The Trick to Success

by Hakuno

14- Alliance

Chapter 14. Alliance.

Everything around Sunset felt like a dream, an illusion cast by her subconscious mind to help her rest and recover. Her actions and everything around her happened at a hastened pace, yet at the same time, it felt like time was moving slower than usual. Her vision seemed to be blurry by the edges, but she could never quite be sure if it was because her eyes were always narrowed, or if it was something else.

Light, shadows, and colors all moved in front of her, and even though she could understand everything that went on in front of her, she also had the impression that something was off. It was as if a part of her mind, foggy and dense, was trying to tell her that whatever she was seeing was not right. But for some reason, Sunset saw no reason to listen to that part of her. Why would she? Everything was fine.

And then she woke up, startled, feeling as if she had been sleeping for a whole day and suddenly someone had screamed her name right in her ear. She took a deep breath, her lungs feeling heavy and oppressed, and leaned back, suddenly aware that she was standing, instead of laying.

As she recovered from her stupor and her eyes cleared from the groggy myst of slumber, Sunset was met with the face of Sonata Dusk, who was looking at her with slightly widened eyes.

“What-” Sunset said, feeling her throat hoarse and lips dry. She took a careful, defensive step back as she cleared her throat, glaring cautiously at Dusk. She looked beyond the siren and around, and she quickly realized that she was in the siren’s very pink room, although it was messy. Clothes and books and other objects were all randomly scattered throughout the whole place, as if a tornado had gone through it.

A look to her left let her see the other girls, Trixie, Shimmer, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, all standing in a perfect line, all of them staring into space with narrowed eyes.

Sunset’s heart was racing in her chest as she turned back to look at Dusk. “What’s going on?” She asked in a low, cautious voice.

Dusk made a face. “I need your help,” she said, then quickly looked at her open door and back to Sunset. “I’m hungry and I’ve been trying to convince Aria that becoming Windigos is not a good idea, but she won’t listen to me!”

Sunset blinked, confused. “What?”

“She says we just have to obey Adagio, and, like, yeah that’s what we’re supposed to do,” Dusk continued. “But I got to thinking. Maybe even though Adagio is the smartest girl ever, even she doesn’t know everything, right? And maybe she doesn’t know Windigos are stupid, right? So I’ve been trying to convince Aria to help me convince Adagio, but Aria says I’m too stupid to know what I’m talking about, so I want you to tell her!”

Once again, Sunset blinked. “... What?”

Dusk regarded Sunset for a moment. “Tell Aria Windigos are stupid!”

Sunset brought her hands to her face and took a deep breath. She looked up for a moment and, as she breathed out, she looked at Dusk again. “Dusk, the last thing I remember is Aria Blaze coming to the house, and now we’re here. Could you please explain what happened?” She asked, trying to sound calm and composed.

“Sure!” Dusk said happily. “Aria cast an obedience spell on you all and made you let me out. She was going to leave you there until you either starved or the spell wore off, but I told her I wanted you all to be with me, so here you are!”

“Alright…” Sunset said slowly. She was unnerved by how casually Dusk talked about things like death, but she had to push that thought away and concentrate on the here and now. “Now answer me this: why do you think Blaze is going to listen to me?”

Dusk cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t she? You know a lot more about Windigos than us!”

Sunset resisted the urge to facepalm. “I don’t think that’s how it’ll work out, Dusk. In fact, I believe the moment she notices you undid her spell, she’ll just recast it.”

“But I didn’t undo it,” Dusk said. “I gave you a charm.”

“A charm?”

Dusk nodded and pointed to Sunset’s chest. Sunset looked down and used a hand to inspect herself. Sure enough, she was wearing some sort of intricate necklace that consisted on several tiny seashells, all carefully placed at an even distance from each other, with a slightly bigger one in the center. They all were laced with braided seaweed.

If Sunset focused on it, she could almost feel a hum coming from the whole thing.

She looked at Dusk. “What… is this?”

At that, Dusk grinned toothily. “Teehee!” She said with a childish mischievous giggle. “Adagio is the smartest and strongest and beautifulest, and Aria is the best at casting spells, but moi am the best at enchantments! Charms are my specialty!” She placed a fist on her chest proudly. “My charms will protect you from anything!”

Sunset glared at Dusk for a moment. “I have one question,” she said, noticing her voice trembling. “Do you think the other sirens will be ok with me having a charm?”

Dusk paused and looked up with a hum. “Well…”

Hesitance, not a good sign.

Sunset stepped forward and placed her hands on Dusk’s shoulders. “Listen, I want to help you,” she said almost in a whisper. “But not here, not now.”

