//------------------------------// // The Trap of the Siren // Story: The Island of Tambelon // by Rakoon1 //------------------------------// The Destiny’s Bounty was cruising through the sky, heading towards Tambelon. Nothing seemed to be able to preventing it from taking its course… except one thing. The Lord of Chaos was sitting on his throne (what had become more uncomfortable to him since he got the chains), watching through one of his mirrors the airship moving, what didn’t please him. “No…” he said. “No! This cannot be! I can’t have those pesky heroes interfering with my plans again! I have to do something to prevent them from getting to Tambelon… or at least delaying them long enough… But how will I do that with these chains preventing me from having influence outside my realm?” He thought for a moment and then he noticed the route they were taking and had an idea. “Wait a minute, I know that place.” The Lord of Chaos gave a laugh and then continued: “Now that’s what I’m talking about. The only thing I need to do is to make them put that ship on the water. And, although I don’t have the same power, I can still do the normal things a Lord of Chaos can do.” And he pointed his spear to the mirror, while chuckling evilly. Dark stormy clouds started to be formed ahead. At the airship, everypony was enjoying the trip. “I have to say it” Rarity said, while putting sun cream on her face. “Even though we’re in a mission, it is quite nice enjoying the little time of peace that we still have.” “Ah have tah agree with ya, Rarity” Applejack said. “Beyond that, it will give us time tah think of a plan for when we get tah Tambelon.” “What’s to think about?” Rainbow Dash asked. “We get there, we kick some butt and we save the day with the Elements.” “I wish that could be that easy, but we have to act carefully” Twilight said, approaching with Blue. “Tambelon has been under the influence of the darkness for decades. We may have some difficulties to get it back.” “Yeah, but it was Grogar who used to rule it, right?” Rainbow Dash asked. “So, now that he’s out of scene, we may have our work eased.” “I don’t know about that” Blue said. “Don’t forget that Grogar helped the Lord of Chaos preparing everything to resurrect Ten-Tails for years, gathering the tailed beasts and participating in the war.” “What do you mean with that?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Ah think what Blue is tryin’ to say is that Grogar may have had a helper tah rule the kingdom durin’ his absence” Applejack said. “Uh, that’s not good…” Fluttershy said, getting to the conversation. “Oh, don’t worry, Fluttershy” Pinkie Pie said. “We can get over anything. Have you forgotten that we even survived to the attack of a meanie villain that destroyed the Light Kingdom?” That caused everypony to look at her and Applejack asked: “Really, Pinkie? Of all tha examples you could give, ya had to give that?” “What?” she asked back, noticing then on Twilight and Blue. “Oh, right… Sorry.” “Don’t worry, Pinkie, it’s okay” Twilight said. “That’s all in the past. And the Light Kingdom is now as good as new.” Star and Moonlight were a little away, observing the adults talking. “They must be talking about what to do once we get to Tambelon” Moolight commented. “Well, I have a feeling that, no matter what they plan, we will never be ready for what’s ahead of us” Star said. “What do you mean?” “What I mean is that if there’s something I learned is that the other side will always get ways to overcome whatever we do. The only thing we need to be prepared for is for that.” Moonlight turned Star to her and told him: “Whatever may happen, I will be by your side always.” Star smiled and replied: “I know that.” The two shared a kiss and then noticed Mullet, the first mate, nearby looking ahead through a telescope. He seemed worried. “That doesn’t look good…” he said, turning then to his captain who was at the rudder. “Captain Celaeno, we have a storm ahead!” “That’s not good” she said. “Prepare to land on the sea!” And she pulled a lever that she had beside the rudder. “Oh, great… And when I had refueled the stabilizers” Boyle muttered, while he and the others prepared to pull the sails ropes. Curious about what was going on, Twilight flew to Captain Celaeno and asked her: “What’s wrong, captain?” “We have storm clouds ahead of us, princess” she replied. “Because of that, we’ll need to go by the sea.” “Wait, this airship is also a regular ship?” Rainbow Dash asked, while hoovering beside Twilight. “That’s so awesome!” “Come on, Rainbow, all airships can do that” Twilight replied to her. The Destiny’s Bounty descended from the sky, with Celaeno’s crew holding up the sails. It then landed on the surface of the sea, with the sails now using the wind to advance. A slight mist involved the area. “Captain, for how long will we be delayed without flying?” Twilight asked. “Well, princess, it all depends of how long we have those nasty-looking clouds” Celaeno replied. “But don’t worry, as soon they disappear, we’ll return to the sky. Mullet!” The first-mate approached her and Celaeno told him: “Take hold of the rudder, while I’m going to my cabinet take a look to some marine