The Sirens Remorse: Resurgence of the Dazzlings

Chapters

CH. 2 Adagio's Gambit
Ch. 3 Forced Friendship
Ch. 4 In the Dragon's Lair
Ch. 5 The Reception
Ch. 6 Stolen Reprieve
Ch. 7 Solar Eclipse
Ch. 8 Who is Twilight?
Ch. 9 What's to Eat?
Ch. 10 Resolution
Ch 11. The Lord of Chaos
Ch. 12 Inert for now
Ch.1 The Start of the Apocolypse

CH. 2 Adagio's Gambit

Author's Note

Bit of a warning, volume level should be low for the embedded youtube vid as it is kind of loud but it will give you a sense of the noise I tried to describe.

CH. 2 Adagio's Gambit

The sound of something scraping against rough surfaces accompanied with the tapping on thick glass filled the crystal hallways of the castle like an angry hive of bees. Grunting and sliding followed every slightly unified volley even as it was uncoordinated, there were no words to describe the sounds beyond that until one gazed upon the source. Hooves of some kind clopped like an organized chorus with a slight deviation there and everywhere from the lack of an attempt to seem cordial, one set seemed to struggle slightly. Carpet pieces and rugs slid and scrunched to abuse, left in a state of dismay by the passerby as they moved along the silent and empty halls. To any other set of ears one would think they heard a group of teenage girls being chased by teachers who were trying to evade punishment for skipping class.

In actuality it was the group of sirens following the two unicorn mages of contrasting body types, the fluffy one puffing and wheezing as his old apparel flowed gracefully in the air after him. Emerath seemed to ignore the physical exertion if only due in part to his routine physical workout he used to keep himself sane in the human world, how he smirked at the rewards in action. His lither frame with well defined yet subdued musculature moved and pulled in a coordinated effort to keep his life in the balance with what was to come.

Schrodinger however had been one to enjoy the simplicity of the prison food, focusing instead on learning new magic even if he couldn't work on it then in practice. He utilized theories instead and formulated new spells to pass the years to which he was forced to live through in the human realm, letting his body become a little jiggly like a bag of pudding. Not once did regret slide into his thoughts, the pony Master Mage was too busy riding the high of making such a dangerous experimental spell work on the first go with no casualties. No other unicorn could ever live up to his latest accomplishment unless they discovered the Philosopher's Stone. His happy mood shone like a sickly yellow aura that Cold Forecast who revealed herself to be Oratoria detected and loathed, much so because she knew her only pack sister couldn't feed as well if she sang, not without her gemstone making her as useful as a hatchling. Then again, she thought to herself how detrimental it would be to stop for a snack if there was some enormous terror coming through the portal soon.

Huffing as she balanced the human turned siren on her back, "You... hanging on!?" Adagio asked in a rather commanding way as she managed to power herself through a combination of slithering from side to side with her tail and pulling with her legs.

Twitching her dark night purple wings in fear, "I'm doing my best!" Twilight fearfully stuttered as she tried with all her might to find purchase with her new taloned forelimbs upon the golden siren's body, cloven hooves at best even if they were taken to the extreme.

"Good!"

Aria quipped to the pseudo siren, "Hey! Can you... do magic?" she asked as she awkwardly mimicked Adagio's movements as did the others except for Oratoria, "Cause we could really use some juice or a teleport like unicorns can do right about now!!"

"Aria!" Sonata snapped, "She like just turned into us not even yesterday, give her a minute or two and I'm sure she can do just that." Dusk grinned absentmindedly unfamiliar with form change the human had been dealing with.

"All I'm saying... all I'm say'n." Blaze sighed seeing an easy way out of their predicament beyond reach, knowing the other mages were probably spent from the portal use.

Oratoria mumbled, "At least I can hover... and carry one of you..." thanking Poseidon her words were out of ear shot.

She herself, the light turquoise siren, floated a foot off the rough surface meant for hooves and not the serpentine bodies of the pod. Just like the others had before they were vanquished to the cursed realm, her mobility was unhindered and the others either ignored the fact or hated her for it. Knowing she'd earn a nice tail slap by the vile Aria, Ora kept herself in the back of the pod even though her knowledge of the hierarchy meant she should very well be in the front with Adagio.

Aria spoke up again, "So... since we all... don't have our... gems again... think... the ponies will... know us?" she puffed through the rigorous shuffling exodus, excluding Oratoria's personal gem out of spite.

Adagio knew it was a valid point, for all they fathomed, this was another fail safe prison just in case the portal was in every way controlled by them. This could very well be a labyrinth which trapped anypony in its endless twists and turns until given freedom by the Arcana. While she wanted to stop and debate their breakout, she seemed to have faith in fellow prisoners as well who had enough justification to hate Equestria in the same degree as she even if it wasn't as great. What sliver of trust she did give them was barely the length of a strand of hair on a human infants head, she was ready to bring raw justice if they so much as thought about abandoning them or betraying.

"Like for realzies? Ponies are just as stupid as humans, they'd probably forgotten all about us!" Dusk responded with glee.

Adagio empowered her movements with an extra push of strength, "We will deal with the problems as they come! For now... Keep MOVING!!"

Her command was heeded and the other three mobile sirens zipped their snouts shut, knowing their matriarch could dish out punishment easily. Aria grumbled a little in her silence she knew not to rebel, Sonata and Ora simply yelped under their breathe at the aggressive tone taken with them. Watching the assertive leader soon turn to a soft side and checked over her new ward as of she were a pup.

Sparkle had finally found a way to hold on using Dazzle's thick barrel and collar region to hold steadfast, no longer squirming as much with the new angle. Her long neck however was still something she needed getting use to as her tail simply hung limp due to her inability to even know how to operate all the new body parts. Using her head as another prong she pressed gently into Adagio's neck and kept her gaze to the flowing ground they passed over. It was indeed then that she noticed that she was a size smaller than the alpha, it soon made sense why she could be hefted as she was with energy to spare by her aid.

Feeling a motherly sense over her unit, the very siren softened her voice while ruffing it onward, "How're you holding up?"

Twilight's head refused to rise and bobbed with each motion so she could keep her hold, rather not risk causing issues for the one speaking, "I'm... I'm fine." she could feel the abrasion on her lower tail starting to burn as the crystal floor and wool rugs sand down into her new body.

Breathing in deeply and letting it out even as she moved, "Good. That's good." a strange sensation over feeling the same caring attitude with her other Dazzlings imprint upon Sparkle washed through the older hippocampus.

Having passed by numerous vases on white fluted stands, the few sporadic paintings, and the numerous gem encrusted tapestries started to become monotonous after the fifth long corridor they passed through. Of course for Adagio it wasn't something she would let go once it perturbed her. The mages in front of them were exchanging quiet words near whispers and doing so had her even more on edge concerning where they were going.

Finally at wits end, "HEY!!" she roared.

Both turned behind them without slowing down as they neared what appeared to be finally some kind of outer wall with stained glass windows pouring in colored light.

She sneered a fanged mouth, "A way out... would be very... nice at this point!" she nearly hissed.

Her galloping front limbs stomped with a little extra force which cracked the crystal floor where they made contact primarily from her own natural strength. The mages gave her a wide eyed panicked look before they nodded. Emerath knew they where in some kind of structure with unguarded hallways, rooms leading into possible storage or even barracks which their escape had yet to alarm the guards. They were far too consumed in finding a stairwell to use an echo location spell and try to map out the direction to go, they already used it prior but with weak magic as it were. Having ran about, he was primed and ready to use the cartographer matrix once again seeing as Paradox was far too drained to even attempt.

Once he spotted the illuminated glass a bulb popped up in his thoughts, "Apologies my lady!? Seems we've found our backstage exit! Keep behind us then." he grinned looking in front of him with his full attention on the upcoming wall.

"You better get us out..." Adagio leered before she witnessed the mage's horn glow and release an orb of concentrated mana at the tip. It followed down the remainder of the hallway and slammed into the left side of the window, erupting in a concussive blast which was surprisingly quiet.

Bright blinding white light filtered in through the haze of debris as the outside wind sucked it away like an open door to a house which slammed all other doors with the air current. It slowed the group down to a minor trot, just enough for Twilight's ears to faintly pick up on someone calling for her. The other sirens seemed to notice as well by the twitching and swiveling of their own almond shaped lobes, keying in on the source which echoed in the maze-like halls.

"Twilight?!!" a vaguely familiar voice reverberated to the other purple siren.

As the group came to a rapid stop before sliding out through the six foot round breach the mages created. Aria looked behind them as did Oratoria in utter confusion mixed with curiosity, "Am I hearing things? Or... did someone... just call out for the nerd?" she meant in jest as her eyes dilated then contracted to adjust to the shadowy hallway behind them.

"Probably nothing. We should go though! This place... it creeps me out." Ora had her eyes bugging everywhere as she knew she heard the same thing, however, it sounded far more ghostly than the others detected.

"We have a problem frauleins. Our only vay out is... a long jump?" Paradox peered over the edge of the precipice, the scenic view starting to come into perspective though countered by the distance below.

Emerath grimaced knowing what was needing to be done in no short than five minutes was drawing fast, "We can teleport, but you five may have to jump, I don't have the training nor magic to bring all of us to the ground. Not my specialty." his hoof gently scrapped the tattered tapestry underneath his hoof brought down by the offensive spell, he prepared for an ear battering.

Needless to say he heard nothing from Adagio or the others, it was horrific to have no response as he kept his head in over watch to their old home now years and years into the future. Exactly like the portal had originally showed, they were no longer of the age they'd departed. What came as a surprise was Aria speaking towards the matter, but what became of it was the shocking part.

"So you're saying we got several stories worth of a fall right?" she blankly asked.

Emerath still keeping his eyes glued to the outer world of freedom, "Yes lov."

"Don't call me 'lov'." she called him on it, "How far of a drop?"

The unicorn mage edged ever carefully and calculated the distance and the depth of he castle's crystal trunk, "Five or more stories, give or take. Maybe ten."

A momentary silence gusted through as no one, not even Adagio and Twilight, said a single word even as the clocked ticked by. How could anyone say a thing to the newly laid out facts? The world that was theirs to live in, saturated with magic that kept them alive, and ponies to later be enthralled. With the affirmation evident that they were on safe land, Blaze said the most simplest of words to get the ball rolling.

"Sonata?!!" she gasped as her purple teal dorsal fin erected slightly to add to the astoundment, "Is that..." she hesitated.

"What?!! What did you see!!" Dusk immediately began to become anxious and dashed her long head in every direction like a child told of some candy lying about.

Oratoria sighed, "Is... that... a taco truck out there!!!?!" Aria did her best to suppress the laughter that threatened to ruin the act.

"TACO!!" the cerulean siren shouted as her eyes locked onto the ravaged opening made by the unicorns, "MINE!!!!"

Before any siren nor pony could even stop her, her tail was already vanishing out the breach and past the visibility of the others. Twilight gazed on stunned and slacked jawed as she held onto the matriarch, Aria burst into an uncontrollable cackling that put Adagio's even to shame. Every other being simply was furthest from the capability to respond until the faint thud of Sonata hitting the soft soil below gave any hint of how far the drop was. Then came Sonata's voice which pushed their sanity to the brink like the waiting sign of popcorn reaching its maximum pop duration.

Nearly as powerful as a whisper from the distance that she was, "Where's the truck?! Aria? I don't see any taco truck?"

Blaze rolling on the crystal floor in pain as her laughing wouldn't stop, "I do see an apple cart? But apples aren't tacos... Aria?! Did you just trick me?"

"Cor, she can really take a fall?!" Emerath whistled.

Meanwhile, Paradox still trying to catch his breath, "A regular... Valkyrie... that fraulein is?"

"Twilight?" Adagio turned her head just enough to glance at the younger siren still balanced over her back.

The glint off the other body from the light reflecting from the near hatchling fresh pristine scales signaled movement, it was a strange sight to really behold who Twilight Sparkle had become. The matriarch's inquisitive eyes drank in the soul she carried over her very back, for a moment she admired who the human had truly embodied without her over excitement or the mages to get in the way.

Indeed, Sparkle had the body of a newly emerged pup, she even felt soft to the touch once she noticed the pliable nature of the other flesh she straddled. Her membrane between every fin barb and spine shone like fresh latex sap of the Y'goba trees of her old home with healthy blood vessels pumping blood through the tissue; if she remembered anything from her talks with her mother. The two pronged talons or cloven hooves of hers were devoid of cracks or chips, as shiny as a pearls fresh from the giant clams of the seas. The variations in her colors were also one she favored herself, a step deeper to Aria's own and equally eye popping.

Twilight would find a mate quickly with her level of beauty and flawlessness, of course after herself of course as being the Matriarch she had first dibs on any males they came across. They'd also come seeking her for her power and status, Blaze would likely end up the last one if she chose her partner the way she would probably do. Sonata might end up lucky enough to stumble onto a decent keeper if Poseidon permitted so. Oratoria however was a different case altogether, having no real time to study nor interact with her she was a wildcard. Even though she was technically family, Adagio had no true reason to fully embrace her beyond the rank of tertiary which was the lowest outer circle of any pod. She remembered what her mother had left her with on the last few days of her life, bits and pieces of how her family unit operated. They came back to her slowly unlike before, it seemed being back in Equis was methodical in replenishing their magical state to some extent even if it was at a snails pace.

Sparkle lifted her snout till the two of them could see eye to eye, "Yes?" she meekly replied.

"We're going to do something crazy and I need you to hang on. Do you trust me?" she whispered.

As if far too invested in learning her own body and all the little things that could move she simply tightened her hold onto the golden siren, "I... I trust you."

Dazzle grinned as her subordinate believed her every word, jumping upon the chance she swayed her head to the other side and beheld the flabbergasted Oratoria and a barely recovering Aria. The mages were just in view as well and she decided to address them all in one.

"You two! One of you needs to help the other escape this... whatever crystal prison maze thing we're in. Use whatever magic you wish, girls? Jump out and I will be right behind." Dazzle's toothy smile hinted at how little she cared for their protests if any.

Seeing no reason to argue with something that had sharp teeth and muscles, as well as valuing their own lives, "Understood. Come on now Paradox... we have a... party to not catch! Meet us at the apple orchard past the town center from here ,you won't miss the fields."

The tired germane mage simply shrugged in submission before the two vanished in a flash of magic, leaving the two startled sirens behind Adagio to look back and forth between that and their leader. Aria would not hear the end of Sonata's teasing if she too jumped out, but she'd likely be forced off and likely land harder than if she done so herself. Sure they had bodies which could withstand the battering of the sea, impacts against rocky coasts, and the lesser predators of the ocean but it would still hurt pretty bitterly. Rather than go the path that would run her through muddy clay sand, Aria bit her bottom lip lightly and sighed in resignation.

"Can I at least have your word Sonata doesn't get to mock me for doing this?" she asked hopefully.

Looking to what would amount to a mother and her growing pup reaching of age, magenta yes shot into her own with a sternness like that of a hunting bull shark, "No... now... Go!"

"Fine!" Aria stomped her way to the breach in the wall and gave a quick look down the several story drop, finding the proper location to land as a few birds flew past her vision.

Aria's dorsal sail popped up as she said her last words, it shimmered from the ambient sunlight through the violet membrane, "I regret nothing.", and then she leapt as gracefully as a dolphin into the air.

With satisfaction, Oratoria grinned seeing the last of the most irritable of the pod vanish and her ears train onto the direction of which to best pick up the low thud that would soon accompany. She waited for fifteen seconds, a little more time passed as she soon heard the magical sound which brought her great happiness. A subtle hard flop and the cry of the blue stupid one, it seemed as if Blaze was intent on ensuring that none would ever bring up the incident ever again seeing as the one who would had become the landing pad.

As the squabbling ensued beyond sight and range of intervening, Adagio turned her glare to the only other survivor of the old family. Just as with Aria she spared no expense and had no remorse for the supposed sister of hers, giving just as much as she did to her little usurper to the point that Ora even flinched before the mighty aura of the powerful matriarch. The oddest thing about sirens were their alpha females, even if their rubies were ruptured or damaged to the point they couldn't sing properly or at all. If they possessed enough willpower and strength alone, few still could fight them for the position as it then banked on their genetics which backed up their songs. Even though a matriarch was no where near the power of a siron who was by the strength of Poseidon a brawler, she still had to hold her own in order to keep her post from the more conniving elements of her pod.

"I gave you an order Ora? Or..." she tilted her head a little to drive the point home with an evil eye, "... Are you really, truly with us?"

If a siren could sweat she'd have done so then, the turquoise siren faltered and floated slowly in a strafe around Adagio till she bumped into the still intact wall feet away from the ruined hole. A small wooden stand holding a squat plant vase Rarity had put there herself waivered slightly by her massive girth, it noisily tipped back and forth much like Ora's own spirit as it wanted to voice resistance at being treated so unfairly against the natural order of siren culture.

Swallowing what spittle that had gathered in her throat, Ora received one more warning, "Move."

"EEP!!" the shocked female scrambled out of Adagio's sight and dove for refuge outside.

Adagio watched what last of her body fade away with so little of a cry falling so high up, but she didn't take the time to enjoy it. As no sooner had the troublesome pack mate did had the call for Twilight come once again, bouncing down the halls towards them and out the exit the unicorn had created. If Twilight had not primed herself for the same fate of experiencing another sheer drop into the unknown, she'd have picked up on the voices that began to repeat. Adagio sensed a lock of anxiety upon the former human, it would make it all too easy to handle what was coming and likely from the human world.

The vocal patterns did not match any rainboom she was familiar with, as pleasing as it was she stilled hated that they called for her secret weapon against the almighty alicorns. She'd make her stand and do what any proper leader did, make the decisions of the pack even if it focused on one in particular. She turned in place to look behind them with her great and mighty tail swooshing along he crystal floor. Seeing three ponies come up from a ways away only to close the distance with every awkward gallop which threatened to trip them in their gait.

"Twilight!" the pink pegasus screamed as if she knew the colors of the young siren by heart.

"That's her?!?" a vanilla coated mare with a blue hued made questioned as she tripped on her hooves and smashed her chin into the crystal floor where they had messed up the rug displays along their path.

"Whoa!?" a pink pony with a lime mane gasped as she slid on her frozen legs in astonishment.

Cadence had used her wings instinctively to stop her rapid speed until she finally ceased momentum just one hundred feet away from Adagio and Sparkle. She earned a snort of hatred from the huge hippocampus who displayed her reception in an act of defiance and threat, her golden scaled maw flashing jugular piercing fangs as much of her form was hidden by the backlight of the outside.

Trying to catch her breath, "Excuse me?! Please I'm... looking for... I'm looking for a young girl... she's probably like me but..." her eyes locked onto the desperately clinging siren as if she tried to see any disbelief in it.

Dazzle just growled in response and edged closer to the way out, "You ponies are not taking away another of MINE!!" she leered with fury drawn up by sheer will and memory.

"What?" Dean Cadence looked taken aback and shook her head, "I'm looking for a Twilight Sparkle, she's a student of the school I'm the Dean of... have you seen a... well..." she stopped as she realized her own body and that of the other two who would be hard to say a human teenager should be around.

With a shuffle here and a stomp there, Dazzle prepared to slide out at a moments notice only to prolong the suffering of the ones who showed up for whatever business they had with her own. Her predatory eyes not leaving the trio as they finally amassed together as if to block any other way out. The sneer from the indigo maned one and the concerned expression of the other small pony with a headset only drove the golden siren to put a cloven hoof off the edge.

Cadence did not want to believe it but she couldn't let any chance escape, "Is... is that... being on your back by chance Twilight Sparkle?" Cadence asked carefully as her ears pinned to the base of her skull in fear of the truth.

"That's not her, it can't be?!" Zap protested.

Lemon simply studied the winged creature whose face was out of their view, "If that is... so metal..."

Something rocked the structure they all were inside, a low rumble as if a metal wrecking ball had collided into the building with full force.

Dazzle let loose a loud cackle of laughter so sinister even she prouded herself on the sheer honesty in it and scaring the interlopers back by a couple hoof steps, "Even if she is, you have no right to her. She is mine and mine alone, say hello to Yellow Tail and Inferno for me... as the Germane say..."

Cadence widened her eyes as she realized the monster before them essentially gave away the truth without admitting it, "Auf Wiedersehen", feeling high on her own control over her future again, Dazzle's magical weapon would be hers, beyond any others interference.

Twilight only then let her mind realize she heard Cadence's voice past the shawl of her alien monstrous body, that soft motherly tone that spoke her name. The air roaring past her ears as gravity lurched her stomach in the plummet, what was there haunting her normally clear and stout thoughts went with the winds as if she were washed clean of the tar of transformation.

Hugging Adagio tightly, "CADEENNNNCCEEE!?!" she screamed as their fins and tails flopped and fluttered.

Before any of the interlopers could act, the two scaly serpents with arms had fallen out of the breach and out of sight. Only after Adagio and Twilight had escaped did Cadence snap from her dumbfoundedness and rush over to the crumbling crystal ledge, scanning the vertigo enducing view and holding back a spike of acrophobia. Her wings spread out to further balance the offset that played with her own sensations of the world around. It was a struggle to do battle with the leeching dread, images of an injured Twilight on the ground below did not liven her into action so much as they forced her ears close to her skull.

She swore she'd bring the heavens down upon the golden monster if Twilight suffered so much as a scratch, empowering her with anger to confirm it herself. No matter what form the young girl took, Cadence loved her and desperately wanted to escape the crazy dimension they'd gone through.

Cadence let loose a breath she hadn't known she was holding, her lungs had begun to burn and panic. For the several story drop, at the bottom was a short grassy landscape with a few trees dotting the immediate lawn of whatever structure they'd ended up in. Though the minute amount of curiosity itched to see all beyond, her will denied it once something moved and jostled at the foot of the structure. Five wiggling bodies of varying soft colors reminicent of a little girls toy or dress, but they were far from something so harmless and nice. There were more of the sun hued serpentine abominations, three new ones who thankfully acted as a cushion for Sparkle. She could see Twilight was unharmed as she still clung to the one she rode by force or choice she had no idea. They were yelling at each other and the turquoise one seemed to be doing something to Twilight who rolled off the pile. She wanted to get down there and rescue the transformed student, swoop down and end the fiasco that has become of them all.

Her wings acted out of instinct and on no part of her own, they flapped in their still opened state but Cadence knew she would just flap effortlessly like a little bird fresh out of the nest. She was human and no amount of luck would help her fly, at least not in her current state. Anxious to do anything, she watched as they spent little time organizing themselves before heading off into the foliage before her, a moderately expansive yet small domain of some kind populated by hatch roof cottages and wooden structures of a bygone era. Like the older steads beyond the orchards and ranch houses, little ghost houses which once were beautiful like these in their hay day. It was then that Cadence beheld the world she and her wards were currently in, some kind of garden of Eden as it seemed with a wide fertile landscape and tall snow capped mountains looming in two thirds of her view of the distance. All the way she could see past the old rustic buildings were forests, trees, pastures, grassy hills, wildlife springing through the tree canopies, and clear skies as far as the eye could see before a cloud bank hovered as froth in a wide mouthed cup of latte. There were strange things flying in the distance, but she couldn't let herself be distracted for much longer.

While she was stunned by the expanse, Indigo and Lemon cautiously joined beside her and largely focused on the evacuating serpent-like monsters. Where Zap would have done something to have jarred Cadence into action, instead another rumble shook the great Castle of Friendship to its core and rattled the trio into focus.

"Yo, we like... gotta find a way down soon, I think this place is gonna fall apart?" Zest mentioned though not spurned by fear but by haste for Twilight.

"No way we're going to make it to the exit much less the first floor in time! Doubt we'll survive that kind of a fall either?" Indigo snorted in the manner of an Equestrian though she didn't realize it.

While the two bickered over what to do to escape, Dean Cadence forced her attention to who she thought was Twilight and what evil thing claimed ownership over her. It lit the kindle in her heart, warm and growing steadily hotter though it would not burn or scorch. She subconsciously felt her care and love for the young girl come forth even more powerful than she'd felt when she was about to cross over through the portal. Memories of taking care of the little toddler who seemed so mature for her age, always going on about learning something new and testing the very world as if everything were a potential experiment. No longer did she see herself as the Dean at Crystal Prep, Cadence saw only the babysitter who was hired by Nightlight and his wife when they were gone for work on extended weeks on end. How she strove to make the child's life problem free and filled with educational experiences that made her the young woman she came to be as she knew. Holding the giggling little thing as she recited quotes from esteemed and well spoken of novels that well read individuals knew by heart as a staple for the mind. Even if that same little girl had turned into such a strange animal of an unknown species, if she was truly Twilight Sparkle. She still felt love for her with no physical changes to halt from pursuing the sacred mission on bringing her back home.

"We could just drop down and hope we don't end up with broken legs!" Zap retorted angrily.

Lemon huffed in disdain, "Ya or we could end up under a bunch of rubble if this place goes down which by the sound of that quake this place isn't going to last much longer."

Neither of the two noticed a faint glow coming from the Dean, a dull pink haze of magic which surrounded her very pony form. The light was too faint for them to have easily detected, but it was clear something was happening before them and none took heed. The pink pegasus spread her wings far outwards like a hawk preparing to dive off a cliff and into the thermal drafts of its home. She breathed in as her thoughts focused on Sparkle in her human form of various ages she was fortunate enough to have known. Another rumble followed by a loud roar so deep and beastly that it shut the two mares behind her into utter complacency as their herbivorous fear reactions rooted them into stillness. It was a vocalization that struck the right cord in their souls, the tone manifested madness by the intensity of the call. The rumbling gave it a godly power behind it, whatever it was must be massive and beyond their comprehension to fathom. At least for the girls they were frozen on their hooves, paralyzed by the ever growing tremors and cracking crystals as the castle itself pained from the rebirth occurring within. Their heads fastened to the way behind them were nothing existed by the falling fragments of tortured crystals. Something was coming, something bad and they needed to escape or least they witness that which horror unknown took them.

Front Yard of the Castle...

Down below, the Dazzlings were in a mess of tangled limbs and tail all attempting to get out from the pile as the very earth shook and the sound of cracking glass split the air like the shrill of a dying animal. Twilight had lost her grip and tumbled to the side only partially onto Oratoria, eliciting a curse from the unfriendly siren who pushed her off unceremoniously. Sonata had been trying to catch her breath while Aria recovered from Adagio's body slam that happened to land a dense bony elbow to the top of her head.

"Off me you mistake of nature!" the former Crystal Prep student hissed when one of the wing's tipped digits nearly poked her in the eye, she moved the bulk off her body.

The fall had taken a hit to Twilight's already fragile sanity given the short respite upon Cadence's reveal. If the ever devolving situation wasn't enough, the slowly igniting motor functions dawning on her were and it conflicted with her own prior muscle memory. The Phantom Limb experienced by amputees held onto her with the grasp of a vice clamp she often used in the lab to hold something into place. Every time her brain instructed her to stand up, her tail acted differently and the loss of her legs was just as troubling. She kept thinking she'd stand or move them even when she was being carried by Adagio, but all that came to her was the movement of her spine. The twitch of her toes moved the last portion of her tail and the wide paddle-like appendage that terminated at the end. Sensations were freaking her out as her mind adapted to the hippocampus form, and with the kind of brain she possessed it was only a matter of time before she'd have to come to terms with it whether or not she liked it.

"Ugh... did anyone... catch that truck?" Aria groaned at the sore spot on her cranium woozily raising up.

"Everyone! Up! Get up and start moving!" Adagio ordered as she came down from the rush of the fall, happy to see that their bodies were as sturdy as she remembered and none of her subordinates suffered any injuries.

Sonata and Oratoria were busily organizing themselves, Dusk awed by the fresh crispy air much unlike Earth. Ora inspected her scales and fins for tears or damage, not ignoring Adagio's commands as she moved while doing so. Feeling rather good about putting the human in her place with that insult, she did not even bother to assist or even check to see if she was hurt at all. Rather than waste even a second to look at the worm, Ora even went so far as to blank out the strange siren entirely. They were back home and she was the only one with a gemstone making her the most valuable packmate to Adagio than the chimera ever could. Such a shortage of usefulness as every other member lacked a stone for whatever reason boosted her pride which Aria had damaged.

Adagio slammed her tail onto the ground with a heavy thud to get everyone up, "Move it! Into the forest! I'll figure out a way to get our stones, Yellow Tail has to be coming through the portal anytime soon. We need to rejoin the mages for now." Dazzle leered at the unbelievable low of having to drag herself around for the time being, remembering the levitation magic they took for granted for so long.

The girls were slowly making progress and were grateful to be on grass than the something harsh like gravel or dirt. The castle hanging over them that they escaped started to come under strain as a roar erupted although muffled a little, nonetheless blasting windows outwards by the frequency alone. They were barely even much of a walk away when the castle itself started to emit a chorus of dings and dongs as fractures started to amass, followed closely behind with an unholy screeching. Adagio quickly discerned the origin likely from the dragons trying to come through, as small as the room was and the warnings the mages gave. It was a sure bet the beasts would bring ruin in their attempt to break out, she caste aside any consideration for how it might feel to be attaining freedom under such circumstances surrounded by crystal structures as hard as coastal volcanic rock. She hoped Yellow would make it out unharmed, after all he did have their replacement stones.

Sure enough the unseen king of the reptiles were using their girths and raw power to emerge as fissures snaked about the castle quicker than the eye could perceive. Like the breaking of branches and sticks in irregular intervals, the glossy material sang its death song with multiple peaks when a major crack sent an eerie bellow further spurning the sirens to move faster. It was like the whole thing itself was reaching out for help, the strain reaching ever more octaves and reverberation accompanying the sound of a furnace in the distance. The odd musical whips of the shattering crystalline home put even Aria into panic mood at the music of chaos, almost bounding and leaping due to the inconsistent howls of the Princess's grand abode. The others were hopping madly ahead to the safety of the trees, almost appearing as if they were swimming in the air with a burst here and there. When an distant ding grew from quietness, it slapped the air with powerful ping which every ear was sent folding back while the sound fell away like a tsunami. Oratoria however had gained the most ground with her magic still intact, the death throws of the immaculate and majestic super structure felt as if it would reach out and grasp her if she did not book it.

Amidst the cacophony, Dazzle chanced a glance behind herself to ensure all of the pack was on its way to safety. It was then that she realized Twilight hadn't moved from her spot from whence they fell. Her body aching to move only floundered haplessly, she could see the constant glances to the castle as jagged chunk ranging from small pebbles to boulders which could kill her easily began to rain down.

"No..." Dazzle gasped and made a reverse, chastising herself for forgetting that she still needed to carry the human girl.

Luck would have it that as she barely made the attempt to rescue the wayward siren, the whole fortress itself had blossomed into pandemonium. One of the sides of the complex gained a faint glow which grew to intensity within scant seconds, as if a star was given birth to form within the labyrinth that nearly ended them. It was soon given a final send off by the crystal palace with a thunderous wail whipping the air as lightning would during a horrific storm that blacked out the skies. It caused Adagio to flinch as did Twilight who curled into herself due to her proximity to the source, stricken by terror. The very air over the castle became a veritable Tartarus with the hellish fire blinding those who looked up. Adagio wouldn't have cared for it at all herself, but she knew she was far from safe as her ears picked up the subtle whistling of debris thrown into the air and rocketing down. She was in the direct pathway of one portion of eruption, if anything Twilight was in the far safer area.

Glaring up to the new hole in the castle which housed the portal, there was the cause of the devastation. While both moving out of the way of the jagged mineral meteors and seeing the enormous devil himself, Adagio came to recall the features of the human Havoc and how he now looked. House sized fragments embedded themselves into the land from their tonnage, directing sunlight in all which ways like a disco ball. Quakes shook the soil like a herd of giants running amok but it could not deter the matriarch.

With a mighty long neck, the exile pushed himself out of the egg of renewal and stretched himself in all his glory. Crimson scales blanking out the sunlight over vast swathes of the area glinted in the light show of the ravaged palace. Belly scales from the jaw to the breast a deep vibrant cobalt shimmered with iridescent violet tones with each muscle tensing and relaxing like a turbulent sea. A mighty cry to announce himself to all of Equis rattled all life around him be it the highest cruising bird or even the smallest worm in the ground. His wings were enormous and beyond that of a normal dragon, nonetheless they were impressive to gander at. Even the thick digits of his upper limbs demanded respect by the vicious claws they ended in, those of which clamped down onto the nearest part of the castle digging in as the stupendous call reached its climax. Adagio nearly messed up her gait in trying to avoid a swift and painful end by the intensity of the dragon's fury. The vibration alone played with her motor function in some manner, she threw more daggers from her eyes at the idiocy from the buffoon until he came down from it.

With Ponyville to the left and the castle to the right, Adagio soon found herself against an impossible barrier which threw her back begrudgingly. It was Inferno himself who moved with an unworldly swiftness as he jumped from the ruins and directly between Twilight and Adagio. His weight alone sent the poor sirens into the air a good two feet from the impact of his talons and wings before his hind legs and tail joined in. The giant dragon surged forward like a cat who left a tree perch, he made his intentions obvious as Ponyville stood in his way. Dazzle marveled at how distance could lie about the actual size of anything, she thought he couldn't be any bigger when the actual size of him was made real. A quick speculation made the malevolent one to be truly the manifestation of his own boisterous words of himself back in the human realm.

The height of his hip from belly to spine had to be almost four stories tall, mighty clawed feet as big as a tanker truck humans used to transport fuel and things. Even with wings folded closely to his barrel, they possessed long fingers that which were practically two thirds of his overall length if she assumed right. It was hard to do so with the speed at which he moved out of the way. It was amazing enough to acknowledge the air displacement which forced her back that he caused meant he had mass to him to a huge degree. Before she could fire curses at the parting beast bellowing his flames in his stampede of destruction, something else filled the empty tattered space between Sparkle and herself once more. It was another and one of blackness so dark it caught the words she was going to yell, captivated unwillingly by the silver eyes which saw her as nothing but a morsel to devour like a tiny sardine was to a siren. In her peripherals Adagio knew its main body was still clinging to the castle, only its head snaked down and managed to see her first.

With a swallow she acted out of instinct, "Yyyyooou don't scare me! I... I am not afraid!" she rose back up to proper stance, every fin on her body stretched out to prove the point.

Yet even then, deep down within the golden siren came flooding memories of every hungry maw and savage claws which she endured and escaped trying to find a home when her old one died. She could see bits and pieces of her old foes in the face of the dragon. Through the black void which swallowed light in a jarring way, she could see every facet and feature from the armor of scales which guarded it from heat and most harm, to the ridges of spines running along the nose to the crown pointed backwards along the flow of its neck. Horns jetting out of its head, jaws, and cheeks appeared to be all to easy to impale anything which might be caught by a mere sweep of its large head. Huge nostrils took in two curious breathes as if scenting the siren, then sending a gust of foul smelling air at her to which her own fins dragged her back a bit like a sail. There was something about the dragons eyes which worried Adagio further, they lacked a sentience of a sort, the kind which spoke of reasoning or the lack of any hope of surviving an encounter with it.

She tumbled and could not achieve her stability before the dragon did what she figured it was planning to do since it caught her scent. It had to be Yellow Tail, but he wasn't as she expected him to be and nor did the coloration of the winged reptile even come close to his human form. There was something about him that gave the reason for this form, one she couldn't drum up in the whirlwind of the ghastly moment.

Coming to a stop and looking straight back towards the enigmatic monster, Adagio had no time to escape or get to Twilight. All that came to her was the wide open jaws lined with jewel crushing fangs and a long meaty tongue that undulated in anticipation of the snack.

"WAIT!!" she shouted one last utterance before disappearing into the maw in mere seconds.

In short succession, the black dragon spotted the other sirens in the distance and gunned for them as a komodo dragon would a buffalo calf ripe for the picking. Every stomp, every move of its thick dense legs and long arms sent tremors adding to the ones caused by Havoc already making contact with the tiny village. Twilight managed to break her fear induced shock to see the gargantuan pick up Sonata and Aria before it lifted off the ground with a mighty beat of its leathery wings. The sun silhouetted its giant frame as it reached cloud altitude, vanishing off into the distance disturbing all manners of avian species in the trees of its path. Sparkle awoke to what had happened and her heart sunk faster than the speed of a splitting atom.

The castle still sang a few more times, hurt and torn in ways which defaced it in one violating act. Several pieces of rubble still fell, as it would for a day or so without a good portion of the interior to keep it together. In the distance, ponies ran in terror and tried to save themselves from yet another behemoth of evil that visited their peaceful town. The air suddenly came to life as Havoc lifted his titanic body off the ground, gale force winds pushed Sparkle to the ground though she gave no resistance as defeat covered her in a blanket she couldn't shed. In the echoing words which swarmed her every thoughts like a swarm of bees.

'What have I done?'

2 hours later...

Adagio shifted around feeling the slimy saliva coating every inch of her body, soft tissue of the mouth was the surface she and the other two kept sliding on with little to hold onto. It was dark and almost hot enough that they worried about overheating, long had it been since their confusion and fright ended in submission. When they figured out that they were not on the dragons list of food items it meant that Yellow Tail if it was him that they hoped to be was on a flight course to his lair. Hope of course was in short supply since the Sub Warden darkened their trip home. The sense of disgust however lingered as did the rank smell of a dragons breath.

"Well... I got nothing." Blaze shrugged as the dragon's lips parted to cycle fresh air into the oral cavity, bringing sweet short lived relief every time it did it.

Sonata sulked still since the thought came by, "I hope Twilight's okay?"

"We'll have enough time to worry about her once this... THING releases us! Though I guess in hindsight this should have been anticipated. We're alive at least." Dazzle took note of what landscape she could see and the time of day by the sun's position.

"If big ugly hadn't told all of Equis we're here we'd probably have an easier time! Now all the ponies will be ready for us or them. This blows..." the purple siren tried to bat away at a tooth that dwarfed her own head thrice times.

Adagio knew she was right, they would have a tough road ahead of them like a body's immune system with a hint given at an intruding germ. Of course for a matriarch like her she'd be able to work with it, she was Adagio Dazzle after all and who better to bring Equestria to its knees even when on the alert. Nopony would resist their songs, it would be a testament to their talent to overtake a kingdom and with swords drawn. She'd endure the disgusting transportation method, she'd endure more with their new gems at the end of the road. Those beautiful rubies, the key to their global victory and revenge upon the likes of ponies.

The two simpletons that made up her original pod bickered with each other for another few minutes before Dazzle couldn't take it anymore. Between Sonata's anger at the taco truck lie and her possessiveness over Twilight, to Aria's defeatism and complaining there was only one way to burst the negativity.

"Patience you idiots! Sonata, you need to buck up, Twilight can handle herself with Oratoria still there. And she knows how important Twilight is to me, she'll respect the order of My pack. Aria, focus, we'll show these ponies who they're messing with. We will collapse their shanty home no matter what they throw at us, they all will adore us and we will become powerful!" the matriarch spoke and thus she was heard.

As the scaly lips of the deadly mouth parted again, "I won't stop and cannot be stopped. Mark my words girls. Mark... my... words."

The sun was setting, burning orange and yellow the sky like food coloring Sonata often messed with when she attempted to play with her food. There was a drastic decline in their height, the dragon had chosen to descend in the expansive forest below them framed by two mountain ridges. There were a few farms dotting some of the area in clear spots among the vegetation, but overall it was a desolate wilderness with chances of running into ponies slim at best.

When the lips closed before the landing, the girls felt the tongue swing back as if to block the throat's other pathway. At that point Dazzle smile to herself which no one saw in the shadow of the night within the dragon's mouth, they were safe and going somewhere useful. The grin continued on even after the hefty mass of the dragon finally landed a moment later.

Ch. 3 Forced Friendship

With the escaping exiles and terror reigning over the little village of Ponyville, the ravaged castle of friendship smoked and crumbled in the wake of their return. Twilight from the human world had yet to budge from her spot after the high with Adagio with the body she’d been magically given for some unknown reason. It had been a roller coaster of experiences she was not prepared for nor was her brilliant teenage mind able to cope with rapidly. She managed to use what little knowledge of her foreign body to shield herself from the still dribbling debris of the ruined castle, jerking tense muscles whenever something pattered against her scaly body. It had long since quieted down near and around her, though the village itself smoldered ever lightly like candles of a cathedral. Hatch roofs did not stand a chance to even a small ember of the scaly beast as ponies tried to put them out before the whole town was lost.

What a horrifying first moments of life she had in the magical world, from freaking out over her transformation to then somehow living through the destruction that was wrought. In all of her anticipated welcoming into Equestria she had simulated in thought, from the books to the banished recollections she was far off the mark of where they'd make day one into. As smart as she was, Twilight had taken much for granted in the pursuit of magic and wisdom with all the wonderful new technologies she could create. With the altered siren body she then possessed now there was a huge hurdle for her to overcome but in the now was far more pressing.

She couldn't help but sneeze every other moment from the dust of ruination floating and falling down around her like flurries of a strong northerner, ears singing in pain from their sensitivity to sound as sirens had naturally. Her cloven hooves covering her head as best as they could while her tail fin acted as a thin translucent umbrella, crystal shards harmlessly bounced off as hail on tarp. The dorsal sail squeezed closest to her body as did her large wings attempted to put an additional layer of protection subconsciously in reaction to her stressed state.

This was far from what she expected to have become of her venture to the world of mythological creatures and she knew it was all her fault. She knew the history of the banished, how some were indeed dangerous entities that should have never been let back in. She enacted the prison break by helping those who rightly deserved justice, but it was all packaged together and forever more would all the chaos unleashed would be on her head solely as guilt.

She had no hands to manipulate objects, no legs to walk with, her visual, olfactory, and auditory sensory organs were beyond what she was familiar with as they received far more data than her human body ever did. To top the black hole that was her situation, in her desperate moment she remembered the little canine she had brought to the portal. What happened to her Spike, her number one assistant after the Warden arrived?

She had him in her back pack and made sure to clip the latch closed so he wouldn’t escape before they jumped through. Was it at that moment of the Warden’s introduction and before his officers surprised them that she took off her pack to hold close to her chest? Did she drop him then and left the poor defensless dog amid the chaos as she was stunned like the others and forgotten about him while attempting magic to heal herself?

With her world crumbling beyond her ability to alter, "I'm so sorry Spike..." she whispered to herself as tears started to form through her clenched eyes, oblivious to the need to escape if she wanted to live anymore.

A large column of crystal the length of a bus had broken off the castle’s imploding northern wall, quietly it tipped over as gravity commanded it to the ground by chance. With a growing whisper of wind it seared through the air until spearing the detritus strewn grounds of the princess’s home just next to the siren. With such an impact that even in her current shape she bounced from the initial shock wave. It did nothing to dislodge her from her sunken spirit, perhaps nothing ever would jostle her into action separated from those she needed desperately.

"... I was just so caught up in the moment! The spell casting... that man and his... the girls... I'm a horrible person!" memories of when she first received the little pup from her parents flew by her forethoughts as they replayed the joy of raising him, “They used me… I was… I was just a catalyst!” she started to feel betrayal, it made sense due to the nature of the exiles. Use and discard since their magic likely returned to them en mass, what part could she even play anymore?

Sniffling, Twilight’s anger failed to gain much momentum as her sorrow over her number one assistant splashed over the fires. That fuzzy little fur coat of his she enjoyed petting and grooming, the never ending mirth he exhibited every time she returned from studies. His little happy-go-lucky attitude after every time when he smacked into the door or the table leg to greet her or chase a toy always got to her heart no matter how much she tried to avoid such incidents. In a school full of cold, unfriendly, and highly competitive students he was the one thing which gave reason to keep on going with her many projects. Despite the negative reception she received at Crystal Prep as soon as she stepped outside her lab.

Before the portal, she would spend her time with him by reading with the pooch on her lap dozing off without a care in the world, he always loved to hear about the latest scientific journal. While learning magic and its mechanics to the theories, she'd pet him over his tiny head and scratch his long bright green ears idly. She couldn't play with him as often as she use to with the Dazzling's plan to go home drawing her away, going out to eat with them, or to deliver a gemstone for Yellow Tail. Yet every moment they could share she made sure he was loving every second of it, besides Sonata and the other sirens in true honesty Spike was probably her first friend aside from her brother. Now all of that was beyond her reach with no way around it, the madness of it all and she could have stopped it.

“I shouldn’t have taken it… I should just be who I use to be. No magic, no dragons, no sirens… no this.” She whispered.

Shriveling in regret and self disdain, Twilight had not noticed the approach of another that silently floated over the grass and mineral shards littered about. It stopped just a foot away with a dainty shadow cast over the winged siren which it then sighed as if a dirty job had been given to it.

A simple tap of a sharp hoof knocked against the shielding violet membrane of Sparkles tail fin caused her to finally poke her head out of the ocean of futility. Slowly, she revealed herself even as more crystal shards fell from above, removing her lower half and forelimbs in a way which a flower would open as a bud ever gracefully. She was instantly met with the shiny brilliance of Oratoria otherwise formerly known as Cold Forecast, the unknown siren who knew Adagio Dazzle and had a nasty reaction towards the bewildered Twilight for some reason. Three more enormous pieces of furniture and wall thudded as they crashed no less than thirty feet away. Both sirens gasped as the area was becoming more deteriorated than ever.

Every thought that ran amuck in Twilight’s rather large and elongated cranium soon came to a stark halt. Whether or not it came from knowing she still had someone to rely on or that she could still be squashed by the damaged structure. Sparkle's wings stretched outwards as if reacting to her renewed panic, their dark leathery skin absorbing light to the extent that little detail of the digits could be made out. Their flapping drew disgust from the pure hippocampus before her and Twilight seemed to let it fly right over her head.

The first words she heard were, "Get up you guppie! Adagio would never let me stay in her pack if I let you perish here." she said with a scowl, "Even if we are family... which should make ME her number two!"

A column slapped onto the main walkway and annihilated the cobblestone road, the ornamental poles and flags were flattened, “I don’t know how to move! I can’t understand how I’m suppose to move.”

“Worthless manatee you are gosh!! I don’t have time for this!” Oratoria spat as she knew the only way to get far from the disaster was what Adagio had to do. It sickened the aquatic singer to even touch the mutant fish but the threat of punishment was far too great.

Twilight flinched at the irate girl only for the very one to close distance with her, “W-w-wait? What are you… Eep!!”

Begrudgingly, before the faux siren could get a word in she was soon whisked up onto Oratoria's back. Grunting as if the very act burned her hide like a branding iron, the turquoise siren used her magic to maintain the two of them with her levitation spell. Then before anything else tried to squash them from the wreckage they set off into the forest nearby forest where she last saw her doomed sister carried off by the black dragon. She could only bank on the might and durability that sirens were made into being, what her parents preached about siren kind. They always endured, they suffered through the darkness of the seas, overpowered towers of muscle and teeth that sought to feast on them. Surely Adagio bit her way through the mouth of the flying serpent like the awesome sister she was, using her sheer fury to power herself to freedom.

Adagio survived the human world for so long, what was a dragon to her?

Several hours later...

Oratoria's mana started to strain as she hefted the abomination over her back. Thankfully she powered through miles away from ground zero where pony guards were probably investigating the scene. They likely quarantined off the zone around the fortress that return trip had left in such a wrecked state or so she thought. The last thing she needed were the filthy horses hot on her tail with the sack of shells that couldn't even act like a siren. She loathed the carcass she had to haul, but if she did not and Adagio found out there would be no way in Tartarus that she'd be able to go back into her good grace. No matter how many strings pulled at her subconsciousness, she had to survive and tag the fake siren with her. The matter became of when not how, she could smell the dragon which had her sister and trailed the beast as far as she physically could.

