Twisting the Truth
If the outside of the house was bland, it made up for it with the interior. The walls were painted warm colors, which brightened or dimmed with the magical lamps. The floors were polished hardwood, on which a few minor scuffs could be seen from overzealous hooves. Every chair around the dining room table was a different style, though it still felt as though they belonged together. Pictures hung over the fireplace, depicting smiling ponies that Twilight couldn’t recognize… save for Sunset Shimmer.
She stopped before the largest picture. Sunset had her foreleg around a tall, brown-maned, paunchy pegasus stallion. Sitting in front of them were two foals, a filly and a colt. Their names were written on a plaque at the base of the frame. “Hoops, Sunset Shimmer, Stardust Shimmer, Dribble Drabble.”
Twilight Sparkle licked her lips. “Son of a gun.”
“We found the saddlebags, Your Highness.” Skyhook clomped his way into the living room, the bags in question looped around his foreleg. “We thought you and the visitor might want to take a look.”
Princess Twilight nodded and dismissed the commander with a flap of her wing. She took a steeling breath and waved Twilight closer.
“So…” Twilight shrugged her coat further up her narrow shoulders. The pistol strapped to her torso pressed against her chest. “Sunset… The two of them… Do you think they’ll be alright?”
Princess Twilight nibbled the edge of her perfectly-straight mane. She offered Twilight an apologetic smile. They’ll probably handle it better than we have.
Twilight lowered her eyebrows. She looked down and cocked her ears, catching the sound of several soldiers scouring the rest of the house. “Ouch, girl.”
The princess clenched her teeth together and forced out a sigh. She rubbed her cheek, just under her eye. I’m sorry about getting mad. I shouldn’t have let what you said affect me so much. It’s just kind of a shock.
She ran her eyes over the decorations lining the mantelpiece. She pointed at the portrait of the mirrored Sunset’s family. As you can probably tell, things are a lot different around here. More so than I imagined.
“Yeah. I’ve never even met a ‘Hoops’ before.” Twilight poked the saddlebags. They held the image of an orange gemstone overlaying a clef. “What I take away from this is that Big Mac isn’t your boyfriend.”
Don’t get me wrong, I had a huge crush on him. Princess Twilight smirked. Me and every other mare in town. Never acted on it, though. That’s life for you. She cringed, lighting her horn to flip the top flap off of the bags. Never really been lucky with love. The last guy I thought I liked tried to take over the kingdom.
Twilight gave the princess a double-take.
Long, long, looong story. Princess Twilight held up the saddlebags to hide her blush. How about we solve the mystery and save the torch songs for later?
“I’ll take you up on that.” Twilight sat down. “What magical mishaps do we have in store for today?”
A cloud of red gemstone shards floated out of the bag, carried by the princess’ magic. Princess Twilight clicked her teeth, examining them from every angle. One by one, she slid them together. Several minutes trickled by as the puzzle came together. At long last, it was complete, save for a tiny sliver near the top.
The red hexagon glinted in the light of the lamps. Twilight Sparkle swallowed the lump in her throat. “That’s it? That’s her… ‘sigil’?”
Princess Twilight nodded. She lifted the final fragment from her own saddlebags and clipped it into place. She twisted the jewel, showing off the hairline cracks than ran through the entire construction. No second guesses. I’ll bring this back to my laboratory to conduct controlled experiments. There can be no margin for mistakes with something this dangerous.
Twilight Sparkle pulled a chunk of rock from the bags. It flashed green and blue in her lavender magic grasp. “Looks like this is a piece of the portal. There’s a couple others in the bottom of the bag. If Sonata was telling the truth, then she came through the portal and spent the day chipping off bits of the pool-portal-wormhole-thingy.”
Princess Twilight Sparkle paced around, the siren’s sigil bobbing along beside her. It fits with the theory that she’s behind the theft of my mirror portal. She could be gathering bits and pieces of various portals for some nefarious scheme. In which case, we’ll be able to question her about whatever endgame is in store.
The portal fragment fell back into the saddlebags. Twilight rubbed one foreleg over the other. “If Sonata was telling the truth.”
The princess narrowed her eyes. She shrugged and tapped a hind leg against the floor. That’s a scary if, Twilight.
“I’m not one to shy away from scary things.” Twilight Sparkle held out a hoof. “You?”
The two Twilights locked eyes. The princess’ horn flickered, tightening the scarf around her neck. She shook her head back and forth.
“Okay then.” Twilight let out a little laugh. “Some things never change.”
***
Sunset Shimmer shuffled her feet on the dusty road. The Royal Guard troops had set up a perimeter around the property, keeping out curious onlookers while the Twilights did their work. Sunset forced a breath down her throat. She ended up just swallowing it.
She chanced a peek at her double. The mare huddled beside a prisoner wagon, the young filly clenched tight in her embrace. Iron bars separated them from Adagio Dazzle, who wore a solemn expression on her face.
Sunset braced herself and took a step closer. “Excuse me, but—”
“What do you want?” the other Sunset snapped. “Why did you even come here? What do you want?”
Sunset backed up. She held a foreleg up, hovering it over the dirt, ready to take a step in any direction. “I… I was helping them track down a murderer.”
A scowl crossed the other Sunset’s face for a brief moment. It simmered back down into a quiet frown. “Is that it? Is that all? Is that the only reason you revealed yourself? To track down a supposed criminal? To imprison an old lady and scar a child’s memories forever?”
Sunset looked down at the filly, who struggled to get out of her mother’s grasp. “I… I was just trying to do the right thing…”
“Oh, of course.” Adagio leaned against the bars. “What do all heroes desire but justice?”
The filly won the struggle against her mother. She squirmed away, her frizzy blue mane bouncing, and propped herself up against the carriage. “Aunt Dagi, are you going to jail?”
Adagio smirked and gestured to the guards all around. “Looks like it, Stardust, if these handsome fellows have their way.”
“Cool!” Stardust wriggled further as her mother tugged her back by the tail. “Momma, stop!”
“No. Stay by me.” The mirrored Sunset glanced at her counterpart and rolled her eyes. “Alright. Maybe you haven’t scarred her memories forever. But you’re wrong. Adagio didn’t kill anyone. Pony or otherwise.”