maps.” “Aye, aye, captain” he replied, taking the rudder. “Do you mind if I go with you?” Twilight asked to Celaeno. “I would love to see what lays between us and Tambelon.” “Do as you please, princess” she replied. And the two advanced to the captain cabinet, where they start to look to some maps. “I don’t like what I see here” Celaeno said. “What?” Twilight asked. “Normally, I wouldn’t get worry, because we use to fly, but now that we’re sailing on the ocean… We’re close to a location that is known to be where many ships were lost.” “That doesn’t sound good…” “Don’t worry, princess, we just have to do a little detour” Celaeno replied. “And, as soon those nasty clouds disappear, we can get back to the sky.” Mullet was riding the Destiny’s Bounty quietly when, from nowhere, a beautiful sound, a melodic voice, caught his attention. It was an entangled music that it didn’t last to the first mate to be filled by the desire of following that voice and he turned the rudder in a way that made the ship to do a sharp turn. “Ah!” Rarity exclaimed, when she was caught by surprise by that turn. “But what is going on?” “Ah don’t know, but Ah don’t like it one bit” Applejack replied. “What do ya think, Blue? Blue?” She then noticed something odd was happening with Blue. He seemed to be in a dreamy state, just like Mullet, and, just like him, he was hearing the same music. Applejack moved a hoof ahead of Blue, but he didn’t react. “Somethin’ is wrong with Blue” Applejack said. “He’s not the only one” Rainbow Dash said. She was right, as Boyle and Squabble were also affected in the same way. Lix Spittle tried to wake them up with a blow with her paw, but they didn’t react. “Wow, they’re really out” she said. Fluttershy approached her daughter and asked: “Are you okay, dear?” “I’m fine, mom, but Star is not” Moonlight replied. She was right, as Star was also in a dreamy state, like the others. “Whatever is affecting them, it’s only affecting the guys” Rainbow Dash observed. At that moment, Moonlight noticed the same song that put the guys under that dreamy state. It was subtle, but she recognized that kind of music. “It can’t be…” she said. “But this is…” But she didn’t finished, as the Destiny’s Bounty did another sudden turn. From the mist, a stone passage appear, with the great stones that made that passage starting to close, as the ship crossed it. Twilight and Celaeno got out. “But what is going on?!” the later asked. Noticing what was happening, with a jump, Celaeno went to Mullet and tried to recover the control, but it was too late, as the passage closed behind them. At that moment, a giant stone pillar immerged from the pillar, what caused the captain to take the rudder from Mullet and turn it quickly. The ship turned, but the stern hit hard on it. Fortunately, the ship was stopped at the land. It was then that the guys got out of their dreamy state. “Bloody hell…” Mullet said, a little confused. “What happened?” “The las thing I remember is being here looking ahead and then my mind got cloudy” Blue said. “Yeah, me too” Star said, holding his head. “Me three” Boyled added. Squabble squawked, agreeing with them. “I don’t know what happened” Star said. “Even Kurama was affected.” “I may know what’s happening, and I don’t like it one bit…” Moonlight said. However, Moonlight didn’t continue, as everypony’s attention went to Captain Celaeno who was trying to pull the lever to take flight, without success. “Shiver me timbers!” she exclaimed. “Now we can’t get up. Probably the stabilizers were damaged when we hit.” “Sorry, captain, it was my fault” Mullet said. “No worries, mate, I know you weren’t yourself” Celaeno told him. “Wait, does that mean we’re stuck here?!” Rarity exclaimed. “No, it can’t be!” “Calm down, Rarity, we’re going to be fine” Pinkie Pie said. “Look, we were not the only ones to get here.” She was right, there were other ships, all wreaked and skeletons as the only sign of any life, being what was left from each ship’s crew. “Okay, that’s not very soothing” Rainbow Dash said. “Let’s not panic, everypony” Applejack said. “I’m sure there’s a way to get out of here.” Getting her hooves on the ground, Twilight said: “Okay, we have to look around. Say anything if you see something.” They all nodded and get out as well. It was at that moment that the same melodic voice was heard again. Noticing that, Moonlight said: “Oh no, it’s happening again…” And Blue, Star, Mullet, Boyle and Squabble were caught again under the music’s influence, getting into the dreamy state. “Blue… Star… What’s happening?” Twilight asked to her husband and son, but they didn’t replied, starting to follow the voice that was controlling them. “So beautiful…” Blue said. “That song… amazing…” Star added. Twilight tried to touch his son’s shoulder, but an energy tail came out of him, ready to attack her. Fortunately, she was fast to retreat with a flap of wings, making the energy tail to retreat. “But what tha hay is goin’ on” Applejack said. “They’re being controlled by some music” Moonlight said. “What do you mean, Moonlight?” Twilight asked. “I heard it earlier” Moonlight said. “It was that music that is causing all this to happen.” “But how can a music do all