//------------------------------// // 8. Forbearance // Story: The Trick to Success // by Hakuno //------------------------------// Chapter 8. Forbearance. Rainbow Dash had thought she knew very well what she was getting herself into. She thought everything was going to go more or less like the Fall Formal. A few cheesy lines here, a huge rainbow laser of awesomeness there, and the sirens would be defeated, reformed, or something else that would mean they were no longer a threat. But, as she looked through the one way mirror, she couldn’t help but think that she had been terribly, horribly wrong. The siren was sitting in the middle of the room, tied to a chair. And even though, according to Sunset and Shimmer, she wasn’t able to see anything past the walls of the room she was in or use her creepy hypnotizing magic without her gemstone, she had still been blindfolded and gagged. And to make it worse, she hadn’t moved a single inch in all the time she’d been there. Rainbow barely knew she was alive because her breathing movements gave it away. It only took a glance to the rest of the girls to realize that everyone else felt the same. “Ah’m back,” Applejack announced as she stepped into the living room, carrying a couple of plastic bags. “Any news?” “Still as a statue,” Rainbow replied with a sigh. “Is all that really necessary?” She asked Sunset, who was idly poking her pancake with her fork. “I don’t want to risk you guys going through the same thing she went through,” Sunset answered without looking away from her plate. Rarity lowered the napkin she had been using to clean her mouth for the past five minutes. “She deserved it,” she said, even though her shaky and raspy voice gave away she wasn’t very sure about her out words. “She could’ve died,” Fluttershy said with a louder voice than usual. “I mean, she lost quite a lot of blood…” Sunset dropped her fork and let out a long huff. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice it. The car looks like a crime scene for crying out loud!” “No one blames you, Sunny,” Trixie said, placing a hand on Sunset’s shoulder and gently squeezing it. “Don’t beat yourself up over it.” “Especially because she did deserve it!” Rainbow added. An alarm set by the window went off, and Rainbow breathed out in relief. “Finally! Who’s next?” “That would be me,” Trixie said unenthusiastically. She stood up and walked up to the spot Rainbow had been mere moments ago. “How long are we going to be doing this?” “Until we know she can’t hurt us,” Twilight answered. “She’s tied up and gagged,” Trixie insisted. Twilight looked up at her with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. “And your point is?” Trixie was about to reply, but Rarity beat her to it. “I’m afraid I have to side with Twilight here, darling. Shimmer got hurt badly even though she and Sunset here did everything in their power to avoid exactly that. I don’t want to even think of what the siren could do to us if we let our guards down now!” “Rarity’s right, baby,” Sunset said, looking at Trixie with pleading eyes. “I don’t want you to get hurt.” Closing her eyes for a moment, Trixie sighed in defeat. “Fine.” In that moment, Pinkie Pie stepped from the hallway. Her normally puffy and bouncy hair had somehow managed to flatten, as if she had spent an entire day under the rain. Even her voice, normally high pitched, was low and paced. “Girls,” she said almost in a whisper. “Shimmer’s waking up.” Sunset pushed herself away from the table. “I-” “I’ll go,” Twilight said as she stood up. She ignored the stares as she walked up to Pinkie. “You get yourself something to eat.” Pinkie kept her her gaze to the floor. “I’m not hungry.” Twilight looked at Rarity, who immediately got to Pinkie’s side and gently grabbed her by the arm. “Now don’t speak such nonsense, darling! You need to eat something! How else are you going to have the energy for our trip to the mall?!” At that, Pinkie looked up to Rarity and offered her the tiniest smile Rarity had ever seen on her. “Can we play in the arcades?” Rarity felt her stomach fall at how sad Pinkie sounded. Nonetheless, she offered her friend a warm smile. “Of course, darling.” ~~~~~~~~ The world slowly came into view as Shimmer gradually regained consciousness. She was half aware she was on a bed when a sudden aching made itself known in her right hand. It took just a couple of seconds to go from mild annoyance to excruciating burning pain. She sat up, feeling the word spin wildly as she did so, but she ignored it as she took a look at her hand. It was covered in blood stained bandages. She forced herself to breath deep and slow in a failed attempt to tolerate the pain. Then she remembered the events of last night, and a cold chill spread out through her entire body. In that moment, the door opened and Twilight stepped in. Shimmer looked at her with widen eyes. Twilight said nothing as she closed the door behind her and got closer, observing the bandaged