Into the Garden of Shadows
Into the Garden of Shadows
Episode 1: Innocence
It was dawn, how the hippocampus knew was beyond his real understanding. Down this deep it was impossible to tell as darkness was the only king here. Or perhaps it was the other way around. Letting out a yawn he let his power flow through him to light up the angler on his head and show him the darkness of the grotto around him. Crustaceans scurried away quickly making a slight ticking sound with each movement of their chitinous legs.
Dirge looked into a nearby mirror he had stolen recently and saw himself, purple hair flowing in the water while the rest of him curled inward. His fin nearly touching his belly just below his front, and only, pair of hooves, the posture looking like something had twisted him about and curled him in some unnatural way. With a slight frown he looked away, blinking his black and teal slitted eyes.
“No no no. Start at the beginnin’. Ya don’t start a story at the end,” said the deep violet unicorn with a chuckle.
Dirge hooked his hooves over the edge of the water tank he found himself in watching the pony work on the mechanical legs that would soon be his only hope of adapting to the land. With a few blinks he realized he would have to think the story over.
“It is not a happy story,” sang the siren, all eight of his voices speaking in their dissonant yet sing songy way.
The unicorn looked up and used her magic to wipe away a dob of grease from her face. Turning she chuckled and lifted a brow. “Ya left yer natural world ‘t come on land and nearly died doin it. I’d rekon it wouldn’t be too happy a tale,” she replied.
Dirge nodded again as he heard the retort. He supposed she was right and he supposed he owed her some sort of explanation. “Are you sure Lovelace? This tale you ask me to sing for you is a journey into the darkest parts of a pony.”
“sweet stuff we’re gonna be here for a long while. Even if I get these legs t’ work for ya, I’ll have t’ make sure they don’t go breakin down or you’ll be draggin yourself through the dirt again. We got time t’ sort through all the feelings we want,” Replied the purple unicorn, flicking her deep emerald mane out of the way.
Dirge took a deep breath, taking the scents of metal, oil, magic and sweat in. The workshop smelled of work and passion. He could feel the energy in the smells, Lovelace’s need to create was inspiring and her kindness to him was not something he would pass off so easily.
Lady Lovelace’s various creations hung from her walls and ceiling, proudly displayed in their unfinished or just started states. He smiled slightly as he saw her ingenuity in each and every invention, from equipment for easier farming to the grand, as a pair of great wings hung above his tank, an unfinished flying machine. He could only imagine what she might be planning for him. The ideas seemed to flow from her like a painter’s may from a brush.
“Siren society is complicated…”
A small colt hippocampus swam about the playground with his friends, laughing and playing as their voices joined together in their own playful song of game. Today was a special day, it was a day of great celebration as the witch had been cast out, her dissonant harmony never to haunt the halls of the consonant harmony again. Every siren was happy, even the young ones that didn’t truly understand what had happened.
“Tag! You’re the witch Spring Sonnet,” shouted the purple maned and teal bodied siren pony with a giggle. He had just tagged his friend, a dark green filly siren with a fire red mane.
“No fair! You cheated Soliloquy,” contested the filly with a frown, her hooves folded across her chest.
Soliloquy frowned and looked somewhat insulted that his friend would say such a thing. He crossed his own hooves across his chest and shook his head, “Did not!”
“But I don’t wanna to be!”
“I didn’t cheat!”
“You two really need to learn how to get along better,” came the soft singing of Aria, Soliloquy’s mother.
The two children turned about to see her floating nearby, the shine of her vibrant orange scales and her striking cyan mane making the two smile. The two children quickly swam to the fully grown hippocampus, wrapping their hooved legs around her waist making the woman chuckle softly.
“Oh it’s good to see you too children. Why were you two fighting this time,” asked Aria as she placed a hoof softly on both of the younger one’s heads.
“Soli said I was the witch,” shouted Spring Sonnet quickly, crocodile tears welling up in her eyes.
“Did not! We were playing tag… She just can’t take that I won,” shouted Soliloquy with a low grumble.
Aria smiled and shook her head slowly, “Well neither of you are the witch. You’re safe from her.”
“Who’s this witch lady,” asked Lady Lovelace as she carefully started to place a rod into what looked like a metal hoof.
Dirge frowned a little and shook his head, “Does it matter that much?”
“Don’t know, you tell me. ’s your story.”
Dirge nodded slowly before looking out one of the workshop windows from his vantage point in the water tank, “Well… They are a siren with a broken voice. They cannot sing in consonant harmony, their song always in dissonance.”
Lovelace placed the machined pony parts down on her workbench and lifted a brow, “ ’s that problem with that?”
Dirge shrugged and frowned, “Nothing I suppose… but they do have strange powers. They are called the witch of black waters because they have power over the abyss. That’s a deep part of the ocean where no light can make its way down. They can twist the darkness into the kraken.”
“Now that sounds scary. See why you left the ocean now,” Replied the purple pony with a frown.
