The ride back to Trixie's was a quiet one. Mostly due to the fact that they were on public transport since none of them drove. But also each one was planning their next move and what to and not to say. Alliances made for ignoble means are rarely ever trust worthy or stable.

Once back home, it was Trixie who first spoke up. She figured she had both the most and least to lose. If the Dazzelings decided to leave her behind, she would lose her chance at almost unlimited power. But, at the same time, other than having to put up with the two of them for a little over a week, she really wasn't out anything either. "I saw Twilight at Kohl's today," was all she said as soon as they had all walked through the front door.

Aria and Adagio exchanged glances that only slightly betrayed the fact they had also seen Twilight. They then looked at Trixie and it was Adagio who said, "Oh? That is interesting. If she is here, then that must mean the portal either open now, or will be soon so she can go back. Good job Trixie." Adagio was as smooth as she had ever been. She was the liar, the manipulator, the seductress; her tongue was solid silver and her face a perfect mask to show whatever emotion you wanted to see.

Trixie just gave Adagio her best "really" look and shook her head. "I also saw you two had seen her as well. Despite what you think; I'm not stupid Adagio. I always knew you'd try to betray me as soon as it became possible."

Adagio looked genuinely surprised then her face became cold and emotionless. "Ok Trixie; so now what? Twilight's here. All we got to do is stake out the school and wait until she crosses back over. We don't need you for that. So you got something to offer?"

"Yeah, in fact I do. Cantorlot has a large campus and you two still have no idea where the portal is. One of you could be on the other side when Ms. Light decides to leave and you would never know. Also, as soon as she enters the portal, she'll immediately close it behind her. So unless you are right behind her when she crosses over, it'll be shut by the time you'd get there. At which point you'll still need a place to stay until she next crosses over, which who knows when that'll be."

"She has a point Adagio," Aria said, sounding concerned.

Adagio turned to look at Aria and nodded. She then looked back at Trixie. "Ok; valid points. So what's your solution?"

Trixie smiled. "Well, we continue on as we have. You two keep scooping out the campus at night. BUT, only one of you. Just in case you get lucky, you don't leave me behind. Once we know where the portal is, we'll know where to watch the next time she comes through. Also, we know both Flash and Sunset Shimmer know she's here as well. In fact it's an opened secret Flash and Twilight like each other. They might even be dating. If so, she'll be crossing over on a regular basis." Trixie gave Adagio a look that one could almost mistake as her trying to send Adagio a telepathic message. It was as if she was saying, you see; are you getting this? .

Adagio rubbed her chin and looked down to her left. "Yes, I see. But there is no magic on this side. So she would have to keep the portal open while she's here because if she closed it; there'd be no way for her to open it on this side." She snapped her fingers and looked up in surprise and glee. "Once we knew where it was and that she was here; we could leave at anytime."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Trixie. "As soon as we see her, we could call the other two and make our way over."

"But how long is she planning on staying?" Aria asked. "Is she leaving now? Will she leave tomorrow? Or will she be here all week or more?"

"We'll just have to keep watch," Adagio said simply. "It will be tedious still, for a time. Fortune has not smiled upon us, but she did give us a very good wink."

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Sunset Shimmer looked in on Twilight. She was sound asleep. Sunset couldn't help but smile. After the portal had re-opened and she had gone through to find one of The Elements of Harmony ; she learned about Twilight Sparkle. How she had come to Cantorlot after she had left. How she had become one of Celestia's prize students, and then how she became a princess herself.

Sunset had burned with anger and rage upon finding that out. She vowed that she would destroy Twilight at any cost. Twilight had taken Sunset's place as Princess Celestia's best student. She should have been the one turned into a princess, not this purple pretender to the throne.

And, in truth, she had tried. She blasted Twilight at the Fall Formal to kill her. But when the others stepped in to save her, they unleashed Twilight's magic and she defeated Sunset. Not only that; but in doing so, she had also taken all of Sunset's rage, envy, and cruelty away. In trying to kill her; she found redemption.

At least she hoped. There was still that ember, that spark inside of her. She tried to deny and bury it, but it still came bubbling up from time to time. In the cafeteria, when the Dazzelings first enchanted everyone and she wanted to stand up and just take them by their hair and tell them she was the head witch in charge here. Or when she had made that dig at Twilight today about Flash knowing where she lived. She made that statement simply to hurt Twilight by inferring Flash had been over to her house before, as a boyfriend.