“That blasted… stupid lizard!” Ora huffed, “Not going… to last much longer…”

Twilight had remained quiet throughout the little trek they took but even she could sense the distraught in her company, “If I may ask? Where are we going?”

At the cost of the magic she gained in the prison world she saved up they were both safely away and in a good blind zone to be followed. In all her life on both the ape realm and on Equis she'd never worked herself to the edge where she nearly depleted her magic. When upon losing her magical reserves past the point of fumes, Twilight had suddenly gotten something of a response from her fellow.

After being unceremoniously tossed off Oratoria’s back, the sirens each crashed upon the grassy knoll of the clearing they happened upon out of pure luck.

“Ooogggfff!!” Twilight flopped onto comfy ground feeling no real pain other than the air forcefully expelled from her lungs, when upon recovery she saw where they ended up at.

A tiny circle amongst the forestry that grew only clover and patches of wild wheat, the blanket of greenery choked off any saplings attempting to grow out of the rich soil. In contrast to the dreary thick jungle forest they’d been blindly navigating through, this appeared to be something out of a fairy tale with how pristine it appeared to be. It was soft to the touch, like silk with the finest cotton linens beneath and a feathery caress of frilly designs to both the girl’s bodies. A flock of birds flew away in fear upon the noise the sirens caused, butterflies fluttered away from the disturbance, and the two rodents hidden in the maze of grasses scurried into the Everfree.

Feeling some notion of safety Twilight awed at the sacred island among the nightmarish flora, “Wow… this has to be a one in a two million chance of existing in such a rather virulent ecosystem?! Perhaps some kind of soil deficiency that’s allowed lesser flora to flourish?” she wondered at the swathe of clearing.

Having no grudge over the treatment she sustained, the affront rolled off her like it was a splash of luke warm water. She tried to stammer forward only to remind herself she didn’t have any hands nor legs once again. Giving one last look at her cloven hooves and her long, armored, and powerful fish-like tail she truly understood she was never going to go back to her human form anytime soon. She was after all in the gold mine of any innovative scientist’s dream, somewhere where she’d be the sole person to research how the laws of physics and magic played hand in hand. It was probably the only string of sanity she had to grasp in the back of her mind to keep herself from shattering. With discoveries and spells to partake in Sparkle held firm against any negative thoughts, she’d find a way to perform magic and carry out her wishes.

Feeling her dorsal sail twitch with her anxiety and her antennae of sorts bobbing with every head movement the question of their future came into being, "What do we do now?" her eyes scanned their surroundings for danger, particularly the dangerous manticores she’d seen sketches of in Yellow’s book; one of many she didn’t wish to see in person.

The turquoise siren grunted as she tried to bring herself to an upright position, yet every fiber of her being screamed back at her as a whiplash effect from the levitation spell exertion. So much was the pain as it caught up to her that even a simple flicker of a fin caused a soreness she'd never wish upon her worst enemy except Twilight Sparkle who forced her into such a mess. Her limbs felt as if every muscle attempted to tear from their anchors, the spine wanted to erupt out of her very back, each scale seemed to feel like sand paper the more she moved. Those large pearly white fangs showed as she grimaced at the agony she was in, eventually giving up trying to lift her bulk as her body locked into a massive body wide cramp.

“Cold? Are you hurt?” Sparkle asked as she began to see the state her comrade had contracted.

Twilight knew enough logically speaking to realize what was happening, her long head whipped about for something to bring water with from stone to foliage or even wood. Her stilted eyes soon found a worthy candidate with good structural integrity after seconds of inspection, a large elephant eared plant of deep green and violet hues that had a good concave structure would allow for her to bring respite to her fellow. Smiling heartily Sparkle’s senses also queued onto where water could be found even without trying.

"Don't you worry, I'll bring water to you soon. Just... give me... a moment!" Sparkle announced as she hauled herself across the grass over to the Colocasia herb, slowly using her tail for locomotion in the way a side winder viper might.

As Oratoria coughed and moaned her way into a somewhat comfortable position other than on her underside, Sparkle managed to bite off a piece of the plant with ease. Spitting out the rather bitter plant juice and fragments with disgust and floundered herself over to a clear pond not far from their resting zone. Her heightened sense of smell had already locked onto the source of water just as they arrived and only now did she realize it, a new talent that worked far more efficiently than her human olfactory senses ever did.

Stopping just before the decent sized accumulation of dihydrogen monoxide, “This should be perfect, no algae means this has to be a fresh deposit. Probably from a passing rainstorm and with no farmlands around this should be free of pesticides and fertilizers. Also less likely to contain any dangerous parasites or amoebas!”

She eagerly filled a good half gallon of water with a single dip into the cool life giving substance, “Besides resilience, it seems I have heightened senses as well… but how much does it go beyond that of the common homo sapiens? I wonder if I will have night vision as well? I’ll need to test my hearing too which means what else can I detect? So many good things to keep me invested in!”

Deliberating over the pluses of being turned into a siren of sorts, the trip back to Oratoria became the next issue on hand. Without her forelimbs which were haphazardly holding the leaf bowl she had no way of propelling herself which wouldn’t spill the contents that needed to be delivered.

“I could use the spikes on my ulna, but then the water might churn too much and spill. The way I used my tail could work, then again I have nothing to stabilize my upper body and I could tip over…” the not too far moans of suffering urged the girl to think faster though all potential ways of locomotion seemed insufficient.

In a twitch of the brain, her wings came into view as the carpus and thumb claws pressed into the green ground before her. Their black pigmented leathery skin held firm against her weight as they broke stems and dense grass clusters in half. Just like that she soon had a remedy to her problem and started to adapt to their use, which worked through thought than self regulation. Unlike the rest of her body that operated through voluntary commands from her motor functionality, it seemed as if wishing for them to do something was what swayed them to stir at all. An issue she’d figure out later in due time.

“I’ll be right over!!” Twilight called out as she steadily and carefully moved one of the flightless specialized appendages further away to anchor itself before hauling herself two feet with a single go.

Her long pink tongue poked out the right side of her mouth as she put all her might into focusing on the second set of arms. In two minutes she eventually grasped some decent use out of them and finally arrived to the other siren with little precious water spilled. If she could sweat she would have been dripping by the time the leaf bowl reached Oratoria’s lips, she witnessed ravenous behavior in gluttony as Adagio dubbed. Greedily, the other hippocampus sucked in the fluid so fast that it drained in a blink of an eye and a noticeable bulge of the throat as she swallowed. Twilight pulled the expended item away and looked over the barely refreshed female, she still appeared the worse for wear and seemed to beckon for more water as if to live.

"I... I can get some more if you wish?" Twilight asked.

The siren seemed to resist moving even then, it was as if a thousand hammers had struck her body and they had only stopped for a moment with the ingestion of the fluid. All swings came at once and she was left with nothing but inadequate painkillers as what little magic she had tried to replenish herself, of course it was at the cost of her own body mass. It was something her mother had told her as a warning to never do unless there was no other choice. As for a hatchling it meant only certain death by mere attempt.

As if talking alone was just as insufferable as moving she rasped out, "W...whaaat... little magic... I can get... it's from using... using my own flesh to turn... into magic... bring me… more water!" she strained as she laid on her right side once more breathing heavily in unison to the pain she received.

Her immediate discomfort provided all the answer Twilight needed and hurried off to repeat the water task until she was in the clear, “Just… just give me a moment!!”

Of course it was trip after trip after trip until Oratoria managed to have her fill and managed to lift a hoof to stop the cycle. Sparkle had lapped around nine times before even she herself started to feel winded. Having the last leaf basin of water to herself, she softly settled before her compatriot and partook into a drink. Propping herself up with her obsidian draonic wings Sparkle let the cool fluid rejuvenate her spirit as it naturally aided in her recovery.

It was like the magical world had an effect on everything down to a molecular level, the clean untreated water had a rather strange effect on her biology and mana. Almost pushing away whatever aches she started to develop and curb her mental battle calmly began to waged on the sidelines. Her thoughts soon swarmed around the biology of the hippocampi and how the life giving liquid might act as a unique magical catalyst within their biochemistry. They were marine based creatures after all and from what she knew from Sonata’s pod as well as Adagio’s, water played a huge role in their well being.

"Wow... this is actually pretty good?! I wonder what the mineral content is? Is it spring fed? Or has it deposited only recently and lacking the common ecosystem of stagnant..." she started to go off on her analysis before the other had gotten quickly aggravated on the spot.

A trigger hair on her patience should have sent her into a triad of complaints, but she needed to rest and Twilight’s mumbling were not letting her do so. The words the turquoise siren wished to divulge however were choked from being made live, once she noticed her ability to move without cramping up. Her eyes widen when she realized the water she drank had some kind of magic in it, likely ambient and far too weak to do much of anything else. Yet there she sat with only minor aches she could sleep through, so it seemed Twilight the mutant had actually saved her. What an odd twist of fate did the two share in which her own judgment came into question for just a moment.

“I really wish I had the scanner now, I could use that level two scanning spell to measure the water’s mana level and quite possibly the forest!” Sparkle gasped as a few other theories were starting to come together on nature-magic correlation, was it like naturally occurring radiation such as radon?

‘Where ever we are it seems I’ve brought us into friendly waters at least?’ Oratoria thought to herself as her mana stabilized just enough.

By then Luna’s sacred night cycle had begun and the sun’s rays had just nearly disappeared off in the distance where the thick trees of the Everfree obscured. For Twilight it was as if she were viewing images of Yellow Stone Park, a place she considered once before to test new instruments for detecting the activity of the volcano. They were safe for the time being for the lone sirens, it allowed ease of movement in order to become more comfortable. Ora glanced at her rival and partook once again into the winged thing with disdain as well as curiosity. Twilight’s twisted form might be enough to frighten away land predators though she loathed to come to a point where that would be tested. Perhaps there was some merit that Adagio found in the girl, it was still a long shot to convince someone like Oratoria who was a hardened traditionalist.

As the stars became clear as day and new strange constellations were legible, “Oh… it’s gotten dark already? Right, the alicorn princess known as Luna Io Selena, daughter to the late Queen Faust, such a strange thing to behold. The orbit of celestial bodies manipulated by powerful magical beings and not of nature. Was that chapter twelve if I remember right?” Her comment brought something out of the true siren behind her, recalling how her mother told her that Poseidon was the one who affected the day and night. How that night before sleeping she curled in her mother’s protective hold as she was told the old story passed down from mother to hatchling. The soft lapping of the shoreline waves lulling her to sleep.

Twilight’s large tail swayed slightly as the two looked up to the blanket of twinkling stars and the rising moon which bore the iconic mark. Unlike in the prison world where artificial lights often obscured such a scenic view, Equestria was by far the most immaculate either of the two had ever encountered. What wildlife chirped or sung earlier during the evening hours had changed their tune, they instead were dominated by crickets with a few thrushes in the background whose songs and melodies brought a minute chorus to enjoy. Beyond that, tranquility ruled the mad forest just for the two, thus helping to propel a momentary truce as for the moment.

Oratoria sighed under her breath so only she could hear herself, “The true king commands the light… not ponies.”

In the sanctity of peace, Oratoria had a chance to recollect her past in such full brute force that she let her guard down for a moment. Such a time she marveled at the sky that even she couldn’t find a retort to any further wording from the mutant. Instead, all she could think about was her parents and the time she had with them, the bastion within her mind same as Adagio which allowed her reprieve of the days events.

Twilight spoke once more to no one, “Back home, the earth revolved around the sun and the moon orbited the earth. Traveling through the vacuum of space at 940 million kilometers over the course of a year because of the weight of the sun itself. Everything else in the solar system is far less heavier and cannot escape the gravity well of our sun. Even the gas giant planet Jupiter is still too light even though it has a radius of over forty three thousand miles. The laws of the cosmos dictate life and the actions of spatial entities… but here… two beings do all the work.” The notion urked her fellow as yet another claim against siren legend slapped Oratoria in the muzzle.

With a sarcastic huff the true siren fired back against the blasphemy, “I was… always told the all father, Poseidon, ruler of the seas was the one who moved the heavens. Mother always said that back then.” She paused as she eyed the moon as it climbed ever so slowly to its peak ascent, “I remember learning about how the ponies believed it to work before I found out where Adagio had disappeared to. I stumbled upon some weird pony festival or something about the summer and the sun, I saw a winged white horse fly up just as the morning came. Though even since then I didn’t want to believe it… I couldn’t! No mere horse could do what a god of the oceans can… even if he lets certain things happen to his little ones and not seek vengeance himself…”

For once she wasn’t on a receiving end of an insult, but a genuine conversation with the former Crystal Prep student. Perhaps there was hope yet that they’d not end up dissolving before they reunited with the others.

She twisted in place to face Oratoria who still kept her eyes glued to the brilliance up above, “One of many from what I’ve read, they seem to embody the moon and sun as if they are some kind of avatar or manufactured entities to do just that. Though I find it strange why they even need to act on their behalf when the alicorns were only a recent addition to Equis just before the end of the Pre Classical Era of pony kind. Before that there were no records as to unicorns or Queen Faust manipulating the orbits of either which, begging the question as to why they were needed to do so anyways or Poseidon? Strange I never saw anything about gods or deities in Yellow’s research?”

That little affirmation peaked the sirens interest like a hot pike through butter, “What!? Of course there are gods, every race has their own just like you humans do! He must have not touched that or didn’t care. He would have had to have talked to some kind of merfolk to even know about him since ponies care only about their lords and Queen. But… you said they were recently born? As in created not too long ago?” she asked with a bit of optimism that the legend was still true.

Shaking her head, “I’m sorry but Yellow Tails research only goes so far, his findings were based off of others records he came across by accident. The information seems to make sense if the issue about wish granting demons is true at all. Until I find a library to clarify I’m going off of what he gave me which if all is indeed factual, then yes your god Poseidon may have indeed had power over the moon and sun if this solar system works via magic, which in case means if no one controls them then the world ends?” Twilight couldn’t let herself fathom a day where the sun stayed in place and the other half of the world remained in darkness.

“I mean I guess it makes a more plausible sense when you gather how life is usually created on such worlds like Earth and here, life comes from water. The first powerful magical entity may have been born in the water and amassed enough magic to perform such feats, but this is pure speculation as again I need more data.” She noticed how the hippocampus remained between joy and deflation, there was no way to prove anything yet for either of their facts, “But if it comforts you to know, Yellow believes the two sisters are just a little over three thousand years old.”

Oratoria breathed out slowly, wishing with all her might that the alicorns were really born and not true gods. Like some lucky great white shark that managed to live on past its years and sow terror in its territory. Her own knowledge of siren lore was as limited as Twilight’s were, leaving them in the same boat. The demon thing was a new topic for her, but as dark as it was she couldn’t keep up with the conversation as yawns sprouted from her maw. Sparkle had then caught on to the fatigue of the once drained siren who mysteriously recovered from magic depletion.

An improvement meant they still had a chance yet, “I see you’re feeling better, I probably wouldn’t recommend movement until daybreak. There could be packs of Timberwolves and roaming cockatrices out at this hour from what the field guide warned, we’d be safer with a little sleep wouldn’t you agree?” she hesitantly advised hoping she wouldn’t get a snappy reply for.

Her only other ally seemed to feel her energy leave her, she was indeed tired and her body registered it all too well. One last mighty yawn and the turquoise scaled singer stretched her body as far as it would allow until she went limp onto a fresh patch of buckwheat that had just flowered earlier in the morning. Snorting the petals she nearly inhaled from landing, the siren curled up for a moment and gave a quick look to the mutant a few feet away.

Having taken her queue, the purple monster had started to make preparations for her bedding instead of just lying down like she should have. How human she was to do such a thing in the middle of nowhere, it made Oratoria chuckle slightly before a nightly breeze gave her a chill. It was quickly followed by the loud distant roar of something mighty and fierce, a howl as eerie as a sea monster beckoning its territorial war cry. Both the girls looked around themselves frozen in place, it was a fast reminder that they were still in danger even if the risk was in the single digits. A few branches jiggled high in the canopies with something darting through the underbrush about them, more than enough for even the real hippocampus to want to do what was natural. Even though it disgusted her to think of such an act, it protected their throats from hungry fangs and put their armored bodies between them and a horrible death as something’s dinner or late night snack.

‘I’m going to hate myself in the morning for this…’ she groaned mentally.

The pack habit was still as fresh and livid in her even after so many years as a hairless monkey, despite her misgivings for Adagio’s favorite it seemed the best choice. If not to save grace with her sister, then it was for her own skin as becoming some beasts choice morsel was not on her to do list. Biting her lower lip in reluctance she finally voiced her offer.

“Hey, it’s dangerous in these woods now that it’s dark… we should… huddle into a… pile. It’ll make it easier to watch each other’s backs.” She looked away from the foraging girl who had scampered about to create a soft patch to sleep on.

Having just made a good two inch thick mattress of favorable foliage into a patch where an old animal borrow had created a pit in the ground, she gave Ora an inquisitive gaze. Questioning the idea and the change of attitude down to the detail, it seemed as if the animal side in the siren may be altering her voluntary actions. Sirens were pack animals to begin with that she knew, and if they were any like the animals on Earth than it was safe to say even the gem wielding girl before her knew when to cut her losses. The benefits to herself were that she’d be protected as well, or at least have an extra set of eyes and ears as they slept. For one who recently hated her when they first met, it seemed circumstances would promote a rope bridge between the two.

‘Perhaps there’s a chance still?’ Twilight pondered with glee hoping she’d not have to deal with the same C.P. attitude for her duration of her stay.

“Okay, want to use my spot? It’s below ground level so it will help keep us hidden. I’m not sure what dug the hole but it’s collapsed, anything that passes by will not see us easily. Kind of like a fox hole I guess?” she pointed with a cloven hoof.

Without answering Oratoria dragged herself over and for a time the two had a few mishaps trying to get comfortable. Mainly Twilight’s wings were causing the issue, of course she could easily see that they disturbed the other siren more than get in the way. She felt a little shame over her second pair of appendages but at the same time she couldn’t do a thing about them which meant they’d both have to get use to it if they were to cooperate.

“Look! Just put your tail under my head and I’ll do the same for you. Keep your things folded close to your back and we should be fine!” Ora grumbled as order finally settled.

Some shifting later and in no time they found a comfortably position in which to sleep in. Though for Twilight she’d remain up just a little longer to make sure her wings did as she asked them to do. Troubling thoughts came just as she started to doze off about the other exiles and the location of Spike. What would be in store for the two once they woke up, and would they find Adagio and company in one piece as well as alive?

Her final thoughts followed her mind into the dream world, ‘I will find you Spike, I… can… almost sense… you.’ a spark tingled the back of her brain.

Ch. 4 In the Dragon's Lair

The sudden turbulence quaked the Dazzlings still stuck inside the dragons maw, clenched just enough to avoid harming them with the sharp fangs. While it was a welcomed turn of events it only meant they were still landing in an unknown area where none of the girls could anticipate further dangers.

“Ohh!!?! Looks like we’re coming down for the final approach!” Sonata said gleefully as their bodies sensed the rapid speed which threw off gravity’s pull with every dip.

Aria groaned as the sensation made her stomach nauseous, “It better be fast!” she said before clenching her jaws together as she threatened to dry heave, hooves coming up to her lips to further hold back the tide.

“Yay!! The sooner we’re out the sooner we can find Twilight again!” Sonata cheered blissfully ignorant of Aria’s state.

The descent took a little over ten minutes of gut churning altitude changing, a luxury Adagio could afford as she awaited freedom with her subordinates trying her patience. Yet the constant lull of a fall in progress kept her cool in check, if not that then the slight jitters in her own stomach from the makeshift plane ride. The sound of the great beast taking in a large quantity of air herald the official landing followed by the sudden jerk towards the floor of its mouth. All three Dazzlings splashed into the saliva coated soft tissue under the serpents tongue like freshly caught fish dumped from a net.

Sonata and Aria who had been flanking their leader ended up slamming their heads into Adagio’s, with a dull thud of hard bone impacting another they collected on the bottom of the orifice. Quickly they followed with a forward tumble as the fanged maw finally opened up and spewed the trio onto soft ground which quickly stuck to their slimy bodies as a tarred criminal to feathers. The light of day burned their night vision as their pupils were forced to adjust to the late afternoon sunlight. Their tumbling collection stirring up daffodil and weeds whose seeds attached to white fluffy parachutes took off into the air to be carried away.

Adagio felt some kind of matter stick to her body, tiny particles fusing onto her slime coated self as if she were covered in sea cucumber mucous and thrown onto washed up kelp. Her aching eye sight did nothing to help her figure out where they were or why she felt so many things clinging onto her. As soon as they rolled to a stop she immediately snorted out the gobs of saliva that managed to sneak up her nostrils, she could hear Blaze hacking beside her and Sonata groaning. At least they were truly not on the menu and the beast still showed promise as being one of the exiles.

“Did someone get the license plate of that truck?” Blaze said woozily, submitting herself to lying on her back until she could see properly.

Adagio could hear the giant that took them move away and seemed engage in drinking something by the sound of lapping and loud gulping. She knew well enough what both sounds meant, it also provided a means to which they could clean themselves.

“We’ve… landed near water I think?” Dazzle peered through squinted eyes, “We’re free girls, soon our gems will be ours once more!” celebrating a little too early.

Dusk giggled as she saw colorful stars in front of her leading her front legs to draw her in their direction, “Ohhh more floating cereal again? Gonna get ya this time!!”

Fearing the wandering behavior of her pod’s most ditzy member Dazzle had to act, “Sonata?! Don’t you dare wonder off!” Adagio shouted as she stumbled when one of her hooves dipped into a hole and into something squishy or wet.

Blaze managed to willpower her sight back into something of use, peering about herself she noticed they were deep inside a forest in a large empty clearing. It was a kind of island of pasture with a huge miniature lake just before them that beckoned her senses to clean herself of the filth on her. Throwing caution to the wind the purple siren hustled towards the pond with haste, she did not even consider the possibility that danger might lurk in those waters she sought with gusto.

“Getting this off me right now. Don’t care at all if it’s safe!!” she cried out before diving into the little oasis.

“Aria? Aria!! Stay here!!” Dazzle tried to keep her pod in one place only to fail horribly with still impacted vision.

Using the clean knuckles of her forelimbs where the rest had been sullied by grim that stuck to her like peanut butter, she rubbed her eyes furiously in an attempt to speed up recovery. The attempt only to harm her delicate orbs by the pressure and do nothing of good with the smell of bacteria laden muck splattering her face as she tried. Her eyes were simply too contracted to come back too soon yet they were returning painstakingly slowly.

“Clean!! CLEAN!!!!” Aria yelled as she celebrated in the feeling of being in her own skin amongst the sensation of the life giving fluid, she was a fish to water.

Crying out to the heavens even Sonata paused in her tracks at the declaration, ceasing her joyful venture to eat the orbs of colors. Blinking till she could see something or other, a rough image of a jungle came and a large flat reflective surface to her right quickly turning into ripples from Blaze’s action. She tilted her head as she tried to understand what was starting to come through and where Aria had begun to thrash about as if she were on fire.

“Gotta get this gunk off before I reek of it! I’m not smelling of lizard breath for the rest of MY life!” Blaze dipped in and out of the pond using the very mud of its bottom to scrape away the built up grim till she felt pure once more.

The water soon became murky with the disturbed sediment being kicked about by the young hippocampus, yet Aria was too determined to freshen up before worrying about a water source. Thankfully she had a two acre space worth of prior crystal clear pond to allow some notion of carefree attitude.

“It’s not that bad Aria, you don’t have to… ugh… freak out over it!” Adagio replied as she shook off a gob of clear mucous from her muzzle with a shake of the head.

“Ohhh hey whose that over there?!” Sonata asked quickly and pointed to their left where the dragon had taken a sip from.

As if an odd twist of events, the two still covered in muck peered at what seemed to be two new forms just then entering the clearing from the vegetation. They were pudgy and round almost like the soccer balls humans used often enough in games made into a sport. Both were of the same size yet one seemed to be holding two metal tubes welded together and the other hosting a flat sheet of paper gazing about themselves in question.

The giant wyvern seemed to catch up on the new arrivals and simply stopped drinking its fill, frozen in place as it waited for the interlopers’ next move. The intruders being a pair of cattle no doubt who seemed to be on vacation, with the straw hats and upper body apparel of plaid clothing. The couple seemed to be oblivious to their risky venture as they stumbled out of the Everfree mumbling and arguing over being lost. Though to the Dragon that was Yellow Tail, it became something entirely different and a pressing need to remedy.

The portly female shook her head in disappointment incidentally ringing the ornamental bell around her neck, “I told you we should have made that last turn at Hoofington and walked south. Now we’re lost in the forest the kind towns ponies told us never to go into! Bumbleton?! Are you even listening to me?!” the cow seemed irked as the bull remained glued to the map he held in one hoof.

The bovine groaned irritably at the pestering he was receiving, “I know what I’m doing Sweet Cream, I can handle this perfectly fine and we don’t need to ask for directions.”

“Honestly! This has got to be the worst vacation we’ve been on in our fourteen years together. You never listen to me and we always get lost at the end. If it weren’t for the friends we make each time we go out… I honestly don’t know what I’d do?!” Sweet pouted and managed to catch sight of the Dazzlings and their monstrous kidnapper.

With both parties captivated to some extent, Bumbleton the bull had yet to even catch wind of the discovery until his wife tapped his flanks urgently. Knowing another argument would only come of his usual response he instead took a deep breath and looked away from the piece of papyrus. Turning towards the cow she appeared awestruck at something he couldn’t fathom yet so he inquired so they could move on and find a way home.

“Cream… look I’m sorry for snapping at you like that, I promise the next local we find I will ask them where we are at the very least. Then we’ll be on our way home before it’s dark. Does that sound good to you?” Bumbleton forced a weak smile to his oblivious significant other.

Waiting a moment and Sweet still idly tapped his quarters and it drove the bull into frustration at his failed attempt to quell his wife. It seemed as if she was trying to bother him even after the hard work he put into the vacation trip and making it up to her. What more could he do to placate her beyond actively finding somepony or other to ask for directions?

“You can stop that now. If you didn’t want an apology all you had to do was say so.” He grumbled before his wife’s face turned to pure joy and she ceased knocking on him.

In a few seconds the cow soon dug through his canvas haunch packs for the camera they picked up in another town, quickly she put it around her neck. With a genuine smile that confused her husband, Sweet Cream started to take photos of some kind of sight in their original direction with flashes going off from the little bulb on the black box. Of course Bumbleton happened to be looking at his wife when the flare went off causing his eyes to contract and blind him temporarily.

“Ooohhh!!! Honey look! Another dragon?! Remember that darling Pearl Brush in Trottingham who painted for a living? She had such beautiful scales and such talent! And there was Iron Jaw who cracked pecans on that farm east of Cloudsdale? We had the best pecan pie anywhere and no shells either, and you hate biting into shells so much too.” She touted as the list went on of the friendly scaly residents whom they befriended through their travels around Equestria.

“Uuugghh… there’s a dragon here?” he rubbed his eyes with a knuckle of his hoof trying to find the one in question, “Where is he? I can figure out how to get home then?”

The cow marveled at the size of the dragon having only met younger ones in their years of travel from pint sized hatchlings to yak height adults in Dragon Town of Manehatten. They were always told dragons were dangerous meat eaters who hoarded gems and breathed fire at anything near them. Her family warned the couple to never travel through the woods even on the main commercial routes without escorts of some kind. Yet each time they had encountered one they were civilized and very kind, even if some were like her husband though she attributed it to the life in big cities.

Here however was what most would probably call a fully grown adult, maybe even a wild one. There lay a chance to truly debunk the fears ponies and bovines had towards the gentle creatures. She now had proof of the encounter as the photos drifted away from the slot on the device, flittering onto the grass below.

Adagio watched nervously as she picked up on certain queues as only a fellow predator could do, body language, rate of breath, the tension in the tremendous wings. The way it ponderously moved to face the cattle and not cause tremors with each step of its bulk, it was hungry and there was a nice pudgy meal right there all for the taking with no witnesses save for her and the idiots.

Dazzle ducked as did the others when the dragons long armored spiky tail swayed overhead, as thick as the largest and oldest palm tree she’d ever known. The displaced air felt cool as the massive appendage struck a coiled pose in anticipation of a feast, and that was when Sonata attempted to admire the obsidian tail.

“Woo… Umph!!” Dusk felt a hoof in her mouth to stop the flow of vocalization faster than she could process, looking at the source of the clog her matriarch bore a scowl which sent her flinching away.

Aria snickered without a word as she too knew the threat of a hungry monster posed to them and Sonata nearly caught the hunger’s attention. For her the simpleton might eventually get them into some deep trouble but thankfully Adagio’s quick wits would simply shut her up effectively. Of all the ways to go this particular scene was not one she wanted to end on.

Bumbleton barely recovered enough to see detail as the beast drew its head to within feet away, “Ahhhhhhh good sir? Would you mind if I ask where we are? My wife and I are trying to get to Ponyville and I believe it’s north east from here innnnnn… that direction.”

Sweet stopped taking photos once she met the silver eyes of the giant wyvern, “You have the most gorgeous eyes too! They’re just like my niece Gentle Meadow, oh by Celestia she was gifted such whimsical eyes!”

The bull shook his head as clarity once more returned and there to greet him was the massive snout of the dark creature. Taken aback by the blast of foul air he coughed slightly before waving a hoof to clear the air.

“Yah, Gentle was one of the lucky ones. So? Can you help us? Mr. Dragon?” he asked being deaf to the seriousness they were in with pleasant nostalgia further blinding him.

Out of sight, Adagio waited anxiously for the moment it would happen where two would be sacrificed by fate so they wouldn’t be on the menu. Aria bobbed in the water and slowly sunk herself till just her dorsal crest and her head poked out, she wanted to see the violent act happen as much as Adagio. It had been so long since a frenzy ever happened and humans were rather piggish in their own manner. Uncouth compared to true hunters, there was something just magical about the process which entertained her morbid sense of fun. Then again she was a siren and her kind were hunters of both emotion and seafood, it was only natural she found affinity with the gargants spontaneous hunt.

Slowly the enormous jaws opened up as saliva fresh from the glands hissed in the air made not to coat the mouth from fire or drying out. This particular mucous was meant to dissolve gemstones and bone with ease, it had to have been how dragons were able to consume rock to begin with as Adagio’s mother once told her. Their sharp teeth only broke the stones into manageable shards while the saliva dulled their pointed ends, preventing splinters from lodging in their throats. The unique enzymes did the rest of the work until the stomach acids took over. The globs which leaked off the lizards scaly lips burned the grass below turning spots brown and withered as they died away instantly. It was then that the cattle took the hint that this was no friendly dragon at all and their family had been right all along.

“Would you… like to have the… famous Griffon made Rye… bread…” Sweet gulped nervously, “… I got… from Seaddle?”

As a true herbivore, they were cemented in place quivering maddeningly as the insidious devil’s long tongue snaked out between the deathly rows of razor swords to engulf the morsels. The last thing they felt was the slick muscular organ as wide as two carts slither underneath their bellies before curling around them, clutching their hefty bodies with ease and squeezing the couple together. In the speed of a blink of the eye they were enveloped by an abyss darker than the darkest night by Princess Luna. Adagio could see the cow starting to weep as her significant other seemed to break from his mental lock, meagerly attempting to make their passing easier by nuzzling her neck. The angst on the bull was raw in its utmost form, even without a gem the siren could taste the negative emotion as well as the bitterness of love. The swirling mix was at best a unique flavor though she couldn’t feed off it, almost as if the two worked in tandem?

The lightless gullet drew quickly before their weeping eyes as their last vacation ended with the antithesis to their belief of the mighty fire breathers and young ones. The bovines passing signaled by the audible gulp at their slip through the long sinewy throat as long as two buses back to back. Then into the behemoths wide muscular barrel in a swift act which lasted ten seconds where no further signs of their existence could be determined. There was no act of chewing, no attempt to hasten their end, only a simple act of voracious inhalation to speed their entrance into the stomach with no chance of escape. In no time they’d pass out from lack of air and sleep would herald the last seconds of their lives, Dazzle took an empty swallow herself as she awaited the wyvern’s next move.

She noticed a pleasant smile grace their host’s features, it would seem as the meal would last a while and in her favor by the heifers that came along. As grisly as it would have been if they’d have tasted good enough, if this truly was Yellow Tail’s real form he had impeccable self restraint. Even as she sat there watching the beast lick its chops to clear away left over debris and cough out the saddle bags that smoldered and burned from the acidic slime, it created a growl from Adagio’s belly.

He only difference was for them they needed to sing, they had to have dark magic and there was only so much time they’d be able to endure it. She was sure if she felt the rumbling of magical starvation than no doubt the others were too. The thirst would soon set in she figured within a few days where she’d worry about their ability to function properly.

‘We need to get those gems back before it’s too late. There’s no telling how far this hidden stash is… we have to move!’ she turned behind her to put the plan into motion.

With a stern face, “It is over… Sonata get cleaned up, we’ll be following what I’m assuming is still the real exile leader. Even if it doesn’t look like him.” Adagio removed her hoof from the girl’s mouth as she quietly slinked away into the water with Aria who hadn’t budged after the meal had concluded.

While Aria seemed to be pleased with what she saw, Dusk on the other hand was rather disturbed and seemed remorseful for the cattle, “That wasn’t very nice.”

Pausing to watch the giant seem to treat the ingestion of another sentient as if it were a lifeless taco or a pizza slice, eventually she too joined the girls for an impromptu bath. Her mind trying to figure out why they survived and those cows did not, surely there were other prey to eat? They simply wanted directions and were ravenously devoured faster than a breath of air for merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Stepping softly into the chilly pond water for a short cleaning, it was the one time in her life she really begged the question about the welfare of others beyond her pod. After all, her family only ate fish and those things in hard rock casings, aside from the tasty shrimp and crab of which never showed any thought at all? The moment of deep thought that Blaze caught on and quickly stomped all over the train of thought. A rapid hoof dunk immersed the foolish girl under the surface in hopes to instill resolve, there was nothing worse than an idiot trying to think.

Hearing the bubbles come up as Sonata’s tail started to thrash from shock churned the water violently, “There you go you dunder head, just rinse out that empty head of yours till it’s nice and clean…” Aria joyfully declared with a wide grin.

Extracting herself by swimming into the center of the decently sized waterhole and popping up coughing, “Ari… Aria!!” she hacked, “Not nice! Meanie!!”

“You were thinking about something you shouldn’t! Get over yourself!” Blaze replied with a grumble before using her forelimbs to clean any spots she missed with the scrub from the algae covered ground.

“NO! You don’t dunk someone under water like that!” She still protested fuming as she assumed a crocodile’s lazy floating stance, bubbles angrily erupting from her submerged nose as she stared with ire at her compatriot.

Aria didn’t even bother to look back as she enjoyed the feel of her fellow’s laser hot stare, “Of course you do. Look you’re even better than ever?” she scoffed giving a gentle shake of the body before hauling herself onto dry land, the water channeled by her scales drying her off even faster.

“Nuh Uh!!” Dusk continued only to hear a low commanding growl from Dazzle just ten feet away.

“Would you two FOOLS cease already?!! I’m already getting a migraine from hearing your insistent blabbering! Just wash up and get ready to follow the beast, it’s probably waiting for us. It hasn’t moved since its meal… just keeps drinking water.” Adagio had turned to look behind her and sure enough throughout the infighting the winged reptile held a portion of its mouth back underwater moving as it sipped away idly.

Aria shook herself completely dry with a smile seeing as how she won the little argument by default, she wouldn’t have Sonata getting any funny ideas. She was always prone to wondering off at the slightest food stall or tiniest thing that only a hatchling would be enthralled with which begged the question if she had some brain damage done to her. Last thing she wanted was to be a moment away from regaining their powers and having to play find the doofus for two days.

Looking back from where they likely came from she too wondered about Sparkle more than so she did that new girl Oratoria. Aria mulled over the thought if the human girl turned siren still had magic or was she really one of them with a late stone breaching? What did the portal do to her?

The one thing Twilight really helped her with was making Sonata bearable and for that she sorely missed the source of distraction to give her a moment’s peace. Her gaze went to the Everfree around them while wondering in the meanwhile if they’d ever see the two again, well at least the one she could stand. Besides, Adagio needed to have a moral leash on her before they had every matriarch trying to stop them, a problem she hoped they wouldn’t come across.

While contemplating their dim futures she did not miss a hint of movement that her sharp eyes darted towards instinctively as a prowling tigress on the hunt. Ears honed in on the spot where she could have sworn there was a blur of motion. The wind unfortunately blowing behind her negated her sense of smell from aiding the location, but she was sure of it. Poseidon as her witness something was out there and possibly watching them and if it were not for Adagio’s own paranoia she might have excused it for a bird.

Dazzle extracted herself from the pool feeling refreshed and relaxed, sensing that their powers would be returned by the end of the day if the terror landed close to its dwelling fate being with them. The emptiness would be filled again and soon they’d be off conquering the tartarus cursed ponies once more, a sensation she reveled in subdued giddiness.

“Ahhh… it’ll be good to not have to drag ourselves like a common mudskipper… Sonata!? Hurry up, I don’t want to keep our chauffer any longer than we have to! The curtain call beckons us!” she called out to the cerulean singer still in the deep end.

She swiveled her head from her fools to the horrific monstrosity to double check on their progress, she had to double take on one in particular. Like one of the human pets that guarded property, Blaze seemed to be fixated on one portion of the wilderness that surrounded them. Snorting at the preposterous scene she moved herself over to inspect the alert one and get her moving, the sooner they were out of the open the better.

Her taloned cloven hooves dug into the soft earth as she strained with her tail to push herself, each step making her wish they had their gems soon. The clover patches at least made it tolerable and did not scrape her body as rough as bare ground would. Coming up just a few steps away to her little loner, Dazzle soon took in the facial reading which worried her. Those bright mulberry eyes were twitching on a certain spot out in the treeline, her iris contracted tightly to that of a viper only expanding slightly after another jerk to the next detail. Unlike any normal time, she could feel the tenseness her siren whose ears and dorsal crest flexed and moved paying her no heed.

Dazzle peered out to the woods as well in hopes of catching what put Blaze in defensive mode. It resurfaced her hatchling days of surviving through the vast swathes of wilderness, if you failed to notice something it was often your end. Though she scanned as intently as her subordinate, nothing came of two minutes of intensive investigation. Even as Sonata had joined the two of them it seemed as if all were a false alarm or a very clever interloper.

“Whatcha guys doin?” the cerulean singer asked innocently still dripping with fresh water.

Adagio broke her focus and left to the overgrown reptile not far off who had finally finished drinking its fill, “Nothing, now let’s go Aria. We’re done here.”

Dusk wasn’t completely satisfied with being denied any information and Aria was not much of any help either as she grunted in agreement. Whipping around as if furious she couldn’t do something, a scowl was etched onto her muzzle that further confused her comrade. Left with no answers, she dropped her shoulders feeling like she was once again left out of the fun. Just as she was about to follow suit, the corner of her peripheral caught something dash away before she could have put a bead on it. Like a falling shoal of leaves the forest held no secret to be found, it was just a figment of her imagination.

“Huh? Guess it was just a bird?” she squinted for a few seconds and inevitably forgot what she was doing.

“SONATA!! Hurry up!” her counterpart shouted out as the thunderous stomps of the wyvern signaled their leave.

“COMING!!!” she replied and proceeded to hop like a walrus behind the three.

The Dazzlings gathered behind the monster as it paused for a strange reason, it breathed heavily as if detecting something in the air. Though the girls couldn’t see past the crown of horns that crested along the back of its head down to its jaws, they knew something was up. It was starting to get dark and within two hours it would be the prowling hour where the night eaters would be about if not soon.

“Something up with big and scary there?” Aria grunted.

“Not sure, but if we don’t hurry up we’ll be facing more than just two cows. HEY!?!!” she called to their impromptu guide who gave a lazy glance towards the sirens, “I don’t know if you remember but once that sun goes down we’ll be the ones who are hunted if you catch my drift?! The less time we take getting there the better!”

Her voice echoed through the acres and acres of trees and shrubbery, having to up her volume just to reach its ears. Her request seemed to find home as it raised its long neck up over the height of the Everfree, peering over for a quick view of their surroundings. The angle of the sun was what it took from the moment before withdrawing back into obscurity. It gave a deep soft hum that reverberated in its hefty chest like a one of the humans noisy cars named after wild horses. Extending its tail on front of the Dazzlings and holding it as if awaiting for something.

“I think he’s waiting for us?” Soanta said as she tilted her head guessing.

“For what? We have to move and standing here’s pointless!” Blaze replied getting frustrated once more.

Dazzle however took the hint and nodded to the silver eyes which studied her, she straddled herself onto its appendage and used the vertebral spines to climb, “It knows we’ll only hold it back if we have to crawl behind it. Get on!”

She could feel the abrasive roughness going up, the thankfully dull protrusions of its back were not a risk of harming them. Even with her own lighter natural armor the texture alone was as if she were scaling a cliff sheer of some massive rock. An experience in the human world she dared not repeat nor tenderly remember.

Taken aback by the generosity or smart thinking by the giant, Aria and Sonata were at first worried that it was a trick or a bad idea. Neither were ever considering such a monster to think proactively, then again they did not know its limits or how smart it was. Being so far cry from who they believed it to be and the Equis form he took the gray line was expansive.

“GET ON!!” Adagio commanded as she reached just below the dragon’s shoulders.

Her authority sent the two scurrying upwards and in no time the trio were perched upon its back where upon movement of their ride did they see how high they were up. The beast’s great tail swayed with each waddle as its wings trudged onwards, beneath its own black plating were the hearty muscles that powered its frame and cargo. The Dazzlings were in for a unique ride which they could feel every raspy breath, every drum-like pulse of its heart, and the undulating flesh under them.

They would be safe from anything as long as the dragon remembered it had precious passengers to be aware of. As mammoth as it was what could go against it might as well have been a Hydra and they were far from any bogs or swamps where Adagio knew they dwelled. Its great wings slammed into the dirt and shrubbery with such steadfast determination that no ancient tree the Everfree hosted could ever stand up to. They all snapped like toothpicks after their restaurant ventures, the powerful clawed wings simple forced them down and out of their way.

“At least we get to travel in style I guess?” Aria huffed as she eyed the scenic view, the birds frantically flying away as their homes were demolished.

“Wooow!” Sonata gasped as a growing peak of a large snow capped mountain peering over the Everfree canopy.

Indeed, for their viewing pleasure was Equestria at large and the very familiar setting before they were sentenced to that horrible realm. So much to behold in just the region alone was a comforting sensation of nostalgia. No metal machines and their racket, no flying ships roaring overhead, no concrete forests of sterility that wore on their minds on a daily basis. Nature in its grandeur had a humbling moment on the girls especially Adagio as her inner consciousness yearned for her homeworld after so many failures. She could finally notice the purity in the air, the cooler climate, and the fleeing wildlife.

“I… I feel…” she whispered looking at the soon to be territory of the Dazzlings, “I feel…”

The coming ecstasy hit a snag as her missing ruby threw off the magical view, it was as if her own soul couldn’t experience full joy unless it was complete. Though they were on their way to regaining hopefully, the evidence made it clear that they were still shattered until then.

“… Anger.” She closed her eyes and tried to calm down, the images of Starswirl the Bearded and their musical tournament against him came at her like a rushing tide.

‘While I still draw breath never again will that happen to us or any other. If anyone goes back there it will be my enemies…’ she seethed with restraint.

Her minions could taste the subdued fury, deciding to keep quiet the rest of the way. Doing so would test even Sonata’s usual antics as they rode on for several hours, hearing nothing but slain trees fall to the unending gait of the mighty winged Melded. What persevered them even to the lengths of keeping Adagio from getting any angrier was the path of which they took, a straight line towards the nearest mountain ridge. The destination must mean that the cache was one of the peaks and they’d have their powers by the end of the day.

As entertainment for the sirens, every animal and lesser predator gave them a huge berth of breathing room, if not for their guide they might have seen some activity towards themselves. They could make out some kind of plant-like things of dead bark and old wood whining at the dragon just loud enough to be heard in the forest’s depths. Once the beady sickly apple green slits fell upon the hippocampi atop it there were low growls at the meal just out of reach. Adagio sensed it was their frustration of being denied or possibly having their territory invaded and not being able to fight back.

“Well at least the bouncer here is keeping the rift raff away.” Aria chuckled noticing a second pack of the golems to their left mimic the same behavior.

The other two seemed to agree as Dazzle finally spoke up after so long, “Yes, wish I had this hill of muscle with me back then… wouldn’t have to have suffered so much.” She eyed the gang of earthly constructs which seemed to keep enough interest in the four to at least trail them.

“I think Twilight called them… Tim… ber…wolfs? I remember her saying something about forest monsters at lunch one time!” Dusk proudly replied as she remembered the fried calamari they shared together on that day, bringing a huge smile to her muzzle.

“Timberwolves? Sounds right?” Aria agreed seeing the things as they were, unlike the dogs of the prison world they ran into on their third hundredth year in the realm caste from Equis.

The forest birds and small critters were in absence as scavengers and opportunistic vermin began to amass behind the sirens transport. Though keeping a good few hundred meters safe distance, Adagio could sense them like a sea louse trying to latch onto the body as her mother once warned her of. Even as tall conifers and ancient oaks were toppled down and broken no matter how thick their trunks were, little deterred the hungry maws following like ravenous rats that hadn’t fed.

Dazzle no more on edge than usual never took an eye off their pursuers as her eyes went from each grouping, always one on them and the other on Yellow Tail. The behemoth lizard giving small snarls if one pack came close enough to see in detail, they always backed away like frightful foals.

“Hey? Did you hear that?” Sonata asked out of the blue.

“Hear what? Your stomach again?” Aria grinned.

Scrunching her mouth, “No! I mean I hear buzzing of some kind? And I know it’s not from those baddies following us either.”

Indeed a very faint buzz like a bee came from the left up ahead obscured by the thick dense foliage of the foreboding jungle-like forestry. None of the three knew what it was beyond a possible beehive coming up except it seemed to move in its origin. No set of ears could hone in the exact location that they could try to make out, but the dragon seemed to take a rather crude heed.

“What is that buzzing noise?” Adagio asked quietly with no win in her attempt to source the spot.

In a quick swipe and push of the left wing jutted far out to its side and knocked over a couple tall pines wrought with decay and dying branches. Out of no reason at all did the black scaly reptile commit such a random act of destruction, but the oddest thing was Adagio couldn’t hear the buzzing anymore.

“Huh? I can’t hear it anymore?” Dusk noted as they kept on.

“Probably nothing. This is some wild place anyways” Aria soon dismissed the oddity and settled down onto the dragon’s back bored once more.

The golden siren kept her attention still where they last heard the noise even as they passed by the dead timber that was impressively long with its root base for all to see. Nothing moved, nothing stirred, nothing so much as broke a branch as they put distance from the disturbed area. Nearing the foot of the mountain they were approaching, the trailing creatures had soon dispersed frantically like their lives depended on it by the echoes of their panic. The glowing eyes were gone following the sound of erupting splintering lumber with a deep roar in tow.

