Chapter Four

11 Hours 59 Minutes Until Execution

Twilight Sparkle was practically bouncing with excitement at this point, she couldn’t contain herself. As I mentioned before, the Princess was a bookworm at heart and it certainly showed when she was hearing a good story. In her mind, this story clearly had all the excitement she needed. I never considered myself an exceptional storyteller, or even a mediocre one, but the way that Princess Twilight was held on the edge of her seat, you’d think I was legendary at it. You would think that I was the greatest person to ever spin a yarn.

“So, the drug deal turned out to be a… What’s it called… A stick-up, I think?” Twilight asked, her hoof on her chin as she tried to think of the correct terminology.

Rolling my eyes, I sighed and shook my head. “Let’s just call it a double-cross. The short version is that these guys had other plans in mind, and they didn’t involve forking over the cash and then us giving them the drugs…”

“So they wanted both then?” Twilight asked curiously.

I sighed again and shook my head. “Much worse, but perhaps you would rather tell the story since you’re trying to guess what happens next so much…”

“Oh… Right, sorry…” Twilight blushed and knelt down in her seat, gently tapping her hooves together in embarrassment.

“I only have so much time to tell you this entire story… I die in…” I blinked before looking over at the clock.

“Twelve hours…” I said quietly.

Twelve hours, the length of a single day on the equinox. It had dawned on me then that I had less than half a day left to live. Sure, I knew I was sitting there waiting for the clock to count down to my death, but getting that close made it feel all so much more real. In twelve hours from that moment, I’d be finding out what happened to sirens when they died. The great mystery would be solved, at least for me.

The idea was haunting, but I tried to keep my mind on the story to calm myself.

“Sorry… I didn’t mean to distract you from the story… It’s just… This is all actually fairly interesting… I don’t get to learn much about the human world, that and I’m kind of a sucker for a good story…” Twilight admitted.

Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my hooves with a smirk on my face. “Really? I couldn’t tell…” I teased.

“Alright, tease me if you like, but I really want to know what happens next…” Twilight pouted.

“Alright, but you have to do something for me to make up for interrupting me and all the interruptions you’re going to do down the road…” I replied.

Twilight opened her mouth, likely to argue that she wasn’t going to interrupt anymore, but she closed it abruptly, possibly determining that such a statement wasn’t far from the truth; she was too excitable, after all.

“Fine, what do you want?” Twilight asked.

“Tell me about Sunset Shimmer… The other one…” I stated.

Twilight blinked and tilted her head. “Why?”

“I’m curious to know more about the girl who defeated me twice and is the reason I’m sitting here about to be put to death… It’s only fair that I get to know more about the person that will be my undoing is it not?” I asked. To me, that logic was sound.

Princess Twilight chewed her thoughts for a moment, before ultimately shrugging and possibly deciding it couldn’t do any harm since I was about to be just a bad memory in a few more hours.

“Well… When I met her, she was kind of a bully…” Twilight began.

“A bitch, I remember. I heard stories of that…” I replied.

Twilight winced at my words but nodded. “I was trying to be more polite, but I suppose that’s a fair assessment as well…”

“So when you defeated her, she changed, huh?” I asked.

The Princess nodded as she smiled. “She did… It was… Really wonderful to be honest… While Starlight was my first official student, Sunset was sort of my beta test project, I guess… She turned into such a caring girl, albeit she has her flaws… She gets very bad tunnel vision sometimes, and she’s loyal to a fault, just like Rainbow really…”

“Sounds like you like her a lot…” I groaned, not exactly keen on hearing one of my mortal enemies being given so much praise right in front of me.

“Sunset has proven herself… She showed me that redemption is possible, even for someone who was as nasty as she was…” Twilight nodded happily.

“What about someone like me? Is redemption possible for someone like me?” I asked curiously.

The silence that followed was perhaps the most deafening thing in the universe. I couldn’t tell how long we sat there saying nothing, but it was as if my ears had turned off because I heard absolutely nothing until Twilight opened her mouth to speak once more.

“Well… It’s… hard to say, Adagio…” Twilight began.

“Give it to me straight, I’ve had enough bullshit for one lifetime, you know?” I grinned, ready to hear whatever it was she had to say, be it good news or bad.

