//------------------------------//
// Ch. 4 In the Dragon's Lair 
// Story: The Sirens Remorse: Resurgence of the Dazzlings 
// by TheronSniper 
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The sudden turbulence quaked the Dazzlings still stuck inside the dragons maw, clenched just enough to avoid harming them with the sharp fangs. While it was a welcomed turn of events it only meant they were still landing in an unknown area where none of the girls could anticipate further dangers.

“Ohh!!?! Looks like we’re coming down for the final approach!” Sonata said gleefully as their bodies sensed the rapid speed which threw off gravity’s pull with every dip.

Aria groaned as the sensation made her stomach nauseous, “It better be fast!” she said before clenching her jaws together as she threatened to dry heave, hooves coming up to her lips to further hold back the tide.

“Yay!! The sooner we’re out the sooner we can find Twilight again!” Sonata cheered blissfully ignorant of Aria’s state.

The descent took a little over ten minutes of gut churning altitude changing, a luxury Adagio could afford as she awaited freedom with her subordinates trying her patience. Yet the constant lull of a fall in progress kept her cool in check, if not that then the slight jitters in her own stomach from the makeshift plane ride. The sound of the great beast taking in a large quantity of air herald the official landing followed by the sudden jerk towards the floor of its mouth. All three Dazzlings splashed into the saliva coated soft tissue under the serpents tongue like freshly caught fish dumped from a net.

Sonata and Aria who had been flanking their leader ended up slamming their heads into Adagio’s, with a dull thud of hard bone impacting another they collected on the bottom of the orifice. Quickly they followed with a forward tumble as the fanged maw finally opened up and spewed the trio onto soft ground which quickly stuck to their slimy bodies as a tarred criminal to feathers. The light of day burned their night vision as their pupils were forced to adjust to the late afternoon sunlight. Their tumbling collection stirring up daffodil and weeds whose seeds attached to white fluffy parachutes took off into the air to be carried away.

Adagio felt some kind of matter stick to her body, tiny particles fusing onto her slime coated self as if she were covered in sea cucumber mucous and thrown onto washed up kelp. Her aching eye sight did nothing to help her figure out where they were or why she felt so many things clinging onto her. As soon as they rolled to a stop she immediately snorted out the gobs of saliva that managed to sneak up her nostrils, she could hear Blaze hacking beside her and Sonata groaning. At least they were truly not on the menu and the beast still showed promise as being one of the exiles.

“Did someone get the license plate of that truck?” Blaze said woozily, submitting herself to lying on her back until she could see properly.

Adagio could hear the giant that took them move away and seemed engage in drinking something by the sound of lapping and loud gulping. She knew well enough what both sounds meant, it also provided a means to which they could clean themselves.

“We’ve… landed near water I think?” Dazzle peered through squinted eyes, “We’re free girls, soon our gems will be ours once more!” celebrating a little too early.

Dusk giggled as she saw colorful stars in front of her leading her front legs to draw her in their direction, “Ohhh more floating cereal again? Gonna get ya this time!!”

Fearing the wandering behavior of her pod’s most ditzy member Dazzle had to act, “Sonata?! Don’t you dare wonder off!” Adagio shouted as she stumbled when one of her hooves dipped into a hole and into something squishy or wet.

Blaze managed to willpower her sight back into something of use, peering about herself she noticed they were deep inside a forest in a large empty clearing. It was a kind of island of pasture with a huge miniature lake just before them that beckoned her senses to clean herself of the filth on her. Throwing caution to the wind the purple siren hustled towards the pond with haste, she did not even consider the possibility that danger might lurk in those waters she sought with gusto.

“Getting this off me right now. Don’t care at all if it’s safe!!” she cried out before diving into the little oasis.

“Aria? Aria!! Stay here!!” Dazzle tried to keep her pod in one place only to fail horribly with still impacted vision.

Using the clean knuckles of her forelimbs where the rest had been sullied by grim that stuck to her like peanut butter, she rubbed her eyes furiously in an attempt to speed up recovery. The attempt only to harm her delicate orbs by the pressure and do nothing of good with the smell of bacteria laden muck splattering her face as she tried. Her eyes were simply too contracted to come back too soon yet they were returning painstakingly slowly.

“Clean!! CLEAN!!!!” Aria yelled as she celebrated in the feeling of being in her own skin amongst the sensation of the life giving fluid, she was a fish to water.

Crying out to the heavens even Sonata paused in her tracks at the declaration, ceasing her joyful venture to eat the orbs of colors. Blinking till she could see something or other, a rough image of a jungle came and a large flat reflective surface to her right quickly turning into ripples from Blaze’s action. She tilted her head as she tried to understand what was starting to come through and where Aria had begun to thrash about as if she were on fire.

“Gotta get this gunk off before I reek of it! I’m not smelling of lizard breath for the rest of MY life!” Blaze dipped in and out of the pond using the very mud of its bottom to scrape away the built up grim till she felt pure once more.

The water soon became murky with the disturbed sediment being kicked about by the young hippocampus, yet Aria was too determined to freshen up before worrying about a water source. Thankfully she had a two acre space worth of prior crystal clear pond to allow some notion of carefree attitude.

“It’s not that bad Aria, you don’t have to… ugh… freak out over it!” Adagio replied as she shook off a gob of clear mucous from her muzzle with a shake of the head.

“Ohhh hey whose that over there?!” Sonata asked quickly and pointed to their left where the dragon had taken a sip from.

As if an odd twist of events, the two still covered in muck peered at what seemed to be two new forms just then entering the clearing from the vegetation. They were pudgy and round almost like the soccer balls humans used often enough in games made into a sport. Both were of the same size yet one seemed to be holding two metal tubes welded together and the other hosting a flat sheet of paper gazing about themselves in question.

