The Siren's Remorse

by TheronSniper

Ch. 41 Adagio For Strings Part 4

Ch. 41 Adagio For Strings Part 4

Serak began the next in line, “As funny as he can be, he is resourceful nonetheless as the first Earth pony to ever undergo magical enhancement during the warring of the tribes. I’ll be brief so this does not turn into a history lecture, before Equestria was founded the different tribes of ponies kept to themselves with their own high lords, kings, queens, chancellors, whatever have you can name. Before the unification of the tribes they were often territorial and a few skirmishes erupted over land and food. Earth ponies farmed the land to sell food for pegasi weather control and unicorn tools, though as an onset of what would become the Windigo Winter came food production fell. Before ponies were truly desperate and searched for better lands that would become Equestria in my time, those battles had led to the need of better defenses. For which the nobles under Chancellor PuddingHead started to take the conflict into their own hooves, looking to make the perfect stallion that could weather pegasus combat and unicorn battle mages. Though even he has no real memory of the process, they used foreign plants and left over magical items from the time of the Demons for the transformation. Thus, a Berzerker was formed! I need not say more as I’m sure you four know at least the meaning of that term right?” to which Dazzle grinned nearly ear to ear and nodded, much to Aria's bemusement while the other two studied the comical brute.

To Adagio this was one of the real first useful members among Yellow's gang, ‘A mad pony with the kind of power of those accursed beasts of the jungle! Primal and violent, the embodiment of anger itself… would make the perfect frontline defense against anyone who’d resist our songs. Ohhh… I know who we are going to capture first! Brawns combined with my brains, even if Canterlot has a dragon defender, let them see how it stands against a Berzerker!’ she madly laughed in her mind as she calmed her mirth to avoid giving much out to their host.

“Ya know lass, you’re a bit too young for me even if you be centuries old. Keep a walk’n.” he belched and lifted an empty hand shooing away the fluffy haired lead singer as if she were a stray animal.

That earned a giggle at the jab even though it was purely in jest from Blaze. Rather, Adagio subdued the want to send a retaliatory remark and instead forced that same expression Pandius had to deny satisfaction. It was a slight on her part unfortunately, getting too happy over the opportunity to have a decent protective shield until they could acquire freely roaming sirons. Which in reality would be like finding an urchin's quill in the sand.

“Magnus has long since reformed, for the better at least with his temper that rivaled even Tisiphone’s now all but frozen. He did quite a number once, a good sum of bits had to be thrown at the victim to keep it quiet.” Both men chuckled at the colorful history as if it were fresh, “A very strong and durable stallion he is, and a loyal friend just as well. Speaking of which, as a Fury, she too has amazing strength and combat effectiveness as Magnus on his best days. A Fury… whose origins are all lost to the ages past, she exists solely to correct the wrongs on Equis who fall into her jurisdiction of vengeance. One of which I think even you Mrs. Adagio would find some common ground with?” to which the puff of hair moved so that she glared at him with ire.

Sparkle finally amassed her studies of the siren myth and a few other topics she happened upon that just so included Furies, it worried her that no one knew the birth of the spirits. She knew how the human world versions came to be, but if Serak spoke the truth or even the Fury herself could not remember. Then where did she or how did she come to be?

“I know I’m not supposed to distract this conversation, but why does no one know where her kind came from?” to which Serak looked down at her as if he expected her to ask.

He smiled warmly, “Truth of the matter, the Fury herself is far too concerned with her life’s work and purpose to retain much memory of her creation. Since she and her kind once roamed Equis to punish the wrongs, it has been said they were there long before pony kind. Even by Griffon history, they’ve been a chicks bedtime story to keep hatchlings from getting into too much trouble or stealing.”

“Do not worry about her Mrs. Sparkle.” Yellow says as he feels his abdomen idly, “I’m aware of her kind in human mythology as well, though they share the same cause. I’m afraid she and her sisters began far back beyond record keeping if you will. Serak if you’ll continue please?” Twilight deflates at being denied, it made her wonder what other secrets existed in Equis if like humanity there were long begotten.

“Understood sir, so girls, Monet over there is a Gargoyle from a distant kingdom known as Bos’groth. She was of the Family Nemroth and she the next in line for the throne to be wedded to the centaurs who co-ruled along side. Every so hundred years, gargoyles would bear one who could breathe magical fire and lead the kingdom to a golden era. She was the next one, taught by the most capable sisters and court advisors before the kingdom was attacked by terrors from the deep. In a rush to send her to a safe area miles away, they had to use her abilities to complete the portal spell. As one of the abominations unfortunately claimed a few lives of those attempting to caste.”

