourself, which tells me its something you've thought about a lot. Now that I know, and only if you're comfortable, I'd like to talk about it.”

“What's there to talk about?” Sunset's eyes grew wet and she sniffled. “You shattered the stupid, arrogant version of myself with your honesty, your kindness, your generosity, loyalty... all the aspects of the elements. You embody them all! You're the perfect pony I've always aspired to be!”

“I'm not perfect. I'm only in a place of self-assurance as I am because of my friends. Something even you recognise, based on those statues I saw. Just as you should, considering you also present your friends in the kindest, most impressive way. And I'm not so foolish as to ignore that the way I've helped others in the past won't affect them in the way they view me, but I've never had anypony have a romantic reaction to me in such a strong way.”

“It's a teenage crush, like I said. And now I feel like an idiot for overreacting about it.”

Twilight shook her head. “All those aspects, your crush included, are at your core. Your earliest aspects. I just wish to help you come to terms with it somehow, because I wonder if your refusal to do so is what's keeping your other aspects feel neglected.”

Sunset bowed her head and tears dripped all over the desk. “Are you surprised? Everything. Literally everything good that's happened to me has a root in how you saved me from myself. Everypony else has had good parts of themselves before, that you've brought to the fore, but me? I was a good study of magic, but never great, like you. And that's it. That's all that's good about Sunset Shimmer without her friends. It's only because of you and the friends you gave me that I've been able to do anything else besides be a massive bitch! Compared to you, who despite your struggles, has come ahead, every time!”

Twilight's tried to find the words, but couldn't as Sunset finally seemed to begin to calm, and instead just sound defeated instead.

“And since you saved me from myself, my corruption... and knowing nopony loves you the way you deserve? I could never shake that desire. No matter what happens, or how long it's been, Twilight. I love you, and I hate myself for never being able to just move on. Because you don't need to tell me. It's stupid! Why would you ever feel that way about me?”

“Sunset...” Twilight bit her lip and carefully considered her words. She needed to play for time to calm her friend, first and foremost.  

She offered a gentle smile and hugged Sunset closer as she said, “I guess I understand why you showed off so much. We're in your memories here,  and you did your utmost to make yourself as impressive as possible.”

Sunset's tears flowed freely, but she continued, “yeah. Sorry if I came across as egotistical.”

“It's well deserved,” Twilight said. “You are impressive.”

“And I think you was catching on to me as well... I kept pushing on with all this despite how tired I am. It's just that every time we solve a problem together, you leave me. And now you're going to become the ruler of Equestria. I keep feeling like we'll never just have... moments like this any more. Just you and me. We're worlds apart, after all. And I know it's selfish to think that.”

“I...” Twilight gulped and couldn't look Sunset in the eye. “You're right about one thing. I don't know if I can ever feel for you the way you feel about me.”

Sunset managed a smile, but the pain and anguish was clear; the way her mouth creased, and her eyes had a subtle squint. “It's fine. You don't need to spare my feelings. You'll never love me. I doubt you even like girls like that. Heck, I don't. Not really. I had a thing with... you know, the other you, because my Twilight seemed to have the same feelings I had, about being saved, and having a whole new world opened to her because of me, but I couldn't feel for her the same way. I'm just glad it didn't ruin our friendship.”

She reached over with her hoof and gently rubbed Twilight's foreleg before sighing and stepping off the desks.

“Just as I hope I won't ruin ours. I'm sorry all this came out because of my own stupidity. Come on, let's go back to the waking world and... I hope we can forget this ever happened. Besides, the needs of a whole of Equestria matter more than my feelings...”

Sunset walked towards her own door, which suddenly shifted. Within was the medical ward where both she and Twilight were resting, forelegs hooked.

“Wait,” Twilight suddenly said, and stood in the way.

Sunset's pained expression turned into a forced smile. “It's okay! Really. You said it yourself; you can't love me.”

“But that's not what I said, “Twilight insisted. “I said I don't know if I can, because... well, as much as I know you as the heroic girl who faced a siren and lived to tell the tale? The girl who threw herself in harms way to protect her friends when their very memories were threatened? The girl who would fight seemingly unbeatable odds, alone, because it's the right thing to do? I know you're a fantastic person, but I don't know you. So how can I say whether I could love you or not?”

