Rainbow strode further and further out of town. She needed to take the siren somewhere where she could Rainbow Dash all over that monster, free Ponyville, and save the day for everypony. She could already hear the wild cheering and the mad stomping of an ecstatic crowd.
Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!
"Why do you have that expression?" The siren was hovering beside her with a raised brow. "Are you well?"
"Huh? Oh! Sorry, let's get to that siren."
The siren suddenly swam through the air in front of Rainbow, cutting off her progress. "My control must be coming loose. That's alright, just listen."
Rainbow thrust a hoof up. "Oh that won't be necessary." She gave a broad fake grin as she began to sweat. "I'm ready to go find that siren!"
The siren's voice became more melodic with each word before she began to sing a soft song and things began to fade for Rainbow despite her best effort to hold herself together. "There, now go on, and no delays. We'll stop that nasty siren."
Fluttershy, hovering above behind her cloud, gave a quiet gasp of surprise as Angel drove a hind leg into the back of her head, waking her from her stupor. She looked around dizzily a moment before she looked down at Rainbow placidly leading the siren away. "Oh no..."
She peeked over her shoulder. "Wait, it didn't bother you, Angel?"
The rabbit shook his head quickly back and forth.
Fluttershy frowned with new thought. "It must not work on animals, or only on ponies. Let's get some help." She fluttered away, propelling her cloud away from the siren for the moment. "I hope I catch them before they do something awful." They were headed towards the Everfree. Even if the place had been a step less dangerous since the Tree of Harmony had been restored, it was still a scary place.
Applejack leaned towards Twilight. "So, how are we gonna find that watery friend ah yers?"
"Hmm? Oh, that's simple." Twilight's horn began to glow, magic coming easily with that pesky blocker removed, as she turned until she thrust a hoof out. "She's with Spike. Spike I can find." She shook her head a little. "I hope they're all alright."
Muffins tilted her head a little. "Spike's a nice dragon, but why is he with the siren?" She looked in the direction Twilight had pointed. "Of course! Duh! They're hiding in the Everfree..." She rolled her eyes, a dizzying act for the others as it seemed for just a moment that the two eyes moved independently. "We shoulda started there. Hold on, we're gonna need a--"
Applejack pounced Muffins to the ground. "Woah woah woah, calm yer horses."
Muffins blinked at Applejack. "Um?"
Twilight nodded at the two of them. "Applejack is right. If we get more help, that's more ponies in danger. I thought you wanted to do this the heroic way, Muffins? We can handle this, the three of us." She gestured between Applejack, Muffins, and herself.
Muffins squirmed her way to her hooves and bobbed her head at Twilight. "You're the princess, Princess." She brought her wing up in a sharp salute, even if her tongue was poking free a little.
Applejack noticed a curiosity. "Muffins, is Twilight in charge?"
"Huh? Of course she is. She's a princess." She shrugged softly. "Who else would we listen to? Mayor Mare isn't here."
Twilight blinked at that. "What about that other pony that was giving commands?"
"Who? Oh! The flying fish lady? She's not a mayor or a princess, so nope."
Twilight let out a soft breath of relief. Muffins was free of control, and they had a vital clue as to what they were dealing with. "After all that, it's a siren making ponies hunt for a so called 'siren' that isn't a siren at all!"
Applejack frowned. "Care to spin that again?"
Twilight pointed back towards the town. "A siren's why everyone was acting so oddly. I've seen them work before, in the human world, but Cherry's no siren. She's a hippoca--" She aborted the word halfway in and cleared her throat. "Sea horse." Both of the others nodded with understanding. "As far as I'm aware, Cherry's completely harmless. Let's get to Spike and the others and we can work out a plan of action."
Together, they advanced towards the Everfree to find Spike, who was hopefully with Cherry and Starlight. All three well and intact, preferably.
"I thought you said the castle was safe!" Cherry ducked to the side just as great slavering pincers came down where she had been a moment before. A spider the size of an actual horse chittered at her angrily as he approached on spindly legs.
Starlight scowled at the beast. "I thought it was. I was clearly mistaken. No problem..." She lowered her horn at the hungry arachnid and let loose a bolt of magic. The star on the beast's back glowed gently and seemed to just slurp up the magic with no harm to the spider. "Or maybe a little problem... Spike?"
Spike glanced at her. "What do you want me to do about it?"
"You're a dragon, Spike, breathe some fire at it? Fwoosh fwoosh?"
Cherry shrieked as she darted and danced out of the way of each frightening lunge the spider made for her. With her legs wired properly into her fins, she had become quite a deal better at dodging. With a sudden lash, she brought her tail around and slapped the creature across the face. "Stop trying to eat me!"
