//------------------------------// // Ch. 4 Raw Honey // Story: The Siren's Remorse // by TheronSniper //------------------------------// Ch. 4 Raw Honey A well needed feast at the cost of others put the Dazzlings in the most placid of moods they’d had been in a long time. The lost years to time ephemeral of being stuck in the world of walking erect hominids since their banishment had become palpable in their sated state, one sobering to at least two of the girls at least. By devouring the negativity of the park goers drawn to their tantalizing voices and the four course meals Dazzle provided shortly after, the effect upon the girls was as drastic as if they had found relief to the ever persistent homesick feeling they had. Sonata managed to maintain a less hyperactive and random personality after essentially inhaling her portions with little mastication, content to hum to herself as her eyes wondered the streets they journeyed. Aria avoided much engagement during the consumption of the last plate and enjoyed the peace with her own thoughts as the return of their powers held a solace air around the trio. The idea of a vote still swarming around her mind like a pesky fly, one she couldn't swat with even the largest roll of newspaper as if she were trying to shut Sonata up on occasion. "It's getting dark." the very girl noted, her hands behind her back while walking normally. Usually the one to find the downside to things and offer her own remedy, she almost always incurred their leader's anger who had to have her way as proper as it were to do so. With the change of going from shark to shad and back again there seemed to have been something that altered in her superior, one she had hoped came from their imminent deaths as mortals. Blaze gave a long look at the bouncing curly bouquet of orange before her, 'Perhaps she's really grown up and realized swimming during high riptide was not such a good idea?' Aria thought to herself, 'Of all the times I tried to get her to change course... losing our own pendants finally took the last spine out of the urchin?' She wanted to know more about the so called vote and how far it would go, would they finally stop failing now that they had a literal second chance? Were they even to sink into the oceans for that deep sleep had they not gotten the help of whoever gave them the real gemstone? Maybe the stuff she had seen on the human televisions over the years were not simple mindless wastes of time? 'Geez, who would have thought those times we got our hair done at those places with the soap operas weren't a bunch of ambergris?' she huffed, the hours they spent getting new styles occasionally meant they were forced to watch the boob tube of exaggerated human interactions and plotting. Adagio herself had since kept rather quiet after they left the restaurant from their late lunch and likely early dinner, she seemed to either be digesting her food or thinking. There was no sign of any deviation beyond merely going down street after street for a little workout, something Dazzle had said would be good for them to keep the blood going instead of lazing about like lounging Stargazers. Like any matriarch worth their bits she was still concerned over their habits, always on the move and never relaxing. 'What are you trying to get at with all this Adagio? How are we suppose to somehow trick this guy in the shadows for more power?! What if there are more than one like some kind of organization that wants to enslave us! Maybe we're dealing with the ponies again and they're trying to trick us for one last humiliating defeat?' Aria pondered being the pessimistic one, 'Haven't you felt something off with the new stone they gave us? I mean... at least I felt it?' Her twin ponytails rocked softly behind her, swinging like a pendulum mimicking her inspection of her latest place in the ever unwinding spool that was life. The suckling of deep thought soon triggered something she hadn't realized until then. She hadn't been able to have one cognitive thought without blaming something on Sonata yet, not just that but being able to look forward several steps while Adagio left them in the dark. There was something crystal clear about the mere act of inner speech which sent a shiver down her spine, the last time she felt so free was the day at the cafe before the light show that drew Dazzle to their doom. 'Whatever is going on... this... this clearness I'm feeling? Unlike before... I'm not going to let you doom us again Adagio, if I think a plan stinks I'm going to let you know no matter how mad you get! Until we return to Equestria we're playing by my rules... even if I may have to take over for real next time.' she starred at the curly cloud of sunny warm hair that bounced a little with every step taken by the owner. Oblivious to the machinations set by the hard to please Blaze, Adagio kept their walk going in search of a new home to claim. In addition to the bits they had left from before the new gift, their earlier audience bolstered just enough for them to establish a base of operations to which she'd orchestrate their future from. More singing, more bits, more power, and hopefully more pendants later on, that was the current plan and to bide their power just in case their predators came a looking and she didn't need to see them just yet. She mulled over the many routes they could take to amass the dark magic they'd need to become a force to be reckoned with once more. However, as half her astute intelligence went to working those plans out she hovered over the few things which hung on like sea lice on the scales sucking away blood like the parasites they were. Things she remembered being told to her and how they came back to haunt them, how she should have listened in the first place. 