Times like those scared her immensely. She had gained so much to lose it all. But, while Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were quick to forgive (and Flash to some extent), most of the others at school weren't. She fought so hard to redeem herself, but it all seemed to go for naught. At her lowest times, she simply felt like giving up.

Oh Twilight, she thought to herself, You've given me so much. Hopefully it was enough. Sunset shut the bedroom door, went out to her car, and drove off. She drove until she got to campus. There she parked and went to the observation tower.

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Adagio took the first night shift. She had been walking around and poking and prodding everyplace. As she was doing so; she saw a car coming onto campus. A car, at this time of night, on a Saturday none the less, was more than curious. She hid behind a bush and saw that it was Sunset Shimmer. She watched as she got out and started walking off. Adagio couldn't understand why she was here. So she decided to follow her and find out.

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The tower's doors were rarely locked. Sunset never knew why but used that to go up at night sometimes and look at the town bellow. Being here at this time of night, with that view, helped her think. It was here she would go to wind down, contemplate, and heal. Now she began to sing a song she was working on for the Rainbooms. She had lyrics in mind and just started singing.

"Power was all that I desired. But all that grew inside of me was a darkness I acquired." She slowly made her way through the first verse and then to the chorus. "Like the Phoenix burning bright in the sky; I'll show there's another side to me you can't deny. I may not know what the future holds but believe me when I say; my past does define me. Because my past is not today!" And on she went, verse, chorus to her amazing crescendo. At the end she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was as if singing that song had unleashed some left over magic inside her.

"Very impressive Sunset, naïve and foolish; but impressive none the less."

Sunset whirled around as fast as she could and saw Adagio standing behind her. "What are you doing here?" She asked confused and angry.

"Oh, just looking for the way home Sunset darling. Isn't that what we're all looking for?" Adagio was leaning against the doorway but then started to walk over to Sunset. "You know, I would like to apologize to you; for the hall way incident."

Sunset started walking toward Adagio as well. She didn't want to be too close to the edge just in case. "Thanks, but unnecessary." Sunset barely tried to hide her anger. Adagio was the ring leader, the mastermind, she was the least likely to change and the most dangerous. She just wanted her to go.

"Oh, but I must. You see, I came to Cantorlot High because of you. I saw what happened that night. It was your magic that drew me here. And once I found out what you had done, I was very impressed. No. I was in awe." Adagio's voice was sweet, soft, and seductive.

"In that case; I have even more to make up for than I thought," Sunset replied flatly.

Adagio laughed. "You have nothing to make up for. What did you really do? -huh? You had ambition. But what is ambition but a goal you really want to accomplish. All you did was take the steps necessary to achieve that goal. Nothing different than almost every other person on this god forsaken rock. Why try to make up for that?"

Adagio was now circling around Sunset, much like she had done back in the hallway that day. Sunset tried to follow her but started getting dizzy. "There's good ambition and bad. A right way to achieve your goals and a wrong. I did it the wrong the way."

"Who says? I know you're not as old as I am; but surely you're old enough to know that morality; right and wrong, are ambiguous at best. Most of the time they're just arbitrary rules laid down by a society's elite's to control the masses. You are not one of the masses. You are not a sheep to blindly follow orders until the day you are butchered. You are a queen! You are not bound by their rules, their laws, their codes of conduct."

"I hurt people." Sunset was smoldering now with rage. She wanted nothing more than to just lay into Adagio, if for no other reason, part of her was actually starting to listen to what Adagio was saying.

Adagio laughed even harder. "Honey, factories pumping toxins into the air and water are hurting people. Banks, foreclosing on the poor hurts people, cars, with their emissions, hurt people. Heck, breaking up with somebody hurts at least one person. People hurt each other all the time for a myriad of reasons. The clothes on your back were most likely made by forced or at least highly under paid workers. Do you feel guilty about that?

"No animal gets to the top of the food chain without eating others and no person ever gets to the top with sacrificing and hurting others. And guess what? - No one ever feels guilty about that. That's how the world works Sunset Shimmer."

"No. Not me. Not anymore. That's my past . . ."