This only served to further infuriate the spider. It raised several legs into the air and propelled itself on the others for Cherry just as Spike lit up its rump with a sudden burst of hot flames. It screeched in surprise and spun around to face the brave and young dragon. "Uh, okay, now it's looking at me." Spike took a slow step away. "Do we have another plan?"
As Spike fled wildly, arms extended in front of himself, Starlight tapped her chin thoughtfully as she looked around. Spying a hanging chandelier, she pointed. "Get it to stand there, Spike, and I think I can handle it."
"You'd better!" He pivoted mid-dash and headed for the spot Starlight had indicated, just to hear a sudden zap of unicorn magic. "Again? That didn--" He suddenly felt the presence of an oncoming chandelier and threw himself out of the way with wide eyes just as the spider dove for him. With a loud crunch, the Spider was pinned to the ground and Spike was safe, if scared. "Next time tell me when you're about to do that..."
Cherry clopped her forehooves softly. "Good job, Starlight. You'd be a great hunter." She approached the spider slowly. "Do you think we can eat it?"
Starlight stuck out her tongue with distaste. "Who would want to?"
"Anything that wants to eat me can also be eaten, code of the sea." Cherry nodded to herself. "We fought it fair and square, right as the waves."
Spike raised a brow. "Is that really a rule?"
Cherry flashed her sharp teeth. "At least in the water it is. Sharks can take a nasty bite out of us, and we can take a nasty bite out of them. Fair is fair. We don't normally hunt sharks or anything. Squids taste better."
Starlight gestured at the unconscious and pinned spider. "Well let's not find out what it tastes like the hard way. It could be poisonous and then wouldn't you feel silly? You survived all that just to get sick now? I prefer some nice greens anyway."
"Gems please." Spike rubbed his claws together, tummy rumbling with memories of exquisite gem dishes provided by his friend and mother-figure, Twilight. "Actually..." He started sliding towards the fallen chandelier, or more pointedly it's fallen and scattered bits of jewelry.
Just as he had popped one into his maw, all three turned towards the sound of the front door opening.
They were getting guests.
Great Chapter. ~hug
of course Angel is immune. He's the Demon Bunny from Monty Python.
And seriously STOP USING MUFFINS THAT IS NOT HER NAME JUST A PC TITLE!
7192411 Dude, drop it. The decision has clearly been made.
7192428 I refuse to. That crap name does not deserve to be there.
Now the battle plan can begin! Hopefully Muffins will not feel bad when she finally finds out what was going on.
Now I'M wondering what giant spider would taste like. I eat crab-legs, and a spider's basically a land-crab, right?
As soon as Rainbow is enthralled, wouldn't she admit that she doesn't actually have a clue where Cherry is? She can't actually lead the siren because she doesn't know where they're going.
If the horn blocker was removed, I don't think you mentioned it. If it's still on, you should make a point of it, because it would be funny that it doesn't hamper Twilight at all. Also, if it's still on, it would make sense to remove it as soon as they know Derpy's on their side.
fair
I still think the bad siren is Cherry's Mom.
7192436
Maybe taste like chicken?
7192411
Muffin. Muffin. Muffin. Muffin. Muffin. Muffin. Muffin. Muffin. Muffin. Muffin. Muffin. Muffin. Muffin.
What? I like eat muffin.
7192463 Derpy is her name and muffins is what she likes to eat.
7192487
Muffins is her name in the credits and some of her merchandise.
Actually explicitly avoiding naming her seems to have been an intended running gag for some time.
Derpy was a fan name that was edited out the first time it was dropped in the show.
Overall, I'd say Muffins and Derpy both have some level of official/canon support. Using either in a fanfic should be considered valid, and I'd even say using one as her name and the other as a nickname (in either direction) would be 'valid'.
If you really can't handle it, apply the "Alternate Universe" tag in your mind, and pretend this story takes place in an alternate universe in which Derpy was instead named Muffins.
Or to paraphrase the MST3K motto: Just repeat to yourself 'it's just a fanfic' and sit back and relax!
7192505 the ONLY reason Muffins is around as a name is because of PC. Thus not legit in my mind.
7192450 Typo fixed, blocker specifically mentioned as being removed, and Rainbow was not asked anything but to lead them without delay, so Rainbow is most likely going wherever she had decided on before being whammied.
7192507 kappit.com/img/pics/201503_1020_iceia_sm.jpg
7192513 This particular siren does not seem to be the tactical type. She's so casual about the whole thing that I'm starting to suspect this is all a big misunderstanding.
Oh dear this could end up really good or really poorly @.@
7192507 My aren't you quite the Social Justice Warrior? Ditzy Doo.
7192463 I bet it would taste more like crab... or maybe shrimp...
7192507
You can download the story chapters as they come out, use copy-paste technology, and replace all instances of Muffins with Derpy to preserve your sanity.