Schrodinger had since calmed into a placid state and took over with his own expertise in the tale, “Ze spell Zey used required a specific set of runes zat had to be made perfectly with ze right amount of mana channeled into ze portal as it generated. However, zeir mistake zat sent Lady Monet here vas in letting her caste ze spell. Ze fraulein still inexperienced in her powers ehh… juiced up ze spell and altered ze destination. She has been among us ever since.” He gave a weak look of happiness, as he soon dipped down into a void of depression again.

The woman herself made a throaty noise to draw everyone to her, intent on saying her stance to being spoken of. Holding a stern posture, hands on her lap putting even herself on Empress Pandius' level of being in full control of herself. Monet wore the getup of a bland human girl, there was no mistaking her intent in herself as she avoided garbing herself in the robes of royalty she'd been destined for. Neither a hint at a want to even do so, her warm brown gray skin with a deep amber hair projected her down to earth attitude. The piercing naples yellow irises that spoke for her with their hidden wisdom and regrets of life long lived, Twilight could see it all and the heavy weight upon her shoulders.

“I cannot take back what I had done, and that was to leave my land in the state that it rested on without a counter weight to the doom that the line of Vorak would bring. I fear what has become of my kin and the Centaurs without me there, if those Earth Eaters did not bring the kingdom down. The blood of House Vorak was foretold to give rise to a being of terrible power and ambition, an all consuming thirst for the energies beyond. The Family of Nemroth has stood upon the throne to negate the lesser families with selfish intents, and prevent the opportunistic Voraks from ascending. So I bid you a warning Matriarch Adagio Dazzle of the Dazzlings…” the two locked stares as both strong willed females gauged the other for a moment, “What that bloodline was prophesied to birth would swallow the energies of both good and evil, light and dark, harmonious and discordious. May the Winds of Ooghast watch over you and all of us if enough time has passed and the deed has come to fruition. There is no stopping this nightmare.” She looked away thinking to herself as Havoc nearby scoffed bitterly.

The golden siren's eyes beheld the gargoyle in human form, another being she'd never heard of until now. It was becoming increasingly bothersome to know she’d really have to need to work with Yellow Tail after the trip. Beyond the problematic Fury, then Emerath, and currently with Monet’s people it seemed her plans to go without their help and head straight for the prize after being rearmed again were looking far less appetizing. Even with a Berzerker, the titan evil of warning started to hamper what was to be a subtle and growing tidal wave of pony fans who'd aid the sirens in taking over Equestria. Was it a soul sucker, energy feeder, emotion draining, or magical black hole who could easily strip their powers from them for the third likely time? Then remove their hold on whatever pony thralls they amassed at any point in the scheme for conquest? Did she have to put priority over securing loss ends of these lowly creatures of the group just to safely proceed?

As if her second guessing had been picked up like a flopping fish on a pier, Yellow started to speak, “We have contingency plans upon many more to deal with this evil rest assured my little gems, and with an army of Changelings to aid us we’ll have plenty of ways to handle opposition. So cheer up Mrs. Dazzle, we work together and we shall achieve victory. I never let my treasures be harmed nor stolen.” Yellow grinned in a rather reassuring but creepy kind of way, it had little affect on the one he aimed for though it was understandable. Aria simply rolled her eyes and looked off to the ceiling for something else to catch her interest like a spider eating a fly, the two best friends next to her smiled back at the same time.

“Okay okay, all goody goody good stuff aside. Serak I’ll speak of myself, I don’t need no one doing that for me!” annoyingly spoken from the scuffed shirt and work pants wearing Havoc.

The faux griffon put his hands up to supplicate, earning a grunt and a sharp exhale from the vermillion male. His attitude had caught Aria’s radar, she liked those who prided themselves enough to do the deed they were more than qualified to handle. Seeing a little bit of her in him right off the bat, but her inquisitiveness stopped there as they were going to hear who he was and why banishment was necessary if it really ever needed to be.

Though brash and a tinged upset that he would be spoken of by someone else, he did exhibit a lazy show for the group. Where he sat normally into the soft recliner, he changed position to make himself more comfortable and far from the way Monet, Pandius, and Adagio tried to hold themselves up as. He acted like a noble in a way, showing a narcissistic side to himself as if he was far from the need of being amid everyone present. One leg thrown over the left arm of the chair as the other hung limp kicking the soft carpet below, propping his head on an anchored right arm.

