Rainbow Dash sighed and idly flexed her wings in the sand. She found herself lying on her back, staring up at the green fronds of a palm tree, catching glimpses of blue sky and wispy clouds as the sea breeze gently battered them about. All in all, it was a perfect summer day. The only things lacking were friends, music, and cold drinks to chase away the tropical heat.
The blue pegasus yawned and let her eyes close for a few minutes, though she kept her ears active and moving, listening for the sounds of something breaching the water. It’d been about an hour since the siren had leapt into the center of the atoll, and so far, she showed no signs of returning. Rainbow didn’t know what she was doing down there, but if she had Rarity someplace beneath the water, she could only hope the creature was caring for her marefriend. Whether or not she was, though, Rainbow didn’t want to guess. Sirens were dangerous and cunning, and just because this one had taken Rarity from the archipelago when she was near death, didn’t mean that she had her best interests in mind.
Again, Rainbow felt another yawn trying to squeeze its way out of her muzzle. It took all of her willpower to prevent her attempt at just resting her eyes from turning into a nap. So long as the siren was down there, somewhere, she wasn’t going to let herself rest. She could rest later, when all was said and done—preferably in the embrace of a soft, white unicorn. Until then, she had to stay alert and active… or at least, as active as her exhausted body would let her be.
She heard Champagne shift in place by her side, and she felt at least a little more assured that even if she started to doze off, the Prench mare would be able to wake her in case the siren showed her head again. Occasionally, Champagne would hum a little tune to herself, but she seemed awake and alert despite the draining flight the night before. Rainbow realized she was right to let the mare sleep a little bit longer that morning. Hopefully, it would pay dividends later.
Still, her impatience began to get the better of her. It wasn’t too long before she groaned and rolled over, cuddling the soft sand beneath her face like it was a plush pillow. “Mmmrrffff… See anything yet?”
“Not a thing,” Champagne dully replied. “The waters are still and quiet. I’m not sure she’ll be returning anytime soon.”
“She has to, though,” Rainbow insisted, mostly because it was better than worrying about whether or not the siren would actually return. “Sirens are always, like, sunning themselves on rocks and stuff, right? She wouldn’t spend all day deep in the water.”
“Did this siren ever do that before?”
“Friggin’… I don’t know,” Rainbow admitted. She sighed and picked her head up, using her fetlock to brush some of the sand off of her chin. “One time, me and Rares and Gyro saw her singing in the lagoon on our island. She hung out there for a while, but she eventually just slid back into the water and left. That’s the only time I’ve ever seen her. She probably doesn’t go there very often.”
“Well, if she did sun herself, this atoll would be the perfect place for her to do it,” Champagne said, trying to assure her. “There aren’t any minotaurs or any other creatures on it that could interrupt her.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping.” Rainbow turned back around and scooted a few paces across the sand until she could sit back against a tree. “She’s probably just eating or something. I bet that’s what she was doing earlier; hunting for food.”
“So long as it’s fish and not Rarity,” Champagne said.
Rainbow grimaced. “If she wanted to eat Rarity, I don’t think she would’ve made more than a snack.” She swallowed hard and shook her head. “But… well, w-we’ll see, I guess.”
They didn’t have to wait too much longer to see. Barely five minutes more passed before Rainbow noticed ripples beginning to form on the surface of the atoll. Sitting forward, she could only gasp as a glittering emerald body breached through the surface of the water, shooting dazzling displays of green light dancing across the white sands. The siren’s scales were like gemstone armor, brilliant and shining like polished stones in the bright light of the noon sun. When she exhaled through draconian nostrils, two small jets of water vapor seemed to issue forth from them, scattering the droplets clinging to her beak. A clear film much like a pegasus’ third eyelid pulled away from her eyes, and her scaly brow fell as her slitted pupils quickly adjusted to the bright sunlight. Colossal hooves pulled her belly onto the sand, and her tail with its translucent fins briefly curled out of the water before splashing back down once more.