Sunset huffed. “Maybe not, but all the evidence points to her.”
“If I may…” Adagio touched a hoof to the cold iron between her and the others. “What so-called evidence do you have?”
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you.” Sunset noticed Stardust’s eyes on her, but ignored the filly. “I don’t exactly do this as a regular thing.”
“That in itself is interesting.” Adagio rustled around inside the prison carriage. She moved her curly mane to one side of her head. “A rookie in all things but friendship is thrust into a whirlwind adventure with a dastardly villain and heartfelt revelations. It would make for a good movie, I think.”
Stardust gasped. “Are you the villain, Aunt Dagi?”
“Maaaybe,” Adagio chuckled. “We’ll have to see what justice says about it.”
“No!” The other Sunset stomped a hoof. “No, don’t be ridiculous! You’re not a villain!”
“I was at one point.” Adagio glared at the other Sunset, her eyebrows level. “You know it. I know it. And denying it will not make it go away, Shimmy.”
The other Sunset shut her eyes. “That doesn’t mean you need to be punished now.”
“Actions have consequences.” Adagio flicked an ear at Sunset Shimmer. “Sometimes the consequences of our actions fall on someone else.”
Sunset felt a hole in her heart ache. She rubbed her chest and ventured to speak. “I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. I just want to keep people safe.”
The other Sunset cracked her back. She stood up and made her way slowly to Sunset. “Where were you?”
“Me?” Sunset swished her tail, swatting a passing fly. “What do you mean?”
Her mirror counterpart shifted as Stardust hid underneath her chest. “I looked for you for years. All I ever found was some rumors about one of Princess Celestia’s personal students. Is that where you’ve been all this time? Is that your life? What—” She wiped her eyes. “How fair is it that the time we finally meet is when you’re here to tear my family apart?”
Sunset blinked away the sting behind her eyes. She brushed her mane behind her shoulder. “I’m not here to destroy your family, Sunset. I’m not here to take your place, or send you away, or shatter the friendships you’ve built.”
She reached out and touched her mirror’s shoulder. “I think I know your story.”
The other Sunset Shimmer wrinkled her brow. “What do you—?”
“You come from a land where there isn’t much magic.” Sunset spared Adagio a look to see that the mare was smiling lightly. “What little there is, it’s hidden deep in the hearts of people. It’s a land where people walk on two legs. Everybody has fingers. It’s a land of cars, and computers, and airplanes, and baseball. You were born there. You grew up there. You lived there…”
She pressed her lips together. “You lost something there, didn’t you?”
The other Sunset opened her mouth, but didn’t say anything.
“You lost…” Sunset sighed. “I dunno. Respect? Hope? A loved one?”
“I—I lived with my grandparents.” The other Sunset rubbed her daughter’s back. “But… High blood-pressure… They got sick, and…”
“And you ran?”
“Yeah.”
“With nowhere to go, you went the only place you could go.” Sunset sat down in the dust and brought her head to her double’s eye-level. “You found a portal there.”
The other Sunset choked down phlegm. “How do you know all this?”
“Because something very similar happened to me.” Sunset drew circles in the dirt with her hoof. “I… I grew up as one of Princess Celestia’s personal students, yeah. But something happened and I didn’t trust her anymore. I wanted to get out. I found the portal by accident, but I saw it as an opportunity. I didn’t even think about it; I just jumped in. I gave up my life and found a new one.”
The clank of armor interrupted them. Two Royal Guardsponies hitched themselves to the carriage and tugged it towards the central city. Adagio gave them a wink as she vanished down the road.
“Do you miss your old life?” The other Sunset whispered.
“Sometimes…” Sunset looked out over the little countryside town. A knee-high leprechaun, his red beard standing out like fire on his green skin, tottered along, speaking with a breezie in an airy, warbling language. “Sometimes I wish I could start over and see where that road would have taken me. Sometimes I wish I could just come back and start again where I left off. Sometimes I just want to move my entire life back to Equestria—husband, son, and all…”
The other Sunset placed her hooves on Stardust’s shoulders. “Sometimes I wish I could go back. Look up old friends. Eat a cheeseburger again. Catch up on ten years’ worth of Saturday morning cartoons… And then I think about… about what I have…”
Sunset Shimmer couldn’t ignore the filly staring at her anymore. She smiled at the foal, and got a grin in return. “What do you have here?”
The other Sunset kissed Stardust’s forehead. “Obviously, I have two adorable children”
“M’not adorable!” Stardust protested.
“Are too.” Sunset’s counterpart gave her a half-smile. “I don’t think I would have survived for long without Hoops. He’d just moved here from Cloudsdale, I’d just popped in from the other world… We sorta bumped into each other and kept each other afloat.” She raised an eyebrow. “You aren’t married to the mirror-world Hoops, are you?”
Sunset gave her a tight smile. “Nope.”
“Huh. I dunno if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. At least there won’t be confusion between your Hoops and my Hoops.” The other Sunset stroked Stardust’s mane. “That means you don’t have these kids, right?”
“My son’s name is Sunny. And he’s adorable, too. Just getting into the terrible twos.” Sunset chuckled to herself. “And I have more friends than I can count. A loving husband who could definitely be home more often, but… I guess when you come down to it…”
After a moment of silence, her counterpart shrugged. “I guess it’s like the thing I think to myself whenever I want to go back. I remind myself that I couldn’t take it all with me.”
Sunset Shimmer bit her lower lip. She felt something slide down her cheek, but she couldn’t help her small smile. “The worlds we’ve found ourselves in. They’re home now.”
“Yeah.” The other Sunset looked down the street, trying to catch a glimpse of Adagio’s carriage. “It’s really home.”
She drooped, scuffing her hoof along the road. “So… you really came to find a killer? Beginning, middle, end?”
“I’m more of a liaison between the two worlds.” Sunset rubbed the back of her head. “Between the two Twilights, really. They’re doing all the heavy lifting.”
The skin around the other Sunset’s eyes grew tight. “You know Adagio isn’t the pony you’re looking for, right? There’s no way. She had her bad moments, but she’s turned it around. She hasn’t even been to the human world in the last six or so years.”
Sunset flinched. “Wait, what? What did you say?”
“Adagio isn’t the murderer.”
“No, the other thing.”
