Silence of a Siren

Chapter One

15 Hours 37 Minutes Until Execution

“I think the best place to start has to be with my mother…” I said to the enervated soon to be potentate. My hoof running through my long mane as I sat back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling in thought as I formulated the best way to tell the story.

“Mother?” Twilight Sparkle asked, her eyes betraying her as they were filled with genuine wonder despite her face trying to look serious and detached from the situation. An altruist at heart, it was difficult for the Princess to feign a lack of sympathy even to those she knew were undeserving of it, and I would wager that I probably ranked high on the list of undeserving.

I nodded as I looked around. “You wouldn’t happen to have a cigarette would you?”

She blinked, her serious face quickly transforming to one of pure confusion at the mention of a cancer stick. “Cigarette?”

“Oh… Right… That shit doesn’t exist here… Sorry, it’s a human thing…” I rolled my eyes, realizing how foolish I probably looked at that moment asking for something that didn’t even exist in Equestria.

The Princess tried not to focus on it as she furrowed her brow and leaned in over the table, resting her hooves atop of it. “So, you were saying regarding your mother? I actually didn’t even know that sirens had mothers…”

I smirked. “How did you think we came into existence?” Part of me truly was curious to hear whatever foolish theory the Princess had.

She shrugged. “I guess I just assumed you all just sort of popped into existence then? Or rather that you were always around, maybe.” Her hoof came to her chin as she pondered it. It was more likely that she had never even considered the subject before that moment.

“Most sirens don’t know their mothers… Sort of anyway… A siren reproduces usually when they are very old and have a tremendous amount of excess power to burn off…” I began to explain.

“Power? I don’t get it?” Twilight raised her brow in confusion.

Rolling my eyes, I hushed her. “I’m getting to that… See, an old siren will use her power on a mortal and that mortal will be infused with the siren’s print. Their next child will then be another siren.”

The Princess blinked and tilted her head. “How do you get the amulets then?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I’m not really supposed to tell you any of this because it’s all protected secrets among our kind, but the way I see it… Fuck it… I’m going to die anyway and it’s not like you knowing any of this will change my or any other siren’s fate…”

She didn’t know what to say to that statement evidently, as she decided to remain quiet and continue listening. Princess Twilight Sparkle was definitely the curious type and wasn’t willing to say anything that would risk me not telling her more.

“The amulet is forged from the power of the previous siren, it actually forms with the siren itself and when we are born, we’re holding it. It takes a siren thousands of years to get the kind of power necessary to create a single amulet… That is why there aren’t many of us…” I explained.

“Is your kind born in that aquatic form?” Twilight’s curiosity was clearly getting the better of her.

I shook my head, annoyed that she kept interrupting. “No, don’t be stupid. We’re born in the pony form that you see me in now… It takes time for us to be able to access our true form. Once we have gotten a grasp on our powers, we can start to transform. Naturally, most sirens these days wouldn’t be dumb enough to ever show their true form in public…”

Twilight frowned but said nothing.

“Anyway, as I was saying, I am not like most sirens… I’m unique in that I actually knew my mother…” I said.

Twilight leaned forward, eager to hear more. “How did that happen?”

A grin stretched across my cheeks as I recalled my mother. It had been so long since I had thought about her, but I could still somehow remember her beautiful face. She was gorgeous, perfectly chiseled as if the gods themselves crafted her as a monument of beauty to sirens everywhere. A creature as immaculate as she needed not her voice to get others to do her bidding, but instead only her appealing face.

“My mother had us out of her own womb…” I closed my eyes.

“Us? You mean Aria and Sonata are your sisters?” Twilight gasped.

My eyes shot open at how ridiculous that comment sounded. “What? Fuck no! Those two idiots? No, they’re not related to me at all, thank the gods for that!”

“You said ‘we’ though…” The Princess pointed out as she sunk down in her seat a little, her ears fluttering downward as she sat there with an embarrassed expression.

Nodding in agreement, I returned to my explanation. “Yes, when I said we, I was referring to me and my younger sister.”

“You have a younger sister!?” Twilight gasped.

