Changer T Emerald’s Comment
…You know what, Why Not? If these girls are gonna help us find Twilight, building trust with them will be beneficial, you conclude after a moment of thought.
I suppose so, Selena relents. It’s not like three more human teenagers knowing is going to hurt our standing.
It may even lead to them helping search for the Siren Stones more easily, Sombra adds.
Alright, so we’re all in agreement then, you nod before that clicks for you. Huh, not often that happens.
And for good reason, you two are morons, Sombra grumbles.
I think this world is just weathering down our expectations, Selena sighs with a roll of her eyes.
Yeah, you sigh. Even more reason to wrap everything up so Sunset can get redemptionified and get us home.
That’s not a real word Bugze, Selena chides.
Agree to disagree, you wave off before you focus back to the three sisters and cough into your hand.
“Alright you three, I’m going to let you in on a bunch of stuff that’s going to sound absolutely insane, but trust me, it’s the truth.”
They perk up as you have their full attention.
“Oh boy, this tale again,” B2 sighs before walking to the fridge and pulling out a few cans of soda.
“It’s not that long a tale!” you chastise as he sets the cans in front of the girls.
“No, but trust me, their jaws will probably stay dropped, and their tongues will get dry. Mine did, I can tell you that much,” he shrugs.
“Thanks!” Sonata chirps as she immediately starts drinking hers.
“Uh, yeah thanks,” Adagio says tentatively as she opens hers. Aria just shrugs and pops hers open as well.
“Alright then, now that you’re prepared for dry mouth I guess, here’s the truth,” you start as they once more give you all their attention.
“You see, there is another world out there. A far better version of this planet called Equus, which is full of regular non-human people like ponies, griffons, dragons, and other creatures that stupid humies think are make believe. And when creatures from Equus come here, they turn into humans.”
The sisters’ eyes widen at that declaration, and you notice that they subconsciously sit back in their seats away from you.
“Eq… Equus?” Adagio asks, mouth agape.
Wow, guess B2 was onto something, you note before nodding.
“Yep. Pretty speciest I know since not all of the creatures living there are equine, but whatever,” you shrug. “But yeah, there’s all sorts of creatures in this world, not just ponies, and that’s where I come from.”
Sonata’s eyes twitch at that and she suddenly looks sad for some reason.
“You…you’re a pony?” she asks hesitantly and the others glare at you.
“Heh, no, I’m a changeling actually,” you admit and just like with the other humies, the three sisters seem confused by this.
“Long story short, Bug Horse that eats love,” B2 interupts.
“That’s oversimplifying it but pretty much,” you nod.
“Oh, so that’s what those things were called,” Aria whispers to herself, but you don’t quite catch it.
“But yeah, that’s a story for another time. All you need to know about me is that I came to this world seeking the Siren Stones because they can help someone very important to me.”
The three sisters look to each other, and almost absentmindedly, they each reach up to their necks.
“Uh…what do you-“ Adagio starts but you cut her off.
“Oh right, probably should explain that. You see, a Siren is like a giant sea horse, and awhile back, three of them got sent to this world because they were using these stones to brainwash people or something.”
They frown at this as they grip their necklaces tighter but you shrug.
“But whatever they did, I don’t really care,” you say and they look taken aback. “I mean Tartarus, I’ve been accused of that plenty of times, ponies are quick to jump to conclusions. But whatever, the point is, these sirens got sent here, and so that means their stones are in this world, and I mean to find them.”
The sisters stare at you , frozen in befuddlement at your declaration as they look to each other nervously.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but believe me, he’s telling the truth,” B2 adds. “He and I ain’t brothers, we’re the same person just from different universes.”
They look from him to you and back a few times, before Adagio raises a finger.
“Give us a second,” she says before she draws her sisters into a huddle and they start whispering furiously to each other.
Hmm, maybe I should have eased them into it slower, you ponder.
I doubt any amount of time would help dissuade their skepticism, Selena counters.
As you and your counterpart watch them argue, you hear a few snippets without context.
“-doesn’t know,”
“-ing followed us!”
“-ake our sto-“
“-just thrall the-“
“-know the way back.”
“-risk it?”
“-pretty dumb.”
“-tread carefully.”
They all then sit up straight and stare back at you, more than a little reserved now.
“So you guys believe me?” you ask hopefully, which earns a glare from Aria for some reason.
“Sure, we believe you,” Adagio answers emotionlessly.
“Yes, we definitely believe that three beautiful and talented sirens were sent here for no good reason,” Sonata huffs and Aria shoots her a look to which she winces at.
“Oh great news,” you smile, despite their weirdness. “Now, eventually I want to look for those stones, but right now this situation with Twilight is more important and-“
“Just a second there, we got a few questions for you first,” Aria interrupts.
