//------------------------------// // Ch. 3 Forced Friendship // Story: The Sirens Remorse: Resurgence of the Dazzlings // by TheronSniper //------------------------------// With the escaping exiles and terror reigning over the little village of Ponyville, the ravaged castle of friendship smoked and crumbled in the wake of their return. Twilight from the human world had yet to budge from her spot after the high with Adagio with the body she’d been magically given for some unknown reason. It had been a roller coaster of experiences she was not prepared for nor was her brilliant teenage mind able to cope with rapidly. She managed to use what little knowledge of her foreign body to shield herself from the still dribbling debris of the ruined castle, jerking tense muscles whenever something pattered against her scaly body. It had long since quieted down near and around her, though the village itself smoldered ever lightly like candles of a cathedral. Hatch roofs did not stand a chance to even a small ember of the scaly beast as ponies tried to put them out before the whole town was lost. What a horrifying first moments of life she had in the magical world, from freaking out over her transformation to then somehow living through the destruction that was wrought. In all of her anticipated welcoming into Equestria she had simulated in thought, from the books to the banished recollections she was far off the mark of where they'd make day one into. As smart as she was, Twilight had taken much for granted in the pursuit of magic and wisdom with all the wonderful new technologies she could create. With the altered siren body she then possessed now there was a huge hurdle for her to overcome but in the now was far more pressing. She couldn't help but sneeze every other moment from the dust of ruination floating and falling down around her like flurries of a strong northerner, ears singing in pain from their sensitivity to sound as sirens had naturally. Her cloven hooves covering her head as best as they could while her tail fin acted as a thin translucent umbrella, crystal shards harmlessly bounced off as hail on tarp. The dorsal sail squeezed closest to her body as did her large wings attempted to put an additional layer of protection subconsciously in reaction to her stressed state. This was far from what she expected to have become of her venture to the world of mythological creatures and she knew it was all her fault. She knew the history of the banished, how some were indeed dangerous entities that should have never been let back in. She enacted the prison break by helping those who rightly deserved justice, but it was all packaged together and forever more would all the chaos unleashed would be on her head solely as guilt. She had no hands to manipulate objects, no legs to walk with, her visual, olfactory, and auditory sensory organs were beyond what she was familiar with as they received far more data than her human body ever did. To top the black hole that was her situation, in her desperate moment she remembered the little canine she had brought to the portal. What happened to her Spike, her number one assistant after the Warden arrived? She had him in her back pack and made sure to clip the latch closed so he wouldn’t escape before they jumped through. Was it at that moment of the Warden’s introduction and before his officers surprised them that she took off her pack to hold close to her chest? Did she drop him then and left the poor defensless dog amid the chaos as she was stunned like the others and forgotten about him while attempting magic to heal herself? With her world crumbling beyond her ability to alter, "I'm so sorry Spike..." she whispered to herself as tears started to form through her clenched eyes, oblivious to the need to escape if she wanted to live anymore. A large column of crystal the length of a bus had broken off the castle’s imploding northern wall, quietly it tipped over as gravity commanded it to the ground by chance. With a growing whisper of wind it seared through the air until spearing the detritus strewn grounds of the princess’s home just next to the siren. With such an impact that even in her current shape she bounced from the initial shock wave. It did nothing to dislodge her from her sunken spirit, perhaps nothing ever would jostle her into action separated from those she needed desperately. "... I was just so caught up in the moment! The spell casting... that man and his... the girls... I'm a horrible person!" memories of when she first received the little pup from her parents flew by her forethoughts as they replayed the joy of raising him, “They used me… I was… I was just a catalyst!” she started to feel betrayal, it made sense due to the nature of the exiles. Use and discard since their magic likely returned to them en mass, what part could she even play anymore? Sniffling, Twilight’s anger failed to gain much