Adagio walked into Sunset Shimmer's hospital room. It was nearing 9 o clock, well past normal visiting hours. Sunny put down her book with a frown. It suddenly occurred to her that there was no way the hospital would normally let an unrelated person stay the night.
“Hey, Adagio…”
The poofy orange girl held up her hand. She noticed Dagi’s clothes looked a little worse for wear. Her hair seemed a little poofier than normal, if that was possible. It was almost like she had been in some sort of scuffle. She took a moment to compose herself, straightening out her hair and smoothing her dress against her legs before taking a seat beside the bed. She took a deep breath and stared Sunset in the eyes.
“Sunny, we’ve got a big problem.”
---
Midnight Sparkle sat in her Tower on a throne forged from a hundred old computer server blades. It had seemed a thematically good idea at the time, but it turns out metal and plastic boxes were not very ergonomic. Maybe she could have Rarity give it another once over after she got back.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of wings. They sounded off. Suddenly there was a loud crash. She rushed over to the balcony to see her strongest lieutenant lying in a tangled heap.
“Dash?!”
Her dark navy blue sequin dress was torn, the silver shoulder epaulettes hanging by a thread. Her silver brocade vest was similarly in tatters, with the entire Rainbow colored hem ripped. Her red pointy pupil hiding eye mask lay askew on her face.
“What the heck happened? Did you get hit by an airplane again?”
“No… it was… Adagio…”
“Adagio?! I told all of you the Dazzlings were off limits!”
The purple Queen paused for a moment, puzzlement spreading across her face.
“Wait, what? How did you get beaten by Adagio?”
The question was left unanswered, as Rainbow lost consciousness. Her magical dress shattered like glass, then evaporated. Her regular school outfit of spandex shorts, skirt, and jacket was all that remained.
“Dangit Rainbow… you tipped our hand too soon!”
Midnight Sparkle quickly got out her cell phone. None of the Rainbooms could go to school now until the games.
“Hello, Pinkie? We’ve got a problem. Rainbow blew our cover. I need you to arrange a reason for everyone to miss school until Monday.”
“Sure thing Twilight! Hmm, maybe we could have a big ‘Everybody has the Flu and needs to be quarantined together’ party!”
“Hmm, that should do fine. Get in touch with everyone else. None of you can be seen until we are ready for the games!”
---
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, Sunset. It was definitely Dash. She was corrupted, like how you and I were. It’s likely the rest of the Rainbooms are as well.”
Bacon hair stopped to think about what she was hearing about her friends.
“Well, if you are so sure the rest of the Rainbooms are corrupted, how do you know I’m not as well?”
The Siren smiled her predatory smile at the pony girl.
“Sunny, we both know you aren’t really a Rainboom. You can hang out with them all you want, but that doesn’t make you one of them.”
Sunset was about to object, but then closed her mouth. She reflected on the months leading up to the Battle of the Bands. It had been so hard waking up every morning, forcing herself to put a smile on her face. Seeing the mistrust in everyone else’s eyes. The Rainbooms had been more like parole officer than friends. Things had gotten better after the Battle, but it still felt like she was merely a placeholder until Twilight’s next visit. She frowned. Seeing her point made, Adagio’s smile softened. She placed her hand on top of Sunset’s.
“There’s also the fact that you are the only one not acting nasty to us.”
Another question popped into bacon hair’s head.
“Wait, if Dash was transformed, how did you get away?”
Adagio smile continued as her hand reached for her collar.
“I didn’t get away, she did.”
A red glow surrounded her.
“You girls aren’t the only ones who can pony up.”
The finger air quotes around “pony up” were nearly audible as Dagi grew a set of beautiful lavender lace wings and fuzzy kitty like ears. Sunny’s eyes widened in shock, then fear.
“Oh calm down. I thought by now you’d consider me a friend.”
Adagio’s face turned into a mock pout.
“You’ve noticed it, right? Magic’s gotten out of control.”
“How? How did you get your Siren powers back?”
“Technically I don’t. It’s different. Your magic technicolor laser rainbow sky horse did something to my gem. In addition to shattering it, I mean. ”
Sunset pondered this.
“You girls got hit by the Elements of Harmony, plus me I guess. Whatever I represent. I’m honestly not clear on what it actually does. Other than really really hurt,” she added. “Sorry about that, by the way.”
“Had that come from anyone else’s mouth, I’d be very upset.”
She breathed out and released the transformation.
“Apology accepted. Now what are we gonna do about the magical beings spreading chaos in our town? Oh, and I guess we should do something about your friends.”
---
Anon clapped his hands as Sonata and Aria finished their song. He thought “Never Ever” by the All Saints was a good choice. Tears flowed down Sonata’s cheeks. Aria just smiled.
“That was wonderful you two.”
“You don’t feel funny, do you Anon?”
“Huh? No, it was beautiful. You should sing more often.”