Canterlot High. There was once a time, not so long ago, when any given day in this place would have been vibrant, bright and cheerful. The students were all friends to one another, there was always something interesting going on, and all around there was just this feel that you could go in there and simply be happy. Now, that was all gone. The hallways lay empty, devoid of students and faculty alike. The only activity was the occasional gust of wind that blew in from the many windows that had been left open recently. On the walls there were posters, somewhat torn or hanging loose, bearing the words "Battle of the Bands" in bright colours. Only one place seemed to have any kind of real activity going on, and that was a room that had once served as a place for music classes. There, seven girls and a dog now resided. Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Spike. All of them were in here, locked securely in, ironically, a place that had been where they often met for their band practice. But now they dwelled here, defeated and looking utterly despondent. Well, all except Rainbow Dash. For she stood right beside the nearby window, looking out at the bright red skies beyond, and bearing a look of anger, shortly before trying her hardest to pull the windows open, to no avail. Seeing this, Rarity frowned somewhat.
"Rainbow, darling...you've done that every day since we were put here. It's not going to open!"
But the Rainbow-haired girl merely grunted angrily at those words as she continued to pull with all her might. Rarity shook her head at that before quietly staring at the ground once more, all while patting the top of Spike's head, as he lay next to where she sat. After a few minutes, Rainbow stopped, panting furiously after her exertions.
"This...sucks! How...how many days have we been here now?"
She turned and looked upon her colleagues, many of which merely shrugged their shoulders at her in response. All except for Pinkie Pie, who, in the corner of the room, had been scribbling markers onto the wall with crayons to mark the time. As she spoke, she tried her best to keep that jovial tone with which she was so well known for.
"Two weeks, three days and seven hours. But, you know...who's counting, right?"
She shrugged her shoulders and discarded the crayon, sitting down in the corner while holding her knees up to her chest. The situation was grim, that much nobody could deny. And yet, not so long ago, things seemed like they were on the verge of being hopeful. The Battle of the Bands was in full swing, and the Rainboom's rivals were at the peak of their power. Just when all hope had seemed lost, Sunset Shimmer, former student of Princess Celestia, had stepped in to aid her human friends, singing alongside them in a display of friendship not seen in the entire history of the school. Together, they had called forth great power, and in their hearts, they were confident that this would end the threat of their enemies once and for all. And yet, that was not what happened. Instead, their power did not vanquish them, and instead, their enemies' power won out, shooting them down and leaving them defenceless. The magic of friendship had failed on that day, and now, they were reaping the rewards of that failure, locked away, unable to even see what was going on in the world beyond. In fact, the only positive in all of this is that they'd been allowed to change into their regular outfits prior to their imprisonment. As for Sunset herself, she sat alone, looking perhaps more saddened than anyone else here, which was something Twilight soon noticed. Sighing, she walked over to her one-time rival, sitting down next to her and placing a hand upon her shoulder.
"Hey...it's alright."
But Sunset merely shook her head at that.
"No, Twilight...it's not alright. I tried to help...and it did nothing! The first time I've ever put myself on the line to help friends...and it didn't work."
The fiery-haired girl buried her face into her hands, prompting all the others to look to her with some sympathy. But, in time, Twilight broke out into another smile, and then gave a gentle nudge to Sunset, gaining her attention.
"It wasn't your fault, Sunset. None of us could have predicted what was going to happen. What does matter is that...you came to help us. Even in the face of everything that was going on, you tried to stand up for us."
Sunset looked to her, still feeling uncertain about all this, but nevertheless remained silent as Twilight continued.
"Whatever else happens...you're one of us. A friend. And that's not going to change."
To say that Sunset looked taken aback by those words would have been a great understatement, but, one look at Twilight's face, at the honesty and earnestness she had there, told her everything she needed to know. The young princess had meant every word of it, that Sunset WAS a friend to her, and to all the others. Slowly, she turned, looking around the room, seeing the smiles on all the other girls' faces. Even in the face of everything she'd done to them in the past, the many times she'd tried to drive them apart, they agreed with Twilight. She was one of them. And that, even in light of their current situation, lifted the girl's heart greatly, so much so that she finally broke into a smile as she looked to Twilight in appreciation. Smiling back at this, Twilight leaned forward, embracing her friend in a hug. It was a heart-warming moment, and one that did much to alleviate some of the bad feeling they were all experiencing at the moment. However, there was no denying the sad truth that it wasn't a solution to anything, and soon enough, that tender hug was interrupted by a new sound from outside the door of the music room. Turning in unison, the girls all looked to that door as they now all heard the unmistakeable sound of somebody walking towards it. Hearing that, Pinkie got to her feet again and tried putting on a smile.
"Well...on the bright side...at least they're not letting us go hungry in here."
But Applejack merely rolled her eyes at that.
"Oh great. Another helpin of prison-style oatmeal. Joy of joys."
Even Pinkie could note the sarcasm in her friend's voice, and gave her an odd glance for it, but, soon afterwards, resumed looking at the door. The steps grew closer and closer, and they all watched as the knob of the door began to turn. They watched it opening, perhaps expecting one of their fellow students to come in here, under that same spell as everyone else, here to deliver what technically counted as "food". And yet, that was not what happened. Instead, they looked on with surprise as the one who greeted them was a somewhat tall boy their age, clad in a black leather jacket and bearing spikey blue hair. Seeing this newcomer, Twilight immediately broke out into a smile and rushed forward.
