"So...how'd it go?"
The sad look on Twilight's face was the only answer Flash and the others needed.
"So what now?" Rainbow asked, her shoulders slumped.
Twilight shrugged. defeated. "I guess....you guys go home....and Spike and I go back to Equestria....and we just wait and see."
"Wait, that's it?" came Spike's muffled voice from inside Twilight's backpack. "We're just leaving? What about Sunset?"
"Spike, you saw how Sunset was," Twilight said sadly. "This is a lot more complicated than just a simple squabble. This whole Anon-A-Miss thing has affected her more deeply than any of us could've imagined." She looked at her friends with a pained face. "Sunset...she needs help. Help that I can't give her. This is something that friendship alone can't fix." She wiped a single tear away. "I'm sorry. But there's nothing I can do."
Twilight hugged her arms as she walked slowly down the hall. The others, completely dejected at seeing their friend so defeated, followed her. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle clung to their sisters' arms, shame and sorrow clear on their faces. Scootaloo walked dejectedly behind them, with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy placing one hand on each of her shoulders for support.
"Well, well, well. Isn't this a sight."
The group froze at the familiar voice as they walked through the exit, and turned to see three figures emerge from the shadows. Three figures that they had hoped they would never see again.
"You!" Rainbow snarled.
"Me." said the lead siren, cocking an eyebrow. Though she no longer had her magical amulet, Adagio looked as smug and threatening as ever. Aria was grinning like the whole thing was just one big joke. Only Sonata scowled at them, and she clearly was not happy to be there.
"What're you three varmints doin' here?" Applejack barked. "We thought we got rid a' y'all fer good!"
"And where are we supposed to go, you dumb hick?" Aria sneered. "We've been banned from Equestria, we've been kicked out of your stupid school, and moving to a new town costs a shit-ton of money, which we don't have."
"You three belong in prison for what you did!" Rarity said curtly.
Adagio gave a condescending laugh. "By all means, darling, call the police on us! Tell them all about the evil sea ponies from another dimension who tried to take over your school with pop music. I'm so certain they'll believe you!"
"No they won't," Sonata said, still glaring at the group. "They'll be laughed out into the streets, if not thrown into a loony bin."
Aria and Adagio sighed at their sister once again missing the the joke, before turning their attention back to the group.
"Face it, loves. You're stuck with us" Adagio purred, sauntering up to Rainbow and gripping her chin in her hand. "Whether you like it or not."
Rainbow looked positively murderous, and it was only through Twilight gripping Adagio's arm and forcing her out of Rainbow's personal space was she able to reign her temper in.
"Why are you here?" Twilight demanded.
Adagio smirked and innocently placed her hands behind her back. "Oh, we were just in the neighborhood and we thought we'd go for a little stroll about town. Imagine our surprise when we came across two certain students from Canterlot High."
Adagio dug out her phone and scrolled until she came to what she was looking for. She held it up for the others to see. "You take a really good picture, Flash."
The entire group paled. The picture was of Flash and Sunset in the park. Sunset appeared to be in the midst of falling, and Flash had his arm outstretched.
"You were spying on us?" Flash asked angrily.
Adagio shrugged. "What can I say? I just happened to have my phone out and took a picture at the wrong time." Her smirk turned nastier as she admired her handiwork. "I wonder what the students of Canterlot High would think...Flash Sentry, the school Golden Boy, assaulting a defenseless girl?" She clicked her tongue and wagged her finger. "Can't imagine they'll be too happy."
"That's not what happened! She lost her footing...she tripped!" Flash cried, a look of rage and horror on his face.
"A picture's worth a thousand words, honey." Aria said, placing her hands on her hips.
Flash gritted his teeth. She had a point; Twilight and the others knew the context behind the photo, but to anyone else, it would appear that Flash was pushing Sunset to the ground.
"And why would you do that?" Twilight asked. "What would you have to gain from it?"
"Princess, I'm a siren. It's what I do." Adagio pocketed the phone and folded her arms. "And if it's one thing I've learned in all my time here, is that you don't need magic to ruin someone's life. Isn't that right, Anon-A-Miss?"
