Mistress (Adagio's Big Comeback)

Sunset sits at your table. “You're looking well! Wow, it's been years, huh? What have you been up to?”

Crap. Of course she remembers you. She picked on you relentlessly, after all, even though you never stood out, like that yearbook girl... what was her name? Wall something? Never mind. Focus. “Oh, uh, you know,” you stammer, “t- this and that.”

“Great...” She nods and awkwardly looks off to the side.

Wait a second. Wait one goddamn second. You're sitting across from the girl who made your life hell. The old Radian Wave would stammer and hide. You aren't that Radian Wave any more. You've started earning the respect of Adagio Dazzle, you've on the cusp of inventing world changing technology and it's time to show how much you've changed. You take no shit from life any more. You've got a functioning chad mode, so use it!

You sit up straight, swig your coffee and say, “so, can we talk about Canterlot High? Being tripped in the cafeteria almost every day? Having Snips and Snails fill my locker with fire extinguisher foam? The fucking science fair incident!? You know, reminisce about the good old days?”

She flinches and clutches her arm across her body. “I know, and I can't tell you how much I'm sorry. What I did was horrible, and I never forgot. I did try to apologise back then, but you weren't in school often, and even when you were, you actively avoided me.”

You tear down the mental barriers you've put up inside from those years. You let the old wounds sting again and embrace the feeling. You lean forward and growl, “of course I did! Do you know what it's like having nowhere to turn? Having your parents fight over taking you out of school when you're at home, get constantly bullied at school and having no friends because you earn a reputation as a loner that nobody wants to hang around with because you're constantly unhappy?”

Sunset bites her lip and shrinks from the scorn. “... more than you might expect, but that doesn't change the fact I'm truly, deeply sorry. I know that probably means nothing, but if you'll let me, I want to make it up to you somehow. The thought of letting that pain fester in you-”

A little part of you is begging you to let her, to put it behind you and actually man up about this. This scientific, logical side of you knows that only so much blame can be placed at her feet, about how she turned herself around and she looks devastated at what she's done to you. You got what you wanted from this meeting and finally let her know how you feel, and now it's time to move on.

But the rest of you relishes in her discomfort. Feeds on it. The things that she did to you, the way you've turned out, the fight that started between your parents when you got home from the science fair...

You have to stop. Your heart's racing, you can feel the muscles in your face twist and flinch. You're on the knife's edge between using your bitterness as a weapon and literally throwing something at her. “No thanks.” You stand up and wrap the newspaper around your emitter to keep it hidden and stuff it in the bag. At least that's been worthwhile. You sneer and say, “it's been great catching up. Seeya.”

“Radian, please wait, I-”

You ignore her and head back to Adagio's apartment. You narrowly barge past several people with how laser focused you are on your anger.

You still haven't calmed down by the time you knock on the door, hitting it instead.

Adagio opens the door a crack, and you see she's attached the door chain while you were gone. Once she sees its you, she lets you in. “So, you have fun?”

You huff, and Adagio gives you a funny look. You almost snap at her, but hold back and take a few deep breaths.

She tilts her head and asks, “is that a no? Look, if it's about the bathrobe thing-”

You interrupt her by raising your hand, and continue to breath slowly and smoothly.

Once you calm down, you say, “firstly, no, it's not about the bathrobe. Second, my emitter collected plenty of details that confirmed a few things. I don't know if I can turn it into anything that will help you get your powers back, but I haven't exactly had a chance to mull it over. Third, I ran into Sunset Shimmer.”

Adagio's eye twitches. “Did you now?”

“Yep. And she's got a strong signal in what I assume is the unicorn wavelength. Almost as strong as yours is in the earth one.”

She thumbs her chin. “That makes sense. She is an Equestrian native and I'm fairly sure sure she's a unicorn over there, considering how she was the one that caused magic to begin appearing here in the first place.”

You nod. “That would have been my guess.” Your cooling anger fuels your mind. Methodical. Calculating. “I've already theorised that anyone who's native to Equestria has a much deeper capacity for magical energy, but considering how strong her energy is, despite how long she's been here, I'm starting to believe she's in routine contact with the other side.”