“Oh, Ok then,” you nod. “What do you want to know?”
“Well first of all, if you’re from Equus, how did you get here? Did you get banished as well?” Adagio inquires.
“No I wasn’t banished. I used this alien technology doohickey that a friend of my Grandbuggy gave me, and it let me hop into this dimension,” you explain.
“Yeah, like that show Sliders,” B2 chirps up and the three give him blank looks. “…What seriously? You’ve never seen that show?”
“No,” Aria answers bluntly.
“Oh Come On! It’s a classic!” he complains.
“What’s a classic?” Humbra shouts from the other room.
“Sliders! These girls ain’t seen it!” he hollers back.
“For Real? That’s Bulls#%t!” Humbra growls.
“I know right?!”
“To be fair, I don’t know what the buck you’re talking about either,” you glare at B2.
“You’re an alien, you have an excuse,” he harrumphs.
“OK, OK, sorry we haven’t seen your slide show!” Adagio throws her hands up in frustration. “Do you still have this device to get to Equus?”
You rub the back of your neck sheepishly and look down in shame.
“No…I kind of broke it when I first got here,” you admit and she grimaces.
“Oh that’s just perfect!” she grunts and leans back.
“Believe me, I know,” you nod and shake your head.
“Then wait, how are you going to get back home if it’s broken?” asks Sonata curiously.
“Don’t worry, I got another way back,” you reassure her. “There’s this mirror portal that opens once every 2 and a half years, but if a friend of mine can be all sunshine and rainbows, then I might be able to go home sooner.” They perk up at that info.
“Wait, hold on, are you saying that there’s been a way back to Equus here this whole time?!” Aria asks, shaking a little.
“Yeah, this ancient pony named Starswirl the Bearded built it.”
“Did you say Starswirl?!” Adagio asks with heat as suddenly they all look on edge.
“Uh, yeah?” you answer, still confused by that response. “He was the guy that banished the Sirens in the first place…huh, maybe he built it to try and keep tabs on them or something,” you ponder aloud.
“So, you know that bearded idiot?!” Aria snaps and your eyes look left and right trying to process their emotional states.
“I mean, I know of him,” you explain. “It’s kind of hard to really know someone when they’re dead you know?”
And just like all the other confusing emotional swings these girls have taken, they suddenly shift from apprehensive and annoyed, to hopeful and relieved.
“He’s…he’s dead?” Adagio asks sounding joyful.
“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure...”
Unless he was secretly an alicorn? You prod to Selena.
He was not, she answers as she too ponders the girls’ mood swings.
“Yeah, definitely dead,” you nod and they all sigh in relief.
“There is karma after all…” Aria mutters to herself and you raise a brow. Before you can ask what she meant by that though, Sonata speaks up.
Puzzling Frost’s Comment
“Uh Bugze? What about the other ponies who, um, helped him?” she asks and the others look at her with wide eyes.
“The others?” you repeat. Sonata then notices the looks of her sisters and her own eyes widen for some reason.
“Uh…Yes, the others you mentioned that helped Beardo banished u-Them!” she stammers and you think back on your conversation.
“Did I say that?” you ask aloud and they look nervous.
“Probably, you do tell your stories in a jumbled manner,” B2 shrugs.
Huh…that does sound like me, you think.
Well there were others, that’s for sure, but I don’t believe you spoke of it with them, Sombra pipes up.
Wait for real?
Yes, there were 6 others who worked with him, Selena agrees. But how would you have known?
Starswirl was a powerful sorcerer in his own right and his name was well known even in the Crystal Empire. Even as a child, I heard stories of him and his companions Rockhoof, Mistmane, Flash Magnus, Somnambula and Mage Meadowbrook, though I have no memory of this 6th one your mare claims, nor do I recall their fate, Sombra muses.
Hmm, if my memories serve me right, the seventh was the one who recruited Starswirl and the others. Though I can’t remember his name as I never spoke to him directly, but he was a small and weak unicorn stallion.
I see...Well if he was weak then perhaps his story was forgotten for a reason, Sombra chuckles.
Alright, hold up, let’s back it up there smoky, did you say Rockhoof?
I did, he answers plainly.
As in Rockhoof, the Coltic Shovel Knight? THAT Rockhoof? You ask in shock.
Yes that’s who he means Bugze, Selena answers. Why are you-
I thought he was just a folk tale! I mean, he’s the one the Shovel Knight game is based on! You geek out. Also, Somnambula? Like the city with the pyramids?
Yes Bugze, it was named after a pegasus mare who was just as real as Rockhoof, she summarizes.
Awesome! You smile. I wish I’d known about him fighting giant sea horses with Starswirl the Bearded though.