"Flash!"
But, once she'd come within a few feet of the boy, she stopped, and the smile soon faded from her face. For she could now see that, just like everybody else, Flash Sentry bore the tell-tale signs of enchantment, most notably a green tint to his eyes. As he looked to her, there was no joy in seeing her, no affection, simply a profound seriousness. Needless to say, Twilight was not happy about this in the slightest, seeing the boy looking to her as if she were a stranger. Sunset walked behind her, placing a hand upon her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, but Twilight soon steeled herself, looking to Flash and awaiting what he had to say. In time, her patience was rewarded, and the boy spoke in an almost monotone voice.
"The Queen requests your presence. Follow."
His words were brief and to the point, and mere moments later, he turned, starting to walk out of the room while leaving the door behind him wide open. This was an unexpected turn to say the least, as it was the first time any of them had been allowed out of this place in over two weeks. Needless to say, they were all a little wary of this, as evidenced by the unsure glances they gave to each other. But, it wasn't long after that when Twilight turned to them, giving them a nod. Nodding back, the group all began to move out of the music room, looking around slightly before catching sight of Flash, who was patiently waiting for them. This whole situation seemed off somehow. Surely any captor would know that letting them out like this, with only one guy there to escort them, without even any guards accompanying him, was just inviting them to escape. And yet, there was this worry in all of them that such a notion had already been considered. After all, they knew their enemy well enough to realise that she would never allow them an opportunity like this unless she was absolutely certain that they could not take it. So, after a long pause, the group began to reluctantly walk down the hall, at which point, Flash turned from them and began leading them to the one who had sent him.
So, they walked together, staying as close to each other as they could, looking around at their once-vibrant school. To look upon this place now, so empty, when it had once been so lively, just felt wrong to them. It was, in many ways, a second home to them, where they had made many happy memories together. Seeing it like this, ignored and neglected, it was an unhappy feeling to say the least. But, as before, they remained silent, instead simply following the enthralled Flash in front of them as he continued to lead them. First, after having travelled through the long hallways, he took them into the school cafeteria, which still bore many plates upon the tables, as if everyone had been forced to leave in a hurry, which they all knew they had. After this, they entered an adjacent building to the school; the sports centre. Here there were many discarded pieces of sports equipment, balls and the like, all strewn about on the floor, again, completely unused. About a minute afterwards, Flash led them to what they could feel was their final destination in this journey; the school's swimming area. This place, which seemed to be in much better condition than everywhere else, was a fairly large indoor pool, usually used for swimming contests. But now, it stood empty, and as the girls entered, they watched as Flash took a spot next to the pool and stopped, as if waiting for something.
And it was at this point that Twilight noticed something odd. Right next to Flash, there was a small table, and upon it were a collection of towels. Although looking confused at this, as well as all the other girls for that matter, it soon dawned on Twilight that there was a very simple explanation; they were not alone in here. So, the young princess instead looked to the water of the pool, scouring it for movement or signs of life, and mere moments later, she got it. There was a figure moving gracefully beneath the surface, and though it was obscured from sight, Twilight knew who it was, and narrowed her eyes somewhat. After about a minute of waiting, something finally happened, as that same figure rose to the surface, flinging her copious orange hair back in a dramatic fashion as she did so. Adagio Dazzle, leader of the Sirens. Both Twilight and the other Rainbooms reacted to her presence here in mixed ways, from Fluttershy's look of worry to Rainbow's look of anger. As for Adagio herself, she ignored them for the time being, instead gently swimming over to the small ladder that led out of the pool. As she emerged fully from the waters, one thing above all became shockingly apparent about the Siren; her magical pendant was the only thing she was wearing at the moment.
Needless to say, this caused more than a few of the girls to turn away slightly, Fluttershy and Rarity most of all. Others, like Applejack, just had an "are you kidding me" look on their faces. But Adagio couldn't have cared less at this point, instead shaking her head of a few drops of water after she'd finally stepped out of the pool. But as Twilight watched her, she couldn't help but notice that, at this present moment, Adagio bore neither wings, ears nor tail, as she did during the climax of the Battle of the Bands. Doubtless, she had refrained from revealing them for the time being, much like how the Rainbooms could go in-and-out of their magical forms. The only evidence of the Siren's victory present here was her pendant, which bore an even brighter red glow than normal, practically pulsating with magical power. However, Twilight was not the only one amongst them who had her eyes on the pendant, as Rainbow Dash now stood beside her. Twilight turned to look at her, seeing the wheels turn in her friend's mind. She knew what she was thinking, that she could just attack Adagio here or snap up her pendant. But, Twilight grabbed her arm, preventing her from such rash action. After all, the Siren would not have invited them here if she was that vulnerable. Her magic alone could prevent whatever attack Rainbow had in mind.
