Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

Talk of the Island

Rarity felt every single note of the siren’s song flow through her like she wasn’t even there. Every note cut through her body like a hot knife through butter. Whatever the music demanded of her, she felt compelled to do. And that music was trying to draw her down to the lagoon, to reveal her presence to the siren using their island as her own personal rehearsal studio.

Thankfully, she had Gyro to keep her under control. For whatever reason, the siren’s music didn’t seem to move Gyro like it did her or Rainbow. And whenever either of them started to get a little too into the music, a little too eager to go down the hill and get a closer look at the siren, Gyro would drag them back to the bush. Maybe Gyro was right, Rarity decided. Maybe the siren’s song didn’t affect her because she wasn’t interested in mares like Rainbow or herself. Whatever it was, the only reason Rainbow and Rarity didn’t go down the hill was because of the mechanic’s vigilance.

But the siren sang like nothing Rarity had ever heard. Even the duet her and Rainbow had eavesdropped on weeks ago at the shore in the middle of the night had nothing on listening to a siren sing up close and in person. Perhaps it was the clarity afforded by the reduced distance, but this siren’s songs made the duet from those days long passed seem like amateur work. It was perfect, perfect in a way Rarity knew she’d never experience again, and that knowledge nearly made her weep in sadness.

Yet despite the trivial worries of the ponies trapped on the island, the siren sang on. She effortlessly put her heart and soul into everything, singing like it came natural to her—and Rarity knew that it did. Sirens were creatures of song, as powerful, fascinating, and dangerous as the music they sang. But to see that music embodied by a living creature was something else. Rarity had heard from Twilight the stories about the three sirens that once tried to dominate Equestria in an era long since passed. If all sirens were like the one she saw before her, she knew that Equestria wouldn’t stand a chance if they tried. How can you resist such a perfect song telling you to do whatever the siren wants you to do?

But after a time, after numerous songs spanning almost every inconceivably beautiful melody, the siren drew to a quiet conclusion on the beach. The gem in her chest ceased to glow, and she seemingly deflated as her final note dwindled to nothingness. Frowning, for it was obvious to Rarity that the siren’s downward tilt of her head and the curving of her beak was nothing short of a frown, the beautiful mare of the sea pawed at the sand beneath her hooves and sighed. Even the sigh was melodic and beautiful, not like anything Rarity would expect from a creature so large and so dangerous.

Rainbow shook her head, snapping out of whatever spell the siren’s last song had on her mind. After a moment to take in her surroundings and note the seemingly despondent siren sitting in the lagoon, she turned to Rarity. “What’s her deal? Why’d she stop?”

“I couldn’t tell you even if I knew,” Rarity said. “She seems so… sad.”

Gyro frowned at the scaly green mare sitting in the shallow water of the lagoon. “Just because her songs were pretty and everything doesn’t mean I’m gonna trust her. I’ve heard sailors who tell stories of the times they’ve been tempted by sirens. It never ends well, I can promise you that much.”

Rarity cocked an eyebrow at Gyro. “Sailors seem like the least trustworthy source of information, given their superstitions and all. Did any of them ever see a siren up close?”

The hesitation before the mechanic answered was all the confirmation Rarity needed. “Well… no,” Gyro admitted, “but they swear by those stories. It’s why their unicorns are trained in silence spells. Experienced crews will keep one around so that they can cast a sphere of silence on the ship and block out any siren’s song the moment they hear them. Usually, those unicorns are mares, for reasons we all saw today.”

“That doesn’t mean anything to us here,” Rarity insisted. She frowned as she looked at the seemingly despondent siren on the beach. “She seems so sad and lonely. I want to just go down to the beach and talk to her.”

But Gyro remained adamant. “Don’t trust them,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do if one of you got turned into pony bits by that siren’s beak. They’re dangerous, and their songs are just another reason why.”

Even still, that left Rarity biting her lip, even if she did remain stationary at Gyro’s warnings. “I just wish I could talk to her,” she said. “Do you think we could safely have a conversation from here?”

“Didn’t Twilight say that sirens could fly?” Rainbow asked. “Like they wiggle their tails and crap and then they can hover and fly like pegasi. If we let her know we’re here, she could catch us no matter where we ran to.”