"And your past is not today." Adagio mocked. "I got it. But guess what honey? - Our pasts are exactly who we are. Everything we ever did, said or said and done to us is exactly what makes us who we are today. Even if we try and even manage to fool ourselves on that one, the others never will. Once a witch, always a witch. Redemption is a lie Sunset. It's a fairy tale we tell ourselves to make us feel better."

"You should know about lies."

"I may be a liar, but I never lie to myself; about who and what I am. Haven't you ever wondered how and why you changed so fast? You got blasted by magic. You're under a spell that makes you a sheep. Wake up and be what you know you are."

At this time, Sunset has her head down and eyes closed; trying to block Adagio's words out. All of a sudden she feel Adagio's left arm go around her waist from behind. Her right hand starts stoking Sunset's hair back. Sunset can feel Adagio pressing up against her back. Then Adagio's hand gently goes down the back of Sunset's neck which cause her to quiver in delight.

"I see the back of the neck being our most sensitive area has remained the same over in this realm," Adagio softly whispered in Sunset's ear. "I don't want to fight you Sunset Shimmer; I want to free you. I have had companions and underlings; but never an equal. You are my equal Sunset Shimmer. Come with me, embrace who you are, and we can rule both realms forever! You and me Sunset. You as my queen and me as yours; who would, who could, stand against us. I need you." Adagio was whispering directly into Sunset's ear with a hard, breathy voice which also gave the sensation of it being blown in as well. Her left arm was now gently rubbing Sunset's stomach.

Sunset grabbed and dug her left finger nails deep into Adagio's left thigh which only made Adagio smile. Then Sunset took her left hand and raised up to Adagio's left cheek and began to stroke it. She slowly turned her head so her lips were mere millimeters from Adagio's, their hot breath mingling together. Sunset gently kissed Adagio on the corner of her mouth, then her cheek, then she nibbled her earlobe. "I have one thing to say," she whispered into Adagio's ear.

"What is it darling," Adagio sweetly asked, knowing she had Sunset right where she wanted.

"BUCK OFF!" Sunset shouted into Adagio's ear.

Adagio yelled in pain and loosened her grip on Sunset. Sunset took this opportunity to thrust a massive elbow into Adagio's stomach. Adagio doubled over and feel to her knees. Sunset took her hands and raised Adagio's head so she could look her straight in the eyes.

"Spell or no spell, accepted by others or not, I am different, I am redeemed, if only to me; and that's all that counts. Another time, another place; I would have taken you up on your offer. Not now, not ever again." Sunset let go of Adagio's head and started walking off.

"SUNSET SHIMMER! I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A PIKE FOR THIS!" Adagio screamed.

"Better on a pike than where you wanted my head earlier." Sunset called back while never turning around.

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It took Adagio a good twenty minutes to recover. Just enough time to run over and see Sunset drive away. More than anyone now, Adagio wanted to make Sunset suffer. She had humiliated her. She had offered Sunset the keys to unlimited power and literally punched in the stomach for it. Adagio vowed no matter what happened, she would get revenge.

She made her way down the steps and walked over to the arena where she and the others had been defeated only a week or so ago. She walked down to the stage. Her mind boiled with absolute hatred. The morning sun was coming up now and soon she would have to get back to Trixie's. Still, she felt compelled to come here.

Now she was at the stage and walked back and forth in front of it. She didn't know why but just did. Then something on the ground caught her eye, glimmering in the early morning sun. She bent down and picked it up. It was a fragment from one their medallions. She held it up to her face and she could feel a small amount of energy pulse from it and into her hand. A fragment was not as powerful as a full gem; but it did hold something. Adagio cheered up and smiled. Fortune had winked at her again.

Author's Notes:

As I said earlier, the only character's I'll be depicting as gay or at least in a gay relationship is Pinkie and Sonata. With Adagio, I see her as asexual predominantly; see all others as beneath her. But with Sunset, I won't say she's attracted to her in a sexual way, but as an intellectual and power (near) equal (something she never considered Aria or Sonata). The "sexual" seduction she tries on Sunset is a result of her just knowing that this method has been greatly effective in the past and her own confusion as to how she exactly see's Sunset. I don't think I crossed any lines with this one. Maybe PG to PG-13. But I'm still comfortable with it. Nothing explicit and nothing explicit in the future. Kissing and hugging and an innuendo here and there is as far as I'll go. Peace and enjoy (hopefully)