Dirge frowned and looked down to the ground from the side of his tank. The words seemed to cut him deeply. Lady Lovelace was too absorbed in her work to see the pained look in his eyes as he spoke, “Yeah… I suppose you’re right. Getting away from that monster was probably the best choice I could make in the end.”
“What’s all this got t’ do with you,” asked the unicorn as she started to tighten a few of the more delicate pins in the metal hoof.
“Hmm? Oh… A siren doesn’t get their true name until their mark of destiny shows itself.”
“Ah? Then ya use t’be Soliloquy? Woulda kept it myself. ’s a cute name,” replied Lady Lovelace.
Dirge didn’t reply as he slowly slipped his way back under the water. He drifted to the bottom with his eyes closed and idly listened to Lady Lovelace’s voice, muffled by the transference of sound from air to water. All he could see in his darkness was Spring and Aria’s smiling faces. They were so happy then, before one of them tore all three apart.
Telling the story again was like a cold dagger in the siren’s three chambered heart, the waltz it beat out seeming to skip a beat with every few words. It was a miracle he was able to keep telling it as long as he did. He missed his home now but knew he couldn’t go back. He had sacrificed so much just to get to this point.
A loud tap snapped the sea pony out of his darkness and he opened his eyes to see Lovelace looking into the glass of the tank. Reaching up she pressed a hoof to a button outside and he could hear her voice through the water, “Ya can’t stop a story like that. What happened after?”
Dirge swam to the side of the tank and pressed the button inside before replying, “I think that’s enough for today. This story is long, besides… the moon rises soon.”
“Suppose... You gonna to be kay in there? Ya need me to get ya anythin fer the night?”
Dirge just shook his head as he drifted away from the wall slowly, “I’ll be fine. Sleep well Lady Lovelace.”
“You too Dirge. Ya want me t’ leave the light on?”
The siren shook his head again as he spoke softly, “The dark does not scare me anymore. I always have a light with me after all.” The lure on his head lit up for a moment before twinkling out entirely.
“Guess I’ll be seein ya in the mornin then. We needa get some measurements fer the connectors t’ yer body tomorrow. Hope ya don’t mind bein outa water fer a bit,” Replied the unicorn as she walked away from the tank and with a nod left the workshop behind.
The siren sighed and shook his head as he wiped a leg across his face. The water of course hid the tears of pain he had been shedding. His face was blank and emotionless, a mask he had learned to put on for years now. He had to be strong.
“You did not tell her the truth,” said a familiar but deep feminine voice.
Dirge looked about into the darkness that surrounded him and frowned as he spoke, “How long have I been asleep then?”
“Not long, but you do not seem to have very happy dreams. It’s my job to chase them away is it not,” Replied Luna as she stepped out of the darkness and up to the side of the tank, peering in with a slight smile threatening the edges of her lips.
“I told a truth, just not all of it,” replied Dirge as he swam to the edge of the tank, pressing his hoof against the glass, “not even you are powerful enough to chase these demons from my dreams though Lady Moon.”
“I suppose I am powerless to defeat your tormenters… That is something only you can do Dirge Requiem. You will have to forgive them one day,” said the princess of the moon as she placed a hoof on the other side of the glass.
“How could I? They destroyed everything… I thought I was supposed to leave all of it behind anyway? What use is forgiving someone who doesn’t know they have been forgiven?”
The two both went quiet in the darkness of the dream workshop. There was a long pause as they both had to carefully think about a reply. Luna did not want to frustrate the siren with something simple, nor did she wish to anger him with something insulting. The siren did not wish to cause conflict between himself and the only other pony that really understood him.
“I suppose that is a question you will have to answer yourself Dirge… when the time is right I think you will know,” said Luna, breaking the silence.
Dirge could only nod slowly as he sank into the water with a deep frown. She was probably right but he was too prideful at the moment to admit it. He didn’t like holding all of the hate and pain inside of him, but he just wasn’t ready to let it all go yet. He figured that sometimes ponies hold onto whatever is familiar, even if that familiar thing was destructive in nature.
“I’ll have to tell her eventually… I know that. I just don’t think now is the right time Lady Moon,” sang the siren in his usual mournful tone.
“I believe you.”
“Then why are you here?”
Luna lifted a brow and looked somewhat hurt at the question. She knew it was not a question at all, but an accusation. She didn’t respond right away as she saw Dirge had a look on his face saying what it felt at the moment. His eyes spoke all the volumes of how he didn’t mean what he said.
“You have much to learn about dealings with other ponies still Dirge. As I said before… Everypony deserves to be loved. Even monsters,” replied the princess of the moon before standing and looking out the solitary window at her moon.
“You have to go right,” asked Dirge as he swam to the surface of the tank and peeked over the edge.
Luna simply nodded and began to fade into the moonlight, “I have many that need me Dirge. Lady Lovelace is a good pony. I think you should think about opening up to her.”
Dirge opened his mouth to reply but saw that the princess was gone. He hung his head over the side of the tank and let out a sighed, “I know… If only it were that simple…”