As one might expect, this frustrated the rainbow-haired girl a great deal, leading to an irritated grunt on her part. But, it was here that Adagio finally looked to the Rainbooms in earnest, utterly unfazed by her lack of modesty before them, and bearing that distinctive smirk she always wore.
"Ah, Princess Twilight! I do apologise for not letting you come see me earlier. But, well...you know how busy royalty can get."
Twilight narrowed her eyes at that.
"What do you want, Adagio?"
The Siren chuckled a little before replying.
"So direct and to-the-point, aren't we? You really must learn a little subtlety every once in a while, my dear."
At this, Rainbow took a step forward and began speaking in that angry tone that they all knew she'd speak in.
"Cut the chatter and get to the point! What do you want?!"
Adagio raised an eyebrow at those words, before then regaining her smirk.
"All in good time, Miss Dash. But, for now, let's take a little stroll, shall we? After all...it might do you girls some good to see the wonderful things my sisters and I have done with this little world of yours."
The Rainbooms all looked to each other with uncertainty after hearing that, but then looked back to Adagio as she gave herself a good stretch. Once that was done, she turned to Flash, who still bore that emotionless look upon his face. Seeing him, Adagio gained a somewhat amorous look to her.
"Oh Flashy dear? Would you be so kind as to dry your Queen off?"
The boy gave a ceremonial-looking bow before replying to that.
"It would be my honour, my Queen."
And so all of the girls looked on with varying degrees of worry as Flash grabbed onto a nearby towel before approaching his master. Adagio raised both her arms as her thrall got to work, patting her dry with the towel on each and every part of her. Twilight, seeing this, gritted her teeth somewhat, which was a look that Adagio couldn't help but smirk at further. However, much like how she'd acted around Rainbow moments earlier, Sunset placed a hand on her shoulder, doing her best to calm her friend down in the face of this obvious abuse of power. It took a good few minutes, but eventually, Flash had dried off every part of the Siren leader, from head to toe. When this was done, she snapped her fingers, leading to him bowing again before moving away from her. Now dry, she cast a glance in the direction of the Rainbooms, smirking whiles raising her hand once more, and here, Twilight noticed that her pendant was starting to glow brighter than before. Bracing themselves for some kind of magic, the girls' instincts proved to be correct, as Adagio snapped her fingers yet again, causing a barrage of red-coloured magic to burst forth from her pendant. But, rather than go for her rivals, the magic instead began to engulf HER. The ethereal tendrils lovingly wrapped around every inch of her, and as they finished doing so, there was a bright flash, causing the girls to cover their eyes.
When the light died down, they lowered their hands, and saw, to their surprise, that Adagio was now fully clothed. But this was not the elegant formal attire she wore at the Battle of the Bands, but rather her usual, mostly-purple outfit. Twilight was, needless to say, somewhat taken aback at seeing Siren magic used this way. But, in all fairness, if it could conjure wings, ears and tails, then clothing should not have been much harder. Now dressed, Adagio turned form them and began to walk off, presumably wanting them to follow her. The girls all looked to each other for a moment before Twilight eventually let out a sigh, relenting for the time being and following her captor, with her friends close behind her. As for Flash, he remained behind, clearing away all that Adagio had left behind the pool, all while Twilight gave him a sad glance as she walked off. Eventually, Adagio reached the exit of the school's pool building, wherein her pendant glowed once more, resulting in the doors flinging open of their own accord. With the Rainbooms close behind her, it wasn't long before they finally saw the streets beyond their school, which was a sight that they had not witnessed since their imprisonment. And when they did, they couldn't help but feel disheartened at the sight of it.
Everywhere they went, they could see people bickering amongst themselves, some getting into outright fights, and all of them bore that same green tint in their eyes that Flash had. Every single one of them had been put under the spell of the Sirens, and with every harsh word, every shove, every angry glance, that negative energy continued to flow, filling Adagio's gem even though it already bore the vast quantities of power taken from the Rainbooms. Every step she took, that energy flowed, and as it did, the elder Siren smiled devilishly, though the girls who followed her could not have been more upset at this development. As they journeyed down the street, it became so bad that Rainbow, grunting in frustration, eventually just ran off and towards a pair of boys who were arguing between themselves. The other girls, as well as Adagio, stopped to watch her, and saw her come between them.
"You guys have gotta stop this! Don't you see this isn't doing you any good?!"
But the boys just glared at her angrily.
"Get lost!" one called.
"Yeah, beat it!" the other added.
Looking disheartened by this, Rainbow was then taken aback when one of them grabbed onto her shoulder and just unceremoniously shoved her aside, much to her chagrin. She watched them continue their bickering, before then turning to Adagio, who wiggled her finger while giving a "tut-tut" sound.
"Nice try...but pointless."
So the Siren just walked off, and Rainbow, once again had to be silently reminded by Twilight that they had no power at this point, so they had little choice but to follow. With Rainbow grumbling all the way, they were led on by Adagio further into town, dismayed at just how many people seemed to be angry or fighting around them, with they themselves receiving more than a few angry glances here and there. Occasionally, Twilight could see, in the distance, what looked like people carrying large bricks of some sort, though she had no idea why. But, it wasn't long before she soon saw an even more upsetting sight. It was a music shop, situated on the corner of a street, with its front window completely smashed open. All of the girls looked on with horror at what lay within. Instruments broken and twisted, music sheets torn and burned, the whole place was an utter mess, and they had no doubt that similar places had experienced similar treatment across town. Was this a guarantee on the Sirens' part to ensure the Rainbooms never got their hands on any other instruments, and thus could never use their powers? Perhaps. But to Twilight, she saw it as a message, and that message was loud and clear; this world shall have no music but the music of the Sirens.