'I'm tired of fast food. I need a meal.' Blaze spouted at the cafe before the storm began. 'So we're just gonna do what we always do? Stir up some trouble and then feed off the negative energy? Some plan, Adagio.' another quote from the magnificent pessimist. 'But the Rainblossoms, or whatever they're called, aren't under our spell. How exactly are we supposed to get to their magic?' the point of which she should have devised a better way of trapping the bait fish than using a third party to do it, she never did figure out how those girls escaped the trapdoor room. Then came the one which stung her the most, the cornerstone to the brick house which collapsed upon them after it was struck by the Rainbooms at the concert. The one thing she should have heeded as the matriarch of the pack, that she should have been caring about the health and well being of her subordinates first and foremost. Instead of chasing after power and magic like some crazed starving dog pouncing on a dropped burger or a taco in Sonata's usual luck. 'Remember when I asked for your opinion? Yeah. Me neither.' Blaze's words burned themselves into her guilt, though they may not have been directed at her it was too clear of a projection mirroring herself in the siren's position. She thought of how blinded by power grabbing that she essentially tunnel visioned herself into failure from the get go. Forgetting the necessary rule of running a pack, to have more than one set of eyes to watch for opportunities as well as avoiding trouble. In some form she could hear the echoing lesson of her mother back when she was in her very forearms no longer than a large wolf. Why did she keep forgetting to listen to what siren's are suppose to do and believe in? Her gait slowed as she spoke through a bit of phlegm caught in her throat, “I’ve been thinking… about what you said Sonata.” A nearby streetlamp buzzed as it flickered on a few feet ahead, white light painting the sidewalk and the well kept condition the town maintained them in. Sonata tilted her head as she focused on Dazzle with every ounce of attention from whim alone, “You mean about the gem going away if we don’t put our John Hancock to some stranger who gave us the new pendant?” Aria rose a questioning brow, the rather blunt jab was easy enough to understand and at the same time humbling in their situation that still needed to be dealt with. The bushel of wild twisting waves danced to a head nodding, “Yes… I believe we should decide now and not risk our support being taken from under us. I want both of you to tell me now what we should do as a team... like the pod we are?” Adagio stopped abruptly to the surprise of her subordinates, who looked at one another uneasily. “Wow?! I didn't actually believe you when you said that while ago. That’s a rather fresh thing of you to do.” Aria frowned still unsure of where things were going, it would be night within the hour and they still had no place to sleep again. “You mean listen to us? And not lord over us like always?” the blue siren’s indifference in the conversation went without harassment, rather it was absorbed eloquently. Adagio hadn't turned around to meet their questioning stares yet but somehow they knew she was alert to such things innately, “Yes... this isn't some search for another magical item or a large attendance to coerce. We could really lose our freedom or our chance at regaining our powers!? So please if you will… treat with me on this night so that we as sirens of Equestria only succeed and never fail again.” she seemed to plead and finally glanced over her right shoulder with a near emotionless face that even Blaze hadn't a word to shot it with. Seeming to understand what was being asked of them, they could only nod with the only choice given being a yes or a no. They dared not rile her up with the earnest in her very spirit, that sight she gave them was a wordless convey of vulnerability she'd ever given them. They watched her pull out the small cloth sac and expose the little ruby within in all its glimmering glory as she faced them fully. "I'm in." Aria agreed feeling the raw mana and dark energies seething from the stone like heat wash from a passing bus. "Me too!" Sonata happily cheered in place. Adagio starred at them for a few moments as if expecting something else to be said or bargained, yet when she received only awkward looks she relinquished, “We are The Dazzlings, we are Sirens of Equestria… destined to rule over the land and be adored by everyone and everypony! We are not hairless apes whose lives are but a flicker in this realm. We will live onward and attain the undying love from our fans and grow our powers that not even the strongest mage could hope to fight!” Her words honeyed with a renewed vitality she could only remember feeling before the battle against Starswirl before Canterlot having won so many hearts already in the Colosseum. Aria felt a grin grow and become a very sinister Cheshire smile, her white teeth gleamed from the healthy amount of negative energy she had fed upon. Sonata of course had clasped her hands together and seemed on the verge of crying from the sheer volumes of elated fanaticism she had experienced from the little speech. They had hope and for once they were on the same level with each other, not one ordering the rest around to drag through mud. “To attain our full power and bring our enemies to their knees. We will serve this entity who has given us this hope. We will pay back our dues and move onto the conquest of Equestria once we find a way back!” the matriarch's intensity only