momentum as her sorrow over her number one assistant splashed over the fires. That fuzzy little fur coat of his she enjoyed petting and grooming, the never ending mirth he exhibited every time she returned from studies. His little happy-go-lucky attitude after every time when he smacked into the door or the table leg to greet her or chase a toy always got to her heart no matter how much she tried to avoid such incidents. In a school full of cold, unfriendly, and highly competitive students he was the one thing which gave reason to keep on going with her many projects. Despite the negative reception she received at Crystal Prep as soon as she stepped outside her lab. Before the portal, she would spend her time with him by reading with the pooch on her lap dozing off without a care in the world, he always loved to hear about the latest scientific journal. While learning magic and its mechanics to the theories, she'd pet him over his tiny head and scratch his long bright green ears idly. She couldn't play with him as often as she use to with the Dazzling's plan to go home drawing her away, going out to eat with them, or to deliver a gemstone for Yellow Tail. Yet every moment they could share she made sure he was loving every second of it, besides Sonata and the other sirens in true honesty Spike was probably her first friend aside from her brother. Now all of that was beyond her reach with no way around it, the madness of it all and she could have stopped it. “I shouldn’t have taken it… I should just be who I use to be. No magic, no dragons, no sirens… no this.” She whispered. Shriveling in regret and self disdain, Twilight had not noticed the approach of another that silently floated over the grass and mineral shards littered about. It stopped just a foot away with a dainty shadow cast over the winged siren which it then sighed as if a dirty job had been given to it. A simple tap of a sharp hoof knocked against the shielding violet membrane of Sparkles tail fin caused her to finally poke her head out of the ocean of futility. Slowly, she revealed herself even as more crystal shards fell from above, removing her lower half and forelimbs in a way which a flower would open as a bud ever gracefully. She was instantly met with the shiny brilliance of Oratoria otherwise formerly known as Cold Forecast, the unknown siren who knew Adagio Dazzle and had a nasty reaction towards the bewildered Twilight for some reason. Three more enormous pieces of furniture and wall thudded as they crashed no less than thirty feet away. Both sirens gasped as the area was becoming more deteriorated than ever. Every thought that ran amuck in Twilight’s rather large and elongated cranium soon came to a stark halt. Whether or not it came from knowing she still had someone to rely on or that she could still be squashed by the damaged structure. Sparkle's wings stretched outwards as if reacting to her renewed panic, their dark leathery skin absorbing light to the extent that little detail of the digits could be made out. Their flapping drew disgust from the pure hippocampus before her and Twilight seemed to let it fly right over her head. The first words she heard were, "Get up you guppie! Adagio would never let me stay in her pack if I let you perish here." she said with a scowl, "Even if we are family... which should make ME her number two!" A column slapped onto the main walkway and annihilated the cobblestone road, the ornamental poles and flags were flattened, “I don’t know how to move! I can’t understand how I’m suppose to move.” “Worthless manatee you are gosh!! I don’t have time for this!” Oratoria spat as she knew the only way to get far from the disaster was what Adagio had to do. It sickened the aquatic singer to even touch the mutant fish but the threat of punishment was far too great. Twilight flinched at the irate girl only for the very one to close distance with her, “W-w-wait? What are you… Eep!!” Begrudgingly, before the faux siren could get a word in she was soon whisked up onto Oratoria's back. Grunting as if the very act burned her hide like a branding iron, the turquoise siren used her magic to maintain the two of them with her levitation spell. Then before anything else tried to squash them from the wreckage they set off into the forest nearby forest where she last saw her doomed sister carried off by the black dragon. She could only bank on the might and durability that sirens were made into being, what her parents preached about siren kind. They always endured, they suffered through the darkness of the seas, overpowered towers of muscle and teeth that sought to feast on them. Surely Adagio bit her way through the mouth of the flying serpent like the awesome sister she was, using her sheer fury to power herself to freedom. Adagio survived the human world for so long, what was a dragon to her? Several hours later... Oratoria's mana started to strain as she hefted