Into The Heart of Darkness

by Milliardo5

I. A Growing Darkness

Canterlot High. It had been a few months since Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms had faced Adagio. From that time on no one had heard from her, not even Aria or Crescenda. The two had decided to continue on as the Dazzlings even without Adagio, though they also had formed a friendship with the Rainbooms in her absence.

It was almost time for Canterlot High’s yearly fair. The fair marked Canrterlot High’s anniversary, and for the school it was a time of festivities. That was still a little bit a long way off though, which gave the students and faculty time to prepare.

“Looks like our band will be playing for the fair”, Sunset said at lunch time as she passed the school fair announcements around.

“This is still a long way off”, Applejack said as she read it. “Why are they announcing it when it’s still 3 months away?”

“Maybe to have us prepare”, Fluttershy answered.

“Well, that seems to be the reason”, agreed Rainbow Dash as she continued to look at it.

“There’ll be lots of food!” Sonata said excitedly as she and Pinkie eagerly read it.

“Yes, lots of it!” Pinkie said just as gleefully.

“And I can show off my latest fashion to the visitors coming over”, Rarity said, anticipating the number of people that will be there.

“So, what do you think we should play for the fair”, Sunset asked, waiting for their suggestions.

“Something that would definitely show what our school is!” Rainbow Dash said, standing up.

“That’ll be neat, but we need a solid set”, Sunset told them.

“Four songs, at least”, nodded Rarity.

“No, four would be more than enough”, corrected Sunset. “We don’t want to miss out on the fair too much.”

“Maybe we can ask Aria and Crescenda to come up with their numbers”, Fluttershy said as a suggestion, and Sunset agreed.

“Good suggestion there”, she said. “Let’s meet them later to get their inputs.” Aria and Crescenda were part of the Dazzlings, one time rivals but now had turned into allies. Sonata as well was once part of their group, but was taken out earlier. Now she’s part of the Rainbooms. The Dazzlings though were still missing one member, Adagio, who has not been seen since she and Sunset faced off a few months back.

They hurried to finish their lunch before preparing for their classes in the afternoon.

After school they met at the music room. The Dazzlings were there waiting for them when they arrived. After exchanging greetings, they all sat down and began their discussion about the school fair.

“So, we first play our set and then you’ll follow”, Sunset told them while they’re discussing what songs to play for the fair.

“Guess we’ll sing as a duet”, Aria said, and Crescenda agreed. Aside from being friends now, the two of them had also been taking some vocal lessons with Rarity. Their progress was good, and Aria in particular had gotten her confidence back into singing.

“It’s too bad Adagio isn’t here”, she added, feeling sad about it.

“You still haven’t found her?” Applejack asked, and Aria shook her head.

“That’s a long time for her to be gone”, Applejack added.

“We could help you out more in your search”, Sunset said. Although they had been helping them out, they couldn’t do it full time since they were also busy with school. Aria just smiled though.

“You’ve done enough for us”, she said to her.

“Just tell us if ever you’ll need us”, Applejack reminded them. They decided to end their meeting then. Sunset and Sonata had to go home to finish the articles they were to submit for the online magazine they worked for. Pinkie had promised her sister, Maud to help her out. The others had their own matters to attend to, so they went out Canterlot High together before going their separate ways.

For a long time she brooded. She didn’t know how long had she been in the house of that scientist. Was it three months? Perhaps a little bit more. She didn’t really count her stay there. But she just wandered there after leaving what she then considered her group’s quarters.

Adagio Dazzle had never returned to Canterlot High, and by some unseen force, by an unknown hand she somehow came upon the house of the scientist only known as Dr. Smurge. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant name, though it wasn’t necessarily ugly, either. She didn’t even know why she was there or what led her too. She just felt that, somehow, she belonged there.

Dr. Smurge wasn’t evil; far from it, he provided her with food and shelter. But he was eccentric, and had been working on a formula that he claimed if it were taken by those with ill intent might have dire consequences. She listened with intent, feigning to have little interest in it. Secretly though she sought ways to get that formula. But first she had to learn more what it was, so she carried on the deception by playing like the good girl he thought she was.

