Secondo: Shores of Zebrica

Chapters

The Call of Zebrica
The Night before the Storm
Sunset over Zumidia
The Uncrowned
The Enemy of my Enemy
The Stage is Set
Songs of War
Making an Acquaintance
The White Severyanian
No Rest for the Wicked
Tearful Reflections
An Overdue Conversation
Helping Hooves
Reaching for the Pearl
The Upper Crust

The Call of Zebrica

Over one thousand years ago, six heroes of Equestria rose to fight a perceived great evil. Together, under the firm and overarching leadership of the great wizard Starswirl, they opted for the most radical option and banished the three monsters to oblivion.

But no cage holds forever.

One year ago, the Kingdom of Hippogriffia was forever shaken. Taking initial root in the Kingdom's internal strife between seaponies and hippogriffs, as well as the political extremists battling it out in public, the cage meant to hold for an eternity weakened, and eventually, shattered.

One year ago, the Kingdom of the Hippogriffs and Seaponies came to an end. The Queen was among the first taken captive, and slowly but surely, all resistance, headed by the princess herself, eroded and was snuffed out. All hope for the old order, for friendship and harmony appeared lost when even the friends overseas in Equestria refused to aid them. The world was growing hostile and hungry for war, and even the nation of ponies could feel something knocking on their door, it seemed.

There would be no great liberation, no 'triumph over evil' as they likely would have called it. There would be no repeat of last time.

Aria hovered a short distance above ground within the throne room atop Mount Aris, within the newly refurbished royal palace. She hunched over a large map seeming to depict the former Kingdom of Hippogriffia, as well as the other realms of North Zebrica close-by.

Her eyes darted up and over towards the doors when they were thrown open to immediately reveal a stern-faced Adagio dragging along a defeated Sonata by her right fin.

"But it's lunchtime!" the youngest of the sirens yelped helplessly.

"Sonata, for the last time, we have a whole kingdom to feed on; how exactly are you hungry!?" Adagio complained, the frown on her face giving Aria the impression that her elder would rather be anywhere but here.

"Duh! But the cooks here make great tac-"

"Don't you even dare say it!" Adagio snapped, flicking around to face the teal-scaled siren and meeting her with a fierce glare as she held her close to her own snout.

"...great burgers too..." Sonata finished quietly.

Aria crossed her two hooved fins and gave both of them an equally bored glare. The yellow, older siren began to tower over Sonata and looked like she was going to explode on her any moment as she grabbed the youngest member of the trio on her shoulders.

"Ahem," the purple sea creature vocalised. "Whenever you're done, Adagio, maybe we could turn our attention to our actual enemies?"

Sonata held her breath as her elder grumbled aloud before letting go of her. "Fine," countered Adagio as Sonata sighed in relief. "So long as you actually prepared everything as I asked you to."

All of them turned towards the map unfurled across four medium-sized tables. Aria, for her part, rolled her eyes and answered with a frown.

"As far as I recall, you wanted to just run in with a few hippogriffs as cannon fodder. A formalised battle plan was my idea."

"An idea I approved."

"You are so the worst, Adagio," Aria remarked with contempt.

"Why, thank you! I'm looking at my inspiration, actually."

Aria squinted and glared, but Adagio only grinned smugly back at her.

"So, um," Sonata interrupted gently, "why are we here again?"

Two very audible sighs were uttered. Adagio facehoofed, whereas Aria stared at Sonata motionlessly for a few seconds as the young siren shrugged sheepishly

"Because, Sonata," Aria reminded the siren, "we are going to get our revenge, so we're going to move out and claim what is ours."

"Ooooooh~! Right! That!" The teal creature nodded and smiled before suddenly deadpanning herself. "Claim what now?"

"Our Revenge, obviously!" Adagio burst at a her sidekick, who almost seemed to shrink in size as she lowered herself all the way to the floor at her elder's outrage.

"Well, actually I meant North Zebrica in this context," Aria corrected matter-of-factly, as dry in her humor as ever. Adagio looked at her, appeared to take a deep breath as she placed a calming hoof on her chest, and exhaled.

"That's what I said, right?"

"Right!" Sonata quickly agreed.

"See?"

If Aria could have deadpanned any harder than she already had, she probably would have then. She did her best to not engage with Adagio's stupid superiority complex for the moment as her face lacked any sign of emotion. She looked down to the map.

"Whatever. As you can see, we aren't exactly alone in these parts, so our wish to turn to the continent won't be a painless affair."

Adagio chuckled, amused at the way Aria had spoken. "A few cattle of ours are hardly worthy of consideration."

"They are when we need to teach them how to hold, fire, and operate a gun to fight," Aria countered. She tapped her own head then. "Remember, Adagio? These aren't knights and peasants coming at us with swords and pitchforks anymore."

"Oh please," Adagio uttered dismissively, waving a hoof back and forth to disspell the thought. "I haven't been hearing you talk about anything but this military of ours for a few months now, so I can only assume it is beyond unbeatable by now."

Aria was usually good at reading emotions - as most sirens were naturally - but Adagio was a bit of an enigma at times. The siren had put on some kind of crooked grin, making the purple creature wonder if her older counterpart was actually being serious with her statement or making another hilarious jab at her for being the only one in the trio to actually do meaningful work. So it felt, anyway.

"Getting enthralled officers to strategise has been... difficult. It turns out that, similar to our scientists, the creatures directly under our spell are not the brightest creative minds. Regardless, our forces are at a capable level now."

"Bah, the thought of relying on pathetic mortals still fills me with-"

"-Jealousy?" Aria interrupted.

"Anger!" Adagio countered loudly. "How is it that I am the only one who realises that the mortal races are lessers and little more than a means to the end?"

"Well, if we gave them the necessary tools and utilities, we would get a lot more out of them than before, right?" Sonata argued.

"Talk for yourself," Aria disagreed, quickly averting her eyes from the individual she so often came to heads with over the most simple of things. "I agree with you, Adagio. They are tools, which is why we need to make sure we have lots of them, have them be ready and trained, and have them be in the right place at the right time."

"Oh please," the siren leader dismissed arrogantly, "listen to yourself! You're becoming more of a Sonata by the day, growing soft on those creatures."

"Thanks! I think?" the teal siren commented.

"What I'm saying is that we are wasting time dedicating all of this time, effort, and resources to these... things. They are already under our spell, what else is there we need?"

The elder placed her hoofs up against her hips and stared down Aria, who, to say the least, was... unimpressed. As she usually seemed, visually.

"Maybe you should quit singing and start as a mime instead, Adagio, because it really feels like I'm talking to a brick wall right now."

"Oh, from the one who does her best impression of a broken record every day? Spare me the lecture." Aria growled, met shortly after by Adagio's own.

"Not like I have much of a choice, do I? Your head is so dense, I'm surprised you can even fly, let alone stand upright."

"Maybe Lunch wouldn't have been a bad idea, you know..." Sonata quietly remarked as even she recognised the spiking tension in the room.

"Could you stop being you for just a minute, Sonata?" Adagio grunted.

"What do you do all-day anyway? Eat junk food in your room?" Aria smirked and let out a chuckle. "It's starting to show, you know."

"Heeey! No I don't!" the youngest returned, pointing a hoof at her next eldest siren. "Ok, a little bit maybe, but that's still not true!"

"I guess finding a hobby is hard when 'eating' is a personality trait?" the purple siren continued, equally as mean and condescending in tone.

"What do you know about hobbies?" Sonata quickly rebuffed, putting on a frown of her own now.

"More than you," replied a perfectly self-assured Aria.

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"UUUGH, your voices are going to haunt me in my dreams tonight," Adagio loudly complained, holding a hoof to her forehead.

"For the first time, I can agree with you today," Aria admitted.

"I would really rather be anyplace but here, but if I walk out now, I won't hear the end of it from you until I really do hear you in my dreams." Aria couldn't help but smirk at what she perceived to be a compliment of sorts. "Would you just get to the point before my head explodes?"

Sonata raised a hoof and opened her mouth to speak, but shut it as soon as Adagio next to her raised her own hoof straight at her.

"Don't. even. think about it."

The blue siren stood silently with mouth agape for a second before once again shrinking a little. "Ehehe," she chuckled, growing quieter and quieter until, at last, Adagio took her eyes off her.

"So, as I was saying?" the lead singer reiterated to Aria.

"Well, as I was intending to say from the start, our forces are now capable enough to act. Luckily for us, our first two targets aren't exactly big hurdles."

The two other sirens watched her move a hoof over the map, pointing towards the closest mainland continental nation to Hippogriffia - now relabeled on the map as 'Sirenalia' - a realm labeled on the map as Zumidia.

"Zumidia? Huh. I think I heard of them before," Sonata spoke up.

"To say they're a young nation is putting it mildly. They were under hippogriff occupation until we took over, at which point they apparently declared independence. They seem to have crowned a child called Zamni as their King, meaning a regency council is ruling instead of him. We don't know too much about them but... I would presume said council does not have the kid's best interests in mind."

"Which is important because...?" Adagio wondered.

"Because it means they have probably been too deadlocked internally to look beyond. Specifically, their military seems pathetic. I'm not usually the optimistic one but, even I think the conquest would be a formality."

"If it is, then why did you call this meeting? We should be-"

"Because that's not all, and you would know if you allowed me to finish Adagio." Adagio shot a glare at the purple siren but kept her mouth shut. "There is one major issue with Zumidia, and one that relates to all our operations. For Zumidia, the primary issue lies not in their own nation but in Colthage to the northeast. Zumidia used to be a region of the Republic there, and they seem keen on reintegrating them. Chances are that if we invade and take too long, Colthage will do so, as well, and we'll either have to partition the land or, more likely, will end up fighting Colthage right away, also."

"Oh, I don't know; fighting mortals doesn't seem half bad. Is that not what you planned for?" Adagio questioned. "And besides, if they really did want the region, wouldn't they attack us sooner or later anyway? I would rather get rid of the vermin sooner rather than later."

"They probably would and will do that. But any bit of time they leave us is worth gold. Even now, our armies are more capable than theirs, which is mostly just bands of mercenaries." She points to the coast north of Colthage, which borders the north-most islands of Hippogriffia. The map reads 'Alaudian Sea' in bold text. "The tricky part will be the sea, but the old hippogriff navy should be up to the task. Still, we should expect a much more even fight there with them. In the meantime, the main goal will be to cut them in half on land."

She again points, this time at the city of Colthage itself and the big bay area in which it resides.

"If we can crush and strike through their initial defences, we can try and cut off their armies by blocking the roads and railways from and to Colthage near the bay before moving in on the city itself."

The two other sirens looked a little... confused. Sonata shook her head as if waking from a trance.

"Um, sorry but, what?" she humbly asked.

"That sounds... awfully complicated and fancy for something that should simply say 'decimate them'," Adagio added.

"I have been trying to catch up on what this world considers 'modern' in the military sense so that you don't have to."

She gave both of them a very judging glare. There were some seconds when no one said anything, resulting in Aria crossing her hooves.

"You're welcome."

"Don't fool yourself. You have been swarming over this stuff evidently, so don't try and frame it as something either of us forced you to do."

The traditionally nonchalant siren simply let out a 'hmph' and turned her attention back towards the map.

"We will be sending in one Army into Zumidia at first, with a small marine battalion attacking Trotgourait, their tiny, coastal capital. If we are particularly lucky, their ignorant regency will simply surrender or flee, and resistance will all but disappear."

Her purple hoof moved across the map like it was some sort of chess board. It moved from the city of Trotgourait towards the eastern lands of Zumidia, which bordered Colthage.

"Regardless, our goal is to take the east as fast as possible to intimidate Colthage from a quick intervention and to prepare for our counter-attack against them when and if they do attack. Zumidia itself will not be an issue, as I said."

For what it was worth, the leader of the trio seemed awfully disinterested in what were their war plans. That very concept seemed rather baffling, still, but she at least looked down and followed along Aria's somewhat pointless gestures.

"What about the mortals living there? The population?"

Aria nodded. "Well, I can't take good care of dealing with them since I'm focusing on the military side of things. I will entrust the occupation to Sonata, as such."

"Well, if I must- WHAT!?" Adagio blurted out. She looked at Aria with disbelief, then turned and looked at a Sonata that seemed surprised but likewise happy, then looked at Aria for a second time as if the purple siren had sprouted a second head. "Did you just..."

"Yes. Again, I'm too busy to do it. And you? Well, you are probably going to be handling the political end of things as our 'leader', oh great one," Aria joked. "Neither you nor I have enough time on our hooves, and I don't want to leave the matter left unattended for obvious reasons. So Sonata has to do it."

"Our very first conquest, our very first step closer towards our vengeance since we've regained our freedom, and you let her do it??" Adagio complained, holding both hooves up against her head in what seemed like a panic.

"Relax!" Sonata reassured her with her usual ease and light-hearted manner of speech. "I'll have things tied up and solved no problem!"

The two simply remained silent, looking at her with a mix of contempt and disbelief. Adagio's eyes moved to the right, but her head stayed as it were.

"You trust her with this?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"No. But someone has to do it," was Aria's reply. The young siren's enthusiasm wasn't broken by this exchange, though, happy to finally have been given a proper task at the frontlines! Or, well, behind the frontlines, she supposed.

"In any case, that's the first issue I mentioned earlier," Aria continued.

"What's the second?" Sonata wondered with a slightly cocked head.

"A most peculiar and dangerous realm south of us, Chiropterra."

The two sirens watched as their supposed host marked the location on the map. A bunch of mountains, hills, and dense woods south of the Seaquestrian Channel separated Aris Island from the continent.

"It is home to a dangerously fanatic cult of so-called 'thestrals' or bat ponies, as well as other pony tribes. They seem to believe Princess Luna is keeping some kind of alter ego trapped inside of herself, and they devote themselves to that non-existent personality. They praise the night and their 'Empress' and will violently strike down any who oppose or insult their faith. Or so Violet Facade's records claim."

"So they're praying to... a nopony?" Sonata asked to make sure.

"Basically."

"Yikes."

Adagio, on the other hoof, was more interested, for once. "Mortals praising the immortal to the very death? Ferocity and fanaticism to the brink? Interesting, if not useful."

"Perhaps so. If we can overcome them, in time," Aria agreed and warned. "Out of all the forces in North Zebrica, they are perhaps the largest and most capable, despite Colthage's larger size. Their 'legions' are absolutely fierce and tough to overcome, and my best guess is that our entry onto the continent will spur them to action."

"Against us? They aren't that stupid, surely?" Adagio boasted.

"Not straight anyway, at least. I would assume they will strike at the Republic of Tobuck to their east first, and then... either Warzena to their north or Zarantia to their east."

"Which meeeeans we have time, right?" Sonata concluded. "Right...?"

"Most likely. Whether it will be enough to pull the final punch on Colthage is another question, but an even fight against the bat ponies will not be easy either."

"Aren't you forgetting one teensy weensy, crucial little detail there?" the siren leader remarked. "We are sirens! Fairness is not our style, is it?"

The other two looked at one another, then gave Adagio a quick nod.

"So what? These castaways have their pretty little cult of delusion? D'awww..." the yellow siren acted out dramatically. "Maybe we'll just have to give their leaders a little bit of a push in the wrong direction."

"So, do what we always do then?" Aria remarked with little enthusiasm to be seen. "Wow, Adagio, creative and revolutionary indeed. I would never have thought of that."

"Oh, shut it, you. Go ahead and play with your toy soldiers while Sonata gets to look at all the pathetic fools under our command. I will look into cracking open that shell of this 'cult' in the meantime."

The unimpressed, nonchalant siren shrugged and sighed. "You do you. It can't much hurt me if I let you try, I suppose."

"Woohoo! This will be great!" an excited Sonata cheered, to the relative annoyance of her two partners. "This will be the time we show off to the world, and we're gonna rock their world in style!"

Ever a rarity, Aria cracked an all too faint smile.

"Time to see if all that preparation and work was worth it, I suppose. This will be my chance to make sure nopony can ever think of banishing us ever again."

"Not your chance, Aria. Our chance to inch ever closer to sweet, sweet revenge!"

"Yay for revenge!" Sonata cheered on, placing a hoof on the map. "We'll win it together!"

A cheesy motto, perhaps, but Adagio entertained it just this once. She couldn't say she wasn't at least a little bit excited to return the favour to ponykind at large for over a thousand years of torment and prison sentence.

Aria watched as Adagio added her own hoof on top of Sonata's, causing the latter to beam with a great smile, her eyes practically sparkling.

"Ugh, what I do for you folks."

A purple hoof joined the other two, resting on top of Adagio's, finally.

"I think it's time to get this show on the road, am I right, girls?" the yellow siren suggested with an almost devilish smirk, one which the other two quickly took on as well.

A wild, maniacal choir of laughter would begin to sound, bordering almost on mad cackling at times, with each laugh echoing off the walls around them.

The Night before the Storm

Nightfall over Mount Aris. A rather beautiful spectacle under free sky and clear weather, as one could watch the sunset atop the great mountain. It was a beauty that had quickly lost its attractive value, however. Aris' citizens were far too grumpy and frustrated now to stay awhile and watch the end of the day with a friend or loved one, assuming they still had either.

The nights on Mount Aris proceeded quietly, with only the usual bickering in the streets or homes, through open windows, being audible. And even those sounds would die out soon enough.

However, Aria would not be getting the sleep she knew she wanted and needed. She sat at the large desk inside her exquisitvely furnished bedroom, fit for royalty. Presumably, because it was meant for royalty, originally. The sunlight coming through the windows had all but died out now, and she opted to turn off the lights and use a pair of candles instead, which she had placed on her desk; one on her left, one on her right. For someone who seemed to constantly berate Adagio for her refusal to follow the trend of a modernising world and acknowledging new technologies, she still enjoyed the old ways sometimes, herself. A candle in the dark was still a far greater moodsetter, and comforting aura than any lightbulb could hope to be.

The siren vocalized her exertion with a huff and sank deeper into the extra wide chair that her form filled out nearly entirely. The flickering but dim light of the two candles illuminated the frequently bored creature's face on both sides. Right now, though, Aria was worried primarily, with a lack of sleep coming in as a close second.

She raised her head and looked to the ceiling, staring at nothing in particular but not daring to close her eyes even then, out of fear that she might fall asleep during this crucial hour.

Tomorrow was the day she and her two companions would formally begin their quest for revenge in kind. Their first conquest and even this, looked to have long-reaching consequences within the region. Colthage wasn't a total pushover, and Chiropterra was still clouded to her, their exact capabilities hidden from outside observers due to their secretive nature and fanaticism.

Were their forces ready yet? Had she done everything she could? Would this whole 'modern war' thing work anywho, with mind control being involved on all levels?

The purple siren groaned and gently placed her right hoof over her forehead, looking as if something had just stung her.

She had been working her tail off for months, day in and day out. First, to research what this new world really was after they had just returned after probably more than a thousand years, then she did the majority of work against the resistance because Adagio dismissed the issue at first. Then she had to handle all of the revampings of the military also because Adagio again didn't value her warnings.

She took a deep breath in and out again, striking a frown underneath the hoof that covered most of her eyes.

No. No, as much as she kept telling herself and the other two that... no, she didn't 'have to' do any of this. It was her own choice and had been since they'd gotten out. That ominous dread, that lingering fear of the next banishment being far worse than the last... if it would even be banishment, this time. She never, ever, wanted to give up her freedom again. Of course, revenge was still her ultimate objective - yes, yes, yes, Adagio, for the millionth time, it was! Yet what truly drove her mad beyond compare and got to her core more than anything was that they were like fish out of the water in this world. They were practically a historic artifact returned to life after an eternity, and all the things that were now all too natural for all walks of life in many parts of the three continents - cars, airplanes, radio and tv, not to mention the far more destructive, dedicated and thought-out tools of war. And yet, here they were, having taken control of a whole nation by storm. Sure there had been some... bumps in the road, so to speak, with the resistance and whatnot, but for what it was worth, their takeover had really been a miracle of sorts.

That, if nothing else, scared her. Their rise to prominence here, where they now stood towering over the hippogriffs and seaponies, was perhaps owed more to a stroke of extraordinary luck and the incompetence of their foes at the time rather than their actual own skills and doings. Which... if true, and she toyed with the idea at least, was enough to make her reconsider the coming day.

Tomorrow, the region would be thrown into chaos, most likely. Nocreature beyond them and the military knew it yet, of course, but Zumidia's days across the channel would soon be numbered. But the issue was not with them or their child-king, but with the two major powers nearby who might reasonably become allies of circumstance and come for their throats prematurely. She was relatively confident in a victory against the Colthaginians alone but not so much against them and the thestrals.

The siren's snout moved back down as her eyes fixated on the reports and orders on her desk. They looked almost randomly thrown about, creating an uncharacteristic overlapping mess for the otherwise very focused and dedicated siren.

Perhaps she was wrong. Was she? She had been moved by Adagio to boldly claim they were ready to fight, but... well, the reality was a little more complicated than that. Neither Adagio nor Sonata would likely have understood if she had tried explaining to them in more detail, and the former would probably have just harassed her over it again... but even so, she felt a little guilty.

Hm. Guilt? No, that wasn't it. She didn't feel guilty about lying to reassure her two partners about a subject they had little to no knowledge of, a subject she had taken on alone for them, and she certainly did not feel guilty about the possible deaths to come in the wars she was going to begin.

She slowly moved a hoof towards her desk in front of her. She gently brushed aside two papers and picked one previously half-hidden beneath them. Her eyes started moving along the black rows of dry, bureaucratic lingo at first. Reports of divisional strength and combat capability, of position and morale. Her read slowed to a crawl as she felt something stinging in her left eye. She moved a hoof to remove whatever was causing it but was unable. She shook her head ever so slightly as she felt her eyes wet, holding back a sob.

Until, only moments later, the dam broke, and the tears ran wild. The otherwise nonchalant siren tried her best to at least keep her sobbing subdued, but it was difficult. Difficult like so much was, right now.

She wasn't guilty of anything she had done. She forced herself to realise that because it wasn't guilt she felt but dread and fear. She was afraid of failing, not because it would mean revealing that she may have lied to her companions, but because it would harm them and herself.

She could never let that happen. Sure they were annoying at turns - many turns actually - but they were the closest thing to a family she had left. They had roamed the world for thousands of years, and had gotten so close to victory in Equestria before Starswirl had his way with them.

She shook her head and covered her eyes with her hooves, not able to contain the tears anymore.

In the end, she figured, they were all pulling on the same lever. They all wanted revenge; they all wanted to sing and rule over the mortals of this world. But Aria? She tried to make up for past mistakes that had cost her dearly and never wanted something like that to happen to her or her two... friends.

Friends. Yeah. It felt odd to call them that, in a way. Not because she didn't like them but because spending thousands of years of existence together, a fair chunk of which was in total isolation with only one another to keep each other company makes 'friend' sound far too simple. Sure Adagio was bratty and stuck up, always tunnel-visioned in on her own world and dismissing her concerns. Of course Sonata was scatterbrained and lacked the focus she had, or the vision.

And yet, they were all sirens. They were, in a really odd way, destined to be together. To stick it out whatever the conditions may be, and to make up for one another's weaknesses. She loathed that very fact in front of Adagio and Sonata all the time, of course. How she had to do all the organising of the military alone, for example, and yet she knew, in a way, that this was the best. Sonata wasn't a military genius, that much she knew. While Adagio was undoubtedly intelligent and cunning, she was far too dismissive, too high and mighty for her own good, making her constantly jab Adagio for that very thing when they talked.

Yes, this... was the only way. Her lack of sleep and concern for the others and herself were right because it's how she could pay her due for the group like she knew the other two would, in their own ways. Admittedly, she didn't understand those contributions sometimes, but Aria was always a thinking individual and, after giving initially outrageous, stupid concepts some thought, could come around on them. She wasn't open and friendly like Sonata was, but when she talked to her, she could realise valid opinions that differed from hers.

She took a deep breath and looked down at her body. The paper she had dropped when covering her eyes was clinging to her pale underbelly, and upon removing it, she realised that it was already a little soggy in some places where tears had fallen.

