The Guiding of the Sirens

Chapters

Not as Bad as They Seem
The Decrescendo of Our Social Lives
Three To Tango
Where Angels Fear to Tread

Not as Bad as They Seem

Prologue: Not as Bad as They Seem

Sunday night, two days after the Battle of the Bands. Sugarcube Cafe was nearly empty, save for a couple of small groups of students meeting up for study or recreation. Everyone was still abuzz with this past weekend’s performances, the Rainbooms’ being the hot topic of the night. Everyone, except for three hooded figures sitting in a booth at the back of the shop.

“Alright, I’ll admit that Friday’s fiasco was a bit of a setback, but--”

“Setback? They managed to break our gems into tiny pieces. Give it up Adagio, we’ve lost.”

“Are you girls going to finish your smoothies?”

The Dazzlings, distraught at losing their siren abilities, can do nothing else except sit around sipping on milkshakes and smoothies while they plot a way to get their powers back. As the leader, Adagio was doing most of the thinking. Actually, she was doing ALL the thinking. Aria wasn’t particularly eager to help and Sonata was being an airhead as always.

“Here, just take mine. I’m too irritated to enjoy it anyway.” Adagio slid her drink across the table to Sonata, overjoyed at the offer. Adagio furrowed her brow as she thought of a plan. Aria couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. Just the fact that you’ll end up looking all wrinkled if you keep that up.” Adagio could do nothing but grimace at her. However, at that moment, she was struck with inspiration.

“That’s it… This world has some understanding of magic, correct? We just need to find someone who specializes in magical study, or at least someone who has an understanding of magical trinkets.”

Aria raised her hand in a sarcastic fashion, yet had information that her leader might want to hear. “There’s this old guy that runs an antique shop not far from here. Pretty sure he might know a thing or two.”

“Excellent. Is that shop still open at this time?”

“Should be. Sonata and I could go check it out. It’ll give you time to air out”, she chuckled.

“Alright, fine. Just go and leave me in peace.” Adagio rested her head on the table, relieved to finally catch a break after days of plotting. “And don’t forget, we need to show up at school in the morning.”

“What for? It’s not like we need to stick around now that--”

“It would be suspicious if three teenage girls show up for two days, then disappear without a trace, don’t you think?” Aria opened her mouth in protest but promptly shut it.

“You have a point. C’mon Sonata, you’ve had enough of those.” Aria grabbed her “sister” by the arm and dragged her away from the booth.

“But I haven’t finished this one!”

Twenty minutes later, the cafe was empty save for the remaining employees and Adagio. She still hasn’t raised her head from the table. Her mind was still in turmoil after her run-in with the Rainbooms and their savings from street performances were starting to dwindle. Without their magically augmented singing, the Dazzlings couldn’t make another dime.

Adagio pulled out a small notebook from her sweater pocket. She never trusted the other two with their earnings, so she kept tabs on it herself. Her worry grew as she stared at the remaining sum.

“At this rate, we’ll have to cut these cafe trips entirely. Might need to find some part-time work after all…” She put the notebook away and stood up, making her way to the counter.

She took a seat on one of the stools, resting her chin on her hands and watching the workers clean up for the night. One of them noticed and made his way toward her, ready to take her order.

“What can I get for you?”

“Just give me the strongest drink you have. Anything will do.”

The waiter points to one of the menu items on the counter. “Well, we do have the Danger Pinkie.”

“The what?”

“It’s something that one of our workers came up with. Pretty strong stuff, if I do say so myself.“

Adagio read through the text that accompanied the image of the coffee, but decided to treat herself to it anyway. “I guess I’ll have that, then.”

The waiter penned down her order and started to prepare it. She simply played with her hair, curling and tugging on it as she sat patiently.

“You know, you look familiar.”

“I've heard that a lot recently.”

“Yeah, I remember. You're one of the new girls that took part in that battle of the bands. The Dazzlings!”

Adagio groaned, expecting to deal with even more ridicule from a stranger. “Listen, if you're going to--”

“The crowd was bigger than what you were used to, wasn't it?”

She sat there, surprised that the next words he spoke weren't harsh or mocking. He almost seems concerned. She decided to see where their conversation was headed before doing anything rash.

“Yeah...We don't usually perform in front of so many people.”

“It must have felt exhilarating to be in front of a large audience like that, though. What happened to your friends?”

“The one in twintails, Aria, wanted to get home soon. She's really afraid of walking alone, so Sonata volunteered to walk her home.”

The waiter smiled as he wiped the counter. “I'm Vorpal. Vorpal Sword.”

Adagio, feeling less worried with each passing second, finally introduced herself as well. “The name’s Adagio Dazzle. Pleasure.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, Adagio.” Vorpal waved at a leaving coworker before fully focusing his attention on her again. “Will I be seeing you at school tomorrow morning?”

“Oh, I’m sure you will, Vorpal. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She placed her cup on the counter and ran a finger around the edge, flashing a rather flirty smile. “You wouldn’t mind showing me around campus, would you? Our last tour guide was a little brief in her presentation.”

“I’d be glad to. Just come to the library during lunch and I’ll--”

The cafe door was opened suddenly, the bell ringing loudly. A young man, about Vorpal’s age, stood there looking slightly annoyed. “Hey, aren’t you done with your shift yet? We were supposed to leave ten minutes ago.”

“Oh, right” Vorpal responded. He walked out from behind the counter before removing his apron and slinging it onto his arm. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Cake!” he yelled.

“Alright deary, be safe!” replied the owner of the cafe. “And say hello to your parents for me!”

“I’ll wait for you in the car” said Vorpal’s friend. “Seems to me like you’re finally putting your literary smarts to good use.” He chuckled to himself as he left Adagio alone with Vorpal.

“My friend, Comet Blade” added the waiter. “He’s a little...well, he’s Comet. You get used to him. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Can’t wait”, Adagio responded. She downed the last of her drink and left her payment on the counter, then left the cafe as well. Just as she was exiting, the other two sirens approached her. “Well? How did it go?”

“No good”, said Aria. “Turns out the antique store owner’s a bust.”

“But we did see this cute little porcelain dolls that stack inside each other. What were they called? Matty...Mato…”

“Matrotska dolls.”

“Oh, right! Thanks, Aria! Did you get bored without us, Adagio?”

“Please, any time away from you two is a load off my mind.” She couldn’t keep her mind off the human she was talking to earlier, however. As a matter of fact, she found herself unable to shake him out of her thoughts. “Although, I did get the chance to chat up one of the locals. If anything, it seems there are a few students who think we’re still just normal teenagers.”

“Soooo...does this mean we’re going back to CHS tomorrow?”

“That’s exactly what it means, Aria. Now, let’s go get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us.”

Author's Note

Well, it's done. That romance fic I said I'd do. Although to be honest with you all, I don't think I'll do well in this particular genre. I'm not exactly the romance literature type.

That being said, I hope you enjoy the prologue for my first fic that DOES NOT star either Spike or any of the Mane Six as the main characters. Of course, that doesn't mean you won't see them in later chapters, but the three characters (or five, if you add in Aria and Sonata) that this story will focus on the most will be Adagio, Vorpal, and a third canon character I've yet to reveal.

Just, uh, read at your own risk. I don't usually stray from the adventure genre.

The Decrescendo of Our Social Lives

Chapter One: The Decrescendo of Our Social Life

“Adagioooo, why do we have to come back? Let’s just go back to our motel room and order pizza.” Aria rubbed her tired eyes, still not adjusted to the morning glare.