that?” Captain Celaeno asked. “It makes no sense.” “It makes when it has the Thirteenth Note” Moonlight said. “Wait, are ya sayin’ a Prodigal is doin’ all this?” Applejack asked. “I don’t know that, but I’m certain that the Thirteenth Note is involved” Moonlight said. “I now can feel it quite well.” “That explains everything” Twilight said. “Someone is using the power of the Thirteenth Note to lure every sailor that comes near this place. That’s why ships disappear.” “Yeah, but why didn’t affect us?” Rarity asked. “Is it because of the Elements?” “Maybe, but I don’t have any Element and the same goes to Captain Celaeno and Lix Spittle” Moonlight replied. “Obviously it is only in a frequency that only affects males” Twilight said. “But that doesn’t answer of whom is causing this.” “Well, there is only one way to find out” Celaeno said, motioning to the hypnotized ones. “Yes, we have to follow them” Twilight said. “Moonlight, as you are a prodigy, we may need your help.” “Yes, aunt Twilight” Moonlight said, confidently. “But, wait, it can be dangerous…” Fluttershy said. “Mom, we need to save Star and the others” Moonlight said. “I promise I will take care of her, Fluttershy” Twilight said. Although not completely sure of that, the yellow pegasus ended up nodding her head. “Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie, I need you to be here and make sure that we’re not ambushed. “Ya can count on us, Twilight” Applejack replied, with the others agreeing. “Lix Spittle, you stay here with them and make sure the Destiny’s Bounty is ready to go” Captain Celaeno ordered. “Aye, aye, captain” she replied. “I’ll repair the stabilizers and the ship will fly like never before.” After that, Twilight, Moonlight and Celaeno followed the enchanted ones. They then saw them entering a cave, where a mysterious yellowish glow was coming from. As they were approaching, the voice became clear to Twilight and Celaeno. When they arrived to its source, they became astonished by what they saw. The guys were standing on a big boulder that was in front of a small island in the pool of the cave, where, sitting on a rock was… “I can’t believe it…” Twilight said. “It’s a siren!” She was right, it was a siren. It had a clear similarity with Adagio, Aria and Sonata’s siren form, but with yellow as a color and the fact that she didn’t had a pendant. She had yellow colors and had a more sickly appearance, having not one bit of the beauty that characterized her kind. “Oh, I heard about those nasty creatures, but I’ve never encountered one in all my years as captain” Celaeno replied. “But how can that be?” Twilight asked. “Adagio is away with Ulysses and Aria and Sonata are in Tartarus.” “Do you think it can be one of the others that were defeated by Melody?” Moonlight asked. “If that’s so, then how can she has the Thirteenth Note and that form?” Twilight said. The guys continued to look at siren with a captivated look. At their perspective, the siren had a very appealing beauty that caused them to say: “So beautiful…” “Okay, now I now they’re under a spell” Captain Celaeno said. “I would never call that beautiful.” “What do we do now, aunt Twilight?” Moonlight asked. Twilight thought for a moment and then she had an idea. “Moonlight, do you think you can nullify her music with yours?” she asked. “I don’t know…” she replied. “I mean, I only started to have control of my new power. Everything was easier when I was a siren and had Adagio by my side.” “But probably you can disrupt her song with a supersonic scream” Twilight said. “We just need to make her stop so they can awake.” Moonlight nodded and, focusing enough, she casted a supersonic scream that echoed in the cave and affected the siren who stopped singing and brought her hooves to her ears. The guys woke up and then also covered their ears. “But what’s happening?!” Star asked. They then noticed the siren and adopted an offensive position. “What creature is this?” Mullet asked. “It’s a siren” Twilight said, while she, Moonlight and Celaeno joined them. “She was the one to brought you here and encase us in this island.” “I never thought there was another siren, even more here in the Pony World” Blue said. “Why did you imprison us here… siren… or monster?” Star asked to the siren. “Or whatever you are?” The siren got offended by that and said: “Monster? You’re the only monsters here. Just like the ones that came to destroy my island.” “What are you talking about?” Celaeno asked. “I and my crew may be pirates, but we don’t destroy anything.” “We don’t care about your island” Twilight replied. “We just want to get out here.” “You always came with the same excuses” the siren said. “Isn’t that right, Captain Redbeard?” She was talking to a pony skeleton of a captain that was sitting on a rock near her, what caused some confusion to the others. “What should we do with them?” the siren asked to the skeleton, waiting for some answer and then giving a chuckle. “Captain, you’re so smart.” The siren turned to her adversaries and said: “Captain Redbeard and I have agreed that all of you’ll be my prisoners, along with the ones outside… forever!” “I’m sorry, but we don’t want any trouble” Blue said. “We have a very