Radiotrophicby FussbudgetChaptersSonataAriaAdagioSunsetEpilogueSonataThe trunk was even warmer than the outside, and full of dust, too! I couldn’t believe I’d actually waited around for this guy on the side of the road, and let him tie my arms up and tape my mouth shut and everything, and I still didn’t get the backseat. And I kept banging my head! Well, okay, it didn’t hurt when I banged my head, it mostly made me sleepy - it would have to be a magic trunk to really hurt, and who’s ever heard of those? But I still would’ve liked the ups and downs more if I’d sat in the backseat. They remind me more of the waves when I’m not laying down. My waves, I mean. I grew up when these two upstart princesses got ahold of the moon, and they knew how to make some waves. The tempo’s all wonky here. The car was cool, though. I don’t want to seem like a total downer, cus then I’d feel all old. A couple people have asked, but I don’t know how old I am. The people who kept track of what year it is changed their minds a few times since we got here. Plus sometimes we take a break from walking around places and sleep in the ocean for a while, and when we wake up it’s always different. I know I’m way older than cars, though. And sandwiches. And a bunch of other stuff too. Everything’s so alive on the land, I still feel like a stranger sometimes. There’s Cajun barbecue, and ski resorts, and there are sounds whenever anybody moves, and sometimes people even go hungry! Makes me miss the Dreamer. When the guy who kidnapped me - I never got his name, I’m pretty sure Aria knew it - stopped and opened the trunk, he looked super grim and hairy, and he pointed a gun at me. He rumbled like a bear when he talked, but he was dark purple instead of brown. His aura was like one of those spotted dogs, covered in big patches of evil. “Stand up.” he said. “Mmhm!” I said back through the gag, pretending to be scared. He backed up enough for me to wriggle in the right direction, and I swung my legs out one at a time. It was a nice neighborhood, same as anywhere except for the gate and the spaces between the houses - everyone had a mondo yard, and there were some thick woods behind them all. There were a couple porches with lights on, but mostly the stars were out. What I noticed first, though, was that the air didn’t smell like salt, and that annoyed me more than the whole ride, cus I knew now I’d get to the others too late to have any fun. Plus it’s way easier for dealing with the body. I had to leave this one there, and I’m cool with honest mistakes, but that’s just sloppy. I hope Juniper never found out. But anyway, he pointed the gun at me again and said, “Run and I shoot. If you do everything I tell you to, you can still go home tonight. No tricks, no funny business.” The gun was dirty. I don’t think he knew how to clean it. My hands were still zip-tied behind me, and the gag was still on, so he could’ve shot me with it, but then he’d freak out that it didn’t do anything and it’d get way too tricky to deal with him, I guess unless he had magic bullets or something. So I nodded, and he spun me around and pushed me toward his house. His grass was tall and scratchy with big clumps of dirt piling up everywhere, and when I came too close to the front door he grumbled “Around the side.” He was right behind me, but I couldn’t feel the gun even though I could smell his breath. (Boiled eggs.) I wondered what it was like, getting shot, and then he pushed me again so I’d hurry up. The side door swung open the second I touched it, and the hinge made a nasty sound where a lock was supposed to be. The screen for keeping bugs out had a ton of holes chewed in it, and inside was a kitchen, another room past it with a couch and a TV, and a turn into a hallway. Anyone could’ve broken in, but I guess that was the point for him. Once I’d gotten inside he stepped in, shut the door and flipped on the lights. He was more relaxed once he’d pushed me onto the couch, and his finger wasn’t on the trigger anymore. “Now, I’m gonna put you somewhere you can’t make any trouble for me, and then we’re gonna talk about what you have to do to leave here tonight. No sudden moves, no screaming. No one can hear you, and no one’s coming. Just take this one step at a time and you’ll still go home tonight.” I nodded, he did too, and then he did the darnedest thing and ripped the gag off! I swear, I almost started a giggle fit right there over how easy it all turned out. I tried to get the tape taste off my lips instead. “Bleh.” I said. “You’re going into the basement now. It’s at the end of that hallway,” he pointed with the gun, “And there’s a lock. You’re going to unlock it very slowly and then walk down the stairs until you reach the bottom. Go.” “Okay!” I said. “But one thing, though.” “What?” And then I was like “Juniper sends her regards!” And I jumped on him. If I still had all my magic, it would only take a little singing. He was only one guy. But since the accident a few months back, we’d all had to do it the hard way, and that meant holding them down. My hands were behind my back, but I practiced snapping them over my head for, like, a year, so I brought them down on his head while I landed on him. It was way awesomer than it sounds. I put a knee on his gun arm, but he started shooting anyway, and when it didn’t do anything he kept it up until he ran out of bullets. I punched him in the neck until he stopped, and then I sang until all the negative energy started coughing itself out of him. There was so much evil in him the rest clung to it, and the second his eyes went grey his whole soul popped out of his mouth. It tasted like the white stuff on rotten berries, but I didn’t try to keep it down long. No, after a half-minute in my second stomach, I spat it back up as a tiny red glass sliver. Negativity, clarified like butter. It was only a teensy bit of a full amulet, though, nothing like the kind of power we could’ve taken from a whole school of kids covered in leaking magic - that kind of power could’ve brought people back from the dead. This was just putting stuff back together, not that hard in comparison, but still annoying. I had to take down a warlord the last time mine got broke, and Adagio had worked with some mafia or other to earn hers back once. ...I never thought about it before, but I don’t think Aria’s ever lost hers. Once I’d put his evil in my pocket, I figured I didn’t have much time until the police showed up for the gunshots, so I dragged the body into the first bedroom in the hallway, took his keys and shut the door. Then I went down the hall door by door until I found the one with a deadbolt, and I went downstairs. It was a pretty nasty basement, but it was dark enough that I could see everything without my eyes always adjusting. Concrete walls, that fuzzy crackly yellow cloud stuff they stick in the walls, heaters, laundry stuff. Rosemary looked almost exactly like her picture, teal with wide eyes, and she was handcuffed to a metal beam with food and water laid out in front of her. She was staring, and shaking, but her aura was resilient. Kids usually have a little bit of magic in them. “Rosemary?” I asked from a little way away. She didn’t talk for a moment. “Is he coming back?” “No. I’ve sent him away forever and ever, and I’m going to save you. Your mama sent me to-” “M-mama?” I put on a super big smile. “Uh-huh! You wanna go see her?” She started nodding and struggling, and she was crying really loud. I could’ve left her the police, they could’ve brought her home after a while, but no kid needs that. I guess it’s because I know what it feels like, to be in a scary wrong place without my mama. “Shh, shhhh.” I said, and I hummed while I worked through the keychain. By the time I’d opened it, she was asleep, and I carried her up the stairs. * * * “Is she safe?” Juniper asked. I could hear she hadn’t been sleeping. “You betcha! We’re at the gas station, corner of Crescent and Windfree.” I said, and then covered the receiver while the police cars whooshed by. When they pulled the security footage they’d see me climbing the gate holding something, but that’d take some time and I’d be gone before tomorrow. “I’ll be right there, don’t move.” she said, and hung up. Rose woke up in a chair next to me while I was making a burrito in the station’s microwave and thinking about becoming a trucker. She looked lost, but I sang a little to her on the way and eased off some of the negativity before it scabbed. “I dreamed of you.” she said. “I dreamed we could fly. He’s… he’s gone?” “Forever and ever and ever.” I said, and the microwave beeped. She paused while I fiddled with the door, and then asked “Did it hurt?” I smiled at her, crouched a little and handed her the spicy treasure. “Like hell.” She smiled back and dug in, and I knew she’d be just fine. When Juniper showed up, she was crying and she nearly smacked me in the face with her payment envelope. As soon as it was out of her hand, she scooped up Rose and the two started hugging it out. “Thank you, thank you so so mu--” she choked up, and then she couldn’t open her eyes for a while. “Aw, shucks, it was nothing.” I said. I was blushing a little. They gave me a ride to the boardwalk, and I got to enjoy the waviness the right way. When I got out of the car I high-fived Rose, and just like that - wham, bam, thank you ma’am - it was another job finished. * * * Of course, as soon as I got down the boardwalk and to the spot they’d picked, they were almost ready to leave. Both of them were in beach chairs. Aria was pretending to be asleep, and Adagio was reading a book with her glasses on. I used to know how to do that, but after a while I gave up on it, and now that anyone can make a record of themselves talking and send that to anybody they know, there’s no excuse for writing little squiggly lines to say things. Talking in other languages is way more fun, anyway, and singing’s best of all, which is why we could all speak twenty-eight languages and sing most of the rest. “Did it work out?” Adagio asked, while the tide flowed around her. I was starting to pick up the buzz. “Uh-huh. The kid’s fine, but we shouldn’t stick around too long, they’ll get footage of me leaving probably.” Aria groaned, her eyes shut so hard she looked angry. “Good thing you showed up just now, then,” Adagio said. “Because we’re just about to head out on our way. Didn’t want to leave you behind.” “Aw!” I protested. “I need some R&R too! And I just did all the work!” “Don’t worry,” Aria grumbled, “We’ll make Adagio do the next one.” “Me? Have you ever done one?” “I do intelligence. Without me we wouldn’t have any jobs in the first place.” “Yeah, right.” Adagio snorted, and that was it. Normally they’d get into it for a while, but it just… fizzled. Hard for us to stay mad after a turkey dinner. I should say beaches here are