“Come on, Aria!” chimed Sonata. “Dagi wouldn’t have us come back if she didn’t have a plan. Right?”

“For once Sonata, you’re right on the money.” She produced a small stack of documents from her school bag, most of the pages highlighted in various places. “I’ve done some digging on my personal friend, the barista. Vorpal Sword, head of the Literature Club. It turns out that he’s a librarian’s assistant here at CHS.”

Aria simply blew air as she readjusted one of her hair clips. “What does that have to do with us?”

“When Principal Celestia was under our control, she shared some very interesting details with me, especially regarding the library’s new supernatural and mythology section.”

“Which means?”

“Which means that there’s bound to be information on sirens as well. If what she says is true, we might even find something regarding our pendants. We might be able to recreate them, or better yet learn how to use our abilities without them.”

“So what does this “barista” have to do with that?”

“The library here is very extensive compared to the average school. Mr. Vorpal Sword is in charge of the section we’re interested in, so if we make nice, we might be able to get him to hand over the more inaccessible texts. We just need to get him alone and away from any eavesdroppers. Especially...them.” Her thoughts wandered to the Rainbooms, the only girls who were unaffected by their powers, and how they were utterly humiliated in front of most if not the entire school.

Aria seemed unimpressed with Adagio’s idea as is always the case. Unfolding a sheet of paper from her pocket, she studied it and looked at the school’s map. “There it is, Room 118. I’ll see you two later.”

Adagio grabbed her by the collar and held her back. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Um, class?” She shoved the schedule in Adagio’s face. “In case you’ve forgotten, we don’t have the exact same subjects.”

“Not truuue…” Sonata said in a sing-song voice. “Turns out you and I have the same first period class, Aria!”

“Great, stuck with the airhead AGAIN.” She grabbed Sonata by the wrist and pulled her along. “Let’s go. I want to get it over with so we can go home.”

Adagio did the same and studied her class schedule. “Room 104. That’s in the hall opposite of those two.” She folded the paper and stuck it in her bag. “It’s going to be a long first day.”

“Good morning. My name is Adagio Dazzle. It’s nice to meet you all. Again.”

Adagio stood at the front of the classroom, looking around the room and seeing nothing but glaring eyes directed at her. Normally, she’d have confidence on the level of daredevils, but her official class schedule has been decided. She wouldn’t see neither Aria nor Sonata until lunch hour, meaning she would have to endure those stares for half the day.

“Welcome to our class, Miss Dazzle”, the instructor chimed. “Since you’ve enrolled late into last week, please be sure to take sufficient notes on today’s lesson. You may take your seat.” Adagio made her way to the back of the classroom to the only empty seat left. “Alright students, if you open your textbooks to page 42, we’ll begin the lesson with the Big Bang and...”

Adagio unzipped her school bag and pulled out her materials. All the while, the other students would occasionally glance back at her with the same look of contempt on their faces. All except for one.

“Comet, please put that device away! The classroom is for learning, not playing!” Adagio turned in the direction that the teacher pointed. She noticed the student in question, the same one who spoke with Vorpal briefly last night at the cafe, sitting at the desk next to hers.

“Sorry, Mr. Hooves.” He quickly stuffed the portable game in his hands into his jacket, then picked up his pencil and began writing.

“DOCTOR, thank you very much. Now class, if you look at the figure on the next page…”

As the lesson went on, the other students started to get their minds off the siren and focused on the blackboard. Adagio kept glancing over to her neighbor, clearly eager to return to his game. After the teacher turned his back and wrote on the board, the student pulled out the device and played while taking his notes. She simply looked back at the board and wrote down the material.

It wasn’t long until she decided to question him. “Psst, hey” whispered Adagio, leaning toward his desk slightly. “Have we met before?”

The student Comet looked in her direction for a few seconds, getting a good look at her face. Instead of a verbal response, he simply shrugged.

Adagio was certain this was the same guy Vorpal talked about. “Psst”, she said again. “Are you sure you don’t remember me? I talked to your friend last night. The barista?”

“Whatever business Vorpal gets into with customers is his to deal with. Leave me alone, would you?”

“I knew it”, she whispered to herself. “If I can get two humans on my side…”

“I can still hear you.” Adagio was visibly startled at the reply, glancing over to Comet again. “Do you usually talk to yourself like that?”

Avoiding the question, she instead tried to make nice with her neighbor. “Comet Blade, was it? You’re Vorpal’s friend, I remember it clearly now. The one who picked him up from work last night.”

“Alright alright, you got me. What the hell do you want?”

Adagio smirked at his question. She may not have her enhanced charm, but she still managed to grab another’s attention. “Is there any chance you can help me get in touch with Vorpal sometime this week?”

“What do I look like, his nanny? Do it yourself.” The student quickly lost interest in speaking to Adagio, putting his game away and intent on paying full attention to the lesson instead.

Every human has their price, Adagio thought to herself. I just need to figure out his. “Say, what would you need in order to help me out?”

“I’m not interested, buzz off.”

“Just consider my offer, at least. If you help me out, I can give you a very suitable reward. How about a girl’s number?”

“Not. Interested.”

Adagio wouldn’t give up. She kept pressing the promise of compensation for his help. “I have a couple of friends you might like to meet. One’s really fun to be around. You just need to give her something to keep her around, if you get what I’m saying.”

“Somehow, I don’t like where this is going”, he replied.

“The other is, well, more like you.”

“You might want to choose your next words caref--”

“You know...moody, distant, angry at the slightest provoca--”

Comet tore another page from his notebook, scribbling on it furiously and balling it up before tossing it at the siren’s desk. He immediately raised his hand and got the teacher’s attention. “Mr. Hooves, I know it’s early, but may I please use the restroom?”

“Grab the pass by the door and try not to take too long. And again, it’s DOCTOR Hooves. I didn’t complete my doctorate to...” The instructor’s voice trailed off as Comet stood and made his way past the rows of desks.

Adagio watched as her only possible option to isolate Vorpal went on a potty break. Comet glanced at her and shot her a dirty look, to which Adagio gladly returned. “What did that ape write that made him go off like that?” Grabbing the balled-up notepaper, she uncrumpled it and read the letter.

I’ll help on two conditions. One, you’re not talking to him without me. Two, I don’t take bribes. Meet us on the soccer field bleachers during lunch.

“I get the feeling that he’s more of a Rainbooms fan.” She studied the writing one last time. “I may not have been born human, but at least my handwriting isn’t so atrocious.”

Vorpal arrived at the bleachers that Comet had detailed in his message. He found his friend sitting near the top railing, chowing down on a tray of nachos. Comet noticed the writer climbing the steps toward him and waved to him.

“Hey, I got your text”, said Vorpal. “You actually spoke to her?”

“It’s a little less “spoke” and more, how do I put it, pelting her with a bunched-up sheet that just so happened to be an invitation.” He offered a bit of his lunch to Vorpal. “Nacho?”

He waved his hand at Comet to decline his friend’s offer. “Maybe later. I think I see her now.”

Adagio spotted the barista waving from the bleachers, the latter eager to get her attention. She waved back as she approached, Aria and Sonata close behind.

Aria asked, “Since we’re here, I take it your own search turned up nothing?”

“Nothing apart from a few myths about our species. Myths that are completely WRONG, by the way.” She grabbed a book concerning ancient mythology and opened it to a bookmarked page, showing them the illustration. “Since when do we have feathers and fly around tearing sails from boats? We’re sirens, not harpies!”

