On Saturday, Sunset Shimmer went with Adagio to the aquarium.

It was the first time, she reflected as she walked down the road, that Adagio had really invited her anywhere. A sign that the walls were coming down, perhaps?

“Have you been here before?” she asked.

“A couple of times. Not since I …” Adagio's hand went up to play with the pewter ornament on her necklace. “ … became human.”

Sunset took her hand and interlaced their fingers. Adagio gave a little squeeze in response.

They continued in silence until a few minutes later they came upon the aquarium – a large building, three stories high, with its name stamped in ocean-blue letters against a facade of metallic panels.

“Have you?” said Adagio as they stood in line.

Sunset looked at her.

“Been here before?”

“No. I always kind of meant to, but I just never get round to it.”

Adagio smiled at her. “Too busy climbing the social ladder?” Before Sunset could respond, she leaned in and kissed her, then looked up at the facade. “I guess now we have no plans for world domination, we can relax and just … enjoy ourselves.”

Inside, the path from tank to tank spiralled up through the building. A few other couples milled about past the ticket office, but they were outnumbered by children, gleeful and entranced, accompanied by sometimes harried but mostly cheerful parents.

Adagio moved slowly, taking care to look through each pane of glass. She was silent, hands clasped behind her back; her expression was steady, almost haughty, but Sunset, who was paying as much attention to her as the fish, saw her eyes alive with motion and taking in everything she could.

Halfway through the first loop, when Sunset was reading one of the little text boxes about the habits of moray eels, Adagio grasped her shoulder. “Pathetic,” she said.

Sunset looked at her. “What?”

Adagio gestured at the text. “There's so much more you could say about these creatures. To be so simplistic …” She grimaced. “Like I said, pathetic.”

Sunset looked back at the morays. “Tell me.”

Beside her, she heard Adagio breath deeply. “Okay,” she said, and began. The contempt vanished from her voice, and though she kept a steady tone, Sunset thought she could hear shades of eagerness creeping in as she continued.

When she had finished her talk, she glanced back at Sunset, who gave her an encouraging smile. Then she moved two tanks along, beckoning Sunset to follow, and told her about its inhabitants.

As they progressed, Adagio began to pick up an audience of the more free-range children. Just one or two to begin with, some of whom left, but more gravitated towards her. A young boy dragged his mother by the hand to see; both stayed to listen.

Sunset hung back a way to give the audience room, just as interested in Adagio as the fish themselves. Adagio shed the last of her haughtiness and became ever more animated and passionate, gesturing to illustrate her points.

Of course! Sunset felt foolish for not realising sooner: It was a performance. Even without her magic, even without singing, Adagio knew how to hold her audience rapt. And even without her magic, she fed off being the centre of attention.

When they were almost at the top of the building, nearing the end, there came an announcement over the tannoy. A feeding was about to begin, some way back. Adagio's followers remained until she had finished her current fact, then dispersed. A few remained, but they too left before she had finished the next talk.

Adagio looked around where her audience had been. A little growl sounded in her throat, and she went back to looking at the fish.

Sunset walked over to her and took her arm.

“That's never happened before.” Adagio stroked the back of Sunset's hand. “Still, I guess there are some things I can't compete with.”

Sunset put her arm around Adagio and held her close. “I'm still here.”

“You are.”

They continued forward. The pathway terminated with a pair of elevator doors.

“Is this the end?” asked Sunset.

“Not yet. We still have to see the sharks, down in the basement.” Adagio smiled faintly. “My favourite.” She took Sunset's hand and led her forward.

They took the elevator down and emerged at the start of the shark tunnel.

Sunset didn't bother looking at the information cards. She just led Adagio point out the creatures as they passed beside, or overhead:

“These lot are yellow tangs. Look, there – an eagle ray. They're related to sharks. They both lack bony skeletons.” Adagio took her arm and pointed upwards at the shape gliding above. “There's the main attraction. A Blacktip Reef shark.” She fell silent as the shark passed them, moved onwards and out of sight, was replaced by another which swam up to the side of tunnel and alongside it before turning away.

They walked forwards.

“There are so many things I could tell you about sharks,” Adagio said. “Their sense of smell … you've heard how powerful it is, right?”

Sunset nodded.

“Well, what I find more interesting is another sense.” Adagio pointed at a passing snarks nose. “Look closely. You see all those pits?”

“I … think so.” Sunset squinted.

“They're called ampullae of Lorenzini. Sharks use them to sense electrical fields in the water.” Her predatory smile was creeping back. “And electrical fields are given off by muscle contractions. Imagine that. Their prey can hide in the sand. Hard to smell. Impossible to see. But the moment it moves, it lights up. No way it can hide it.” She touched her fingers to the glass, looking at a shark beyond. “It sort of … glows, but that's not the right word.”