arm. “On a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain?” she asked, and Shimmer thought she sounded just like a doctor: cold and professional. Twilight stood by the foot of the bed, crossing her arms and staring at Shimmer’s arm. Shimmer felt weak and out of breath, and her migraine was still there, if a lot more bearable. She stared at Twilight for what felt like a whole minute, in which their breathing was the only thing that could be heard. Shimmer was taken aback by Twilight’s willingness to be alone with her in the same room. She looked at her own hand again and sighed. “Nine,” she said. Her voice was raspy, and she realized her mouth was uncomfortably dry. Twilight nodded and walked up to Shimmer’s side as she took a small box from her pocket. “Take two,” she ordered, taking a couple of pills from the box and placing them on the night table, where a glass of water stood, covered with a napkin. Glancing at the box, Shimmer learned they were painkillers. Not enough to take all the pain away, she reckoned, but she supposed they wouldn’t risk it by taking her to the hospital for some real medicine. She grabbed the pills and with a strong swing, she drank them and all the water in just a few gulps. When she was done, she looked down at the glass and sighed. “What happened to my hand?” She asked. Twilight turned around and looked at the window. “Even Sunset isn’t sure, but...” Twilight replied with a calm voice. “Her best guess is that the gem was actively trying to stop you from holding it. It somehow broke through your skin and flesh.” Shimmer looked at the dried out blood on her bandages. Why hadn’t she felt any pain? Was it because she was still hypnotized? “You lost a ridiculous amount of blood, so you should be in bed rest until tomorrow, at least.” Shimmer tried to move her fingers, but it only made pain come in sharp waves, so she stopped and threw her head back. “Twi-” “What happened with the siren?” Twilight interrupted her, still looking at the window. “Sunset said you somehow broke free from the siren’s spell just enough to capture the gem. I need to know how you did it so we can try to be more prepared, just in case.” Shimmer closed her eyes, and images from last night came flashing. She couldn’t remember many things, but the things she did were enough to tell her what happened while she was hypnotized. She shuddered, trying to think of how she had realized she was being mind controlled before snatching the gem, but no matter how much she tried, her memories were still pretty fuzzy. “I…” Shimmer took a deep breath. “I’m not sure…” Twilight huffed and walked to the door. “W-Wait!” Twilight stopped mere feet from the door and looked at Shimmer with a frown. “What?” Shimmer said silent words. Her hand and her head pulsed with the beat of her heart, and last night still played in her mind. She wanted to say something, but she wasn’t sure what exactly. Twilight rolled her eyes and went for the door knob. “Everything was going according to the plan,” Shimmer said, making Twilight stop once more and look at her with a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes. “The sirens left one of them behind because she wanted to play with me… It would only take a few minutes for Bubbles to tell me they were out of the arena for me to make my move… It was going to be so easy…” “But…” She continued, and for reasons unknown to her, she couldn’t keep looking at Twilight. “We… We-I… I underestimated them…” She took a deep breath. “I had to keep her mouth shut for just a couple of minutes, but… By the time I came to my senses she…” Her voice cut off with a hic, and suddenly, her vision went blurry and her headache returned with a vengeance. Twilight gave a step closer to Shimmer. “What happened?” She asked wearily. “It… felt like… waking up from a nightmare…” Shimmer said. She couldn’t see them, but she knew her arms were shaking. “But instead of finding myself on my bed I… I…” She felt her chest heavy and unbearably hot. Memories of last night were progressively coming to her more clearly, and she could see herself reliving them. Shimmer opened her mouth several times, but she just couldn’t bring herself to explain what happened. So she opted to tell Twilight was she should’ve said a long time ago. “I’m sorry…” Twilight visibly flinched. Shimmer would have smiled at her expression if she wasn’t feeling an oppressive tightness on her chest. “What did she do?” Twilight asked. Shimmer shook her head and stared down at the bedsheets. “When I…” She took a deep breath that almost sounded like a hiss. “When I say I didn’t know the window would break… I swear it’s the truth…” Twilight’s mouth was a thin line, and her hands turned into fists, but she kept listening. “Twilight, I…” Shimmer darted her eyes left and right nervously. “When I say I’m mentally unstable… I’m not joking…” She took in a breath that sounded more like a hiss. “After my first week in prison I… I started going to a