“What I don’t get is why you’re even friendly with this chick. You know full well what she did last weekend.”

“Cut them some slack, would you? Besides, it’s not every day you get to study a real-life siren.”

“Do many people know about that, by the way? We only found out recently, after all.”

Adagio and company climbed the steps leading up to the duo. They were greeted with a smile from Vorpal but a scowl from the other.

“Speak of the she-devil. She actually came.”

“Play nice.” Vorpal turned back to the sirens and gave them a nervous laugh. “Sorry about that. He’s a little touchy concerning your performance on Friday.”

“Because they probably cheated their way--”

“Comet! Anyway, my friend here says you wanted to see me.”

The siren studied her newfound contact and noticed his new attire. Instead of an apron and uniform, Vorpal donned a light gray vest with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath, dark blue trousers and black sneakers. A sword and a quill crossed into an X shape was stitched on the upper left of the vest. He held a stack of books under his arm and a pen in the other. His hair also had more volume than last night, sticking up slightly near the back.

“Yes, I did. I was hoping you’d help me out with acquiring some study material. I heard you help keep the library running throughout the day.”

“That would be right” he replied, slightly swelling up with pride. “What did you need?”

“I’d like to discuss it more in private, if that’s alright.” She nodded toward the other two sirens and the grump. “Any chance we could--”

“That wasn’t what we agreed upon”, Comet interrupted. “The deal was-- Hey!”

“What?” said Sonata, her mouth busy chewing on a large helping of nachos. “I waff hungree.”

“Hands off my lunch!” Sonata grabbed the entire tray and made her way down the bleachers. “Hey, get back here! That’s people food!” The grump chased after her, yelling obscenities along the way.

“We’ll keep him away as long as we can”, Aria whispered to her leader. “Just get what we came for and let’s go.” She ran after the other two, cheering on Sonata. After a few seconds had passed, the field was silent once again.

“As I was saying…” started Adagio. “I was hoping you’d be so kind as to let us access some of the more restricted books concerning sirens.”

“Restricted books? There aren’t any books like that.” Vorpal scratched his chin in thought, remembering an important detail. “But now that you mention it, Principal Celestia just had a few boxes delivered. She said not to open them under any circumstances until she gave the go-ahead.”

“Is there any chance you can get those boxes opened sooner? After all, the library would be a mess if not for you” Adagio batted her eyes in an attractive manner, a gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by the writer.

“I’m sorry, but rules are rules. And I’m just a librarian’s assistant. I can’t just ask the principal something like that.”

Damn, Adagio thought. If we don’t get to those books before--

“Although…” Vorpal interrupted her train of thought. “I did make a rather lucrative sale last night thanks to you. Not many people are brave enough to try a Danger Pinkie.” He took her by the wrist and checked her pulse. “How are you feeling after drinking it, by the way? No shakes or faster heartbeat?”

“Not recently, no.” She pulled her hand away once Vorpal let it go. “So, I take it you’ll pull some strings and hopefully get approval?”

“You got it.” The bleachers shook as Sonata, Aria, and Comet made their return. Aria still had her usual pout, but the other two seemed to be getting along. “Looks like those two settled their differences.”

“Or maybe Sonata promised to share a recipe or two in exchange for some of those nachos”, Adagio added. She received another nasty look from the grump, to which she returned yet again. “Thanks again for considering to help. We’ll be in touch, handsome.” She gave him a wink then made her way down the steps followed by the other two.

Once they were out of earshot, Vorpal gripped his friend’s shoulder. “Look at my face. Do I appear mesmerized or under a spell?”

“Why are you asking me?” replied Comet.

“For research, of course!” exclaimed the writer. “They walk and talk like regular humans, but I can tell they’re much more than that. I could hear it in their voices.”

“Sometimes, I think the only voices you hear are those inside your head.” He offered the tray in his hand again. “Nacho?”

As they approached the school building and were far away from the human teenagers, Adagio lost her cool composure. “That arrogant jerk! I ask him to set up a meeting with that librarian, and he has to be so...UGH!” She placed a hand on the metal link that once held a gem. “Once we get our powers back, I’ll….I’ll! I don’t even know what I’ll do, but I’ll do it!”

“Oh, I know!” Sonata scanned the ground for a quick second before kneeling down to pick up an ant. “We’ll turn him into a bug. A harmless little bug!”

“And then what, keep him in a cage?” Aria asked, arms crossed.

“No! We’ll put that bug in a box, then we put that box inside another box. We’ll mail it to ourselves, and once it gets to our doorstep, we’ll smash it with a hammer!”

The twintailed siren simply facepalmed, letting out an annoyed sigh. “She’s been watching that movie with the alpaca again, hasn’t she?”

The halls were abuzz with chatter from students returning to class. Some rushed to their next lesson while others simply took their time, confident that they’ll make it before the late bell. One of them in particular was holding a large stack of flyers, handing them out and repeating the same line while doing so.

“Vote Starlight Glimmer for Student Council President! Vote Starlight, Student Council President!”

Starlight zipped past various groups of students leaving them with a flyer and flashing a smile, oblivious to the fact that many of them threw it away once she left. As she neared her locker, she spotted a familiar face. “Vorpal!”

The writer looked away from his own locker and waved at Starlight. She approached him, flyer already in hand. “Any chance I can count on your vote for president of the student council?”

Vorpal took the flyer and studied it carefully. With a smile, he replied. “How could I not after knowing how much effort you’re putting into it?”

“I was hoping you’d say yes. Say, where’s your friend? You know, the delinquent?”

The locker behind Vorpal slammed shut with a loud bang, a surly Comet making his presence known. “Already plotting to impeach you if you win this election.” He started walking away from the two academics, backpack in tow. “I’ll catch you later, Vorp. Don’t want the chief of the moral police hounding my ass.”

Starlight, annoyed at the grump’s choice of words, yelled back at him. “If I win, that single word will easily be three demerits on your decency record, Comet Blade!” The only other response she managed to get out of him was a rude gesture before he rounded the corner.

“Don’t let him get to you, Starlight. He just needs to warm up to you first. Now, what was it that you needed?”

“I was wondering if you’d help me come up with a speech for this week’s debate. I keep getting stuck after addressing the school’s need for uniforms.”

“Uniforms? Are you sure you want to win that debate?” Vorpal chuckled. “Meet me in the library tomorrow after school. Bring me what you have and we’ll work on it together.”

“Actually, I was wondering if today would be a good time. That is, if you’re not too busy.”

“Sorry, I can’t today. I need to discuss something with Principal Celestia, and I’m sure that’s going to take a while.” Vorpal glanced at his watch, then quickly stuffed his next class’s textbook into his bag and shut the locker. “We’ll be late if we talk any longer. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Starlight opened her own locker and stored the stack of flyers, grabbing her own class materials. “What’s so important that he needs to see the principal?” As she mulled it over in her head, Starlight heard a few voices approaching.

“Please tell me we’re all in the next class.”

“I think so, Dagi. It looks like...algebra!”

“Math? Ugh, just shoot me already.”

Starlight watched as a group of three girls turned the corner and walked past her, immediately recognizing them. She considered these three to be a terrible influence to the school in regards to the way they dressed, one of the many reasons she’s pushed for uniforms in the name of decency.

“How long do you think that nerd needs to get us those books?”

“A day or so at the most. We just need to look for alternatives in the meantime, in case this plan falls through.”