important mission and we need to…” But he didn’t finished, as the siren began to sing again, putting Blue, Star, Mullet, Boyle and Squabble again under her influence. “She’s doing it again!” Captain Celaeno exclaimed. “Moonlight, do it again!” Twilight exclaimed. She prepared to scream again, but the siren used her power to raise the three of them in the air and then launched a supersonic scream of hers. Fortunately, Twilight defended them with a shield, but it didn’t prevent them from being thrown to the ground. “We have to do something” Captain Celaeno said. “The only way to defeat her is defeat her in her own game” Twilight said. “And, you, Moonlight, are the only one capable of doing it.” “I don’t know if I can do that” Moonlight said. “You saw what happened. She was able to repel us easily.” “But you have more than she has, Moonlight” Twilight said. “You have the pink pearl that is capable of channeling your love into your voice and, more importantly, you have us. We will distract her long enough for you to subdue her.” “You really think I can do this?” Moonlight asked. “My dear, you’ve done so many things with your voice” Twilight said. “Some of them were dark, but others not. You helped Adagio find her way and you helped her save Ulysses. You have what you need to do this.” Those words gave Moonlight the confidence she needed to decide to do what needed to be done. She nodded and then Twilight said to Celaeno: “Very well, captain, we’re going to be the distraction Moonlight needs.” “That sounds good to me” she replied, taking her sword. And so the two of them advanced to face the siren with the latter doing everything she could to take them out. Meanwhile, Moonlight tried to focus the power of the pink pearl inside her locked. A little piece of doubt was still preventing her from getting full access to its power, but when she saw Star under the siren spell, she remembered all the things he did for her and only made her more determinant to do that. It was then that the young one felt something. It was coming from the siren voice. There was a bit of sadness and suffering, beyond having some wildness as well. All that made Moonlight realize that the siren also needed help. Knowing now what to do, she advanced and said, after the siren deflected her adversaries’ attack: “You don’t have to do this. Please, stop this madness and I can help you.” “Help me?” the siren sneered. “I don’t need help! There’s nothing you can’t do for me!” “That’s what you think, but I can prove otherwise to you” Moonlight replied, touching her neckless. “Pink Pearl Voice!” And her pearl released a pink light that involved Moonlight. Seeing that light, the siren had to protect her eyes. “This light… No, it can’t be…” The light went out and Moonlight reappeared. She had a form similar to the one she had during her time as villains with translucent pink webbed ears, but this time with pink beautiful fin-shaped wings. That form amazed Twilight and Celaeno. “You have the pink magical pearl” the siren realized. “How can you have that?!” “The Lord of Order gave it to me… and I’ll show you why” Moonlight replied, starting to sing. It was a beautiful song that showed all Moonlight’s feelings and wishes. The song itself was a light that filled everyone’s heart with it. The siren, listening that music, started to feel an immense pain, taking her hands to her ears. All the ones that were under the siren’s control were released and became amazed by what they were seeing. The siren, getting weaker as she heard Moonlight’s song. She tried to move away, but she barely could move. Deciding to fight back, the siren tried to sing again, but Twilight was quick to create a gag on her mouth that the siren wasn’t able to take out. “I think we have enough of your singing” she said. Moonlight finished her song and descended, returning to her normal form. After that, Star came to her, hugging her and telling: “That was amazing! I didn’t know you had that power.” “Yeah, I didn’t know that either” she replied, blushing slightly. Boyle, Mullet and Squabble went to their captain and the first-mate said: “I’m sorry, captain, we let ourselves get under the control of that monster.” “You don’t have to be sorry” Celaeno replied. “That creature was really powerful.” Approaching Twilight, Blue said: “I hope I didn’t do or say anything stupid.” “Oh, don’t worry, you just acted like a mindless zombie drooling to a siren” Twilight replied, in a playful way. Blue chuckled and said: “Very funny, Twily. Very funny.” Everyone turned to the siren and, when Twilight made the gag disappear, Moonlight said: “Very well, it’s time for answers. Tell us why did you do all of this?” The siren, whose dangerous side was calmed down by Moonlight, took a few seconds before telling: “My name is Allegro Shine and I was one of the seven original sirens. After my defeat to the General of Music, I was forced to get out of my realm home. I came to the Pony World and I found this island. It was like a paradise, so I decided to stay and try to redeem for sins. With the magic that I’ve stored from my pearl, I created that passage, in order to form a safe-place where ships could rest. But that didn’t last for