The scorching heat of Celestia’s sun baked the dirty yellow sand that carpeted the ground. Stretching from horizon to opposite horizon, the surface of heat formed pointed and rounded hills alike. An intense mirage was accompanied by sand that soared across the air, carried by the periodic gusts of wind that traveled through the hills. However, deep within the environment starved of water lied a skinny road packed of sandstone. The road spanned for miles across the seemingly lifeless desert before connecting directly to a large, dense and nearly monochromatic town.
Klugetown was riddled with houses and structures built of old wood, dusty stone and rusted metal. The variety was chaotic and disorganized with houses ranging from tall and outstanding to looking like no more than a shed that tipped with the wind. However, in its absence of visual appeal, it had no shortage of activity. Deep, loud bells rang high and low to the ground, wires and ropes strung from house to house in webs to deliver goods and giant windmills rotated with the wind. A cacophony of vocal exclamation accompanied the town’s activity without end, which all sat under clouds of black and grey smog emitted from the town’s factories.
Deep within the maze of Klugetown, creatures populated a marketplace of business. Some traded food, tools, or fabric while others traded random knick-knacks. The sides of buildings were lined with blanketed stands filled with boxes and barrels, no doubt housing goods within them. Streets were tight while people walked shoulder-to-shoulder. Lines were legends lost to history in the town, creatures gathering at vendors in a ‘first come, first serve’ method. Some creatures were passive, moving onto the next stand of goods that they desired if stocks were spent. Some of the populace were not so easy-going, breaking out into fights over the last canteen of water. If it wasn’t water being sold, it may as well have been a quality cactus containing precious nutrients. Though, the plant may have had a better chance at winning that argument.
Verko gave his half-hearted farewells to the vendor behind him as he stuffed his bag full of fresh purple and green grapes with a smile of satisfaction. His cracked lips gave way to his crooked yellow teeth while he straightened his whiskers with a clawed hand. Waddling through the rest of the market, his goggled eyes that sat upon his hairless head turn to and fro as he scanned for the items he desired.
After receiving a hand of bananas from a vendor on the last corner of the block, Verko began departing from the ongoing river of creatures. On arriving at the next block of buildings, he was then met with a familiar doorstep. Removing a ring of jingling keys from his breast pocket, he inserted them into the respective lock in the door and turned.
Inside, the doorway’s light revealed an ocean of dust particles now escaping into the fresher air. Verko reached his left hand to pull at the string connected to the light bulb that hung from the ceiling. Spending the next couple minutes setting his haul down into the places they belonged, only the fruits he had gathered remained in clawed hands. Walking into the next room, Verko approached a trio of cylindric metal cages. The material was rusted and appeared decades old. However, the aged metal still served its purpose, for what was held inside the three cages was of a far greater importance than simply its appearance.
Adagio Dazzle groaned and rolled her eyes without a hint of shame at the grapes and bananas that Verko set down just outside of her containment. The other two sirens to the left and right of her shared the same feelings.
The suited mole rat in front of them took offense to this, huffing in frustration. “Don’t give me attitude, missy! You’re gonna eat what I have for you whether you like it or not!”
Using her tail to swipe the bananas to the floor, Aria retorted, “I would rather swallow a mouthful of sand than eat that yellow filth!”
“Yeah!” Sonata agreed, snatching the cluster of green grapes from outside her cage. “The green ones are better than the purple ones anyway.” Before Sonata could pop a grape into her own mouth, Adagio reached with a hoof and knocked them out of the siren’s grasp, the grapes sharing the floor with the bananas. “Hey!”
“Zip it, Sonata! You’ll be thanking me later once we get out of here and get some real food.” Adagio seethed venomously at her sister before turning her attention to the unhappy Verko that stood outside of her captivity. She wrapped her two hooves around the bars separating the two creatures as she began to rise up to her full height. Now unobstructed by Verko’s figure, light found its way onto Adagio’s, revealing her true yellow form. Even when the ceiling of the cage forced Adagio to arch her back she still stood twice as tall as the mole rat. Though the room was dimly lit, light reflected off of the surface of the siren’s smooth, water bound body.
What one would define as flawless, vivacious beauty, Verko only saw a monster with destructive intent. The siren growled from deep within her throat as her lips arched upwards to reveal her teeth. In the centre of Adagio’s mouth were large herbivorous teeth much like that of a goat’s while towards her molars were sharp, pointed carnivorous weapons. Her upper lip shook violently as the strength of her vocal cords quaked the very ground the mole rat across from her stood upon. Adagio’s yellow face was tinted red with the fury that burned from within her. The corners of the room were almost brought light from the flame within her eyes. A flame that reflected off of Verko’s opaque goggles as he was sent stumbling backwards, spacing himself from the predator before his foot caught an inconveniently placed collectible, tripping him.
“Do you hear me, rat?!” Adagio fumed, “I will not rest until I stand on the other side of this cage! And when I do, I will take that hideous albino face of yours and use it as my personal rag to vomit on to rid of this filth you call food!”
Verko was sent crashing into a pile of boxes causing various belongings to come down, hitting his head on the way. A wooden slab, a glass jar, a loose drawer and then a small metal chest. Before the others could watch Verko get flattened by a falling piano, Adagio’s twitching eyes caught the small chest tumbling to the floor.