It was one of their last endeavors. Shortly after, that weak stallion betrayed them, or so Starswirl told me…or rather her, she says after a moment’s hesitation. And then one day, he and the others disappeared without a trace.
Huh…So they probably are all dead and gone then if this was a thousand years ago right?
That would be a good assumption, she nods. This was 200 years after Discord, and 20 years before our guest’s usurpation of the Crystal Empire. So the year 25 BNM as the modern ponies put it…she says with a sigh. You frown at her saddened state over the calendar dating stamp of BNM (Before Nightmare Moon) as well as the name of that chaos turd.
Seriously? They changed the modern day calendar because of you? Sombra asks unimpressed.
Oi! Cork it! You shut him up before he earns even more of her wrath.
It was just a question! He shoots back. But that is intriguing. They vanished around the time I was found…
Perhaps they should have left you, Selena huffs and Sombra growls.
Hey, you brought that on yourself, you tell him before focusing back on the physical world.
“So this happens a lot?” Sonata asks B2.
“Pretty much. Sometimes it’s for minutes on end,” he answers. “Says he’s talking to his skullmates, whatever the Hell that means.”
“Hey! Quit badmouthing my dazed state!” you chide.
“Oh good, you’re back,” he smirks. “So yeah, what happened to Swirly’s buddies?”
“Well they vanished shortly after the sirens were banished. No one knows where they went or what happened to them. I think it had to do with some kind of disagreement they had with one of their members though I can't say for sure," You answer, the three let out a sigh.
"Wow your world sounds very hectic and crazy," Spike says from under the table.
"You wouldn't know the half of it," you deadpan as your memories of the past few years flash by.
“And there he goes again,” B2 shakes his head and you snap out of it just for spite.
Thankfully, for some reason the sisters seem much more relaxed and happy since your tale began.
“OK…so Starswirl is dead and his annoying friends disappeared? That’s great news,” Adagio says with a genuine smile.
“I guess?” you offer. “I mean, if they were still around I’d probably be able to solve the portal problem a bit easier.”
“Whatever the case, I’m glad they’re gone,” Aria says with a cruel smirk. “They all had a meeting with death, and it came early.”
I have a rendezvous with death…Your head snaps to her as the poem echoes in your mind.
“How much you want a bet they all beefed it?” Aria continues, looking to Sonata.
“I don’t want to bet again, I still owe you twenty dollars,” Sonata whines.
You shrug off the feeling of dread from that poem, and try to keep the conversation going.
Just_another_guy’s Comment
“Well it would be easy money, seeing as how it was a thousand years ago and none of them were alicorns,” you say cheekily, trying to add to the joke. You may have made a miscalculation though since all of them either start choking on or spit out their soda.
“What was that?!” Humbra calls.
“Nothing a few paper towels can’t fix!” B2 calls back as he grabs a few from the sink.
The girls continue coughing and choking as they all eye you in shock.
“Was it something I said?” you ask.
“A thousand years?!” Adagio gasps out hecticly.
“Uh, yeah?”
“What do you mean a thousand years?!” Sonata says breathlessly.
“Uh…that’s when they all lived?” you answer and their faces pale even more.
“A thousand years ago?!” Aria chokes out.
“Yeah, that’s when the Sirens got banished.”
“WHAT?!” they all shout and lean towards you, causing you to lean back in your chair.
“How Is That Possible?!” Adagio shouts.
Down With Chrysalis’s Comment
“Well, I mean, sure they weren’t as advanced back then as Equus is now, but Starswirl was a smart guy and everything so-“
“You’re telling me, that a thousand years ago, before you were born, the Sirens were banished?!” Aria asks, pulling her hair.
“Yes, I…are you guys OK?” you ask, beyond confused.
“No…No…it can’t be,” Sonata starts mumbling.
You look between them and your doppelganger who shrugs as he mops up the table.
“I guess they don’t get how history works? You did say they were homeschooled.”
“Right, yeah,” you nod. “I probably should have started with that. But yeah, this is all in the ancient past, so when the Sirens got sent through, they no doubt turned into humans like I did, and lived out the rest of their lives like that. I know it may sound icky, but since they became humans, the Sirens probably started families with the natives, and that’s why some humies can use Equestrian magic, and why one of their ancestors has these stones.”
“But it’s…it’s…only been a year…” Adagio says to herself.
“What’s only been a year?” you ask.
“This…No! You have to be wrong! There’s No Way This Is True!” Aria accuses.
“Why would I lie about this?” you scowl at her. “Look, I know it sounds weird, what with the mating with gross disgusting humans and stuff, but if you think about it, it is kind of a silver lining that some fragment of Siren culture survived, even if it’s in hairless ape blood.”
