A Dazzling Always Strikes Twice

Journal Entry #12?... #20?...(I'm not sure anymore..)

Lost time can never be found again.

For me, time has been lost for years. Time had been stripped away from me centuries ago when they took everything away from me. My kind, my mentor, my freedom all cast away in the cages of those damned cages.

I still remember the desperate cries of my race as they were forced to their bidding.

Day after day, hour after hour, they worked us. They would gaze upon us, knowing that we couldn't do anything to fight back, to break free. Some would try to struggle and fight back, only to become meek along with the rest of us. The meek were allowed to 'live' while the strong were taken to be harvested.

They did not last long afterward.

One by one, our essences were being taken from us, to be used as a resource for their advancement. I would dread waking up every day, wondering if I too was to be harvested like the rest. I refused to be meek, but at the same time I was afraid to be strong. At times, they would call me a coward and sneer at me and other times, they would lash out and feed me water weakening me. I was shunned and ridiculed for my actions, not only by them, but by my own kind. Eventually the only ones left who I could consider my kettle were two of my kind who resided in the same prison as I did.

I did not care, for I was not meek.

I was not strong.

I was *smart*.

Although they had broken our minds, and clipped our wings. I remained fastidious to their work. They thought they all of us under control and became more and more slothful, but I knew better than that. They thought they knew everything their was to us, but they knew *nothing*. I knew they would get too lazy, and when that time came...

I acted upon it.

I flew away from my prison with my family in tow. Although I had relished the feeling of freedom restored, I knew that it was only momentary. Their guards would regroup and recover, and they would be capture us in minutes if we did not make our escape.

For days we flew without rest, searching for a place of security. Going back to our homeland wasn't an option anymore, as that would be the first place they would have expected us to retreat to. We needed to find a way to escape their borders and we need to find it fast.

Fortunately, many months later we found our escape.

One would think that traveling across worlds would be an easy and pleasant experience, but it was far from it. The few seconds of crossing worlds felt endless as every part of my being was pulled apart in every direction. The sensation of being destroyed and recreated in a matter seconds broke my mind and still haunts me to this day.

For I was *careless*.

In my haste to get away with my family I had abused the power of their artifact without any prior knowledge of using it beforehand. Because of my blunder, when I would finally arrive in the new world, I would have payed the price. In a moment of desperation I had doomed myself and my family to be changed into mindless beasts with no free will of our own. Our bodies remained the same, but our minds were shelved into a perpetual state of semiconscious.

For centuries we would roam across the new world without any control of our actions.

Because I was *foolish*.

I do not remember when I regained sentience, too much time had passed since I arrived within this world and my memories were crippled. The only thing that remained in my mind was the years before I had banished my kettle and myself into self-imprisonment. The time spent under their control something that would forever be burned into my soul, and was something that I could...no WOULD never forget.

What was suppose to be victory in regaining our sentience turned out to be bittersweet. We had regained our minds only to replace our wings with new appendages foreign to our own. These things at the end of my wings reminded me of my feathers, but with them, I could not take flight. My once vibrant plumage had completely dissappeared only for a small patch to remain across my head. I opened and closed my mouth, but it had shrunk, now filled with rows of teeth. The magic that used to hum and flourish inside my chest, now simmered and crackled with shallowness. The only thing that remained from my native likeness were my eyes.

But my eyes were all that I needed.

Master Keaton, I have not forgotten all of the lessons that you taught me. You did not deserve the fate that they laid upon you, and for that, I seek vengeance in your name. I will protect my kettle and lead them to reclaim what was lost of our kind, even if I have to wait ten more centuries to regain my magic.

For I am *patient*.

- 1692: Massachusetts

"GET BACK HERE YOU FILTHY WITCH!"

All around the town square, villagers and merchants alike stopped their current activity. A portly man wearing a luxurious suit was running down the main road, yelling threats and obscenities towards a blue haired teen wearing a pink dress. The teen was carrying food and various jewelry tucked in-between her arms and was running away for dear life. She turned around to check the distance between her and her pursuer.

'I just took some of his shiny things, not all of it! Can't I look pretty every once in a while?'

A rock sailed past her body, missing by an extremely narrow margin.

'Obviously not.'

She ducked as another rock flew over her head.

'It's not fair that Aria and Adagio never get chased when they go into town, but when I do I get the mob! I really don't like the mob! I wonder if Adagio can make Aria go next time? Knowing Aria, she would probably say no and tell me to scale up. I can already hear her now, "Maybe if you weren't so clumsy you wouldn't get caught stealing Sonata!" It's not my fault that things seem to go under these long, soft thingies and trip me over! She doesn't hear me making fun of the all the times she fell when we first got here!'