“How?” Dusk asked, suddenly looking apprehensive. “You’re right, when Aria sees the charm-”

“Then we have to make sure she doesn’t,” Sunset said quickly. “Unless… Can she feel it?”

Dusk shook her head. “Charms negate our magic. To us they don’t even exist.”

Weird way to put it, Sunset thought. She stepped back and hid the charm under her shirt, turning upwards the collar of her jacket for a better effect. “Alright, now… If we want a chance of convincing Blaze, we’ll need to take her in like we did with you.”

“No!” Dusk yelled and stepped back, covering her gem with both hands. She hunched over and began turning away in a protective way.

Sunset paused, surprised by such a sudden change in Dusk’s demeanor. “I-I didn’t mean it like that!” She quickly said. “I know how much you hated it, so I won’t do it to them too.” She was relieved to see Dusk visibly relax and turn her body back to her. “But we do need a way to take her there…” She absentmindedly placed a hand on the hidden necklace, and an idea occurred to her. “Say, where are the other sirens right now?”

“Oh, Aria’s out to grab something to eat. I think she’ll be back soon,” Dusk replied. “And Aria told me Adagio’s in Fillydelphia for something about our concert? I didn’t get it, but Aria said she’ll be back tomorrow.”

“So, right now, it’s just us,” Sunset said, and Dusk nodded. “Can you make more charms for my friends?”

Dusk smiled proudly. “Of course I can!”

Sunset smiled as well. “How long does it take?”

“Well…” Dusk replied, placing a finger on her lips and looking up. “Yours took me about three hours. Fingers are really convenient!” She added happily.

Sunset’s smile faded and she bit her lower lip. Three hours was a lot of time, and if that had taken Dusk just to make one charm… Just how much time had it been since Blaze hypnotized them? She shook her head, she could think about it later, right now she needed a plan.

“Say,” Sunset said, pausing as ideas kept popping up in her mind. “Can you undo the spell from my friends? Or override it, or something?”

Dusk simply shook her head. “Nope. Aria is waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than me at spells, and Obedience Spells are the most difficult to cast, but also the most stable and difficult to dispel.” She placed her arms behind her and swiftly swayed her body. “That’s why I had to make a charm. It takes a lot of time, but it’s the only way to negate Aria’s spells.”

Sunset hummed. “Negate, huh? So, I can just take the charm off and give it to my friends, and we’d all be free from the spell?”

At that, Dusk scratched the side of her head. “Hmm, not immediately, no,” she admitted. “You’d have to wear it for at least an hour before Aria’s spell completely disappears. If you take it off now, the spell would return, weaker, but effective.”

That was discouraging, but Sunset was already formulating a plan. She just needed to confirm a few more things. “Ok, you can’t do anything about the spell, but… Can you give them orders while they’re like that?”

Dusk smiled again. “Sure can! That’s how I got you lot here!” She said. “Aria wants nothing to do with humans, so she let me have you here until tomorrow because Adagio doesn’t like me having humans in my room.”

Sunset didn’t know whether to feel relieved or offended by that. “Alright,” she said, deciding to deal with that later. “So, convincing Blaze will be difficult. But if we work together, I think it’s possible.” She saw Dusk smile broadly, and felt a surge of confidence that warmed her. “You said she likes to eat a lot, right? Well, we’ll use that to our advantage.”

“How?”

“With some sleeping pills,” Sunset said simply. “We ground a pair, put them in her food, and she’ll be asleep and won’t wake up until much later. That’s when we’ll take her to your room.”

Dusk nodded.

“For the moment, though,” Sunset added. “I’ll be acting as if I was still under her spell, just so she doesn’t suspect.” Dusk nodded again, and Sunset took a sharp breath. “Alright, let’s go to a pharmacy and get some.”

She began to walk, but stopped as she turned to the hypnotized girls and her eyes fell upon Trixie. She hesitated and swayed indecisively for a moment. After some consideration, she walked up to Trixie and placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’re taking her with us,” she told Dusk, then gave Trixie a soft squeeze.

Dusk nodded. “Follow us,” she said, and Sunset noticed a faint breeze in her ears. Immediately after, Trixie shifted, as if acknowledging the command.

Sunset pursed her lips, trying to keep herself from screaming out her anger. She forced herself to calm down and turned around, leading both Dusk and Trixie out the room and into the apartment.

The place was just as she remembered it, every bit as elegant, expensive, and empty-looking. She saw Dusk approach the front door, and just as she reached for the electronic reader, the door beeped and opened.