psychiatrist…” She sucked in a breath and gripped the bedsheet with her good hand as tight as she could. “There I realized many things, and after I began the treatment, I…” There was a pause as Shimmer’s jaw tightened and tears began running down her cheeks. She could feel the pain a lot clearer, and her migraine got more piercing. “Twilight…” Her voice cracked. “Twilight, I’m so sorry…” she almost whispered the last word. “Twilight… You were my best friend and I almost killed you!” She yelled, and she couldn’t keep holding back. She bent forward and pulled on the bed sheet. Twilight wasn’t sure what to think, she was at a loss of words as she saw Shimmer like she had never seen her before. So she just stood there, watching Shimmer whimper and mutter apologizes for what felt like an eternity. When she seemed to calm down, Shimmer straightened up and used the sleeve of her hoodie to try and clean her tears. “I’m sorry…” Twilight let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. She walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. “Do you mean it?” Shimmer gave a slow nod. Twilight waited until Shimmer looked up at her to ask the question she’s asked herself for the longest time. “Why did you do it?” Shimmer looked away again. “I’m not clear about the correct name of my… condition,” she said slowly. “But on short words… My anger and anxiety made me do and say the things people normally keep deep within the darkest pits of their minds… When I pushed you, I-I freaked out and these feelings were just adding up and…” She sighed. “You know the rest…” “Why didn’t you just say so?” Shimmer shook her head. “I don’t know… I guess I just didn’t want anyone to pity me… Especially not you…” She pulled her legs closer to her chest and hugged them. “I thought I deserved you hating me, and in certain degree, that’s still true… I still hate myself, after all…” She lifted her right hand. “But after last night… I can’t stand it anymore, Twilight. I don’t want you to hate me anymore!” Tears formed in the corner of her eyes again, but she managed to hold them back. “Please forgive me!” Twilight looked down. “I know I don’t deserve it!” Shimmer continued and her voice cracked once more. “B-but… I want to deserve it… Please, Twilight. Please… I’ll do anything…” Twilight looked at her with an unreadable face and placed a hand on Shimmer’s shoulder. “Listen, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think I can forgive you just yet,” she said. “What you did isn’t something one can just look past.” “I understand, but-” “That being said,” Twilight interrupted her. “I’m willing to give you a second chance. But only if you prove to me that you mean every single word you just said.” Shimmer’s face lit up, and Twilight swore that it looked more colorful. “Anything! You name it, I do it!” ~~~~~~~~ Trixie tried to spot any kind of movement that wasn’t just normal breathing from the siren, but after ten whole minutes, she just had to admit defeat. “Rainbow Dash is right, she’s like a statue!” She said. “Is she even awake?” “That’s why I’ve been telling you guys we should stop looking at her and start making her talk!” Rainbow suggested. “The other two sirens must already know something’s up, and the more time we take, the more difficult it’ll be to defeat them!” “Ah’m afraid Rainbow’s right,” Applejack agreed as she poured some juice into her glass. “It’s time we get that gal talkin’” Rarity hummed as she leaned back on her seat. “We still need to be careful. You all saw Shimmer’s hand…” Fluttershy whimpered at that. “But that was the gemstone!” Rainbow replied. “We just have to not touch it!” Rarity turned to Sunset, who was idly playing with her fingers. “What do you think, darling?” She asked. Sunset didn’t seem to hear her. Rarity was about to address her once more, but Sunset stood up at walked over to Trixie. “Hey, Trix,” Sunset called her. “I need to talk to you.” Trixie turned her head to look at Sunset and raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?” Sunset hid her hands in the pockets of her jeans and took a deep breath. “A lot of things have been going on lately, and I’ve kind of had this in mind for a while, but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you to feel like I was rushing too much…” “Like we haven’t rushed before,” Trixie said with a smirk. “Trixie…” Sunset said, staring directly into her girlfriend’s eyes. “After what happened last night, I realized that… I’m scared…” Trixie’s expression shifted, but before she could say anything, Sunset continued. “Rainbow raises a good point. Now that we captured one siren, the other two won’t be as easy to deal with… I can even imagine them switching to the offense side, and… I’m scared they’ll know it was us and will start attacking and…” She paced back and forth for a few seconds as she passed her hands through her hair. She then stopped in front of Trixie again. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… We all should try to stick together until everything is sorted out…” She put a hand inside her jacket, clearly searching for something. “More precisely, I want you and me to be together all the time, so…” She took her hand from her jacket and showed Trixie a small white box. She didn’t wait a single second before she opened it, revealing a lone silver key resting in the middle of the box’s black interior. “Trixie, I want you to move in with me.” Trixie covered her mouth with her hands as she eyed the key. She looked up at Sunset and quite literally jumped up and, hugging Sunset by the neck, clung to her. Sunset caught her and spun her around once. They both laughed and kissed several times, as if they were alone in the room. “Aren’t you two already living together?” Rainbow asked, reminding them that they were, in fact, not alone. Trixie glared at her, but couldn’t stay mad for longer than a couple of seconds. “I do stay with Sunset almost every night,” she giggled. “But now it’s official, and I can finally stop inconveniencing Rarity’s family.” “Darling, you know we don’t mind you there,” Rarity said with a smile. “But, I’m happy for you both!” Trixie’s smile widened as she looked back at Sunset again. “I love you,” she whispered before leaning in for a kiss. Suddenly, the room became oddly silent. Trixie leaned back and looked past Sunset. Shimmer was standing at the hallway’s edge, leaning against a wall, weakly supporting herself and barely managing to remain standing. Her skin was so pale it was almost as white as Rarity’s, and it did nothing but make her eyebags much more noticeable. “Great,” Shimmer said, and it almost sounded like a whisper. “Another nice moment for me to ruin.” Sunset looked at her, then at the bandaged hand, and finally at her eyes. “How are you feeling?” “Like sh-” Shimmer closed her mouth as she quickly glanced over Fluttershy. “I mean, like, uh, like… I’m barely alive, what do you think?!” Twilight appeared from behind Shimmer. She quietly and slowly made her way to the couch, where she sat down, and after a few seconds of silence in which she ignored all the questioning stares, she nodded towards Shimmer. Shimmer took a deep shaky breath. “Listen, I’m going to say something, and I’m going to say it only once…” She looked around, waiting to be interrupted, but when all they did was stare at her, she continued. “I… apologize for everything I’ve done and said to you…” She turned to Trixie. “I’m sorry I stabbed you…” The girls looked at Shimmer with surprised stares. After a couple of seconds, they looked at each other, then back at Shimmer. After a while, Rarity slowly stood up, drawing everyone’s attention. “Uhm, I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are completely at a loss of words… Just, what made you have this change of heart?” “My near death experience,” Shimmer answered flatly. “Well, we… appreciate you apologizing,” Rarity said. “And while I believe most of us could forgive you, I don’t think one apology is enough for some…” she not-so-subtly pointed to Trixie and Twilight with her head. Shimmer looked over at Twilight, who only shrugged, then looked at Applejack and sighed. “Hey, can… Can you take me to the hospital?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ah thought y’all didn’t want-” “I know what I said,” Shimmer interrupted her. “I can just say I had an accident while boiling water.” “A-Alright, then,” Applejack said, then turned to Rarity. “Y’all comin’?” Rarity shook her head. “Sorry, darling. I already promised Pinkie to go to the mall.” “It’s ok,” Pinkie said as she looked at Shimmer’s hand. “She needs medical attention.” “Uhm, I can go with you, Applejack,” Fluttershy offered, then looked at Shimmer. “If that’s ok.” Shimmer rolled her eyes. “Hey I know you don’t trust me, but can we speed things up? I really don’t want to lose my hand.” “I’ll go,” Rainbow said. “That way, it’ll be my turn to smash your face against something if you try anything.” “Yeah, ok, whatever,” Shimmer said as she practically stumbled through the room and to the front door. “Let’s just go.” Applejack and Rainbow followed her. ~~~~~~~~ Sunset stared at the door in front of her, overanalyzing all its little details, like the rhomboid shapes carved into the wood and how the lower ones were slightly shorter than the upper ones, or how the knob had a single scratch along the right side of its circumference, probably due to an accident while maneuvering with it through the narrow hallway. She was carrying a tray with a bowl of warm soup and some toasted bread. It was already evening, and as evil as she was, none of the girls wanted the siren to starve, so they had decided to bring her something, and try to start interrogating her in the meantime. She knew she had to come inside, but her body refused to move. Who could blame her? She had underestimated the sirens, and it ended up with Shimmer having to go to E.R. after spending ten minutes with one of