Chapter 6
"Allies"
In noting but a mare second the terrifying trio launched their claws at me. As I felt them breathing on my neck, my body wanted, no, demanded to struggle with all of its strength to get free from their trap.
Although my instinct was strong, I knew that I had to remain calm without showing even the littlest sign of weakness. It was a vital concept.
On the other hoof, I must admit that even a pony as old and experienced as I can quickly fall from its pedestal, when the time comes for him to face his greatest fear. That was precisely the kind of thing through which I was going. My heartbeat raised to a million, my breath ceased, cold drops of sweat immediately came down my forehead. During one brief moment I felt a freezing shiver going through my spine: it was like the Windingos themselves had blown through it. I closed my eyes, hoping that would calm me, while I was waiting for my doom.
One second passed, then another, then another, yet nothing happened.
Not without fear I opened one eye to see why the sirens were taking so long to finish me up. After all if they had been seeking vengeance upon me for all these years, there was no reason for them to delay my inevitable end, like Adagio had explained just a few minutes before her sisters arrived.
To my surprise I saw the siren trio standing still, while right before me was her, Sunset Shimmer. The red-haired girl had finally stepped out of her shadowy corner of the room and was now blocking the path to my enemies with her arms spread open. The expression she had put on her face conveyed courage and unbreakable will from miles. In front of her the sirens stood motionless, partially shocked, partially mad at the youngster for not minding her own business like she had been doing until a few moments ago.
“What is the meaning of this?!” Adagio screamed uncontrollably, the sound of her voice resembling the roar of a caged lion. “I thought we had an agreement, Sunset!” She went on saying hissing at the teenager. “You owe me for saving your neck earlier! Plus I thought I had already explained you how much harm he can do to you. Let me and the girls take care of him
permanently!”
“It is true that I owe you, Adagio!” Sunset replied, after the other girl had finished speaking. “But I didn't sign up for this and there is no way I am gonna let you and the others do what you want to him without doing anything to prevent it!”
At the sound of those very words Adagio growled as a hungry dog. “Is this your final decision?” She questioned, barely keeping herself together. “Are you really planning to defend him no matter
what?”
Sunset nodded.
“Very well then. I hope you are prepared to face the consequences of your choice. Girls!”
“There's no use in harming him.” Sunset exclaimed right before Adagio's sisters launched at her.
“No use in hurting him, you say?” The siren went on saying, giggling in sarcastic amusement.
“What do you think you will get out of this, Adagio?” The red-haired youngster added without making a single move.
“The pleasure of revenge, that's what! I thought I had been clear enough earlier.”
“You were very clear, Adagio. But I can honestly say that vengeance is never the right solution. Trust me, I know, I've been through it already. Even if you do get your revenge, you will never truly be happy, for things are not gonna go back to how they used to be. Nothing is ever going to change this way.”
Sunset Shimmer's speech was simply brilliant. During my years of life I had come across all sort of ponies many of which were incredibly skilled and talented, so I could honestly tell that the teenager or sorceress in front of me was one of them. Her eyes were filled with the same flame and determination I saw in Clover the day I decided to take him under my protective wing. Those beautiful and at the same time courageous cyan eyes conveyed a strong a sensation of fright even through my body. Yet Adagio did not seem to be intimidated in the least.
The siren stood still before her new enemy, fixing her tremendous gaze on her, anger visibly flowing through her every vein.
“That's what I can't stand about you goodies.” She suddenly spoke “You are all the same.”
As she listened to the siren, the red-haired teenager did not make a single move.
“No matter what one tries to say to convince you, you always believe that you are right and doing the best for yourself and for others.” As she was saying these things, the proud siren lowered her chin to her chest, breathing heavily. “Well, guess what, hero: you're not and you're gonna learn it the hard way! Girls!”
When Adagio shouted her sisters' names I saw Sunset doing absolutely nothing: she never moved from where she was standing or gave any sign of weakness or even blinked her eyes. She just remained in her position, determined to defend me. It was then that I finally understood that she truly had a noble heart. One of the very few noble ones that are so rare to find these days. Had I been in a different situation, I would have certainly smiled. During those brief dark moments I wished I had my magic back to save her from harm: it would only take a flicker of my abilities to get ourselves out of trouble, yet I could not do anything.