The giant wyvern seemed to catch up on the new arrivals and simply stopped drinking its fill, frozen in place as it waited for the interlopers’ next move. The intruders being a pair of cattle no doubt who seemed to be on vacation, with the straw hats and upper body apparel of plaid clothing. The couple seemed to be oblivious to their risky venture as they stumbled out of the Everfree mumbling and arguing over being lost. Though to the Dragon that was Yellow Tail, it became something entirely different and a pressing need to remedy.

The portly female shook her head in disappointment incidentally ringing the ornamental bell around her neck, “I told you we should have made that last turn at Hoofington and walked south. Now we’re lost in the forest the kind towns ponies told us never to go into! Bumbleton?! Are you even listening to me?!” the cow seemed irked as the bull remained glued to the map he held in one hoof.

The bovine groaned irritably at the pestering he was receiving, “I know what I’m doing Sweet Cream, I can handle this perfectly fine and we don’t need to ask for directions.”

“Honestly! This has got to be the worst vacation we’ve been on in our fourteen years together. You never listen to me and we always get lost at the end. If it weren’t for the friends we make each time we go out… I honestly don’t know what I’d do?!” Sweet pouted and managed to catch sight of the Dazzlings and their monstrous kidnapper.

With both parties captivated to some extent, Bumbleton the bull had yet to even catch wind of the discovery until his wife tapped his flanks urgently. Knowing another argument would only come of his usual response he instead took a deep breath and looked away from the piece of papyrus. Turning towards the cow she appeared awestruck at something he couldn’t fathom yet so he inquired so they could move on and find a way home.

“Cream… look I’m sorry for snapping at you like that, I promise the next local we find I will ask them where we are at the very least. Then we’ll be on our way home before it’s dark. Does that sound good to you?” Bumbleton forced a weak smile to his oblivious significant other.

Waiting a moment and Sweet still idly tapped his quarters and it drove the bull into frustration at his failed attempt to quell his wife.  It seemed as if she was trying to bother him even after the hard work he put into the vacation trip and making it up to her. What more could he do to placate her beyond actively finding somepony or other to ask for directions?

“You can stop that now. If you didn’t want an apology all you had to do was say so.” He grumbled before his wife’s face turned to pure joy and she ceased knocking on him.

In a few seconds the cow soon dug through his canvas haunch packs for the camera they picked up in another town, quickly she put it around her neck. With a genuine smile that confused her husband, Sweet Cream started to take photos of some kind of sight in their original direction with flashes going off from the little bulb on the black box. Of course Bumbleton happened to be looking at his wife when the flare went off causing his eyes to contract and blind him temporarily.

“Ooohhh!!! Honey look! Another dragon?! Remember that darling Pearl Brush in Trottingham who painted for a living? She had such beautiful scales and such talent! And there was Iron Jaw who cracked pecans on that farm east of Cloudsdale? We had the best pecan pie anywhere and no shells either, and you hate biting into shells so much too.” She touted as the list went on of the friendly scaly residents whom they befriended through their travels around Equestria.

“Uuugghh… there’s a dragon here?” he rubbed his eyes with a knuckle of his hoof trying to find the one in question, “Where is he? I can figure out how to get home then?”

The cow marveled at the size of the dragon having only met younger ones in their years of travel from pint sized hatchlings to yak height adults in Dragon Town of Manehatten. They were always told dragons were dangerous meat eaters who hoarded gems and breathed fire at anything near them. Her family warned the couple to never travel through the woods even on the main commercial routes without escorts of some kind. Yet each time they had encountered one they were civilized and very kind, even if some were like her husband though she attributed it to the life in big cities.

Here however was what most would probably call a fully grown adult, maybe even a wild one. There lay a chance to truly debunk the fears ponies and bovines had towards the gentle creatures. She now had proof of the encounter as the photos drifted away from the slot on the device, flittering onto the grass below.

Adagio watched nervously as she picked up on certain queues as only a fellow predator could do, body language, rate of breath, the tension in the tremendous wings. The way it ponderously moved to face the cattle and not cause tremors with each step of its bulk, it was hungry and there was a nice pudgy meal right there all for the taking with no witnesses save for her and the idiots.

Dazzle ducked as did the others when the dragons long armored spiky tail swayed overhead, as thick as the largest and oldest palm tree she’d ever known. The displaced air felt cool as the massive appendage struck a coiled pose in anticipation of a feast, and that was when Sonata attempted to admire the obsidian tail.

“Woo… Umph!!” Dusk felt a hoof in her mouth to stop the flow of vocalization faster than she could process, looking at the source of the clog her matriarch bore a scowl which sent her flinching away.

Aria snickered without a word as she too knew the threat of a hungry monster posed to them and Sonata nearly caught the hunger’s attention. For her the simpleton might eventually get them into some deep trouble but thankfully Adagio’s quick wits would simply shut her up effectively. Of all the ways to go this particular scene was not one she wanted to end on.

Bumbleton barely recovered enough to see detail as the beast drew its head to within feet away, “Ahhhhhhh good sir? Would you mind if I ask where we are? My wife and I are trying to get to Ponyville and I believe it’s north east from here innnnnn… that direction.”

Sweet stopped taking photos once she met the silver eyes of the giant wyvern, “You have the most gorgeous eyes too! They’re just like my niece Gentle Meadow, oh by Celestia she was gifted such whimsical eyes!”

The bull shook his head as clarity once more returned and there to greet him was the massive snout of the dark creature. Taken aback by the blast of foul air he coughed slightly before waving a hoof to clear the air.

“Yah, Gentle was one of the lucky ones. So? Can you help us? Mr. Dragon?” he asked being deaf to the seriousness they were in with pleasant nostalgia further blinding him.

Out of sight, Adagio waited anxiously for the moment it would happen where two would be sacrificed by fate so they wouldn’t be on the menu. Aria bobbed in the water and slowly sunk herself till just her dorsal crest and her head poked out, she wanted to see the violent act happen as much as Adagio. It had been so long since a frenzy ever happened and humans were rather piggish in their own manner. Uncouth compared to true hunters, there was something just magical about the process which entertained her morbid sense of fun. Then again she was a siren and her kind were hunters of both emotion and seafood, it was only natural she found affinity with the gargants spontaneous hunt.