them. Neither Applejack nor Rainbow had been able to properly repeat what the doctor had told them, but Sunset still gathered that Shimmer’s wound was just as bad as it had seemed when they first saw it. After waking up from the surgery, Shimmer hadn’t spoken a single word on the way back. Upon arriving home she dropped herself on the couch and fell asleep. To say that Sunset was afraid that the siren could do just about anything to her as soon as she let down her guard was a serious understatement. But she had to do it. She was responsible for whatever the sirens’ did and would do in this world, despite her friends contradicting her, so she had to own up to it. And so, with one final shaky breath, she opened the door. As soon as she stepped inside the room, Sunset could already feel the air was thick, so much so she thought she could cut it with a butter knife. The tray felt heavier, too, and she noticed that the closer she got to the siren, the colder the air felt. She gulped as she got near the mattress, carefully placing down the tray on it while intently looking at the siren. Ever since she was locked up and completely bound, the siren had only moved a single inch to her right, according to Trixie. But looking at her from this close, Sunset could see that the siren was actively shaking her head, but it was so slow and weak that even then she had to really pay attention to notice. “Hey,” she said. The siren stopped moving her head, and Sunset decided to interpret it as a good sign. “You must be starving, so I brought you some food.” She straightened up and looked at the mirror. She knew the girls were watching her, but the thought didn’t help her with the feeling that she was alone in the same room as a potentially deadly siren. She turned to the siren again. “I’m going to remove the gag from your mouth,” she began, trying to sound as authoritative and commanding as possible. “Don’t try to do anything stupid, or else.” She had prepared a full on script to sound like a bad cop in one of those detective T.V. series Trixie loved to watch, but she had completely forgotten about it the moment she began talking. At least she thought she had sounded threatening, so there was that. With her threat in place, she got closer to the siren, and with a gulp, she slowly removed the makeshift gag from the siren’s mouth. She had half expected the siren to start singing in an attempt to control her, or at the very least, start screaming. But none of those things happened, instead, the siren remained as silent as ever, as the only sound that came from her was her own breathing. Still, Sunset waited for a few seconds before she picked up the bowl and ever so slowly, she took a spoonful of soup and did her best to feed the siren. To say it was an awkward ordeal was an understatement. At first, the siren didn’t make an effort to keep the liquid in her mouth, and it just spilled down from the corners of her mouth. Sunset wasn’t sure what to think of it, but before she could even get mad, the siren swallowed what little had reached her throat. “Huh,” was all Sunset said before she carefully tilted the siren’s head back, then, another spoonful went into her mouth. This time, and for the next minutes, the siren drank everything, albeit so slowly Sunset began to think she was messing with her. Sunset put the now empty bowl away and let out a long sigh. “Listen,” she told the siren. “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t want to do this any more than you do. I just want to know where are the girls you’re impersonating. If you tell me this much, I may be able to help you.” But the only thing Sunset got as an answer was the siren’s breathing. Her lips did move a bit, but no sound came from her. Sunset sighed. “Fine.” She pulled the gag back in place and tightened it up a little bit more than necessary. She picked up the tray and walked to the door. “See you in the morning,” she said before she got out. ~~~~~~~~ The next morning, all the girls had wanted to talk to the siren, even Fluttershy! But Sunset argued against it. While it was almost a hundred percent sure she couldn’t use magic, the less the siren knew about her captors, the better, and that included knowing how many people were there. If anything, Sunset would rather the siren thought it was only her, since as far as the siren reckoned, Sunset concluded, it was the same person that both snatched the gem away from her and was giving her food. Breakfast for the siren had been almost exactly the same as last time. Sunset had thought the tomato cream had been a little too hot, but the siren didn’t seem to notice. This time, however, when the bowl was empty and Sunset had put it away, she decided to remove the blindfold from the siren’s face. The girls have been reluctant to let Sunset do this, but she concluded it would do more good than bad. After all, the siren already knew her face and voice, since it was the same as Shimmer’s, and the siren