They gawk at that.
“What does that mean?” asks Sonata on the verge of tears.
“Oh right, I forgot that part,” you bop your forehead. “A few hundred years after the banishment, Siren civilization got wiped out by a volcano.”
You didn’t think it possible, but their gasping completely stops as their jaws fall even further. It’s so quiet, you could hear a pin drop if Humbra didn’t have the TV on so loud in the other room.
“Wiped out?” Adagio and Sonata gasp at once.
“Yeah…it’s pretty tragic,” you nod in sympathy as their lips begin quivering.
“Are…are there any Sirens left?” Aria chokes out reluctantly.
“Sadly, no,” you answer truthfully. “I grew up thinking they were myths…but that’s because they went extinct so long ago.”
Once again, the sound vanishes from within the kitchen and the atmosphere changes drastically. The absolutely horrified faces of the sisters stare at you, hoping for some other answer, but you have nothing else to say but the truth.
And that’s when the damn bursts.
Sonata leaps over the table and latches onto you as she begins crying her eyes out, Aria leaps out of her seat and starts pacing back and forth, pulling her hair and muttering wildly, and Adagio…well, she passes right out, her head hitting Sombra’s table with a heavy thud.
B2 and you can only stare at the scene in awkward befuddlement.
“This can’t be happening, This Can’t Be Happening!” Aria chants.
“Why?! Wwwwhhhyyyyy??!!” Sonata sobs onto your shoulder.
"Huh...guess these girls are really...empathetic huh?" B2 guesses.
"Gee, what was your first clue?" you deadpan to him as you begin patting the teen’s shoulder.
I do not know my bug, even if these magic hunters are sympathetic to what happened to the Sirens, these reactions seem a bit much.
Yeah, I know, you nod. Something’s been off this whole conversation, but now I’m even more confused. I mean, they’re acting as if they knew the Sirens.
Before you can continue your conversation with Selena, Humbra enters the room and looks at all the chaos. After a few heartbeats of silence, he decides to add in his two cents, and by that I mean he complains like usual.
"So not only did you bring a bunch of underage girls to my place, but now you broke them too?! Great, just what I needed!"
“Oh piss off!” B2 grumbles as he tries to calm Aria down to no avail. “How were we supposed to know they’d be this upset over a bunch of dead sea horses?”
“OH GODS NO!” Aria shouts as tears stream down her face and she crouches into a fetal position.
“AAAAAHHHHHH!!!” Sonata cries harder on your shoulder and grips your arm like a vice grip causing you to grit your teeth in pain.
“…Yeah, maybe you should stop saying that?” Spike says, pulling his ears closed.
"THE HELL'S GOING ON IN THERE SOMBRA?!"
Both you and B2's eyes widen in panic at the sudden shrill voice, but Humbra appears barely phased. Instead he just gives out a very annoyed sigh before walking over to his window.
"FOR THE LAST TIME MATILDA, NOTHING IS GOING ON!"
"SURE THERE'S NOTHING GOING ON YOU DRUGGIE! I BET YOU’RE HITTING THOSE CRYSTALS AGAIN!"
"DAMN IT YOU OLD HAG, I'M NOT DOING DRUGS!"
"I'M CALLING THE COPS ON YOUR SMOKING ASS, YOU DEADBEAT ROCKSTAR!"
Humbra's body shakes in rage as he shouts back,
"I KNOW YOU CAN'T, THE COPS STOPPED LISTENING TO YOU AFTER THE THIRTEENTH TIME THIS WEEK!"
"I CAN STILL REPORT YOU!"
"I AM NOT AFRAID TO DUCT TAPE AN OLD LADY’S MOUTH SHUT!"
Puzzling Frost’s Comment
"AS IF YOU COULD! I KNOW YOU’RE UP TO SOMETHING SOMBRA!" she shouts.
"YEAH?! LIKE THOSE PETTING ZOO ANIMALS AT THE FAIR?!" he retorts.
"THOSE ANIMALS COULD WALK AND TALK! THEY HARASSED ME AND THE ENTIRE TOWN!"
"HA! YOU’RE JUST CRAZY YOU OLD BAT!" Humbra bellows.
"WHY YOU UNGRATEFUL-"
“Matilda, quit harping on the druggie and come back inside,” a tired and annoyed human Cranky Doodle says as he starts pushing her back into their trailer.
“BUT CRANKY, HE’S PROBABLY MURDERING SOMEONE IN THERE!”
"Come on dear, remember your blood pressure," he says sighing. "Just a few more days and we can return home once the termites are exterminated.” And before the old woman can start shouting again, her husband closes the trailer door.
“Ha! That’s Sombra: 23, Old Bitch: 0,” he chuckles before turning back to three distraught girls and you two.