different than the ones in Equestria. Back home, we’d have to swim around to feed even if we didn’t have fins, cus all of the juiciest negativity’s being thrown off by the Dreamer. The further down anybody goes, the thicker it gets, until no one can get through, but it’s totally like cotton candy except no one ever gets tired of it. My whole herd ate it from the day we hatched, and the stuff we didn’t eat crystallized into krakens and sea-snakes and megalodons and ate some of us back. Not perfect, but what home-turf is? But here? No Dreamer. All the energy’s baked into the sand, broken glass and litter and nasty infections and dead stuff. It’s spread out so far that making an amulet of it would take years and years, but gosh it felt good to let it into my pores. At least, for a moment, while they were packing up. Then, with dawn coming soon, we all had to get back in the car, and head out of town on another of Aria’s tips. AriaKnow what pisses me off? Everyone thinks this whole stupid county just cleans itself. Nobody stops and thinks “Wow, this place is really clean, I bet someone’s out there keeping it that way.” No, they just think it’s because of how special and pure they are. The ended up getting magic, too, so I bet they’re going to keep blabbing about how awesome the school is until their little mortal mouths fall off. This is how cults start. No, the reason there’s no crime around here is that we make it that way. It’s almost like the horrible darkness-eating Sirens are actually good for something. Huh, imagine that. It’s not even filling. This time I was on a night bus making laps around the city, where that Crystal Prep school is. Those people are at least a little bearable. In fact, I always thought the city was pretty liveable. People grew up vicious and knew how to put up a fight, there. I was waiting on the bus to go to Sharp Sticker’s little street-kingdom, when I saw him get on in front of me. If I hadn’t kept my hoodie on he would’ve squealed and ran, but it hides me just like it did thirty years ago. (Unlike most assholes, I actually take care of my things. I know, shocker.) This wasn’t official business, we weren’t getting gas money out of it, but they left the drug dealers to me. Probably because they thought it’s not good enough for them. They didn’t get that the market’s shooting up with new, nastier substances all the time, probably because I was the only person in the world who bothered to watch the news. It used to be that people like Sharp Sticker had to set up dens and compete with all the losers who burn plants, but they’re getting better, especially here. I might have a small hand in that, just in case I’m ever absolutely starving or everything else in this boring world turns out hunky-dory. But Sticker killed someone, and I’d decided it was over for him. I’ll take a few ruined marriages and broken friendships, but when someone spits up their soul they’re useless. I make sure there are legends about me whenever we come back near the portal, so all the violents behave themselves. And we always do find ourselves back here, no matter how much I wish we didn’t because Adagio never wants to leave. It’s the rift Beardo banished us through, he let a little bit of magic drip through to tease us. I hope he’s dead by now. This was one of those times Adagio wasn’t letting us move on. She’s always dragging her feet around the portal, even though the environment sucks as hard as any other town. And there’s not even any good poison or rotten fruit, but hey, it has burgers, and weaksauce greasy heart-clogging food’s everything a Siren needs in her diet, right? Right. It’s been so long since I had a meal, some days I swallow a few bottles of snake oil pills so their lies’ll take the edge off. This time her excuse was that we had to make sure the rest of the students weren’t immortal too. The second-easiest way to tell would’ve been to put our car in a lot and take a dip in the ocean for twenty years, but that would make too much sense for her. I’m lucky the city’s nearby, or else I wouldn’t even be able to work on my gem and I’d have to spend years worrying about shit like curfews and bills. I’d never lost my gemstone before. When we got banished, all the magic we built up in a lifetime turned into a handful of rocks. I asked myself why forever, until I decided it was a joke. It put us somewhere we could walk around, half-starving, with powers that would rend the water turned into novelty necklaces. It set up our ascent, where we could’ve transcended magic and made this world the way it was supposed to be -- and then we were brushed off by a princess we never even knew existed. It let us think we could make this place home after so long, and then it took that hope away from us. That mirror was the most evil thing in this world, and it was the one thing we didn’t have enough power to break, and I couldn’t even sing the feelings out to make it all okay again. We’ve all been through lean times, all three of us and a lot of the time not in the same place, but this was getting worse and worse, and Adagio wouldn’t budge, and Sonata wouldn’t go anywhere without her, so if I relocated it would’ve just been me in the middle of nowhere, and no way to find them again. I never wanted to feel that way. I’d promised myself I’d never lose it, so I’d never feel that way. Sonata lost hers all the time, as often as we lost her. That was never supposed to be me. That was what I had left. Whenever the bus stopped it jerked forward, and I had to keep myself from hitting the seat in front of me. They were all pointy. I could’ve just jumped forward a little, ripped Sticker’s head back by the ponytail and ripped it out in a moment. I could’ve eaten everybody there, even the ones who’d try fighting or running away. Everyone’s done something wrong before. It might even have snapped Adagio out of it and got her to start moving again. But even if I were just that heartless, it wouldn’t have mattered much anyway. These people were losers, not tainted, there’s a huge difference no one in this world can get in their head. That’s the other thing that pisses me off - we call it “evil”, but almost none of the negative energy in this place is even close. No one who wants to take over the world makes an honest try, most of the arguments happen over misunderstandings, noble wars replaced all the good kind, none of the monsters are classy, and the number of tyrants sinks every day. It’s the same for Equestria, apparently - somehow they beat Sombra and Discord. If we’d known there were still ponies in Equestria we would’ve tried harder to go back. Everything’s probably just as lame there as it always was, so going back would be like trading starvation for thirst. At least here I’m not going to die and sink a trillion spans so my sleeping monster daddy can eat me. Eventually, on one of the stops, Sharp shoved himself to his feet and I followed him. No one looked at me, even the driver, and no one called after him to say hey, watch out, someone in a hood’s coming after you! I keep waiting for someone to do that, but I never do. Walking after him, I saw a ton of tiny catches, little alleyways I was cultivating, letting it be their decision to maximize the effect. At least, most of them. I went back for a couple of the ripe ones afterwards, but I let them live. Sticker wasn’t paying attention to his back. He was walking straight ahead, ignoring me when he turned corners, not listening for footsteps. He didn’t want to look suspicious, because looking suspicious is just so abysmal compared to getting killed. Heh. I remember feeling that way, back when we thought we could get hurt here. We didn’t notice that the emptiness in the air was because the magic was missing, and we thought we’d live a few dozen moons on our own. Then Sonata made her shitty paintings, we climbed a mountain to find Adagio after her husband King Something tried poisoning her, we picked through the plague cities, I ruled a country from the shadows, we all became duchesses, the other two started a coup, and I faked my death for the eleventh time and everyone still bought it even though I left clues that time - and we figured out that this place is going to melt around us no matter what we do. Good or bad, nothing we do lasts a trip to the ocean here. Sharp finally looked over his shoulder when we were in an alley, a shortcut to a safehouse he liked. The look on his face was delicious. Know what I like? Anglerfish. They’re a little piece of home that doesn’t suck. AdagioTime gets in the way. It slips by when you're not paying attention, when you forget to clutch onto each second like it's precious. From when I first discovered Sunset Shimmer to when she destroyed me couldn't have been more than an hour. The next time we met couldn’t have taken more than three days. I wasn’t bitter about what she did. Honest. I just couldn’t allow her to do it again. Our time would come around again as long as people weren’t bringing magic into the world. Maybe I should’ve run, taken Sonata and Aria and left the continent, waited it out. But Sunset didn’t make me quiver in my boots, she fascinated me. Oh, yes, ever since I read the magic coming off of her, I knew she wasn’t from here. It took a little espionage to realize she could come and go as she pleased. If she’d been a little more careful, maybe I’d have offered her a partnership much earlier. I’d been inside Canterlot High a few times, sometimes pretending to be a student. This was the first time I’d been there at night. They didn’t even lock the door. I was there looking for student records, making sure there weren’t any other magical threats standing in our way. The principal’s offices were always in the same place. I wondered if the grafitti in the sub-basement had changed any over the years, and smiled. I knew she was waiting there, of course, because she wanted me to. Her magic was boiling over, special ears and all, and it rolled through the hallways and curled around my ankles. I decided that, given a couple more decades, she might be able to weaponize it. “I appreciate the honesty.” I called. “It’s been a while since anyone ambushed me so politely. How’d you know I was coming?” “Princess Twilight has her methods.” she called from around the corner. “And people to do her dirty work. Come out into the open, Shimmer.” She did, and I could see the magic foaming around her shoulders and spilling over like bathwater. It was the inedible kind, sadly. “I’m only here to talk things over.” “And why should I take your word for that?” “You’ll have to.” We stared for a moment, before she took a breath and said, “Look, I don’t want to deal with you, and you don’t want to deal with me, but we’re both stuck here together and we might as well try to sort things out.” “Easy to say when you’re here voluntarily.” “Don’t give me