Sunset’s counterpart shrugged. “She’s lived in Fillydelphia for the last six or so years. She’s been a good friend for a long time. Really helps with the kids, what with Hoops and me working at the school all day—”
“That…” Sunset Shimmer rubbed her eyes. “That can’t be right.”
A voice hailed from behind them. “Sunset Shimmer!”
They turned simultaneously. “Yes?” “Yeah?”
Little Spike froze in his tracks, one foot in the air. He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Um. First of all, we’re all headed for Central Fillydelphia. Second of all, we need to give you nicknames.”
“Why?” the mirrored Sunset Shimmer asked. “I’m me and she’s her. I don’t see the problem.”
“Well,” Little Spike said, “she’s her and you’re you, but you’re also her and she’s Shimmer and…” He shook his head. “No. If I have to deal with the lame nicknames, you do, too.”
Stardust popped out from under her mother. “I just call her Momma!” She blinked. “Wait, does this mean I have two Mommas?”
Sunset Shimmer slapped her forehead, snorting out a sudden burst of laughter. Her counterpart giggled lightly.
The other Sunset gave the dragon a closer look, rubbing her chin. “You have a counterpart in the other world? Are you a human, too, or what?”
Little Spike rolled his eyes. “Well, no…”
Big Spike’s foot came down like thunder. The ground shook and sent ponies, diamond dogs, and one griffon scrambling for cover. He lowered his face towards the ground and let his tongue hang out. “Hi, there! I’m Spike, but everybody calls me Big Spike. You smell like Sunset. Are you the other Sunset?”
Sunset Shimmer stared up, up, up at the full-grown dragon. “Hi. There.”
Little Spike patted Big Spike’s toe. “Dog. I’m a dog over there.”
Stardust opened her mouth in a wide, gap-toothed smile. Her frizzy mane danced as she whirled on her mother. “Momma! Can I ride the dragon? Pleeeeeease?”
***
Sunset Shimmer sat quietly beside Twilight Sparkle, awaiting their chance to interrogate Adagio. The metal chairs were cold, as were the gray walls and tiled floors. It felt as much like a jail as any Sunset had ever seen. She was sorry to say she’d seen a few.
Hoops had arrived a few minutes after they did, carrying his newborn son Dribble Drabble in a baby-carrier/saddlebags combo. He hugged the other Sunset from behind, whispering comforting words into her ear.
Twilight nudged Sunset. “That doesn’t make you feel weird, does it? Seeing your other self be all lovey-dovey with another guy?”
“At first.” Sunset tilted her head. “But you know what? We’re different people. Completely. Different lives. Different memories. Different experiences. Comparing myself to her is an exercise in nuttiness.”
“And yet, she is Sunset Shimmer.” Twilight rubbed the lenses of her glasses with the edge of her shirt. “The original human, I might add.”
“Yeah, and I’m the original pony.” Sunset rested her head against the chair’s back. “But it’s a complete reversal.”
They sat together in silence, Sunset dangling her hooves over the ground, Twilight tapping hers to a beat.
“I wanna apologize,” Twilight said.
Sunset flicked an ear. “About what?”
“Lots of things. Apologize and thank.” Twilight Sparkle slid her glasses over her eyes. She nudged them into the perfect position. “I’m sorry for my outbursts. My cussing. I’m sorry for getting mad at you…”
Her zipper jingled as she bumped it with her hoof. “I’m sorry that I was so cold when you opened your heart to me about Scootaloo. I should have said something nicer, or maybe just said nothing.”
“What I did to her was really bad,” Sunset whispered. “I don’t blame you.”
“Yeah, but that was the past. Even I, the least empathetic person on the planet, can see that you’re different now.” Twilight raised her hoof, bit her lip, and then touched Sunset’s shoulder. “I wanted to thank you for taking me here and teaching me about magic. I’ve learned and done things I could only have dreamed about. It’s too awesome for words.”
She sighed and let her leg drop. “And I’m sorry for tricking you into bringing me.”
Sunset pursed her lips in a tight frown.
“I used you,” Twilight said. “I shouldn’t have brought you to question Sonata. I had them bring you in so that you would take me to the mirror world, gimme some answers, and teach me magic.”
“Oh yeah?” Sunset scooted her chair closer. “Well, I’m sorry for holding out on you.”
One of Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Huh?”
“I could have told you at any time, taught you at any time, taken you here at any time.” Sunset stared at the magical lamps fastened to the ceiling. “I was afraid, though. I was afraid that if I ever went back here, I wouldn’t go home. Or that I would, and it would turn sour. I was afraid that I would mess things up and confuse you, or lead you down the wrong path, or teach you something that could hurt you.
“I was so scared, and I don’t know that I had to be.” She gave Twilight a shallow grin. “As much as you suck at empathy, I suck at knowing when to share something good. We’ll work on those.”
Twilight Sparkle crossed her forelegs. “Is that one of the vaunted Friendship Lessons I keep hearing about?”
“Something like that. We keep learning things, no matter how old we get.” Sunset jerked her horn towards the embracing couple down the hall. “Speaking of which, get this: Sunset over there teaches Equish as a second language at the local university. Hoops is the PE instructor at the secondary school.”
“Well, gee,” Twilight giggled, “and you’re just the humble high school math teacher.”
“Secondary school is the high school around here, Twilight.” Sunset lifted her hoof to eye-level. “University is one step beyond.”
“Whatever. We don’t have time to go over the Equestrian education system.” Twilight rested a foreleg on Sunset’s shoulder. After a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed her in a firm hug. “I just want to make sure we’re friends again.”
Sunset returned the tight embrace. “We never stopped, Twilight. I like to think we never will.”
Twilight sniffled lightly. “Not if I have a say…”
The door beside them opened. Princess Twilight walked out, flanked by a pegasus mare wearing a cravat. “—papers all check out,” the pegasus said. “And truly, between the community service and the testimony of several townspeople, she’s irreproachable.”
The princess rolled her eyes and signed off on a sheet of paper. The pegasus took it and flew off with a nearby entourage of ponies. That was Mayor Palette. She’s unconvinced we’ll find any fault with Miss Dazzle. And I do mean any fault. Apparently, she’s so clean you could eat off her she’s practically an angel.