Sonata heard the buzz again, “Huh? There it is again?” she turned her head as the forest came alive as never before, distant branches and fluffy leafy tree tops rocked angrily by some unseen force that chased after anything it could see.

More trees were fell by something large, even a few yelps could be discerned by which Aria could only guess what might have happened, “I think big old draco here just saved us a lot of trouble if you catch my drift?”

“Hmm… sounds right, it must of known what was there? Nevertheless, keep on moving, what’s back there is beyond our concern. We’re finally here.” Adagio’s words trailed off into a whisper of anticipation, the huge conical snow capped peak was within reach and their guide had begun to push away the dense vegetation which blocked a breach into the body of the rock.

“Finally!!” Blaze exaggerated an exhale, “My tail’s starting to chaff on this sorry excuse for a back, once we get our gems I’m never letting it go!”

Using its spiny crested head the overlapping tree branches and thick vines were obliterated and torn aside, shrubs squashed like paper balls until enough of a passage was created for the four of them. Made for all to see was a six story entrance painted with colorful moss and lichen along the granite leading into a dark cavern harboring who knew what. The only thought going through Adagio’s mind was the gemstones they’d soon have, now nothing stood in their way and the dragon would burn whatever lurked in there without even trying.

“Keep in line girls, our comeback tour is about to begin.” Dazzle cackled evilly as they disembarked and followed the lumbering monster inside, taking the slide down towards its tail to avoid catching flame discharge in the enclosed area.

Sonata innocently asked after they landed, “What if there’s a bigger monster inside like hibernating or something?”

Aria laughed, “Like anything could stand a chance, besides if they take each other out what’s there to lose?”

Immediately following her words a scuffle broke out deep inside as the echoes indicated besides the wyverns stomping as short lived as it were. The sirens were forced against the walls of the cave as a hoard of bears ran for their lives, likely using the place as their little abode for hibernation. How sorely they misjudged the location and the mere roar sent them packing. Huge furry brown and black balls the size of small cars ran in fear grunting to escape least they be eaten. In such a hurry they were that the sirens were ignored until the last of the beasts were long ways away far outside the cave.

“Talk about your hairball stamped?!” Blaze whistled off tune coming down off the grip of the cave walls she and the others latched onto.

Adagio fell to her belly with determination in her soul, “Enough! Keep moving, Yellow’s keeping his promise to us whether he can talk or not.” She growled in a pleased way, a maddened look in her eyes driving her onwards.

The other two gave unsure glances to the other before shrugging unknowingly, they were a little worried of how deep the system went and when they’d arrive at the lair. As it were they had to rely on their night vision to navigate, for all others it was pitch black and only the sense of touch would be their aid. Were there more hiding within the confines and would they be able to get out of the way in time if so?

With the passage keeping wide enough for two tanker trucks to fit end to end, the light of outside could only reach so far in before darkness overtook their path. There were growing signs that the pathway had no longer become naturally made but forced into being by magic. Scars in the rock were worn by time yet they were increasing in clarity proving where they were heading had to be the lair of Yellow Tail.

“Are we sure he knows where he’s going? Or it?” Aria inquired as Sonata piped up.

“Ya like, how long has he been gone? This place might be I don’t know? Buried or something?” swiftly hopping up to Dazzle until she was side by side with her leader as she added to the concern.

Reluctant to answer until the passage way soon gave room to a chamber of some kind, “Why don’t you see for yourself?” Adagio grinned in a wide and a disturbing fashion as her sight caught first glimpses of their salvation.

Upon the dragon’s arrival did the room light up with a dull blue glow from embedded crystal scattered throughout the dome shaped room. The faint illumination thankfully had little pain upon their eyes as they adjusted to the details and shadows cast by the magic stones. They were hurriedly installed by their chaotic placement making it all to clear that this was indeed the safe room of a mage on the run. Like the brightest stars in the night sky of the human world the entirety of the sanctuary was for all to see.

It appeared to be too artificial of a formation to be made by eons of time, as magic seemed to be at the root of creation by the carve marks that textured the rock. Adagio gauged that the lair had to be large enough to house ten or more of the black wyvern easily with room to spare for everything else that had been shoved into the chamber.

The girls held their spot at the entrance of the room, studying every square inch of the area looking for the promised prize for helping the exiles get their ride home. Coming across the first and most obvious part were the sparkling twinkles of a huge gem pile to the farthest left section of the dome. It had to be countless crystals and finely cut stones amassed over a long period of time judging by the quantity, even for Adagio she was impressed though they meant nothing to her like the silly bits that mortals valued. The strangest thing was the entire hoard radiated with Equestrian magic with the potency of concentrated mana, unused for years to the point they permeated their resting place like a juicy grilled salmon.

“So much magic?!” Dazzle awed, “Just like at the café…”

She recalled the godly spiral of magical power that drew her as a moth to a flame to that Tartarus forsaken school that removed their powers. The pondering goliath made a slow almost pained approach to the gem cache giving it a size to reference from, even as the beast stepped atop it and laid to rest. The titan’s throne welcomed its true owner with a short pulse of magic as it recognized who claimed it or some kind of spell put upon it to protect the mound. From emeralds, to diamonds, quartz, and all other precious stones their colors dawned alive before returning to their neutral state and by then the beast curled into itself for a nap.

“Like for realzies? A mountain of magic?” Sonata questioned, “I wonder if it’s those thingies Twilight talked about… capatitors? Capanitors? Capacitors?” she tried to guess the name of the mana storage tools.

“She called the capacitor stones you dweeb.” Aria scorned out of reaction.

Adagio nodded as another pulse shot out from the mountain of reflective jewels, spreading out through the whole vicinity though seemingly doing nothing other than producing a light show.

“That foolish equestrian Twilight Sparkle turned my pendent into such a thing… I still remember when she pulled it out. Mutiliated… vandalized!” the sound of gnashing fang emanated from Adagio as her dorsal crest rose up steadily.

“Easy there Adagio we don’t need to wake up the steak eater just when it went to sleep.” Blaze tried to warn and stop an outburst from happening, “I’d rather not piss it off when our only way out is the best way to be grille and smoked!”

“Anyone else feel that? Feels like…” Dusk interrupted as she stepped ahead of the others as if tracking some kind of smell.

It was an aura of a particular essence that was close to her heart as the others soon found out themselves. Even Adagio lost her boiling anger when she thought she felt what was another pod of sirens close by, extremely close to the point that the proximity made it impossible within the hideout. Aria took to the drawing trail which coated the room just as dense as the mana crystals as it quickly overwhelmed it, other sirens were within reach yet none were visible.

Sonata gazed to the right of the dragon and its knoll of treasure, wooden crates that also give off a magic signature only on a very faint level. Nothing of immediate interest nor having the scent of sirens beyond the stench of a dusty old library. Other than sacks and clay pots in various other areas of the yielded no further interest other than passing thoughts of what they held. With the tantalizing scent perplexing the infamous singers it only drove them to investigate the last few areas hidden behind junk stacks.

They hovered around a three stack wall of silver goo leaking clay canisters when low and behold, just thirty feet behind them was what they had to locate. The very sight from which Sonata first glimpsed brought a near horrific face upon her muzzle, Aria quickly noticed and peered over careful not to touch the liquid metal. Craning her neck she too beheld an awesome sight which dropped her jaw faster than the time Dusk nearly smashed her foot with a bowling ball. Adagio was the last one to catch on seeing her Dazzlings locked in petrifaction, immediately her own body surged forwards almost knocking the cerulean siren flat on her side.

She gasped in astonishment, “They’re… here?”

“No way… he was telling the truth?!” Aria blasted in disbelief, to actually see the numerous siren stones was both a mixture of joy and sadness.

“They really did steal them?” Sonata sadly teared up, she remembered that the some hundred or so blood rubies were gathered by the evil Arcana and Yellow happened upon them only to do a good deed and rescue them.

Deep crimson gems the exact shape and size of the girl’s once preciously immaculate pendants. Adagio gulped as her heart raced with vigor she’d only felt when they were on the cusp of victory, her forelimbs slowly moving her closer along with the other two. The ten faceted sided gems positively reeked of siren scent meaning they were as real as they could be. Their essence the strongest as the three were mere inches away from the dead, that was what they were down to the details. What was left of any siren after she passed away was the immortal stone they grew from their own bodies. These were their graves that told of their existence to other pods who happened upon them, but to ponies they were something else of use. Their filthy hooves had dared to remove them from their resting place and taken to do who knew what with. The three Dazzlings each yearned for the hope that theses were the only ones they found since, this cave was the safest place for them. Guarded by the predator which ate their kind yet seemed the opposite by being unique in what it was. How fate befell their kin Adagio thought, but at least only they would be the last to touch them.

“I… I don’t believe it?!” Aria said who had been unsure they’d ever get their powers returned to them in honesty, now the truth to the banished held honor.

Sonata as tears started to fall down her cheeks, “There’s… so many?”

Adagio almost refused to touch them as she barely poked them with the tip of her snout, “How…how many…” her head swayed as if to see each and every stone visible on the mound.

“Those lampreys…” Blaze choked back to maintain some semblance of her stalwart hardness, but even for her it was a sight she couldn’t handle, “… those flipping blood suckers!” she hissed clenching her jaws tightly in righteousness.

Dusk was about to put a hoof to the pile when she was stopped, “Don’t grab them yet…” Dazzle intervened.

“But… but I thought we were supposed to regain our stones?” she stuttered conflicted herself about using another’s for her own gain against the dire need to sing to feed once more.

“NOT yet we will, these may be just… just remains but we have to treat them with respect. There’s no telling where those blasted unicorns retrieved them? They could be from here or elsewhere… and if those earth sirens are anything like us then the former owners may exist inside them as well?” she waved her two antennae over the peak of the pile.

“Well that’s just great, and we don’t have Yellow’s gang to exorcise them from us… Fan-freakin-tastic!” an irritated Aria fumed not wanting to endure the experience again.

“But what if we… I don’t know? Commune with the ones we’re taking?” the idea seemed to hit home with her matriarch as the thought of somehow communicating with the stone might be able to ease in merging with the spirit which might still linger in the rubies?

Wide eyed as if she’d been smacked in the head with a logic bat, “That may be the most intelligent thing you’ve every suggested?”

“Ummm… thanks?” Sonata grinned nervously before the others took action and tried to hear anything from the stones as a first thought.

She watched them go to every visible jewel with eyes racing everywhere and ears forward with nothing received in their meager attempt. Adagio even went so far as to pick one up and examine it with the utmost care as if she held her pods first egg, she even began to whine as seconds turned into minutes with no results forth coming. Aria was worse off as she growled and grunted with each failed try, none of the dead spoke or had any want to and it drove her senseless.

“I got nothing!!” the purple sea horse turned away before she put a cloven hoof through the pile, not wanting to curse herself.

They were desperate to get to the final stage before they could be themselves once again, “Why are they silent? Is it only human versions of us that can stay in the stone?! This can’t be RIGHT!!”

Having removed herself from the carmine heap and away to think, it left Dusk alone with the fallen and she feared the conflict which burdened the others. Were they really up the creek with damaged fins that stalled them in the current like dead tree branches?

“What would Twilight do?” she asked herself mourning their next failure.

The gentle snores of the wyvern nearby shook her ear drums like a low tremor which tickled her out of the quandary. As easy as it was for her to do so, in an peculiar chance of fate there seemed to be a particular beat of the sleeping lizard. How its throat played the note reminded her of something thought brought about bliss that closed her eyes.

That night, she had been gifted the chance to hear a really good voice unlike Adagio’s or Aria’s. When they all were together for karaoke, just a normal group of human girls harmonizing before the big event.

“Okay I’m sure you’ll be able to sing this Twilight, you sound like so much like her. For realzies!! I heard it over the internet like a couple weeks ago.” Dusk bounced on the cushioned seat as she set the song on play from her custom menu.

The music played and the reluctant Sparkle took the chance and performed, sounding just like her Equis version that defeated them. Though rather than believe her to be a weapon to be used, she saw her as a friend and she enjoyed her act as she said every word of the song she gave her. As her memory played the recording she unknowingly sang along quietly at first before her singing kicked up in the dreary lair.

“I will rise in resistance. Sing the oath of rebellion. And cease-fire on this high wire. Head to toe in vanity. When those eyes in the mirror stare back at me. I’m reminded that the ghost of pride is clear to see. Wipe away the weakness. Will you let those scares define you? Or will they adorn you as we carve are way to victory?” Sonata went on catching her bandmates off guard who looked at her dumbfounded at the random behavior they perceived.

“Doubt is crying out but I refuse to let it drown me. Wearing down my fight till nothing’s left. I say crier. I say liar. I say rise in hell. I stand gazing down at death as they say… waaaarrr. I’ll wage waaaarrr. I hate waaarrrr. They say fight for peace… but what is that?” Dusk felt chills through her entire body as her fins expanded and stretched to the pleasantness she experienced.

“Raise a shield to the bullets. Hold my ground, all I got now. But I’m defeneceless, all but helpless if it gives beneath my feet. I turn from the mirror. That desperate plea. I refuse and can’t believe those eyes belong to me.” She vividly imagined how Twilight started to feel elated as she gained confidence.

The siren sang even more of the song and as it did, Adagio witnessed the gemstones begin to react even if her idiots singing was off key and cracked every now and then like the human juveniles did growing up. Nevertheless the pain of hearing such a horrendous voice, there was merit to it and she’d see it through.

“Come on, one more breath. My ravaged voice betrays me mid-shout. Will you never hear those final words I failed to choke out? I tried to survive by putting all my faith in instinct. But now I regret what have I done?” Dusk exhaled what little air was left in her lungs before taking in one massive breath.

‘What is she doing?!’ Blaze couldn’t piece the two and two together as the rubies took on a light of their own just as the dragon in the back cracked an eye open.

“I SAY CRIER. I SAY LIAR. I SAY RISE IN HELL. I am just about to BURST as they say WAR!! I’LL WAGE WAR. I HATE WAR. There’s no end to this… can’t you see that?” Sonata’s attempt livened more as she felt a certain amount of joy being able to do what she was born to do, so much so she did not realize a red aura begin to surround her much less the one around the rubies.

Adagio simply gaped at the scene unfolding before her, the dead were in some way or form communing with her subordinate and they were doing something to her. She could feel it, ancient powers at work as they acted on their own to do hopefully aid their cause.

“A cowardly facade weaves into my voice. As I call for war, blinded by this far-fetched noble cause. Although I had a choice, I believed the lies. But it’s all a dream, ending when I open my eyes. Come on, one more breath. My ravaged voice betrays me mid-shout. Will you never hear those final words I failed to choke out? Tried to survive by putting all my faith in instinct. But now I regret what I’ve done?” Sonata’s eyes leaked tears of emotional jovialness as she reached the end of the song, her entire being flowing with arcane energies she couldn’t feel. Though she did believe somehow somewhere her mother was out there and she could feel her hugging her frame as she hovered in the air.

From the pile one stone emerged as it floated from the patch and lazily danced towards Sonata by an unseen force besides its own raspberry red glow.

“I SAY CRIER. I SAY LIAR. I SAY RISE IN HELL. I stand gazing down at death as they say WAR!! I’LL WAGE WAR. I HATE WAR. They say fight for peace… Does it exist?” she couldn’t sense the ruby as it neared her chest, her song blinding her to the act going on beneath her very nose.

“My hand, can you reach it? My cry, can you hear it? Can you, can you tell me, if this dream was worth it? My hand, can you reach it? My cry can you hear it? Can you, can you help me? Wake me up from this nightmare…” she concluded just as the jewel slowly merged where her own stone would have been, it appeared perfectly suited to her as if she never lost her gem at all.

With no more to be said, Sonata relished in the warm afterglow completely oblivious to the transformation she underwent. The elder power vanished like steam and the ruby stash lost its shine, the cave died back into its blue light from the torch crystals as all went back to normal. She wanted to enjoy the moment a little while longer as the feel of her mother’s touch leaked away into a coldness of the cavern. Only to be tackled by Aria who could have been foaming at the mouth with how upset she was.

“HOW!!?!” she shouted angrily, “YOU sang and got your gem first?!”

“ARIA!! Back off!!” Dazzle rushed forward and separated the two, she knew something happened naturally and she needed to know how to replicate it if necessary.

Gazing at the disturbed and frightened blue hippocampus, “Tell me what you did?” her voice straight forward and ordering on a level that froze her own words.

Blaze still snarled at being denied an answer, but she was content to wait as patient as a shark would a seal colony eager for a kill. Her eyes spoke volumes in the venom of not being first in finding her new stone. Sonata however ignored her as Dazzle seemed far more pertinent to her own health, though what answer could she give when she did not even know what she meant?

“You have your own gemstone now, your pendant is back. Tell me what you did? NOW!” she pressed her snout against hers to affirm her conviction.

Stuck in a hard place like a trapped eel fish in a cove, Dusk couldn’t help but meekly grin in anxiety. She glanced down at her body to see the ruby back where it belonged, but somehow it still did not feel like her own. In fact, there seemed to be another voice in her head whispering as clear as low mumbles. Whatever she did it brought about their resurgence, but the issue was had become how she did it. A quick gulp and she chuckled as no answers came forth easily.

The wyvern simply laid in content to watch the proceedings go on, for the magic that had happened was something it had never seen before. What more did its little gems have in store to make its hoard even more glorious?

Ch. 5 The Reception

“Is everypony accounted for?!!” A light brown coated silver mane colored mare with glasses beckoned to the few ponies trying to get a handle on the situation.

Two stallions and a mare wearing the local fire fighting garb were busy suppressing the burning roofs nearby using portal magic and the nearby stream. The three unicorns attempts were proving successful though they were also flooding the innards of the homes, a small price to pay.

“Mayor Mare!”, one of the heard her approach, “We’ve only just begun to put out five homes so far, we still need to take out the western portion and the fires need more hooves on them!” the deep aqua hued stallion called out after sealing the gateway over the two story house before him.

“I sent for Rainbow Dash five minutes ago Mayor! If anyone can stop this only she can with her speed!” The chestnut brown pony replied next as sweat poured down his face, the fire had reached the bottom level blowing heat towards him like a hot oven.

“I tried getting some pegasi together and bring rain clouds overhead but they were too worried about their families. I’m sorry but until Rainbow arrives we’re the only ones on call.” The one mare of strawberry tones had given her a stern yet waning confidence warning that under the current circumstances the town might be lost.

Having stayed in the center of the village to look after rescues and damage control, it quickly turned out that most villagers had gotten out in time.

“Ma’am we heard one of the former bearers, Applejack, is out there helping anypony trapped. Maybe she might be able to find Rainbow Dash?” one of the stallions figured though both had their attentions fully on their work for the mayor to acknowledge who spoke.

Applejacks strength would speed up the recovery mission for anypony trapped by the dragon’s destructive arrival to the town. Last she heard of the former element bearer was from a family evacuating pressing past her without even a word to her. The mare and her foal mentioned the farmer heading into the deeper portion of the dragon fire raging streets to the west. Swinging her head towards the more endangered part of Ponyville she couldn’t help but curse for the bad luck they had with monsters.

“By Celestia I don’t know where that horrible beast came from but this has got to be the worst dragon attack we’ve seen in generations!” the mayor shook her head as she surveyed the growing firestorm which continued to eat at the thatch roofs as fast as parasprites had wrought just as much.

Just as she was sure they were in a soon to be Tartarus replica, above the town all over something spectacular happened. Golden rings seemingly grew into existence lined with various runes and sigils, some small while others large enough to cover two homes easily. Mayor Mare and company could only watch as far superior portal spells were caste and from them came not just a flood of water but a controlled torrential shower. For the rescue ponies they recognized the two in one spell which required high magic aptitude to even attempt, and with them came the white colomns of steam as the wildfires were in the process of being dealt with. Additional portals no bigger than a cart’s wheel formed vertically by worse off structures including town hall, their secondary spell put pressure into the water to get into harder angles. Their savior unknown had likely saved Ponyville from being burned to the ground and saving many bits in rebuilding cost.

“By the crown?” the strawberry coated unicorn gasped as she admired the level of skill and magic needed to accomplish such a feat.

“Look! Every home is being put out!” the reddish brown stallion pointed with a hoof all the way towards the endangered west side, more steam stacks took to the skies as all the fires were put out till not even a single ember was left flickering.

“I don’t… believe it? Who could have done such a thing?!” Mayor Mare asked no pony in particular, her glasses sliding down to the edge of her nose verging on falling off.

In as short as ten minutes the portals closed and vanished with the wind like feathery thistle seeds disturbed by foals playing. Like hundreds of bits no lighter than a leaf disintegrated from the magic spells until they were nothing more. The Mayor and rescue crew trotted along the burnt neighborhoods and shops seeing the extent of the effort, it happened just in time to both the owners and the town. Though devoid of ponies for most of the trot, the sole source of any disturbance came when they finally happened upon Applejack and the team of fellow villagers who were helping a family barred in their basement of a jam and jelly store. A huge chunk of their roof came down over the only way in or out, which with the Apple’s help the others were able to extract the debris easily.

Mayor Mare breathed out of relief to see the water drenched emergency responders escort the six pony family safely away from the storage basement. No pony injured or in need of medical treatment to which she thanked Luna’s stars for that. However the store itself would need a hefty installment of bits to fix what had given under the assault of the scaly heathen.

“Miss Applejack! It’s so good to see everypony safe and sound!” Mayor Mare stated as they reached the party.

Having rubbed the heads of the twin foals after they thanked her, the apple farmer turned to the new arrivals with soot covering parts of her soaked coat, “Ain’t noth’n too it Mayor. Just doin what’s right. By tha way did Twilight come back from her trip yet? Seems like that was her doin to put all them fires out so fast like? Did she go after the dragon?”

Shaking her head, “I’m sorry Miss Applejack I didn’t see the princess anywhere at the time, we’re just as confused as well.”

“Well shucks, guess’n somepony else musta did that? Though I wonder why that big beluga didn’t stay to continue rampagin if it weren’t scared away by Twi or calmed down by Flutters?” the earth pony rubbed her chin in thought.

One of the rescue crew behind the mayor seemed surprised, “Didn’t you see two monsters burst out of the royal castle? It’s almost all gone!”

“Ya, it was like they were teleported inside, they just… blew right out of the castle!!” the rescue mare added.

“It was horrible! The one that caused all this and another as black as Tirek’s soul! I think it ate some pony too before flying away into the Everfree!?!” Applejack bore the look of terror to the mere thought of a pony lost to the scaly devils.

A quick cough into her hoof and the mayor tried to reassure every ear to cease the rumor, “While the sighting is yet to be confirmed we don’t have every citizen accounted for so until then we have to assume no… casualties have been sustained. Miss Applejack can you please assist in rallying up the town? The sooner we can verify everypony’s here the better we can assuage concerns of one of the dragons taking a life?”

Hope in the air and the honesty in the leadership had the farmer nod firmly, “Right then, I’ll leave the rest of the rescue party to their job and get alls whose here at the town hall! If the others come look’n fer me tell’em what I’am doin and they’ll find me!”

With that the prestigious mare galloped off, it would seem that the former element bearers knew how to communicate with each other without having to even be in constant contact. It left the town govenor with an easier time to handle the dire news, rouge dragons and a destroyed castle were not going to sit well with Canterlot nor the citizens whom might leave Ponyville out of terror.

“This day keeps getting better and better…” she sighed, “Alright then you three join the others in Applejacks place, I’ll be off to the town hall and prepare the records. Everypony will be accounted for…”

As she turned in place to make her leave did somepony startle her, they had been standing behind the four quietly as if manifesting on the spot. If the older mare could have left her body it would have happened then and there scurried away to the Meadow’s Gate. Her gold tinted frames cascaded to the dirt road following as her plot harshly landed on the ground from a stumbled backstep.

“Greetings, are you by chance the head official of this habitation?” a very relaxed and calm voice asked from underneath a red robe decorated with gold trim and patterns, beneath the opening of the hood for the muzzle was the medallion of the Scholar Arcana, the Academy of Magics that ran the School for Gifted Unicorns.

Though the obviously mare magician was hidden by her garb, the mayor knew who students of the Academy were and power the symbol bore. It made sense to her as she rose back to her four hooves surprised beyond her already exhilarating day that those portals were from the pony before her. Only the most gifted unicorns were allowed attendance in, however it was more for the advancement of magic and applications. She once had the honor of meeting another years ago during her first year as mayor, though it was a meeting she could barely afford to recollect at the moment.

“I… I am, you can call me Mayor Mare, I lead Ponyville.” She answered as a deep blue aura surrounded her glasses and brought them back upon her snout perfectly perched as she would normally have them.

“I can tell you know who I represent, I was passing through when I saw the commotion. Figured I’d lend a horn to help, if there’s anything else I can help with please provide instructions. I am Adept Lapis Lazuli.” The mare bowed shortly.

“Well, umm… good to meet you Adept Lazuli. For now with the fires out you’ve given us a moment to regroup and ensure anypony that needs to be rescued is hastily seen to. As it stands, one of the villages most talented has gone out to gather the population for an immediate headcount. If to calm fears that we might have lost anypony to those brutes who did all this!” the mayor huffed as she gazed to the smoking castle which looked ready to crumble into nothing soon.

Lapis nodded, “I’ve already sent an emergency alert to the academy, you will receive additional help very soon in case they come back. Hopefully the crown will deploy royal guards to help secure the area. I believe the event could be seen from Canterlot if not heard.”

“Any help would be well appreciated Adept Lazuli, without the princess here we have little defense against another attack. She’s going to be so devastated with what they did to her new home though. She never did like talking about the old Golden Oaks Library since.” a loud echo of crystal breaking snapped at the air as if a bomb had gone off, another part of the wall was falling.

“I shall be off then, I’ll search for any flames I might have missed and rejoin you soon. May the sun and moon protect.” The two exchanged departures each needing to complete their own important tasks.

The blue mare in wizardry uniform vanished around a corner leaving the mayor to her thoughts, how fortunate they had a powerful student to assist them. The timing could not have been anymore perfect with Rainbow Dash still missing in action, for now she needed to make sure everypony was accounted for.

“Right! Join the rest of the effort, I’ll head to town hall and clear everything up. It looks like we’ll be receiving guests soon as it is.” Mayor Mare explained to the three she had been with before trotting away.

After making her way to the designated structure which thankfully suffered minor damage from the humongous behemoth, Mayor Mare spotted three ponies already on location. Applejack was already the best known working pony in all of Equestria as her orchards spoke on her behalf. The three there meant more would be enroute which only spelled hasten for governing official to speed her efforts. She hadn’t even gotten the roster for the population yet, figuring before she left to her office she’d get their names and check them off in the process.

Closing the distance between the two parties the mayor called out, “Fellow Ponyville citizens do not worry we have the situation under control! In moments the Royal Guard and Arcana support will arrive to hasten recovery from this awful blight to our home. Please if I… could… get your…?” she slowed to a stop as a very familiar coloration came into view in violet, rose, and pink tones which came together as one of the four alicorn princesses who graced the town. She couldn’t mistake the height of the royal nor the exact similarity, but her arrival only bolstered her own hopes of calmly going about her deed to be.

“Should we like spread out and find her or what?” one of her accompanying ponies asked out of the blue just as her mane appeared.

“Not even sure where she went? Should we go back and see if she’s by that crumbling Himalayan salt lamp?” the amaranth mare to the princess’s right seemed to be looking about with all three sight seeing.

“Hmmm?” Cadence hummed before her ears had caught the mayor behind them and turned around.

“Good heavens this situation keeps getting and better.” Mayor Mare sighed happily, “Princess Cadence with you here we could really use your help calming the citizens down and I…”

Seeing the ethereal princess in all her glory, there was something hugely amiss the politician noticed like a slap to her muzzle. While she remembered only seeing her some time ago with a visit to Princess Twilight for what she heard was a family vacation. It was enough of a moment to memorize the royal as rightly she should out of respect for one so noble and kind, the current princess of some place called the Crystal Empire.

Stopping in her tracks the mayor observed how taller the alicorn was and the obvious fact that a horn was missing, ‘That… that can’t be right?! She’s ascended just as Twilight had done! She’s at least five inches higher than we last met! Something is wrong here.’

As she beheld the strange entourage the oddly familiar looking pony kept with her, she desperately hoped that she’d not hear that one name to identify her with. If she truly heard it then there was only one logical explanation to the chaos that erupted in her small town. From dragons coming out of the once majestic Castle of Friendship, which had been drawing in tourists from all over the kingdom to nearly losing everything from their apocalyptic appearance. She had been warned about them since their attack on Canterlot and how opportunistic they were with their natural ability to shape shift. Though she figured it was strange they would have gotten her form wrong with the Princess of Love’s notoriety.

“Ah! Um hello there? I’m trying to look for someone that is hard to miss, she… was taken from me back where we came from… which isn’t here… or from this world I think?” Dean Cadence fumbled trying to get her message across without making them seem utterly alien, thankful these creatures spoke her language.

Indigo stepped forward almost clumsily tripping on her own hooves, “Ya we’re not even the right species to be honest? Have you seen a long purple fish looking thing around here? She’s our friend and she’s been kidnapped by another fish thing the color of gold? Seen her?”

Lemon seemed to wait before speaking herself, they only just met another in their skin and it was a small horse that could talk. The fact that she wore some semblance of clothing befuddled her, even if it were cute to say they appeared to have ended up in a horse ruled world. Her mind ventured into a tangent as she wondered what kind of foreign tunes they created and if they rocked hard as people could.

“I seemed to have forgotten my manners, I am Mi Amore Cadenza and current Dean at Crystal Prep Academy in Equestria… back home that is. Some kind of magical fight erupted over at Canterlot High and we only arrived just as Twilight went through some kind of giant orb I can assume was a rift of some kind. We ended up inside that castle…”, she gave a soured pass at the smoking glass fort realizing she might have implicated them with the dragon, “Err what’s left of it, and I believe I caught sight of what she is currently as Indigo here explained. I have to find her before I lose her. Could you perhaps assist us?” She decided to hold off any personal reasons seeing as they still had no idea who the pony was that came up to them.

Rather than receive an immediate return in the conversation, the beige mare seemed to be frightened in some way. Cadence could see it in those eyes as they contracted in alarm, a talent which was earned from years of working at Crystal Prep. They had done something wrong and now the sentient equine had begun to back away very slowly meaning they were in the long haul to rescue Twilight.

“Please excuse me Princess… I mean no disrespect but… I think I hear somepony calling for help. Probably a stranded citizen who needs assistance?!” the mayor squeaked out before back stepping away with a very jarring smile she tried to host.

In seconds she galloped off without looking back leaving the trio in wonder, “That was rather strange?” Cadence said raising an eyebrow perplexed.

“Pfft! Who needs em? Let’s head back to that wreck of a palace or whatever it is and see if there’s a trail or something to follow.” Indigo dismissed the odd behavior and turned away to head out, she hated folks that left a conversation when there were questions to be answered.

Lemon thought it over only to shrug and gently nudge the Dean, “Better to search ourselves so it’ll go by faster.”

Cadence hummed before agreeing with a nod and the three together left to where there would be almost no others for the moment. If that was how they reacted to them then they might not be beneficial to finding Twilight, she just hoped they did not offend in some manner. As funny as it was to walk on their four limbs what kind of culture and laws did this new place have they might offend?

As they passed through a main thoroughfare the only adult among them voiced her caution, “Girls, while we’re… here for an unforeseeable amount of time I need you two to promise me something?”

“Shoot.” Zap calmly replied in agreement.

Lemon heard through her music and smiled for her response.

Feeling the pleasantness of teamwork they had thus far and how well her students handled the dramatic changes, “I use to travel prior to becoming the Dean you know, places around the world, people I had to learn their language to engage in simple small talk. Wonderful ventures that open your mind to the diversity we don’t see where we’re born. What I am getting at is, this whole um… dimension I guess you can call it is just like those trips I took. While it seems humans are ponies here or for the most part with the exception of Twilight. They likely have rules and expectations here we should be wary of breaking, do you understand?”

The response was immediate, “Well ya, just like going to another city for the tournaments. Can’t do this or that and whatnot. Safe to say we can probably breath and walk without getting the cops on us.” Indigo chuckled to herself as a hilarious memory came forth, one in which a certain celebratory dinner at a local restaurant had garnered stares and disapproving murmurs towards the team. There was almost a fight between her and a hardcore home fan who did not like being on the losing side.

Cadence fluttered her wings instinctually which tickled her to do so, “Then please promise me you will never leave my side and don’t touch anything or take anything from any living thing here okay? I’ll handle everything and we can find Twilight without being ostracized or harassed. There are certain regions I’ve been to which has taught me to be careful. Plus we don’t need to be chasing after Twilight and one of you two.”

“Chillax Dean Cadence! We got this, not like Lemon or I haven’t been out of the town or anything.” Zap and Lemon bumped hooves and proceeded to lose balance and trip over their meager coordination in their own step.

Helping the two back up, the pink pegasus couldn’t help but smile at their expense. Somehow whatever had gotten them on the ground and out of the ruined crystal building had adapted her mind to her new body. The thought occurred to her as the moment appeared blank towards any attempt to remember, they were once trapped with no way out and soon they were safely away by no apparent means even with her new appendages. Cadence could only feel the likes of fluffed cotton balls in her head as she tried harder to investigate the matter only to turn up short.

They side stepped a huge indentation left in the ground left by the great once mythological beast, one which they thankfully were placed far off to the side of its destructive path. Taking shelter under a store front canopy they ended up in as the thunderous stomps and gusty winds of the monster’s wings jostled anything loose on the buildings. A few bricks to glass shards of broken windows rained down onto the roadway until it vacated the area, Cadence had found her wings protectively covering the students without her doing.

What oddities had they leapt into and learn were beyond her foresight, “I just hope we can get to her before that yellow one takes her away from us. I did not like how she looked at us.” The tall Pegasus sighed taking in the ruination that befell the homes of the denizens that had been mysteriously put out in such an instance, the halos that appeared over the little villa and released water over the blaze.

Only she noticed the sight as dust and mortar fell upon her, they went as quickly as they manifested before the girls stirred from frozen dread. If it were not for the pressing matter of saving her former charge she might have lost her mind. Which made her wonder if the girls were any better that they may be suppressing their own confusion and fright which Crystal Prep made it all too easy to do with its particular atmosphere as a defense mechanism.

‘I’ll help them when they need it, but for now… the longer we remain here the worse we’ll be. We’re coming Twilight. Stay safe for me.’ The dean hoped for as they neared the horrendously gutted castle akin to an insect that had been parasitized, having served its purpose as a host.

In minutes, they finally reached the outskirts of the obliteration zone which was still in progress as more crystal chunks fell down. Furnishings shattered easily from the high fall as pieces of the structure struck the lawn and pathway like darts. Rugs and flags seemed to dance as they gracefully glided to their next resting place. They stopped just short of the perimeter where the grass was still kept and clean, glistening under the afternoon sun as green as any healthy yard should be. With all three sets of eyes scanning around for any sign of the girl turned into an aquatic monster. Their initial attempts were met with nothing except the sight of more crumbling debris kicking up dust and twinkling shards.

“Well looks like that bit colored manatee thing made off with her? I got nothing.” Indigo maintained vigilance as she tried to pick out any worth bit of detail in the land.

Zest moved the headset off her large ears with one hoof with no sign of their friend it made the music sour. No exclusive pop album, no hard metal rock, or even the most eloquent rap artist could make her feel good about the kidnapped bookworm and her lack of presence. They had an entire planet to scour at the rate things were going, with no obvious breadcrumbs to follow.

“If she’s not here, then she could be anywhere by now.” The sullen tone of the music enthusiast hinted at how Cadence was beginning to feel herself.

“We’ve made it this far girls… there’s no turning back either. Whatever powers she has may be our only way home as well. So long as they are not harming her.” Zap listened to her elder while still trying to find anything, her ears picked up something behind them in a split second which was something new to her current form. Her hearing was rather better than before and the pitter patter of a horse of some kind was not far away, caught just in time when she otherwise couldn’t have before.

Unbeknownst to the rest, Zap glanced over her shoulder at an approaching robed horse wearing a brown tunic. What little she could make out over their color beheld stripes of a zebra just like the ones in Winnisota’s own zoo, though this one was short just like the last mare.

They trotted slowly up to her group before finding a few feet away to properly halt, finding the newcomers an interesting thing to inspect. The sports girl had no way of understanding who or why they had come up to them unlike the other one for whatever reason they mentioned. In truth she was far too consumed by the village at the time they teleported into that was not designed for humans, yet it bore so many similarities. In her experience a random meet engaged by the other party was usually another team trying to sow discord or intimidate her teammates. Perhaps they stood out like sore thumbs in the hick town or perhaps the area was like those horror movies with cultists who used outsiders for sacrifice? She’d find out soon enough when the other being announced themselves and their intentions. When they finally stopped and simply found content in holding their ground with no words at all, the flip was switched.

Putting on her tough face for the new arrival, she was ready for anything as always, “Say’n nothing huh? You know it’s kinda rude to stare?”

Lemon and their Dean overheard her comment and realized the covered pony standing like a statue behind them.

“Excuse us, we’re not from around here and we’re trying to find someone. We mean no disrespect.” Cadence tried to smooth over what she tried to warn Indigo about.

Lemon nodded her head in approval, “Nice garbs there.” reminiscent of a band album she picked up last year which combined techno electronica and monk chanting.

The hidden individual gave a quick view at the shattered crystal castle as if beholding a long loving memory of the place, “So the events unfolded just as was foretold, and here are the ones born of the moment not of this world?”

Hearing the feminine and rather strong African accent in the rhyme, the girls awaited for more to be said before either of them did anything else. If not that then the wings of Cadence spreading out to push the two students from engaging foolishly without forethought.

“There are more where you came from who seek their own ends, so many poor lives will need to help to mend. What you see is one such as yourselves, and take my word when I say come with me before you are expelled.” the hood fell revealing a zebra as Zap figured, one with gold jewelry and offered help.

Cadence seemed worried about trusting just anyone especially when they show up with identity hiding clothing. She needed to know more of why they’d be ‘expelled’, what had they done to be shunned by the locales?

“Could you enlighten us over what transgressions you speak of? What have we done that would get us thrown out of this… country or region?” she inquired simply.

The zebra pulled out a glowing green stone from her garment which flickered when directed towards the trio, though how the hoof seemed to hold onto it perplexed them ever more, “One of you bears the likeness of a very powerful ruler of these lands, one who a mare is the embodying portrayal that love understands. There be a race of form changers who can mimic another, for you at your pace will only be seen as horrific.” she put the gem away.

“So like you’re saying because our Dean looks like someone else we’ll be chased off for possibly being an impersonator?” Indigo scratched her head trying to make sense of the mare.

“You can call me Zecora of the Everfree, I commune with nature and embrace its sea.” She introduced herself with a short bow.

“I didn’t mean to look like someone who is in power though that explains the other we met a little while ago. You have to understand that these two are my priority as we’re trying to find another, going to a stranger’s home is not an easy thing to consider for anyone in my position.” Cadence kindly pointed out.

Seeming to understand well enough Zecora offered another route of help, “Then if I may say that your search may very well end if they see you, left as a perch in a glass bowl to be viewed. I cannot harm another living being and the spirits have guided me on this day, may I be doing you a service to help against the vying forces that threaten to make us pay?”

In no sooner had she finished did Cadence and the girls see far behind the zebra back at the burned village was the same glasses wearing pony pointing at them with another hooded one next to them. The way they were interacting did not bring any solace to her that they were indeed better off not going along with the mysterious equine. It worried her even more to see the red garbed individual make a gallop towards them with a light of some kind glowing at the top of their head slightly hidden by their robe. She did not like the looks of things coming to head and went with her gut to trust Zecora, after all they did come out of the castle which was wrecked by monstrous being and they might be seen as colluding. Taken in for questioning and if the law of the lands was strict and harsh to foreigners, the risk was worth to avoid it.

Zecora took off after seeing the terror in the tall pegasus and she was followed by the group soon after towards the safety of the Everfree. Lemon and Zap didn’t question anything as they too saw the rushing cultist making a dead rush at them. Though Indigo would have loved to have fought the offender, she also knew just enough about her body to walk and run. She still had human muscle memory and it made doing anything else all the more harder to accomplish.

“Keep on my tail and don’t stray away, the danger behind is pale compared to forest’s toll to pay!!” the zebra yelled as they jetted across open grassland towards the Everfree.

With their pursuer on their heels it was easy to see who was succeeding in utilizing their new forms. Indigo swiftly and gaily covered ground till she was nearly side by side with their new friend, though that was all she could manage at the time with the rush of adrenaline natural to her budding profession. Meanwhile, Lemon had a few trips she managed to save herself from lagging back too far, but Cadence remained near her in case she had to act fast. She kept taking looks back at her student to make sure she did not falter, but it was costing her distance with their impromptu guide.

“Hurry Lemon!! They’re going to catch up! We’ll lose the way!” she cried out.

Huffing from exertion, “I’m try’n! I’m… not use… to these!”

Out of the blue sky above them formed growing golden halos which appeared to do nothing at first as Cadence looked up to them snaking towards them. Three stories up in the air they swirled just as the ones earlier before , spinning as they continued to keep up with its intended target.

“Look out! ZECORA!!” Cadence shouted as she noticed the rings were heading towards Indigo and their guide as halos were about to pass her and Lemon.

“What?!” Zap beckoned as she barely heard a word from the distance she had.

The zebra however picked up the warning as clear as a drop of rain on a leaf in a quiet enclosure. It only took one little peak at the coming magic casting before it could reach proximity and mature. Her knowledge in the mystic arts had her leap into the air spinning just enough to face the mage attacking them. With a quick hoof to her right saddlebag she extracted a small clay bottle with a glyph of some kind on the surface, landing with a skid while Indigo continued on perplexed. With a scowl on her muzzle the Everfree mystic calculated where she needed to put the potion before biting off the cork stopper.

“Keep on the straight path forward, do not stall in your haste! Do not be daft and disorder, for this foul ball I will waste!” Zecora ordered as she waited for the right moment as the last two passed her before the spell reached herself. Splashing the contents on the ground in a wide arch to paint the affected area properly least they be captured.

When the dark green concoction contacted the soft grassy ground, a rumble came forth as if the very earth was coming alive. Zecora hit the dirt hard and fast just as the coming casting reached its terminating distance and activated.

A vacuum rift opened above her and where the others would have been had she not positioned herself as she did. Though the gust of wind did little than shake her main as a single row of thick vines sprouted wherever the liquid fell, things as thick as trees shot forth like a wave at a beach which grew out following the former humans until it reached the Everfree. In quick succession Zecora scrambled to her hooves and followed the tunnel of tendrils which soon blossomed violet flowers along the way. A biological reaction to its spontaneous spawning, it was a type of plant she knew well in depth and found a way to use as an escape method. She could still feel and hear the air as the portal continued to do what it was created to do, but the impromptu floral shield had grown tight enough that little suction could be gained.

Upon reaching the portion which reached the Everfree zone, the vines broke off into some ten different pathways where only the correct way sported the Byzantium petals. The other numerous forks were colored with rose buds that soon opened up just as she passed on towards the way home. The means would soon close once the plant had matured in under a minute and produced seeds to drop, but at least for her the flowers came and went too fast for the mage to catch on as far as they were. The state of decay would further hassle their attempt to figure out which way to go with the many tendrils going on for miles while collapsing into itself like a soggy mane.

Her breathing slowed as she regained her bearings, eventually catching up to Cadence and Lemon Zest who were showing signs of fatigue, “Keep on the way and don’t delay, we are in the woods but not away from the goons!”

They would have a good length of time before they were safe, but once they arrived she would get her questions taken. There was a reason she was there at the right time with the correct escape plan, the spirits gave their warning and she heeded the beckoning.

Ch. 6 Stolen Reprieve

Author's Note

Out of town art fair gave me time to type up some chapters.

Ch. 6 Stolen Reprieve

Yellow Tail’s Hideout

Sonata had found herself backed against a wall with crates to her right and large oval shaped jars to her left, either which containing who knew what. The pressing matter before her was Adagio’s sprouting rage over how she secured her gemstone, the storm of how became the center focus for which even Aria and her usual scowl deepened with their leader’s own. It felt too surreal to her to see the both of them gang up on her as they did, she couldn’t understand why they were being so fortuitously aggressive. Each time she asked Sonata could only whimper with a nervous grin as her magic returned to a degree, letting her levitate off the pebble strewn earth. Up until she finally met an unmoveable surface which was the chamber wall itself, she tried to evade and figure out how to answer yet for each attempt she truly had no response.

“HOW!!? I was suppose to get the first gem! There is always a pecking order Sonata!” Dazzle snarled as she created gashes in the granite with her own hooves in her dogged pursuit of her subordinate till they came to a halt.

“Ya! What rouge lucky fire starfish did you happen upon as a hatchling to get you your gem before us?!” Blaze added as she snaked behind, hoisting herself on top of the crates to gain a vantage point to showcase how perturbed she was.

Smashed between the golden siren’s muzzle and the cold rough mountain, Dusk’s eyes went back and forth between the two unsure of what to say to placate them. She couldn’t even flex her dorsal crest as tightly held against the rocky wall as she was. There was no one else capable of helping without Twilight around and she once again in the spotlight.

A small chuckle escaped her beyond her ability to stop it, “I… I sang?”

After the thirtieth time the answer merely shattered the small amount of restraint Adagio had left, Sonata witnessed the dominant siren’s pupils contract as she was about to lose it. Rare as she did it was never a pretty sight and by Poseidon’s name she felt lucky that the young matriarch had little power in which to vent. Never had she ever struck her own as even Aria merely jokingly ruffled Dusk’s hair or got in her face to try to prove herself better. Remembering the sushi restaurant, a gem wielding siren was truly dangerous when fuming as the evidence in the woman’s restroom was anything to hold a candle to. Though she spoke the truth as clear as the ocean sea was blue it seemed that the fires of envy would not abide as it hungered for more answers than she could give.

“You… just sang?” Dazzle asked calmly, “A song? That… one… song?”

Sonata vigorously nodded as the other backed off and rose higher in the air using her tail as leverage.

“Don’t tell me it was that stupid internet video you wouldn’t stop pestering me about?” Aria groaned as she started to remember the origins which lead to Twilight’s shining moment at their little karaoke session.

Again, she nodded like a pepper shaker being used with her tail reflexively being brought to shield her from a whirlpool of vehemence that frothed among Adagio’s aura. When she expected the sound of violence being brought into existence, Sonata watched intently as their glorious leader closed her eyes and calmly started to hum the same tune she had done to get her gem coincidently. Carefully the notes were heeded as they soon matured into words and song, which upon hearing the attempt had the ears of the sirens flatten against their scalps from the atrociousness of it all. Aria flinched away trying to withstand the horrendous off key moments and fluctuating vocals, it was as bad as when teachers of the older human society would punish a rambunctious class by scratching the chalk board. Even as the words tried to give feeling to the song there was no saving Adagio’s try for attaining a deceased ruby.

The full hearted challenge died out before halfway reaching through the lyrics as Dazzle stopped and slammed her tail into the floor. The echoing slap bounced off the chamber walls hurting all but the dragon, and for a moment it seemed she would have only tried that one time. How pitiful it was as the matriarch fought against her pride as a siren and powered several more times to try and sing as Sonata had done, only to fail miserably and stoke her spiritual fire as it raged more intensely than the last. It was almost sorrowful to Blaze and Dusk as they witnessed the lacking try yield no fruit, more so even to see their alpha flail about like a hatchling learning her own voice.

