After being defeated by the Rainbooms, Adagio returns to Equestria, only to discover her true self- and her true self is too much.
The Dazzlings were done for. If the giant alicorn with now SEVEN colors wasn't enough, they got their daily dose of vegetables from an angry crowd. Adagio goes to the portal the next day, there she knows it's still open. With Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk close behind, she was able to get through to find herself. But she can't handle herself anymore.
Adagio Dazzle dismissively walked away from the stage. Or so it seemed.
"Look at it this way," said Sonata Dusk cheerfully. "No one died...!"
I suppose that's true, Adagio thought, only halfheartedly. "It's getting late," she said, looking at her watch, one of the few things that weren't destroyed that belonged to her. She walked away, but not toward home.
The next morning, she noticed a group of six people gathered around the statue. Well, seven if you count that worthless Twilight Sparkle. No matter, she was being sent off. Nonetheless, Adagio watched from the Alleyway. Twilight entered the statue, which sparked an idea. She would go through the statue as well, and gain the minds of Equestria. She waited for the other six to depart, and just as she was ready, Sonata and Aria stopped her.
"Adagio, where ya goin'?" Asked Sonata
"Oh," replied Adagio nonchalantly, "just through this mirror to take over Equestria."
"Cool!" Exclaimed Sonata. "Can we come?"
"Well, it depends on if our banishment is up. Maybe it will." Adagio put a finger in the portal, followed by an hand. The feeling was almost abnormal at first. The Dazzlings got through by a unicorn, and they had to travel back by a mirror now. Adagio looked suspiciously at the statue. Was the banishment really over?
A quick burst of energy which sent her flying back answered this question. Adagio grunted.
"Girls, I have an idea." She grabs the other two girls by the hands. Sonata giggles a bit, while Aria simply exerts a confused look of slight disgust. Adagio gripped them tighter. "Our pendants are no longer with us, but I hope this works. On the count of three, we barge through that portal. Don't let the force of the energy pull you back." Aria didn't know it was possible to have her hand gripped any tighter, but Adagio did just that. She lost all feeling in her hand. Sonata simply stomped her feet, getting ready to run.
"One..."
Sonata got so excited she even started sweating a bit. Her face turned a bright red and she was sprinting in place. Aria just rolled her eyes and sighed. She was almost certain it wouldn't work.
"Two..."
Aria now figured out Adagio was serious. Her look of melancholy boredom turned to a curious look. Sonata just got too excited.
"Three! And... GO- SONATA WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!"
At almost racecar speed, Sonata sprinted in front of everyone else. Aria woke up and sprinted alongside her. Adagio, surprised and confused, ran just as fast, and they ran into the portal. The force of the portal pained the three greatly? They all screamed almost a warcry, and a red aura surrounded them. They entered the portal almost effortlessly from there. It created a shockwave of red, spreading all across Equestria and the human planet.
The portal exploded in the human world, and the three found themselves in Princess Twilight's castle.
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The three landed with a thud, a large one at that. They landed in a pile a books, which seemed to be the only thing there. They looked at their hooves. The plan had worked! So far.
Adagio had almost forgotten her pony form- she was a pegasus, Sonata was an earth pony, and Aria was a unicorn. What dumbfounded her further was the fact they were in a castle of some sort, but it looked nothing like the Crystal Empire's castle. This one looked newer, and if you were to put a mere spec of dust on any of its shiny surfaces, a nervous Twilight Sparkle would dust it vigorously, just as she was now.
"Where should we hide?" Whispered Aria. Adagio noticed the six chairs (and the one small one) off in the distance.
"Those chairs are our best shot. Granted they're a bit far away, I'll bet we can make it." The three suddenly heard a book vibrating. The book was right beside them, and they noticed Sunset Shimmer's cutie mark on it. Their faces turned pale as Twilight Sparkle came trotting towards the book-and them. She had plans to pick up the book while it she was in close range of it.
"Ah! It must be Sunset Shimmer. I hope she's learning more about friendship."
Spike wasn't far behind. "I can't believe she's transformed like this. Honestly, I'm kinda proud of her!"
"Me too. I hope she's doing okay at Canterlot High."
She went to pick up the book, and the Dazzlings were revealed. There was a silent moment of silence had by all, and that turned into a few seconds, half a minute, a whole minute. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. The book continued to vibrate as Sonata started drooling from her mouth being open all the while, and barely aware of anything in Twilight's presence. Aria looked blankly at the alicorn princess, with both eyes fixated on her surprised gaze. Adagio seemed the only one alert and brave enough to say something.
"Yo, Twiley."