Sighing, I shook my head. “Yes, her name is Serenade. Now please pay attention, otherwise, this will take a lot longer to explain…”

Covering her mouth, Twilight nodded. “R-right… Sorry…”

“Anyway… My mother fell in love with a mortal… A pony named Brass Builder… He knew what she was and accepted her anyway, at least that’s what he would lead us all to believe… Brass was a hard-working earth pony, a creature of habit and routine… He spent a lot of his time at work, but there was always food on the table at least…” I closed my eyes once more as the image of my father began to fill my head, annoyance, and rage building up inside me, becoming more and more toxic by the second. I was ready to explode just at the thought of him.

Twilight must have felt the tension in the room radiating from me as she leaned forward, offering me a sincere look. “Just try and remember, but don’t push yourself…”

It was odd, a few hours ago, this mare had sentenced me to my death, not a shred of mercy in her voice. She spoke with the conviction of a politician, yet there in that room, she gave off the aura of one who showed compassion. It was possible she was faking it at first, but somehow I could sense how sincere she was. Princess Twilight Sparkle truly was an enigma.

“Sorry… I just get very angry whenever I think about him…” I admitted.

“It’s alright, take your time.” Twilight smiled.

That smile on her face somehow calmed me, and so I began the story.

Some Time Far in the Past

Things were different back then, the three tribes had yet to be unified, and pony based society was still in its infancy. Most villages were small, and kingdoms hadn’t been established yet. Ponies were hardly out of caves by then, the age of immortals was coming to an end, and the age of mortals was beginning.

My father was born in one of the first towns to be erected. What? No, Twilight, I’m not going to give you a history lesson on the town. No! I barely know much about it myself! Can you just let me tell the damn story? Thank you.

Anyway, Brass Builder was born to some carpenters, and he would go on to become one of the first metal workers in Equestria. What? Yes, I know it wasn’t called Equestria back then. Twilight Sparkle, we can get through this a lot easier if you stop interrupting every ten seconds with a question.

He would one day afford himself a home on the hilltop, a place far out from the nearby town, but he preferred it that way. He always told me that it helped him concentrate on work and no one would bother him. That home was his sanctuary, and ours as well.

When he was merely a teenager he would meet a creature that changed his life, the envisionment of beauty itself. Whatever mental image you’re picturing probably isn’t doing her justice either. Serenity Dazzle, my mother, was pure perfection. Shining crystal blue eyes, long wild and exotic red hair, and a perfectly sculpted face. She was the kind of mare that any stallion would beg to even have a look from her.

Her voice was as majestic as they came, even by siren standards. There wasn’t a word that left her mouth that didn’t ring poetically when spoken in her voice. My father fell in love the moment he heard that voice. He used to tell me stories of how he courted her, and how she always kept her distance, trying her best to avoid his wandering eye like she did with all men in the town, but Brass proved more determined than others. Every day he would show up with flowers at her abode, hoping to make the beautiful angel come out to see him, and every day he’d be met with disappointment.

The stallion would leave the flowers behind at her doorstep and the next day notice they would be gone, but there he would stand with another bouquet, more lavish and gaudy than the last.

It continued on like that for months until one morning when he showed up, she was standing there at the front door. She offered to allow him inside to see that she had saved all of his flowers, filling an entire room with various posies, daffodils, and roses.

From that moment on, the two were inseparable, however, she tried to keep herself secretive, afraid that if he knew the truth of what she was, he would be mortified.

Eventually, he would ask her to marry him, but she knew that she could not until she revealed her secret. When she told him, she expected him to resent her, to feel betrayed, to want her to leave and never return, but he didn’t… He accepted her. He became more enamored with her than before, now her songs brought him more joy than ever. He would listen to her sing for hours, her voice filling him with love.

They would get- yes, I’m aware it’s a cute story, Twilight. I don’t know where they went on their honeymoon… Anyway, they would get married and eventually I was born. My mother named me Adagio because it meant a slow tempo, intended to lead. My mother believed I was born to be a leader, and my sister was named Serenade for the songs that my mother hoped she would shower people with. She hoped that I would guide my sister and that together we would change how people felt about sirens, that we would break the public perception.

After we were born, my father grew more paranoid than ever. He feared that the village would one day discover our secret, that he was housing a family of sirens. Up to that point, all sirens had ever done was steal the energy of mortals, feed off of them until they were nothing more than lifeless husks. My mother, however, I don’t know why, but she desired a different existence. She didn’t want that life for us or herself, maybe she was a visionary, or perhaps just a very desperate woman.

We weren’t permitted to leave the property, ever. Under no circumstances were we to go through the woods and down the hill to the town. No one was ever supposed to see us, and when anyone came over, we were to wait in our room. My father feared for our safety, he knew what his kind was like. He always told us that he would show us to the world when the time was right.