Slowly the enormous jaws opened up as saliva fresh from the glands hissed in the air made not to coat the mouth from fire or drying out. This particular mucous was meant to dissolve gemstones and bone with ease, it had to have been how dragons were able to consume rock to begin with as Adagio’s mother once told her. Their sharp teeth only broke the stones into manageable shards while the saliva dulled their pointed ends, preventing splinters from lodging in their throats. The unique enzymes did the rest of the work until the stomach acids took over. The globs which leaked off the lizards scaly lips burned the grass below turning spots brown and withered as they died away instantly. It was then that the cattle took the hint that this was no friendly dragon at all and their family had been right all along.

“Would you… like to have the… famous Griffon made Rye… bread…” Sweet gulped nervously, “… I got… from Seaddle?”

As a true herbivore, they were cemented in place quivering maddeningly as the insidious devil’s long tongue snaked out between the deathly rows of razor swords to engulf the morsels. The last thing they felt was the slick muscular organ as wide as two carts slither underneath their bellies before curling around them, clutching their hefty bodies with ease and squeezing the couple together. In the speed of a blink of the eye they were enveloped by an abyss darker than the darkest night by Princess Luna. Adagio could see the cow starting to weep as her significant other seemed to break from his mental lock, meagerly attempting to make their passing easier by nuzzling her neck. The angst on the bull was raw in its utmost form, even without a gem the siren could taste the negative emotion as well as the bitterness of love. The swirling mix was at best a unique flavor though she couldn’t feed off it, almost as if the two worked in tandem?

The lightless gullet drew quickly before their weeping eyes as their last vacation ended with the antithesis to their belief of the mighty fire breathers and young ones. The bovines passing signaled by the audible gulp at their slip through the long sinewy throat as long as two buses back to back. Then into the behemoths wide muscular barrel in a swift act which lasted ten seconds where no further signs of their existence could be determined. There was no act of chewing, no attempt to hasten their end, only a simple act of voracious inhalation to speed their entrance into the stomach with no chance of escape. In no time they’d pass out from lack of air and sleep would herald the last seconds of their lives, Dazzle took an empty swallow herself as she awaited the wyvern’s next move.

She noticed a pleasant smile grace their host’s features, it would seem as the meal would last a while and in her favor by the heifers that came along. As grisly as it would have been if they’d have tasted good enough, if this truly was Yellow Tail’s real form he had impeccable self restraint. Even as she sat there watching the beast lick its chops to clear away left over debris and cough out the saddle bags that smoldered and burned from the acidic slime, it created a growl from Adagio’s belly.

He only difference was for them they needed to sing, they had to have dark magic and there was only so much time they’d be able to endure it. She was sure if she felt the rumbling of magical starvation than no doubt the others were too. The thirst would soon set in she figured within a few days where she’d worry about their ability to function properly.

‘We need to get those gems back before it’s too late. There’s no telling how far this hidden stash is… we have to move!’ she turned behind her to put the plan into motion.

With a stern face, “It is over… Sonata get cleaned up, we’ll be following what I’m assuming is still the real exile leader. Even if it doesn’t look like him.” Adagio removed her hoof from the girl’s mouth as she quietly slinked away into the water with Aria who hadn’t budged after the meal had concluded.

While Aria seemed to be pleased with what she saw, Dusk on the other hand was rather disturbed and seemed remorseful for the cattle, “That wasn’t very nice.”

Pausing to watch the giant seem to treat the ingestion of another sentient as if it were a lifeless taco or a pizza slice, eventually she too joined the girls for an impromptu bath. Her mind trying to figure out why they survived and those cows did not, surely there were other prey to eat? They simply wanted directions and were ravenously devoured faster than a breath of air for merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Stepping softly into the chilly pond water for a short cleaning, it was the one time in her life she really begged the question about the welfare of others beyond her pod. After all, her family only ate fish and those things in hard rock casings, aside from the tasty shrimp and crab of which never showed any thought at all? The moment of deep thought that Blaze caught on and quickly stomped all over the train of thought. A rapid hoof dunk immersed the foolish girl under the surface in hopes to instill resolve, there was nothing worse than an idiot trying to think.

Hearing the bubbles come up as Sonata’s tail started to thrash from shock churned the water violently, “There you go you dunder head, just rinse out that empty head of yours till it’s nice and clean…” Aria joyfully declared with a wide grin.

Extracting herself by swimming into the center of the decently sized waterhole and popping up coughing, “Ari… Aria!!” she hacked, “Not nice! Meanie!!”

“You were thinking about something you shouldn’t! Get over yourself!” Blaze replied with a grumble before using her forelimbs to clean any spots she missed with the scrub from the algae covered ground.

“NO! You don’t dunk someone under water like that!” She still protested fuming as she assumed a crocodile’s lazy floating stance, bubbles angrily erupting from her submerged nose as she stared with ire at her compatriot.

Aria didn’t even bother to look back as she enjoyed the feel of her fellow’s laser hot stare, “Of course you do. Look you’re even better than ever?” she scoffed giving a gentle shake of the body before hauling herself onto dry land, the water channeled by her scales drying her off even faster.

“Nuh Uh!!” Dusk continued only to hear a low commanding growl from Dazzle just ten feet away.

“Would you two FOOLS cease already?!! I’m already getting a migraine from hearing your insistent blabbering! Just wash up and get ready to follow the beast, it’s probably waiting for us. It hasn’t moved since its meal… just keeps drinking water.” Adagio had turned to look behind her and sure enough throughout the infighting the winged reptile held a portion of its mouth back underwater moving as it sipped away idly.

Aria shook herself completely dry with a smile seeing as how she won the little argument by default, she wouldn’t have Sonata getting any funny ideas. She was always prone to wondering off at the slightest food stall or tiniest thing that only a hatchling would be enthralled with which begged the question if she had some brain damage done to her. Last thing she wanted was to be a moment away from regaining their powers and having to play find the doofus for two days.