She sniffed, one hoof wiping away tears in her left eye. They immediately reappeared as she placed the paper off to the side of the desk.

It was a matter of hours now until she sparked a war. But she felt no regret, not for the ones who would fight and die in her name. They were tools, as Adagio had put it, but every good craftspony knew to keep their equipment in good shape. An Army to crush their opposition and spread their song into a new age. Bombs, rifles, artillery, tanks. She had read about them and inspected a few to get a first-hoof impression of these odd but undoubtedly powerful weapons systems.

Thousands would die, she realised. But that was irrelevant, then. She fought not with regret but with the fear of not being good enough for the task, that she would be the sole reason the only two creatures she earnestly cared about perish, and she along with them.

She rolled her hooved fins into makeshift fists and bashed them against the desk in a sudden spark of rage, tears still streaming out as before.

That would not happen. Never. She would sooner sacrifice herself if need be and save the other two before allowing that great tragedy to come full circle. She ran away then... but not anymore. She would fight her battles without doubt, no matter what.

The others were counting on her.

Sonata's room seemed peaceful at first glance. The lights were off, and, as the sun had set some hours ago already, the siren had gone to bed. A silver plate with two burgers and a half-finished taco rested on a white, wooden bedside table beside where she slept.

And yet, she didn't sleep. She had tried to, but she really couldn't manage to fall asleep that night. Sometimes her eyes opened, and she didn't know why and just closed them again. Was it something she'd eaten? The tacos, maybe?

She ended up theorising that she was probably concerned about, well, a lot of things. Tomorrow was a big day, after all, what with an invasion and such. She would need to be close behind Aria and essentially clean up the mess when her troops cleared any village, town or city. She had already prepared the things she thought necessary, which included a considerable amount of existing beacons of music - that is the hippogriffs wearing pendants with gems like the sirens' own to enthral creatures themselves - as well as hippogriffs she expected to come in handy. And by handy, she meant helping her.

Ah. That thought made her frown for a moment. That stupid fact of being the youngest of the three of them. She didn't personally dislike it of course, rather she thought it was remarkable in its own way, and when you're older than anycreature you'll meet, being 'the youngest' seems relative, right?

Well, not with Aria and Adagio. They always treated her as the youngster—someone who needed to be taught how to behave and what to say. Someone who was so obviously not like them, and yet, was... clearly meant to be. It was destiny, they said, and natural.

The teal siren was tired but could not find the slumber she desired. Slowly, she opened her eyes, willfully this time, and simply stared up towards the ceiling above. Or rather, she stared into the darkness that clung above her on this starry night.

Sonata's relationship with her two older partners had always been... unique. Ever since the two found her, it was clear that the three of them belonged together and would inevitably need to weather the storm together. Under normal circumstances, the three would probably have sneered at one another and simply parted ways due to their great contrasts... but those weren't regular circumstances back then.

She wasn't stupid. She told herself that many times per day because every time she spoke to Aria and Adagio it was implied she was. She was different, sure. She wasn't blind to that fact but saw it as a cool thing because... well, why wouldn't it be?

Adagio was such a confident and stern leader, charismatic and manipulative whenever she chose to be, or bold and brazen when she didn't. Aria, on the other hoof, was a lot more reclusive, but even so, Sonata respected her a lot. Her older friend had always helped her a lot, not as much as Adagio had, but still a lot, and she knew full well how hard she always thought and worked on everything, about things and scenarios Sonata really couldn't wrap her head around at times.

The young siren frowned at the darkness clinging to the ceiling above her. She found it... odd, really. Well, there were a lot of things she found odd in life, actually, but it seemed that now there was just too much she really had no hope of understanding. All of this new stuff, this new 'world', and all that came with it... it was all so terribly confusing. She had tried and still did try to learn about it all but it was hard letting go of things she had always thought to be irreplaceable in life. And yet, Aria made it seem so easy to adapt.

Hrmn. She always loved that about the two, no matter which of them. Sonata had known them since she started thinking consciously, or at least, so she thought, and so it's really a wonder that Adagio and Aria could still amaze her. If there was perhaps one thing she needed in life, it was excitement. Change of pace. Trying out new things.

But... that just made her wonder why she couldn't get this new stuff through her dense skull. Was she afraid of all these changes? Not really, right? She had already used them to great effect to create the magical pendants from crystals to create the beacons of magic, and she was really looking forward to toying around with radio and television a lot more, as well. Not to mention, modern housing and healthcare! There was such grandeur and luxury now, things she had never thought would be possible before she and the others were rudely locked away.

Sonata turned her head to the left, eyeing the tray with the remnants of her last meal. She considered a midnight snack but... decided against it.

Was this all because she was the youngest out of the three of them? Hmm, no. No, that wasn't it either. Was it maybe... hrmn.

The siren looked back up from her pillow as if searching for an answer amidst the darkness. Her tail fin began to move up and down underneath the blanket as she pondered harder and harder.

Maybe she really was just all over the place, huh? Obviously Adagio had told her that many times already, and Aria even more so, but those two said a lot of things about her which were either jokes or knowingly untrue. Probably. Yet it was not far from the truth that she had always tended to be random and disorganised, to try out unexpected things and consequently enrage her peers.

Did... that make her stupid? No, but it certainly made things none the easier for her or the others. She was often told that she didn't take their 'cause' seriously and that she had lost sight of the goal ahead. She hadn't. She was mad at Starswirl and the pillars the same as her friends were and wanted payback, but unlike the other, two she felt... different, usually.

Aria and Adagio were always driven by hatred in a way. It was more blatant and obvious with Adagio, sure, but even Aria had it gnawing at her spoken words. They weren't mad; they were outraged and willing to do things Sonata admittedly considered unnecessary. It actually scared Sonata, sometimes, what she heard them say and claim to want to do in the future if the three of them had their way.

Her frown deepened, and she bit her tongue out of frustration.

She couldn't blame them. Sure she was scared and disagreed at times, but she couldn't blame the other two. They had gone through terrible things that she had not... not to mention that her being a part of this group of theirs, a lonely trio singing their song, was why she was still alive in the first place.

Aria was her friend, as was Adagio. She genuinely, earnestly believed this to be true, and always had. She had so much to be thankful for to both of them. Sure their relationship was... rocky, to say the least, but that didn't stop them and never had in the past. They always came through in the end.

And yet... Sonata was constantly asking herself if she could bring them around. She was seen by the other two as being too soft usually, to be losing her way as a siren, but she didn't think so. It was a new way - her way - to live as a siren. It was a rational, considerate way that was fun for creatures other than just the three of them.

Things changed so quickly nowadays, and even now, she knew that in less than 24 hours from then, they would be waging war against the mortals across the channel. That was a scary thought, in a way... war, and all. She had lived through countless 'raids' on villages where the trio enthralled the population before moving on, and had watched Adagio and Aria use their thralls to fight others in a violent mob. But war was new, and it was frightening in its own sort of way.

Sonata sighed and closed her eyes again. She pulled the blanket up a little and tried to cosy up as best she could.

She wanted not to think about that. About losing her two friends and lifetime companions to a stray bullet or worse. She would just have to do her best these days and show off her own traits and skills wherever possible. Perhaps if she showed the other two some results, they really could be brought around to conceding on some of her line of thinking. The gem necklaces had been the first taste of that, and it was great, soothing hope for the future to come.

Maybe there was hope for a better future yet. But whatever that future may turn out to be, she would want to spend it with the two to whom she owed everything to. She would give it her all if it meant making them happy... even if it meant doing things she felt were not right.

The others were counting on her.

That accursed wizard... and his stupid, impudent band of thugs. Even now, the final images before their supposed defeat marked her perception. She had felt hopeless for a moment, then anger. But by the time she felt the latter, it was already too late.

The usually so proud and outspoken leader of the trio leaned out of one of the several tall windows in her bedroom. She constantly moved her head about, almost as if unsure whether to watch the stars in the sky, the moon, or the sleeping city of Aris.

All of this, she thought. All of this, the three of them had conquered and won for themselves in such little time. The mortals were hardly a challenge, and now they ruled supreme and would make way to add more subjects under their iron hoof.

She liked to pretend these victories were hers. That she, through her excellent leadership, speaking ability and manoeuvring had managed to get them this far... but she knew, someplace in her heart, that it wasn't true at all. Aria was doing lots to help her, and chances are she would have been panicking about all of the newfound items and technologies in this world if it had not been for Aria. Even Sonata, for all her shortcomings and infuriating traits, was valuable. She had thought about Aria's decision to let the young one take the lead on overseeing the garrison and occupation of their newly conquered lands. It seemed like such a foolish thing to do and say, like setting up for ensured disaster.

And yet, Sonata had always had this... peculiar way, of sorts, with mortals. She had always tried to argue to her that mortals were valuable, in a sense. Sure they were food, she had told her after being screamed at by Adagio, but what was food if not a finite resource? Sonata wanted to acknowledge that and try to make a finite resource into a near infinite one. To end a constant hunt for new thralls and subjects and be satisfied with what they had.

Adagio didn't listen back then. That was... well, long ago now. Before, the pony tribes had even organised into anything coherent yet; she didn't even dare guess the number of years.

Things were different now in more ways than she liked and likely realised. So much had changed, and so much had moved on from when they'd last seen the light of day. For the lack of a better term, the world had forgotten about them. The knowledge of, even so much as the forged fillytale told by the pillars, was now reserved to scholars and learned creatures only, far from the commoners. Insulting as that was in its own way, it had been beneficial in some ways so far.

Still, with so much changed, how could she just 'move on' and adapt to these new times? It seemed Aria already had, and even Sonata was not complaining about all the new things to do. Why were her two friends and allies so comfortably shedding what once was in favour of the unknown? Why did they not struggle and irk with pain at the thought as she did?

Deep down, she knew why. How was a creature like her meant to move on when the one thing cemented in her mind was to do the exact opposite and hold onto a grudge? Free after banishment, her one purpose in life seemed to be to get revenge on the pillars and all of Equestria. Vengeance for over a thousand years of isolation, for tricking the world into believing they were evil.

The yellow siren's head wandered again as she grasped the frame of the window she was leaning over tighter.

But there was something... deeper, as well. Something far more ancient than Starswirl and his goons. Them? They were foolish ponies that had defeated them because they had lowered their guard. But there was something far more important that needed to be done after that due was collected.

She felt her chest pounding at the thought. Those memories... ones that were scorched into her mind long, long ago, never to leave her alone. Always with her, constantly torturing her day and night.

The screams... the shouts...

Her eyes widened as she reached out a hoof from where she stood. She reached for... them. She knew it; they were alright. They always had been.

She wavered as the mirage playing out in her imagination faded as if carried away by the wind of the mountain. She reached out further, almost climbing onto the frame as she did... but the two were already gone. Her eyes teared up, and the siren froze.

"Mum... dad..."

A quiet hush in a silent night, her words were heard by nocreature. Slowly, her held-out hoof returned to her, and she held it close to her chest.

"I'm... so sorry..."

She tried her best to stay strong then. She was meant to be strong, the leader of the last of them, to avenge all and correct that terrible wrong, at long last.

"I'm sorry I couldn't find you..."

She lowered her head as low as she possibly could in visible defeat. Her hooves wanted to crack and break the wooden parts of the window frame in her mix of rage and anguish, but instead, she slid back into the room behind her, floating gently in mid-air as her tail fin flapped back and forth ever so slowly.

The usually bold leader wiped her eyes multiple times as if in denial of her emotions. She couldn't be crying about this, about any of those days long gone.

She began to take deep, calculated breaths to calm herself. The hoof on her chest had moved down towards her embedded gem, which glowered faintly in the otherwise mostly dimly lit room.

She could not be mourning. She could not tear herself apart over her mistakes back then, when her world came crashing down. Because her journey to redeem herself and all the others had only just begun. She had made that promise and pact with Aria, and knew her counterpart would not go back on her word, and neither would she.

She had a realm to rule over, subjects and enemies to manipulate to serve her intentions, and two close allies and only remaining friends and kin with whom she could accomplish everything. At least, that's what she made herself think, perhaps out of desperation for victory.

Tomorrow would be a big day for all of them, and she would be the public face of it all as their informal leader. They had quarrels and issues, but that was utterly irrelevant in the face of their great quest. A quest that went far beyond just Starswirl, far beyond simply a mad drive for conquest. But she couldn't do that alone, and she hadn't for the last thousands of years of history.

She needed the others. Then, now, and for all future days to come.

Sunset over Zumidia

Cafuza couldn't believe it. He had been on the regency council for little more than ten months, and now... this.

He cowered, ducked and covered his head underneath his hooves as he heard a distant explosion muffled through the thick walls of the palace—those bastards... those accursed avian scum.

He peeked out from under his hooves and quickly recovered. The zebra began to trot, then gallop down the hall. His breathing was irregular and loud, but he'd finally made it.

He shoved open a set of doors and entered a brightly lit room. Four other zebra were sat around a rectangular table, positioned low above the floor so that chairs were not necessary, instead opting to sit on red pillows. Everypony looked at Cafuza as he entered and shut the door. He was by far the youngest out of all of them.

"So you've come, boy," said an elderly zebra with a lengthy, white beard. He gave a singular nod to the youngster. "Figured you'd run off already. Or worse."

"I'm fine. Thank you, Metzul," Cafuza replied, taking up the vacant seat at the table. Usually, there would be food and drink at these meetings, maybe a deck of cards or the like. Not today, though. "What's the situation?"

"Well, I think I can speak freely here between the five of us." Everypony looked to Zalelsen, the second youngest of the group, ahead of Cafuza by a little under ten years. "Poorly," the zebra muttered. "Actually, it's a disaster. The hippogriffs are attacking from the northern reaches, transporting troops across the sea and using parts of their navy to support that invasion. No way our troops can hold them."

"Aris has all that we have tenfold, if not more," An adult stallion of a zebra added. A short, brown moustache adorned his snout, wiggling a little as he spoke. "Ships, planes, infantry, tanks even!"

"I would almost want to claim someponies here screwed up and are responsible for this catastrophe," voiced Oxynta, the only female in the room, wearing multiple layers of gold and silver necklaces around her neck, "however, I suppose that is now besides the point."

"What about the King? Is Zamni well?" Cafuza asked into the round. A few nodded.

"Perfectly fine, but obviously still kept here in the palace. Nopony has told him about the invasion yet, but we can hardly pretend the explosions close to the capital are a figment of his imagination."

"Why can't we, Archobar?" answered Metzul. "He is a kid, after all."

"He is also the king and growing distrustful of us, Metzul. Besides, we have more important matters than placating the king now." Zalelsen looked around and witnessed a nod or two from the others.

"Zumidia suffered during the hippogriffian mandate and occupation, but a war will have far worse ramifications for our home. A war we can't realistically win by any means affordable to us," Oxynta spoke up. "Seeing as how the war is not... well, winnable, there is only one thing we can do."

"You don't mean...!"

"Oxynta, we can't just surrender!" Cafuza barked back at her.

"Our honour demands-" Archobar began but was cut off and silenced by the zebra mare.

"Your honour? Oh, my dear, please spare me the sentimentality. If you were honourable, you wouldn't be sitting here to begin with. Do you really think you can get away with manipulating the nation to our favour for a little under a year, and now you can charge into battle and be celebrated a hero?"

Archobar and Cafuza frowned, but the others kept their opinions close to heart, it seemed.

"The only thing you would reasonably accomplish is dying. If you want to do that, I won't stop you, but I think we have better things to discuss here, now?"

The mare looked at everypony else in the room. Archobar was furious, and Cafuza was steaming. Thankfully, Zalelsen and Metzul seemed to be more inclined to agree with her views. Something that only further infuriated Cafuza.

"Metzul... this was your idea! The whole regency council was your call! And what now? You're going to just... just surrender!?"

There was a brief lull and tense silence, broken only by Metzul's own chuckle at the accusations leveraged against him.

"Surrender? Well no, of course not. Not me, anyways."

Cafuza was a little taken aback by his opponent's rather smug grin. Metzul was all too confident in his doings, but this was not some trade brokering or decision on the law; this was about the nation's fate.

"Which reminds me. Metzul," Cafuza looked over to Oxynta as she herself turned her head to speak to Metzul next to her, "if what I heard from the troops is correct, then we should have at most 5 days."

"Five days? Five days for what?" Archobar questioned.

"Why, to abandon ship. What else?" Metzul answered. He and Oxynta smiled.

"What!?"

"You can't be serious!"

Archobar slammed a hoof down on the table and stood up as rage filled his face.

"You're no better than that Tobuckian scum from a year back, a criminal only out for himself!"

"The people are ours to lead and protect!" Cafuza added, equally as enraged.

The two were met with a choir of laughter once again.

"You seem to forget that we are merely acting in the powers of the King. He is the leader, not us."

Archobar stared at Metzul with spite. "You are going to sell out a kid? Have you really sunk that far?"

"For what it's worth," Zalelsen chimed in, "the people are already as good as conquered. Even if the King fled, the hippogriffs would come looking for him until he was dead or captive."

Cafuza looked to his next oldest companion on the council and sat still as his anger faded into disbelief.

"Zalel... you too?"

"He realised as we did," Oxynta spoke up. "Zumidia is lost, little colt," she joked. "All we can do now is save ourselves, at least. Our deaths here would bring nopony anywhere."

Cafuza sat in silence, and Archobar trained his eyes on the young stallion expectedly, huffing heavily in anger.

"Don't buy into this crap! They haven't even tried! I bet they already emptied the gold reserves, even!"

"Well, you have a day to decide, in any case," Metzul remarked with a smirk. "Our taxi to Colthage will be waiting for all of us tomorrow at 6 in the morning. I pray the city still stands by then and that all of you will have come to join us."

Even Archobar fell silent at the stallion's impudence now. Such a snake, he was a coward, throwing a child to the wolves to save his own skin. Despicable.

"You won't get away with this..."

"Perhaps. But we will get away from certain doom here, at least," the old stallion replied, smug-faced. "What happens and what Zumidia thinks of me once I cross the border is of little relevance then, isn't it? Besides, I think you have bigger issues if you should decide to stay than spreading slander."

"Or you could come with us," Oxynta chimed in, "and save yourself an unneeded death and forever damn our names and existences back in Colthage."

"Archobar, Cafuza..." Zalelsen added, "...sorry, but there's nothing we can do here anymore. Maybe there was something we could have done to help Zumidia prepare in the past, but that was then, and this is now. We've got to get out and save ourselves, at least."

"I will not leave the King alone! Alone to perish or be tortured by their greedy claws after you all abandoned him!" Archobar voiced with another slam on the table.

"Archobar, my old friend. The King has never been a real king. Everypony on this council knows that much. If we drag him along, he will either die a horrible death on the run or be haunted by assassins all his life. I would want neither. At least here he can die in a palace fit for royalty."

The grumpy stallion looked to Zalelsen once again and bit his tongue. This was all a bad joke of sorts.

"Let him go," Zalel added. "No king rules forever."

"Honestly, I can't believe I waited this long to conquer this place, after all."

Aria and her younger company floated above the houses that made up the capital city of Zumidia, Ain Trotgourait. The purple siren was quick to denote the relatively primitive architecture used by these zebras, at least compared to what the hippogriffs were doing. A more primitive society might help explain why the Zumidians were an even more laughable opponent than she had predicted.

"Eh, it's not all bad!" a bright, high-pitched voice responded as Aria and her dashed forward. "I had time to make loads more pendants for the beacon stuff!"

Aria looked down onto the city's streets from where the two of them flew. Zebra citizens were out and about, mingling, almost as if everything was fine and as usual. In reality, the city had been taken and occupied by the sirens and their hippogriff troops a few hours prior. Some hippogriff soldiers were in uniform, standing guard at key locations, but it was a minimalistic policing force for a capital city. Then, there were the 'real' police. Seemingly ordinary hippogriff moving about the streets, with empty, shrunk pupils and a red pendant hanging from their necks—the beacons of music.

"Right," Aria finally answered, turning her attention to the sidekick she had brought with her, "How could I ever forget about the pendants you made; you only blow up two labs per month, after all."

"Hey, that's not my fault! The crystals just tend to explode when fused with our magic."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Whatever. At least they work."

The two of them looked back down to watch a beacon of music - a light blue feathered hippogriff - perform in front of three zebras that a duo of armed soldiers had dragged to them. Even from high above, the sirens could tell that the spell was working on them.

"Never would have thought mortals could end up spreading our magic in our stead, but here we are."

"Right? This is great!" Sonata cheered.

"Doesn't mean it's any less weird to think about."

"What do you mean?"

Aria glanced at Sonata for a moment, seeming a little uncomfortable at a glance, before she eyed the situation down below again.

"All these years, we were on our own, right? If we wanted to grow in power, that was on us. As in, just the three of us. But with these things... that's all different, kinda."

"Oh. Right." Sonata nodded and swam a little closer to Aria as both hovered high in the air. "I don't see it as a bad thing, though, right?"

"Not bad, just-"

"Well, there you go! Why worry about it if everything is better?"

The purple siren looked at a joyful and bright Sonata as usual. She wasn't usually prone to being caught off-guard by the younger's cheerful attitude, though she couldn't help but admit that she'd made a good point.

"I suppose," was all she conceded. "Assuming there are no hidden, long-term side effects that we have yet to find out, anyway."

"Always with the negativity, Aria!" the blue siren complained with a moan.

"Hmph. Whatever, let's get a move on. I don't have all day."

Sonata trailed just behind her older counterpart as both moved through the sky above the capital. They were headed straight for the second-tallest building in the city, the royal palace. A contingent of hippogriff troops was already waiting for their arrival, guarding the building both inside and out. Barbed wire and tank barricades had been put up in front of sandbag cover, from which gun nests were aimed onto the plaza in front of the palace. There was a sole tank dug in behind a tall wall of sandbags and shovelled dirt, which protected its sloped frontal armour and parts of the sides. The vehicle's commander seemed to be peeking out of the commander's hatch and was probably shouting something at one of the soldiers nearby - arguing.

The two sirens descended quickly, stopping close to the ground as they 'landed' behind the fortifications. Some of the armed creatures bowed their heads in their presence, others grumbled or didn't pay attention. The sirens didn't care either way and turned to one another.

"Since you're in charge of occupation, I suggest you set up shop here. Telegraph lines should be working still; if not, have somegriff fix them for you."

Sonata nodded multiple times.

"Right, right. But what about the rest of Zumidia? Aren't you, like, fighting for it still?"

"None of your business, first of all," Aria dismissed, "and also the zebra are basically done for. It'll be a week or two until this place is fully overrun. Especially with their leaders all gone."

Sonata cocked her head at that last part. "Gone? What do you mean?"

"Come with me for a moment."

The purple siren waved her partner along as she swam through the air, up the small flight of stairs leading to the palace's entrance. The doors were already standing wide open, with guards flanking either side.

"You know how this place, Zumidia, is a kingdom, right?" Aria asked as they entered the tall halls of the palace. This was indeed an old building, with fine masonry rather than modern construction work holding it together.

"I do? Oh, right, I do. Obviously."

Sonata grinned, but Aria simply huffed and continued.

"Well, the King is... young, let's just say. Too young, and a council of regents was established to rule for him until he is older."

"Re...gents?" Sonata stuttered.

"Zebras that ruled in the young king's stead. In this case, powerful and influential military leaders and leaders of certain cliques had sway over much of the country."

"What, you mean a clique like us?" Sonata wondered.

"No, Sonata, criminal and corrupt cliques that extort zebras, murder zebras and generally act as a sort of criminal gang."

"Ooooh," Sonata gave out with a slow nod of the head. "So... only kinda like us, then."

"Only if you count Adagio's methods as extortionate," Aria replied. She chuckled, and so did Sonata. "But really now, the regents were out for themselves rather than the country. They hastily assembled and declared independence from... well, us I suppose, when we took over, and the king appears to have had little say in the matter."

"Wouldn't that mean these 'regents' aren't very selfish, though? That seems like a heroic thing to do, right?"

"On paper. In reality, it made them all more powerful. Imagine a criminal who was now suddenly in charge of the nation."

""Ow. Right, that's... probably not great." Sonata smiled sheepishly, but Aria kept on moving deeper into the building. The younger siren followed just beside her.