She had been more open about her ambitions, but slowly she was learning something else: on her own, she was learning that she could manipulate without the pendant, and in fact be deceptive enough to hide her true intentions. And that was what she did—play the good girl while all along waiting for the moment to strike. She found it delicious.

After that night when she nearly fell off the edge, she had decided on one thing: be cold, but not showing it until the right time. Slowly she began her fall, headlong, into a darkness she had never known before. Her fall can be seen best when she crafts her plans, alone, looking to see what would work best.

She had not forgotten—far from it—she had not forgotten Sunset Shimmer, and how she was played around. She will have her revenge, she vowed. And when she’s done with her, she will let everyone know who truly ruled.

It was truly by sheer luck that she had been there; Dr. Smurge had been so eccentric that he refused to go out, preferring to raise crops in his backyard for food. Every now and then he had meat delivered to him. For Adagio the setup couldn’t have been more perfect—now, undisturbed, she can plan the fall of the Rainbooms, starting with Sunset Shimmer.

Her mind was truly consumed by much anger and vengeance that no other thing filled her thought, and that has taken over her life. A darkness, like a pall, had fallen over her, and it disturbed her not. She instead reveled in it, letting it fill her entire being.

“Thanks for coming over!” Sonata’s voice was absolutely filled with happiness as she saw Aria and Crescends arrive at Sunset’s house. She had asked if the two of them can sleep over for the weekend, and Sunset agreed for as long as they wouldn’t cause much disturbance to her.

“Sunny’s in her room”, she said as she welcomed them in. She’ll be down in a minute once she’s finished with her article.” While she was getting some drinks for them, Aria looked around. The house was adequate: it wasn’t big or small, bust just enough.

“So how are you two managing here?” she asked Sonata.

“Oh, we have an online job”, she replied as she went out and gave them drinks. “She’s been nice to me, like they all have. We share in whatever we need to pay.” Aria nodded. She conceded that their setup was okay.

“Let me show you my room”, Sonata offered after they finished their refreshments. They went up to her room. When they reached it, Aria and Crescenda peeked in.

“It’s okay to go in”, Sonata invited as she turned on the light. Since the time they both got a job, Sonata and Sunset had bought a used laptop for her, and also had wi-fir for the house. Sonata also had a small flat screen TV and a small dock to put her mp3 player.

“Where would we sleep?” Aria asked, noticing that there was only one bed. Sonata indicated the floor, at which Aria became indignant.

“You’d let us sleep there?” she huffed, at which Sonata only giggled.

“Of course not, silly”, she said as she went to the cabinet and pulled out a larger large sleeping bag. “Of course you’ll need this!” Aria just shook her head.

“I swear, sometimes I wonder if it’s true what they say that you’re being dim is all just an act”, she said. Sonata stopped arranging the sleeping bag and stared at her, but Aria merely smiled.

“So, that’s how you two get along”, Crescenda noted, then she turned to Sonata. “She tells me that you two always have this little quarrel. Personally I think you two have a nice way of bonding.”

“We have?” Sonata responded, thinking what actual bond she and Aria had. Aria just face palmed and shook her head.

“Really now, Sonata”, she said in reaction, though she looked at her and smiled after that. Sunset got out of her room just then and peeked in. She gave a little wave when she saw Aria and Crescenda.

“How are you doing there?” she asked them.

“We’re getting along, if you can call it that”, Aria said jokingly.

“We’re fine here”, Sonata chirped in her usual, jovial self. Sunset smiled.

‘That’s great to see. I’ll drop in later after I finish my work in the room”, she declared.

“You have work at this time of night?” Aria said with disbelief.

:”Just a few I have to submit for the day”, Sunset explained briefly.

“We work for an online magazine”, Sonata added.

“I’ll join you later once I’m done”, Sunset waved then and returned to her room. The three continued arranging the sleeping bad.

