Making Connections
Uncomfortable silence reigned yet again in the practice room at Canterlot High School. Rainbow Dash sat with her arms folded and her leg bouncing, while Rarity maintained proper decorum in the face of an awkward situation. Fluttershy seemed to be trying to disappear behind her hair, while Applejack kept a steady eye on the two sirens. Pinkie Pie was cleaning up the remnants of her aborted surprise party. Adagio and Aria sat in chairs near the middle of the room, Aria still fuming that Sonata was chosen to go to Equestria, and Adagio looking bored as could be.
“So, are you just going to stare at us until school lets out?” Adagio finally asked.
“Not sure what else to do with ya,” Applejack answered.
“Just let us go home,” Adagio suggested. “We’ll come back when Twilight and the others get here. We’ll pretty much have to.”
“No way,” Rainbow retorted, uncrossing her arms and leaning forward intently. “We promised Princess Twilight we’d keep an eye on you, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”
“Oh, please.” Adagio rolled her eyes. “What exactly do you think we’re going to do when we have no magic?”
“I think you’ve proven quite troublesome enough without it,” Rarity replied, gazing down her nose at Adagio.
Aria snorted. “Fine, you want to come with us then?” she asked sarcastically. “I’m pretty sure we all have better things to do than sit here waiting for Miss Pretty Purple Pony Princess.”
“Like what?” Rainbow demanded.
“Well, for starters, you all have classes to go to,” Adagio answered her.
“Please,” Rainbow laughed. “We saved the entire school. Twice! I think we’ve earned a day of playing hooky.”
Adagio shrugged. “If that’s what you want. I’m sure the school’s called your parents by now, so maybe it’s too late anyway.”
“Pretty sure that ain’t gonna be a problem for me,” Applejack answered sharply. The other Rainbooms winced, but if Adagio noticed the tone in her voice, she ignored it. “Anythin’ else to say?”
Adagio sighed and visibly lowered her guard again. “I’m worried about Aria,” she said more quietly. The named siren looked up in surprise. “I just think she’d be more comfortable at home. I know I would.”
“Um, I actually think that’s a good idea,” Fluttershy unexpectedly spoke up. “I could go with them and make sure they don’t get up to anything, if that would be alright with you.” She turned to the sirens. “I promise I won’t get in the way, and it would just be until Twilight and Sunset get back.”
“Uh, Fluttershy?” Rainbow questioned. “You sure you want to do that?”
“Just look at them,” Fluttershy answered sympathetically. “They’re obviously not feeling well. Don’t you prefer to stay home and rest when you’re sick? And if we need someone to look after them anyway, it might as well be me.”
“Okay,” Rainbow answered her slowly, “you know that we’re not talking about sick animals here, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Fluttershy said, “but they’re right, you know. There’s no reason to force them to stay here anymore. What do you say?”
Adagio nodded. “Sure, that’s fine.” She was fairly surprised that that had actually worked.
Aria shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever. Suits me.”
“Well, it doesn’t suit me!” Rainbow snapped. “If Fluttershy’s going, then I’m going.”
“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy questioned quietly.
“Look, if you’re going into enemy territory, you’re going to need someone to watch your back,” Rainbow argued.
“The sirens need us,” Fluttershy replied. “They need all of us, so they wouldn't do anything to hurt me. Will you?” She asked them pointedly.
Aria simply snorted. She could barely stand up; she was hardly a threat. Adagio sighed and answered for them both. “No, we won’t try anything else. Our house is your house. Apparently,” she muttered through gritted teeth.
“Well, that settles it then,” Fluttershy said with finality.
“That doesn’t settle anything!” Applejack protested. “Why’re you so keen to go with them all of a sudden, anyway?”
Rainbow snorted. “If I know Flutters, she’s probably planning to try and take care of them. Sometimes that girl can be a little too kind."
“And why not?” Fluttershy argued, fighting down a rising blush in her cheeks. “We’ve already agreed to work together and do all we can, so why shouldn’t we give them the benefit of the doubt?”