that.” she said. “I’m here because I made my decisions a long time ago, and I have a responsibility to keep this place safe. Safe from people like you.” “Do you honestly think you’re in a position to be giving out moral advice? After you got beat into the ground by a princess? That magic didn’t turn you into a she-demon because you were feeling grumpy that day, Shimmer. That’s who you are.” It was a barb that would’ve worked a month ago, but she shrugged. “Then that says a lot about you, that you’d just get a pair of tacky wings out of the deal.” I smirked. “Give us a little time. We’ll come back with something that’ll really knock your socks off.” “Try it and see what happens.” “Oh? And then what, you’ll sing us away again? Convince us to give up all our evil tendencies and clean up our acts and sing in the choir with you?” “You’re the one who thinks I care about redeeming you.” I faked a pout. “Oh, you don’t? Don’t think that everyone can be saved and turned into a neat nice person with all their crimes forgiven, as soon as you’ve blasted them into a hole in the ground?” “At least I found forgiveness. And at least I only hurt this school, and my own reputation. What about all the people you’ve hurt, all the places you’ve invaded? One day that’s going to come back to bite you, Adagio, and then who’ll be left to forgive you?” I laughed. “Wisdom from the teenager! You’re the one standing on my territory. I’ve been here for centuries before you were born. And I don’t feel any worse about what I do than you do about eating a steak when you’re hungry. Maybe if you wanted me to stop feeding on people, you should’ve let us ascend and take our magic back.” She paused, and said, “I’m a vegetarian.” “Oh? How long have you been a vegetarian, then? Less than four weeks?” She hesitated, and said “Yes.” “Oh, how morally squeamish.” I laughed, “But anyway, don’t let me get in your way, I’ve got other things to do today.” and headed for the office door. “Get away from there.” “Or what?” I said, turning to look her in the eyes again. “Your aura doesn’t scare me, Shimmer. It couldn’t shift a rock. Maybe in a couple decades it could, but not today. Go home to the ponies and train.” Just before I touched the doorknob, a shard of orange light came crashing down on it. It was blinding, and the impact sent me flying across the hall into a couple of lockers. Then, slumped on the tile, I followed the fire-light back to her clenched hands, and although I couldn’t make out its shape I knew by her stance that it was a blade. I hadn’t even seen her move. “Twilight is the element of Magic. She can teach it faster than you would believe.” She was breathing harder, forcing her lungs to slow down. “You think I need friends around me to use my magic? Everyone in this school is my friend, and whatever you’re doing here, if it hurts them you’ll have to go through me.” The look in her eyes was completely serious. I picked myself up and dusted myself off, but she didn’t move. “Oh, you’re such a self-sacrificing knight, aren’t you? And here I thought you were interesting. There used to be tons of saps like you, running after their princesses. Some of them even chased after me. But don’t you think it’s funny that the only reason you’re defending your corner of this cramped world is for someone who isn’t even part of it?” She broke the stance, and the light retracted back into her palms. “I’m not doing this for Twilight. You might not understand why, but I’m doing it for me. And not out of guilt, or hatred, or penance. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do. I want to be the kind of person who does what’s right.” “Then did you ever consider that there are reasons to keep sirens around? Or have all of the negative energies of Equestria not bubbled over yet?” It was a probe, but I knew Sonata would ask if I’d learned anything about home. My great-great-great-great-nieces might be figuring out their digestive systems right about now. “Yes, I’m sure you can use your powers constructively, if you want to. You don’t, though. If I could trust you to do more than seek attention, I would ask for your help. There are things that need doing here.” “Like what?” She opened her mouth, and then shook her head. “I can’t. You’re too dangerous, I won’t tell you without proof that you won’t use it to make the world a worse place.” I clicked my tongue. “Shame. Because there are bigger things in the works that I could use your help with. You really don’t understand how small this place is, but you will, and eventually you’ll either leave or die of boredom.” “If this world is so terrible, then why bother trying to take over?” “Because it’s not about taking over, it’s about regaining what we’ve lost. It’s about breathing magical air again, and letting all of the real darkness in the world come out of hiding on a leash. It’s about finding an oasis after walking a straight line in the desert for a couple aeons. You’re going to learn what I’m talking about, eventually.” When she spoke next, it was soft, and she didn’t make eye contact. “...I could just send you home, if you wanted to go.” Smirk. “Was that the offer she told you to give us?” “No. That’s the offer I decided to give you instead.” I was about to respond, when she said “Please, consider it. Go talk to the others, we can meet up again tomorrow night and you can give me your answer. I don’t want to fight you or yours, Adagio. I just want what’s best for my people. You must understand that.” It was an excellent ploy, even if the execution was a little obvious. She would’ve made a nice speechmaker, given a little bit of training, and I wanted her on my side even more. “Okay, Sunset. I’ll go ask them. But how do I know you aren’t going to take this chance to sic your friends on us?” “I wouldn’t worry about that.” she said, and smiled weakly. “You’re immortal, aren’t you?” I scowled. Once I’d left the way I came and she thought I was gone, I felt the magic reduce itself back to the shape of her body, and she collapsed from burnout, slumped against the door. You see? Fascinating. Author's Note In accordance with Yudkowsky's First Law of Fanfiction, I had to give my antagonist the same canon-compatible detail-boost as my protagonists. Unfortunately, I dabbled in this technique without realizing its power, and then Sunset complicated my plot by doing reasonable things. This was the first time a character I was writing acted on their own, which I always assumed was a writerly exaggeration. She ambushed me while my guard was down, is what I'm saying. But it's alright, because otherwise I wouldn't have had the opportunity to roll with it. SunsetBy the time I finally struggled out of bed, it was one in the afternoon. In fifteen minutes I was outside, heading for Canterlot High on motorcycle. Twilight gave me some money the last time we met up, and it was supposed to be for an apartment close to the school, but… the factory felt too much like home to leave. The next time she asked, I was going to tell her I couldn’t find anywhere closer. The night before was the third time I’d ever drawn Caladbolg, and I still wasn’t ready to hold it for more than seven breaths without burning myself. Twilight called that impressive, but it just felt exhausting. She had work of her own back in Equestria, sent out by Celestia to meet the Sibyl. I got to school way late, and didn’t go to any classes, staying out of the hallways when the bells rang and avoiding the cameras. Mostly I hung around the stage, doing something like meditating. I tried to feel all of the other students who had walked through these places, and let their spirits recharge my magic. I couldn’t tell if it worked. Adagio had mentioned her own plans in the works. I didn’t like the sound of that, especially because I didn’t really know how old they were or what they’d spent the last however-long doing in the shadows. The downside of my new magic was that I couldn’t touch her outside school grounds, unless she threatened someone I cared about. If she started a riot of random strangers, I might not have been able to care enough to draw Caladbolg against her. I tried forcing myself to care, imagining my compassion wrapping around the world, but after all this time I didn’t even know the names of all the countries. It was too big to care about all of it, or maybe that was the part of me that gave birth to the demon, taking the easy way out. I tried not to think about it. The next few hours flew by, and then it was just me and the janitors. I hadn’t looked for my friends. I would’ve asked them for help, but… well, if the legends were accurate, the Dazzlings had a lot of practice making friends argue with each other, and I didn’t want to risk making them stronger. It was a few hours until they showed up, so I broke out a packed lunch and went to the upper library to watch the sunset. That filled me with more confidence than all of the meditating I’d done all day, but it went by too quickly, and then it was just the nighttime. The stars were the same here as they were in Equestria, and I traced out constellations while I ate PB&J. It was a while before I saw Adagio’s car pulling into the student lot. It was a minivan, nothing anyone would notice in a grocery store lot, and within seconds they were all out and heading for the side-entrance she’d used last night. They moved in perfect harmony, always stepping the same distance, close but never touching. It was like watching ants. They’d been singing and dancing for who knows how long, so I guess they got used to each other? They weren’t very friendly, though. When I thought about it, they were more like grumpy old people who’d known each other forever. I headed down the stairs and through the hallways to meet them. Thankfully the school only had a couple of cameras, and they were easy to dodge around, but the hallways were long and I wished I’d been in position earlier. Still, I felt Caladbolg, as a potentiality, resting against my leg like a sword in a sheathe that doesn’t exist. I could draw it, for another seven breaths, and in those breaths I would have to do my business and be done with it. When they walked in, they saw me immediately. I’d put a little thought into what I had to say, so I started. “Hello, girls. How are you tonight?” “We’ve come with an answer.” Adagio said. “We think this world isn’t right.” Sonata cringed. “It’s super icky sometimes, and full of stuff that doesn’t even make sense. People do bad things without understanding why, and then all of the really good stuff gets laughed at.” “But,” Aria crossed her arms. “Equstria’s worse. At least here they don’t have magic. We can work with that. Ponies have no excuse.” “So we’ve spoken, and we’ve come up with a counter-offer,” said Adagio. “If you grant us free access to travel through the portal, we will leave you, this school, its past