The Dazzlings' Shrines

by HorsesandMOARGaloar

Adagio

"All you need to do is take a mug of cider, and drink from it. Then throw your jug into the ball pit."

Puzzled as they are from this strange ritual, the two brothers took their mugs, drank them up whole, and tossed their jugs into the pit, where they sank into the colourful sea of plastic spheres.

"Make a wish. Just tell the Orange Queen what you desire." Upon the very mention of "her" name, it called into their minds one of their most hated foes.

"Why, are you here to start a cult for that tyrannical scoundrel, Princess Applejack Apple?!" Flam yelled. He then grabbed the poor "priest" by his tunic, causing his hood to expose his ruffled silvery mane. The poor stallion started to glow in his nervousness, causing Flam to release him to cool his scalded hooves.

"You might as well be working with her to rob and torment us!" his brother yelped.

"Not that Orange Queen!" the stallion countered. "One who is older than Starswirl the Bearded, and one whose voice charmed even the most stubborn tyrant."

"And who exactly was that? Some archaic abomination?" Flim inquired.

"Haven't you heard of the legend of the Sirens, when they rose from the sea long ago to bring the pony tribes into a bitter rivalry?"

"Of course, that bedtime story." both of them responded. The mustachioed salespony continued, "And is that silly excuse of a 'shrine' dedicated to her?"

"And who'll be her high priest?" his brother asked. "That same 'director?'"

"Yes, but her priests answer to none but the Sirens themselves!" The white stallion shoved him. "Now, all you have to do is to close your eyes, and make a wish to her."

"Are you really sure?" Flam doubted about it at first, but an idea flared up in his head. He turned to his brother. "I've got an idea, brother of mine," he hissed, away from the white stallion's view. "Maybe, since she could answer any wish, with her powers, we could use her and the Sirens to sabotage the Apples!"

"But that would be against the law, Flam," Flim objected. "If we were caught dealing with criminals, we would be banished to some dungeon in the middle of nowhere!"

"At least we're in a mountain cave, and nopony else would be present to blow our cover," Flam countered. "We could just hurry up in convincing the Sirens, and send Sweet Apple Acres to utter ruin, before the princesses would find out."

"Could we even do it? I expected some elaborate ceremony — " Flim yammered, before his mustached brother placed his hoof on his mouth.

"Trust me."

They closed their eyes and bowed their heads. "Siren Queen," Flim pleaded, "hear our cries, hear our thoughts, and hear our aims! We seek thy aid in thy voice, that shakes the skies and seas — " He was cut off by his irritated brother, who slapped his withers.

"Just get to the point, will you? And try not to be over-dramatic." Flam whispered. "Just tell them, or any one of them, what you wish for." He closed his hoofs.

Flim shut his eyes, and murmured to himself, " ... I want to get even with that other orange troublemaker for taking our business and customers away, I wish for a barfillion, darzillion bits, and to start my own company, to be the greatest that all of Equestria will ever see!"

~~~

Out of the hissing green smoke that emanated from the ball pit three Sirens flew around for a while. They were, left-to-right in the brothers' view, purple, yellow, and blue: the yellow one on the middle is guarded by two twitchy, fire-spewing longmas. The blue simpleton on the left of her was munching a taco, and held a yellow pony with a fiery mane on her studded leash.

Each longma was armed with rather bizarre weapons: the left longma was chewing at a stop sign like a burnt, crispy lollipop, while the screeching one on the right was munching at a drooping butterfly net.

"Rise, you three," the yellow Siren boomed. They did so.

The robed stallion bowed again. "O, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, Sonata Dusk, ancient terrors of the land and se — "

"Enough with the ceremonial pleasantries, Double Diamond the Star Horse," the purple Siren interrupted.

"Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk, the ancient terrors," Flim murmured to himself. "Aren't they supposed to be languishing in the Other World?"

"Now, tell us who are these two who happened to summon us here?" the blue Siren yapped. "And what are they here for?"

Double cleared his throat. "They are Flim Skim and Flam Skam, the infamous comedian duo of Canterlot," Double continued. "Flam is the one with the moustache and the deeper voice. They are here to ask something from you." This embarrassed the two brothers.

"That reminds me of two sly salesmen down Rhombus Street," Sonata murmured.

"We're not comedians, we're salesponies!" Flam protested. "And, thank you for the compliment, Mr. Diamond."

"Comedian or salespony, none of these matter to me," the orange Siren replied. "I am Adagio Dazzle," she introduced, and pointed to her two companions, "The purple one is Aria Blaze, and the blue Siren feeding some tacos to the troublesome longmas, is Sonata Dusk."

"We've heard that you two were asking Adagio for some things, some 'zillion bits-something', and then revenge against 'that other orange trouble troublemaker,'" Aria sluggishly questioned. "Care to elaborate for us three?"

"Her name is 'Applejack Apple', and she and her friends are now Princesses, complete with tiaras, wings, and horns," Flim explained.

"Not only she has an army of thousands of guards at her command, but she would literally cause earthquakes with her bare hooves, and cause towering forests of fruit trees to grow with her magic!" Flam continued.

"And Applejack is just a human musician back on the Other World, whose only powers were using music strong enough to break our gems with her friends," Adagio answered back. "So, if your 'Applejack' is a powerful princess here, surely her four friends might have some importance back there."

"Not to mention the fifth, Schwanhild Twilight Sparkle, whose device caused portals back to Equestria to appear all over the place," Aria added. She held a purple shell that flashed about in counter-clockwise cycles. Aria pressed a button at the middle, causing the device to open, shooting out a bolt that spread into a hole. From that hole the Sirens and ponies can see a forested hill, shrouded in mist. It was crowned with the ruins of what appeared to be a castle.

"So, these led you back to Equestria?" Flim inquired.

"Not after snatching it from a certain principal who was running off with a bag of gadgets," Sonata replied. She pointed her right hoof at the cavern beyond. "You can find her somewhere over there later."