Sighing, Twilight looked at the floor and then met my eyes with her own. Her purple irises shined in the low light of the room as she stared at me, her expression very serious.

“The reality is… It’s not what I think, it’s what society thinks. Sometimes there are things you can’t undo, that you can’t fix, so you have to pay the price for them… In this case… I think everyone agrees that you’ve done too much to continue living to prove that you can change…” Twilight admitted.

“Forget what society thinks… What about you? Do you think redemption is even something that I deserve a chance at?” I asked.

There was another silence, but she never broke eye contact once during it. “Adagio…” She began before sighing. “Let’s talk about something else…”

“You’re dodging the question…” I growled.

“The truth is that I haven’t decided my answer to it just yet…” She said.

Those words certainly surprised me. I had expected something far colder from her, but was the Princess truly undecided on if I truly deserved the death sentence or not? Would that make a difference? No, that much I knew. Even if she changed her mind about it, there likely wasn’t much she could do to stop it. She had promised the friends of the victim of my crime that they would see me dead, if she backed down now, she’d certainly cause some kind of disturbance.

I wanted to ask more, but I knew that the chances of getting a real answer were slim. Instead, I teetered back to the original subject. “So… You think Sunset is a good person?”

Twilight’s face reverted back to a smile as she nodded. “One of the best, I’d trust my life in Sunset’s hooves… err… hands… whatever…”

“You’re lucky…” I smiled back before leaning my head back in my seat.

“Why’s that?” Twilight looked puzzled.

“Being able to trust someone… It must be… an amazing feeling… My whole life… I’ve never really trusted anyone, not fully anyway. I probably came close from time to time, but the reality is… I always held back, in the back of my mind thinking that if I gave away too much… That those people would just stab me in the back…” I stated with a sigh.

“It must be tough living like that…” Twilight frowned, offering a hoof from across the table which I ignored.

Looking at her, I shrugged. “It’s all I know…”

Clearly feeling the air get too tense, Twilight cleared her throat and leaned in over the table. “So… What happened after those guys pulled out those guns? I’m dying to know…”

I grinned and returned fully upright before leaning over the table myself with a smirk. “Well… You’ll never believe what happened next…”

So there we stood, guns pointed at us, and Brick and Boulder moving in front of me to keep me covered. What? No, I am not hamming it up, Twilight! I am resetting the scene!

Anyway, Boulder and Brick were massive, so seeing around them wasn’t exactly easy, but with some finesse, I could see the other two we were originally going to strike a deal with still holding their firearms firmly pointed at us. No one dared make a sudden movement. I remember freezing in place myself as Boulder whispered to me, though making sure not to turn and face me and to speak out of the corner of his mouth.

“Whatever happens, Adagio… If we go down… Run back to Striker, alright? Get out of here the moment you get the opportunity…” Boulder stated.

“You don’t have to tell me twice…” I replied with a roll of my eyes. Okay, sure I was rough, but I didn’t actually want anything to happen to either of them… I may be cold and untrusting, but I’m not someone who wishes death on everyone. The truth is, I had at least an inkling of respect for the two, and I was praying that the two of them had a plan.

In a way, I felt disgusted in myself, having to pray that others could bail us out of a situation when I was so used to being able to take care of not only myself but two other sirens. I missed having my powers, and it was definitely showing. Still, without them, I wasn’t in a position to act, so I had no choice but to allow Brick and Boulder to take care of the heavy lifting, figuratively speaking of course, though I am sure the two of them could definitely lift their weight and more.

The two goons pointing their weapons at us grinned as they spoke of their plan. “Alright, so this is how this is going to play out… You’re going to hand over the drugs, and then you’re going to come work for us…” The taller, uglier of the two said.

“And if we refuse?” Brick asked with a raised brow.

The other one adjusted his aim to be pointing directly at Brick’s head. “Then you won’t live long enough to find out what we do next. We’re giving you a great offer here, you get to keep working, and keep your lives.”

“You know that even if we say yes, Striker is going to stop you guys… He doesn’t take very Kindly to competition, and you two greenies look like you don’t know the first thing about this business… He’ll tear you up…” Boulder replied.

“Hey fuck you, what do you know!?” The tall one growled, waving his gun to show he was serious.