Sunset quickly adopted a zombie-like posture and waited, feeling her heart race and cold sweat running down the sides of her face, and casually stepped in front of Trixie. Aria Blaze entered the apartment, stopping suddenly at the sight of Dusk. She glanced at Sunset, and back at Dusk.

“What are you doing?” she asked, and Sunset felt relieved that she sounded more annoyed than suspicious.

“We’re going to the pharmacy!” Dusk replied chirpily. “I don’t know what that means, but it sounds like fun!”

Sunset felt a huge need to smack the girl all the way back to Equestria.

Fortunately, Blaze didn’t start suspecting her sister, and instead just stared at Dusk for the longest time. “I swear you get weirder by the day,” she finally said and started walking to the hallway. “I’ll be in my room, and I don’t want you to bother me with your stupid ideas.”

“But it’s the truth!” Dusk insisted, but Blaze just ignored her.

Once Blaze was out of sight, Sunset grabbed Dusk by the arm and urged her outside. She counted three whole seconds after the door closed behind her before she let out a heavy sigh.

“Let’s try to hurry,” Sunset said barely above a whisper. “I’m not comfortable with leaving my friends alone with Blaze.”

“Pfft, don’t worry, Aria won’t do anything to ‘em,” Dusk replied with a wave of her hand. “She doesn’t like getting near my room. She says it’s too pink,” she said, then added with a harrumph. “That’s probably why she thrashed it.”

“I see…” Sunset said.

As they took the elevator, Sunset started to muse about the situation. Everyone in the house had been hypnotized by Aria Blaze and taken to the sirens’ penthouse. It hadn’t felt like what Shimmer had described when she helped capturing Dusk, or when she had listened to the Dazzlings’ music. No, this had been much stronger; an Obedience Spell, Dusk had called it.

Sunset had many questions roaming her mind, but one took priority: How had Blaze gotten to them? She had gone for Shimmer first, that much was clear, but how? Shimmer had gone to her parents’ house to, in her own words, ‘sort some things with them’. and Blaze had intercepted her at some point. But how had she learned where Shimmer lived?

And then she remembered the concert she and Shimmer had attended. Of course! The sirens had seen Shimmer! How had it not occurred to them? Of course they’d start investigating as soon as Dusk didn’t show up! It would’ve been so easy for them to demand the CCTV footage from outside the concert, recognize Shimmer and compare her face to any kind of record, including criminal records.

From there, it might’ve been just a matter of time before Shimmer decided to show up at her registered home and attack.

This time, Sunset didn’t resist the urge to face-palm.

We’re lucky they didn’t decide to straight-up murder us, Sunset thought. Of course they had gone covered for the most part, but they hadn’t exactly covered their faces. How could they have been so careless? Sunset looked at Trixie, and her stomach fell at the thought of having put her in danger.

She hugged Trixie and hiccuped. She knew it really wasn’t her fault, logic told her so, but her heart betrayed reason. Blaze had, for some reason, decided not to kill all of them the very moment she saw them. Maybe Blaze had been more focused on saving Dusk, and before she could actually decide to get rid of them, Dusk had asked her to let her have them.

But, had it been Dazzle… The one that Dusk had called ‘the strongest of the three’, the leader of the sirens… Would she have been as merciful? Or, instead, she would’ve been ruthless? The sole thought of her friends, of Trixie, murdered, because of her one single mistake made Sunset nauseous.

She tightened the embrace, noticing how Trixie had remained completely still, and it broke her heart. She had to make things right, she had to stop the sirens before they went too far, and she was going to do so even if it was the last thing she’d do.

With one last squeeze, Sunset stepped back and turned to Dusk, who was looking at her with a troubled face, biting her lower lip. There was something in her eyes that made Sunset stop.

She noticed just then that Dusk looked kind of tired, but it wasn’t sleep she was lacking. No, Sunset knew what the siren needed was energy. ‘I’m hungry’, had been pretty much the first thing Dusk had told her the moment the charm broke the obedience spell. Sunset still didn’t know how long had it been since Blaze had arrived, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Dusk hadn’t fed, even if she had free reign to do so.

And the look she was giving Sunset was one of a famished person.

Sunset narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. Dusk seemed to genuinely want to stop her sisters from becoming Windigos, and she sounded honest about wanting to change her way of thinking. If Sunset played her cards well, she was sure she could even convince her to side with them.

Taking a short breath in, Sunset flashed Dusk a smile. “You can feed off my energy,” she said.

Dusk’s eyes widened. “Really?” She asked happily and, not a moment after, her gem glowed faintly as she closed her eyes and smiled. A few seconds later, she sighed, satisfied, then looked at Sunset. “Thanks.”