"I suspect they neglected their military during this rough half a year of time they had had to prepare, which is why things are proceeding as easily as they are out there."

"Hmm, I guess arming folks doesn't make for good business?" Sonata presumed.

"Not usually, no. We don't know what they really did all this time since they've all gone up and left, but we can guess based on what some of our thralls recall."

"Wait, left?" Sonata perked up. "What do you mean they left? I thought they were ruling for the king?"

"Were. Nominally, anyway. Alas, when they realised we weren't going to be stopped, they quickly opted to abandon ship, it seems."

Sonata remained silent, looking at Aria with a confused pout. Aria saw this and rolled her eyes.

"By which I mean, they hitched a car ride to Colthage, Sonata."

"Right, that's what I was thinking. Duh." Sonata placed her hooves up against her hips to seem self-secure but perked up when another question came to mind. "Wait, so they're gone? As in, all of them? Just like that?"

The two arrived at an innocent-seeming wooden door, at which point Aria threw it open. She flipped a light switch which illuminated the small, relatively cramped meeting room. This door was clearly not something fancy or intended for the palace, but here it was anyway.

"This is where they used to meet. A few thralls confirmed to me that they travelled to Colthage 3 days ago, though."

"This... seems a little too easy, you know?" Sonata admitted as she followed her friend into the room, looking around but finding little interest besides the pillows on the ground for seating and the table placed low above the ground.

"Can't say I disagree, but I also have to say it's not my issue now. I have to finish things with Zumidia, and then prepare against Colthage up north. This might be a deeper story than we think, so it's up to you to find out what actually happened. If the regents are off to Colthage, they might be petitioning for support there, which... is a problem."

"That's why you brought me here in such a rush?" Sonata figured.

"Well, it's true that Trotgourait makes for an ideal headquarters for you since it's the capital, as I said. But yes, that also."

Sonata grinned more and more as excitement came over her.

"For realsies!? I finally get to do something awesome and important in, like, forever!"

The teal siren cheered, raising both hooves into the air as she did, but was silenced when Aria placed a hoof of her own on her snout to keep it shut.

"Sonata." Aria looked dead serious. Sonata knew her as seeming bored or nonchalant, so seeing her with a frighteningly serious, mad frown was a surprise to even her. "This is not a joke, and not a game. Do you understand me? This is not something you can prance about with or neglect. You can't be screwing up constantly, and you can't be losing focus."

Aria pulled the young siren closer to her face, to the point where their snouts nearly touched.

"If you mess this up. Sonata, it will be hurting all of us. All of our achievements and victories and dreams undone, most likely." The purple siren took a deep breath and continued. "This is an important job, Sonata, and we do trust you with it for what it's worth. So long as you can show yourself able actually to work with that trust."

Sonata gasped as she was let go, and she instinctively dashed a small distance backwards to distance herself from her friend. That had been a tad too close for comfort, even for her.

"I've been waiting for an opportunity like this... so I won't let you down, Aria! I'll do it right, I swear it!"

The older siren gradually reverted to her usual dismissive, bored frown. She gulped quietly.

"Yeah. Just do it right, Sonata, or... well, I already told you." She shrugged and turned towards the exit to the room. "I'll need to leave now, anywho. If there's anything you need, send me a message or Adagio on Aris. We'll be there for you to keep this working."

Sonata smiled back at her fellow siren, and nodded twice over.

"Thanks, Aria. I swear I'll get it right."

"Yeah, I hope I will, too," Aria replied monotonously. "We'll see. Be seeing you, for now, though."

Sonata watched her friend float out of the door, disappearing out of sight. She remained in the small meeting chamber by herself for a bit longer, pondering on things.

This was her chance. The trust she had always needed and wanted from the others. She'd need to make the best of it and not disappoint. It was finally time to get her hooves dirty and show the world what she could do.

The Uncrowned

Zamni was seated on a relatively simple wooden stool in his room. Before him was a wooden desk, equally simple and made out of the same wood it seemed. There was a paper on it, and a pencil in his right hoof, but he couldn't really figure out what it was he wanted to write.

He sighed and dropped the pencil on next to the paper. Everything was so boring ever since the hippogriffs had abandoned Zumidia. At least back then he was allowed to go outside and speak his mind but... now, with Zumidia independent, he was treated as little more than a child too stupid for their own good. The regency council had been very kind to him overall but he always thought they weren't truly listening to him. He was just holed up in here, his room, with even his windows being covered up now to stop him from looking outside.

Knock, knock, knock.

He perked up and turned his head. A visitor? He had had few of those in the last days. Even the regents didn't want to come to him anymore when he summoned them. There had been all those explosions in the distance days ago but they said it was just him being sleep-deprived or something. He was still mad about that. Maybe this was gonna be them apologising for that?

"Come in."

He hopped off the stool and properly turned to face the door on the other end of the admittedly compact room. He heard and saw the handle push down, and heard the door creak as it swung open to reveal... something.

He gasped as his heart skipped a beat, maybe two. A large, blue monster came crawling through the doorway and reared its head once it was properly inside, towering over him as it floated just above the ground. It had a large, finned tail and an even larger fin spreading across its back, though it did seem to have hooves of a sort, as well. Worst of all, though, its head, including the sharp teeth inside its mouth, was turned directly towards him.

"W-Woah! Woah woah!" He simply choked out as he backpedalled, stopped only by the desk behind him, which he ended up pressing himself up against. His chest heaved as he breathed in a frenzy. "W-What are you!? Some kind of monster?"

The monster cocked its head, and looked to its left, then right, before once again looking down at him.

"Oh! You mean me!" it replied in a relatively high-pitched, feminine voice. "Sorry! I'm Sonata. You know, one of the famous sirens?"

Sonata held out her hooves sideways and presented herself proudly. The gem that seemed to be embedded into her very chest glowed faintly, distracting Zamni for just a moment.

"A... a siren?" he repeated faintly. "Are you going to kill me?"

He was met by laughter. Not demeaning, evil laughter but... seemingly genuine, entertained chuckling.

"Nahhh. Actually, I just came to talk to you!" Sonata replied with a smile. "You are the king, right?"

Slowly, Zamni collected the vestiges of his courage and dared himself to move a little closer. He gulped before replying.

"Yes. Yes, that's me."

The siren put a hoof up against her snout as if thinking to herself. "Hmmm. You're so young though. Plus, you don't look the part. Usually there's a crown, right?"

The monster gestured to her own head and mimiced wearing headwear, which prompted the young zebra to raise a hoof of his own. He found no crown, as expected.

"I... guess, yeah."

"Oh, I have an idea!" Sonata flared. She suddenly swam through the air as if Zamni was surrounded by water, drawing circles around him as she continued. "How about we get you a crown so I can recognise you better? And maybe an awesome suit, too!" She giggled, excitement sprinkled throughout her speech. "That would help, right? Right?"

"I guess so, yeah. That'd be nice."

Zamni didn't realise it at the time, but he couldn't help but smile. He still had no idea who this 'siren' really was, what her intentions were, or what a siren even was at all, but what he did know was that this was the most entertaining thing he had enjoyed in recent days.

"Although I do wonder," Sonata continued, stopping roughly where she had floated after entering. "Why don't you have a crown already? You're the king, so what gives?"

"That's... a good question, in a way." He stroked his left hoof with his right awkwardly. "Long story, I suppose."

"You don't wanna talk about it? Because I've got time to stay awhile."

Zamni's awkwardness and timidness was repeatedly blown away by this odd monster and her smiling and cheerful way to speaking. He blushed a little and nodded.

"If you don't mind..."

"You're kidding! I always listen to friends, especially since I usually don't have many besides the others."

"Others?" the young king asked. "Wait, there are others like you?"

"Like me, as in, sirens? If so, yep! Adagio and Aria are with me!" Sonata replied. "Or, well, not 'with me' since they aren't here, but we rule together and generally do things together and... I think you get the idea, right?"

"I think so. Sounds like you've got great friends if you can all link up like that."

Sonata nodded eagerly. "You bet! We've been together since forever. I don't know what I would do without them!"

Zamni chuckled. It reminded him a little of his own friends, before the declaration of independence and all that. Back then, under the hippogriffs, he could have something like that, at least. Their princess, Skystar, came over a few times too and played games with him. He kinda missed her with how boring things were now.

"As for me, well... it started with the Storm King a few years ago. When he approached North Zebrica, everycreature submitted to either fight or flight. The hippogriffs evacuated to Seaquestria, but Colthage and all the other zebra nations around stood firm to face the Storm King."

Sonata lowered herself all the way to the ground as she listened in, occasionally nodding her head. Her long, scaley tail wrapped around her back as she did her best impression of 'sitting' on the floor, what with no legs or behind to speak of.

"I was way too young to do much of anything then, but I do remember Colthage being in control of us back then. Unfortunately, like all the other nations, the Storm King's armies rolled over them in a breeze. Luckily for us, though, by the time they'd gotten here, to the capital, the hippogriffs re-emerged out of hiding and ambushed the Storm King's forces. As a result, the Storm King's main army was routed, and the hippogriffs effectively took control of Zumidia at large since Colthage was... not doing very well after the Storm King fiasco."

"The hippogriffs conquered you when you were down and out?" Sonata wondered.

"I think they called it a 'mandate'. I was technically still king here, but was never crowned, and... well, in practice everything was done by the hippogriffs and Queen Novo."

"Huh," the siren remarked, scratching her chin. "And you think you know somecreature. Guess the hippogriffs were a lot meaner than I thought they were, even before the three of us came in."

Zamni raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"O-oh, no worries!" Sonata dismissed, waving her hooves in front of Zamni as she blushed a little. "Just continue, alright?"

The king shrugged it off as a slip of the tongue, sat down on the floor and continued his tale.

"Truth be told, the hippogriffs were fair rulers. Princess Skystar came over several times to talk to me, and so did her cousin Silverstream."

"Oh, I see. I think I heard of them before." Sonata tactically avoided the fact that Silverstream was hiding abroad in Equestria, that Skystar was one of the mind-controlled beacons of music, and that both had been armed terrorists against her for a while. "They seemed nice!"

"Right?" Zamni agreed, his stubby little tail waving with excitement. "I admit it was a weird time since I was in this weird limbo where I wasn't sure who or what I was, but the hippogriffs made sure Zumidia was fine and took care of me, as well."

"Hmm. And then you zebras declared independence, right?"

Zamni opened his mouth but closed it soon after, nodding instead as the siren had taken his own words out of his mouth.

"Yeah. Or rather, the regency council did. I agreed to its creation beforehand but their first act was to separate from Hippogriffia for some reason. They said that the hippogriffs were up to no good, and that they were planning to do harm to all zebras..."

Sonata sat still. She really pondered, wondering what she could, and should, say in this situation. The siren was well aware that the reason for independence had been her and the other girls. But could she really tell the king that, right now...?

"Do you think they were telling the truth?" she asked, simply.

Zamni gave that question some thought, taking his time with replying. Finally though, he came out and said: "Mm, not entirely. I'm fourteen and not the stupid child I used to be, I can tell when someone is clearly lying to me. But I don't think it was entirely untrue either." The king shrugged. "I think the truth is somewhere in the middle."

Sonata smiled faintly back at him. "It usually is."

"Anywho, after we declared independence, the regency council made sure to keep me locked up in the palace, saying it was too dangerous for me to go outside. Ever since, I've more or less relied on being told what's going on."

"You don't know what is going on in your own country?" Sonata asked. She put a hoof over her snout, then waved dismissively. "Sorry! I realise that may have sounded offensive just now."

"Not at all," Zamni disregarded. "It's the truth, after all. Just me and whoever the regents allowed to come visit me which... have been fewer and fewer ponies every week. Up until a month ago when no one came in anymore. And for the last 5 days, not even the regents have come!"

Sonata kept herself from gulping or otherwise showing how bad she felt for this innocent kid. Sure she was technically a sea monster that was helping Aria and Adagio subjugate his nation, but the way this kid had been treated and now abandoned was seriously awful in her mind.

"I'm..." Sonata cleared her throat and coughed as she realised she was sounding a little too down and sad. She began speaking once again with a more joyful tone of voice, as usual. "I'm sure they're just really busy! And besides: you've got me now to hang out with!"

Zamni smiled. "Really? The Regents allowed you to come over?"

"Regularly!" Sonata corrected. "Whenever we want, actually!"

The young monarch jumped to his hooves and nearly jumped with excitement, his tail wagging back and forth like a dog's.

"No way! For real?"

"For realsies!" Sonata gleefully replied.

"So we can come visit one another everyday from now?"

"Ehhhh, not quite," Sonata rebuffed. "You're still gonna have to stay in here for now. It... is dangerous outside, after all." The teal siren smiled as best she could, knowing full-well that showing him the fortifications right outside the palace doors, or the mind-controlled and enraged inhabitants of the city was probably not going to do much good for him.

"Oh..." Zamni replied, his enthusiasm dying down a little. "You can still come visit me though, right?"

"Everyday, if you insist."

"I'll take that! Beats sitting around with nothing to do and nopony to talk to!"

Sonata grinned. His childish excitement was a great change of pace from what she'd always known with Adagio and Aria, who were always so serious about everything.

"Then it's a deal?"

Sonata held out her right hoof, and though Zamni blinked at it for a moment, she quickly reverted to a smile and marched over to give the siren a joyful hoofshake, even if his own hoof was about half the size of hers.

"It's a deal!" he replied as he touched her hoof.

"Great!" the gleeful sea creature gave out as she retracted her hoof. "Unfortunately there's, like, loads of things to do for me right now, though, so I don't have a lot of time today... probably not for the next two days, actually."

Sonata was prepared to weather the face of a disappointed, sad, even crying kid when she told her host that... but instead found an understanding smile, and a nod.

"It's fine! Just come visit when you can, alright? Everypony around is always busy, or so they say. I'll look forward to it, and you!"

Sonata's own smile widened, and she also nodded. "I'll come around when I can. I can't wait to spend some time together! Oh, I'll definitely bring in some food too! You wouldn't believe some of the stuff they serve in some places!"

Zamni laughed at the suggestion. "I'll look forward to it, Sonata. Oh, I'm Zamni, by the way, but you already knew that."

The lone siren smiled, calming herself. "It's been a real joy coming here, Zamni. I'll definitely look forward to coming again in a few days time."

"Likewise!"

Sonata lowered her head for a second, which was probably her best impression of a bow from a creature that had literally never done one before. She heard the young king chuckle into a hoof of his as she recovered, and she smirked back at him as she opened the door.

"I'll see you then!" she called out.

The door fell shut then, and she was left with a whole bag of mixed emotions to process. This had not been her intention for this at all. She'd not meant to lie to the king as the others before her had, and she certainly didn't intend to regularly visit him. That was going to be such a massive time investment and distraction, right!?

And yet... she felt it was right, in a way. She knew if she had told him everything just then - who and what she really was, that she mind controls people and literally eats hatred for breakfast, and that the reason all that recent bad stuff happened to him was her and the other girls. Not to mention the literal ongoing invasion and brainwashing of his people.

Not to mention... she felt bad simply. For a supposed king, he'd always been sidelined and ignored, fooled and toyed with. Why couldn't she just spend some genuine, quality time with him to make him happy? Surely the king of Zumidia was worth investing into.

Then again, was she any better than those regents or Queen Novo if all she was doing now is keeping him locked up and ignorant? And what would Aria and Adagio say if... no, when they found out? Wasn't she meant to sing for the young zebra to get him safely on their side? Last time she'd tried to avoid singing to somepony to befriend them and get their support that way, Aria had scolded her and taken them away.

Sonata would be unusually quiet for the rest of that afternoon as she saw to her other duties.

The Enemy of my Enemy

"What is it now, Moonfeather? I have other things to be doing, you know."

Adagio sat in her gold-coloured throne atop Mount Aris and looked down at the comparatively small hippogriff before her. Moonfeather had been a necessary asset during the rise of the resistance in Hippogriffia, but ironically he was requiring more attention now than ever before.

"Well, your majes-" Moonfeather created an artificial cough to stop himself mid-sentence. He saw Adagio glare as she usually did when he said something that was even mildly irritating or upsetting, and he passed a claw through his grey mane. "Well, Adagio," he began again, "the issue is not with my own dealings this time, as it happens. Though there certainly are things to remark which... I doubt you are much interested in."

"Your point?"

"Right. As you know, Aria predicted weeks ago that our attack on Zumidia would provoke a reaction from Colthage or Chiropterra?"

"Of course I do. Why? Have they come out of hiding?" Adagio asked back.

"Not precisely. Colthage remains an open question, but Chiropterra has invaded the Republic of Tobuck to their east, seemingly without declaration of war or anything of the sorts."

The siren delayed her answer as she inspected the hippogriff. She noted he was looking a little worse for wear than days ago, and was even shaking a little.

"You seem nervous."

"I... err, I'm fine." He gulped. "Really, I-"

"You know what I said when we hired you?"

"Hire isn't really the right word, is it..." Moonfeather murmured.

Adagio raised her voice. "Well?"

"That you rule in my- I mean, our name. That means your total obedience and loyalty to us."

The businessgriff was a sly fellow himself, and yet even so he was always caught off guard by how quickly Adagio turned about and changed the mood of an entire room in an instant. He wanted to instinctively take a step back but knew better. He lowered his head slightly as a sign of respect.

"Of course. I never meant any offense." He raised his head but put his right claw over his chest. "I would never betray the trust you've invested in me, and the responsibilities I-"

"Okay, okay, cut the act," Adagio interjected, rolling her eyes. "We both know you aren't an upstanding individual so let's not pretend as much. You work for us because your methods are ruthless and maximise efficiency and productivity, and because those same methods coincidentally help spur negativity among the population. In other words, you exist to rule in the most ruthlessly efficient matter possible and to make everycreature in Hippogriffia hate your guts."

"Wait, Sonata told me you renamed this place to Sirenalia? Was that just a fluke or?"

Adagio looked as though she'd almost lunged forward out of her seat at such an obviously stupid question in response. She clung on at last second.

"Don't try your luck with me, fool."

Moonfeather smirked and put his claw back down. "Trying to release some tension in the air, my apologies." He watched as the siren refused to budge, obviously not impressed by his stunt. "But yes, I am aware of my duties and methods. It's what has brought me this far in life."

"And it's what has brought you to be one of the only hippogriffs to not be brought under our spell. Don't take this perceived privilege for granted." The siren grumbled under her breath, frustrated that she knew she had to hold back against this insolence.

"As you say," Moonfeather quickly replied, "however, there is yet more to what I meant to say. Regarding Tobuck and Chiropterra, that is."

The yellow sea monster raises an eyebrow but otherwise looked as though she would have rather been anywhere else but there, listening to him. "Well?"

"I don't need to tell you that Chiropterra has the means and will to completely overpower the struggling, ailing Republic. A defeat for Tobuck is only a matter of time. What I am more interested in, however, is their... leaders."

"Ugh," Adagio exerted, "you aren't seriously keeping me held up with this because of some filthy pony official."

The businessgriff chuckled and waved a talon back and forth. "No, no. That's the funny part, actually! This republic is not a republic at all - never has been, as far as I can remember. I used to know the pony in charge of the place, actually. Definitely had his wits about him-"

"Plumage. The point. Get to it."

The comparatively tiny hippogriff regained his wits and momentarily blacked out as Adagio stared right into his eyes from where she sat. She was already more than twice his size, and from sitting as high above the ground as she did, it really only added to her imposing presence.

He cleared his throat and began anew. "Anywho, ahem. The Republic is not just led by some weak-hoofed politician but rather a trio of gangsters. Criminals. More specifically, warlords of a sort."

"Warlords?" the yellow-scaled singer repeated, leaning forward in her throne just a tiny bit. "So they are already effectively in turmoil then?"

"Yes and no," was Plumage's answer. "Without a common threat, the three of them would proooobably be trying to kill each other right about now. Alas, Chiropterra exists, and so they seem to have called a ceasefire to resist the thestrals and lunarists."

"Yet as you yourself said a minute ago they won't stand a chance even then," Adagio muttered in a complaining voice.

"True, though that's not what I'm getting at. Tobuck as a nation is lost but... these warlords are not. Possibly."

The brown-feathered hippogriff held his breath as the siren held a hoof to her snout. She glared at him once more but this time it appeared as a less threatening one.

"Continue," the siren ordered.

"A war with the lunarists is hardly avoidable, even less so if we want to realise your ambitions of moving south into Maregypt and beyond," Moonfeather continued. Adagio had no complaints so far, which was a relief. "But Aria and our forces are still tied up in Zumidia, and I believe it's fair to imagine we will be tied up in Colthage soon enough for one reason or another. Chiropterra may pounce on us while we are stretched too thin."

"And how does this relate to Tobuck and these criminals?" Surprisingly, Adagio sounded genuinely curious rather than mocking as usual.

"We could do well with a coordinated strike behind enemy lines. Something to draw their attention. A rebellion, or partisan attacks or maybe both. Who am I to say." He shrugged and smiled at his own proposal, and watched as Adagio pushed herself up from her throne.

"You want us to enlist the aid of literal criminal scum? Of rogue military leaders who lead these sort of... warbands, as it were, around to fight whoever they don't like?"

"Precisely that."

Moonfeather was unusually confident. Greedy bastards that got others killed just to get whatever they wanted? That sounded a lot like him, in a most depraving sort of way, and if it did then it meant they were a possible good choice for leadership under the sirens also.

"After all," he continued, "this is not just for our fight against Chiropterra either. I recall Aria complaining about the state of the officer corps? I suppose thralls don't make good leaders when they're most often too occupied with bickering to create a valid strategy in the field. Assuming we can get these creatures on board... we may have some capable hooves available to us."

Adagio was suspiciously quiet, Plumage found. She stood - or hovered rather - in front of her throne and began pondering quite visibly. He straightened out subconsciously when the siren began to swim towards him through the air, a bolt of tension rushing from head to claws.

"For somecreature that wastes my time on such a regularly scheduled basis, you do make some good ideas heard, time and again."

The siren passed by him. He didn't dare turn to face her at the time, though he did wonder whether her words had been meant as a compliment or insult. Probably both if he knew Adagio well.

"I have things to do, so come. We'll talk on the way."

Finally the governor turned about face and witnessed the siren waiting for him in the large doorway which led back out of the throne room and into a long-winding corridor. He gulped, and moved up to her to tag along.

"Now," began the singer as she led the way, moving slowly as she hovered above the red carpet on the floor, while her hippogriff associate kept up the pace, "tell me more about these supposedly useful warlords."

He only nodded simply before beginning. "There are three in total, as I said, or at least three which are notable enough to be relevant. Wallnut Drive, Zamal Baragzen and finally Alesia Snezhnaya."

Moonfeather eyed his 'superior' closely, and noted a hint of disdain at even just the odd names of some of these folks.

"Wallnut is a thestral and was himself born and raised in Chiropterra. He fled the country sometime ago by deserting their legions, and is now making the rounds as a partygoer, with said parties being funded largely through his mercenary gigs."

"A thestral deserter? Hah." The siren waved a hoof to dismiss the idea. "Disregard him. He is of no relevance to us."

"How come?"

"Aria made sure to emphasize just how fanatic some lunatics are."

"...That much is true, yes," confirmed Plumage.

"Whenever they do capture Tobuck, they will be looking for this Wallnut individual, and they will probably not hesitate to take some weight off his shoulders, so to speak."

They continued on, rounding a corner into another hallway, this one barely lit due to the absence of windows. It was all so empty around here, besides the guards and occasional servants anyway. He wondered, for brief moments like these where they both seemed to pause, whether the siren felt lonely now that Aria and Sonata were both abroad dealing with their own things. Could sirens even feel lonely as creatures that literally eat negative emotion? Hm.

"Ah well," he finally gave out, "I suppose you make a fair point. He is a loose cannon anywho. Probably not a good fit for us."

Adagio remained quiet, and so the hippogriff continued.

"Second on our list is Baragzen, a zebra noble from Warzena who insists that he rightfully owns the throne of the same and then some. He is ambitious and proud but likewise paranoid to no end."

