Sweet Affection 3

by Masterob

Battle Begins

Twilight and her group had arrived in the Canterlot library, looking for any information they can get on the sirens.

"Have you found anything Sunburst?" Twilight asked, looking through an old book.

"Not yet, should be around here somewhere though," Sunburst said, placing a book aside and looking through a new one.

"I haven't had much luck either," Starlight said, searching for another book.

Twilight groaned in frustration, "We have to keep searching, the answer's around here somewhere!"

"The answer to what if I may ask?" they heard. They each turned to see Princess Celestia standing near the doorway. "Hello Twilight, always a pleasure to see you."

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight said, bowing a bit. "We needed to use your library, I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, though I am curious as to why you've suddenly come to Canterlot, weren't you planning something special in Ponyville?" Celestia asked.

"We were, but something's come up and-" Twilight had an idea. "Wait, Princess Celestia, maybe you can help as well!"

Celestia looked curious, "Help with what?"

"Do you know anything about Sirens?" Twilight asked.

"Sirens? They haven't existed in Equestria for a millennia, why do you wish to know?" Celestia asked.

"You know Rumble right? One of the foals I like to tutor on occasion?" Twilight asked, getting a nod from Celestia. "Well he got attacked by Sirens, three of them who are apparently aligned with Chrysalis."

"Chrysalis again? That mare never quits," Celestia said, looking really disappointed in hearing of the former Queen's return. "Wait, how would she have gotten in contact with Sirens? I thought Starswirl and the Pillars banished them?"

"We're not sure, we just needed some info on them, anything we can get," Twilight said.

Celestia tapped her chin, "I think I may know another who can help, another former student of mine who knows a lot about Sirens?"

"Another former student?" Sunburst asked. "Anyone I might know?"

"Not too likely, Twilight might know her though," Celestia said. "Wait here, I shall return with her."

As Celestia went to found the student she mentioned, Sunburst turned his attention to Twilight. "So, who is she talking about?"

"I think I might know, but I'm not too sure," Twilight said. "Let's just keep searching for any information on the Sirens we can find."

"Yeah, Celestia would know what she's doing," Starlight assured. "We'll just continue doing our part."

"I guess you're right," Sunburst said. "Hopefully we'll find out something soon."

---

Back at Twilight's Castle, Rumble was still laying in bed, looking a little annoyed at having to be bed ridden. He's a usually energetic colt, having to lay down and heal was so boring. Though with his wings broken, he knew he wouldn't be able to fly anyway. He cursed Adagio for this, such a sadistic mare.

It wasn't all bad, he had a couple of very cute nurses at least, his marefriend Sweetie Belle, and one of Starlight's village friends, Sugar Belle.

"Do you want your pillow fluffed Rumble?" Sugar Belle asked.

"How about another blanket?" Sweetie Belle suggested.

"I could make you some cookies if you'd like," Sugar Belle said.

"I could also get you some cocoa to go with that," Sweetie Belle said.

"I'm fine with some water, if I eat or drink anything too sugary then it'll make me too energetic, kinda of a bad feeling when you're stuck in bed," Rumble said.

"Right, water it is then," Sugar Belle said. "I'll go get some."

As Sugar Belle left, Sweetie Belle hopped on the bed, laying beside Rumble. "My poor Rumbly, I'm sorry I wasn't there to keep you safe from that mean Siren mare."

"It's fine, at least you didn't get hurt," Rumble said. "She was strong, and really mean."

"I bet if the two of us worked together, we'd be able to teach her a lesson," Sweetie Belle said. "I don't see why anypony would even want to hurt you though, you're so sweet, and super cute too."

"I'm not even that upset about what she did to me, more that they took Flurry Heart, now she's stuck with that mean Chrysalis and those Sirens, I'm worried they might hurt her," Rumble said.

"You did what you could to protect her I'm sure, probably why you got hurt, you have such admirable Loyalty Rumble," Sweetie Belle said.

Rumble sighed, "Lot of good that did, I couldn't even keep my promise to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor."

Sweetie Belle moved in to nuzzle Rumble, "Don't be too hard on yourself, you were by yourself against really strong enemies. I know you're brave and you can be as tough as you need to be, but Chrysalis had defeated even Princess Celestia once, I think you're strong, but even Chrysalis might be beyond your level, at least right now."

Rumble sighed in disappointment, "I know I'm weak, I can't save anypony as I am now."

"I'm not saying you're weak Rumble," Sweetie Belle corrected. "I'm just saying that there are some things you probably can't do alone. Remember, Twilight doesn't do things by herself, she always has her friends with her. Even Starswirl had a team of ponies helping him. Don't feel so terrible just because you lost, you were outnumbered, you still tried at least, that's worth something, at least to me."

Rumble felt a little relieved, but still a bit disappointed. "I still need training though, I don't like this feeling of defeat."

