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Impressive.
If Adagio had to describe Sunset Shimmer with a single word, it would always be impressive. How could she not? This human girl who had single-handedly overruled the established social order of an entire school with only her sheer force of will and an iron fist. With threats of violence and public humiliation.
This single, human girl.
For the first time in all the years since their banishment to the Human World, the species in question had not been the defining aspect of their first encounter. Adagio had instead felt a want for this creature. The sort of want she had not felt in centuries, even before their fateful battle with Starswirl and his merry menagerie of magic freaks.
It was the sort of want that sprung up from nowhere, when you least expected it. A want for this other creature, and a want for them to want you. Whether it was romantic attachment or lust, Adagio did not truly know. But she wanted to find out.
And Adagio Dazzle always got what she wanted.
The negativity Sunset produced within her peers was intoxicating, uncontrolled as it was. Wild and delicious. But laced with bitter fear and, worst of all, a sense of comradery; whilst the majority of the student body feared her outright, small cliques were banded together in their hatred. Competition was sparse, with only singular pupils being driven apart whenever Sunset saw fit to do so.
Adagio and her sisters needed more than that. They needed confrontation. They needed resentment and hatred and envy and all of it flowing like a raging rapid through the halls of Canterlot Highschool. They needed Sunset’s throne, and the keys to her castle.
But Adagio wanted Sunset for herself.
The first time they met face to face, it was outside of the school, in the parking lot, as it steadily filled up with students eager to leave their daily sentence.
“You’re really starting to piss me off,” Sunset spat, held back as she was by a delighted Aria and Sonata. The defiance in her eyes was… not unappealing, but not ideal for a partner. Not when it was so seriously displayed. “You have no idea who you’re messing with. I own this school.”
“Oh, we do,” Adagio airily replied. “And I know.”
That’s when Aria and Sonata dragged her back, lifting her only slightly until her backside was forced into the trashcan. Foul enough with old fruit and slimy food containers to be unpleasant, but nowhere near full enough overflow. Sunset fell right in, the rim coming up to her calves and the back of her neck.
She would have to tip the entire receptacle over to get out, even her two half-witted underlings did manage to come to her rescue.
“We just thought we’d help you take out the trash.”
The girl simply needed to know her true place in the pecking order first.
Canterlot Highschool had been ecstatic, at first. To have three new girls turn up out of the blue and fight back against the tyrannical force that had ruled their lives for the past year and a half. They saw it as an ultimate victory against the villain of their little story.
They were too complacent in their victory to see anything else.
“She called me a what?”
Trixie was especially gullible. And Sonata was especially brilliant at playing the ditz. Being one helped in that regard, Adagio supposed. It certainly made her endearing to the students. “Look, you didn’t hear it from me. Okay? They were gossiping in the toilets and I don’t think they noticed I was there.”
Rarity had only really called Trixie pretentious, but that would suffice for when the argument started. It only took that little spark for the powder to ignite.
The same went for Sunset.
“Excuse me?” Sunset balked, looking down on Snips.
“Yeah,” Snails added, backing his best friend. “We don’t have do anything for you!”
Snips and Snails, equally so.
Getting them to abandon Sunset was simple enough. Without her ultimate power over the student body, she had less sway. When she had less sway, she was less popular with her cronies. And when Adagio sent a few pretty words their way, they were gullible enough to cut their ties completely.
“I’m sorry, you seem to have forgotten everything that I’ve done for you two snot-nosed little runts. Before I came here, you were pathetic little losers without any friends.”
“And you’re always calling us names, too,” Snips bit back. “You know who doesn’t call us names? Sonata and Adagio.”
“Or Applebloom!” Snails enthusiastically added.
Getting them in with Sweetie Belle and her ilk was a necessary evil. At the very least, it took allies away from Shimmer, and gave Adagio and her sisters one more group to pit against many others. Or freshly made friends to break apart.
“Sonata’s a nobody. They’re all nobodies!”
Snips was quick to respond to that. “Says the girl with no friends!”
Not the smoothest comeback. Basic, but relatively effective given the circumstances.
“Fine,” Sunset growled. “Fuck off, see if I care. I don’t need anyone like you cramping my reputation.”
“Like you even have a reputation anymore.”
That was a sore spot, it seemed. Sunset moved towards her underlings, teeth grit tight and fists clenched.
Not-so-coincidentally, Adagio was quick to step in behind her. She grabbed at one of Sunset’s wrist and raised it into the air. “Now, now. What did we say about being a good girl?”
As fulfilling as it was to finally have a constant source of energy, Adagio still found most of her time devoted to her newfound love interest. This little curiosity that still commanded her attention whenever it had a moment to spare.
Adagio pushed herself against Sunset’s back, only slightly. Enough to make Sunset feel what she was missing.
A second passed, one where Sunset didn’t dare try to move away. But then she tried to yank her hand back, her quarrel with the boys was seemingly forgotten. “Stop calling me a good girl. I’m not a good girl. And I certainly don’t give a damn about what you say.”