"So far I'm losing interest in this plan of yours, Moonfeather. The first candidate is on his deathbed effectively, and the second sounds more annoying than Aria and Sonata combined. Are any of these actually going to be bearable?"

"Well... the last one, I suppose, might be best fitting. Alesia Snezhnaya, an earth pony born in the then-equestrian province of Severyana, today's Stalliongrad."

"I believe I read something about a revolution against the pony princess there?" Adagio remarked with marked interest.

"Yes. Communists fought Princess Celestia in a revolution, and eventually succeeded in overthrowing the monarchy in the province. Alesia herself fled to Zebrica, as she herself is a noble and distant royal."

"Did you just say royal?"

The two stopped for a moment as Adagio paused at the mention of such a thing.

"A royal... there? As a-"

"-Warlord. Yes. I suppose times are rough when your home is so deeply uprooted. Nowhere else to go."

"Well if it's pity she seeks, I have none to give. I have my own vendetta to fulfill and don't need to pile on somepony else's. Certainly no mortal's."

They resumed their previous pace, and Plumage continued.

"I don't think she's exactly out for that. From what I know - which is to say, what Violent Facade knows - Alesia is a very direct, dogged and determined lady. She is loyal to her word so long as she is treated 'honourably' as she calls it."

Adagio chuckled. "Honour among thieves, smugglers and bandits. What a bother."

"You aren't interested?" Moonfeather simply returned.

The siren remained quiet for close to five seconds.

"I will compose a letter soon enough when I have the time. I find their motives petty and their personalities exhausting but I would find the concept of delaying my vengeance even more grotesque." She sighed. "I will just have to make that sacrifice."

"Assuming they want anything to do with us."

Adagio turned her head towards her governor, who remained steadfast even then.

"They've united to fight a common enemy with Chiropterra. Who knows if they won't see you as yet another foreign aggressor."

"If they do then that's their loss. If they don't, all the better for both of us."

"Well I mean, you are sea monsters that hypnotise people against their will..."

"Which is why they will learn to show respect and gratitude for my offer. They should always know there are alternatives to cooperating as a free but loyal servant, such as you."

"Thank you... I think."

"You are dismissed for this afternoon. I will need you to bring me a copy of Violet's written files about those three if possible."

They stopped, and Plumage turned to face the yellow creature face-to-face.

"Shall I have Violet bring it instead or-"

"You will. Request it from her, tell her I sent you," Adagio insisted. "I expect the files to be delivered to my room by nightfall. Am I clear?"

"Certainly. Of course." The hippogriff nodded a few times over to reiterate his acknowledgement.

"Then go. You're making my head hurt, at this point."

Adagio closed her eyes and placed a hoof up against her head. By the time she opened her eyes again, Plumage was already moving on further down the hallway ahead of her, leaving her alone once more. There was a lot of trash that griff said whenever they met, and to a degree she felt as though he was outliving his usefulness. And yet, at times like this, he showed his uses. She would never think as Sonata did - that mortals were worthy of some form of respect - but she was beginning to see more ways of exploiting and using them now, even without wasting her magic on them.

Still, what an odd scenario this would turn out to be. Three sirens, banished for more than the last one thousand years, seeking to get their revenge on Equestria and the pillars, who were now seeking the assistance of some stuck-up noble zebra and a bold but presumably bitter pony exile.

Adagio got a move on and wandered down the same hallway as Moonfeather, though a fair distance behind him. When she and the others had broken out from banishment and taken over here, things had really seemed so easy at a glance. Yet now things were getting more twisted and complicated by the minute. She certainly had not anticipated to be collaborating, let alone asking for help from puny ponies and friends back then. Oh well. She was willing to bite her tongue and swallow her pride just this once, and the fact that neither Aria nor Sonata were here to witness and influence these talks with Moonfeather was helping a lot in that.

The ideal outcome? A new ally to stab the thestrals in the back at the worst possible moment.

The worst outcome? Hmm. She could have a chuckle at their insolence and incompetence.

The Stage is Set

Early morning hours dawned over the former capital city of the Kingdom of Zumidia, Ain Trotgourait. The streets were devoid of life still, with public life not having opened up yet this early. A small handful of hippogriff soldiers could be seen on sentry duty, guarding specific high-importance institutions, such as the Royal Palace. They grumbled to themselves as they stood in place, cursing everything and everyone for having been doomed to such a dreadful posting. Their hatred, as quiet as they may have uttered it, was quickly served as food for the main guests in the palace's catacombs.

"Sonata?"

Adagio's voice echoed throughout the tall and mostly empty halls of the throne room. Old heraldry still hung from its stone walls, depicting a mixture of flags, coat of arms and other insignia of the previous, zumidian kingdom. The leader of the trio scoffed, assuming that Sonata had either not noticed this until even now, hadn't cared to have it torn down, or deliberately did not want to do it for whichever reason it was. Luckily, she thought, she wasn't here to mull on about this today.

"Sonata!" another cry, louder this time, echoed.

"I'm here, I'm here! Sorry!"

The yellow siren looked on as her younger, blue-scaled counterpart came rushing into the room through a side entrance.

"Sorry for being late!" the young siren apologised once more as she swam through the air and up to where her elder, who looked at her expectingly, floated. "I got... err, caught up in something."

Adagio simply sighed, crossing her hooves in response. Part of her wanted to dig and ask what in tartarus Sonata was doing that had kept her waiting, but knowing Sonata it was probably something excruciatingly simple that would only cut down on her already short fuse. Or maybe, she figured, as unlikely as it was, Sonata had come around and was taking her post more seriously than she'd originally imagined. Had she been busy dealing with the consequences of their occupation in Zumidia? It certainly would have been a surprise, and another reason for why the lead singer wanted to ask, but this wasn't the time or place.

"Nevermind," she simply dismissed, shaking her head. "Where is Aria?"

Sonata perked up and looked around before finally offering Adagio little more than a clueless shrug. "I thought she was with you."

"And I thought she was with you. It's not like her to be late, especially not when she's the reason we meet to begin with."

It wasn't hard for Sonata to tell her opposite was growing impatient and mad, as she so often did. She looked around once again, hoping that Aria would... oh, there she was.

"Excuse me," said Aria as she strolled past the open doors Adagio had entered from, holding a folded piece of paper in her left hoof, "turns out there is still yet more to discuss, so I was held up for a moment."

"That makes two of you," Adagio muttered, with both Sonata and Aria assuming it was a complaint of sorts as the yellow siren pouted somewhat. "What's the matter, anywho? Why are we here?"

"Let me guess, you don't have all day?" Aria said to her elder snarkily.

"None of us do! Or at least I would hope so, and that both of you are keeping yourselves busy with your tasks."

"Well, Zumidia is conquered. Consider that proof of my activity," the purple siren replied monotonously.

"Things are working out around here, too!" Sonata said for herself. "Everything is where it needs to be and... all that. You know?"

"You've got the king sacked?" Aria asked her. She didn't notice Sonata gulp quietly.

"Y-Yeah, yep! He's all good- err, good as in, ours! As in, under our command."

The others blinked, and Sonata took a deep breath.

"That's what I meant to say."

The older two looked at one another, but seemed to jointly decide on shrugging her behaviour off for the occasion. If this really was as important as Aria had claimed it was, then another one of Sonata's crazed outbursts was the least of their worries.

"Well, Aria? Go on then." Adagio suggested.

"I'll start off with what's most important for us right now," the purple siren declared. "As mentioned, our forces now have full control over Zumidia; a good thing, obviously. However, as I issued the order for them to dig into defensive positions near the Colthaginian border, behind the river and in the hills, a message reached my headquarters in the region. It was issued by the Colthaginian Suffrit himself."

"Suffrit? That was the lead zebra of theirs, right?" Sonata asked to make sure, though really she sounded a little clueless.

"From what I bothered to gather, he's a dictator this 'Zalathel Zarca', isn't he?" Adagio asked. Aria shook her head.

"He probably wished he was. He's just the strongest of a whole bunch of oligarchic families over there, kept aloft largely through his late father's legacy who died as a national hero during the Storm King's invasion."

"Ooooh, so he's like... a big deal?"

Aria looked to her younger companion and nodded. "You could say that. Not enough to make him a dictator though. It's what got him in power, but it seems Colthage's principle of governance relies on absurdly influential factions not coming to blows and intending to remove him when they so please."

"In other words, he's entirely reliant on their support," Adagio concluded.

"That's right."

"Which means he's vulnerable."

"Also right, which might hint at what he's done now."

Both Adagio and Sonata waited for a few seconds as Aria unfolded the paper in her left hoof. She held it up before her snout and began to read aloud to the others:

To the tyrants of Mount Aris and beyond,

I hope this message finds you, and is not lost on its way as a result of your fiendish policies of enslaving innocents and shackling them to your will, such as the messenger I entrusted with this notice.

We have for some time now held ourselves back and remained on the sidelines as you and your terrible regime took power on your island. We do not know who, or what, you are truly, but we do know your methods and we know of your goals.

You would be well to remember that your ongoing invasion and consequent occupation is in direct violation of our Zonician people of North Zebrica. Zumidia, which so recently broke free from hippogriff rule, was surely about to petition for membership in the Colthaginian Republic when your forces kicked in their door and left them with no other choice but to flee. Their Regency Council is being cared for by us as survivors of your terrible war, and we support them in their desire to liberate Zumidia.

Let it be known that I, Zalathel Zarca, son of the great Zamilcar, will not bow to any foreign oppressor and tyrant, and neither will my people so long as I pull the strings. Colthage will remain a free nation and people, and we will not stand idly by as your war machine and evil magics spread further and further. We made the mistake of laying in wait for too long with the Storm King, and my father paid the price for it. This time, we will tackle this darkness while we still can.

Colthage hereby demands that any and all military personnel of Sirenalia vacate the sovereign lands of the Kingdom of Zumidia within the span of 48 hours, and the further evacuation of all additional personnel and hippogriff nationals within an additional 48 hours. Failure to meet this deadline will be regarded as outright refusal of our terms, and will be deemed a declaration of war. Any hostile movements or attacks by your forces during this time will likewise result in an outbreak of hostilities.

Our hope for this 'diplomatic' solution is slim indeed, but we hope you see the wisdom in it and abide by our terms. Zumidia and its people have suffered for far too long, and we can no longer stand by and simply watch as an even greater force of evil takes the reins there. You may return to your dreaded island - curse its name - and be left to rot there.

May you find wisdom in choice, or doom upon the field of battle,

Zalathel Zarca, Suffrit of the Colthaginian Republic.

Aria fell silent, lowered the paper and looked at her two fellow sirens.

"What a self-important fool," Adagio remarked jokingly.

"How dramatic. So scary!" Sonata added. She let out a soft chuckle´which Adagio did also.

"Seems to me he has rivals back home pressuring him into writing this," the yellow siren continued, looking at Aria primarily. "The way it's worded, how he constantly boasts about being great and powerful and all such; he was probably made to respond to our invasion by one of those factions you mentioned."

Aria nodded. "Presumably instigated by the Zumidian Regency who have managed to flee there. One might assume at least one faction is backing them for a 'liberation' of the Zumidian lands."

"Oh, he must be feeling the heat, for sure!" the teal siren joined in with her ordinary enthusiasm. For once, it didn't bother the other two that much.

"It certainly does seem he is in hot water," Aria said with a nod towards Sonata.

"Is your military going to be ready for them?" Adagio asked the purple one.

"They will be. Though our offensive will take some time to properly prepare. Also, it's not 'my' army, Adagio," she responded clearly, "it's ours. I shaped it and lead it right now, sure, but you're free to do the same assuming all three of us can agree on an idea."

"Though perhaps some of us may be best kept a safe distance away from military command...?"

Adagio looked at Sonata indiscreetly, and Aria followed just the same.

"You're no fun." Sonata pouted, and crossed her hooves.

"Anywayx," Adagio continued on, "so Colthage is going to be coming for us... what else?"

"Well," Aria started, "for one, there is the very valid suggestion made that Chiropterra to our south will start expanding further by attacking neighbouring Warzena or Zarantia now that they've conquered Tobuck. The issue is that we don't know which. Warzena has more accomodating terrain and industry, but also a more formidable military, whereas Zarantia is a literal desert with some agriculture along their rivers, but it offers a pathway to connect with Colthage... which may present an opportunity for them and a problem for us."

"You're getting all worked up about something that hasn't happened yet, aren't you?" Adagio wondered.

"Can you blame me?"

The lead siren shrugged. "Relax. We've won our first conquest, and soon to be the second. Once Colthage falls, and they will fall, even those silly bat ponies can't stop us."

Aria bit her tongue, wanting desperately to issue a rebuttal to that theory but found herself having just enough self-restraint to prevent that much. This was wartime and, eventhough they were sirens who literally needed discord, hate and strife to survive, their usual arguments and fights between one another should be reduced to a minimum. At least, that's what her conscious, reasonable self told her. But when her blood got boiling, well...

"There was another thing," she voiced, her words wiping a confident grin off of Adagio's face as it turned into a curious frown.

"Which would be?"

"Please be lunch together," Sonata called out. "Ugh, I haven't eaten in ages!"

"Knowing you, that means the last 40 minutes?" Adagio replied and grinned.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-uh!"

"No," Aria interrupted with a louder tone than usual, "no, it's not lunch, Sonata."

The teal siren pouted at the bad news.

"It's about Equestria, actually."

Adagio immediately perked up.

"Equestria? What about them now? Don't tell me the've sent the pillars here or-"

"No, not at all," Aria, again, interrupted. "In fact, it's the opposite of that sort."

"What do you mean?" the yellow siren asked, appearing rather clueless for once.

"Well..."

Attention, attention! All listeners, please remain tuned into Fillydelphia Radio for an emergency broadcast from Canterlot. The Princess will be addressing the nation shortly. Attention, attention! All listeners, plea-

Fwsshhh~

"My loyal subjects, my brave, little ponies. It is with heavy heart that I speak to you today, be it here in Canterlot, in person, or through the speakers of TV and Radio at home or elsewhere. Today is a day that will undoubtedly be ingrained into our minds for generations to come, and may perhaps never be forgotten.

Early this morning, Queen Chrysalis spat in the face of peace and harmony by leading her armies across the border. At the same time, infiltrators appear to have risen up within the northwest to harass our supply routes and delay troop arrival. The changelings have already pressed forward to capture Acornage near the border, and are moving in on Vanhoover as we speak. Our naval garrison there is evacuating as we speak, and is intending to rescue as many civilians with them as possible.

My little ponies and subjects, I must confess that we were fools to not ready ourselves for this, or any other such conflict. A new age has long dawned on us, and yet we have failed to meaningfully learn from the lessons of the winter revolution in Severyana many moons ago. We were defenceless and clueless, thought that Chrysalis, ruthless as she is, would somehow find the reason not to press her obviously stated goals and ambitions.

We were wrong, and it pains me to know that you must now bear the brunt of our misjudgement. However, despite all our shortcomings in the past, I know with absolute certainty that Equestria is not lost. We will stand up to this challenge, to the changeling onslaught, and stare them down. We will repel them as we have all other existential threats to our land of harmony before, and we shall do it together, hoof in hoof, side by side.

Know that from this day forth, Equestria counts itself at war with the Changeling lands in the absence of a formal declaration of war, and that we call upon all our allies far and wide to assist us in this great struggle, and that my sister and I call upon all of you, our most loyal and beloved subjects, to do your part and duty and defend what is right and what is home.

Today, we will raise our hooves in the fight for harmony, for peace, family and home!"

Songs of War

"Lay low, and for all that is holy, keep your voices down."

A harsh hail was striking the riverside that night. Everything seemed quiet except for the sound of the rain, though tension was palpable nonetheless.

Four hippogriffs were sitting or laying underneath a large camouflage net, the fake, interweaved leaves of the net now as wet as any of the real ones in the trees around and above. A medium-sized anti-tank gun was concealed underneath the net, the second half of the gun barrel poking out from the disguise, adorned with a sizeable muzzle brake at the end.

"Will you ever stop being such a bossy arse?"

The hippogriff who had spoken first glared at a comrade-in-arms. All of them wore olive drab uniforms on their bodies, the collars of each uniform depicting various insignias of rank. Three of the hippogriffs also wore simple, metal helmets which the rain was happy to use as musical instruments as rain drops drilled against them to create a most annoying dinging noise over and over.

"Will you shut the fuck up?" barked back the first griff, the one who wore a khaki peaked cap instead of the regular helmet, and whose collar depicted the insignia for Second Lieutenant. The cap was usually a nice tool to be identified as an officer in the field - less of a positive in direct combat when fired upon admittedly - but for postings like this, during weather like this, it was not fun at all. The once proud cap was soggy and wet and severely deflated upon the head of the teal-feathered avian. The army insignia could still be made out at the front just barely, at least: a musical note, behind which two swords crossed. Aria had not been very creative coming up with it, and she had refused to let Sonata know of her creative drought on the matter, knowing that the insignia would be some unfitting, comical iconography if the youngster had her way.

"Woah, ladies. Settle down, will you?" a third hippogriff butted in, turning his head.

"Don't tell me you're covering for our 'boss' now, Zephyr," the second griff returned with a roll of his eyes.

"I cover for myself when I ask you two idiots to just shut up and keep your petty insults confined to... well, as far away from me as possible, actually," Zephyr returned, the Sergeant's insignia on his collar, consisting of multiple chevrons, shining in both the moonlight and rain.

"Talk about unbearable, Zephyr," a female voice joined them, sounding tired as can be. "I would rather you, Windy and Hurricane desert and run back home so I can just be rid of you altogether. Your constant, incessant arguing is seriously messing with my head, and your voices alone are like drills going straight through my ears, at this point!"

The other three remained silent for a brief moment before Zephyr and Windy Blaze let out hearty chuckles.

"Hah! You call us annoying and incessant? Hahaha! What about-oof!"

Zephyr's next insult was cut short by a claw meeting the left side of his face, slapping him across it with great force and intent.

"Told you to shut the fuck up, idiot! Now quiet!" Hurricane Meadow, the officer of the crew, gave them a deadly glare which, against the odds, silenced them for the moment. "Gods only know what we'll encounter today up that road."

The Lieutenant pushed himself on his fours for a moment before looking through one of the pouches on his uniform. Revealing a pair of binoculars, he leaned onto the relatively small, certainly lackluster 'shield' of the gun the crew were meant to be operating. The glint of the magnifying glasses of the surveillance tool would be visible from afar, even in the dead of night and particularly to trained marksmen, so Hurricane ducked after a brief scouting of the area to their front.

In front of them was a large river and, more importantly, a rather old-looking stone bridge. Sturdy as it were, it was strong enough to support most modern hardware, which is why they were here to begin with... presumably.

"You mean encountering things like that tank column?"

"Yes, like that- what!?"

The Lieutenant perked up and snapped to find the origin of their only female comrade, Gusty Arrow. The dark-green hued avian appeared to be poking her head out off to the side of the gun's shield. She began to point ahead the moment she realised Hurricane was looking at her, and so he raised his binoculars once more.

"How the-"

"You really are bad at this, you know," Gusty interrupted as both of them looked at the approaching threat. A column of five tanks was driving down the road leading towards the bridge they were guarding, cresting the small hill ahead as they came into sight. Their booming engines were only faintly audible for now.

"Everybody, get ready!" Hurricane spoke back to all three of his supposed subordinates, speaking as loudly as he could without outright screaming.

There were moans and groans and hardly-concealed slurs headed his way in response, but the crew did as he asked in the end. Zephyr moved up towards the gunner's sight to the left of the gun breech, with Gusty Arrow positioning herself to the right of the same, both her front claws holding tightly onto a pair of cranks. She looked over her left shoulder as Windy Blaze pulled a lever to open the breech shaft. A few seconds later, he came up and heaved a considerably large piece of ammunition, dropping it as gently as he could and giving it a forceful shove to push it into the breech proper. He pushed the same lever as before, sealing the breech once more.

"Loaded!" Windy called out quietly.

"Wait for my signal."

The three crewgriffs looked to their officer, who was now crouched in more or less the same position Gusty had seconds earlier, poking his head and binoculars out from the right of the small gun shield they had to hide behind.

"Gusty." The named hippogriff turned her head to her gunner, who gave her a series of signals using his talons. She nodded, and proceeded to pull and push the cranks in front of her. The gun moved in accordance to her actions, aiming a little further to the right, and a little bit higher.

The rain continued to fall, the hail even increasing it felt like. The four hippogriffs remained almost entirely inert underneath their soaked net, feeling as increasingly large splats of water dinged against the metal tin cans they wore for helmets. Zephyr briefly pulled back from his sight and rubbed his eyes, then doing the same to the sight, before leaning forward to peer through it once again.

"Little more... liiittle more..."

Hurricane's mumbled voice was hardly audible, the rain drowning it out. He began to slowly raise his left front claw for all to see while still holding onto the binoculars with the right one. Gusty placed a claw of her own on a lever, eyeing the officer intently.

"What are we waiting for...?" Windy Breeze whispered, leaning onto a second shell for the gun, ready for the imminent reload.

"Boss is being a pus-"

"FIRE!"

The Lieutenant's claw slashed downward, and Gusty Arrow pushed the lever she'd been holding. The others tried to cover their ears and turn away before the gun barrel burst into action, the shell escaping out to the front as the breech recoiled backwards.

Even without the binoculars Hurricane had, the others could see the sky light up in the distance, just across the bridge, as a loud, metallic 'DING' rang out, the armour-piercing shell of their gun penetrating the flat, frontal armour of the lead tank of the small formation of light tanks. A loud combustion followed as the commander's hatch atop the turret was sent flying, ripped off as the inside of the vehicle vaporised into a mess of fire and explosions.

"That's one down," Zephyr commented as he looked at the scene through his gunnery sight, seeing a large pillar of fire spew out from the now opened hatch. It looked like somecreature was firing out of the tank with a large flamethrower.

"Reload!" Hurricane ordered, and Windy Breeze jumped into motion. He opened the breech once more, allowing the now emptied casing to be ejected before pushing in a second round.

"Ready!" he shouted as he closed the breech.

Gusty quickly used the two ranks to move the gun barrel to the left, as Zephyr had instructed her. Then, she pulled the trigger via lever once more.

Another boom from the gun as the breech recoiled, but no effect on target this time as the shell dug into the grassy grounds ahead, missing the tank they were aiming for.

"Reload!" Hurricane shouted once again, before docking behind the shield as a tank shell exploded only a few meters ahead of the now not-so concealed gun. "Reload, dammit!"

Another casing jumped out of the breech as Windy carried up another one of the heavy shells and dropped it onto the breech rail. "You owe us for this crap, asshole..." he cursed before pushing the shell in.

"Cover!" Everyone looked up as they heard a whizzing noise for but a splinter of a second. The world around them lit up, their ears briefly ringing from the explosion before everything went quiet for good.

"Go on, General."

Aria's voice was nearly drowned out by the choir of voices and sounds all around her. Hippogriffs and, for the first time now, zebras 'recruited' from Zumidia, were manning radio posts and answering requests from all the way down the line, while others were relaying orders directly. Others again sorted or wrote paperwork. Aria was new to all of this, that much she knew, but she felt oddly fine with this new style of warfare. Sure rounding up peasants back in the day to charge at a castle was fun, but it was only so for a few times before it got boring. The purple siren wasn't much of a people person, but when everycreature in the room had to obey her - spell or not - then she was much more keen on social interactions. Not least because this new era of warfare was an interesting new way for her to put her cunning to use, a cunning that usually went to great waste because of playing second fiddle to Adagio.

Of course, and this much she was aware of, she couldn't get too high and mighty. She was new to modern warfare, and new to this world of modern technology overall. She was going to be fighting creatures who have grown up in this environment from birth, and who have gone through rigorous training and exercise for years, not to mention personal experience and veterancy.

Luckily for her, then, that Colthage was primarily propped up and defended by mercenaries, whose commanders - while experienced - were more in it for the money than the nation. They may not have been giving it their all so far, and Aria was more than glad to accept that fact for the time being.