~~~

"But now, let's not delay," Adagio cooed. "I will grant you your wish, on the condition that you finish your first challenge."

"What is it?" the two brothers asked.

"You will listen to the three of us sing, and enjoy it," Aria explained, "and you will not flinch your heads while we do so."

"Not even if we sound bad because our gems were destroyed in the Battle of the Bands," added Sonata. She showed them a hole on her chest where her gem used to be: the other two Sirens who glared at her angrily also had holes on their torsos. Adagio turned towards her guests.

"Are you two ready?" she asked.

"Give it a shot!" Flim replied.

"Go ahead." Flam sighed.

"Go on, Dagi," Double Diamond broke in. "I've always wanted to listen to your songs at last!"

Flam rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding me?" he asked.

The Sirens took a deep breath. They began to sing; yet when they did, they sounded no more horribly than a little chorus of squirrels. Flam began to cover his ears, to the rogues' disappointment.

~~~

You thought you beat us,
you cloud-bearded hack,
but you're no longer here
to hold the three of us back.

Now that the both of us
went back from some backwater,
we three are here to stay
'cause we're gonna make it hotter!

Oh, oh, o-o-ohhh,
Oh, oh, o-o-ohhh,
Stay down, old codger
The Dazzlings are back on the track!

Oh, oh, o-o-ohhh,
Oh, oh, o-o-ohhh,
Stay down, old botcher
'cause we're on the attack!

Now stay down!

~~~

As the Sirens sang, Flim got enticed by their catchy tune, that he ignored its horrible tone, uncovered his ears, and started dancing to their rhythms, to the surprise of the other two ponies and the Sirens' delight.

"It's like the chipmunk videos all over again," Flim commented. "But I like its playful rhythm."

"What could you expect," the Purple One grumbled. "That's what happened to us after our pendants were destroyed during the Battle of the Bands." She turned towards one of the longmas. "Youzai," she angrily groaned. "That mug is not a cake! Drop it now!" She then pursued the feisty creature, to Adagio's consternation.

"At least you and Double Dee liked our music," the blue rascal complimented. She turned to Adagio. "Can I dance with Flam?" she asked, as she pressed her own hooves against her right cheek. "His mustache makes him so cute!"

When Flam heard that this monster wanted a waltz with him, his face melted in horror. "I ... and Flim .... need to go. I had enough of this." His brother shoved in. "Now, Your Majesty," Flim bowed, "I asked for bits. Where are the bazillion bits you promised?"

"I'm not a queen, yet," the golden creature slyly replied. "But you need to finish three more tests before you can get your prize."

"May I say, 'no', and go somewhere else?" Flam wondered.

"We're not in the mood to finish some quest, just some repairs for our vehicle," Flim continued. The two brothers tried to leave, but they were blocked by an unstable wall of orange magic, caused by Adagio's poor singing. They bashed against the wall, but it stung and fried them.

"Why can't you just let us go?!" Flim cried.

"You still need to finish your tests," Adagio smirked. "You two called us here, and you'll have to return us the favour."

"Then where are your tests, witch?!" Flam angrily asked.

The two brothers' rage only made the Siren's grin grow wider. Adagio pointed a hoof into the gaping, dark caverns behind her. "Just ahead. Double Diamond will be your guide."

"But, what about your shrine, Miss Adagio?" the white horse inquired. "And what will you have to do with your two sisters and their pets?"

"I'll take care of it, and them. myself. Meanwhile, the two brothers are yours to handle." Before she continued, she turned back to the trio and remarked, "And I and my sisters own those two longmas together."

Double Diamond cleared his throat. "If you two dudes have anything to pack with, just do it quickly. Where we're going, we don't need torches or lights."

"So, we'll just walk into the dark, and fall into some abyss or something?!" Flim furiously asked.

"Nah, buddy," the white horse assured. He started to shine again, and the whole cavern is bathed in his light. The two brothers covered their eyes from the stallion's blinding glare.

"Remember when I burned Flam's hooves? That's just how I defend myself when anypony corners me — I shine, because I'm actually a star pony." He turned to Flam. "Sorry about that."

"Nothing much of a problem," Flam droned.

Author's Note:

In my story, Double Diamond is a "star pony", because his coat and mane look so white, he might be a bright star in a pony's body.

A "Long-ma" is a Chinese mythological creature that looks like a horse with a dragon's head and tail. Again, the "longmas' " appearance in my story were influenced by my G-MOD games, where I used Tianhuo (a longma from "Them's Fightin' Herds") ragdolls to create scenes, such as two silly Longmas with silly weapons being Adagio's ridiculous bodyguards. As a Chinese person myself, I thought it would not be a big deal to play with my own culture -- as long as it's not something sensitive as religion.