"We're all training Rumble, hopefully next time we'll all be together, and maybe we can at least put up a better fight," Sweetie Belle said.

Rumble chuckled a bit, "You always know what to say Sweetie Belle, I love you for that."

"I love you for being you," Sweetie Belle said with great affection.

The two shared a nice kiss together, both blushing a bit afterwards.

"Aw, how cute," they heard. They both turned to see Dinky standing there with a smug grin, "Little lovebirds aren't you?"

"Real funny Dinky," Rumble said with an angry blush.

"Sorry, but it's true, you two are all over each other," Dinky said, trotting over and getting onto the bed, opposite of Sweetie Belle. "Still, you really had me worried, what happened out there?"

"A lot of things," Rumble said.

"I heard about those Sirens, can't believe Chrysalis got help," Dinky said. "Some all powerful Queen she is."

"Well she still has strength, I felt her power when she blasted me to the ground, and I'm pretty sure she was holding back," Rumble said.

"Did you see how many Changelings were there? I mean there can't be as many as there used to be, they were already small in number to begin with, and after the last fight they're probably even lower in number," Dinky said.

"There didn't seem to be a lot, then again it was pretty dark and my mind was focused on trying to get Flurry back from Chrysalis and those Sirens," Rumble said.

Dinky tapped her chin, "I wonder what Chrysalis's reason for capturing Flurry is? Is it just to get revenge on Shining Armor and Cadance? To use her magic for something? A trap for the other ponies?"

"I think it's all three," Rumbe said. "Flurry has a lot of love magic, and Chrysalis is relying on her parents' love for her to go after Chrysalis with other ponies, where Chrysalis can defeat them and take there love. Plus since the Sirens feed off negativity, they'll gain strength from the hatred the ponies feel for Chrysalis."

"They really are a powerful pair aren't they?" Sweetie Belle said. "I hope Twilight and the others know what they're up against."

"Or they at least find somepony who can help," Dinky said.

A few seconds later, Sugar Belle arrived with some water. "Here you go Rumble, a nice cup of water." She levitated the water to Rumble, which the colt took in his hooves.

"Thanks Sugar Belle," Rumble said and consumed the liquid.

"It's no trouble, so are you achy anywhere? Need me to massage something for you?" Sugar Belle asked.

"Hey, only I get to massage Rumble," Sweetie Belle said. "He only trusts me with his body."

Sugar Belle slightly blushed on hearing that, "Well...that's nice, I guess."

"To be fair, I used to massage his wings, so you're not the only one he trusts," Dinky said.

"Well, I bet I'm more gentle," Sweetie Belle said.

"You saying I'm not gentle? I have to be gentle with Rumble, he's a bit fragile at times," Dinky said.

Rumble blushed in embarrassment, "What!? I am not!"

"That so?" Dinky asked. "I seem to remember Flitter always having to pamper you whenever you had a rough day of training, whether it's for flying or from combat training."

"Well, that's just Flitter being overly sisterly, that doesn't make me fragile," Rumble said.

"When I first massaged you, I remembered you whining because I was too rough," Dinky said.

"I didn't whine! I just...complained a little, there is a difference!" Rumble said.

"Sounds like something my sister would say," Sweetie Belle said.

Dinky shrugged it off, "Fine, whatever you say tough colt."

Rumble furrowed his brow at his best friend, "You're mocking me, aren't you?"

"Just passing the time," Dinky said.

"Speaking of time, I think it's time to let Rumble rest some more, he still has a lot of injuries to recover from," Sugar Belle said.

"Come on, I'm not even that hurt," Rumble insisted and tried getting up. "See, it's ea-ow!" Rumble started feeling pain in his wings again.

"Rumble! Don't move! You're going to make your injury worse!" Sweetie Belle commanded.

"Just lay down and relax for a bit, not like we're going anywhere," Dinky said.

"I just hope Chrysalis and those Sirens don't randomly show up here," Sweetie Belle said. "I mean what if Chrysalis tries to capture us again?"

"We'll be ready, I'm not afraid of those Changelings," Dinky insisted. "And I'd love to get revenge for Rumble on those Sirens."

"Hey I'm getting revenge for Rumble!" Sweetie Belle declared.

"I'd rather neither of you try to get revenge, I'm afraid one of you is gonna get hurt," Rumble said.

"Exactly," Sugar Belle interjected. "Which is why if they do come, and hopefully they won't, me and my friends will be fending them off."

"Do you have fighting expertise Sugar Belle?" Rumble asked.

"Well I'm more of a baker than a fighter, but I will step up if I need to," Sugar Belle said.

"Have you ever needed to before?" Dinky asked.

"Once, back when Starlight was trying to take our Cutie Marks," Sugar Belle said. "Me and my friends chased her through a snowy mountain pass."

