Adagio was sitting in a fancy diner, wearing a red cocktail dress with a ruby necklace. She had been forced into this by her two best friends, Sonata and Aria. Adagio didn't know why they were bothering, though. Sure, seeing all of these lovey-dovey couples around her every fucking time she left her house had her just a little on edge. But it wasn’t that noticeable, right?
At least, so she thought. However, Aria and Sonata were getting sick and tired of Adagio scowling at the couples or making angry comments about their public displays of affection every time they had to go out together. In the end, they took matters into their own hands and hooked her up with a blind date.
Adagio was about to fall asleep from boredom when she felt a new presence staring her down. She blinked to refocus her vision and recoiled in shock at the girl with red and yellow hair standing before her in a lovely blue dress with a deep v-cut. “YOU’RE MY DATE!?!”
It was Sunset Shimmer, and under any other circumstances, Adagio would have been pissed to see her. Instead, she never thought she could have been so spellbound without any magic, especially by the girl who'd cost her and her friends their own magic.
After a long moment of awkward silence, Sunset sighed. “Look, I only came because your friends...”
“We aren’t friends!” Adagio said, cutting Sunset off and earning shushes from nearby people.
“Alright, well, your... colleagues or whatever asked me to go on a date with you. I tried to say no, but they stole my journal and wouldn’t give it back until I said yes.” Sunset gave a short chuckle. “Kinda have a hard time believing you three are—!”
“Not...friends...!” Adagio said with a growl.
“Whatever! It’s hard to imagine you three together. So, why did they want me here, anyway?”
Adagio opened her mouth to say some sort of rebuttal, but nothing came out. She couldn’t tell her enemy that she was just a lonely lass that has been angered at the cutesy couples that surrounded her everywhere she went. While Adagio was coming up with something to say, Sunset just looked off to the side with a sad look on her face. “It’s because you’re lonely, right?”
Adagio closed her mouth at that, looking at Sunset with a confused face.
Sunset laughed bitterly. “I get it.”
Adagio scoffed and rested her back on her chair, placing an arm over it and looking away from Sunset’s beautiful face. “Please, as if I’d ever be bothered by such a thing. Of course you know that feeling. But me? Never.” Adagio expected Sunset to roll her eyes or come up with some sort of rude comeback. But she didn’t. She just looked at Adagio with a knowing smile.
“Alright, I believe you.”
Adagio blinked. “What?”
“I believe you. You’ve got people in your life who want to help you find love. They care about you. ” Adagio couldn’t fight the chuckle that left her lips, even if she tried.
“Well, don’t those Rainbooms care about you?” Sunset smiled sadly and looked down, staring at her hands.
“Well, yeah. But aside from Twilight, none of them really care about boys. Or girls. Or dating in general. When Flash Sentry and I dated, it was more for me to become popular. I never really gave love the time of day back then. Then again... I really wasn’t a fan of love or friendship when I was mean.” When Sunset looked back up at Adagio’s face, she had a look that Sunset could not decipher. Was it pity in her eyes? Or understanding? Maybe Sunset could go so far as to call it yearning.
But Adagio was quick to replace that look with a glare. “Hmph, I knew you went soft, but I honestly didn’t expect you to be this kind-hearted,” Adagio said with venom.
“What’s wrong with going soft?”
Adagio rolled her eyes, but she didn’t answer.
Sunset shrugged and sat down. “You know, I used to only believe in ambition. I just wanted power. But there is more to life than evil magic,” she said with a sweet laugh.
Adagio really had to bite a small smile back, and she almost couldn’t help but think that Sunset had the most adorable laugh. It certainly sounded more pleasant than Sonata’s witchy cackle. Regardless, Adagio knew she had to think of an excuse to get out of this. But before she could think of something, Sunset spoke.
“By the way, do you have... any idea why your... colleagues wanted me to walk you home?” Adagio choked, making Sunset panic a little. She was quick to ask a nearby waiter for a drink. But Adagio growled as she caught her composure.
“I’m FINE!!!” But the next thing she knew, Sunset handed her a cup of water. She scowled. “I prefer wine, for future reference...” Adagio said, taking the drink regardless.
“Aren’t you too young to drink alcohol?”
“I’ll have you know that I amolder than you. Besides, sirens like wine.”
“Really? Wine?”
“Yes."
“I’ll have to add that to my notes.”
“Notes, you say?” Adagio questioned with suspicion.
“I may live in the human world now, but I still like to research magical creatures and phenomena. You never know when another creature from Equestria could come along to try and take over the world again.”
“Oh? You mean like how you tried and failed?”
