Pinocchio’s World a.k.a. ‘Prankster’s Paradise’
Somewhere in town, middle of the night
It was dark in town, only a few people were out but not for long. By they time they return home, everything was awfully quiet. Suddenly, a swirling portal appears in the sky and three individuals emerged falling to the ground with a hard thud as the portal disappears.
The new visitors appear human, all girls, but with rather unique style of clothing. One with purple pigtails, another with a blue ponytail and the last with very big orange hair.
Now, wait just a second. You’re probably wondering, “I know those three! How, in the name of Celestia, did they get here?” Well, let’s rewind the clock, shall we?
Equestria
Castle of Friendship
A few hours ago
It was right at the moment Twilight and her friends were about to enter Pinocchio’s world.
“Let’s hope for a soft landing this time,” Rarity hoped, jumping into the portal.
“Get on mah back, young’uns!” Applejack ordered.
Apple Bloom and Tender Taps climbed on the farm pony’s back as she prepared to charge.
“Hang on tight!” Applejack called, running towards the portal.
The two foals screamed for their lives, in excitement rather than far, as Applejack jumped in shouting:
“YEE-HAW!!!”
Soon the portal disappeared, the book closing once more showing only the cover. All was quiet, too ominously quiet.
Now you remember the mysterious Crystal Mirror moved to Twilight’s Castle in the library? Well, here’s what I didn’t tell you… Yet.
Suddenly, the machinery began to spark, more forming by the minute. Suddenly, the mirror’s portal began to open, and a big yellow cloven hoof emerged, and it won’t be long before we see who’s hoof it belongs to.
The creature emerging was a mix of a dragon, a horse and a seahorse… But bigger. It’s body was mostly covered with scales, it’s fish tail as long as a mermaid. To top it off, it had fins on the cheeks and arms, a larger fin along the back. Not to mention the sharp teeth in its jaws, a gemstone on its chest. While it’s the fiercest creature ever seen, it’s also a beautiful one.
Soon enough, two similar creatures emerged from the mirror. Each had a different color, one blue and the other purple. These were the Sirens. The leader of the pack, the yellow one, looked around with a seductive yet scary grin.
“Girls,” The yellow siren announced. “We’re home.”
“For realsies?” The blue one asked. “I thought our home was the house with the pool and stuff.”
The yellow one facepalms herself with a groan.
“No stupid,” The purple siren said. “That was our temporary home.”
“Oh… Right,” The blue one nodded.
“Pfft… Nutcase,” The purple one mumbled.
Ignoring her cohorts, the yellow siren looked around in deep concentration.
“Who knew a school had a statue with a portal to Equestria? But the question is: Where are we? I don’t remember this place.”
“Of course, you won’t remember this place,” The purple one said, bluntly. “We’ve been gone for 2000 years, maybe more. A lot must have changed since then, Adagio.”
“I know that, Aria,” The yellow one, Adagio, said. “But not everything’s changed, I’m sure of that. Sonata be a dear and help me find out where we are.”
“Sure thing, Dagi,” The blue one, Sonata, salutes innocently.
“Aria, you stay here,” Adagio commands.
“What?!” Aria asked. “Why?”
“Because next to me, you are smarter than Sonata. I want you to warn us if some pony is coming.”
“Fine,” Aria groaned, mumbling something.
Sonata giggled, as she and Adagio floated out the library to explore their new surroundings. They ventured down the halls into several rooms.
“Hmm…” Adagio thought. “This place looks like a castle.”
“You’re probably right, Dagi,” Sonata agreed. “There’s lots of doors and rooms here.”
After exploring a few rooms, the two stumbled upon the throne room with the Cutie map.
“What is this?” Adagio asked. “Seven thrones, with a different mark?”
Sonata shrugs and takes a closer look at the map.
“Huh… That’s one huge table.”
“That’s not a table, it’s a map. A map that contains all of Equestria!”
“Ooh… I wonder if you can kill ponies by stepping anywhere on the map. Wait! If I step on the castle, would that mean… We’d be dead?!”