More silence. It lasted about two minutes this time, which made Twilight wonder if they were even alive anymore. Probably, she thought, they're alive. But what to do with them? Hiding them is out of the question. I don't wanna make Equestria panic...
Suddenly, a furious Spike, in a burning rage, lashed out on the Dazzlings.
"Just because you're girls doesn't mean I'll go easy on you...!"
"Spike." Twilight glared at the baby dragon, who had managed to get a scratch on Adagio's muzzle.
"After all they've done..."
"Still, don't try and hurt them. Not yet anyway."
"Well," said Adagio nonchalantly, "this has been a fun chat, but we must be going. Now if you'll excuse us, we have somewhere to be."
"Psst!" Sonata leaned towards Adagio. "Where do we have to be?"
"...LET'S JUST GO!"
"You girls aren't going anywhere." She used her horn to cast upon them a cage made of iron, which gleamed and illuminated the room when light came in contact with it.
"Let us out!" Adagio screamed, but it was all in vain upon Twilight's reply.
Princess Celestia stared, dumbfounded, at the three villians. "OH. MY. ME. How is this possible, getting through the mirror after Starswirl banished you? Explain yourself before you force me to do the unthinkable to you."
"I don't know," scoffed Aria sarcastically. "Go through the portal yourself, you cake eating mudface. Maybe kill yourself while you're at it, do all of Equestria a favor."
Sonata gave her a look that screamed, "You're dead. I'll say something nice at your funeral." The facial expression she gave Aria was a quite peculiar sight to behold.
This made Celestia fume with seething anger. It was a small wonder that she retaliated by throwing one of her most hostile spells, the Magic Blood Slicer, one of the most devastatingly powerful spells in Equestria. But Aria merely sighed and deflected it using her own magic.
"How... how were you able to deflect that spell? Only the most powerful unicorns and alicorns can do that!"
"And Sirens," Aria snapped back.
Celestia gave up attacking, and it was a fortunate thing as well- Twilight had just arrived in the room. Celestia inquired why she had left.
"I was speaking with Sunset Shimmer." She turned to the Sirens, flashing a disgusted grimace at them as she did so. "She says she saw SOMEpony charge through the statue."
"So they HAVE seen us." Adagio's mind was already at work. Her plan was to get through the statue undetected, but that didn't go over so well.
"She says she's on her way here."
Celestia gasped, adopting an expression of utter shock. "You sent her... she's coming here... on her way... WHAT?!?"
"I couldn't say no. After all, she's changed since you last saw her." Celestia sighed, turning her muzzle up in the air. Twilight kept trying to convince her that Sunset Shimmer had reformed her ways, but it seemed to be in vain. "Fine," she grunted. "Just see for yourself."
It was about then that Sunset Shimmer entered through the mirror, and was greeted with a look of borrow by the princesses. She definitely was a sight for sore eyes- her mane was frizzled from excessive travel, even though it was a few mere seconds. Her face was practically green from motion sickness, and she stumbled about the mirror room, trying desperately to adjust to four hooves. Twilight dismissively said, "Yeah, mirror travel can be a hassle if you haven't been through in a while." Celstia kept looking at Sunset Shimmer, shooting a suspicious look in her direction, causing Sunset Shimmer so grimace sheepishly in her presence.
"Princess." Sunset bowed down to the floor, looking up after a few seconds, and noticing she was still giving her a skeptical expression.
"Princess?"
"Sunset Shimmer." She said, acknowledging her existence, but seemingly doing nothing more.
"Princess," Twilight warned, "we should be more acceptant of Sunset Shimmer. She has changed, after all."
Still the princess was skeptical, and showed her feelings with a suspicious glare that seemed to terrify everypony in her vision. Adagio found it necessary to talk. No, she found it necessary to blabber. And she proved she was good at blabbering.
"We're still here, Princess. But then, only ponies under your control would ever dare to call you a princess. You're a useless, pathetic little filly tyrant who, as Aria recommended, should kill yourself immediately. So go and make a Equestria happy and do just that, okay?"
It was not Princess Celestia who lashed out in burning rage. It was Sunset Shimmer. A Sunset Shimmer seething with hatred and violence. She used her most powerful spell on Adagio. Only things didn't go as planned.