proved to fluster the two with warm feelings of immortal energies that could eventually even withstand that giant magical alicorn of the Rainbooms. The ruby then in Adagio's palm which had been cupped by Sonata and Aria's own glowed a bloody red light that absorbed all other color within it's field. The magic within it leaked out like a trickle from a faucet, sending pleasurable heat which hugged at their arms as a warm sleeve in winter winds. It was the very life force of sirenkind which inundated them in such bliss they could only bask in its ephemeral ecstasy silent as a plant feeding off the solar energy of the sun. The soothing ether was not all mind numbing goodness as it seemed however, giving a nod to Aria's clinging doubt over it by rippling the magic it fed the girls. Without any signal nor warning their visions combined into a gestalt sight of sights that stilled their physical forms in some kind of paralyzing grasp. Though they could still take raspy breaths, the trio appeared nothing beyond an average group of teenagers to a passing cyclist. A faint red hue colored their sclera from the magic that invaded their bodies, sending their whole reality into some begotten lifetime of ages past. Adagio could only whimper with the minuscule space to resist the hold on her, the other two were just as mesmerized by the sudden influx of information and could barely twitch on their own. 'What is this!! What's... happening to us!!' Dazzle screamed in her head where she had the only way of figuratively moving or acting freely. Something nauseating pervaded the air the girls detected, the smell of rancid beach and rotting seaweed the likes of which overstepped the regular sulfurous smells they knew of. Rolling waves of a mad ocean filled their ears with the orchestra of nature's wrath. Even though Aria knew they were still on the street somewhere in the human town, it felt as if their souls were being torn away to another land with an almost out of body experience trying to tear the connection to their physical vessels. Aria fought the hardest herself to break the control that held sway over them, 'I KNEW it!! By that stupid god of the water I knew IT!!' Like dolls being toyed with by some puppeteer, the Dazzlings were eventually subdued and made the see what was being showed to them. No room to argue, no room to fight, they were sardines in a can as the another world became apparent to them. Their spirits could not blink nor look away as the source of the ear numbing ruckous was brought forth, an endless body of water frothing with rage under demented stormy skies. There was no light beyond the lightning which played overhead like spearing sea snakes darting at prey, they came and went too quickly to count their number. Hovering over the dangerous and life threatening sea, the illustrious trio were in the same spectral forms they had once used to try and doom the Rainbooms at the concert. Their original forms of sirens from illustrious fins down to the armored scales, their only set of cloven hoofed forearms and their large dorsal crests. The alteration was only shortly met with gasps and jaw dropping reactions, as soon the realm they found themselves in became an even more perplexing one by the second. Swathes of open sea moved with godly energy with mighty swells, jagged spines of broken coastal rock seemed like the back of a dead titan poking from the depths, old forgotten wooden ships wrecked and decorated the earthly corpse, ghostly wails of sorrow whistled between the horrid islands, then a heart wrenching terror threatened to swallow the Dazzlings as they noticed they were above a deep whirlpool hungrily drinking unendingly. A strange sensation tickled along their bodies beyond the once welcomed fluid mana they sustained from, it was no longer a welcomed magic as it forced them to visualize such a dangerous place. A slithering tendril of abyssal darkness seeped from the gem like an oily vine upon each of their arms that touched the stone, like a searching root looking for water it tapped for their bodies core. Far too taken by the visages they were seeing the vine soon disappeared underneath a sleeve or shirt, but a few more seconds and something ripped them from the dreaded daydream. Just as the oceanic plain of storm and wave vanished, three murky images were appearing above a tall bulbous rock to the east or what felt was east. A faint trio of softly singing voices carried with the gale force winds that did not affect the Dazzlings, they seemed sad and morose if even a moment's listened could detect the mood of the songful call. Then as if they had never left their spot on the sidewalk, Adagio came to realize that they were safe all along. Aria seemed to shake her head as if to forcible remove the memories their minds had drank in, she growled in response while yanking her hand away from the ruby. Sonata to be in pain as she too groaned as if a migraine had been summoned to plague her, both hands then on her head as she tried to soothe the suffering away. While all the while, Adagio seemed mostly unaffected standing in place with a deer in the headlight's frozen gaze stuck upon her features. A hand still held out cupping the new pendant, it radiated one more time to beckon back to her and she paid it her all. "What... what were we doing? I... I... can't remember... Sonata!!? Did you drop something on me again!!" Blaze demanded angrily as she turned to the cerulean girl equally sharing her torment. "What?! I did not! I've been standing here... this whole time!" she shot back. "Like salt you did! Where is it? What did you hit me with!?" again Blaze continued even as she found nothing around her