Sonata giggled at the memory of the pig-tailed siren falling face forward into a pile of manure.

Aria had maintained a deep seeded hatred for cows since then, and vowed to swallow every last one of them the moment she regained her lost power.

Slowly her laughter died out and soon turned to anxiousness as the reality of her current situation sank in.

'I've been running for ages! Maybe it wouldn't hurt if I had a quick snack?'

Feeling confident that she had lost her aggressor, Sonata ducked into a small alleyway. She then peeked around the corner to if she was safe. The sound of shouting and cursing had subsided and the only thing left was the various noises of villagers going about their regular buisness. It seemed like the town had no interest or any idea of her whereabouts, leaving her free to catch her breath for the moment. She then thought back to before her banishment.

'Stupid ponies and their fancy, magic mirrors. Who put them in charge! No one banished them when they took all of those fire birds and made them pets? So how come I can't have a pony that does everything I want as a pet?'

Perhaps the small feasts she and her sisters had, garnered the attention (and panic) of some of the pony civilians, and desperate shrieks of terror probably alerted the attention of their wizard. It also didn't help that their feasts usually consisted of the negative emissions of their mind controlled victims. And if they were hungry enough, they would sometimes eat their victims after soaking up their energy.

Maybe all of those things demanded their exile.

Or maybe the ponies were just stuck-up jerks who don't like to have fun.

'We don't banish them when they eat grass and hay, so why do we get banished when we have a pony or two. Yeah they were alive and everything, but plants are alive too!'

A low growl emanating from her midsection interrupted her thoughts. Because she was too busy talking and griping to herself, she didn't notice that she had not yet had anything to eat. After a quick look over her pile of valuables, she grabbed a banana and with some difficulty, peeled off its skin.

'I'll never get used to these wiggly hooves...oh well, bottoms up!'

She lifted the precious fruit towards her face. She was just about to take a bite when she heard footsteps coming closer to her location.

What at first was thought to be one pair of feet, soon became multiple. Soon it was very clear that there was more than one person searching for her. Knowing the villagers and their extreme paranoia, they would probably string her up and burn her at the stake if she was caught.

'I really hope those are doggies smelling my food...'

Feeling bold, Sonata peeked around the corner of alley: A large group of villagers had gathered around the main square, patrolling the area for thieves, or in this case, witches. At the head of the group was the man that she had swiped from earlier. A large knife was in his hand and a torch was in the other. In fact, most, if not all of the villagers within the mob were carrying weapons and torches.

Sonata quickly snapped her head back around the corner when one of the villagers had turned away from the group. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough to be unnoticed as the villager began screech and point to where was hiding.

"THERE SHE GOES! THE WITCH HIDES BEHIND THE ALLEY, LET US CATCH HER BEFORE WE ARE CURSED!"

Sonata blanched as the mob began running towards her spot.

'Fins!'

Without anytime to gather her 'belongings', the blue haired siren rushed out of the alley and darted out of the village. The only thing that was on her mind as she ran was the fact that she had neglected her leader's advice.

If she was being chased but doesn't see her aggressor in sight, don't take time to rest.

Run.

'Dagi's sooo gonna kill me for this!'

"Has she come back yet?"

"If she did, wouldn't you have heard me say something about it?"

"Probably not. Most of the time I hear you moaning about that pile of fur on your head these 'hyoomans' call hair."

Adagio glared at her purple companion. The pig tailed girl sat lazily on a branch, legs swinging carelessly underneath. Aria had been slacking off as the two of them waited for their third member to return from her afternoon 'harvest'. From the time the were exiled not too long ago, the the sirens had resided in a small forest outside of the walls of a small village, and every day before night, one of them would sneak into the village and gather food and supplies to ensure their survival while they slowly built up enough power in their pendants to one day enchant the villagers.

Normally, Adagio would send Aria or go herself, but she soon grew tired of Aria's complaining about having to do all of the dirty work, and sent Sonata in Aria's stead, while Aria would busy herself trying to find fresh water that didn't dehydrate their fragile bodies. That would have been the case, if she hadn't decided to laze around all day. Adagio believed that if she thought hard enough, the branch would snap under her weight and send her to the ground as punishment.

That would make for a good laugh.

"How about you stop complaining, get down and start looking for the water like you were supposed to hours ago!" Adagio barked, thumping the tree which Aria sat on for emphasis.

"How about you come up here and get me 'oh great and powerful leader'?" Aria goaded.

Right as she said that, the branch that was supporting her weight finally quit and picked up its last check, sending the purple siren screaming towards the ground in a mess of leaves and flailing limbs.