“Yo!" he started abruptly, "Names Dominos Infernalis, but you can call me Inferno Havoc the greatest dragon to ever reap the lands of Equis!!” his posture betrayed his attempt to promote such a title, “But now I’m a lazy human worker or for now at least. Being in this cursed flesh bag of a body has left me to be dotage and lazy, without my fires hotter than Tartarus itself. Many a settlements turned to ash by my glorious flames, homes torn asunder by my cyclonic wings… my titanic body crushing all instruments of war turned upon me and nothing ever passed by wonderful blood scales!! My folly for being here… lies in my pursuit of the gem caves under what Emerath discovered to be the base of Canterlot. I saw nothing of Faust's crying stone, but I know of Queen Faust that puny horse with her accursed magic that subdued me in my rampage through her self proclaimed land! Her mindless followers opened up a portal and there she threw me into it and into this shameful form... No one, not even fate will demean me anymore than defeat by a herd of grazers with horns!” he suddenly shot up, appearing very vexed as his bare feet slammed on the carpet with a muffled thump.

The roar in his voice that grew louder towards the end rumbled the dwelling as it rose to impressive volumes till they toned into mellow quiet. Another dragon as it seemed, and his show of bravado captured Adagio as she remembered Yellow hinting at having dragons blood for the spell manipulation of their pendants. She could not help but fathom why such destructive creatures were so heavily used in magic and apart of this cabal of his, such greedy things like the sea serpents that threatened her family and all siren kind. The only good that came of them were those who went after pirates who sought siren gemstones, after all they held treasures in their storage and those flying lizards loved to plunder and add to their horde.

“Havoc has much like Magnus toned down his viscous streak these days, he’s more of a dragon lazing upon his treasure horde with little care other than to eat or in our case earn bits.” Serak chuckled and earned no reaction from the man with violet spiky hair who settled down back into an inactive state as the fury left him like water out of a container.

Twilight turned about to hear as Old Oak closed the introduction by clapping her hands together to bring the group to head. With half lidded eyes and a serene spirit she opened her arms as an invite to her words.

“I am Old Oak of the Gragermire Forest, protector of the old ways for the young and old alike to know what it is like to live freely among all life and to adapt to change. I am but a mere teacher who wanted to guard her students as well as the school of the Caretaker." she humbly said, Twilight squinting a little as she noticed a few micro flower buds start to form in the mint green locks of Oak's hair in patchy areas. Though the sirens were looking over the face, she was far more attuned to small detail and kept switching between the motherly turquoise orbs and the plants.

Aria stared at her with a dead face, “So you like, guard trees and stuff? Guess ponies wanted your land or something?”

Without missing a beat, “Yes and no, I and others like me teach how to live on the land when homes and magic are devoid of influence over one’s life. Magic as it were then was not what it was like eons ago. As Druids have lived for many times lost to memory, we are diverse as we are loving of Equis and the lands of her body. I may not like society, but I do not seek to collapse it, only to teach ponies and others that a forest is not just a resource. It is a network of living entities that feel and prosper like any other sentient being... I tried to teach this lesson and many more to the nobles of the Earth pony tribe. The changing weather and extremes driving them to create more farmlands however... made them too stubborn to listen.” Her story was sounding like another tragedy rather than a crime, to which Adagio recanted of a time when they might have met such a being once before in Cinia before traveling to Neighpon.

Sonata innocently looked happy as if a thought came thrusting through to the forefront, contrasting Oak's soreness for the coming climax of her summarized history. Though none of the girls would fault her for it, it was how her brain worked. Instances came up where they passed by the wilds of uncultivated or undeveloped land when they use to move through town to town, city to city. Each area they went to filled with all new smells and different climates. They had done much walking in their human bodies looking for more sources of negative emotions and magic to boost their powers. Adagio had thankfully at times be lenient, freeing Dusk of her short leash and go frolic whenever they passed by carefully tended parks, unfenced brush or woodlands when a deer or rabbit appeared. She may be a creature of Poseidon's water realm, but something about terra firma and its own type of nature found a spot in her heart. A much fond of area had been dominated by a plant a ranger once said to them was Ceder, a scent that gave her body the tingles and soothed her rambunctious mind. Which Adagio and Aria booth drank in the silence while it lasted.