Sunset's pain seemed less intense, and instead she seemed confused. “What do you mean?”

“I never knew you did that living streaming thing. Playing games for the enjoyment of others. I don't know what your favourite food is. Or how you tackle a game of chess. Or if you snore.”

“But that's little, dumb stuff.”

Twilight giggled. “It's the little dumb stuff that matters!” She looked up at her perfect statue. “Look at how you know me. I'm nowhere near perfect. I wonder how you'd change this figment of me in your mind if you knew about some of my quirks? Like how I enjoy food just a little too much. Or how I write lists... about lists I want to make. In fact, with you flattering me with your subconscious version of me, I should return the favour.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, and Twilight dug deep in her understanding of this dream world.  

Sunset's mistreated, statue rose out of the ground, then was wreathed in Twilight's magic and obscured the form for a few moments.

Then she revealed it, and Sunset gasped.

It was Sunset Shimmer, but clad in brilliant, glistening red and gold armour, brandishing a shield shaped like her cutie-mark and wielding a spear of light like an elongated unicorn horn. She stood, triumphant, but her platform was aloft with the supportive hands and hooves of hundreds.

Twilight stepped beside her friend and said, “you're brave, and selfless and strong. That you've dedicated yourself for so long to the good of Equestria and the human world? The way you carefully consider all your friends, keeping in touch with them and pushing them to be better? You're no less than a knight-errant, like the days of old. My knight. A champion of friendship if there ever was one! In fact, if I'm to rule Equestria, the first thing I'll do is name you as such. You deserve whatever power and authority I can give you, because I know you'll do the right thing.”

Sunset smiled a little. “That's... really sweet. And kinda cool!”

Twilight giggled, but kept serious. “Now, as cliché and fitting as a princess and her knight should be, and I'm not saying I'll ever be able to feel for you the way you feel for me, but I do love you as a friend, and I'm willing to give it a shot for something deeper. I want to see where this goes.”

Sunset's eyes went wide. She started crying again. “L- like a date? Really?”

Twilight nodded. “Absolutely. When you're well enough to walk, I'd love to show you Ponyville proper. Or even take a day trip to Canterlot, or Manehattan. I'd love to share meals with you, just to get to know the real Sunset Shimmer, see the things you like to eat and drink, and how you enjoy them. And learn what makes you laugh and cry, and what music makes you want to dance. I don't need to know the you that shows off, or that little you within that you hide from the world with your deepest, darkest secrets. I want to see the real you, in full and unrestrained. And then, when we truly know one another, we'll see where it goes.”

Sunset launched herself back on the desk and tackled Twilight into a powerful hug. “I... I don't know what to say. Thank you!”

“Hey, easy!” Twilight said and giggled. “Heh, you ever the get the impression we're all like this because of watching Adagio and Radian loving each other despite all their differences? I know I'm a little jealous.”

“Pfft,” Sunset uttered and bashfully let Twilight go, stood and blew a lock of red hair out of her face. “Can relate. I was always worried that the way you started feeling for Radian, I'd never stand a chance.”

“Look, Sunset,” Twilight said and became firm again. “I've known Radian for a couple of days. I admit an attraction and a fascination, but I'm through with flash-in-the-pan romances. They never last longer than the event in which they transpire.”

Sunset giggled and nodded. “Yeah, I noticed that too. I look forward to dozen or so dates to figure us out.”

Twilight blushed a little as she looked at Sunset's statue. “Oh, and for the record? I've had passing fancies at my friends too.”

“Really?”

“Oh, completely,” Twilight said as she summoned replicas of her friends' statues, atop desks instead of columns. “And I swear don't mean to sound superficial, but look at them!”

She pointed at each in turn,

“Have you seen Applejack's body, when she's hard at work and you can see every fibre of her muscles flexing beneath her coat, slick with sweat, knowing the motherly and caring pony beneath? Or Rarity's gaze when her passion's in full swing, along with how she emphasises her looks with clever details of her expressions, even above those of her dressses and makeup in spite of her willingness to fight when push comes to shove?  