Adagio cooed. “Aww, the big bad bully wants another punishment.”
At that, Sunset flinched, if only slightly. Sonata and Aria wandered up from behind Adagio to join them. The weeks since the trashcan had been rather effective at curtailing Sunset’s less than exemplar behaviour.
***
Sunset was utterly fed up with Adagio Dazzle’s crap. Who did she even think she was? Turning up at Canterlot Highschool and thinking she could undo all the work Sunset had put into the rotten place. It had taken months to gain that initial foothold. Remarkable, considering she hadn’t even walked on two legs before that point.
Biding her time was all well and good, but the power she had over this school in the meantime? That made her life in the Human World much more than tolerable.
It made living there fun.
She had power, respect. She had subordinates to do any potential dirty work for her. And Snips and Snails were very easy to please. They were also loyal, something Sunset appreciated. It meant that she would always have someone to work with. There was no chance of them leaving her, not now.
Now Adagio Dazzle and her sisters thought they could just waltz in on Sunset’s turf and do whatever they wanted?
Fat chance. Sunset did as she wanted. And she refused to bend her knee.
“Hey, Fluttercry Baby.”
Fluttershy stopped, her shoulders hunching as she slowly turned her neck to look at Sunset.
“Lunch money,” Sunset demanded. Her palm went out, waiting.
Finally turning on her heel, Fluttershy seemed to find whatever spine she still had. “I-I gave you my lunch money yesterday. And… the day before that.”
“Congratulations. Then you know it’s in your best interest to hand it over today as well.”
Behind Fluttershy’s eyes, Sunset could see something bubbling to the surface. Something that might one day grow into a smidge of backbone. Instead, the girl merely started to cry, as was her usual.
Whatever semblance of confidence she had drowned as she pulled up her little green purse.
Sunset smiled, her open palm growing ever so slightly wider. Whether it was Equestria, or this miserable little world, money made life all the easier to stomach. And Fluttershy was such a kind donor–
Fluttershy’s eyes widened for only the slightest second before Sunset felt an intense burning at her backside. Her feet lifted off the ground, the tight fabric of her underwear the only support she had left. The pain shot down the centre of her ass and back up her crotch towards the base of her stomach.
Then she was dropped back on the floor.
“Two days in a row, I can almost begin to feel sorry for you,” Adagio said, her voice overly kind. “But three days is just pathetic. If you’re that desperate for money, I’m sure asking one of your many friends would be a much better idea.”
The burning remained. Despite the pain, Sunset refused to fix her underwear, laying there on the floor as she was, like some pathetic little. Or even worse, Fluttercry Baby herself. “A wedgie. Real original, Dazzle.”
“I thought I would stick to the classics. It seemed like a very novel idea compared to stealing poor little Fluttershy’s lunch money.”
Sunset kept her eyes fixed on Adagio, but she could hear Sonata and Aria consoling a now blubbering Fluttershy. She made out hushed words they were whispering into the girl’s ear, each a gentle consolation or blatant lie about something Sunset was supposedly planning to do to Fluttershy at a later date.
Brilliant ideas but lies all the same. Petty little promises that Adagio wouldn’t have let on of the horrible things happen.
“I do hope you’ll behave in the future. If you ask nicely, I might even lend you some money myself. I’d hate to see you begging in the streets.”
Finally shifting up to her feet, Sunset fully prepared to spit straight in Adagio’s haughty little face. But then the other girl lunged forward.
Sunset flinched.
No hit came. No physical contact of any sort. But Sunset had indeed flinched back, covering her face on instinct alone.
That was enough for Adagio. “Good girl,” she said. “Play nice, now.
Sunset ignored her, strutting away from all four of them and turning a corner down the end of the hall. She fixed her underwear once out of sight, growling at the fact she had flinched at all.
***
It was time to kick it up a notch.
Adagio grabbed Sunset’s other wrist, pulling it up with the first as Sonata grabbed the hem of Sunset’s t-shirt, pulling it straight up. The summer heat negated the need for a leather jacket, and as such, Sunset found her head and arms trapped inside her clothes.
Then Aria dived in pulled her jeans down. Between her trapped arms and the pants around her calves, Sunset fell over with little effort. There was laughter from various points in the hall, whispers of ‘she deserved it’ and ‘about fucking time’.
Adagio ignored them all as she bent down and leaned into where she supposed Sunset’s ear would be.
“Start playing nice, sweetie.”
It seemed that was a turning point, of sorts. Punishments only grew worse from there, if required. Adagio’s presence often negated the need for any nasty actions. The school was at war, each student at someone else’s throat. Cliques claiming territory and the teachers trying and failing to curtail the utter chaos of it all.
Discord would be proud.
And in it all, Sunset lost her standing. There was nothing left for her to stand on, not when everyone was doing her job for her. Bullies weren’t required in a school where everyone already hated each other. Even if Sunset tried.