“So you’re the big cheese of trees and animals? COOL!!! Like for realzies I loooooove the fresh air and the furry things, so much to do like chase birds and smell the Cider trees!” Sonata proclaimed happily even as Aria corrected her with a mumble pronouncing 'Ceder'.

Oak gave a comforting glance to the cerulean siren, “You seem to enjoy what the Gaia of this world has to offer the humans, and for that I’m very pleased with the outcome of my toiling for the last forty years in that endeavor. Of my greatest accomplishments while incarcerated here has come from helping a small human camp survive its unfortunate financial issues, as the one who ran it mentioned. Oddly enough, it was nearby where I was deposited after... after... I..." Oak paused as two vastly different feelings clashed and vied for audience.

Sensing the emotions of the hippie, Adagio tensed up out of the newly conditioned response to when they felt such conflict arise. The other two followed suit, while Sparkle had by then pulled out her notebook that was revealed at dinner to jot down a few notes she felt were important about the woman. She could not have notice the sirens around her with their figurative fins standing on edge if they could manifest their original bodies.

"Perish the thought young pups, Old Oak is the other side of the circle of violence, the yin to Magnus. She will not become violent by any means, she is just still coming... to terms with her capture." the Empress explained to break the short period of solitude that hazed the meeting.

A sniffle escaped the Fushia colored woman as she did her best to avoid becoming to awash with the sensation of regret, "Thankyou Pandius...”.

"Did the ponies do something wrong and you reacted to fix the problem with a nonviolent method?" Twilight asked as she put the eraser end of her pencil up against her lavender lips with an inquisitive look about her.

Oak nodded and took a deep long breath, "There came a time when the earth ponies had become to needy in their consumption of wood for homes and things. Though I and a few other Druids of the North managed to pursade them to plant and use a faster growing tree that satisfied their uses. A few nobles went ahead with a decree to chop down my forest, and desecrate the sacred Yew of one of the most powerful Druid to ever live, Loch Skye. He was a kind Elk in his day and his deeds of good to all species and life are never forgotten within our circles. Yet... on his death bed he wished to ensure the land would never fall to the fires of a dragon or the hunger an axe. He warned all that if the Yew ever fell, the forest would be imbued with his spiritual might and become something that no harvest or inferno could put down. Those who came for the trees were outsiders and knew nothing of the threat... I... was too late to get there with what others I could gather. We... we were only to use brambles and stay their hooves! To stop what dangers they were going to wrought for the land that might harm many..."

Adagio listened intently, a thought floated by as she hung onto word for word. Perhaps if the exile was indeed deposited here well before they were. If the story was going in the direction she could sense in the faux human, then those blood thirsty behemoths and savage runners that tormented her through her young life were once again the sin of ponies? This random question began to simmer her blood and put a mild snarl at the edges of her dainty lips, if indeed she assumed as much then there was even more payback to administer with interest. The things she'd do to the Nobles who descended from the sinners were not for the faint of heart or the ears of mortals like her little human siren surrogate.

"They... were already into the core of the giant elder tree when we approached them within our voices. The last swing of an axe from the team of ponies there, released the light from within the wood that unleashed the promise Skype had enchanted into the Yew. Something powerful went out all around, like a beating heart for a moment... but that was the last I would see of the calm Gragamire Forest I tended to and protected. The very plants all around us began... to change, they mutated into something I found hard to love as I once did. We ran to safety, but the screams of the axe ponies being wrapped in black vines and dragged away in the depths of the woods haunt me to this day." she seemed to despise herself, Aria could taste the negative emotions and almost took a sample if she would not be punished for it later.

Twilight took it all in and remembered a section out of Yellow's red golden book of magic. There was a section in there that covered magic that manipulated plants and conjured spirits to control them as defensive magic, though that section had little to practice it was more of a briefing. She understood the gist of the Ley Lines that empowered the most impressive forests, fertile bogs, and bountiful rain forests of Equis as tales told by someone who taught Yellow in his hay day. Specifically, he even described the being as a moose adorned with moss and flowering vines. Though the most important passages were about a magical viscous forest known to all as the Everfree Forest, an untamable ecosystem that neither expanded nor receded and spanned much of the continent of Equestria. Why it was mentioned were the herbs and resources useful in rituals and potions for powerful spells, but to get them meant possibly loosing ones life to harvest. The angry land of the Everfree hosted strange never before seen creatures, some golems of wood and stone that mimicked their animal origins, while welcoming the more dangerous ones from around Equis like a beacon of safety. Hydras to cockatrices, manticores to vampires and all other sorts of mythological beings that called it home.