“Regardless, there’s evidence against her.” Twilight Sparkle hopped off her chair. “At the least, we need to dig until we get to the bottom.”
Sunset Shimmer turned to look over her shoulder. The other Sunset and her family filed into the next room, where they would wait for the interrogation to be over. Sunset mulled over whether she should say something, but they were gone before she could think of it. “You sure it’s okay that Twi and I ask the questions?”
It’s your investigation. You’ll know better than I what she did or didn’t do. Princess Twilight winked. It’ll be fine. Skyhook will be there to nail her if things go upside-down. Trust yourself.
Twilight drew herself up to her full, unimpressive height. “If it is to be us, then forward we march to victory. Sunset, are you by my side?”
Sunset Shimmer nodded. “All the way, Twilight.”
They walked into the room, which was lit by a single, bright, overhanging light. A metal table dominated the otherwise sparse room, around which sat three chairs. Adagio took her seat in one, her knees creaking with age. “Sit down,” she said. “Sit down before you fall down. Don’t stand on ceremony on my account.”
Sunset Shimmer took a chair, while Twilight Sparkle chose to stand behind her. Sunset sighed as she felt Twilight’s hooves rest comfortingly on her back.
Sunset leaned forward. “Adagio, where were you between yesterday morning and nine-o’-clock the night before?”
Adagio rested against the table, making sure that the chains around her legs made as much noise as possible. “Friday, you mean? Honestly, I was staying with Shimmy’s family. Ask any of them.” Her eyes flicked between Sunset and Twilight. “I suspect you’ve already confiscated my saddlebags and discovered the contraband therein? Shimmy and I went to the portal yesterday. We chipped a few pieces off for research. Turns out the two of us are just as eager to learn how they function.”
She stretched her forelegs out behind her head. “Doesn’t look like they work after they’ve been taken from the cave. Maybe Princess Twilight will have more luck with them.”
“We’ll be sure to make certain your stories match up,” Twilight said.
“Oh, naturally! It’s just the smart thing to do.” Adagio squinted one eye and grinned. “You’re sharper than you look.”
Skyhook coughed loudly. Adagio skewed her muzzle to one side. “Point taken,” she muttered. “Smarmy remarks to myself.”
Sunset Shimmer scribbled down the gist of what Adagio was saying. Her pen hovered over the page. “Alright. How did you find your way back to Equestria?”
Adagio’s eyes popped. She lowered her head as her brows peaked. She nibbled on the tip of her tongue before speaking. “After you destroyed our sigils, that was pretty much the end of us. No more magic. No more singing.” She tugged at her loose, wrinkly skin. “No more everlasting youth.”
Sunset sucked on her lower lip. “Time caught up with you?”
“Yeah. Two millennia of youth came crashing down in a matter of years.” Adagio gritted her teeth, straining her jaw. “And then the real problems started. You took something very precious from us, Sunset. But I’m sure you already understand what it’s like to lose everything.”
Sunset felt that tug at her heart again, but said nothing.
“Aria confided in me one cold night.” Adagio rested her mouth on her hoof. “She said that she’d found a portal years ago, but never told us. She’d gone back and lived in Equestria. I hated her for it, you know. I asked her why she didn’t come and get us, bring us back, go back to the way things were before Starswirl the Dipstick banished us…”
Adagio looked to the long, one-way mirror on the wall. “She never did tell me. All she said was that it hurt to go back. After the two of us shared a few choice words, she sent me on my way… with the location of the portal.”
She reached across the table and nudged Sunset’s paper. “Understand something, here. Even without mind-control powers, sirens are masterful manipulators. We know how to get our way.”
Adagio shuffled her chair back so that she could stand to her aching hooves. “Me, I’ve never needed anything besides the truth. The truth is a harsh thing, you know. It shatters friendships. It starts wars. If you choose just the right little snippet of truth, you can disarm a person completely.”
Sunset Shimmer tapped her pen against the page, leaving several ink splotches. Her shoulders tensed up under Twilight’s hooves.
Adagio made sure Skyhook wasn’t moving to stop her before continuing. “Remember high school? I knew all about you, Sunset. Your bullying, your foster sister, your shadowy past in Equestria. I used it all against you. A few well-placed words almost eliminated your entire defense.”
Sunset took a deep breath in. “The same tricks won’t work a second time.”
“Well, duh! I knew that!” Adagio waved a hoof as her massive, curly mane bobbed. “I don’t need to trick you, understand? I just need to tell you the truth.”
She scratched her neck where her magical necklace once hung. “Now Aria, on the other hoof, she lied right through her teeth. The truth wasn’t her tool of choice, oh no. No, she manipulated others by getting them mad.” She folded her hooves at the fetlock. “If you can get a person mad at this thing or that, well, you’ve got them completely under your control. All you have to do is get them riled up and aim.”
A gray strand of mane fell over her eyes. “After all, what better way to get me out of her life than by getting me mad, making me hate her, and leading me to bail out and decide she isn’t worth the trouble?”
Sunset sat silently, her thoughts churning but going nowhere. She laid the page gently on the table and set the pen beside it.
Adagio turned away from them. She let out a heavy breath, her shoulders hanging limp at her sides. “You… idiots!”
Twilight Sparkle lit her horn, lighting up the room with purple. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t you get it yet?” Adagio stomped towards them, her chains tangling between her legs. “Don’t you see what’s right under your nose? Do I have to spell it out for you?”
Twilight bumped nosed with her. “Maybe you should! If you have this great truth, why don’t you share it with the class?”
“Sonata’s your witness, isn’t she?” Adagio spat.
Twilight Sparkle frowned. She trotted back to Sunset’s side. “Why do you say that?”
“Come on,” Adagio said. “You come tromping all the way to Equestria to track me down, dead set on me being the murderer. From how you’ve been talking, you sound like you’ve been tracking me straight from Aria’s apartment. I’ll bet Sonata told you that I killed her to find the location of the portal.” She growled Sunset’s way. “Didn’t she?”
Sunset and Twilight said nothing, the breath caught in their throat.
“Didn’t she?” Adagio shouted, the veins on her neck turning purple.
Skyhook’s strong foreleg clapped over her back. “Ma’am, I’ll have to take you to a cell if you keep having outbursts.”