But while everyone hated someone in Canterlot Highschool, each had one trait in common; they all hated Sunset Shimmer.
***
“Flush! Flush! Flush! Flush!”
Sunset wasn’t completely sure who all the voices belonged too. She recognised the barest few, and only remembered a few scowling faces from her forced entry into the boys’ bathroom. Rainbow Dash definitely. Maybe Ditzy and Biceps.
“Flush! Flush! Flush! Flush!”
All she could focus on was Adagio’s hand curled into her hair and Aria elbowing her back into the open cubicle.
“Wait– Stop! I’m sorry, I’ll be good! I’ll be–“
Adagio forced her foot into the back of Sunsets knee and she was on the floor, kneeling in front of the toilet. There was no time to inspect the toilet, or regard whether the putrid smell was sourced in front of her. Instead, Adagio gripped the hair at the back of Sunset’s head even tighter and forced it down.
All because Applejack couldn’t keep her hillbilly mouth shut.
Because of course Sunset thought she could get away with it. Secrecy was the last thing she had at her disposal. A threat behind closed doors and the imminent danger of a beating if they told anyone about what happened.
Applejack didn’t seem so afraid at the time. That should have been warning enough. Sunset should have walked away while she’d had the chance, she saw that now.
… This wasn’t Applejack.
It was down to Sunset. It had always been down to Sunset, hadn’t it? She should have kept back. She should have stayed at her lonely little table in the cafeteria and ate her lunch and none of this would be happening.
But it was.
Adagio yanked down on the flush of the toilet and there was cheering behind her.
Sterile water sloshed against her cheeks, stinging her eyes. It drenched her hair as her forehead met the porcelain at the bottom of the toilet. In her haste to breath, it flowed into her mouth and she couldn’t help but swallow in desperation, in the hopes that something would reach her lungs.
Then she was back up, hair pulled by Adagio and she inhaled so hard that it almost hurt. Fear stormed her brain and she cherished the fact that breathing even existed. It felt almost euphoric, despite how utterly stupid that sounded. She was eternally grateful for it.
But then her head was back in the water. The flush had yet to stop.
She’d barely been under a second, it seemed. Yet it had felt like minutes.
The roar of laughter sounded behind her, even as water flowed around her ears like a raging ocean. More water. More noise, more panic as the moment dragged on for far too long.
Then she was pulled back a second time, her hair suddenly released from Adagio’s grasp. Sunset could only fall forward onto the rim of the toilet, gasping for anything. Even the putrid air of the restroom.
The cheering was still there, the noise a static of voices and cruel laughter. Yet, when Adagio whispered to her, that was the only thing Sunset could focus on.
“I don’t like doing this, sweetie. Really, I don’t. But you left me no choice. I had to punish you for misbehaving.”
Sunset hadn’t tried to nod, but she did. Still spluttering, still failing to breath.
“Are you going to be good? This doesn’t have to happen again.”
“I-I’ll be good. I’ll be good.”
She could hear Adagio smile. “Good girl.”
Still Sunset nodded, pleased to get anything at all. Pleased to have the remotest slither of warmth directed at her, after so long. So long trapped away from home. So long alone at the top of the food chain.
Sunset didn’t want this. She didn’t want her life spent over an open toilet, surrounded by jeering crowds. She missed adoration. She missed the attention. She missed her cronies and the people who did her favours.
She missed having someone there, no matter who it happened to be.
… She wanted someone to be on her side.
And Adagio was the only one who even tried.
***
“You’d be so pretty if you played by the rules,” Adagio said, once. “I don’t like having to punish you.” Sunset didn’t suit being sad. It was an unappealing trait in a girlfriend. She needed to be happy about her standing. “If you’re good for the next three days, I’ll take you out for ice cream. How about that?”
Adagio made sure that she was the only one who offered her that happiness. Like spraying a puppy with a bottle of water; it learned to not piss on the carpet eventually. Either by punishment, or reward. As useful as the punishments were, a reward went a longer way towards gaining Sunset’s affection.
Until one day, all Sunset required was a gentle push against the door of her locker. She had promised Sunset a reward, for a whole week of keeping to the shadows. A week of only dealing with Adagio and her sisters.
“W-What do I get?” Sunset stammered. Excitement rose to the surface despite it, above the remnants of fear that Adagio had spent weeks stamping out. “I behaved.”
“You have indeed,” Adagio agreed. “You’ve been very well behaved, and you deserve a very special reward.”
Adagio simply leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on Sunset’s lips, a genuine smile slithering onto her face. “A kiss, just for you.” Adagio didn’t kiss anyone else. Sunset was the only one who would ever get that from her. This impressive, delicious girl. “I want to be very nice to you, sweetie. Now that you’re being good, I can.” Adagio kept her lips close. “Are you going to be nice to me?”
Her back against the locker, Sunset wearily kissed back, as if Adagio was liable to bite her for the sheer audacity of trying. Maybe one day. But for now, adagio returned the minor act of compassion.
“That’s a good girl.”