My mother would look down at me and smile as I asked why ponies can’t see us. She’d give me that motherly look as she held me close and gently stroked my long hair with her hoof. “The world isn’t ready for the beauty of the song that you’re going to sing one day…”

“When will it be ready, mommy?” I asked.

Cunning as she was, she giggled at the question and spoke in a near whisper as she tucked me into bed. “Adagio Dazzle, there will come a day when you sing from your heart, and that song will change everything. You’ll be the one who changes everything about us sirens here in Equestria, I promise that.”

Funny, how horribly wrong she was.

That very night, I remember waking up to banging at the front door. My mother rushing up to our room, shaking us awake. Her eyes were filled with fear, fear that I had never seen in her before. My mother was always strong, even in the toughest of times, to see her afraid was something I never expected to see in my entire life, but her eyes at that moment, they were ingrained in my memory forever. I can still see that look of pure horror to this day when I close my eyes.

Someone in the village had been poking their head around our home and saw my mother sing, they had put two and two together and discovered she was not a pony like the rest of them.

The earth ponies all arrived at our front gate, torches in tow, chanting and screaming to give them “the monster”.

Serenity Dazzle did the only thing she knew she could do at that moment. She woke the two of us up and ushered us toward the back door.

“Mommy, what’s happening?” I yawned, rubbing at my eyes.

She knelt down to my level and looked me in the eyes. “Adagio, what mommy is going to tell you is very important, I need you to make sure that you listen very carefully, alright?”

I nodded, unsure of what was going on.

“Take your sister and run. Do not come back here for any reason, and don’t tell anyone what you are, alright? You can’t tell anyone that I am your mother, or that Brass is your father,” She instructed, her tone far more serious than I had ever heard her.

“I thought you said that one day ponies would be ready to see what we were?” I asked, tears welling up in my eyes, the sting of their saltiness already causing my heart to ache.

She smiled and kissed my forehead before shoving me and my sister out the back door. “That day will come, and when it does, you’ll know. Until then though, stay low, and keep your secret protected… I love you both very much…”

“Mommy… I want to stay here with you!” My sister groaned, trying to run back to the door, but I stopped her and pulled her back by her tail.

Serenity closed the door and locked it, leaving my sister to squeal and moan for the door to open again. With all of my strength, I tugged her away and managed to wrestle her into the woods, as far away from the house as I could make her go, she complained the entire way, begging me to turn around and go back, but I didn’t listen. I tuned it out, I flooded my head with other thoughts to try and drown out the complaints and protests of my sister and to drown out my own fear. I think the poor thing was more confused than anything else.

That night, we slept in the woods, and we eventually made our way to the town after fashioning ourselves some cloaks to see if we could figure out what was going on. Yeah, it was terrible… You’re only hearing about it, Twilight, try actually living it.

When we came to the town center, we… What? No, I’m not crying! Okay… Maybe I am a little… Sorry, it’s just still painful to think about. No, I can tell it. Yes, I’m sure…

We saw our mother tied to a thick wooden pole, the townsfolk all gathered around her, torches still in hoof, all chanting to “burn the monster!”

My father had told them that he was bewitched by the siren, that he had been controlled to fall in love with her. He spoke those lies to save himself, to try and keep his own life safe while he allowed her to pay the price. It was that day that I realized he was no different than every other mortal. The moment things became too much, he gave in and thought only of how to save himself.

We watched as they set the flames to the sticks below and the fire rose. My mother… We watched as they burned her alive. We watched in horror as she was subjected to unspeakable pain, with fear in our eyes, unable to do anything, and my father? He just stood there, doing nothing. So long as his life was saved, he cared not.

Sorry, I guess I got a little quiet there for a second. Thinking about it still… Well you know… Anyway…

It was that day that I began to hate mortals. My sister, however, hated them more than I. I could see it in her, hatred consumed her. I knew that from that day forward, our lives would be very different. The small quaint little home we had grown to love was no more, just ashes on the hilltop. The bedtime stories we were told came to an end, and the feelings of being loved and cared for were forgotten. From that day forward is was us against the world.