"When we reached cleared land... they were waiting for us. They did not hear our pleas, our call for help to appease the enraged spirit that inhabited my forest..." Oak collapsed to her knees, "They called us evil sorcerers and said we were a danger to everypony, they thought we did something to those axe ponies! No matter what we said... pony mages bubbled us in magical shields to stay our hooves. Opening a gateway with a mirror they had with them." rampant horror culminated in the shaken hippie, the flower buds in her hair withered and fell like fine dust out of the pastel green locks.

"Another case where they were waiting? There has to be some kind of coordinated effort going on or possibly entrapment? I know some corrupt police departments around the world do that to innocent law abiding citizens." Twilight mentioned thinking out loud.

"That entrapment pushed my fellow kin to escape before the unknown happened to us, but nothing could break the binds. So they looked to me... I wish I never turned my head. Cozy Moss, Hummingbird Lighting, Honey Sweet, Elegant Stream, and Osage Orange... they... tried to say something. I... I didn't want them to..." she was stopped by Serak who calmly walked to her and comforted the woman as she silently wept, tear drops falling every so often as he cradled her head into him.

The air in the condo felt thick like spring fog lingering so dense you could run into a tree at a walking pace. If Twilight could coin the condition these exiles were in, it was psychological for the scant two who had managed to suppress what was an honestly scary moment in their innocent lives. Emerath was just some pony of knowledge like her, and she might very well end up like him if her circumstances did not change with intervention. That voice in the back of her mind that had actual power to do something. For him however, he seemed to either embrace it, or for the better lack of a term was consumed. Old Oak had to have endured something really traumatizing to the gentle soul and her friends, perhaps a last ditch attempt to escape that went tragically wrong?

"Case in point, although we did not expected her to go that deep. You can see who we are now can you not Adagio Dazzle?" Yellow sighed regrettfully as Serak led the woman out onto the balconey with Frozen Heart opening the glass door, "We are diverse, but each has a supposed crime the Equestrians thought was worth sending here... save for Havoc and he knows why."

The dragon twirled a hand as if signaling to keep going with his words, acting like a dragon would with little concern. Of course, there was one last member who had yet to be discussed and they were the one who Adagio had to know of more than who Yellow had been. The walking source of black necromancy magic, something that had to do horrible things constantly to feed itself of the spectral range beyond negativity. A constantly exploding bomb which the old hag should rightly have been instead of wearing the smug look on her aged face. What kind of leash was on her, or what did transforming into a human do to her if she would not become a corpse? Her pod literally stood before a Gogalanth shark, and it always smelled blood in the water ever hungry no matter how big or small the nearest source of flesh was.

“Hmm... yes I can very well see now who I'm working with and it eases me into trusting you with this whole matter of getting back home. I could feel the animosity towards this Arcana force that seems to have existed for quite some time. We share a common enemy and for that this alliance will work for the time being, but I’d like to know one tiny little spec of information if you so could Yellow Tail?" she batted her eyes at him as her way of maintaining her calm state to what was coming from her mouth once he gave the cue.

He gave Pandius a quick peak as if confused by the question, though she had no answers for him in their wordless chat. Some of the others were rather too slow to pick up on the moment, rather they were still amidst Oak's breakdown and looking at Serak who patted her on the back behind the glass. A breeze whisked the ends of clothing like a flow of water, her bouncy curls jiggled to the right.

"What is it you'd like to know my little gem?" he replied.

Why do you have a LICH among you! Siren and those undead sorcerers are mortal enemies. They kill what we feed on… they’re rotweed to a garden!” Adagio’s jaws were muscled shut, bearing teeth that took away much of her cool level headedness. It was one creature her mother always warned her of that all pups were told were to never go near if they valued life. Tales of pods moving from the richest feeding grounds and safest of havens if the Matriarch or scouts picked up on the sickening aura of the immortal servants of evil.