“…The buck was that?” you ask as Sonata continues to bawl.
“Nosy neighbors,” he grumbles. “That’s why I didn’t want crap like this happening here!”
“Alright alright, just…can you help us calm these girls down? Like, do you have any grass?” B2 pleads.
Humbra sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. “The last thing I want is to have three teenage girls high as balls in my damn trailer…But I’ll see what more legal things I got in the bathroom cabinet…” He then leaves the room as B2 pats Aria’s shoulders, while you do the same with Sonata.
“Listen girls, I think you’re blowing everything up. There’s no need to be sad, really,” you try and fail to comfort as they continue to cry.
Spike jumps on the table and paws at the passed out Adagio’s face, getting no response.
“OK, Sonata…SONATA!” you shout, shaking her by the shoulders. “Everything’s going to be alright! There is nothing to feel saddened or frightened by and-“
Master of Shadow’s Comment
Down With Chrysalis’s Comment
You are interrupted as a girlish song starts playing from your pocket which startles the blue haired girl.
“EEEP!” she shrieks and jumps into your arms like that dog did to that stoner pony in the mine Grandbuggy was trying to make money off of. Unlike that pony though, you aren’t used to catching another creature in this horrible body.
“Aaaa-OOPH!” you fall to the ground next to the muttering Aria. “Damn Humie Legs!” you curse as Sonata cries on your chest and the song keeps playing.
“…Seriously dude?” B2 says, judging you for the music.
“It’s not mine!” you shoot back as you reach into your coat pocket and pull out a phone that is definitely not yours, seeing as how yours is in your pants pocket. Pressing the green button, you answer the device and silence that horribly upbeat song.
“Hello?”
“…Bugze?” Sunset Shimmer’s voice comes across.
“Yeah?” you answer as Sonata keeps crying.
“Why are you answering Flash’s phone?”
“Flash’s phone?” you ask but then you remember how during one of your searches yesterday, your phone ran out of power and you borrowed his to look at videos of cats. “Oh right, must have forgotten to give it back to him.”
“Well that’s just great, now I’m gonna have to drive all the way to his house just to let him know what’s up,” she groans.
“Yeah sorry…” you apologize as you slip out of Sonata’s grip, who then latches onto B2.
“Hey! Dude!”
You just wave him off as you walk into the other room so you can hear better.
“Was that crying I heard?” Sunset asks.
“Yeah…things are going weirdly with those magic hunters I told you about,” you explain.
“Ooookkkaaaayyy…well anyway, I have a possible lead on finding Twilight.”
“Really?” you ask hopefully.
Ello Calebero’s Comment
“Yeah, I snuck into her house with Pinkie Pie today, but then she blew our cover and started talking with her parents so we had to sit and chat with them for most of the day. They’re actually pretty pleasant people.”
“OK…” you trail off, waiting for her to say more.
“But anyway, they didn’t even know Twilight was missing, they were under the impression that she was staying at her brother’s place since she uses his garage for experiments and the like.”
“Oh, so she’s been talking to them then?”
“Through text yeah, but still that’s a big lead. Now all we have to do is figure out where her brother lives and we can go from there,” she says excitedly.
“They didn’t give you the address?” you inquire.
“Oh yeah, just straight up ask where their son lives without letting slip that we think their daughter has turned into a magical demon, that’s smart,” she sasses and you roll your eyes.
“Har Har,” you snark back.
“So yeah, all we have to do is do a little sleuthing on the internet and we’ll be able to find where he li-“
“Don’t bother, I got an easier way to figure that out,” you interrupt.
“You do? How?” she asks.
“Humie me’s got the number of her brother’s fiancé,” you answer as you look back in the kitchen.
“He does? Why?”
“Spike! Fetch Me A Crowbar!” he begs as Sonata refuses to let go of his arm.
“Where am I supposed to find one of those?” the puppy shrugs.
“That’s a…long story, and it might lead to more trouble for him, but it’s an avenue.”
“That’s great! Let me know when you figure it out. I’ll update the girls and then go let Flash know,” she says.
“OK, and when you do see him, tell him I said to change his phone song to something more awesome,” you order.
“His ringtone?”
“Yes, that. It was somehow more fillyish than the My Little Human opening. Something about plastic girls or something.”
“He…he still has that ringtone for when I call?” she asks in amusement, though at the same time sounding touched.
“I guess? I still don’t fully get these futurey things,” you admit.
She then let’s out a giggle before she says, “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let him know. Talk to you in a bit.”
“Yep, see you then,” you nod as you hang up and slip the phone back into your pocket.
“Alright, good news, I got some Xanax left,” Humbra says coming out of the bathroom holding a bottle of pills. “And if anyone asks, they took it themselves.”