“I don’t know if that’s true of all sirens or just those three that grew strong enough to try and subjugate all of Equestria once upon a time,” Rarity admitted. “Even so, that one siren is much larger than I thought they were. I imagined they’d be bigger than us, but only slightly. I didn’t expect them to be so enormous.”

“She could eat Rainbow whole,” Gyro said. “And it probably would be messy.”

Rainbow frowned. “I wouldn’t go down without a fight.”

“A fight against something like that without the ability to fly seems like it’d only go one way,” Gyro countered. “I’d put my bits on the siren.”

Then Rarity saw the siren move, and she immediately started shaking Gyro’s shoulder. “Stop bickering, you two!” she hissed, leaning further into the brush. “She’s moving!”

Gyro and Rainbow ceased arguing and peered back through the trees. Sure enough, after a few minutes of silence, the siren turned back out to the ocean. Using her hooves to pull herself through the surf and sand, the siren dragged her massive emerald body out to the water until the tide finally enveloped her fins and her tail. Then, flaring her nostrils, the siren ducked her head under the water and began to swim away, her translucent dorsal fin remaining above the water for quite some time until it finally slipped beneath the waves once more.

Rarity felt a profound sense of loss and heartbreak just from observing the sight. “She’s… gone,” she murmured, standing up and peering out over the brush. “Just like that.”

Gyro breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank Celestia,” she said, standing up at Rarity’s side. “The last thing we needed was a siren becoming a permanent guest here. Nothing good would come from that, I swear.”

“I kinda miss her music already,” Rainbow said. “It was really good.”

“Yes,” Rarity agreed. “It was.”

“It’s certainly like nothing I’ve ever heard,” Gyro said, finally beginning to relax after having to take care of Rarity and Rainbow for the past hour. “It was so beautiful. Sirens really are like angels. Too bad they eat ponies and their emotions.”

“Her gem was glowing a little bit,” Rainbow said. “Did you see that?”

Rarity slowly nodded. “Yes, I did. What do you think that was about?”

Gyro shrugged. “Maybe she was feeding off of the birds and stuff? They were definitely quiet while she was singing.”

“I don’t know,” Rainbow said. “Do you think she was feeding off of us? Her songs were definitely in my head.”

“I’m not so sure about that one, darling,” Rarity said. “I would imagine if that were true she’d be more adamant in drawing us out. She would know we were on the island, so why not go the distance?”

“I think she was,” Gyro said. “You two might’ve been really caught up in the music and everything, but I wasn’t. If I wasn’t there to stop you, you probably would’ve gone trotting down the hill and sat your dumb asses in front of her while she sang.”

Rarity pursed her lips. “Then it’s a good thing you managed to get Gyro and myself to the hill before you decided to listen, Rainbow,” she said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to stop you from doing that.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to stop her,” Gyro insisted. “Let’s not forget who the MVP was here.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Yes, quite,” she said, lightly bumpbing her shoulder into Gyro’s. “Where would we be without you.”

“Stop asking her that question,” Rainbow grumbled. “Where would she be without us?”

“Probably minotaur food or starved to death,” Gyro said. “Either of those aren’t really all that fun. I definitely wouldn’t bring my hypothetical kids if I hypothetically had any.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “You want kids?”

“If I hypothetically got laid by a hypothetical stallion,” Gyro said with a smirk. “Hypothetically speaking of course.”

“Hypothetically,” Rarity echoed.

Rainbow blinked. “That means like, supposedly, right?”

Rarity snorted. “I think we’re done here,” she said. “Would you like to investigate the lagoon, Gyro?” she asked, extending her hoof to the mechanic.

The gray mare gladly and exaggeratedly took Rarity’s hoof. “I’d be delighted,” she said, following after Rarity as she started to make her way down the hill. “That sounds absolutely wonderful.”

“I hate you two,” Rainbow grumbled, standing up and following them. “Why can’t everypony speak simple? That’d be awesome.”

Comments

[N4rwh41]

Please don't let this be the next astreau... Astrahue.... The next Eastward. I don't have nearly enough free time for that.

[Neece]

Well, it would be interesting to have some Siren dialogue. But then again, having un-eaten ponies is more.

[Aurora Dimmet]

8582054

This is a survival story, after all. That means making decisions which don't bone you.

[zaponator]

I still don't think we've seen the last of that siren.