Looking back from where they likely came from she too wondered about Sparkle more than so she did that new girl Oratoria. Aria mulled over the thought if the human girl turned siren still had magic or was she really one of them with a late stone breaching? What did the portal do to her?

The one thing Twilight really helped her with was making Sonata bearable and for that she sorely missed the source of distraction to give her a moment’s peace. Her gaze went to the Everfree around them while wondering in the meanwhile if they’d ever see the two again, well at least the one she could stand. Besides, Adagio needed to have a moral leash on her before they had every matriarch trying to stop them, a problem she hoped they wouldn’t come across.

While contemplating their dim futures she did not miss a hint of movement that her sharp eyes darted towards instinctively as a prowling tigress on the hunt. Ears honed in on the spot where she could have sworn there was a blur of motion. The wind unfortunately blowing behind her negated her sense of smell from aiding the location, but she was sure of it. Poseidon as her witness something was out there and possibly watching them and if it were not for Adagio’s own paranoia she might have excused it for a bird.

Dazzle extracted herself from the pool feeling refreshed and relaxed, sensing that their powers would be returned by the end of the day if the terror landed close to its dwelling fate being with them. The emptiness would be filled again and soon they’d be off conquering the tartarus cursed ponies once more, a sensation she reveled in subdued giddiness.

“Ahhh… it’ll be good to not have to drag ourselves like a common mudskipper… Sonata!? Hurry up, I don’t want to keep our chauffer any longer than we have to! The curtain call beckons us!” she called out to the cerulean singer still in the deep end.

She swiveled her head from her fools to the horrific monstrosity to double check on their progress, she had to double take on one in particular. Like one of the human pets that guarded property, Blaze seemed to be fixated on one portion of the wilderness that surrounded them. Snorting at the preposterous scene she moved herself over to inspect the alert one and get her moving, the sooner they were out of the open the better.

Her taloned cloven hooves dug into the soft earth as she strained with her tail to push herself, each step making her wish they had their gems soon. The clover patches at least made it tolerable and did not scrape her body as rough as bare ground would. Coming up just a few steps away to her little loner, Dazzle soon took in the facial reading which worried her. Those bright mulberry eyes were twitching on a certain spot out in the treeline, her iris contracted tightly to that of a viper only expanding slightly after another jerk to the next detail. Unlike any normal time, she could feel the tenseness her siren whose ears and dorsal crest flexed and moved paying her no heed.

Dazzle peered out to the woods as well in hopes of catching what put Blaze in defensive mode. It resurfaced her hatchling days of surviving through the vast swathes of wilderness, if you failed to notice something it was often your end. Though she scanned as intently as her subordinate, nothing came of two minutes of intensive investigation. Even as Sonata had joined the two of them it seemed as if all were a false alarm or a very clever interloper.

“Whatcha guys doin?” the cerulean singer asked innocently still dripping with fresh water.

Adagio broke her focus and left to the overgrown reptile not far off who had finally finished drinking its fill, “Nothing, now let’s go Aria. We’re done here.”

Dusk wasn’t completely satisfied with being denied any information and Aria was not much of any help either as she grunted in agreement. Whipping around as if furious she couldn’t do something, a scowl was etched onto her muzzle that further confused her comrade. Left with no answers, she dropped her shoulders feeling like she was once again left out of the fun. Just as she was about to follow suit, the corner of her peripheral caught something dash away before she could have put a bead on it. Like a falling shoal of leaves the forest held no secret to be found, it was just a figment of her imagination.

“Huh? Guess it was just a bird?” she squinted for a few seconds and inevitably forgot what she was doing.

“SONATA!! Hurry up!” her counterpart shouted out as the thunderous stomps of the wyvern signaled their leave.

“COMING!!!” she replied and proceeded to hop like a walrus behind the three.

The Dazzlings gathered behind the monster as it paused for a strange reason, it breathed heavily as if detecting something in the air. Though the girls couldn’t see past the crown of horns that crested along the back of its head down to its jaws, they knew something was up. It was starting to get dark and within two hours it would be the prowling hour where the night eaters would be about if not soon.

“Something up with big and scary there?” Aria grunted.

“Not sure, but if we don’t hurry up we’ll be facing more than just two cows. HEY!?!!” she called to their impromptu guide who gave a lazy glance towards the sirens, “I don’t know if you remember but once that sun goes down we’ll be the ones who are hunted if you catch my drift?! The less time we take getting there the better!”

Her voice echoed through the acres and acres of trees and shrubbery, having to up her volume just to reach its ears. Her request seemed to find home as it raised its long neck up over the height of the Everfree, peering over for a quick view of their surroundings. The angle of the sun was what it took from the moment before withdrawing back into obscurity. It gave a deep soft hum that reverberated in its hefty chest like a one of the humans noisy cars named after wild horses. Extending its tail on front of the Dazzlings and holding it as if awaiting for something.

“I think he’s waiting for us?” Soanta said as she tilted her head guessing.

“For what? We have to move and standing here’s pointless!” Blaze replied getting frustrated once more.

Dazzle however took the hint and nodded to the silver eyes which studied her, she straddled herself onto its appendage and used the vertebral spines to climb, “It knows we’ll only hold it back if we have to crawl behind it. Get on!”

She could feel the abrasive roughness going up, the thankfully dull protrusions of its back were not a risk of harming them. Even with her own lighter natural armor the texture alone was as if she were scaling a cliff sheer of some massive rock. An experience in the human world she dared not repeat nor tenderly remember.

Taken aback by the generosity or smart thinking by the giant, Aria and Sonata were at first worried that it was a trick or a bad idea. Neither were ever considering such a monster to think proactively, then again they did not know its limits or how smart it was. Being so far cry from who they believed it to be and the Equis form he took the gray line was expansive.