and future students, and everyone you meet in the next hundred years alone.” “Is that supposed to be a threat?” I asked. “No, it’s supposed to be a counter-offer. Duh.” Sonata said. Adagio looked at her for a moment, then turned back to me. “Now, now. We don’t see any reason to fight you. You’re just here to protect your territory, and we’re looking to protect ours. We don’t want to be trapped in this world or in yours. After all, if we were supposed to do our penance here, hasn’t our sentence run out by now?” “Or is it just the princess’ entourage who get to go where they like?” asked Aria. “I exiled myself on purpose.” I said. “I made a life for myself here, and when I had the chance to go back I knew that this world was more important to me.” “But you have the freedom to leave. You can go wherever you like, in this world or that one. We don’t have that liberty, all because of supposed crimes that no one can even remember any more. Do you know why we were banished?” “You’re not about to pretend that you’re all innocent victims.” I gritted my teeth. “No, but neither are you.” Adagio. “You made your mistakes, you paid your dues, and now you get to decide your life for yourself. Don’t we deserve the same treatment?” “You would have to actually repent to earn that.” I said. “And what if we have?” Aria asked. “There’s a reason that people don’t get murdered around this place, you know.” “Yeah! And what about all of the places we’ve helped people out? We’re not all bad!” Sonata chirped. “Even if we weren’t, do you think there’s any harm we could do in Equestria that someone wouldn’t be able to stop? Are you going to keep us imprisoned forever because we asked to leave for a glass of water?” “There are worse places to live, you know. You weren’t banished to Tartarus.” I said. Aria slow-clapped. “What an amazing and heroic defense. I’m astounded.” “I think we visited once. It was fun. This place isn’t.” Sonata said, and I realized why they were sent to a world without magic in it. “I think we’re all getting a little off-topic.” Adagio said. “No reason to get heated about this when it can be a simple exchange that helps out everybody.” “You want to go into Equestria and breathe in some magic whenever you want in exchange for leaving this school alone? You think that’s a fair deal? You wouldn’t be able to hurt anybody on this world if you just went through and stayed there.” “Neither would you, but you’re free to do what you like here. Why aren’t we?” Adagio asked. “Stop making this about me!” I shouted. “I’m not going to go through the portal and never come back, and I’m not going to accept that I’m somehow an irredeemable person because I made some mistakes in my life.” “No one’s asking you to. This world’s a part of you, and you want to make it a better place. It’s where you found yourself after a long quest, and now you’re attached to it. We know that feeling, and there’s no shame in being sentimental.” Adagio said, and stepped closer. "But however important it is to you, it’s clearly not so special to… others.” “If the princesses or whoever really cared about this place, would they be dumping evil sirens into it?” Aria asked, staring directly into my eyes even when I wasn’t looking into hers. “Or world-conquering she-demons?” Sonata made pretend horns with her fingers. “Stop.” I said, turning my whole body to her until she dropped the horns and looked sheepish. “You’re right that this place is my home. There’s nothing that matters more to me than keeping it safe. If the princesses made a mistake leaving you here, they’re fallible like all the rest of us. And if they really don’t care…” I stepped forward to meet Adagio. “Then I’ll care for them.” I could feel the magic coming off of me in waves. It looked like they could too. “Good. This world needs people like you, Shimmer.” Adagio said. “And we know exactly what you mean. You can’t think that we spent so long here without feeling the same things you do?” “We’ve seen this place grow up.” said Sonata. “Warts and all!” “And we didn’t stand by and watch the whole time, either.” Aria added. “This world isn’t just a part of us, we’re a part of it.” “We helped carve history into the right shape. We had a hand in creating the world you wanted to protect so much. Shouldn’t that make us allies? Can’t we agree to stay out of each others’ hair?” Adagio was talking softer and softer, sounding more and more reasonable. I considered her words for a minute, and none of them showed any impatience. “You’ll say anything to get your magic back.” I said, finally. “What you care about is taking over this world, using it for attention and adoration, without caring about the little people.” “Give yourself a while, kid.” Aria said. “You won’t either.” I continued anyway. “If I let you into the world at large with all of your magic, I’d be damning every place you went to, every little life you didn’t care enough about. In at least a thousand years you haven’t rid the world of evil, you’ve just turned it into a farm. You’re nothing more than predators in a different ecosystem.” “So what?” asked Aria. “Were we supposed to starve ourselves to death to make the people who banished us happy?” “Yeah, what she said.” Sonata frowned. “We didn’t put all the bad people in the world, and we haven’t taken most of them out either.” “If you won’t let us take back our magic, we’re just going to take the long route. It’s not like we’ll never have another chance. Either way, we get what we want. Do you?” Adagio asked. “If what you’re looking for is the safety of your people, then this is the best offer we can give you. If you let us have what we want, you never have to worry about us again. Or are you going to guard this building until the end of time?” I shook my head. “I don’t need to know how my life’s going to turn out to know giving you your magic back isn’t the right thing to do. And I can’t let you run around this world either, even if it’s not the part I live in. Nobody needs you stirring up chaos, but at least in Equestria there’s a place for you among your own people. If you don’t go through, I’m going to have to stop you permanently.” Adagio’s face darkened. “You don’t want me as your enemy, child. I could take you here and now if I wanted.” “Maybe. But then you’d be trapped here. Princess Twilight won’t let you through the portal if anything happens to me, and she’ll make sure to avenge me. After all, I’m her favorite knight, aren’t I?” I said. They watched me, and I continued. “If you swore a geas to never hurt anyone in this world, I would trust you to come and go.” “Sure, as soon as you swear to never eat or breathe again.” Aria said, rolling her eyes. “I hope you see how unreasonable that is.” Adagio said. “Maybe. But it’s what I can offer you. If you want to make a life for yourself, you can do it peacefully here or on your own in Equestria. Princess Twilight can teach me scrying in a couple weekends, and then I’ll know everything all of you do.” All three of them looked upset by that. “If you’re really noble shapers of history, then it shouldn’t matter if someone’s double-checking your work, should it?” Sonata hissed. “We don’t trust you.” “Maybe if we could discuss this with Princess Twilight personally, we could come to an easier agreement.” Adagio said. “Oh, but Princess Twilight doesn’t care about this place, remember? I do.” “You’re not giving us much choice, Sunset.” As soon as she was around the other two, Adagio was a thorough leader. They acted like they’d rehearsed every line of this, somehow. “We don’t want to fight you.” “Then don’t.” I said. “One way or another, you’re leaving Canterlot High alone and letting this world grow unimpeded.” Adagio sighed and pinched her forehead. “Fine. Girls…?” Sonata let out the first notes, and they weren’t like the jagged melody I’d heard after we broke their pendants. They were healthier, even if they weren’t beautiful. Aria joined in, and as I realized what was happening shards of red hovered out of their pockets. When Adagio joined in, dozens of them came out of her sleeves, and I realized that she’d picked the pieces of hers up after it shattered. They joined in the air, coalescing into something a little murkier than the original jewels, with facets that weren’t cut right, but they eached laid a hand on it and their voices started growing into forces of nature. I drew Caladbolg. It was an instinct already, the feeling of avening anger pouring down my arms and collecting at my palms. I suddenly felt like I’d sprinted a mile, like all of my reasons for fighting had left my body, but I held onto it and paid attention to my breathing over the song. One… Their eyes were closed. They were attacking, and I had to get all three of them. I readied a swing over my right shoulder, and the blade moved with instincts I’d never learned. Two... I lunged, and they opened their eyes as one and thrust their palms out at me. My vision started to cloud, and my legs slowed down as the air got heavier. Three… I lost a breath to the surprise, and I still wasn’t in range. I didn’t want to kill them, but if I could scare them off maybe there’d be another chance later, maybe I really could learn scrying and get them to behave. I was tired of hurting people who I might be able to save, if I were just a little faster or stronger or better at arguing. Four… I pushed Caladbolg into the floor like a pole-vaulter, leaving a nasty gash in the tile, and came close enough to swing. The cut was clear and simple, Five… I sliced through the gem and their hands. Caladbolg passed through their skin without destroying it, because I willed it not to sever the flesh, but it cut deep. The scars would almost match, before they finally healed over. Six… They recoiled, fell, and I dismissed the blade before it could take all of the rest of stamina. It was close, but at least I wasn’t swaying. “Leave.” I said. “Leave and don’t come back.” They did. EpilogueWe decided that night that it was war. Not because it had to be, but because a little conflict was exactly what we needed. One day we’d either outlast Sunset, or she’d wind up an immortal and outlast herself, but we could never resist a competition. Gambling, battling, scratching tooth and nail, it was all our element, or else what this place made it. We were all in good moods as we patched our first wounds in this world. In a way, we'd been waiting for this since we landed here. It would take another two years to gather enough negative energy to make a full set of amulets, working around the clock. Makeshift combinations of pieces wouldn’t be very useful against Shimmer, and that was only fair, because anything short of that sword wouldn’t scratch us. She sat at the nexus of two universes, keeping it safe, maybe watching us. We were oceans away, gathering power. One day, we’d have enough to make the whole world adore us. Who needs Equestria?