However, it wasn't long before they encountered yet more activity, as there was someone within the shop, a fellow student of theirs, though Twilight could not place the name of him. He emerged from the place with a pristine-looking guitar in his hands, only to angrily raise it above his head and bring it down hard on the sidewalk, much to the shock of the girls. But, as he did this, his eyes drifted upwards, and in and instant, he froze. For he had seen her, Adagio Dazzle, watching him do his work, and he dropped everything that he was doing, getting down onto his knees in a grovelling position.
"My Queen! I…I am not worthy to look upon you!"
Smiling at this behaviour, Adagio gestured at him to rise, which he did, before speaking in that soothing tone she had.
"Your Queen appreciates this fine gesture. Please, do carry on."
He smiled at her as if that was the best thing anyone had ever said to him. Before long, he got back to what he was doing, stomping down on the already-broken guitar on the ground, all while Adagio turned to the Rainbooms with a look of triumph on her face.
"See that? Surely you must realise how wonderful it is to bring about such adoration into this world? Such...love!"
But Twilight merely narrowed her eyes at that, gesturing to the angry boy nearby.
"That isn't love! That...that's just...idol worship!"
But Adagio was unfazed by such words, instead moving towards Twilight like a predator, causing the latter to back down, though only slightly. To her chagrin, she watched as the Siren raised a hand and grabbed hold of her chin, keeping her face close to hers while maintaining her "I’M in control here" look.
"You're a smart girl, princess. Surely you know by now that, to many in this world...there's very little difference between the two."
Moments afterwards, Twilight was released from Adagio's grim, giving her time to nurse the spot on her chin where she'd held her. As the Siren walked off, Twilight's friends surrounded her, giving her sympathetic glances. She smiled as best she could, but it was short lived, for as before, they all found themselves following the Dazzling leader onwards, wherever she was taking them. It soon turned out that she was bringing them to yet another familiar face. For as they turned the next corner, they finally caught sight of one of the other Sirens. In this case, it was Aria. Like Adagio, she too had clad herself in her usual garb, including her distinctive torn green vest. She was outside a nearby small hotel, sitting beside a table that had been prepared outside in the middle of the street. Opposite her was another student, and this time, Twilight recognised him. It was a muscle-bound boy known as Bulk Biceps, and he was not alone there, for there were many other CHS students watching the two, mostly guys, and all of them had that enchanted look about them. As for Aria, she was currently in the middle of what was unmistakeably an arm-wrestling contest with the more muscular youth, the latter seeming to struggle greatly with moving the Siren's arm even an inch. As this was going on, the other male students looked to Aria with utter adoration in their eyes, calling out her name every other moment.
"We love you, Aria!" one called.
"You're awesome!" another added.
"Marry me!" another blurted out, before being given death stares by his compatriots.
As for Aria, she smirked with all the attention, before then giving out a faux-yawn at the apparently-poor effort Bulk was putting into the challenge. She glanced in his direction, seeing him struggle greatly, and as this occurred, the Rainbooms all saw the distinct glow of her pendant. Her magic was giving her the strength she needed here, that much was certain, but her blatant cheating was clearly not something she had any issue with. And it was about to get even worse, for soon afterwards, the glow of the pendant grew even brighter, and with it, her eyes also began to bear that menacing red tint to them, along with a devilish smile on Aria's part. With an almighty movement of her arm, she sent bulk flying off, slamming him into the nearby wall of the hotel, and all while the crowd cheered her on. With the glow of her eyes fading somewhat, she stood from her chair, giving a bow to her adoring fans, all while Bulk collapsed into a heap on the ground. Nearby, one of the students had set up a score-board, marked "Aria" and "Bulk". Needless to say, Aria's side of the board had all of the points, whereas Bulk had achieved none. As the nearby student added yet another marker to the board, he turned to the Siren with a loving smile.
"That's one hundred victories today, Lady Aria! Congratulations!"
But Aria, scoffed and rolled her eyes, even thought it was clear that she was loving this.
"Pfft! Whatever!"
As one might expect, Twilight and the Rainbooms had watched this scene play out with horror on their faces, especially Fluttershy, who, in contrast to her usually-meek nature, rushed over to the unmoving form of Bulk. The others soon joined her and, after giving him a quick look-over, Fluttershy looked to her friends with an expression that made it clear that he was still breathing, which was a great relief to all of them. However, he was nevertheless in a bad way, and the pink-haired girl, alongside Rarity, tried to get him back to his feet. Unfortunately, it was here that Bulk finally regained consciousness, and as soon as he saw the two girls, immediately growled at them before wrenching his arms out of their grip, much to their shock. But, his expression became one of obsession as he looked to Aria, and before long, he walked over to her, displaying a clear limp along the way. Like many of them, he got to his knees to show respect to her, even though it was obvious that doing so was greatly painful to him. As for the girls, they moved to Fluttershy, silently trying to comfort her in the face of this. But, sadly, their efforts were rather rudely interrupted when Aria let out a hearty laugh at the sight of them.