The Sirens, as you might remember, feed on hatred and unfriendly competition. Adagio sensed hatred in Sunset. No, all three sensed it. So when Sunset fired her spell at them- they quite literally ate it. But then, the red burst of dark magical energy spread across Equestria and the human world once more. The three turned violently into the three Sirens they once were, and broke the cage in doing so. Twilight was stunned with horror. No matter how many times Celestia told her to get back, and ready her horn, she stayed planted in an almost stone like state, looking wide eyed at the Sirens. The Sirens took their advantage on the alicorn. They combined to form a large blade which echoed out of their heads. The blade, aimed at Twilight, lunged forward, striking her in the torso. Blood spurt all over the room, getting on Sunset and Princess Celestia as well. From there, the blade kept stabbing her in the same place over and over. Tears formed in Twilight's eyes, and streamed down her blood ridden face. She was alive, but barely. She let out a small, soft whimper as the blade exited her stab wound. Bone and veins were quite visible from the front, making Sunset scream with horror. Twilight fell to the ground, with only a millimeter of life left.
All over Equestria, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash started whimpering themselves.
Obviously a disturbance was sensed.
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Celestia stared in horror as a bloodied Twilight laid motionless on the floor. A pool of blood quickly formed around her.
"We have to do something!" Yelled Sunset Shimmer. "She'll bleed out and die if we don't hurry!"
"But we'll be crushed by the Sirens!"
Sunset Shimmer looked at Celestia with overflowing tears. "I DON'T CARE."
Celestia sensed her sincerity, and went to help Twilight.
"You think you can help that fool?" Asked Sonata, chuckling with almost uncontrollable insanity. "Be our guest, she looks pretty dead to me."
Sunset, with a shaky, weak voice, rebelled. "We will help her. And we WILL defeat you as many times as it takes."
Sonata looked at Sunset as if she was crazy, as did Aria and Adagio. Adagio raised her blade to finish off the remaining two. But as the quickly lowered her blade, it bounced back- Celestia shielded Sunset while she tried to heal her almost incurable wounds. The strike on the shield took out all her magical energy, and as a result all her physical energy as well. The healing was almost over, and Twilight was able to speak with a few small whimpers. Sunset's tears mixed in with the blood that drew back into the body of Twilight. Normally this would've not done anything. But it created a magic inside the princess, unnoticeable to them at the moment.
Twilight remained on the floor, uttering small, horrified whimpers. Sunset Shimmer, standing over Twilight, simply uttered a few words that stunned the Sirens.
"If you want my life, you can have it." She looked at Twilight, then Princess Celestia, who lied on the floor as well, drained of all energy. "But if you mean to kill Twilight or Celestia, then I swear on my human world I will fight you to the death." The Sirens remained in their spot, shocked. Nonetheless, they raised their blade, readying their attack, while Sunset got her horn ready. She had meant what she said.
The blade fell down on the unicorn. She tried her best to deflect it. It was successful, but barely. The blade tried to break the surface of the shield, but it was useless. The blade flew back, and in doing so punctured the Sirens. Adagio screamed in pain, for it had hit her. Blood spilled out of the wound, and Sunset Shimmer took care of the other two. Almost involuntarily, she emitted a rainbow, but not just any rainbow. It contained the colors white, yellow, pink, purple, blue, orange, and red.
Red.
It reduced the Sirens to their pony form again, which left Adagio in tears. Not tears of sadness. Tears of anger. Instead of attacking, she spread her wings and sped off, leaving a trail of blood as she went. Sonata and Aria were left behind, looking at each other awkwardly.
A new element.
Twilight opened her eyes, and, however weakly, stood up, her legs wobbling. She repeated her thought out loud. "A new element." She looked wonderingly and afraid at Sunset Shimmer.
A new element.
The voice echoed through Pinkie Pie's head.
The voice echoed through Rainbow Dash's head.
The voice echoed through Rarity's had.
The voice echoed through Applejack's head.
The voice echoed though Fluttershy's head.
The voice echoed through Sunset Shimmer's head.
A new element.
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Sunset Shimmer helped up Celestia. Weakly, she managed to stand up, taking into account the 'new element' that was in place now. Twilight started to utter a few words.
"What... element?"
Celestia looked at Twilight. "You must name this element yourself. We've never had an Element of Harmony before that appeared after the main Elements appeared."
Twilight thought of Sunset when she first encountered her. She thought of her when she admitted she knew nothing about friendship. She thought of her when she saved the Rainbooms from the Sirens for the first time. Then she thought of her when she first encounted her again. Before, she was a bully who didn't know any better. Now...
Twilight knew what element she was destined to represent. "Sunset Shimmer," she said hoarsely, walking toward her, ready for a hug. "You must represent the element of Forgiveness."
Princess Celestia looked at her wonderingly, with a smile on her face. "Because...?"
"When friends make a mistake, a true friend will forgive you for your mistake. Sunset Shimmer taught me that just because someone seems like a mean bully on the outside, that doesn't mean they're mean on the inside. They may just be lost because they don't know friendship and what it is yet."
Twilight smiled, closed her eyes, and all over Equestria, the Mane Six were suddenly in the room as well.