“GET ON!!” Adagio commanded as she reached just below the dragon’s shoulders.

Her authority sent the two scurrying upwards and in no time the trio were perched upon its back where upon movement of their ride did they see how high they were up. The beast’s great tail swayed with each waddle as its wings trudged onwards, beneath its own black plating were the hearty muscles that powered its frame and cargo. The Dazzlings were in for a unique ride which they could feel every raspy breath, every drum-like pulse of its heart, and the undulating flesh under them.

They would be safe from anything as long as the dragon remembered it had precious passengers to be aware of. As mammoth as it was what could go against it might as well have been a Hydra and they were far from any bogs or swamps where Adagio knew they dwelled. Its great wings slammed into the dirt and shrubbery with such steadfast determination that no ancient tree the Everfree hosted could ever stand up to. They all snapped like toothpicks after their restaurant ventures, the powerful clawed wings simple forced them down and out of their way.

“At least we get to travel in style I guess?” Aria huffed as she eyed the scenic view, the birds frantically flying away as their homes were demolished.

“Wooow!” Sonata gasped as a growing peak of a large snow capped mountain peering over the Everfree canopy.

Indeed, for their viewing pleasure was Equestria at large and the very familiar setting before they were sentenced to that horrible realm. So much to behold in just the region alone was a comforting sensation of nostalgia. No metal machines and their racket, no flying ships roaring overhead, no concrete forests of sterility that wore on their minds on a daily basis. Nature in its grandeur had a humbling moment on the girls especially Adagio as her inner consciousness yearned for her homeworld after so many failures. She could finally notice the purity in the air, the cooler climate, and the fleeing wildlife.

“I… I feel…” she whispered looking at the soon to be territory of the Dazzlings, “I feel…”

The coming ecstasy hit a snag as her missing ruby threw off the magical view, it was as if her own soul couldn’t experience full joy unless it was complete. Though they were on their way to regaining hopefully, the evidence made it clear that they were still shattered until then.

“… Anger.” She closed her eyes and tried to calm down, the images of Starswirl the Bearded and their musical tournament against him came at her like a rushing tide.

‘While I still draw breath never again will that happen to us or any other. If anyone goes back there it will be my enemies…’ she seethed with restraint.

Her minions could taste the subdued fury, deciding to keep quiet the rest of the way. Doing so would test even Sonata’s usual antics as they rode on for several hours, hearing nothing but slain trees fall to the unending gait of the mighty winged Melded. What persevered them even to the lengths of keeping Adagio from getting any angrier was the path of which they took, a straight line towards the nearest mountain ridge. The destination must mean that the cache was one of the peaks and they’d have their powers by the end of the day.

As entertainment for the sirens, every animal and lesser predator gave them a huge berth of breathing room, if not for their guide they might have seen some activity towards themselves. They could make out some kind of plant-like things of dead bark and old wood whining at the dragon just loud enough to be heard in the forest’s depths. Once the beady sickly apple green slits fell upon the hippocampi atop it there were low growls at the meal just out of reach. Adagio sensed it was their frustration of being denied or possibly having their territory invaded and not being able to fight back.

“Well at least the bouncer here is keeping the rift raff away.” Aria chuckled noticing a second pack of the golems to their left mimic the same behavior.

The other two seemed to agree as Dazzle finally spoke up after so long, “Yes, wish I had this hill of muscle with me back then… wouldn’t have to have suffered so much.” She eyed the gang of earthly constructs which seemed to keep enough interest in the four to at least trail them.

“I think Twilight called them… Tim… ber…wolfs? I remember her saying something about forest monsters at lunch one time!” Dusk proudly replied as she remembered the fried calamari they shared together on that day, bringing a huge smile to her muzzle.

“Timberwolves? Sounds right?” Aria agreed seeing the things as they were, unlike the dogs of the prison world they ran into on their third hundredth year in the realm caste from Equis.

The forest birds and small critters were in absence as scavengers and opportunistic vermin began to amass behind the sirens transport. Though keeping a good few hundred meters safe distance, Adagio could sense them like a sea louse trying to latch onto the body as her mother once warned her of. Even as tall conifers and ancient oaks were toppled down and broken no matter how thick their trunks were, little deterred the hungry maws following like ravenous rats that hadn’t fed.

Dazzle no more on edge than usual never took an eye off their pursuers as her eyes went from each grouping, always one on them and the other on Yellow Tail. The behemoth lizard giving small snarls if one pack came close enough to see in detail, they always backed away like frightful foals.

“Hey? Did you hear that?” Sonata asked out of the blue.

“Hear what?  Your stomach again?” Aria grinned.

Scrunching her mouth, “No! I mean I hear buzzing of some kind? And I know it’s not from those baddies following us either.”

Indeed a very faint buzz like a bee came from the left up ahead obscured by the thick dense foliage of the foreboding jungle-like forestry. None of the three knew what it was beyond a possible beehive coming up except it seemed to move in its origin. No set of ears could hone in the exact location that they could try to make out, but the dragon seemed to take a rather crude heed.

“What is that buzzing noise?” Adagio asked quietly with no win in her attempt to source the spot.

 In a quick swipe and push of the left wing jutted far out to its side and knocked over a couple tall pines wrought with decay and dying branches. Out of no reason at all did the black scaly reptile commit such a random act of destruction, but the oddest thing was Adagio couldn’t hear the buzzing anymore.

“Huh? I can’t hear it anymore?” Dusk noted as they kept on.

“Probably nothing. This is some wild place anyways” Aria soon dismissed the oddity and settled down onto the dragon’s back bored once more.

The golden siren kept her attention still where they last heard the noise even as they passed by the dead timber that was impressively long with its root base for all to see. Nothing moved, nothing stirred, nothing so much as broke a branch as they put distance from the disturbed area. Nearing the foot of the mountain they were approaching, the trailing creatures had soon dispersed frantically like their lives depended on it by the echoes of their panic. The glowing eyes were gone following the sound of erupting splintering lumber with a deep roar in tow.