the abomination over her back. Thankfully she powered through miles away from ground zero where pony guards were probably investigating the scene. They likely quarantined off the zone around the fortress that return trip had left in such a wrecked state or so she thought. The last thing she needed were the filthy horses hot on her tail with the sack of shells that couldn't even act like a siren. She loathed the carcass she had to haul, but if she did not and Adagio found out there would be no way in Tartarus that she'd be able to go back into her good grace. No matter how many strings pulled at her subconsciousness, she had to survive and tag the fake siren with her. The matter became of when not how, she could smell the dragon which had her sister and trailed the beast as far as she physically could. “That blasted… stupid lizard!” Ora huffed, “Not going… to last much longer…” Twilight had remained quiet throughout the little trek they took but even she could sense the distraught in her company, “If I may ask? Where are we going?” At the cost of the magic she gained in the prison world she saved up they were both safely away and in a good blind zone to be followed. In all her life on both the ape realm and on Equis she'd never worked herself to the edge where she nearly depleted her magic. When upon losing her magical reserves past the point of fumes, Twilight had suddenly gotten something of a response from her fellow. After being unceremoniously tossed off Oratoria’s back, the sirens each crashed upon the grassy knoll of the clearing they happened upon out of pure luck. “Ooogggfff!!” Twilight flopped onto comfy ground feeling no real pain other than the air forcefully expelled from her lungs, when upon recovery she saw where they ended up at. A tiny circle amongst the forestry that grew only clover and patches of wild wheat, the blanket of greenery choked off any saplings attempting to grow out of the rich soil. In contrast to the dreary thick jungle forest they’d been blindly navigating through, this appeared to be something out of a fairy tale with how pristine it appeared to be. It was soft to the touch, like silk with the finest cotton linens beneath and a feathery caress of frilly designs to both the girl’s bodies. A flock of birds flew away in fear upon the noise the sirens caused, butterflies fluttered away from the disturbance, and the two rodents hidden in the maze of grasses scurried into the Everfree. Feeling some notion of safety Twilight awed at the sacred island among the nightmarish flora, “Wow… this has to be a one in a two million chance of existing in such a rather virulent ecosystem?! Perhaps some kind of soil deficiency that’s allowed lesser flora to flourish?” she wondered at the swathe of clearing. Having no grudge over the treatment she sustained, the affront rolled off her like it was a splash of luke warm water. She tried to stammer forward only to remind herself she didn’t have any hands nor legs once again. Giving one last look at her cloven hooves and her long, armored, and powerful fish-like tail she truly understood she was never going to go back to her human form anytime soon. She was after all in the gold mine of any innovative scientist’s dream, somewhere where she’d be the sole person to research how the laws of physics and magic played hand in hand. It was probably the only string of sanity she had to grasp in the back of her mind to keep herself from shattering. With discoveries and spells to partake in Sparkle held firm against any negative thoughts, she’d find a way to perform magic and carry out her wishes. Feeling her dorsal sail twitch with her anxiety and her antennae of sorts bobbing with every head movement the question of their future came into being, "What do we do now?" her eyes scanned their surroundings for danger, particularly the dangerous manticores she’d seen sketches of in Yellow’s book; one of many she didn’t wish to see in person. The turquoise siren grunted as she tried to bring herself to an upright position, yet every fiber of her being screamed back at her as a whiplash effect from the levitation spell exertion. So much was the pain as it caught up to her that even a simple flicker of a fin caused a soreness she'd never wish upon her worst enemy except Twilight Sparkle who forced her into such a mess. Her limbs felt as if every muscle attempted to tear from their anchors, the spine wanted to erupt out of her very back, each scale seemed to feel like sand paper the more she moved. Those large pearly white fangs showed as she grimaced at the agony she was in, eventually giving up trying to lift her bulk as her body locked into a massive body wide cramp. “Cold? Are you hurt?” Sparkle asked as she began to see the state her comrade had contracted. Twilight knew enough logically speaking to realize what was happening, her long head whipped about for something to bring water with from stone