“I can think of several reasons,” Rarity said darkly, clutching the handbag that still held Adagio’s knife.
“I want you two to Pinkie Promise me that you’re not going to do anything to hurt my friend Fluttershy,” Pinkie demanded. With confetti sticking out of her hair and her shoulders covered in discarded streamers she looked more ridiculous than usual, but her expression was absolutely serious. She pointed a finger at the two sirens dramatically. “Pinkie Promise!”
Adagio groaned. Whatever, if it’ll get you all to leave me alone. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she rattled off in a monotone. “Happy now?”
“And you?” Pinkie turned to Aria, who huffed and looked away. “Come ooon,” Pinkie encouraged in a sing-song voice.
“Just do it,” Adagio grumbled.
Aria sneered and pulled out the pouch that held her shattered pendant. “Cross my heart,” she very pointedly traced an X in front of the bag, “hope to fly, stick…” she mumbled something under her breath that might possibly have been about cupcakes.
“Great!” Pinkie exclaimed. She leaned down and continued in a sinister whisper, “Don’t even think about breaking that promise, or I’ll know.”
Aria glared at Pinkie in annoyance. “I guess I owe Sonata an apology for all those times I said she was the worst. That was before I met you.”
“I can’t say I approve of this idea,” Rarity argued. “Especially not Fluttershy going by herself.”
“It’s better that way,” Fluttershy answered. “It won’t be so intrusive if it’s just one of us.”
“Well, excuse me if the Dazzlings’ comfort ain’t exactly the first thing on my mind,” Applejack retorted.
“Everyone, just listen to me,” Fluttershy said in what approached an ordinary speaking voice, which for her was the equivalent of shouting. Everyone stopped arguing to hear what she had to say.
“We have another problem besides just fixing their hearts,” Fluttershy said once she had everyone’s attention. “No one’s talked about it, but I know everyone’s thinking about it. What do we do once we’re finished helping them? What if they just go right back to hurting people?” She turned to the sirens. “It won’t be enough to just give you your hearts back,” she said, “we need to make sure that you’re going to use your power the right way from now on. I think the best way to start doing that is to show you the same kind of friendship and respect that we show each other.” She looked back at the Rainbooms. “That’s why I think it should be me, and just me, who goes.”
A long silence greeted her speech. The sirens and the Rainbooms seemed equally shocked by her idea and the certainty with which she presented it. Fluttershy quickly withered under what she interpreted as their disapproval and squeaked incoherently in an effort to take back what she had said.
“Alright girls, huddle,” Applejack finally called out. The Rainbooms gathered in a circle and muttered amongst themselves while the sirens feigned disinterest in their conversation. This went on for several long minutes, accompanied by gestures and the occasional gasp.
“As long as you’re sure you’ll be safe,” Rarity’s voice finally rose above the others.
Fluttershy nodded, though she felt anything but sure. “I promise.”
Rainbow Dash broke away from the circle and demanded that the sirens share their address. Once she had it noted in her phone, she put an arm around Fluttershy and drew her in close.
“If they try anything, anything at all, you call me, alright?” Rainbow said to her friend, making sure to speak loudly enough that Aria and Adagio could hear. “If you feel the least bit uncomfortable, even just for a second, we’ll be there before the sirens know what hit ‘em.”
“I appreciate it, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy murmured back, “but I’m sure I’ll be fine.” With matters more-or-less settled, Fluttershy went over by Aria and Adagio to accompany them home. Rainbow stepped back to rejoin the others. Fluttershy, Aria, and Adagio began to gather their things.
Rarity came up next to Rainbow Dash. “We’re not actually letting Fluttershy go alone, are we?” she said softly into her friend’s ear.
“Not in a million years,” Rainbow whispered back.
Twilight Sparkle stood in the middle of a whirlwind of books. She’d planned on immediately seeking out Princess Celestia and asking for her help, but she’d arrived at the castle during the middle of the day court. Celestia wouldn’t have a chance to talk until dinnertime, which left Twilight with hours to do her own research.