Yellow took the suddenness with ease and breathed out slowly as he thought of how to word the explanation that would avoid worsening the rather aggressive response to that one exile, “Shallow Willow is her name… she was once a pony who loved her village and the trees around her home. Generations grew up in that little settlement, too many to count just as much as how she loved her life there. She only wanted to protect her village from a unicorn Baron who wanted the land for his own private holdings. What would become whatever gained him more bits, so she resorted to forbidden magic from a witch of the nearby bog from what we know. In the time it took the Baron to amass an eviction guard force and travel to the village, she would develop her inner magic and protect the land her parents and ancestors laid to rest in and those of her friends. This senseless fighting went on for years…”

By now the anger of Dazzle quelled to a simmer when Twilight put a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down, “Do you know what love can do to people and ponies Mrs. Dazzle?” he asked.

The sirens gave one another looks, Twilight shrugging herself unsure of where their host was trying to mean. With no advances on their part to exploit, that left Adagio to take the question herself as he baited so rightly. As much as she hated Liches without ever having seen one, the handed down phobia was far too important to her to just let go for some spectacle of a past. At least she assumed that they were informing them of to some heroic side of the undead, but all in all these creatures were something that could never be contained once they crossed the threshold. They were a fire of malice and destruction, abusing corpses to continue their warpath of whatever they deemed a threat. Only the mortals could strive to stop them, a darkness that did not create negative emotions to make feeding easier for sirens, they destroyed the sources.

“I know we all here know our own version of what ‘Love’ is, therefore it is circumstantial. For Shallow Willow, her home being taken away by an outsider who would demolish the bountiful lands and graves of many good souls empowered her love beyond reasoning. As that very witch she sought tutelage from gave her one last option to learn of. A powerful spell of immortality that she may figure out a way to remove the Baron himself from power or decimate his forces entirely seeing as time would be her enemy. There was a price for eternal life, and thus the amateur battle mage graduated into a mighty weaver of black magic. She did many horrible, despicable things to the invaders Mrs. Dazzle, all for the birthplace and the lives of those there who saw her as nothing more than a wraith to fear.” He shook his head at the miraculous being who’d since lived a cursed life that only being turned human in this universe had eased much of the pain of the one tracked mind.

Frozen Heart joined in, “They feared her for many reasons, primarily from the unknown even if her blunt actions spoke louder than words. She’d never been able to go back to sleep in her own bed for fear of scaring off all the ponies she knew since she was a foal. Instead, like a owl on the hunt, she waited in the surrounding forest and would meet convoy after convoy of mercenary guards. Driving them away every time till the Baron would have none of it anymore. You can guess who came for her.” He too shared Yellow’s sullen mood, the facts sinking into Adagio’s heart as the monster of sirenkind lost its hardened shell of believability with cracks of second guessing.

“Do not mistake her for a docile mare. Once she goes back, she’ll no doubt return to her old home if it’s even still there. Yellow’s sent her once before to give you one of those rubies right? Empathy goes only so far now, but at least you can see that not all Liches are evil spirits made as such. Though after the fact... well you'll want to keep her an arms length.” Frozen snorted in displeasure at the lengths ponies went when they had power and abused it well to the point resistance took dark turns to fight back.

Sonata nearly shed a tear, “They’re made evil?”

“Can be my dear, can be.” Yellow answered as the last of their members had finally been declassified.

For a long while no one said a thing, everyone just felt content to sit in the noiseless condo with little movement save for Pandius who shifted in her living chair while cozying up to the man. Being so high up, they were far enough away from the rumble of traffic in the night. The smell of the previous dinner still hanging about gently with a slowly degrading presence, but it did a little to help keep the girls in a less excited mood. There was so much in the world for Adagio to comprehend, even if they were all from different ages.

She wondered how well her conquest would be if there were all sorts of dangerous beings out there who could usurp their control once it became known of their accomplishment to be. Would any toes they’d step on come banging down their palace doors with powerful magic their songs were ill equipped to handle? A rampaging dragon with no sirons to fight it if they could even handle such an apex predator like Havoc? Would black magic come and rob them of their spoils by some noble good for nothing, and what of the demons? They were beings to survived and thrived off of mental magic to get the source of their powers, but that only went so far and who it affected. Avatars of greed and corrupted ones were just beyond their level, even with her Twilight's growing magic and ability to suck up ones mana well.

It became quite frank that she’d have to revise her little vendetta against the ponies to have extra guard up for such potential enemies. As the saying went, the bigger they were the harder they fell and the Battle of the Bands was proof. The Matriarch of the Dazzlings would not repeat that mistake again, they knew all too well what it was like to fall in the sand.