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo turned ghostly white, and hid behind behind their sisters' backs. Rarity, Applejack, Big Mac and Rainbow Dash instinctively held out their arms to shield them.
"How did you find out about that?" Twilight asked sternly.
"It's the Internet, dumbass." Aria snarked. "Anybody can read what was posted. And the students weren't exactly quiet about what they did...or how much they hate them."
The three young girls shivered at Aria's predatory smirk.
"I have to say, you three would've made excellent sirens." Adagio commented in a faux cheerful voice. "You did far better at tearing the school apart than we ever did."
"I don't know, Dagi. It seems like they did all the work for us." Aria said, coming to stand by her sister, gesturing to the group in front of them. "Remember the semi-finals? 'Now there's the bad girl we all love to hate! Dur dee dur dee dur!" Adagio snickered as Aria crossed her eyes and did a poor imitation of Flash.
Flash's face turned bright scarlet. "That...that was all you! I never would've said that if-"
"Honey, all we did was light the match. You supplied the kindling." Adagio said pointedly. "Our spell gave you a need to be the best; a compulsion to win. How you did that was all you."
Flash tried to make words come out, but he couldn't. He turned to Twilight, who sadly turned to look at the ground. Flash hung his head, ashamed. Twilight's reaction said it all. They were telling the truth - all those awful things he said to her, his behavior during the semi-finals...that was all him, not the Dazzlings.
"You know, I honestly don't know what I find more amusing," Adagio said as she and Aria began to circle the group like sharks. "The brutal humiliation Sunset Shimmer endured at the semi-finals, or the fact that not a single one of you stood up for her."
"Yeah. You all just stood there while she was being booed and hissed at. You didn't even try to comfort her." Aria sneered. "So much for friendship."
"But then, you were never really friends with her to begin with, were you?" Adagio grinned, loving how her words were affecting the group on front of her. "Sure, you were nice to her, but, let's face it, she's more your pet than your friend."
"That is not true!" Fluttershy cried, holding back angry tears.
"Oh? Then why didn't you let her join your band? She knew just as much about magic as Princess Twilight, she wanted us defeated as badly as you did. Were you afraid she couldn't play as well?" Adagio asked condescendingly.
"Or maybe you were just afraid no one would want to see you play if she was in the group." Aria dug. "Maybe you thought she'd turn into a raging she-demon onstage."
"Shut up." Rainbow growled. Her eyes were hidden behind her hair and her hands were balled into fists.
"Of course, why Sunset would want to be friends with all of you is beyond me." Adagio added, throwing her hands up for dramatic effect. "You treat her like garbage, toss her aside at the slightest provocation, constantly distrust her - hell, you can't even get along with each other!"
"What are you talking about?" Pinkie Pie asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Surely your memory can't be that bad." Aria snipped. "We absorbed your magic - your supposed 'magic of friendship' - while we were onstage. If you hadn't escaped and kissed and made up at the last minute, we would've drained you dry."
"We didn't even have to use our magic on you!" Adagio exclaimed, her smirk growing ever wider and more malevolent. "You imbeciles were fighting long before we showed up. All we had to do was lock you in a room together and soak up your magic like a sponge. You lot are easier to play than a piano!"
"I said SHUT UP!" Unable to control herself anymore, Rainbow pulled her arm back and swung. Adagio was knocked to the ground as she skidded a foot away from them.
"Dagi!" Aria and Sonata were by their sister's side in a flash. As Adagio sat up, she let out a deep laugh that slowly rose to a maniacal cackle.
"HahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! What's the matter, Rainbow Trash?!" She turned to reveal a frightening Cheshire grin and a bloody nose. "Does the truth hurt? Can't hurt any worse than what you did to Sunset!"
"Dag, stop! You've made your point." Aria tried to reason with her sister before she wound up in a body bag. But Adagio kept going.
"Deny it all you want, but we both know the truth!" Adagio stood and faced the group, pointing at them accusingly. "At the end of the day you're no better than us!" Adagio's smile, if possible, got even wider, her voice filled with manic glee. "You all succeeded where we failed! You! Broke her!!!"