"As you wish, ma'am," came the eventual response from a yellow-feathered hippogriff in olive drab uniform. Her collar depicted a musical note surrounded by a laurel wreath, sowed onto a purple patch which itself was sowed onto the uniform. "The 52nd and 67th have held firm so far. The 44th has suffered some minor territorial losses, but they've already been instructed to harass the enemy and push them back across the border."

Aria studied a map laid out in front of her and the hippogriff, depicting the warzone with Colthage. Not much had changed since before the start of the war a week ago as the hippogriff defences had largely stood firm, with some small exceptions where Colthage had broken through across the river which served as the natural boundary between Zumidia and Colthage for much of the frontier. There were a lot of coloured arrows pointed into Colthage for future offensives, as well as written text to denote the names of individual brigades and divisions.

"So our line is holding," Aria concluded.

"For the most part," the general replied simply.

"We'll have to be ready for them to improve their efforts. Zalathel won't like that he isn't making progress so he - or his factional rivals anyway - will push the military into trying again and again until progress is made."

"Agreed."

"Let's bleed them dry for the rest of the month, Duskfeather," the siren theorised, "by then our marines should be ready for Operation Alaudia."

The siren studied the map some more, moving a hoof to the northern coast of Colthage which bordered on the Alaudian Sea there - the namesake of the upcoming undertaking. She heard a grumbling though, and looked to the blue-haired officer instead, who scrunched her small beak at the thought.

"What's the matter?" Aria asked.

"Oh- I... nothing. Sorry, ma'am."

"I'm not stupid, you know. That's Sonata's job," the siren replied, clearly unconvinced. "Spit it out."

"Err... well, I just thought that Alaudia may be too risky, ma'am. Sure Colthage is reliant on mercenaries but I doubt they would lack the reserves to respond to our naval landings. And if they do respond in force..."

"Right. I get you, I get you, don't go on," Aria cut her off. "I've heard it all before. However, consider that us frontally assaulting them at the border would probably cause more damage to us than them. It's the same scenario for us as it is for them, right now. That's probably a worse prospect than Operation Alaudia is."

"That's true... though I'm still not sure if that justifies such a risky move."

Aria crossed her hooves.

"And here I thought you were one of the more daring generals from before we returned. That you were willing to take risks?"

The hippogriff shivered visibly as she looked up at the creature before her. "N-No, I mean... yes! I mean... I'm sorry."

"You should be. I demoted a lot of useless idiots and promoted useful idiots when I came in to rearrange the armed forces. You should count yourself lucky I'm keeping you on such a loose leash, miss Duskfeather."

"I-I am! I swear to you, I am!" the avian quickly returned. "I just- argh...!"

Duskfeather flinched and moved a claw to her head.

"My head... gah..."

She shook her head as if trying to regain her senses, but to no avail. She swayed back and forth, left and right, almost as if in rythm to something given the regular intervals of said swaying. Her pupils shrank noticeably.

Aria grinned as her gen shone dimly before the light extinguished. The general's senses quickly returned as quickly as she'd lost them. She shook her head again.

"Let that be a useful reminder to know your place. You stand here because I want you to stand here, and for no other reason," Aria threatened. "I need creatures who are intelligent, skilled and willing to take a chance, because if all you do is whince at every threat, then I could just be doing all of this myself!"

Aria calmed herself down a little as the hippogriff, still half-dazed from her brief loss of control, cowered and covered her face. Uninentionally, she had spouted at her the fact that she was afraid of making mistakes and not being willing to take a chance... which was the exact reason for her delegating so much in practice, and having griffs like Duskfeather around to do it for her. She wasn't confident enough to do it herself, and even if she was her calculating nature probably would cause it to take far too long in practice, but... she was fine delegating those decisions when possible, to those who knew their craft well. Lucy Duskfeather, a young but usually confident officer, had been a rising star before their takeover, so she had assumed the young woman would have been a good fit. Perhaps so, or perhaps not.

"You're dismissed. You know what to do."

The hippogriff shot back onto all fours and saluted her superior.

"Y-Yes, ma'am! I'll send orders down the line right away!"

The officer had rushed out of the room after that so quickly that Aria had no time to say anything further. She returned to studying the map laid out in front of her. She pondered. Was her move too daring, indeed? Maybe she should ask her general staff for input... in which case her outburst at Duskfeather seemed rather stupid.

She sighed and rubbed her right eye, turning away from the map. She would definitely need a night's rest to think about this properly.

Making an Acquaintance

Adagio scoffed as some random hippogriff servant stood in the throne room, holding what looked to be a piece of mail in his claws. She had already forgotten her name, eventhough she probably introduced herself briefly just prior. She was a thrall, nothing more to her than that.

"Yes, yes, that's all well and good-" the girl appeared to pause and settle down as Adagio finally spoke up, seemingly interrupting her as she was talking... not that the siren had been listening, "-but can you please, please, get to the point?"

The hippogriff raised a talon to speak but was silenced before having a chance to speak up. "Alternatively, I could turn your sorry mind to mush if that's what you would prefer my loyal thrall? Hm?" Adagio faked a smile, though even then it was crooked, and her likewise feigned 'nice' tone of voice carried a deadly venom with it.

The hippogriff quickly tore open the envelope she was carrying, almost carelessly so as she hurried, before unfurling the contents. Namely, a short letter.

To the foolish, false claimant,

Adagio's eyes widened at the insult the very first line of the message carried as the girl in front of her read aloud. Her large, vaguely fish-like form squirmed around somewhat within her throne as the girl continued on.

your proposal for correspondence, if it can even be called as such, has served as a grim reminder to me, the future and rightful King of Warzena and Zamal of all North Zebrica, that no one ruler can be trusted to be of use to me in my just reconquest of-

Adagio huffed, rolled her eyes and tried her best to ignore the remainder of the letter's reading. Obviously this 'Baragzen' zebra had declined her generous, rare offer. What she hadn't expected was him, a lowly warlord and basically now a nopony, to talk down on her. A different her, at a different time of day, may have grown furious instead of disinterested at this fact. The hippogriff girl reading to her was lucky, to that end.

Honourable as I am, I shall keep this request of yours a secret and seek to keep it confidential - at least for as long as it suits me.

The siren scoffed as the reading continued for some time. Keeping a secret, but only so long as it served your goals. Wow, how honourable, indeed. Not that Adagio herself was very honourable - she wasn't exactly a chivalric symbol of virtue - but she knew about honour and what it meant to many ponies and, apparently, creatures otherwise, too. This was yet another distorted view of the same. Mortals liked to get all high and mighty about themselves and then ascribe stupid traits they didn't actually live to themselves. Tyrannical monarchs told themselves they were righteous and noble, while violent revolutionaries claimed to be peacekeepers. How fun. At least she was being honest and upfront about her intentions.

I do not seek further correspondence with you, nor do I want you anywhere near the lands that belong to me by right of birth. I hope you will at least rid my lands of the accursed thestral menace, so that I may then liberate the crownlands of mine. Perhaps I shall reserve a spot in my royal court for you, my future vassal.

The hippogriff had finished, and lowered the letter, just in time for her to watch a furious lead siren visibly seething with anger. The audacity. The audacity of that zebra! Ohh, how she would enjoy breaking him in due time.

She banged a hoof against an armrest of the throne, sending a loud echo through the room, before her gaze fell upon the comparatively small and young avian.

"What a disappointment, to say the least. I suppose times don't change, and royals will remain royals... which is to say, inbred, undignified, bumbling idiots."

The girl did not respond, appearing to simply stand at attention as the siren spoke.

"Oh well. What about the other one? That... Alex... Alexia, was it?"

Adagio's voice was one of continued disinterest and boredom, the fury from moments ago fading as she realised the comeuppance of that zebra fool would still be months away from now. A frustrating thought, so she had decided to forget about him.

"Alesia," the girl meakly responded, correcting her overlord. "Yes, she responded also. One moment."

The siren watched the hippogriff toss aside Baragzen's letter and take out a new envelope. She again tore it open with the tip of a talon of hers, and retrieved the letter inside to read. Adagio raised an eyebrow as the girl began to read aloud for her once more.

Addressing Adagio Dazzle and her fellow accomplices in Mount Aris.

The lead singer felt her mouth twitch a little. Accomplices made it sound like they were a bunch of criminal thugs running amok, did it not?

I will start off by being upfront and honest with you. When your message reached me, and I was told it was from you, I could not quite believe what I was hearing. I had heard filly tales of your kind back when I was small, back in Severyana, but figured you were a myth and legend. Moreover, what I heard was happening in Zumidia and Aris did little to reassure me about your intentions.

The siren tapped a hoof against the armrest of her throne as she listened keenly. So far this was at least sounding more bearable than that zebra's response had.

Truth be told, I do not share much sentiment for you or your kind. However, I share even less sentiment for the thestrals and lunarists who are actively pursuing and hunting me and my soldiers, and are looking to execute us.

Ah, the enemy of my enemy, was it?

Given the current predicament, I am leaning towards accepting your support and to work with you, though I am no fool and certainly aware of the possibility of being a simple means to an end for your goals. I wish to meet with you in person off the coast of Tobuck so that I may paint a better picture of you for myself. There, I will make my final judgement call and we can iron out a proper agreement should I accept.

Part of Adagio was mad that she was being accused to using the pony, while another felt a little relieved, in a sense. She was meaning to use Alesia, of course. What other reason would she have to contact a literal mercenary? However, the pony seemed smart enough to deduce that falling prey to her and her schemes was probably the last thing she would agree to. That was bad, in a way, but also good in another. She was making a good impression on Adagio. At least she seemed observant and intelligent, something that Baragzen fellow was severely lacking.

I shall be waiting for you at the disclosed location at the mentioned date and time. Respectfully, Alesia Snezhnaya.

"Well, well, well," sounded Adagio as the young hippogriff lowered the letter, "I think we have a winner. Leave the letter here, I think I'll read it once more myself before beginning preparations to go and meet a new friend, as it were."

Knock, knock, knock

"May I come in?"

Sonata was about to knock again, giddy as she was, when the door was opened for her, revealing the adolescent King Zamni.

"You really don't have to ask, you know? It's not like I have appointments these days, and definitely not in here anyway."

He laughed, even if his words stung Sonata a little bit. It was true, he had been kept isolated from... well, everycreature, really. No one knew where he even was exactly, only that the King was 'alive and well'. That's all Sonata had told her own underlings and troops to tell the zumidians, because not even she knew how to describe his current predicament. And she didn't know how to untangle it in a way that made her not want to throw up, either.

"Heh!" Sonata giggled, cheerful as ever on the outside. "Sorry, matter of habit. Adagio would always get super mad at me for rushing into her room unannounced. Not to mention Aria."

She heard her young friend chuckle at the comment before he gestured for her to enter, stepping aside.

"Oooh, what's that?" the colt wondered as he shut the door behind Sonata as the latter swam through the air and into the room, floating over to the king's bed where she placed down a box of sorts.

"It's a game!" the cheerful siren gave out, much to the young teen's delight. "A friend of mine came up with it, actually. Or, well, I guess it was his company, technically. But he gets credit!"

Zamni crept up close to the sea creature, and jumped onto his bed, prancing around on the soft blanket on which the box rested.

"I wanna see!"

Sonata chuckled and smiled, gladly taking off the lid to reveal a folded game board, a separate compartment for two sets of dice, as well as one for player figurines.

"Ooooh! I haven't seen something like this before! Zumidia's never made this type of stuff!"

Indulging in the boy's childful glee, the siren removed the game board from the box, revealing a whole other set of game pieces. Namely, fake money bills in various colours with varying values. Additionally, there were small cards that seemed to denote 'ownership of property', with rent prices listed on each of them.

"Wanna give it a try?" The siren beamed a wide smile, already knowing the answer.

"Obviously!"

Zamni wagged his tail as his friend began to unpack and prepare the game for play. The game board appeared to be a single 'path' or road on the outside, with various tiles that each had an ascribed name. He quickly realised it was some sort of property, similar to the cards he had seen. All of them were hippogriff cities and towns of note.

"Oh, uh, Sonata?" he spoke up as the sea creature began sorting the property ownership cards in accordance to their colour coding.

"Hm? What's up, Zamni?"

"I've been meaning to ask, and kiiinda forgot last time," Sonata kept on doing what she was doing as she listened, though she raised a curious eyebrow, "you aren't a hippogriff, right?"

The siren chuckled. "I mean, duh. Wait, I told you I was a siren, didn't I?" She paused at her own question. Had she seriously not told him the first time she'd visited? She honestly couldn't tell.

"Nono, you did. But... well, I don't know what a siren is, you know? I've seen more than enough hippogriffs, and obviously I'm a zebra myself," the King clarified, "but I never heard of a siren before. What actually, err, are you, in that sense?"

Sonata smiled on the outside, continuing to prepare the game now, but she was starting to sweat on the inside. They hadn't even started their game and already with these questions.

"I err... how do I say this..."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's just that sirens are... special, you know?"

Zamni chuckled at his friend. "Well yeah, if you are any indication I bet they are." Sonata laughed along.

"We're uh, friends of the hippogriffs, in a sort of way."

"Oh. Huh. I never heard Silverstream mention you and your kind before when she visited. How come?"

Zamni's head recoiled a tiny bit as Sonata dropped two silver figurines out of her hooves and onto the game board.

"Are you alright?"

Sonata gave him a sheepish smile. "Oh I'm fine, no worries. Sorry if I startled you there."

The siren picked up the two player figures as her mind raced. She had almost forgotten that both Silverstream and Skystar used to visit the king on several occasions before they came in and took over in Hippogriffia. Skystar was with them now, a beacon of music and everything, but Silverstream was on the loose, still. She wondered just how those two had influenced the young colt back then. She was usually open and friendly, but not so much towards those creatures who had called for her death or renewed banishment, like those two had.

"A-Anyways, I think I'll take this one," Sonata spoke up further, placing her chosen player icon on the 'Start' field. A silver guitar. "What about you?"

"Oh, ummm... hmm..." The king pondered for a moment longer before moving closer and reaching for a silver crown figurine. "This one!"

Sonata chuckled, a sigh of relief echoing through her mind at having successfully distracted the little one for now. "Really? A crown?" She held a hoof in front of her snout as she snickered. "I suppose I should have seen that one coming."

"Oh shush!" the young zebra jokingly barked back at her, giving her a light jab to the side. "So how does it work?"

"Aw, come on! Again!?"

Sonata's sigh was drowned out by a heartful chuckle from Zamni as the two dice landed on the game board. A total of 8 eyes. She grumbled as she moved her guitar figure across the board 8 tiles, landing on the field she was already dreading.

"Time to pay up, Sona!"

"You're crueeel!" the siren yelped.

"Young businesscolts have to make money somehow, don't you think?"

She wore a frown on her face as she removed several high-value money bills from her side of the board, picking them up and handing them to the colt on the other end.

"Thaaank you very much! Do visit again!" he joked as he counted the money.

"Meeean!" Sonata complained again. Even at a glance, it was clear the king was leading by a long shot. Twice as many properties to his name and at least thrice the amount of money. In fact, with that last payment, Sonata was close to bankruptcy.

The zebra finished counting with a smirk, and picked up the set of dice. And yet, he waited, turning his attention to Sonata once again. "Hey, uh, by the way, you never did tell," he wondered, "what actually is a siren? I mean you are obviously from the sea, that much I can predict, but... well?"

"O-Oh, did I forget to answer? Sorry! I guess I got carried away by the game just then!"

"No worries. It's been fun so far, for sure!"

"Yeah, for you! You're winning!" Sonata pouted and crossed her hooves, a brief glare at her side of the board enough to make her realise just how terrible she had performed.

"Hah, no worries. It's all with a side of luck, in the end, right?" the king comforted. "But really, I'm curious."

"Well... we sirens, we... uh... well, we sing a lot, you see?"

Zamni blinked. "Uh... huh. You mean like, everyone likes to sing?"

"Kiiinda? We're all reeeally good at it. It's kind of a big deal, and uh, we do it a lot. It's how we get creatures to- err..." she paused, then waved a hoof dismissively. "Nevermind that."

"Huh. I never did think that was what you would be good at. When you see a large creature like yourself - no offense - you don't really start to think of singing, exactly."

Sonata did her best to try and generate a hearty chuckle. "Yeeeeah, we get that a lot."

"What's more?"

"Well we're uhhh... friends of the hippogriffs, as I said and-"

"How come Silverstream and Skystar never told me? They were my friends and always kept me informed."

The teal siren gulped, holding back a variety of emotions within her at that time. "Zamni, I uh... I don't know how to tell you this... but..."

The young zebra cocked his head to the side. "Huh?"

"Silverstream and the princess are kiiinda douchebags, actually."

She was unsure just what to say or think when Zamni sat there motionlessly, perhaps as clueless as her. "Uh, what? They're my friends, Sona. They were the only ones regularly visiting me back during the mandate, when the hippogriffs governed us. Skystar was always trying to cheer me up and Silverstream was..." he paused, and chuckled briefly, "she uh, did a lot of crazy things. Got good laughs out of it, at least."

Sonata was eerily quiet, seemingly trying to avoid eye contact as she looked at the board, her cards and money, or just around the room in general.

"Sonata, what's wrong? What did those two do to wrong you? I swear they're good-"

"They're not!" Sonata exclaimed, startling the colt. "They really tried to hurt me! Me and my best friends, actually! And... and I don't wanna see them ever again, ok!?"

"I-I think you're thinking of the wrong-"

"Zamni, just... don't go there, alright?" Sonata pleaded. "I know who I'm talking about. And I know, with certainty, what they wanted to do to me and my friends. All we've ever wanted is to be free and do our thing, but those two... they..."

Zamni's face fell as he saw the otherwise so cheerful siren began to tear up.

"Sonata, I..."

"Do you know how long we had to wait!? How much all this means for us!? And they just try to... to undo all of it!" the teal creature wailed. "Why can't we be happy like them!? Why can't I have a friend like them!?"

"Sonata, I never meant to-"

Zamni began to move around the board in an attempt to reach for Sonata to comfort her, but the siren moved away from the bedside in an instant, like a frightened cat.

"No. I... I'm sorry, Zamni."

"Sorry about what? I mean obviously I would have wanted you to like my friends also but I don't mind! Really!"

Sonata shook her head as her hooves covered her tearful eyes.

"I don't know what to do or say anymore. One side thinks I'm evil and the other thinks I'm stupid... but I don't know where the good side to all of this lies..."

"What do you-"

"I-I got to go. Sorry."

"Sonata-" he watched Sonata quickly swim towards the door, swinging it open to leave at a moment's notice. "Sonata!" he called again, jumping off his bed.

He heard several more subtle calls of 'sorry' before the door was slammed shut. He swore he could hear sobbing and crying from the other end of the door for some time before that, too, abandoned him and died off.

The White Severyanian

It was calmingly quiet underwater. Many creatures feared the depths of the ocean, dreading what might lurk beneath or even just the simple depth itself. It surely was not an environment most creatures could survive, let alone flourish in. A siren was not like creatures.

Down there, Adagio was more than 'just' a siren. She did not fear the depths as other, simpler minds and races did. She did not fear predators, because no matter how far she went, she was the predator that other maritime life would make a great curve around.

It was a little odd, actually. Trapped for over a thousand years in the confines of their magical prison in the Mareiana Trench, one may well have assumed that the three of them would forever forsake the waters, and while that experience certainly stung, it did not cut down on the joy they got from experiencing what may well be called their natural habitat. To Adagio especially, this type of journey was a pleasantry. The world above was all so new. It was changed from the ground up, and it was forcing its will and rules upon her, rather than the other way around. She had tried to resist that fact, but reality had begun to slowly settle in - helped in part by Aria's insistence.

But not here. Not beneath the waves. Underwater, she was still Queen. She was the alpha predator that was feared and dreaded by all, her yellow body flowing back and forth as her large tail fin propelled her forward at surging speeds. Sure the mortal races had developed underwater probes, and even submarines, but those were a far cry from what she was capable of. The siren felt... at peace, down there. A relaxing occasion, in a way, even if she was technically in hostile waters, and on a way to a rather obscure meeting.

She was lucky, in a sense. Chiropterra had attacked the desert tribes of Zarantia days prior, meaning they were going to be distracted, and although the tribes 'technically' had a coastline, desert tribes did not exactly offer up much in terms of a war fleet. Not a modern one, anyways, which meant the fleet of the lunarists was likewise absent, it seemed. No destroyer or submarine patrols in sight.

Then, Adagio froze. Like a sixth sense, she felt something reverberating through the waters. Prepared for anything, she flicked her large form around back and forth whilst showing her sharp teeth to any potential assailant.

And then she looked up. Small ripples originated from a likewise small motorboat. She saw it slowly proceed, the noise of the engine barely audible at her depth. This, she assumed, was her cue.

The yellow sea creature swam upwards towards the moon above, its light and form distorted by the waves. She gained more and more speed, but held back enough so that she wouldn't outright shoot out of the water.

She emerged with a loud splash and a hoof outstretched. There was a thunk as the vehicle bumped into her hoof, stopping it dead in its tracks. A single occupant, an earth pony with grey fur, a teal mane and blue eyes sat on the boat, eyeing the newly emerged siren. Her cold, determined glare did not betray any fear or fright from Adagio's arrival. The lead siren immediately took note of her military uniform, a khaki service uniform of unknown origin, and a simple, likewise khaki peaked cap - likewise unknown in origin to her. There was no iconography on any of her attire that would have hinted at the mare's allegiance. That was probably for the best, given current circumstances.

"So you really came," the pony began, her voice a little raspy, sounding like it was worn out. She turned around and shut off the engine behind her, returning blissful quiet to the scene.

Adagio grinned. "You sound surprised. I was the one who contacted you, was I not?"

"Forgive me if my trust is not self-evident for a creature enslaving the minds of the masses for their entertainment."

"Pah," the siren barked dismissively. "And what do you know about me and the others? What we do and why we do it certainly has more to it than petty lust for control!"

The mare looked on for a few seconds, remaining painstakingly silent.

"Well!?" Adagio reiterated with heated temper.

"Nothing. I was trying to recall an old tale my grandparents told me once back home. I believe it involved your kind... but my memory is foggy about it, now."

The sea monster let out an audible growl, and raised herself a little further out of the water, looming over the tiny boat.

"Don't mess with me, puny equine. You are here at my request, and I can just as easily throw you away as I called on you."

Again the pony appeared to spare some time to think before answering.

"And yet, I wonder why you called on me to begin with. You have two full realms now fully under your spell - literally - and an army of thralls with it. What made you seek out a lone commander such as me, I wonder?"

Adagio squinted her eyes.

"The reason for my request is of little importance to you. The only thing that matter is-"

"The only thing that matters to me is loyalty. It is what I expect of my soldiers, and what they expect of me. It is what you expect of me, evidently... and it is what I expect of you. You have come here because you are in need of somepony. Somepony such as me, and given the alternatives to my person, I am willing to stake a claim that I am the only one available for whatever job you need me for."

Adagio was silent, listening begrudgingly. The officer took one step forward, then another half-step to the very front of the boat. The siren lowered herself to see eye to eye with her properly.

"I value honesty as part of demonstrating loyalty, and so I will show the same to you now: I do not like you. I find your kind to be a potentially great threat to everycreature including myself. I am reminded of the tales about King Sombra, and his own attempt to control his subjects via magic. I want no part in it."

"Then-"

"However," the mare continued, "I likewise admit that my hate for you takes second place now, with the dreaded lunarists and thestrals being priority one. They stand to oppose all I hold dear, and destroy all that is sacred to mark it in their image after. The scorch your home, kill your family, make you do forced labour and force you into some abstract 'faith' of theirs - and then, at the end, you are told to be thankful for it all."

She shook her head in defiance.

"I may only be a simple mare, but I am willing and able to use my skills to advance my goals. If that means accepting your... help, then that is a sacrifice I am willing to make so that ends meet."

Both of them fell into silence. Adagio blinked, and spoke up to break the deadlock.

"For a mortal," she said, "you certainly have guts. Few in history have stood this close to me and dared such words."

"If they were untrue, I would not have uttered them."

"Perhaps so..."

Silence, again, as both sides stared one another down.