15 Hours 2 Minutes Until Execution

Twilight looked at me with an expression that spoke more than her silence after hearing the story of my origin. She chewed her tongue trying to find the words to reply to it with, trying to find something that perhaps would bring me an inkling of comfort, but the best she could muster was, “I’m sorry…”

I shrugged, uncaring at this point. “It was a long time ago, Twilight Sparkle. Though to be fair not much has changed… Now instead of burning our kind, your kind just imprisons us or banishes us.”

Twilight frowned, realizing that she had little to say to that, but attempted to anyway. “You and the other sirens were trying to control others, to steal their energy…”

I grinned and closed my eyes. “Do you know why sirens are born?”

Blinking, the Princess was taken back, clearly not expecting such a question. “I… I don’t know?”

“Funny… We don’t either… Our powers allow us only to manipulate others, to steal their energy for ourselves… No good can come from using our powers and yet we do… No one knows why we exist, maybe there never was a reason, to begin with…” I replied with a frown.

She remained silent.

“Our entire existence is like a big joke to the universe. Given these powers and the thirst to use them, but damned by mortals if we ever do… Instead, we’re told we have to deny what we are and try to conform to be more like you… Just creatures forced to be ashamed of what we are…” I continued.

Twilight had nothing to say to that point. She instead changed the subject. “What happened to Brass?”

I looked her in the eye, my expression glazed and uncaring. “He lived a long life, he married again from what I understand and had a real family, one that he could show off and share with others… He forgot all about the woman who had burned at the stake for his love…”

“What about Serenade then?” Twilight gulped.

“I was getting to that…” I said.

Some Time Far in the Past

Serenade and I would travel together for years, moving from town to town, watching as the world around us changed. By the time I was sixteen, my sister was merely twelve. At twelve years old, she acted far older. Her mind had advanced quickly, and her hatred for mortals grew every day. She began to speak with conviction, and while I was the one who cared for her, there were times where some would mistake her for the older sibling due to her mannerisms.

I could see my sister slowly being consumed by hatred, the same hatred that I harbored. In Serenade, however, it was turning into pure concentrated rage. I don’t think I ever saw a genuine smile of happiness from that girl since the day our mother died.

She was quick to use her powers in every scenario that allowed it and showed no remorse for those we manipulated. Serenade became ruthless, cold, and calculating. It was safe to say that whatever heart my sister had left was shrouded in darkness at a young age, consumed by bitterness and eaten by hatred. She spoke only of one day making mortals pay. My ire toward them was palpable, but nothing compared to the scorn that my sister offered them.

We spent so much time together, moving from village to village, running when we were nearly discovered or too many became privy to our nature. We fed where we could, and in time our powers grew.

Still, regardless of how strong we had become, we were no match for an entire town of ponies, so we lived in fear, always fleeing when the situation became too dangerous, and I guess you could say that I despised myself. Why? Do I really need to say it? Fine, it was because we had become what my father was, a couple of cowards, what’s worse we were cowards to mortals of all things. Cowards toward those who were so cowardly themselves; a couple of coward’s cowards. It was disgusting, I hated it, and I hated myself. I never wanted to feel that weak again, that pathetic again, that loathsome toward myself again.

Does that satisfy your curiosity, Twilight? Good.

Anyway, that was our life for a time; settling into a little village, using our powers to manipulate people in alleyways to give us food, water, and resources of any kind, then feeding off of them until it became too dangerous for us. Then we would flee and walk toward the next town with only the small trinkets we could carry in our saddlebags.

It was a listless existence, we had no place to be, and no one to care. It was the two of us, alone in a growing world.

Yes, I know that no child should have to go through that, Twilight… However, your apologies mean little to me, it was your kind that did this to us after all. You can’t just say sorry and expect me to forget a lifetime of oppression.

As I was saying though, we eventually came to a village that would one day become the site of Trottingham. I’ll never forget that place. I’m going to tell you why, if you would just shush, Twilight Sparkle!

It was a normal routine for the most part. We ate, we drank, we fed, everything was going so well, however, at some point one of the villagers noticed us singing to manipulate a stallion out of his money. They quickly alerted the rest of the village and before we knew it we were being chased out of the town with torches held high.

“Kill the beasts!” They screamed behind us as we galloped as fast as our hooves would carry us.

My sister lagging a few paces behind, huffing and puffing in exhaustion. I knew just by looking at her that she couldn’t run much longer. If we were to continue then I would either need to carry her or drag her behind me. Both options would slow me down far too much, so I did the only thing I could think of, the only option that I foresaw as a way to keep her alive.