"Oh right, I remember my sister talking about some nice ponies who helped her get her Cutie Mark back," Sweetie Belle said.

"I'm not strong in magic like Twilight is, or Starlight for that matter, but that won't stop me from trying my best," Sugar Belle said.

"Well we really appreciate that Sugar Belle," Rumble said. "Hopefully you won't have to prove your bravery to us, I don't to possibly see you getting hurt either."

"You're so sweet Rumble, I can see why Sweetie Belle loves you so much," Sugar Belle said.

"Also why he's my best friend," Dinky added.

"Right, anyway I should go check on the others, make sure they're all nice and comfy," Sugar Belle said, then started trotting off. "Remember to let Rumble rest up."

Once she had left, Dinky turned her attention to Rumble, "You really should rest up, I'm sure you want your wings all healed up right?"

"Yeah, that way I can fly again, and be able to hug Sweetie Belle without feeling pain in my wing," Rumble said.

"Don't forget me," Dinky said. "I get hugs from you too, best friend."

Rumble chuckled a bit nervously, "I haven't forgotten about you Dinky."

"I know you won't," Dinky said with a toothy grin. "Well I'll leave you to rest, let's go Sweetie Belle."

"Get well Rumble," Sweetie Belle said, then kissed Rumble's head as she jumped off the bed, following Dinky out of the room.

Rumble waved at the two, then sighed as he laid back against his pillow. "This really sucks, stupid sirens, if anypony's getting revenge, I'm gonna do it myself, not just for me, but to get back Flurry Heart and keep my promise to Cadance."

---

Elsewhere, Chrysalis is leading her forces alongside the Sirens as they make their way towards the direction of Ponyville with Flurry riding on Sonata's back.

"Um, I thought we weren't going to invade Ponyville," Sonata said.

"We're not 'invading', we're just making it easier for them to find us," Chrysalis said.

"Oooh...wait, what for?" Sonata asked.

Chrysalis groaned in annoyance, "So we can defeat them and take their magic!"

"Oh, ok...wait, who are we fighting?" Sonata asked.

Chrysalis was starting to lose her patience, though was calmed down by Adagio.

"Let me handle this," Adagio said, then turned to her friend. "Sonata, just keep an eye out for ponies and stop asking so many questions."

Sonata's ears drooped, "Um...alright, sure thing Adagio."

Flurry sensed Sonata's sadness, Siren or not, she doesn't like seeing others sad, so she nuzzled her a bit. "Happy."

Sonata returned the nuzzle, "Aw, how cute."

Aria rolled her eyes, "Great, that's gonna be a thing now."

Chrysalis stopped in her tracks, gesturing for the others to do the same, much to their confusion.

"What gives?" Adagio asked.

"We have company," Chrysalis said, gesturing to a group of ponies marching towards them. Interestingly enough for the fallen queen, they were being led by Shining Armor.

"Chrysalis!" Shining Armor shouted, intense fury in his eyes.

"Shining Armor, I was just on my way to see you. I know this isn't the direction of The Crystal Empire, but I had a feeling I'd see you around here," Chrysalis said.

"Where's my daughter!?" Shining Armor shouted.

"Wow, straight to the point with you, fair enough" Chrysalis said, then gestured towards Flurry Heart. "Your daughter's right over there."

"Daddy!" Flurry shouted.

"Flurry! Don't worry, daddy's going to save you from the mean mares!" Shining Armor assured.

"Filling your daughter's head with such nonsense, how can you call yourself a father?" Adagio taunted.

"Why you..." Shining Armor said, venom emitting from his voice.

Before this would continue, Thunderlane flew in and landed between the Prince and the villains. "Which one of you hurt my little brother?"

"Who are you?" Adagio asked.

"Name's Thunderlane, Rumble's big brother, one of you broke my brother's wings, I want to know who so I can return the favor on their faces!" Thunderlane shouted.

Adagio glared with half closed lids, "That...was kind of a corny thing to say." She smirked it off, "But to answer your question, the one who attacked your brother and broke his wings, is the beautiful mare standing in front of you right now."

"You hurt Rumble!?" another voice shouted. This one belonged to Rainbow Dash as she flew in and landed before Adagio. "You have some nerve!"

"Huh? You're Rainbow Dash, one of the Elements of Harmony," Adagio said.

"Yeah, the Element of Loyalty, as in, Loyal to my friends!" Rainbow Dash shouted, then got further into Adagio's face. "And I consider Rumble to be a good friend of mine."

"Cute, you going to avenge your little Rumble, huh Rainbow Dash?" Adagio asked.

"We all are," Pinkie Pie said, also making her way to the front. "Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter here, and we're going to not only avenge our friend, we're also going to be taking that sweet little filly back to her family!"