feet like something should have been broken or dropped nearby, "Just like that time you bumped into the scaffolding and that paint bucket fell on me..." Sonata grimaced, "That was on accident and you know it! You whipped your hair in my face and I sneezed." the migraine began to lift away. As the subordinates bickered with each other distracted completely, it left Adagio all alone to take in what was rightfully hers. Her little treasure, the sole powerhouse to her dream of conquest, the relinquishing savior to her pain all in the form of a little ruby she could physically own and keep close to her heart. Her magenta eyes locked onto the crystal as it seemed to feel alive on the top of her palm, within it's faceted surface as smooth as glass swirled pink clouds which sank and floated in a vortex trapped in the eighteen sided shape. For what felt to her like hours had been merely a minute of gazing into the kaleidoscope of clouds, gone were the images of the raging sea and evil looking coastal rocks. A flicker of white kept her even more enthralled as something darted through the formless masses. She took in shallow breaths as a barely audible moan came from her parted lips, though it was not of her awestruck state that allowed the sound. Loyally she maintained her unblinking stare until the movement in the ruby finally came forth on the center face of the nine sided half looking up at her, two white orbs returned her observations. Though they too had not blinked she discerned them as eyes that were indeed sizing her up, they phased away like darting minnows frightened in a pond. In their wake were black runes of unknown origins, they began zooming from tiny specks in the core of the stone and smacking into the facets like bugs on a windshield. More kept coming until Adagio saw only the void of obsidian, no trace of the blood red color that had once been the ruby. Her eyes had long since stung to blink with tears flowing from her eyes, leaving her reddening ocular windows before they could coat where they were needed the most. A quick flash of pain greeted the cleansing eye lids as they swept over a dry surface, it caused Dazzle to rub at them and with that the sounds of the human world came to. "Uuuugggghh...." she peered through a glazed right eye as she heard the sound of hair ruffling and yelps not even three feet ahead. "Stop!!" Sonata pleaded. Aria had ruffled her bangs until they were sticking each and every way, "Nah I think this suits you better." Adagio groaned in irritation, "Would you two stop that, you're going to embarrass me!" Equestria: Canterlot Castle… “…and that’s what happened before I arrived before you Princess. I’m quite sure the reconfigured gem and spell shouldn’t be of any harm to anypony. However, just to be sure I wanted to inform you of its missing status and possible theft. I'd like to return to Sunset with any new information as soon as possible?” Twilight stood confident in her judgement of the circumstances and relative understanding to her tinkering of the artifact. Having arrived back in her castle, she had left with little notice to her friends and Spike besides a small note tapped to the portal's framework. Using her magical might she teleported herself to Canterlot and galloped to the Royal premises in due haste, where the first guard she met she inquired to met Celestia. To her surprise the very alabaster alicorn had taken a break from the Day Court to enjoy the garden square just after brunch. With lush silk cushions from other lands of sea blues and rose pink positioned so she could entreat with guests in her moments of rest, Twilight approached with trepidation at first with the news she brought. Afraid it would ruin the tranquility the Royal Gardens of the famous Biologis Mage Dew Fern, she coaxed the dreaded moment slowly with Celestia's usual method of greeting her. The great and benevolent princess turned to see the approaching set of hooves, "Ah! Twilight? To what do I owe this marvelous occasion? I had expected a Friendship Letter, but I will happily take an audience with you. Please take a seat, I was just enjoying the songs of the Baltimare Orioles... seems they've taken a short stop during my rest before they leave to their nesting grounds in the south." That was how the initial meeting started, as Twilight mulled over the details hoping every hoof she took in bringing to light the infamous ancient sirens and the unknown facts she brought. How such a pleasant day had probably sullied Celestia's rest, it left a sickening pull in Twilight's heart to have done so to her former mentor. Yet if there was a danger to Equestria she knew the Princess should take the news well, but if she herself handled it properly was what she feared to hear next. The solar diarch seemed to give no hint as to her reaction of the confrontation beyond the mirror portal, her thought processes ambiguous as ever. With a blank look she stare into her half filled cup barely steaming, she had poured her tea halfway into Twilight's account of the human world and the so called Battle of the Bands. Her mane waved in the ethereal mana winds in their soft rainbow of colors, giant wings twitched a little as she readjusted her seated posture on her haunches. Twilight wiggled on her cushion nervous as a sheep being prowled by a timberwolf, "Um... princess?" Celestia popped out of her reverie as if she had been lost in a memory from her thousands of years of existence, "Oh? My apologies Twilight, it has been a long day for me." she waved off the concern of her little pony, "Sirens from yor you said? Well I'm happy to see that Sunset and you have found such a kinship with each other to stop