SonataThe trunk was even warmer than the outside, and full of dust, too! I couldn’t believe I’d actually waited around for this guy on the side of the road, and let him tie my arms up and tape my mouth shut and everything, and I still didn’t get the backseat. And I kept banging my head! Well, okay, it didn’t hurt when I banged my head, it mostly made me sleepy - it would have to be a magic trunk to really hurt, and who’s ever heard of those? But I still would’ve liked the ups and downs more if I’d sat in the backseat. They remind me more of the waves when I’m not laying down. My waves, I mean. I grew up when these two upstart princesses got ahold of the moon, and they knew how to make some waves. The tempo’s all wonky here. The car was cool, though. I don’t want to seem like a total downer, cus then I’d feel all old. A couple people have asked, but I don’t know how old I am. The people who kept track of what year it is changed their minds a few times since we got here. Plus sometimes we take a break from walking around places and sleep in the ocean for a while, and when we wake up it’s always different. I know I’m way older than cars, though. And sandwiches. And a bunch of other stuff too. Everything’s so alive on the land, I still feel like a stranger sometimes. There’s Cajun barbecue, and ski resorts, and there are sounds whenever anybody moves, and sometimes people even go hungry! Makes me miss the Dreamer. When the guy who kidnapped me - I never got his name, I’m pretty sure Aria knew it - stopped and opened the trunk, he looked super grim and hairy, and he pointed a gun at me. He rumbled like a bear when he talked, but he was dark purple instead of brown. His aura was like one of those spotted dogs, covered in big patches of evil. “Stand up.” he said. “Mmhm!” I said back through the gag, pretending to be scared. He backed up enough for me to wriggle in the right direction, and I swung my legs out one at a time. It was a nice neighborhood, same as anywhere except for the gate and the spaces between the houses - everyone had a mondo yard, and there were some thick woods behind them all. There were a couple porches with lights on, but mostly the stars were out. What I noticed first, though, was that the air didn’t smell like salt, and that annoyed me more than the whole ride, cus I knew now I’d get to the others too late to have any fun. Plus it’s way easier for dealing with the body. I had to leave this one there, and I’m cool with honest mistakes, but that’s just sloppy. I hope Juniper never found out. But anyway, he pointed the gun at me again and said, “Run and I shoot. If you do everything I tell you to, you can still go home tonight. No tricks, no funny business.” The gun was dirty. I don’t think he knew how to clean it. My hands were still zip-tied behind me, and the gag was still on, so he could’ve shot me with it, but then he’d freak out that it didn’t do anything and it’d get way too tricky to deal with him, I guess unless he had magic bullets or something. So I nodded, and he spun me around and pushed me toward his house. His grass was tall and scratchy with big clumps of dirt piling up everywhere, and when I came too close to the front door he grumbled “Around the side.” He was right behind me, but I couldn’t feel the gun even though I could smell his breath. (Boiled eggs.) I wondered what it was like, getting shot, and then he pushed me again so I’d hurry up. The side door swung open the second I touched it, and the hinge made a nasty sound where a lock was supposed to be. The screen for keeping bugs out had a ton of holes chewed in it, and inside was a kitchen, another room past it with a couch and a TV, and a turn into a hallway. Anyone could’ve broken in, but I guess that was the point for him. Once I’d gotten inside he stepped in, shut the door and flipped on the lights. He was more relaxed once he’d pushed me onto the couch, and his finger wasn’t on the trigger anymore. “Now, I’m gonna put you somewhere you can’t make any trouble for me, and then we’re gonna talk about what you have to do to leave here tonight. No sudden moves, no screaming. No one can hear you, and no one’s coming. Just take this one step at a time and you’ll still go home tonight.” I nodded, he did too, and then he did the darnedest thing and ripped the gag off! I swear, I almost started a giggle fit right there over how easy it all turned out. I tried to get the tape taste off my lips instead. “Bleh.” I said. “You’re going into the basement now. It’s at the end of that hallway,” he pointed with the gun, “And there’s a lock. You’re going to unlock it very slowly and then walk down the stairs until you reach the bottom. Go.” “Okay!” I said. “But one thing, though.” “What?” And then I was like “Juniper sends her regards!” And I jumped on him. If I still had all my magic, it would only take a little singing. He was only one guy. But since the accident a few months back, we’d all had to do it the hard way, and that meant holding them down. My hands were behind my back, but I practiced snapping them over my head for, like, a year, so I brought them down on his head while I landed on him. It was way awesomer than it sounds. I put a knee on his gun arm, but he started shooting anyway, and when it didn’t do anything he kept it up until he ran out of bullets. I punched him in the neck until he stopped, and then I sang until all the negative energy started coughing itself out of him. There was so much evil in him the rest clung to it, and the second his eyes went grey his whole soul popped out of his mouth. It tasted like the white stuff on rotten berries, but I didn’t try to keep it down long. No, after a half-minute in my second stomach, I spat it back up as a tiny red glass sliver. Negativity, clarified like butter. It was only a teensy bit of a full amulet, though, nothing like the kind of power we could’ve taken from a whole school of kids covered in leaking magic - that kind of power could’ve brought people back from the dead. This was just putting stuff back together, not that hard in comparison, but still annoying. I had to take down a warlord the last time mine got broke, and Adagio had worked with some mafia or other to earn hers back once. ...I never thought about it before, but I don’t think Aria’s ever lost hers. Once I’d put his evil in my pocket, I figured I didn’t have much time until the police showed up for the gunshots, so I dragged the body into the first bedroom in the hallway, took his keys and shut the door. Then I went down the hall door by door until I found the one with a deadbolt, and I went downstairs. It was a pretty nasty basement, but it was dark enough that I could see everything without my eyes always adjusting. Concrete walls, that fuzzy crackly yellow cloud stuff they stick in the walls, heaters, laundry stuff. Rosemary looked almost exactly like her picture, teal with wide eyes, and she was handcuffed to a metal beam with food and water laid out in front of her. She was staring, and shaking, but her aura was resilient. Kids usually have a little bit of magic in them. “Rosemary?” I asked from a little way away. She didn’t talk for a moment. “Is he coming back?” “No. I’ve sent him away forever and ever, and I’m going to save you. Your mama sent me to-” “M-mama?” I put on a super big smile. “Uh-huh! You wanna go see her?” She started nodding and struggling, and she was crying really loud. I could’ve left her the police, they could’ve brought her home after a while, but no kid needs that. I guess it’s because I know what it feels like, to be in a scary wrong place without my mama. “Shh, shhhh.” I said, and I hummed while I worked through the keychain. By the time I’d opened it, she was asleep, and I carried her up the stairs. * * * “Is she safe?” Juniper asked. I could hear she hadn’t been sleeping. “You betcha! We’re at the gas station, corner of Crescent and Windfree.” I said, and then covered the receiver while the police cars whooshed by. When they pulled the security footage they’d see me climbing the gate holding something, but that’d take some time and I’d be gone before tomorrow. “I’ll be right there, don’t move.” she said, and hung up. Rose woke up in a chair next to me while I was making a burrito in the station’s microwave and thinking about becoming a trucker. She looked lost, but I sang a little to her on the way and eased off some of the negativity before it scabbed. “I dreamed of you.” she said. “I dreamed we could fly. He’s… he’s gone?” “Forever and ever and ever.” I said, and the microwave beeped. She paused while I fiddled with the door, and then asked “Did it hurt?” I smiled at her, crouched a little and handed her the spicy treasure. “Like hell.” She smiled back and dug in, and I knew she’d be just fine. When Juniper showed up, she was crying and she nearly smacked me in the face with her payment envelope. As soon as it was out of her hand, she scooped up Rose and the two started hugging it out. “Thank you, thank you so so mu--” she choked up, and then she couldn’t open her eyes for a while. “Aw, shucks, it was nothing.” I said. I was blushing a little. They gave me a ride to the boardwalk, and I got to enjoy the waviness the right way. When I got out of the car I high-fived Rose, and just like that - wham, bam, thank you ma’am - it was another job finished. * * * Of course, as soon as I got down the boardwalk and to the spot they’d picked, they were almost ready to leave. Both of them were in beach chairs. Aria was pretending to be asleep, and Adagio was reading a book with her glasses on. I used to know how to do that, but after a while I gave up on it, and now that anyone can make a record of themselves talking and send that to anybody they know, there’s no excuse for writing little squiggly lines to say things. Talking in other languages is way more fun, anyway, and singing’s best of all, which is why we could all speak twenty-eight languages and sing most of the rest. “Did it work out?” Adagio asked, while the tide flowed around her. I was starting to pick up the buzz. “Uh-huh. The kid’s fine, but we shouldn’t stick around too long, they’ll get footage of me leaving probably.” Aria groaned, her eyes shut so hard she looked angry. “Good thing you showed up just now, then,” Adagio said. “Because we’re just about to head out on our way. Didn’t want to leave you behind.” “Aw!” I protested. “I need some R&R too! And I just did all the work!” “Don’t worry,” Aria grumbled, “We’ll make Adagio do the next one.” “Me? Have you ever done one?” “I do intelligence. Without me we wouldn’t have any jobs in the first place.” “Yeah, right.” Adagio snorted, and that was it. Normally they’d get into it for a while, but it just… fizzled. Hard for us to stay mad after a turkey dinner. I should say beaches here are different than the ones in Equestria. Back home, we’d have to swim around to feed even if we didn’t have fins, cus all of the juiciest negativity’s being thrown off by the Dreamer. The further down anybody goes, the thicker it gets, until no one can get through, but it’s totally like cotton candy except no one ever gets tired of it. My whole herd ate it from the day we hatched, and the stuff we didn’t eat crystallized into krakens and sea-snakes and megalodons and ate some of us back. Not perfect, but what home-turf is? But here? No Dreamer. All the energy’s baked into the sand, broken glass and litter and nasty infections and dead stuff. It’s spread out so far that making an amulet of it would take years and years, but gosh it felt good to let it into my pores. At least, for a moment, while they were packing up. Then, with dawn coming soon, we all had to get back in the car, and head out of town on another of Aria’s tips.