“Geez, do we really sound that bad without our gems?!” Aria mumbled just as she noticed something in the alpha break.

Quitting on the spot, Dazzle snorted heavily before turning around and drag herself away to the ceramic containers nearby. Much to the confusion and somewhat disappointment of the rebel in the group, the rapid change of direction threw both of the lesser’s off. The sound of scales roughly scraping the abrasive floor filled the gap in sound of the otherwise heated tense atmosphere in the dank cold lair. It was almost a pitiful sight to see the sulking golden matriarch fume as she did, for a better lack of words it harbored no commentary from Aria to no surprise at all. Broken notes and jumping pitches were in themselves a joke to a siren and yet even the rebellious one couldn’t find satisfaction in the moment. Finally stopping in front of color coded vessels each bearing certain marks she had no idea what they meant, her dead gaze fell upon them as if they were little more than mud and rock ready for her anguish.

Aria cocked a brow as she was lost to what was going on, “Uhhh… are we still scolding the idiot here or what?”

The cerulean hippocampus too afraid to retort remained coiled protectively within herself as she maintained eye contact with their leader. One who slowly breathed as her sight never left the containers that were eyed with such prejudice, she barely moved a muscle once in place and to that she frightened her own subordinates. The low tones of moisture drops in the passageway out of the chamber echoed like anything other than the slow breath of either siren or dragon. In their vision within the dark, Adagio soon stirred after what felt like an hour of anxiety with her tail swirling over the stone foundation with the noise it made. Once in position their glorious matriarch arose high up as her eyes bore the look of unfettered rage, arms held tight against her armored barrel, her fins fidgeting between states of relaxation and agitation. Unbeknownst to the rest, Dazzle harnessed every injustice she felt at not being the first to receive the stone as she had on Earth where either realm she should have rightfully been given first grabs. Her grand plans had been muddled by the sudden gem revival with Sonata, the least capable one of her pod granted the powers that would initiate her takeover of Equestria. Once again her scheme shattered to await renewal and it brought back every failure she had endured up till then, now that they were back home it was if the final straw was struck.

“Adagio?” Sonata finally piped up before all Tartarus broke through.

Dazzles eyes widened so far it even threw Aria off as she released the levee, “RrrrrrrraaaAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

Two clay pots disintegrated by her talons slamming into them, their rupture echoing painfully through the chamber as the ears of the girls rang sharply for a moment. As more were broken and their contents spilled about, did the only other being in the room stir into quick awakening. Sonata caught a glimpse of the black beast on the other side of the lair come alive through cracked eye lids. Even as far away as it was the mana aura of Yellow’s hoard dimmed remarkably. The more property damage sustained the more the scaly devil forced itself up to do something about it. She knew there was trouble to pay, if she could have warned Dazzle she would have judging by the silver eyes which suddenly blinked brightly in the dark like a candle.

After the eight storage jar had been obliterated, Yellow breathed in quickly and loudly a top the jewels as he prepared to react. Aria and Sonata turned towards the sound of air just as the dragon let loose a roar so mighty that bits and pieces of the granite overhead broke off and showered the occupants with a rain of particulate dust. Within the tight space the vocalization rocked every ear drum as if an explosion had gone off right by the girls, easily ceasing Adagio’s rampage among the supplies that were carefully amassed.

Adagio’s pack recoiled as the obsidian beast drunkenly lifted itself from its precious cache with thunderous steps of clawed limbs, a winged hulk charging like a shadow in the blue light. The loud crackling sound of glass shards disturbed by its bulk spilled over onto the floor in a cascade of ruckus that made their off key voices sound pleasurable. The golden siren spun around just in time to see the dark form of the wyvern surge towards her, it stood out amongst the dull blue of the chamber like a rushing nightmare coming to devour her. Those miniscule silver dishes that were the sinister eyes of their uncertain host were the only thing Dazzle could focus on. She found herself spilling over the mess she created and toppling over even more vessels in her rush becoming nothing more than a flopping grouper hoisted upon the shoreline. The ungainly movements did not deter the ghastly approach after all, a dragon was a dragon no matter what state of mind it was in and this one was no different. Shards of the pots danced with each quake amplified by the cave’s own confined space, harkening her mind back to the dark times that would have broken her if her will was not as strong as it was and still persisted.

The young matriarch caught her breath as her lungs instinctively reacted to the threat, the heart thudding away from the shock and awe pumping as much adrenaline as it could given the few seconds it was set with. Her fins relayed her supplication by folding down so close to her body it was as if she possessed none, helpless like a hatchling she could do nothing to save herself. Upon her bed of hard stone jars magically sealed shut and foreign matter from those she destroyed, she could move no more and in some way she had suddenly realized in her dire strait how Sonata must have felt earlier.

The glow of the goliath’s eyes radiated with light as Adagio handled the pain of her sight adjusting to the new illumination. She was under judgment of something which even though she was mostly sure of herself it was their benefactor who brought them back home, something in those eyes spoke of another. Throughout Dazzles life from a hatchling to a fully fledged siren she had come to near death by ravenous denizens that crawled, walked, skittered, or flew in the densely packed forests she had to go through. There was always a singular sensation behind those single minded brains evident in their deathly gaze, not so much as she now had growling with hot breath washing over her that could cook an egg.

“ADAGIO!! YELLOW TAIL!!! STOP!” Dusk shouted as she broke her fear induced muscle lock.

Dazzle couldn’t tear her eyes from the almost mesmerizing disks that narrowed upon her dainty form, not even to notice the sniff it took of her scent like a hungry Boar Croc. The sound of its tongue swirling in its mouth in anticipation of a feast did not break the last barrier she had of her spirit, she maintained the stare down determined to prove herself the stronger of the two even if it was a trivial attempt.

“Please don’t hurt her!?!” Sonata pleaded as she forced herself between the two, hovering over the mess and the golden siren, “Remember us?! Remember who we are Yellow sir? Please? We’re on the same side right?!” a broad smile appeared over her snout in an attempt to appease whom she thought she was talking to.

There was a hesitation in a response as the dragon withdrew a few feet from the two though its ire did not dissipate. Adagio still in a state of shock could do nothing but then observe as the jester of her pack seemed to take on either even more stupidity for getting in between them or taking upon more brains to protect her leader. Either which was possible to her and in any case she might be going down with at least part of her unit, solidarity would be her farewell.

A low grumble reverberated in the hide away as the beast seemed to disdain the interference and to all their surprise it or he or as it came to be a she spoke up, “Troublesome little things you are.”, a raspy female voice came forth further dumbfounding the tense situation to the point even Aria dropped jaw.

“Huh?” the three hippocampi asked together at once.

“Wh… what?!” Adagio couldn’t help but let it escape her.

Sonata rubbed her head just as flabbergasted, “Wait… aren’t you Yellow Tail? Or was the other one of him? But then Inferno was a male or… I’m confused.”

With a heavy snort of superheated air the dragoness as it seemed spoke again, “Have you forgotten our tale already? Are my little gems tarnished and dull so soon?” the depth of the giant’s tone quivered the innards of the Dazzlings.

“HEY! We’re not simpletons! None of this is making any sense and so far we’ve been thrown into a riptide so give us a break?!” Aria fumed as usual, unaffected as much as Dazzle with not being the wyverns target of anger.

The silver platters turned to her sharply as she sighed, “I suppose that may be true, then let us set the rules so you all will know to keep from being turned to ash!” the dragoness hissed, “You are mine, this lair is mine… you may be mine but that does not mean you can break what is mine. Are… We… Clear?” The long neck coiled back as it surveyed the damaged goods, scales glimmered from the illumination stones of the chamber.

“Like where’s Yellow Tail and who are you?” Sonata responded innocently even as it urked the floating eyes in the night made manifest.

The dragoness seemed to acknowledge the blue one with curiosity as if remembering something about her, “Sonata Dusk are you? Well you I can pardon this one time… I am indeed Yellow Tail, but that is merely a nickname given to us by the ones who banished us. We are the foolish unicorn Nickel Flame who wields powerful magic and the Sleeping Terror of Oyster Bay together as one being. For now you speak to me… not him.” She gave a dire warning through squinted eyes which dulled the brilliance in her orbs.

“OH! That’s like an awesome name! Sleeping Terror of Oyster Bay?”, she paused for a second, “Where’s Oyster Bay?”

Aria slapped a taloned hoof to her face shaking her head in disbelief, though the great reptile seemed receive the query in rather the opposite. Adagio kept monitoring the discussion as it unveiled new information on their host, the moray hole kept going deeper and deeper as it seemed.

The winged devil chuckled with a long hum following, “YOU were the one he was most fond of… I can see why.” She took a less aggressive stance and sat herself on the cold hard ground, “I am glad you find the title interesting, I made it myself… from my hoard of pearls no other dragon or great dragon could boast of. As for where my home is… it is on the west coast of this pony infested land… if it is still there.”

“Wow, the largest pile of pearls? I remember my mom finding one in the oysters I use to eat when I was little! So shiny and cool, like for realzies!” Sonata exclaimed excitedly.

The Terror of Oyster Bay laughed again, this time loudly though it was still subdued, “So few dragons understand the value in them… It is good to see another enthusiast. Well my little gem I believe you’ve earned the right to call me by my true name. I am Chun.” Following which she yawned deep as she sucked in air causing a slight current in the otherwise stagnant atmosphere, blowing out superheated steam from her nostrils into the air above.

“Cool! Thanks Chun, it sounds familiar though… from somewhere we’ve been I think?” the cerulean singer pondered once more.

Blaze had lost much of her initial stun as it devolved into annoyance and then into her calm resting boredom at hearing the blabbering, she was still gemless, “Probably from our time in Neighpon.” She mumbled unheard by the rest.

With the situation defused it appeared the nocturnal interaction became a jovial one for the better as Chun took another sleepy breath, “As enjoyable as it would be to recant I must have rest if not for me but for the pony half… Nickel’s own sake.”

Sluggishly the dragoness rose up and started to turn back to the gem pile to which Adagio finally broke her silence as her only chance to learn more was passing her by, “Wait! You have to tell me about Yellow Tai… I mean the unicorn you share your body with! Why were you not talking to us back in the human world? Who were we even talking to?”

Her pleading did not go unanswered as the wyvern stopped in place and turned her omnipotent vision upon the one who sparked her premature revival, it was not a very pleasing reception to her question. Dazzle had almost forgotten what she had done and she could see the change in posture which signaled that the dragoness Chun hadn’t either.

“Little gem, it is simple is it not?” Chun egged on.

Dazzle huffed but did nothing else that might offend, “You’ll have to forgive us since we’re at an obstacle right now.”

Taking the hint, “I merely had a very long sleep as my kind often do. I left most of that experience to him to ease our still adjusting bond since we were banished shortly after we Melded. My dreams however allowed me to peer into his on goings occasionally and perhaps render advice, so that is how I know about you three. As for the one you’ve been talking to… he is resting as should I. That blasted mage used too much of my blood for his research and it afflicts us both, we are low on our magic and need to sleep. I’ve kept his promise by not eating you three and bringing you here. Beyond that you’re free to do anything outside this cave, those rubies are yours as well. They’re distasteful to me to keep… they are not the special kind of gems I treasure anyways.” Chun broke the stare and waddled back to her precious stone hoard with a much quieter stride, her massive wings flapping with each movement.

Adagio had her answers but that only left her with the pressing matter still on hoof, with the eminent threat subsided she was still left with the beginning. Aria finally worked her way over when the coast was clear, her little nitwit floated by her and seemed to await further instructions. The dragoness had taken to her bed of precious stones laying to rest for who knew how long but for Adagio it was a bittersweet note. They would be without support unless they rejoined the two mages back at the rallying point if they still waited there.

“Well at least now we know what’s going on. What’s next ohhh valiant matriarch?” Blaze prodded a well deserved joke after the mess had been caused directly by her anger issues.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” Dazzle hissed before turning her attention to the siren stones.

Dusk noticed and remembered how they nearly enraged Chun, “I promise I just thought of that song and sang it from my heart! I thought about Twilight and the time we all sang together, there was nothing that made me more happier than that sing along! For realzies!”

With a roll of the eyes, the plead of forgiveness was accepted wordlessly save for a wave of the hoof to get her to stop pouting. Righting her bulk back onto her underside, Adagio worked her way over to the rubies and studied them once more for any way she might properly replicate the mishap her subordinate somehow gained from. Even if they sang some giddy little song they shared with Twilight, what made it work that fused a former siren’s stone as their own?

Something did not make any sense to Dazzle as she ran the many possible situations through her head, “Something that made you happy? Something that made you happy?”

Putting her full mental capacity to work the puzzle began to put itself together as she dared venture into the unknown. Adagio took into account the simplicity in her blue packmate as well as the innocence she possessed, there had to be something else that coaxed the gemstones into assimilation. It could not be so simple as that since all she knew herself were the trivialities of surviving within a magically deprived land. Then again was it really about enjoying singing so much that the deceased found kinship in those who really put their hearts into their voices no matter what?

“So the dunce here has her own gem and we have none with no possible way of getting ours unless it’s that easy.” Blaze grumbled irritably, “Are we just gonna sing a number and hope for the best?”

“NO!!” Adagio shouted, “We will analyze everything and attain our powers once more… then find Twilight and maybe Oratoria. We can’t do this without our powers and my secret weapon.”

“Again… we sing a number and hope the gems like us enough?” Blaze shot back holding her ground.

The fresh response was rather clean to the matriarch as she rarely had such rebellion seem consistent from her unique subordinate, “No and yes…” she said eyeing the rubies intently, “You and I will try to earn the bond Sonata has with her gem, we need to remember these stones may have the same spirit as the human world gems did. They deserve a peaceful rest… and for us to ask of them to join us is… rather alien. Song number twenty eight through fifty six will be our first test! Those are the most pleasurable creations I ever No made and if you recall most were designed to combat that bearded horse who first sentenced us.”

Aria groaned, “Fine… as long as we get it over with now! Forty five was my least favorite one and we had to wear that ridiculous costume and makeup to the contest. Never again…”

Everfree Forest Midnight…

All was quiet in the grassy clearing in the enchanted forest, not a manticore in sight nor a hungry animal on the prowl. Just the light of the full moon and the stars casting a dim glow across the landscape, with trees blacked out as they swayed to the low breeze as kelp stalks in a tidal zone. In the little burrow which the two sirens had taken to as refuge and bedding, both slept like hatchlings as they quietly snored away even as vulnerable as they still were. Their bodies obscured by the depth of the pit that allowed the buckwheat and clover vegetation to hide them from wondering eyes. While Oratoria seemed almost motionless it was Twilight who jostled and moved in her slumber.

Like a freshly snared sardine she wiggled in place and twitched like no tomorrow would ever come, her wings shot out several times before retracting close to her body once again protectively. Snuggling into the tail fin of Oratoria she hugged the appendage tightly until her mind could bear the suffering of the nightmare which accosted her. With an all mighty gasp she awoke starring into the darkness of the Everfree with a single name uttered upon her tongue that she could muster.

“Spike!” her fins erect and pointing outwards as her night vision came into focus, whatever she had been dreaming of left her mind in the snap of a finger to the humid forest around her.

No sooner had she said such words did the other seem to grumble to wakefullness, “What are you uttering now?” Oratoria moaned.

She could see Sparkle trying to control her breath as her own head rose up groggy yet coming to with ease. In truth she’d found sleeping while recovering her magic to be conflicting after the first two hours, since then she’d been simply resting and listening to the surroundings for any danger. Up until the mutant started to quiver which lead up to the present, there was a concern her fidgeting might attraction unwanted attention but for the life of her she couldn’t bring herself to care in her state.

Twilight managed to hone in on the turquoise female and immediately felt guilty of causing such a commotion, “I’m sorry Cold Fore… um… Oratoria? I’m just had a bad dream, probably from everything that has happened. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

A hint of disdain appeared for a few seconds before she replied, “Couldn’t sleep anyways.”

An owl hooted off in one of the taller wickedly looking oaks as the dream came back to her like a rising tide, “I thought I saw Spike again, he was just sitting in front of me and I couldn’t reach him. Every time I tried he kept sliding away from me while keeping exactly 3 meters away at all times like something wouldn’t let me even touch him! Ohhh… he kept barking at me like he always did to get my attention.”

Oratoria sighed as she set her head back down with an uncaring expression, “I didn’t ask about what you saw in your sleep.”

Far too involved with reliving the nightmare she failed to hear, “Just before I tried for the fifteenth time I was almost flattened by Inferno as he passed by. Just as enormous as he was when I saw him… when Adagio tried to get to me. I heard someone calling to me, but I ignored it and tried to reach for Spike again. He was within my touch before that voice practically shouted something… along the lines of… 'Thou needth not fear us!' like someone held a loudspeaker to my ears.”

Nearly hyperventilating and on the verge of panic, Oratoria grunted seeing that the freight was not going to pass on its own and therefore she needed to step in. Caring nothing about the dream itself nor any details she lifted her large tail fin and not too roughly bopped the winged siren on the head. It was enough to break the state of Twilight whose antennae were sensitive to such touch and pressure. She quickly pulled away as if she recoiled from a sharp pain, the still unfamiliar body continued to prove her that more data still needed to be taken in before she could confidently rely on the hippocampus form.

“There, now will you calm down? Jeez... for crying saltwater you were scared by mere images in your sleep? You really are weak.” She scoffed.

“I’m not weak! I just don’t dream that often, it was new to me to have nightmares like that… to know that Spike is still somewhere without me or anyone to care for him. This is all too much…” Sparkle replied feeling her wings encompass her reactively to her defensive mood.

With a wicked grin surfacing upon the agitated siren’s muzzle, she felt a surge of confidence against the mutant she hated, “Ya you are, you realize how you were perceived by your own fellow humans? Brains ain’t everything you know? Even a siren like I must have both smarts and muscle. By muscle I also mean willpower to withstand stress. You were a freak’n sea sponge for others to trod over. Strange how you needed magic to embolden yourself, probably the only time I even felt a smidge worth of empathy for you.”

“I did not let anyone walk over me, I merely tried to exchange verbal communication in order to come to a resolution and excuse myself if I did get in the way! What I did at Canterlot High… that was inexcusable, no one deserved to be harmed and I’m… happy Sunset stopped me before I did anything horrible I would have regretted.”, the repentance she felt from remembering that experience would forever stain her heart, even if she later came to realize that it wasn’t her fault but the essences she took.

A light laugh came from the blue green siren, “You fail at being a siren on so many levels even as a lower tier packmate. That school brimmed with so much negativity that only you managed to trim the seagrass that grew wild and tall with such a show of force. You could have had them eating out of your hand and yet you left after doing whatever you did to that ketchup and mustard freak with magic or... that had magic. You fail to see the bigger picture of your powers you had!”

The very words of Adagio’s lost sister were hard to swallow but deep down she knew what was right and her powers had no justification for going as far as they did, “You’re wrong Cold Forecast. Hurting someone does not gain respect it gains fear! My brother once told me that, when he found out I was being bullied. I never want to walk around Crystal Prep to have other students… grovel or cow away, then they would be me!”, she held her breath for a few seconds, “They would have been me…”

“I’m not Cold Forecast you guppie! I am Oratoria! And if you are going to be a part of Adagio’s pack then you need to realize what it means to be a siren since you wear our skin as much as I hate it. Don’t think that just because we turned human doesn’t mean humans turn into sirens! Either come to terms with that or don’t expect her to fawn over you like she has been.” Ora snorted in irritation like a maddened bull cornered in a ring with a matador.

With the black leather wings falling away limp like a noodle Twilight appeared aghast at the statement, “I do not want to be a siren, I don’t want to be a pony. My only mission here is to learn magic and help Adagio find closure with Equestria, I barely sing… I… I have no reason to control others or see that this kingdom is enslaved. I still don’t understand why I became a siren in the first place so please, stop assuming I want to be one.” She pleaded feeling as if she were still being seen as that wicked form.

While she did feel originally excited and overwhelmed for helping defeat the guardians which would allow her access to the magical realm, there was a part of her at that time who wondered of the existence of the magical humans she battled. A concern which grew to sprout over feeling remorse for doing what she did to help the Banished, her own curiosity however heavily conflicted with any sympathy time and again. The what if’s and probabilities that in her pursuit of mystical knowledge might jeopardize innocent lives in more ways than one.

“You stupid little… how dare you spit on Adagio like that! For any matriarch to care so much over one another means they hold them in the highest of honor! One such should be reserved for close family like me.” Oratoria held her head high and mighty with hatred boiling up, “I was there you know… back when it happened and the ponies took away everything that we loved.”

Slowly the true siren dragged herself over towards Twilight, “You don’t know her pain, our pain…” it was as if a cord was struck and Twilight had been placed in the hot spot once again, “Adagio’s in it for blood, I can feel it… she and our family deserve payment for what was done.”

By then their muzzles were touching snout to snout as the intensity of Oratoria’s gaze attempted to burn into Sparkle’s soul, a reminder of what she already stood up to and comforted even if she might have been influenced to do so. Being a push over was not something she was going to take, no, it was the facts she knew which caste aside the old vindictiveness Dazzle held and the others wanted to avoid. The group was not unified and they had admitted that to her back home, if she let Oratoria empower Adagio to maintain her rightful fury against the ponies then she’d be no better than any other bystander at Crystal Prep. She knew Adagio’s inner self with her exterior shell ripped away, a fearful lonely girl with misplaced ambitions to attain rest from the childhood trauma. That was who Adagio was when not being coerced by some tainted gemstone, the facts were always something that gave Sparkle newfound hope. Something within her heart pulsed with youthful vigor that she went with to handle the other siren.

“You don’t know who she is, who Adagio is like without the front she puts up to protect herself.” Sparkle quivered as she continued anxiously, “You spent so much time trying to find her and barely spent even a day with her. I’ve known her for what feels like a couple months now and I know for a definite truth that she doesn’t need to take over Equestria or the world!”

Oratoria snarled baring her teeth like an angry wolf, she pulled away slightly yet still maintaining her intimidating stare. Her fins were high but they showed signs of letting down, even she was not dumb to what the human spoke of.

“I was there when they were allowed to regain their magic Oratoria! I was the one who modified those pendants so they could sing again, Yellow Tail trained me to do so and I did it happily. I monitored them for their own safety and forged a work relationship with them as Yellow asked of us. Even if there were complications along the way I came to learn of each of their pasts and fears for the future, I saw them as more than just former mythological entities who once sought to conquer Equestria for the sake of power! Each of them has a reason for doing what they do and how to remedy them, but they are tied down by the resentment they bear and what I believe is a cultural quagmire preventing Dazzle from accepting anything else?!” Twilight pressed a talon into the leafy bedding as she stood her ground albeit with the resolution of a victim standing up to a bully.

A resolve that the other girl did not take kindly to at all, “How DARE you!!”

Still rolling on the confidence trip, “Believe me when I say that lording over others does not solve anything, it’s just a gauze patch over the wound. Adagio’s scar… it’s still bleeding even if she doesn’t let it show. I was given the front seat to that, I can assure you.”

The admission peaked a little curiosity in the turquoise singer as her gem dimly glowed red then died out, what had the human girl seen to make her so resilent to her domination techniques? Was there something to Dazzle she was not aware of, had the time they spent exiled really changed the golden voice? Surely Adagio was far more resistant to change of heart than she and even then she was holding against Sparkles supposed facts with a short string keeping her from outwardly doubting her own outlook.

Backing off the gusto a few pegs, “What did you see then? Bless me with your experiences oh holy blessed?”

It was then that the two relaxed just enough to have a more peaceful exchange, though Twilight seemed mournful to speak the truth. She swallowed the lump in her throat that tried to form as the recollection was just powerful enough for her as if she’d lost her brother. Then again when you stumble before an angry god how is self destructive how else does any proper person respond to seeing that?

“It was before they had their largest concert, before I nearly wiped everyone at Crystal Prep with my magic. We were going out to eat as we often did… little did I know what would happen that night. While we were merely enjoying the restaurant I met with an old tutoring student I helped graduate due to her language barrier she still had to handle coming over as a transfer. Adagio had… security issues with that and I had to assure her who my study partner was. She was so paranoid that it ended up revealing how she lost her family and it was news to Aria and Sonata as it was to me. She kept that secret from her own pod. Adagio ended up riling herself up so much she left the table and out of worry I ended up going to check upon her. Do you want to know what I saw?” she asked as she noticed how Oratoria seemed to hang on every word as if she were desperate to know everything in order to further her way into Dazzle’s good grace.

A simple nod of the head from the befuddled siren permitted her to go on.

“I walked into the women’s bathroom and there she was hunched over the sinks with other women who had been in there unconscious on the ground. I tried to make sure they were okay by first ensuring Adagio was okay herself but she… she was very unstable emotionally and magically.” Sparkle admitted as she winced from seeing the anguish which drove Dazzle to the extremes.

“What do you mean unstable?” the other asked with a mixture of appall and wonder.

Taking a deep breath, “She couldn’t understand why she was given a second chance to live by her parents, she couldn’t understand why they had to go. That she couldn’t hear them anymore, that it made her feel so alone that caused her pain. During all this… she had been using her own mana to contain herself but it only backfired horribly.” Shuttering again as she remembered the destruction of not just the stalls and the room but of what else to her own body.

Oratoria looked to the ground as she thought about the notion and it seemed to come back to her like a tail slap from under the chin. Using magic to inhibit spiritual essence was something a siren should never do if her mother was right, one of the lessons she was told uniquely by her mother. It was because of two other sisters who were competing for the lead spot on the youth group, both the polar opposite of each other. Tangerine the vocal one and Iridenia the stoic, if Tangerine felt she had the better voice she made sure every hatchling knew it by heart. While Iridenia kept her composure strangely peaceful no matter how strong Tangerine came up to her to prove it. The other adults saw matriarch traits in both of the girls, but for the quiet one they only barely discovered how she kept her cool so consistent. Her mother told her that it was a natural thing for an inexperienced siren to do in order to prove themselves and attain the rank in the hierarchy they so desired. Just like the same fate which awaited those who overused their infantile powers once their gems breached their chest scales, if one maintained a magical restraint on their emotions they would soon find out which was more powerful. Their magic or their feelings, for their own kind were as deeply emotional as their voices were unsurpassable to any other living creature of Equis.

“I know what you’re talking about…” Oratoria admitted.

“You… do?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

“Tell me what else happened next first.” She asked, tantalizing her lesser’s inquisitive brain with unspoken knowledge.

“She destroyed much of the room by barely walking towards me, I later deduced that her powers were waning and there were fluxes in the containment field which burst outwards. Similar to how the sun lets loose solar flares. It all amounted to a final disparagement over her lacking victories and… I guess that was when the bubble burst.” The cool breeze wafted by the two as it gently stirred the grass around them.

“And?” she pressed further.

Twilight looked away remembering the sounds of bones breaking, a sickening crunch she wished she never heard, “She hurt herself and continued for a moment before I was able to stop her. I couldn’t do anything… I was paralyzed by the force of which she exerted into the floor! I don’t care if I was somehow forced into caring for her, no one should harm themselves no matter how depressed or infuriated they might be at anything. When her magic had been all but used up in her wrath, I… her hands… she broke them and that was when I ran into her. I held her tightly to stop it all… No matter who she was or what she wanted to do with dark magic, she was in so much pain!” the sensation of tears in her eyes started to build up, the agony of the other had become ingrained in her thoughts.

Oratoria had lost all her righteousness she once held towards overpowering the mutant she had immediately despised from the get go, now she felt shame. Shame in herself for holding Adagio so highly that she was believed to be impervious and better than even herself when there were admittedly occasions that she felt that hope of finding the only family she had left was no longer reachable. She knew the grotesque false siren spoke the truth, she could taste the sincerity and traces of love or admiration.

“You comforted her? Even though she committed such acts in the past? You still looked past that?” Ora began to realize why Adagio was so affectionate of the mistake of nature.

Nodding as she returned eye contact, “Perhaps it was... because she looked like any other human being? Or maybe I saw a little of myself in her? To be honest… I know what it’s like to miss someone who leaves for whatever reason and you’re dependent on them. Unlike Adagio’s horrible past my bond with my brother is still strong and he’s alive… he just has his own busy life… and I never knew how to make friends properly. I became objective in my studies as a way to keep sane I guess?” she darkly chuckled, “To show Shining Armor that I could become just as productive and intelligent as he was, without him… by myself.”

With a harrumph that leveled the sour mood, “So that explains why you forgot about her?” Oratoria smirked, “And here I thought you were so stuck up for being smart.”

Having been thrown a loop the reaction was dulled until words finally worked through Twilight’s maw, “Wait who are you referring to? I’m not sure I follow?”

“Seriously? Like when I enrolled into C.P. I saw you two hanging with each other like two sisters of a pod even if they were not related!” she covered her mouth with a hoof as she laughed slightly.

“But there was no one else? How far are you going back?” Sparkle persisted determined to find out who the other person was.

Shaking her head side to side the turquoise siren finally revealed the subject of their new discussion, “Sugarcoat.”

“What?” came with a gasp.

“Really? You’re going to respond like that? You two studied together, worked on projects, and from what I could tell were a pack all your own. One of the healthiest ones I ever saw at that daycare center you call an academy.” To which Ora burst into a fitful mirth much to Twilight’s chagrin.

It took moments before those old memories came forth, but Ora was right as she remembered it all as it came in segments.

Almost as if the remembrance created a headache, Twilight sat up and gripped her head with her gripping digits of her wings, “My first days there… I… I entered the science fair and won first place while… she… got second. We… she asked if I wanted to study with her for the next fair. She liked my idea of solar panels for roof tiles in order to help produce clean energy!”

“Ya and she was also the one who initiated your breakup without you even knowing it.” Another owl sang nearby in another shadowy tree though this time it sounded like accented hoots.

“Ohhh this is all too much to take in, how did we ever distance ourselves? She always looked so forward to our sessions together.” Twilight felt terrible at having let herself forget about the only real student she found good ground with and whom had initially not treated her with the usual attitude.

Oratoria repositioned herself into a resting posture as her tail swayed gently behind her, “I remember it, Poseidon granted me the chance, I had come back to the school after searching for Adagio in a part of the town that morning. I saw you two walking to your class or whatever and heard it all. I don’t know why she said it, but there was a definite flavor of love and respect in her words. When she promoted the idea to get your own lab, and I’m guessing she insinuated that you’d invite her along. But…”

Sparkle caught on quickly and regrettably, “… but I went with the notion and went to Principle Cinch immediately. I left her in that hallway when the possibilities of a serene atmosphere to conduct pertinent research became an option for me. I… became so consumed… I’m such a horrible person.”

Negative emotions arose from the winged hippocampus like the smell of a tasty stew or the town’s barbeque dives. Though coming from another siren it had a very bitter after note that made a perfect deterrent from feeding off of, Twilight was still human to her and the error was easy to make. A sad packmate was not an ideal one and she needed to remedy that pronto as they were still by far in dangerous territory.

“Cheer up you monkfish, before I left the school I sensed she still had it in for you. A part of her wants to still be your friend and partner. Just her own nature makes it harder for her to do so.” What little hope she offered did liven up the girl before her.

“Then… it’s settled, once and when I return home not only will I bring back magic for everyone but I will reestablish a good friendship with her then. Or at least try…” Twilight fiddled with her hooves.

“Ha! It’ll be easy darling, I mean she cares quite a lot about you enough as it is. If you catch my drift?” Oratoria wiggled her brow jokingly and snickered to her own humor.

Leaving Twilight pondering at what she meant the sensation of exhaustion felt like she could sleep once more, like she had done something to permit it. So the true siren turned in place before resuming a good sleeping position and proceeded to plop herself down onto the green bed for some well deserved rest. Tapping her hoof so that the other girl would follow in tow and place her tail under her chin for a better pillow to lull off into.
“WHAT!!?!” if sirens could blush, Twilight might have had her cheeks darken a deeper shade of eminence.

Ch. 7 Solar Eclipse

The smoldering castle still screamed with agony as the damage from the titanic beasts had fatally ruptured from within flying away from the once majestic monument to friendship. Though the rain of its waning walls finally calmed to a light drizzle, it was nonetheless a ruin from which nothing but an awesome magical being could all but restore it to its former glory. It could be easily seen from the wider swathes of Ponyville town limits even from the rolling orchard hills of Sweet Apple Acres. A farm whose owners had all but left it when the great giant of destruction had swooped from the little village and set it aflame, leaving the elder within the farmhouse locked down for any more danger to come and protect the apples. The real threat however was far beyond those feeble eyes and deteriorating hearing of the green apple colored pony, for deep within the acres of fruit trees where no one could find them were the two exiles.

Awaiting in the fjord, the taller of the two stood on watch as they awaited for the arrival of the gemless sirens, the human girl, and Yellow Tail unaware that they would never come no matter how long they waited. His eyes darting back and forth worried if the infamous Arcana mages might be on their tails. The mage could feel his magic returning slowly bit by bit as the natural mana winds were absorbed back into his being further aiding the natural restoration of his well, Yellow had said that would happen with being magically capable creatures as they were. Akin to placing a potted plant back into the sunlight after being stored in a windowless room. It was not a strange notion to Emerath who had heard further claims from Seraph who was a griffon of his own word. Having received his magical abilities through that lost book he acquired the same benefits as well as the downfalls of a unicorn, especially magical exhaustion which ran the risk of using his own body and life forces as magic. Sometimes the Maneland mage wished he took the primary magic health courses spread throughout his learning years instead of taking them in the very beginning.

From his inner thoughts, stimulated of course by his compatriot who seemed to be enjoying real food once more the germane wizard used the meager little magic he had already amassed to pluck the juicy red delicious from their stems. His pudgy face jiggled like two water balloons with each chew and bite of the succulent treats, by then there were fifteen apple cores discarded laying about the stallion and the quivering backpack ruffling about to his right.

“Where are those merfolk?! Blast, they should have arrived by now?” the vigilant wizard scanned the deeper ends of the plot they hunkered in, seeing only birds and rodents.

“Vere are zey indeed? Perhaps a day or two here might not be zat bad Emerath? Come enjoy zes fine heavenly vonders!” Schrodinger chuckled lightly as he devoured the last fleshy morsel of the apple he held in his magic, the pack soon burst open after a tiny clawed hand ripped off the one buckle which kept the lid secured.

“I’d rather not my good friend, this area will soon be swarming no doubt with Royal Guards and even those red dastardly fools. I for one do not wish to be sent back… not again.” The Manelandian had brought out and held dearly the little medallions of which still held the preservation spell guarding them from danger. After merely feeling that they were still in his possession he quickly hid it back under his own ornate robe from prying eyes feeling the warmth of the heated metal that adjusted to his own.

A short belch erupted out of the germane pony, “Zoses fools… ack! You reminded me of vhat I hoped to set aside.” He sighed before noticing the little ruckus of the package he hid through a dimensional pocket portal before they jumped through the gateway.

“Yes Schrodinger, the Arcana has likely seen Inferno’s little act and is probably ready for some of us at least. If that Sub Warden back in the prison world seemed to hint at anyways? It is best by sundown that we head back to our homelands before they lock down the ports. Bellends would do that and spark some kind of wanted poster panic just for us!” Emerath groaned as the escape routes he had meticulously plotted before the return ran through his mind.

The older gentlecolt arose to his hooves and stood before the parcel wondering what was stirring within bumping the flip lid of fabric, “Ve still have to figure out how far ve are into ze future… I can already see it von’t be very good.” his wrinkled eyes squinted as the pack opened up.

“That was something we were already mentally prepared for thankfully, in a way… I’m kind of glad we won’t be seeing our old friends and family. We can both start with a clean slate and I can bring my fellows into the light, perhaps if they’ll understand then I can once again try to demolish that stone once and for all.” The notion came to him how he would bring some kind of fighting force to repel those accursed bat ponies, for once the obstacle was removed then the full light of the gods could back all his promises he’d make to the Maneland.

From the backpack that Paradox had nabbed after noticing it was left behind, the latch flipped open and there lay a most stirring development even more so for the exiles who heard the commotion. Catching an awe from the Master Mage who peered over was a baby dragon who possessed soft aloe green frills accompanied with luminous jade eyes, lavender hardened scales which could likely bear temperatures up to mid two thousand degrees Fahrenheit gleamed under the filtered sunlight from above like a wet pasture. Assuming he remembered the old ancient biologi classes he once taught, with the aid of tame calm dragonlings at the time. He knew who the backpack belonged to but couldn’t fathom how it ended up bearing such a creature, had Yellow Tail given her something which would hatch said specimen?

Those curious orbs constricting into slits from the exposure of the day looked about until they found the portly stallion, “Hhhh…hhhhhi… hhhiiiiiiii…” the tiny thing strained and panted like a common canine before even its own vocalizations were realized, the reptile perking up at hearing not barks or whines but a translation of another.

With wide eyes Paradox stood on all hooves, “Extraordinary!!”

Emerath had heard and looked behind him, that higher pitched voice set him off as a third being around them and not the obese wizard. Worried they had been found he panicked with the snap of a finger only to find Sparkle’s package alive with an Equis denizen and Paradox treating it like a human child would a shiny object.

“I vonder if it can talk? Say little one do you have a name?” the elder asked with a joyful smile while studying the baby dragon

“Sp…sssp…” the little drake forced himself to say something of an answer through a whole new tongue and vocals, “Ssssppiiiike!”

Both mages found themselves surrounding the one called Spike, they remembered the eavesdropping they did when scouting out suitable humans to help their cause under Yellow’s orders. Twilight owned a pet of some kind calling it that name with such adoration and love common of a pet owner. Though what had she owned that the portal would convert into one of the most dangerous monsters of their homeworld was beyond their wonderment.

The taller of the two mages inquisitively circled the nearly outgrown hatchling trying to ascertain a reason for its creation, “Hmmm… would a name like Twilight Sparkle mean anything to you little dragon? That is if you possess a deeper cognition that I believe?”

Both mages noticed Spike spring up as if he knew her by heart, “Spiiike! Ssspiike!” he bopped up and down inside the pack happy as a clam, “Where Twiiilllight!?” his tail wagged vigorously betraying his canine origin beating the fabric like a drummer.

“Interesting, so it has some form of vocabulary? I wonder where or how it learned to even speak like that? A parroting behavior maybe? Dogs are quite loyal as they are smart.” Emerath proposed making a second pass around.

Schrodinger however took to the puny thing as if it were a little puppy and rubbed its scaly protected cranium which was received with seemingly appreciated feeling, “Give me strength from zis adorablness! Ha ha!!”, Spike’s forked tongue waggled about his mouth like a limp eel.

Seeing the seriousness of the matter sapped away like a broken potion orb Emerath shook his head and ceased trying to understand the circumstance, “Safe to assume then this is not a security breach?”

“Zis? Zis a problem? Nein Emerath, tis but a pup und baby draco! Ve have to return him to Twilight, it is only proper thing to do?” earning a sigh of pain from the lanky magician before he returned back to his post on watch.

Plopping his flanks down onto the grassy ground away from the silly antics, Emerath shook off the pep from the little discovery as he resumed a stoic mood, “Try to at least keep your focus my fine companion? Remember when the time comes we still need to tend to our own personal loose ends. You have your records to confront the Arcana about and I have an errand to run. We’ll return Twilight’s pet as a debt repaid for our return, but we will have to make ourselves less obvious we’re wanted fugitives. That also means to… keep up that kind of positive easily distracted attitude of yours if you don’t mind. Makes us seem less like powerful wizards actually… for whatever passes as such these days.”

Schrodinger nodded silently as he morosely tore his ministrations from the friendly dragonling, taking a moment to look at his uniform he’d been banished with. Germane mages like any other school of magic had varying colors depending on level of mastery in the art, for one of his stature his appeared deep green with gold embroidery along the edges. Each Germane character spoke of his history from birth to his graduation into the second highest rank among his peers, his accomplishments, and his focus. Walking around in Arcana Eastern Sector attire would be an easy way to get pinned for an outsider especially in Equestria where even back then they were known for being skittish though their motto of being open to new friendships said otherwise to the Germanes and newly established Manelandians. Memories poured forth of the old life he use to live, the glorious mountainous landscape and the centuries old culture of food and music which in their own way told the tales which made the kingdom so stable.

How fond the memories were to him and yet so was the competition to keep his studies funded, the gradual shift towards mechanization had affected the Arcana student body and staff. They originally focused on advancing key magic studies and application to help revitalize the agriculture of the lands which had since sapped away almost all the nutrients and minerals that devastated old kingdoms. Bits seemed to push towards industry which most of sound mind and consciousness knew was a bad route to enhance. He had been out spoken against the meddling of Noble Houses funding specific projects and drawing more and more scholars away from the good path. He might have even never found those notes and data had he not been rivaling the creator of the airships.

As a scholar himself it was an ever present realization that societies shifted after a hundred years or so, historical studies were a necessary requirement to becoming a mage in his homeland unlike the Scholar Arcana. As magic, as with history, was just as dangerous in itself if caution was not taken to avoid catastrophes that befell other unfortunates who let innovation dive past its limits. Everypony of Germane knew about the fall of Mycea, the dread lands of Novosok, the disaster that created the desert of Camel Karesh, and the massive crater from the desolation of the Blue research project by the Ibex. All horribly wrecked cities, kingdoms, and homes when unicorns or other mages from various capable species explored what should best be left to the forbidden archives of magic. Limits that should never be tested and yet were which bore the consequences for future civilizations to avoid, such was magic as it changed from species to species and greed in some aspect fertilized the groundwork.

All the two foreign ponies could do to keep hope alive was to bank on their homes to be at least still present, they could always acclimate to a new atmosphere of thought and law over time since no pony would even recognize them. Having no place to go back to would be far too devastating for their spirits, they’d long since gotten over homesick after the first two hundred human years. Now that they were back on Equis soil that hardiness was a glass pane just waiting to be shattered.

Paradox gazed back at the little reptile and could not escape from the small smile that came across his face, “Such a tiny thing vith no real problems… how lucky your vorld is.”

The germane ruffled the soft head crest which hadn’t yet hardened into sharp spines, the look of concern had dawned upon Spike as his empathetic senses detected. A little moment they shared was soon interrupted by an odd pop exploded behind them with a flash of red bathing the area for a few seconds. The wash of mana had the tall tale signs of a teleportation spell had been used to deliver somepony or something near them. The overhanging threat of Arcana retribution however was what the stallions were afraid of and even though their magic had only just barely been given a glass of water to a nearly depleted tank, they were ready to use what little they had. Not wanting to use the one capacitor gem they were given for emergencies only. Both their horns glowed faintly as repulsion spells were caste halfway, just enough to push an Arcana robot into one of the trees and bury them under apples. Spike and the backpack were pushed behind Paradox with a hoof knowing the little innocent one did not deserve any punishment the heartless could deliver.

They were set to unleash the offensive attack when whatever had manifested seemed to be anything but the dreaded foe. Sprawled on the earthy orchard ground like a mishap on an icy lake happened to be a sunny yellow orange pony smoking from the spell just used, with fiery mane and tail to compliment the features it subtle cues hinted at a mare. Red mana sparked around her as snaking arcs phasing into reality every second for a time, the sight of course flew over the stallion’s heads as they debated whether or not she might be an agent in disguise to get the upper hoof. Spike however was the first to take a bad liking to the arrival as he growled with tiny fangs flashed, the osteoderms that made up the spiny ridge of his spine seemed especially vibrant as his little tail swayed aggressively. For a little youngling he seemed like he could pack a punch as his viper-like eyes locked onto Sunset sensing the evil inside her, the thought to bark translated into hissing and poise.

The amber unicorn groaned as the power of the demon lord surged within her veins in a raw manner akin to the likes of stubbing the funny bone yet with a bodily wide effect. Pulsing like a hangover it would not be something she’d enjoy getting use to and the hope that it was a mere phase to her miserable future seemed bleak. Her horn blared with a stinging sensation which she’d never once felt in her younger years as a filly adapting to her mana, the spiral bone jutting forth from her forehead sparked a few times before the mystical energies subsided. Struggling to get to her four legs she stifled a groan as she did her best to overcome both the return of her original body and the shock of demonic magic to her system a far cry from what she was born with.

“Oooowww… feels like I… did get hit by that truck!” she grumbled as her internal gyroscope fought to stand up as a human would, not that her swirling head would allow.

Emerath released the repulsor spell as they stepped away cautiously and as quiet as possible, “Sweet shores it’s just a regular mare I think?”

The pudgy Master Mage however was not convinced, “Some sort of trick! She’s of no magicks known to me!” he told as the fading demonic power soon vanished like steam in a freezer.

Sunset’s ears swiveled instinctively to their words yet oddly enough she couldn’t force her head to turn to them, too busy adjusting and worried about Andras and what he would do with her. Unable to say anything to her defense the mages began to withdraw deeper and deeper into the orchard feeling an overwhelming alarm that they were somehow in peril, what they hadn’t known the cause of it all was the influence of which the demon lord from the prison world was the cause. Even Spike moved along with them, for the pup knew the malice just needed to be kept away rather than engaged as that was a fool’s errand without a pack to back him up as his doggy brain deduced.

“Well can’t say we didn’t wait, come now my Germane friend I think it is time we make our leave. We’ll return our scaly cargo to his owner another way possibly?” Emerath turned tail and galloped away, his eyes wary of any traps lying in wait in their new path.

Paradox grunted as the latest dash would harry his barely restored strength, “Zis vasn’t in ze plans!” he grabbed the young dragon with his magic while discarding the backpack.

In minutes the poor lonely unicorn was then the last pony in the forest of ruby fruited trees, not even the small critters remained after they too had sensed the dread created from the possessing evil. Like a miasma of taint anything with some level of self preservation avoided the zone as if a fire was spreading outward. The quiet was however the last thing on Sunset’s mind forcing herself to overcome her dour state, she literally felt like she had been dragged through mud and standing water then left out in the sun to burn and worsen.

Though deep within her spirit she weathered the negativity as only Sunset Shimmer could, her human version that inhabited the human world made her see to that. She steeled her resolve as good as any person sea sick on a boat trying not to succumb to nausea. Trembling on her front hooves that were just aching for her posture to stand erect they made the first steps forward to distract her from the muddling of her situation, one step at a time until she managed to move a few feet forward.

“I… can do this!” she choked.

Her vision thankfully equaled out and stability leveled making the experience of teleportation noting but a fading memory, turning to the right and repeating the steps. It was an age old remedy that was taught to all unicorn foals learning their powers and jumping through portals as she had, few ever really overcame the sensation and backlash of the spell. The mechanics in which it moved a pony from one location to another destination had a huge effect on their biology, so for the many that would never adapt to it they simply needed to get themselves moving slowly. Ensure the blood flowed throughout their bodies, clearing the fog of the mind, and returning to homeostasis in which the teleport froze in order to enact the displacement.

She turned to the right again circling around a tree trunk, “You’re almost there girl, you got this.” she said with determination knowing the biggest issue with the spell was not of her fault but the foreign power used to power the magic.