those uncouth individuals. You mentioned one of their pendants? You reversed engineered the magic that encased the gemstone?" Sparkle took note of the way Celestia took to her explanation and figured the morning had to have been particularly full of 'Blue Blood' nobles chipping away at her patience. Ever since the Changeling Invasion was thwarted, the entitled ponies of Canterlot had seemed to risen in their demands and inquiries to garner more power and wealth. They usually bypassed the normal method by seeing the Throne Room in lieu of the bureaucracy of the Treasury and Policy Office, or at least that was what Rarity had overheard in her trips to her shop in Canterlot. "Yes in a sense, my main concern about the stone was the remaining magic and if any normal humans might be able to activate it to possibly caste a spell or anything close to such an action. Considering it was stolen in the manner we believe it to be I'm quite assured the thief was no ordinary person and the sirens are powerless as they are. So I am left with the assumption that there are others potentially lurking in Sunset's realm who might be trying to gain power or even commit a horrible act." she admitted once more though in more detail. Celestia gave a sullen frown if only for a passing glance, "Then I know where you are going with this, am I to assume as such Twilight Sparkle?" A little anxiousness befell the lavender alicorn, "I... didn't want to bring it up so quickly, but yes I will need more data on gem crafting and spellwork of confidential nature. The matrix on the gem as I told you about appeared very ancient and not something I've ever seen in any of my books! The siren's stone possessed such unique runes and interlocking spells that I had to crudely carve a few out and etch new ones with a spinning device Sunset had. She called it a dremel." "Interesting, so you're worried about somepony using the gemstone even after you changed it appropriately into a harmless magical capacitor? Yet how does this thief and the unknown magic play into gaining access into the forbidden library?" she asked innocently enough still leaving her beverage to lose its heat. Twilight sat up and gave a resolute stance in her assurance to her worries, "I would not ask of you to allow permission to such a sequestered vault Princess, but I have a few runes which date back to the same kind of magic that Tirek used in his first attempt on Equestria and the diagrams his brother provided when he turned on him. There were other portions of the matrix that completed a single spell yet were so complex that if activated could carry out multiple castings from a single dose of mana. Without my books and references I could only deduce that the majority of what I saw were conversions for negative energy into dark magic. I may have crippled the matrix that gave the stone its originally intended purpose, but somepony else knows of it and might try to analyze it for themselves. I'm going to assume they have some background in magic and some source to tap into, but they are likely very harmless otherwise." The princess nodded in affirmation to what she was hearing and following every word, "Though if they were to discover the runes I didn't alter... I cannot risk them putting Sunset's world in harms way. I need to find a source of those runes and figure out a way to repair the damage they could do or counter it. With as much trouble as I had with countering siren songs regrettably, I must be equipped to handle another incident. I couldn't look myself in a mirror again if I failed to do my part." she bemoaned that moment where all her work amounted to nothing, only to be salvaged by Sunset Shimmer when she joined in. “I'm glad you've become so very astute in both details and the sensitive nature of the magic the siren's possessed. Indeed while the world in which Sunset resides has appeared to be one devoid of natural magic, the arts can still be performed without issues as you've encountered. It seems to be that it is in a good way, infectious to your new friends over there? This represents a security problem for their world if humans are indeed receptive to mana and somehow retain it... though unlike any pony here. How strange the biology of this species is, to not have natural wells within them but somehow harness enough to create one?” She smiled softly towards her protégé. Twilight nodded, "Yes your highness, my thoughts exactly which means the sirens could indeed gain magic once more. With their pendants destroyed that means they only have or should only have the type the girls exhibited when we reformed Sunset and stopped them. Without a conduit suited to affecting negative emotions and in a way, eating them, it means that any human that was a former Equiling or not is capable as much as the next. Hence the issue with the stone in another's hooves! It's harmless mana, but if tapped into they'll have that power at their beck and call. The only issue would be if they knew specific magicks or arts in general, are they from our world or just an ambitious human? If they are from here than who are they? What are they? And are they evil?" Celestia gazed up to the clear afternoon sky as more black and orange birds flew in from the northern breeze, two patrols of Pegasus Guards were on their standard routes farther off. A strange sense about her echoed off for Twilight to detect, a second time the sun goddess seemed to be either troubled or in deep thought. While it did trigger red flags for her to perhaps derail the entire conversation for another time, Sunset's new home held its own against her better wishes. Her questions were legitimate enough to warrant access into