A fuzzy sensation marked Sunset’s return to consciousness. She felt happy, refreshed, and content. Echoes of ethereal music drifted distantly between her ears, too beautiful for memory to hold.
The echoes ended, leaving her with an empty longing. Cold, lovely sleep was disappearing to uncomfortable warmth. Her back was hot. She tried to roll, but couldn’t.
Bleary eyes opened. Lips felt dry. She was sitting upright, with silver bindings around her ankles.
It took a few seconds for her dulled mind to find the answer. Duct tape.
Sunset roused at once in a panic. She tried to pull up her knees, with the only effect being a clonk of the back of her head against someone else – Twilight, given the purple ponytail running down Sunset's shoulder. Tape ran over both their torsos and mouths, and that around Sunset’s ankles was latched by handcuffs to the couch.
Applejack sat in a chair to Sunset’s front. Could duct tape even hold her? No matter – a linked chain bound her up and down. Wallflower fared no better, hogtied on the ground with tape over her eyes and mouth.
A voice came from the other side of the couch, and Sunset went still. “So, you were trying to enslave the werewolf to be your ace in the hole. Before it broke out, anyway. Good job with that.”
Adagio. Hope thrilled, then died. Sunset peered her way discreetly, seeing all three sirens casually talking over their apple wine.
“Like you could do better,” Sonata grumbled.
“I could,” Adagio said easily. “But that just leaves me with one more question: what’s Discord’s angle? You haven’t mentioned him in all this.”
Aria traded a shrug with her blue partner. “Who?”
“Oh! He was that professor guy.” Sonata laughed and waved her hand downwards. “But, uh, there ain’t no angle, there. Pretty funny – we caught the bus one day and heard him mention your name on the phone. A little flirting, and he told us all about you and Sunset’s little business. Easy, peesy, squish-a-breezie.”
Aria gave a low grunt. “You should be grateful. Talking to him made us think about contacting you.”
Adagio glanced to the bound hunters, and smiled. “Well, well. Look who’s up.”
It wasn’t Sunset’s gaze that Adagio caught, but Applejack’s as she glared back without any attempt at subtlety. She growled lowly through her tape gag, drawing naught but a chuckle from above.
The sirens’ bickering ended at once. They stood and approached, stepping and swaying in perfect sync. Blue gems blazed at their throats, illuminating cruel grins.
Aria caught Sunset’s eyes. “Aw, what’s bothering you, Sunshit? You can tell me anything.”
The gag caught Sunset’s response. Sonata cooed, pinching at the yellow cheeks. “Poor widdle Sunshit, are you sad dat one of your widdle fwiends is a twaitor? Is your widdle heart bweaking? Do you want a kiss so–”
She interrupted herself with a laugh. “Oh-em-ef-gee, she’s crying.”
“Then give her something to cry about,” Aria muttered distractedly. She half-heartedly shoved at Twilight, though only eyed her with contempt. “Damn, I wish you were the real Twilight Sparkle. Maybe later, huh?”
Sunset’s blurred eyes found Adagio. With no voice, she tried to let her glare show all the fury the siren had earned.
Adagio only shrugged. Cool, distant. “Let me tell you something.”
She gently pushed Sonata away, yet remained standing. Her expression turned to careful neutrality. Full lips moved, and the words flowed like music. “I’m not evil.”
An effacing smile quirked to Adagio’s face, then vanished. “At least, I don’t think I am. Spiders are not evil for hunting flies, nor is flame when it burns the moth.”
A regal tilt of the head. Her gaze swept over to Applejack. “You have only yourselves to blame for this. I made no secret of the truth. We are all sharks and fish, spiders and flies. We survive and flourish on the pain of others, or we falter and die. I told you over and over, and you did not listen. You embraced me, and now feel so righteously offended that the monster now does as monsters do.”
Adagio turned from Sunset, now striding slowly to the bound farmer. Applejack flinched and trembled. Her glare grew unsteady with fear, and the siren’s grin shined white.
“You lose. Even now, wendigos – carrion of our hate – are striking your allies in their homes. Even if they are defeated it will be too late. Tirek’s power is primed. It shall erupt with the first song, and then the world shall be remade.”
She stopped before Applejack, beautiful and cruel. Manicured nails reached up and gently peeled back the gag.
“You will share it with me.”
Adagio chuckled lowly, passing her hand over her mouth. She bent down and kissed Applejack on the lips.
Sunset saw a bulge in the freckled cheek as Adagio’s tongue worked its way inside. Applejack looked stunned.
...Sunset looked away. Adagio stood and departed with the other sirens, locking the door behind.
Sunset hadn’t gotten this far without learning to grit her teeth through hopeless situations. Body and mind snapped back in gear less than two minutes after the door closed. Pulling, twisting, and looking around for anything close to hand, not that she could get her arms free.
Nothing came of it (‘Yet,’ she sternly reminded herself to add). She mentally apologized with each muffled squeak from Twilight as she jostled the girl with her struggles. Too much damn tape around the arms and body. The weak point had to be at the ankles.