Despite the sheer size and menace of the creature, her motions flowed with absolutely perfect grace and elegance. Rainbow wondered if everything about sirens was like that. Even when drowning a pony, they were still likely elegant and beautiful. They’d probably still look dangerously attractive even if their beak and teeth were covered with equine blood.
Being this close to one, though, Rainbow could only freeze in a mixture of awe and fear. She’d studied this siren once from afar, but now, being no more than thirty feet away, she was completely paralyzed by the sight before her.
Slitted eyes briefly glanced around the atoll, but soon enough, they stopped on Rainbow. She heard the siren gasp, and suddenly her enormous bulk swiveled about, scattering sand and creating tiny waves in the lagoon. Rainbow could practically feel the ground shake as the siren shifted her hooves, plowing them into the sand as she adjusted her frame. Soon, Rainbow found herself staring face to face, eye to eye with the green sea creature, feeling incredibly small and vulnerable in comparison. When the siren parted her lips to reveal the dozens of glistening white swords in her maw, Rainbow nearly fled at that very moment, rescue be damned.
“Oh! I was just looking for more ponies!” the siren said, her voice sweet, melodious, and surprisingly not booming despite her sheer size. “How long have you been on my atoll? I must have missed you when I came back from hunting. Oh, but you have wings! Did you fly here?”
Rainbow swallowed hard, and it took her a few seconds to find her bravado again. “We… we flew here last night,” she managed. “We’re looking for our friend. You know… white unicorn? Drama queen? She was really hurt when she disappeared…”
“Oh! Rarity was right!” The siren beamed and pulled her head back, giving Rainbow and Champagne some breathing room the two pegasi definitely needed. “She said that her friends would come looking for her! Glad to see she was right. I was afraid I’d have to go searching around the islands for the rest of you!”
“Yeah…” Rainbow swallowed again. She didn’t exactly like the language the siren was using. But she was using Rarity’s name, so she at least talked to her for a little bit. “Is… is she alright? Were you taking care of her?”
“She’s fine!” the siren said. “I just got her some lunch. Had to go hunting for seaweed for her; I don’t touch the stuff myself.” Her massive hooves pushed into the sand on either side of Rainbow and Champagne, and the two pegasi shrank back, touching each other for support. “Would you like to see her? I can take you to her!”
“You can?” When the siren nodded, Rainbow felt a wave of relief come over her. “Well, cool. Yeah, I’d love to see her! It’s… it’s been a few days since she disappeared.”
Champagne tugged on Rainbow’s foreleg. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, Rainbow?” the Prench mare asked her. “I’d be careful if I were you…”
The siren’s fins around where her ears would be twitched, and she sighed. “I promise you, I won’t hurt you,” she said. “I know ponies are scared of sirens, but we’re not all bad. I just had this conversation with Rarity, if you have to know. She was scared of me, too.”
Rainbow Dash stood up and started to carefully walk toward the siren, leaving Champagne to cower in the sand. “I believe you,” she said to the siren. “If you say Rarity’s okay, then I’ll trust you. I mean, truth be told, if you really wanted to kill and eat us, it wouldn’t matter what I did. You’d get us eventually.”
“I’m… slightly offended, but you aren’t wrong.” When Rainbow finally got close to her, she held out her hooves. “How long can you hold your breath for?”
Rainbow eyed the water warily. “How long of a swim is it?”
The siren shrugged. “Not that long. Maybe a few minutes? I don’t know pony time that well. But I know you ponies are small and can’t breathe water, so I don’t want to drown you accidentally. And I don’t think you’d appreciate me taking you down into the caves by holding you in my mouth like I did with Rarity.”
Rainbow balked. “You carried Rarity down there in your mouth?”
“I didn’t tell her. She seemed like she might freak out about that,” the siren said. She gently smiled. “So it’s either mouth or hooves.”
Rainbow glanced at the siren, then back at Champagne, then down at the water. Finally, shivering, she backed up a few paces on the sand and closed her eyes. “Champagne, stay here. I’ll be back soon, hopefully. If not, go and tell the others.” Then, turning to the siren, the pegasus bowed her prismatic head. “Whatever’s easiest for you, I guess. Let’s just… get this over with, then.”