the infamous storage that was cordoned off for a very good reason. The kind of reason which she had come to believe would drive any pony crazy with vile knowledge and magics, an infectious kind of magic that only alicorns could weather in absolute. It was an old tale told to fillies and colts in the School for Gifted Unicorns that were too driven, a proper fear for the knowledge hungry who knew no borders. "Evil? Let us hope that this does not come to be." Celestia softly spoke, her motherly aura shown under her light in the heavens. “So you’ll let me into the closed archives?” Sparkle asked in anticipation, knowing full well she'd have to either pass some kind of test of endurance and stamina or likely be watched if she were to go in the sealed area. “Under the condition that Luna be there with you to ensure you only look through the proper texts pertaining to your research. I know how much you endear wisdom my little pony, but something’s are best left to the dust of time. You’ll be permitted to the Black Tape section when Luna awakens to raise the moon, I do hope you’ll find that accommodating? I unfortunately cannot be there with you myself with a kingdom in need of me.” Celestia bestowed the authority if still hesitant to permit, but she lowered her head towards the younger alicorn and gave a friendly nuzzle below the horn. The sensation tickled like a feather Pinkie Pie might use to lessen any tension that usually troubled the group of six. Twilight understood her second mother's worry however, the ever insidious King Sombra was one to hang in the Hallway of History for scholars. An untrained mind could be an easy target, to fall prey to the insatiable hunger that forbidden magicks could worm past the ego and mental barrier. She would not fail Celestia or Luna and become a host to the parasite which became the downfall of ages past mages. Being the Princess of Friendship she was sure enough in herself that the bonds she made throughout life would be the barrier against such corruption. Just as Discord had failed to do so in his evil days, love of harmony and peace would win overall. "Don't worry Princess! Sunset and every human beyond the mirror are counting on me. I can't let anypony down and I will never..." she seized up when a pair of godly white wings as large as a condor encased her in an embrace. She could feel the warm minty breath of the solar diarch flow through her mane like a caressing breeze. The mana possessed by the elder even emanated its own warmth that could sustain a pony even in the most horrid of blizzards, but in its current state it was as cozy as a comforter she once had in the Golden Oaks Library. To say it was a strange occurrence would be an understatement to Twilight, the sudden sign of affection was something she wasn't prepared for. Her mind dissected the situation and still had no idea as to the off behavior Celestia was showing on this day, it only made the soon to be made trip to the vault even more riddled with trepidation. "Princess? Celestia? Are you okay?" she asked with a quiver in her throat. The wings retracted and there the tall alicorn sat upright once more, a smile decorated her muzzle as if nothing was even wrong with the short interaction. She was a blank slate that befuddled Twilight's hungry mind and worry, but she figured if for once the pristine ruler was indeed overworked then a short talk with Luna might help her. Nodding, "I am quite fine Twilight, now then if you're hungry perhaps you should stop by the Castle Dining Room before Luna and you visit the Archive? You did rush here after going through the mirror." she offered. A little gurgle escaped her abdomen signaling a guilty appetite, "Uhhhh... perhaps I might do that and send a letter to Spike just to make sure I didn't worry anypony back home." she sheepishly grinned as she readied to depart the garden. "Make sure you eat well young Sparkle, I believe we are due for a storm soon. One I think even the Royal Weather Team will have to let slid just this once." she said as she watched the young one trot away, "We cannot afford to grow ill now of all times." Human World- Pinkie Pie's Room The morning song birds had yet to even sing let alone prepare for the day as night still reigned, in a couple of hours the sun would rise and a new day would begin. An early bird catches the worm as most would say for a day of fishing, but in this case it was Canterlot High's party aficionado whose body became as anxious as a trapped feral cat. Pinkie Pie who slept in her room in a lovely farm house on the outskirts of a pebble mine whose machines and workers were still dormant, had been overcome with urgency to awaken. A foot twitch, itchy ear, tickling nostrils, and a chilly left arm had chosen to be her alarm clock at five in the morning. As if being shaken in her own bed by one of her three other siblings she roused up and studied herself for barely a blink of the eye before something dawned on her. "Huh? Someone's in need of little ole Pinkie's help!? But who would even be up this early, its not even that close to testing time or the big games against the Brawler Dogs? Hmmm...." she hummed and reached into her hair as if it were a shrub with a rabbit that ran into it for cover. She searched and probed until something she felt clicked with the nerves in her fingers, a large grin flashed upon her mouth and she extracted a smart phone. A few taps and swipes led the party girl to check the social apps her youthful age group used frequently, there she searched the chat list and found only one person still online while all others were not. "Sunset Shimmer? What's she doing up this late... or early? Laerly? Earte?" she