"I see Adagio has decided to take her pets for a walk."
Naturally, a remark like that earned the Siren more than a few scornful looks, though her elder sister merely laughed at it.
"Now Aria, I'm just giving our dear captives here a tour of our new domain. I thought it would be fitting."
The two sisters smirked together, even despite the fact that Bulk was still on his knees nearby, occasionally wincing with pain over the injury that had been inflicted on him. Having had more than her fill of all this, Applejack, before any of her friends could stop her, began to march right on up to Aria, though the latter was not intimidated in the slightest. Once there, the farm girl pointed her finger at Aria and began to tell her exactly what she felt about all this.
"Y'all should be ashamed of yerselves!"
Hearing that, Aria raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Why's that?"
Applejack looked to her as if the answer was the easiest thing in the world, but nevertheless stumbled a bit as she gave it.
"It...it's just...wrong!"
But Aria just shrugged her shoulders.
"Yep!"
"It's dishonest!" Applejack continued.
"Probably," Aria answered.
"Y'all ain't earnin yer victories! Yer stealin em!"
That earned a particularly loud scoff on Aria’s part.
"Winning's great no matter how you do it!"
Slowly, another smirk crept onto the purple-haired Siren's face.
"I remember that much when we beat you after all."
At this, Applejack had heard enough, and to the shock of her friends, brought back her arm with her hand clenched into a fist, before shooting it forward, aiming right at Aria’s face. But the latter was, if anything, completely unfazed by the gesture, instead simply raising a single finger, using it to intercept the oncoming fist. To Applejack's utter shock, the moment her fist came into contact with that finger, it was halted, as if she were punching a brick wall. The farm girl looked to the Siren in shock, though the latter kept on smiling mischievously, especially when Applejack tried doing it again, and again, and even a fourth time. On that last one, however, Aria seemed to grow bored with this, and simply pushed her finger forward gently as soon as Applejack's first came to it again. The effect was immediate, as Applejack was then sent flying backwards. Fortunately for her though, her friends were here to catch her, sparing her the outcome that had befallen Bulk not so long ago. As her friends helped her up to her feet, Applejack looked to Aria, who was giving her an utterly mocking look, with her pendant still glowing brightly. The girls knew that their power and strength was great now, but even so, to experience it first-hand like that was something else altogether. Satisfied that her position was well-established now, Aria turned to her older sister.
"Well, Adagio, this has been fun and all, but if it's all the same to you, I think I’m in the mood to cool off a bit."
Gaining her sister's meaning immediately, Adagio gave a smile and a nod, prompting Aria to turn from her and instead look to the crowd, which had still been present and cheering her name during all this. After facing them fully, Aria then raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
"Alright, boys! You know the drill. Line up!"
At that command, all of the male members of the crowd immediately stepped forward, lining up in front of Aria and standing at-attention, like a group of soldiers on inspection. And like a commander, Aria held her hands behind her back as she walked from one end of the line to the other, looking over each and every one of the students before her. As one might expect, the Rainbooms watched this with some confusion, as well as a little worry, while Adagio looked at them with a knowing smile, like a child who couldn't wait to give away the ending of a story. As for Aria, she continued to look the boys over, passing by many a handsome, large or muscular-looking type on her way. Members of the school's football or wrestling teams, some typically good-looking all-stars, even Bulk, despite his injury, was standing up at his Lady's command, though it pained the Rainbooms to see him do so. In the end, Aria stopped right in front of a boy who stuck out like a sore thumb. A relatively thin lad with a stereotypically nerdy-looking appearance, complete with a pudding bowl haircut. Raising her hand to her chin, Aria considered the boy carefully for a few moment before, eventually, a wicked smile grew on her face.
"Take your shirt off."
The boy looked to her with adoration, as if it was the best thing anyone had ever said to him. At her command, he began to unbutton his shirt, and at last, the Rainbooms began to realise what was happening here, why Aria had been looking those boys over. Needless to say, they looked somewhat horrified at it all, but nevertheless remained still, as the young boy had finally removed his shirt, revealing his, as expected, somewhat meek physique. Raising a hand, Aria carefully placed her finger on the boy's collar bone before slowly, and seductively, tracing a line down his entire torso. With that done, she nodded a little before smirking at the lad.
"Yeah...I think you'll do for today."
As before, the boy broke out into a massive smile, utterly ecstatic at having been chosen like this. As for Aria, she merely rolled her eyes at that reaction before starting to walk off in the direction of the nearby hotel, with the boy following her like a love-struck puppy. Seeing this, Adagio let out a hearty laugh.
"A bit puny for your liking, wouldn’t you say, sister?"
Upon hearing that, Aria merely shrugged her shoulders.
"What can I say? A little variety never hurt anyone."