There is a small chance this may make the story randomly and incoherently risque, if they partake of a certain form of snack though.
Wait so is there a siren or not I am so confused
7192566 Yes, she's with Rainbow Dash at current.
7192549 I'd even take that name though personal i think her full name is Derpy Doo. But not Muffins. note it's the Social justice Warriors that started this by demanding Derpy be censored.
7192571 You know...Rainbow's terrible plan might still work. If Derpy was released from the mind control because she went out of range, then the rest of Ponyville should be released if Rainbow wanders far enough in her randomly selected direction. Way to take one for the team Rainbow!
This is really getting good.
I like how the perspective switches between groups of characters. You do a good job of finding a break in he action before making the shift, and it makes the story's flow feel more natural, almost like watching an actual episode of the show.
I've also been wondering who this actual siren is. She doesn't seem to be all-powerful (as we've seen her mindwashing can wear off eventually, and she can't tell if somepony is under her influence or not), so there's a lot of possibilities as to who she is, and what she wants with Cherry.
I'm glad to have started reading this, and I'm looking forward to more. Keep up the good work.
~Erised
EDIT: Also I'm so sorry about all the drama in the comments over a certain wall-eyed pegasus.
Siren, for the moment - Siren for the moment
just great - just as great
where she was - where she had been
propelled on - propelled itself on
fare and square - fair and square
*****
Spiders. You had to throw in giant spiders. At least it was over quickly and kudos to you for finding a non-lethal way to stop it. Now if only it were the only one...
Good chapter, it looks like at least two of the three plotlines are converging... or are they? It's never wise to assume from the clues and red herrings dropped in our path.
7192571 OK then what about flutter shy where did she fall and with this
7192450
Nope. The siren told her to lead the way. Most mental magic dumbs down its targets a great deal to make it simpler to command them. This has the unfortunate (for the controller) of making them need fairly specific commands or they just take it literally.
7192580
How was I the only one to miss her being censored? Did they have like a big deal about it that I missed somehow? lol
7192604
Healthy spiders don't go crunch. That sounds pretty lethal to me.
7192618
7192618 Huge falling pieces of furniture make nice crunching sounds.
7192625
7192633
Yeah...but they were still talking about eating it.
7192604 The typos are like the little spiders, crawling all over o_o. You got rid of them though.
7192604 Wow, you found time to read other stories around the great debate over whether or not Silver Watch is OP?
7192392 So adorable, *hugs*
Awesome chapter, I honestly was hoping that the spider they were fighting wasn't a star spider those things were so cute in the episode.
7192641
What else are office hours for?
7192669 Indeed.
7192436 depends on what kind are you going to be eating a tarantula or a black widow?(jk on the black widow part)
7192463 I ate a python before and it was delicious
Annnd, there goes Rainbow again. Hopefully the siren finds her as frustrating as everyone else, her ego saying of course she knows where the siren is, just doesnt have a precise direction or distance as yet.
At least the spider was ony attackign them instead of using tactical web and thread ambush etc.
Two things spring to mind about the lava swimming diamond eating Spike. Can spiders fangs even penetrate his scales. What would happen if he tried swimming through said spider?
You might need to add the Muffin tag
7192738 Considering he felt threatened by timberwolves, either everfree predators tend to have ways around such defenses, or the everfree itself subtly messes with whatever magic makes him super tough.
You probably shouldn't use crossover art for the cover of a non-crossover fic
CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALD IT!
7192596 Unless of course that random direction happens to be the everfree.
7192611 Oh yes. when Applejack went to the rodeo. Dash called her Derpy and she was walleyed. Because of a small handful that didn't like her Hasbro and DHX censored her.
7194160
I'm a failure at keeping up with events I guess because I've seen that episode plenty of times and never seen this edited version lol Guess that explains all the sad Derpy stuff that I did notice. Thinking on it now I feel pretty narrow sighted to miss something that would have effected so many peoples opinion of the show and Hasbro, but if they included her in support of fans and then later edited her to erase the evidence why bother? That's like giving Applejack an illusionary apple. Makes no sense!
Keep breathing fire on it! Send it to Celestia!
Cherry clopped her forehooves softly. "Good job, Starlight. You'd be a great hunter." She approached the spider slowly. "Do you think we can eat it?"
I love this line! sea ponies are carnivorous!
7194321 Omnivorous, she did seem to enjoy those apples a few chapters ago.
7192450 If you remember Rainbow Rocks the human mane six (and Sunset) seemed to be immune to the sirens charms, and they all had some form of contact with the elements of harmony, it could be that they have made them immune to the effect of sirens and the siren hasn't noticed this in Rainbow yet, it would also explain why Twilight and Applejack were tied up instead of just being hypnotized as well.
Though this is just me speculating.
7194160 people are strange.