For the first time in the evening, Sunset glared at Adagio. “Do you want to be the pot or the kettle?” she said in a monotone voice. Adagio growled and a waiter came along to take their orders. Once their orders were placed, the waiter left and there was an awkward silence that followed. But then a question popped into Adagio’s head.
“Sunset. Why did Sonata and Aria approach you to go on a blind date with me?” She asked with genuine curiosity. Sunset couldn’t help but blush a little bit. This did not go unnoticed by Adagio, but she was quick to disregard it. Rationalize it even.
She wasn’t expecting that question. That’s all it is. That has to be all it is...!
But, little did Adagio know, Sunset was attempting to rationalize her own thoughts.
There’s no way. There is literally noway she would like the answer to that question. Oh, sweet Celestia, she would freak out like crazy if I actually said it. But then again, should I say?
Sunset thought on her feet and just said the first thing that came to mind. “They, uh... thought it’d be funny, I guess?” Adagio’s brow furrowed.
Granted, she wasn’t able to come up with a plan to take over the world. But she was able to figure out that there was something Sunset wasn’t telling her. But if that were the case, what was it that Sunset could be hiding from her? Adagio held Sunset’s gaze for what felt like years to Sunset. It eventually became too much, causing her to look away.
"Come on, Sunset. I'm not stupid.Why did they want you to go on a date with me?" Adagio said with vicious venom. Sunset shimmer sighed. No point in trying to hide the truth. She just hoped that Adagio wouldn't be too pissed.
"I, uh... I wanted to see you again. Cause I wanted to... see if we could make amends." Sunset sighed in relief when their orders finally came. When the waiter left them in peace, Sunset began eating while Adagio sat there, shocked to the core. Sunset Shimmer wanted to make amends with her? But what could have possibly compelled her to do that!?
She had to ask. "What could possibly make you want to make amends with me?" The question came out much softer and sweeter than Adagio would have wanted. Sunset looked nervous when she was asked that question.
"I understand what it's like to not care about friendship. To want the power to... take over a whole world. But I learned that there is more to life than getting power. Because even if you have power, you will still be alone. It will still only leave you with the same exact problems." Sunset felt her eyes become glossy with tears, but she shook back the urge to let them fall. "Whether you're a pony or a human or a siren, life is meant to be spent with others. But I see myself in you if you will. I don't want you to have to go through what I went through. Not if I can prevent it. I guess it worked out pretty well because right when I wanted to see about finding you, I bumped into Aria and Sonata. They told me you were going through something, and I wanted to help. Plus, I need that journal..." Sunset laughed at that last comment she made.
Adagio struggled to digest all of this. Sunset seemed to pick up on this. She took out her purse and put some money on the table before saying quietly, "I kinda figured that you wouldn't want to try and be friends. Or anything beyond that."
Adagio opened her mouth to make a biting remark, but before she could say anything, Sunset stood and quickly left the restaurant.
Adagio sat there for a few moments, before she felt a self-satisfied smirk fall upon her face. “Hmph. Serves her right," she said to herself before finishing her meal and paying with the money Sunset left behind.
Sunset Shimmer had been in a bit of a gloomy place after the blind date with Adagio. The sad attitude did not go unnoticed by her friends. The sadness led to Sunset missing out on a lunch that the main six and she had planned to go on. She feigned ignorance of her state of mind and just simply said she had something going on, not bothering to elaborate on that any further than needed.
However, the main six were not convinced. The problem was that they did not know about the blind date in the slightest. Sunset couldn’t help but wonder what they would think of her feeble attempt at trying to get Adagio over to the good side.
On the one hand, they had forgiven Sunset for her misdeeds and wrong-doings, not just towards them, but the whole school. But on the other side of that coin, Sunset couldn’t help but wonder how they would react to the end of that date. Would one even really call it a date…?
While Sunset was having this crisis, her friends were trying to figure out what was wrong with her. “Maybe Princess Twilight and her are having some sorta trouble goin’ on?” Applejack offered the conversation.
“Eh, I don’t know. I kinda feel like she would tell us if that were the case.” Rainbow Dash said back.
“Maybe she ran into Aria and Sonata?” Pinkie chimed in randomly. The others looked at each other in confusion.
“Why would you think that?” Twilight inquired.
Pinkie just shrugged and said, “I saw those two talking to her outside the coffee shop.”
“What were they talking about?” Rainbow asked, clearly interested in the fact that two of the Dazzlings were with Sunset at some point in time.
Pinkie just shrugged, saying she did not know.
The group had dismissed the idea as they assumed that it wasn’t some sort of scheme for taking over the planet again, as Sunset would’ve brought it up. But Rainbow Dash had grown curious about the situation as time had gone by.