Adagio nodded, signifying her agreement with that statement, all while the other girls watched with both horror and disgust at what was going on before them. As before, both Applejack and Rainbow glared at all of this, looking ready to charge forward and stop it. But, also like before, their friends stopped them, reminding them full well of what happened the last time any of them challenged one of these Sirens. Although reluctant, the two girls stopped at the behest of their friends, though they continued to seethe with anger in silence. As for Adagio, she then gained a look as if she'd just remembered something important, and then called out to Aria just before she and the boy passed through the doors of the hotel.
"Oh! Aria? You wouldn't happen to know where Sonata is, do you?"
Turning, the purple-haired Siren shrugged her shoulders.
"Probably in the same place she always hangs out."
At that, both Aria and the boy entered the hotel in earnest, closing the door behind them and obscuring them from view. Nodding at her sister's words, Adagio then turned to the Rainbooms, taking a brief moment to enjoy the look of sheer helplessness upon their faces, after which she cleared her throat, gaining their attention. Silently, she gestured with her head for them to follow, and after some hesitation on their part, they did exactly that. Although, just before they moved to the other side of the street, they stopped as they began to hear the unmistakeable sound of pleasured moaning coming from behind them. Turning, they all looked to the hotel, knowing exactly what was causing that sound, though all the curtains of the building's windows had been pulled closed, keeping them from seeing anything. Although, given what they now knew was happening in there, that was probably for the best. As one might expect, the girls were completely despondent at this turn of events, with Fluttershy especially looking like she was on the verge of tears, though Pinkie Pie soon moved to her to try and comfort her, for what little good it did. In the end, they all hung their heads as they continued their journey, following Adagio wherever she was leading them.
After a good few minutes of continuing to walk down the streets of Canterlot, and seeing the already-frequent sight of people bickering amongst themselves as they went, they came upon a sight that, was something of a surprise to them, especially Rarity; the town's local spa. They looked to each other with uncertainty, though Adagio continued to march forward. Within moments after reaching their destination, they entered the place, and like almost every other spot they'd visited, it was far more sparse than what it once was. However, after moving through the various rooms, they finally came across the place that Adagio seemed to be leading them. It was the main room of the spa, and there, just as Aria had said, was Sonata. She was lounging on an ornate deck-chair, clad in northing but her amulet and a fluffy pink towel that wrapped around her middle, hugging her figure quite nicely. She had a look of utter contentment upon her face, and it wasn't hard to see why. Beside her were the two noted spa attendants, Aloe and Lotus, both of which were, as expected, enchanted. The former was holding a massive fan and using it to cool Sonata, while the other had a plate of cherries and was feeding them, one-by-one, into the waiting mouth of the blue Siren. There was even a third attendant, a boy their age, who looked like a part-timer here, who was at the base of the deck-chair, currently busy giving Sonata a very-relaxing foot massage.
The whole combo made the somewhat-ditzy girl look like she was in utter heaven, though, as always, the Rainbooms frowned at how she was treating those around her like servants. Adagio, after chuckling slightly at this negative reaction, then turned to her youngest sister before clearing her throat. Immediately, Sonata opened her eyes, and as soon as she saw Adagio, she broke out into a massive smile.
"Dagi! How are you doing?"
The elder Siren smiled to her younger sibling as she approached.
"Quite well, thank you. Just taking the prisoners for a tour of our domain. And yourself?"
Sonata's smile widened even further as she turned to her attendant, shortly before receiving yet another cherry. As she chewed, she gave her sister her answer.
"It's been great! I've never felt so relaxed in my entire life! This whole ruling-the-world thing is awesome!"
The sheer jovial tone with which the girl was describing all this was something that truly took the Rainbooms aback. It was almost as if she couldn’t' see anything wrong with what was happening here. But, they had little time to dwell on that, as they saw movement on the far side of the room. Another attendant, a woman this time, came out and walked towards Sonata with a silver platter in her hands, hinting that there was a meal in the works here, though it was hidden by a domed cover. As it approached, Sonata squealed gleefully before turning to the still-uncomfortable Rainbooms.
"You'll never guess what I've asked for lunch today!"
Applejack turned to Rainbow and raised her eyebrow, keeping her voice hushed.
"Ah think ah can make a pretty good guess."
The girls all watched as the cover was lifted from the plate, revealing a plump and juicy-looking roast chicken within. Although Sonata looked at this cooked fowl with salivation, Applejack simply scratched her head, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Oh...ah guess ah didn't make a pretty good guess then."
But, before the blue girl got tucked into her delicious-looking meal, she gained a look that made it clear that she'd just had an idea of some sort, and soon turned to the Rainbooms with an even bigger smile on her face.
"Ooh! I'm planning on having my thralls and me throw this big dance party to celebrate our being world-rulers and all. You girls wanna come?"
Before they could stop her, the Rainbooms watched as Pinkie made her way to the front of the group, looking just as overjoyed as Sonata was, all with a huge grin on her face as she started to bounce up and down in place.
"Ooh! Ooh! That sounds..."
But, she didn't have the chance to finish, as her friends soon glared at her, encouraging her not to say what they all knew she was going to say. Instead, Pinkie looked as if she'd just realised what was going on, and lost her smile instantly, instead electing to shake her head at Sonata as she took a few steps backwards.