AriaKnow what pisses me off? Everyone thinks this whole stupid county just cleans itself. Nobody stops and thinks “Wow, this place is really clean, I bet someone’s out there keeping it that way.” No, they just think it’s because of how special and pure they are. The ended up getting magic, too, so I bet they’re going to keep blabbing about how awesome the school is until their little mortal mouths fall off. This is how cults start. No, the reason there’s no crime around here is that we make it that way. It’s almost like the horrible darkness-eating Sirens are actually good for something. Huh, imagine that. It’s not even filling. This time I was on a night bus making laps around the city, where that Crystal Prep school is. Those people are at least a little bearable. In fact, I always thought the city was pretty liveable. People grew up vicious and knew how to put up a fight, there. I was waiting on the bus to go to Sharp Sticker’s little street-kingdom, when I saw him get on in front of me. If I hadn’t kept my hoodie on he would’ve squealed and ran, but it hides me just like it did thirty years ago. (Unlike most assholes, I actually take care of my things. I know, shocker.) This wasn’t official business, we weren’t getting gas money out of it, but they left the drug dealers to me. Probably because they thought it’s not good enough for them. They didn’t get that the market’s shooting up with new, nastier substances all the time, probably because I was the only person in the world who bothered to watch the news. It used to be that people like Sharp Sticker had to set up dens and compete with all the losers who burn plants, but they’re getting better, especially here. I might have a small hand in that, just in case I’m ever absolutely starving or everything else in this boring world turns out hunky-dory. But Sticker killed someone, and I’d decided it was over for him. I’ll take a few ruined marriages and broken friendships, but when someone spits up their soul they’re useless. I make sure there are legends about me whenever we come back near the portal, so all the violents behave themselves. And we always do find ourselves back here, no matter how much I wish we didn’t because Adagio never wants to leave. It’s the rift Beardo banished us through, he let a little bit of magic drip through to tease us. I hope he’s dead by now. This was one of those times Adagio wasn’t letting us move on. She’s always dragging her feet around the portal, even though the environment sucks as hard as any other town. And there’s not even any good poison or rotten fruit, but hey, it has burgers, and weaksauce greasy heart-clogging food’s everything a Siren needs in her diet, right? Right. It’s been so long since I had a meal, some days I swallow a few bottles of snake oil pills so their lies’ll take the edge off. This time her excuse was that we had to make sure the rest of the students weren’t immortal too. The second-easiest way to tell would’ve been to put our car in a lot and take a dip in the ocean for twenty years, but that would make too much sense for her. I’m lucky the city’s nearby, or else I wouldn’t even be able to work on my gem and I’d have to spend years worrying about shit like curfews and bills. I’d never lost my gemstone before. When we got banished, all the magic we built up in a lifetime turned into a handful of rocks. I asked myself why forever, until I decided it was a joke. It put us somewhere we could walk around, half-starving, with powers that would rend the water turned into novelty necklaces. It set up our ascent, where we could’ve transcended magic and made this world the way it was supposed to be -- and then we were brushed off by a princess we never even knew existed. It let us think we could make this place home after so long, and then it took that hope away from us. That mirror was the most evil thing in this world, and it was the one thing we didn’t have enough power to break, and I couldn’t even sing the feelings out to make it all okay again. We’ve all been through lean times, all three of us and a lot of the time not in the same place, but this was getting worse and worse, and Adagio wouldn’t budge, and Sonata wouldn’t go anywhere without her, so if I relocated it would’ve just been me in the middle of nowhere, and no way to find them again. I never wanted to feel that way. I’d promised myself I’d never lose it, so I’d never feel that way. Sonata lost hers all the time, as often as we lost her. That was never supposed to be me. That was what I had left. Whenever the bus stopped it jerked forward, and I had to keep myself from hitting the seat in front of me. They were all pointy. I could’ve just jumped forward a little, ripped Sticker’s head back by the ponytail and ripped it out in a moment. I could’ve eaten everybody there, even the ones who’d try fighting or running away. Everyone’s done something wrong before. It might even have snapped Adagio out of it and got her to start moving again. But even if I were just that heartless, it wouldn’t have mattered much anyway. These people were losers, not tainted, there’s a huge difference no one in this world can get in their head. That’s the other thing that pisses me off - we call it “evil”, but almost none of the negative energy in this place is even close. No one who wants to take over the world makes an honest try, most of the arguments happen over misunderstandings, noble wars replaced all the good kind, none of the monsters are classy, and the number of tyrants sinks every day. It’s the same for Equestria, apparently - somehow they beat Sombra and Discord. If we’d known there were still ponies in Equestria we would’ve tried harder to go back. Everything’s probably just as lame there as it always was, so going back would be like trading starvation for thirst. At least here I’m not going to die and sink a trillion spans so my sleeping monster daddy can eat me. Eventually, on one of the stops, Sharp shoved himself to his feet and I followed him. No one looked at me, even the driver, and no one called after him to say hey, watch out, someone in a hood’s coming after you! I keep waiting for someone to do that, but I never do. Walking after him, I saw a ton of tiny catches, little alleyways I was cultivating, letting it be their decision to maximize the effect. At least, most of them. I went back for a couple of the ripe ones afterwards, but I let them live. Sticker wasn’t paying attention to his back. He was walking straight ahead, ignoring me when he turned corners, not listening for footsteps. He didn’t want to look suspicious, because looking suspicious is just so abysmal compared to getting killed. Heh. I remember feeling that way, back when we thought we could get hurt here. We didn’t notice that the emptiness in the air was because the magic was missing, and we thought we’d live a few dozen moons on our own. Then Sonata made her shitty paintings, we climbed a mountain to find Adagio after her husband King Something tried poisoning her, we picked through the plague cities, I ruled a country from the shadows, we all became duchesses, the other two started a coup, and I faked my death for the eleventh time and everyone still bought it even though I left clues that time - and we figured out that this place is going to melt around us no matter what we do. Good or bad, nothing we do lasts a trip to the ocean here. Sharp finally looked over his shoulder when we were in an alley, a shortcut to a safehouse he liked. The look on his face was delicious. Know what I like? Anglerfish. They’re a little piece of home that doesn’t suck.
AdagioTime gets in the way. It slips by when you're not paying attention, when you forget to clutch onto each second like it's precious. From when I first discovered Sunset Shimmer to when she destroyed me couldn't have been more than an hour. The next time we met couldn’t have taken more than three days. I wasn’t bitter about what she did. Honest. I just couldn’t allow her to do it again. Our time would come around again as long as people weren’t bringing magic into the world. Maybe I should’ve run, taken Sonata and Aria and left the continent, waited it out. But Sunset didn’t make me quiver in my boots, she fascinated me. Oh, yes, ever since I read the magic coming off of her, I knew she wasn’t from here. It took a little espionage to realize she could come and go as she pleased. If she’d been a little more careful, maybe I’d have offered her a partnership much earlier. I’d been inside Canterlot High a few times, sometimes pretending to be a student. This was the first time I’d been there at night. They didn’t even lock the door. I was there looking for student records, making sure there weren’t any other magical threats standing in our way. The principal’s offices were always in the same place. I wondered if the grafitti in the sub-basement had changed any over the years, and smiled. I knew she was waiting there, of course, because she wanted me to. Her magic was boiling over, special ears and all, and it rolled through the hallways and curled around my ankles. I decided that, given a couple more decades, she might be able to weaponize it. “I appreciate the honesty.” I called. “It’s been a while since anyone ambushed me so politely. How’d you know I was coming?” “Princess Twilight has her methods.” she called from around the corner. “And people to do her dirty work. Come out into the open, Shimmer.” She did, and I could see the magic foaming around her shoulders and spilling over like bathwater. It was the inedible kind, sadly. “I’m only here to talk things over.” “And why should I take your word for that?” “You’ll have to.” We stared for a moment, before she took a breath and said, “Look, I don’t want to deal with you, and you don’t want to deal with me, but we’re both stuck here together and we might as well try to sort things out.” “Easy to say when you’re here voluntarily.” “Don’t give me that.” she said. “I’m here because