“Serenade!” I called back to her as we galloped.

“Y-yeah!?” She wheezed as she tried to keep up with me. The poor thing was ready to pass out.

“I am going to go this way, you turn that way and run toward the forest. Go and keep running until you can’t anymore, then find somewhere to hide. I’ll take them as far as I can go!” I commanded.

“B-but… How will I… Find you again…!?” She yelled back, trying to keep her legs moving.

“I promise we’ll meet back up somewhere! I will look for you!” I replied.

She nodded and turned. “Alright! I’m counting on your sis!”

With those words, she bolted to the left and slipped out of sight. My plan had backfired however as the villagers saw her split from me and half of them went in her direction. There wasn’t a thing that I could do, however… I had no choice but to keep running, like the coward that I was. I wasn’t strong enough to take them on, not even to protect my sister… Just like I couldn’t protect my mother, and so… I ran.

14 Hours 50 Minutes Until Execution

Twilight gazed at me with awe and wonder as I told my tale, her eyes not leaving me as she watched my lips move, forming every single word of the story. She was clearly captivated by my telling. I never considered myself a distinguished storyteller, but I had somehow caught the attention of perhaps one of the biggest bookworms in Equestria. I only knew a little about Princess Twilight Sparkle, mostly from things that I had heard and my brief interaction with her in the human world.

“W-what happened to Serenade after that…?” Twilight asked, her voice slightly shaky.

I frowned and looked away. “I… Never saw her again…”

“Did you check the woods?” Twilight leaned in.

I nodded. “I found no body, nothing. Most likely they took her back to their village and burned her alive. At the time though I didn’t want to accept that as the truth, so I kept searching, for decades, then for centuries I looked for the girl whom I promised I would find, but no matter how far I went or where I looked, I could never find her… Equestria is a huge place, and the outlands are difficult to traverse or even reach…”

“Do you think she made it outside of Equestria?” Twilight asked curiously.

I chuckled and shook my head. “No, I am quite confident that she is dead… There is little doubt. She was exhausted, if those ponies chased her then they no doubt captured her. They likely held her for a time to try and see if she would tell them where I was…” I paused and closed my eyes. “Just thinking about the horrible things they must have done to her…”

Twilight frowned and shook her head. “It’s okay, you don’t have to think about it if you don’t want to…”

“I will never stop thinking about it…” I hissed back at her.

My outburst clearly caught her off guard as she inched backward a bit, trying to maintain some distance between us. Though it wasn’t as if I posed any threat to her. I was without magic, and my strength was sapped. Even if I wanted to jump over the table and knock her out so I could make my bold escape, I knew that my body was no match for her magic. All tackling Twilight Sparkle would do for me is net me a far quicker execution.

“For what it’s worth, those ponies shouldn’t have done that to your sister… Or your mother for what it’s worth…” Twilight responded, her voice still very shaky.

“Yeah, well they did! They murdered them and felt nothing! Your apologies are wasted as they can’t bring them back, now can they!?” I growled.

Twilight sneered and banged her hoof on the table, clearly fed up with my attitude as her voice boomed through the tiny cell we both sat in. “Now listen here… I had nothing to do with any of this, and while I understand your bitterness, I am not going to let you sit there and act like it’s any pony who is presently alive’s fault. Don’t you question the legitimacy of my sympathy, Adagio…”

“Or what? You’ll kill me?” I smirked.

Twilight sighed and calmed herself. She closed her eyes for a moment and took in a few breaths and exhaled. “Let’s just… Continue the story, shall we?”

I shrugged. “Sure, works for me…”

“So what happened after you got separated from your sister?” She asked.

I looked up in thought as I tried to remember. Most of the details past that point weren’t that relevant to me, tons of running, tons of moving from town to town, so I decided to skip to the most relevant detail.

“Well, after a few centuries, I eventually would find Aria and Sonata, they’re slightly younger sirens, by a hundred years or so, but I found myself in a situation where it was better to have strength in numbers than to walk alone… So despite how much they annoyed the ever-living hell out of me, I teamed up with them,” I explained.

“A trio of sirens, against the world…” Twilight mused, a small grin on her face.

“More like a test of my patience…” I rolled my eyes.