She’d started with history, trying to find anything about the time when the sirens were terrorizing Equestria and looking for some insight on how their powers actually worked. Adding to her problems was the fact that the sirens had apparently arisen during the Age of Discord, when recordkeeping was all but a lost art. After all, what good was it to record current events when a crazed god could change all of reality with a snap of his talons? As far as Twilight could tell, nobody knew much about the sirens beyond what she’d already learned for herself: they used their enchanting voices to cause disharmony, and they had been all but unstoppable until Starswirl banished them.
Twilight was still convinced that bringing the Dazzlings back to Equestria was the best option. Although the thought of how much power they could get from the nation's ponies was terrifying, she was still certain that she and her friends could defeat them. After all, they’d easily beaten Tirek, and he’d been empowered by nearly all of the magic in Equestria.
Still, all of that would be a moot point if she couldn’t find a way to heal the Dazzlings. Twilight grimaced in frustration as she quickly skimmed through another useless book. History obviously wasn’t going to be the answer, so it was time to turn to magic.
Remembering Adagio’s theory that they might have been artificially created, Twilight pulled down several books each on the subjects of golems and equinculi. Golems were traditionally made of stone, though in theory any solid material could be used, and had little to no mental capacity. Perhaps the hearts were made with similar magic, but obviously the sirens themselves did not fit that description. Equinculi were made with the intention of creating true artificial life, crafted from organic materials and possessing both intelligence and feelings. The problem with equinculi was that they were purely theoretical. Nopony had ever successfully made one, which somewhat ruled out that theory.
Leaving aside the studies on equinculi, Twilight turned her attention to learning all she could about golems and the magics that animated them. She became lost in her studies for several hours, eventually emerging with several useful ideas, but nothing concrete.
Heh, concrete, Twilight thought to herself, then groaned at her own pun. She needed a break. Giving her aching eyes a rest from the cramped texts she’d surrounded herself with, she opened her saddlebag and pulled out Sunset Shimmer’s book.
Find anything? Twilight wrote, grateful for an excuse to take it easy for a few minutes while Sunset replied. When the book began glowing and buzzing, Twilight looked over Sunset’s ideas and nodded in appreciation. Whatever her history, whatever the reason she’d left Equestria, Sunset was a fine scholar and a very smart pony. Twilight began scrawling a reply, so caught up in the ideas that Sunset’s words had sparked that she failed to hear hoofsteps approaching her from behind.
Twilight finished her response and picked up the book in a telekinetic field. She was sliding it back into her bag when a shocked gasp broke her concentration. She scrambled to catch the book before it struck the floor of the library, then her ears immediately flattened and her pupils contracted in surprise as she gazed up at Princess Celestia.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said softly, her eyes wide, “is that book what I think it is?”
“Um,” Twilight stammered, realizing that she had no way out of this one. “Yes,” she admitted guiltily, “it’s the notebook you used to use to write to Sunset Shimmer. It was mixed in with the shipment of books you sent for my new castle. Sorry, sorry, sorry, I meant to tell you about it! It was just that I only found it a few weeks ago and I've been so busy, and—”
“That’s quite alright, Twilight,” Celestia interrupted, not quite able to mask the tension in her voice. “Of course I would not have sent it to you if I did not want you to have it.” She abruptly turned away and gazed out the window, apparently appreciating the view of Canterlot that it provided.
“Celestia?” Twilight asked hesitantly. She took a cautious step toward her teacher. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Twilight,” Celestia said, her voice returning to its normal tone. “It was just a bit surprising, is all. I never thought I would see that book again, let alone see it being used. I’m glad that you have a way to stay in touch with your friends in the other world.”
Twilight knew that every word Celestia had said was true, and yet it was not the whole truth. She stepped up next to Celestia and, hoping that it wasn’t too presumptuous, stretched out a wing to wrap it around the taller alicorn’s shoulders.
“Sunset’s made amazing progress lately,” Twilight said softly. “She’s just not sure that she’s ready to face you again, but hopefully someday soon she will be. I know that she misses you, too.” It tore at Twilight’s heart to hide the fact that Sunset Shimmer was only a teleport away, but she’d made a promise.