Sonata heard the buzz again, “Huh? There it is again?” she turned her head as the forest came alive as never before, distant branches and fluffy leafy tree tops rocked angrily by some unseen force that chased after anything it could see.

 More trees were fell by something large,  even a few yelps could be discerned by which Aria could only guess what might have happened, “I think big old draco here just saved us a lot of trouble if you catch my drift?”

“Hmm… sounds right, it must of known what was there? Nevertheless, keep on moving, what’s back there is beyond our concern. We’re finally here.” Adagio’s words trailed off into a whisper of anticipation, the huge conical snow capped peak was within reach and their guide had begun to push away the dense vegetation which blocked a breach into the body of the rock.

“Finally!!” Blaze exaggerated an exhale, “My tail’s starting to chaff on this sorry excuse for a back, once we get our gems I’m never letting it go!”

Using its spiny crested head the overlapping tree branches and thick vines were obliterated and torn aside, shrubs squashed like paper balls until enough of a passage was created for the four of them. Made for all to see was a six story entrance painted with colorful moss and lichen along the granite leading into a dark cavern harboring who knew what. The only thought going through Adagio’s mind was the gemstones they’d soon have, now nothing stood in their way and the dragon would burn whatever lurked in there without even trying.

“Keep in line girls, our comeback tour is about to begin.” Dazzle cackled evilly as they disembarked and followed the lumbering monster inside, taking the slide down towards its tail to avoid catching flame discharge in the enclosed area.

Sonata innocently asked after they landed, “What if there’s a bigger monster inside like hibernating or something?”

Aria laughed, “Like anything could stand a chance, besides if they take each other out what’s there to lose?”

Immediately following her words a scuffle broke out deep inside as the echoes indicated besides the wyverns stomping as short lived as it were. The sirens were forced against the walls of the cave as a hoard of bears ran for their lives, likely using the place as their little abode for hibernation. How sorely they misjudged the location and the mere roar sent them packing. Huge furry brown and black balls the size of small cars ran in fear grunting to escape least they be eaten. In such a hurry they were that the sirens were ignored until the last of the beasts were long ways away far outside the cave.

“Talk about your hairball stamped?!” Blaze whistled off tune coming down off the grip of the cave walls she and the others latched onto.

Adagio fell to her belly with determination in her soul, “Enough! Keep moving, Yellow’s keeping his promise to us whether he can talk or not.” She growled in a pleased way, a maddened look in her eyes driving her onwards.

The other two gave unsure glances to the other before shrugging unknowingly, they were a little worried of how deep the system went and when they’d arrive at the lair. As it were they had to rely on their night vision to navigate, for all others it was pitch black and only the sense of touch would be their aid. Were there more hiding within the confines and would they be able to get out of the way in time if so?

With the passage keeping wide enough for two tanker trucks to fit end to end, the light of outside could only reach so far in before darkness overtook their path. There were growing signs that the pathway had no longer become naturally made but forced into being by magic. Scars in the rock were worn by time yet they were increasing in clarity proving where they were heading had to be the lair of Yellow Tail.

“Are we sure he knows where he’s going? Or it?” Aria inquired as Sonata piped up.

“Ya like, how long has he been gone? This place might be I don’t know? Buried or something?” swiftly hopping up to Dazzle until she was side by side with her leader as she added to the concern.

Reluctant to answer until the passage way soon gave room to a chamber of some kind, “Why don’t you see for yourself?” Adagio grinned in a wide and a disturbing fashion as her sight caught first glimpses of their salvation.

Upon the dragon’s arrival did the room light up with a dull blue glow from embedded crystal scattered throughout the dome shaped room. The faint illumination thankfully had little pain upon their eyes as they adjusted to the details and shadows cast by the magic stones. They were hurriedly installed by their chaotic placement making it all to clear that this was indeed the safe room of a mage on the run. Like the brightest stars in the night sky of the human world the entirety of the sanctuary was for all to see.

It appeared to be too artificial of a formation to be made by eons of time, as magic seemed to be at the root of creation by the carve marks that textured the rock. Adagio gauged that the lair had to be large enough to house ten or more of the black wyvern easily with room to spare for everything else that had been shoved into the chamber.

The girls held their spot at the entrance of the room, studying every square inch of the area looking for the promised prize for helping the exiles get their ride home. Coming across the first and most obvious part were the sparkling twinkles of a huge gem pile to the farthest left section of the dome. It had to be countless crystals and finely cut stones amassed over a long period of time judging by the quantity, even for Adagio she was impressed though they meant nothing to her like the silly bits that mortals valued. The strangest thing was the entire hoard radiated with Equestrian magic with the potency of concentrated mana, unused for years to the point they permeated their resting place like a juicy grilled salmon.

“So much magic?!” Dazzle awed, “Just like at the café…”

She recalled the godly spiral of magical power that drew her as a moth to a flame to that Tartarus forsaken school that removed their powers. The pondering goliath made a slow almost pained approach to the gem cache giving it a size to reference from, even as the beast stepped atop it and laid to rest. The titan’s throne welcomed its true owner with a short pulse of magic as it recognized who claimed it or some kind of spell put upon it to protect the mound. From emeralds, to diamonds, quartz, and all other precious stones their colors dawned alive before returning to their neutral state and by then the beast curled into itself for a nap.

“Like for realzies? A mountain of magic?” Sonata questioned, “I wonder if it’s those thingies Twilight talked about… capatitors? Capanitors? Capacitors?” she tried to guess the name of the mana storage tools.

“She called the capacitor stones you dweeb.” Aria scorned out of reaction.

Adagio nodded as another pulse shot out from the mountain of reflective jewels, spreading out through the whole vicinity though seemingly doing nothing other than producing a light show.

“That foolish equestrian Twilight Sparkle turned my pendent into such a thing… I still remember when she pulled it out. Mutiliated… vandalized!” the sound of gnashing fang emanated from Adagio as her dorsal crest rose up steadily.