“Fine.” She shrugged him off with a snort. She cast a sneer Sunset’s way. “I imagine your counterpart has told you how long I’ve been in Equestria. Six years, thereabouts?”
“Thereabouts,” Sunset muttered.
“Yeah.” Adagio closed her eyes and twirled a hoof in the air. “Why in the heck would I murder Aria, my friend, to find the location of a place I’ve been living for the past few years?”
Sunset Shimmer looked her in the eye. “That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
“I know.” Adagio slumped back into her seat. “Sonata was the most devious of us all. She skirted around the truth. She avoided getting people mad entirely. What she did was far more dangerous.” She clenched her jaw in a false smile. “She made you want to believe her.”
She flicked an ear downward. “You wanted to believe her because she was cute. She was ditzy. She was always the funny one, the goofy one. How could somebody so bubbly ever do something wicked?” She rolled her shoulder back to relieve a dull pain. “She had everybody wrapped right around her pinkie finger. Everybody. Even Aria and I would fall for it sometimes.”
She slammed her hoof on the metal table. “And you idiots took a siren at their word!”
The clang echoed into nothingness. Adagio hunched over as Skyhook took a hold of her chains. “I’m not done yet, soldier boy.”
“She’s not.” Sunset Shimmer stood up and made her way to Adagio’s side of the table. “Let her be. I’ll handle it if she goes out of control.”
“Lucky for you, my magic dug its own grave.” Adagio glowered at them from beneath her eyebrows. “I’m nothing more than an old crone. No need to worry. Really.”
She looped her foreleg around Sunset’s and held her tight. “After you broke our sigils, our livelihoods, we went our separate ways. Aria set out to relearn how to sing. She wanted to be a songwriter. I think she did okay for herself. I obviously snuck back here, once Aria told me where the portal was. I think things are just peachy here. But Sonata? She went completely bonkers. You destroyed her completely, Sunset. She’s crazy, homeless, and lost in a world meaner than a manticore with constipation. Aria and I rebuilt. We moved on. She didn’t.”
Adagio pulled Sunset closer, until she was able to whisper in her ear. “If Sonata lied about how long I’ve been in Equestria, what else was she lying about?”
Sunset Shimmer jerked back as she was released from Adagio’s iron grip. She staggered a few steps away and stumbled. Twilight caught her and held her close.
“I don’t get it,” Twilight muttered. “What’s going on?”
Sunset’s eyes glazed over. The breath left her chest in a rush. “The others—”
Twilight turned Sunset around and grasped her shoulders. “What about the others? What’s the matter, Sunset? Talk to me.”
Sunset blathered quietly under her breath.
Twilight touched her hoof gently to Sunset’s cheek. The adrenaline coursing through her veins lent volume and urgency to her voice. “Come on, Shimmer! Say something!”
“Oh, rut.”
It clicked in Sunset’s mind. Sonata hadn’t been told the location of the portal, but she had found out about it. So did she kill Aria in retaliation for years of lies? For keeping her from her home?
No. From the sound of it, Sonata could have gotten the location of the portal from Aria easily. She wanted something more.
Murdering Aria caught Sunset’s attention; who else would have been such an expert on Equestrians? A well-timed testimony sent her running off on a wild goose chase. With her connections, there was little doubt she could find her way back to Equestria. She would be outside the boundaries of space, in an entirely different world. She would discover the truth eventually, but that still gave Sonata plenty of time to do whatever she wanted.
Something like getting revenge.
“Rut!”
“Um…” Twilight Sparkle ventured forth a smile. “Language, Sunset.”
“The others,” Sunset gasped. She held her chest tight. “Our friends are in danger. All of them! She… Oh, God. The sirens’ gemstones… They broke when I sang.”
Sunset blinked tears from her eyes. “She did all of this to get back at me.”
Adagio Dazzle nestled into the harsh metal chair. She nodded lightly. “Now you’ve got it.”
“W—we have to go back!” Sunset tapped the one-way mirror frantically. “We have to go back right now!”
***
Sonata Dusk yawned wide. She rested her fists against Pinkie Pie’s dining room table. One of her hands held the last fragment of her gemstone she’d been able to hold onto. The last shard of her mighty sigil.
The jagged edge bit into her palm, drawing blood.
Pinkie Pie bustled into the dining room. Her pajama pants swished around her skinny legs as she set a cell phone down on the tabletop. “Okay. Okay. You, um, understand why I can’t let you just stay here, right? It’s not that I don’t want you here, or that I can’t be your friend or anything. I just want to keep the kids safe.”
“Oh, sure, sure. I know you wouldn’t just turn somebody away, Pinkie.” Sonata hid her bleeding hand underneath her left palm. “You’re just too good a person for that.”
“But!” Pinkie held up a finger. “But that’s not to say you’re gonna have to stay out in the cold. I have in my circle of friends a couple of ladies who would be more than happy to take you in. You remember Rainbow Dash and Rarity, right?”
“Oh, yeah! Who could forget those two?” Sonata giggled. “‘I’m awesome as I wanna be!’”
“Yep, yep, yeppers! They have a spot for you. A nice comfy couch, I think. Or maybe a cot.” Pinkie danced on the tips of her toes. “So… You want a coffee or something?”
“Sure!” Sonata jumped up, her damp ponytail slapping against her back. “With lots of cream and sugar?”
“Is there any other kind?” Pinkie’s nervous laugh regained a little hint of sincerity. “I don’t usually drink coffee at… one-thirty at night… but this is a special occasion!”
Sonata Dusk followed Pinkie into the kitchen. The linoleum floor felt cool against her soles. “So, about how long do you think it’ll be until they get here?”
“Oh, Rainbow Dash said she’d be by in ten or twenty minutes.” The windows rattled from the force of a nearby thunder crash. Pinkie Pie winced. She reached into her cupboards to gather up the ingredients. A bag of coffee grounds chuffed at it hit the counter.
Sonata edged over to the sink. A blender sat off to the side, having been used to make several fruit and chocolate smoothies. She gripped the handle in her vice-like grip. “Ten to twenty, huh?”
Pinkie stuck her finger into the sugar and took a small taste. “Mm. Yep! The storm might slow her down a little, but nothing can stop Rainbow Dash!”