“It’s big enough for three”, observed Sonata as they unfolded it and laid it on the floor. She got her pillows from the bed and put them on the sleeping bag. “We’re all set”, she said once the pillows were there.

The three of them sat on the sleeping bag to talk. It was a Friday night, and so they had the whole night to talk about things. Sonata and Aria recounted to Crescenda how it was when they were with Adagio. Sometimes with nostalgia, sometimes with regret they told her their story. Sunset joined in after submitting her articles.

Aria then took her smart phone out and played the video of them during the Battle of the Bands as well as their audition. They watched in hushed silence.

Then Aria spoke, in almost a whisper, “We were so good then…” Sunset nodded. Vocally they were good, even though it was mostly through the help of their magical pendants. Still, what the pendants did were to only enhance their voices; as Sonata came to realize, all along they had the voice to sing. They just became too reliant on the pendants to realize that.

“You do miss that”, Sunset observed as Aria turned off her smart phone after viewing the videos.

“I can’t say I don’t”, admitted Aria. “But spending some time with you guys have also made me see that there’s another way to things.”

“As there always is”, agreed Sunset, recalling her own past and how she turned around. “But what about Adagio? Have you heard from her?” she asked them, changing the subject a bit. Aria and Crescenda shook their heads.

“Ever since you fought her, we haven’t seen her”, Crescenda said. “And we’ve looked everywhere.” This troubled Sunset, though she didn’t voice out her concern to them yet.

“I’m wondering…why not have our group join yours?” Aria said, looking hopefully at Sunset. She mulled at that for a moment.

“Now that’s a thought. We’d better discuss this with them when we meet,” Sunset suggested.

They talked a little bit more before Sunset announced that she was going to sleep. The others agreed to take a rest as well. Sunset went back to her room, and the three prepared to sleep.

Adagio spent her days trying to serve Dr. Smurge, careful not to give anything away about her true intentions. She played her part well as the good girl, trying to be obedient while at the same time plotting for the right time for her to take the formula Dr. Smurge was talking about. She was also attentive to every word he said, especially when it came to that one.

Like a hunter she waited, patiently watching for her prey for any sign that he would slip up. She was careful as well not to ask too many questions, as it might arouse his suspicion. Instead she kept her eyes and ears for anything that might give a clue as to what it was.

And then she had snagged it. Dr. Smurge needed her to assist him in some experiments he was to do with some lab mice. It was the opportunity she had long been waiting for. Quietly she took small samples of the formula, which was on the table, just enough for Dr. Smurge to not notice. After carefully taking a few, she replaced the formula back to where she took it.

“Please put some drops of that formula on the mice’s food dish,” the doctor told her. Obediently she did so, putting just enough of it into the dish, careful to put the amount that Dr. Smurge had prescribed. They waited for a few moments, until the mice began to stir in a strange way. The two watched in fascination as the mice began to act differently now.

Slowly, the mice began to display an increase in speed and agility. They seemed to have strength as well, much more so than regular mice. Dr. Smurge was reluctant, but Adagio could see how this would benefit her. She had found what she was looking for, and wondered what would happen if more was added.

“This…this would not be safe at all to use,” Dr. Smurge said, taking the formula from the table and putting it back into the cabinet, which he then locked. “I think it is a mistake for me to go into this,” he added, looking at her as he said that.

“Do you think that it would be dangerous?” Adagio asked him, partly out of curiosity and partly out of anticipation as to what she could potentially do with it. Dr. Smurge nodded gravely.

“I wouldn’t want that to get into the wrong hands,” he explained to her. “It might be of great use if done right, but I cannot take the chance of having it fall into someone who has the wrong intent.”

“I see…” Adagio said in a thoughtful tone, and Dr. Smurge laughed.

“Don’t you worry, Adagio,” he said to her. “We are safe here for as long as that formula is locked. I trust you so far,” he remarked then, looking into her eyes. “You’ve been a good companion, ever since that night you came here.” It was, after all, part of Adagio’s deception: to be like a good girl, and she played it up very well so far. Dr. Smurge hasn’t suspected a thing.