“Easy there Adagio we don’t need to wake up the steak eater just when it went to sleep.” Blaze tried to warn and stop an outburst from happening, “I’d rather not piss it off when our only way out is the best way to be grille and smoked!”

“Anyone else feel that? Feels like…” Dusk interrupted as she stepped ahead of the others as if tracking some kind of smell.

It was an aura of a particular essence that was close to her heart as the others soon found out themselves. Even Adagio lost her boiling anger when she thought she felt what was another pod of sirens close by, extremely close to the point that the proximity made it impossible within the hideout. Aria took to the drawing trail which coated the room just as dense as the mana crystals as it quickly overwhelmed it, other sirens were within reach yet none were visible.

Sonata gazed to the right of the dragon and its knoll of treasure, wooden crates that also give off a magic signature only on a very faint level. Nothing of immediate interest nor having the scent of sirens beyond the stench of a dusty old library. Other than sacks and clay pots in various other areas of the yielded no further interest other than passing thoughts of what they held. With the tantalizing scent perplexing the infamous singers it only drove them to investigate the last few areas hidden behind junk stacks.

They hovered around a three stack wall of silver goo leaking clay canisters when low and behold, just thirty feet behind them was what they had to locate. The very sight from which Sonata first glimpsed brought a near horrific face upon her muzzle, Aria quickly noticed and peered over careful not to touch the liquid metal. Craning her neck she too beheld an awesome sight which dropped her jaw faster than the time Dusk nearly smashed her foot with a bowling ball. Adagio was the last one to catch on seeing her Dazzlings locked in petrifaction, immediately her own body surged forwards almost knocking the cerulean siren flat on her side.

She gasped in astonishment, “They’re… here?”

“No way… he was telling the truth?!” Aria blasted in disbelief, to actually see the numerous siren stones was both a mixture of joy and sadness.

“They really did steal them?” Sonata sadly teared up, she remembered that the some hundred or so blood rubies were gathered by the evil Arcana and Yellow happened upon them only to do a good deed and rescue them.

Deep crimson gems the exact shape and size of the girl’s once preciously immaculate pendants. Adagio gulped as her heart raced with vigor she’d only felt when they were on the cusp of victory, her forelimbs slowly moving her closer along with the other two. The ten faceted sided gems positively reeked of siren scent meaning they were as real as they could be. Their essence the strongest as the three were mere inches away from the dead, that was what they were down to the details. What was left of any siren after she passed away was the immortal stone they grew from their own bodies. These were their graves that told of their existence to other pods who happened upon them, but to ponies they were something else of use. Their filthy hooves had dared to remove them from their resting place and taken to do who knew what with. The three Dazzlings each yearned for the hope that theses were the only ones they found since, this cave was the safest place for them. Guarded by the predator which ate their kind yet seemed the opposite by being unique in what it was. How fate befell their kin Adagio thought, but at least only they would be the last to touch them.

“I… I don’t believe it?!” Aria said who had been unsure they’d ever get their powers returned to them in honesty, now the truth to the banished held honor.

Sonata as tears started to fall down her cheeks, “There’s… so many?”

Adagio almost refused to touch them as she barely poked them with the tip of her snout, “How…how many…” her head swayed as if to see each and every stone visible on the mound.

“Those lampreys…” Blaze choked back to maintain some semblance of her stalwart hardness, but even for her it was a sight she couldn’t handle, “… those flipping blood suckers!” she hissed clenching her jaws tightly in righteousness.

Dusk was about to put a hoof to the pile when she was stopped, “Don’t grab them yet…” Dazzle intervened.

“But… but I thought we were supposed to regain our stones?” she stuttered conflicted herself about using another’s for her own gain against the dire need to sing to feed once more.

“NOT yet we will, these may be just… just remains but we have to treat them with respect. There’s no telling where those blasted unicorns retrieved them? They could be from here or elsewhere… and if those earth sirens are anything like us then the former owners may exist inside them as well?” she waved her two antennae over the peak of the pile.

“Well that’s just great, and we don’t have Yellow’s gang to exorcise them from us… Fan-freakin-tastic!” an irritated Aria fumed not wanting to endure the experience again.

“But what if we… I don’t know? Commune with the ones we’re taking?” the idea seemed to hit home with her matriarch as the thought of somehow communicating with the stone might be able to ease in merging with the spirit which might still linger in the rubies?

Wide eyed as if she’d been smacked in the head with a logic bat, “That may be the most intelligent thing you’ve every suggested?”

“Ummm… thanks?” Sonata grinned nervously before the others took action and tried to hear anything from the stones as a first thought.

She watched them go to every visible jewel with eyes racing everywhere and ears forward with nothing received in their meager attempt. Adagio even went so far as to pick one up and examine it with the utmost care as if she held her pods first egg, she even began to whine as seconds turned into minutes with no results forth coming. Aria was worse off as she growled and grunted with each failed try, none of the dead spoke or had any want to and it drove her senseless.

“I got nothing!!” the purple sea horse turned away before she put a cloven hoof through the pile, not wanting to curse herself.

They were desperate to get to the final stage before they could be themselves once again, “Why are they silent? Is it only human versions of us that can stay in the stone?! This can’t be RIGHT!!”

Having removed herself from the carmine heap and away to think, it left Dusk alone with the fallen and she feared the conflict which burdened the others. Were they really up the creek with damaged fins that stalled them in the current like dead tree branches?

“What would Twilight do?” she asked herself mourning their next failure.

The gentle snores of the wyvern nearby shook her ear drums like a low tremor which tickled her out of the quandary. As easy as it was for her to do so, in an peculiar chance of fate there seemed to be a particular beat of the sleeping lizard. How its throat played the note reminded her of something thought brought about bliss that closed her eyes.

That night, she had been gifted the chance to hear a really good voice unlike Adagio’s or Aria’s. When they all were together for karaoke, just a normal group of human girls harmonizing before the big event.