wouldn’t be able to see anything beyond her room anyway. And so she stood right between the girl and the mirror and slowly took off the blindfold. Sunset had expected the siren to give her several looks. From anger to sadness, from desperation to hopelessness, but she certainly did not expect to find a completely blank and unfocused gaze. It was as if half of the siren’s brain had passed out, and the other half was running on autopilot. Sunset tried talking to her, yelling, she even slapped her once, but the siren didn’t seem to notice, and worse of all, she had not produced a single sound that was not breathing. It was as if the siren’s mind had gone on vacation and left the body running with barely the primary functions, which were basically breathing and swallowing just about anything that went too far into her throat. That last part had been an unpleasant discovery when Sunset had tried to give her a small piece of toast. Sunset gagged the siren again, but took the blindfold away. She made sure the siren was still well tied up, and left the room. A few hours passed, and according to the girls, the siren’s gaze never changed, even when Rainbow repeatedly tapped on the mirror. Shimmer had also told Sunset she should’ve slapped the siren harder, to which Fluttershy muttered something that might have sounded like a disagreement before Shimmer raised an eyebrow at her and she just excused herself to the kitchen. By the time Pinkie had finished preparing lunch, Sunset had come up with an idea to make the siren talk. “No way,” Trixie told her a little too loudly. They all had finished eating. Pinkie was in a special good mood now that Shimmer had stopped insulting everyone at every opportunity she got, she was even sitting besides Twilight, who wasn’t actively trying to avoid sharing the same general space. Sunset had waited until everyone had finished their respective meal to share her idea, just to avoid anyone choking on their food. “Sunset, I love you, but that’s probably the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.” “Just think about it,” Sunset insisted. “I’ve read her diary several times. I know I’m no psychologist, but I’m pretty sure she’s on the gullible side. If we make her believe that we can always beat her, no matter how strong she is, she won’t even dare think she can actually overpower us.” Surprisingly, it was Shimmer who spoke next. Even more surprisingly, she didn’t look giddy and ready to play along. “It took her just about half a second to obliterate all the defenses I’ve set up. Say we agree with your plan. If by chance, for only one single moment, she realizes she’s literally worlds apart from us in terms of power, your plan will most likely get us all killed.” Sunset spread her arms. “That’s why I’ve thought of contingency plans!” “Sunset, darling, I… I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but I have to agree with Shimmer here,” Rarity said. “I know how it sounds,” Sunset replied. “It sure don’t look like it,” Applejack told her as she crossed her arms. “Just listen to me,” Sunset asked them. She then took a deep breath before explaining her idea once again. “The sirens are magical creatures, even in this world, even with those bodies. I have reasons to believe that the gemstones are not just mere artifacts, but actually an essential part of themselves.” “That’s why she barely responds to physical contact. It’s as if the gemstone was part of her soul,” Sunset continued. “So, if we give her the gem back, while making her believe we are stronger than her, and taking the gem back after interrogating her, we’ll be able to get the information we need to rescue those poor girls.” She sighed. “I know it’s not ideal, but the longer we take, the more the sirens are likely to attack us, or worse…” The girls looked at her with such facial expressions, Sunset felt like she had said liquid fire existed. She couldn’t blame them, of course, since she had actually said something equally ludicrous. Fortunately, Twilight broke the silence. “And what’s exactly this contingency plan of yours?” She asked. Rarity gasped, but it was Rainbow who talked next. “Wait, you’re not actually considering that as something we should do, are you?” “I’m just saying all of you are right,” Twilight said. “And we need to cover all our bases!” “Ok, so,” Sunset quickly replied. “Two of us enter the room. One with the gemstone, and the other with very thick earplugs and headphones and whatever else to protect their hearing, and two airhorns. The one with the gemstone gives it back to the siren, and the other stays behind, so if the siren starts mind controlling the other girl, she just activates the airhorns.” The girls looked at each other for a while, then back at Sunset. “What if that fails?” Trixie asked. “What then?” “Then, the rest will lock the door, wait until the siren inevitably passes out from hunger, and enter to tie her up again,” Sunset replied. “Then, I suppose, will be