As they were leaving, Starlight began to form an idea as to why Vorpal couldn’t help her out that same day. “Those harlots! Vorpal’s one of the most decent people in this school, and they have him wrapped around their finger. I won’t stand for this one bit.”

As she turned to face them, the tardy bell rang. Starlight panicked and ran to her next class. “Oh fiddlesticks! This will NOT reflect well on my campaign! But mark my words, Dazzlings. I’ll personally see to it that your years at Canterlot High are your worst!”

Author's Note

First chapter get! Well, first chapter apart from the prologue, that is...

If you're wondering where exactly is the "decrescendo" of this social life of theirs... It's already happened. Without their gems, they're just three girls who happened to have pissed off at least 90 percent of the entire high school for one reason or another. Case in point, Starlight Glimmer.

I got the idea for the fic after watching the season 5 premiere way back when it first aired. The idea of an "equalized" Equestria sounded terribly alike to the "moral police" of my high school days. Personally, I'm one for freedom of expression (still within reason, of course), so what better antithesis to the Dazzling's charming ways than a no-nonsense high school girl like Starlight?

Chapter two may take a while to be published given that I still have three other fics to work on, but as always, I'll make as much time for it as I can.

Three To Tango

Chapter Two: Three To Tango

“Another day, another series of lessons to sit through.”

Adagio looked up at the sky as she lied on the grass of the soccer field, completely empty during the morning save for a few students sitting on the nearby bleachers. Sonata lay on her stomach nearby, kicking her feet in the air while reading one of the magazines she grew to love during her time in the human realm. Aria chose to ignore the ramblings of her sisters and instead opted for loud music blaring through her headphones.

“C’mon Dagi, it’s not like you can’t handle it.”

“That’s beside the point”, she returned as she sat upright. “So what if the books are still sitting in boxes away from the student area? We could just rush in there and grab them, then make our escape!”

Aria paused her music player just in time to catch her snippet of impatience. “I thought you were the most patient one out of us, Adagio.”

“You’re right, I’m just getting ahead of myself. But to be so close to finding a possible answer…” She slumped back down onto the grass, staring at the clouds again. “We haven’t even gone a week without our powers and I’m already sick of being human.”

“Some of us don’t have the choice, you know.” All three sirens darted upright at the sound of the voice. Comet was standing over them, backpack slung over his shoulder.

All three sirens stood and sized up their interruptive guest. He clearly stood taller than both Adagio and Sonata, only losing to Aria by several centimeters. His attire consisted of a light grey zip hoodie over a black t-shirt and slacks. The logo on his shirt displayed a sword shrouded in silvery fire, surrounded by fragments of rock or possibly ore. His silver hair was slightly disheveled, accented by a streak of black hair across his forehead and one on each side of his face.

“What’re you three doing here so early?” he added.

“None of your concern, you hairless ape” retorted Adagio. “What are YOU doing here this early?”

“None of your business, fishbreath.” They all stared at each other for a few moments before the teenager broke his gaze. “Actually, I came to apologize. Reluctantly.”

“Apologize? For what?”

“Vorpal and I had a talk yesterday about how I acted toward you three during lunch. While I still dislike you, the insults were uncalled for.”

“You don’t have to apologize”, Aria said. “It’s not like we’ll accept it anyway.”

“Whether you do or not, I came here because of Vorpal.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s just say there was a series of unfortunate events the night I picked up that bookworm from work, and seeing as how you three were the topic of the trip home, I just assumed you were bad luck.”

“Bad luck?”

“A curse, really. I see now that I was just overreacting, and I’m sorry.”

Sonata beamed at the teenager. “Apology accepted!”

“Sonata!” interjected Aria. “You can’t just accept it for all three of us, you know.” Aria eyeballed him for a few moments, then simply shrugged. “So long as you leave us alone, we’ll leave you alone.”

“Oh believe me, it’ll take some serious convincing to get me talking to you again.” He pulled his cell phone from his sweater pocket and looked through his contacts. “By the way, I’m supposed to give you Vorpal’s number. You mentioned something about keeping in touch and forgot to ask him for it. Do any of you have a phone?” Adagio grabbed her own cell and waited for the grouch to continue. “974-8977, and make sure you have it right. This is the only time you’ll get it from me.”

“...977”, Adagio added. “Is there anything else as long as you grace us with your presence, o mighty ape?”

“Not with that attitude.” He walked off in the direction of the main building, waving at them as he did so. “Goodbye, Dazzlings. May we never cross paths again.”

“Yeah, ditto” replied Aria. She turned to Adagio and leaned in to whisper. “We’re totally making him a drone, right?”

“No doubt about that.”

“C’mon girls”, added Sonata. “He doesn’t look like a bad human at all.”

“That’s exactly the problem. He DOESN’T look like a bad human. Meaning he’d be one of the first to try and stop us.” Adagio laughed as she sauntered toward the school building. “Emphasis on try.”

“Vote Starlight Glimmer for a bright and more equal tomorrow! What do you think?”

Sitting across the library table from her, Vorpal claps softly as Starlight steps down from one of the chairs. “I liked it. We just need to work on all this talk about everything and everyone being ‘absolutely equal’. It comes across as something a dictator would say.”

“This is why I asked for your help”, she replied as she took a seat. “I don’t want to scare people away.”

“You came to the right person. Do you have a copy of that speech on hand?” Starlight handed him a packet detailing her entire speech. As Vorpal read through it, he kept mumblings parts of it to himself. “Let’s see...longer lunch hour...less pop quizzes and more weekly tests...uniforms designed by local tailors…”

Starlight’s gaze wandered to a stack of books on Vorpal’s side of the table. While the writer was busy skimming through her speech, she noticed a common word on the titles of each volume. Curiosity getting the better of her, she interrupted him.

“What’s with all the books on sirens? Does Ms. Cheerilee have a project for us on mythological creatures?”

“Hmm?” Vorpal looked away from the papers in hand. “Oh, no, nothing like that. There’s this girl I met the other night. She asked me to look into helping her acquire some of these books for her studies.”

“I see…” she trailed off. “Since we’re on the subject, what do you think of them?”

“Sirens? I find them interesting, to say the least.” He placed Starlight’s speech aside and cracked open a book. “Some of these myths say that sirens feed off negative emotions of other living things while others simply state that they eat their victims. If left unchecked, sirens can live for centuries.”

Starlight, no longer concerned with help on her campaign speech, grabbed a book herself and read through it. “It says here that according to experts in the field of mythology, sirens are rumored to travel in groups of at least three.”

“That’s right”, beamed Vorpal. “They needed one siren, usually the leader of the trio, to lure sailors into dangerous or unnavigable waters. Once their prey was trapped, the other two would come out of hiding and tear sails, cut lines, and do anything to keep their quarry trapped.”

He seems a little enthusiastic about the entire matter, Starlight thought to herself. “A trio of sirens, you say?”

“We’re getting off topic. Let’s get back to that speech.” Vorpal’s phone beeped as he received a text message. “Excuse me a sec.” He reads through the message as quickly as he can, then sets his phone aside. “Alright, let’s get back to the topic of equality. Instead of ‘a more equal tomorrow’, you go with ‘a fair opportunity for everyone’?”

Adagio walks in, taking in the sight of CHS’s rather expansive library. It was easy to see why Principal Celestia was able to have a new section added, given the library’s several empty shelves. Across the entrance, she spotted Vorpal sitting at one of the tables on the first floor, talking to another student.