Sunset nodded. “What are friends for?”

That took the siren by surprise. “Friends?”

“Yes,” Sunset replied simply. In that moment, the elevator stopped, having reached the first floor. As Sunset stepped outside, she continued. “I know you need to feed, so I’m not taking that away from you,” she explained as they passed the mildly annoyed guard lady and crossed the foyer. “Just be careful, wouldn’t want to feed too often and become a Windigo, now would you?”

Dusk shook her head as she got to Sunset’s side.

“So, I think you should only feed when you’re hungry,” Sunset explained. “And only energy that you see it’s already there. Don’t force people to produce energy, much less with your magic.”

Dusk cocked her head. “Why not?”

They stopped as they reached the sidewalk, and Sunset made sure Trixie was nearby and out of danger. She grabbed Trixie’s hand and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Because,” she replied, making sure it was safe to cross the street. “It’s not nice to force people to have emotions they don’t want to experience. Why would I want to argue with my friends or hug a person I dislike?”

“For example,” she continued as they got to the other side, taking notice on how Trixie could evade other people even in her dazed state. “If I ever argued with Trixie for no apparent reason, I would feel terrible afterward.” She shuddered as she remembered a certain event a few months back. “And, if I somehow knew I argued with her because of someone’s magic, I would be really angry at that someone. Do you understand?”

Dusk nodded and lowered her head. “So, do you hate us?”

Sunset took a shaky breath as she considered the question. “I’m angry, but I don’t hate you.” She looked at Trixie once more, feeling her emotions almost betraying her words. Almost. “I believe you three don’t know better. As far as I’m concerned, you act in the way you were taught to, so I can’t really hate you for not knowing. But now you know how I… How we feel, so if you keep forcing us with your magic, then…”

The threat wasn’t exactly terrifying, Sunset reckoned, but it did seem to have an effect on Dusk. The girl seemed to have lost her childish happy-go-lucky naivety, for now. It didn’t quite feel like a win to Sunset, but she had to make the siren differentiate between good and bad, and she had to do it fast.

It took just a few minutes of asking around for Sunset to locate the pharmacy. And as they entered the small locale, she couldn’t help but glare in awe. Sure, she had been in the human world for 3 years, and she had visited a pharmacy once or twice, but it was still an incredible achievement these humans had made with medicine. Back in Equestria, only hospitals had medicine, and if one wanted a more-or-less successful heal, they had to go to their local herbalist.

Sunset made an effort not to look like an addict, and made her way to the countertop, noticing the lack of clients. It probably was a slow day. “Hi,” she greeted the grumpy-looking clerk, who just now had seemed to notice her presence. “Do you have some sleeping pills?”

The clerk, a middle-aged man of grayish blue skin and short brown hair, regarded her for a moment, then looked at Dusk, and finally at Trixie. A few seconds later he turned back to Sunset. “Show me your ID.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “Ah, excuse me, do I look like a child?”

“Yes,” he replied with a grunt. “You lot do. Now show me your ID, or no pills for you.”

She was about to give him a piece of her mind, but Sunset deduced that would be pretty stupid. She huffed and reached for her pocket, only to find it empty. She paused and searched all her pockets, four in her jeans and two in her jacket, but no wallet. “Crap,” she said as she turned to Dusk. “I don’t suppose you have one, do you?”

Dusk shook her head.

Sunset turned to Trixie, and was about to tell Dusk to ‘ask’ her to show hers, but she remembered that Trixie kept her ID in a small coin purse she always hid within her jeans or skirt, and right now, there was nothing resembling a purse sticking out of her.

Her thoughts and ideas coming and going at frightening speeds in her mind, Sunset quickly devised a plan she did not like, but was her fastest choice. She excused herself to a very amused pharmacist and ushered both Dusk and Trixie near the entrance, where she believed a hushed conversation would not be heard by the annoying man.

“Alright, Dusk,” she whispered just loud enough for the siren to hear her. “I will need you to do something for me.”

“Sure!” Dusk replied happily and loudly.

Sunset frowned. “Don’t speak so loud!” she hissed, and Dusk only nodded. “Listen, we’ll go back to the counter, and you will use your magic to make him give us a box of sleeping pills.”

Dusk made a face. “But you just said I shouldn’t hypnotize people.”

“I know,” Sunset said between her teeth. “But… ok, here’s the thing.” She took a deep breath as she came up with a convincing and not-so-hypocritical explanation. “It’s not ok to hypnotize people for personal gain, much less to force them to have emotions they don’t have or want to have. That still remains true. Here, however, is an exception to that rule.”

“An exception?”

