Sunset Shimmer looked down at the siren pendant before returning her gaze to Adagio.
“So, you think I’ll be happier being one of your lackeys?” Sunset demanded.
“Not a lackey, an ally, a sister, a friend” responded Adagio.
“And you think you and your sisters would be better friends for me than Twilight and the others?” demanded Sunset.
“Of course, because we’ve been where you’ve been,” Adagio stated with a smirk. “We’ve been at the top of the world, all powerful and ready to strike, only to trip at the finishing line! When Starswirl banished us to this rat hole, do you know how it felt? To go from the top of the hill to rock bottom? To be trapped in a world where you don’t belong?”
Sunset didn’t respond because she knew exactly how all that felt. “They gave me hope” she finally said.
“And that’s what you did for us,” responded Adagio. “When I saw that light and when I realized what it was it was like my whole world was bright again. I’ve been where you are Sunset Shimmer, and I want to give you hope like you gave me hope!”
Sunset stammered, “but, I don’t want to go back to being the girl I was.”
“Tell me Sunset Shimmer how do you think this is all going to end, this battle of the bands I mean? Do you think the Rainbooms have a chance? That they’ll be able to summon up the magic of friendship and defeat us? Or do you think that soon they might start getting desperate like Starswirl did?”
“They’ll beat you!” declared Sunset.
“And why should you care if they do?” asked Adagio. “Let’s kid ourselves and say that the Rainbooms manage to defeat us and break our spell. What happens to you? Do you think the other students won’t be able to figure it out? You unleash magic in this world, and suddenly we randomly come along looking for magic? One thing is certain; our little stunt sure won’t help you. If we lose in the battle of the bands we’ll just move on and go back to surviving, it’ll be tough for us but without us to torture do you think they won’t use you to get out all of your negative feelings about us?”
Sunset suddenly became very interested in the floor, “why do you want me?”
“I like you Sunset” Adagio answered simply. “You’re like my sisters and me, you’re not satisfied just surviving no you know you deserve more, you deserve to rule the world! Now let’s say you somehow end up gaining their trust, do you want friends who abandon you the moment you step out of line?” Sunset felt her fist clench. “All they gave you was a pity party and pretended it was friendship; I want to give you the real deal. Don’t you want to be amongst people who understand you? Who know what it’s like to be out of place?”
Sunset looked at the pendant as it sparked with magic and it reflected in her eyes with a sense of longing. “What if I join you and we fail?”
“We leave this place and do everything we can to survive. However, we’ll do it together,” answered Adagio.
“Think about all the people at this high school Sunset, think of what they’ve done and said to you…”
“Now that’s the bad girl we love to hate!”
“The real Sunset Shimmer is back!”
“Perhaps Sunset Shimmer is just trying to make someone else out to be a bad element. So that her actions at the fall formal will become old news.”
“Last thing she needs is another CHS event almost ruined by some power crazed lunatic!”
“Just like when we used it on Sunset Shimmer when she turned into that awful winged monster!”
“I just wanted to help!”
“Yeah well, you didn’t!”
Sunset felt fresh tears escape her eyes, “there, there” soothed Adagio. “You’ve tried so hard for redemption, you’ve jumped through hoops to please them, but all you’ll ever be to them is a magical bully, you’ve tried so hard to make them happy why not try to make you happy? If they all expect you to be a villain why not play the role? Why not show them why they shouldn’t pick on you? Take all of that hatred they’ve given you and give it all back to them? Use it as a drive, show them all how nasty you can be! You hurt them, so they hurt you so why don’t you hurt them back? Clearly, they’re not above revenge.”
“I don’t want to be the girl I was before,” Sunset repeated.
Adagio smiled wickedly, “But that’s all they’ll ever see you as, I, on the other hand, see you as intelligent, driven, and strong I see you almost as I see myself as a girl who not only could rule the world but deserves too.”
“I… I…” Sunset stammered.
“It’s your choice Sunset Shimmer. If you think the Rainbooms are your friends and that somehow the rest of the school will forgive you for what you’ve done, then all you need do is give me back the pendant. Give me back the pendant, and you can go back to the Rainbooms, back to your life at Canterlot High School. However, if you know that what you have now is nothing like true friendship, if you want to be around people who have been where you’ve been, and if you know you deserve to sit upon a throne of your own then all you need to do is put that pendant on. However, keep in mind if you do put on that pendant there will be no turning back, you can never go back to the Rainbooms, and you, my sisters, and I will be linked forever!”
Sunset found her eyes locked on the pendant, “if I do this, everything I’ve done to be forgiven will have been a waste.”
Adagio’s smile flickered “from what I saw on that stage…”
“It already has been a waste,” Sunset finished and just like that Adagio’s smile was back.
“If I do this and we fail will we stay together?” Sunset inquired.
“I’ve put up with Aria and Sonata for years thinking we’d never get another chance at Equestrian magic” Adagio responded.
“And that’s what real friendship is.” Sunset thought to herself “true friends accept you for who you are. A long time ago Princess Celestia told me friendship was important, and I didn’t believe her at the time, but after the Fall Formal I’d seen what friendship could do, and I wanted to learn about it, but maybe I was going on about it the wrong way. True friends don’t expect you to change!” Sunset moved her hand forward and Adagio looked, her wicked grin growing as Sunset’s hand inched closer and closer toward the pendant. “I wanted to be friends with the Rainbooms because I wanted to be like Twilight…” Sunset’s finger brushed the box and as she did she felt a small wave of power go through her, and Adagio’s eyes began to sparkle green “but” she finished her thought aloud “I am not Twilight Sparkle!” she stated as though shouting to the heavens. “I” she went on getting louder and louder as she took the pendant in her hand, “am Sunset Shimmer, and I experience friendship in my own way!”
And with that Sunset put the pendant around her neck and the moment she did it surged with power Sunset’s eyes began to glow red and a large crimson red beam of light shot into the sky!
As the Rainbooms prepared for their performance, Twilight Sparkle suddenly became very cold as though a very small piece of her heart had just broken.
At this time Aria and Sonata’s pendants began to glow as well, and they felt like they’re power was splitting and yet becoming stronger than ever. Both sirens could see the red glow coming from the cafeteria and ran to it. The light faded just as the two sirens entered the cafeteria. Sunset Shimmer hunched over the ground, and Adagio was looking like she already had complete control over the world.
“What in Tartarus are you doing with her?” Aria demanded, “she’s one of them!”
“No!” Adagio proudly proclaimed as Sunset got to her feet and turned toward the other Dazzlings her eyes glowing red for a brief moment before they returned to normal. Sunset was standing with confidence and power, and she had a look in her eye that she hadn’t had since the fall formal. “She’s one of us now!”