long.” “What happened?” Blue asked. Inside his mind, Star was told by Kurama: “I think I know what happened. Star, can you feel the aura that siren is emanating?” Taking his advice, Star get into his sage mode for a moment and then he realized what the tailed beast was talking about. “Wild energy…” he said. “I now can feel it… It’s on this island.” “Yes…” the siren confirmed. “One day, a ship arrived. Its crew wanted to take this island… to turn it into one of their hideouts. I tried to explain the island was meant to everyone, but they would listen. Using the power that I had left, I sank their ship and expelled them. However…” “They should have a source of wild energy in their ship and it infected something in the island” Twilight said. “The island became withered and even I changed” Allegro continued. “I changed back to my siren form, that became even more different. But I also got my music power back and it was at that moment that I realized that I could make sure the same thing didn’t happen again, so I used my power to attract every ship to here… I let myself be consumed by the betrayal and I became just like I used to be.” And she started to cry, while saying: “I feel like awakening from a nightmare!” “In a way, that’s truth” Star said. “Thanks to Moonlight, your mind was cleared from the wild energy.” “And now it’s too late to recover my beautiful island” Allegro lamented. Twilight thought for a moment and then she said: “Maybe not. I have a plan, but I need you to take us to the place where that ship sank.” Allegro did that with the place being the one where the Destiny’s Bounty hit the large rock, being it the source of the wild energy that was infecting the island. Twilight and her friends reunited at the shores. The others were nearby, watching, while Allegro was at the water. “Are ya sure this will work, Twilight?” Applejack asked. “I believe so” she replied. “Wild energy is the dark side of natural energy. With the power of the Elements of Harmony, we can neutralize the wild energy.” “Well, there’s only one way to know” Rainbow Dash said. The six bearers of the Elements of Harmony focused and so the latters were linked by the rainbow link that charged Twilight’s Element of Magic. She then casted a rainbow beam that hit the rock that neutralized all the wild energy that was there. After that, there was an explosion of harmonic energy that cleared the sky and caused the island to recover its beauty. “You did it…” Allegro said, very happy. “You really did it!” She turned to everyone and they all became amazed, as Allegro had recovered her original self. The upper body was of a pony, with the forelegs having fins instead of hooves, and the lower body of a fish, having as well translucent wing-shaped fins at their backs. Her body was unmellow yellow, her mane and fins being canary yellow and her eyes being goldenrod. “Wow, now that’s a beauty” Boyle whispered to Mullet, who agreed with him. “Thank you, everyone” Allegro said. “You did so much for me. Mainly you, Moonlight.” “I did what I had to do” she replied. “And I could feel through your music how you truly were. I noticed that you were like Adagio: that you were seeking repentance.” “Adagio too?” Allegro asked, surprised. “And I was thinking she would be the hardest to notice the wrong of our actions.” “Fortunately, that’s what happened… and the same happened with you” a voice replied. There was a burst of light and the Lord of Order appeared, causing everyone to kneel before his presence. “My lord…” Allegro said, bowing her head respectfully. “Allegro Shine, I’ve been watching you and I noticed the change in your heart” the Lord of Order said. “I have to thank Moonlight for that” Allegro replied, turning to her, smiling. “If it wasn’t for I wouldn’t be who I was.” “Even so, you have showed that you regret your wicked actions of the past and, for that, you deserve a second chance” the Lord of Order told. Before Allegro, a yellow pearl appeared. Seeing it, a smile appeared on her. “My pearl…” she said. “You can have it back” the Lord of Order said. “But use its power wisely. I don’t want you to disappoint me again.” “That won’t happen again” the mermare replied. “I really hope that, Allegro” the Lord of Order said, disappearing next. A locked like Moonlight’s appeared, where the yellow pearl was placed inside. After that, Allegro took it and placed it around her neck. It didn’t take long for the time for everyone to continue their travel to Tambelon. When everyone was already on board on the now repaired Destiny’s Bounty, Allegro approached them and asked: “Are you sure you can’t stay a little longer?” “Unfortunately, yes” Twilight replied. “We have a very important mission ahead of us” Blue added. “Okay, then, I’ll open the entrance for you” Allegro said. “And thank you all for everything. I just hope you come to visit.” “Now that we know about this safe-place, you can bet we will” Celaeno replied. Allegro used her voice to open the entrance the ship advanced, starting to get out, while saying goodbye to Allegro before the passage closed again. Without any dark clouds on the sky, the Destiny’s Bounty was able to take flight again, continuing to go to Tambelon.