In the meantime I noticed that Adagio's sisters had not launched at us, yet, which was incredibly strange, especially considering the things they had said about me a moment earlier. The two sirens were in fact standing by their leader's side without doing or saying anything.
“What are you two waiting for? An invitation?” Adagio yelled at them nervously. “Let's finish this now!” After the siren said these things, the purple-haired one on her right shook her head.
“She has a point” One of the other sirens said to her sister. “Even if we do what we want with them, we're not gonna get back what we lost thousands of years ago.”
“I agree with Aria” The third one, obviously the youngest and most sensitive of the entire trio, added. “I don't want to get my hands dirty for nothing.”
“But...But...” Adagio mumbled out. “This has been our secret dream for how don't even know how many moons! And now that we are so close to it you are telling me that you are really giving up on your goal because of the very same girl who made our lives miserable?!”
“It's been far too long to be angry with him” The purple-haired one went on saying. “Even if we still hate Sunset Shimmer and her friends for what they did to us, it's better not to make an even bigger mess of things. Not here, not now. It's just not worth it.”
As her younger sister spoke those words, the oldest of the sirens lowered her chin to her chest. Once more her cheeks turned red, once more tears came out of her magenta eyes. I am still not sure why, but something about that scene saddened me deeply. Perhaps it was seeing Adagio alone and isolated by her fellow sirens: it may have been true that they would do everything together, when they lived in Realm, but they certainly did not seem to agree the same way they used to any more. At that precise moment I recalled the words I had written in my journal the very same day the pillars and I had banished the sirens to another dimension and like back in that fateful day its meaning made a spear pierce my heart.
“Because the sirens' power required magic, Starswirl hoped that sending them to a world without magic would be enough. But in truth Starswirl had failed. He lacked some quality, some ability that could have redeemed the sirens. Indeed, they could have used their magic for good instead of evil. But it was not to be. It was, perhaps, his greatest failure ever.”
“Take him away...” Adagio murmured, as she finally spoke up again; Sunset did not answer. She probably had no more words left to say. “Take him away!” The siren shouted loudly, this time startling both Sunset and me. “And get out of here, before I change my mind!”
The red-haired youngster did as she had been told. Having slowly come to me, she quickly untied my “paws”. As I rose up on my posterior legs, I stared at Adagio once more: the proud siren was still facing the ground beneath her with her eyes full of tears. Noticing me, her purple-haired sister glazed upon me with great anger, probably advising me that I should go away at once. Suddenly something seized me from behind: it was Sunset. Understanding that the wisest thing for me to do was to obey Adagio's command, I turned around and let the teenager lead the way out.
As we excited the place that had kept be imprisoned for almost all night, I immediately felt an aggressive sensation of cold, running through my veins: I could not help but shrug. It was then that I noticed that my new skin, which lacked hair, was much more sensitive than I had thought.
“Feeling a little cold, aren't we?” Sunset said, gently smiling at me. Ignoring her question, I stared at her without opening my mouth. “Here, take this.” Suddenly the girl opened the bag that she was carrying on her shoulder and took a long orange scarf, which she then gave me. After putting it on, I immediately felt a pleasurable sensation of warmth around my neck and, even though the rest of my body still craved a nice fire, I could not deny that it did make me feel a lot better than before.
“We should hurry up”. The teenager went on saying, since I had not much to talk about. “Clouds are gathering up in the sky. We don't wanna be out here, when it starts raining. My place isn't big enough for the two of us, but I am sure that one my friends can help us fix that”. At this point, she quickly took something from her pocket.
I must admit that it was a rather curious object, as small as a filly's hoof. At the moment she touched it, it lightened up mysteriously. I was so stunned by that phenomenon that at first I believed it had to be some kind of magical artefact from this new world. Yet the real surprise had yet to come, for all of a sudden Sunset began to tap her fingers on the object in question: every time she touched it, a mechanic noise came from it. After finishing whatever she was doing, the teenager brought the artefact to her ear and waited a few seconds.