Sonata’s teeth chatters thinking that, while Adagio rolls her eyes at her gullible nature.
“As much as I’d like to hear that, I don’t think it works that way.”
While Sonata explores deep in the castle, Adagio examines the thrones. She sat before one with a six-pointed star, as a big, evil smile forms on her face.
“This isn’t so bad,” Adagio thought. “If I destroy those six other thrones, it would be perfect. Hmm… Maybe the girls deserve a throne too, even if they are idiots.”
“Hey, Adagio!” Sonata called from one of the halls. “Look what I found!”
“I wish this moment would last forever,” Adagio sighs, then smiles. “Or maybe it could. But first…”
Adagio floats toward the halls searching for her fellow siren. Fortunately, she found her peering outside a window. The blue siren points outside and Adagio looks see many ponies walking outside.
“Ponies,” Sonata said, eyeing them.
The siren leader watched silently, smirking evilly.
“Well… This day gets better and better. Oh, how I missed causing disharmony amongst ponies and other creatures before that wretched unicorn banished us.”
The memory of their last encounter with the old unicorn made Adagio scowl.
“Yeah, that was really mean,” Sonata agreed. “At least we’re back now, right?”
“Quite true,” Adagio agreed. “Come, let’s get back to Aria before she gets moody.”
“Isn’t she always?”
“Always, Sonata dear… Always.”
A few minutes later, the two sirens return to the library. Eventually all three gathered together to concoct their evil scheme.
“This is it, girls,” Adagio announced. “Today’s the moment we’ve been hoping for.”
“Making a monument or movie dedicated to us?!” Sonata asked, excitedly.
Adagio, eyes widen, facepalmed herself again.
“Urgh… No Sonata,” Adagio said, annoyed. “That’s the other plan. I’m talking about our chance to feed off the negative energy of ALL the ponies and rule Equestria together!”
“Oh… Right,” Sonata said, innocently.
“Again?” Aria groaned. “Adagio, this is getting old.”
“Oh please, Aria,” Adagio said, shaking her hoof. “This time it’s perfect because the ponies of this world will be in for a big surprise. Because now that our pendants are fully restored, the Dazzlings are back, baby! And thanks to me, taking over Equestria will be easy as pie. Starting with claiming this castle for our very own.”
“But doesn’t the castle belong to some pony else?” Sonata asked.
“Not anymore,” Adagio replied, with a smirk. “From now on, it’s our castle.”
“Whatever,” Aria said, uninterested.
“Well if you have a better idea, Aria,” Adagio argued. “Please, share it with us.”
Aria was about to speak, but simply flipped her hair back and looked away.
“I thought as much. You know, Aria, the more you hang out with us, the more I realize you’re not interested in anything at all!”
While Adagio argues with Aria, again, Sonata looks around the library. Then she saw it… The Book of Disney, sitting on a pedestal. Being the curious little siren, she took one look at the book and grabbed it. Opening the book, she flipped through several pages and found it not only had letters but lots of pictures which she liked the best. They ranged from a human knight on horseback fighting a malicious dragon, a shiny underwater kingdom and even a big black creature with large wings and horns. The last image gave her chills just looking at it. After a few flips through the book, she found one picture that made her giggle.
“Funny blue guy,” She said to herself.
Eventually, she flipped back the pages to the beginning of the book and found the second story. Since her friends were still arguing, Sonata read the story to entertain herself.
“To think I would keep a throne for you!” Adagio yelled at Aria. “Urgh, sometimes I just want to punch you so hard you’ll stay in a hospital for months!”
“Oh yeah?” Aria asked, challenged. “You want to punch me so bad, then why don’t you do it right now?”
But then, just as Adagio reached for Aria’s throat and reeled her other arm for a punch, something sparked inside the book while Sonata read quietly. Suddenly, a bright light shone from the book catching the blue siren by surprise.
“Uh… Adagio?” Sonata asked, nervously.
“And that’s exactly why… Shut up, Sonata. And that’s exactly wh…”
Before Adagio could finish, she quickly turned to her fellow siren as the bright light grew bigger and brighter out of the book.
