By far these are the only MLP villains I think deserve redemption.

It may not have been very apparent in Sunset’s Backstage Pass and moreso in Find The Magic, but I think that these three are genuinely repentant in regards to what they did during Rainbow Rocks. If I was a character in the EQG universe and saw Adagio along with Aria and Sonata standing like they are, I would let them stay at my place for a while until they got back up on their feet, even if I knew about their past misdeeds.

don’t worry, girls. I forgive you. and there’s no way I’m gonna let that bacon bully hurt you again.

@Lawful Girly  
Well, it DOES fill an imaginary “hole in the soul”, for what it’s worth… at least according to Father…

@ShimmeringStallion  
Indeed. Frankly, I don’t think there’s anything nonphysical that “love” has as an advantage over friendship.

@Lawful Girly  
That… actually sounds rather beautiful.

@ShimmeringStallion  
@Wikipedia:  
…  
“At the next level, friendships of pleasure are based on pure delight in the company of other people. People who drink together or share a hobby may have such friendships. However, these friends may also part—in this case if they no longer enjoy the shared activity, or can no longer participate in it together.
 
Friendships of the good are ones where both friends enjoy each other’s characters. As long as both friends keep similar characters, the relationship will endure since the motive behind it is care for the friend. This is the highest level of philia, and in modern English might be called true friendship.”

@Lawful Girly  
Does it fall under the purview of philia? I mean, they share an interest with something they don’t want…

@ShimmeringStallion  

 

 
@ShimmeringStallion  

 
But that’s more philia than _eros, which is, one presumes, what you were referring to, being the romantic sort of love.

@Lawful Girly  
Well they also suck the life out of you and leave you as an empty husk.
 
… But they do it in less than a week.
 
Also, the notion of “true” love CAN include people who just feel they have a lot of commonalities. If some of those commonalities include not wanting to have children or even have SEX (prudent lifestyles), that sort of cracks the idea of it being solely the body seeking to reproduce.

@ShimmeringStallion  
Personally, I think the use of chemicals to influence your emotions against your will counts as brainwashing and artificial, regardless of origin. That includes “true” love, which is just a body’s way of trying to force you to breed and continue the species.
 
@ShimmeringStallion  

 
And that sounds like any given longterm relationship. I’m really not seeing the difference between siren domination and normal dating. Heck, if they don’t expect you to buy them presents and dinner, it sounds like an improvement.

@Lawful Girly  
Nah, that would be artificial love, so ecstasy-use. Love, itself, is an emotion we’re created with. Brainwashing would be the act of them using that love and being aware of the control they have, rather than relying on the hope that it’s being felt.
 
Basically, with brainwashing, you have no doubt they’re under your control. With friendship and love, there’s a considerable exchange of trust, rather than having it just be one side giving and the other receiving.

@ShimmeringStallion  
Isn’t all love basically brainwashing, though?

@atalarikt  
It’s how hard it is to see true regret, and to trust them not to do the same again is hard when you were under a spell of theirs, manipulated into caring for them.
 
You will always have that voice in your head, saying that they are making you love them somehow. Even if the entire school proved that they truly had no power, as a victim of their magic, you would never truly be able to look at them without instinctively saying something to learn what they’re up to, nor could you let them walk down the hallway as they hum a jingle, without feeling the need to flee out of deep-seeded fear that they might be making their proverbial “move” then and there.
 
… That would probably make for an extremely interesting read, come to think of it.

@Background Pony #3F35  
Not giving people who regret what they’ve done some mercy sounds like a cruel idea.
 
@Mit boy  
This.

@Background Pony #3F35  
I wonder how you can not.

i’m still gonna forgive these girls

@Red-Supernova  
I dunno… I don’t trust her.
 
… Like… at all… and I feel like, from her character, she’s the type to simply not care.

@ShimmeringStallion  
Nope. Aria’s tears are genuine.

@CristopherOS  
I’d say that’s more believable… that or Adagio pinched her so hard it caused her to cry, just so Aria would look upset.

@ShimmeringStallion are painted, she is not really sad about this.

Aria’s tears seem… like they shouldn’t be there.

@KB001  
And i’ll “introduce” (I already know chips) myself to some chips, which I will gobble down.

haha im a potato now theyre crying lol

@Evil Emperor Proteus  
I bet whenever Adagio (and the other sirens) attempts at trying to sing again, she ends up hurting her vocal cords.