“Yes,” Sunset replied. “See, we don’t want the sleeping pills for ourselves, we want them just so we can take Blaze to your room safely, so we can convince her that being a Windigo is a bad idea, and also tell her all the things about magic misuse we’ve been telling you. So, you won’t be making him have any emotion he doesn’t already have, and you won’t be feeding from it. You only want something to help your sister, and this is a one-time thing, because in any other circumstance, I would’ve have everything I need to get the pills without the magic.” She paused for a moment. “Do you understand?”

Dusk cocked her head for a moment. “I think so…”

“Basically,” Sunset continued, “You’re doing it because you want to help others, not yourself. And it’s just this one time, and if you can help it, you will avoid doing it again.”

“Ok…” Dusk replied, and Sunset thought she’d need to have a long talk with the siren to make sure she understood.

They walked up to the counter, where the pharmacist waited for them, having observed them the whole time. He was frowning.

“Listen, kid. Why don’t we make this easier for everyone and you just leave? You’re certainly not the first teenager that thinks they can-”

In that moment, Dusk hummed softly, and the man quickly fell in a dazed state, very similar to Trixie’s. Once again, Sunset could feel a soft breeze in her ears.

“Outs… mart…” the man slurred, and a stupid smile appeared on his face. “I’s dos… se phee…”

Dusk opened her mouth, and Sunset noticed that, somehow, even as the siren spoke, the hum remained in her voice. “Would you kindly give me a box of sleeping pills?” She asked, and Sunset thought her voice sounded sweeter, more inviting, as if she were speaking to a child.

The pharmacist regarded Dusk with a look that made Sunset think he was inebriated. “Sure…” He turned around, and walked up to one of the shelves. He moved with ease and confidence, painfully contrasting with the ‘I’m totally wasted’ expression he had in his face. It took him only a moment to find the box and return to the counter, offering it to Dusk.

“Thank you,” Dusk said, accepting the box and giving it to Sunset.

“Let’s go,” Sunset said, and quickly took the girls outside, making a mental note to make Dusk come back and pay for the medicine.

Once outside, Sunset stopped feeling the breeze in her ears, and a look to her right confirmed that Dusk had stopped using magic.

“Was that an Obedience spell?” She asked with genuine curiosity.

Dusk blinked at her. “Of course not, silly!” She replied with a giggle. “That was just a Lull spell.”

Sunset began walking, making the girls follow her. “What’s the difference?”

“Well, Lull spells are, like, the easiest spells. We use them for everything!” Dusk explained excitedly. “They’re very easy to cast, and people always do what we tell them to do… Well, almost always. Some are more resistant, and the tee-bee and the telephones and that weird human stuff lower the effect… And yeah they are, like, super easy to counter. A loud noise is enough to snap someone out of it.”

“I see,” Sunset said. She couldn’t help but feel excited about this information, not just because it was essential in fighting the sirens, but because a big part of herself, her inner scholar, was giddy at the prospect of learning of such ancient, unknown magic. And so, as they traveled through the streets, Sunset decided to ask more. “What are all the spells you can use, and how do they work?”

Dusk hummed thoughtfully. “Well, I don’t really know a lot. Aria’s the one that knows everything about it…” She then gave Sunset a happy smile. “But I will tell you what I do know!”

Sunset smiled giddily.

“So, I told you already about Lull spells,” Dusk said. “And Obedience spells, which are, like, the strongest and hardest to break. But they also need a lot of magic…” She placed a finger on her mouth. “I wonder why Aria used Obedience spells on all of you. She must’ve spent like half her magic on the six of you.”

Half her magic?!, Sunset thought. If the sirens always used their weakest spells, and could control hundreds, if not thousands of people at once, then these Obedience Spells had to be pretty much an absolute binding of the mind for them to require so much magic for so few people. The implications were enormous.

“We can also enchant things!” Dusk continued happily. “Like the charm you have, that negates our magic. Adagio says enchantments are pointless, but they’re so much fun! I once enchanted a bell that, when tolled, made anyone who heard it quack!” She giggled.

Sunset smiled, despite herself, at such a silly idea. “So, everything you enchant has to do with sound?”

“Yep!” Dusk replied. “There are so many things I can do with my enchantments!” She paused, and all her mirth vanished as she glanced down. “But Adagio says it’s stupid and impractical…”

“That’s not a nice thing to say,” Sunset said, honestly surprised. She herself had favored enchantments back when she was a magic student, and she knew very well the incredible potential in them. “I mean, you can make an object that gives anyone who wears it complete immunity to your spells. I, for one, think that’s worth some praise.”

Dusk smiled weakly. “Thanks.”