Celestia inclined her head slightly. A tear shimmered briefly in the corner of her eye before soaking into the fur of her muzzle. “Thank you,” she whispered. She allowed herself a moment of comfort in Twilight’s warm presence, then stood up straight again. “But this is not why I came here,” she said. “I’d heard that a certain Princess Twilight had suddenly arrived here in the castle and gone straight to the library without so much as saying hello to me.” She had a mock-stern tone of voice, a parody of how she used to sometimes speak to Twilight as a filly, which made the other alicorn giggle.
“Sorry about that,” she said. “I assumed you’d be busy with the day court, and I needed to get to work. I was going to have dinner with you, honest!”
“Well, I suppose I can overlook it just this once,” Celestia answered her. She dropped the overbearing teacher act in favor of genuine interest. “What is it that's so urgent?”
Okay, this is it. Twilight took a deep breath. “I was wondering if you know anything about the sirens.”
“The sirens?” Celestia repeated in confusion. “I thought you and your friends had defeated them already. What did you want to know?”
“Specifically about their hearts, and how they feed,” Twilight answered. She briefly recounted what she knew of the day’s events, specifically of the sirens’ broken hearts and her friends’ efforts to fix them. “I was wondering if you knew anything specific about how the hearts work, or how we might be able to fix them.”
Celestia’s eyebrows rose as Twilight spoke. “That is quite a story,” she said. “I’m proud of you for looking past what the sirens have done before, but are you sure that helping them is wise?”
“No,” Twilight admitted, her ears drooping again, “but I can’t just let them suffer, either.” Her expression firmed and she looked up to meet Celestia’s eyes. “I’m sure there’s a way to solve this that will work for everyone. I just need to find it.”
Her words brought a smile to Celestia’s face. Twilight’s unbridled optimism never failed to warm her heart. “Well,” Celestia said, bringing a hoof to her chin as she thought, “I was alive when the sirens attacked this world, but I never confronted them personally. Equestria as a nation didn’t yet exist, and Luna and I hadn’t found the Tree of Harmony either. We judged Discord to be the greater threat by far, and our efforts were focused on him.”
“So you don’t know anything?” Twilight tried to hide her disappointment. “That’s alright, I’m sure the answer is somewhere in these books.”
“I don’t know as much as you hoped, I’m sure,” Celestia replied, “but Starswirl did tell me a bit about the sirens. They’re powered by negative energy, the opposite of the magic of harmony that you and your friends use. Their bodies are like batteries that store the negative energy, and what you’re calling their hearts are essentially converters that turn that energy into useable spells, much like a unicorn and her horn.”
Twilight nodded. She’d theorized all of this already, but it was good to hear it confirmed. “So how can we fix the hearts, then? I don’t think traditional medicine is going to work, and certainly not in time to save them.”
“Putting the broken pieces back together and lining up the leylines properly would be key,” Celestia mused. “It would take an incredible amount of power to fuse the stone back together, though, and your harmonic magic wouldn’t work on it.”
The book in Twilight’s bag buzzed. Twilight looked over uncertainly, not sure that it was wise to take it out in front of Celestia again so soon. Celestia, of course, did not miss the noise nor Twilight’s hesitation.
“You should see what your friend has to say,” she prompted gently.
“Er. Right.” Twilight used her magic to pull the book out and open it. She quickly glanced over Sunset’s latest message, something about Starswirl the Bearded and various types of magic. Geomorphic, biomorphic, metamagic…
Metamagic! Twilight gasped. “Oh, you're a genius!" She clopped her forehooves together excitedly. "That's it!"
“What's what, Twilight?” Celestia asked with barely concealed amusement.
“My friends and I can use our Rainbow Power on the hearts.” Twilight pulled a blank book over to herself and began frantically calculating numbers, angles, and patterns. “We’ll just need to set up a metamagic array to convert it to a type of energy that the sirens can use. I should have thought of this before!”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “Converting harmonic magic to dark magic? Twilight Sparkle, be very careful. It’s admirable that you want to help the sirens, but you must make sure that you will be safe as well.”