a good time to think of a plan to capture the other two sirens on our own.” “That’s if we even know those two are mind controlled,” Rainbow said. “How are we supposed to tell?” “Well, when she first controlled you, it was overwhelming, right?" Sunset asked Shimmer, who silently nodded. Sunset turned to the group again. "She wasn’t focused anymore on any of the things she originally was. So, I think if we try to focus on maintaining a physical sign, like raising an arm, then if we do get mind controlled, we’ll forget to focus on that too and that’ll be the sign to the others.” Rarity huffed. “You think.” “Yes...” Sunset was aware it wasn’t the best plan, but they had already let a lot of time pass by. No one wanted to talk about it, but she at least was worried about the three innocent human girls that were kidnapped by the sirens. Who knows what they’ve been going through all this time. Apparently, Sunset said all of that out loud without knowing, because everyone had suddenly found their empty plates much more interesting. “I volunteer as the one to give back the gemstone,” Sunset said after five uncomfortable seconds. “My face is the only one she’s seen, so maybe familiarity will help.” She then looked at Shimmer. “But I don’t think it’d be a good idea for both of us to be there. We may be able to use the fact that we’re almost the same person against them later.” “In that case,” Trixie began with a confident grin. “Trixie will be the one carrying the airhorns!” She anticipated Sunset trying to oppose, so she quickly spoke up a little louder. “You’re not making me change my mind. Just yesterday you asked me to live with you so we can always be together. Well, I’m abiding to that by being with you even if things go wrong.” As much as she tried, Sunset couldn’t find a single way to refute that statement, so she decided to stop trying. She grabbed Trixie’s hand and smiled. “I love you, Trix,” she said before leaning in for a kiss. “Get a room,” Rainbow joked, and the girls burst in laughter. Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle a bit too. Then she noticed Shimmer’s glare, which was blank and with a spark she had never seen in the girl’s eyes. But the moment she blinked, it was gone, and Shimmer had already looked away. ~~~~~~~~ Trixie and Sunset nodded to each other before going in. It was a very smart idea from Twilight’s part to use Trixie’s hoodie to cover all the gear she had put on to nullify all sound. She also hid the airhorns behind her back to avoid the siren noticing them through the mirror. Meanwhile, Sunset was carrying the small safe box they had used to keep the siren’s gem. The moment she stepped inside the room, Sunset took notice of the siren actually moving her head up on her own. She gulped and clutched the safe closer to her. When Trixie closed the door behind them, Sunset walked to the siren, and by the time she was in front of her, Sunset noticed that the siren’s eyes were, for the very first time, completely focused, transfixed on the small beige box. Sunset put on her most authoritative frown and knelt down. “I see you’re pretty interested in this,” she said calmly, paying attention to all the new movements the siren was making. From her slow, silent mouthings, to her actual attempts to lean over. Sunset had to fight back a smile. “You can sense it, can’t you? You know what this is.” The siren moved her head in what could hardly be interpreted as a nod, but it was enough to Sunset. “And something tells me you want it back.” The siren tried to lean in again, making her bindings painfully dig into her skin, but she didn’t seem to notice. Sunset looked at Trixie for a second, then back at the siren. She lifted her index finger in front of the siren. “You know, I could give it back to you.” At that, the siren finally looked up at her, and Sunset couldn’t see anything in her eyes but sheer desperation, so she decided to continue. “But you didn’t answer any of my questions before, so why would I?” The siren moved her mouth, and yet again, not a single sound came out, but for the look on her face, it was apparent she was actually trying to speak. With that in mind, Sunset gave her a knowing smile. “Well, we could come to an agreement. I give you the gemstone back, and you will not use your magic against anyone ever again, for any purpose whatsoever, and you will also answer truthfully to every question that is asked to you.” The siren, although slow in her movements, was eager to nod in agreement to Sunset’s demands, which made her frown. “Just remember, I took the gem from you once, even while hypnotized,” she lied, but the siren didn’t know that. “If you make me take it away again, I’ll shatter it, get it?” Defying all expectations once more, the siren didn’t even stop to consider that as she gave Sunset another slow nod. Sunset looked at Trixie again, with her finger still up in the air as an agreed sign of consciousness, then back at the siren. She opened