questioned herself and rubbed her chin. Another wave of twitches and tickles sent her off the bed and into a mad run to prepare for a friendly visit to the not real human but human nonetheless compatriot. In a blur of carnation pink, the brushed her teeth, touched up her bouncy curly locks, dawned the days attire, and grabbed a little food before she was out the door of the old farmhouse. In an amazing practiced routine she avoided waking everyone else even with the floor planks creaky and ornery to a single foot step. Once every light was out she dashed out the door with a bag of goodies she knew would help a friend and sprinted with ease that would drop Rainbow's jaw. The horizon over the lonely quiet streets lit by the tall light posts seemed primed and ready to rise, soon to send streaking spears of orange through the deep ocean blue and twinkling stars. Yet Pinkie was not on a joy run for her own amusement and kept her eyes focused on the pathway ahead, turning left than right, two more rights after a few blocks, and then down the street where Canterlot hosted a small dormatory. Quite a few students were from neighboring cities and towns sent over to enjoy the highly rated school system of Equestria, the town of equine ranches and apple orchards. She befriended every new face who came to the school and never left anyone without a welcome party, though as she neared the stretch of hallway to her destination a party was not in her array of options. Another rasp of twitches and tingles assured her that she was needed by the reformed Queen Bee of the school and so she knocked at first. A little tune she knew that detracted from the usual quirky ones other kids used, when no answer came she hit another. Still nothing of the sound to a deadbolt unlocking and latches coming undone, so she decided to continue with her favorite song from the one and only Sincere Allegro. It was one of his songs that helped her with Cranky Doodles love problem a couple years ago, something from his day and age that she found endearing. With head swaying and hips moving to the beat she knocked, the required metal cling and clank ceased her music when the door began to open from the other side. In anticipation, Pinkie moved away from the door and readied to present the little brown bag of morning glory she put together accompanied by the biggest warmest smile she could put on. When the maroon door in the vanilla wall before a gray concrete hallway slowly opened, there were no lights to see with. It was absolutely dark and hard to see in with the weak yellow light over the party girl having already adjusted her vision against it. "Sunset? Are you there? I thought I'd pay you a little weentsy visit, and I brought breakfast!!" she nonetheless tried to act as if the girl was there before her. A footstep signaled to her ears that someone was indeed home, but she was woefully unprepared for the suddenness of which Sunset had rushed out of her home. She grappled onto Pinkie with a strong tremor wracking her body, a shaky breathe and chattering teeth had given Pinkie's famous Pinkie Sense the cause to act. "Sunset!" the girl cried in shock, "Did you watch the latest horror film from overseas? Did Rainbow Dash put you up to a dare?" The innocence of which she greeted the frankly distraught teenager embracing her feel when the signs were clear, it was no laughing matter. Shimmer breathed in a way that began to not only worry her, but she could swear she even heard a little crying of sorts. The two soon fell gently to the ground with a bewildered party girl returning the hug, a hand patted the emotional Sunset's back until a few minutes of soothing reassurance calmed the fiery haired lass down. Pinkie had no idea what had happened to frighten her friend so badly and she knew it was utter fear, something even the Dazzlings failed to invoke upon them. She hadn't noticed the door close softly until the door knob clicked, it sent Sunset into a state of alert to which she rose back to her feet in dread of the very entryway. Pinkie was utterly lost as to what was happening, "Shimmy? What's going on? I've never seen you this spooked for like... ever!" Shimmer kept a good distance from her own home and stuttered out a reply, "Something.... some... inside and it won't leave me alone!" her eyes were contracted in horror as a breeze swept through and coincidently shook the loose frame, the door popped. "You have a guest? Or you have a ghost?" Pinkie asked, "Whelp! Guess this was the call I've been summoned for? Time for Pinkie's serious face!" she declared and somehow extracted a strange vacuum and helmet from nowhere. "PINKIE!! You can't go in there! You have to stay in the light!" Shimmer pleaded but to deaf ears the words fell onto, the very teen marched inside and called out nonchalantly to whatever else was inside. "Yoooohooooo!! Anyone there? You're not being nice to my friend who lives here!? Could you please leave her alone? I can whip up the most sweetest delicious cupcakes you'll ever taste before you pass on from this world?!!" Sunset rushed in just as the door tried to close itself, she reached in banging her arm in between the frame and door itself. Fingers reached the light switch which thankfully worked for once the whole night, the three bulbs of her kitchenette and living room flashed on and purity sanctified the dwelling. The amber skinned girl breathed relief through her lips as the one thing that kept the forms away did not fail her again, Pinkie stood in the center of her dorm room unharmed. Though her eyes were glued to the spot before the stairs leading up to the bedroom where three flashlights lay scattered about