“Well, judging by the fact that you are trying to recruit us, that tells me that you don’t have a crew yet, which means you’re winging this whole thing… Striker eats small fries like you two idiots for breakfast…” Brick responded in Boulder’s place.

To be honest, their ability to assess the situation and read people was remarkable. Part of me was not only jealous but glad that I had them at my side. I would have gladly accepted their skills into my little group. They may have looked stupid, but Brick and Boulder knew the street game like the backs of their hands.

Street game? It means… Never mind what it means actually… The point is that these guys were clever when it came to this stuff, alright?

The tall one grunted and shook his head. “I don’t give a fuck, we’ll fuck him up and take this territory for ourselves. We may not have a crew yet, but we’ll assemble one. We’re sick of having to do business with Striker, that asshole has pushed everyone else out of the region, so he controls the prices…”

“That’s capitalism.” Brick shrugged, unconcerned by the weapons being waved at them.

“Well, consider this a hostile take over them, cocksuckers!” The shorter one hissed.

“I resent that…” I raised a hand to join into the conversation.

“So here’s your options… You two will surrender the goods, join us and we’ll let you live…” The tall one demanded.

“And if not?” I asked in my two cohorts, stead.

He grinned and pointed his gun in my direction. “We kill these two brutes, and you are going to suck my cock before I put a bullet in your brain.”

“Must be a pretty unimpressive thing to behold if it takes that just to get a girl to touch it…” I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes.

Somehow despite the danger, the situation didn’t feel that real to me. To where my usual attitude and demeanor remained unchanged. I guess it’s because I had never actually seen guns go off in real life, or people get shot that I just kind of resumed business as usual.

“I think we’ve heard enough…” Boulder yawned.

Before I knew it, Brick and Boulder quickly drew weapons from their waistbands and open fired. The blasts were returned by the other two men just as quickly. My confidence and bravado vanished almost instantly when I heard those guns go off as I hid behind the safety of Brick.

The wall composed of Brick and Boulder… Yes, I get that that sounds somewhat like a pun… No, it wasn’t intentional… Anyway, the wall composed of Brick and Boulder didn’t prove impenetrable, however. Blood splattered from their bodies and sprayed me all over my new designer shirt. Yes, it was a big deal, Twilight!

The two brutes stood their ground for a few more seconds before collapsing backward, causing me to scurry away and hear their large bodies hit the pavement. Looking over at the other two men, they laid sprawled out on the pavement as well, pools of blood forming around them. I had seen blood before, but never that much at one time. I could hardly believe what I was seeing in front of me.

All four of them, dead. Their bullets hit each other causing both sides to fall, leaving myself as the sole survivor of the encounter.

At first, I guess I was in denial as I reached down and shook Boulder and then Brick, trying to get them to get up. “Come on guys, we have to get out of here…” I commanded.

When it was clear they were not going to move, I quickly snatched up the briefcase that we had brought with us, knowing that Striker would certainly want it back. My eyes flashed onto the handgun in Brick’s hand. I stared at it for a solid minute, contemplating taking it. If a situation like this one ever played out again, a girl needed to be protected right? Without my magic, I was a sitting duck in a situation like this. Reaching down slowly, I pried his limp fingers off of it and held the shining silver weapon in my hand, examining it.

Ejecting the clip, I noted that there was still three-quarters of a clip inside before placing it back inside. Eying the weapon up and down, I told myself that it would be just in the event of an emergency. Given that I had no real IDs and background checks were problematic for me, the chances of acquiring a weapon legally were slim to none. It was decided right there, I’d take the gun with me and keep it just for my own safety. There was no telling how much danger would come if I stayed in that line of business.

My thoughts were ended, however, when I could hear the faint sound of sirens in the distance.

Shit. I thought, no doubt the police had heard the gunfire and were on route to investigate. I needed to escape, I needed to get as far away as I could without drawing attention to myself.

Slipping the gun into my waistband and with the briefcase in hand, I quickly ran to the other side of the alley only to see patrol cars heading from that direction as well. Scanning my eyes around, I noticed a dumpster nearby which I quickly got behind and nearly held my breath.