“Sure, whatever,” you shrug as you follow his lead.
Some Time Later
Whatever magical human pills Humbra used have worked. The girls are much, much calmer than they were…though Adagio is still faint, but she’s now been moved to the couch where she stares at the ceiling. Aria and Sonata however remain silent and just sit next to their sister, staring off into nothing.
“Uhhh, how long are they gonna be like this?” asks B2.
“Till they decide they want to talk I suppose,” Humbra shrugs and flips through the channels.
“I still don’t get why they freaked out in the first place,” B2 shakes his head and looks at the TV.
“Yeah…it is pretty strange,” you agree as you ponder the three.
Color me crazy, but I’m starting to think they might know more about the Sirens then they’re letting on.
Oh gee, you think? Sombra mocks.
Oh Buck Off, you didn’t know either till they freaked out, you growl back.
I felt something was off, and that they were keeping secrets, but their reactions are highly suspect, Selena agrees.
And that’s putting it mildly…maybe they’re siren blooded too and they felt bad for their ancestors?
Possible…but then Sentry did not react as such, Selena points out.
I would not base reactions upon that one, he is off in a number of ways, Sombra theorizes.
After his choice in music, I have to agree, you nod.
Before you can continue with this train of thought though…
Kichi’s Comment
“Wait, go back!” B2 orders Humbra.
“Huh?” he grunts.
“Go back two channels, was that the Pink girl?”
Curious you glance at the TV as Humbra flips it back and sure enough, Human Pinkie Pie is on TV.
What started out as a simple story about an ice cream challenge, quickly turned strange this afternoon when our reporters spoke with one of the waitresses, the narrator says as Pinkamena Diane Pie, Sugarcube Corner Employee appears below her.
“Yeah, the Super Duper Chocolate Scooper challenge is nice and everything, but you know what’s more interesting? Finding a missing girl with wings!”
You and B2 pale at that as the video continues.
Pinkamena Diane Pie, or Pinkie Pie as she likes to be called, enthralled our crew with such out of the world fantasy, that they couldn’t stop filming her.
“You see, there’s this girl named Twilight Sparkle, and we don’t know where she’s at, because she flew away with her big dark wings she got when she was infused with magic. She may or may not be a demon at this point, like how my friend Sunset was for a bit, but she also might not be.”
“What the Buck is she doing?!” you say in shock as Pinkie Pie keeps on talking.
When asked to describe her “Magical Friend” she provided a detailed drawing in colored pencil, the reporter says as a picture depicting a more ominous looking version of Twilight from that night.
“So yeah, if you see her around, let me know. From my experience, girls turning into magic demons can lead to people feeling loco in the coco, so if you see anybody with glowing green eyes, you’re on the right track,” she smiles. “But please don’t call the police or FBI or anything, that would just make my job harder.”
And just like that, she went back to serving the actual Ice Cream challenge as if nothing had happened. It seems that either Ms. Pie really has an active imagination, or she’s trying to reach out to former Rock band, The Wanted.
“Ah Hell,” Humbra mutters and facepalms.
Earlier this month, a mysterious publicity stunt by the band occurred at Canterlot Mall without any formal statements, which has propelled the former musicians into the public consciousness. And while it’s highly doubtful that Ms. Pie is a spokesperson for the band, her enthusiasm over their music is quite evident. The bassist for the band, known as Nightmare Moon, would appear in dark armor with a horned helm and wings, just as this Twilight Demon, which incidentally is also a shout out to one of their singles.
You look to Humbra and B2 at that.
“The Demon of Twilight…That was one of our weaker ones,” B2 grumbles.
So whether it’s a shout out, or childlike imagination, Ms. Pie just goes to show how many people have caught the Metal bug. Back to you Bret.
It then cuts back to the news anchors who are giggling at that story.
“Oh my, she does not look like she listens to that type of music at all,” Bret chuckles.
“I’m just imagining her in a mosh pit with all these dark clothed people with tattoos,” says his co-anchor as they both laugh.
And as they both continue to laugh you groan and look back to the other two.
“Well, I don’t know what the buck she was thinking, but looks like you’ve got more exposure,” you shrug.
“But we ain’t making a comeback! If more people think that, then we’re screwed!” Humbra rubs his cheeks.
“I mean...It could be possible to set up a small venue,” B2 starts.
“NO! We’re not talking about that again! We’re not going to bankrupt ourselves for this stupidity!” Humbra chides and B2 lowers his head in defeat.
Sighing, you send a text over to Sunset, telling her to keep a tighter leash on Pinkie Pie.
“But besides that, that girl’s a fool. If they took her seriously then we’d get the government involved and all hell would break loose,” Humbra shakes his head.