They returned to the huge apartment complex and quickly made their way to the elevators.

“What else can you do with your voices?” Sunset asked.

“Well, we can use sound waves for our spells, too,” Dusk replied, placing a finger on her lips. “They’re a lot more powerful and effective, and we could use them to attack, but they depend a lot on our magical output. Aria and I can break glass and stuff, but Adagio… She can do anything. She’s so strong she can defeat anyone in a one-on-one!”

Sunset hummed thoughtfully. The more Dusk talked about the other sirens, the more Sunset was convinced that, more than creatures of pure evil, the sirens were just confused by their natural need of becoming Windigos. That still was a big mystery to Sunset. It just didn’t make any sense that any given creature would want to just mindlessly turn into a force of nature willingly.

According to the history books Sunset had read from the forbidden wing of the Royal Archives, bad guys always had motivations like world domination, revenge, race superiority, etc. It was only sirens that seemed to ‘naturally’ become spirits that were less evil and more instinct-driven calamities.

And yet, Dusk had claimed that they consciously wanted that, even if they didn’t really know why or what happened next. Sunset wanted to know badly, but first she had to stop them from turning this world into a white wasteland.

As the elevator raised them to the top floor, Sunset focused on the task at hand.

“Alright, Dusk, this is what we’ll do,” she explained. “I will put a pill or two into a drink that you will give Blaze. What does she like most? Soda? Tea?”

“Oh, she loves chocolate milk!” Dusk replied. “She says it’s the only, uh… ‘redeemable quality humans have’, or something like that.”

“... Right,” Sunset said, then cleared her throat. “So, you give it to her. Make sure she drinks all of it, and then we wait for her to fall asleep. Once she does, we’ll take her, and my friends, to your room. There, we will help you convince her to stop pursuing the goal of becoming a Windigo. In exchange, you will help us teach her about not hypnotizing people, and making friends and everything else we’ve been telling you. Deal?”

“Deal!”

Sunset gave her a half smile. She was really hoping this wouldn’t blow up in her face later.

There was a ding, and the elevator’s doors opened right in front of the penthouse’s entrance. Sunset took a deep breath. “Remember, Dusk, I’ll be acting as if I’m still hypnotized, so we don’t have any problems, alright?”

“Yep!”

They entered the house, and Sunset quickly adopted her zombie-like postures and actions. She still tried to get a good look at the house. Finding the main area empty, she made her way to the kitchen, sending Trixie to Dusk’s room, and began preparing her little concoction.

It was ironic, Sunset thought. When she was Canterlot’s Bee Queen, she had done many bad things. She had lied, manipulated, stolen, blackmailed, and overall been a massive bitch to everyone. And now, as she tried to save her friends, and the whole world by proxy, she had done even worse things; Breaking and entering, kidnapping, stealing, and now, drugging someone.

Ironic, indeed.

Once she was finished, Sunset carefully tucked the medicine box inside her jacket, grabbed the glass and exited the kitchen. She almost dropped said glass as she saw Aria Blaze, carelessly lounging on the huge five-seat couch, doing her best to ignore Dusk as she grabbed a TV remote and turned on a monstrosity of a TV that had so far blended with the black wall it had been placed on.

Thankfully, Blaze had yet to realize Sunset’s presence, so she had time to recover from her surprise and adopt the hypnotized daze she hoped would fool the siren.

“I told you not to bother me, Sonata,” Blaze said as she changed channels.

“But this is important!” Dusk insisted, leaning on the couch from behind. “If we become Windigos, we’ll be super stupid!”

Blaze rolled her eyes. “You’re already ahead of us.”

Steadying herself and taking a deep breath, Sunset walked up to Blaze and, doing her best to glare at nothing in particular, offered her the drink.

Blaze turned to Sunset and glared, not at the glass of chocolate milk, but at her. If Sunset hadn’t had her eyes half narrowed, forcing a blurry vision, and consciously staring into space, she would’ve noticed that Blaze was actually looking straight into her eyes with a huge frown.

Had Sunset noticed, she would probably have started panicking hard.

“Why is she bringing me this?” Blaze asked as she finally looked down at the glass.

“She wants you to drink it, duh!” Dusk replied.

Sunset felt her heartbeat quicken. Just how dumb is that girl?!, she thought.

Blaze sighed heavily and massaged the bridge of her nose. “I’m not in the mood for your stupid games, Sonata. And bribing me won’t get you anywhere.” She made no attempt to take the glass, instead focusing again on the T.V.

“I’m not bribing!” Dusk retorted, stomping her foot angrily.

“Where did you get that idea from, anyway?” Blaze asked, still lazily changing channels.