Sonata loomed behind Pinkie Pie. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
She hit the blender across the back of Pinkie’s head.
Pinkie screamed. She was able to catch herself on the countertop, but the next blow sent her to the floor. A final impact drove her into unconsciousness.
Sonata tossed the hefty appliance to the floor. A whimper drew her attention to the doorway, where a small child stared wide-eyed at the proceedings. “Hey, kid. You’re Cherry Pie, right?”
The little girl screeched and ran for the bedrooms.
Sonata Dusk sauntered out of the kitchen. She slid Pinkie’s cell phone into her pocket and looked for the stairway. “Sunny? Suuuunny! Time to wakey-wakey…”
The blood from her palm stained the handrails as she clomped up the steps. “Mommy and I have a play-date!”
Stats
Page generated in 0.038 seconds
Total duration
803 users online
1,225,681 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I KNEW IT!!!
...
Oh, and "nooo, Pinkie" and all that.
Shit.
I was not expecting that!
I had a bad feeling it was Sonata.
Well, that puts a different spin on Sonata's wacky smile in her portrait.
it's pretty late in the game for the big reveal to be based on an alternative character interpretation like that
Pinkie is going to be so mad when she wakes up.
I had a feeling something like this was the twist.
6312849 But we haven't seen what they're like after their pendants broke, this is as legitimate as any other theory. The fact that it is different than what most fans think of just means MyHobby is good at being original.
Right now, I'm just hoping no one dies.
So... if Adagio grew old quickly once her magic was gone, how come Sonata and Aria haven't (or 'hadn't', in Aria's case,
) done the same? Does it have to do with the fact that Adagio went to live in Equestria and the others stayed in the Human world? 
6312421
This being a world where the first big event in the show is rainbowing the Nightmare Moon out of Luna, shouldn't be ahrd.
And then obliterated him in one blast, much to the horror of many a fangirl.
Fair enough.
True, Han might as well have Certified Badass written on his forehead after having saved Luke and helped make the Death Star go ka-boom.
Not gonna lie, I would pay to see that sort of crossover if only for nostalgia.
Gotcha.
Not when you've got a nigh limitless supply of holy bayonets, or a pair of guns so big they might as well be hand cannons.
Gaston you say?
6313424
I imagine that in the human world their bodies are actually human to the age they were apparent when they still had their sigils. So they went from being frozen-at-18-forever to 18 and ticking. Where in Equestria, they're actually really ancient, magic or no.
Also the fuck. Who gets the drop on PINKIE?
This one definitely threw me, I'm not ashamed to admit. I really didn't see Sonata coming ahead of time.
Hoops? Really girl? I mean, I guess when you're a secret alien from another dimension, you can't be too picky, but Hoops? And he let himself go too. And they called me crazy for saying Twilight should settle for Featherweight!
Tough break, Twilight. Seems like all your old study buddies and fellow nerds pick off the guys you like.
I hope human Twilight learns more of this story. She can be all "that's funny, it reminds me of this guy who pulled my pigtails in kindergarten, funny enough now he's chief of staff to President Cadenza."
Right now I finally realized just how much the whole EqG story is The Chronicles of Narnia in reverse.
Adagio must have wanted to be caught, on some level. She has to have realized that hanging around with alternate Sunset Shimmer was just asking for a scenario like this to occur, sooner or later. Maybe that stuff about actions and consequences is her guilt speaking.
I hope in the long run all 3 kids get to learn the full extent of their heritage, and visit their mothers' homelands. They are half human, half pony after all.
Wow, so that's another fairly gruesome outcome from the Elements of Harmony (Or just the Rainbooms, depending on how you want to score it). Taking someone's immortality is basically a slow-form execution, after all. If they really were alive for thousands of years, and they only get a few years afterwards of arthritis, maybe stopping the Dazzlings with the Magic of Firearms would have been a kindness.
Ohhhh snap!
Oh criminy cr@p baskets! That ending! Sunshine Sentry is going to end up taco meet, isn't he?
That is the best way to put it that I've ever read. If I didn't already like this story, I would upvote it just for that.
Oh buck!
I did not expect that. Props for that one.
Though I'm calling it right here, Shining Armor is Sunset's husband.
6313543
All right; sounds good enough for me,
Also, yeah, Pinkie Sense: why u no werk?
Hah, saw that coming after the twist last chapter.
Still a good twist.
6313675
Maybe because... this isn't pony Pinkie?
Or she doesn't know her Pinkie sense for whatever happened?
6314342
I'm not really worked up over it; I mean even in the show itself, Pinkie Sense is one of those things that happens when the story (or humor) call for it. It's not like Pinkie is full on precognative or something, right?
lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/7y3TlWKCIkETJxW2aUOMcSHQUqt4WMd8HOUQflvC5-qQjK6uCpaQ7UImlsctoflPbjUDM9ICDeScTRbqeliWvwak9AU=w426-h240-n
... R-right?
Wat. Either I missed something or just don't remember. But wat.
6314441
I didn't take it too seriously either, it's not like I didn't notice the probably-humorous tone. Of course, that didn't stop me from speculating like it was serious.
Pinkie is so precognative she knows when she will or won't need to employ her precognition powers. In this case, she didn't, for reasons only known to Pinkie.
Hold on, Hoops? As in, one of the Fluttershy bullies? And she's got kids now? This is new to me.
I'm as surprised as you are.
Ah, so that's how you differentiate, Twilight Sparkle the human and Princess Twilight the purple pony princess.
Right, she still has her gun. I hope she never has to use it.
Nope.
That, and Brad Bland-wait WHAT?!
Fine. But you're explaining this later.
Yep.
OH yeah, even if it DOES, hopefully, give you your voice back, we don't know WHAT it can do apart from that.
Assuming she didn't lie.
No kidding.
I may need to reread the last chapter as for who the other Sunset is
Yeah. Unless it was directed by Shamalon or Michael Bay.
Are? Doesn't look like it. WERE? YES.
Who says life is fair?
Looks like it.
Ah. Right.
Roughly the same thing happened to her.
Stardust?
My Daaw meter disagrees.
Eenope.
Who is her husband again?
Fair enough.
Aye.
But yeah.