The other two sirens followed behind their “fair” leader. Aria kept herself busy, preferring the liberty of social media to say whatever she thought whenever she wanted. In their short time attending CHS, the Dazzlings haven’t completely explored the grounds, leaving Sonata to gawk in amazement at the size of the library.

“Woooow!” she exclaimed only to earn a shush from the librarian currently on duty.

“You two find us a place where we won’t be bothered”, instructed Adagio. “I’ll see if our mutual friend has what we’re looking for.” Vorpal noticed her making her way toward his table. Working her charm, she walked with a rather attractive gait in his direction. “Well well, fancy meeting you here, Mr. Barista.”

“Oh please, you knew I’d be here, Ms. Dazzle.” He motioned over to his guest. “This is--”

“Starlight Glimmer”, Starlight interrupted. “Pleasure.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, Starlight. I’m--”

“Adagio Dazzle” she interrupted again. “I know who you are.”

“Yes, well…” the siren started. “I was wondering if you managed to get a hold of those books for me.”

“I have them right here”, Vorpal responded cheerfully. “They’re already checked out in my name, so all you have to do is return them to the drop box when you’re done, otherwise I’ll have to sic Comet on you ladies”, he joked.

“My my, such an authoritative tone. I’ll be sure not to forget.”

“I’m sorry I can’t help you sift through them, but Starlight asked for my help on something. Any chance you have some time to--”

“That’s okay, Vorpal”, Starlight cut in once again. “If we have too many people working on it at once, we’ll only end up with a mediocre product at best.”

“Well, what a shame.” Out of the corner of her eye, Adagio spotted Sonata waving at her from a distant table. “I’ll leave you two alone for now. See you around, Mr. Barista.” She gathered the piled books and gave Vorpal her signature wink. He followed her with his eyes as she made her way toward the opposite end of the library.

“Ahem.”

He snapped to attention at Starlight’s cough. “Sorry about that. Where were we?”

“What was that all about?” she asked. “And why are you doing a favor for someone like her?”

“Do I detect a hint of jealousy?” he responded. “She bought an expensive drink at the cafe the other night and I wanted to thank her for it. You wouldn’t believe how very little Danger Pinkies we sell.”

“That’s not important. You know what kind of person she is. Now that she knows how simple it is to gain a favor from you, she’ll take advantage of it. That’s not the kind of friend you want in your life.”

“So it IS jealousy.”

Starlight’s cheeks blushed a light pink, responding quickly to keep Vorpal from noticing. “It’s not that at all. I’m just concerned for you, that’s all. Unlike them, you’re a decent human being and it’s rare to find someone like that these days.”

“Uh-huh”, he said in return. “If it makes you feel any better, I think she might be into Comet. They kept glancing at each other during our conversation yesterday.”

The candidate scoffed at Vorpal’s theory. “Please, don’t even joke about that. What’s there to like about him?”

“For starters, my hobbies don’t include revising a speech or signing up for debate clubs just for fun.” Starlight nearly jumped out of her seat at the sound of Comet’s voice. Taking a moment to calm her nerves, she turned around and saw him dragging a chair toward her and Vorpal’s table. “Did you get my text?” he asked him.

“Yeah, read it just a few minutes ago.” He handed his copy of Starlight’s speech to him. “Can you think of anything that needs improving?”

The grump read through the speech, glancing up at both of them every once in a while. After a couple of minutes, he placed the sheet on the table. “No, I think it’s absolutely perfect. If you want to bore people to death, that is.”

“Wait a minute, HE’S going to help with MY speech?”

“My car is in the shop, Vorpal needs a ride to work, and my old man won’t be here for a while.” Comet kicked up his feet onto the empty chair next to his friend. “So yes, I’m stuck in the hellish nightmare that is helping you with your speech.”

“Then you can begin by fetching these three books.” Vorpal handed Comet a slip of paper. “I’m hoping they could give us some insight on how a good speech is written.”

“Only if you say it like Dr. Frankenstein.”

The writer simply chuckled at his friend’s request. “Igor, fetch me these texts.”

“Right away, doctor” he responded as he snatched the slip from Vorpal’s hand.

This is going to be a long hour, Starlight thought.

“This is stupid, Adagio” said Aria after a solid hour of research. “If we’re not part-woman part-fish, we’re part-bird. What makes you think humans know enough about sirens to help us?”

Adagio set aside her own study material and picked up another book. “I know it seems grim now, but there’s bound to be something. For pete’s sake, if celebrities can be famous for doing nothing, who knows what humans are capable of?”

“Face it, we’re doomed.” She tossed her own book onto the pile in the middle of the table, but decided to slack off instead of continuing their fruitless search.

“Say, Dagi” Sonata started. “That guy you like is getting pretty chummy with that girl he’s with, don’t you think?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sonata” responded Adagio. “Sirens can’t “like” humans. Like the ponies of Equestria, they’re nothing more than nourishment.”

“Funny how you avoided talking about the girl.”

“You too, Aria?” Adagio slammed her book in frustration, annoyed that their endeavour wasn’t as quick as she planned. The librarian shushed as she heard the noise. “This is getting us nowhere. There must be some other text in this god-forsaken school that can tell us something. Anything!”

“Shh!”

“Let’s just go home already”, Aria said with a frustrated sigh. “Classes ended two hours ago.”

Meanwhile, over on Starlight’s table, the three students were in heated albeit quiet debate over the contents of the speech. Comet’s phone buzzed on the table, its owner checking a message sent to him.

“Looks like my old man’s out in front. Time to go, Vorp.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Starlight”, Vorpal said. “Same time afterschool?”

“Of course. I can’t wait until then.” Starlight smiled and waved goodbye to Vorpal followed by a scowl at Comet as they both left. After she was left alone, she noticed a lone notebook lying in front of the chair where Vorpal sat. “What’s this?”

Starlight reached for the notebook and opened it. Sure enough, the handwriting belong to Vorpal. Thinking it was class notes, she skimmed through the pages before stopping on the most recently used one.

“A Chance Meeting”, she read the title out loud. “‘Every morning, my mind wanders to thoughts of her. Every evening, the same is true. How it pains me to not say those three words to her: I love you.’” Starlight began blushing again as she continued reading. “‘Her gentle voice as sweet as honey, her eyes as bright as the sun. Her hair, the locks so mesmerizing, whether worn straight or as a bun.’” She set the notebook down for a second as she examined her own hair. “It’s in a bun!” she exclaimed.

She continued reading the last stanza, eager to know how the poem ends. “‘The stars themselves proclaim our fate, amongst the fading light. Her unique charm has captured my heart, the woman known as…’” Starlight flipped the page, but found the other side blank. The poem ended abruptly, but that still didn’t stop her from filling in her own rhyme.

“Starlight…” she breathed. “It makes perfect sense. What other name would rhyme with “fading light”?” Distracted by thoughts of romance, Starlight set the notebook down and made her way out of the library, a noticeable spring in her step. “‘Her unique charm has captured my heart, the woman known as Starlight.’” She giggled to herself as she repeated her improvised verse.

The PA system crackled to life. “Any students left on campus, please vacate the grounds as soon as possible. The school will be closing in ten minutes.”

“See?” Aria said, fed up with her forced study. “Even the faculty’s ready to leave.”

Adagio picked up as many books as she could and stuffed them into her bag, the other two Dazzlings following her example. “I suppose we can continue this at home. Be sure not to leave any behind. I’d hate to be indebted to someone so soon.”

Sonata tugged on Aria’s vest as the latter zipped up her bag. “Hey Aria, do you think sirens and humans can be friends?”