“Or Rainbow Dash, when she puts her bits where her mouth is and proves why she's got an ego, and that she's one of the most capable, brash and heartfelt ponies I know? Or the unfaltering kindness of Fluttershy's soul paired with her actual, effortless beauty, and how strong she can become when the situation demands? And how could people not fall for Pinkie, with the way she makes everypony's heart flutter with how sweet she is? You can't hang out with everypony without having that little part of your mind go wandering.”

“Yeah, but it's not like you go announcing that to everyone!”

Twilight smirked. “Sure, but I haven't whupped their flanks and broke the very core of their being like I have with you, and I know my friends in such deep ways that I can't imagine changing the way I think about them now. I wouldn't want to, and I consider them family. But the way I see it is me dating you is, at the very least, even if it just puts to rest your anxieties about me, it's my way of apologising for a (well justified) blast of friendship. Or at least a way for me to pay you for being such a good friend, and protecting the human world, and being so determined to help me locate all these artefacts. Whether, when you go back home, we end it as romantic partners or just friends, with the air cleared between us? It'll be time well spent.”

Sunset smiled so warmly it made Twilight's heart skip a beat. “It's a date, then?”

“It's a date!”

They held each other, firmer and tighter than ever before, but then the world around them wavered and faded.

“Heh... I'm exhausted,” Sunset said and began to slump. “I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning?”

“I'll be there,” Twilight said, and bowed. “Rest well, my knight.”

“Sweet dreams, my princess,” Sunset replied, and returned the gesture, and they both left through Sunset's door.




*    *    *




Twilight lightly snorted as she snapped awake and sat up, then yawned.

Before her, on the bed, was the bruised, battered and ailing Sunset Shimmer. She looked so fragile.

But her peaceful and blissful smile would make Pinkie Pie envious.

“I hope I can reciprocate your feelings someday, Sunset,” Twilight whispered and gave her a gentle, friendly kiss on the cheek. “You deserve somepony who'll love you as much as you love everyone around you. I'll try to be that mare.”

Sunset sighed deeply and contently, offered a little wince from her healing rib, and settled into a light, cute snore.

Then she sounded off like a chainsaw.

Twilight stifled a laugh. “Quite the heavy snorer, apparently.” She then increased the flow of Radian's device to help Sunset's healing, climbed off the chair, and left the room.

The nurse mare on duty offered a wave of her hoof, then gestured to a tall, regal but dark figure stood by a nearby window. Her lustrous, flowing glittering mane of dark blues and deep, cyan eyes were unmistakable.  

“Luna?” Twilight relaxed and approached, then bowed. “What are you doing here?”

“Twilight Sparkle,” the figure said and offered a bow. “I sensed an unusual dream nearby as I tried to sleep, and came to investigate. When I saw you together, I then felt a strange, hostile intent within. I... infiltrated to make sure you were well.”

Twilight blushed; Luna must have detected her panic as Sunset's innermost, combined self vented her frustration. “Oh. Uh, how much did you see?”

Luna cleared her throat and rubbed one foreleg with the other. “Suffice to say enough to learn my mistake for intruding in a private matter. Forgive the intrusion. But what I witness compelled me to discuss something with you before returning to my chambers. A topic I have been at odds with, ever since my sisters announcement to retire.”

Luna gestured for Twilight to follow, and they headed away from the infirmary wing.

“I understand my sister's desire to be free of the yoke of leadership. She tends to not speak often of her more troubled past, or moments of weakness. I remember well when Starlight Glimmer brought forth her most primal fear of becoming Daybreaker, the alter ego of her darkest thoughts, as mine was Nightmare Moon. Just as she has to bury the sadness of watching those of which she becomes close to passing away. These moments haunt her more than she will ever let on, and her weariness makes her wonder if she is growing closer to slipping and making a crucial mistake. To constantly be in the public eye seldom grants her the chance to cope with these issues as much as she would like.”

“I know, Celestia's confided as much in me as well. And it's not as if I'm free of such worries either.” Twilight looked back down the corridor towards Sunset's room. “I told you about my human counterpart's transformation into Midnight Sparkle. We're alike enough that I've imagined what would happen if I fell.”