"So. Are you going to kill me for supposed insolence? Are you going to control my mind, also?"

"Pfft-hahahaha!"

Adagio's laughter rang out in the dead of night, all while her companion stood idle, waiting for a proper reply to be given.

"Oh, certainly not, my silly little pony friend. After all, I have need of you, and unfortunately our magic spell has this awful tendency to make creatures... not so bright. They are obedient, but don't make for good leaders, scientists or teachers."

"All of which are things you need, I presume," the pony deduced.

"Indeed."

"Meaning you intend for me to serve you willingly after all. Why risk it? I am in foreign territory and could easily sell this information to the lunarists."

"Why, you've already told me you hate them with a passion, first of all. Beyond that? We may look to support you for a more permanent position of leadership once the thestrals are beaten. A friend of mine, Aria Blaze, is busy in Colthage at the moment," Adagio explained. "She informed me that she is looking for loyal but skilled leaders for the armed forces which she has put together."

This time it was the pony that was silent and listening.

"And finally? I hear you value... loyalty. Luckily for you, so do I, though usually that is enforced through means that should appear obvious."

"Forgive me, but how can I be assured of my own safety if I am speaking to a creature that mind controls its own subjects?"

The siren sighed, then grumbled.

"A common misconception, actually," she corrected. "Though we do possess the ability to fully control somecreature's mind if we desire, we usually do not. For the lack of a better term, the 'standard state' of any of our thralls retains individuality and free will, though they retain absolute loyalty to us. The only other change is that they will come to be easily annoyed by mostly everything and everyone, creating hate and strife which we can then feed on."

"Feed on?" asked the mercenary, furrowing an eyebrow.

"Oh, I assumed you knew," Adagio admitted. "You appeared like such an observant and overly prepared one to me."

"I cannot produce ancient literature out of thin air, however."

"Hah," the yellow creature chuckled. "Well, yes. We sirens survive by feeding on negative emotions of others. It is both what sustains us, and what increases our magical powers ever further."

"I see... and so you keep on conquering your way across north zebrica to increase your powers?"

"It's a byproduct, yes, but not the main show. We have a few old friends to meet up with, shall I say?"

The pony perked up, cocking her head slightly to the side.

"Revenge?" She earned a faint smile from Adagio, which was enough in her mind to confirm her theory. "Hmph. I wish I could condemn you for such a petty motive... but I find myself tied on that front."

"So I was told. You are from Equestria, originally, correct?"

"Severyana," the pony corrected, "not Equestria."

"Which isss.....?"

"It's an autonomous region of Equestria. Or it was, before the marksists popped up and tore it all to shreds."

"So it was a part of Equestria then," Adagio insisted.

"No," the pony likewise insisted. "We were not ruled by the Princesses, but by our Tsaritsa. It just so happened that when our ruling dynasty died out, the college of nobles elected... Celestia, who became our new Tsaritsa as a result."

"So it-"

"No it was not," the proud pony adamantly pre-empted. "Our culture and identity was far different from what you might know as Equestrian. Our heritage is our own."

The siren was close to laughing but kept as much of a straight face as she could. She had been there long before the three tribes even migrated to what is now Equestria, and even when she was banished the tribes had yet to unify.

"I believe my idea of what makes up a pony from Equestria may be a little... outdated," she admitted, simply. "Which is entirely deliberate, obviously, as I am in no need or rush to learn anything more about those puny ponies."

"I will presume I should take no offence to that comment." The officer sighed, before finally removing her peaked cap, lowering it and holding it in front of her chest. It revealed just how ruffled and messy her teal mane was. "I suppose I never did introduce myself properly during all this. My apologies for... skipping pleasantries, as it were."

She bowed her head slightly and immediately looked back up.

"I am Alesia Snezhnaya, former general for the Republic of Tobuck, and exiled from home across the sea."

"Adagio. Adagio Dazzle," the siren introduced, raising herself a little higher out of the water once again. "You can consider me the lead figure of our... 'government', so to speak."

Alesia nodded, and placed her hat back where it belonged. "A pleasure, I suppose. An unexpected one, I admit."

"I suppose I agree," the yellow beast muttered, her tail fin briefly splashing across the waterline loudly. "I had read and heard about you, little pony. They told me you were disciplined and dilligent, if not a little tunnel-visioned."

"Hmph," came the response in kind. "I focus on the task at hoof. I do what I am told to do and what must be done so long as my honour is upheld." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I, for my part, was told you were an evil monster, and that you would either eat or hypnotise me out here."

"Could do, you know."

Adagio began to chuckle, and although usually so firm and nonchalant, Alesia soon joined in.

"I believe I have taken a liking to you, Miss Snezhnaya. Driven by a lust for distant revenge? Desiring loyalty from those who adhere to you? Cunning and intelligent, yet also has a bold tongue? Yes. Yes, I think you will do fine."

"Which is the siren way of saying I am hired, I presume?" the Severyanian asked half-jokingly.

"Under the condition that you and your soldiers remain absolutely silent about our agreement, and do not screw up before the time is ripe - yes."

Alesia took a visible, deep breath. "Very well, but I must inform you that I won't be a simple collaborator just like that. My soldiers are in large part Severyanian exiles like me, with the rest being Tobuckian zebras. As you can imagine, they would look at me cross-faced if I went back to them now and told them we were going to be fighting and potentially dying for the mind-controlling sea monsters from abroad."

Adagio wanted to grumble, but found herself unable to. The pony was making a valid point, or - as she was assuming - an excuse.

"I will need some sort of compensation and reassurance to be part of our agreement, and something notable at that. Something my mares and stallions can fight for."

"Which would be...?"

"I suggest the lands of the former Republic of Tobuck to be turned over to my governorship once they are under our control, as well as the eastern parts of Chiropterra once those are conquered."

"And you think I will let you take a slice of the pie - my pie - just like that?" the siren countered.

"I am a pony of her word, as I said. I may govern the lands, but I shall of course remain in your service even then."

Adagio tapped her snout with a hoof as she pondered, her tail fin splashing repeatedly as it dove up and below the waterline in quick succesion.

"Something tells me you have an ulterior motive, my dear equine."

"I admit, I have been wanting to settle down somewhat. After my exile from Severyana, I have travelled to various nations in Zebrica to serve them as a mercenary. Tobuck was just the latest stop, in that sense, but I would like to make it the final one."

"You want these lands to settle down as a governor for us. Is that right?"

"I still am a warrior at heart and will continue to serve as a commander, but I desire someplace to call home away from home. A New Severyana, so to speak."

"Tssk. There you are," Adagio muttered with a grin. "That's what I figured this was leading up to."

"My home lives on within me and all the exiles with me. If we cannot rebuild our original home, then we must do so here and ensure our traditions live on through us."

The siren nodded several times. "You know, I would normally wave my hoof at you and tell you your talk about petty traditions and culture is boring, but I find your persistence and dedication rather admirable. I wish the two girls I have with me were as adamant as you on our own task ahead."

A sigh escaped the jaws of the lead singer. She would definitely need to talk to Aria and Sonata about this new arrangement afterwards.

"I accept your proposal. The exact positions of yours will be determined when we get there, but it will be made to make sure it fits our needs."

Alesia bowed her head and placed her right hoof over her chest. "I humbly accept these conditions and thank you. My soldiers surely will, as well."

"To think I'm really doing this..." the siren humoured quietly.

"Doing... what, exactly?"

"Reaching an agreement with a mere pony, of all creatures. It was one of your kind who locked me and my companions away, after all."

"Hm. So I was right after all. Starswirl?" Alesia suggested.

"Don't even mention that filth's name in my presence. The sheer thought... ugh! I won't have it!"

"If it's any consolation to you," the mare argued, "I am no ally to Equestria and its leaders either. They are the reason Severyana fell to the communists, and the reason all I've held dear was lost." She took a deep breath. "Should you look for revenge there... then I would not be opposed to coming with you."

The yellow creature looked on in further amazement. She couldn't help but grin.

"You continue to surprise me, Alesia Snezhnaya. Perhaps there are some very, very few exceptions to the norm, and you ponies aren't all terrible."

The exile smirked at the comment. "I would hope so. If not, then I'll prove it to you in due time, so long as you uphold your end of the deal."

"Don't worry about that. I think we have an understanding here, after all."

"That, we do." Alesia nodded.

"Good. You would best be off then. I will reach out to you when necessary. For now, subtle sabotage is as much as I require of you - and perhaps a good bit of evesdropping where convenient."

"Sabotage and espionage... not my usual deal, but it can be done."

The pony straightened up and raised her right hoof for a salute.

"Farewell for now, Miss Dazzle."

She lowered her hoof and turned around, taking two uneasy steps on the tiny vehicle until she sat where she originally had, just next to the motor.

"One more thing," Alesia froze, one hoof having already reached out for the ignition as the siren spoke to her one last time. "Call me Adagio."

With that, the ancient sea monster dug her face into the water, and her whole, towering form was quickly swallowed up until it looked as if she had never been there at all.

And yet, as the low roar of the engine filled the air around Alesia once again, and her improvised vehicle began to move forward, she couldn't help but think she had seen a smile on the siren's face just as she had left then.

No Rest for the Wicked

Aria felt like she hadn't slept since forever. Days of planning, weeks of training and practice, and now the nerve-racking wait for results and updates. It had taken a noticeable toll on the siren, who was now enjoying the closest thing to a warm, relaxing bath for her kind - namely, a large tank of warm, clear water placed in a otherwise quiet, tall room to fit the container. All around the tank were brown pinboards, each and every single one of them absolutely swarmed and stacked with reports, data, and even just newspaper articles that she hadn't found the time to read in recent times but found interesting at a glance.

The siren was exhausted, terribly so. She was immortal, had been confined to darkness for over a thousand years and experienced truly terrible things throughout her ancient lifespan... but now? Now she was simply tired and out of it. Bags were visible underneath her eyes, even as she drifted within the vaccum of the water container, which despite its width was still not fully capable of housing her body in full, and so her tail wound sideways to accomodate.

She had tried to sleep, but found that she could not. Yet whenever she wanted to focus on anything in particular, to read and catch up on things, her eyes felt heavier than ever, and drifted shut. She was a little unsure whether her hazed vision was a result of the water and glass in front of her or whether she was truly this far gone, already.

Aria knew what was wrong. She could see and feel it; obviously she was not oblivious to her own condition. But she pestered herself to keep going despite it all. She couldn't rest, couldn't 'take some time off' and put one of her specially chosen Generals in charge in her absence.

Her teeth scrunched as the purple creature placed a hoof up against the glass. Her rear gently floated downwards until her purple scales touched the glass floor with a nearly inaudible 'dink'.

Was there anycreature she could trust to step in for her? To take up her responsibilities? There were so many of them now... not to mention that she was a very picky individual at heart, and wanted things done in just a certain manner. Just who could she really entrust such a job with? Was there anyone? Any creature at all?

She relaxed, her sigh turning into a small flurry of air bubbles that rose to the surface. There was nocreature that could replace her. Were she not so exhausted from everything, she may have taken that fact to heart and taken it as a prideful compliment: she was truly one of a kind, and irreplacable!

And yet, here she was. Tired, weak, dazed. She was a real wreck, and certainly not fit to lead anyone, let alone serve as Commander-in-Chief of an entire military force. The latter was less than ideal now of all times. Not only were they at war, but she had given the go-ahead for Operation Alaudia two days ago. It should already be underway.

She looked to her left, specifically eyeing one of the pinboards around her wet home. Her eyes studied a map she had seen countless times by now. She was the one who had drawn up most of what was on it, after all.

There had been numerous complaints, issues and worries raised to her ears in the run-up to the operation. It was too risky, too early, too small, too big, too underprepared, bla bla bla. She had heard it all, and frankly, when she had thrown a fit at one of her generals the other day, she had told everyone that the operation was going ahead. She was so sure of herself then, to prove her superiority and strength to them for good, and silence the critics. She was a siren, and meant to rule the world, after all! She would wipe the floor with those zebras in Colthage, and Adagio herself would come to her in open wonder of her achievements.

She wondered where that confidence had gone to now. It certainly was nowhere with her; that she could feel for a fact. All the bold planning of the past, all the talks and all the bold orders and insults she had made... she was so confident then, in the moment. Afterwards, though, she felt like a complete dunce. She whinced mentally at her own actions, preferring them to never have been spoken aloud. She needed advice in this day and age, and she certainly needed a helping hoof - or claw, or whatever limb anycreature that was capable for the job could offer her.

Sending all their marines to land near, and then capture coastal bases, including the city of Hippone, was no easy feat. If her theory was correct, then the colthaginians would have a skeleton crew watching the place, with all their eggs in one basket on the frontline in Zumidia, which was still stable. They could seize those ports, open up new fronts, and all the while they could begin their main push out of Zumidia. It would be an overwhelming multi-pronged offensive.

Which was probably not a good thing given that her army was a bunch of angered hippogriffs and likewise angry zumidian conscripts. Sure the generals were kept more or less clean of their spell's effects - with the effects increased temporarily as a form of punishment - but the field officers weren't so lucky, and the common soldier even less so. They would be fighting mercenaries for the most part, sure, but even mercenaries had fighting spirit, something that a band of brainwashed goons that absolutely hate one another lacked almost entirely. She had figured out a sort of sweet spot a while ago, a level at which to keep her magical influence for the armed forces. It was plenty enough to keep them loyal to her and the other two even in the face of death - no information leakage that way, and no deserting or other no-no actions - and it made sure they followed direct orders if they were authorised by her. Yet, the magic spell was loosened to a degree that allowed free thought within those boundaries, but since they were still actively under her spell, it meant the 'side effect' was also there with them, within their minds. In laycreature terms? They all hated one another, and were annoyed by virtually everything. They obeyed, sure, but their performance was not exactly 110% to say the least.

Aria rolled onto her back, and allowed herself to drift all the way to the bottom of the container. She watched the tiny bubbles of air rise from her snout, her eyes still so very heavy. Maybe now she could... just for an hour...

She didn't even realise when the door slowly swung open, and a military adjutant pranced into the room, carrying a thin, brown folder under her folded wing. The hippogriff took it into both claws, looking at the form of her superior. She seemed at peace in there, and the occasional, tiny air bubbles coming out of her nostrils indicated she was likely snoring and asleep.

The officer made as little noise as possible as she took another pin and stuck the folder to one of the pin boards around the water container. She snuck out as quietly as possible, and the door closed slowly behind her, a meager 'click' sounding as the lock fell back into place.

Aria simply dozed on, her exhaustion having finally caught up to her. Again, as usual, she would open her eyes, but this time she couldn't open them fully, or for long, no longer having the focus or energy for it. She swore there was something important there...

Was that... a newspaper? A report maybe? What was that?

Did that say 'Alaudia'...?

Why was... that........

Zzzzzzz...

Tearful Reflections

Thunder boomed in the distance, muffled by layers of bricks within the depths of the Royal Palace in Trotgourait. Already it was raining harshly, the hail bashing against the old windows of the tall building.

Sonata raised her head to look at one such window. She saw that the sky had grown darker than minutes prior, killing off the sunlight in that afternoon.

The siren sighed, and allowed her head to droop low. She was hunched up on a flight of stairs, with her lengthy body extending across over a quarter of the total steps. She placed her snout in-between her hooves, with her eyes only half open by this point.

She hated herself for saying and doing what she did earlier. To Zamni. She knew none of what had happened was his fault, that liking Silverstream and Skystar didn't make him an awful person, nor that he should have somehow known better than to befriend them. The young king had already told her, after all, that he was mostly alone back then. The two hippogriffs were probably among his best friends, in a way.

And Sonata had gone out of her way to scold him for it. She had lost her temper and told him that he shouldn't be making friends with certain creatures solely because they were mean to her, that he would have to accomodate for her own wishes.

That's one thing that stung her deep, right in the gut. When she stormed out of his room and slammed the door shut, she realised that what she had said was exactly what others had always told her, in turn. Aria and Adagio... was she becoming like them now?

The young siren shook her head quickly as if to cast off that thought. Nonono, she was not like that. Sure she might have snapped then, but that was... different. Aria and Adagio always told her those things while completely calm and unaffected, so this was nothing. Right?

At that point Sonata wondered why she had even grown angry with him to begin with. She refused to believe it was her friends' influence showing itself through her, so was it really just a thing in the moment? Wasn't Zamni a friend too? If so, surely she shouldn't have said the things she said, right?

The tall creature writhed back and forth, unknowing of her own thoughts anymore. A part of her found it weirdly liberating to decry Skystar and Silverstream, she found. After all, it was they who led the resistance against her and the others - with weapons at the ready and more than enough willpower to use them. Hippogriffs had died because of them, on both sides!

The lone, helpless siren allowed her head to sink even deeper, covering her eyes with her own hooves. She could fell something swelling inside now, but she didn't mind.

All she had ever wanted was to be free and to enjoy that freedom with others. For the longest time now, that materialised through Adagio and Aria, with whom she shared a common bond the likes of which was unparalleled to her knowledge.

But... their differences were clear as day, and although that didn't mean she didn't like them - quite the opposite actually - it did mean that it made truly enjoying time with them a rare occasion. There was always disagreement on something, or a spark from a petty insult, that kind of stuff. Again though, she didn't mind it all that much in the end... but... she wishes they would at least listen to her. Sometimes, at least, just from time to time. Adagio had always been the one pulling and pushing all the buttons and levers in their group, with Aria playing second fiddle begrudgingly. Her? She was basically ruled out entirely, yet still she believed that her ideas could really help others, including those two.

Sigh.

If only they would listen...

Booooom.

The sea monster quietly thanked the heavens for the thunder and rain that was filling the air with noise now, as both began to mix with a quiet sob of hers, a few tears beginning to drop onto her hooves.

Nocreature had ever wanted to just listen to her. She wasn't the smartest, sure, she knew that. Aria was the strategist of the group, always having some deep, complicated plan for everything, whereas Adagio was much more direct, but also cunning and deceitful with how she manipulated others even without their spell's influence, as rare as that might occur.

And she? She was... well... she didn't know what she was. Didn't know what her contribution really was, in the end. She had told herself many times she was jovial and happy, that being outgoing was her part of the trio and that it somehow helped a group of creatures that could bend the world to their desires by mind-controlling them.

Yet... without her happiness, without her carefree attitude and her willingness to 'just try' things and give them a chance, who or what was she? Was she really Sonata the siren, part of their musical trio on a quest to avenge themselves and the others?

Or was she just a background singer at best? Was she perhaps just white noise? A nopony?

"Sonata!"

The teal siren's eyes flashed open as she recoiled in shock and reared her head in an instant. Her vision was fuzzy, what with her still drenched eyes and whatnot, but she could clearly she a metaphorical wall of yellow before her. She could see...

"Sonata, I've been calling your name three times!"

Adagio.

"Did you-"

The lead siren appeared to pause with a mouth agape. It took Sonata a moment, but she traced her opposite's glance right back to her own face.

"I-I-I err..."

Frantically she raised her hooves again and ran them across her eyes, wiping the tears away as best she could. They were still a little red, though, and clearly Adagio had already seen too much.

"Sonata, are you-"

"-Fine!" Sonata quickly interjected. "I'm good, I'm fine! W-Why are you asking?"

Unfortunately for the young siren, she was not a good liar or actor, which became ever so much more obvious now that she shot a wide, faked grin at Adagio.

"Perhaps it has to do with you crying when I came here?"

The teal creature winced.

"I could hardly overhear the sobbing, you know."

She covered her face with her hooves as she attempted to make herself as small as possible.

"But what matters, Sonata," the young siren's world froze for a moment as she felt the touch of another hoof touching down upon her own left hoof, "is that I can't ignore it."

"I... I-I messed up again, didn't I?" the young one asked quietly, her sobs from before slowly bouncing back.

Adagio cocked her head ever so slightly.

"Did you?"

"Well I... I said... I mean I didn't..."

Sonata placed her hands back underneath her hooves like before and sighed deeply. She shook her head, as if trying to deny everything and anything that had happened recently... and then her crying began in earnest.

"I-I didn't mean to say... the things..."

For some time, Sonata was alone again in her mind. Crying, sobbing, shouting incoherently as she wanted everything off her chest. Everything was messed up now, everything was just awful, and the worst part was that now Adagio would make it worse because she knew. She would know Zamni was not under her spell, that she had tried to befriend him and even treated him to a casual board game. She would know that it even caused her to neglect her 'real' duties, in some small part. Once again, Sonata was going to be the failure she had always been in her elder's eyes. Her opinions wouldn't matter, especially not now, and what small trust had been invested in her by the two others was certainly forfeited now.

There was another muffled, roaring thunder from outside as the storm picked up.

"I n-never... meant..." she weakly managed. "I just wanted... ugh..."

The rain continued to whip against the windows nearby as the wind picked up. It was almost enough to cover up the sound of another creature lowering herself down onto the staircase right next to Sonata.

"Sonata."

Adagio waited several seconds for a reaction, and even then, all her younger partner did was slightly lower her protective hooves over her eyes so that she would catch a glimpse of her.

"We need to talk."

"I-I know, I know... I messed everything up like u-usual..." came the response as the whimpering siren covered her eyes once more. "I always do..."

"What happened, Sonata?"

Adagio didn't get the response she was hoping for, and so placed a hoof on the teal one's back, hoping it might spur her into speaking her mind... but it had a little of the opposite effect, causing her to flinch and tighten up even more by the seems.

"Sonata, look, I... I haven't seen you cry since... well, I don't know exactly, but towards the start of our banishment!"

The young siren felt the hoof on her back ease up, moving up and down as it stroked her like so.

"What I mean is..." the lead singer continued with uneasy words. She was not exactly used to comforting another, when usually her eyes were set on doing the exact opposite of that. "I'm worried. About you."

That got Sonata's attention, and although she remained a sobbing, tearful mess, she at least raised her head a little to look back at Adagio. The usually so self-centered creature looked... uncomfortable, in a certain way, as she tried to smile warmly but was having issues doing so convincingly.

"You're just saying that."

"Ugh," Adagio retorted. "Look, I know this is hard to believe but... I mean it."

The two looked at one another during a shared moment of relative confusion, which then turned into awkwardness for Adagio. She didn't blush, but she certainly seemed flushed.

"Can't you just talk, already? I haven't had to do something like this in who knows how long..."

Rather than take it as a blunt insult, Sonata let out a big sob, sniffing before rearing her head, much to the relief of Adagio.

"I... I haven't been telling you things, Adagio..."

"Not been telling me? What did you do?"

Though usually such a question, directed at Sonata, would carry a pervasive and accusing tone with it, this time it seemed calm and genuine.

"You know how the zebras here had a king, right?"

"...Yeees...?" Adagio warily replied.

"I... couldn't bring myself to sing to him..."

The teal creature turned her head away, as if shunning Adagio out of fear.

"That's... not entirely unexpected, I suppose," said Adagio, trying to avoid contempt.

"What?"

"Sonata, I've known you for millenia. Do you really think I didn't foresee that possibility by now? Last time I sent you to deal with captured mortals you did the same thing, remember?"

"Oh." Sonata turned her head back to her companion, but looked a little deflated at the mention of the topic. "Yeah, I remember..."

"Ugh, sorry. I didn't mean to bring up-" Adagio facehoofed and sighed at her own incompetence at this. "What I wanted to say is that I know you well, Sonata. I know you don't do things exactly like I intend, and I know you have this... odd way with mortals, nowadays."

"But it's not odd!" Sonata suddenly gave out aloud, breaking the previously somber and calm mood. Adagio leaned back a little even as the youngling snapped. "You always say that! Always did! But why!? Why is it so bad to make a friend? Or two? Why can't we use our magic to make friends, to be happier, to make everycreature be happy like us!?"

"Sonata, I didn't-"

"And everytime I try making a friend, you and Aria take them away from me! No matter what I tell you, you always throw me aside and ignore everything I say! Because it's always you who gets to dictate what we have to do! Even Aria is sick of it!"

Adagio rested against the stairs as she laid next to Sonata, appearing staunch and calm as she waited for Sonata to finish her part.