Sunset touched her arm. “You could … ?”

“Yeah. Not to hunt; we didn't need to eat. But we could still sense it. The ocean shining with life.” Adagio stepped back from the glass and leaned into Sunset. “I can barely remember it.”

“Did you go in the ocean a lot?”

“We lived in the ocean. Yeah, we could fly. But humans can swim. Does that make them any less creatures of the land?” She fell silent to watch a ray pass above them, then continued: “I tried, you know. I went out into the water, swam for as long as I could, but it wasn't the same. I had to come up to breathe. I couldn't hear properly. Even the water felt wrong. Sticky and slimy instead of smooth. The sea hadn't changed; I had.”

“Oh, Adagio.”

Sunset made to hug her, but Adagio pulled away.

“It was a long time ago,” she said. “No use worrying about it now.” She looked around the tunnel. “I think it's time to leave.”

Sunset hung back and clenched her fists as Adagio strode away. Sometimes it seemed like she was making progress, and then … this. She wanted to say something, but what was there that wouldn't just push Adagio away?

She trailed behind, out the tunnel and through the crowds milling about the gift shop to find Adagio waiting for her. They entered a second elevator to take them up to the surface.

Outside, a harried woman rushed towards them, beset by a double pushchair, half a dozen gift shop trinket, and accompanied by two older children. Sunset moved to the side to make way for them. Adagio gave the woman a wave of acknowledgement and pressed the button to hold the doors open.

The doors closed.

Looking again, Sunset saw Adagio's finger wasn't on the Open Door button, it was on Close.

The elevator took them back to the ground floor. As they were leaving the building, she grabbed Adagio's shoulder to halt her and asked, “Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Close the doors on that woman?”

Adagio shrugged. “I felt like it.”

She began to walk forward again. And again, Sunset stopped.

“Is that it? Is that all you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say? I've been perfectly clear about this: I'm not on your side. I'm not reformed.”

“Yeah,” said Sunset. “Adagio Dazzle, the noble predator, sating her lust for power by closing the elevator doors on people. Real villainous. Real magnificent.”

Adagio glared at her, lips pulled back in a silent snarl. When she spoke, it was in a measured, even tone: “Let me tell you about the nature of evil, since you seem to have forgotten. You've seen the sorts of villains they have here. They're not all that different from those back in Equestria. Tyrants. People, ponies, sirens, spirits, whatever. In the end they all want the same thing: Power.”

Sunset responded with a brief laugh. “Is that what you've got to say? 'It's not about evil; it's about power'? Even here, that's a cliché!”

“No” said Adagio. “Evil is just what they call the desire for power when you're not holding back. And what is desire for power, hm? Just the desire to impose your will on the world. The need to do something just because you can. Mind-controlling the entire world or pushing the elevator buttons – it's just the same thing on a different scale.

“That's the true nature of evil and power, Sunset Shimmer. It's always petty.”

Something caught in Sunset's throat. She tried to suppress it while she looked Adagio up and down. “Then why?” she asked. “Why do you concern yourself with something so petty?”

“Because it's everywhere,” Adagio said softly. “Why do you think it was so easy for us – either of us – to shatter Canterlot High's supposedly wonderful harmony? We never had to create negativity. It was already there, hidden in the desire for power. We just brought it to the surface.” She shrugged. “Everyone wants to impose their will on others. It's just that you and I are better at it … were better at it, anyway.”

With her last admission, Adagio's tone and poise faltered. Sunset felt herself torn between the desire to use the opportunity to tear her down and win the argument, and the desire to hug her.

She did neither. The two girls stood facing one another outside the aquarium, inches apart. The silence drew out.

“What about me?” Sunset asked.

Adagio inclined her head.

“Your desire for power, however petty. Does that include power over me?”

“I can already tell you what to do. That's how we got together, remember?”

“Only because I let you.”

A grin crept back across Adagio's face. “And there she is, exercising her power. See? You might be a nice little friend in public, but underneath it all.”

“That's it, isn't it? You want me to take control, don't you? You want to see Bad Sunset Shimmer.”

Adagio's smile widened.

Sunset grabbed her arms, fingertips digging into the bare skin. “Well, then,” she said, “I have an idea …”

Author's Notes:

I was at the Feria de Abril a couple weeks ago, and looking at all the pretty dresses made me realise Adagio would look really good in a traje de flamenca:

http://www.flamencoexport.com/photo/productos&2Ftrajesdflamenca&2F2009mc&2F09magia/500x741/Trajes-de-Flamenca-Se%C3%B1ora.-Magia.jpg

Doncha think?