“What did you do, Sonata?” Adagio asked, wide-eyed.
“Nothing. I was just reading and then…”
But before Sonata could finish her sentence, the book began to suck her inside. She struggled against the force, as Aria and Adagio stared.
“AH!!! Adagio, help me!!!”
“Sonata!” Adagio snapped.
The yellow siren raced toward her, trying to pull her away from the book.
“Aria! Some help over here, please!”
“Can’t,” Aria said, disinterested. “I’m checking my hooves.”
“ARIA!!!’ Adagio shouted.
“PLEASE!!!” Sonata asked.
Aria groans and approached her fellow sirens to help. Adagio and Aria pulled as hard as they could, but suddenly all three sirens got sucked into the book. Once again, the book snapped shut showing only the cover.
The three seductive sirens flew through a hole in space, screaming their lungs out. Along the way, they saw strange images while thunder rumbled. From a giant black monster expanding its huge wings, a man with a kind of miter and goatee laughing manically, an Evil Queen in her witch form and more nightmarish images. They’re bodies began to shift and shine, a change in progress. No longer hooves, but hands. No longer long tails, but legs. No longer muzzles, but different kinds of faces. A change they were all too familiar with. Their trip, like a Haunted Mansion ride, ending in a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
And that my faithful readers is what brings us to now.
The sirens fell to the ground, the portal disappearing. They grunt from the pain, rubbing their heads.
“Urgh…” Aria groaned. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” Adagio answered. “But I had a tiny feeling of déjà vu back there."
Suddenly, they all looked around finding themselves in new surroundings. They appeared to be in a village, it was nighttime, and not a single living soul could be seen at this hour.
“Where are we now?” Adagio asked.
Suddenly they look toward their bodies and finally noticed they turned back into humans again… With their respective clothes.
“You got to be kidding me!” Aria groaned.
“We’re human again?!” Adagio asked.
“This is all your fault!” Aria accused Sonata. “I knew you’re the worst!”
“Don’t look at me!” Sonata defended herself. “You girls were arguing, so I thought I’d catch up on some reading. I didn’t know the book would suck us in.”
“This is exactly why I told you ‘never’ to touch anything,” Adagio said, glaring at her fellow siren. “Not even books!”
The blue siren turned human took a small step backwards, facing the ground.
“I’m sorry…”
“Never mind! Never mind!” Adagio waved it off, looking around. “What is this place?”
“Some kind of old village,” Aria observed. “Like the time before we found that school, I guess.”
“Hmm…” Adagio thought, a finger on her chin. “This place feels different… But I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Now what do we do?” Aria asked, glaring toward Sonata. “We’re once again trapped, and this time, it’s not because of some old geezer unicorn!”
“I told you I was sorry,” Sonata said.
“Yeah? Well, sorry isn’t enough!” Aria yelled. “Because of you, now we have to start from the bottom… Again!”
“Quiet, you two!” Adagio shouts. “I’m trying to think.”
The blue and purple sirens stayed quiet for a few minutes, while Adagio looked around. Eventually, she gave up.
“I’ve got nothing,” The yellow siren sighed.
“Well that’s just great,” Aria said. “Not only are we stuck here, our fearless leader doesn’t have a plan!”
“If you’ve got a plan of your own, tell us already!” Adagio said. “Pfft… Not that you’d have one.”
Aria growled, but Adagio wasn’t intimidated at all.
“Can I say something?” Sonata interrupted.
“WHAT?!” Aria and Adagio yelled.
“I’m hungry and thirsty,” The blue siren said, pouting.
Adagio placed a hand on her face, groaning.
“Sonata, we are once again trapped in another world, and you are only thinking about food?!”
“I can’t help myself,” The blue siren shrugged. “I haven’t eaten for a while.”
“As much as I hate it, I agree with her,” Aria nodded. “I’m hungry too.
“Very well,” Adagio sighed. “We’ll go inside that inn over there.”
Adagio points toward a house close to the harbor. It had a lantern and a sign that read, the ‘Red Lobster Inn’… No, not THAT ‘Red Lobster’. The siren-turned-humans walked towards the inn, hearing the sounds of the ships’ horns as they were either leaving or docking.