"Um...actually...I think I'll pass."
Although looking somewhat disappointed at that, Sonata soon recovered and shrugged her shoulders a little.
"Suit yourself. Oh, and feel free to come by the spa anytime. I'm sure they'd love to give you girls some special services."
Rarity, after hearing that, flipped some of her purple hair out of her face before giving a reply to that.
"Well. Keen as I am on experiencing the spa's treatments as often as possible, I’m afraid I too must decline."
Yet again, Sonata shrugged her shoulders, showing no sign of being upset by this. Instead, she turned and got straight into her meal, wolfing it down with great gusto, to the point where even Pinkie was impressed with how fast she was eating. But, it wasn't long before Adagio made an about-face, heading straight back the way she came. Seeing her, the Rainbooms stood aside, allowing her passage past, though it annoyed them to have to make way for her like this. Moments afterwards, they began to follow her, just as they'd been doing this entire time, and before long, they were outside once more, walking down the roads. As they continued on their journey to who-knew where, Twilight turned and saw, once again, somebody carrying large stones off in the distance, although, as before, did not stray from the rest of the group to find out more about it. Instead, she stayed with them as Adagio led them onwards. Further and further they walked, until they began to reach the outskirts of the town, where the buildings were becoming more and more sparse. In the end, they finally passed the borders of Canterlot, and entered an area that, once, would have been wide green fields, and a beautiful sight. Instead, something else was here, and it was a sight that caused many of the girls to gasp or clasp their hands over their mouths with shock.
Across the fields lay dozens, if not hundreds, of strange bird-like machines. Although her time in this world had been brief, Twilight had studied enough of their books to know that these things were. aeroplanes. Specifically, jet-fighters, used by their world's military. It seemed that they had been called out in large numbers, most likely to deal with the threat that Adagio and her sisters represented. And yet, despite whatever technological might they may have had, it clearly proved to be ineffective against the Sirens. For those jets now lay scattered across the fields, having clearly crashed here some time ago. Only now did Twilight remember, not so long ago, hearing from her makeshift cell, some kind of loud noises from far away, though she had no idea what it was until now. But now she knew. It was a battle to keep the Sirens from exerting greater control over the world. But, with Equestrian magic on their side, those three exiles had overwhelmed this world's armies, leaving them broken, at least here. As for what lay in lands beyond, Twilight shuddered to think. Instead, she simply remained silent as she turned to Adagio, who had stopped some time ago to enjoy the looks of horror on the girls' faces. In time, and after looking at Twilight especially, she spoke.
"What can I say? When you plan to rule a whole world, it seems that some don’t take too kindly to it. Silly boys. They'd have been much better off simply bowing to us."
A pause followed, during which the Siren leader looked to the masses of wreckage nearby, before gaining a devilish smirk.
"Well...they'd have lived at any rate."
And with that, she continued to walk off, leaving the Rainbooms continuing to be aghast at all of this. Many of them looked to each other, and to Twilight especially, hoping she would have some kind of answer for them to help them in all of this. But, as had been the case in this entire journey, she had none to give them. She turned to face them, a look of utter defeat upon her face, and let out a sigh as she, at long last, just carried on following Adagio. Her friends slumped their shoulders in a similarly-defeated manner, and began to join her soon afterwards. As they continued onwards, Twilight saw yet more people off in the distance, carrying large stones or what looked like building materials. That was notable enough, but here, in these wide open fields, even her friends had started to notice, and were giving each other unsure glances as a result. There was a worrying feeling in the pit of their stomachs from seeing this, especially as they looked onwards as Adagio was leading them up a particularly large hill. A sense of foreboding washed over all of them as they drew closer and closer to the top of that hill, and moments later, when they finally reached it, they found that their instincts were correct, for there was a sight beyond that hill that left them both in awe and terrified.
Dozens, if not hundreds, of the towns citizens, as well as people no doubt brought in front further afield, were all gathered there, carrying tools and other building materials, all heading to what was unmistakeably a massive construction projects of some sort. They were all hard at work, labouring away with looks on their faces that made it clear that they believed that what they were doing was good work. It was still in its early stages, that much was clear, as only the foundations had been finished so far, but, if Twilight's calculations were correct, it would, when completed, be almost a dozen times larger than the high school, if not bigger. Also, it didn't take much imagination to figure out what was being made here, as the girls now saw something at the front of the construction, something that caused many of them to frown with disapproval. It was a statue, not unlike the one outside of CHS, except that, rather than depicting a horse, it was a sculpture of the three Sirens themselves, striking a triumphant pose while bearing the appearance they had at the band competition, both with their winged forms and their more elaborate dresses. Seeing this, Adagio placed her hands on her hips and looked on with pride at what was going on before her, before then turning to Twilight.
"Magnificent, isn't it?"
The young princess turned to her, prompting Adagio to continue.
"Read up on human culture and you will find that they were always at their best when they came together to create monuments that withstood the test of time. The pyramids of Egypt, the great wall of China. Icons which reminded the world both then and ever onwards that giants walked amongst them, those who rose above all others."
Hearing that, Twilight narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah...after having been built with the blood of slaves."
Looking to her, Adagio raised an eyebrow.
