Blood.
The stench of blood filled the water around her, staining it as it traveled through her gills. She couldn’t breathe properly, bubbles spilling from her mouth every few moments as her body tried to purge the terrible water from her system. After a while, she forewent breathing altogether, wanting to get to the bottom of this.
“Ada… gio…”
Through the blood and darkness, Adagio spotted something, a vaguely familiar shape. Thankful for the clear coating over her eyes, Adagio moved closer and sank down. She involuntarily gasped at the sight of another siren, but the stench of blood and sickness forced her to stop her gills and lungs once more. The siren gazed up at her wearily through the murk around them.
“You must…” she whispered. “You must warn… warn your mother… You must lea…ve…”
“I’ll get you to my home,” Adagio murmured, forcing herself to reassure this siren, even with the stinging stench around them. “My mother can help you.”
“No…” the siren pleaded, pushing off the hoof Adagio had wiggled beneath her. “You… m-must… leave… it… it’s c-coming… y-you’re in… in danger already… you must leave me… and go…”
Adagio ignored her entirely and continued trying to pick the siren up. Despite her obvious weakness, the sick siren was doing a very good job of stalling Adagio’s efforts. The yellow siren refused to let up, though, and as the mysterious siren’s stalling grew weaker, Adagio managed to float her partway back to the ship.
They didn’t make it very far before a group of predators descended on them, called by the smell of the blood. Adagio bit her lip, wondering what to do. She couldn’t leave this weak creature alone, but if she swam away from the predators, then the siren might not live long enough to receive aid. Buckling down, Adagio took a deep breath. If she could just swim home, she could get her mother’s assistance in fighting off these predators. She just needed to make it ho-
“Ouch!” Adagio gasped as a light nip to her hide shook her from her thoughts. In her moment of pain, she briefly released the siren in her grasp. The siren flapped her tail weakly, leading their pursuers from Adagio.
“W-wait!” Adagio called.
The siren glanced back at her. “Warn her…” she called with her last bit of strength as one of the predators bit into her side, much harder than the nip she’d given Adagio. “Get away…”
Adagio stared in horror as sharp teeth continued digging into the poor siren. Blood filled the area around them and, if she didn’t swim away soon, it would cling to her coat and follow her. With a strong flap of her fins, Adagio propelled herself away from the scene, doing her best to ignore the sounds of flesh tearing behind her.
She had no time to think about the siren now. She needed to honor her last wish. Setting her jaw, Adagio swallowed down her grief at being useless to help a fellow siren in need and instead, shot herself as quickly as possible for her home.
Adagio lie awake, staring at her bedroom ceiling. The Battle of the Bands would take place the following day, so she really should have been sleeping, but so many thoughts consumed her. The most recent nightmare had brought back far too many memories, of fleeing to the mainland, of the losses she had suffered, of those she could have lost…
Sighing, the lead siren sat up and placed her chin in her hands. The Equestrian Magic would be her safe haven. Having their full power once more would make possible several things Adagio thought would be lost. Even if the sea has not been made safe again for Sirens, they would still be able to return to the land they knew as their home. The three of them could sing for ponies once more, their song would beguile those around them and bring about the disharmony necessary to fuel their Modules.
Deep pink eyes narrowed at the thought of ponies. One pony in particular. Star Swirl. It was he who banished the three of them here, who caused so much chaos in their lives. To have stripped them from their home so thoroughly infuriated Adagio to no end. It was their birthright as Sirens to sing for other beings. The music within them brought about multitudes of emotions, not just competitive anger. If that wretched unicorn couldn’t see that, then he would get the sharp end of her teeth once they returned to Equesria.
If the old pony isn’t dead by this point. Adagio thought with a small sense of vindictive glee. One of the many things she enjoyed about their Modules was their immortality, no doubt the reason they had lasted so long in this magicless world. Pink eyes narrowed for a moment. Not magicless anymore. And with the magic finally introduced to this world, we can regain our power and go home.
Standing and moving to the window, Adagio stared up at the moon. The one in this world could never compare to the beauty of Luna’s moon. There were so many things in this world that could never compare to their homeworld. Adagio had nearly given up on going back, after a thousand years of banishment. But Canterlot High was their key. Equestria was within their reach once more.
And she would tear down anyone trying to stop them. Especially those Rainbooms.