"AAAAAH! OOF!"

"Nah, I rather you come down here and grovel beneath my feet like you are now." Adagio cackled. "I was wondering when that branch was going to get tired of holding up your fat body. I always told you to cut back on the fish but you never wanted to listen to me."

Aria's face burned red. "It's not fat, it's muscle!" She then grabbed Adagio's arm and squeezed it tight. "Something that you would have if you'd exercise more often!"

Adagio scowled and yanked her arm out from her companion's grip. "Well excuse me if I don't have time to take care of myself! If my memory serves right, I was too busy making sure that you clowns didn't get captured or worse!"

"Well you sure did a great job doing that considering that it's your fault that we were banished in the first place!" Aria snapped angrily. Her anger soon turned to fear as the realization of what she had uttered sank in.

"What did you just say?" Adagio whispered dangerously.

"N-No wait! What I meant to say was-"

Adagio pushed the purple siren up against a tree, slamming her back against its trunk and sending splinters flying everywhere. Before Aria could recover, Adagio flipped her onto her back and stepped on her. She then began adding pressure to her feet.

"Watch your tongue guppy and remember who you're talking to. You are just as guilty of our exile as the rest of us are, don't ever forget that, got it? Otherwise I'll make you wish that exile was your only punishment!"

Although her face was obscured from her leader's sight, Aria nodded in reply. Adagio then lifted her foot off the girl, leaving her to try and rub away the soreness from her back.

Presently, the sound of shrubs rustling wildly, alerted the two girls of someone else's presence. Quickly forgetting about the small scuffle that occurred a second ago, Adagio and Aria adopted a defensive stance, preparing to attack whoever had found out where they were hiding. None of the villagers had dared to enter the forest, for they feared being cursed by the 'witches' that lived inside. There were a few brave villagers that made expeditions inside the forest, but they sooner or later end up lost, never to be found again.

Even though they didn't have anything to do with the disappearances, Adagio claimed responsibility for them, as it kept villagers from actively searching for them. So when someone other than one of their kind came to the forest clearing. Adagio couldn't help herself from feeling suspicious.

A silent message was made between the two sirens as they waited for the intruder.

'Take out the trespasser.'

The second a figure appeared from the bushes, the two sirens sprang into action. Adagio swept the intruder off their feet, while Aria tackled them to the ground. She then raised her fist to knock the intruder out cold, just to make sure that its companions (if they had any) didn't hear them.

"Gotcha! You should have respected the warnings you stupid...What the? Sonata?"

What was thought to be a nosy villager turned out to be their missing siren. Sonata was splayed across the ground, dazed and confused from her companions assault.

"Congratulations Aria." Adagio snarked, clapping her hands slowly. "You found our lost idiot."

Sonata shook her head, clearing her blurred vision and revealing her purple skinned friend as her attacker. She then began to struggle underneath Aria's weight.

"Ari get your fat tail off of me!" Sonata whined.

"In case you haven't been here for the last two weeks, we don't have tails anymore!" Aria growled, getting off of the struggling siren." Besides, what are you doing sneaking around? I thought I taught you how to signal us for when you come back?"

"I forgot okay!" Sonata shot back. "I was too busy running for my life!"

Adagio raised an eyebrow. "Exactly were you running  from that you could not take care of yourself?"

Sonata shuffled her foot, drawing circles into the dirt of the forest floor. Her hand were behind her back, and her head dipped down as she refused to make eye contact with her leader.

"Well? Spill it!" Aria spat.

"I sorta got caught taking stuff from one of the villagers..."

"And? Who cares?" Aria scoffed. "We're faster than them, so they couldn't have caught up with you!"

"That's just it..."

The bushes rattled once more and out came a large group of furious villagers. The size of the angry mob's had increased twofold from the time Sonata had first been seen.

"...I never got away from them." Sonata chuckled sheepishly.

"You...IDIOT!" Aria shouted furiously.

Adagio remained quiet as Aria ranted in the background. The unmistakable scent of negativity seeped into the air like a thick cloud of fog. In their haste to put an end to the siren's constant thieving, the villagers had unintentionally given the sirens a free buffet and temporary source of power. Adagio took a deep breath and inhaled a small sample of their hate.

'Not as rich as it is in Equestria, but it will suffice for now. Especially since there is so much of it.'

Adagio smirked. The tables had turned in their favor.

"Girls?"

Aria stopped in the middle of her rant at the sound of Adagio's voice. Normally, she would have ignored her leaders calls, but there were certain times when Aria knew when to shut up, swallow her pride and listen. And right now, her leader sounded like a predator ready to pounce upon their prey.