She would have to plan everything from the start, which meant they had to rely on Yellow Tail now for protection until the strategy was reconstructed. A loathing act she had to stomach, but it was for the good of the pod. There was no underestimating the situation and the battlefield, no Sunset Shimmer and the humans to sing them into mortality. Adagio had to play the game life gave them so that they would finally be in control, adored by many, and reign for generations where her pups would take over. She’d make her mother proud, bringing the vile ponies to justice and make them serve their crimes under her irresistible voices.

“Umm… sir if I might ask?" Twilight shattered the silence, "Are you and the Empress a… um… couple?” she went for what had been egging her to ask since the meeting continued there.

The query received some rather dubious expressions, as if she had called out the pink elephant in the room. Both royal and mage appeared taken aback, Heart could be heard putting a hand to his face as if something obvious had been realized. Then came Magnus giving a deep guttural chortal rocking back and forth on his rear, slapping his thighs as tears fell from his eyes. The rest were stunned into inaction, unsure of where to go with the scottsman going off as he did.

“Oh that’s rich! That ghoul of a formless insect actually love somepony else than herself!? Ha! You gotta be kidding me lass!” he blasted out another volley of guffaw.

“Did I…” Twilight was taken aback by such a reaction, quickly noticing the coming outburst from Pandius as she whipped her head around to sneer and growl.

"We are simply exchanging services and nothing else!" the illustrious woman nearly roared to the dwarf.

The Dazzlings who thought they could not be surprised by anything else by then were stunted, whatever the two shared had many context to sort through before the real one showed itself. To save face, Aria brought herself to speak up and follow in Twilight's questioning.

"So... you sit on him and what? You heal him and he fondles you?" she gave a dark grin knowing it would spurn the Empress even though it was going against Adagio's orders, it was an opportunity akin to hovering a slice of cake to a human child.

Just as she hoped, the goddess of beauty wore a maddened state which no mortal should ever be capable of. Burning with the heat of a volcano at the indignity given to one of her rank. Eyes widened, mouth snarling in an animalistic manner befitting a savage wolf, her posture setting itself into position to leap at the siren who dared to speak such lowly of her. Aria guessed she might have lost her face if Yellow Tail had not gripped the woman's shoulder and held her close, contrasting her enraged state with a sullen loving embrace that just seemed stupid to the purple siren.

Serak had chosen to come back inside just as Aria remarked, Oak choosing to remain on the porch, "If you must know you Blaze." he emphasized her name to reprimand her after having warned earlier upon arrival, "Empress Pandius has a unique healing ability due much in part to her Changeling race. Yellow provides the love there, and the Empress in turn repairs any damage done onto the giver with a healing spell in a way like how she gave to her daughters hive. She is like you in that magic can be created from so little, I'd be more kind to her as you'll never know when you'd need her help."

Adagio took the perfect moment to slap the back of the girl's head, having stood on the couch, leaned over the two between them, and open handedly swinging. The contact was not too loud, but it was enough to cause a minor sting that shut the siren up as she knew when Adagio did more than grab her to prove a point. Once she became physical, she had no chances left before the wrath of a Matriarch came out and thankfully she'd never had it happen to herself. Only seen in back at her home pod, and it was not a pleasurable experience.

Sonata understandably curled into Twilight as humanly possible, being the most submissive of the three. For all her moments of aloofness, she never garnered Adagio's anger much less spite. She was a good siren if she just made a few mistakes or misunderstood what was said. Even her tiffs with Aria were more sisterly than what Dazzle had just done. Twilight received a nervous forced smile when she asked what was going on, and then a slow shake of the head.

"Well, I believe my body is back up to par. Thank you Empress for the aid, as I'm sure I gave enough love to sustain you till we're back home?" Yellow interrupted as the Changeling royal delicately rose off him to her feet.

She turned to walk away to the kitchen, "Yes young mage, you have my gratitude."

He ganders at the Dazzlings once more, "Thus ends our meeting I do concur! Everyone will stick around for a little while longer if any of you want to talk to them, but remember we wake up at the crack of dawn and make way to the portal. Girls, you'll be sleeping here, we have a spar guest room I fitted with two beds. You'll be under our protection, as of right now we're in a very dangerous phase. Anything can happen." he paused to give them a dead serious glare before grinning with a clap of the hands and rubbing them, "So! I'll be around if you need anything."

To that, the room became alive with chatter and moving bodies, some going to the restrooms while others getting up to see Oak. Leaving Adagio to her next course of action and Twilight to find a way to talk to Yellow Tail about her magic.

Author's Note: