//------------------------------// // Chapter1 // Story: Sirens of the Night: Dream Rise // by The Crazed Werewolf //------------------------------// Her alarm was going off. Adagio slammed her hand down on the infernal device in an effort to get it to shut up. Instead her hand hit cold steel. Steel, Adagio thought, my night stand is made of mahogany. She opened her eyes and found herself in unfamiliar environs. The room had a prefabricated look to it. The walls and floor looked to be made of metal, and the ceiling appeared to be sterile tile. Next to her rather spartan bed was a steel table that was bolted to the floor. Bolted in the corner of the ceiling was a loud speaker that was the culprit of the offending noise. The next thing she noticed was that she shared the room with her sister, Aria. Aria was fumbling with her glasses. The third thing Adagio noticed was the horrid uniform that Aria was wearing. In consisted of a navy blue jumpsuit with reflective material sewn on the arms and legs. A small silver bar was pinned to Aria's collar. Adagio looked down at herself and found herself similarly stored. Good thing Rarity isn't here to see this, Adagio thought, these outfits would give her an aneurysm. "Aria," Adagio said with a yawn, "what's going on and where are we?" "I dunno," Aria replied. Looking around the room and at the uniforms that she and Adagio were wearing something struck her as familiar, but she couldn't place it. Suddenly the alarm went silent. "This has been a drill of the emergency alert system." A voice said over the loud speaker, "in the event of an actual emergency, all hands are to report to action stations." "That sounded a little bit like Raven," Adagio said, "let's go find out what is going on." Aria agreed and both girls exited the room. They found the there was a label on the outside of the door: "Lt. A. Blaze, Lt. A. Dazzle", "What the hell is going on," Adagio said, "aren't we a little young to be in the Army?" Aria watched as people passed by them, all dressed similarly to them. Where is Sonata? "Let's find Sonata," Aria said, "then we search for answers." "Agreed," Adagio said. The sooner they knew what was going on, the better. "Dagi," Aria asked as they walked down the hall, "what is the last thing you remember?" "Sleep over at Sunset's house," Adagio said thinking back, "mom wanted to get us out of the night before her wedding." "Ditto," Aria said, "maybe Sunset, Scootaloo and the girls are here too." "Well then, atleast we aren't alone," Adagio said. "Adagio, Aria," they heard Sunset say, "we found you." Both girls turned around and saw Sunset and Sonata standing behind them. They were both dressed in a similar fashion. The only difference was that Sunset's collar was adorned with a gold oak leaf. "Any ideas where we are," Sunset asked her cousins, "I woke up sharing a room with Sonata, wearing this." "Somehow, everything here is familiar," Aria said, "but I can't quite place it." "Perhaps we should find the rest of the girls," Adagio said, "and then we can worry about where we are." "I'm worried about Scootaloo," Sunset said, "I hope that she is okay." "She's smart and tough," Aria said, hoping to reassure Sunset, "I'm sure that she is fine." As they walked along, the four girls found that the corridor led to a large hanger full of futuristic looking fighter craft. Each fighter had a long sleek fuselage with stubby wings. The wings looked like they were little more than a mounting point for weapons, since several of the fighters had middle pods attached. Ground crews were hustling around the fighters, many of which were in various stages of repairs. Sunset stopped and looked at one fighter in particular. The legend "LCMDR SUNSET 'DAYDREAM' SHIMMER" was stenciled under the canopy. "Now I really want to know what is going on," Sunset said to her cousins. "Sunset," Sonata said as she read the stencil, "I didn't know that you could fly." "So can we apparently," Adagio said as she pointed out three other fighters, each with their names stenciled under the canopies. Further inspection revealed a fighter for each of the girls except for Scootaloo. "Well," Aria said, "we now know that the others are here somewhere." "Then let's go find them," Sonata said, "I need my Pinkie!" "Lieutenant Pie is in the base infirmary," a new voice said, "she came back from her patrol yesterday a little banged up. I guess that she ran into an Imperial patrol." Imperial, I've heard that before, Aria thought to herself. The girls turned to look at the speaker but they didn't recognize him. He wore the same uniform that they did, but instead of any insignia pinned to his collar, he had three chevrons and a rocker on his sleeve. "Thanks," Sonata said, "let's go to the infirmary!" "Anytime Eltee," the man said before he returned to whatever he had been doing. "I think I'm beginning to put together where we are," Aria said as the four of them began to walk towards where they thought that the infirmary was, "but if I'm right, then all of this is impossible." "By all means, tell us where we are," Adagio said impatiently. "Let's find the infirmary first," Aria replied, "because if it's where I think it is, then that would confirm my theory." It didn't take long for the girls to find the infirmary, and when they found it, it confirmed Aria's suspicions. Before she could tell her sisters and Sunset, they opened the door to the Infirmary and found the rest of their friends inside. "So you are all here too," Rarity said, "wherever here is." "I know where we are," Rainbow said, "it's 20% cooler than I thought it would be!" "So where are we," Adagio demanded. Her patience was wearing thin. Aria looked at the flag that was pinned to the wall opposite of the door that led into the infirmary. "Lunar One," Aria replied, "the command base for the military arm of the New Lunar Republic." "How do you know that," Fluttershy asked quietly. "I don't know how," Aria continued, "but we're living mom's books, and those fighters that we apparently fly are called Lady Liberty's."