Aria shared a knowing look with Sonata, vicious smiles appearing on their faces.

"...Get ready to sing. It's feeding time."

Silence hung throughout the forest, as the darkness started to fall upon the Massachusetts sky. The quiet chirping of the crickets was a signal for all that was still awake to begin to rest.

*BUUUUURRRPPP*

Well...almost everyone.

"I haven't had a meal like that in weeks!" Aria said while rubbing her full stomach after her mighty belch. She had lain herself against a tree as she and her podmates digested their meal. "For the first time since we got here I'm stuffed!

"Mmm-hmm..." Sonata mewled contently.

"Enjoy the meal while you can girls." Adagio murmured. "It's not every day  food just walks into our path like that."

Sonata groaned. "I wish it did. I'm tired of sneaking around the 'hyooman' village, how come we had to send them back Dagi? Why couldn't we keep them."

Adagio sighed and brushed a few specks of dirt off her purple dress. "It's not that simple Sonata. As much as I wanted to keep those fools around and force them to do our bidding, we would eventually have to feed again, and you can only feed off of the same source for so long before it burns out. As much 'bad' I have done since leaving Syronos, I don't want to add murder to that list. After all, what use is a servant if they're dead?"

"Oh...Do you think of us as your servants Dagi?" Sonata asked innocently.

Aria's ears perked up slightly. She herself wanted to know how her leader felt about being with them, but she made sure to pretend that she wasn't listening.

"Of course not! You two are a part of my pod and as much as I hate to admit, I can't flourish without you two!" Adagio exclaimed, shocked that Sonata would ever think of something like that.

"Then why do you always yell at us?"

*sigh* "I don't mean to. Sometimes you two get on my nerves more than you probably should..."

'And maybe I'm just as scared as you about being banished in a world with no magic like this one...'

Soon everything went back to being quiet, with the three sirens turned human enjoying the ambient noise of the forest together.

Presently, a raindrop fell on top of Adagio's nose.

"What the..."

She looked up into the sky; black thunderclouds and lightning began flashing across the sky warning those on the ground of the shower to come.

"Heads up girls." Adagio got up and began walking out of the forest. "We need to find shelter or anything that can suffice as a roof as soon as possible. It's going to start raining at any second."

Sonata and Aria moaned and groaned, but eventually they got up and followed after their leader.

The storm had started very suddenly within the village, and in minutes thousands of raindrops descended from the black clouds and splattered across the village roads. Electricity would arc across the sky, illuminating the village for flashes at a time, while thunder would soon follow shaking the walls of every house. The wind would frequently change in intensity, going from a gentle push to a roaring hurricane in a matter of seconds.

Suddenly a powerful lightning bolt came down and struck the well at the center main square, lighting it ablaze.

The villagers cowered inside their houses. Never before had a storm so powerful had come so with such fervor and with such unpredictability. There were no clouds in the sky when sun was still shining across the sky earlier that morning, so how could a storm possibly occur under those conditions.

One foolish villager had an idea.

He came out of his house with a stake in one hand and a quill and parchment in the other. Slowly, he made his way towards the burning well trying his best to not get swept away by the howling winds. When he reached the well he held up the stake and pointed it into the air. He then began shouting towards the sky. The rest of the village peeked out from their doors to watch the brave (idiotic) man.

"OH HOW THIS HORRIBLE TEMPEST HAS COME UPON US BY THOSE WITCHES! THEY, WHO HAVE NO SOUL OR FEELING FOR MAN! THEY, WHO CONDEMN US WITH THEIR VERY BREATH! THEY, WHO REFUSE TO LET US LIVE IN PEACE WITH THEIR WITCHCRAFT AND SORCERY! THOUGH WE ARE MORTAL, WE SHALL STAND STRONG AND NOT FALL IN THE FACE OF THEIR EVIL!"

The sky flashed white and another bolt of lightning came down from the sky. With no time to react, the man was sent flying as the bolt exploded inches away from his face.

Unfettered, the man stood back on his feet and began shouting again.

"YOU MUST NOT HAVE HEARD ME! WE WILL STAND STRONG!"

This time the sky answered the man back with a shower of lighting. Bolts of electricity began to flash and swirl around the village. Children cried and parents shrieked in terror as the sky con to unleash brutal torrent of rain. Thunder boomed and deafened the screams of even the loudest shrew.

Then it came.

As if someone had constructed a invisible barrier above the town, the rain stopped. Not stopped as in dwindled down until it drizzled and petered out.

All at once the rain stopped.