"I only ever had you two as friends, and I love you both with all my heart, but sometimes I just... I feel like I don't know myself anymore! Everything I do now is like a coin flip between making me feel right or wrong, and if it's wrong I feel super bad about everything. It's because nopony has ever listened to my concerns, to my suggestions and ideas! And I know some of them are bad, kinda, but you don't even pretend to hear me out anymore, usually!"

Sonata took a deep breath to allow herself to continue. She was starting to simmer down in tone somewhat.

"I wanted to meet some of the mortals under us as an equal. As a friend! Because thralls might give us our magic - and I know we need our magic - but they don't give us joy in life, Adagio! They just do what we want and when we don't need them they go back to argue with one another. I get we're sirens... I get it! But there is another way somewhere where we can make this right, make it better! Some way to be friends, not tyrants."

Adagio nodded slowly as Sonata wiped away new and coming tears in her eyes.

"I thought I could be friends w-with the king and... I... I snapped and I told him... I-I..."

Without another word, the young siren was pulled to her left and into a very loose embrace by Adagio - very loose, in fact, as Adagio didn't seem to know where the threshold between comforting, loving and harmful was. Still, it was such an odd thing to picture for a very dazzled, scattered Sonata. Adagio was comforting her... or trying to in her own sort of way, and she was crying her eyes out in her arms.

"I'm sorry, Adagio... and I'm sorry to Aria, too..."

Sonata didn't resist, resting her head up against her friend's chest as the last of her tears came forth.

"I came here to make you proud... to show you could trust and rely on me and... maybe then you'd listen for once. But now," she sniffed, pausing for a moment, "now I've ruined everything. Again, like I always do."

The two creatures remained locked in place for a few calm seconds as Sonata's sobs gradually began to subside. Adagio looked down at her as she stroked her friend's back, just next to her large dorsal fin.

The thunder roared once again outside, and only a few seconds later, a bright flash through the closest window as lightning struck close by.

"Do you know why I always reprimand you, Sonata?" Adagio asked as the two clung to one another.

"You always told me you wanted to teach me how to be a proper siren... like your parents did for you."

"That's part of the reason, but not all." The lead singer took a deep breath. "It's because I care about you, Sonata. Aria does, too."

Sonata remained quiet.

"We knew we were becoming overbearing eventually, and Aria couldn't stand doing it anymore at some point as you grew up, but I continued. I didn't just want to be some sort of teacher. I wanted to help you find your way, and since it was always just the three of us... that way was with us."

"But there were so many ponies, so many other creatures we could have done things with. Why didn't we?"

"It's... ugh." This time it was Adagio who seemed to not want to talk, but given the situation she felt obliged to, though uncomfortable she was. "It never was that simple, Sonata. To you maybe, but Aria and I agreed to something a long time back. We swore it, actually, and promised to never ever betray that pact. Becoming friends with the mortal races was not an option, and I've tried to teach you that as well... but I know that fell short."

"But... why?"

"I can't tell you. Maybe another time, when we've overcome all this mess in Zebrica by chance, but for now you just have to take my word for it and believe me when I tell you that we never meant to intentionally misguide you. Because to us, right now, there is only this one way. Our way - and that means we have to tread it together."

Sonata's eyes looked down to the ground as she sniffed, then letting out a deep breath.

"You couldn't even let me have a few friends? That's all I ever asked for back then, and even that was too much for you."

Adagio looked another way also, still uncomfortable talking about all this.

"You had grown a lot by that point, and we had come to know that you were not going to follow our lead by example. So Aria suggested we keep you on a... short leash, of sorts. No fraternizing with the mortals at all. We didn't want you to be distracted or get even further deranged by them."

"Deranged? But they're just-"

"Please, Sonata, trust me on this. Just this once."

An eerie silence took hold then. It wasn't awkward unlike before, but Adagio hoped it was for Sonata to give her words a chance.

"I suppose..."

Adagio smiled - not that Sonata saw it.

"Not like it matters. Nocreature is ever gonna be a friend of mine anyway. They'll all run away unless I sing, or they stay and then I mess up and just... yell at them or weird them out somehow." The lonely siren frowned as her head slowly slid down Adagio's belly, until the latter grabbed hold of her tighter to stop her from doing so. "Or they'll just be taken away from me again."

She closed her eyes, perhaps trying to rest after the heart-wrenching hours spent alone, hiding from all her servants and duties. The smile on Adagio's face had faded by now... but she did have an idea in mind regardless.

"Maybe not all of them."

Like on command, Sonata's eyes snapped open, and she flicked around to look at Adagio from below, now essentially resting on her lap - though really it was just the base of her tail.

"W-What? But you just said-"

"Well, yes. I did. It's true that Aria and I made a pact all those many years ago, and that we plan to abide by it, but that doesn't mean we can't make the tiniest, most minimal of oversights."

Life returned to the previously so depressed and deflated siren, the familiar sparkle and life in her eyes coming back to life.

"No way. No way! Is this really you, Adagio!? Hello!?"

Just as Adagio smiled back at her for a job well done - in her humble opinion - the young creature lifted herself up and tried to jump down onto her in an attempt for a tight embrace. It was stopped just in time by her superior, who kept her at bay with her hooves and tail just in time.

"While I'm being very genuine, and I mean this in the best way possible, can we please stop with the affection and hugging and things? It's... not my style."

The yellow singer managed to push off her assailant, who quickly recovered and hovered just above the stairs, with Adagio promptly following and doing the same.

"But wait," Sonata realised, "I... don't have any friends. Well besides you and Aria, anyway. There was Violet Facade back in Hippogriffia but... Aria took her, and then there's King Zamni but... yeah. I kinda messed up with him. A lot."

"Messed up? Sonata, do you know how many times you 'messed up' on us?" Adagio mimicked quotation marks as she spoke. "If we had cast you out for some stupid thing you did or said, you wouldn't be here today. Not by a long shot."

"Well yeah, but we're immortal! The zebras, well. They take a lot more offense."

"Did he actually say he was offended?"

Sonata blinked, and remained quiet.

"Sonata..."

"It was a very stressful situation, in my defence!"

A dull thud sounded as Adagio facehoofed and shook her head.

"Nevermind that. Let's go," said she. "You're going to go for round two."

An Overdue Conversation

The thunder still boomed outside, as did the rain come crashing down, muffled through tinted glass and solid stoneworks.

Sonata had a hoof close to the door that led to the king's bedroom. Her fear was evident on her face, as was her nervousness about what to say and how to say it.

She looked over her left shoulder. Adagio hovered just about ground level with crossed hooves. Her passive frown turned into a supportive smirk as the two made eye contact.

"Go on," said the yellow siren.

Sonata looked at the door again... but hesitated.

"What if I say bad things again?" she asked, looking back at her friend.

"Don't worry about it too much. If you really want this - and I hope you do after all I've done - then you'll pull through."

The hint of annoyance in Adagio's words flew under the teal siren's radar as she looked once more to the front. Her hoof hovered ever closer to the wood.

"What if... he doesn't like me anymore? What if he doesn't wanna see me?"

"Only one way to find out," replied her partner. "Unless you want me to go in alone and ask him how he feels?"

...

*Knock, knock, knock*

A noticeable pause hung in the air before Sonata spoke up.

"Z-Zamni? Zamni, it's me."

Every passing second felt like a knot around her throat was being tightened. She practically held her breath, taking on a posture and expression that made Adagio wonder if her younger companion was hoping for the best or was dreading the worst. Knowing Sonata, though, it was probably a little bit of both.

*Gasp*

Both sets of eyes were trained on the wooden door blocking the way as hoofsteps were heard for a moment, coming from the other side.

"Sonata?"

Adagio furrowed a brow. She knew the 'king' was young, obviously, but had never actually heard a child speak in... well, far before their banishment, actually.

"Yeah," Sonata replied, opting to keep things short and simple at the moment so that she didn't freak out - which for once she realised she would if she didn't watch herself. Luckily Adagio was there to help with that, also. A small comfort, in a sense. "Do you mind if... I come in?" she added in a more quiet tone, shrinking a little in front of the door.

"Uh, sure!"

The voice of the kid sounded... enthusiastic, in a way, to Adagio. That, too, had been something she hadn't heard a lot of except for from Sonata herself. Usually the mortals around her were just serving her, after all.

The lead singer scoffed at her own thoughts which almost made her think she was 'out of touch' or something of the sort, which she obviously was not.

Then there was a very audible 'eep' sound, drawing Adagio's attention first to Sonata, who was blushing and frozen in place by the seems, then to the doorhandle which she was touching with a unsteady hoof of hers, and then back to Sonata's face.

"Sonata," the yellow one said quietly from off to her friend's side, hooves crossed but smirking vaguely, "you can do it. It's what you want, isn't it? If there's one thing any siren can do it's getting what they want."

"But... I always mess these things up, Adagio. I'm gonna-"

"Sonata," interrupted the teal siren's boss firmly, louder this time as well. Sonata waited for a few seconds... but no more was said by Adagio.

"I-I just think-"

"Sonata."

The younger siren blinked as her opposite stared her down, clearly intent on not letting her run in circles any longer. She slowly turned her head back around, eyeing the handle she was still vaguely holding onto, and she leaned on it a little more.

The creak of the old door concealed the siren's otherwise very audible sigh.

"Zam-?" the siren could do little but 'eep!' again as a young zebra found his way right in front of her, one hoof touching the blue tail fin of hers that hovered just above the ground.

"You really did come back!" the child-king happily exclaimed. "I..." he continued, quieter now and looking away, "I was worried you wouldn't... after last time."

For a brief moment, Sonata was simply stunned. Partially because she had been overwhelmed by the sudden closeness, but primarily because her fear of Zamni immediately shutting her out had clearly been for nothing. Had she been worrying over nothing all afternoon, and the many days prior?

Maybe. There was still much to discuss, after all.

"Of course I'd come back, silly!" the siren returned with much of her usual cheer. "I mean I left my game set here, after all. Duh."

Zamni and Sonata made eye contact as the two stared at each other for a second. Adagio listened from just outside the door as she heard the two chuckle simultaneously.

"Wellll, I guess I also wanted to come see you again," the sea creature admitted amidst the laughter.

"If you want, we can continue! I was extra careful with all the pieces, too!"

Adagio rolled her eyes and could only assume her apprentice of sorts was receiving puppy eyes just about then.

"I... I'd love to!" she caved. "B-But..."

Zamni took two steps back, looking up to her friend's face still. He cocked his head.

"But?"

"But..."

She hesitated. Her mouth opened once, then closed again. It opened a second time, but then she bit her tongue lightly. She was so happy Zamni hadn't shut her out... but that also meant she now found herself even more afraid to go further. To tell him who and what she really was. What the world around him really was.

She averted eye contact at all costs, eyes darting back and forth until they were led towards the doorway. There, Adagio floated, hunched over a little bit to poke into the room head-first.

Right. Adagio was there. She wasn't alone. Just like the many thousands of years... she could rely on Adagio. On her friend, one of only two.

Or maybe a third, starting today.

"But..." she started again, her heart beating like crazy, "but I think we have to talk first. You and I, I mean."

Zamni took another step back, his ears leaning downwards as he frowned.

"Is this because of what I said last time? B-Because if it is, then-"

"Nonono," Sonata interrupted, trying to keep some semblance of a smile on her face. To comfort the young teen and, Adagio figured, herself just as much. "Well, yes actually, that too," she admitted, "but this is about more than just last time."

"What do you mean?"

"I've... really not been telling you everything, Zamni... and... I uhhh..." the frightened monster shrank together to a point where she almost formed a ball mid-air. "I mayyyy have sprinkled a few lies here and there..."

Zamni simply blinked. His eyes searched the ground for something, anything, before his attention turned towards the doorway, and the previously unknown other sea monster that was peeking in through it.

"Oh, don't mind me," Adagio said with a smirk. "I'm just the moral support."

Zamni looked back to Sonata with a questioning, furrowed brow.

"Yeah," the younger siren replied without prompt. "Don't mind Adagio, she's just tuning in to make sure I don't run away. Again."

She chuckled meekly, a chuckle that eventually ended in a soft sigh.

"No use beating around the bush, I guess," she admitted, taking a deep breath. "So, you know how I told you Adagio, Aria and I, that we all rule together?"

Zamni slowly nodded.

"Uh... well, it's a little hard to explain but..."

Sonata gulped, eyes tracking Adagio again who returned a simple, confident smug grin to her. The yellow creature shrugged slightly, barely noticeable to Sonata.

"You also remember how I told you sirens were special, and that we all sing a lot, and very well?"

Again a simple nod from the young zebra king. Sonata drew a big breath in and...

Then sighed as loud as she could, before drawing another big breath. Adagio rolled her eyes without either of the two watching.

"So... sirens aren't exactly 'normal' in the traditional sense. We're immortal and don't eat regular food to survive. Instead we... eat negative emotions. You know, hate, anger, that type of stuff."

"You eat... emotions?" Zamni wondered. "How does that work?"

"Through these." She tapped her faintly glowing red gem with a hoof. "Every siren has one. I think it's best to just say it's like a second heart to us. Without them, we wouldn't be able to eat or use our magic, or remain immortal."

"Eheh... which... I guess brings me to our magic," she continued. "See, since we feed on bad emotions, it's sooorta handy for us that, like, we can use our magic to... potentiallyyy enthrall everycreature we see and make them hate one another...?"

"But I thought you were friends with the hippo-" Zamni paused. "Ohhhh..."

"Yeaaah... sorry..." Sonata agreed, lowering her head with guilt. "I didn't know what to say to you at the start so... so I started lying a bunch. The truth is that we aren't 'friends' as much as we conquered them. They're basically just our servants now... in a way. Hard to explain, actually."

Zamni opened his mouth to respond, but hesitated. The siren in front of him watched him step back a few paces, each step tearing at her heart just a little bit more.

"So," he began, "you're not friends with the hippogriffs, and you weren't sent here by them to look after me."

Sonata nodded.

"What about Silverstream? And Princess Skystar? Are they...?"

Previously those names had stirred the siren's temper, had caused her to remember the terrible things those two had tried to do to her and the only friends she had. And she had gone and let it all out on... him.

"Silverstream's alright. I think." She looked over towards Adagio, but the latter only shrugged, having no clue who Silverstream even was. "She's not with us though. I don't think I could show you to her if I tried."

Zamni lowered his head, disappointed but at least not angry with Sonata. Yet, anyway.

"And... Skystar?"

"She's uhhh... how do I explain this without having to explain another specific thing?"

"She's a little like us now," came the fitting reply from Adagio, who had entered the room finally and floated over towards Sonata. "Sonata found a way to create magical gems similar to our own, and we have her wear one as a necklace these days. She helps us, in a sense, by tracking down creatures in our territories who aren't under our spell yet by putting them under said spell herself."

"Huh," Sonata thought and said both at the same time. That was a lot easier said than she thought, and certainly not as terrible as Adagio could have made it sound to Zamni.

"I assume by 'help' you mean...?" Zamni asked whilst knowing the answer already.

"I'm afraid we had no other choice," Adagio answered in a stern yet calm way. "As Sonata said, we came in and took over. I realise this... Princess may have been close to you in some way, but she was a direct threat to us. She called for us to be murdered, after all."

Zamni looked horrified, and eyed the more well-known siren instead. "Is... is that true? Skystar tried to kill you?"

"It is," came the reply along with a subtle nod. "She rallied hippogriffs into a resistance that..." she paused and bit her tongue. "Let's just say it wasn't very nice."

The young king sat now, rear planted firmly on the otherwise cold floor. His head sank to stare downwards as he pondered. Sonata didn't need to check to know that he was upset, and sad. She was upset when Skystar was even so much as mentioned, due to her threatening her and her friends. Why wouldn't he hate her for that same reason? For harming Skystar?

"So you're not friends with the hippogriffs but... mind-control them? And eat all their negative emotions?" asked the monarch in a emotionless voice.

"I guess so... yeah," replied the teal one.

"And you were never friends with Silverstream and Skystar, but enemies instead?"

Hesitation at first, but Sonata managed a "mhm" at the very least.

"And... you're here not because you were told to be friends with me, but because you... took over Zumidia as well? Is that right?"

"Well," was Adagio's reply before Sonata could even so much as open her mouth. "He certainly has a bright mind of sorts."

"Heh..." chuckled the younger one quietly, looking down to her friend thereafter. "I'm so sorry for lying to you all this time, Zamni. I really, really mean it."

There was an eerie silence in the room then as Zamni considered, only occasionally broken by very much muffled thunder sounding off through the thick brick walls.

Sonata was close to voicing yet another 'eep' when Zamni turned his back to her and began to pace towards his bed. Next thing she knew, she felt another hoof on her right shoulder. A quick glance was enough to confirm Adagio's oddly reassuring glare. She had to be strong now. For herself and for him.

She looked back to the front, eyes growing as she did so. There was a slight ruckus as Zamni dug his head underneath his bed and pulled out...

"The board..!?" Sonata gave out.

"The... board?" Adagio voiced afterwards, eyeing the plastic game board with suspicion.

"It's the one I brought with me to play with him!" her younger accomplice quickly elaborated. "But... why? I thought I-"

"Yeah," Zamni interrupted, eyes glued to the board set in front of him now. There were the two silver figures the two had picked last time - a crown and a guitar. Two dice were also placed on top of the board. "I know everything is messed up. And you know," he said, turning to face Sonata again, "I am mad and furious at you, in a way. I really liked the Princess and Silverstream... but..."

"But?"

"But they were rarely here, really. And when they were, I often felt like it wasn't entirely genuine. I don't know, maybe Skystar's mum had ordered her over? I suppose I'll never know."

Sonata nodded in silence, while Adagio made a mental note to ask the enthralled Novo about this topic back home atop Mount Aris. More info to wield was always helpful in some way.

"So I guess..." he turned his head to look back towards the game, "maybe I just like you more. Or think you're being more honest with me than them. After all, that's the whole reason you're here now, right?"

Sonata was frankly somewhat speechless, so she simply nodded once again and added a "uh huh?" on top of her minimalist response.

"I've been treated all my life like somepony who can't do things on his own. I was always too young, or too stupid, or too important, funnily enough, to do things. One day I would be told I was too important to go out to make friends, and then another I was told my potential friends weren't important enough!"

"So... what I mean is that..." he looked back at Sonata. He was smiling. "I like you, Sonata. I know now that you're not who I thought you were, and that the world around me has changed according to that. I might be trying to hide fear now, but even with all this mind control stuff, I can say that I know you, Sonata. I know you, and so I know it can't be some pure evil megalomania. Right?"

For a moment, Adagio wanted to raise her voice, but was promptly silenced by the sobbing of the companion right next to her.

All the fears she'd had about this. The fear of being rejected; that for once she had tried to make a true friend in this world only to have them reject her. She was worried Adagio would still scold her after this, and what Aria would laugh at her again. But for now, during all of this, all she had meant to do was make a friend. An actual, honest friend.

And a friend, she had made indeed.

"Zamni..." came the quiet attempt at reply from Sonata.

The young monarch chuckled.

"I'll definitely scold you for what you're doing, don't worry. But I also think that you're a great person, Sonata. And... you too, I guess?"

Adagio cocked her head and looked at the little zebra with disbelief as she realised it was her being talked about.

"I'll take the uneducated guess as a compliment."

"Thanks, Zamni. Really," Sonata voiced, not quite able to avoid tears all the while. "I was... so nervous, you know?"

"Yeah. Me too, actually."

"You were?"

"Yeah. I actually thought you'd never come back and see me again after last time..."

Sonata's sobbing stopped, and her tears appeared briefly frozen in time... before they ran wild amidst her uncontrollable laughter.

"H-hey, what!?" Zamni protested.

"Y-You really thought I'd just ditch you like that? Come on! Do I look like an Adagio to you?"

"Sonata," came her boss' stern reply.

"Aria, I mean."

Zamni joined in with a hearty chuckle of his own, covering his mouth with a small hoof of his.

"Ok, ok, fair enough. But still!"

"Yeeeah," Sonata replied as her laughter died down. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. But don't worry, alright? I'm here, and if I didn't care I wouldn't have."

Her friend nodded.

"Maybe we can finish our game now?"

The two sea creatures looked at one another with relative bewilderment and surprise. Neither had really expected such a quick turnaround to... playing games, simply.

"I mean... sure, but we should start again. I think that would-"

"You're saying that cause you were losing," Zamni happily interrupted with a grin.

"Was not!"

"Mhm."

"Ahem." The two were pulled out of their playful argument in an instant as Adagio made herself known. "While I'm sure Sonata would love to play, she also has... other things to be doing, still. Things that she's been neglecting, if I recall?"

Sonata tactically avoided eye contact, knowing full well her elder was staring her down just then.

"R-Right, yes. But we can play some other time!"

To this, Zamni happily nodded.

"Well, you know where to find me," he joked. "Speaking of, how about we do a trip... outside, maybe?"

The teal siren was about to answer when, despite her best attempts, she caught a glimpse of Adagio's deadly glare. If looks could kill, she would have flatlined right then and there.

She recomposed herself as best she could. "Aha, well, I suppose we can look into that. I think it's best not to make too many promises right now, at least until..." she glanced back over to her right. Yep, still staring at her. "...until I get all my important things sorted out."

She looked back at the Zebra. "Sound good?"

He nodded. "I look forward to it! Though... I think you really should be going..."

Sonata gulped. Even Zamni had picked up on the lead siren's grimacing by now.

"Y-Yeah. I think I oughta," she returned with unease. "Thanks again though. For trusting me and... everything, I guess. It means a lot to me, and I hope I won't let you down."

The king simply nodded.

"What are friends for?"

Sonata didn't have anything to say to that, and kept quiet. That, or maybe it was Adagio's hoof around her neck that was dragging her out the room by force.

The door would be shut with a good, loud clack, leaving the king inside and the two visitors just outside.

"Great," Adagio said. "Now that you aren't scattered all over the floor, I suppose you can actually help us like you were meant to."

"Heh... sorry. I just-"

"Look, Sonata. I don't care about Zamni, nor do I care about him being your friend. He's a shut-in child and has no contacts outside these walls that could come to harm us due to him not being under our spell. So frankly? I'm fine."

The yellow siren sighed and placed a hoof on Sonata's shoulder.

"But please, pull yourself together in the future. I stumbled upon you by happenchance, and I certainly can't be your babysitter. Not Anymore, at least. You have to be able to survive on your own like this and do your part. For me and Aria both, if not for yourself."

Sonata frowned briefly, but when her own hoof clutched Adagio's, she smiled.

"Thanks."

Adagio blinked.

"Thanks?"

"Yeah. For the pep talk, and everything today. And..." she paused for just a moment, looking Adagio in the eyes. "And for everything, actually. I always knew you tried your best even back then with me..."

The two remained in an awkward silence for a few seconds, with Sonata trying to find the next thing to say and Adagio essentially deadpanning.

"I tried. Even back then. Sorry I couldn't live up to your expectations then. But, maybe I can now?"

"Sonata," said Adagio with a surprisingly soft, gentle voice. The teal siren could even see hints of a genuine smile on her opposite's face. "I know you always tried your best. My parents did with me, also, and I ended up different too. The three of us, we're all different in a sense."

She sighed.

"I admit, that fact is rough and grinds my gears usually, but it's not the worst thing to experience. To have you and Aria is still better than no one at all."

Sonata grinned.

"That sounds like someone is trying to say we're bestieeees~!"

"Nevermind. Back to berating you."

Sonata chuckled as her elder removed her hoof and turned her back on her.

"Come on, I know you love me and Aria! You were joking, right?"

Adagio began to move away, down the hall.

"Right?"

And further she moved.

"Adagiooo! Waiiit!"

As Sonata's wails were cut short by the sound of thunder outside, Adagio remembered when she had faked to leave Sonata behind back when she was still her teacher millenia ago.

Sonata was goofy. She was insufferable sometimes, and certainly lacked a certain sense of awareness. But she was a friend. Her friend, and Adagio was never good at letting go of things she treasured.

Just before a pair of blue hooves flung themselves around her neck from behind, accompanied with yet another wailing cry, the leader of the trio of sirens smiled.

"What are friends for?" she thought.