Wait, back up, that means that whoever killed Aria, either it's Sonata who's trying to get revenge on Adagio for some reason, or, we've got a third party involved.
And why not? Who else would want Aria dead?
Love it when this happens.
He has to deal with 2 of you.
Er, as cute as that is, not exactly.
Nope. Dog.
This is hilarious and adorable.
Yep. Kinda sucked. Mind you, his being a dog was put to good use in Rainbow Rocks and in EQG, snark wise, and keeping Twilight sane, which is something he does well, was pretty good, I'll admit. Spike's fun when he's keeping Twilight sane, like in Lesson Zero, she was going nuts, and he was doing his best to keep her calm, no wonder some people think he'd make a good Element Of Loyalty.
Hey, careful with the cuteness kid! Might as well be a weapon with how strong it is with you.
Sorry.
Nah, it's OK, I need to upgrade my daaw meter anyway, maybe one that ISN'T from Silver Quill, Ink Rose or Saxton Hale.
... Talk about Mood Whiplash.
Aye. Aye.
You had to deal with a lot, it's OK.
Right, I get it, you're still haunted by the past. Also, you forgot the end quotation marks after hurt you.
Nope. She just made it up right now. And that's not a bad thing.
Huh, he's gotten better since Sonic Rainboom. Cleaned up his act.
Daaw...
We'll see.
Fair enough.
Interesting.
But they're half the fun!
Low blow.
So far, she doesn't seem to have a motive to want to kill Aria. Be angry yes, but kill?
Like Discord said, when all the truth does is make your heart ache, sometimes a lie is easier to take.
Fair enough.
Don't remind me.
Clever. Wait a second, if, Adagio didn't kill Aria, then, oh fuck.
Yep. Doesn't make sense now that you think about it. If she killed her, she'd never known nothing, and if she knew the location of the portal she'd not have to do anything to her.
Here's a thought, Sunset. 3 Sirens. Two of them knew how to get back to Equestria. Which one didn't?
Alternative Character Interpretation is in full play here.
She's got a point.
And now she wants revenge.
Oh find me in the Alps.
Sonata lied.
Exactly.
Bingo.
She's oviously nuts if she's doing that.
Understandable.
Yep. And you're playing her like a fiddle. Now when will she cut the strings?
Actually, that's just Rainbow. But yeah, it was a very entertaining song.
Never much like coffee. Much prefer a glass of hot chocolate or an orange juice.
Pathetic Fallacy, the weather suits the mood. In this case, it doesn't, but it will soon enough.
No, no, no! It goes Nothing Can Stop The Smooze! Yeesh! Hold on,
Ouch!
Yeah, I'd probably do that too in her situation.
This feels like something out of a horror movie.
NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!1111111!!!!!!!!!!!! Not my sweet waifu!
She--she's nothing like that! She's ::sniff!:: good and sweet...and innocent!
BTW, I kind of saw this coming from the last chapter.
Utterly brilliant!
6312341
The difficulty is that I could have sworn that Sunset Shimmer was already from Equestria so why would there be two of them in Equestria? While I concede that two ponies could be given the exact same name it seem like it would be rare and confusing to the reader to boot. So, in other words, what point is there? They certainly don't, so far as I know, intentionally duplicate names for ponies in the tv show.
Oh God, I really hope I'm wrong about Cheese...
6312849
All interpretations of her character are "alternate", ya dork.
6316599 not just her, it's also an alternate of the Sirens, declaring them good at manipulation even without powers, Frankly, I think the presence of their powers would keep them from ever being that, because I don't think their's had an on off switch
6317178
That point just went so far over your head that NORAD began tracking it as an unscheduled satellite launch.
6318384
Points in an argument are best delivered calmly and clearly. The insults just get people mad and hurt any chance you have of convincing them.
Not quite. In Rainbow Rocks, she is shown to be both evil and ditsy. Anything that goes outside those parameters is by necessity "alternate." Although, I prefer to think of it as adding depth, so long as it builds on top of what cannon gives us.
6317178
Well, kinda. I did use a scene in Rainbow Rocks as a base for this interpretation, though.
It's the scene where the Dazzlings taunt Sunset Shimmer who, due to her connection with Equestrian magic, is immune to their gemstones. Like Adagio says in the story, they were able to destroy her defense with a few well-placed words. Manipulation doesn't have to be subtle to be effective.
I just projected Adagio's ability onto the rest of the sirens. Maybe it's a late-game reveal, but I thought it fit in with how the rest of the story treats the characters.
6318458
So I keep hearing, and yet in my own personal experience, it always seems to be the smug, dismissive, willfully ignorant dickholes who come out on top. At this point in my life, I'm just too fucking tired to try anymore.
Exactly my point. You can't do anything but color outside of a single straight line.
6318622
You have no idea how difficult I found it to restrain myself from proving your point by giving that comment the response it deserves, but there's only so much temptation any man can take. If your own nerdy self arguing about internet ponies with other nerds for the sheer sake of arguing is all it takes for you to melodramatically proclaim your world-wearineness, you probably need a mirror more than an internet connection. Those at least provide a bit of self-reflection.
If anyone read this comment originally, I apologize. I apologize especially to MyHobby, whose story does not deserve this sort of childish tantrum-tossing. wlam, I apologize to you for nothing. You are a hypocritical ass, and I will waste no more time on you. How you choose to waste your own is none of my concern.
6318945
Oh, I did. That's how difficult it was. Honestly? Compared to the kind of conversational tone I'm used to, you were downright polite. I really don't actually care about that, because pointlessly arguing about dumb shit is what I do here. Being a smug hypocrite with no self-awareness whatsoever about it is just pathetic, though. Either learn to be civil while being a pony-obsessed manchild arguing fanfiction on the internet or stop complaining when others aren't, either. That kind of childish stupidity is just beneath contempt.
This is amazing.
6312519
Yeah, yeah, terror, suspense, drama, popcorn, all the good stuff.
Bravo on guessing the twist.
6312589
You, too, were taken in by Sonata's wiles! Truly, she is almost as dastardly as I am.
6312676
Sometimes I think that to myself, then I hate myself for being right...
6312734
Not everything that glitters is gold...
6313675
I guess the Pinkie Sense for "somebody's gonna club me" is an insatiable craving for coffee?