to foliage or even wood. Her stilted eyes soon found a worthy candidate with good structural integrity after seconds of inspection, a large elephant eared plant of deep green and violet hues that had a good concave structure would allow for her to bring respite to her fellow. Smiling heartily Sparkle’s senses also queued onto where water could be found even without trying. "Don't you worry, I'll bring water to you soon. Just... give me... a moment!" Sparkle announced as she hauled herself across the grass over to the Colocasia herb, slowly using her tail for locomotion in the way a side winder viper might. As Oratoria coughed and moaned her way into a somewhat comfortable position other than on her underside, Sparkle managed to bite off a piece of the plant with ease. Spitting out the rather bitter plant juice and fragments with disgust and floundered herself over to a clear pond not far from their resting zone. Her heightened sense of smell had already locked onto the source of water just as they arrived and only now did she realize it, a new talent that worked far more efficiently than her human olfactory senses ever did. Stopping just before the decent sized accumulation of dihydrogen monoxide, “This should be perfect, no algae means this has to be a fresh deposit. Probably from a passing rainstorm and with no farmlands around this should be free of pesticides and fertilizers. Also less likely to contain any dangerous parasites or amoebas!” She eagerly filled a good half gallon of water with a single dip into the cool life giving substance, “Besides resilience, it seems I have heightened senses as well… but how much does it go beyond that of the common homo sapiens? I wonder if I will have night vision as well? I’ll need to test my hearing too which means what else can I detect? So many good things to keep me invested in!” Deliberating over the pluses of being turned into a siren of sorts, the trip back to Oratoria became the next issue on hand. Without her forelimbs which were haphazardly holding the leaf bowl she had no way of propelling herself which wouldn’t spill the contents that needed to be delivered. “I could use the spikes on my ulna, but then the water might churn too much and spill. The way I used my tail could work, then again I have nothing to stabilize my upper body and I could tip over…” the not too far moans of suffering urged the girl to think faster though all potential ways of locomotion seemed insufficient. In a twitch of the brain, her wings came into view as the carpus and thumb claws pressed into the green ground before her. Their black pigmented leathery skin held firm against her weight as they broke stems and dense grass clusters in half. Just like that she soon had a remedy to her problem and started to adapt to their use, which worked through thought than self regulation. Unlike the rest of her body that operated through voluntary commands from her motor functionality, it seemed as if wishing for them to do something was what swayed them to stir at all. An issue she’d figure out later in due time. “I’ll be right over!!” Twilight called out as she steadily and carefully moved one of the flightless specialized appendages further away to anchor itself before hauling herself two feet with a single go. Her long pink tongue poked out the right side of her mouth as she put all her might into focusing on the second set of arms. In two minutes she eventually grasped some decent use out of them and finally arrived to the other siren with little precious water spilled. If she could sweat she would have been dripping by the time the leaf bowl reached Oratoria’s lips, she witnessed ravenous behavior in gluttony as Adagio dubbed. Greedily, the other hippocampus sucked in the fluid so fast that it drained in a blink of an eye and a noticeable bulge of the throat as she swallowed. Twilight pulled the expended item away and looked over the barely refreshed female, she still appeared the worse for wear and seemed to beckon for more water as if to live. "I... I can get some more if you wish?" Twilight asked. The siren seemed to resist moving even then, it was as if a thousand hammers had struck her body and they had only stopped for a moment with the ingestion of the fluid. All swings came at once and she was left with nothing but inadequate painkillers as what little magic she had tried to replenish herself, of course it was at the cost of her own body mass. It was something her mother had told her as a warning to never do unless there was no other choice. As for a hatchling it meant only certain death by mere attempt. As if talking alone was just as insufferable as moving she rasped out, "W...whaaat... little magic... I can get... it's from using... using my own flesh to turn... into magic... bring me… more water!" she strained as she laid on her right side once more breathing heavily in unison to the pain she received. Her immediate