and batteries strewn like spent shell casings. Other than the mess there, nothing seemed amiss that would lead the impromptu ghost buster into action. "Well, nothing out of the ordinary except for that graveyard of torches over there?" Pinkie shrugged and disarmed herself from combat with the ephemeral entities that haunted dead homes, "You can tell ole Pinks what's happened! I promise I can help no matter what." Like a weary cat scouting a home whose owner left the door open, Sunset peered at every corner, the bottoms of furniture, the television, and all shadows caste by the lights. The once strong will young woman whom she had seen aid them in their time of need against mind ensnaring sirens songs was but a crippled version of her usual self. Timid and cautious as if something would pop out at her, it was nothing short out of the possession films Dash usually dared the group to watch for fun. A light bulb popped in her chaotic mind and she knew just how to save her friend from the unknown ailment, the baggie she brought. With a quick search she extracted a perfectly baked and sugary glazed pastry, the Bear's Claw that packed a cinnamon apple punch that would knock anyone kid or adult out of their shoes. As a superhero would dive towards a downed teammate and give the rejuvenating sustenance which replenished their allies back into battle, Pinkie seemed to materialize before the scared lass and carefully pop the item into her mouth. It was an easy and harmless move as she happened to surprise the girl in doing so, but the reaction was all too worth it. The flavors complimented by the sweetness triggered the right response she needed and soon Sunset gave a short moan of joy as the pastry began to melt on her tongue. "There... easy peasy! Now you can relax as Pinkie Pie has come to save the day!!" she announced with a bounce in place ,"Or the morning I guess, early early morning save the day?" Once the treat had been devoured, the two girls took to the tiny dining table where coffee had been served. Compliments from Sugarcube Corner, one of Pinkie's latest creations that woke anyone up but did not give them the jitters as some espressos often did. Of course unlike Sunset's sugar and cream, another mug for the party girl had been topped with all sorts of goodies that turned the beverage into a dessert of all things. Colorful sprinkles, whipped cream hill, candies, and chocolate milk for a smooth finish further eased the breakfast they shared and broke into an easier conversation from what had transpired. Halfway through their coffee did the Equestrian finally speak up, “Last night… I woke up from a nightmare and into another one. It kinda... followed me into the real world I think? Sounds... crazy right?” Pinkie had a coating of cream circling her mouth like some old man's mustache as she looked up from her drink, “A dream within a dream within a dream? Huh? I think I've had one of those where I was baking the world's largest lemon meringue pie dish and ended up making a mess at the bakery at two in the morning. Never having mochi before bed ever since that happened, the Cakes kinda locked the kitchen up since then?” Pinkie grinned out of embarrassment before diving back into the still impressive swirl of dairy and toppings. “But the thing is?! It felt like someone was actually projecting themselves into my head! I can’t explain it…” Sunset drooped in her composure, “It was a warning if anything... and every time I closed my eyes. I... I went... back into the nightmare all over again. Things squirming around on the floor, near my feet, out of the corners of my eye... they even made noise! On top of all that that stupid monster kept trying to eat me... it... I never thought I'd come to know what ponies often feared back home from beasts and such. I thought... my heart would explode." Pinkie simply scoffed yet took the information sternly, “Dreams are just memories trying to come together to be put into the brain for a long time right? If you were so worried about that silly colorful marble, trying to figure out why it was stolen probably lead to this dream you had? Right?” she asked strangely enough. “I… well yes I did focus a little too much on finding a reason for someone to steal that gem. But you had to have seen what I did, there was this giant dragon with eyes… eyes of…” Sunset dwindled off as she recalled the very vast voids that starred her down with curiosity as well as unconstrained rage, "It felt so real!?" “We all have crazy dreams, they’re dreams for a reason no matter how good or bad. What matters is waking up in the morning and stuffing down a dozen or so lemon poppy muffins!” Pinkie laughed before putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder to reassure, “If we let our dreams smother us like icing on a german chocolate cake, then what truly matters in the waking world would be left to sadness. And I! Pinkie Diane Pie cannot stand idle as that happens to one of my good schoolmates.” Sunset sighed as she felt silly for having let her fears get a hold of her like she did, “Perhaps your right Pinkie… those sirens really left me a mark huh?” "Nah, you're too strong to let them get under your skin! But whatever horrible eldtrich abomination plans to do with the gemstone I'm sure it's got nothing but a spark instead of a roaring flame. Besides, ghosts aren't real at all!" Pinkie smiled wide and joyously before downing what was left of the mug. "I..." the door swung open to the room letting in a strong wind, the displaced air blew both their long hair up into a dizzy. There was no one on the other side and Sunset was sure she closed the door behind them, hearing the knob click too.