“Seriously?” she replied. “Weren’t you the one that suggested crushing a human turned bug yesterday?”

“That was just to make Adagio feel better.” She kicked one of her feet against the carpet before she continued. “I’m being serious about this, though. Ever since we came back, people have been giving us dirty looks and calling us names when they think we won’t hear it. But…”

“Look, if you want to make friends with humans, then who cares? Just don’t go crying when we bend them to our will once our powers return.” She glanced over at Adagio, already at the opposite end of the library staring at a notebook. “But between you and me, I think Adagio’s turning into a sucker for them.”

Both sirens made their way toward their leader. Adagio was engrossed in the notebook left behind by Starlight. “This doesn’t look like a girl’s handwriting…It must be that library assistant’s...” she mused while reading the most recent entry. “‘Her gentle voice as sweet as honey…’”

The siren picked up the notebook as the other two walked past her. Following them out of the library, she flipped through it and read the previous poems as well. “I have to say, these aren’t half-bad…” As she finished reading line after line, her face started feeling a bit warmer than when she walked in.

Noticing this, she snapped the notebook shut and stuffed it into her bag, planning on returning it to him the next time they meet. “Don’t be ridiculous, Adagio” she said to herself. “Sirens can’t have feelings for humans.”

Author's Note

Love is in the air! Or at least in the notebook, which is a pretty crappy movie if you ask me.

Why did Vorpal leave a poem unfinished? I'll explain that in due time. For now, I'd like to explain why Adagio appears to be the shortest siren in the group. I'm admittedly a sucker for a short siren myself. Ever since I glanced at the artist Ponut Joe's height comparison for the Dazzlings, I immediately fell in love with Adagio's height.

I just couldn't resist making that their officially unofficial heights for this fic, so it's here to stay (much to your pleasure or dismay).

Even though I promised appearances from the HuMane girls, I still haven't delivered on that. That'll change pretty soon, I can assure you.

Where Angels Fear to Tread

Chapter Three: Where Angels Fear To Tread

Comet stood at the counter of the music shop, his boss having called him in for work today. He planned on keeping tabs on Vorpal while he was in the library, completely certain that the sirens would be there as well. However, he was stuck manning the register at the manager’s request.

Business today had be particularly slow, which is not surprising given that it was Wednesday. As his mind wandered due to boredom, the wall-mounted phone rang. He quickly jumped to attention and rushed to pick up the receiver. “Paradise Lost Record Store. How may I help you today?”

The clerk perked up once he heard the voice on the other end. “Hey there, mom. What’s with the landline ring? I can’t take personal calls on-” he stopped abruptly as he listened to her explanation. “Oh, it is?” He pulled his cell phone out from his pocket. Even though he distinctly remembered to charge it, the phone was off. “I must’ve hit the power button by mistake. I’ll call him as soon as I’m out. Love you too, mom.”

He hung up the phone just as another customer walked through the door, the little door bell ringing its familiar chime as he turned and greeted them. “Welcome to Paradise Lost Record Store, how can I help-”

“Hi hi!” said a rather energetic girl.

Comet’s smile quickly turned into a grimace at the sight of Aria and Sonata. “Oh great…” he said in a disdainful tone.

Sonata kept waving rather innocently at him as she stood near the doorway. Aria grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her toward the bargain bin, the blue-haired songstress waving with her free hand until the store shelves blocked them from the clerk’s sight.

“Okay, okay. They’re just two normal girls looking for some music. They’ll know exactly what they’re searching for, they’ll bring it up, I’ll have them checked out and gone in less than a minute.” The sound of a beaded curtain startled him, expecting the sirens to be upon him in a split second. Instead, a large stack of boxes pushed their way through the doorway, followed by a third girl. Unlike the other two, the clerk visibly relaxed around her.

Pop Beat, Comet’s boss and manager of Paradise Falls, was quite the cheerful girl. Her blonde hair was fashioned in a large pair of buns atop her head, and the look in her rose-pink eyes was that of almost-pure innocence. A girly tank top and bubblegum-pink skirt covered her modestly, along with a blue staff apron that draped from her shoulders. The only thing keeping her from walking around barefoot was a pair of sandals, clapping softly as she made her way to a section of empty shelves.

“Hey there, Pop” he said.

“Hiiii!” she replied in a chipper voice. “I can’t apologize enough for calling you in today, but I needed someone to watch the shop while I sort out all the new inventory.”

“Don’t sweat it. I needed the extra hours, anyway.”

“How’s Vorpal doing?” she asked. “I noticed he wasn’t following you around giving you a lecture or hounding you for some notes he lent to you.”

“He’s alright. I’m just worried that he might start hanging out with a very bad crowd.” He slightly raised his voice mid-sentence as he spotted the two sirens emerging from an aisle.

“Really? That sweet little bookworm? He’s not in trouble, is he?”

“No, no, he’s fine. At least for the time being.” He broke his gaze on the duo and looked over to his boss as she struggled to set the stack of boxes down. “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind switching? I can stock the shelves just fine.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” she answered. “The reason I asked you to man the register was so I could be the first one to lay hands on these!” After deftly cutting off the tape of the topmost box with a box cutter, she grabbed a few CD cases and started placing them on the shelves before turning back to her employee with one of them in hand.

“The new Countess Coloratura album?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Mm-hm! I’ve been waiting all month for it to arrive.” She placed the case with the rest of the albums, then grabbed another handful. “But since store policy states that I can’t hide a copy for myself, I’ll just have to settle with the previous album for now.”

As they continued to chat among themselves, Aria stood on her toes peeked over the rows of cases. Noticing that the clerks weren’t paying them any mind, she lowered herself and continued browsing through the selection of music.

“They must really like music if they’re working in a place like this.” Sonata rifled through a stack of cases and grabbed a pair. “Just look at this stuff. There’s technopop, soft rock, heavy metal, even rap and country.”

Aria rolled her eyes as she took Sonata’s items and placed them back. “It’s true that there’s plenty of genres to look through, but it’s not like it’ll ever rival our own talent.”

“Hello, what talent?” asked the blue-haired siren. “Our gems broke, remember?”

Her sister simply pouted and answered, “You don’t have to remind me.”

Sonata simply ignored her sullen sibling, or at least didn’t acknowledge her disdain. “You don’t think we’ll also branch out and find something else we’re good at, do you?”

“You mean like Adagio?”

“Yeah, exactly! She’s really gotten into writing recently. I mean, it’s pretty terrible, but at least she’s trying!”

Aria rubbed her chin in thought. “Now that you mention it, she HAS been pretty secretive about it. I looked through her bag to grab some notes for one of our classes and she practically tore it from my hands.”

“Ooo, do you think it’s a surprise for us? You know, for all the hard work we’ve been doing by helping her out with finding some spell to get our gems back?”

Aria shushed Sonata and looked back at the clerks. Apart from the faint sound of pop music coming from a portable radio on the counter and Comet burying his head in his arms, the store was still as quiet as before. “Listen, we came here to get some new music so we don’t tear our hair in boredom. That means keeping your trap shut about the whole gem business. Understand?”

Sonata nodded and presented a couple of cases to Aria. “I like these the most, by the way.”

Back at the counter, Comet jabs a finger onto the radio’s off button, unable to stomach Pop’s music for a second longer. “Unless it has people playing real instruments, I’d rather listen to elevator muzak.”

“Pfft, no fun” she replied.

“Excuse me”, Aria chimed as she and Sonata approached the counter. “We’d like to check out now.”

