Pain.
Excruciating pain.
That is what Adagio felt as she lay down.
Her desire had been within her grasp.
All the Equestrian Magic her and her sisters could want.
That was gone, for just a few short minutes they had the power, and then they lost it.
Those few sweet moments where she, Aria, and Sonata weren’t just starving girls struggling to get by, but sirens with a mob enchanted by their melody.
If only those girls hadn’t shown up.
She reflected on the Battle of the Bands as she tried to ignore the pain. The reality weighing on her.
Their magic and music fighting against that of the sirens, all of their friendship and rainbows.
It was no match.
The sirens had pushed them back and proved their strength, hardly breaking a sweat. Those girls didn’t have harmony, their song couldn’t break the trance on the crowd. The magic flowing through Adagio’s body felt like electricity, the electricity crawling over her skin. The sensation was euphoric, as the magic danced on her, through her hair, and in her voice. She gave herself to the magic. Her pendant burned with a warmth as it rested against her collarbone. That jewel had been with her through all of this and more. She drew strength from that small piece of her home, she let it comfort her.
There was a lull in the music as Adagio refocused on the girls up on the hill, confident in their victory, it was then that she noticed the lavender girl reach out. The shout was muffled by the distance between the Rainbooms and the Dazzlings, but she heard it clearly.
“Sunset Shimmer! We need you!”
Adagio paused. What could that girl do? Was there something that she didn’t account for? She had discovered the girls past, but didn’t know exactly what had happened. There was stuff about a demon and more magic, but certainly there was nothing she could do here, not anymore. The girl known as Sunset Shimmer had been manipulative and underhanded, but she had no magic here, and after she had been revealed for the ‘demon’ she had been she had done nothing. If she could stop them, then she would have already done so.
Adagio smiled, they were grasping at straws.
The girl stepped up and threw her jacket off, Adagio’s doubts returned as Sunset drew a breath and the DJ girl turned on a new beat. Sunset began to sing, and it was… Heavenly… Strong…
Beautiful.
Adagio shook her head, she couldn’t think that way, this girl was an obstacle.
Adagio growled and glared at the girls on the hill, led by Sunset Shimmer. She didn’t transform like the others, but she started to help them to their feet then they joined in her song. The sirens tried to use their magic to stop the girls, but their magical projections were shattered by a rainbow wave. As it passed over the crowd it seemed to wake them from their enthrallment, and as it reached the sirens, it cut off their connection to the magic.
Adagio doubled over from the loss of her euphoria, her eyes came up to meet Sunset’s on the hill. Certainly she was more than some redeemed bully. This girl brought the Rainbooms back, she gave the others the power to fight the sirens, she was glowing with magic.
Adagio lost her mask, confusion showing on her face. They had possessed the magic, so why had they lost? And yes they had lost. She felt it, the magic dwindling, the warmth in her pendant fading, the rush was gone.
It was at this point that Sunset began to transform. The autumn breeze blew through Sunset’s hair, Adagio felt the chill across her skin against the magic. Everyone saw the girl up on the hill against the evening sky and they knew that it was her who defeated the sirens, the crowd, the Rainbooms, the sirens themselves, everyone knew that Sunset Shimmer defeated the Dazzlings.
After Sunset had her pony ears and hair extensions the other girls started to glow and float up around her, as their magic took over as they sang the rest of their song. The crowd joined in singing along with the Rainboom’s song, they danced, free from the control of the sirens. That enraged Adagio. Then a giant alicorn with polychromatic mane rose up from the hill. Adagio’s eyes opened wide, her jaw dropped, the fear visible in her face, and a cold sweat broke out. Then suddenly the giant alicorn fired a rainbow beam down on the sirens.
The beam burned. Adagio felt the magic being seared from her being, she felt a pressure on her collarbone as she was awash in the many colors of the spell cast on her. It felt like an eternity unlike the magic that had been coursing through her, this felt like fire in her veins, her throat.
And her mind.
As the rainbow went away Adagio fell to her knees. There on the ground of the stage was the red crystal shards of her pendant, she cupped the shards in her hands as she stood up, attempting to draw on the lost magic. She tried to sing, she heard Aria and Sonata’s attempts beside her, the results were… horrific. They sounded atrocious, absolutely horrible. Their voices could be compared to nails on a chalkboard, but she didn’t want to insult the chalkboard. The crowd hearing their screeching proceeded to boo the sirens, many throwing produce at them.
As the reality set in Adagio looked to her sisters, sharing in their fear she ran. She led them several blocks away before she recognized a small donut shop they had passed everyday when they left their apartment. Leading them home hadn’t been what Adagio intended but no one knew where they lived and it was as good of a place to go as any.
As they finally made it home, the sirens spared a moment to look at one another. Aria’s and Sonata’s hair was a mess, Aria had lost a hair tie, so she only had one pigtail. Sonata’s was just frazzled and stray hairs were jutting out in every direction. As for Adagio, not a hair was out of place, her poofy coiffure was just as it always was, barring the copious amounts of produce caught in her curls. Their clothes were wrinkled, and they were sweaty, as they hadn’t ran that much since Salem. Sonata was nearly in tears, Aria was silently fuming, and as for Adagio, she was tired. Tired and in pain.
Adagio had gone to her bedroom after everything, intent on sleeping the pain and failure away. This had never been a part of her plans, there was no fall back, no insurance
Her body hurt all over, it was not nearly as unbearable as the burning from the rainbow, but it was still excruciating. She reached for her pendant, a habit from shortly after they arrived in this world, hoping it would provide her with some comfort. As her fingers brushed her collarbone she paused remembering that it was no longer with her.
Her eyes misted up, she forced her eyes closed, attempting to prevent tears from flowing. That pendant had been with her since she arrived in this world, and the gem had been with her even longer than that. She struggled as the reality of everything settled, the loss of magic, the reputation she had garnered. The whole situation was terrible. Her and her sisters had lost everything and couldn’t even leave, all because of her. Aria and Sonata would never forgive her for this debacle.
She finally broke, tears started flowing freely. She didn’t care about her makeup, or her bedding, she didn’t care about anything. She just wallowed, being the dramatic siren, Adagio knew more than a little bit about wallowing, and her only regret in that moment was not having any ice cream to complete her miserable episode.
After what felt like hours of crying she finally started to calm down, the tears slowing to a stop. A few sniffles were all that could be heard from Adagio who just curled up with a sheet, the wet blanket being long discarded over the edge of the bed. She dried her eyes and tried to sleep, to find a place away from everything that had happened that day.
She thought back to a moment from earlier that evening and blushed, she had mixed feelings about that moment, the exact moment she had lost. The moment Adagio began to fall.
Despite the pain, her failure, and her fatigue, she would cherish something from this. That bright girl, glowing against the evening sky, shimmering brightly just on the horizon.
Her thoughts spiraled down to one simple observation. The last thought to go through her mind as she let sleep consume her.
The sunset that evening had been gorgeous, and it sang with a voice that was so beautiful.
Author's Note
Credit to this awesome person for the quick edits to finish this story up.
This is a prequel to another story I am working on, that being said... The first chapter of the other story is currently being edited so this will be released first (at this rate). Please leave a comment, I would love to hear what everyone thinks of this little intro.
