Later that night. At the Siren’s home…
Adagio was busy drying her hair off with a blow dryer in the bathroom and speaking to one of her sisters. “You should’ve seen all of the adorable little things he made.”
“Like, really?” It was Sonata--she was busy combing her hair in the mirror nearby. “I thought knitting was for old people--mainly grannies.”
“That’s what I thought too,” Adagio said as she turned the dryer off, “Humans have such an inconsistent culture that’s so…varied. It’s crazy when you can see how a fellow Equestrian interacts with it.”
“I know, right? Hey, did you make anything once he showed you?” Sonata asked with gleeful stars of excitement in her eyes, “If so, lemme see! Lemme see!”
Adagio looked away with a slightly bashful smile on her face. “Well…it’s nothing spectacular or anything. But I’ll show you.” Once she finished, she left the bathroom and retrieved the tiny crocheted trinket: A small penguin. “...Here it is.”
“Ooh! It’s so cute!” Sonata squealed as she exited the bathroom to get a better look at it. It was the iconic small, knit arctic bird--though the beak was somewhat lop-sided. This didn’t stop the youngest siren from adoring it. “And he taught you how to make this in a day? That’s amazing!”
“Well…” the yellow girl’s cheeks were tinted in a rosy blush as she shyly put the penguin away, “He’s the real expert. Not me. Apparently, he used to use items such as these for his magical blood experiments back in Equestria. One of the many things he was banished here…”
Sonata’s excitable expression melted away into a frown. “Oh yeah, that’s right…how is he doing, by the way?”
Adagio put a hand on her sister’s shoulder and offered an encouraging smile. “I think he’s doing just fine. He’s really happy after receiving all of those gifts we had for him. Though, I was surprised to see that you managed to purchase him an all-terrain vehicle of all things.”
And just like that, Sonata’s cheerful expression returned. “Oh! Well, that was thanks to Pinkie getting me a higher position at the restaurant. Business has been booming ever since that day we dealt with that icky spider monster.”
“Shit--you’re lucky,” Aria commented from her bedroom nearby, “Sour Sweet is dealing with this dream monster. I’m not exactly sure how we’re gonna handle it, but if either of you see me spaz out in my sleep, do me a favor and wake me up.”
Adagio leaned into Aria’s bedroom and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want us to join you within this little dream sequence of yours? We might be able to help.”
“Nah--well, not yet anyway,” Aria replied as she hastily drew something in a notebook. “That’s why I said only if you hear me have an issue in my sleep. Sour knows I’m coming but not you guys. I wanna keep this situation as stable as possible.”
“Alright, if you’re sure…” Adagio replied, putting a hand on Sonata’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go get some rest, okay?”
Sonata huffed, agreeingly reluctantly as she left her sister’s room.
Once everyone was in their pajamas and resting down for the night, the sirens all fell asleep in their respective rooms. Aria in particular made sure to drink some warm milk to help herself fall asleep faster than normal.
And soon enough…
In her dreams…
The violet siren found herself floating in an infinite expanse of darkness. “What the--?! Shit, I need to start thinking about those two…” She rubbed her temples, and focused hard. Soon enough, the entire space-like backdrop would be replaced by…
An entire landscape filled with sweets and gelatin desserts?
“What the…” Aria muttered as her feet touched down upon the soft, cotton candy floors of the dreamscape. She looked down and realized she was still in her skull-patterened pajamas. “Wait a sec. Am I in Pinkie’s dream? I could’ve sworn I was thinking about Sour--”
“Nope, you’re in the right place,” Sugarcoat commented as she levitated down until her feet made contact with the ground as well. Like Aria, she was also dressed in her pajamas--a frilly, tutu-esque nightgown to be precise. “I can hear Sour Sweet’s voice coming from those gumdrop hills nearby.”
Aria looked over and sure enough--a path of peppermint would lead up a hill towards two massive gumdrops that were sitting right next to each other. “Hm…” she fell silent so she could listen in more closely. Sure enough, she could hear what sounded like ravenous chewing and haggard breaths. “Well then…I think we’ve found our mark.”
“Yup,” Sugarcoat added, “Let’s get going.”
The girls followed the path of candy. Sugarcoat’s facial expression was as neutral as always, but Aria couldn’t help but look around in awe. “Damn…is this what you humans tend to dream about on a daily basis?”
“Not usually,” Sugarcoat replied frankly, “My dreams are usually more centered around performative arts than edible goods.”
“Huh. I wonder…” While Aria was curious as to what that meant, there was no time to play a game of twenty questions. They eventually both made it to the top of the hill where the chewing noises had become even louder.
“Grrrh! Mmm-hmhmhm!!”
“Uh…” Aria took a tentative step forward, “Hello? Sour, is that you--?”
“HHHH!” her face popped out from behind a bush of cotton candy, “Mine…my precious--! Oh…” Thankfully, she calmed down as soon as she realized who it was. “It’s you two. Thanks for coming.”
“We’re your friends,” Sugar replied, “We’re not just gonna leave you in the lurch when we know you need our help. Now what exactly are we waiting for? The elephant demon, right?”
“That’s right,” Sour said as she stood up. Her full body could now be seen as she was wearing candy cane-patterned pajamas. “It should be appearing right about…”
SHOOM!
Suddenly, the candyland disappeared, leaving the girls floating in space again. That is, until…
THUD!
With a loud slam, the three of them landed upon what appeared to be the peak of a red mountain in the middle of a desert.
“Ow! Goddammit…this is not how it works in movies,” Aria complained as she rose to her feet and massaged her butt from the slight pain of landing upon it out of nowhere.
Sugar was doing the same, but as always, her expression remained neutral…until the ‘sun’ in Sour’s dream was blocked out by a shadow that grew until it loomed over them all. “...Oh shit.” Her pupils shrank, her jaw dropped, and she stood motionless for a second as her heart pounded faster and faster. “...It’s here.”