As soon as she was alone in her room though, she took out the vial that contained the samples. She chuckled gleefully while she looked at it.

“Of course, I wouldn’t use it at once. Not yet now,” she said as she put the vial into her drawer. “There will be time enough for that, once I collect more.” She then began to think of a way for Dr. Smurge to take out the formula again, for her to get more of it.

After their sleepover, the Dazzlings and Sunset had become closer. Not as close as she was with the Rainbooms, but she was confident that she could trust them when the time comes. Sonata and the Dazzlings were in one table over at the cafeteria, chatting animatedly when she passed them by. Sonata greeted her with a wave, and she went over to them.

“We’ll be right over near you,” Sunset said to them, pointing at a place just a few tables ahead. It was still empty, but she was on her way there with the tray that she had in her hand.

“It would be great to have the two groups together!” Sonata said with delight, and Sunset agreed. She went over then to the table, and waited for the others to arrive. Canterlot High’s anniversary was drawing closer, and that’s all that the school could talk about. She was so caught up in it as the others were. Soon the others came, and the chatter began in earnest.

“The two groups together?” Applejack said in disbelief as Sunset told them the plans the Dazzlings made at the sleepover. “I don’t know…we’re already a lot as it is.”

“That would even be better for us, darling,” Rarity commented. “We could use more people.”

“Yeah, the more the merrier, as they say,” Rainbow Dash agreed.

“Having them in would be even more fun!” Pinkie said with a flourish.

“Of course, our bands would still be separate,” Sunset added. “That’s the only thing that would be apart. Otherwise…”

“So what would be the group’s name?” Applejack asked, still not completely sold by the idea. She was right, Sunset asked herself, what would be a good name? She didn’t contemplate on that yet. She motioned for Sonata and the Dazzlings to come to their table.

“One thing’s for sure, we’ll be a lot crowded,” Fluttershy said as she glanced at the table.

“So, let’s discuss how this would go,” Applejack opened as soon as they were standing near them.

“I think we all agree that as far as the bands go, we’re still separate,” Sunset said, and everyone agreed on that.

“So aside from that, we’re one big group?” Aria wanted to know.

“I think that’s definitely it,” Rainbow Dash said.

“You can then hang out with us any time in the Music Room after classes,” Sunset added to them.

“So what is this darlings, a joint venture or merger then?” Rarity asked, and everyone just looked at her.

“Rarity, this isn’t all about business!” Applejack said, with a bit of an exaggerated exasperation.

“I guess that settles it up then,” Crescenda said. “Now all we really have to do is have a name.” Everyone went silent about that, thinking of what could be a proper name for the combined groups.

“I think we should leave that up until next time,” Sunset suggested. “What is important is that we have the two groups as one.” Everyone nodded with that arrangement.

“So let’s party!” Pinkie shouted, throwing up her arms. Everyone just groaned as she started celebrating along with Sonata.

Later that night, Sunset thought about how it would be a new day for the Rainbooms and Dazzlings, combining the two groups into one. Certainly they could do much more as one group, though there was bound to be some confusion as well along the way. She can’t help but smile at how far they’ve come since they first met the Sonata and the others. Still, she was troubled by Adagio not being there with them. She felt that it wouldn’t be complete somehow without her, though she also had a nagging feeling that Adagio wouldn’t want to have any part in the group anyway.

Aria’s words still haunted her, how she described Adagio’s state when they left her. Aria can’t explain it clearly, though from what she said it frightened her as to what Adagio might have become…

Comments

[Milliardo5]

Note again on this: my stories here are all pre-Friendship Games, so that's why ScITwi isn't here. When I first wrote "If Sins Be Forgiven..." Friendship Games wasn't around yet, or I think it was still coming at that time. So think of the stories here as an alternate reality, a 'what if' as it is. I might rework them somewhere down the line in order to fit in more with how Equestria Girls is now, but might also mean doing much revisions to my works.