discomfort provided all the answer Twilight needed and hurried off to repeat the water task until she was in the clear, “Just… just give me a moment!!” Of course it was trip after trip after trip until Oratoria managed to have her fill and managed to lift a hoof to stop the cycle. Sparkle had lapped around nine times before even she herself started to feel winded. Having the last leaf basin of water to herself, she softly settled before her compatriot and partook into a drink. Propping herself up with her obsidian draonic wings Sparkle let the cool fluid rejuvenate her spirit as it naturally aided in her recovery. It was like the magical world had an effect on everything down to a molecular level, the clean untreated water had a rather strange effect on her biology and mana. Almost pushing away whatever aches she started to develop and curb her mental battle calmly began to waged on the sidelines. Her thoughts soon swarmed around the biology of the hippocampi and how the life giving liquid might act as a unique magical catalyst within their biochemistry. They were marine based creatures after all and from what she knew from Sonata’s pod as well as Adagio’s, water played a huge role in their well being. "Wow... this is actually pretty good?! I wonder what the mineral content is? Is it spring fed? Or has it deposited only recently and lacking the common ecosystem of stagnant..." she started to go off on her analysis before the other had gotten quickly aggravated on the spot. A trigger hair on her patience should have sent her into a triad of complaints, but she needed to rest and Twilight’s mumbling were not letting her do so. The words the turquoise siren wished to divulge however were choked from being made live, once she noticed her ability to move without cramping up. Her eyes widen when she realized the water she drank had some kind of magic in it, likely ambient and far too weak to do much of anything else. Yet there she sat with only minor aches she could sleep through, so it seemed Twilight the mutant had actually saved her. What an odd twist of fate did the two share in which her own judgment came into question for just a moment. “I really wish I had the scanner now, I could use that level two scanning spell to measure the water’s mana level and quite possibly the forest!” Sparkle gasped as a few other theories were starting to come together on nature-magic correlation, was it like naturally occurring radiation such as radon? ‘Where ever we are it seems I’ve brought us into friendly waters at least?’ Oratoria thought to herself as her mana stabilized just enough. By then Luna’s sacred night cycle had begun and the sun’s rays had just nearly disappeared off in the distance where the thick trees of the Everfree obscured. For Twilight it was as if she were viewing images of Yellow Stone Park, a place she considered once before to test new instruments for detecting the activity of the volcano. They were safe for the time being for the lone sirens, it allowed ease of movement in order to become more comfortable. Ora glanced at her rival and partook once again into the winged thing with disdain as well as curiosity. Twilight’s twisted form might be enough to frighten away land predators though she loathed to come to a point where that would be tested. Perhaps there was some merit that Adagio found in the girl, it was still a long shot to convince someone like Oratoria who was a hardened traditionalist. As the stars became clear as day and new strange constellations were legible, “Oh… it’s gotten dark already? Right, the alicorn princess known as Luna Io Selena, daughter to the late Queen Faust, such a strange thing to behold. The orbit of celestial bodies manipulated by powerful magical beings and not of nature. Was that chapter twelve if I remember right?” Her comment brought something out of the true siren behind her, recalling how her mother told her that Poseidon was the one who affected the day and night. How that night before sleeping she curled in her mother’s protective hold as she was told the old story passed down from mother to hatchling. The soft lapping of the shoreline waves lulling her to sleep. Twilight’s large tail swayed slightly as the two looked up to the blanket of twinkling stars and the rising moon which bore the iconic mark. Unlike in the prison world where artificial lights often obscured such a scenic view, Equestria was by far the most immaculate either of the two had ever encountered. What wildlife chirped or sung earlier during the evening hours had changed their tune, they instead were dominated by crickets with a few thrushes in the background whose songs and melodies brought a minute chorus to enjoy. Beyond that, tranquility ruled the mad forest just for the two, thus helping to propel a momentary truce as for the moment. Oratoria sighed under her breath so only she could hear herself, “The true king commands