Her breathing came down as everything seemed to right itself back, though some restlessness still jerked away at her body. Finally freedom came and the location of which she jumped to filled her attention like a kid in a candy shop. She surrounded herself in some kind of farm and deep within the fields as it seemed, almost no different than Sweet Apple Acres when Applejack invited her over before the Friendship Games. Perfectly pruned apple trees with dense canopies and ripening red hearts showing signs of careful attention to every acre of the land. The bark harbored no signs of pests, there happened to be a good ground cover of nitrogen providing pea plants and grass, and nary a single leaf to litter the otherwise clean grounding. It was a nice sight to behold when she had just escaped a collapsing hallway at the cost of her life, her ears only just then recovering from the shattering of crystal.

“Looks like I at least ended up somewhere peaceful?” she managed a grin.

The smell of apples permeated the orchard as chewed up remains had been mixed into compost that had been applied around each base for every tree. Slightly pungent like the fermenting figs would along the route to school on houses that had them growing freely, a light alcohol burn in the air but nothing too strong. A hint of cucumber from the greens that made up the recipe, almost exactly like how Applejack’s family mixed up every season to which the farm girl stated it was a closely held secret of theirs. There were others when she arrived though she couldn’t have seen them at the time perhaps they might be staff or part of the owner’s family that she might find some answers and warn Princess Celestia about the threat that arrived at Equestria’s doorstep.

She sighed, “Gotta get out of this place first, then I’ll get to Canterlot as soon as possible!” she said with determination which waivered when she considered Andras, would it even be safe to go near any ponies in her state?

Idly striding on in no specific direction as her thoughts ran wild, ‘If I allow myself to make any contact with anypony he might get them! He’s out to create conflict and those people who created that portal can’t be good! Worse yet if he can possess me… would he take over Celestia as well? Can he even do that? Can he even make me do things?!’

As tree after tree passed by one thought came back to her and one that scared her to the bone, freezing her hooves in place just before making another step. A flare of memory that slapped her brain like one of Rainbow Dash’s soccer kicks to the goalie, the Saandie from her Mental Library.

“No…”, she gasped, “… no, no, no no no noooo! Was that what it meant?! Was that a warning to all this? A prelude that I missed?!”

That black beast of a hex that invaded her mind, how it rooted itself into her very memories even to the ones that her involuntary bodily functions were attached to. How with a cleansing spell released before it was realized could have killed her by removing the ability to even beat her own heart, yet it only came to warn her before its own magic gave out. Had the nightly cursed visits that turned her into an insomniac through paranoia really use such tactics to get her to realize its own foretelling?

She began to go stir crazy thinking the sleepless nights were abstractly attempting to gain her perspective, to perhaps train her to resist the demon general within her before he grasped her. Her hooves backtracked then sent her into a twirling of sorts as she blindly trounced about, her maddened state lost to the possibilities she may have missed. Her careful calculations, all the research, clues she thought lead her to the right path and action all for nothing besides point her in a general direction that seemed hopeful. How little she truly understood it all, and past the breaking point for her with little ability to warn the kingdom for fear of Andras warping her actions and she’d be none the wiser. That was the sole warning she ever got when she researched deities and devils among the few books she got a hold of, the machinations of the human world evil were far more insidious than even the likes of Discord and even he mentioned it. She couldn’t comprehend the plotting of the great menace nor the depths it was willing to wait for an opportunity, she was a pawn to darkness once again only instead of her own misguided ambitions it was a reincarnation of Tartarus itself.

Whispers started to come to her ears rising from the depths of miniscule volume to an audible static, yet she still moved on in any direction. Bumping into a tree trunk periodically sparking a surprise out of her as if Andras were the one she hit, the little amber unicorn eventually stumbled after tripping over something soft. Her chin slammed into the dirt hard enough to jar her out of the chaos of her mental harshness after a foreword and over tumble, sending the poor mares world flashing back into reality swirling all the while.

Finally coming to a stop upside down, her vision soon found peace after a few tense moments with the whispers dying away, “Wha… owww...” she moaned feeling cotton balls in her skull.

Before her just three feet away had been something odd and the source for her freedom from the grasp of desperation, an obvious Crystal Prep backpack. Slightly torn as if something went through it from the inside, it bore no evidence of wear and tear. Which meant the pack was fresh and untouched by time thus far leading her to see that it had to come from one person and one person only.

Turning onto her side, “That’s Twilight’s… backpack?!”

She shook her head and steadily crept over to the parcel, investigating it to find loose purple scales and shredded notebooks caused by something sharp. Those had thankfully protected thinner compact books in the front to which she waited to touch them as she searched other pockets. Afraid to use her own magic she kept to her hooves and teeth to open the zippers and pop snap latches. She made short work of the other three compartments where she found things labeled with not only Twilight’s name but with her mark or cutie mark if she were a pony. Glasses case, pencil holder, calculator, notepads, notes, and various other things she’d expect a bookworm to possess. Finding nothing of value or interest she turned her attention to the books which she removed carefully and looked over them for anything that might be useful. Her eyes did not fail her as the very literature had been titled in Equish albeit rather dated and she could sense they were under a special spell that miniaturized them for ease of storage.

“No doubt this is Twilight’s doing, with our stolen magic no less.” She grumbled at both the fact that she couldn’t release the spell binding the books to make them readable and that the very girl who owned them she couldn’t even confront.

“Why does she even have an Equish written book?! She has to be involved in all this more than what I’ve seen. Celestia’s sun be my witness I will work from the shadows and save Equestria from the chain of events she’s set into motion.” She seethed putting away the books into their original place and worked her head through the straps so it dangled around her neck, “First things first… gotta test the limits. I may have an spirit of a Demon in me, but this is MY body and I will have it back!”

Sunset prepared herself to live off the land and skirt around to hear from the air of what was going around the kingdom. She made it through Canterlot to steal Twilight’s crown, how hard could it be to not frighten the civilians nearby?

Ch. 8 Who is Twilight?

Author's Note

Sorry for the initial readers, I had some liquor while finishing editing and well submitted the wrong file... yes I hate myself for it.

Ch. 8 Who is Twilight?

Sitting in her old laboratory inside Crystal Prep Academy, Twilight worked away at the new magically fueled device which would allow continuous momentum generated power for localities with a single spell caste every two days. It was her first draft ever made since Yellow Tail had introduced her to the theory of mana and spell craft, and for that she was proud to finally make the initial idea come true for third world countries and disaster stricken areas. Drabbed in her lab coat her hair had been tied in a bun with a pencil stuck in it as usual with strands sticking out every which way from hours of labor with little in terms of a coffee break. Sparkle’s safety goggles protected her delicate eyes from the danger of the use of grinding gear to which she had to employ in the housing of the device. Some parts refused to fit in their particular spot even though she fine tuned the additive manufacturing machine recently produced that could make anything she’d need after some personal modifications of course.

It had been a few days since she’d last seen the Dazzlings, the most recent had been a late morning brunch with the trio complimented by a side dish of the usual bear hug Sonata always enjoyed supplying. They had given up seeking conquest over their old home world and had decided that it would be best to come back to her universe and live in harmony among her kind. They were preparing for a new album debut after the last two records had created a craze for their voices through their precious pendants, no longer stricken out of luck from being who they were and still loved by many. Dazzle and her Dazzlings had been happy to receive the energy from the crowd and feed off them, but she never took advantage of them and simple removed their bad tendencies for the moment like a sponge which absorbed negative intentions. The sirens were no longer seeking dominance over others and actually helped people who listened to them free themselves from repressed emotions, it lead to a better world wherever they performed. A whole new age of humanity that actually progressed in life rather than mire in stagnation she’d seen in the past before going to Equestria, it was odd to finally return and find out how little time had moved between universes.

As great as that was, she herself had been putting magic to the test in human applications for everyday life. Sending her successful findings to the National Scientific Journal where it was tested by many others with the instructions she sent and tools that would allow them to utilize mana through specialized gems from Equestria. Many still did not accept the power of magic however, the capacitor stones she charged herself from her own mana well converted the smartest brains of the world when they duplicated the process and achieved the intended results. The letters she received following the first dozen projects were a mixture of awe and shock, even with the many physicists of the likes of Cosmo De Grassi finding no way of disregarding her research as merely hocus pocus. She had finally reached the point she’d long since aimed to accomplish with her brother and the rest of the family in full support and in actual communication on a common basis. Twilight had found nirvana in her beloved field and life goals, from then on she continued to create what would save her race from a bitter end of poisoning their only home.

Tweaking a little screw into a tight fit, “There… that should complete the Mirinom Generator. It’s ready for the last prototype experiment!” She sighed happily looking at her latest creation while wiping away sweat that formed on her brow with her gloved hand, a large yet portable generator appeared as a segmented cubicle with a hollow core. Within it housed a series of rotating rings awaiting the spell which would send them into movement and begin the electrical potential energy.

She admired her work where a single quartz stone levitated in the center of the halos that hovered within the containment field she placed. The capacitor stone embedded in the circuitry poised ready to act, keeping the system in a state of idleness so it would readily activate. The very design would revolutionize the entire world for the better with a simple act or in this case a spell, so many lives would be saved by the devices and it made her ecstatic with the rising case of monster storms around the world. Her mind swarmed with further advancements to the technology to utilize mana even further to the point a single spell would last a month with only one operator, but she was happy with the current model.

Her smart phone rang on the distant countertop behind her where it rattled on the metal surface with each vibration until the call was taken. She turned in her wheeled chair to the sound before pushing herself over to the little communication device as Sonata’s face had been depicted as the call incoming. Sparkle smiled to herself having befriended the sirens to the point they had such friendly tendencies like checking in on her. Even before she had become a Dazzling the three seemed to treat her in a unique way that she found humbling even if at times Aria was rather crass, though whether that was her own assumption it was not clear enough beyond the obvious.

Thus, the Crystal Prep student reached for the phone only for her hand to surprisingly go through it as if it were intangible. She wondered if it was just a missed attempt and tried once more, but again and again her hands failed to feel and grasp the metal and polymer instrument till she fell out of her chair trying. Twilight rose from the floor blowing a strand of hair from her face and readjusting her crooked glasses before her frustration at the trick had gotten the better of her. Peeved to the point of irrational action, the girl even jumped upon the hologram and the desk it sat upon while achieving nothing out of it but hurting herself. The attempts yielded no success and the truth of the moment dawned on her like a growing dread as chicken pox pocked the flesh with pustules.

All her hopes and dreams soon became a bleak void out in despair when her reality melted into a portrait made by the famous painter Knight Gentle himself, though she was never one for surreal art herself. Her prized possession and the workstation of which she had toiled over for days on end had begun to fall apart as they too were affected by the growing infection. Surfaces and textures began to merge into nothing more than globs of a wet clay like substance. Heaping over one another till even their original colors had lost their tones, just gray nothingness persisted her sweeping eyes as the room soon fell away in loud sodden plops from tables giving in to the sheer weight of their malformation.

It dawned on her soon enough that she was not living a true life but a simulation of her thoughts, she panicked and searched for Spike only to find that he had vanished. Trying every cabinet and file drawer within reach when he failed to appear anywhere else at her call, her fingers found no purchase amid the lack of support in the matter that were furnishings. Her fingers tugged off the knobs and handles of each one she tried where she immediately shook off the damp doughy filth in disgust.

“Spike?” she cried out when her dream forced her to feel the muck of the fading laboratory in her hands.

“SPIKE!! Where are you?!” she tried again to no avail as the only hiding places left collapsed into themselves and there was not a single lump that might indicate the puppy might be within them.

She scooted away to the middle of the room on the still firm tile floor though even the corners of the nightmare realm were losing their structure just like everything else. When the molten state of the ground nearly reached her by merely feet away it seemed to stop abruptly, her body had since contracted upon itself in terror of what might happen to her own form. Not one for wanting to experience such a horrendous sensation of becoming an amorphous blob she tried to wake up, screaming in her own head as a last ditch shot. Her REM state must have been severely affected by her transformation and near traumatic experience at the crystalline structure, she didn’t know how else to force herself awake. Her anxious expectation of something else to happen petered out as nothing else happened and her panic lessened just enough for her to peer about, there was nothing familiar about where she had been at work only a moment ago. What appeared to be bulbous stalagmites akin to the cave system outside the town, a treasure protected and run by a camp of some kind that she knew not of beyond what social media had mentioned courtesy of Sonata. It then occurred to her she was in a cave, a little chamber closed off from anything else where the only door to escape was little more than stone etched by water with what oxygen she had to breathe. As crazy as the dream had gone she didn't put it past herself that the dread would involve suffocation.

While it should be dark and abyssal, she could still see the surroundings about her as if there were just enough ambient light, “This isn’t real Twilight… just an amalgamation of memories your… mind has put into a… a jumbled slide show! Yes! Exactly that!” she tried to tell herself with little effect as her hope crumbled quickly.

“I’ve lost Spike even in my own dreams… or whatever this is. I don’t even know anymore… gosh why have I never dreamed so vividly before?” she peered at the ground where limestone met ceramic tiles like some unreal melding of eons of time against man made flooring, “I knew I should have covered the psychology of dreaming after Adagio had her moment! This has all been… been…”

Something glittered softly three feet away from her in the dismal disorder of rock like some child had ran their hands through it and the state of the matter had then been pliable. From the niches and smeared texture came a shine though it was tiny, five more poked into the darkness of varying colors each making their uniqueness memorable even as they were slow to appear. The one she had been looking at soon sprouted from the limestone bedding, coming into sight was a brilliant Sphalerite with an internal light source making it stand out even more as it was revealed for her to gander at like a rising sun. The fact that it came into being was a perplexing notion even for her to figure out, it perhaps was an image from one of the tomes Yellow Tail gave her. It would have made sense if it were a ruby as it would have entailed something about the Dazzlings and the magic lesson on modifying their stones, then she’d be less confused.

That had not been the only weird thing to come forth as the other alluring gems materialized from the cavern floor all around her into a total of six. They repeated the same way the first had and glistened from their own inner light, none were of course rough and raw as she’d naturally expect. Each of the precious stones were cut and polished, she had begun to believe they were in fact a memory of her research into magic, quite possibly the capacitor gems and their other uses upon processing.

“At least this is less upsetting for me…" she squinted at two of the stones, "Is that a Padparadscha Sapphire and an Orange Spinel? The ponies used Spinels for amplifying spells and the Padparadscha for enhancing charms, specifically defensive magic?” she looked at the others as well who had almost completed their emergence, “Blue Topaz for controlling fire based spells, Red Tourmaline for healing potions and salves… Purple Lepidolite is the equivalent to a void stone against dark magic.”

She studied them while they remained for the time being, hoping to find some true reason for their placement around her. Yet for all her hurried analysis she came up short, fearful of even touching them lest the nightmare come back and she’d experience not the melting effect that ruined her lab but crystallization. How would that even feel aside the pain as every cell solidified, every neuron severed from its mineralized connection one piece at a time?

Twilight couldn’t contend with the horrific notion and shook her head to clear the idea away. When she came back to the Sphalerite at the left side of the former lab, it appeared to be its own sun radiating outwards more than the others, she couldn’t help but remember how it was used in magic as it distracted her well enough.

Sighing as likely something else terrible might come or hopefully she’d awaken from the debacle of a sleep she endured, “Yellow Sphalerite… the grounding zinc ore for all magical acts of pegasus, unicorns, and earth ponies. All three tribes can use it to stabilize their internal mana well if stricken by illness or if their magic is in flux. Something I probably need to acquire before my magic comes back… if it ever does.” She mourned her siren state which denied her the ability to use the ethereal energy of the very world she was stuck in, having no ruby herself to at least experience singing to feed on negative energy for research alone.

While having become a siren did bold well with the Dazzlings in terms of affinity, the incident had her in a quandary as to how to even caste spells. The initial thought of using transformation magic might have been a bit hasty, but the more she let herself sit on it in the strange dream amidst the stones the more it seemed practical. She’d have to find a wizard who’d help her, though she’d have to hope they were not xenophobic as the old tales said of Equestrians especially in her current form with rather hideous looking wings. Appearing like some twisted aquatic wyvern when dragons were not so well received by the everyday pony who were frightened of being eaten by them.

“Why can I not wake up yet? Shouldn’t dreams be just a flicker of sights and sounds?” she asked herself before going back into a fetal sitting position, hugging her legs close to her chest in the audience of the floating gems.

“Maybe something’s happening to my human brain in a world saturated with mana? Perhaps it is like some form of background radiation like radon and my physiology is adjusting to it… perhaps even dying?" her head rose at the realization that scared her, "I mean I know the scanner was the only thing allowing me to use magic in the first place so the dose of magic was limited and brief. Ohh… my… gosh! Is magic toxic to us?! Have I been slowly poisoning myself?!” her conscious thought process started to flicker as if she were really awake.

It wasn’t true that she did not run initial tests on the wavelength and frequency patterns of magic itself, the readings were detected and catalogued after the first burst and then again when the sirens were made harmless by the so called guardians. Nothing seemed to hint at anything as dangerous as gamma let alone alpha radiation, then again she hadn’t put much thought into the issue further when she had been gifted knowledge of the unearthly power to do godly things. She was tossed too quickly into the banished plans to help the sirens survive to take the extra precautions especially after the device had given her some ability to act with. That night at the home of the exiles when she apparently transformed into something horrible and powerful, that alone was the point of no return for her system if it found the energy hostile. The utter fear she might even be on borrowed time threw her for a whole other loop into madness, one which the dream world seemed to react to.

“I can’t be in danger!?! I… I… I haven’t even begun to start my research projects into utilizing magic! But if my theory is right then I’ll only be bringing destruction to my world? Has this been nothing but a wild diphoton excess chase?!” she grasped her head trying to calm herself down as she rocked on her bottom back and forth.

The six stones soon shone brighter than before to the point they were nearly spotlights upon her, but to the poor girl they were still nothing to notice with glued shut eyes. Only the soft touch of a hand upon her shoulder could bring her out of her stress and oddly enough one did. It removed the shroud of hopelessness when Twilight realized that there shouldn’t be anyone else in the cave pocket with her. Slowly she looked peered through over to her left where the hand had perched itself, she swallowed the growing lump in her throat when her sight almost mistook it for her own flesh and bone had the skin been a couple shades lighter. Soft dainty fingers barely gripped her shoulder sporting a dark amethyst nail polish which seemed to absorb the very light around her that then threatened to blind Twilight as she fought to see through it. Through squinted eyes the hand led up to a being standing behind her though before she could properly see who they were large obsidian wings flung outwards and quieted the gemstones light.

“W… what?” Twilight gasped as the tiny sealed chamber's ceiling up above had started to break apart, falling away as large square pieces of confetti in the wind.

“Settle down child, for you are safe.” Announced a voice eerily similar to her own only authoritative in tone with a softness to it that only do so much could calm her jarred nerves.

Everything vanished like a crumbling house of cards to reveal an expanse of a purple Orion Nebula, just like the one her father had shown her when she was just a child in the sword itself. When the floor she sat on fell away to the bottomless vacuum of space only the new visitor, the stones, and she remained upon an invisible surface. Seeming to float through the vastness of the galaxy in its entire splendor as well as abject horror to how they seemed to simply exist with no end or barrier in either direction. Stars and gaseous clouds encompassed them though it should have been a fascination to behold, the source of the new entity behind her was the most commanding of her focus.

“Who… are you?” she asked plainly with no course of action to take besides seeing what had come next to her in the never ending delusion.

The massive wings she had spotted ruffled just enough to be heard and they appeared to be similar to her own in the waking world. With the exception of being far more avian than that of the mighty aerial reptiles that were Yellow’s and Inferno’s, the being herself walked around Sparkle to appear in all the glory her figure demanded. Something seemed off and very familiar to the girl as if she were intimately knowledgeable about the other young woman from the wardrobe to the glowing horn and masquerade mask of radiating ice blue energy.

The hair seemed to float all on its own into air above her like a flame of a fireplace, deep rose cerise and rich indigo colored what would appear to be the red portion of the conflagration while the hottest part was simply black as the darkest part of the universe beyond the fringe of any distant galaxy. The strapless dress shared the same tones as the demonic looking woman’s ephemeral attire was stylized with two prongs topping above her meager bosom curving to points where they lead the eye to the same symbol that was her birthstone. The eight pointed dark pink star that had been tethered to a choker around the woman’s neck, a fashion statement she was not been herself fond of if anything the other girls seemed to like to wear. Her skirt seemed to spiral from the right as extra cloth tapered off into a ripped end which delicately flowed behind her gait as if it had no mass to the fabric. More of her birthstone complimented the dark wardrobe, another additional skirt that was held by a larger version of the symbol hugged it to the waist of the slender woman. Both her arms and legs had some form of stocking or decorative thin material, her feet sporting wings like the Greek messenger of the pantheon gods known as Hermes. Shoes which had the same power that decorated her face with the mask and horn sported a simple gem she couldn’t remember the name of, but all in all the new transition of her sleeping state then become an interesting one.

“I… am you.” the villainous woman replied having stopped her movement four feet before Twilight with an emanating dominance not directed at Twilight in particular.

“You’re me?” Twilight tried to remember while readjusting her glasses.

The other young woman nodded with no show of emotion, “I am, I am the magic that is inside of you. The very magic denied to you by the blood seal that he put on you.”

Twilight’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she attempted to scoot away only to halt when she remembered there was no floor under her, “You… you can’t be! You’re me when I… I nearly attacked the students and Principle Cinch!”

The creature nodded, “I am the state you assumed when you gave into the power. The power… of MAGIC!!” she rose a closed fist into the air before her, trembling from the exertion to make a point.

“Then… then you are exactly what I need to stay away from! I might be dying because I’m using an energy that does not exist naturally in my world… anymore that is. This whole dream right now may be the onset of hysteria and I don’t know how to stop it!” she fired back though cowering fearfully herself.

What embodiment of magic that was the avatar bore the qualities of her likeness seemed to stop before such an argument, her fist fell back to her side as she resumed to a dormant state. The large raven wings folded inwards as if they had lost all strength, rather unlike a bird as they simply remained behind her.

“I never wanted to hurt anyone! What I nearly did at Canterlot High was inexcusable and not something my brother and my parents would ever be proud of. I will make amends to everyone I scared in doing so. I’ll… I’ll learn more about magic before I ever use it again, for my sake as well as everyone else!” Twilight’s eagerness to prove herself a new person had of course earned no further retaliatory reaction, rather instead it seemed there was something else behind the being’s presence.

“That thirst for knowledge is who I am. I was born of it, given life from the magic you stole from the guardians… to who I now know what they were and their equivalent in this world we reside in. I am not your enemy Twilight Sparkle. And I can assure you… as my vessel from which I was created within, you are not suffering any illness of any kind.” the winged woman kneeled down to her knees as if trying to be less menacing and more equal between the two.

“You’re… not? I’m safe? Then… why can’t I wake up?” she asked while wanting to nudge herself a little farther away, but the fact that stopped her was the void of space itself and where the invisible ground ended.

“If you were to die then so would I. That I cannot allow. You are my vessel and I must know everything there is to learn about magic. For it gave me life from your very ambitions… you are not expendable.” the other her insisted, “What you are feeling… this vision…”

Twilight observed as the other deity seemed to gaze around them at the divine astral phenomenon of the nebula that was part of the sword of Orion. It was rather strange to sense a very human element to her dream, but what if somehow this construct was indeed a manifestation of magic they had sealed away within her?

“… this realm is the magic protecting you from those who’d seek to deny it from you. Did you hear the voice in the previous slumber?” her magical manifestation asked as their glowing electric blue sclera all but entranced her, the lavender irises honing in on her own as if to secure the connection they shared.

Twilight nodded, “I… yes I did hear something. Are you saying someone out there tried to invade my dreams? How is that possible unless there are latent telepaths?”

“Yes and no, something stalks the minds of those who sleep but only during the night as it seems. I may be sealed into inaction in the real world… but I can still protect you from those who would seek to bend your will to theirs.” The woman replied.

“Wow, that’s… not something I expected… I think it may have been Princess Luna? She was the Lord of the Moon and the Keeper of Dreams for all of Equestria? Oh no… if she ever discovered I was the one who brought the exiles over…” Twilight started to worry as likely she’d be given to a manhunt or the equivalent in pony terms.

The other her seemed to notice and extended a hand out in friendship or at least an agreement of some sort, still baring the emotionless face she had worn throughout the encounter. It suddenly broke into the release of a smile of some sort which was unsettling at first until it wore on her in hesitation.

“Worry not as I, Midnight Sparkle, will not allow anyone to harm you. Neither magic nor an aggressor shall lay a hand on you, blood seal or not. I just need you to promise me as I aid in your survival that we will gain knowledge of the sacred arts we so very crave, everything that there is to learn, nothing forbidden denied to us?” she offered with a still held out arm ready to complete the agreement.

Twilight still seemed reluctant to agree seeing as how her partnership with Yellow Tail had gone as badly as it did, “So you promise me no one will be harmed? No kingdom set on fire? That before you act against anything or anyone you will ask me first?” she tried to read into the fine print of a likely devil's free wish.

Midnight’s weird smile did not falter, “What is a vessel if it repels me in every way? I will not step beyond your comfort zone that we can agree, however… your life means more to me than anything else. I will protect you when the time calls. I do not desire to die either... Do we have a deal?”

With that it seemed as if she’d have no choice but to take the offer, perhaps she might find a way to pacify the magical concentration which yielded the thinking mind of Midnight Sparkle?

“I don’t want to do any more damage out of ignorance of my actions. I want to help Adagio overcome her grief, but I also want to keep the ponies of this world safe from her… understandable hatred of them. I want to be able to use magic since I’m going to trust your word that it is not harming me in any way.” She nervously grinned to the entity before her, “I have enough regret right now, so as long as you do not add to my surmounting list. Then I, Twilight Sparkle, agree to this union.”

Her arm rose and both hands clasped one another, where upon contact their placement in space seemed to waiver and blink through existence of her dream. A cool sensation followed by a spark came from Midnight’s hand and flowed into her body like an invading serpent of electrical energy, it only made her own muscles contract as she yelped feebly. The speed of which the sensation came and went as the world in her mind began to falter had to have been in seconds as before she finally started to wake up. Midnight said a final last few words before their meeting had ended.

“We do it for her.” The Doppelgänger’s voice echoed as alertness came through, nothingness washed in with the feel of something soft under her scaly body.

Ch. 9 What's to Eat?

“We do it for her.” Midnight’s voice echoed off into the abyss the dreamer had been whisked away to.

“… do it for her.” Slowly the obscurity began to lighten from a veiled orb of illumination off in the distance=, casting an ever surmounting gray pushing past the void.

“We… for her.” Then a chorus of many voices rose from the one that had been Midnight’s, they whispered words in nearly perfect unity.

“… for her…” each voice had begun to make some sense as to each of their owners not long ago whom she’d seemingly encountered, an attempt Twilight did not make herself but their designation was lost as the screen of a dismal realm transformed into a multicolored vista with her mind finally rose from slumber.

Being stirred naturally from her deep slumber the minuscule fragments of the conversation she had with Midnight fell away till just a few shards were left as common for her to usually forget what she had experienced most nights. Fluttering her eyes they opened to a bright fair morning up above where the sun itself had risen, just enough to barely begin peaking through the tree tops like perforated construction paper with a flash light behind it. A couple of wide yawns escaped her toothy maw as if she had overslept which she did, an alarm of being late for school that came automatically to her had been stunted in its sprouting stem by the vista of raw nature that her senses only then realized in its entirety.

Among the tall pines the birds sang and flew through with practiced elegance, and the broadleaf species that had a whole new array of arboreal rodents played and ate the seeds provided by the untouched wilderness. Butterflies were fluttering to the newly opened blossoms of the clearing the girls had chosen to rest in, and bees buzzed by Twilight’s snout on their way back to their hive somewhere out of sight packing nectar and pollen. A fly landed on her right leg and danced about looking for anything to eat, its tickling legs and mouth part had her look down from up high and spot the little visitor. Her long dark tail came into view just behind the appendage which caused her to remember everything from yesterday and how close to death she had come, the rampage of the dragons and abduction of the Dazzlings followed suite.

Rather than freak out she let her well rested brain go to work and analyzing the anatomy that was beginning to warm up to her nearly as if it were natural. Her large hawk-like eyes methodically gazed at her hooves from whence the fly had landed upon first the bare flesh that bore no armor plates in terms of scales. She twisted her right forelimb which triggered the underarm fin to open like a picture book, along with the glistening plum colored skin the translucent membrane stretched taunt with the three spines. Another color seemed to be sported in bands that arched through the fin, though her specialty was science in Physics, Chemistry, and a little Astronomy from her father’s work she had a general understanding of biology. Her thoughts took in the whole limb from the cloven hoof tipped like a spear all the way up to the shoulder to which her long dexterous neck permitted with far less strain than her human form would have created. She made sense of the skeletal structure in comparison to her previous body as it had with equines, from a snippet in one of the books she had been given.

“Huh? I’ve only now been able to actually notice…” she yawned with a wide parting of her mandible, “… ah! Excuse me.”

She still needed to get out of the pit they slept within and stretch herself, only then could she really understand how much she needed to care for her new life. Though as the itch to move about began to will her into action she only then saw the absent space of Oratoria before her. Surely she hadn’t slept too long or had Equis’ definition of daylight possess a far longer degree of time than her home and a twelve hour start to a day was far more?

The depression in the bedding of gathered plant matter showed no signs of struggle or any indicators she was taken by force. This only told Twilight that she left of her own will most likely and being a fully fledged siren with her born gemstone she had some protection from Timberwolves and the like. Using her ears to pan about reactively she started to search for any sign of Adagio’s lost family member, however the tall grasses let her see only to an extent even as she rose up like a crane searching for prey in a wetland.

“No technology means no alarm clock like I’m use to. Being turned into a siren might have a whole other physiology I’ll need to understand so I’m not weakened by ignorance.” She thought as back home she’d have gone to sleep early enough and woke up by the break dawn by her digital clock that sat diligently on her lamp post, or the other one in her lab.

The routine allowed her to tend to Spike and his need to go outside to relieve himself as he usually whined and barked around her feet as she sat up out of her bed. Once back inside she immediately followed with a quick freshening of her person for the day before constructing a balanced breakfast and leaving for the bus for Crystal Prep. Her old human life swam in the back of her mind as her lazy sight gazed upon the dreary forest after ceasing to look for the turquoise hippocampus. The crinkling leaves and plant matter she had used to make the impromptu nest had become dried fragile shards, berating her sensitive hearing like the sound akin to broken glass being crunched and kicked about. As she finally made an effort to get out of foxhole she winced at the commotion she created as her weight obliterated the husks of leaves and tassels of wheat heads and stalks. Shoots of the heads clung to her armored body only for a little while before the outlying pasture inevitable scrapped them off and dropped the life bearing seeds onto safe ground. The crackling faded into the soft rustle of the fresh ground cover outside the pit and soft compressible rich soil that her taloned hooves dug easily into. Still being so early in the day she grunted trying to both haul herself out onto open land and organize her long muscled tail into assisting the effort.

“Gosh… I didn’t think… it was this… hard!” she put her all into it and inches by inches she finally extracted her freedom, “Or being so heavy?”

Twilight caught her breath shortly from being so unaccustomed to a workout once again, this time however with the aid of high capacity and powerful lungs the recovery came within seconds instead of minutes. Subconsciously her wings planted themselves firmly before her as she removed the weight off her front hooves and shaking them clean, it allowed her to ease herself into a calm state of body and mind. Her finned tail coiled around her to further support the upper body as a cobra in a defensive stance.

“Good to find that out, after all it does make sense Adagio’s species would possess a durable respiratory system being aquatic species. I wonder if both genders share the same capacity or do the females that sing have even more efficient lungs than the water faring males?” the tales that Sonata accounted and the admissions of the other two hinted at long durations of time to hunt and secure the daily feast all members of the pack required.

She took a few deep breathes and measured the sensation to put a number of what she guessed would be the dimensions of fully inflated lungs and volume they held. Hoping her mental library she had accessed at the battle by the portal would store it away for future study, her next thoughts went into further applications along the subject of submersion. She looked forward to experimenting in the limits she could test, how long she could hold a single breath, and perhaps how far she might go down before her body couldn’t take the pressure any longer. It would inspire spell crafting to allow normal humans to replicate to an extent if also to save them during an accident. Floods, storms, and simple riptides could be given a far less mortality rate by somehow trapping air around the individual or creating a siphon above water all through the use of magic.

Having returned back to her self-examination and forgetting the reason what she was looking for earlier, her protective layer of shielding that guarded the vulnerable belly drew her attention next. While she realized somewhere along the biceps and elbows that the cycloid scales ended existed along the core of her frame and ceased behind her ears and head as well as along the breast plating, brilliant smooth and uniform denticles that even gave off a faint shimmer of the color spectrum under the right light. Where her eyes picked up on the miniature lateral lines that created the rainbow effect she saw where the sun’s rays were reflected away as if bouncing from a mirror. This was true even for her tail as she noticed her frontal armor seemed to terminate around where her pelvic bone was, a larger and far denser type of scales protected the extremity the likes of which bore qualities of the gar species. Diamond shaped mineralized solid scales ran their length down to the huge paddle of a fin that truly was the siren’s way of swimming, prodding them as well with a hoof she could only assume they could take a beating before allowing any damage. They had strangely become a part of a project influencing a new kind of protective armor for workshops against the fragments of shattered grinder blades and the likes. She ran her eyes from the tip of her still freshly manifested appendage being only a day old as it were, back to the largest scales of her bosom and stomach region.

“That is rather peculiar that this mammal would even have such things? I would have thought they would be more like a dolphin or a porpoise to be honest. Their evolutionary tree must be one that even Devel Darwin would be proud of!” she said as her head had been bent down and upside down, “These have to be either singular or fused dermal denticles like shark skin! I can even… feel the roughness that the surface is composed of. That would explain how their gems a grown, these do have a blood supply unlike the other variations. Not to mention increasing their hydrodynamic advantage they already possess in this streamline design.”

She could not help but be amazed that her limited research in the possible anatomy of the siren race had hit the nail with the hammer on a try and a half. From what little data the Dazzlings could muster she had to base their true depiction using the various species on earth, even if their own amalgamation of beings made it a mind tangle when one took in the genome for consideration. In Sparkle’s mind she could only rejoice at the near eighty percent success rate with her narrowed models she constructed with a little artistic take of course, assuming they were like the mythological horses of the water god Poseidon of the Greek Pantheon. There were other entities as such and including the alicorns themselves to whom she primarily worked on the method of why they had so much mana at their compared to standard pony physiology. She wanted to break down their anatomy to see how they used magic innately being movers of astral objects such as their moon and sun, however that was a low tier priority with mana dominating everything else.

Thus she put on ice for later experiment using herself as the first test subject down the road once she’d gotten what she wanted done on the enormous list of projects. The few weeks’ worth of research had also pointed her into a notch of cautionary moves for her own well being when she eventually traveled to the pony world. She had a failsafe against mental deterioration if she did transform into another being though at the time it was a half chance off the portal would transfigure her as it did. She had her fears of what it might do to her mind by the species alteration knowing no two creatures were alike even on Earth. So her list biology work would cover the tests as she continued to discover all the listed species Yellow Tail had jotted down, following a chance encounter she’d put her mind to the task with the data she wrote into one of the books or of which she had with her.

“I.. lost his manuscripts with Spike didn’t I...” she sighed losing her mirth for a depressed groan, “I really really hope that maybe one of the exiles took my pack and has Spike with them?”

The dour mood kept her down only for a few minutes before she picked up the fresh smell of fish, the strong odd aroma permeated her nostrils with the likes of cucumber infused water as if it had been put before her as the first morning’s drink instead of coffee or black tea. She soon forgot about the troubling reveal as the far flung scent she’d known fish to be from the unfortunate sampling at the restaurant they visited for a family party was indeed a heralding factor in the edibility of the meat. How saddening that she had been to celebrate enrollment at Crystal Prep Academy by her parents and the night end vomiting in the toilet later that night. Fresh and easy on the nose that was the true scent of the marine animal, she knew it was fish by the subtle hint of the food she knew when her parents tried to cure her of her aversion by introducing unspoiled flesh though then she had been scarred.

It was far ahead of her that she’d heard the stirrings of another mixed with the source of the aromatics, she rose even higher up with her wings shaking to keep balance. The fragrance was not all displeasing to her once the wind maintained a downdraft that allowed her to truly appreciate the clean air. The odor was already beginning to ease into her personal tastes like a child’s first serving of fruits past the paste in jars, her long snout sniffed away sending every available receptor ablaze with the potential of food source her new biology found entrancing. Twilight had to admit that being a siren was not all that bad to wake up as with the plethora of information she was able to analyze, being a predator of a sorts did mean she could access more data as her eyes could collect every ounce of light in the dark.

The unripe melon heavy hint simply had her eyes close to better hone in on the delectable odor, able to pick up peculiar notes like a fine dinner much as she had enjoyed with the Dazzlings in their outings. Yet with every new variable came the unknown, you would never know what bitterness meant beside the vinegary acidity to the nose which thankfully did not exist in the air. How tanginess was pungent to the sense, sweetness in flavor given an enticing punch of a bakery, or savory into meatiness she couldn’t quite understand yet. Her bright approach tried to pin the possibilities of what each variable meant being translated from aromatic particulates as she was pretty sure even the aquatic life in Equis had no sugary air about them nor possessing any smack like a citrus glaze a Corian restaurant would use. There was no possible way there was some kind of food truck or cart lost in the forest they took refuge in either.

Opening her eyes from the short lived trance, she gave the sampling a little longer indulgence to satisfy her curiosity till she felt satisfied she had enough to go through later. Her fandango purple irises would soon fasten onto Oratoria who hovered above the forest floor away from her with a pile of freshwater fish she had gathered from the little pond she had used the other day to help the mana exhausted siren from her dire agony. How she missed the animals at first pervaded any initial queries other than her panic overwhelming her normally inquisitive sight. It turned out to be a rather impressive stack of various trout and bass which appeared to be their morning meal by the way it was displayed, whether or not she had in the human world avoided the cold blooded vertebrates she felt compelled to gorge herself as if a mental cow bell had been rung by the chief.

Absentmindedly and without notice her front legs had begun to turn her around and carry her onwards as a very animalistic tendency took over the subconscious mind, “That… looks… why does it look so appetizing?” Sparkle asked herself in a whisper feeling a little saliva start to drip from her mouth agape like spilled syrup on the edge of a table.

Lugging herself with little hassle, her tail snaked along its side as her wings motorized her locomotion in a dreary haze of hunger. She disturbed the grass and tall wheat-like stalks which drew Ora’s attention after she dumped what had been the last morsel she wanted to catch before eating for herself, her long fangs had pierced the still living things in their backwards facing design that no struggle could escape from. Licking her lips to clean them of the slime that accumulated around her lips she chuckled at seeing the mutant spellbound by the enticing buffet she harvested solely. Just like her mother she could hunt well and provide for herself and others, something she occasionally kept up while trapped in a human body. Using what books she could to perform research into how other marine creatures fed themselves, filling in on what her parents had not been given the time to instruct her of. Unfortunately for her, the books lacked in any audio capacity since she could not read at all and the entire process had been turned into a very lonely personal goal for her to endure. Nonetheless she made use of the time and effort just then without actually performing even once before, it bolstered her ego to be so capable that she even smiled at Twilight who was captivated by her own appetite.

Spitting the last catch into the mound she chuckled, “Morning Mrs. Thick Skull, lovely nightmares by the way I couldn’t sleep a wink after we went to sleep… again. Well it may not be coffee from that Hester’s place you humans seemed to love, but it’s at least enough to get us through the day. No eggs and bacon for you, but at least the mighty Oratoria can supply exactly what you need to not perish and wither into a carcass? Doesn’t that sound good?” she proudly announced as she took to a resting lay before her side of the mound held up by her elbows.

Twilight had barely enough time to startle herself enough to respond before she’d dive in with a vigor she’d never attain alone, and with a shake of her long neck did control come back to her, “Wha… fish? But I don’t like fish? Or at least I didn’t? Wait… why am I here, I don’t remember even moving over here? Oratoria? When did you…?”

The other siren hadn’t a clue about what the grotesque was talking about and soured at the words that happened to offend her, “Well, looks like you’ll just have to get use to it girl! You’re home now, so there are no human appliances, no stores, no… cafes. Sirens eat fish! And unless you wish to starve you better eat what I painstakingly captured myself!”

The sharp rebuke over an innocent inquiry into her own actions had definitely woken the poor girl up if she hadn’t already been, “Wait! I’m sorry Oratoria I didn’t mean to offend you honest!? I really don’t even remember feeling my arms move? Wings? Everything was numb to me and… and I was thinking about why I can taste the aromatics of craniates, but I’m simple interpreting the olfactory response to their presence I think? Is this how high tier predators sensed the world around them?”

Ora was about to snag a floundering largemouth bass when she was held off confused of the words the rude one had put into a sentence, “What?” she cocked an eyebrow as she withdrew from the buffet.

With a grumbling anxious stomach Twilight held firm and continued to defend herself, “I meant that this body seems to detect more information than what I am use to. I can smell saccharine and citrus notes coming from those… um rather fine and delicious looking specimens when I shouldn’t or at least I believe they are physically unable to do?”

It took a moment for the true siren to understand what was going on, but it was still too early in the morning and her magic still below average to try and care, “Look just get some of this and be happy with it already! I… We need to go find Adagio before we waste anymore time. You can save your thoughts for later. Now come and dig in!”

Finding no further way of atoning herself Twilight did as she was asked and allowed herself to feed without hands nor utensils, hesitation prevented any quick ingestion as her compatriot seemed to fancy otherwise. She watched first and observed a siren’s feeding habits which were easing herself in as curiosity drank in the invaluable visual information. Once again hoping she’d find a way back into casting spells and the likes, she waited with bated breath as she felt privileged that she was the only one entity to witness a secretive creature’s eating behavior since few even knew they existed.

She commentated on the act hoping that too would be memorized for a later biography that might paint the creatures in a better light, ‘The largest of the siren’s catch required notable mastication unlike what I thought I’d see at first, in a way it was like watching a sea otter bite into a reasonably sized invertebrate. She used her sharp cloven hooves to grasp the body and even pierce the scales into the muscle tissue itself to better hold onto the prey item, the fangs are doing most of the work before the mostly ruined head passed into the back molars announced by the squelching bone crunching sounds. I took the chance to lick my own mouth with my tongue and try to imagine what it might feel like, finding that even the molars which use to be flat possessed a strange formation when clamped down. The lower set of teeth seemed to be a little more inwards than the top and acted with a sissor-like action to work on any soft tissue and bone with surprising efficiency. They feel sharp as well with a v-shaped indentation down the center while the sides steeped upwards to complete the cutting capability. Likely used to soften any sharp bones a siren might encounter that they probably ate and shelled crustaceans of the likes Sonata favored.’ it then came to her knowledge how long her tongue was as she used it to study the innards of her orifice, had it been purposefully long to aid in facilitating singing, perhaps eating, or simply both?

She heard a muffled voice before her before she could ponder anymore into her personal capabilities, “Yoou goanna et hhoor whaaa?” spoke the voice with mutilated meat hampering it.

Ora seemed to be goaded by Twilight’s inaction with the fish mostly chewed halfway down its length in her ravenous nature of consumption. She even jerked her head that seemed to have some kind of non verbal connotation Twilight was unaware of, but knowing that the former Crystal Prep student had the patience of Aria there was no way to answer other than act.

Thus with a quick gulp of anticipation the purple toned hippocampus locked onto a flopping bronze speckled trout that gasped for water which would not grace its gills ever again. Unaware she was being watched by her superior, Sparkle let her tongue work outwards and touch the lively animal which in the act of contact her mind blossomed from the taste receptors that were as amazing as magic was initially to her. Something within took over once more and she quickly retracted the organ before snagging the food item with the forward incisors that gripped the slender streamline body, letting the mucus slide it into her waiting gullet by drawing her head backwards. She let herself enjoy the rush of data to her brain that she relished in interpreting, the academic knowledge that overwhelmed anything a human would interpret. Possibly a safety mechanism against poisonous fish to be that sensitive to taste as well as smell and thus allow them a wider variety in their diet once they figured what couldn’t be eaten.

The frantic wiggling soon rushed the morsel into her throat and she swallowed the trout whole without chewing as she was accustomed to, where the weird pleasure she derived from the intake had quickly forced her into another serving. Each fish she devoured had been given its fair share of time to scrutinize with varying sizes and body shapes, the notes she took were as in depth as she could word them in her mind with a mental voice recorder storing the observations away.

“Hmmmm….!!” She hummed as if having not eaten in days, her teeth snagged a river eel next that disappeared between her supple lips like a wet noodle.

Oratoria seemed oddly intrigued in Twilight’s eagerness to consume raw meat, how strange it must be for the former human to not pop a fire and cook the banquet. Instead, she embraced her hard constitution with fever guts and all, in a way she reminded the siren of her days as a hatchling just as enthusiastic. How she enjoyed every meal the adults brought from the ocean and the diversity that allowed her to favor specific items. A small smile formed at the corners of her mouth as she let the tail end of the bass she had been working on vanish with no further need to soften up into her throat. She figured the mutant was finally behaving well enough, while not a frenzy as the sharks they made quick work of the harvest and soon were happily sated for the rest of the day with little mess to be worried over attracting something dangerous. How well their trek would go and she not having to force feed the mutant, that was a prospect she hoped wouldn’t happen when she roused herself and hunted in the wee morning hours.

The last of the catch went to Sparkle thus concluding the final moments they’d share in the clearing of the Everfree, a lucky cut by fate that they were spared a predator’s intervention. They’d have to suffer through the horrid jungle conditions again and hope their fortune would continue to hold out till they reunited with the others. Ora knew all this and the low mana she possessed which meant she couldn’t carry the winged female either thus it would be very bad if they had to book it at a moment’s notice. Either way she needed to top off her water supply before they left, banking on what little magic her body might shrewdly give through the conversion process.

“I’ll be right back, need something to wash this all down. Don’t wander off.” she excused herself to an oblivious Twilight and levitated herself back to the pond thinking she saw a nod in the dreamy face of the package sacred to her sister.

She floated away as concerns arose to her forethoughts, she hoped they would never become obvious to the misshapen she had to look after least hesitance bubble up and stall them when the time came to move out. While Sparkle enjoyed the afterglow of a fully belly completely distracted and probably incapable of getting into a dilemma, Ora’s positive demeanor fell into a frown and her brow furrowed. A few dragonflies zipped by her muzzle yet she didn’t falter, a wasp bumped into her neck and its stinger found no way of penetrating the mineralized enamel, the trees about her swayed gently to a passing breeze as it came and went. A lone badger waddled under her shadow as she crossed its path but she ignored its snarling and gave it no trouble to make it aggressive even though it seemed ready for a fight.

Gliding over a clover patch swarming with skipper butterflies which dispersed by her proximity, ‘Great, we don’t even know how much further we’ll have to go with her having to drag herself! On top of that, there is a chance that Adagio escaped from that dragon and is heading in a different direction!?!’ she sighed, ‘Just gotta hope those things might do some good other than being useless flaps of flesh holding me back! I can’t carry her again.’