Comet shot another dirty glance at the duo only for Pop to notice this time around. “Comet, what’s with that face? Ring ‘em up, but with a smile.” She punctuated her last statement with a smile that could only be described as unnecessarily cheesy from anyone but Pop Beat’s perspective.

Fearing a dock in his pay, the clerk could only bow his head and sigh. “Fine.” Forcing a toothy grin, he greeted the sirens through gritted teeth. “May I ring those up for you, ladies?”

“Why yes you may” Aria responded in a mocking tone.

“Very well,” replied the grump with a bit more annoyance in his voice. “Will that be all for you today?” His manager smiled as she finished unboxing, apparently satisfied despite his obvious grudge against the sirens. Once Pop disappeared past the bead curtain, Comet quickly turned his gaze back at the sirens. “Alright, what’s your game, Blaze? The school wasn’t enough for you, so you’re plotting on taking local businesses instead?”

“Give me a break,” she answered, brushing aside a wayward lock of hair. “We’re just here as normal customers. No need to go into interrogator mode.”

He stared intensely into her eyes only to be met with an indifferent stare of her own along with crossed arms. After a few seconds, he relaxed and took the CDs from Sonata’s hands. “I believe you. Just this once.” Comet never broke eye contact with the sirens, scanning the cases all the while. “That’ll be twelve bits.”

“Twelve bits for some plastic” Aria muttered under her breath while handing the money. “Practically highway robbery.”

Comet gave her the change and placed the CDs in a plastic bag. “Thank you for shopping at Paradise Falls.” Just as Aria reached for the bag, he pulled it away slightly.

“Hey, what gives?”

Still holding onto the bag, he looked at Sonata then back to Aria. “Are you two aware of a particular alley nearby?”

“Can you be more specific?” asked Aria.

“Alright, listen up. Normally, I couldn’t care less about what happens to someone that messes with our school, especially if they aren’t even human, but I don’t want your sentient cheese puff leader to hunt me down like a dog if anything happened to either of you and I could’ve avoided it.” He paused for a second before handing the items over. “There’s only one place you three could be bunking at, and the alley in question just so happens to be on the way.”

“Again, we need details.” Aria now showed signs of irritation at being kept waiting. “We pass like a dozen alleys on the way home.

“The one between Mane Street and Hoofmark Avenue. Serious-looking group of students that are bitter about last weekend’s commotion. Word is that they’re hoping to catch you off-guard.”

“I think we can handle some students on our own. Come on, Sonata.” Aria took her sister by the hand only for the latter to pull away.

Sonata leaned on the counter toward Comet, much to his discomfort, casting a doe-like stare at him. “Is there a safer way back to our motel? Surely a human like you - someone who’s much smarter than us sirens - knows how we can avoid the big bad band of students?”

This only proved to irritate him further, but decided to divulge the information regardless if only to finally have them gone. “Just walk one block south.”

“Thanks again for the warning, I guess.” Aria made her way out of the record shop, Sonata following after giving Comet one last wave.

Later that night, groceries and knick knacks in tow, the two headed home. Aria had been tuning out Sonata for most of the walk given that the latter was on another talk about adjusting to human society. The airhead continue her chatter as they approached the next block.

“Just think about it! No more having to hide, no reason to even bother ourselves with preparing three meals a day! All we have to do is find our talent and put it to good use!”

“The only problem is that our one talent is useless now!” Aria yelled between bites of a store-bought cheese sandwich. “As a matter of fact, it was our only source of income BEFORE this mess.”

“That’s WHY we need to find something else we’re good at!” replied Sonata. “I was thinking we could do a bit of modeling, maybe something in the food department…”

Neither siren paid attention to their current surroundings. As they walked down the alley between Mane and Hoofmark, there was a sense of dread hanging in the air. The girls didn’t notice until they were already halfway through the narrow alleyway, a group of students - ten in total - blocking their path in and out.

“Well well well, look what we have here”, rang a feminine voice from ahead of them. “If it isn’t the runner-up stars of the Battle of the Bands.” One of the students stepped forward out of the shadows of the alleyway. She was rather tall for her age, giving her a more intimidating appearance than usual.

Aria recognized some of them, unable to forget the same faces that glared at her during her daily class routine, but she didn’t exactly remember their names. “Oh, it’s you dimwits” she replied, making sure not to appear more arrogant than needed. “What’s this about?”

“You know exactly what this is about.” The girl started pacing back and forth between her colleagues and the sirens. “A trio of girls arrive at our school on the day of the musical showcase. All of a sudden, Principal Celestia makes an announcement that instead of a showcase, we were going to have a competition.”

“Let me guess”, interrupted Aria with a smirk. “You’re angry about the change because all of you are sheltered middle-class kids that can’t handle a little healthy competition.”

“Exactly!” replied one of the boys in the group.

“Quiet!” yelled their leader. “As I was saying, you and your big-haired moron of a leader changed something that was meant to be a bonding experience for the entire school and instead it tore us apart.”

“If that’s what has your panties in a twist, then go do some of that bonding crap on your own. We have our own plans.”

“Oh? Plans, you say?” The mob leader snapped her fingers. Several of the students pulled out rolls of duct tape and cardboard signs with humiliating messages written on them. “I’m afraid your plans are going to be put on hold...indefinitely.”

The group started closing in on the two, their mouths twisting into devilish grins. The sound of tearing duct tape filled the air as they prepared to bind the sirens.

“Aria, I know we’re not pushovers when it comes to fighting back, but I don’t think either of us could last long against this many.”

“Just let me think for a second! This is usually when Adagio hatches some sort of brilliant plan to get us out of trouble as always.”

*CLANGCLANGCLANG*

The sound of a trash can struck repeatedly echoed loudly throughout the alleyway. As the mob covered their ears at the racket, the duo slipped past them toward the direction of the noise. Once they were away from the center of the group, the clanging stopped.

“‘Ello.” said a very familiar, if somewhat accented voice. “I’m the store clerk.”

“For god’s sakes, Comet.” said a girl in the mob. “What the hell was that about?”

He deflected her question with one of his own. “What the hell is THIS about?”

“Very funny, dude” said one of the male students in a sarcastic tone. “We were about to tie up those two for last weekend. You want in?” He tossed an unused roll of duct tape at the store clerk, who caught it with his free hand.

Comet played with the tape for a moment before looking over at Sonata and Aria. He directed his gaze back at the mob before tossing the roll back. “Nah. Don’t really feel up to it.”

“Well then, move” piped one of the female students next. “You hate them as much as we do, so you’ll keep this quiet, right?”

Aria interjected, “Or he could save us and lord it over us for his benefit.”

“What she said”, added the clerk. The mob all looked at him in surprise. He wasn’t serious, was he?

“What was that?” asked the leader.

“You heard me,” he replied. “I’m going to get them out of this, hold it over their head and call in a favor when I find it convenient. Maybe I can get them to show up wearing sailor uniforms or…”

“And how do you propose to do that?”

“I don’t know, figured you’d all sit down with me and talk about this like mature-- IS THAT A UFO?”

Comet pointed above the alley. Several of the students fell for his ruse, but the girl leading the pack was unamused, as well as Aria.

“You’ve got to be kidding, right?” The alpha girl stepped forward toward the trio, followed by her cohorts. “We’ve had a fellow student turn into a demon and enslave us, had those THINGS behind you drive us into a frenzy, and the only reason why we’re not under the rule of either is due to a group of girls - led by a princess from another dimension - and their magic of friendship. Did you actually think that aliens would surprise us?”