Helping Hooves

The days were a drag for Aria. That's something she would have said plenty as it were, but the war was something else entirely. Hours felt like days, day like weeks.

She was glad, in a way, that she wasn't like Sonata. She had the endurance to at least try and push through to the finish, even if she knew she was exhausted. The younger siren would have probably curled up and cried instead.

Yet another small stack of papers found itself in front of Aria as she shuffled through them. The letters were mostly a haze by this point, but with enough blinks and focus she could make out what any particular report was about. She kept insisting she was fine when asked by attendants and adjutants who entered her room, but she knew that as soon as they left the room they were calling her names, calling her unfit and broken.

Maybe she was. Probably, actually. But that didn't mean she could stop. Not yet.

Her eyes scanned another report. Something about the City of Colthage, which got her attention. She leaned in closer and rubbed her eyes to try and get a clear picture of what was written, but found a hard time doing so. Her head lowered itself a little further, with her eyes falling shut for a brief moment.

She snapped back to attention as she woke from her split-second slumber. Again she rubbed her eyes, and cursed herself under her breath. Paperwork was something she was admittedly competent at, but that didn't mean it was thrilling.

Just as she leaned forward to try her hoof at reading a second time, she flinched and leaned back again.

*Knock, knock, knock*

Ah great. Another visitor. Probably another batch of reports for her to fall asleep over.

"Come in," she voiced without looking towards the door, trying her best not to fall asleep for this presumably brief visit.

The voice creaked as it opened. In her sleep deprived state the purple siren did not even realise the lack of steps after the door was closed again.

"Well? What is it?" she asked, again not looking towards the guest as she did so. Her eyes flickered as her head bobbed up and down as if in a trance. Maybe she could just close her eyes for a brief mom-

"Surpriiiise!"

Aria intended to straighten out but was completely overwhelmed and restrained before she could even attempt such a thing. Teal hooves and a teal snout to boot restrained her from behind as one certain young siren clung to her.

"S-Sonata!" she resisted. "Get off of me!"

"Nnnnope!" resisted the teal one with a grin.

Just as she was about to utter a stern 'ugh', another figure entered her peripheral vision. The colour yellow immediately told Aria everything she needed to know.

"...Hey, Adagio," she greeted simply, pouting.

"Don't give me that attitude."

"Well sorry but one of us is being tackled by a taco-crazed lunatic as we speak." Her eyes darted towards where Sonata's snout poked over her right shoulder. Yep, that girl was still smiling at what she was doing. "Speaking of which: mind lending a hoof with this?"

"Hmmm..."

The lead siren's eyes flicked back and forth between Sonata and Aria multiple times.

"Not yet," she declared after a few seconds of consideration. The smile she wore on her face was poison for Aria.

"Ugh. Why are you here anywho? Both of you? Don't you have things to be doing?"

Sonata chuckled, much to her captive's demise.

"We're here to help, duh!"

The purple siren short-circuited for a brief moment.

"Wh- Hu- Help? What?"

"You are aware that everyone outside of this room is talking about how you never sleep or take breaks?" Adagio returned with crossed hooves, looking and sounding almost like a mother scolding her child.

"Or how awful you look, really!" Sonata added, earning a glare from the others. "What? Have you seen the bags under your eyes, Aria!?"

Aria remained quiet and inert for a few moments before moving a sole hoof towards her face. She touched the area just below her eyes gently. Sure enough... Sonata was right.

"Aria, do you mind telling me just what you think you're doing? With all this?" Adagio demanded, again sounding a little condescending and scolding.

"I don't mind - if you can get Sonata off of me, that is."

The teal siren perked up as Aria shot a renewed glare over her shoulder and right towards her.

"Fine. Sonata, sit," the eldest commanded.

"Hey! I'm not a dog, you know!"

The leader furrowed a brow and shot a frown towards Sonata, simply.

"Ok fiiine."

With a soft grumble the youngest of the three unhanded her friend, who then promptly used her new freedom of movement to swirl around to face Sonata down with a death-inducing glare and grumble. The young ditz could only smirk sheepishly at that.

"So?" Adagio spoke again, regaining Aria's attention. "Do tell why you've been trying your best to run yourself into the ground all on your own."

"That's not what- nevermind." The purple one sighed, turning towards her desk for a moment and placing the last paper on one of several stacks visible. "You might not know it, Adagio, but this whole 'war' business is a big deal. And I mean that in every sense of the word. It's way bigger than any feudal levy system we knew way back in the day in Equestria, not to mention the scale and complexity of it all."

"So your logical reaction to something being way more complicated than before is to, what, tackle it all on your own?"

"Of course not!" Aria returned immediately. "I've tried to delegate to generals and such... but that only goes so far."

"What do you mean?" Sonata asked whilst cocking her head.

"I have all of these ideas in my head, the exact way I want and need things to go. I know what has to be done, but not everyone here sees it my way, and even those that do I'm not always certain could actually live up to my expectations."

"Sooooo..." Sonata voiced, "you just try and do most of this by yourself because you don't trust others?"

Aria wanted to retort and push back but... found herself mute and speechless.

"I thought you'd rearranged the officer corps? Isn't everycreature here someone you do trust?" Adagio likewise commented.

"Well... yes, but-"

"But you still think that if something goes wrong it'd be your own fault."

Aria perked up and looked at Adagio.

"And because you can't stand losing you end up doing most of this yourself instead of entrusting others with this stuff."

"A-Adagio, how did you-"

"Oh please." The lead singer rolled her eyes and grinned. "We've known one another for millenia, Aria. Do you really think I wouldn't be able to decipher this in a heartbeat?"

Again Aria wanted to reply, but nothing came out. No, Adagio had a point. She and, yes, Sonata too, were her friends. Not just any friends, but millenia-old friends.

"Right..." she simply gave out.

"So then tell me why you didn't at least ask us for help?"

"What?"

"You heard me," Adagio voiced. "Why didn't you ask me or Sonata for help with any of this?"

"I... no, I couldn't. Adagio, you know I couldn't!" the purple siren declared with newly found vigour. "You yourself said this military stuff isn't for you, and that is bores you. And..." she looked towards Sonata again, who cocked her head at the motion, "you know letting Sonata anywhere near a frontline would result in an explosive disaster, and I'm not even sure which side would win in that case."

"Hey!" the teal one cried. "I haven't blown anything up in, like, ages now!"

"A month ago is 'ages' now?" Aria returned with a smug grin.

"Sure is!"

"Sure isn't."

As the two glared at one another, about to throw punches as per usual, they were - likewise as usual - interrupted by a sigh and groan from their leader. "Ugh." Adagio facehoofed and shook her head. "Look, Aria, I know that. Okay? I know that."

"But," she continued, "that doesn't mean you should, or could, do all this on your own in any case. You have to trust others to do things for you... as terrible as that prospect is." Aria knew from that voice that the concept of 'needing' others, for whatever reason, was biting Adagio in the gut, as well. "And if you don't think you can trust the mortals around, at least trust us."

"Sonata isn't any good for a commander, true."

"Stooop!" the youngest cried again, her hooves flailing wildly.

"But she's responsible for the occupation behind the frontlines. She should be close to where you are anywho, and I'm sure some company wouldn't do you any harm from time to time."

"Pretty sure I can forfeit time with Sonata to work more on-"

"No you cannot," Adagio interrupted, glaring at the military strategist with a hint of disappointment. "And if not Sonata, then me. I may not know half as much as you about this, but I can at least sign off less important documents which..."

She looked to Aria's left and at the desk of hers. The amount of paperwork stacked there was impressive and terrifying both.

"...which it seems you have plenty of." Adagio was beginning to regret offering her services this way already, seeing all of those papers.

"What I'm saying is that you turtling up in here is doing none of us any good. You need some rest first and foremost, and then you need some help, be it from us or others you think can fit the bill."

"I'd be glad to stop by twice a week and check in with you, Aria," Sonata offered with a warm smile.

The purple sea creature pondered. She wanted to simply smile and accept all of this advice and support.. but a part of her mind told her not to. She had to do this, all of this, because if she didn't then they would lose the war. And if they lost the war...

She shivered internally.

"I... I appreciate it, you two," she said in a unusually soft tone. "But I can't."

"Oh yes you can. And if I have to burn each and every bit of paper in this room for you to lay down and rest," Adagio insisted.

"Adagio, I know you only mean-"

"Aria."

The siren blinked as she was stopped dead in her tracks.

"I know you, Aria. I know who you are, and how you are. And I know you think this is all on you. That's what you thought when we faced the resistance in Hippogriffia, as well, and it's how you've always handled these types of problems. It's always up to you to do it, and only you."

Aria shrank a little, grumbling quietly only for a gentle hoof from Sonata to pat her on the back.

"But we're here. We're here together, Aria. There's a reason we've stuck together as a trio and aren't a one-siren show. We all can rely on the others in some way. Me and Sonata may not be able to do exactly what you can, but we can help somehow, in other ways."

"Yeah!" Sonata said in a much louder tone as she beamed a grin at Aria. "And you don't get to choose whether we're being nice to you!"

The tired sea monster rolled her eyes before letting out a sole chuckle. "Right. Fine. Just... stop with the sentimental stuff. I get it, alright?"

"You never do, Aria." Adagio grinned.

"Bite me."

"Not this time."

The two chuckled more earnestly this time, ending only when Aria held a hoof to her head.

"First off though, please get out. I... need some sleep. Badly."

Reaching for the Pearl

It was funny, in a way.

For months, Aria had disregarded her subordinates as being far less competent than herself, no matter the rank they bore - ranks which, usually, she herself had granted them on account of being promising leaders and supposedly competent. The irony of her insecurity had only begun to sink in later, now that the other two were offering to help her.

Still, her job remained all the same. She was in a provisioned mansion somewhere in western Colthage, where her new headquarters had been setup. Around her were dozens of uniformed hippogriffs, but also zebras. A very small percentage of the latter were actually Colthaginian, which was part of the charm behind the siren spell in times like these. Their enemies were only enemies until they heard their beautiful voices, after which they would be as loyal as anyone else under her influence.

Alas, it wasn't so easy. It never was in this odd new world. Colthage had learned and was trying to distribute makeshift ear plugs to their troops, for example, with officers receiving radio headsets. At least, that seemed to be their plan. The reality for them was that many divisions of theirs were woefully underequipped and rarely got a hold of these things. Corruption and bad infrastructure was on Aria's side to that end. Still, it was never as easy as simply sending a Beacon of Music up to the frontline and having them sing. A single rifle round would shut them up in an instant after all, and those gems were hard to make, and expensive to boot. No. No, she couldn't afford that type of nonsense.

Thus, stuck with 'conventional warfare', the purple siren once again, like so many times prior, stood hunched over a map of the land, with dozens of rectangular shapes indicating individual troop formations, as well as air support. From them, coloured and labeled arrows were pointing to various locations around Colthage. Most of them, she noted, were pointing east. Towards 'the Pearl of Colthage' - the city itself, so neatly located in its serene little bay.

"So," came a voice to Aria's left. She looked up from the map and towards its source, seeing Adagio studying the map as she had a moment prior. "What exactly was your plan in all this?"

Aria returned her glance to the map. She still wasn't fully operational again, and the stress and overexertion of prior weeks was still showing itself, but at least she could think and act clearly again now.

"Operation Alaudia was our springboard to launching a massive offensive into Colthage."

Adagio's eyes followed her friend's right hoof as it moved across the map to indicate what she was saying.

"Our Navy deployed Marines to the north, which was relatively unguarded. Here, next to Hippone. From there, they managed to build a bridgehead and advance southeast."

"Meanwhile," she continued, her hoof now pointing to the border with Colthage in Zumidia, "we launched an artillery and air bombardment on the main front, after which we broke their strongholds and drove them before us."

"And last but not least." Finally, she pointed towards the city of Colthage itself. "We sent a small flotilla into the bay to bombard the capital. Half of it was sunk on the way back by responding enemy ships, but this will have sent a devastating message to the political elites hiding out in there."

Adagio frowned and crossed her hooves, evidently not satisfied wholely.

"You're taking that loss a little too easily, aren't you? Those are mortals, and you're shrugging off the fact they managed to defy you if only partially?" This time it was Adagio who pointed to the map with a hoof of her own, gesturing to the Alaudian Sea north of Colthage. "Send out our fleet to blow their pathetic ships beneath the waves! They'll know not to defy us then."

"Easier said than done," Aria replied sternly, her frown straight and unmoving. "If I had had a chance to just destroy their navy, I would have surely taken it by now. As it stands though, we aren't invincible. If we were, we wouldn't be doing any of this to begin with and could have just spread our song like in the old days. And neither are our troops invincible, Adagio."

Aria finished off with a sigh.

"I know it's annoying because I thought the same at the start, but we have to play their game for now. There's just no other way if we actually want to accomplish our goals. All of... this," she said and gestured to the busy room around them, "is necessary. It's not just here because I fancy it."

The leader of the sirens kept her frown up for a moment longer, only for it to melt into a sort of satisfied smirk.

"It's good to know being stuck in isolation for a thousand years with Sonata hasn't dulled your mind or dedication, Aria."

"What, did you think I was messing around here? Wasting our time? I didn't nearly drop dead from exhaustion because I thought it'd be funny, Adagio."

The yellow siren chuckled.

"Oh, I'm sure you tried your best."

Aria frowned.

"Bite me."

"Maybe another time. For now, I need to know what you have planned next."

With a definitive grumble, Aria turned away from her smugging friend, and towards the map once more.

"We've made solid progress as it stands. Alaudia was a surprisingly great success, and the fact the Colthaginians rely so heavily on mercenaries not only means their military is corrupt to no end, but also easy to rout. We're currently looking to encircle what little remains of their most western forces around the town of Zinissut, after which we're going on a drive straight for Colthage."

"You're going straight for the capital?"

Aria furrowed a brow as she looked up, only to realise Adagio was doing the exact same thing.

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Well, perhaps I was expecting something more... creative? Going straight towards it seems more like a... like a..."

"Like a 'you' solution, Adagio?" Aria grinned.

"Why yes, I do solve problems in the most time-efficient manner possible," Adagio proclaimed. "Though yes, that seems more like something I would suggest."

For a moment the purple one paused, before shrugging it off.

"I could do things that would probably be a lot safer, but they are also much slower and require a lot more skill to pull off. I was already frightened Alaudia was too much to pull, after all."

"So you still don't trust me, Sonata or your generals?"

"Ok first of all: Yes, I do not trust Sonata with anything even remotely related to weapons or war." Adagio let out a happy 'tssk' at that comment. "Second, I do trust you, and I'm... trying to trust others."

"So?" Adagio voiced. "Why the hurry?"

"Because, Adagio," came the stern reply, "we aren't alone, remember?"

Adagio's eyes widened by an ever so tiny bit.

"You mean those... thestrals, was it?"

"Chiropterra. Yes. They and their Nightmareist cult are almost done conquering the deserts of Zarantia which, if I may remind you, are bordering our lands in Zumidia. They're almost undoubtedly looking to speed things up as much as I am. Whoever of us can finish their war first can get dibs on invading the other side while they're pre-occupied."

Adagio was... silent. Surprisingly so, even to herself.

"That's..." the yellow siren gave out slowly, "a good point, actually. Sometimes I underestimate you, Aria."

"Thank you for realising. It only took you multiple millenia."

At that, the praising attitude of Adagio had quickly evaporated once again.

"Don't worry though. While you were busy over here, I did some... negotiating of my own for the future."

Aria raised a brow, her confusion and curiosity equal in measure.

"Adagio... what did you do this time?"

The yellow siren broke eye contact, and instead looked at the map once again. Aria followed her stare - which targeted one specific city.

"Let's just say I've managed to make... a friend."

Adagio chuckled, eventually turning into a sinister laugh, as Aria continued to stare with hints of confusion at the black square on the map which was labeled 'Tobuck'. Frankly she wasn't sure if Adagio was going insane like she had shortly prior due to her exertion, or whether she actually had tried and make a friend due to exposure to Sonata - which when she thought about it would likely have induced the aforementioned insanity.

She eyed the cackling Adagio for a moment before surveying the state of affairs in Colthage on the map once again. She grumbled as a determined frown settled on her face. Insanity or not, Adagio's help would be vital - even Sonata's would be.

The race was on, now. That much she knew.

The Upper Crust

Shots could be heard from far away, mingled with artillery barrages meeting the arid soil of Colthage. The battle raged on even now. Even with so much progress, some of the zebra fools clung on to hope. But by now, the war was all but won.

A new flag was raised in the city's ancient port facilities, and atop its government institutions. The flag of Sirenalia - fittingly yet uncreatively named on a whim - fluttered in the warm breeze. The city had fallen days ago. The nation's back was broken.

Plumes of smoke rose from several buildings in the city, as resistance had only led to bombardment and destruction of them in the wake of the surprisingly short siege and assault. The defenders had been demoralised by then. The levies and conscripts were barely equipped or trained, and the mercenaries that still remained called in their paycheck weeks ago and were by now an ocean away to save their own skins.

The Pearl of Colthage - the ancient city - was theirs for the taking now.

Days after the city's capture, zebras are being assembled in a hotel lobby. Armed guards, primarily hippogriffs but also numerous zebras, push them forward with their rifles and keep them in a vague line, neatly lined up. They all look terrified and confused at one another. Some of them wear vibrant clothes that match the equally vibrant interior of the lobby they were in, while others had ridden themselves of all clothing in an attempt to not be recognised after the fall of the city. A futile attempt, as it now seemingly turned out.

"What's going?" one asked. "What are they doing to us?"

"What do you think? It's the sirens, after all," replied another.

"Oh shut up, you. If they wanted us brainwashed, we already would be!"

Suddenly the room went quiet as the front doors bursted open. Heads turned and mouths fell shut as everycreature knew who was before them, even if they had never seen something like her.

"Right you are," Aria playfully muttered as she hovered closer. Soldiers closed the doors behind her quietly. "Truth be told, Adagio recommended I simply turn you into common thralls and have you slave away in some plantation - fitting for landowners like you, right?"

The sea monster's grin bore down on the group of zebras.

"For all the time the girls and I were away, it sure is amazing how even today there are creatures like you roaming about. Though I think back in our days you were just called feudal lords and ladies? Whatever."

The siren shrugged.

"Unfortunately for me - and Adagio for that matter - we have some meager use for you, so to speak. So although I would find it hilarious to see you dancing to my tune, there's another fate in store for you."

The zebras before her looked at one another, one of them eyeing the soldiers around them. Their pupils were shrunk and dilated, almost like they weren't fully... there.

"What do you mean?" one of them, a stallion, rebuffed. "What does some creature like you need from us?"

A mare next to him slapped his face and shook her face in anger. "Forgive him, he's a little stupid, you see?" she muttered in a happy tone. "What he must have meant is... we're just humble plantation and farm owners, yes? What do you, who is so obviously powerful and magnificent, need of us in this hour?"

Aria rolled her eyes and crossed her hooves.

"For someone supposedly humble you are quite good with your act," she said, and the mare flinched at being called out. "You can cut your charming and worming. If I wanted endless praise and for you to bow down and kiss my hooves I could make you do so in the matter of seconds."

She pointed a hoof towards them.

"Evidently, that's not why I'm here."

The mare from before took a step back, and kept her head low, almost as if bowing.

"T-Then what do you need of us?"

The group was collectively looked on in surprise when Aria sighed deeply.

"Let me set the stage first. What do you numb nuts actually know about me and the others?"

"The others, as in..."

"Yes, the other two," Aria confirmed.

"Well," a stallion voiced to explain, "we only really know rumors and tales, you see. Nothing much at all is known about you besides the obvious ability to... err... to..."

"Yes, yes, mind control, I get it," the siren babbled with disinterest. "And?"

The group was taken aback at the casual disinterest Aria showed. Needless to say mind control was a pretty big 'issue', and for her to so casually shrug it off...

"W-Well, we know you seem to rely on negativity in some way? And... that's it, pretty much." He looked at the monster for a moment before hurriedly bowing his head. "I'm sorry, that's all I know."

Aria tapped a hoof of her against her scaled arms as they were still wrapped together. Her eyes scanned the group left to right.

"Anyone else?" she questioned.

No one dared raise their voice or hoof.

"Right. Let me just elaborate in that case that, yes, we sirens do in fact feed off of negativity, including the negativity you feel towards me right now."

The zebras froze and held their breath.

"That was a joke, by the way," the siren relented. "Or, actually not. But don't worry, it's only natural, right?"

Aria grinned in just a way that showcased her sharp, predator-like teeth which only stiffened up her 'guests' further.

"I invaded your home, after all, and now you're here fearing for your lives. Bla bla bla, you hate me, I'm evil, yes I get it. It's the same thing everyone says when we go anywhere. At least that hasn't changed in over a millenia, I suppose."

The zebras didn't move, their eyes only carefully wandering off towards the many soldiers all around them who were nearly as stiff and unmoving as them. Almost robotic, in fact.

"So, in essence," Aria continued on, "we sirens feed on hate and general strife to gather power and magic. We use that magic to sing our song and enthrall the masses, from which point bits of our magic are used to keep up our spell over said masses in varying degrees. Normally we keep magical influence to a minimum, so that even under our spell the creatures underneath us retain an independent mind, for the most part. The only major differences are total obedience to myself and the girls of course, and that they will grow annoyed and angered with their surroundings, unleashing hate and strife in their day-to-day lives. This, in essence, is a net positive if you want to call it that, in terms of magic use versus magic production."

The zebras were... confused, but some of the more business witty ones appeared to very slowly nod in understanding.

"We can of course raise our level of direct influence and control, until we have individuals like these," she said, gesturing idly towards the soldiers all around, "who are essentially blank-minded and follow only what we order them to do. Mostly, anyway. However, the more direct influence we practice, the less hate a creature will exert due to our own control making them less focused and able to hate. This means that if we seriously wanted to magically force creatures to work a certain job or the like, it would cost us tremendous amounts of magic to do so. We would have new soldiers or factory workers, but they would be under such heavy mind control that the magic gained from them would be negligible at best."

The wealthy zebras eyed one another, slowly breaking out of their stupor seemingly.

"To fix this, Adagio and I came up with a somewhat begrudging compromise."

"You... use certain influential stakeholders underneath you to govern for you?" one zebra wondered.

"Huh. Impressive. How did you figure it out?" Aria asked them.

"I... well, I see no reason why else you would have us here and not killed us yet. Or worse. It's obvious you want us to help you in some form, in my mind."

The sea creature nodded, and clapped her hooves sarcastically at the solved riddle.

"Very good, very good. You're smart ones, aren't you?" Nopony answered her, and she continued. "Just as we did in Hippogriffia itself, we will require a ruling class to serve us directly here in Colthage. Due to the nation's... relatively undeveloped nature, though, we can obviously not rely on it being an industrial park like the home of the hippogriffs might be."

"Is that why you gathered us then?" the mare from before chimed in.

"Colthage is big and relatively unindustrialised - but it's not barren. I did my homework on you fools and know who you are, and who you were to Colthage, too. The landowning elite that owns most of the farms and plantations?"

Some gulped. All of them, however, nodded.

"Well. Listen up, then."

The zebras did as asked, and yet some of them shivered when Aria moved closer, rising into the air until her shadow shrouded the group in darkness.

"I offer you the same deal we offered to the capitalist filth in Hippogriffia years ago. Surrender to our rule, serve us with absolute faith, loyalty and dedication, and we will give you more than you ever could have had under this pathetic construct of 'Colthage'. You will be the ones overseeing the menial thralls of ours here, and you will put them to work in the land to feed our labourers and armies elsewhere. You will doo all we ask, and should Sirenalia require more of you, then you will simply make your thralls work harder, longer. You will serve us and lord over your people in our absence - a people that is no longer a people, but simply a tool of ours. You will become the object of greatest hate and ire in Colthage, for all to hate, and yet our spell will restrain the masses from harming you - so long as you prove your continued worth to us."

She paused, smirking from above the group.

"What do you say?"

She held out a hoof from where she hovered, and some of the zebras mouths hung open in disbelief or shock. The grin on the siren's face grew into a malicious grin, her eyes narrowing down.

"Do we have... a deal?"