With a cry of rage, and before anyone could stop her, Rainbow Dash charged like a bull at the siren. She skidded to a halt as Twilight moved to block her path.
"That's enough, Dash!" Twilight cried.
"Get out of my way, Twilight!" Rainbow snarled through clenched teeth.
"Dash, this isn't solving anything! How do you think Sunset would feel if she saw you like this?"
That took all the fire out of Rainbow, and she collapsed onto her knees, looking deflated.
"What the hell is going on here?!" A nurse scrambled outside to confront the source of several noise complaints inside. "You all need to leave! Now! Before I call security!"
"Come on, Dash." Applejack helped Rainbow to her feet. They began to walk with Big Mac and Apple Bloom towards Big Mac's truck. Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo walked towards Rarity's car.
"Well, this has been fun." Adagio said smugly, wiping the blood from her face. "Ciao."
She blew a kiss at them, and with a small wave, she and her sisters walked off and disappeared into the dark.
"Wait a minute!" Twilight said, walking after them. "What about the photo?"
"Forget it." Flash said, gently grabbing Twilight's arm. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." Pause. "Listen...about what happened..."
"Bygones." Twilight said, holding up her hand. "Besides...we have other things to worry about."
Both looked up at the hospital building, and then at each other, wondering where to go from here.
After they walked several blocks, Adagio pulled out her phone and pulled up the photo of Flash.
"You're deleting it?" Aria asked, looking at what her sister was doing. "Why?"
"I got what I wanted." Adagio said with a shrug and a smirk. When the deed was done, she pocketed the phone and asked, "You girls hungry? Let's go to Joe's."
such misery! what a feast!!
Twilight seems to be giving up a bit easily, but aside from that, an excellent chapter. The Sirens were magnificent! If they can still feed without their little magic charms, then they're probably getting stomachaches from overfeeding right about now...
Though they didn't call the HuMane 5 out on one thing that always bugs me... They've been 'assigned' to teach Sunset all about the magic of friendship... Five girls who were apparently best friends... Whom Sunset broke up in, what, a few days or weeks? With a handful of fake text messages and misunderstandings that could have been cleared up in five minutes of conversation? And whom remained estranged from each other for (at least in this fic) three years?
Apparently they never really trusted each other. What chance did Sunset really have?
Don't you just hate it when the villains are right. Also, Twilight is right at this point Sunset needs professional help. Their is only so much twi can do.
Love the story so far. Can't wait to see what happens next.
Damn that was intense, and the crazy thing about all of that is that she wasn't wrong.
So wait what was the point of the Sirens showing up in this chapter? Was it just to spread distrust and discontent amongst the others, or just to be jerks?
The Sirens really laid it on our disgraced heroes. Adagio especially pushed their buttons perfectly(particularly Rainbow's), and the sad thing is when it comes to their mocking of the Rainbooms' friendship with Sunset, they weren't completely wrong.
7500737 They didn't know about the "assignment" part. They probably figured the Humane Five hung out with Sunset out if pity.
7500747 To be jerks. They may not have magic but they can still rub the Humane Five's shit in their faces.
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Ah, but I was more referring to the fact that they were rather horrible friends to each other, what with being so easily broken up. And thus hardly the sort of people to teach others about friendship. Though I suppose the Sirens might not have known the details of that either...
Eeeeeevil! Such delicious evil! I love it! XD
Awesome chapter. Loved the part where the Dazzlings confronted Twilight and her friends.
And what Adagio all said:
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Which is why it's my headcanon that the Humane Five already had priblems with each other before Sunset's fake texts set them off.
I mean if someone close to me suddenly started sending me mean texts, I'd talk to them and find out what was going on. I don't think I'd do it if I was having issues with them.
7500715 A wise man once said: "All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day."
7500918 Ummmm....Sunset's not insane. She just has....issues.....
7500918 and sunset has had a lot of bad days.
7500926 Still, all it takes is one bad day...
I always feel so horrible for Sunset when I read this fic.