The footsteps of officers walking into the alley made me cover my mouth to keep myself from tipping them off to my location. I’d say that moment was an all-time low for me. A once great and powerful siren that struck fear into the hearts of many, reduced to hiding behind a fucking garbage dumpster. Oh, do no make an “oh how the mighty have fallen”, comment now, Twilight!

I could hear chatter among the police officers investigating the scene, one getting on their radio to call for back up.

“Looks like we got a drug deal gone wrong, might want to send some people down here…” One of the officers stated.

Another one called out to him. I peaked around the corner of the dumpster to see he was kneeling next to Brick, examining his corpse. “And a coroner.” He added.

Sighing, the officer on the radio relayed that order as well. “And a coroner.”

“I don’t see any drugs…” The kneeling officer stated plainly.

The other one shrugged. “Maybe they intended to fleece them?”

“Search the car…” The first one said.

Looking around, I could see that both of the officers were distracted, facing the opposite direction. All I needed to do was make a quiet move, get past the patrol car on the right and I could slip away undetected. Sure, my shirt had blood on it, but I could remedy that problem.

Sighing, I quickly began to unbutton my shirt, removing it entirely. Fortunately for myself, I had chosen to wear a white undershirt that day. Yeah, I know that’s more of a guy thing, but sometimes I felt they were more comfortable… Sue me.

Wadding the shirt up, and checking to make sure officer dumb and officer dumber were both still distracted, I was assured that my escape plan would work. Taking in a deep breath, I began to step out from behind the dumpster.

Tiptoeing at first, I kept my eyes on the two cops as they examined the car that Brick, Boulder and I had used to arrive. To my good fortune, they didn’t turn around, and backstepping, I was able to make it to the patrol car and then eventually past it. Once I rounded the bend, I quickly untucked my undershirt from my miniskirt, letting it hang so that the weapon in my waistband was at least not out in the open.

At first I opted for a fast walk to put as much distance between myself and the scene as possible, but after a good few minutes where I was certain that I was far enough away, I began a much slower walk, silently feeling thankful that I had managed to avoid most of the blood at the scene, as it would have soaked well through my shirt and made me still look suspicious walking down the street. Granted, I probably looked suspicious enough with a briefcase in one hand, a wadded up shirt in the other, and wearing an undershirt instead of a normal top.

There was no doubt in my mind that people could likely see my bra, but at that moment, I didn’t really care. I needed to get home and contact Striker. I needed to let him know that Brick and Boulder were dead, that the entire deal was a setup.

Police sirens blared as a few more cop cars whizzed past me, but I continued to act innocent and nonchalant, to the point where they didn’t even notice me as they headed to the direction of the scene I had just left.

I walked in silence for several blocks, hours of my time were exhausted before the street which held my apartment was in sight. Sighing contently, I was home free. As I approached, it had occurred to me that walking through the front door as I was at that moment might spark some unwanted attention from the other two sirens that lived with me. I didn’t want Aria and Sonata finding out about what I actually did for a living, or the two deaths that had just happened in front of me.

Looking around to the side, I could see the window to my room, it had been left slightly cracked open. Yes, Twilight, I’m well aware that it’s unsafe, but realistically burglars were the least of my worries. Letting out a content sigh, I headed toward the window and lifted it open before slipping inside, the briefcase following shortly after.

I wadded the shirt up and tossed it into a garbage can, frowning a bit. Hey, I really liked that shirt, thank you very much!

Setting the briefcase down on the bed, I reached into the small pocket on my mini skirt and retrieved my phone. Dialing up Striker’s number, I waited for him to answer. Despite the ungodly hour, I knew that Striker always answered his phone.

Judging by the fact that I heard a yawn on the other end, I safely assumed that I had woken him from a slumber. “Dagi? Do you know what time it is?”

“Not a clue…” I replied.

“Right… So why are you calling? How’d the deal go?” He asked.

Business as usual with, Striker.

“Not well…” I spoke quietly.

“What happened?” He questioned, his voice seeming to sound like he had become more awake just by hearing those words.

I paced around the room as I spoke. “The two morons we were supposed to sell to… Well turns out they wanted to start their own business…”

“Those little cocksuckers…” Striker hissed.

“Yeah, well I doubt that will happen any time soon now… They’re dead…” I said quietly.