She groaned while puffing out air through her nostrils, focused on the one thing she hated about Twilight in general that added weight which would slow them down. Her long form swam in the air effortlessly as if she were in the very ocean itself, she knew how to solely from her mother’s teaching before she was taken from her. How strange she was able to utilize the proper spell on the go as she had when they returned, though she left it all to chance rather than dwell on it for too long. Ora used the extra height to scan the tree line surrounding their little sanctuary for anything off as her ears twitched each way they could possible go. The viper eyes contracted into spear tipped slits at either ends with the sunlight bearing down on her warming her body even if the pleasure was lost to her. One of her caliber could effortlessly root out and apprehend a stalking land beast before it could get the upper hoof on them, she meandered on her way to the waterhole with a worry free attitude when nothing showed up on her senses.

When nothing came forth to frighten off she dropped her guard for her thoughts once more, ‘There’s no telling what’s around us, likely that dumb dragon scared everything away at first… probably why we had such a passive night. If I remember correctly… I know what is normally out here in this kind of… creepy forest. We’ll be bait for those Boar Crocs if we don’t locate Adagio soon!’ her turquoise scales glimmered beautifully with each undulation in her movement as her mind went back to the one on one she had with Twilight last night, ‘I hope you’re okay Adagio I just know you are… I know a dragon cannot hurt you because you’ve already done enough to prove you’re stronger than them. I mean… just wow at what you did with your own magic going to do something you shouldn’t have even done and for how long did you keep that barrier up? If I can guess even a stone’s throw into the water… it just took the loss of your original pendants… one of which no siren should ever experience.”

She suddenly realized something terribly amiss with that admission “… by… Poseidon!?!!”

Her movements ceased as she literally froze in place by the jarring notion, the story she was told had been too spectacular to sit on any little detail beyond what it culminated for her to question. Apparently, she and the other two lost their magic through some kind of battle perhaps? Then there were the guardians she had seen the little mutant slap around and leech off of, so had those six been the ones that possibly shattered Adagio’s only way of life? How did they even survive for long and what were the circumstances that lead up to a certain Yellow Tail aiding them and Twilight mixed in there? How did they get their magic back and she being the one to do so? Where there other sirens in the human world she somehow missed or failed to detect, even other sirens from Equestria sent away by the ponies or another ‘Adagio’?

“By the All Father of the deep seas!? They didn’t have their stones when we came out of that portal did they?! But they had their powers before we jumped… so then why not anymore? Did they take another siren’s gem and the portal destroyed them while sending us here? Was that why mom always said why we never can nor should feed off our own kind… or lose our stones?” she felt appalled of the potential reality dawning on her, slamming into her head like a crashing tidal wave during a typhoon.

Her body lost a little altitude and started to drop to the green undergrowth below where it parted against the thick overlapping armor, “Did you… cross that border Adagio? Did you really break the sacred law just to ensure you’d get your revenge? Our revenge!?” a slight pinch of sickening nausea started to inch its way into her full belly, the idea that her sister would go to such lengths left her aghast in the traditional side of her being. She endeavored to understand how they even returned their powers if they did use another gemstone, to go with the concept that they just needed the gems fixed. Adagio was the embodiment of retribution if she lasted as long as she did with a pack she started without her, she should be anything but above the laws as to perform sacrilege upon her own kin even if they were of the other world. That was what her mother preached daily, the unwritten code passed down from each siren to the next even from those who lost their old homes they ensured the next generation would never be ill-bred.

Oratoria wanted to overcome the illness that started to push her stomach into evacuating the contents churning within the organ she’d recently stuffed into. Quickly, she reaffirmed the ponies to be the source of fault for everything even if Dazzle did enact the most blasphemous crime known to sirens aside from cannibalism. A scapegoat she found no problems decorating with her indignation and righteousness that overshadowed any wrong doing by the golden matriarch. If the ponies hadn’t done something to the water, made them orphans, and forced the two into some other realm then she wouldn’t have gone to such lengths. The guardians whom she felt pride over Twilight’s ability to sap them of every ounce of magic they had, like feeding heavily on a crowd till they were dull slugs. To her even those humans received a slap on the hoof, they were the criminals in the eyes of the siren with a building ferocity mounting at the two parties that chanced some kind of cooperation against them. Her muzzle drew back revealing her fangs as the hatred towards the offenders grew a few more inches within her heart, though it was still a distance away when compared to Adagio. After all she was willing to tolerate a human in her pod and loved her as if she were her own blood, what rage inside that soul must be and likely hotter than Tartarus itself?

She resumed her gravity defying hover towards the pool up ahead feeling as if the latter was the true reasoning, “After all she’s been through those ponies have to pay for what they did to us! If not taking away their livelihood then what? I lost my family too!! Doesn’t that mean anything!?! They should have made sure everysir was dead… because now they have a very pissed off siren and not just Adagio to deal with!”

The irked female arrived before the small waterhole and edged herself towards the water’s shore, her reflection in the mostly calm glassy plane showcased her adult features reminding her of a mother long lost to time. She let the burning bonfire of her spirit collapse under its own weight, if it was not from a full stomach making her incapable of being angry for long. Thus she eyed the curve of her cheek bones, her glorious fins she so missed, the pointed bony chin, and even the patterns on her fins which were nearly identical to what memory she could fathom of her parent. Gruffly groaning inwardly she capped the foam of recollection and nostalgia at the tip before it spilled over, remembering the tragic moment that her mother had decided to hide her in an old ghost shrimp hole rather than take her into the water. The moment the blast came she had been practicing with her mother to reach a new octave to enhance her standing in the chorus, and when the sand rumbled from the shockwave it was almost as if the sleek and fabulous parent of hers knew what was happening. Where she herself had been safely protected within the wall of the adults tail, all of the sudden she had been told to stay and keep out of the water. That she would be safe where she was and to never move until she returned, and Ora did as she was told as any good little hatchling did because there was no room for doubt. There was more to the past that wanted to come forth but it was shut off at the valve when a few leaves dotted the waterhole, and disturbed the dead flat mirror of her mother’s visage.

‘Was I right to track her down mother?’ she asked herself as her head dipped downwards lowered just enough that she could sip away quietly feeling the chill along her chin. The refreshing flow of the sacred crystal clear reservoir put out the warmth in her gut created by the bile of stress, she needed to calm down before she bit off Twilight’s head metaphorically speaking.

Left alone bemoaning the question itself, the forest seemed to feel her wrath as if it were somehow empathetic to her situation. Trees began to creak and croak though their leafy canopies and crawling vines seemed unaffected, the noisy sparrows and doves left the area as crickets went silent. Something mystical blew through the mana winds that saturated the atmosphere as the air itself, even though Ora was daft to its ethereal presence it happened to concentrate around the most permeable substance available. The water itself glowed a faint white just enough that she might have noticed had she not closed her eyes to settle down, though it was nothing beyond what could have been a reflected ray of sunlight to anyone else for the short duration it lasted.

She swallowed the last mouthful while keeping her lips just below the pond’s surface thinking once more, ‘I could have easily looked for others and joined another family? I could have grown up like a normal girl instead of wasting all those years, so then why didn’t I?’ she sniffled holding back a growing regret of knowing so little about Adagio with what little time she had with her, once more she was separated when the future had been within her hooves. She felt confused and lost as to what she should continue to do when fate seemed to persist on hinting at quitting the duty altogether, three issues that all made it harder for her to believe the old pack could even be restored.

A twig snapped the in brush across the waterhole but she failed to detect it as she mired in the stew of doubt, and she continued to lay in the trance as further stems of shrubbery gave way to something sneaking forward exceptionally obscured as a proper hunter should. Every ten seconds the leaves and branches shook as a bulk of fur pushed through the vegetation bending them forwards until they slid back into their proper place, that very disturbance Oratoria hadn’t noticed even then.

“What I want may not be what Adagio seeks, does that mean we’ll be safe or will we both be doomed to exile again by those sinister ponies? Am I so focused at being her second best that I might… be…” her cheeks scrunched as the natural order vied for control of her actions, comfort came with going to the norm and dread from simply heading out to sea in hopes she’d find others. Both meant she’d find a horrible end meeting a dangerous monster or the fearful ponies and their magic, either side of the scale had little incentive to go for other than familiarity with Dazzle.

From the densely packed leaves of the hedge-like plant two golden orbs stared out barely blinking as hunger kept them concentrated upon the young siren. A small lizard shot from the scrub brush and ran through the leaf strewn ground intent on getting away from the massive hunter that invaded its territory. Though even in its panic powered sprint nothing could wake Ora from the haze of uncertainty, black ridges of hair above the eyes of the observer knew it as well as their linear state was set by a focal point of concentration. The beige coat rippled above dense muscle and sinew primed and readied to spring forward at a moments notice, veins poked out like tree roots of shallow timber when adrenaline had been injected into the beasts blood preparing for the coming hunt. Darkened claws dug into the earth anchoring the fiend for the right moment to act on the front paws, they would soon find purchase in a plump meal and hook deep so they wouldn’t be able to escape. A long, thick, segmented tail of that which possessed a needle-like stinger poised ready to dart forward, and once the prey had been fastened within its jaws the poisonous tip would seek the victim to end its struggle if it did not suffocate first. A long flat tongue licked the furry lips of the massive boulder of a head, the long awaited meal it had stalked from afar would soon be eaten and cease its hunger for weeks.

“I want the ponies to pay. I want to restart our family together! But… how will she go about doing so? Will she break more rules? Will I break a rule? I don’t want to be a Karuesh… to shame our lineage!?” unable to make a choice before the two of them ventured off with no guaranteed that she’d see everything she hoped for.

The shallow breath of the beast hunting her ended, its body locked and in place for the leap over the pond. Large leathery bat wings hugged closely to its barrel of its ribcage, intent on not getting snagged on a raking branch and receive an injury. A small fly buzzed in front of the living dozer and landed upon the black nose where a jagged scar ripped along the visage of the Manticore terminating just under the left eye like a bolt of lightning. The tiny insect tickled the hairs and scar tissue, eliciting twitches to its intrusion but nothing was done to remove it other than that. Instead the giant feline used the feeling to trigger the ambush with nothing abating its enormous bulk. Leaves flew in its wake as he arched over the miniscule pool with a powerful bound, he did not growl, he did not even so much as hiss, his claws and open maw readied to receive the kill as the stretched as wide as they could. The glorious auburn mane flowed nearly silently in the air like a fire in a windstorm, the majestic handsomeness lead a justified respect for the mighty hunter of the Everfree. Though most who would were usually given mere seconds before trap jaws of his naturally born weaponry clamped down to give death’s sweet embrace.

The lone siren had no time to react as she heard the disturbance only a moment too late, her drooping head had only rose halfway up when the features of the closing Manticore encompassed all she could see. From side to side were the claws spread out waiting for contact before retracting, a huge pink maw wide open sought her head and neck with long fur filling the rest of the background as two bright doubloons instilled even more horror as they gave life to the encroaching end. In a matter of existence and death she activated the levitation spell just as the lion closed in around her, with a split second decision she saved her most vulnerable weak spot from the harvester of all life and placed her dense armor breast plating of her chest in the orifice of long fangs designed to puncture the jugulars. The claws wrapped around her form and the momentum of the assault sent the two tumbling head over back which the centripetal force alone parting the two accompanied by disorientation. Oratoria had felt the sharp stabbing in her shoulder and the blunt pressure on her chest, there had thankfully been far too much flesh for the beast to properly secure himself on which likely saved her from any serious damage. Where his paws grasped they had found only the slippery surface of her shingled armor which no purchase to be found, forcing the lion to twice scrape over her body to keep her from escaping until they parted from the landing.

Dazed out of her mind, Ora had quickly risen and taken herself off the ground, she felt sore unlike anything she’d ever felt before where the monster had bitten. There were indeed scales missing where the flaring pain the canines had landed, whatever the creature was its mouth was the strongest source of pressure it had. She shook her head to remove the remaining dizziness while her attacker had a little harder time coming to, allowing precious moments to locate and face the new foe she hoped wouldn’t have shown just yet. It was a lion that was clear enough as she’d seen plenty in the human world held in zoos, but this thing before her was an Equis breed by the two modifications it possessed. The situation deemed it worthless to find a tag for it as she needed to either escape or fight it off, knowing as a predator herself the hunt wouldn’t end until it won or she discouraged it.

Swelling started to develop on the bite site but she fought through the pain, “You!! I may not have a siron with me… but Poseidon curse me I won’t let you take me!” she threatened watching the four legged mammal regain clarity and leer at her with an unquenchable hunger.

Those golden eyes sought her flesh and blood giving nothing to signal that the battle was personal, no roar echoed from its whiskered mouth as he began to strafe her and she the same. The scorpion tail curled up ready to stab away when the time came, large wings expanded to make it all the more intimidating and attempted to force her into opening herself up to a proper attack. They did have some effect as the siren found semblance in their closeness to Twilight’s own, for something as heavy as he they were likely never used for flight and she found it rather funny out of honesty.

“You stupid overgrown house cat!! You will not be the death of me.” She seethed in indignation, “You were lucky! But now… you have my full attention.”

Her muzzle drew back her lips in an aggressive display showcasing the very type of teeth which could doom the Manticore if she got a lucky bite. The threatening show however did little to deter the lion on the hunt if only to entice it even more, it licked its chops as the taste of a siren had become its new favorite food. The face off maintained for three laps as they continued keeping distance from each other all the while gauging the next, the rest of the world mattered not to either of the combatants as the fight for life took over their mental faculties.

The paws soon gripped the soil once more before the Manticore threw itself at her in a daring charge intent on smashing into her to gain access around her neck with little effort as it predicted. In three gallops he erased the distance and once more pounced at her bearing all it could muster waiting to open its jaws until it had the siren secured, and then sweet victory would bring pleasure to his aching stomach. However, what it had not expected was the swiftness of the prey he selected as she used her long powerful tail to bat him off course and miss her body with a swiping claw just inches from purchase. She had put her all into the defensive move and it showed as the lion rolled onto the grass several times before it came to a stop. Her heart blasted away every chemical that gave her the heightened abilities in the fight, the successful push was a welcomed morale boost but it wouldn’t last for long.

“You see you mangy cat!!?!” she shouted as her ruby began to glow weakly.

The animal charged again and the same thing carried out, where it leapt at her she countered and slammed it away while evading the hooks trying to seize her. Bearing in mind the beasts repetitive attacks resumed with no change in tactic, Oratoria began to play with him in a sadistic way by approaching at the attacker from either side and even under it where he was launched through the air away from her. While the monster could best her in sheer mass and stamina, the siren had mobility and agility to which exploited its linear pattern of assault. Yet those golden eyes did not lose their resolve as it pressed on no matter how much it was hurt, he wanted the meal badly enough that in an eons old strategy of any predator there was a way with a will.

She huffed as exhaustion started to take root, “I’m… not through with… you yet!”

Another couple of series of goes and soon the siren began to slow down enough that the sharp nails were almost causing sparks from contact upon her bony shielding. Determined as ever before the Manticore had felt the touch and it emboldened him to greater lengths with shorter recoveries, the hunt was drawing to a close. The death machine breathed for dear life as he braced for a burst of speed far greater than any other spring, each gallop he took sent a wave throughout the monstrous body. The savannah grass fur coat swelled like a shoreline on a windy day glossy from proper grooming and a healthy diet, the stinging tail arched tightly for a whipcord muscle to pull it forwards and deliver the deadly injection. He had hampered her readiness and bore down on the siren before she had a chance to sweep her armored appendage at him, it was then that they at last made contact for a second time in death’s hold. Though this instance they merely skidded on the grassy pasture with the Manticore’s hulking body staying low to the ground and pinning her underneath him. She would be dead to right if in the tussle her forelimbs hadn’t placed themselves under the snapping jaws that could very likely crack her skull with ease. The paws were fastened onto her shoulders to grip her still as his broad flat head attempted for the sweet spot, but for every try she snaked her vulnerability out of the way or snapped at the nose of her aggressor in a bid for her life.

Yet the fight was gradually becoming a losing game with no aid fathomable, she couldn’t afford to think about anything else as her lungs were failing to refill by the weight that sat upon her ribs and stomach. She began to cry however out of the desperate battle’s closing conclusion, her own body burning from exertion as the last of her adrenaline was squeezed out of the glands to maintain the deadlock. The Manticore worked every angle and every spot to an unsuccessful attempt to draw her into his waiting fangs, but he could feel the waning strength that continued to deny him of the prize. This was nature taking its course for the weak to fall, populations kept in check, and a fate that awaited any who ventured into the forest of curses and dangers.

‘I can’t DIE!’ she shuttered at the mere idea of defeat.

‘I won’t DIE!’ deep down she wanted to live in some way or another.

‘No!!’ her mind ablaze with defiance to what life seemed to be placing her in.

‘NOOOOO!!!’ she screamed in her head just as she nailed a lucky chomp of which pierced the nose and whisker region of the chimera, her long curved teeth performed their gruesome work and hooked into the mighty foe’s flesh as it had been trying to do to her.

The titan of a large cat roared in pain and tried to pull himself away only to cause even more damage than it already suffered. The large flat paws soon went to work on her face and began to slash in an attempt to push her off, it resulted in only more spikes of agony in the form of a bellowing groan that rumbled Ora’s heart being so close to the source. She endured the scratches she felt, the lacerations that would scar her for the rest of her life by the audible tearing that came of it, but she wouldn’t let her life be claimed that she was certain of. As she glared venomously at the golden eyes of the vile thing which harbored panic, the satisfaction had been drunk to the last drop seeing the weakness in the predator so openly evident even as it tried to twist its head to shake her off. In a last bid for relief the lion’s forelimbs rose up above ready to sweep down and gouge her eyes out as well as ravage what made her her, a moment which felt as if it lasted for minutes as the curved nails reached their climax.

A wondering thought popped into her mind beyond her willpower, she wondered if she might still be able to sing after she won the struggle. Would Adagio even want her back after the mauling? Would the others find her repulsive and offensive to their pack and disown her? Would any others take her in or simply toss her away like a damaged hatchling?

Her answers wouldn’t come, she huffed out a bellow of air before biting as hard as she could and hit bone in the process with the feeling of a wavering shiver flow through the Manticore’s body. Her face braced for the impact to come and squeezed her eyes as far as they could shut, her antennae drew backwards as her ears had been throughout the fight in hopes they would not suffer any damage. As ready as ever to see the engagement come to a close something came to her rescue just before the powerful limbs came crashing down upon her. As the creature had been tossed away off her chest with a mighty slap of flesh upon flesh, the force of which pried her own jaws wide open caused a dull pain as her fangs were moved unnaturally forward if only slightly. Her whole head followed the pathway of the lion as it had been thrown to her left, and as her eyes shot open she could see a glowing ring and a pentagon within it swirling clockwise where her assailant has been. She could hear the crashing sound that meant she was free of the immediate danger, yet her attention went to the hovering dull indigo tail fin which quivered over her prone. body A magical spell had been implemented somehow and that very limb had been connected to the mutant herself, the girl panted terribly as a power glossed her eyes like they were the stars in the darkness of Luna’s night. A stunned look was worn by the winged siren that appeared to have made a mad dash to save her, using her arms and wings to anchor herself while her tail swung with all its might and knocked the monster off of her.

The coursing rune diagram vaporized into the air until nothing remained, the magic in the form she saw she knew a siren had no capability of utilizing. The wide paddle of the tail fin steamed a little or simply had gotten hot enough from the impact that it warped the air around it though short lived as the effect was. Twilight appeared to withdraw her body back towards herself as she snapped out of her stupor, instantly going for Oratoria worried and concerned for her health as she voiced it clearly.

“Please tell me you’re okay?! Please!! Did it break anything? Do I need to make a splint? Do you have any internal bleeding? Ohhh there are no villages even nearby for medical attention!!” she asked fervently using her large black wings to help Ora up.

The victim yelped a little as the stimulants her body injected were already close to wearing off, she could feel bruises and open wounds zinging with tenderness though she was sure they were not very serious. Her magical reserves were weakened by the brawl she could still crawl despite the worn out state she was in, allowing Twilight to help support her as she righted herself.

The winged siren stuttered as she tried to provide any help she could, “I… I don’t know… what came over me?! I heard the commotion and came over as soon as I could, but then I saw it… then you!” she trembled as the magic in her eyes vanished.

The utter stun of the near death experience had both of them incapacitated, but a quick glance to her left and Ora found relief as the body of the Manticore lay immobile in front of a tree it had wrapped around. Whether it was just knocked out or dead she cared not for as it was no longer a threat, plus she still had both her eyes and what she presumed were minor blemishes along her muzzle that would heal over time she hoped. She never wanted anything more than to have the ability to sing to some ponies and drain them of their negative energy to speed the rebound, but the truth was they were going to make due with each other. To some extent it was now all on Twilight since she had some magical capacity to protect the both of them with, how funny the tables had been turned to her favor?

Closing her eyes for a moment to rest as her only other ally held on with care, there came a relaxing feeling that she only experienced with her mother. Although without the rubbery wings it was as if she were with her mother again, it helped minimize the pain she felt from the taxing battle and the traumatic end she almost signed away on. Her mind submerged with a fading vision that meant sleep was coming whether she allowed it or not, perhaps a short nap would be good for her? Adagio couldn’t be too far off and they’d soon see one another with a story to tell that could very well land her into her good grace for protecting Twilight sans the ending.

Her breath slackened as she prepared to doze off hearing Sparkle ramble on about not being sure of what she did and if she killed the beast. It would have been worth a giggle at her expense but she had no energy to do so, thus instead the only decent thing of her honor to commit to had to be spoken. What was a watcher over her unconscious body if they were confused and guilt ridden, she’d need to speak only the words that would pacify her rescuer and no energy to refute the unbelievable.

“Twi… light?” she murmured barely loud enough to be heard.

The very siren ceased running her mouth once she heard her name, “Yes Oratoria? Are you hurt? Is there anything I can…”

“Thanks…” the body the former human girl cradled then went limp quickly and the weight sent them toppling backwards catching her off guard.

Ch. 10 Resolution

The sound of crashing waves filtered through the nothingness that blanketed the senses, a void where reality could not be seen yet there was a world somewhere all around. The roaring static of the white caps maintained the audible atmosphere, perhaps thirty feet away once a few mighty crests came down upon the shoreline to the left. That was what Adagio came to once her mind’s gears began turning accompanied with a jarring headache pounding in her skull not even a few seconds in. Though being who she was it was nothing more than a short lived freezer burn. That one time she let Sonata talk her into trying one of the human foods made out of frozen milk from a cow, how terrible it went once it set in after the fourth bite.

“Ugh… wher… what…” she moaned as she turned over onto her belly from her side, feeling the soft welcoming sand and the chilliness it provided.

Her eyes opened as she fought off vertigo, it was as if she were pulling her own soul from where she had laid. In a way much like those strange gummy toys shapes like hands that stuck to anything, human young often deposited bits to attain them from red dispensers at stores.

Slowly she rejoined herself while being led to a queasiness she subdued through sheer will alone, being in the state she was in meant she was vulnerable and instinct dictated a swift recovery. Already it became imperative to get her bearings lest she risk endangering herself by posing as a meal for something hungry. She swayed her long gorgeous tail to get a further feel of where she was just as her vision cleared enough to comprehend. In a moment it became clear she was indeed along some beach she couldn’t recognize. There was a dune of nearly white sand ahead of her facing towards the sea to her left. Swarmed by grasses and stalks of seed tassels that capped the mounds and others nearby, giving a sense of a bad toupee on a bald scalp. Up above was an ominous sky where the sun tried to break through the chunky blobs of rain clouds which did not lose a single drop of rain, instead the hidden orb of light only succeeding in highlighting the weaker cracks in the chaotic aerial sea.

She turned to her right only to gaze upon an endless plain of wild pasture with no tree in sight till the horizon simply stopped, just an expanse as vast as the ocean on the other side. The vegetation had stopped two tail lengths from her leaving the beach alone as if it feared the salty brine. What became a mild surprise were the lack of trees and wildlife that should be sparse and milling around, if the location was devoid of any other beings but her was she either lost or in a dream. How did she come into such a predicament and where had she been before being sent to the lifeless place, the nameless sea which churned like a boiling pot of water.

The mild chilly wind graced her scaly body as it waved her crest like a sail, “What was I doing? How did I get here?”

She asked herself as the last of the little migraine left her in solace with no lasting side effect. The golden siren pulled herself across the dull beige grains closer to the water’s edge, allowing herself no pleasure in feeling the homely environment that tingled the nerves of her hooves or rubbed the underside of her lower body down to the tail fin. It was tempting naturally but she had questions that needed to be answered and somehow she felt like she was in some kind of prison, one that she wouldn’t let contain her. All around her there was such a sterile environment that it had to be a fake reality, something or someone had purposefully trapped her.

Yet she was certain it couldn’t hold up to her standard, she is Adagio Dazzle one of the last Daughters of Cappella’s domain, she who survived the untamed jungles beyond the safety of the beach as a mere hatchling, the songstress who brought down many kingdoms, the near usurper of Equestria, and finally a survivor of another realm that nearly ended her pack. If she could survive all that and losing her own gem then she would escape the timeless world she was in at the present.

The passing thought of her own stone soon stirred up answers to some of her inquiries which jogged her memory, “My stone… that’s right Aria and I…” she gazed down upon her own chest to discover a beautiful and glorious ruby nestled into the third plate over her heart, “We were singing to lost… in Yellow’s hideout… I… I am… complete?” her awestruck dumb her focus as she kept looking at the reclaimed power source.

The reality dawned on her, no matter if she was dreaming or for whatever intents and purpose had been teleported somewhere she had her powers back. Never had she dreamed of still possessing the pendant in the human world after the Rainbooms shattered it, each night had been nightmares lacking the blood gems. She could see it as the moment visualized in her head, when one of the rubies deep within the heart of the mound of long dead sirens rose into the air. It pulsed with a deep blood red that radiated into lighter hues the farther it expanded. The very light itself through the dark and aged from an unknown era of Equis that the soul had departed broke through the blue air of the chamber to claim its own territory. The last thought had been of embracing the stone after failing at first with every other song she had created throughout her life, down to the point that Aria and her nearly lost their voices trying. It was neither a song nor the attempt that had finally graced them with their new stones, but after almost retreating in defeat she stumbled upon the solution.

She smiled fondly as she felt the red gem with a cloven hoof, “It was you mother… your… lullaby.” She giggled in defiance of her situation.

Adagio’s memory went only far enough before the merging between the magical item and her, of when her own off key voice mournfully recited the song of the departed. Not even the crashing sea could distract the warm feelings building within her soul from the days when her mother put her to sleep. She somehow could still help her little Dazzle even beyond her dreams, it was then that the realization came forth as to how it might have been allowed at all.

“Was it from the heart mother?” a large wave rolled into foam in the distance that popped and fizzled like a shaken soda bottle, “Was that why nothing happened at first? Have I really been that detached from my music?”

As a shock akin to when Sonata discovered static electricity and pocked her flesh on the first years of their banishment, someone answered her and it was not even her mother’s visage.

“I’d have to agree on that.” an older woman’s voice responded from behind her.

Adagio whipped around in a defensive display from the suddenness, her fins propped up and a snarl upon her muzzle to make herself as intimidating as possible. She could never forget the age old response to a threat, especially being returned to her natural body which translated from the goose bumps of the ape flesh that once trapped her. Her all seeing sight soon drew upon the one thing that stood out from before, where there were none suddenly appeared one she couldn’t have imagined seeing.

Atop the vegetation swamped dune she had first seen since she stirred another siren had come forth, one who looked very much older than even her own mother’s image. With the exception of the noticeable marks upon her whole body which marked some kind of violent history they endured in their living years. Adagio could see the jagged scars that striped from head to tailfin, in half of the healed over injuries there were no replacement scales to make her spotless again. Such a sight pinged at Adagio’s heart strings if for a single note, her mother always spoke of how their appearance and voices together produced the strongest harvest.

She thought to herself, ‘What in Tartarus did she go through?’

The numerous marks reminded her of the teeth of something ravenous and relentless, so deep and wide were the ancient wounds that they couldn’t restore her glamour. Yet it did not seem to affect her and only served to make her all the more of a concern, just like Dazzle herself they had survived the gauntlet of life and it could only made them stronger. In her own case she managed to avoid the wide fanged maws and racking claws, which in a way seeing the intruder made her see how she might have appeared had she not been so resourceful or simply small enough.

‘I could have had those had I… been older? My beauty pot marked into something so gruesome!’ She gulped as a small shiver went down her spine.

She shook the tangent from her mind and focused back upon the foreign entity, one who appeared relaxed and starred out to the sea as if reminiscing over fond memories. It had been many lifetimes since she had seen a fully grown female beside her moments in the dreams cape among her lost family.

In all her nearly repugnant glory, the mauve hued adult had propped herself upon the dunes highest point to give her the most favorable view of the lively sea, with torn fins of white lavender ornamented by light purple patterns along the velvety membrane from cheek to tail. It was a sight to behold another of her kind and one of such an age, the patterns upon her fins were so alien that she couldn’t remember seeing such a thing in her own pod while it still lived. The stupor nearly dumbfounded her into a passive mood, yet she countered by tensing her muscles and putting on a confident smile befitting of a matriarch such as herself.

Dazzle kept her crest half high as a sign to the interloper that she was not pleased to be surprised, “I could ask where I am and who are you, but then that would be mundane would it not? Might be better to instead... ” she stopped as soon as the ancient one moved their head till they gazed upon her like beams of searing light.

The unknown siren showed little emotion to derive from their features, eerily the cerise violet eyes shone upon her with a coldness of the departed or a hardened veteran merchant pony. The foreign siren remained on the hill of sand and grass with the kind of look of uncaring Aria usually sported. It was just enough to shake her but only that, for what was to come Adagio could only hope would not end in how that one banished seemed to flip with a hair trigger.

With an aged crackly voice like that exiled lich hag only more pleasant to the ears and without lethal magic in the air, “If the purpose that you drove yourself brought you to this point, with what use was the purpose?” she asked giving nothing else to discern from beyond baffling words.

Dazzle held her tongue for a moment as the reply came with a rather bitter after taste. She still wanted to push the other being to probe for information and hope for some insight into where she might. It wouldn’t be in her best interest to blow up and lose any hope of returning to the girls, but that was a restriction she found hard to resist. She clenched her jaw tightly to still words of vehemence as she waited for the other to continue.

The glimmering irises did not cease their tunneled vision upon her like the soulless eyes of a doll, “Where does it end? Is it in the now… or when you feel satisfied?”

Adagio frowned at the new question and returned with a hateful snarl she couldn’t contain, “You know what? Tartarus to all this!! Who are you?! Enough with these… confusing questions!” she spat as her patience fell through.

The wind gusted past her and fluttered her fins, they tickled slightly but she paid them no heed. The rolling shore had become a snow of noise she barely managed to push out, yet despite that the wind frustrated her as it blew around them in eddies. Muffling their voices ever slightly as the tense air thickened just as Adagio’s patience dwindled.

With a heavy exhale the unknown old one she replied as casually as if they were friends, “From the victories are they not hollow and worthless? To what do they mean to you little one?”

The golden matriarch growled as she misinterpreted the response, “Victory means everything! You are a siren yourself, it should be in your blood as much as it is in mine!! Why are you here and who are you!” she slammed her tail onto the ground, blasting sand into the air which caught the particles and sent them cascading away.

From the cold dead gaze of the other came a harsh answer, “I heard a call for help… and so I listened. Now I am here… but where I am, I am trying to deduce.”

Adagio gave another once over of the older female finding nothing of use, but she still insisted there had been something off. Her anger faded away as the exchange dipped out of her favor, the calm placid exterior of the stranger forced a calm simmer from the recent spat.

“So what are you? A figment of my imagination or some other?” Dazzle asked as her tail twitched to the contained anger within.

Instead of giving some relief through an answer, the other siren took the chance and slid down the dune’s steep face till the sand led her to ground level. The size of her bulk became all the more real as she dwarfed Adagio by thrice her size, even from their distance between themselves it was all too clear how young Dazzle soon saw herself in light of an older siren. Though was it all a trick of the mind or a real thing happening she couldn’t decide just yet.

“You called out to us and I heard you… of all the others I found you singing that special note of pain, of love, and heartache.” she said stopping just twenty feet away, her hooves digging into the sandy beach using no levitation spell to propel her forward as her forelimbs moved her long after the momentum died.

Dazzle curled into herself putting her full crest up for display though she did not realize it, she made herself look bigger than she really was. The brilliantly stripped flesh did little to impress the company, but for what it was worth it did earn some acknowledgement if the trace of the eyes proved anything. They had broken contact with her own to study the threatening display, though Adagio knew it was just a passing interest and nothing for what was unintentionally aimed for.

“I don’t remember calling for any help! I was simply trying to acquire a gemstone.” Adagio fired back as she speared the sand with the tip of her right hoof.

“You did… and I listened as I have said. Out of all the others you woke me from my slumber. To what end I can only fathom.” The old one took the passing time to study the young matriarch with a mild judging eye, one which made Dazzle all the more uncomfortable and fidgety.

Snorting out her nostrils in frustration, “Then tell me who you are and why are you giving me such enigmatic answers!! I have no time for any of this! I need to return to those idiots and set out to take over Equestria!”

Another loud crash of a rolling white cap graced their ears until it vanished into the surf, the mist from the tumultuous coastline floated onto Adagio with a mild coolness. Droplets of seawater spotted her fins and scales which brightened her already magnificent presence even in the dimly lit conditions, but it still did not affect the muted violet siren before her.

“I’ve waited thousands of years in that forsaken hairless ape world and I will not wait any longer! I can’t let those ponies put my vengeance on hold, I can’t give them time to try and send us back to that Tartarus cesspool. Not again… not again…” Adagio sighed as the utter dread reared its ugly head on how much time she was wasting, how might the ponies by readying to banish them once more before she even started their tour.

Her voice vanished into the air which gave to the breeze passing through, the words slipped into the atmosphere for no other ears to reach. The grass ruffled to the wind like confetti skipping along concrete during the human’s many festivals which involved fire bombs that lit up the night sky, how loud they were and how much she hated them with fervor. Moments passed by before an answer came, but for Dazzle it was an eternity as she busied herself suppressing the fragment of anxiety and laid it to rest.

With a strange placidity the intruder answered, “I found you interesting enough… your pain I know by heart yet I cannot remember why. Where we are is the Abyss.”

Dazzle heard all too well but she seemed confused as to whether the name was a designation or a state of mind, “The Abyss? So this is a dream or somewhere in waking world?”

There was a hesitation that bordered on awkward, “All sirens know of the Abyss… were you not taught of it? All those who reach breaching age are taught about the Hymn of the All Father?” the older siren dipped her head closer towards Adagio’s level as if the answer was immensely important.

She grumbled at her personal space being violated, “My pain you spoke of is the reason why! I regrettably know only what I need to survive and dominate this pathetic world… and perhaps the human one if I get bored in the future.”

Admitting the reason the two were likely even meeting in such a way still had a sting, but she felt a tinge of gratitude that it had been dulled. It was all thanks to her new Dazzling and former human, which only pushed her to be more focused on the task at hand so she could locate her before the Arcana did.

“Hmm…” the lumbering female backed away as she gave Adagio breathing space, “Suffering… yes… grievously wounded and left to wither away as many have before you… and will after.”

Adagio shot forth at the insinuation feeling wronged by the assumption, “But I didn’t, I lived through Tartarus and back. Being sent to another world by some rusty old goat, survived the loss of our pendants, and returned home to honor… the second life my mother and father gave to me!” she speared a hoof into the sand holding back her eyes attempting to water over, “After all this time I cannot let them down… NOT after all the… the… the…”

She felt the steam of her vindication drip away as she was painfully reminded of the constant drawbacks that were sustained since their banishment. Always near success only then to fall from the height of victory to wallow in the muddy dank marsh, even then she easily began to lose her composure by recollecting what she’d sooner forget.

‘No! Not again. I won’t lose the chance no matter how much it pains me to do it!’ she screamed in her head as she tried to control herself once more.

Blinking away the water from her sight, “I’m sorry… where… are my manners.” She chuckled morosely to herself as her mind swayed all around torn apart by the circumstances surrounding her.

The other siren seemed to register the change as her ruby seated in her chest gave off a small glow, “I feel you and I have much in common, but I cannot yet remember my life beyond my mother’s given name.” she reached out and with her left forelimb she lifted Adagio’s sullen chin so they looked at one another receiving no resistance, “Kindred spirits we are… that much I know by your voice alone. For as long as you live we shall share the same heart until we return to the King’s Throne under the waves as is destined for us all who are born of the water.”

Dazzle could feel the careful gesture and almost motherly caution the other siren took upon handling her, it was just like the dreams from before only far more real. How sad it was for someone like her to feel the contact from another and almost melt into it. The sea seemed to calm beyond them as did the coast air, the relaxed state gradually easing the thick air into something of a peaceful moment. The lack of a harassing environment softened the worried matriarch until she could question her very state of being. Had she been so stressed and overwhelmed by the merging with the fallen siren’s stone that the mere interaction affected her so? Or was there something else at work, the feel of the coastline fade away while she remained absorbed in the contact.

“Until then… I will lend you my power to whatever ends you seek. As for who I am?” she said as her ruby took on a bright shine as if it had an internal source of illumination.

Dazzle waited with tired eyes that tried to close against her will, as the lids fluttered her magenta orbs quivered wildly while flailing to maintain sight upon the scarred old one. Sleep was coming no matter how hard she fought it, her fins of her cheeks to her dorsal crest relaxed flat against her body as control seeped away. Whatever was happening to her it was beyond her scope of control or comprehension, but she could make out the last words of the ancient female.

“I… am… Senza… Oasis.” the dark veil of slumber greeted the gold singer once more as she was laid gently upon the soft sandy beach, where even the sensation stopped completely.

Ch 11. The Lord of Chaos

Somewhere on the eastern coast, a rock slide that could have became an avalanche with enough force to squash a trading town in the valley below had been abruptly halted. The red strings of fate were protected from the laughing scissors which snipped at the lines every day. It was a cloudy afternoon in the outskirts of Winniapolis that the four hundred pony town which served as a way station of trading with mountain ore ponies of the Yaket Range had come under siege by nature's destructive forces. A distant explosion set off by a new mine being created had triggered a slow and gradual clip off an overlooking mountain's steep face, the bedrock below assisted the disaster in the making as tons of stone picked up pace in is thunderous descent.

Yet as the dust and debris kicked off from the initial tumble of earth, a pop of pink magic washed over the boulders and shards of mountain. Sparkling white blasts occurred along each of the numberless pieces of looming death before the wave dispersed entirely, leaving a plume of butterflies and balloons in the wake of the avalanche. To the town that had only moments ago began to panic from the unstoppable force which was set to annihilate their homes, ponies were soon hollering and hooping in jubilation. Hard hats and sun covers were tossed into the air as cries of pure relief swallowed the trading town for a short lived festive occasion, spouting gratitude to the one they believed was their savior in such a spontaneous incident.

Unknown to them however the act as not of the Princess's doing nor the former element bearers, but by the boundless power that Discord the Reformed had used for good and all that was fluffy nice. The former Lord of Chaos hovered far up in the clear blue sky in a desk like a bank teller, a green shielded lamp shone over papers he stamped with a bored complexion literally written across his odd muzzle in cake icing with sprinkles. Even going so far as to wear the self imposed stripped vest over a white cuffed dress shirt complete with a red bow tie, and a green translucent visor sat on his head for no real reason other than to complete the costume. The look of monotony which was the antithesis of who the Draconequis was at heart spoke volumes to those who might gaze upon him.

"Another day another bit as some ponies say." he mumbled before taking a lit match he snapped magically into his claw and lit the icing on his face, shortly proceeded by a small detonation that cleared him of the sugary coating as if it were door blasting explosives.

His already strangely horned face scattered into pieces on the desk as a final stamp on the report slammed home in tune with the miniature blast. The pieces bounced about before making their way like a procession of a parade in Canterlot to reform once more into their glorious image of the Draconequis, the last of the furry orbs and the two eyeballs leaped up as the stamp lifted. To further the narcissistic tendencies he had was an impression of his happy cheerful self just below the farewell words to the diarchy as his signature. The sheet flew of its own accord off the table and rolled up for a red ribbon to swoop in and tie it shut, a snap of the talon and it vanished with a burst of confetti. The colorful display did little to bring a smile to the presently helpful entity as he sighed in discontent, but a quick glance at a small portrait at the upper right corner of his desk did something to curb what he essentially did as a complete opposite to his nature.

A small photo of him and Fluttershy sat in a swirling array of colors that spun upwards like a northern lights made into a camp fire as the frame. It was the scene after a cake baking party with Pinkie Pie that ended in the kitchen somehow covered in sugary goodness and thick smoke from burning bread. The two of them were quite caked in fluffy frosting and a multitude of cream, sprinkles, and all sorts of Pinkie's favorite toppings to any dish she made. In small letters around the frame did the phrase spell out haphazardly in gold letters that read, 'Do it for her.'.

"You know? It's always the little things that make this job worth doing. At least I'll always have Ponyville as a little break spot besides the trips to the outer realms." he told himself as he fought the utter lack of joy he took in helping all of Equestria as its steward, then again he also didn't appreciate the loss of an audience to mayhem. What was random destruction if no pony was around to appreciate it?

Discord smiled at the photo before it melted instantly then reconstituted itself into a crinkly shaped image of the two having fun in another one of his many memories somehow involving Pinkie Pie's antics, "Ahhhhh... like a cold refreshing sip of the best malt you can afford! I think I can call it a day for now wouldn't you say my little nature loving friend?"

He peered at a watch on his lion's front limb which blew a party whizzler at the start of the hour, the flat circular chronograph had opened up to let loose the annoying sound. It was his stopping point in the day where he let his magic take over the watch post that Celestia decreed he'd guard every day. Freed from the prison of monotony and heroics the chimera went straight to the one thing he enjoyed most every day, his favorite TV show which had only gotten better each passing day.

"I wonder how my soap opera's doing at this hour?" he tapped his chin.

The entire skit of his job blinked out with the sound of a whoopie cushion deflating at the snap of his tail tuft. Everything from the furniture and paperwork to the attire he had on vanished as if it never were. A small book then materialized at his whim which he grasped with his mitts like a caring mother would its foal, only to follow by a slap on the hardcover which sent the pages spewing out and around him. Papyrus sheets flew without being affected by the natural air currents of his altitude, behaving as he saw fit they danced about in a choreographed pattern until order was somewhat restored. A few of interest hovered before him with texts glowing as bright as a fresh branding iron straight off the coals, their brilliance physically extracting themselves off the paper and into the space between him and the textbook.

"Though I will always ensure to see that you are always the happy little mare I know, alas even I cannot simply stop everything from going wrong... much to Celestia's view of the world." he whispered the last portion, "It's just the way of the universe my dear. And sometimes... you just have to sit back and enjoy the ride..." his mouth curled into a grin as images began to swirl out of the suspended lights.

Three bulky shapes soon warped into viewing screens that could be discerned by there forward facing manner, the far left rectangle coming too first of the batch. Like a collide-scope of colors that sank into a black hole in space, the intangible became a vision of what had come to pass with Twilight Sparkle of the Human Realm. She seemed strangely unrecognizable for a few seconds until the reality bending deity finally realized what was going on.

He gave a hearty laugh and a slap on the hoofed knee to see the conundrum that had befallen the girl to whom Harmony had to see through to the end, "Oh my! This is just too rich! I can't believe she even looks like that?! I mean seriously did she lose a bet or roll snake eyes!!? Gwwaahhhahahahah!!"

Through watering eyes from the sheer hilarity, he nit picked the pseudo-siren in all her glory from her leathery wings, the sharp cloven hooves, to the fish tail. Even a being such as himself there were so many puns and jokes to be said, but alas it was still too soon to relish in the machinations of fate. Where as soon as he wiped his yellow eyes and stifle the still flowing river of chuckling wheezing had his attention take in the scene itself.

There lay the strangely altered girl with another siren who looked the worse for wear, "Hah ha... oh boy, wait a minute?" he drew his head closer by extending his noodle neck, "My... my... my... seems like someone lost a fight with a blender? What have you been up to child?" he pondered to himself as his eagle taloned arm dashed across the viewing portal.

Everything from the start had been shown to him without any detail left unseen, from the arrival into Equestria to the destruction of Twilight's home for a second time. He could only whistle from the marvelous disaster that had been the arrival of the other Spangled Sparkle, among the rest of the rabble caught alongside her. He quickly deduced the damages and hummed in delight, a little zero appeared at the bottom right to which he nodded to himself as if he knew what it meant. Clapping his paws and claw together with a high and mighty look, a tally board poofed into existence next to his head where a single line was drawn between two titles marked Discord Rules and Cosmos Drools. One tally etched onto the white glossy surface of the latter while he earned two himself, content with the points distribution he banished the item away before moving onto the middle screen.

"My trusty little insurance really paid off this time, just goes to show ya that place really was perfect for my Kingdom of Chaos back in my hay day!" Discord grinned, "Shame really they all forgot what I told them when they entered the gate, rather sad I wasted my time trying to warn the five of them. Though I guess it was still worth it to get front row seats to the universe beyond Luna's range? You know I always did fancy myself that Hourglass Nebula. It just seems like my eye is always watching the pandemonium from there?"

Three other illusions of himself exploded in being in a splash of chocolate milk and marshmallows beside the original, after their spectacular entrance they all agreed simultaneously with his comment. Each clone nodding as if they were admiring a piece of fine art finely hung in a famous museum, glasses and coats in tow.

"Oh I do say you really pushed the envelope my good sir!" the one on the left lauded clapping dainty with the talons on the paw pad.

"No pony was harmed in the making of that kind of chaos. You sir are a genius of manipulation!" the clone on the right fancied himself a pair of black shades and took a magnificent pose fit for a chimera of his stature with a camera summoned into his grasping digits that took instant photos.

The third presented a medal and hung it around the real Discord that sported his own wide smile with a thumb up engraved into the metal, "Score is seven to four, round one is rightfully yours!"

A group applause of the mismatched appendages erupted for a few seconds before he dispelled the replicas, content that his labors since the start were richly rewarded by the first victory. Though the joyous celebration only lasted for a passing trek once he gazed upon the black screen that was to be Sunset Shimmer next in line, he hummed in curiosity at the obvious defective spell yet he spurned the fault on himself. White dense brows furrowed at the denied sight as he snapped the clawed fingers once to no effect, then twice, followed by a third and fourth time to no avail. Frustrated that his magic failed to make it function correctly at first, he folded his arms and let a talon tap the bulky furred appendage as he thought deep upon a solution. Steam began to lift off his scalp between the cone spiral horn and the antler for a few minutes before a small flying pig sparked above him, it squealed and flew off. With an amazed expression of realization the former Lord of Chaos did the next best thing for a malfunctioning All Seeing Eye spell, in the only manner he knew best. The lion's paw slammed onto the top of the two dimensional magical screen as if it were a busted television set, earning only bars of snow for his effort. A few more salvos of abuse and the black square simply sizzled with static before it abated, it seemed as if something was forcing it to remain inactive. Strangely enough the first and third of the shapes seemed to cower away from their middle child who angered their maker, the inanimate objects edged a foot out of the splash zone.

"Playing possum are we?" He hissed and yanked a water pistol from a tear in the fabric of reality overhead, "Maybe a little boost in the receiver will make you work!"

Discord backed away a few steps as he giggled maniacally to himself in a seething mass of crazed enthusiasm, a tiny little sight on the gun snapped up and blossomed into four times its original size. Coupled with a laser pointer and tiny pointer hound that barked on the left of the barrels tip made of copper he had everything he needed for a bulls eye shot of a lifetime. Feeling sound that his shot would hit home he did not pull the colorful trigger, as a being of unpredictability he simple yanked back on the pistol grip which separated the little hydro shooter in half.