Mired in her own struggles, it took Sunset a few seconds of staring down her legs to notice Applejack was rock-still. Not surprising given what the poor girl had gone through, but it was her face that arrested Sunset’s attention. Thoughtful and quiet. Gazing to the wall beyond, as though lost in careful deduction. Her lips remained tight, and a slight bulge revealed her tongue moving ponderously inside her cheek.
Applejack’s arms were bound high and tight to her body, but her hands were free. She cupped one, leaned forwards, and spat out something small and copper.
...A key. It landed gently in her palm. With dexterity few would imagine the large girl possessed, she maneuvered it easily to the lock.
A turn, a click, and a pull. Chains rattled, suddenly free of the lock which had stretched them taut. One loop around Applejack’s wrist slipped down and clattered to the floor. She shrugged, and another fell from her shoulder.
Applejack caught Sunset’s eyes. “I’m coming, girls. Hold your horses.”
She pushed with her arms, and more chains loosened. She caught Sunset again, and gave a bashful chuckle. “Daj, she, uh… kissed it to me.”
Another, more forceful push loosened the chains to the point where they seemed less to bind her than be piled around her lap. Applejack kicked, freeing her legs, and stood from the chair.
And there it is. In her own Daj way of course, slipping a key in exchange for a kiss and also letting them know about the wendigoes before leaving.
I'll be honest, these past few chapters took me for a ride. Being someone who gets hopelessly romantic about wanting to believe in people's goodness and a pretty big sucker about redemption stories this one jerked me around for a bit. But I can say -- excepting any more revelations -- it's been satisfying to see Adagio's character develop so. And believably too.
Now I'm wondering is whether Adagio will be able to keep up the facade when the college team comes back around to the concert. If their powers run on emotion and intent the other two might get a hint Daj isn't fully into it...
figured Dagi was faking it, cant wait to see how this plays out!
H*** yeah, it does!
I resisted the urge to applaud at that. Go Adagio! We knew you weren't a traitor!
I bet they'll accidentally leave Wallflower hogtied on the ground due to her ability to be ignored.
Well, I'm pleasantly surprised.
Well, that's one way to reveal an enemy plan to your allies.
GO DAGI.
She didn't kill her, interesting.
Weird. What is he planning?
Spiders aren't sentient, and flames aren't alive.
Shined.
Hm?
Oh. Adagio, you, oh, you magnificent BITCH. She's playing the Starscream.
Called it.
Is that a fucking Persona reference?! Or an Undertale reference?
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And it was done in a way that was perfectly in character to boot!
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I think the best part was where she explicitly said she wasn't evil, and then played it off...
...and then immediately demonstrated she was a double agent without the other two noticing.
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Yeah, the whole speech where she talks about spiders and flies made me think the whole thing was real. Those are words of someone trying to rationalize terrible deeds.
Pick a side already, Adagio!
Adagio, you sneaky bitch! Mean girls doing the right thing does fill me with determination!
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I'd say she pretty clearly has, even if previous chapters didn't establish that choice before this moment.
>leaves them the means to escape
>gives them the timeline
>warns them of an attack they need to deal with
Qnd that's before shit like
>refusing to pick up for the Sirens when they imterupt her while having just had a long conversation with Sunset in the same corcumstances
And
>giving more info than she needs to to Sunset so she can set up their victory
She went far enough to get the right reaction, probably internally thanking god for Sunset crying, since it makes the whole act easier, and she knows the hurt will be healed after she leaves and applejack gives up her gift.
Being a tripple agent sure is hard though, huh?
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It's a jab at Political Correctness Gone Mad since Christmas is inherently religious (and Christian in particular).
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Shone.
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This one.
Adagio's loyalty curls like her hair. Every time you think you've found what's really in her head, it's just another layer of floof...
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It’s fair, though. Multiple religions have holidays on that day. But for another point, America is predominantly Christian.
Eh, doesn’t really matter anyway.
I kinda figured it was Aria and Sonata who had controlled the werewolf. It was a bit too convenient that there happened to be a second drone nearby for Twilight to hack.
Oddly enough though, I though Wallflower would be the one Dagi would hep out. Sonata and Aria didn't notice her, but Adagio did, so that would give Adagio and ace-in-the-hole to act as her secret backup. But the scene with Applejack was pretty in-character too.
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t h e r e i s a r e a s o n
Adagio's milking them for information or something it's my only hope at this point. My last, desperate hope.
Ooh, nice way of avoiding Sunset having to narrate her tears.
Oversharing a bit, methinks.
She slipped Applejack some useful item. Please, Adagio, I'm begging you.
Yes! And all the rest was just because she wanted them to act convincingly, but also to know that they had a double-agent on their side, they've hardly even been inconvenienced by this betrayal, no one's dead yet, everything is fine! Fine, you hear!
Exactly!
I just realized that Adagio did her entire speech with a key in her mouth.
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Not quite, but it's subtle.
Way to go Daj! Like a great pirate once said, you can always trust a dishonest person to be dishonest.
And Heroes will do as Heroes do, KILL MONSTERS
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I knew my suspicious squint was on to something!