Some Time Far in the Past

At that point, I was already quite skilled with my powers. I knew how to manipulate a pony discretely, take all of his belongings, and slip away into the dark before ever being noticed. My abilities were growing, my power was expanding and it felt absolutely invigorating. However, nothing prepared me for Canterlot. Yes, the capital of Equestria, Twilight, however back then it barely qualified as a city by today’s standards.

Celestia had grown into a competent ruler in the past few hundred years and Equestria was beginning to thrive. Civilization and unity began to spread and within the century, Equestria was completely unified and had become a force to behold for the rest of the world.

I had been making my usual runs, fooling stallions out of their cash, a bit of gambling where I could, and of course getting a drink or two. It was there where I met them, the two sirens who would soon become attached to me for the foreseeable future.

Walking into a local pub, I kept my hood up to not draw attention to myself while I fetched some liquor. What? Oh, brandy. Yeah, I know I was a brandy girl back then, what of it? Not all of us can drink the finest wine of Canterlot like you, Princess.

With a bag of coins, I tossed two golden ones onto the counter and was handed a bottle. Yes, a bottle did only cost two bits back then, now am I going to tell a story, or are we going to talk about alcohol? Unless you brought some, I’m not interested in focusing on that detail. Alright, then.

A bottle in my hoof, I took a long swig, wiping my lips dry as I made my exit. Bars were not places that I enjoyed lingering at for too long, usually, the drunken riff-raff would start to hit on me, and I then found it hard to control my anger.

On my way out the door, I could hear two annoying voices pleading desperately with some unicorn. “Please! Don’t tell anyone!”

“Don’t tell anyone!? You’re a freak! A monster!” A male voice replied.

My curiosity was piqued, so I slipped around the corner and peeked into the alley between the bar and the building next to it. There stood a shaggy looking unicorn, a tufted beard and a dirty coat covering him. In front of him were two females, one with a long blue mane and the other with purple, and an annoyed expression on her face. Of the two, the blue one seemed the most concerned.

“Just forget what you saw… We’ll do anything!” The young-looking mare pleaded.

“You turned into some fish-like dragon thing! How can anyone forget that!?” He gasped.

My eyes shot open at those words. It was rare to run into other sirens, but perhaps these two knew where my sister was, all I had to do was get them out of this situation first.

“Hey, big boy…” I called out with the most seductive voice I could muster.

He blinked and turned in my direction. I removed my hood and flicked my lavish curls and fluttered my eyes, playing with my allure. He was nothing more than a fly to honey as he stepped in my direction, his eyes never leaving me. “What seems to be the problem here?” I feigned an innocent voice as he gently approached, completely in awe of me.

“These two… They’re monsters…” He said, though his attention was slowly waning as he looked into my eyes.

“Monsters, you say…? Well… You’ll protect us… Won’t you?” I whispered as I placed a hoof on his cheek, my lips getting close to his face.

He nodded, and closed his eyes, puckering his lips, waiting for his reward. Once I was certain he was vulnerable I quickly turned around and delivered a swift kick to the side of his head with my hind legs. The effect was instant and it was a direct hit as he staggered backward and collapsed.

“Come on, he’s out cold!” I instructed the other two girls.

They blinked and looked at each other but decided not to question my motives. They followed behind me as we exited the alley.

“What’re your names?” I asked.

“Sonata Dusk…” The blue-haired ditzy one said.

The other looked away and grumbled her answer. “Aria Blaze…”

I didn’t even get the chance to tell them my own as the stallion found his way back into the waking world and before I knew it he was shouting in our direction. “Monsters! They’re some kind of creatures disguised as ponies!”

“Shit… We’ll talk more later, let’s get out of here!” I commanded.

The two girls nodded and followed me as I began to navigate them through every back alley I knew in Canterlot. A small crowd starting to give chase to us after that stallion’s outburst. I knew what would happen if we got caught, so we needed to stick together.

“Aria, Sonata, we’re going to need to use our voices to get out of this one!” I stated as we approached a dead end.

“What!? You can’t be serious! We’re not strong enough to control an entire crowd…” Aria complained.

“Alone, maybe not, but together we might be able to, now shut up and start singing!” I hissed.

Turning toward the crowd that was heading our way, Sonata raised no objection and cleared her throat. Aria conceded that my plan was our only option and joined in, and before I knew it, I was taking the lead.

When our voices combined, they harmonized and began to deliver an immaculate song. I could feel the warmth of my amulet glowing, it was far warmer than I had ever felt. Singing is what makes us sirens feel alive; it’s not just a source of power after all.