“Shit… Brick and Boulder iced them then?” He asked curiously.

“Yeah, but not without a cost… Brick and Boulder are dead…” My voice trembled a bit.

I wasn’t scared, Twilight. I was just a bit nervous at how Striker was going to react to some of his people being killed in a shootout.

“Fuck… I’m sorry… Are you alright though?” His voice sounded genuinely concerned.

“Yeah, I just got blood on my shirt, I managed to get out of there before anyone saw me. The pigs are investigating right now…” I sighed.

“Fuck, that means we are going to lose a shit ton of stock!” Striker cursed.

“Nah, I managed to snag the briefcase before I left, I got it right here at my apartment, I’ll bring it by tomorrow after I get some sleep,” I stated plainly, my eyes on the briefcase sitting on the bed.

I could hear light laughter on the other side of the phone. “Fuck, Dagi! You are awesome, I could kiss you right now. What happened to Brick and Boulder is a damn shame, but you kept your head and at least made sure to get out of there and save the merchandise at the same time.”

“Thanks, though I’d prefer no kissing attempts next time we meet…” I rolled my eyes.

“Your loss… Anyway, get some sleep, there’s a big bonus coming your way tomorrow, I promise you that. I’ll replace that shirt and then some…” Striker replied.

Nodding, I decided it was best to end the call. “Alright, well I’m going to take that advice and go to bed… I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Sleep well, Dagi.” He said before I hung up and set the phone down.

Looking at the briefcase, I decided it was best to place it under my bed. I didn’t even bother to slip out of my clothes as I flopped down on the bed, letting my head rest on my pillow. I desperately wanted a shower, but my exhaustion won out in the end as I felt myself slip into a deep slumber.

11 Hours 20 Minutes Until Execution

“So you actually partook in a drug deal that went wrong.” Twilight covered her mouth in excitement. “I had only heard about them from books, it must have been horrifying though!”

I shrugged, unsure of what she expected. “Wasn’t that big a deal, I survived, that’s the important part anyway...”

The nerdy princess frowned and reached forward taking my hoof in her own. “It’s okay to be afraid, Adagio, it’s only natural...” Her voice was soft and tender, motherly even. For a brief moment, I was reminded of my mother who once said the same thing to me when I was a child. I couldn’t remember the exact context, but I remembered those words so perfectly in my mind, Though Twilight had a different face than my mother did, far less beautiful.

I shook my head as I became disgusted in myself for daring to compare a worthless mortal to the pristine image of my own mother. The reality was Twilight wasn’t anything like my mother, she was a mortal, a disgusting terrible mortal.

Yanking my hoof away from her, it had occurred to me I was letting her get too friendly with me. I cleared my throat and spoke again. “I’m not the type that gets scared so easily...” My face was slightly red as I looked away, avoiding eye contact with the mare.

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but closed it instantly, probably thinking it was a waste of try and convince me that I could confide in her to share my feelings.

“Sounds like the ordeal was pretty crazy though, to say the least...” Twilight returned to the topic at hand as she withdrew her hoof and placed it back on the table carefully.

Something about Twilight made it hard to stay mad at her, and as I mentioned that only annoyed me more. Twilight was simply too loveable for her own good.

“I guess, I mean that’s hardly the worst thing that happened in this entire story...” I yawned, the late hour and long story session were starting to get to me.

“Seriously? Okay, now you’ve definitely got me interested in what happens next. I mean you could have died at that encounter and you’re telling me it gets worse!?” Twilight blinked.

It had never occurred to me at the time of the incident that my life was at risk. Was it because I was confident that I could get behind Brick and Boulder if things went south? Perhaps it was the fact that I was still so new to the line of work that it never occurred to me. Still, Twilight was right, I had been vulnerable and I didn’t even notice at the time of. Perhaps that’s exactly why though, I had spent my life hating feeling vulnerable, so when it happened I tuned it out. That could also explain how I was able to tell Twilight Sparkle so many intimate details about my life without worry.

“Well, I hate to leave you in suspense, but I’m sort of tired, mind getting us some more coffee?” I covered my mouth as another yawn escaped me.

Perking up right away, Twilight nodded and came to a stand as she raced out of the room giving a simple “Be right back.” Before bolting up the stairs.