Casually he tossed the back end away without a care and slammed an open paw onto the exposed back half which activated the mini weapon. A zap of lightning shot out of the tiny barrel striking the black shape with raw mana in the fury of a lively electrical storm condensed into a single pulse. The chaos magic that hadn't failed him for the last thousands of years had been poured into the offending spell full blast, a bright blast of light blossomed for a blink of an eye. The very energy that overtook the famous heroines when they first met him upon his break out, bearers of the infamous elements of harmony and there it was being applied to a dead connection out of spite. The attack passed in an instant as white hot cinders fell to earth as a sizzling smell of ozone filled Discords swirling nostrils. Once the thunderous clap vanished into the sky he assumed it likely spooked the villagers below much to their chagrin and mixed tension to their already stressful day.

"I made you... and I can make you work!" he fumed as he dumped the cartoonish tool away before it broke apart into blue sand.

The other two obedient screens still maintained their distance from what was essentially a father punishing a rambunctious foal, even if it was rather excessive. They even quaked like vibrating rocks during an earthquake, if they were anything else they would be sweating profusely at what was to come.

He closed distance with the electrified spell silently stomping all the way content that his attempt solved the failure, "Now! Play nice and papa Discord won't have to lay down the discipline."

His right paw was brought up to the unmoving blank rectangle and swiped to the right, but again it failed to behave properly. Discord stood unwavering and swiped a few more times, then snapped his clawed arm as he took a less unrestrained method to his madness. Pulling a pair of reading glasses from on rip in reality, the draconequis adorned them upon his ancient eyes as their pearl lined wire that clung to his neck shuffled quietly. With the avian limb he whisked a local portal and jammed the digits through the vortex to an unspecified location, efficiently as always he gave himself only a moment before whatever he needed had been had.

"Ah! There you are you little rascal." he said as a white sun bleached feather emerged with his claw from the way gate that shut closed behind it.

Using his specks to fine tune his sight the Deceiver of Trust studied every band and ever sheen of the spectral glimmer in the light of the midday. He hummed delightfully seeing nothing out of line, taking the thick librarian glasses and eating them as if they were a quick snack to partake in like any old joe would.

"Perfect, now let's see if this is really what I think this is?" he casually announced before using the feather as a writing quill and tapping the tip on the wayward spell.

A wisp of wind passed by just nearly enough to mess with his little task, but he held firm and softly contacted the two surfaces. With a tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth he quickly without any ink wrote upon the view port in some ancient forgotten language, sigils of some kind which seemed to burn upon the shape like the coils of an electric stove top. Three lines were quickly completed before he withdrew the white feather, waiting for the marvelous reaction to occur where it was needed the most.

"Consider this my early Hearth's Warming Eve gift will you?" he chuckled darkly as black smoke began to flow from the void in the air.

Discord swung backwards till he floated on his back, a content smile claiming his muzzle in a smug fashion to the unfolding scene. The fuming cloud of exhaust grew into a dense smog as if something were burning like an oil fire. Soon enough the small flameless conflagration took off as pressure built up to the point where it almost seemed as if a geyser had erupted.

A small trickle of sound came through as it gradually picked up in volume, it was a rumble of some kind like gravel crunching on concrete on the other side of the street. Quickly building momentum along with the toxic stream of smog, out of the barely audible came forth an obvious roar that boomed from some kind of angry beast of the nether. Hate and pain gave awful notes to the suffering which only made the sneer ever wider on Discord's lips, his eyes half closed in delight as he applied fluffy violet earmuffs once the cacophony reached its climax as well as its depth. Birds that had flown nearby had instantly dropped dead and fell to the lands below once the cry had stopped, for miles around the scene nothing existed in the air not even an insect. As if the haunting horn of a new cruise liner had spooked all life all that remained was the chimera and his magic, the smoke evaporated along with the echoing shout.

"Ohhh... guess I hit a soft spot there? Now... let's try this one... more... time..." Discord slowly worded as he once more interacted with the manifested spying portal.

The image of obsidian finally gave way to his touch yet still tainted by blackened tendrils along the edges of the shape. They did nothing halt or delay his small scrying into Sunset Shimmer's new life, after all he had seen the possibilities prior and he had to know like a peeking foal would at their presents on their birthday. Pleased with the outcome of his latest attempt, he starred at the renewed link which gave him what he sought for out of curiosity for his future plans.

"Where's my favorite second Sun Butt?" he casually giggled with joy, the unicorn in question somewhere out in a forest wondering almost aimlessly before she stopped in place, "Right... she probably heard all that right from the source. Whoops!"

He swiped to the right and watched her fall into Equestria where she was to escape near death, her perspective was rather dull compared to Twilight Sparkle of the humans. What peaked his humor had been the magic she used to vacate the collapsing castle, the image was as clear as day and only served to solidify what he already knew coalesced around her new magic. Black Magic...

"Tut tut, now that changes things." he pouted before using his boundless powers to call upon a scroll and pen, writing themselves the words which he did not speak but typed in thought. The scroll soon received the message and folded, wrapped in a festive box no bigger than small present and soon poofed away to an unknown recipient.

Discord's mind boggling cogs of complex scheming churned like the wheels of a powerful locomotive chugging up a hill. He took his lion arm and treated it as if it were an imaginary pump shotgun, black pilot shades sizzled before his eyes until they became solid. A dark leather jacket spawned from a nearby cloud and latched onto his slender noodle body, freshly manufactured mushroom leather seemed to absorb all light that hit it.

He pumped the forearm with a backward and forward action of his eagle's claw just above the elbow, he took aim before him without care for sighting in the shot. Then one by one with a snap of the paw's digits he cranked out spell after spell in every which direction seemingly without a directional purpose. Bright white comets no bigger than a baseball sped from their maker with sparkling trails which could make any foal rave from the show of colors and sparks to behold. Nine were birthed by the Draconequis whose serious looking stern muzzle offered no emotions from his smoking tip of the furry appendage. Having made the sound of the magical shotgun blowing off each shot, the chaos enthusiast drew the limb close to his lips and bearded chin.

A quick blow of air blew out the white smoke that flowed from the mana digit, "I'll be back." he said in a deep dark tone.

A party favor went off followed by the little birthday horns foals used annoyingly right as the reformed villain vanished from the skies. The little light show had only served to scare the rescued town below and addle their nerves which were frayed enough as they were. They were left to their own mechanisms after his duty was seen to, Discord reappeared above Ponyville in its devastated state with arms on his sides while he surveyed the real disaster for the day. It was nothing he couldn't fix by tomorrow's tea time, at least for the village itself as the crystalline castle would be a little bit of a hassle. He could already see evidence of a fight having occurred which lead out to the Everfree, and the lingering taste of portals scattered about. So much had happened that he figured he could enjoy a quick splurge and watch the episode before going to work, after all it seemed the Arcana was on sight and not far off was a squadron of Royal Guards being flown in.

"My my my!! I missed the season opener. Guess I had that one coming with my part time job for Celestia. What better reward for what I've done than to partake in the very turmoil with my handy dandy Roku!" he gleefully swung an arm to his prize as his two wings blew up in size and flapped at the ends abnormally, "I've already seen the trailer for the next installment so why not catch up? What's a couple of hours worth when I can clean all this up in a jiffy?"

With that the chimera fluttered away towards Fluttershy's cottage through the columns of smoke and dust from the devastation below, his comical grin spread from cheek to cheek. No pony to call him out on his laziness, Discord left the world to its predicament for a little while longer.

Somewhere in the Everfree...

Birds chirped under the sunny skies as a fog bank to the south threatened to encroach upon the area, grasses and shrubs shook from a herd of boars turning the soil for tasty roots nearby. Flies and buzzing bees zipped through the air, striking yellow mud daubers loudly arrived on a muddy patch before a pool of water for fresh clay to build their nests. No breeze sailed through the thick trunks of the devilish forest or whistle through its snaking vines, twas a deathly quiet that could put the unwary to sleep for something to pounce upon.

The mirror-like surface of the isolated pond rippled only slightly to subtle movements from its occupants, otherwise it remained as stiff as glass. Caring nothing of the two sirens who rested in its fluid embrace, an injured one half submerged and her attending nurse with black wings folded out of the way.

"I really wish I could use a healing spell right now." Twilight sighed softly, of all the knowledge she could use to formulate even a flesh mending spell she had no mana to craft it with.

How painful it was that the ability simply teetered at merely envisioning the glyphs of the spell that came to mind, reciting them in her head, and if she had her powers they instantly acted upon the call to action. Yet there she lay with Oratoria using her own tail to keep the unconscious siren's head above water, unable to do anything besides guarding the body as it rest.

"At least... at least you can heal yourself with water as a conduit instead of your... own cells." she grimaced at the memory, though it was remarkable that such creatures could sacrifice health to regain magic which was likely a last ditch tactic for survival.

Two ravens cawed in the tree tops, loud enough to be picked up through the calls of so many others. With agile speed they glided down from some branch and hopped along the pond's edge for a drink to quench their thirst. Twilight caught their sudden arrival with a twitch of the head and turned to them, she innocently studied the avians seeing no harm that could come from them.

The first one which dared a scoop to drink tipped its head up to swallow, yet in doing so it kept its beady maroon eyes starring at the two helpless girls. The second joined in only to pause before indulging itself like a deer caught in the sights of a hunter, the poor birds appeared shocked by the winged siren waiting for her to make a move. Their black as night feathers puffed up in anxiousness like a bristling porcupine, but neither dared fly away.

Still adjusting to a world of more lively creatures Sparkle chuckled at the one thing that couldn't hurt them, "Don't worry! I won't bite? See?" she gestured to Oratoria asleep on her tail, "Harmless? No harm will come to you."

Her coaxing seemed to do nothing at first and she tried again only to keep a rather stunned audience. For all her attempts she just did not want them to fly away calling as ravens often did for predators and attract attention, she knew they couldn't survive another encounter even with something like a timberwolf.

An involuntary bob of her dorsal crest sent one of the black birds away though it did not caw in panic, "Darn it! I'm sorry!? That wasn't me honest! Ohh... look at me I'm trying to calm a bird looking like this!" she fumed from giving up and scrunched her lips.

She closed her eyes and dipped her face into the water for the chilly effect, nothing good would come from a frustrated mindset. Yet as she went to refresh herself, the other raven that remained had budged and moved closer with its light weight and tiny feet nearly inaudible. Twilight's splashing had done enough to cover its approach until it was just three feet from her left side which edged over the water and onto a grassy patch.

It waited as the winged siren blew bubbles from her nostrils, it waited still as she gasped a little for air when she rose, it even waited a minute more as the girl looked up to the clear air overhead fifty feet where the tree tops ceased to grow. Then as if in queue like it waited patiently enough, a clap of its beak closing against itself broke the sound around them in a way that nothing else came through. Sparkle realized the hastily vanished ambiance of the forest and craned her neck about slowly, for her she thought it was another hunter whose approach scared everything away. Desperately her two ears swiveled around trying to hear some kind of step or breaking twig, crunching leaf and breath let loose to hone in on the threat.

Yet what she heard next was not what she expected, not in all her days in Equestria was she prepared for much of anything anyways. A clap of the beak sounded a second time and it drew her hearing over to the bird on the pond's edge, where it had approached her inquisitively.

She squinted at the bird through the impeccable vision she thankfully had, "A raven did that? That's not right? Yellow's book never said a..."

"So you are the chosen ones." the black bird intervened in her vocal thoughts.

Twilight felt her muscles tense to the point she couldn't move, though her mind was abuzz and recording everything to hardened memory. Her full attention was on the little ball of feathers the color of volcanic glass, whatever it was it had spoke and it had no match in her superficial knowledge of Equis.

The bird in question seemed to realize its mistake and even cleared its straw wide throat, "Please, my apologies... where are my manners? Before I startle you even more I'm not a real one, this is just a disguise." it spoke with such a male voice unfitting of its physiology.

"Whaaaa...." Twilight replied in awe still paralyzed in place.

"If you'll let me transform back into my real body, promise me you won't go into a fear induced rampage?" the bird tilted its head.

Sparkle took a moment to react but she eventually nodded as her eyes shrunk with anticipation, where the bird hopped back after being given the go ahead. It stood there for a few seconds before a puff of smoke and light bloomed in its place large enough to cover a thorny shrub. A darker form began to emerge from the gray dust in the shape of a pony no less, every second of the magical act Twilight took in nearly down to a half second. It was a user of the arts and something deep within her was locked in sheer joy and hunger for the charm that was just performed.

Ch. 12 Inert for now

Author's Note

Next chapter will be one heck of a write, enjoy this installment for now.

Ch. 12 Inert for now

On a rustic road near rows of apple trees that stood beyond a white picket fence, butterflies and pollinating bees flew from all around to enjoy the new flowers beckoning their attention. Such a vast sea of waiting blossoms needing fertilization to continue the bumper crop and continuing the cycle for which the winged gardeners would return again in scant few months. Broods of fruit bats trailed behind the latest wave of insects, drawn to the floral scent that wafted for miles in the air, there were sweet red delicious in the making and some too early for mass harvest. They dived for the sacrificial fruits at the top of the orchard which would become the precursor for the bountiful bushels dotting the branches like berries.

All seemed peaceful at first as even the avian denizens of the land were alive and energetic, a lone acorn fell from an overhanging branch which tapped three times on the rustic route. Immediately a gray squirrel with tuffs of hair at the tips of its ears scurried down from the tree of which the nut fell, its fluffy tail twitching in anxiousness. Skillfully it made its way off the chapped bark and kicked up a little dust until finally the morsel was within its tiny paws once more.

A happy little smile spread upon the furry little rodent, but it soon vanished as life came to a halt not a moment later by an unseen sensation that rattled the animals. As if a jolt of electricity shocked the squirrel it leaped off the road in a spasm before darting away, everything else followed suit when a spark fizzled into being where the little acorn came to a rolling stop.

A spot on the sandy dry clay pathway blew up with red pieces of hot metal spouting up in a miniature geyser. It oozed with thick oily smoke which rose tumultuously in some reverse cyclonic fashion as the very air around it quivered. A chaotic cone of choking smog swarmed by red fireflies grew larger until it began to bloat like a raging balefire. With its size came an immense amount of heat from within, the rising temperature quivered the air with warping properties. So hot was the black pylon that it quickly cooked and hardened the road beneath it till the newly fused rock cracked and shattered. Breaking into stone from such a fastidious process the likes of which bore an eerie resemblance to a mirror struck by a hoof.

Then it all ceased, the haze dissipated as the embers faded off and what was left over the final piece of fired clay shards was a unicorn. Standing on all hooves was a mare, one who was left unscathed and even began to take her first steps a wisps of dark translucent tendrils faded off her frame. One of sun tan gold and flame kissed hair of the mane and tail reacted to an unseen aroma which its putrid flavor could offend even the unclean.

"Ahhh!! What is that smell!!?" a feminine voice gasped nearly choking on a need to dry heave.

With a few blinks to clear the watering eyes she took a few steps out of the smoldering zone as the smell of sulfur forced her sensitive nose to scrunch up and her eyes to slightly sting. A wave of a hoof allowed some modicum of salvation from the offending odor as she surveyed her surroundings before the local air current thankfully came to her aid.

Sunset coughed, "Ugh!! I think it's in my mouth..." she spat onto the ground in revulsion.

After trying and failing to remove the taint upon her taste buds, she gave a pass over the unknown location she ended up in. Tears were blinked away from the smoke while she turned about only to find she as by herself, off on some trail devoid of ponies. A quick sigh of relief escaped her as she cleared the first hurdle that needed to be avoided with utmost importance. No big red barn, no farming equipment, and certainly no farmhouse which came to mind when she stood at the breach in the crystal wall, it confounded her as to the error that occurred.

She smacked her lips to the bitter aftertaste of brimstone lingering still, "Okay? Guess that's for the best, less chance of meeting somepony this far out. Going to be my life's story for awhile until I can get myself out of the hole I've ended up in." she frowned before a distant snap ripped through the air, "No point staying here then... Royal Guards will be swarming this place soon enough."

She noticed a lone apple like a red ruby orb that fell off one of the trees before she began to leave, it rolled towards her as if it had fallen solely for the new visitor. Though hesitant to waste time, the acrid stain on her tongue forced her to give it a second eye before stretching her head down to bite it. In a kick of dirt and spray of black ash deposited by the displacement spell, she sped off the route by the farm into the wide expanse of oaks and maple trees. The apple in her mouth whose tasty fluids gradually washed away the offending ash with its amazingly succulent flavor gave her respite, she careened off into the wilderness with the rustling leaves of shrubs signaling her exodus.

In bounding leaps over thick heads of dense vegetation, dodging exposed roots of mighty conifers, ducking below low hanging branches with the occasional wasp nest hanging dangerously, and avoiding the random small forest animal the feel of racking branches were but tickles to her. The occasional slap to the muzzle failed to even jar her as a distant rumble flew overhead, it was the cracking and breaking wails of crystal walls and pillars. In a perfectly executed maneuver she worked the fruit between her front teeth and ate most of its candy sweet meat with ease, what was left she spat out into a flowering bush and carried on.

"Got... that done! Can't... afford to choke... on food now!" she thought loudly as some of the sugar fluids began to dry around the fur of her muzzle, her speed picked up as more and more crashing sounds of glass resounded in ferocity.

The castle already a league away emitted a dire echo of the mineral construct in its final death throes, high pitch pings of new fractures giving way grew towards becoming deafening that perhaps other lands might even hear it. Sharp as an assassin's dagger each new fissure pierced the mare's ears more horridly than an air horn pressed against them. It was as if some mighty deity were trying to escape their demise in a glass prison and their own forms were failing as was their containment. The uproar of disaster swayed leaves and dropped loose branches everywhere as if they were rain from a storm while Shimmer galloped into their showers. So potent was the fracas that it snaked through the dense forest canopy and around barrel wide trunks of mighty aged plants that towered over the unicorn. Sunset's ears mashed as flat as their muscles could to keep her hearing, yet for all her work trying to task coordination from running and blocking everything else out; she still grimaced in agony.

She herself could feel the torment of the Castle of Friendship like some majestic creature were dying too soon in its long life, her heart impulsively gave an apology which was only right, "I'll make this right I swear Twilight!"

Sunset powered herself over an exposed boulder as smooth as a river stone and striped with bands of brown, nearly landing in a small creek had she not put an extra push in the exertion. A soft squelch sounded as her front legs met grass and exposed mud yet luck would have it that it did not suck her down. She easily forced herself onward without missing much of a step, her back legs powerful enough to make short work of the slight grip from the squelching mud. What left of the clumps of sticky sediment speckled her underbelly, holding on long enough to make a mess upon the honey fur.

"This is my second chance... I'll stop... I'll stop them and... and whatever... else came through!!" her voice resolute and empowered held firm while she pushed herself even harder.

A short moment of utter stillness befell the lands after the last rupture blared out, the sole vibrations that made it to Sunset's hearing were of her own breath and the crunching plants under her hooves. How insufferable the lifeless forest seemed to soon feel, it haunted each turn and swerve she made. It was so wrong to detect nothing but herself as if she were the only pony or creature in the world. The type of fallaciousness that could only mean one thing, the quiet before the storm.

"No... no... please no..." she chanted as if it would stop what she innately feared was soon to happen, "I know!! It's gotta be the portal overloading or something! Definately... not some eldrich evil... nope... just a... magical surge destroying... Twilight's castle!"

She continued to gallop and chewed her bottom lip, anticipating some apocalyptic explosion or sorts or a storm of malice and skulls like something from Rainbow Dash's horror movie stock. Her mind ablaze with the graphic imagery humans seemed to enjoy tormenting themselves with nightmares for fright thrill, even the rare good second grade films had some merit to their madness. It was the hex all over again, waiting for the dragon of black magic to peer around a corner and stalk her. The anticipation was murderous on her mental stamina to the point that she nearly took it upon herself to stop and look back, to witness the travesty upon her home. Tempting as it were it was only just barely that she avoided losing her momentum.

It came in the form that justified her fears not long after the quiet gripped everywhere about, a ground rumbling roar of deep and guttural nature she'd never heard of in all her life. A primal origin of which every creature could understand and cower in fear of. What birds the mare had barely caught sight of in the trees huddled deep within the crowns of the looming limbs and bark, squirrels and mice darted for new knots and nests as fear seemed to reset them from comfort, even small snakes slithered with utmost hast in Sunset's route-less direction. She could feel the vocal sound wave like a volcano had detonated right under the young alicorn's home, shockingly enough even as Sunset jumped into the air to evade an obstacle it still rattled every bone and joint in her.

"By... Celestia!!" she gasped as a hoof fall nearly caught her awkwardly, just barely twisting a joint and dooming her gait to a tumble.

The final portion of the titanic bellow did more than frighten her, as it faded off into the distance a cord was struck within her and one she didn't know was even there. There lingered a weirdness of the likes that empowered the unicorn in a spiritual sense not like the crumbling crystal structure, a sort of kindred spirit at the epicenter of the scene of annihilation she had at first fought to realize. Though a pony she was and temporarily human, the roar made a meager connection with a part of her she tried to hide. The need for power, the want to come to a conclusion she desired, the fight for the good fight.

Steeling herself from what was assumed to be Andras' doing she retaliated against the feeling, "Get out of my HEAD!!" she scowled and slid under a fallen birch whose rotted corpse looked burnt down its length.

When nothing answered back her speed slowed as in remarkable disbelief that her cry actually did something. Yet it was only a temporary cease, for it came back twice fold with whispers from the dark corners of consciousness that spoke the truth of the familiarity. The hailing had been of longing and achievement of freedom born from immense power at ones beck and demand. A sensation she despised beyond disgust of the abhorrent desire of a past craving she thought had been buried forever, but it was the crown of magic that blinked in front of her. The flecks of such still hanging on in the inner recess of her mind, like glitter that never leaves no matter how accomplished the cleaning had been. For the mighty announcement to the world had stilled nature even in its perpetual motions, everything had been paralyzed in fearful reverence just as she once felt would be done for her so long ago as the old pony caste away.

"Why is this place getting thicker!" she panted trying to get her head out of the disturbing notions playing at her will power, "I can barely see... the ground!"

It was becoming increasingly harder to understand where to place a hoof and if she could maintain her speed she had set, but it was all forced in order to overcome the demonic infection. What happened next sent a second volley of tremors that tickled her fur as goosebumps did when she was human, but it was not of any chilly cold air. It took all of her strength to ignore it as bright yellow light behind her glowed so powerful it even darkened the sky above, it vanished as quickly as it began. Something that eclipsed the sun was not at all a welcoming thought to the mare, knowing full well that even if she tried to fight that abomination and won. It was an opportunity for the vile entity to infest Ponyville or do whatever it could to gain foundation, it was how all evil worked from what she remembered in her research from what little remained.

Her legs burned as they carried her deeper into the ever congested foliage daring her to go further into its bosom, uncaring if she might land herself off some canyon or river in some mighty drop off. The mysterious glare made her think of the little village in flames, of ponies screaming, destruction on a grand scale the likes Equestria knew nothing of even after the centaur's attack. There could be no distraction to alleviate her from the awful idea, it made her wonder if her birth home would be visited by the same travesty that altered the human world? Would they survive the sirens and more to live in peace once again?

Again she wondered what good it would do to give Andras the chance to sow terror itself if she somehow defeated the unknown threat. She wasn't a pony to chance to risk for the sake of gaining control, a great evil was within her and quite possibly worse than what might have shook the world with the sound of its voice. But in that stress of fighting the want to go back and do anything if something, Flash Sentry came to her as well as the true human Sunset Shimmer. Both were looking at her smiling while behind them the girls waving happily, following the seven were feelings which swelled her with a renewed sense of hope. A hope she would have to accept as it was the only logical choice to make, a choice in which she continued to run still.

Passing between two depressing willow trees, Sunset's unguided course soon became overshadowed by something up above. Her head jerked up to find the cause of the darkness but it flew by too quickly to even catch beyond a whistle of a massive, long, and possessing a tail which swooped with a foreboding whistle. For that glance she could actually hear nothing but her own thoughts, allowing a simple question to be considered without duress.

"What... was that?!" she said, creaking and snapping timber behind her came rapidly at her heels giving her no time to register what was about to happen when the world became a whirlwind of blurry images.

Agility and finesse couldn't save her from succumbing to a wall of wind like a tsunami after a powerful earthquake when all of the sudden she felt no ground beneath her. Hooves aimlessly kicking in a feeble attempt to find purchase, her coat felt the rushing air caress all around like hands of the school kids petting the class pet. Sunset's sense of gravity had become unrecoverable after the sixth rotation with only momentum giving her the only any inclining of where to put her hooves if she could. Yelping and screaming she twisted about with each opportunity to see the way the eddies of disturbed gale forces had manipulated her. Horrified as if the hex were there trying to snap with hungry jaws of silvery fangs, she could nearly count the seconds between each revolution in order to somehow time a buffered landing on the zooming white barked tree. The fifth time she counted one second, the sixth time a half second, then the seventh a second and a half when a bolt of air seemed to slow the nausea inducing movement. By the eight time she finally met the only surface which would stop her and by some miraculous save by fate itself a slower moving hollow brown log intervened.

"AAAHHHHHH!!!!" she cried out losing half her speed and gaining a sore barrel from the impact.

The decayed lumber left off to some other parts unknown while Sunset was throttled into a wide tree shortly after, that precious bruiser positioned the mare to collide back first. She blacked out from the brunt of the shock as everything went black, though that was all that ailed her when the rushing gusts still howled the ear drums. She could still feel the sharp pain race along every muscle along the spine followed by the dull bruising throb pounding like a distress beacon on the back of her head.

Sight came back as if a light switch were flipped, loose debris struck her like rain but she kept those aqua eyes open defiantly. In an attempt to gain her bearings she realized dangling what she thought was under her was the tip of her curly tail rather than her mane. Dizziness planted the flag of ownership upon the hapless mare, nothing made much sense anymore as a breath was let out she didn't even know she had been holding in. Just as the cloudless storm blast felt as if it were going to abate, a thud shook the base of the tree that caught Sunset as a baseball in a catchers mitt.

"What... the Tartarus was that!" she groaned before a broken limb raced towards her, hitting two other tree trunks that sent it spinning with even more destructive force.

Shimmer reacted as only a unicorn could in such a position, her horn sparked with the ember hot mana cinders to the survival thoughts that flooded her mind. The thick deadly lumber hit the ground and sprayed dark soil with a frayed splintery end, lending it into one lethal arc which would surely crush her in one go. Sunset braced herself for the hit and waited, she waited still as the air around her calmed with a return to normalcy.

"Not yet... just not... yet..." she whispered shaking in place against the birch tree that held her, only when it seemed as if the end should have long since passed did she allow herself to open her squeezed eye lids.

Remarkable was not the word she could pin on what exactly happened, she found herself witnessing the gift of a miracle. Splashes of dirt and uprooted clover clusters snailed down an invisible barrier which suspended the wooden reaper in place, slowly she righted herself until she sat on her back legs mouth agape.

"Whoooaa..." the little unicorn marveled.

A little mouse popped out of a crack in the timber and began to squeak at her even though it seemed quite unbalanced from the ride. The both of them equally startled by the chaotic mess that disturbed them when a few distant oaks fell over some four acres away. She however had not been expecting the little wood rat to appear much less tell her off as if she had been the one to essentially relocate its home. Jarred out of her focus of the situation the log fell as the magic gave way and released the barrier, Sunset noticed how deep the branch embedded itself into the ground with a hard muffled thud.

The mouse gently bounced on the bark exterior before it shook its head and rattled a paw at her. Unused to sentient creatures that weren't human or pony for that matter she merely watched the ball of fur scurry off angrily, followed by ten more who evacuated the heavy branch. Left all alone, the forest began to stir once more as if the rodents were the green light to live again without fear of doom from above. Sunset heard the feathery beats of bird wings fleet through the trees, slithering things brush grass, and all other manner of disturbances greet her hearing.

"SORRY!!" she called out after the last naked tail disappeared through brambles far to the left, reactionary to the plight of the rodent's former home.

Shimmer found herself sitting in the very gape of the birch tree falling into it in utter relief, having just survived a freak incident there was no willing the hooves any farther. Her heart still raced and unlike the wild godly miniature hurricane which abused her as a ragdoll, it would be some time before the shaking at the ends of her legs would stop. The sensation was new to her though of course being in pony form was in itself an experience to relearn all over again. She used that train of thought to overwhelm the jitters and shock, as after all that transpired there was no explaining any of it nor did she want to.

"Ha... now that I think about it... how was I able to even trot much less walk on all four again?" she asked herself carefully avoiding the back of her head against the hard bark as a welt began to form, "Shouldn't I have tried to walk on my hindlegs? Ya that's right! I made it this far as if I never left Equestria..."

Tremors persisted still but she kept on focusing on small things, all alone she had only herself to be of aid. Though she was hurt there was no evidence of nerve damage being able to articulate every joint and feel every nerve, a lucky save she sighed for in subdued mirth.

"What a way... no..." she felt her eyes weight down as if they gained several pounds of exhaustion, "... what a welcome home huh Pinkie?"

The amber unicorn seemed to doze off as the welcoming embrace felt as fantastic and rejuvenating as if she were in the middle of a group hug with the girls. Their faces before her sending the poor mare down the river of slumber, yet it was not a mournful way to go off on. A little anole lizard dashed across the grass before stopping a foot in front of the young pony, it gazed at her to see a tiny delight across her lips. Chest rising and falling, the reptile made off when Sunset's weight brought her sliding down onto a root for a long rest. The noon sun peaked through the leafy branches above, spots of luminous solar rays giving her warmth was her consciousness fully dived into rest.

Canterlot Castle

In the middle of late morning Court of the Sun, two nobles a mare and a stallion in fancy clothing stood before the two thrones talking their mouths away. Before them sat the regal alabaster alicorn herself Princess Celestia with an expressionless poker face as she listened to the petitioners for a new tax on textiles from Griffonstone and radio devices from Manehatten's industrial sector. Just another day as leader of the kingdom during the hours of the sun, her sister would handle the lot who were too busy to spare a visit at such hours. They had been the twentieth set to appear before her who were using the claim of spending the allocated bits to fund the kingdom wide epidemic that affected their foal or foals in other cases.

Yet no matter what noble tried to seem in any less of the term, noble, Celestia was well briefed on the health crisis and the tax policy already in effect. They were no philanthropist at heart and what funds that went to research were lacking from the moment their coffers were filled. There would always be sharks even among her little ponies, no matter what chaos or disaster came before Equestria's front gates their hearts were as green as a dragon's eyes for treasure.

When the moment came for her to give them the same response she'd give others which was a strict denial of action, the throne room doors opened up to a golden armored guard. One who ran at her with utmost haste, plating clanked loudly as he rushed towards her as if the very fires of Tartarus were about to consume him. The nobles shut their mouths in indignation at the interruption of the meeting yet were ignored as the soldier came skidding before the great Princess, bowing with heavy breathes from his rapid approach.

Celestia rose an eyebrow curiously and waited as the Royal Guard rose up without her word to rise at ease, the worry in his eyes spoke every volume she needed to know.

"Your majesty!! Something's happening in Ponyville!" he spoke while his lungs tried to take in as much air as they could between words, "Arcana... and Unicorn Guards detected... a huge magical disturbance... from... Princess Twilight's... Castle!!"

With the final words leaving his muzzle the very foundation of Canterlot itself experienced a quake of sorts that was short and light. Yet to Celestia the marble structure had to have felt something powerful to register such motion and that was what sent the Princess off her seat. Her troubled look kept the Nobles quiet further more, blinking in and out from the first step of the throne towards the doors of the balcony docks. Other guards were on high alert themselves, looking at one another as they awaited a call to action being aware as the alicorn to the severity of the queer vibrations which traveled through their metal gauntlets.

A glow of her long pristine horn sent a manipulation spell towards the deck doors where the outside was presented to her. Everypony in the room as well as her gawked at the odd light which shrouded the holy sun, a tangerine flare shone far brighter than the white star which brought happiness and day to all. The precipitous event of a darker sky left before anypony could make a comment, but given a moment a commotion much like a snowy flood from one of the white capped mountains echoed into the space. It was a sound of devastation rather than an act of nature, and from the noble's perspective as well as the guards they took in Celestia's huge wingspan as both her appendages expanded outwards. There was a powerful aura emanating from the diarch which resulted in skin tingling, hair on ends, and blood chilling which none were prepared for. The Royal Guard who informed her of the dire situation had brought himself to her side eager like a foal to get into action rather than stay in place fiddling with their hooves.

"Your highness? What are your orders?" he asked calmly.

Celestia's magnificent horn powered up as another spell took form, "Go to my sister and inform her I will be engaging the threat that is heading north east, and have her join me ready for battle. I fear with Twilight still overseas... her friends will not have the power to aid Equestria as of now." she announced dead focused on the thing which flew away massive in size and dangerous from afar.

The guard bowed with haste and left with the rest of the soldiers in the room joining him. The two nobles were left confused and frightened by the developing circumstances, but what froze them into place was what Celestia had to say next.

"To dwell in a mountain over a town is one thing... to terrorize to such magnitudes is unacceptible! What wrath have you wrought onto yourself..." her soft voice carried with a distasteful tone as her whole body shimmered in golden light, magic encompassing the alicorn till she was but a star brought down from the cosmos itself.

Her form teleported away to where the noble couple had not the faintest idea, if they could after fainting alone on the hard marble floor.

Ch.1 The Start of the Apocolypse

Author's Note

Updates after this initial chapter will be very slow, I just had to write this as a start to book 2. I'll be putting much of my time into the sequel before this one Land of the Rising Sun. Halfway into that story I'll be kicking this back into gear. Enjoy!

Ch.1 The Start of the Apocolypse

Crystal Castle Library- Portal

Deep inside the magnificent abode of whose silhouette before the sun seemed like a colossal oak, formed of Harmony's generosity and nearly impervious gem-like body not a creature stirred nor a peep made. The majesty in its crystal walls and windows belonging to the newest alicorn stood silent and devoid of life, its owners far away in mythical lands. Though the dragon caretaker had taken care to clean every space and counter top of dust and cobwebs before locking the up, ensuring it would be mostly clean by the inevitable return of laughter and merriment of the ponies who'd come to celebrate. Yet not all was well within the innards of the castle, something churned and sparked with magic that gave a tremor of unease throughout the stunning structure. A bewildering groan that almost gave the castle itself a sense of liveliness, that it was feeling indigestion where the collection of knowledge resided.

The library, Princess Twilight's latest personal collection bore fresh and old books from all around the nation, some texts bearing scorch marks of their neigh end of their old shelves. The spines in multitudes of colors both muted and bright faced towards the roomy archive's corridor of a design layout where study tables below sat in quiet solitude, they awaited use from any curious mind of both the collector and her guests. Furnishings where the few friends gathered to look up vital information for any case needed were like the sentinels around every corner at Canterlot, never moving yet ready to leap at a moments notice. Pine wood round tables brought in to liven the otherwise rocky decor, the visual texture along their legs like dripping sand of an amber beach. Every few held upon their smooth polished tops tiny yet effective oil lamps for when the sun descended. All were empty of the combustible liquid making them light as a paper weight.

The metallic skin of their chrome plating glistened at pops of light from deeper within the library, all of them acting as mirrors which shone as beacons from lighthouses. The whole castle shook with a small quake, rattled oil lamps and slightly displaced study desks added to the panic enduing orchestra from all directions. When the tremor petered off the light upon the lamps spurned once more and brighter as if someone were sharpening a sword upon a wheel. A large device not far off had come to life as the contraption surrounding an ornate mirror started to arc with serpents of light, blinking in and out of existence somewhere new each time. Some made contact with the decorative wire at encompassing the edge of the reflective boutique object, sparking with a minor explosion which showered the apparatus of wood and bronze in hot embers. The wood covered pressure tank behind the armature which rose over the ancient portal creaked and moaned, its body bulged outwards like a slowly inflating balloon. The pressure gauge hissing for a moment before popping out, embedding into a nearby shelf whose books caught the metal.

Several new dancing ropes of energy cracked loudly as their power surged from the mirror itself nestled inside the machinery, tensing up and attacking the flanking electrical capacitors. At first they merely graced the copper gold components, yet after what seemed to be testing caresses the room became a ruckus of arcing voltage. In a mighty output, ship rope thick lightning made a final connection and blistered with a fury of an angry god, the metal gave out in moments under the onslaught. Such a force detonated the tank behind the support base, a gaseous substance violently spread out as fragments of wood and brass shredded the nearby book shelves in a hail of shrapnel. The white cloud whose particles shone like the rainbow under shafts of light from the windows expanded and tried to fill the rest of the library in its choking girth. It never made it past the first two sets of tables when something sucked it back in, the portal to the human world was once obscured by the cataclysm soon came back into view. In place of the arcane machine and fancy vanity, emerged not wire and strange devices but a substance like the oil lamps.

The vapors gone, a giant orb sat where the mirror had once been as if the reflective surface and been transformed into something entirely new. It grew with a pulsing nature like a heart, swallowing whatever it touched though it seemed to be held just an inch off the ground. Whatever touched its metal skin seemed to be pulled in by a hungry pull, in a minute the thing took over the entire back portion where the portal had once sat. Books on the shelves both unharmed and marred by fragmentation fell towards the ever enlarging sphere, as if invisible hands were plucking them off their perches. It wasn't until the shelves themselves almost came into contact that the orb finally ceased its strange behavior. Everything stopped and nothing fell into the gravity well anymore, a giant chrome marble just seemed to manifest in the library where it could not move for the tight fit it was in. Its body having apparently gained mass as it did not phase through the floor or walls around it.

It did however shimmer and undulate as if it were frightened by something, sparks fizzed out the front before something shot out. With the sound of splashing water three large bodies flopped with a heavy thud onto the carpeted crystal floor, the sound of bone smacking an nearly unbreakable surface echoed in the annals of the archive.

"AHAaahahahaha!!!" cried an angry voice.

Something else tried to speak yet all that came out was a muffled sentence.

"Owwww...." moaned another, large sail fins stretched upwards in a spectral display of mesmerizing patterns that caught the outside light just right.

One purple and another cerulean blue, two fish-like creatures writhed from the drop they sustained coming out of the chrome orb. Knocking the breath out of the third turquoise colored copy who was smashed under their weight like a pinned mullet. Desperately they tried to scramble out of the suffocating pressure, but a cloven hoof and forelimb kept their head down and pinned no matter what they tried.

"Anyone catch that nine o'clock bus?" Aria spat as she rubbed her eyes free of the dots that clogged her vision.

Dusk paused in her own soreness as her nose picked up on something new, "Hey?! Did we just land in a bookstore or something? Smells like musty old paper and wood?"

The scent of aged manuscripts had its own sweet pungent odor that wasn't too abrasive to their new noses, yet the differences were starting to become clear. Every little particle from the near scentless crystal walls to the few wooden pieces in the room, even the old smells left by previous ponies were as obvious as human perfume sellers. While both were trying to see even a single object without a wash of flash blindness clogging their view, things concerning their bodies were being registered and awakening something long forgotten within their souls. The chugging gears within their heads were running the ancient machine that had once run their birth given bodies.

"Hey, you know something? I don't feel my legs?" Sonata quizzically thought as colorful dots swarmed her as if she angered a wasp nest, "Like for realzies!? It's like their glued together?"

Deciding to have none of the none sense of her packmate Aria groaned, "You would think that and your legs are probably fine."

The mass underneath the two jerked thrice before finally gaining attention to her plight, in return for her need of air she gained what was for the better part a lack luster response. Her eyes glared upwards towards the primary bulk upon her that belonged to the purple one, half their weight crushing her rib cage and trapping her tail. With one forearm stuck under her own chest there was little she could do with both sirens above. Aria was all too pleased to see through the speckled eyes of hers of the trouble she caused the new comer, a gratuitous comment came forth from her muzzle as she sneered back to the hateful eyes.

"Ugghhhhh!! You're as lumpy as a reef you know that?"

Sonata gazed down as well and caught enough to register the fourth siren, "Wow! I knew the ground wasn't that bump."

Both laughed at the only other sister Adagio had left, in some fashion they had a disdain for her out of the surprise appearance. Natural as water flowed downwards, Oratoria did not sit well with them and they wanted it to be known. Even afflicted by the portal's magic they persevered as inner drives rose up from dust and time, of their race it was common place.

"Ohhh, what's the matter? Can't say anything? Perhaps that's because you're on the bottom tier!" cackled Aria before she ceased when the sound of strange noises came from behind them, like cracking sticks and coursing gravel.

In a swirling vortex upon the giant chrome orb, the metal gave to a new disturbance which it birthed more elongated bodies as if they were spurts of water. Adagio and Twilight soon appeared as they were ejected by the same mysterious force which treated the others in kind, dazed and confused as they flopped in the drop which deposited them upon their fellows. Blaze felt karma come back to slap her in the muzzle, she never knew how much more Dazzle weighted over her until that split moment where she knew how it felt to have the air knocked out of her. Sonata had turned around just in time to hear the familiar voice of Twilight screaming as she flew into her, where as the two slammed muzzles and front teeth together in an agonizing impact that shot the nerves. Both of the two seeing only stars and white hot pain flare upon their snouts, wishing they had cracked a tooth than endure the numerous nerves set ablaze by the incident.

Warily, Adagio was the first to power through the phantasmal effects of the magical transportation, as if by mental fortitude her sight cleared and everything was known to her in sharp detail. Planting her front hooves upon something squishy and protesting, she propped herself upwards and took in what was essentially a bookstore of sorts or something similar. The many shelves stacked with little space or none at all and awaiting study areas were a keep for information which she knew all too well.

'So we landed here. Well on the plus side we're not under attack... but a book place all of things? We've had no use for such places since they invented computers and convenience stores.' she focused her eyes down the length of the room towards the only obvious way out, 'We should be back home though, it smells of magic and ponies!'

"Can you get off me! Your grace!!?" came a voice that broke the pleasant bubble of success around the matriarch.

She gazed down towards the indignant sound with a miffed expression that someone dared ruin the moment for her, but that quickly passed like a tidal wave as she realized what had happened. Aside the fact that she could bend her long neck downwards in an wonderful curve, the golden scaled limbs that once were human arms had anchored her on the head of a growling siren who in turn laid partially on another. It felt as if her fingers were curled and the knuckles were what trapped Aria, phantom sensations she hoped would go away now that they had regained their birth given bodies.

She shifted off the pile of fins, tails, and teeth smirking at the misfortune of her little usurper but no more to avoid spoiling their rebirth, "We did it girls! We're back and better than ever!"

Sonata spoke as she rubbed her snout, "Wowey!! Bet my old body would have broken a nose if we did that... that..." she started to get what her leader meant which caused her to freeze up as her crest rose like a morning sun.

Adagio happily grinned as she took in what she knew was just the same as her form, while the rest were still recovering her little idiot smiled as wide as she could. Her eyes glistened, pupils dilated, every membrane sail head to tail stretched taunt before the sudden eruption of glee blew once the mirth could no longer be contained.

She squealed loudly as her vision came to clarity, "I'm ME!! I'm MEEEEEE!!!"

In that split second that Dazzle noticed the crater in the siren's breast plate devoid of the ruby that should have been there, the siren's joy elicited the most awful off key vowel that sounded like glass and fingernails scraping against a blackboard in unison. All four sets of ears, even Sonata's own, fell down sharply trying to block the spikes driving into their heads from the madness. It served to free the enraged siren under the entire pile having been a trapped sardine for the last few minutes. While the horribly ruined vocals were quieted, Dazzle's dreams came to an abrupt halt at the other obstacle she knew they would have had to deal with. It was said it would occur and she had the foolishness to believe there would have been a seashell of a chance she might still have some power with them. Her ire peaked for a spell before giving way to the scene before her, devoid of stones were her pack yet the new girl shone out of the group as a saving grace. Where upon her immaculate chest scales nearly as large as a walkway sat nestled within the protective armor, her gemstone twinkling in the light that bounced off the crystal structure about them.

"Poseidon..." Adagio whispered, her tail curled under her as she stood upwards.

The mass of eels had begun to disperse from the pile, it was clear that her two were fumbling with their own bodies. Their hooves scraped against the ground awkwardly as their hefty chests and elegant heads fought to carry on as if they were still in those ugly meat bags with spindly bones. Aria cursed quietly to herself as she too realized the loss of their second stones, relegating herself to a serpents prone while a wrist blinding groped the depression lacking a certain item. The large tail fin slapped the carpeted floor as her irritation grew like an angry cat, a fussy fur bag was often what Adagio thought Aria embodied. Never happy and always hungry, always the fussy eater.

"You weight as much as those filthy trucks they used to move their trash!" Oratoria spat as she checked her body once over then twice.

A low frequency rumble startled those nearby, but with the exception of the one who was just as aggravated as the one whose throat created the threatening sound. Adagio could only shake her head before speaking up to stop the two from going at each others necks, they had only so long of peace and she dared not risk chance that guards or another warden might appear.

"ENOUGH!!" three heads whipped towards her call, "Get use to her, she may be the newest member among us but she's still my... family." the admittance like a bittersweet taste upon her tongue.

"Serves you right." whispered the proud capable siren who emphasized the words by floating away while the others slithered to get anywhere.

Ignoring the lingering spite between Aria and Oratoria, the golden scaled female addressed the pack by clearing her throat. Serving to double as asserting her position upon them all and adjusting to her new lungs, their size were far larger and more capable than what she was use to. As if she thought a single breathe might perform a full speech with no pause, adapting would come pleasantly to her even if somehow it all felt natural still. Her gaze fell upon Aria and Dusk with the troublesome one to the right of the pair, a flicker of purple fins danced behind her lovable fool yet it left aside as her pride swelled. They were finally back and with help or so she thought, but improvement from their previous situation was more than enough to hold her over.

"As you all know we just escaped our exile. Everyone except Oratoria has lost their gem, meaning Yellow Tail was right about what would happen to the human siren stones once we crossed over. That being said!" she crossed her forelegs over her scale plated chest, "We're practically powerless if we trigger the ponies now. So I need everyone to remain calm and work together, you can settle your feuds later when we have a means to control ponies again. Our only way out of this weakened state is to wait for him so he can get us to where ever the promised gems he has stashed away are. Figure out how we use those ones when we cross that road."

Sonata piped up as she took to stretching herself on the rug covered floor, "You know now that I remember... wasn't he... some kind of big bad unicorn or something?"

The display of the the cerulean sail-like crest almost brought a tear to Adagio's eyes, among the conflict of different emotions rippling through her mind she was elated they were back to normal.

"Don't care, we have our goals to accomplish. The banished are useless to us once we regain our powers... for a second time."

A playful hum permeated the unbelievably crisp air, a gravity defying hippocampus twirled through the cavity of the library until she ended up beside the only one who did not embody a lowly serpent. Keeping her crest and fins lowered to show her subordination, Dazzle felt the nuzzle under her chin though she largely ignored it knowing she was incapable of the same levitation. It irked her that they may have acquired their large beautiful bodies only to scrap scales and damage the lower fins from the only other locomotion they had.