Dusk opened her mouth, but then caught a glance of Sunset, who was looking at her with a panicked and intense glare. An impressive feat, considering she was still trying to appear hypnotized. And for all her childish ignorance of the world, Dusk actually picked up on it, and nodded an understanding to Sunset.

“It’s common sense!” She finally replied.

Blaze stopped, shocked, and slowly turned back to regard Dusk with such a distrusting expression, Sunset feared she would attack any moment. “What?”

“Common sense!” Dusk repeated, placing her hands on her hips and raising up her chin. She looked quite pleased with herself, in Sunset’s opinion. “Have you seen a Windigo talk or feed or anything, like, ever?”

“Windigos are superior,” Blaze argued. “They won’t bother themselves with mere sirens like us.” She shifted in her place to take a better look at Dusk. “Do you ever listen to Adagio? Do you even listen to yourself?”

Dusk frowned and leaned forward, closing the distance with Blaze. “I do! And I also think, even if you say I don’t!”

“Then you should stop thinking,” Blaze replied angrily, raising her voice. Sunset felt a soft breeze in her ears. “Because now you’re spitting out more nonsense!”

“It’s not nonsense!” Dusk said, and her voice also produced the breeze Sunset was becoming all too familiar with. “Just think about it! Windigos only go places to cause blizzards! They don’t talk, or sing, or feed… They don’t even eat!”

Blaze’s eyes widened, but Sunset couldn’t discern if it was out of surprise, horror, or something else.

With a quick movement, Blaze stood up and rounded to couch to meet Dusk. She got uncomfortably close to Dusk, leaning her upper body forward, trying to make herself look taller, bigger, and glared down at Dusk. She looked quite astonished when Dusk did the same, and their foreheads met.

Sunset looked between the sirens, dropping her act for just a moment, amazed by the display. She was no expert, but she was pretty sure they were trying to subdue each other and impose their superiority in a sort of primal herd hierarchy.

Suddenly, Sunset was thankful she had paid attention whenever Fluttershy talked about her animals.

Finally, Blaze huffed, stepped back, and flicked a finger on Dusk’s forehead.

“Hey!” Dusk complained as she took a hand to her face. Sunset noticed the breeze had stopped at some point.

Blaze ignored her and circled the couch again. She snatched the glass from Sunset’s hand and sat down. “Go away, I want to be alone,” she said as she took a big swig of the chocolaty goodness, drinking at least half in one go.

Sunset looked at Dusk, waited for her to notice, and nodded towards the room. Dusk cocked her head for a moment, then opened her mouth in realization. “Fine, be stupid if you want,” she told Blaze. “Come with me,” she ordered Sunset, and walked up to her room.

Suppressing a relieved sigh, Sunset simply followed Dusk, making a titanic effort not to glance back to make sure Blaze finished the drink.

Once inside Dusk’s room, Sunset closed the door and quickly scanned the surroundings.

The rest of the girls had remained there, standing and unmoving. Were it not for them blinking, she would’ve thought they were wax figures. She grabbed her charm through her shirt and glanced at Trixie, then at Shimmer.

Once they captured Blaze, they’d need to come up with a way to convince her to help them stop the third siren from hypnotizing people and stuff. She made a face as a thought occurred to her. Would it be a good idea to have both Blaze and Dusk in the same place? It could be counterproductive if Blaze tried to undo all they’ve been doing to get Dusk to turn to the good side.

Shimmer had turned that whole room into a hostage room, but Sunset wasn’t sure she’d do the same for a second room, at least, not fast enough. And even then, how much of a good idea would it be to take Dusk back into captivity? The siren had gone out of her way to create a charm for Sunset so they could help her stop Blaze from trying to become a Windigo. Even if it was just to help her sister and not really for the greater good, she was helping them.

Sunset pressed one of the seashells a little harder. This was going to lead to yet another long argument. She could feel it, and she was certainly not looking forward to it.

Dusk smiled mischievously at Sunset. “She drank it!” She announced in a loud whisper. She was enjoying this a bit too much, Sunset thought. She probably was thinking about it as a sort of game.

“Not all of it, but it should be enough,” Sunset replied. “According to the instructions, the pills will kick in in fifteen to twenty minutes. So we’ll just wait.”

“Ok!” Dusk said, then sat on her bed. “So, I was thinking…”

Sunset turned to her. “About?”

Dusk kicked the air with her legs repeatedly, excitedly. “You said I can’t use my magic to force people to produce energy to feed, but I can feed on energy that is already there, right?”

“Yes…”

“But, can I still make people produce energy without my magic?”