I made my decisions a long time ago, and I have a responsibility to keep this place safe. Safe from people like you.” “Do you honestly think you’re in a position to be giving out moral advice? After you got beat into the ground by a princess? That magic didn’t turn you into a she-demon because you were feeling grumpy that day, Shimmer. That’s who you are.” It was a barb that would’ve worked a month ago, but she shrugged. “Then that says a lot about you, that you’d just get a pair of tacky wings out of the deal.” I smirked. “Give us a little time. We’ll come back with something that’ll really knock your socks off.” “Try it and see what happens.” “Oh? And then what, you’ll sing us away again? Convince us to give up all our evil tendencies and clean up our acts and sing in the choir with you?” “You’re the one who thinks I care about redeeming you.” I faked a pout. “Oh, you don’t? Don’t think that everyone can be saved and turned into a neat nice person with all their crimes forgiven, as soon as you’ve blasted them into a hole in the ground?” “At least I found forgiveness. And at least I only hurt this school, and my own reputation. What about all the people you’ve hurt, all the places you’ve invaded? One day that’s going to come back to bite you, Adagio, and then who’ll be left to forgive you?” I laughed. “Wisdom from the teenager! You’re the one standing on my territory. I’ve been here for centuries before you were born. And I don’t feel any worse about what I do than you do about eating a steak when you’re hungry. Maybe if you wanted me to stop feeding on people, you should’ve let us ascend and take our magic back.” She paused, and said, “I’m a vegetarian.” “Oh? How long have you been a vegetarian, then? Less than four weeks?” She hesitated, and said “Yes.” “Oh, how morally squeamish.” I laughed, “But anyway, don’t let me get in your way, I’ve got other things to do today.” and headed for the office door. “Get away from there.” “Or what?” I said, turning to look her in the eyes again. “Your aura doesn’t scare me, Shimmer. It couldn’t shift a rock. Maybe in a couple decades it could, but not today. Go home to the ponies and train.” Just before I touched the doorknob, a shard of orange light came crashing down on it. It was blinding, and the impact sent me flying across the hall into a couple of lockers. Then, slumped on the tile, I followed the fire-light back to her clenched hands, and although I couldn’t make out its shape I knew by her stance that it was a blade. I hadn’t even seen her move. “Twilight is the element of Magic. She can teach it faster than you would believe.” She was breathing harder, forcing her lungs to slow down. “You think I need friends around me to use my magic? Everyone in this school is my friend, and whatever you’re doing here, if it hurts them you’ll have to go through me.” The look in her eyes was completely serious. I picked myself up and dusted myself off, but she didn’t move. “Oh, you’re such a self-sacrificing knight, aren’t you? And here I thought you were interesting. There used to be tons of saps like you, running after their princesses. Some of them even chased after me. But don’t you think it’s funny that the only reason you’re defending your corner of this cramped world is for someone who isn’t even part of it?” She broke the stance, and the light retracted back into her palms. “I’m not doing this for Twilight. You might not understand why, but I’m doing it for me. And not out of guilt, or hatred, or penance. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do. I want to be the kind of person who does what’s right.” “Then did you ever consider that there are reasons to keep sirens around? Or have all of the negative energies of Equestria not bubbled over yet?” It was a probe, but I knew Sonata would ask if I’d learned anything about home. My great-great-great-great-nieces might be figuring out their digestive systems right about now. “Yes, I’m sure you can use your powers constructively, if you want to. You don’t, though. If I could trust you to do more than seek attention, I would ask for your help. There are things that need doing here.” “Like what?” She opened her mouth, and then shook her head. “I can’t. You’re too dangerous, I won’t tell you without proof that you won’t use it to make the world a worse place.” I clicked my tongue. “Shame. Because there are bigger things in the works that I could use your help with. You really don’t understand how small this place is, but you will, and eventually you’ll either leave or die of boredom.” “If this world is so terrible, then why bother trying to take over?” “Because it’s not about taking over, it’s about regaining what we’ve lost. It’s about breathing magical air again, and letting all of the real darkness in the world come out of hiding on a leash. It’s about finding an oasis after walking a straight line in the desert for a couple aeons. You’re going to learn what I’m talking about, eventually.” When she spoke next, it was soft, and she didn’t make eye contact. “...I could just send you home, if you wanted to go.” Smirk. “Was that the offer she told you to give us?” “No. That’s the offer I decided to give you instead.” I was about to respond, when she said “Please, consider it. Go talk to the others, we can meet up again tomorrow night and you can give me your answer. I don’t want to fight you or yours, Adagio. I just want what’s best for my people. You must understand that.” It was an excellent ploy, even if the execution was a little obvious. She would’ve made a nice speechmaker, given a little bit of training, and I wanted her on my side even more. “Okay, Sunset. I’ll go ask them. But how do I know you aren’t going to take this chance to sic your friends on us?” “I wouldn’t worry about that.” she said, and smiled weakly. “You’re immortal, aren’t you?” I scowled. Once I’d left the way I came and she thought I was gone, I felt the magic reduce itself back to the shape of her body, and she collapsed from burnout, slumped against the door. You see? Fascinating. Author's Note In accordance with Yudkowsky's First Law of Fanfiction, I had to give my antagonist the same canon-compatible detail-boost as my protagonists. Unfortunately, I dabbled in this technique without realizing its power, and then Sunset complicated my plot by doing reasonable things. This was the first time a character I was writing acted on their own, which I always assumed was a writerly exaggeration. She ambushed me while my guard was down, is what I'm saying. But it's alright, because otherwise I wouldn't have had the opportunity to roll with it.
SunsetBy the time I finally struggled out of bed, it was one in the afternoon. In fifteen minutes I was outside, heading for Canterlot High on motorcycle. Twilight gave me some money the last time we met up, and it was supposed to be for an apartment close to the school, but… the factory felt too much like home to leave. The next time she asked, I was going to tell her I couldn’t find anywhere closer. The night before was the third time I’d ever drawn Caladbolg, and I still wasn’t ready to hold it for more than seven breaths without burning myself. Twilight called that impressive, but it just felt exhausting. She had work of her own back in Equestria, sent out by Celestia to meet the Sibyl. I got to school way late, and didn’t go to any classes, staying out of the hallways when the bells rang and avoiding the cameras. Mostly I hung around the stage, doing something like meditating. I tried to feel all of the other students who had walked through these places, and let their spirits recharge my magic. I couldn’t tell if it worked. Adagio had mentioned her own plans in the works. I didn’t like the sound of that, especially because I didn’t really know how old they were or what they’d spent the last however-long doing in the shadows. The downside of my new magic was that I couldn’t touch her outside school grounds, unless she threatened someone I cared about. If she started a riot of random strangers, I might not have been able to care enough to draw Caladbolg against her. I tried forcing myself to care, imagining my compassion wrapping around the world, but after all this time I didn’t even know the names of all the countries. It was too big to care about all of it, or maybe that was the part of me that gave birth to the demon, taking the easy way out. I tried not to think about it. The next few hours flew by, and then it was just me and the janitors. I hadn’t looked for my friends. I would’ve asked them for help, but… well, if the legends were accurate, the Dazzlings had a lot of practice making friends argue with each other, and I didn’t want to risk making them stronger. It was a few hours until they showed up, so I broke out a packed lunch and went to the upper library to watch the sunset. That filled me with more confidence than all of the meditating I’d done all day, but it went by too quickly, and then it was just the nighttime. The stars were the same here as they were in Equestria, and I traced out constellations while I ate PB&J. It was a while before I saw Adagio’s car pulling into the student lot. It was a minivan, nothing anyone would notice in a grocery store lot, and within seconds they were all out and heading for the side-entrance she’d used last night. They moved in perfect harmony, always stepping the same distance, close but never touching. It was like watching ants. They’d been singing and dancing for who knows how long, so I guess they got used to each other? They weren’t very friendly, though. When I thought about it, they were more like grumpy old people who’d known each other forever. I headed down the stairs and through the hallways to meet them. Thankfully the school only had a couple of cameras, and they were easy to dodge around, but the hallways were long and I wished I’d been in position earlier. Still, I felt Caladbolg, as a potentiality, resting against my leg like a sword in a sheathe that doesn’t exist. I could draw it, for another seven breaths, and in those breaths I would have to do my business and be done with it. When they walked in, they saw me immediately. I’d put a little thought into what I had to say, so I started. “Hello, girls. How are you tonight?” “We’ve come with an answer.” Adagio said. “We think this world isn’t right.” Sonata cringed. “It’s super icky sometimes, and full of stuff that doesn’t even make sense. People do bad things without understanding why, and then all of the really good stuff gets laughed at.” “But,” Aria crossed her arms. “Equstria’s worse. At least here they don’t have magic. We can work with that. Ponies have no excuse.” “So we’ve spoken, and we’ve come up with a counter-offer,” said Adagio. “If you grant us free access to travel through the portal, we will leave you, this school, its past and future students, and everyone