My eyes turned to the cell door, noticing that she had left it open. There was literally nothing stopping me from walking right through that door. It seemed so simple, so perfectly easy. Then again I knew that even if I managed to make it up those stairs, the castle was swarming with guards.

I contemplated what would happen if I outwitted them and made it outside the castle walls? Then what? I quickly realized that I’d be Equestria’s most wanted fugitive and there wasn’t going to be many places I could hide even if I was resourceful. My best bet was to escape through the mirror. Sure, Shining Armor would be after me, but I could elude one person better than an entire kingdom. Sunset Shimmer was a problem too, but if I left Canterlot, she’d never find me.

The entire idea fell apart though when I remembered that the mirror was locked away in perhaps the most guarded chamber in the entire castle. Breaking into that room to even use it would have taken several miracles and an army.

With a sigh, I resigned myself to simply sitting there waiting for Twilight’s return.

It would only take a few more minutes for the mare to race down those stairs (nearly tripping as well) with two mugs and a metal thermos levitating around her. She returned to her spot across from me and set the cups and thermos down, panting a bit from all the running. Despite being slender, Twilight was certainly out of shape. She struck me as the kind of girl who had an excuse to skip gym class every single day. A part of me snickered internally as I thought about the various different excuses that Twilight pulled out of her ass to get out of physical activity.

She caught her breath and began pouring the coffee into two mugs, offering me one before herself. I took it carefully and noted that the coffee had been lightened up with what appeared to be milk. I was reminded of the mocha lattes form the human world for a brief moment.

I sipped from the mug and noted she added a bit of sugar. “It’s sweet...” I replied.

Blinking Twilight looked up from her own cup and smiled. “Oh yeah, I figured just straight up black coffee would be terrible.”

“Good thinking...” I replied as I took another swig of the hot liquid.

Twilight’s eyes were drawn to the door as she drank. “Oh shoot, I left the door open...”

Her tone sounded sincere but a part of me wondered if that was some kind of test from the Princess. Was it possible that she left the gate open on purpose? Was she testing me? She did mention before she hadn’t decided on how she felt about me in regards to redemption, perhaps this was some sort of testing method to find out. Had I passed?

Her head turned back to me and smiled as she drank. “Is it alright?” She asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s fine...”

“So back to the story then?” Twilight asked innocently.

Taking another long sip, I nodded as I set the cup down on the table and held it between my hooves, feelings its warmth course through me. “Alright... I guess I should start with the next morning...”

That next day I woke up far earlier than my usual three in the afternoon. No, I’m not lazy, I’m just not a morning person, plus I work at night. Oh, shush, Twilight. The point is that I was up at around eleven, which was far earlier than I was used to. Groaning I rolled over in my bed and stared at the ceiling of my bedroom, wondering if I had the energy to get up. I had hardly gotten any sleep from the night prior. No, I wasn’t scared, I was just a bit shaken up and confused, I suppose.

Figuring that I only had acquired around four hours of sleep, I was a little shocked when my feet actually reached over to the floor, almost involuntarily and brought my body into an upright position.

Looking over at the mirror in my room, I noted that I still had my long hair tied back. I sort of still miss that hair, kind of regret cutting it. Sorry, tangent, anyway I pulled the hairband tying my long locks back out and flicked my head to allow my messy bedhead to flow naturally. It was a small improvement at the very least.

Sluggishly dragging myself over to the door, I noted that my mini-skirt was twisted in an awkward way, but I didn’t care as I opened the door and walked out of the room, hoping to catch some time with the shower and avoid the other two morons that I lived with.

Unfortunately for me, both of them were wide awake and stirring already. Sonata was lounging about in an oversized T-shirt and a pair of pink panties as she sat on the couch mashing buttons on a Nintendo 3DS. It’s a handheld game system that humans have. No, I won’t explain it to you… Why? Because I don’t even understand how it works! I know a good deal about human technology, but I didn’t bother studying game consoles. Because they didn’t interest me, nor were they pertinent to what I needed to do…

Moving on, Sonata didn’t notice me at first (what a surprise), but Aria who had just stepped out of the bathroom caught a glance of me and raised a brow in confusion as she looked me over. “You’re out of bed early…” She commented.

