Soaring on determined wings, Rainbow consumed the distance between herself and Fluttershy's cottage in a rush of wind and fury that would be dizzying for other ponies. Stopping was harder than the quick flight there and she skidded to a stop, nose tapping the door as she came to a halt. She looked left and right without spying her friend so she raised a hoof to knock firmly on the door. "Yo, Flutters! There's something serious going on and I need your help!"
The corner of her friend's head, pink mane visible, peeked up around the corner of her window a moment before ducking away. "How do I know you're safe?"
"Safe? Rainbow Dash is never safe." She spread her wings. "But really, what's that question for? Come on!"
"Why are you here?" came the timid question, trembling with fear.
"To... learn about sirens? Look, the entire town's gone a bit nutso and we ha--"
The door suddenly swung inwards. "Oh thank goodness!" Fluttershy hugged Rainbow tightly. "I was afraid you were like the others."
"What? Me? Pfft, as if." She patted Fluttershy gently on the back. "Now come on and pull yourself together. We have a siren to bust."
"You know about it?" Fluttershy released her friend and sat on her haunches, tilting her head at Rainbow.
"How could I not know about it? They wouldn't shut up about it. Oh no, the siren's controlling Twilight! We'd better catch it!" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Whatever. If the siren was so powerful, why wouldn't it just control the whole mob of them?"
"That's exactly what happened." Fluttershy tapped her hooves softly together, looking nervous. "What siren are they looking for?"
"Come again?" Rainbow squinted a little. "They said Twilight had a siren with her that got away."
"The seapony?" Fluttershy let out a sudden breath. "I'm glad she's okay. I always wanted to meet one of those. They're very rare, and not sirens!"
Rainbow rolled a hoof at her friend. "So if she's not the siren, why does everypony think she is?"
Fluttershy pointed past her friend towards the town. "Because they are being controlled, by a real siren! I heard her singing before, but she was too far away to put me under her spell. Rainbow, where were you earlier today?"
Rainbow considered that a moment, tapping her chin. "I was visiting Cloudsdale. I came back and went to say hi to Twi when everything was totally crazy."
"See? You didn't fall under its magic either."
Rainbow clopped her hooves together. "We have to break our friends free! I thought they were all crazy, but they're just being messed with, and nopony gets away with that with Rainbow Danger Dash on the case!"
Cherry carefully stepped up onto a log. Though this had been far from the way she would have chosen to do it, she was getting used to navigating on hooves and making quicker adjustments, she even had an idea... "Starlight?"
"Hmm?" Starlight turned back to Cherry, Spike on her back and light from her horn shining over Cherry. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, but I have an idea." Cherry thrust a hoof back to point at her belt. "This thing keeps my fins pinned all day, what if the fins did the turning instead of my wrench?"
Spike raised a brow. "Can they do that?"
"Not right now." Cherry rolled suddenly onto her side. "But I think I could make it work..."
Starlight glanced around nervously. "Are you sure this is the best time to do that? Who-knows-what could jump out and try to eat us at any moment."
Cherry frowned a little. "No, no it isn't, but we need every advantage we can get." She pulled free her screwdriver even as she wriggled free of her belt. "Cover me and I'll try to get this done quickly."
Spike saluted, but Starlight seemed less certain. She began to slowly circle, casting her light out into the gloomy forest, scanning for threats to their well-being.
Cherry pried off a panel in the side of the belt she had only realized was there after seeing the grandfather clock's hatch popped open. It wasn't a part of the structure, but made to come loose. She could see where it attached internally to the pieces she tweaked with the wrench and her mouth moved silently as she traced each with her eyes, trying to figure out the best place to put where she wanted.
Spike suddenly pointed. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Starlight frowned apprehensively, turning to face where Spike had indicated. The forest as a whole was oppressive and dark enough, but she didn't see anything rushing, slithering, charging, or otherwise moving towards them.
Spike's yelp echoed as he was lifted right off of Starlight's back. "Let go of me!"
Starlight looked up with a gasp, seeing that a tree was moving and grabbing Spike quite well with a thick branch. After a moment of surprise, she directed her horn at the branch after where it had Spike. With a bright blast of magic, Spike fell to the ground with a thump.
He scrambled to his feet just in time to dive out of the way of another oncoming branch. The first one regrew the missing part Starlight had blasted off and reached for the unicorn. It was thwarted for a moment by a suddenly summoned shield. "Spike, cook it!"
Spike ducked under another grasping branch and exhaled a rush of green flames. The branch curled and withered on contact and didn't immediately heal. "Ha ha! I have this ha--" The other branch suddenly swung in and caught him in the chest, knocking him down and the breath right out of him.
Starlight blasted the branch as it reached to grab Spike. "Don't worry, I have you covered. I'll take care of... this?" She felt something slithering along a leg and tensed. Slowly turning, she could see a wild mass of roots were growing up along her leg and flank, literally rooting her in place as she trembled with fear. "This forest is crazy!"
While all this happened, Cherry was focused on her job, carefully wedging in little bits and bending others with care. "Almost have it..." So focused was she on her task that she didn't even register the battle raging close by.