the box, and the siren’s pale skin seemed to shine as she looked at the perfect hexagon shaped gem inside. The choker it was originally attached to had been carefully replaced with a collar of similar proportions, but instead of a flat piece of cloth, it was a kind of plastic tube that snapped in the back of the neck and could just as easily be unfastened. How Rarity had managed to make such a thing in such short notice and without getting herself burned by the gem was a real wonder. Placing the box down on the floor, Sunset carefully grabbed the ends of the new choker while the siren had literally started drooling at the sight of it. Sunset placed it on the siren’s neck and the snaps locked together with a loud click. Immediately after, the siren took such a deep breath that it made her look like she had been holding it the whole time. Then, she began coughing, and between that and the deep gasps she made, Sunset thought she looked like she had just been saved from drowning. But above all that, Sunset could actually hear the siren’s voice, and knew she had to be extremely careful from that point on. “By the-” “No, no, no,” Sunset interrupted the siren, who gave her a surprised look. “You’re not talking unless told otherwise, you hear?” She asked. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t scared, but she sure as hell was not going to let the siren know that. “If you do, I’ll just take your gem back again, and I already told you what will happen next.” To Sunset’s surprise, the siren actually looked very much horrified at the mere thought of it, so she just nodded. “Good, it seems we’re on the same page, then,” Sunset continued. “First things first. What’s your name?” “Sonata Dusk,” the siren answered. Not that Sunset didn’t already know, but she wanted to make sure the siren wasn’t trying to use magic right away, and judging by her still stretched finger, she was pretty sure it wasn’t the case, at least, for the moment. “Well, Sonata Dusk, let’s just cut down to the main point,” Sunset said, looking deeply into Sonata’s eyes. “You and your siren partners kidnapped three young human girls that looked exactly like you. Where are they?” “In a house,” Sonata replied simply. Sunset frowned some more. “I’m not in the mood for games. Give me the address.” “Uh-dress? I don’t know what that means,” Sonata said. “The state, city, street and exterior number!” Sunset yelled angrily. Sonata’s eyes darted from side to side for a moment before locking up to Sunset’s again. “I… Adagio told me not to write about it.” Her eyes widened in horror as Sunset’s hand got dangerously closer to her neck. “B-B-But she didn’t say anything about telling people!” She visibly relaxed as Sunset retrieved her hand. “I-I don’t know the exact uh-dress, but I remember we took them to an empty house outside of Manhattan. There’s a lake called Trotting Syrup nearby.” Sunset supposed that was good enough information to begin searching, but she still had a few questions she needed answered. “What did you do to them?” She asked, already preparing herself for the worst. “What have you been doing to them all this time?” Sonata looked away. “They’re just locked up. We take turns bringing them food every week. We only use our magic on them whenever they try to escape.” So they’re alive, Sunset thought as she felt a huge weight being left from her shoulders. “Well, thank you for complying,” she said as she reached for the back of the choker. “Wait!” Sonata screamed as she failed to get away. “Don’t do it! I beg you!” Tears quickly flowed down her cheeks before she closed her eyes. “I’d rather you kill me!” Sunset looked at her, surprised. She breathed in as she looked at Trixie for a couple seconds before nodding. She then returned her gaze to Sonata and waited for her to open her eyes. “Relax, Sonata Dusk,” she said as calmly as she could. “I was just testing you.” When the siren looked up at her, she continued. “I told you not to use magic, and you didn’t. So, since you kept your end of the bargain, I’ll keep mine.” She then forced herself to produce a kind smile as she gently stroke Sonata’s cheek. “And since you seem like a good girl too, would you like some real food?” Sonata’s eyes glimmered at the mention of food, and it was in that moment that she felt a horrible gurgling sensation in her stomach. She didn’t say anything, but her exited nods was all Sunset needed as confirmation. As Sunset stood up to signal Trixie everything was ok, she couldn’t help but think that the sirens, or at least this one, was probably not as evil as she might have seemed. She needed to gather a lot more information about how their magic worked, but she supposed she could wait until Sonata had stopped starving. It wasn’t the most ethical thing, this whole ordeal with the siren, Sunset reckoned. But she had to force herself to believe that she couldn’t afford to let herself drown in moral absolutisms. Not when the world was still in danger.