Damn, I hated her smug attitude, I mean who does she think she is commenting on my sleeping patterns like that? Is she just observing me all the time so she can judge me when she needs to? Oh… Sorry… Another tangent.

Anyway, I just looked away and grunted. “I decided to get up early, I had a rough night, and I couldn’t sleep…”

It wasn’t exactly a lie, not that I cared about lying to Aria, considering I lied to her all the time.

“I see… That’s an… Interesting choice of attire…” She commented as she looked over my outfit.

Growling, I shoved past her. “I got a stain on my shirt, so I had to take it off… Are you the fashion police now, Aria?”

Aria just shrugged before wandering away from the bathroom and sat down on the beat up old recliner in the room, putting her feet up on the coffee table as she flicked the television on. “Whatever… I take it you’re going to shower now?” Aria asked.

“Yes, so please leave me alone…” I rolled my eyes before making my way to the bathroom, ready to end my interaction with one of the most frustrating people I knew.

11 Hours 15 Minutes Until Execution

“You show a lot of animosity toward other sirens…” Twilight pointed out, interrupting my story once more.

“You have not had the displeasure of spending time around those two idiots. Aria is a frustrating cunt always ready to say ‘I told you so’ at the drop of a hat, and Sonata is a blithering idiot! If you had to spend time around those two, you’d want to strangle them too…” I explained.

Twilight raised a brow. “Yet, you stuck with them for so long…”

“Strength in numbers, sometimes you do things that you don’t like because it’s beneficial to you… Even as powerful as I was, it doesn’t hurt to have a few other semi-older sirens with me…” I stated.

Twilight leaned in with interest, the topic of sirens and how our power worked seemed to fascinate her. “So you mentioned before that older sirens are more powerful then?”

Sighing, I decided there was no point in not explaining what I understood about the culture of our kind to her, after all, in less than twelve hours, I’d be dead so not like it could be used against me, and the knowledge wouldn’t really hurt other sirens either.

“Yes… By siren standards… I would be considered… a teenager…” I commented.

Twilight blinked. “You’re how old then?”

“Somewhere around 2,300… That sounds about right…” I replied.

Placing a hoof on her chin, Twilight shrugged trying to make sense of it all. “So what is considered ‘old’ for a Siren then?”

Sipping from the mug that the Princess had graciously given me, I decided to give her a minor history lesson. “Somewhere out there exists a council of sirens. They are the ones who uphold most of our laws and customs, though they are relatively loose about it… Most of the time they don’t intervene…”

“So there is a structure to siren society?” Twilight asked curiously.

I shook my head. “Not exactly, as I said, these old sirens seldom act. They only step in when something threatens all sirens. They also never involve themselves with anything here in Equestria…”

“Why’s that?” Twilight asked.

“Equestria is a powerful and strong nation. Meddling with it could cause military action across the world, and with the might of Equestria… It would cause a lot of problems for them… That’s why the elders more or less are very hooves off with Equestrian sirens. There’s probably more to it, but I don’t know much because I’ve never met them, I only know through stories…” I explained.

Instantly captivated, a smile came to Twilight’s face as she found herself learning. That girl certainly loved learning a bit too much.

Her next question was so predictable “So how old are the elders?”

“Old… Most are at least 20,000 years old, or older… The oldest siren I know of is a siren named Kiz.” I replied.

“How old is she?” Twilight asked, again predictable.

“No one is entirely sure, but she’s somewhere past 70,000 years old… Some say she lived to see the original siren, or that she is the daughter of her… No one’s really sure, she’s not exactly a person that is easy to get a hold of or talk to… On top of that, she isn’t a very talkative person either from what I gather…” I stated.

Twilight took a long sip from her coffee, clearly trying to keep up with the information that was being presented. Just looking at her, I could see gears turning in her head. “Kiz… That’s old ponish if I recall… It means… Harmony… An ironic name for a creature that feeds on negative energy…”

I could only shrug in response. “Either way, Kiz is very old and very powerful. I’m not exactly sure how powerful exactly, but I know that no siren ever dares challenge her. Many disagree with her, but no one is foolish enough to challenge an order given by her. While it is extremely rare for sirens to kill other sirens, those with extreme power can definitely make the life of a siren very difficult…”

“So murder isn’t common for sirens?” Twilight asked.

