//------------------------------// // Chapter 48 // Story: The Siren // by McPoodle //------------------------------// Still March 20th. “Secret of My Excess”. Twilight Sparkle, Rozetri and Rainbow Dash ran out onto the greens that surrounded the palace. (Well, Twilight ran. Rozetri and Rainbow flew.) The form of Spike towered above them, screaming his hatred of the universe. “It’s a pony spell,” Pony Twilight said in sudden realization. She turned to the others. “Discord’s spell only affects ponies!” She pointed up at the rampaging form of her brother. “He’s done it!” she exclaimed. “Even without a cutie mark, Spike’s now more pony than dragon! I’m so proud!” “Um Twilight, that’s nice and all,” Rainbow remarked, “but Spike is going to destroy Canterlot.” “Right, I have to cast the memory spell on him,” Twilight began. “Oh, but that won’t be easy. Dragons are extremely magic resistant.” She paused for a moment as her inner Siren reminded her that she could pull a near limitless quantity of magic out of the hatred of the ponies around her. “And even with my expanded reserves, the problem will be how fast I can push the spell into his head.” “I can help,” offered Rozetri. “I can do a great deal with Equestrian magic.” “Alright,” said Twilight. “And I can fly you right up to his head,” offered Rainbow. “That ought to count for something.” Twilight smiled. “It does.” She began to look around. “Now the best source of memories for Spike would be Rarity. Have either of you seen her around? I last saw her around here somewhere…” Rainbow flew up and over so that she was closer to the rampaging dragon, then flew back and landed. “Found her,” she said, pointing up at the white form trying to bite her way out from the grip of Spike’s right claw. “Rozetri, get on my back and hold on. Twilight, I’ll pick you up.” “Do you think you can carry us both?” “Only one way to find out.” She looked back at Rozetri, who had crawled atop her back and had wrapped a couple of tentacles around her barrel to hold on. “Wow,” she said, “thanks for not sliming all over me.” “I do have some restraint,” Rozetri quipped in her semi-artificial voice. Rainbow lifted into the air, then hooked her forearms around Twilight’s and lifted her into the air. She flew over to the fist holding Rarity, holding Twilight steady while she cast her spell. Rarity stopped struggling. “What did you do to me?” she asked absently. Then she looked around and started screaming. “Rarity!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Get a hold of yourself!” “You’re one to talk!” Rarity replied. “You’ve got a giant slug on your back!” The “slug” visibly pouted. “Wait,” said Rarity as she recalibrated. “She’s trying to help us save the world from Discord,” Twilight explained. Rarity vividly remembered the school trip when she was a filly, when she had first laid eyes on the statue of Discord. His form upset her on a visceral level. The creature on Rainbow’s back was at least symmetrical. “Alright,” she said cautiously. She then looked up. “Spike’s undergone a growth spurt,” she observed. “And getting bigger made him stupid and angry. I used to think that was a general rule among stallions, before I got to know Big Mac.” She looked back at them. “Now, with the banter out of the way, what is the plan?” “I need to use the memory spell on Spike, with you as the source,” Twilight said. Rainbow looked down at Twilight. Then over at Rarity. And finally, up at Spike. “Stay right there,” she said. "Where else would I go?” Rarity quipped. Rainbow flew up to the top of Spike’s head and dropped off Twilight and Rozetri, who held on to a head spike for dear life. "Hold on.” “We’re trying!” Then she flew back down. “Hold still,” she instructed Rarity. “I’m going to summon a bolt of lightning to—” “I’m going to have to stop you right there,” Rarity said calmly. “I’ve seen how accurate your lightning strikes are.” Rainbow shrugged. “Just catch me.” And with that, Rarity kicked at a specific nerve junction inside Spike’s claw, causing him to drop her. Rainbow caught her and started flying her back up to join the others. “Where did you get that trick from?” she asked. “Rainbow Dash, you saw how I handled the manticore back in the Everfree. A lady must be able to defend herself at all times. Preferably with the power of her intellect. But with her hooves if absolutely necessary.” “Okay,” said Rainbow with an admiring smile. She saw that there was no safe spot to place Rarity, so she continued to hold her. “Twilight, are you ready?” “Rarity, I need you to think of your best experiences with Spike,” Twilight instructed. “Spike, the Shining Knight? I can do that.” “Rozetri?” “I’m ready.” “Then here I go.” She leaned her head down and started siphoning a large quantity of mana into Spike’s head. Rozetri siphoned her magic through Twilight, where it became a part of the spell. Spike started shaking it to try and resist them. “It’s not working!” Twilight exclaimed. It seemed certain that Twilight and Rozetri at the very least would be sent flying at any moment. Steeling herself, Rainbow rushed forward. “Look out!” Rozetri exclaimed, pointing away from the spot Rainbow was heading towards. Twilight turned her head. Rainbow shot an ethereal tentacle out of her head, which roughly slapped Spike’s head before withdrawing out of sight. Spike immediately began shrinking down to normal. Rainbow looked fearfully down at Rarity. Rarity looked up at her in terror. Rainbow wibbled her lip. Which in the language of Rainbow Dash was the equivalent of Rarity having a complete nervous breakdown. Rarity stopped, and recalibrated. “Look Twilight, your spell worked!” she exclaimed. Twilight finally looked back from the direction that Rozetri pointed. “Oh! It must have been a delayed reaction! Spike! Spike! Are you alright?” The once-again diminutive Spike slumped. “I remember everything,” he moaned. “Spike, Spike, I’m sorry,” Twilight said, pulling him into a hug. (Inwardly, Siren Twilight was a full participant in that hug.) “I resisted for as long as I could,” Spike told her. “Where were you? You could have helped me fight it.” “No, she couldn’t,” Siren Twilight remarked. “This was end-of-the-world stuff, Spike. Still is.” “We’re wasting valuable time as it is,” Pony Twilight admitted. “But that doesn’t matter, because you matter,” Siren Twilight concluded. Spike came in for another hug after that. “So, you’re the heroes, and I’m the sidekick. Got it. What can I do to help?” “Follow me,” Twilight replied, turning to return to the palace. “Hold on,” Rarity said, holding a hoof in the air. She looked around: Rozetri was nowhere to be seen. And before she had left, the strange creature had tried and failed to do something to her memories. She looked over, first at Rainbow, and then pointedly at the back of Twilight’s head. When Rainbow got the message, she lifted Spike with her magic and deliberately placed him on Twilight’s back facing the wrong way. While Rarity did this, Rainbow brought out one of her grepp tentacles a second time and applied it to Twilight’s head. “Hey, where did Rozetri go?” she asked, suddenly remembering his existence. “Was that the monster that was helping you out?” asked Spike as he repositioned himself. “I want to shake her tentacle.” “I’ll try to arrange that,” Twilight promised. Rarity smiled at Rainbow Dash in gratitude. Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly back at her.