you meet in the next hundred years alone.” “Is that supposed to be a threat?” I asked. “No, it’s supposed to be a counter-offer. Duh.” Sonata said. Adagio looked at her for a moment, then turned back to me. “Now, now. We don’t see any reason to fight you. You’re just here to protect your territory, and we’re looking to protect ours. We don’t want to be trapped in this world or in yours. After all, if we were supposed to do our penance here, hasn’t our sentence run out by now?” “Or is it just the princess’ entourage who get to go where they like?” asked Aria. “I exiled myself on purpose.” I said. “I made a life for myself here, and when I had the chance to go back I knew that this world was more important to me.” “But you have the freedom to leave. You can go wherever you like, in this world or that one. We don’t have that liberty, all because of supposed crimes that no one can even remember any more. Do you know why we were banished?” “You’re not about to pretend that you’re all innocent victims.” I gritted my teeth. “No, but neither are you.” Adagio. “You made your mistakes, you paid your dues, and now you get to decide your life for yourself. Don’t we deserve the same treatment?” “You would have to actually repent to earn that.” I said. “And what if we have?” Aria asked. “There’s a reason that people don’t get murdered around this place, you know.” “Yeah! And what about all of the places we’ve helped people out? We’re not all bad!” Sonata chirped. “Even if we weren’t, do you think there’s any harm we could do in Equestria that someone wouldn’t be able to stop? Are you going to keep us imprisoned forever because we asked to leave for a glass of water?” “There are worse places to live, you know. You weren’t banished to Tartarus.” I said. Aria slow-clapped. “What an amazing and heroic defense. I’m astounded.” “I think we visited once. It was fun. This place isn’t.” Sonata said, and I realized why they were sent to a world without magic in it. “I think we’re all getting a little off-topic.” Adagio said. “No reason to get heated about this when it can be a simple exchange that helps out everybody.” “You want to go into Equestria and breathe in some magic whenever you want in exchange for leaving this school alone? You think that’s a fair deal? You wouldn’t be able to hurt anybody on this world if you just went through and stayed there.” “Neither would you, but you’re free to do what you like here. Why aren’t we?” Adagio asked. “Stop making this about me!” I shouted. “I’m not going to go through the portal and never come back, and I’m not going to accept that I’m somehow an irredeemable person because I made some mistakes in my life.” “No one’s asking you to. This world’s a part of you, and you want to make it a better place. It’s where you found yourself after a long quest, and now you’re attached to it. We know that feeling, and there’s no shame in being sentimental.” Adagio said, and stepped closer. "But however important it is to you, it’s clearly not so special to… others.” “If the princesses or whoever really cared about this place, would they be dumping evil sirens into it?” Aria asked, staring directly into my eyes even when I wasn’t looking into hers. “Or world-conquering she-demons?” Sonata made pretend horns with her fingers. “Stop.” I said, turning my whole body to her until she dropped the horns and looked sheepish. “You’re right that this place is my home. There’s nothing that matters more to me than keeping it safe. If the princesses made a mistake leaving you here, they’re fallible like all the rest of us. And if they really don’t care…” I stepped forward to meet Adagio. “Then I’ll care for them.” I could feel the magic coming off of me in waves. It looked like they could too. “Good. This world needs people like you, Shimmer.” Adagio said. “And we know exactly what you mean. You can’t think that we spent so long here without feeling the same things you do?” “We’ve seen this place grow up.” said Sonata. “Warts and all!” “And we didn’t stand by and watch the whole time, either.” Aria added. “This world isn’t just a part of us, we’re a part of it.” “We helped carve history into the right shape. We had a hand in creating the world you wanted to protect so much. Shouldn’t that make us allies? Can’t we agree to stay out of each others’ hair?” Adagio was talking softer and softer, sounding more and more reasonable. I considered her words for a minute, and none of them showed any impatience. “You’ll say anything to get your magic back.” I said, finally. “What you care about is taking over this world, using it for attention and adoration, without caring about the little people.” “Give yourself a while, kid.” Aria said. “You won’t either.” I continued anyway. “If I let you into the world at large with all of your magic, I’d be damning every place you went to, every little life you didn’t care enough about. In at least a thousand years you haven’t rid the world of evil, you’ve just turned it into a farm. You’re nothing more than predators in a different ecosystem.” “So what?” asked Aria. “Were we supposed to starve ourselves to death to make the people who banished us happy?” “Yeah, what she said.” Sonata frowned. “We didn’t put all the bad people in the world, and we haven’t taken most of them out either.” “If you won’t let us take back our magic, we’re just going to take the long route. It’s not like we’ll never have another chance. Either way, we get what we want. Do you?” Adagio asked. “If what you’re looking for is the safety of your people, then this is the best offer we can give you. If you let us have what we want, you never have to worry about us again. Or are you going to guard this building until the end of time?” I shook my head. “I don’t need to know how my life’s going to turn out to know giving you your magic back isn’t the right thing to do. And I can’t let you run around this world either, even if it’s not the part I live in. Nobody needs you stirring up chaos, but at least in Equestria there’s a place for you among your own people. If you don’t go through, I’m going to have to stop you permanently.” Adagio’s face darkened. “You don’t want me as your enemy, child. I could take you here and now if I wanted.” “Maybe. But then you’d be trapped here. Princess Twilight won’t let you through the portal if anything happens to me, and she’ll make sure to avenge me. After all, I’m her favorite knight, aren’t I?” I said. They watched me, and I continued. “If you swore a geas to never hurt anyone in this world, I would trust you to come and go.” “Sure, as soon as you swear to never eat or breathe again.” Aria said, rolling her eyes. “I hope you see how unreasonable that is.” Adagio said. “Maybe. But it’s what I can offer you. If you want to make a life for yourself, you can do it peacefully here or on your own in Equestria. Princess Twilight can teach me scrying in a couple weekends, and then I’ll know everything all of you do.” All three of them looked upset by that. “If you’re really noble shapers of history, then it shouldn’t matter if someone’s double-checking your work, should it?” Sonata hissed. “We don’t trust you.” “Maybe if we could discuss this with Princess Twilight personally, we could come to an easier agreement.” Adagio said. “Oh, but Princess Twilight doesn’t care about this place, remember? I do.” “You’re not giving us much choice, Sunset.” As soon as she was around the other two, Adagio was a thorough leader. They acted like they’d rehearsed every line of this, somehow. “We don’t want to fight you.” “Then don’t.” I said. “One way or another, you’re leaving Canterlot High alone and letting this world grow unimpeded.” Adagio sighed and pinched her forehead. “Fine. Girls…?” Sonata let out the first notes, and they weren’t like the jagged melody I’d heard after we broke their pendants. They were healthier, even if they weren’t beautiful. Aria joined in, and as I realized what was happening shards of red hovered out of their pockets. When Adagio joined in, dozens of them came out of her sleeves, and I realized that she’d picked the pieces of hers up after it shattered. They joined in the air, coalescing into something a little murkier than the original jewels, with facets that weren’t cut right, but they eached laid a hand on it and their voices started growing into forces of nature. I drew Caladbolg. It was an instinct already, the feeling of avening anger pouring down my arms and collecting at my palms. I suddenly felt like I’d sprinted a mile, like all of my reasons for fighting had left my body, but I held onto it and paid attention to my breathing over the song. One… Their eyes were closed. They were attacking, and I had to get all three of them. I readied a swing over my right shoulder, and the blade moved with instincts I’d never learned. Two... I lunged, and they opened their eyes as one and thrust their palms out at me. My vision started to cloud, and my legs slowed down as the air got heavier. Three… I lost a breath to the surprise, and I still wasn’t in range. I didn’t want to kill them, but if I could scare them off maybe there’d be another chance later, maybe I really could learn scrying and get them to behave. I was tired of hurting people who I might be able to save, if I were just a little faster or stronger or better at arguing. Four… I pushed Caladbolg into the floor like a pole-vaulter, leaving a nasty gash in the tile, and came close enough to swing. The cut was clear and simple, Five… I sliced through the gem and their hands. Caladbolg passed through their skin without destroying it, because I willed it not to sever the flesh, but it cut deep. The scars would almost match, before they finally healed over. Six… They recoiled, fell, and I dismissed the blade before it could take all of the rest of stamina. It was close, but at least I wasn’t swaying. “Leave.” I said. “Leave and don’t come back.” They did.
EpilogueWe decided that night that it was war. Not because it had to be, but because a little conflict was exactly what we needed. One day we’d either outlast Sunset, or she’d wind up an immortal and outlast herself, but we could never resist a competition. Gambling, battling, scratching tooth and nail, it was all our element, or else what this place made it. We were all in good moods as we patched our first wounds in this world. In a way, we'd been waiting for this since we landed here. It would take another two years to gather enough negative energy to make a full set of amulets, working around the clock. Makeshift combinations of pieces wouldn’t be very useful against Shimmer, and that was only fair, because anything short of that sword wouldn’t scratch us. She sat at the nexus of two universes, keeping it safe, maybe watching us. We were oceans away, gathering power. One day, we’d have enough to make the whole world adore us. Who needs Equestria?