I shook my head. “No, that’s something that mortals mostly do… You all have a fascination with killing each other…”

Twilight’s ears lowered at that comment, but she chose to say nothing.

“Either way, the point is that sirens have existed for a long time… I don’t know much more about their history though, most of that is known only to the elders,” I said.

“How does one become an elder?” Twilight asked.

I shrugged again. “Don’t know, all I know is it only happens to those over 10,000. I have no idea otherwise… As I said, I grew up in Equestria, so my knowledge of other sirens is limited.”

“I see… Well, nonetheless, what you do know is interesting, to say the least.” Twilight smiled.

“Thanks, now can we get back to the story?” I raised my brow.

“Oh right… Sorry… So you were taking a shower then?” Twilight reminded me.

“We’ll skip to when I got out of the shower…”

After my quick shower and playing twenty questions with Aria and Sonata about where I was going (lying the entire time, of course), I had made it onto the bus in time to make my way downtown with the briefcase to meet up with Striker. The entire way there I played out the events of the night prior in my mind. Brick and Boulder got killed, but they were smart enough to carry weapons. From that point on, I knew that I had to do the same. I had never killed anyone before, but now I knew that I had to be ready to do so if necessary. It was a dog eat dog world, and if I didn’t play along, I was sure to become the meal and not the one eating the meal. It’s an expression, Twilight.

Either way, I had survived and more importantly I had gotten the merchandise back. No, I don’t have my priorities out of order, trust me, Striker is not fun to be around when he’s pissed. He’s only cool so long as you’re keeping him happy, that being said, I was always good at keeping him happy.

The bus let me off a block or two from the usual meeting place where Striker often met up with us. It felt strange going so early, but after the night I had had the night prior, I knew I wasn’t going to get any more sleep.

After a short walk, I came to the entrance of the old abandoned building, checking around to make sure no one was looking. One glance to the left and one to the right and I was confident that no one was watching. With a sigh, I gripped the briefcase tighter as I opened the door, making my way down to the basement of the old building. Striker preferred the cover of the basement due to the lower possibility of anyone hearing us from a street level.

Descending the stairs I could hear a mild bit of chatter in the room until I reached the bottom step when a single clap echoed through the room and everyone fell silent. Every person in that room was staring in my direction, Striker included. His eyes wandered down to the briefcase I had In my hand and then back to my face which brought a smile to his own. “Adagio Dazzle, you are a prodigy after my own heart... Come here, you.”

Blinking, I took a few steps forward as he came out from behind a table and finished the approach, bringing me into a half hug before patting my back and taking the case from my hand. He left an arm around my shoulder as he spoke. “Dagi... I’m sorry for what happened... Brick and Boulder clearly got careless. They’ll be missed, but I’m glad you’re alive. You show me time and time again why you’re my best...”

“Thanks, I suppose...” I shrugged.

“I want everyone to follow Dagi’s example... She not only kept her own ass alive, but she also managed to retrieve the goods before the pigs showed up. I expect the same level of commitment out of everyone here!” Striker praised loudly as he gave my shoulder a squeeze.

A few of the people in the room raised a drink they were enjoying and a few others gave a quick “good going, Dagi!”

Not exactly certain of how to respond to the praise, I merely shrugged. “So, what now?” I asked Striker.

The man grinned and gave me another squeeze. “Let’s put you on some easier jobs for a little while, let you relax a bit after that encounter, but then I’m moving you up to some of my top business. Lemme ask you, Dagi… Do you like new clothes? Shoes? Jewelry?”

It was as if he knew me all too well. Somehow when I didn’t have access to my powers or magic, clothes and jewelry helped fill the void in my life. “You’re speaking my language, Striker… Go on…”

“Well… There’s going to be a lot of that in your future, my girl… You’ve taken care of me, so I’m going to take care of you… From now on, you’re going to wear the best of the best…” He smiled.

For a moment, I was actually fully distracted from how shitty the situation I had fallen into because of losing my magic. If only for a brief while.

Author's Note

Sorry for the late post! Meaning to have this up this morning but got distracted.

So we get to learn a bit about siren culture and we're building to the juicy stuff. Next chapter you're going to love...