Spike fought his way upright, panting and wheezing with lost breath. As a branch swung for him, he tried to scorch it, only for a tiny little speck of green to emerge. He dove to the side, rolling out of the way of the angry wood just in time to avoid another painful blow.
The roots continued their ceaseless spread over Starlight, but she frowned, almost a sneer. "Stupid plant! You think you can win that easily?" She flashed brightly, energy pouring from her in all directions in a sudden explosion that sent the roots scattering and freeing her. She staggered away, heaving for breath after the dramatic display. "Take... that..."
Cherry slipped back into her belt and worked her fins into the new openings she had fashioned for them. She wriggled her left fin just for the internal gears to turn right over it. She squealed with pain but managed to get the gear reversed swiftly. There was more work to be done.
Spike made a sudden charge and hopped up onto Starlight. "We can handle this."
Starlight gave a determined nod. "Your flames recharged? It's time to cut down this rebellious ivy." She gave a scowl at the tree as her chest rose and fell. "Let's do this."
Together they charged, with Starlight providing the speed as she dodged and wove around a worryingly increasing number of branches on her way to the trunk of the tree. Spike drew in a deep breath as they got closer. Just as the branches converged on them, he let loose, scorching the branches between them and the trunk before the whole thing seemed to catch ablaze for a brilliant moment. It burned all too quickly, reduced to ash and leaving a shaft of light pouring in from above where the canopy had been compromised with the missing tree.
Spike let out a triumphant whoop. "We did it!"
Starlight offered a hoof that Spike met with a balled fist, both relieved that their foe had been defeated.
Cherry gave her own satisfied cheer as she rolled upright and began moving forward and backwards without holding a wrench. "See?" She looked up at her winded friends and tilted her head. "What have you two been up to?" She approached them with a satisfied smile on her face. "I got it working right, so we can keep going now."
Starlight nodded at Cherry. "Very nice job, but I think Spike and I need... just a moment." She sank to the ground, panting softly. "We'll get moving after that. That reminds me, how are you doing? I mean, this is pretty dry for you, isn't it?"
Cherry winced faintly at being reminded how long it'd been since she felt the cool embrace of water. "I'm alright, I think. I'd rather be swimming, but I don't think I'm dying or anything." She waved it off. "I'll be alright."
Spike gave a thumbs up as he caught up from all the excitement. "Good to hear. I think we have a lot more walking ahead of us. This is bothering me though."
Starlight perked an ear at him. "What is? This forest? I'm with you there."
"Not that, I mean, not just that. Twilight should have calmed the crowd and come to get us by now, but she hasn't. Do you think something went wrong?"
Cherry reached for his shoulder. "I wouldn't worry, Spike. Twilight's a very clever pony and the ponies obviously respect her. They wouldn't hurt her."
Starlight nodded in quick agreement. "She's safer than we are right now, the way I see it."
Spike looked around the forest slowly. "I wish we knew which way was Zecora's..."
Cherry blinked. "What's a Z-core?"
Spike snorted softly with a smile. "Zecora, a zebra that lives in these woods. She's nice, and she knows lots of stuff. I bet she could help us get this straightened out."
Starlight hiked a brow. "She lives in this forest? Why would anypony do that willingly?"
Cherry shrugged a little. "As scary as it is, everywhere has scary things. The ocean's full of things that'll make a snack out of you. You get used to it. I'm just not used to, uh, forest sharks just yet.
Rested and ready, they drew themselves upright and resumed their hike, hoping that grabby trees would be the worst thing they'd find.
But what were the odds of that?
Why do I feel that this siren is going to be in a world of hurt shortly. Also you called Fluttershy Twilight during part of the conversation.
here is the part.
Yay Zecora! I wonder what Cherry will think of our rhyming zebra friend.
7183114 Oops, fixed!
How did you escape the town 0_0
Vinyls always fun against acoustic opponants, and she has lots of psycho tech for Cherry to drool over.
That tree was almost a joke to overcome.
I blame its dry humor.
If it was planned, it was a bit ham-fisted. If it wasn't, its a decent save.
Elsewhere:
Sister, why is there a murderous tree in the middle of our castle?
the Siren thing feels like a cop out. The chances of a Siren happening in the same town as Cherry at the same time is really bad. This whole mob thing should have been moved back. Timing is key in stories and you rushed this mob situation. You are hurting your story by doing this.
Honestly please rewrite these last few chapters.
7183279 You're right, that is unlikely to happen by chance.
Figure it out.
good story, nice characters,
why are you crying Fluttershy?
I want MORE!
It's always tough to write something where out of character exists for a good reason, because it will mean some people will simply tell you you're doing a bad job.
A lot of playing with formulas can have this problem.
7183295 so what makes Cherry so special that a siren we didn't know of is getting a mob started. No to mention what is a Siren even around here without notice.
The Timing of this whole thing is just off. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Cherry has only been there less then a day. All of this is just too fast.
chosen to do it
she had
Not really. Before, we thought the Ponyville extras had formed a mob for no reason. Now we learn that an unseen siren has formed a mob for no reason. If a siren bore Cherry ill-will (and why would they? She's a nobody) they could have easily dealt with her while she was in the water, instead of waiting until she was in the relative safety of the Dry. I would assume you have a plan for this, except you frequently claim to never make plans.