Feeling as if he had won some sort of invisible battle, the man began to dance and shout, but not before a huge column of lightning descended and struck the earth behind him. The lightning flashed and blinded the villagers while the ground shook as*BOOM* rang throughout the village.

The light finally subsided, allowing the villagers to see what had created the noise. What they met however, quickly made them wish they hadn't.

A gigantic beast standing five stories tall loomed over the man next to well. Its wings The light created from the storm seemed to emanate from the creature  as its eyes were shining, crackling with the same electricity that had struck the well beforehand. The beast stared at the cowering man, not making any movements. The only sound that was heard was the distant thunderclaps and cowering of the foolish villager.

"IS THIS IT?" The man shouted at the forest, trying his best not let fear seep into his voice. "YOU WITCHES COULD NOT ACCEPT OUR ENDURANCE AND YOU NOW SEND A BEAST TO DO YOUR DEED! YOU ARE DISGRACEFUL!" He then turned around to face the beast, picking up his stake and brandishing it in front of the monster. "I REFUSE TO BE FELLED BY A CREATURE OF YOUR KIND, MAY THE GRAVE BE YOUR ONLY PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR EXISTENCE!"

The man charged towards the monster a plunged the stake into the beasts leg...only for the stake to shatter like marble against its surface.

The beast narrowed its eyes and took a stepped towards the man, the ground sinking beneath its pointed feet. The man fell back and hobbled away from its gaze, and when he felt that he was out of its sight, he ran into one of the village's houses. After a few minutes he decided to take a chance and see if the monster was still outside. Slowly but surely, he creaked upon the door...only to find the monster still staring at him.

All of a sudden the monster spread its wings and released a a horrifying screech that rang across the village and into the forest, causing a certain orange-haired siren to wake from her slumber.

Lightning came showering down from the sky, striking the houses and the villagers inside them, the villagers screamed in agony as the beast continued to summon the deadly storm.

Then there was silence.

"What happened to all the 'hyoomans'? They're all gone!" Sonata exclaimed as she walked across the empty village.

Aria shrugged her shoulders. She lifted the lid of barrel full of apples and began munching on its contents."I 'dunno maybe they finally got tired of us stealing all of their stuff. If you ask me, it's about time the packed up and went swimming."

Adagio inspected the burned remains of the village well. It was strange how scorch marks were littered across the village, but the well was the only thing that was completely destroyed. She examined the well even more thoroughly, finding giant scratch marks riddled across its base. As she leaned in closer, a familiar scent waded into her nose and caused her pendant to shine.

'Equestrian Magic?! But how?! We've been here for weeks and there was no sign of Equestrian magic anywhere!'

"DAGI!"

Adagio whipped her head around, Sonata was dancing around pendant shining bright in her hand. Aria had taken to staring at the pendant with a rare expression of shock strewn across her normally aloof features.

"Magic!" The bubbly siren gushed. "We found magic! We can finally get out of these icky bodies and leave this place!"

"I hate to agree with sugar for brains, but she makes a good point! Come on Adagio, lets blow this joint!" Aria pleaded.

"No."

"Alright! Wait...What?"

"We can absorb this magic, but even this will not enough to restore us back to full strength." Adagio began, trying her best not to look at her companion's dejected faces. "Besides, how are we supposed to get back to Equestria with no gateway. Even at full strength we can't open portals to different worlds, and if we did would it be the right one? I hate being stuck on this bloody rock as much as you two, but we are stuck. And until proven otherwise, there is no feasible way of us going back to Equestria, and that's that!"

It hurt the proud siren to admit that out loud, but she had to come to terms with their banishment quickly. They were outsiders in a new world with different principles and abilities. If they were to survive, they would have to shelve any mannerism or a semblance of mannerism from Equestria. She had been meaning to talk to the girls about adapting to the new world, but she hadn't planned for it to be this soon.

"So what? Are we going to give up the plan just like that?!" Aria blurted, desperately hoping that everything she had done up to that point wasn't in vain.

"I never said that." Adagio corrected." We will continue with our plan. If anything, it will be easier to take control of this world and make it adore us. If the beings of this world get riled up as easy those villagers, then we should be able to live comfortably for the rest of our lives."

Sonata wiped away the tears that leaked from her eyes. "A-Are you sure Dagi?"

"I've never been unsure about anything Sonata dear. Now let us absorb this magic." Adagio ordered. "And once we are done, we will head toward a nearest sign civilization. Understand?"

The other two sirens nodded in compliance.

'If there are any Equestrian predators in this world, then we must venture as far as possible away from them. Whoever or whatever made this mess must have sensed our magic and if that is the case then I want to be far away as possible for when it returns.'