7500947 True my friend, very true. This is coming from one who has had many 'bad' days.
Honestly, I never thought that anyone can make Adagio say something like this. All I can say is that what Adagio said is cold... Really cold.
7500737 It's not that she's giving up, it's that she knows this is out of her league. At this point Sunset needs professional help, something Twilight isn't qualified to give her.
Oh, you too?
I was bummed out when they lost.
7501271 I wish Hasbro would make a movie or video or something that showed what happened to them. They just ran offstage and were never heard from again.
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As much as I was rooting for the sirens during that movie, seeing them return might actually be a bad thing.
If they make another appearance in a future film, then Hasbro might end up reforming them somehow, which would probably result in a huge personality change from being ... basically like how you wrote Adagio in this chapter, into a near spineless shell of their former selves.
I really don't want to see Adagio or Aria give some crazy speech to a future antagonist about the Wonders of Friendship and Harmony.
7501454 Maybe.
Or maybe they'd be like Vegeta, or Peridot from Steven Universe.
Not evil, but still retaining a large majority of their old personalities.
.......But probably not.
7500715 mmm...yes! I want a second helping please or something,...new or just surpise me in the next chapter.
This moment when Trash punched Dagi... it's the moment of utter and irrevocable defeat of Humane5.
Well, "Elements", how you find this sickening feeling that monsters have moral superiority over so-called experts of friendship?
Cuz I have a serious doubts that you would defend Sunset if on holydays students beat up her.
Sorry for bad English.
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I'd be down for it if we got a Discord Lite. Personality is there, but drop the friendship lessons. I'd be happy with them as neutral characters. I just want to see them again. They managed to supplant NMM as my favorite character in the show. That's not easy to do in my book.
Anyway, I'm just glad the fandom usually knows how to handle them, even when reforming them. They are smart characters, well, Dagi is at the very least. She's cunning, conniving, and diabolical. She's without a doubt the most dangerous, and best, villain we've ever had.
7500918 Those are some wise words from the Joker.
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See, I was really hoping that maybe it would be something like that with Sunset after the first film, because other than the part where she started crying at the very end, I thought Sunset was great.
But instead, they almost did a complete 180 with her personality the next time we saw her.
She doesn't use sneaky or underhanded tactics anymore (something that was never actually a bad thing, it just depends on how you use it) and instead of getting her hands dirty and doing things on her own from time to time, she's become somewhat overly dependent on Twilight and the others.
Aside from when she went off on Twilight during the 3rd movie, she's become a different person entirely, which I understand was supposed to be the main point during Rainbow Rocks and in the Holiday Special.
If Hasbro handles a possible siren return the same way that they handled Sunset's character development, more than likely, it's gonna ruin their character for me.
7502386 I was hoping a lesson to get from RR was 'you don't have to change who you are to make friends.' Sunset wasn't the strongest villain in my book, ranking closer to a High School Musical villain, but I did warm up to her very quickly. Even if it was probably because of their own hard-headed incompetence, she did manage to basically control the students and basically the school. She is a smart character and that shows. I don't understand why they made her so weak in comparison in later films. IN RR she's treading thin ice because of the she-demon stuff in the previous, but she takes it like a doormat. None taken indeed. Maybe she'll get a little back in Everfree...or maybe FanFiction is the way to go.
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Sunset was afraid of the monster that was her. The whole moral of the movie was about self worth.
Both Princess Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer were in the wrong.
Twilight felt that everyone was counting on her so her worries made her blind to the real problem while sunset was too doubtful to help because everyone was expected her to become the demon again and when that happened sunset didn't have self worth and believed she could become that monster and became shy and scared. It was when Princess Twilight asked her to help sunset got the courage needed.
Looking forward to the next chapter.
Dang this is a good story. I'd argue, in many ways, that it's better than the Anon-A-Miss story that I did. You're hitting all the right notes and firing on all the right cylinders here.
And on your first story, too! Well done!
Some would wonder what was the Point of this, This is exactly the Point.