“Oh, is that what she meant by Effbeyie?” you inquire.
“Yeah, last thing we need is feds snooping around,” B2 shudders.
“Sooo, what, are these guys that hunt magic or…”
“Not really, they’re basically federal cops who take on threats on a national level…which I hope to God Twilight isn’t” B2 explains.
“Uh huh, that’s what they want you to think. But them guys definitely round up all alien activity and hide them away in their desert bases,” Humbra says.
“Oh not this again,” B2 rolls his eyes.
“You doubt me, but everyone knows they dissected those grey aliens in the 1940’s! Weather Balloons my ass!”
“Wait…these F-Bye Bye guys dissect aliens?” you say in fear. “Like the ponies in black?”
“Yes!” Humbra answers as B2 says at the same time,
“No!”
But it’s too late, your imagination runs wild at that image.
Imaginationland
You picture Human Twilight tied to a chair as humans wearing black suits and dark sunglasses surround her.
“Tell us all you know about magic and how we can acquire it!”
“Never!” she cries back defiantly.
“Then we will be forced to do something extreme…” the human threatens.
“Your torture will never work, I am a magical princess goddess now and I can choose whoever I want to redeem and who to condemn!”
“Are you sure about that?” the human smirks as he opens a book in front of her…and folds the corner of the page.
"Noo! You monsters!" Twilight cries.
"Tell us what we want and we will stop!" the man from Efby Eye orders.
"Never!"
The man then takes a marker and starts underlining sentences in the book.
"Nooo!!! OK, OK, it was Bugze! It was all him! He’s the one who did this to me, and he’s a Bug Man!”
“Excellent, you’re free to go without punishment because of reasons,” the feds say as they let her go.
“Yippee!” she flies off through the roof.
“Now, we hunt Bugze and shoot to kill because only he is evil,” they say priming alien blaster weapons.
Back To Reality
“BUCKING BULLSPIT!!!” you shout aloud, startling the others.
“Heh, fine, continue to be a skeptic sheep,” Humbra crosses his arms.
She definitely would give me up, just like real Twilight would. When the chips are down, it’s always blame Bugze for everything!
I think you may be projecting my bug, Selena offers.
I don’t think so. Princess Twilight’s probably blaming me and you for something right this instance.
In Equestria
Changer T Emerald’s Comment
Twilight sneezes as she sits beside Flash Sentry’s hospital bed.
“Bless you,” Rarity says.
“Thanks,” she sniffles and looks to Flash. “I’m glad we got him here in time. I just wish Applejack and Fluttershy had been able to find Bugze after all that craziness…I’d hate to think he ran back to Nightmare Moon looking as weak as he did.”
“Hmmph, I blame that ghastly Cabeleron. If he hadn’t of interrupted, then we would have been able to get that poor changeling to Canterlot.”
“Yeah…if only Daring Do and Rainbow Dash had been able to find him as well…”
“Well at least Zecora was willing to take in Ms. Do after her house was destroyed,” Rarity finds the silver lining and pats Twilight on the shoulder.
“Yeah…I just want to stop Nightmare Moon’s terror once and for all so nopony else can get hurt though,” she says looking sadly at Flash who, for the most part, is sleeping peacefully with a smile on his face.
Back To Human Land
She would sell me out for in a heartbeat! We have to find her! You think in determination as the news continues to play.
Puzzling Frost’s Comment
"In other news, the burnt down establishment of Fazbear’s Fright, a horror house built in dedication to the mysterious disappearances at Freddy Fazbear’s in the 90s, has been declared as arson.”
“It wasn’t deliberate!” you whine at the TV, who of course can’t hear you.
“Henry Emily, owner of the establishment, and former owner of the food chain, has said that while tragic, he had been planning on tearing the place down in the first place. Despite these ominous words, the owner has been cleared of suspicion.”
“Heh, can’t say I blame the guy, that place sucked,” B2 says with a shiver.
“From what you’ve said, I don’t doubt it. Hated the original chain way back when as well, too creepy. Glad everything burned up in there,” Humbra says as he drinks some beer.
“Well not everything,” you correct as you hold up Mangle’s head which gives him a mechanical growl, causing him to spit take onto the floor.
“The Hell Is That?!” Humbra shrieks as he scrambles back in his recliner.
“Whoa easy! She’s fine! She won’t bite,” as you say this she and Spike growl at each other. “Probably.”
“Well biting or not, put it the hell away!” he orders. You look at the head and shrug as you push it back into your inventory.
Just_another_guy’s Comment
“I bet she bites…” Sonata’s voice cuts off whatever else would have been said and you look over at her. She is still staring dazedly off into space with tears in her eyes, but she still talks.
“Sonata?” you question but she doesn’t hear you.