"Whoa!" Exclaimed Sonata, "Is that what those Rainbooms look like here? Awesome!"
"What the heck happened?" Asked Applejack, wiping extra bits of hay from her back and mane. "I was working in the barn, and suddenly I'm teleported here!"
"Yeah," said Rainbow Dash, eyeing at Sunset Shimmer. "And who's that?"
Twilight remembered that the other five ponies never actually got a look at her. "This is Sunset Shimmer." She wrapped a hoof around her.
"What?!?" Rarity screamed. "That horrid monster who stole your crown?" Sunset Shimmer adopted a glum face at this comment.
"Turn her into cupcakes!" Yelled Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash cringed, then flew to a corner to cry her eyes out.
Twilight remained there calmly. Fluttershy looked at Sunset. "She doesn't seem so... bad."
"She isn't," Twilight replied, trying to restrain Pinkie from her efforts to chop her horn off. The mere sight of it sent Rainbow Dash into a fit of hysteria. "It's a long story, I assure you."
"Does that explain the voice in our heads, and all of us being teleported here?" Asked Rarity, edging towards Sunset.
"It does, she's in fact a new element."
Pinkie Pie ceaced her bout of rage on Sunset, blushing as she backed away. She asked, "How is that even possible?"
She explained the adventures in the human world. Sonata corrected her when she exaggerated, but she was in fact jealous.
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Adagio cried as she sped through Ponyville, but she was headed to Canterlot, and that was her only goal.
Upon her arrival, she trotten angrily and weakly to the castle. To her, Celestia was dead. The guards tried to stop her, and ask where she was headed. She answered with a punch from her hoof and then her wing. The guard were out cold despite their helmets and armor. She stomped defiantly down the hall. The blood trail was gone by the time she entered the room to see Celestia munching on some cake in a banana costume. "I'M A BANANA, I'M A BANA-" She stopped, almost throwing up her cake. A bit exited her mouth. Strawberry cake. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Adagio Dazzle wasted no time knocking her out and kicking her in the head.
It wasn't long before Luna entered the room. She looked confused and afraid at the same time. Once she recognized her, she dashed towards her, using her Magic Blood Slicer. But it was too late. Celestia lay motionless on the floor. Luna felt her neck for a pulse. It wasn't normal, but it was there. Luna turned to Adagio. "I won't watch my sister die again." She shed a tear as she remembered how she almost killed her sister when she assumed the role of Nightmare Moon in a jealous rage. "You will die." She readied her horn and spread her wings. She was serious.
Luna prepared herself. Adagio readied herself as well. Despite being a pegasus on her own without her only friends, she wouldn't go down without a fight, even if it meant she hung on the thin thread of death for a whole year.
"Go ahead," said Adagio, spreading her wings. "Do your worst. Killing you will be easy."
Luna nodded at her, and her eyes turned into a bright white, illuminating her crown. She grew, her legs, her hooves; her teeth turned into sharp pointers. Her mane turned a darker blue. She had turned into Nightmare Moon. "You will fall."
"No I won't," she rebelled, almost lying through her teeth. "Come at me before I come at you, and you'll regret tha-" Nightmare Moon kicked her in the side, the area where her wound was. Blood spilled out, and part of her rib was now sticking out.
"That was just a kick," said Nightmare Moon matter-of-factly. "If I had used my Moon Rain, you would be everywhere." She paused. "Literally, your whole self will be exploded. Everywhere."
A once brave Adagio Dazzle turned into a nervous, sweating, agonized wreck. She wanted to flee, to escape and try to heal. But if a kick caused that much damage...
Wait.
Adagio sensed something in Luna. Was it... hatred? Yes, it was. She sensed it, plain as day. She fed off of the hatred towards her just as the princess charged towards her. When she was only a few feet away, she fell to the floor, and returned to her Princess Luna form. "What are you doing? What is this magic?"
"Think twice next time you feel hate towards me. Think." She sped off, leaving an enraged Princess Luna trying to get her back.
"Let her go," said Celstia, standing up, taking off her tattered banana costume. "If my predictions are correct..."
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Twilight and the others meanwhile tidied the castle up once more, putting the books in their correct shelves, and wiping excess blood off of surfaces and ponies.
"I'm really sorry," Sunset Shimmer said sadly as she straightened the books on a shelf. "I was just so... power crazed. I didn't see what I was getting myself into."
"Oh, that's okay. We forgive you," said Fluttershy warmly. "We can show you about friendship."
"That's right!" Yelled Rainbow Dash excitedly, who had recovered from Pinkie Pie's cupcakes threat towards Sunset.
Twilight went up the stairs to what looked like her bedroom.