the light… not ponies.” In the sanctity of peace, Oratoria had a chance to recollect her past in such full brute force that she let her guard down for a moment. Such a time she marveled at the sky that even she couldn’t find a retort to any further wording from the mutant. Instead, all she could think about was her parents and the time she had with them, the bastion within her mind same as Adagio which allowed her reprieve of the days events. Twilight spoke once more to no one, “Back home, the earth revolved around the sun and the moon orbited the earth. Traveling through the vacuum of space at 940 million kilometers over the course of a year because of the weight of the sun itself. Everything else in the solar system is far less heavier and cannot escape the gravity well of our sun. Even the gas giant planet Jupiter is still too light even though it has a radius of over forty three thousand miles. The laws of the cosmos dictate life and the actions of spatial entities… but here… two beings do all the work.” The notion urked her fellow as yet another claim against siren legend slapped Oratoria in the muzzle. With a sarcastic huff the true siren fired back against the blasphemy, “I was… always told the all father, Poseidon, ruler of the seas was the one who moved the heavens. Mother always said that back then.” She paused as she eyed the moon as it climbed ever so slowly to its peak ascent, “I remember learning about how the ponies believed it to work before I found out where Adagio had disappeared to. I stumbled upon some weird pony festival or something about the summer and the sun, I saw a winged white horse fly up just as the morning came. Though even since then I didn’t want to believe it… I couldn’t! No mere horse could do what a god of the oceans can… even if he lets certain things happen to his little ones and not seek vengeance himself…” For once she wasn’t on a receiving end of an insult, but a genuine conversation with the former Crystal Prep student. Perhaps there was hope yet that they’d not end up dissolving before they reunited with the others. She twisted in place to face Oratoria who still kept her eyes glued to the brilliance up above, “One of many from what I’ve read, they seem to embody the moon and sun as if they are some kind of avatar or manufactured entities to do just that. Though I find it strange why they even need to act on their behalf when the alicorns were only a recent addition to Equis just before the end of the Pre Classical Era of pony kind. Before that there were no records as to unicorns or Queen Faust manipulating the orbits of either which, begging the question as to why they were needed to do so anyways or Poseidon? Strange I never saw anything about gods or deities in Yellow’s research?” That little affirmation peaked the sirens interest like a hot pike through butter, “What!? Of course there are gods, every race has their own just like you humans do! He must have not touched that or didn’t care. He would have had to have talked to some kind of merfolk to even know about him since ponies care only about their lords and Queen. But… you said they were recently born? As in created not too long ago?” she asked with a bit of optimism that the legend was still true. Shaking her head, “I’m sorry but Yellow Tails research only goes so far, his findings were based off of others records he came across by accident. The information seems to make sense if the issue about wish granting demons is true at all. Until I find a library to clarify I’m going off of what he gave me which if all is indeed factual, then yes your god Poseidon may have indeed had power over the moon and sun if this solar system works via magic, which in case means if no one controls them then the world ends?” Twilight couldn’t let herself fathom a day where the sun stayed in place and the other half of the world remained in darkness. “I mean I guess it makes a more plausible sense when you gather how life is usually created on such worlds like Earth and here, life comes from water. The first powerful magical entity may have been born in the water and amassed enough magic to perform such feats, but this is pure speculation as again I need more data.” She noticed how the hippocampus remained between joy and deflation, there was no way to prove anything yet for either of their facts, “But if it comforts you to know, Yellow believes the two sisters are just a little over three thousand years old.” Oratoria breathed out slowly, wishing with all her might that the alicorns were really born and not true gods. Like some lucky great white shark that managed to live on past its years and sow terror in its territory. Her own knowledge of siren lore was as limited as Twilight’s were, leaving them in the same boat. The demon thing was a new topic for her, but as dark as it was she couldn’t keep up with the conversation as yawns sprouted from her maw. Sparkle had