“Okay I’m sure you’ll be able to sing this Twilight, you sound like so much like her. For realzies!! I heard it over the internet like a couple weeks ago.” Dusk bounced on the cushioned seat as she set the song on play from her custom menu.

The music played and the reluctant Sparkle took the chance and performed, sounding just like her Equis version that defeated them. Though rather than believe her to be a weapon to be used, she saw her as a friend and she enjoyed her act as she said every word of the song she gave her. As her memory played the recording she unknowingly sang along quietly at first before her singing kicked up in the dreary lair.

“I will rise in resistance. Sing the oath of rebellion. And cease-fire on this high wire. Head to toe in vanity. When those eyes in the mirror stare back at me. I’m reminded that the ghost of pride is clear to see. Wipe away the weakness. Will you let those scares define you? Or will they adorn you as we carve are way to victory?” Sonata went on catching her bandmates off guard who looked at her dumbfounded at the random behavior they perceived.

“Doubt is crying out but I refuse to let it drown me. Wearing down my fight till nothing’s left. I say crier. I say liar. I say rise in hell. I stand gazing down at death as they say… waaaarrr. I’ll wage waaaarrr. I hate waaarrrr. They say fight for peace… but what is that?” Dusk felt chills through her entire body as her fins expanded and stretched to the pleasantness she experienced.

“Raise a shield to the bullets. Hold my ground, all I got now. But I’m defeneceless, all but helpless if it gives beneath my feet. I turn from the mirror. That desperate plea. I refuse and can’t believe those eyes belong to me.” She vividly imagined how Twilight started to feel elated as she gained confidence.

The siren sang even more of the song and as it did, Adagio witnessed the gemstones begin to react even if her idiots singing was off key and cracked every now and then like the human juveniles did growing up. Nevertheless the pain of hearing such a horrendous voice, there was merit to it and she’d see it through.

“Come on, one more breath. My ravaged voice betrays me mid-shout. Will you never hear those final words I failed to choke out? I tried to survive by putting all my faith in instinct. But now I regret what have I done?” Dusk exhaled what little air was left in her lungs before taking in one massive breath.

‘What is she doing?!’ Blaze couldn’t piece the two and two together as the rubies took on a light of their own just as the dragon in the back cracked an eye open.

“I SAY CRIER. I SAY LIAR. I SAY RISE IN HELL. I am just about to BURST as they say WAR!! I’LL WAGE WAR. I HATE WAR. There’s no end to this… can’t you see that?” Sonata’s attempt livened more as she felt a certain amount of joy being able to do what she was born to do, so much so she did not realize a red aura begin to surround her much less the one around the rubies.

Adagio simply gaped at the scene unfolding before her, the dead were in some way or form communing with her subordinate and they were doing something to her. She could feel it, ancient powers at work as they acted on their own to do hopefully aid their cause.

“A cowardly facade weaves into my voice. As I call for war, blinded by this far-fetched noble cause. Although I had a choice, I believed the lies. But it’s all a dream, ending when I open my eyes. Come on, one more breath. My ravaged voice betrays me mid-shout. Will you never hear those final words I failed to choke out? Tried to survive by putting all my faith in instinct. But now I regret what I’ve done?” Sonata’s eyes leaked tears of emotional jovialness as she reached the end of the song, her entire being flowing with arcane energies she couldn’t feel. Though she did believe somehow somewhere her mother was out there and she could feel her hugging her frame as she hovered in the air.

From the pile one stone emerged as it floated from the patch and lazily danced towards Sonata by an unseen force besides its own raspberry red glow.

“I SAY CRIER. I SAY LIAR. I SAY RISE IN HELL. I stand gazing down at death as they say WAR!! I’LL WAGE WAR. I HATE WAR. They say fight for peace… Does it exist?” she couldn’t sense the ruby as it neared her chest, her song blinding her to the act going on beneath her very nose.

“My hand, can you reach it? My cry, can you hear it? Can you, can you tell me, if this dream was worth it? My hand, can you reach it? My cry can you hear it? Can you, can you help me? Wake me up from this nightmare…” she concluded just as the jewel slowly merged where her own stone would have been, it appeared perfectly suited to her as if she never lost her gem at all.

With no more to be said, Sonata relished in the warm afterglow completely oblivious to the transformation she underwent. The elder power vanished like steam and the ruby stash lost its shine, the cave died back into its blue light from the torch crystals as all went back to normal. She wanted to enjoy the moment a little while longer as the feel of her mother’s touch leaked away into a coldness of the cavern. Only to be tackled by Aria who could have been foaming at the mouth with how upset she was.

“HOW!!?!” she shouted angrily, “YOU sang and got your gem first?!”

“ARIA!! Back off!!” Dazzle rushed forward and separated the two, she knew something happened naturally and she needed to know how to replicate it if necessary.

Gazing at the disturbed and frightened blue hippocampus, “Tell me what you did?” her voice straight forward and ordering on a level that froze her own words.

Blaze still snarled at being denied an answer, but she was content to wait as patient as a shark would a seal colony eager for a kill. Her eyes spoke volumes in the venom of not being first in finding her new stone. Sonata however ignored her as Dazzle seemed far more pertinent to her own health, though what answer could she give when she did not even know what she meant?

“You have your own gemstone now, your pendant is back. Tell me what you did? NOW!” she pressed her snout against hers to affirm her conviction.

Stuck in a hard place like a trapped eel fish in a cove, Dusk couldn’t help but meekly grin in anxiety. She glanced down at her body to see the ruby back where it belonged, but somehow it still did not feel like her own. In fact, there seemed to be another voice in her head whispering as clear as low mumbles. Whatever she did it brought about their resurgence, but the issue was had become how she did it. A quick gulp and she chuckled as no answers came forth easily.

The wyvern simply laid in content to watch the proceedings go on, for the magic that had happened was something it had never seen before. What more did its little gems have in store to make its hoard even more glorious?