It was true, Twilight thought nervously. Even in theory, inverting the magic of friendship to create dark magic could easily end in disaster, especially considering the sheer quantity that her friends unleashed with their Rainbow Power. If anything went wrong, the best result she could hope for would be the positive and negative energies coming into conflict and negating each other. At worst, it could create a devastating explosion, or even rebound on the casters and… Twilight shuddered to think about it. Still, with the proper research and precautions, it should be possible.
Celestia smiled wryly and shook her head. “I know that look, my former student,” she said lovingly. “You’ll have to forgive me. I sometimes forget that your skill with magic exceeds even my own.”
Twilight blushed at the compliment. She knew that she was exceptionally talented at magic, but to hear from Celestia’s own mouth that she had surpassed her teacher at anything was much more than she thought she deserved. Celestia seemed to realize that she may have overdone it a bit, for she continued in more sober tones. “I know that if anypony can make this work, it is you. Just please, for your sake and mine, be careful.”
Twilight nodded. “I will. Thank you.”
Twilight’s mind and books were already filling with elaborate charts and equations. She was getting that distant look that Celestia knew and loved so well, a look that said she was completely absorbed by the problem in front of her and would not be distracted by anything short of a national crisis. Celestia hugged her, perhaps lingering just a moment longer than was strictly necessary, and left her to her research.
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I do wonder if that 'opposite of Harmony Magic' thing means they'd be able to eat Discord's Chaos Magic. Or use it to fuse the broken hearts.
Now we just have to convince Discord to climb into one of Pinkie's party cannons..
Wait, why can't they just ask Discord? He's reformed and available in Equestria, yes? He was alive then, he may have created them, and he has loads of non-harmonic magic. Why can't Twilight go ask him?
5313248
To be technical, that was still evil. It's heavily implied those arguments in the opening scene weren't natural, so at best they just hypnotized and mind-controlled a small restaurant instead of trying to conquer the world.
The whole "feed" aspect is problematic. Unless they can live off human food, they're pretty much doomed to either do evil or starve.
yea what about discord his magic is the opposite of harmony so couldn't he somehow fuse the hearts back together plus, he's defently older then celestia or luna so wouldn't he know something about the sirens god knows maybe he intentionally made em from sea ponies for the hell of it.
5319013 I actually do have an explanation for that. You'll see.
I do hope that the result of the spell isn't what they intend. Like, due to the origin being the elements of harmony, the spell does 'fix' them, but due to corruption and the origins of the magic, it's in no way the way the girls intended, changing their hearts from feeding on negative energy, and instead feeding on positive energy.
5319137 Aww you tease I cant wait for that explanation
Your count's off a little there. There should only be TWO Sirens present.
Translation: They need Discord to fix them. Because Twilight's solution sounds way too Star Trek to work.
5319352
Leave me alone, numbers are hard.
Thanks for the catches!
5319090 The burger stuff I can see. If they were different people, it could've been an angsty tale about being forced to do evil to survive. But they're fine with it and want to do more evil, and that pushes them solidly into evil.
I have cracked the code! The Smooze is the hero of this story, right?!
5319788
YOU KNOW TOO MUCH!
5313351 If losing sales one cider season is enough to put them under, they're not doing well. Or they're managing money badly, but that doesn't mean life is easy. Word of God is that AJ's parents are dead, although I think it was Faust who said that. And it was spoken of as if they were dead at some sort of panel discussion post-S4.
Pinkie spent her childhood bored and unsmiling. She is an unreliable narrator, but it still wasn't particularly happy.
"Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!" Seriously, look at that girl in Hurricane Fluttershy and Filli Vanilli. She's damaged.
True, but AJ could learn. She's the most stable of the six, she has integrity and administrative skills, and she has a good memory for facts, as seen in Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3. Mainly, it's the emotional stability I'm focused on. She can learn economics.