With luck on our side, we were able to control the entire mob and give them explicit instructions. I commanded them all to forget what they saw and return to their duties. Within a matter of seconds, we had escaped and no one remembered we were sirens after that. Letting out a sigh of relief, Sonata fell to her haunches. “That was a close one…”

“It wouldn’t have been if you weren’t busy being an idiot… But what else is new…?” Aria rolled her eyes and looked away from her companion.

Raising a brow, I shook my head. “Do you two idiots always argue like this?”

“What’s it to you…?” Aria groaned.

“Oh, nothing… I just saved your life is all.” I rolled my eyes.

“Big whoop, want a fucking medal?” Aria smirked.

It was safe to say that Aria pissed me off from the day I met her. She really is just an insufferable prick. She would spend the majority of her time from then on doubting my leadership and challenging my plans.

Sonata on the other hand, while she was far more agreeable and easier to command; her complete lack of intelligence made her almost useless a majority of the time. These were the cards I was dealt, however.

“Look, I can see that the both of you are idiots, but perhaps…” I shuddered at the thought that was about to come out of my mouth.

“Perhaps what?” Sonata blinked, leaning in curiously.

“Perhaps… We should travel together… I mean it’s pretty clear that our powers are far better when we combine them… Maybe it’ll be easier to move around in a group than by ourselves?” I suggested, already regretting the idea when I saw Sonata’s response.

The bubbly girl jumped for joy as she squealed annoyingly. My eardrums begged for mercy as the young siren ran around in circles, squealing at the idea. “I love it! Siren trio! We’ll be unstoppable!”

“You just had to get her going… It’ll take hours before she shuts up now…” Aria sighed, her hoof placed to her temple.

“So are you both in?” I raised a brow.

“Sure… Whatever… all for one and all that crap…” Aria shrugged.

“Definitely!” Sonata giggled, a snort or two escaping her.

“Celestia help me for what I’ve gotten myself into…” I shook my head, realizing that I may have just agreed to the most unimaginable torture, to be stuck with those two morons.

14 Hours 35 Minutes Until Execution

“Quite a stroke of good luck there… Finding other sirens to take refuge with, I mean…” Twilight gave me a soft smile as she listened.

My eyes rolled hard enough to where I felt they would pop out of my skull. “Luck? More like a nightmare. Those two were insanely incompetent and the longer I was with them, the more I started to realize that I was tethered to two absolute idiots. After enough time passed, I basically was commanding them left and right. They more or less had to obey my every command if they wanted to survive. I guess my natural leadership kicked in, huh?”

“Leadership is often a learned trait, not one that ponies are born with…” Twilight pointed out.

“Are you this annoying with everyone you talk to?” I raised a curious brow.

Twilight grinned. “I like to refer to it as precise.”

“Right… Only an annoying pony would refer to their annoying behavior as ‘precise’, so I rest my case.” I smirked back at her.

Twilight shrugged and rested her chin on her hoof. “Either way, I’m sure they served to benefit you, given that with your combined might, you were able to survive much longer, and get around easier.”

“Well… I’ll give you that one, with the two of them at my side, I at least felt a little safer…” I admitted, begrudgingly albeit. The last thing I wanted was Sonata to hear that I actually needed her for something, more so Aria though.

“So, you had two more sirens at your side, what did you do next?” Twilight asked.

I grinned as I recalled how bold I became back then. “My next goal was to try and find my sister, but to do so I’d need a far bigger team to search than three sirens…”

Some Time Far in the Past

It was amazing that I managed to survive over two hundred years with those morons. Aria was an annoying piece of trash and Sonata made me want to tear my hair out, but somehow I put up with them. Over the years, I had led us to hone our skills and increasing our powers. In two hundred years we had nearly quadrupled our individual powers and the amount of magic at our disposal was nearly unstoppable. You can only imagine how strong I felt, how powerful I felt.

However, as the saying goes, pride cometh before a fall… What? Oh right, that’s a human thing. It’s from an ancient book in their world. I don’t remember the name of it, some religious text. I don’t know much about human religion, sorry.

The point is, I got too big for my boots I guess you could say, though I don’t exactly like admitting it. Oh, that’s another human thing. I got cocky, how about that?