“I have no fear that you will succumb, Twilight,” Luna said and offered a gentle nod. “Just as my sister has remained pure, I am certain that you, as her student, will be fine as well. You have come far since Tia's announcement. I have no doubts you would become an effective and wise ruler if you had to take the throne, even as soon as tomorrow.”

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks and stared. “T- tomorrow?”

Luna looked over her shoulder and tittered. “Forgive me, I did not mean to frighten you. I just meant you are far better prepared and, if the need arose, you would be fine without us.”

Twilight sighed with relief and followed again. “I'd like to think I'm ready, but then I have talks like I just had with Sunset and realise there's so much I'm leaving behind. But for the good of Equestria, I understand the personal sacrifices involved.”

“Indeed. I had to learn them swiftly after returning to my sister's side,” Luna said and glanced out of a window at her aspect, the moon, glowing brightly in the sky. “But that brings me to what I wished to talk to you about.”

Twilight stopped beside the taller alicorn. “I'm all ears, Luna. What's wrong?”

“You are yet young, Twilight. As young as my sister was when she first took the throne. But she at least had me by her side, so we could share the struggles of learning to rule a fledgling, unified nation.”

Twilight's mouth fell agape. “Wait, are you suggesting-”

“If you would allow it... I would delay my own retirement. Just as you hold regrets to leaving your old life behind, I hold the opposite problem; I failed the ponies of Equestria for a thousand years, becoming naught but a menacing figure to scare colts and fillies once a year until I was all but forgotten by most. I also owe these very ponies a debt for accepting me in spite of what I tried to do. But I will not take this path unless you desire it.”

Luna gently pressed her hoof on Twilight's chest.

“Twilight, I propose a shared rule of Equestria in Celestia's stead. We would have to work out an arrangement of sharing responsibility, for I do not wish to disregard my sister's wishes for you to take her place, but I would be lying if I said that I thought you were fully prepared for the role. That you have yet to... find love, and adventure with your friends to your utmost. Just as I wish to spend time with Celestia in a more carefree environment. To just be siblings, as we have not been able to for over a millennia.”

Twilight was shocked into silence as she tried to digest what she had just heard.

Luna smiled warmly. “You need not answer now. Merely think on-”

“I accept.”

“Oh,” Luna said as her eyes went wide, then she offered a rare, giddy and unrestrained grin. “I am glad. I feel we have much to give to this land, but also much to learn with this reliance on one another. To a new Equestria, blessed by the Twilight of new dazzling dawns and worry-free dusks.”

Luna held out her hoof to shake.

Twilight shook hooves with her new partner. “To a new Equestria, blessed under the warm blanket of gentle, moonlit nights.”

Then they hugged.

Luna whispered. “I am so glad. I have a new chance to serve alongside you. I have so much yet to give.”

“And there's so much I want to learn and experience before I try my hoof at leading alone. And alongside you? I know we'll do just fine!”

They separated, and Luna said, “just remember that if at any time you wish to rule by yourself, as was Celestia's wish, just tell me and I shall step down. But be it days, months, years or centuries, let us usher in a bright future, together.”

“We will,” Twilight said. “Good night, Luna.”

“Blessed dreams, Twilight.”

They parted with the warmest smiles, and Twilight soon found herself back in her room.

She entered, closed the door, and used her magic to begin boiling a pot of water as she prepared a cup of tea. She then pulled a book on the diplomacy of hippogriffs from her shelf, and placed it on her bed.

Twilight glanced out the window with a carefree smile.

She would fulfil her promises and oaths. But she would also be free to experience what this new world would bring her. With sirens, new friends, the changes of relationships old and new. So many new possibilities lay before her. Twilight would do it with grace, dignity and all the strength she had been trained to represent.

She would be the princess Equestria needed. Regal and wise. Gentle and calm. Just like now.

Twilight took a long, slow breath. Then exhaled, smoothly and steadily.

But then pranced around her room like a filly.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!”  

She squealed with joy, wings fluttering frenetically, knowing her adventures would once more continue.




 The End