Yeah, Twilight's privileged. And she was friendless by choice.
Rainbow's gifted, but she was also a victim of bullying, if the Rainbow Crash squad is any indication. Depending on your ideas of her childhood as a young athlete, she's had a pretty good life.
Rarity's great at business, but she's also overdramatic, selfish, and shortsighted. She'd be a great businessmare or socialite, and she could probably get elected, but she wouldn't do so well once in office.
Twilight's inconsistent.
Yes, they're lucky, but their lives aren't perfect. That's the point I was trying to make.
5319129
5319013
I suspect the Sirens weren´t created by Chaos magic (like Discord´s) , but Black Magic (like Sombra´s).
5313361 Welcome to the Show. And I think I remember some dialogue about controlling the whole world, but I don't own the movie.
Yes. They feed on disharmony. They create it. If they need the fast food to survive, fine. But when they start unnecessarily creating disharmony, more than they need to live, that's unethical.
I really, really hope Fluttershy proves her friends wrong. It irks me they don't trust her to go on her own.
Sure, I know that they just want to protect her, but Fluttershy can and (hopefully) will do fine!
The wait is KILLING ME! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS! WRITE MORE, I'M BEGGING YOU! Which is surprising, because if you know me - like if you were one of my best friends - you'd know I'm pretty critical of other people's stories. And you'd also know why.
Oh Adagio, you poor fool.
You don't even know what you just signed up for if you're planning something.
Good Is Not Stupid. :D
I don't think it's that they don't rely on Fluttershy in particular; it's that they don't want to leave anyone alone with them. AJ and RD at least can probably hold their own in a fight, but Rarity and Pinkie would be equally in danger (unless Pinkie's pony powers somehow apply to this world's Pinkie too :P )
Hm.
That's... not quite how I remember it.
I like that Twilight is able to tell both of them that the other misses them, even though neither put it in words. She's not called the element of friendship for nothing...
Errrr... that's a pretty big compliment from a pony who raises the sun on a daily basis.
Why have I got the feeling that they're going to end up dealing with The Attack of the Fifty-Foot Aria?
5321736
Oops, I can't math while tired I guess. :P
So, as we saw in Keep Calm And Flutter On, Fluttershy is insistent on this style of gambit. I like it.
Hang on a second. Didn't the portal between the human world and Equestria being open permanently require the magical link provided by the one book being on one side of the portal, and the other book being on the other side of the portal?
If both journals are now in Equestria, what's keeping the portal open?
5321455
In his defense, Discord was probably really bummed by the music production in those days. Blues can only be heard for so long before you just.... *snap*
and then he had his new musicians.
Wait woah waoh hold on, all they need is dark magic? isn't chaos magic dark? why don't the get discord to fix the thing
5378116
No, Chaos is Chaos. Harmonic follows rules, Dark follows rules, Chaos defenestrates rules out a ten-story building into a pool of cherry jell-o.
what were the Rainbooms going to do anyway? if Twi's back by "tomorrow" they's still have to stay the night somewhere...
“I guess I owe Sonata an apology for all those times I said she was the worst. That was before I met you.” I love this.
WHOO GO FLUTTERSHY ... nice parallel to Dragon Quest too
point to Twilight for keeping her promise, even in the face of Celestia
I feel like even if chaotic magic couldn't help, Twilight should've asked Discord about the sirens if their timelines overlapped, since Celestia was busy being princessly and all
I know it's not the point, but Twilight almost seems surprised that Sunset was an exceptional student - shouldn't she assume as much, being under the same master? where's your pride Twilight Sparkle?
Wait, If the sisters didn't find the tree of harmony at the time Discord was a threat, where do the elements of harmony come from? Didn't they use them to petrify Discord? or am I missing something?
8153201
Well im gussing he ruled for ahiwle before they found the elements
According to the equestrian timeline which always gets a little confusing for me, grogar was the first villain creating monsters, then Tirec because starswirl was still a young stallion at that point in time, then came the sirens, then discord, then Sombra, then nightmare Moon I think