Its black surface was clearly aged, the paint scratched and beginning to peel off. The size of it was akin to a toolbox for one’s household. However, Adagio felt that whatever was in the chest was of an entirely different nature, for when it impacted the floor at a particular angle the chest comically popped open.
The black, damaged outer surface was juxtaposed by the velvet-coated inside that was revealed within the chest. Held inside a small pocket within the fancy velvet was an even smaller red gem.
Maybe it was a talisman, maybe it was charm, Adagio didn’t care. What hooked her attention was how familiar it looked. It couldn’t be, could it? Its clean surfaces cut to a hexagon-like shape that both reflected and refracted light in different directions. The cage bars didn’t stop her mind from venturing into the gem, opening like a gateway into the past. A gateway to a specific, fateful day. The day her power was ripped from her grasp and shattered on that concert stage. Even when her pupils expanded with desire, tunnel vision was still unrelenting. Nothing else mattered. She knew what that gem was. Adagio didn’t even care that her stomach was rumbling with dissatisfaction and hunger for sustenance. She wanted that gem. She needed that gem.
Wiping his goggles with a sleeve of his tailored coat to clean off the spit from the siren, Verko stood and gathered himself. Being mindful of where he stepped, Verko recovered what he could from what had been thrown to the dirty floorboards. After tossing the abused fruits to a table, Verko spotted the open chest and red gem lying on the floor. With haste, he bent down to his knees to gather the treasure with a sleeve-covered claw, carefully returning it to its origin inside the chest. Cursing under his breath, Verko planted the chest onto a nearby shelf before reaching into his breast pocket, acquiring a key and locking the chest.
He then spoke with a shaking voice, “now I think it’s in both our self-interests if you three play nice. If you all can do what I tell you to do, I can sell you to the highest bidder and you can all get a better home; we can all get what we want.”
“How do we know the next bum won’t be as lame as you?” Aria insulted.
“Little lady, I’ve lived here most of my life. I’m sure the folks who’ll be willing to buy you three are also willing to give more than just a pretty penny! Plus, ever since those ponies went international, creatures ‘round here are loads happier with the economy getting stronger ‘n such.”
“If your precious economy is so good, get us some decent food, then we’ll talk.” Aria stated firmly.
“Yeah! Meat! We want meat!” Sonata joined.
Verko stomped over to the dirtied fruits he had left on a clothed table. Returning to the three sisters, he once again placed the bananas and grapes next to their cages. “I’ll only tell you one more time. If you do what I tell you, then you’ll get what you want.”
Despite already being broken from her deep stupor, Adagio was silent. The other presences in the room collectively expected her to make some witty, rude remark back to the mole rat. The only thing that came from the yellow siren was the periodic movement of her chest.
“Nothin’ to say now, Siren?” Verko teased, lips being drawn into a toothy grin.
Putting on her best poker face, Adagio avoided eye contact with Verko. While in her thoughts she tried not to glance toward the locked chest too many times, keeping from probing the rat into reading her thoughts. Lowering herself down to Verko’s level, Adagio reached with a hoof to grab at a banana that lied just outside her cage. Using the cage bars to separate one from the hand of fruits, she then brought it to her face, breathing in the faint aromas.
Confused by Adagio’s actions, Verko’s crooked smile vanished from his face. He glanced left and right, the two sisters sharing his uncertainty. Shrugging his shoulders, Verko assumed she had finally come to her senses and yielded as he began to turn to walk away. However, before he turned his back, Verko saw Adagio’s eyes flip open like a light switch. He could’ve sworn he saw that fire in her eyes.
It was too late. Verko could not react as Adagio grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him towards her. The mole rat yelped as his head was sent reeling back from the whiplash. Seeing that his mouth was open, Adagio lodged the banana butt-first into his mouth, ceasing his cries. Using both hooves, Adagio pulled Verko close, smashing his face into the cage bars between them with two resounding clangs.
Verko’s groans of pain were muffled by the banana that sat in his mouth. He was helpless to stop the siren from invading his breast pocket and removing the ring of keys from his person.
“What’s that?” Adagio asked teasingly, “got nothing to say now, rat?” With a toothy smirk and one last crashing impact into the cage bars, Adagio let the unconscious Verko fall backwards. She then fiddled with the keys for a few moments before inserting the correct one into the cage’s lock and sending the door swinging open with her tail.
Slithering out of her containment, she stretched and popped her joints. “It’s so great to finally be able to move around again!” Adagio signed with satisfaction, “wouldn’t you agree, girls?”
Unimpressed, Aria cleared her throat loudly and exclaimed, “we’re still in here, you dolt!”
“Oh, right. My bad.” Adagio replied, unlocking the black, damaged chest with a key before tossing them in Aria’s general direction. “Finally, I can see what the rat was hiding in this precious box.”
“You seem to care an awful lot about it and not about getting far away from here.” Aria returned as she unlocked Sonata’s cage.
Despite hearing her sister, Adagio’s attention was fixed on the beautiful red ruby before her. “Don’t worry. We’re getting out of here. And this time, we’re not going to be tricked by some stage magician and his pony pals.”
“But we’ve only been here for a few days. Even if we knew where we were, what do you expect we do with a little red rock? We need our magic back!” Sonata argued.
“Trust me, girls. We already have enough magic to take over Equestria. And in time, that’s exactly what I plan to do.”
Author's Note
More to come with the students in the next chapter(s). Stay tuned!