Those who have experienced Friendship and being betrayed by "Friendship" is nothing more than living a lie, a false fantasy. The Scars Left by Sunset during her time as a school-tyrant before her reformation are still fresh and haven't fully faded. Of Course the Students and her Friends would still doubt her, they believed it was nothing more than a Façade to get them to forget what kind of person she was And It Was That Doubt Alone what lead to a Shattered Bond. Sunset Tried to Prove her Innocence of not being "Anon a Miss" and That She Was Being Framed, But Unfortunately It Fell on Deaf Ears and led the entire school to distrust her. After Suffering a Full Week of being Alone and accused as Anon-a-miss and after the real identity of Anon-a-Miss confessed, did they seriously think that all of this would be Forgive and Forget? Sunset Trusted Them, Placed Her Faith in Them, and They Betrayed Her when they Accused her as Anon-a-Miss. This Shattered Sunset into thinking that: Friendship is nothing more than Illusion and Only Pain, Sorrow, Bitterness, Agony, Solitude and Betrayal was gained in the end.
The Sirens Wanted them to Suffer as they See This Harsh Truth and Prove to them that: They We're Never Really Friends With Sunset".
And They are supposed to be the embodiments of Friendship and the Elements of Harmony? What a Joke...
Did the CMC Seriously Thought of doing this without suffering the consequences? It was Thanks to Them They Destroyed a Bond and Have Everybody in the Entire School Hate and Distrust Them. When Sunset and the Sirens Told them another harsh truth, that during the Battle of the Bands while they we're all under mind control and they showed negativity at Sunset, They Realized That Was All Them, not the Sirens. It Proves That They've Never Trusted Sunset after her Defeat at the Fall Formal.
7511667 You know, from that. I starting to think that maybe this world; especially Canterlot High, needs to learn more about friendship than Equestria itself. Just my thought on that comment.
Reading the Reason You Suck Speech from ththe Dazzlings made me realize something really important in this: The CMC knew that the Humane 5 had some lingering distrust towards Sunset, even after everything. And they exploited that distrust perfectly: They just posted secrets online, and made it look like Sunset was doing it. Without any questions asked, or any investigating, the Humane 5 kicked Sunset out. Just like that. All according the CMC's plan to have Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash all to themselves.
7500715 You are a siren.
Mmmm... quite the chapter... honestly, no idea what to say here other then good job well done.
kinda want to see sonata and sunset hangout again.
Late comment, but
As much as she's in the wrong here, I've always wanted to do that to people who get a little too harsh with their insulting.
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Dash kicked her ass. Lol. Get rekt.
But why tho
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And Asura kicked Dash's ass, get f*cked
A villain who can curb stomp the hero is cool. A villain who can take a beating while making you feel like they never lost control of the situation is downright TERRIFYING.
Adagio: You lot are easier to play than a piano. *laughs*
Rainbow: I said SHUT UP! *punches Adagio, who merely cackles louder in response*
Adagio: Look at you go! HahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! What's the matter, Rainbow Trash?! Does the truth hurt? Can't hurt any worse than what you did to Sunset!
Rainbow: *slams Adagio's head into a window* SHUT UP!
Adagio: Deny it all you want, but we both know the truth!
Rainbow: *punch* SHUT UP!
Adagio: At the end of the day you're no better than us! *Adagio's smile, if possible, got even wider, her voice filled with manic glee.* You all succeeded where we failed! You! Broke her!!! *laughs*
Rainbow: *PUNCH!* WHERE ARE THEY?!
Adagio: *Begins laughing maniacally* You have NOTHING! Nothing to threaten me with! Nothing to do with all your strength.
Rainbow: *picks up Adagio*
Twilight: That's enough, Dash! This isn't solving anything! How do you think Sunset would feel if she saw you like this?
Adagio is the fucking Joker.
And that would be my case in point when I say rath can more often than not be a form of violence and not just what twilight did
HEAVY.WITH.THE.ANGST.
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But it's true.
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They also taught them not to jump to conclusions. Just because something looks one way doesn't mean that the truth. Maybe if they learned that lesson sooner they wouldn't be in this mess.
Ohoho, now that is some well written awful personality.