"You have a point to make, Twilight?"
Twilight couldn't actually believe that Adagio would even think of asking that question, given what was going on down below. Instead, she simply gestured to it before stating her case.
"You've subjugated an entire people. All of these innocent men and women bound to your will, and you make them do...do...this?!"
But, rather than how Twilight might have wanted her to react, Adagio merely chortled a little.
"But of course! After all, what this world truly needs is an abode fit for a Queen...or three."
But Twilight continued to silently fume at those words, watching as Adagio began to walk closer to her. Though she would not have wanted it, the young princess soon found the Siren wrapping her arm around her shoulder, while using her other hand to gesture to the building project below.
"Imagine it, Twilight. An empire spanning the globe, lasting through the centuries, uniting all people under one banner, one ruler...me. It will be...glorious."
Twilight, hearing that, wrestled herself out of Adagio's grip, backing away and re-joining her friends, all of whom were glaring angrily at the Siren as Twilight spoke back in response.
"Why? Why do all this? Why release us only to show us this? Did you want to make us feel worse about having been beaten? Do you want to make us lose all hope? Is that what you wanted?!"
But Adagio, to Twilight surprise, actually looked somewhat insulted by that.
"Perish the thought! I actually wanted to offer you and your friends a reward."
Needless to say, that earned her more than a few confused glances, giving her all the cause she needed to explain herself.
"You see...I can be very generous when I want to, and it occurred to me that my sisters and I have you to thank for our current good fortune. Both you and Sunset together are the reason that Equestrian magic even came to this world in the first place, and for that, you have our eternal gratitude."
Being reminded of that they unwittingly unleashed on this world was, naturally, something that caused both former students of Celestia to wince somewhat, but, they were even more concerned with just how genuine Adagio was being with them right now, as if she were truly thankful towards them. It was a tone that continued as she carried on speaking.
"It seemed only fitting that my sisters and I give you something in return. So I decided, not only will you have your freedom, to come and go as you wish...but, should you decide you wish to, say, partake of some of the benefits my sisters and I enjoy, feel free to do so. Our thralls will be more than happy to accommodate you."
But Twilight looked outright offended by those words.
"You...you can't be serious! Live like you do?! Treating everyone around us like a servant?! Why do you think we would ever want that?!"
Before Adagio could reply, Rainbow took her place beside Twilight, glaring angrily at the self-proclaimed Queen of this world.
"Yeah! And what makes you think we won't just try and screw you over if you just let us go like this?"
But Adagio was not concerned in the slightest with that prospect, as evidenced by her then-encroaching smirk.
"Because it would be pointless. Your magic of friendship failed against us, Miss Dash. And that was when we'd only just regained our power. And now, we are far stronger than we were back then. The world is ours, its people are ours, and even if your little princess friend were to go back home and bring forth a whole army to help her free this place...you know what would happen to it."
At that, the angry looks on the girls' faces vanished, and they turned, seeing the remnants of what had happened the last time somebody had made a move against them. They did not admit it, but they knew that Adagio was right about this. They had the power. They had the control. And, more importantly, the Rainbooms knew that they would never have been released unless the Sirens already knew for certain that there was nothing they could do to stop them. They may have been many things, but they were never fools. One by one, the Rainbooms gained looks of utter defeat, slumping their shoulders as this realisation closed in on them. Seeing this look on their faces, Adagio grew into a victorious expression, and shortly afterwards, her gem began to glow. Yet again, the other girls shielded their eyes from the bright flash that followed, and when it died down, they discovered, to their shock, that Adagio had resumed her fully-empowered form, complete with tail, pony ears and fin-like wings. Now floating above the ground, she afforded them yet another smirk of hers.
"Trust me, girls, you'll come to love this new and improved world we’ve made. The offer still stands, if you choose to take it. As for me, I think I'll go and see how my beloved subjects are doing elsewhere."
And with that, she made an almighty flap of her wings, shooting herself high into the sky, with the Rainbooms watching her go. They kept their eyes on her as she moved further and further away, until, at last, she was too far to be seen. Now left here, the girls all looked to each other, with nobody knowing what to say. As for Twilight, she focused on her surroundings. At the slaves below who had been enchanted by their enemies. At the red sky above them, devoid of all brightness. In her life, she had experienced many times when her enemies had come close to victory, close to domination. Here, her foes had actually achieved it, and it was through her failure. She and her friends, their power simply hadn't been enough, and now, this world was paying the price for it. Adagio's words repeated themselves over and over in her mind, reminding her of just how futile her position was. There were no options here, to chance for things to go back the way they were before, and even if there was, a great deal of damage had already occurred, that could never be undone, no matter how hard she tried. She had lost, plain and simple, and that thought, above all others, now dominated her mind. This world belonged to the Sirens now, and they would do whatever they wanted with it, and its people, for the rest of time. She looked down the hill, at the triumphant-looking statue of the Sirens, and gained a look of sadness, prompting Fluttershy to walk up to her, with the others following shortly afterwards.
"Um...Twilight? What...what do we do now?"
Slowly, she turned towards them, and in a hushed voice, spoke the only words she could.
"I...I just don’t know."