"SEE!! See sister! I told you we were family! Now that we're out of those filthy skins and with me your guardian protector. I mean with my stone and all I can easily mind control anypony who'd dare harm you or us." Oratoria had begun to do what Aria loathed would occur, ears flickered at the little conversation underway and two eyes met.

The golden siren could actually feel the Tartarus fires and lava pools in the insinuation her second in command conveyed, her little usurper was actually feeling threatened. A question without words conveyed by facial expression alone told her all she needed to know, they were not even a day in their old bodies and already as matriarch she had a pecking order dispute.

She sighed having been indifferent to the intimate contact her long lost family enacted, "The answer is no Ori."

The nuzzling stopped as the head withdrew, the siren the reply was for popped at the declaration. A hefty huff passed out her snout where she then darted before the head of the pack, still showing now aggression in her body language though she obviously wasn't happy with the decision.

"What do you mean no?" she furrowed her brows as the two fleshy appendages upon her forehead swayed back as her ears did, there was a hint of bitterness in the girl's tone.

Those magenta orbs soon found a mirror to stare at, the same color as hers even though the two of them were not blood related. She maintained a poker face any veteran gambler would tip their glass to, just like the days of the Restriction Era prior to the Great War among the humans. The situation quickly started to become a test of her mediator skills, probing her long held position where unlike the past all she had to do was bully her standing as the way of things.

"No as in you're not becoming my next in line. Aria has had that position since I began this pack, though you may be family and possess magic. I trust her with the rank because I've seen what she can do for the last several thousand years! You on the other hand have just been searching for me like a lost pup, you haven't been through what we have, struggled to feed as one, or lost your own stone and faced death's door by spitting at it." Dazzle pressed her snout against the other siren as if daring to protest further, "You may be family, but they are as well. Now that we're ourselves once again... you will follow the proper order we've been taught! Am... I... clear?!"

Sonata had taken her last taunt pull when she picked up on the hard lesson to be learned with Dazzle, her ears perked up as she looked over. Seeing the turquoise newbie shutter and fall back, eventually the grounded big fish was the only one left toting over them. It reminded her of their first days together though hazy they were, an odd clarity had graced her for a moment as she remembered the fourth dominance battle Aria tried to enact against Adagio. It went the same way as she managed to catch in its ending proceedings, and it brought a smirk to her seeing things return to peace as much as they often did.

Nearly as soon as the tension fell away into a tepid serenity in the crystal walled archive, the four glanced to the only set of doors down the library as they all heard the sound of a turning knob echo through the air. The crystal handle of the amber door clinked to reveal two unicorns which immediately stunned the pack in disbelief. There before the sirens stood a skinny yet not lanky unicorn adorned in strange green and black robes fashioning a large wide hat like the mages of old in a deep indigo. The other horned pony albeit shorter and fatter, wore a red robe with silver edges though no head wear seemed apparent except for a golden chain upon his neck where an emerald hung encased in platinum. That same pudgy stallion sported a long flowing white beard to compliment the bushy snow brows, giving the pony the appearance of one in their later years. Contrasting the companion who had to be in mid or younger, gaunt around the cheeks and eyes slightly sunken in.

Adagio's first reaction was that they were caught and soon they would be surrounded by guards, though she felt a form of comfort in having Oratoria's voice to lend to an escape. What remained to be seen was if the crazed mage on the other side had time to alert the others, that idea was quickly coming to reality. However, as the leader poised herself on her front hooves with a summoned sneer shared by her little usurper, the unicorns quickly spoke up as soon as they realized who they stumbled upon.

"Frauleins! Quick! Ve must leave zis place soon before zey go through! Come on! Over here!" he called out with a waving hoof over, the harmonics pinged as the one known as the germane mage Paradox.

"Yes I'm afraid we don't have the luxury of time on our hands. Inferno may quite literally take up the whole stage and more with his wondrous personality." registered the other whom Dazzle knew to be Emerath of Maneland.

A certain rookie had begun to coolly warm their vocal cords as they lazily drifted beside her, it was a calling card of what would come if someone didn't act quickly. Compounding the statement about another banished, there was a sense of uncertainty that would likely lead her pack to ruin if they did anything to debilitate the unicorns up ahead. Thus she reached out with her left arm and clamped down on the glistening tail, putting a halt to what was to be a delightful number to have heard if time were not against them.

"No! Ori, they're with us and they'll lead us to our gems. No singing unless I give the go!" she vehemently glared, earning compliance though reluctantly from her pack sister.

"Fine!!" she scoffed as she fell back behind.

The bulging equine ellicited evacuation hastily once more, "I can't be any more serious! Ve must go!!"

"Cool your jets there tubby! We can't actually move like dunder head over there." Aria grinned, already digging the sharp ends of her cloven hooves into the rug as her tail pushed her towards the two.

A dainty giggle escaped Sonata who also had begun to move out, in doing so however she had begun to expose a coiled heap that had hid behind her crest and tail. No one the wiser, Adagio remained to be the last one out and as the rest filed in a staggered line she mulled over their circumstances. Knowing the cross going on with two of the group, she'd have to keep a tight leash on them or else squander what apparent secrecy they still had. A quick glance over her left shoulder and the giant ball of lively metal stood in place, the way back if something was horribly wrong with her that they'd dare return. She snorted at her image though distorted it was in the mirror quality of the sphere, going back was a death sentence even if they somehow got caught. All of their luck was in trusting what Yellow Tail had believed to be apparent with the portal in the way they forced it open, without the bridge between worlds it would take the ponies a long time before such magic ressurrected the pathway again. If what she had overheard while they were taken to the portal from Seraph had any truth to it, it would be an impossible stroke of luck that they'd be sent back to the same world. Anywhere else even if it was a volcanic fireball would be far more pleasing to endure than a fate as a human, she'd rather die than suffer such a life under duress of no voice or magic.

"Good riddance to that bog." she uttered hatefully, "Now... one to the matter at hand."

Flexing her cheek fins she counted her Dazzlings, coming up short she tried to remember who was missing as the wrath towards the void hole world of magic simmered away. A rush of a certain presence reminded her through the fading waterfall of ire that had befallen her mood, lying in wait for her to acknowledged that a certain young girl was the one in question. The portal jump had truly affected her in such a way as to be so mistaken in the initial appraisal over her pack, where and how Twilight Sparkle had been overlooked had come up as an unknown. Remembering where they had landed and that both of them had gone through the portal at the same time, it was assumed she'd see the girl dazed out of her mind from enduring the frightful experience in whatever strange form she took.

"Where is she?" came the question.

Every muscle pulled to swivel her view upon the deposit zone and there came a tremendous feature where she alone was privileged to. In all her life she'd never would have guessed how the great sea god might grace her with such fortune upon her once impossible return, the mighty Poseidon whose power could move the sea and sink continents was always preached to be the one who presided over all creatures born of the water. A subject of admiration, love, and fear for the daughters of the great entity, few ever spoke of gifts given when injustice was dealt towards one of his children. Faint as the sayings were she remembered from her long one family, she had long since given up hope that such a mighty force ever existed after the suffering she lived through. Yet there before her unraveling from a tightened notch was a jaw dropping present she'd never would have guess possible.

"By the depths!!" she whispered with baited breath, one foreleg hung in the air as the other started to burn from propping her up, "That snout... those fins... those hooves... that... that tail!"

Fazed by the flesh akin to her own kind, instead of what she figured would have been some pony just as they had been turned into humans. Another siren lay on her side feeble and weakened like a newly hatched pup, a grimace ruined the otherwise perfect snout though it served to showcase the pearly whites behind the supple lips. Scales of varying shade of mulberry with highlights of violet decorated the rest of the body, a sheen gleamed under the reflected light bouncing off the crystalline structure everywhere. Mesmerizing iridescence of the metallic beetles they use to see around lights of buildings, multiple colors which glowed with each movement like waves upon a shoreline. Sonata never failed to be taken by the little disgusting things even if they were almost somewhat close to a gemstone themselves.

"By the sea god!?" Adagio took a step towards the once human girl, her left leg prickling from nearly falling asleep after being left to hold her front weight.

"Owww..." came a whine from the young one, her hooves were rubbing her snout as if a biting sand flea kept jumping up for a meal.

The dark lavender snout wiggled and then came a full body jerk as some sort of pain kicked the younger siren without remorse, in that instant came a flurried flash of black which rose from behind Twilight. It startled the onlooker who figured it to be something dangerous or perhaps one of the gate keepers that had made it through with them. A giant obsidian shark fin which crest the water's surface where the rest of the body remained hidden from view, but it was not some fevered hallucination nor truly a threat to take on. As Dazzle reared back ready defend herself, the stirring leathery membrane in the air herald a cease of action once the transformed human rolled onto her belly. The fin which soon became evident as a wing flopped uselessly onto the crystal floor inches away from touching Adagio, she treated it like it were a sickly infected limb and backed off. A second appendage much like the first came into view and there the two connected to the back of her little Dazzling, flabbergasted beyond words her eyes ran along the entire length of the curves and lines along the thing.

"What... was is this trickery!?" her voice carried louder than before, drawing the others to the queer words with intrigue.

A groan escaped the thing that could only be the human girl, whose wings laid sprawled out with luminescent ice blue veins running along the arms up to the forearm wrist. Gasps shot through the room from the others who dared not move as they stared at the grotesque branches which sprouted off the ruined elegance of their kind. She appeared to have no control over them as they moved subconsciously outwards and inwards like fidgeting fingers of a nervous child.

"Has... anyone seen my glasses?" asked the twisted thing, "I can't feel them on my face? Are they on the floor somewhere? I'd... like to see what I am, since I can't move my legs all too well."

Easily the feminine voice was that of their human ally, though the hybrid body spoke otherwise. Adagio's sense of hearing detected the same harmonics she had become familiar with since their paths had crossed that lead them back home. Voluntarily she hauled herself slowly towards the monster whose relationship with her made the initial disgust and trepidation waver, the mocking resemblance in ways that it was had become a misfortune to the girl having passed through the portal. What comprehension there was to reason with the wings Dazzle knew not of, with each step and curl of her tail to push herself closer were the wings gain more detail.

"Hello? Girls?" asked the blinded thing whose forehead tendrils sagged as if they had no life in them and fins seemed to be numb to movement.

Fighting to speak, the young matriarch forced herself to the front of their supposed ally until she was face to face with the multi limb disfigured. It would be presumptuous of her to treat it as a threat with what she knew deep down as that cowardly brainy human, there was no mistaking the soul in her voice. She wanted to feel relief and satisfied that she had another siren among her able bodied subordinates, but the wings were an eye sore in trustworthiness. Had the magic she gathered and used to wriggle them out of the warden's hold deformed her Equis body? Was there not something about how she stole the magic from the Rainbooms that might have anything to do with the circumstances they found themselves in? Was there a curse that Sunset Shimmer might have imbued into her mana that was a last spit in her face before they left?

Her questions went silent as alarm compelled the one before her, "I can't... my hands don't work? Why can't I move my fingers? What's wrong with my body?!" the winged hippocampus started to panic, "This... this doesn't feel right? What are those!!"

Her breath kicked up into a constant inhale and exhale as she hyperventilated, the muscular body of the siren convulsed as her brain rejected the new form of unearthly nature. The large wings had slapped hard against her barrel in an attempt to fold in, but in doing so they flapped open violently in a mirror to their owners state. Oratoria and Aria both commenting on the large monstrous limbs though Adagio missed it as she sought a way to contain scared juvenile whose bulk could hurt her if she were not careful.

"Hey! Wait!" she tried to call out but ducked to avoid being decked in the maw by a wing.

Twilight twirled in place as her long scaly tail trailed behind like a pythons, she couldn't register the new nerves which moved in strange ways unlike the linear anatomy she had been born into. Clumsy cloven hooves screeched on the crystal floor as her mass shoved the maroon rug studded with tapestries of pony lore to expose the glass-like ground. She slipped many times as she tried to splay what were suppose to be hands as a means to balance herself, but all she succeeded in doing was driving Adagio further away.

"Calm down! TWI!!" Dazzle shouted nearly receiving a tail fin to the ribs which she dodged in time, the huge fan collided with two tables and shattered them to splinters.

"ADAGIO!?!" the terrified girl cried for aid huffing as she started to exhaust herself, her squinted eyes telling all that the portal blindness still stuck to her like a persistent sea louse.

The black wings clawed the ground until they latched onto the hard floor with talons, in a brutish way Twilight surged forward towards the nearest wall hidden by bookshelves. The tail compressed and soon released itself adding to the siren's speed, inevitably she powered herself into a table with devestating effect, making quick work of the furnishing and finally reaching an unmovable object that was the ten shelf high column. A bone crunching thud broke wood and splashed manuscripts down as if a mudslide were sprung. The first few Adagio saw slammed painfully into Twilight where the one that struck her forehead, and the sensitive appendages triggered the giant wings to shield herself. She would endure the cascading paper tomes until one thick book slipped through the space between the webbed limbs and smacked her snout. Out of reaction the thick fish tail bent and soon shot the girl forward against the damaged storage space far harder than at first. That time the room had actually shook if only slightly before a ruckus of literature showered from their height near the ceiling, burying the unlucky individual in a way that put an end to the panic.

Blowing air through her nostrils, "For deep blue sake! Twilight! Are you alright?" Dazzle hopped over like a seal to the whimpering thing imprisoned under knowledge and wisdom.

She warily approached the trapped converted fully ready for a random punch or swing to come at her way, but the attack never came. Each step she took was a studied calculation, knowing which way to duck from any direction a throw might come. Even so her expression was nothing short of compassion, in some way she saw the cowering girl almost as how she felt so long ago. The fear palpable even without a gemstone, her race was empathic down to their very core and easily able to detect emotions. The raw state of Twilight had been a reminder and a call back to those days after she lost her family and left to fend for herself, with no one to turn to she simply ran a far as she could away from water. Just as the once human female did in the new body which horrified her, she needed help to come out of the dark mire which tried to drown her. If she didn't help quick enough then so many things would befall them out of losing time and being incapable, they'd be swallowed by some great beast and made meal of.

"Twilight, I'm right here and I need you to listen to my voice. I know you can hear me!" she began to say, "Let me help you as you... helped me."

Shivering as if she'd been placed in an icy ocean, "Aaaa... aaddaggioo?"

In a glimpse, the contracted pupils told Dazzle all she needed to know and where to go from there. Twilight was as blind as a deep sea denizen having got the worst of the portal effects, the irises were so contracted that she almost thought the girl actually had no eyes left. She needed a hoof to make her feel safe and as the matriarch it was her duty to keep her pack together and sound, as much as she hated wasting time it was only natural to feel the compelling draw.

She avoided humming a tune just as she stopped before the edge of the book pile, "Ya, it's me... I know you can't see. But I need you to calm down, you're safe but we can't stay here for too long."

"Where did we arrive?" Twilight asked keeping her snout covered by her hooves, ears pinned back against her skull as her near sightless eyes searched everywhere.

Dazzle sighed feeling safe in regards to the flailing that had finally passed and left the timid pup with no more energy to spare, "Some place where they keep books or something, point is there are no guard ponies here so it's just us. Now I need you to get yourself together, you've... changed."

"I believe I've come to that conclusion as well." she replied accidentally sounding sarcastic.

"No lip, you've become a one of us in both title and body, so you should feel proud of that fact! You're no..." she started to grin in growing ecstasy before the germane mage called out from afar.

"Fraulein! I request ve move now!? Herr Yellow Tail is vhat he is, ve be smears upon the glass here!" this time the pudgy stallion seemed really anxious to get them moving.

With a loud slap of a tail fin on the floor Adagio silenced any further interruption as the crack in the air shunned ears away, "We're leaving already so hold your horses!!"

She hated being interrupted and caste an evil glare over her shoulder, the one magenta eye her pack could see sent them reeling away like sharks retreating from an orca. Oratoria showed an extreme dislike towards the treatment the other received, showing it clearly before continuing on her way out. Blaze tipped her snout not wanting to involve herself with the strangeness of what had become of Twilight, her awkward locomotion spelled out what already consumed the usual irritation she had for life. Last was Dusk who appeared to be the most worried of them all, she even tried to step forward with drooping fins of supplication but once her sight matched the golden siren's she retreated quickly. A glance back as her finned tail flopped her on her way wordlessly displayed her concern, knowing her place it was all so could do as they were pressed to evacuate.

Sure of herself that the others would leave her be, Dazzle looked back to her little Dazzle and special weapon against the Equestrian version somewhere beyond her senses. That lingering threat they'd have to deal with hopefully down the line had been quickly shoved out of the way, with all her attention on her weakest yet most powerful asset in need of aid. How fortunate she was to see Sparkle just as another heavy book had apparently fallen from high up and smashed into her head.

"Gods..." she sighed knowing what was to come next.

The delicate sensitive nerves in the antanne-like feelers must have seared with incredible pain as the winged siren launched herself into the air through her tail alone. Leaping out of the pond of leather backed books with such strength that she reached the ceiling even as her back and second set of webbed limbs tore through the wood shelves with devastating effect. Dazzle could hear the hard thunk of bone on mineral contact, wincing as the very audio meant someone wouldn't be moving for a while even if they could.

Down came the sailfish who crashed upon two study desks who flattened under the bulk, wood legs flew outwards and twirled as they bounced off what few tables remained. They landed off somewhere while more books fell like loose boulders off a steep cliff all around, a latter fell backwards and added to the chorus of chaos.

Once the dust cleared Adagio had worked her way to Twilight's new location and chuckled, "You're really going to have to stop doing that."

A sad little reply responded quietly, "Mmm... my head."

"Are you done?" she asked while inspecting the growing lump between the left ear and the crest in the middle of the mulberry head.

Twilight shifted in place as her forelegs fought to get her up, the bruise forming fired in pain as she gave up from the exertion which accelerated the sensitive injury. The black reptilian wings folded as a bird's would and seemed content to stay glued to the girl's barrel, giving the notion that the knock to the head finally corralled the rouge things into some control. It gave a chance for the young matriarch to inspect her Dazzle up close in better detail, and she was amazed to see what condition the young one was in.

"My! Aren't you reborn? You know... there are humans who we met that lived in tall snow capped mountains of the far East, I believe they would call this... reincarnation?" she gingerly noted while running the smooth side of her cloven hoof along the soft iridescent scales of Twilight's neck.

A shutter ran along the young hippocampus which was exactly what Adagio wanted to see, to confirm what her suspicions pointed at. The sensitivity meant the natural armor her kind possessed was as supple and receptive as that of a youngling, it meant that Twilight was weak and vulnerable to weapons. Whatever the portal did to her it quite literally gave her a fresh body unlike her and the rest of the pack, where their forms were as they had left them as. Pristine from the musical tournament against the ill timed mage's appearance, scales hard enough to stop a spear, and the flesh of their fins plastic yet durable against tearing.

With shaky breath Twilight said, "I'm sorry, I never believed in such things. But I believe you met monks in a monastery, I did find their meditation practices useful though."

"So it would seem of someone like you, nonetheless can you move at all?" Dazzle's eyes drifted towards the breast scales as immaculate as her crest, where there her eyes feasted upon something to make up for the sorry state her Dazzling was in.

"I'm not sure I can? I... I'm afraid I don't know how to move this body? Wait?! What am I!?!" she blinked repeatedly as her sight only just began to recover, "I'm not a pony!! These are not hooves of the equine species!? I thought I was..."

A cough silenced her with something propping her chin upwards which she squinted to see past the spectrum of colored orbs making vision anything but perfect. The formation of her anatomy ellicited quick thoughts into the manner of which her new head and mouth functioned, no longer did she have a simple jaw and round cranium. Feeling ever bend and taunt flesh she could feel the thing under her lower jaw hook what was some kind of protrusion under the chin itself, it yanked her neck close to which she assumed was Adagio.

"Is there something wrong with being a siren?" asked the tone that threatened to say another word in favor of the hated race she so despised.

Twilight felt the gentle wind from the other's breath, she did not wish to be reprimanded by Dazzle of all people or beings. She needed to chose her words carefully to avoid alienating herself after traveling to the magical realm they belonged to, there was no alternative and no going back. While initially she hoped to have been turned into a unicorn to at least be magically capable naturally and genetically, she supposed a siren body might allow her the same capabilities if just barely. If it pleased the gang that would keep her safe from all the known dangers of Equestria, she'd accept the outcome of her choices in life that lead up to the present.

With a nervous gulp, "I'm quite livid actually! Your species is superior to the pony race with all things considered, your gems alone speak for themselves." she grinned, "In fact I'm already considering how singing with an enchanted voice might be altered to cast spells other than drawing out negative emotions and siphoning them off of sustenance!"

A placated huff received her acceptance, "Good. That's what I knew you'd say. Come now we must leave as those two kept telling me. The others will come through and we cannot be here when they arrive. Can you try to move?"

"I can see a approximately twenty percent of my original field of vision... my progress in terms of distance covered with the short of time we're in is handicapped however." Twilight admitted shyly looking away.

Instead of hearing something mockingly insulting she instead felt something dart under her as her head dropped, startled she squirmed like a nervous wreck of a worm. The odd things under her forearms, behind her cheeks, and what trailed down the spine down to what she could only understand as being previously her legs flared reactively. Muscles undulate below her covered by a rough surface like a fresh pine cone that hadn't bloomed yet, something tightened close against the ribs though she knew not what they were.

"Adagio!!" she cried out sensing herself jutting off the ground a few feet off from where she laid, "What's happening!?

Her arms clasped around what felt like a neck, a very thick tense neck connected to a deep core that a pulsing heart thumped calmly. A strange covering protected her skin that slipped almost effortlessly over whoever lifted her up, it felt as if she wore a jacket of sorts that clung to her body as if it were a suit. Tiny individual units like the sequence jackets some of the popular girls wore to special occasions shifted slightly as she was adjusted over the ridge poking into her underside. The whole ordeal making her all the more aware of her new form which she'd need to learn about on the go, never would she have dreamed that such a thing would happen. Where her legs no longer bent and supported her upright, it felt as if her spinal column went on and on and she could move it down to the four digits at the very end. Bewildered beyond words she clamped her mouth and eyes shut not wanting to encourage vertigo that crept into her head, it was making her sick to her stomach.

"I am the leader of the Dazzlings and there fore it's my duty to look after my Dazzlings, hang on tight and we'll get out of this place quickly. I'll teach you everything you need to know about your body and then some." Adagio's voice brought some relief to the antsy girl she carried.

Though as she said that, the banished shouted from the door, "In three minutes or less you won't be nothing but a smear on the ground if you don't come with us!!" Emerath yelled eagerly.

Dazzle shot them an angered snarl but as she did Aria's tail fin disappeared with the lanky mage to the outside or whatever qualified for it. She'd have to huff it to make up for the lost distance, her legs and tail worked to push her across the rug as the young siren slung over her tripled the effort. She would endure the struggle to move both of them at a decent pace, the new found worry of being squished by whatever the last two were hadn't yet made her list of things to experience.

"We're coming! Hold your mustangs!" the golden siren chipped away at the hard mineral surface with sharp jabs of the hooves tips, the luster scaled tail mimicking that of a snake. Twisted onto the side the powerful swimming muscles went to work using fiction upon the soft maroon rug to hastily shove the hefty bulk of both marine tuned physiques. Momentum grew with each push until barely a pause existed in Adagio's trek, she had forgotten how capable she use to be before the curse of being turned human.

Every able bodied banished evacuated the library whose door shut behind the last two, the locking mechanism clicked shut with a crystal ping like glass on glass. Quiet returned once more to the sanctity of the archive if only for a few breathes before something shattered the silence with a foreboding hum and whoosh of air. The portal's reflective surface vibrated at the anterior as water would dance upon a drum struck with a stick, the huge orb quivered queerly before an intense light poured out from the lively surface.

In a fantastic flush of tri colored magic, out flew a hapless pegasus unceremoniously dumped in the same place where the Dazzlings had formerly been upon ruffled and scuffed red rug. The designs near the border chaotic as the beings had dragged themselves over and speared holes into the cloth as if it were a drawing whose papyrus was crumbled up to be tossed away.

Front hooves just managed to keep the mares snout from kissing the unforgiving ground barely cushioned by the walkway fabric that had been shoved off to expose the crystal floor below. A set of wings dashed forward like a bird that had fallen from the air after being struck by a rock, mane and tail in disarray as if a gale force wind had sullied the natural flow of the locks. A pink fur coat glimmered under the light that bounded off the crystal walled room from the light that filtered through the thick quartz from the sun far outside.

"Oooohhhh.... for the love of..." said the pony who forced herself up on shaky unstable legs, all two sets.

She fumbled the first few steps as the wings dragged behind, sightless she inevitably slipped on the ground decor with an acute soreness firing where the chin banged on the mineral structure. The sensation of vulnerability speared her dazed mind, everything was off from her posture she tried to right to the extremities of her arms and legs. Her neck even felt longer with an alien thickness as her heart pumped blood through the vital arteries by the throat. Teeth and tongue made reality from the accidental fall, they were far from their original position as if they had been stretched like a child's clay model. Something on her back and aft end tickled the nerves with unfamiliar movement she never had, as much as the sudden full body coat of hair that she could feel with every second of life.

"Twwiiiiliiight??" she painfully twitched as the crippling blindness kept her from moving for fear of more falls, "Ugggh? What? My everything..."

An air of stupor captivated the young woman as the mind tried to cope with the off kiltered anatomy she then faced, sight gradually coming back to her though she wished it hadn't. In all her years she'd never experienced such a jarring experience, even the car accident in which a deranged woman had attempted to use to swoon Shining Armor from her in some convoluted and sick plot fell short of. How she would have rather relived that stockholm syndrome event than begin to see hooves in place of her hands and a snout before her eyes.

"By the gods! Did I... did I die?!!" she gasped squinting at what she could pan her vision to as she kept to the spot she fell to.

"Wings?! Are these... hooves? Not exactly what I thought the afterlife would have been like to be honest?" she told herself while calming her heart rate, everything she could feel and move willingly nearly overwhelmed what the fragile soul could take.

She tore herself from the body she possessed and went back to how she ended up in another life, past the searing whiteness of earlier to vague images and a voice that talked to her. No matter how hard she tried to pry however she could only formulate what was at best a powerful telescopic image taken of the universe beyond earth's solar system, and then the portal at Canterlot High. Calm persevered through force of will, being the Dean at Crystal Prep it came with the employment as the culture that bred in the halls and classes often made or broke employees no matter the job. Even though the air of serenity teetered on the brink of panic, she tip toed along the precipice as memory of her past self flooded in.

It was as if she separated herself from the new body, a mind from the shell she knew wasn't hers. An old university professor had taught her that trick whenever the chips were down, though it took a few years to master the mental shroud it came through for her in dire situations. Whether she was actually dead or not, dreaming or in a near death comatose, her main objective stayed true that guided the rambunctious mind away from the hole of despair. The primary reason she ended up in such a predicament was to find Twilight, her little sister in law to be that had called out to her before she jumped into the indescribable object.

"Twilight!" she shuttered in the strange flesh as the hold upon sanity faltered.

As all seemed to fall back on her, unsure if she could even find the lost girl whom she had seen turn into some awful parody of the sweet intelligent young woman she was deep down. A noise that to her sounded like an audio device experiencing feedback and static rifled her animal ears, her shadow extended from whence it was under her prone form to an extended blot several feet before her. Some kind of illumination behind her came to life in conjunction with the ear drum rattling cacophony, before she could turn to see what was in the making she felt two sacks of sticks land upon her back with a painful impact.

"Oooopphh!!" yelped one of the unknown globs.

"AAAHHHH!!!" shouted another, both whose tones and pitches matched exactly as they sounded as, the brightness immediately went dead when the pink pegasus endured more suffering.

No sooner had she tried did the mirror portal shine brightly enough that Cadence tried to glance behind her only to block her sight from the intensity coming from the mirror. It rippled and disgorged an earth pony and an unicorn who tumbled with one another just behind Cadence a few feet from the gateway. The Dean knew who new arrivals were by the oddly similar appearances of Indigo Zap and Lemon Zest. Their colors in their hair were a major tip off, surprised at first the stun wore off quickly when she went into full on worried mode. Feeling guilty that the two unwittingly followed her through against her word after she recklessly committed herself to what could have been her doom. The two ponies in a small heap were as groggy as her, acting like they drank a whole case of adult cider kids their age were opt to do for fun. Zap on the bottom and Lemon on top, the two were just beginning to regain their senses unaware that they were another species in another world of some kind. Cadence shifted her frame so she could scold them properly, but as she did she second guessed herself seeing as they were in her position. Biting her lip, Dean Cadence withdrew what she initially planned to say and instead went with a less abrasive response to their presence.

The Dean breathed in deeply and struggled to say the first words to the two girls who managed to lift their weary heads and ears swiveling as a horse would, "Why did you follow me?"

With a swaying head and clamped eyes Zap answered, "Like... like we're gonna... gonna let you have all the fun!" she grinned for a second before rubbing her large eyes to try and see with clarity.

Zest added as she swiveled her head towards the Dean, "Just as metal as the most metal album on the net. I never knew you had it in you Mrs. Dean?!" she smiled as her headphones which survived the transfer over remained over her neck pumping tunes even then.

Before trying to remind them of where they were and what was at stake, Cadence heard the distant sound of Twilight out the doors as some kind of cry for help. She turned her head and pivoted her new ears locking on to the source only to be provided no new information to go by, but it was clear she needed to move out quickly. Knowing what needed to be done she gazed at the two Crystal Prep students turned equines and brought her muzzle close to the two who were barely able to see.

"Girls... Twilight's left already and we need to follow her. Can you get up and follow me?" she asked with hope that they'd be able to move unhindered.

Lemon groaned, "My hands feel weird? My legs feel weird... everything feels soo off?"

Zap struggled to rise with the body on top of her, "I feel like I've been put through a meat grinder and remade into something new! Dean Cadence what happened to us?"

Drawing on what little focus she could muster beyond wanting to leave to locate her would be niece, "Girls listen to me, we've changed going through that thing on the other side. I don't know quite well myself but we're alive... if just a little different. When you can see properly you'll understand, but I can't... we can't stay here. The longer we do the further away Twilight gets away from us. Can you move at all?"

To the question, the two ponies fought past the awkwardness of their forms in the Equis universe they had to live with. Their sheer willpower worked their equine legs to their breaking point since they knew not how to walk. They balanced themselves past a single childhood as a foal where such coordination was learned and used their teenage minds to learn how to ride a bike. Combating the different muscular structure, the girls rose up and made due with their lack of knowledge of how to even operate, they too did not want to get stuck in this world for too long. Not after they could see what the Dean was warning about either, a multicolored winged horse stood before them with the same coloration as Cadence. Both then simultaneously rotated their heads to see each other, knowing immediately they were not human nor on earth anymore.

"You know I should be freaking out right now but somehow... I feel okay with this?" Lemon noted as she touched her headphones hanging around her neck making sure her tunes were at least with her on this strange journey in her life.

"Great now I really gotta scrub hard for practice if this is how I'm going to be when we get back! A whole coat of fur! Really? Can I even still be the Captain of the sports team and president of the Sports Club?!" Zap complained.

"GIRLS!!" Cadence stomped a hoof to get their thankfully somewhat calm demeanor back, "I understand we all are in this... mess now, but if you're here then you are my responsibility. If something happens to you..." she trailed off looking at her own hooves with pink hair.

The two students bit their tongues when they noticed how distraught their Dean had become. Though they studied each other as well as themselves, they were in another world and as they were things could become bitter really quickly depending on who lived outside the library they found themselves in. With the books and shelves showing some form of disturbance before their appeared, they were on edge as it looked like a very powerful creature had ruined a section of the place. There could be other humans who'd tether them and make them nothing more than pets and show pieces, or there could be monster outside that might feast upon their lithe bodies. Perhaps they had yet to register with their pony forms for the moment and they were too shocked to be paralyzed by the reality of being horses?

In any case, Indigo leapt at the chance, "Dean Cadence? We came with you because we thought you'd need help. Of course this wasn't what we expected... don't we have a Twilight Sparkle to catch and bring back?" she gave a confident grin to the older mare in love themed colors, she was ready to head out.

"Ya, the longer we stay here babbling the less of a rocking time we have to save her from whoever they were she came here with?" Lemon added as she shakingly moved her hooves forward.

In a brazen move by the teens, Cadence was happy to see they were resilient to even this whole nearly dream-like reality. A sense of jubilation made their dismal outlook on rescuing the fellow C.P. student have some hope, giving Cadence enough energy to move.

"You're right girls, let's go. Twilight cannot be far from here we jumped just after her." To which the three made their unsteady gait out of the library in the same route the exiles had taken, with a few trips and falls they managed onwards.

No sooner had the library main doors closed shut did another traveler enter into Equis, with a bright flash of light from a violent exit as she was sent flying onto the roll rug. For the new arrival, the world swam sickeningly around in her head as if their very soul wavered around in the body like a rocky boat. All that welcomed her hearing was the cackling laughter of the chaos god who she met once again passing through the intermediary zone between the two worlds. Though once she entered the realm of Equis everything she saw, everything Discord did or say became fuzzy and unrecognizable to her prodding thoughts. It was as if whatever happened jumping universes had been almost a passing ghost of a moment, like it never happened at all.

Sunset had fallen face forward, but she managed to catch herself and avoid flat out landing hard and likely breaking her muzzle she knew she'd have. However, what she realized all too soon was that she had stuck the landing and held herself up by arms and legs. Even though her eyes were contracted and blinded by swimming blobs of alternating colors of the spectrum, she could still feel with her nerves and movement of joints that shouldn't have been there. Half wondering with a spike of horror that she might have been too late to have gone through in time, that maybe she was still on Earth having been thrown out as the portal closed before she even touched it. That whatever had happened seconds ago in the intermediary was in fact the barrier of space and time shutting her out from traversing, Discord would have loved that to happen to her she was sure of it.

With wide eyes trying to stare through the fading optical barrier, below her was a terrible scene becoming clearer by the second as she huffed from the portal use and making it through by a hair's width. Her limbs which should have been equine legs and hooves were instead human in a sense. Once vision was at half strength, her very hands had still existed only with Arachnodactyly inflicted upon them and ended in sharp fingernails that could cut skin. They only looked like that on one other occasion and that was something Sunset began to feverishly beg to not be the case.

"No No no no no!" she cried as her breath and heart rate soared into the three figures range.

Shaking her head to flush the remnants of her temporarily blindness, she glanced about and noticed she was that creature of hate and greed who wanted it all. The red skinned vessel she morphed into from the forced use of the element of magic mirrored every similarity to the She-Demon of her darkest moment in her life. With her hellfire themed skirt and rather whimsically designed rib cage like boots, she was every bit the villain that the Princess of Friendship had defeated with the Rainbooms. Her wings moved to her thoughts like an extra set of arms though they were largely different by having a greater wingspan as they expanded out for her to inspect. The back side a charcoal black with their undersides a wonderful transition of oxblood red to a nice raspberry. They sported no holes as if they were freshly made with a sheen of their velvety surface reflecting the light off the crystal surfaces in the room. Her ears twitched and revealed that their length had also increased, but she feared to touch them as if it would affirm reality. The final edit to her body had been to her hair which then stated to tickle and sway as it floated up by some wisp of mana wind.

"I'm... I'm... I'm not her anymore! I was freed by Princess Twilight!? I can't be..." she gasped as if she threatened to cry out before the books as witnesses.

Taking her right clawed hand, Sunset sent a fist down into the floor sending the ground a series of fractures which webbed out by the sheer application of force she had at her disposal. A terrible echo reverberated throughout the library and traveled throughout the castle, a few dozen books fell out of their slots haphazardly to join their kin Twilight had disturbed.

"I'M NOT EVIL!!!" she cried out and let her eyes heave out tears, "This has to be a dream! Please be a dream?!"

She pounded the floor again and again as she relived her fears born in the human world, having done everything she could to will herself to go home. Only to end up with the very body she so despised before the cleansing spell removed it, the aftermath had been so isolated and lonely. What else was there to do after being transformed as she was? Could Celestia even want to see her much less hear a single word she'd plead to be heard?

Having came to home to save it, everypony would only see her as the enemy and not the Dazzlings or the others they came with. Shimmer could almost feel some kind of comfort in it though, perhaps she was truly suited to being the cursed and she could use it to her advantage? It then occurred to her that being in this form meant she must have some kind of fell magic reborn into her? How odd as she never even saw all her selfless acts after being reformed could have painted her into this situation?

'Well, it might be a little because of me?' a dark and sinister voice spoke to her as if she mentally monologued.

"YOU!?!!" she hissed, remembering that demon from earth, "What are you doing?!!"

He chuckled, 'You should have listened to the that chimera...'

"What are you talk..." Sunset was about to ask when the portal behind her released an arch of lightning that snapped to the ceiling, impacting a crystal branch support and illuminating it with a glow that slowly faded away after twenty seconds.

Sunset had shielded herself until the incident disappeared, the portal never did that before but she knew so little of it that only alarm bells came to mind. The mirror itself had started to bubble outward slowly, like one of Pinkie's mishaps with cornstarch and sugar to make a balloon shaped candy treat as a cake topper. The entire surface was as metallic as it had been in the human world, and it seemed to be following suit though why she couldn't figure out. Two more snaps of electricity nearly blinded the She-Demon again, striking the crystal castle's supports on both sides of the room caused the entire room to light up from the attack. The smell of ozone was evident from the action, sending Shimmer backing away with a scrunched up nose.

'You have no magic which made you a tempting prize for my lord... as well as a pleasant little toy to amuse myself with.' to which a thousand voices descended upon Sunset from no physical source other than the demon's doing, she screamed as she put her claws to her ears in vain to shut them out.

'This... world you brought me to... it is ripe for war and destruction. I shall earn my Lord's favor by bringing it to an age of war none shall ever forget for years to come!!' he exclaimed as she rolled on the floor, the many whispers, cries, shouts, and roars simply tormenting the former unicorn.

Then, as soon as they came they vanished and left in their place a static white noise. Breathing heavily, Sunset creaked open her eyelids with cyan irises darting every which way as if something more were to befall her. Seconds turned to minutes before she willed herself to move her new hooves off her then furry ears, shivering in ghastly paranoia until nothing occurred beyond another lightning arch above her clapping again. Looking about herself, she realized she had gained her pony body she'd been born with. She wanted to curl into a ball and wait out the insanity swarming around only her, she needed to regain herself after that assault she weathered. Just as her heart managed to mellow out after an inner battle, her mind numbed itself in order to save her sanity.

Lying on the roll rug beneath her which spanned the whole length of the main library thoroughfare, self paralyzed to anything Sunset glued her gaze in front of her, viewing the world sideways. She felt a cold creeping feeling fall upon her as if she'd been rolled into a fridge, the portal behind her continued to cough out destructive energies. Refusing to think of anything while she attempted to forget about the demon form she thought she had and refocus on why things had apparently gone south. She kept the glimmer of hope with Rose Luck, Flash, the girls, and her other verse as a means to stay tethered to a reason to not just quit and give up. A sliver of wishing that Discord gave to her from the strange purgatory zone between universes she floated through before ending up in what was somewhere in Equestria. She almost wished for Lord of Chaos to pop into existence and be there as an anchor, even he would have been better than a human world demon and she had no knowledge of them to make the spiraling lunacy even worse.

The tapping of claws echoed in room, her ears swiveling and tracked the sound as it emanated not far from her. Her tail reacted and curled to her hooves as if trying to protect herself from whoever was in the room with her. The clicking of something soft yet hard muffled as they walked upon the floor fabric, thudding lightly until they appeared before her perspective. She wanted to get away, to leave to anywhere if it meant saving herself from an encroaching source of malice like a manticore hunting a pony. All ponies still had that ancestral ability to sense a hungry monster in a general area and from there hone in on their location with the rest of their senses. For her it was like a heat source coming around, a hot lamp being moved across her body till it shone upon her muzzle.

There it was, clawed dull grey toes walked before her and stopped where they turned in place. Sunset beheld muscular legs covered with a thin short coat of fur barely discernible from flesh as they were, leading up to powerful thighs that could give any body builder a run for their money. Something made her look up as tears began to accumulate and fall down the side of her face anew, like an invisible hand holding up her cheek.

"Please..." she whimpered.

A chain mail skirt covered the groin, studded with blood red gems and gold lacing as the belt. The only few things to break the dreary color of the being's form. Unclothed like a minotaur much akin to a human chest, abdominal muscles were well defined as were the pectorals which hinted at the physical prowess of the source of caution. Arms were slightly fur coated though nonetheless just as muscular and likely capable of ripping heads clean off the shoulders. In one hand, a long sword held firmly by meaty hands just as grey blue as the legs, though she barely gave much notice to the weapon beyond the glowing glyphs and coursing aura of the gemstone inlaid into the rain guard. Her breath shuttered as she finally saw the head of who stood in all their menacing glory and intimidating miasma of caged rage. What could have passed for a griffon if the body were any less humanoid, was an owl's head with the same kind of dark wings Twilight had during her transformation. In fact, they almost were exactly the same even with a glowing red line along the bony portion of the arms. They dominated the background and bordered the demonic hellspawn so that his shining golden eyes drew her full attention into them. Sunset, awestruck, could only wait for whatever it wanted to do to her, it already held some kind of control and without her magic as it felt she was at the thing's desire.

'I wanted you to see me...' he said as his black beak moved, the woody coloration of his feathers and two plums above the eyes which resembled horns shuffled from the words.

'I wanted you to know where your powers will come from here on out little horse.' he rose his giant sword and guided it towards her horn, Sunset tried to cringe away and keep from the sharp point but no amount of will could do anything.

She closed her eyes and prayed that Celestia would make a sudden appearance and stop this from happening. A life of endless scolding from the alicorn was far more preferable than to be taken by such a vile entity she unintentionally brought with her. What would he do to Equestria and everypony would be her crime alone if what he spoke of was his mission was in store for everypony else. At this point, her list of failures no longer had an end to them, it was an bottomless scroll disappearing into the distance of her mind.

The sword touched her horn and the zap wracked her body with an unearthly hotness that both hurt and felt unimaginably euphoric. Her eyes opened to the sensation and Andras had vanished from her vision, she knew he was within her as her back arched to the powerful magic she then possessed. For a few moments she adjusted to the feeling of her mana well at full capacity once again, so jovial her spirit had felt she nearly lost all the guilt and terror she bathed in since she faced off with the evil human Twilight. Whatever consequences and dues she'd have to take for being forcefully gifted the ethereal energy from the demon would be a problem for future Sunset. Her mind blazed with scenes of victories over the siren menace and the others they came with, she'd show Equestria the new her that wanted to save everypony. She would sacrifice herself to stop the rising evil that had dastardly plans for all of Equis, that was why they returned wasn't it?

'When the sickness rises, and your magic fails… the heavens will glow as the world crumbles. No help will come… forsaken you shall be… and Equis will be left to the inept.' the phrase from the Saandie echoed in her ears, bringing her out of her introspection as the memory pushed itself up through Andras' magic for that one brief moment.

"Whaa..." she looked around only receive an answer from the portal which had tripled in size and nearly touched her before she caught sight of it.

Scrambling to her legs she leapt backwards with agility she'd never known herself to have. Just in time as the portal had engulfed the mirror gateway and started to suck in anything the weight of a book that was close enough. Though what was even more surprising was the sudden tanker truck long claw which sprung from the tear in reality and slammed into the nearest wall of books and shelving to her left. Thick claws embedded themselves easily into the furnishing and gripped so hard that the crystal structure underneath cracked like glass as wood simply crumbled into toothpicks and particle board. The bubble kept on growing as if whatever the appendage belonged to was forcing it ever larger as it entered. Another scaly limb appeared and reached even further with a rumbling anchoring into the other wall of books, though this one had what appeared to be digits webbed with leathery membrane to every finger after the third one. Both body parts were covered in armor of vermilion scales, each reflecting the light that bounced off the huge orb behind them like some kind of solar array pointing to the center molten salt solar power tower.

The claws tightened their grip even further on the agonized walls and crystal infrastructure signifying that they were hauling something from the other side by the noise of the strain. Sunset remembered then that there were two others she evaded before a fight distracted them, whoever they were their size was impressive and it would be even more jaw dropping if she remained to see it as well as the last thing she'd ever see.

'Get moving horse! I may have given you magic but you are still flesh and blood. I cannot save you from what is about to come through and your magic won't hurt it either! MOVE!!' the demon shouted in her head and jarred her from her stupor.

She galloped away and burst through the doors with her new found magic which easily tore them off their hinges. In her attempt to escape she found the winding corridors to be far too time consuming and confusing, hallway after hallway there were no stairs to take or elevator to ride. Rumbling began to shake the structure she was in as the crystalline surfaces glowed with burning intensity. A muffled roar of some titanic beast vibrated even her own body as she slid to a stop after putting a good miles worth of from the room, if she could not locate an exit soon than she'd meet the source of that sound.

"Whoever built this place if I ever find them..." she cursed before noticing a window a good stride away.

Another tremor rocked the building around her as cracks began to form all along the surfaces from the floor to the ceiling. Another bellow sent further webs of fracturing crystal architecture all the way down every wing and way she could see. With the progressing inevitable destruction approaching her, Sunset made it for the window with her hooves pounding on the abused pathway. Shards and fragments of the ceiling were starting to rain down upon her, sharp and small enough that if any fell into her eyes she'd likely be blinded. Summoning a shield above her, she noticed in her stride that the magic was not the same color as it use to be. Her horn's aura was a deep red as was the transparent shield which saved her from the debris. The sound of shattering glass and utter destruction began to reverberate throughout the halls and it pushed Sunset to hurry further even as her muscles started to burn.

Behind her as she undoubtedly heard, the right side of the corridor began to smash into the other side as if an outside force began exerting itself upon the inner structure. It was following her as well, the compaction crushing and annihilating anything the path once looked like in a tidal wave of destruction threatening deafness for the unicorn just as she neared the only way out. Thinking sharply, she teleported herself even though she was still cautious of the magic she'd been given. Reappearing just feet away from the intricate green glass pane from the outside sunlight, she powered her horn and fired a deep crimson beam of magic that had not only removed the window from her way but blew out the wall around it cleanly. She'd marvel at her magic later.

"Note to self, be careful with any spell from here on out!" she huffed and caught sight of home as she remembered it.

Wherever she was she was high off the ground from the scenic view she had to take in. Admiring home as beautiful as it was with doom looming behind her, her eyes locked onto a distant orchard and farmhouse. Using another teleportation spell she set the way point in the area before the large red barn, summoning another spell that would put her in the air as a precaution in case her magic would have off shot the point. Last thing she needed to do was phase deep into the ground and find herself an early tomb. Just before the crushing walls reached the amber sunny haired equine, she vanished with a black wisp which sucked her in before her spot was inundated with pulverized wall and crystals.

Another loud bellow far more guttoral than the last ripped through the air and all of Ponyville looked up to Twilight's magnificent home. Most having already rushed out of their homes or businesses, shopping or carrying carts to the chorus of birth where something massive erupted from the royal building. The garden balcony and the tall section above it in the castle where the princess' quarters were became a scene of pure Tartarus. No pony moved, every airborne pegasus hovered in place, all they could do was stare in shock as the beautiful structure that brought a sense of comfort and safety was violated. Every stallion, mare, and foal stared blankly at the gout of fire that shot high into the air, most looking away as the pillar of inferno grew to such intensity that it was as painful to watch as looking into the sun.

The apocalypse had begun...