You pause. This is perfect! “We could follow her! Find out what sort of link she has to the other world, perhaps use it to enhance our understanding of the magical leak! Maybe even find a way across to the other side!”

Adagio shakes her head. “Ray. Slow down. I appreciate the determination, but stop. This is a bad idea.”

You chuckle. “What, pursuing Sunset? No, no, she's an ideal candidate to investigate! We both have our reasons to get our own back at her, and we can advance our goals as well.”

She scowls at you. “I said stop. Sunset's dangerous. She's not only friends with some powerful entities in the other world, but she has the power to read minds through touch, not to mention I think her circle of friends here have powers too.”

You get in Adagio's face, and she takes a step back as a flash of worry darts across her face. You snarl, “if you're afraid, fine, but I'm not! I'm going to take what I want from her, and that's-”

Adagio grabs you by the collar and pulls you face to face. “I. Said. Stop, you idiot!!” She pushes you back and you stumble and fall on the couch. “You're not listening and you're certainly not thinking! Shut up for five seconds! You said it yourself when we first met, there are people who could stop your plans to use Equestrian magic, both for my powers and your electricity project. If Sunset gets her hands on you, it's all over; she'll know exactly what we're doing and there's every chance your fears will come true.”

Damn it. She's right, you realise.

She continues. “Trust me, I'd love nothing more than to get my own back at that self-righteous, smug bitch, I guess it was too much to ask that she stayed in that time-loop business she mentioned at the festival...”

That sounds like a story. “What do you mean?”

Adagio grumbles and says, “never mind... but anyway, like I said, it's not worth it. We're not prepared to deal with actual magic users. I thought my plan was foolproof when I had the school curled around my finger, but Sunset and her friends still bested me-” she pauses, sighs and corrects, “us. The Dazzlings. We had our full strength as sirens and we still crumpled to the combined power of the Rainbooms. What chance do you think we, a couple of humans, have? I may be stronger now, but against real magic? Forget it.”

You're out of steam and slump deeper into the couch. “You're right, Adagio. Sorry, I got carried away there.”

She takes a deep breath and cools off as well. “I get it. You succeeded a few times, you start formulating a plan that feels foolproof, execute it and feel invincible!” She punches up in mock celebration and smirks, then points at you. “But that's when you're most vulnerable. Take nothing for granted, use every resource you can get your hands on and never expect everything to go as you planned. And when it comes to the final execution and your prize stands before you? You still have to think and be prepared, every single step of the way, until you have your enemy by the throat. Then you clamp down and you don't let go until they stop moving.”

“That's... brutal, but I get it. Thanks.”

Adagio smiles softly. “Just protecting my investment, Mr. Scientist. If I think of some way we can use Sunset, I'll let you know. Now, I believe you have some numbers to crunch and data to sort?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

You spend a few hours tabulating your new data. The various strengths of the signals only give you a few new points of interest. For one thing, Adagio's depth of magic is gigantic, greater than Sunset's, and it makes you wonder what sort of thresholds of power she can hold. The only problem is testing her limits. You want to experiment, but odds are, it would make Adagio bigger...

No, newly formed fetish, you cut that out. Be clinical.

You say, “hey, Adagio? Any new sensations since your growth? Aches? Pains?”

She looks away from her phone and shrugs. “I feel great. Powerful. No tricks,” she laughs as you roll your eyes. “Seriously, though, it takes me back to before I was banished.”

That's good, sudden physical growth has all sorts of medical implicatio- wait... she mentioned something similar when she first transformed. “You said it felt nostalgic. How so?”

Adagio smirks and looks out the window. “Back in Equestria, we sirens were as grand as dragons and far stronger, towering over the ponyfolk by not only our ability to fly but also in raw size. I guess in this world, being taller than average and looking down on the little humans gives me a little taste of home. In fact?” She looks at the ceiling for a moment, then licks her lips. “When we earn your fortune and I can afford to make the change, I wouldn't mind being even bigger.”