“Hey there, Rarity!” She then exclaimed, as if she had been talking to somepony. “Yes, I know it's late, but I can assure you that I am calling you for a very important reason. It's an equestrian emergency.”
The sight of the red-haired youngster speaking to the artefact was simply jaw-dropping. In all my long years of experience I had come to discover many kinds of magical objects: the majority of them was intriguing and quite interesting to study, while others turned out to be very dangerous to use. But never before had I seen an artefact, capable of following oral commands and instructions. I simply had to know how the sorceress, Sunset Shimmer, or whatever her title was, had managed to find or build it.
“No, Twilight hasn't said anything about this, though I am probably sure she doesn't know about this at all.”
As the teenager went on talking, I sensed a voice coming from the magical object that she was holding in her right “paw”, which lead me to believe that her artefact could either talk on its own or was some kind of distant communication tool. In the past I had heard that some equestrian wizards had been able to build that sort of things, yet I had never given the rumour much credit, for I did not believe that something like distant communication could be possible. Apparently though I had been wrong.
“You're the best, Rarity...” The red-haired youngster went on saying, while I was reflecting upon these things. “Of course I am not just flattering you: I am honestly grateful. Anyway see you in a bit, I'll bring our guest along.”
After finishing her speech, Sunset put the unusual object back in her pocket. Naturally I was more than eager to ask her all about the mysterious functions of her artefact, but the youngsters did not allow me to, for she instantly seized my left “paw” and started pulling me.
“C'mon!” She exclaimed with the same smile that she had put on her face a moment before. “We need to hurry: Rarity isn't gonna wait for us all night!”.
I was confused by her words, in fact I had not fully understood what she intended to do with me, yet. After all I had all the right to have my doubts about her. Surely she had saved my life, but she was also the very same creature who had agreed to cooperate with Adagio Dazzle in the first place.
“Where do you intend to take me?” I asked her, rather upset by her behaviour. “Also who is this Rarity character?”
“Geez...” Sunset said to me, after I had spoken. “I guess that some people might not agree with the old saying: beggars can't be choosers. But is this really the best you can say, after I saved your neck? Unpleasant questions?” Having heard that reply, caused me to get even more nervous. If on one hoof it was true that I owed her a life debt, on the other I also had the right to be respected at least for my age.
The truth was that I had always had a very bad temper. I must confess that this side of my personality often gets the best of me even today, yet at least I have finally become aware of it and try to make an effort to keep my pride in check. At that time though, my self-esteem was even stronger, therefore coming to an agreement with the red-haired teenager would be more difficult than what I had initially thought.
“I beg your pardon?!” I exclaimed in response. “But just five minutes ago you were my enemy just as much as the siren sisters and now you expect me not to demand the rightful respect you owe me? Believe me, I have visited many worlds and dimensions and I can honestly say that the rules of civilization apply everywhere.”
“Oh well; I guess then that you won't need my or my friends' help, if you're really that powerful, Mr. The Bearded. It's been a pleasure meeting you, but let me tell you that you sounded a lot cooler in my books, back when I attended magic school.” Saying those things, Sunset turned around and began to walk away.
At that time I almost felt lost again: after all my carelessness and lack of knowledge in negotiation had caused me enough trouble already: it would be stupid of me to let that happen again.
“Wait!” I shouted, before the youngster could get way.
“Yes?” Sunset responded, turning back.
“I apologise” I went on saying, lowering my head in sign of respect toward her. “You are right to demand my obedience: If it had not been for you, I would not be here. So please forgive me and lend me a helping hoof. I beg you: I am lost”.
“No need for such formality and over-complicated language”. Sunset said, when she spoke to me again. “Mine was just an innocent tease. Follow me, Rarity offered to let you stay in her spare room for the rest of the night.”
Immediately I did as I had been told and started walking behind her.
“You know? I think that Rarity is probably going to like your royal etiquette.”