“I bet she bites just like Mr. Snapper…He was such a good turtle…he always showed dad what for,” she says as she sniffles.
“Dad…I said that I hated him before we left…” Aria sniffles with regret.
They stare blankly ahead, there pupils so tiny they may as well not be there.
“Uh…girls?” B2 tries to get their attention, but it’s no use.
“Why? Why did we leave?” Sonata asks her sister.
“Because we wanted to be in charge…” Adagio says from the couch. “We wanted to show them all…but now they’re all gone, Mom and Dad, Mr. Snapper…and everyone else. All gone.”
Sonata starts crying again as she holds her hands to her eyes.
“I told him I would come back for him. He was sad that I didn’t take him with me. And Mom and Dad they…”
Adagio’s eyes flood again as she covers her eyes as well.
Did…did they lose their parents? You think as you watch them. You can certainly sympathize with that pain, but what brought this on all of a sudden?
You cough into your hand, but they don’t really pay you any mind.
Changer T Emerald’s Comment
“Uh, I can see you three are having a bad time right now. Does…does this have anything to do with what I told you about the Sirens?”
Adagio and Sonata wince at that, but Aria looks at you in disbelief.
“I mean, this is such a strong reaction so…do you guys know more than you let on about? If so, what do you know?” you ask plainly and gingerly, hoping not to upset them further.
“What do we know? What Do We Know?!”
And you fail miserably as Aria stands up from the couch with her hands balled into fists.
“What we know is that some moron from Equestria drops by out of the blue and tells us that not only have we been gone for a thousand years, but that we’re the last of our kind!”
“Huh?”
“WE’RE THE SIRENS YOU IDIOT!” she shouts as tears sting her eyes and the other two slump even further. Humbra, B2, Selena and Sombra all gasp in surprise at this, while you just feel utterly flabbergasted.
“…I’m sorry, you’re What?!” you ask in surprise.
“We’re the Sirens! The only ones left since you so kindly told us! That bearded idiot and his friends kicked us through that portal and here we are!” Aria bellows at you, stomping her feet.
They’re…they…
“B-B-But that doesn’t make sense, that was a thousand-“
“Years ago, YES! Thanks for harping on that!” she throws her hands up and turns away from you. “A thousand years gone in the blink of an eye, and now all our family and loved ones are as dead as those jerks that sent us here!”
This information…it’s mind boggling. These three human girls are over a thousand years old? They’re not alicorns or dragons. You don’t know how long Sea Ponies could live, but Humans definitely can’t hit those numbers.
“You…you’ve been here that long?”
“No,” Adagio speaks up, still sounding breathless. “We only arrived here last year. We’ve been surviving with what little magic we had left…”
“A year? But how…”
Sunset Shimmer had something similar happen to her remember? Selena pipes in, bringing up something you’d learned days ago. She was de-aged and time for her worked differently than it did for us.
Yeah, but that’s a big jump. She was gone 15, these guys were for a millennia!
Technically I am over a thousand years as well, and that was through space and time manipulation as well, Sombra offers.
Yeah but still if that’s the case then I…Oh Luna, I just told them they’re the last of their kind as if I was talking about the weather…You say as guilt suddenly hits you.
“Why? Why is this happening to us?” Sonata asks helplessly as Adagio puts her arms around her.
“Why?! Because stupid pain in the tail ponies bucked us over that’s why! And now this stupid bug has only come to tear our hearts out!” Aria growls and points at you.
“I…I’m sorry I didn’t kn-“
“You said it yourself, you want our stones! These stupid things that got us in this mess in the first place!” she yells tugging at the jeweled collar on her neck and your eyes widen as the object of your quest is right in front of you.
How did we not sense them?!
“Well you know what?!” Aria says as she tears the necklace off and throws it at your feet. “There! Take It! Take the only things we have left! That’s All You Equestrians Do!” she breaks down in sobs and turns back to her sisters, embracing both of them at the same time.
B2, Humbra and Spike are speechless as they look at the embracing sisters, while you stare slack jawed at the jewel at your feet.
This…I found it…But… You look back up at the three hu...no, the three Sirens, the last three Sirens in all of existence as they lament their losses. You can’t even imagine their pain. You lost your parents, but you didn’t lose your entire species.
This…this doesn’t feel right, you think hollowly.
I…agree. This is far too sorrowful for a victory, Selena says in sympathy.
…Their entire people destroyed, Sombra says contemplatively. If Amore had had her way...I would have been in their position…
You stare at the Siren Stone before you. It’s the key component of getting Selena and Sombra their own bodies, and the reason you’ve put up with so much turmoil in this horrible world…but can that pain even compare to theirs?
What's...What's the right call here?
WHAT DO YOU DO?