“Well, yes actually. Didn’t think you’d see through my plan.”

“Dude”, Aria added. “You are the worst rescue party ever.” Rummaging through one of her pockets, she pulled out some firecrackers before whispering in the clerk’s ear. “You wouldn’t happen to have a lighter or matches, would you?”

Comet signalled toward his back pocket as the students drew closer. Aria fished out the lighter in question and lit the fuse, then tossed the bunch of firecrackers. The trio bolt out of the alleyway and run a fair distance as the crackling sound behind them fades over time. After their moment of shock, the mob runs out of the alley after them, only to find themselves unsure of where the three ran.

“I think they went this way. Let’s go!” The mob leader rallied her followers down the opposite direction, giving the three runaways a moment of rest. Once the collective footsteps faded, all three of them peeked from around the corner of the building where they chose to hide.

“What the hell were you thinking?” asked Aria. She and Sonata stared at Comet, who looked back at them in turn. The clerk simply turned on his heel and walked away from them. “Hey, I’m talking to you!”

“I know,” he replied coldly. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to hear it. It’ll either be ‘don’t expect a favor’ or ‘we’re not your token damsels in distress’ or whatever excuse you’ll come up with just to deny the fact that you were in trouble and a ‘lowly human’ helped you out.”

Aria opened her mouth to speak, but she stopped herself short after realizing that she was about to say something similar to his retort. However, this didn’t last long. Before Comet could reach the corner of the block, Aria rushed forward and grabbed him by the arm.

“Hey, what gives?” he shouted.

“Alright! So maybe we did need help from a non-siren! Do you honestly think your situation was as bad as our is now?” Aria attempted to contain her anger before she continued, but failed. “So we inconvenienced you for a few days! Big deal! Your troubles are over, but ours are just starting!”

“Aria, relax.” Sonata grabbed her sister by the shoulders as Aria let go of Comet’s arm. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Figure something out?” the clerk repeated.

Aria was yet again about to speak, but Sonata simply calmed her and explained instead. “The funds we raised doing our usual street performances are starting to run low. Apart from groceries and paying for a motel room, those CDs we bought earlier were the last distraction we could afford.”

“Those stupid classmates of yours do nothing more than plot behind our backs during class. I recognized some of them in that group.” Her voice lowered to its usual volume, Aria thanked Sonata by taking her hands and smiling. “Sonata here suggested that we stop by a music store and get something we might like so we don’t seem like such a bad crowd. Of course, it seems they decided to form a crowd of their own.”

“And the store in question just happened to be the one I worked in.”

Aria nodded. “We spotted you before we crossed the street over to your shop, but Sonata thought it would be a good way to, at the very least, bury the hatchet between us.” She crossed her arms. “Of course, she did suggest that we turn you into a bug and crush you or something.”

“Hey!” Sonata waved her hands in dismissal of Aria’s comment. “That was just to make Adagio feel as if her plan might actually work.”

“Wait a minute. You two don’t think that getting your gems back is possible?”

Both girls shook their heads in unison.

“Well,” Comet started. “This changes things.” He ruminated on the thought for a few seconds. “This isn’t some ploy to lower my guard and rob me blind, is--”

“Seriously, dude!?” Aria shouted. “We walked into your store to basically say we surrender and you still think…” Aria stopped herself mid-sentence and took a deep breath. “Even if there was some way to get our gems and our magic back, it wouldn’t matter. There’s no magic in this world. No magic, no siren gems, no way for us to cause any harm to you or the school.”

Aria leaned against the building and kept her arms crossed, a dejected look on her face. Slowly but surely, Comet was beginning to understand their predicament. They were outsiders in a world of humans, and losing their gems only made them lose their sense of self.

He walked over to Aria’s side. Placing the plank aside, he joined her as he leaned back and crossed his arms as well. Aria simply stared at him as he stared back, only letting a few seconds pass before cracking a smile of his own.

“I’m not going to say that losing those gems is a point on humanity’s scoreboard, but it’s not the worst thing for you either.”

“Are you kidding?” Sonata interjected. “Sorry about what we did, but it’s definitely the WORST thing to happen to us! I used to sing in the shower every morning, but now I can’t even get a simple three-note tune right!”

Comet scoffed. “Then all you have to do is learn how to sing.”

Sonata groaned in frustration. “And how are we gonna do that?”

“What, you think humans use magic to sing? We’ve been doing it for millennia without fancy gems or spells.”

“Oh, this I have to see.” Aria pushed herself away from the wall and stood next to Sonata. “C’mon, show us what you’ve got.”

Sonata beamed at Aria suggestion. “Doitdoitdoitdoitdoit!” she repeated.

“Alright already, pipe down! You sound just like my…” He stopped abruptly. “Well, it’s just annoying, so pipe down.” He took several deep breaths, then start walking toward the direction of the girls’ motel, humming a starting tune. Both girls were quick to follow.

“I think he’s just messing with us”, said Aria. Sonata shushed her just before the clerk finished humming.

The song wasn’t ostentatious like the sirens’ usual routines, rather it was subdued and calming. They couldn’t understand a single word of his song, however. He was singing in a language other than Equestrian, but even the language barrier wasn’t enough to deter the soothing effect of the tune.

The three of them continued walking and listening to the tune until they reached the motel. In a moment of realization, Comet remembered where he was and turned around.

Aria was the first to break the silence. “What WAS that melody?”

Comet looked away with slight embarrassment, kicking his foot against the sidewalk. “It’s just a lullaby that my mother used to sing. She learned it back in her home country, and she still sings it every so often. I just sang what I usually hear.” He looked back at them, his confidence returning. “So, what did you think about human singing?”

“It was...okay.” Aria’s usual smug nature returned, but it wasn’t as harsh as it usually was. “I mean, it’s not as good as us in our prime, but not bad for a human.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Blaze. I’m actually rather happy with my singing ability.”

Sonata started at Comet with dazzling eyes, her smile slowly growing. “That was great! Please please pleasepleasepleaseplease tell us you’ll teach us how to sing like that!”

“What? No!” The clerk cleared his throat a second later. “I mean, I can’t really teach you what with my job and trying to get my car working again. I could help you find someone that will, though.”

“That’s good enough for me!” Sonata took Comet’s hand and shook it vigorously. “It was nice talking to you, Comet! We’ll see you at school tomorrow, right?” The clerk could only stare in slight surprise as the siren finally released his hand and walked toward the motel building with Aria.

“Hey”, Aria started. “What made you change your mind?”

Comet chuckled at Aria’s question. “Vorpal called after you left. He told me all about his time with your sister, Adagio. I figured that if she could take up a hobby, maybe you girls aren’t so bad. You know, once we’re on equal ground and not under the threat of mind control.”

Aria turned around and made her way toward her motel room. She looked back at the clerk. “Hey. See you at school tomorrow?”

Author's Note

It's not called "Guiding of the Sirens" for nothing. While it's predominately going to be a love story between Adagio and a human, that doesn't mean the other two won't have their fair share of adventure. As for the chapter title itself, it's just a fun little title I came up with to complement the reference in the music store's name. I haven't actually read Paradise Falls, though... (Paradise LOST. Curse you, Fallout 3...)

That being said, apologies for the almost 8-month delay on this chapter. Life caught up to me in a very brutal way, but I've been using any spare time I could to continue the next chapter. Things are still kind of hectic, but they seem to be calming down, so the next chapter shouldn't take an eternity.