‘Why would they be talking to Sunset of all people?'
The thought spilled into Rainbow’s mind and she couldn’t help but be a bit peeved at the concept that Sunset did not bring it up to the group. They told each other everything.
Dash decided she was going to have to do some detective work to figure out what the cause of Sunset’s gloomy state of mind was and whether or not Aria and Sonata and maybe even Adagio were all somehow involved.
She remembered hearing Pinkie mention that the three of them had bumped into each other in front of the coffee shop. So, Dash went down there and took a table in the very far corner of the outside area to avoid detection. As she drank her coffee, she started thinking of the flaws in her plan. After all, there was no guarantee that the Dazzlings would be back here! Lightning does not strike twice most of the time after all. But as she was contemplating these facts, she saw Aria, Sonata, and Sunset come into view. Rainbow had to fight the urge to cheer for her victory.
She strained her ears to listen to the conversation as Aria spoke. “What the hell happened on that date, Sunset!? You were supposed to fix Adagio’s nasty attitude!!”
“Shh! Keep it down will you?!” Sunset said desperately.
Rainbow Dash almost thought she was mishearing things when she heard the word date fall from Aria’s perfectly sculpted lips. But at that thought, Rainbow Dash smacked her forehead in frustration. She ignored that last thought and just kept listening.
“I mean, Adagio did seem kinda happy after she got home the other night.” Sonata chimed in, putting a finger to her chin as she thought aloud.
“Yeah, but how long did that last, Sonata?” Aria said, clearly annoyed.
“Fair point.”
Sunset sighed loudly. “This is all my fault. I messed up pretty badly the other night.”
“Well, what happened?” Aria seemed to be growing thin on patience and Sonata would be of no help in that scenario. Sunset knew there was no getting out of this.
“I… look, I only agreed to go on that date with her because I just wanted to make amends a little.”
“Really? I thought that it was cause we took your dumb book.” Sonata said, clearly confused.
“It’s not a dumb book.” Sunset said with a scoff.
“Wait, THAT was the reason you agreed?!” Aria said, clearly shocked. Again, Sunset responded by shushing her.
Rainbow Dash felt like she was watching some kind of weird soap opera or something. Not like she wasn’t enjoying the show. But she was just as shocked as the Dazzlings were at the idea of Sunset making amends with Adagio.
“Yes. That’s why. But, when I told her that, she didn’t really say anything. I-I may have kinda chickened out and just left.” Sunset sighed. “Look, I’m sorry but I don’t know if this will work. Not with me. I can’t reform her. I can’t reform anyone.”
“Well, I mean… you did reform that other version of Twilight, didn’t you?” Aria said awkwardly.
“Yeah! I mean, I don’t think we thought that you would want to reform us. We just wanted Adagio to stop being a bitch. But if anyone could do either of those things, it’s you.” Sonata said.
Sunset seemed taken aback by both of them and their words. But then she started tearing up just a little bit. “Thanks, guys. I guess I can try again.”
Sonata cheered loudly, getting up to hug Sunset. But as she wrapped her arms around her, she saw a familiar rainbow-haired girl. “Huh? Isn’t that the Rainbow Dash girl or something?” Sunset, Aria, and Sonata looked and saw her, blowing Dash’s cover.
“Dash! What are you doing here?” Sunset asked, pushing Sonata off of her and walking over, clearly flustered.
“You…I-you’ve been acting super weird lately and I just wanted to figure out why!” Rainbow stumbled over her words at feeling all eyes on her. She couldn’t help but look at Aria’s beautiful purple eyes.
“Okay… but how did you know to come here?” Sunset said, her face beet-red with embarrassment.
“Pinkie may or may not have mentioned it…?” Dash said shyly. “But more importantly, Sunset. Why did you not tell us about this blind date?!”
“I-I was worried you guys would be mad about it.”
“Why would we be mad about it? I mean, you are the only one I know that could reform Adagio of all people.”
“Wait…so you’re not upset? Or disgusted? Or…” Sunset trailed off.
“No, no, and no. I mean, come on, Sunset! We weren’t any of those things when Twilight had decided to try and have all of us reform you. So, why would we act like that with you?”
“B-because I guess I was worried you guys would think I was…”
“Is it cause you thought that the rainbooms would think that you were gonna turn evil again?” Sonata chimed in, leading to Aria smacking her on the shoulder and Rainbow hitting her head on the table.
“Yeah…” Sunset said with a long sigh.
“Well, we don’t. So, go and try again.” Rainbow said, sneaking small glances at Aria.
Sunset smiled widely and hugged Rainbow, with Sonata jumping in on it. She then left to go find Adagio.