7183363 Typos fixed. I shared what was going on behind the scenes with someone else just to be sure I wasn't being illogical. I'm done arguing about that.
When everyone is out of character, no one is!
Pretty low if you want to know.
I still liked this more as SoL, but that's not my main gripe.
It's all too sudden and it feels shoehorned.
I'm still here but I'm looking in the general direction of the lifeboats.
img.memecdn.com/i-amp-039-ve-seen-enough-hentai-to-know-where-this-is-going_o_1554337.jpg
there is another siren!?
Nice twist...O.O
I'm betting that the siren is a friend of Cherry and she's thinks that Cherry was captured by Twilight. (Hoping it does not proves that sirens are all evil.)
Now this makes me happy. Instead of everybody thinking one person is crazy, it's everyone else is crazy except for a handful of people, AND her friends are actively trying to help her rather then bending to the will of the crazies.
Perfect! You've managed to avoid running into a trope I absolutely hate!
7183328 Daily updates is the goal!
7184209 Glad you're enjoying it. How was the action scene? Those always make me nervous and people are being awful quiet about them.
7183330 It's why cartoons and comics have swirly eyes, because you can't keep that subtle without a good portion of the readership exploding in fury.
7180431
...Huh. I was right? o_O
7184304 Gasp! Impossible!
7184329 It was just a wild guess based on how suspiciously competent Ponyville was being!
7182193
Which book sounds more interesting How things work, Electronics in everyday things, MCSE for dummies, or Dancing Wu Li masters? After reading Anthem by Ayn Rand I have my suspicions this is all you need to build an atomic weapon... then again I've seen documentaries on how they put together atomic weapons and have literally seen the blue prints multiple times on Sliders. Obviously, it goes without saying, just becasue the DSM goes over how to manufacture certain illegal substances doesn't mean you have the resources or desire to pull it off.
7184241 It was fine, though kinda out of unexpected since the last action seen was so short.
7184504 That's okay. Everything I do is unexpected recently.
She's lucky the teeth of the gears it didn't tear something. I can imagine her blood would be very bad for the gears...which may have also lost their water resistance given the circumstances. I can imagine the metal cutting her if she bent it the wrong way as well.
I would have used a scene from 'Spare Parts,' Hugo, or 'Project Almanac' but neither one has a scene specific to the problem at hand.
7184630 And while she wrestled with that, Spike and Starlight were doing mortal combat with a tree. Everyone was quite busy.
7184673
I wasn't dismissing their contribution to her survival, I was just highlighting other dramatic tent poles that went unexplored in a fray with the 'watcher in the woods.' It was an attempt to show concern for the well being of the main character, I shall endeavor to focus all my attention on Spike in the future as he clearly needs the most sympathy being that he is the cypher who everyone is supposed to identify with.
7184740 Is he?
Apologies if I came across as snippy. I certainly wasn't trying to be. I was just gushing. I rather liked how it all came out, and I hope you did as well. Everypony did their party, from Cherry to Starlight and even RD and Flutters as they worried back in Ponyville.
Well, I feel silly. Well done.
I just read the whole story up to this point, and it's flippering awesome!
7184999 Glad you're having fun with it! Catch that wave and surf with us as we try to ride it out to the end.
Arevtheyveven still on Equus?
Commence read.
Hm.
7184764
I'm not entirely sure. But, I have my suspicions.
7183819
7183848
Cherry is not a siren.
7186169
I said the siren might be a friend of Cherry
And that is how a story goes from good and interesting to absolute garbage in the span of three chapters / less than 5000 words.
Congratulations.
7194579 It doth proceed, with or without you. Don't stop now, good sir.
Commence read.
What does the letter say? Oh, a legend or a prophecy. That's a bit overused.
Well, that's just messed up.
Okay, of course they'd end up in the everfree forest. Of all the places...
Okay, they're in a clearing, and nobody thinks to look upwards?
I've never heard the pronunciation: ZeeCoare for Zecora before.
[youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oH6rn_Gfp5s]
I think you made 'Tsunami' a little too literal, considering the background in some of the pages of the book. (The video)
No reference to typos invading the story? Who are you and what have you done with David Silver?
End read. Sentence: What the what was that?
Ooh, a new target for my overwhelming fury!
Ok, so the Siren gets her voicebox cut out, put in a cage and left hanging for the ravens to slowly pick apart. Complete with a spell that won't let it die.
Mmm... mechanical things.
Nice job once more!
Cherry is cute af
It's good that there is an explanation for the weird behaviour of the ponies and it seems that the Tsunami came sooner than expected. The siren probably wants to prevent diplomatic contact between Equestria and the seaponies.
Wasn't there an episode with a mind controlling Siren?
...I don't know.
I never watched Equestria Girls, but every time I try looking up "mlp siren" I get those things...not what I was looking for.
7845308
Ah, i just love when my mind can construct the visuals for a concept or story so clearly that i'm no long sure what's actually happened and what is fanfiction.