Oh sweet mercy, Adagio. You decide to distract yourself by focusing on the data again.

But she continues, “I'd say to do it now, but I think I'll need some proper living space and I'd like to be able to fit in my clothes. Can you imagine the awe, fear and adoration I'd earn when I'm not only up on stage, but towering over everyone?” She sighs and looks lost in thought, but comes back down to earth.

Which reminds you, now that you're tabulating the details and cross reference your theory list; some ideas come to mind.

You say, “I suspect your growth was a by-product of your frankly astounding capacity for siren energy. I bet if I bombarded you with the earth signal, you'd feel stronger, maybe even be stronger, but it wouldn't make you bigger. Instead, this siren energy capacity, when transformed into your earth form, just forced your body bigger to accommodate that power in the only way it could.”

Adagio raises an eyebrow. “Sounds far fetched to me. Just how sure of this are you?”

“Honestly, I can't be completely certain, but you did just say you were larger in Equestria right? It's either part of that by some physical 'memory' of sorts, or the amount of energy has functionally turned you into the closest approximation of a extreme example of an earth pony, humanised. Perhaps we could experiment; if you had a flower or a plant, and was tending to it when the transfer occurred, I theorise some of the energy would divert into it instead.”

“Yeah, I don't want to test the green thumb approach. I'm not into flowers. Not to mention it's just going to make me bigger when I'm already struggling to find clothes that fit. Anyway, to change subjects and before I forget, what did Sunset talk about?”

You grimace. “She wanted to reconcile. I told her to get lost.”

Adagio raises an eyebrow. “I'm surprised. Most humans, especially those from that insipid school, would be eager to put that behind them.”

You laugh. “Forgive Sunset? Not damn likely. I was her proverbial... metaphorical? Whatever, I was her punching bag, and no, reporting her to Principal Celestia did nothing; despite her attitude, despite the fact every student was afraid of her in some capacity, none of the teachers seemed to care. It wasn't until she screwed up so badly that the front of the school was destroyed that anything changed with her, but I don't care. Her own epiphany about being a better person can go choke. The only good thing that she ever did to me was force me down this path that's led me here, in this desperate situation. I guess at least she's the reason we're in this situation together.”

“See, that's where we differ, Ray.” She puts a hand to her chest. “I hate her as well, but I respect her.”

“Really? But she's part of the reason you lost your powers, isn't she? The Battle of the Bands?”

Adagio nods. “Oh, make no mistake. If I could, I would crush her. It's the way us sirens think, and I've only really been able to see it recently. If someone outshines us, we have a compulsion to overcome them. To understand why and how they bested us and use that to our advantage. Sunset and Twilight came back from what we thought was certain defeat and destroyed us at our full power. I used to think on our loss often.”

You ask, “used to? What happened?”

Adagio goes to answer, then suddenly looks deeply troubled. “Maybe it's a human thing to just ignore the details of our failures. We still felt like sirens after our gems were destroyed for a while, maybe a few months, but especially after the breakup, I've had this... clarity. It's not like we could truly fight back without our magic, although...” She stops and gulps, then turns away. “Never mind. You get my point; don't use your bad experiences as simple fuel to fire your revenge, use it to improve. Sunset and Princess Twilight defeated me, so if I ever get the opportunity through your inventions, I intend to rectify that, but they bested us. Never forget that.”

It's difficult to not agree with her, but you notice a contradiction. “Yet we're still not going to go after Sunset?”

Adagio folds her arms and paces for a moment before responding, “like I said, she's too dangerous. Now, get back to your data and let me know if you think of anything new.”

Another halted conversation, although at least this one was more civil than being shouted down.

You bury yourself in the data, read the precise frequencies of all the people you'd scanned and try to find some details that could help restore Adagio's power. Some connection between her former state as a siren and her apparent current state as an earth pony in the other world.

In need of any extra clues, you scan Adagio again. That familiar earth signal rising high, the siren spot just... exists, and that's about it. You scan her a few times, the third scan she begins to notice, the fourth she gives you an angry stare. The fifth time earns you a middle finger and she snaps at you to stop, so you drop it.