I kinda figured it was a little like Spidey Sense, in that it's an early warning system, but the reflexes have to be fast enough. If Pinkie's got anxiety from a missing husband, a storm, an unwanted visitor, and having a child that isn't her own stay over, it could have gotten lost among the noise. That's my stance on it.
6313543
Sonata was old, though! Chapter two:
6312759
An entire spectrum of emotion! I feel a bit accomplished.
Keep half an eye on DayBreak.
6313243
Well... getting knocked on the noggin is no joke. She might need a little recuperation.
6313279
The key to a good twist is that if you're paying attention, you can see it coming!
6313283
I've found the best way to be original is to do the exact opposite of what everybody else is doing. That might end up being the difference between original and creative, but it's worked so far!
No promises.
6313629
Sometimes I'm not quite sure if you're joking, especially since last chapter your comment basically laid the plot out in spot-on detail.
Personally, I'm just glad people recognize him.
Which reminds me I need to do a Moondancer romance fic, just to give P. Twilight a romantic hernia.
I think you're gonna like what I do with Adagio...
I'd like to read something akin to National Lampoon's Vacation starring the Sunset families on a joint adventure.
So how did you like the Horror after that all-time sadness low? Of course not! Mostly because that isn't Sunny's name.
6313646
It's still my favorite line in the story.
6313660
And out of left field, Adagio goes for the double play of not guilty and massive revelation!
Speculation noted. Let's see how it pans out.
6313789
It's important to lay out all the clues to a twist, like bread crumbs leading out of the forest. You just gotta hope no birds come along to eat them.
6314848
It's news to everybody!
Checkov called, he says he wants his gun back.
We have a good guess in the form of Rainbow Rocks. There might be a few clues in there.
I will say that it was fun watching your thought process throughout the chapter as you gradually figured it out.
I think that the best stories have a little bit of everything!
Also, that thing about Gaston? I'm not even trying to hide the fact that he's a reference.
6315008
I was actually afraid I was gonna get that response for real. Aside from a few downvotes, though, it's been surprisingly quiet.
I'm not complaining.
6316294
Oh, yeah. That confusion is understandable. It's why I did my best to make the truth obvious in the following chapter.
6322429
Thank you! I hope you enjoy the rest!
Ah, another 'thing that hasn't happened yet' moment?
6328582
Oh meant she was LITERALLY old. Given the context, it looks like you meant that she 'seemed' old. Worn down, withered, emotionally exhausted, frail.
6328582
If Twilight doesn't shoot him. I don't think she would though, while a bit high strung yes, she's not a violent person at heart.
Yes, but APART from that, that's when it's used to make singing magical, if used in other ways, it might do something else.
Thank you. I do live to entertain.
You do realize that means you may need to add a Sex tag to this then, right?
And I cannot resist lamshading an obvious reference. I just hope this Gaston is less of a musclebound moron than the Disney version, then again, considering he runs Cloudsdale, he had to have SOMETHING inside his head, right?
6328582
I wasn't joking, I meant that I hadn't seen it coming before THAT chapter, as opposed to guessing it during the beginning where Sonata is being interrogated, etc. Chekov had a dang armory laid out in the beginning, and I completely missed it because you snuck it by right under our collective noses. Well done sir.
Moondancer learns Haycarte's spell, borrows it to contact Starswirl the Bearded through his old journal, and convinces him to travel forward to the modern time and settle down with her, forcing Twilight to shut down her secret Starswirl shrine?
I think I've made my stance on redemption pretty clear at this point.
"We're Shimmers, together, Shimmers forever, family but soooo muuuuchh moooooore..."
I guess afraid does feel better than sad, so that's a step up. Also, you're right, clearly Sunny is the reincarnated R63 human version of Sunny Days, prophet of the Peachening, and he will one day go back in time and get trapped in a trans-dimensional mirror from which he will plot and scheme.
FWIW, I have always considered Sonata as evil as the other two Sirens and have never understood the fan-writers who want to make her a helpless victim of the other two.
This was a lovely twist. For the record, I suspected something like this was going to happen but I didn't expect the inversion of the plot to be so total.
Just save time and go look up pony Flash, Twilight. Well, assuming that hasn't already failed to work out. And he's not, like, dead or something.
Three dimensional puzzle solving while holding every piece of it at once, impressive. Points to the princess.
Old lady Adagio the such a great attitude, I hope she's not a bad buy of any sort. Well, other than the redeemed sort.
Huh. That makes basically all of the sense for where human Sunset is at the time of the EQG movies. Headcanon tentatively accepted.
Also, suddenly I'm wondering about that story name and what it could be referring to. Absence from where? And when?
That does seem like the exactly correct question to ask. When else are you going to have a giant dragon dog on hand for rides?
That was a really great talk.
Hahaha!
Aww yeah.
Of course, I'm already convinced this Adagio isn't the murderer, so the real question is what else this interrogation reveals
Oh hell. Pinkie! The kids! Sunny!
Well, at least I'm still a chapter behind and won't be left at this cliffhanger.
6334313
Well, maybe. I hope not, at least not in regards to this story.
It's been mentioned whenever the Royal Guard come up, specifically in Lord Mayor Applejack and DayBreak. It helps to reintroduce it in every story.
It's as good a theory as any I've seen! I've always been partial to Thunderbass, personally. Seems like a pretty cool dude with his snot-green dreadlocks.
The Unmitigated Disaster had this delightful headline about Trixie Lulamoon: Magician Outperforms Princess in Battle for Soldier's Heart! He's taken.
There can be no mistake, our Twilight is a mathematical genius. I enjoy having her perform feats of magical ingenuity on occasion.
She's an interesting one, I'd say. She's got a bit more depth than one might suspect.
At least until she shows up in the post-credits for Friendship Games, amiright?
It's all symbolic and polyinterpretational and stuff. It's kinda silly how many ways it could be utilized. For instance, is Sunset absent, or is she experiencing an absence of her own?
The next chapter's cliffhanger is arguably worse.
6336325
Ouch, so much for that idea.
Never trust a harmless ditz.
After all, we trusted this one.
6331721 For Realzies its the ditsy sweet ones you really need to be careful of.
I not surprised Sonata did it she was acting REALLY suspicious after the interrogation.