“I don’t suppose they serve tacos there,” Sonata replied.
“What is it with you and tacos, Sonata?” Aria asked.
Adagio, ignoring them, reached for the door and opened it. Finding a couple stairs, the three walked downward till they were finally inside the inn. Looking around, they saw a few people drinking while someone was playing the piano. The girls didn’t know they were being watched. Not just by some of the regulars, but by a very peculiar person not far away from them.
“Alright, girls,” Adagio said. “Let’s find a seat.”
The three singers walked further till they were close to the person watching them the most. It was an obese man, with white hair and green eyes. He wore a big red coat with yellow buttons, a dark blue scarf, black boots, brown gloves and a grey hat with a tiny feather. He was smoking a pipe while he watched the girls.
The sirens looked around till they saw the strange man. He smiled as he smoked, offering a seat at his table. The three girls eyed each other, before deciding to take the offer as each grabbed a chair. Adagio sat next to the strange man, while Aria and Sonata sat down.
“You’re not from here, are you?” The man asked, with a Cockney accent.
“What makes you say that?” Adagio asked.
“Your clothes,” The man pointed out, smoking his pipe. “I haven’t seen folks wearing clothes like these. It’s kind of unique.”
“Well, you are right, mister…?” Adagio asked.
“I’ve been called many names, but you can call me The Coachman,” The man answered. “And who are you three lovely ladies?”
Adagio couldn’t help but feel flattered; after all, she loves adoration.
“I’m Adagio Dazzle and these are my companions Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze.”
“Hi,” Aria said, bluntly.
Sonata only waved nervously. The man, known as the Coachman, made her uncomfortable.
“May I ask what your business is here?” He asked.
“It’s… Difficult to explain,” Adagio admits. “You probably won’t believe us.”
“Ladies, there’s nothing you say that would be difficult to understand. I’ll believe any word you say.”
The sirens faced each other and nodded.
“Alright, we…”
Before Adagio could begin, two strange visitors appeared in the inn: The sly fox and dimwitted cat. The evil trio didn’t know about these two and Sonata was immediately surprised.
“Look, Dagi,” Sonata pointed out. “A cat and fox walking on two legs! How silly!”
The cat and the fox were busily conversing with each other, the fox doing most of the talking.
“Well, Gideon, we finally did it,” Honest John declared, while the cat nods at everything. “Another successful scheme! I told you we’d be on easy street.”
Suddenly, Honest John spots the three girls with the Coachman. He became very interested in the girls, as he straightened his clothes and made sure his hat was straight.
“Let me take care of this,” Honest John winks to his partner.
The fox approached the sirens, giving a bow and introduced himself.
“Good evening, ladies. Honest John’s the name, helping women is my game.”
Adagio and Aria looked at each other, rolling their eyes. True they expected a boy or man to flirt with them, even if they’re not under their spell. But getting hit on by a talking fox was totally unexpected. Sonata merely giggled at the flattery, not knowing any better.
“This is my friend, Gideon,” The fox introduced, as the cat tips his hat. “May we have a seat with you?”
The girls looked at each other. Sonata shrugged, while Aria shook her head. Adagio took one look at the Coachman, who gestured ‘They can join us, but you decide.’ Adagio sighed and faced the two oddballs.
“Fine,” Adagio replied.
“Thank you, ladies,” The fox replied.
He sat between the Coachman and Adagio, while the cat sat between Aria and Sonata. Gideon moved his eyebrows toward Aria, attempting to seduce her. Aria wasn’t pleased and punched the cat in the face, making him fall to the ground.
Suddenly, the bar keeper approached the company.
“Can I help you?” He asked.
“A beer, please,” The Coachman said.
“One for me too, barman,” Honest John said. “You, Giddy?”
The cat, standing up, slowly nodded. He had a black eye after that punch.
“Make that three beers, good sir,” Honest John said.
“And for the ladies?” The barman asked.
“We’d like some water, please,” Adagio said.
“I’d like to try a beer too!” Sonata said.