Sunset bit her lower lip. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she replied. “You see, that’s called manipulation, and people don’t like to be around someone that tricks them into fighting each other.”

“Oh…” Dusk pursed her lips. “But what if the energy is directed to me?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Yeah, like, I make people love me or hate me, but without my magic!”

“Well… I believe that’s still called manipulation, and it’s a bad thing,” Sunset said. “Though, if you’re just yourself around people, if you just make friends and interact with people, they all will have different feelings towards you, and they will produce different kinds of energy.”

Dusk scrunched her face.

Sunset sighed and sat down besides her. “For example, once these girls stop being hypnotized, they’ll have different feelings towards you, but that won’t be enough, right?” Dusk nodded. “So, you just need to interact with them, and whatever they do, they’ll show you how they feel, producing energy as a result. You won’t need to use your magic or force them or anything, you just have to be yourself.”

Dusk hummed. “So, if I’m craving some hate energy, I just go with someone that hates me, right?”

That made Sunset stop a little. “Well, I don’t think you’ll enjoy interacting with someone that hates you, but sure, that’s the idea.”

“Cool!” Dusk replied, then pointed towards Shimmer. “Cuz I know she hates me, like a lot!”

Sunset looked between Shimmer and Dusk a few times, then back at Dusk. “Oh, uh… Yeah…” She cleared her throat. “So, uh… I suppose you already know we’re two people. Sorry for keeping it secret…”

Dusk blinked. “It was a secret?”

Sunset paused and slowly turned her torso to Dusk. “You knew?” She asked apprehensively.

“Well, yeah!” Dusk replied as if she had been asked if she could talk. “You two produce different kinds of energy all the time, and you act super different from each other.”

“I see…” Sunset said as she brought her hands to her mouth. She considered this new information, and realized she didn’t feel unnerved or afraid, but relieved. The more she talked with Dusk, the more she came to the conclusion that the siren was so much smarter than she looked, and knew a lot more than she let on.

And the fact that Dusk hadn’t even considered to easily overpower them and escape, but instead had complied to all their demands. Sure, she had been threatened with the destruction of her gem, but if Blaze easily beating them told Sunset anything, it was that Dusk had just been tagging along the other sirens, enjoying the ride, and had no real ill intentions.

She was just a child that couldn’t differentiate between good and bad. And Sunset didn’t know how to feel about it.

Sunset took a deep breath. “I think you already understand, more or less, what I’ve been trying to teach you,” she said, and saw Dusk looking expectantly at her. “Let’s get to the next step, shall we?”

Dusk cocked her head, still smiling. “And what’s that?”

“Well, I’d like to know you better,” Sunset replied. “You know, what you like, what you dislike, your hobbies…”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Dusk said happily, using her fingers to count as she went. “I like humans, I dislike birds, and my hobby is writing!”

Sunset looked blankly at the siren. These were probably going to be the longest fifteen to twenty minutes ever.

Author's Note:

My dear editor and friend Crow pointed out this chapter was a bit too fast on the "resolution", so we tweaked it a bit and added a scene or two. I hope you like it nonetheless!

Comments

[Dr Mysterious Shade]

Called it (sort of, almost, kinda) on how they caught Shimmer.

Anyway good chapter. Divide and conquer is usually a good tactic for taking down stronger opponents.

[JMP]

Really selling the idea of Sonata simply being naive rather than an idiot. This is still a really tricky situation, but there's potential here. I wonder if Sonata could order the rest of the girls to gather materials for more charms? Might speed up the process a bit. Though I think Aria would get suspicious rather quickly. If she isn't already.

[Cpt Creampuff]

I'm guessing the argument is gonna be Sunset convincing the others to not put Sonata back in the room only Aria

[starwantrix]

Damn that was quite good as always c:, the plot is so thick it makes me worried with each twist, I don't know how you do it, but you're a genius. Anyways, good luck with finishing the story, can't wait to see what will happen next :D

For quite some time I've been drawing for my favorite writers on fimfiction, fanart to their fanfictions, but I can't quite think about anything to draw for this fanfiction. There were quite awesome scenes but they weren't climax that made me on edge, because the whole story is too exciting, but I can't really draw the whole story, right? So, would you like me to draw anything for you? Anything, just name it. BUT, if there is a Trixie in your request it will be twice as pleasant for me to draw for you. That is if you like any art I draw, just look me up on deviantart.

[German Kaiserreich]

please come back to this

[saidamismamis]

Sunset miró inexpresivamente a la sirena. Estos probablemente serían los quince o veinte minutos más largos de la historia.

Please comeback, I just discovered this story :c