One thing led to another and when the three of us had gathered enough power, we were ready to take over Canterlot. The plan was to control enough guards to grant us entry into the castle, where we could eventually reach the balcony outside of the throne room. There stood a horn intended to be used to address the citizens of the city by royalty. If we could only reach that horn, we could amplify our voices, and all of Canterlot would be at our service. They would obey every word we told them, and I would use them to scour the earth in vain for my lost sister. To be reunited… That was my dream…

14 Hours 31 Minutes Until Execution

“Hold on a moment… You mean to tell me that the historical event of three sirens trying to take over Canterlot was all to find your lost sister?” Twilight raised a brow.

I nodded. “I won’t pretend it’s entirely noble though… Anything that happened to the ponies we controlled… I wasn’t exactly concerned over. If they died serving me, I wasn’t entirely concerned about that… However, if what you’re asking is if my original intention was merely to have an army of slaves? Then no… it wasn’t…”

Twilight’s expression softened. “You missed her that badly, huh?”

“I hadn’t seen her for hundreds of years… She was… All I had left to remember my mother… My sister was everything to me, I promised her that I’d protect her, and yet she was all alone… Somewhere out there… At least that’s what I told myself…” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “The reality though is that she is dead, and I was in denial.”

“That’s common, death is not an easy thing to accept,” Twilight offered.

I scoffed and looked away. “Do you want me to finish the story or not?”

Twilight nodded. “Sorry, go ahead…”

Some Time Far in the Past

I’ll skip past the part where our plan gets foiled because honestly if you wanted to hear about that, then you could just read it in a history book. Yes, I’m sure you have read about it many times, Princess Sparkle. What? How many different history books did you read? Damn, you’re a fucking nerd.

Anyway, there we stood, our plan foiled. What? Oh for the love of… Fine. I’ll briefly go over what happened to you. The plan didn’t work, one of the guards alerted the Princess before we could reach the throne room. She sent her greatest mage our way, Starswirl the Bearded. That piece of trash bested us with such ease. Yes, I'm well aware that you're a huge fan of him. What was he like in person? I don't know, I didn't get a chance to get up close and personal with the guy, Twilight.

I was humiliated. All of the power we had accrued, all of the strength we had achieved, hundreds of years of gathering, just to be beaten by an ordinary unicorn. Our powers were drained from us, we were left with just a tiny amount of energy, almost less than a child.

I’ll never forget his eyes as he looked down at us on the floor before him. I could see nothing but judgment in his vision. He was looking at us like we were nothing more than objects. I hated him, I vowed there and then…

“You may have beaten us…” I groaned, trying my best to move. “But I promise, I’ll get strong again… I’ll defeat you…”

He looked away and closed his eyes as his horn lit up. “I’m afraid where you’re going, you won’t have the chance.”

The only thing I could remember was a bright flash, a light so blinding that I felt like a week had passed when I could see again. Little did I know though, much more time than that had passed…

You see, Starswirl’s spell was more of a crude form of the mirror that would open between the worlds. Just like how unstable the mirror was, his spell was even less stable, meaning that when I arrived in the human world, I was also sent a good two hundred years into the future. Apparently, I arrived at some point after Sunset Shimmer arrived.

Okay, explanations over. Anyway, I was transported to the human world, my power gone, my pride stripped, and to make matters worse, we had no way to get home. That is sort of where my story begins though.

14 Hours 26 Minutes Until Execution

Twilight blinked. “Wait, that was all exposition then?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s all relevant, Twilight. I figured you’d need some background and context before I jumped right to the part of how I ended up killing that girl, right? I’m sure that’s what you’re most interested in?”

Twilight rubbed her neck and nodded. “Y-yeah… I suppose so…”

Her eyes darted over to a clock sitting outside of the cell and she blinked. “Oh wow… We’ve been talking for a good hour and a half… If we’re going to continue it probably would be a good idea to get some tea. A little caffeine should keep us lively.”

“Coffee,” I stated.

The mare blinked again and looked in my direction with confusion. “I beg your pardon?”

“Tea sucks, but I have grown accustomed to drinking coffee… Humans have it a lot…” I said.

Twilight nodded. “Coffee… Yes… I’ll get us some. Stay put!”

She came to a stand and let herself out of the cage before locking it back up behind her, shooting me a smile as I continued to sit at the dirty old pile of wood that qualified for a table. “As if I was going to go somewhere…”

The Princess blushed and nodded. “R-right… My bad…”

I shook my head as the ditzy princess ran off, sure to return very soon, not wanting to miss a second of the story.