Adagio makes lunch and dinner as you continue working, and you barely notice what she's given you and just eat. You thank her, and she seems to appreciate it, but otherwise she seems to know to leave you alone.

There's some progress made. You fiddle with the device a bit and realise that it can broadcast what can be best described as an 'anti-signal', which should disrupt a person's energy resonance. You say, “Adagio, tell me how this feels.”

She folds her arms and you bombard her with a signal that's a garbled mess of signal hiss and interference, bouncing on and around their signal and scattering the peak. “What the hell?” she says and winces. “Is this supposed to help? Cut it out!”

“Sorry,” you say and shut it down. “I'm developing an idea that might need the ability to suppress energy.”

You honestly just can't join the dots without one last piece of data. The energy transfer, that precise moment her charged body converted siren energy into earth energy. They're incompatible, which is frankly maddening, but maybe it can be reversed? But you don't want to make her bigger.

Okay, scratch that, an even taller Adagio does play on your psyche in all the best (or, depending on your attempts to focus, worst) ways, but she's right; making her bigger will just make her living standards difficult and you just can't afford to do that now.

You take a deep breath and check the time; it's getting late already, so you decide to take one last push.

“Adagio, I want to try exposing you to the siren wavelength again.”

She shakes her head. “Didn't we already have this conversation? I want to still fit in at least some of my clothes and I really don't have the fame to lord my height over humanity yet.”

“No, I don't mean like that. I think I can kill two birds with one stone; I can both prevent the energy transfer into your newer earth pony energy receptive signature... uh, I mean-”

“No, go on, Ray,” she says and nods, “don't dumb it down.”

You chuckle; yep, she's getting into this and actually understanding the method. Hot. “...so it will prevent your body absorbing the power, but I should still be able to witness the transition happen and disperse the energy decay. If I can make this work, I can then focus on how to set up some sort of means to force the siren signal to maintain itself.”

Adagio thinks it through. “So, in laymen's, I get empowered, it fails again, but you will cancel out the after effects but have a chance to see it in action. Alright, but I suppose I should wear something a bit more disposable, just in case.” She stands and heads into her bedroom.

“Sounds like a plan. I'll be setting up the emitter.”

One of the wonderful new perks you've gained with the full control system is the ability to save frequency profiles for quick use. One macro key push and it can automatically switch between functions. You prepare a few now, like the energy types you've scanned. You then turn on what should be the positive unicorn signal and turn it on yourself.

You feel a tingle and get energised. Your mind feels clearer from any building fatigue. You then create a reverse signal, like the one you used on Adagio and unleash that on yourself. The opposite occurs; your mind fogs, simple thoughts become difficult to sort, you feel sickly and shudder. Even after it's shut down, you feel awful, so you give yourself a quick dose of the positive signal just as Adagio leaves her bedroom.

She's wearing a Dazzlings merchandise t-shirt and a pair of loose shorts. “So, what should I expect?”

“A dose of the good then a dose of the bad. If all works well, you should get minimal size increase, if any, but I need to see the change happen.”

“What about the horny energy?”

You cough on your spit. “W- what?”

“When you first fine tuned your signal to me, you stumbled on an energy type that,” she turns a little red in the face and finishes, “tingled. And when I grew, after the hot pain, I was horny for good hour afterwards.”

You'd spent so long trying to ignore her 'jam session' to actually work that out, but high off of your unicorn signal, a thought comes to you. “I think that's energy bleed. We were close to the siren signal when you first experienced it, so when the energy moves away from your resonance, it moves through that frequency too. When you transformed, all that energy got switched into your new earth pony connection, but it also decayed and dispersed, neutralised back into ambient energy. It didn't just leave you, it also shifted away from your ability to absorb all of it, so it no doubt it hit that wavelength. Remember, energy cannot be created or destroyed.”

“Merely converted,” Adagio finishes, quoting you and she smirks. “Alright, Ray. Let's do this.”

You program in the siren signal, crank the power up to max, aim, and fire.

* * *