“Are you sure, Sonata?” Adagio asked. “Do you know what happens if you drink too much of that stuff?”
“Uh… No?”
“Okay, she’ll have one,” Adagio told the bar keeper.
“Yippee!” Sonata cheered.
“Okay, so that’s four beers and two waters,” The barman noted. “That’ll be fifteen coins, please.”
Adagio reached in her pockets, but sadly found nothing.
“Crud, I don’t have any money,” Adagio muttered. “Aria, Sonata. Have you got any change?”
“Don’t look at me,” Aria shrugs. “Sonata always keeps the money with her.”
“Oops… I forgot to tell you,” Sonata realized. “It’s still in our other home.”
“SONATA!!!” Aria and Adagio yelled, facepalming.
“This is just great,” Aria said. “I knew we shouldn’t trust you with money!”
“I didn’t even know we were leaving!” Sonata argued.
Seeing the two girls bickering, the fox saw this as an opportunity.
“Allow me, ladies. I’ll pay for your drinks.”
The fox reached for a few coins from his pocket handing them to the barman.
“Keep the change, good sir.”
Gideon and the Coachman paid for their own drinks, as the barman counted the money.
“They’ll be coming right up,” The barman said, leaving the company.
“Thank you, Mr. John,” Adagio said.
“Like I said, I live to help the ladies,” The fox said. “Especially pretty ones like you.”
Adagio paid no attention, looking around the inn. That’s when Honest John noticed the trademark choker with a red gem.
“That’s a pretty necklace you got there. Haven’t seen gems like these before, must be quite a fortune.”
The fox slowly tried to grab the gem for a closer look. Adagio saw what he was doing and quickly grabbed his hand, twisting it and made the fox cry in agony.
“AAHH! Milady, you’re breaking my hand!”
“You should know better than to flirt with me,” Adagio glared. “And trying to grab my pendant!”
“Okay, okay! I won’t touch it!” The fox yelled. “You’re hurting me!”
Adagio glares for a few seconds before releasing his arm. Honest John rubbed his arm to make sure it’s not broken. The Coachman just smokes his pipe, watching the scenery with interest.
“Sorry you had to see this, Mr. Coachman,” Adagio replied. “But he left me no choice. These pendants mean an awful lot to us and we’d hate for anything to happen to them.”
“The fox is right, you know?” The coachman inquired. “Those gems you wear look like they’re worth a fortune.”
“Oh, these aren’t ordinary gems,” Adagio assured. “They’re a living part of us.”
Honest John blinked a few times, before turning to Aria.
“Is she crazy?”
“Nope,” Aria shook her head.
“What do you mean ‘living part’?” The coachman asked.
“Very well, I’ll tell you everything,” Adagio replied.
She began to explain the whole story, of how they are Sirens from a world known as Equestria, creatures that fed off the negative energy of other creatures through their music and song. The tale of how they were banished to a world different than this because of a group of ponies and their leader, a unicorn wizard. That they survived for thousands of years till they regained their strength. Then they told them of a school they set out to conquer, before they encountered these girls called ‘The Rainbooms’, who defeated them and destroyed their gems. Adagio explained how she found a way to repair them, and ever since that night she swore revenge on the girls. Eventually she reached the part where they discovered the school had a portal that could bring them home, and how they succeeded. Then she told them of how Sonata found the strange book and thus how and why they are here. The Coachman, the fox and the cat were all interested in the Sirens’ story.
“So, you're sirens from another world banished by some unicorn wizard?” Honest John asked.
“Yes,” Aria nodded.
“And your musical powers put people under your control?” The coachman asked.
“Precisely,” Adagio answered.
“Ladies, I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship,” The coachman grinned.
“Let’s make a toast,” Honest John declared, raising his cup.
“To what?” Adagio asked.
“To our new alliance, of course,” Honest John replied.
“Very well,” Adagio said. “Cheers.”
Everyone at the table clinked their glasses and cups to each other. All through the night, the Sirens conversed with their new companions discussing various things. Let’s just hope our heroes are prepared for this threat.