then caught on to the fatigue of the once drained siren who mysteriously recovered from magic depletion. An improvement meant they still had a chance yet, “I see you’re feeling better, I probably wouldn’t recommend movement until daybreak. There could be packs of Timberwolves and roaming cockatrices out at this hour from what the field guide warned, we’d be safer with a little sleep wouldn’t you agree?” she hesitantly advised hoping she wouldn’t get a snappy reply for. Her only other ally seemed to feel her energy leave her, she was indeed tired and her body registered it all too well. One last mighty yawn and the turquoise scaled singer stretched her body as far as it would allow until she went limp onto a fresh patch of buckwheat that had just flowered earlier in the morning. Snorting the petals she nearly inhaled from landing, the siren curled up for a moment and gave a quick look to the mutant a few feet away. Having taken her queue, the purple monster had started to make preparations for her bedding instead of just lying down like she should have. How human she was to do such a thing in the middle of nowhere, it made Oratoria chuckle slightly before a nightly breeze gave her a chill. It was quickly followed by the loud distant roar of something mighty and fierce, a howl as eerie as a sea monster beckoning its territorial war cry. Both the girls looked around themselves frozen in place, it was a fast reminder that they were still in danger even if the risk was in the single digits. A few branches jiggled high in the canopies with something darting through the underbrush about them, more than enough for even the real hippocampus to want to do what was natural. Even though it disgusted her to think of such an act, it protected their throats from hungry fangs and put their armored bodies between them and a horrible death as something’s dinner or late night snack. ‘I’m going to hate myself in the morning for this…’ she groaned mentally. The pack habit was still as fresh and livid in her even after so many years as a hairless monkey, despite her misgivings for Adagio’s favorite it seemed the best choice. If not to save grace with her sister, then it was for her own skin as becoming some beasts choice morsel was not on her to do list. Biting her lower lip in reluctance she finally voiced her offer. “Hey, it’s dangerous in these woods now that it’s dark… we should… huddle into a… pile. It’ll make it easier to watch each other’s backs.” She looked away from the foraging girl who had scampered about to create a soft patch to sleep on. Having just made a good two inch thick mattress of favorable foliage into a patch where an old animal borrow had created a pit in the ground, she gave Ora an inquisitive gaze. Questioning the idea and the change of attitude down to the detail, it seemed as if the animal side in the siren may be altering her voluntary actions. Sirens were pack animals to begin with that she knew, and if they were any like the animals on Earth than it was safe to say even the gem wielding girl before her knew when to cut her losses. The benefits to herself were that she’d be protected as well, or at least have an extra set of eyes and ears as they slept. For one who recently hated her when they first met, it seemed circumstances would promote a rope bridge between the two. ‘Perhaps there’s a chance still?’ Twilight pondered with glee hoping she’d not have to deal with the same C.P. attitude for her duration of her stay. “Okay, want to use my spot? It’s below ground level so it will help keep us hidden. I’m not sure what dug the hole but it’s collapsed, anything that passes by will not see us easily. Kind of like a fox hole I guess?” she pointed with a cloven hoof. Without answering Oratoria dragged herself over and for a time the two had a few mishaps trying to get comfortable. Mainly Twilight’s wings were causing the issue, of course she could easily see that they disturbed the other siren more than get in the way. She felt a little shame over her second pair of appendages but at the same time she couldn’t do a thing about them which meant they’d both have to get use to it if they were to cooperate. “Look! Just put your tail under my head and I’ll do the same for you. Keep your things folded close to your back and we should be fine!” Ora grumbled as order finally settled. Some shifting later and in no time they found a comfortably position in which to sleep in. Though for Twilight she’d remain up just a little longer to make sure her wings did as she asked them to do. Troubling thoughts came just as she started to doze off about the other exiles and the location of Spike. What would be in store for the two once they woke up, and would they find Adagio and company in one piece as well as alive? Her final thoughts followed her mind into the dream world, ‘I will find you Spike, I… can… almost sense… you.’ a spark tingled the back of her brain.