Adagio looked to Flurry, then back to the ponies. "If you want her, then come and get her."

Sonata backed away a little, not wanting to let any of the ponies near her or Flurry. She wasn't going to be the reason their plan failed, plus she doesn't want to give Flurry back so soon, she just got her.

She turned her attention to a couple of nearby Changelings. "Hey, mind taking Flurry somewhere safe? I think there's going to be a big fight."

The Changelings glanced at each other, then focused back on Flurry.

"Sure, I guess so," one said.

"Good," Sonata gave Flurry to the Changelings. "Alright, be safe now sweetie."

"Daddy?" Flurry said, looking towards Shining Armor.

"We just want to talk for a bit, that's all," Sonata said. She didn't like having to deceive Flurry but she knew it was for the best reasons for the moment. She focused her attention to the Changelings. "Make sure she stays safe and happy, alright?"

"Eh, we'll do our best, we're not exactly foalsitters," the Changeling said, a little uncaring.

Sonata furrowed her brow, "Well I suggest learning fast, don't think for a moment I'll be as nice with you as I am with her or my friends."

The Changelings seemed a little surprised by her attitude, but simply shrugged it off. "She'll be fine with us, don't worry."

"She better be," Sonata warned, then returned to her allies.

"Should we be worried?" One Changeling asked.

"Eh, she seems like the pushover of the group, I think we'll be fine," the other Changeling said.

Sonata regrouped with her friends, "What's the plan now?"

"Defeat these ponies, but try to keep them alive for now, we'll need their magic," Chrysalis said.

"Alright, I'm ready to go," Sonata said, getting into a stance.

Shining Armor looked back to his allies, "Get ready, this is gonna be a tough battle!"

The guard ponies from the Crystal Empire as well as some Wonderbolts readied themselves. Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane and Pinkie Pie stood close to Shining Armor.

"Let me go after that one with the poofy mane," Thunderlane requested.

"You sure you can take her Thunderlane?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Gotta try, wouldn't be much of a big brother if I didn't," Thunderlane said.

"Attack!" Chrysalis commanded with all the Changelings going after The Wonderbolts and the Guards.

Shining Armor led his group into battle, all of them colliding with the enemy as Changelings battled guards and bolts.

Shining Armor immediately targeted after Chrysalis, "I'll make you regret taking my daughter!" He fired some magic blasts at her, which she canceled out with her own.

"She could have been our daughter, if your sister didn't meddle when she did," Chrysalis said.

Shining Armor gritted his teeth and kept firing, Chrysalis shielding the attacks and then blasted at his hooves to knock him off balance. She quickly charged an attack and blasted, though Shining Armor managed to put up a shield to deflect it towards a nearby Changeling, much to Chrysalis's annoyance.

"Going have to try harder than that!" Shining Armor said.

"I intend to!" Chrysalis shouted and attempted to zap him with some magic. He quickly jumped out the way and placed a shield to protect himself from other lightning and then sent his magic shield to knock her back.

He charged again but Chrysalis was quick blast him backwards and flew in to attack again, the two clashing horns and blasting each other back, bothing taking a second to regroup before charging again.

Thunderlane flew to punch Adagio but she was very evasive, dodging many of his punching and then hitting an uppercut to knock him up.

"I was hoping you'd put up a better fight than your brother," Adagio taunted.

"I'm just getting warmed up, don't under estimate me just yet!" Thunderlane shouted and flew down to kick Adagio, though she quickly jumped to the side and hit a strong punch to knock Thunderlane back.

"You're out of your league," Adagio said.

"I'm not backing down from this!" Thunderlane shouted and flew to attack again but Adagio dodged with little effot and hit a strong punch to Thunderlane's stomach and then whacked him down.

"If this is how you plan on avenging your little brother, then he's in for quite the disappointment, his big brother that he probably looks up to can't even fulfil his promise, such a shame," Adagio said.

Thunderlane started to grit his teeth angrily as he glared at Adagio, much to her pleasure. She could feel the negativity radiating off of this stallion, it was delicious.

"Don't get cocky, we've barely begun!" Thunderlane shouted.

"I'm well aware of that, worry not though I don't plan on beating you too quickly," Adagio said with a smug grin.

Nearby Rainbow Dash was flying in, trying to kick Aria though the Siren proved to be a bit quicker than the brash Pegasus thought.

"Hey, are you just gonna dodge, or actually fight me?" Rainbow Dash taunted.

"Don't tell me how to fight," Aria said, then attempted to blast Rainbow Dash with a shriek sonar.

Rainbow Dash was able to dodge, but felt some ringing in her ears, "Wow that kinda hurt my hearing."

"I'm gonna hurt more than that," Aria warned, then did another shriek, the vibrations pushing Rainbow Dash back a bit, then rammed against the Loyalty Element to knock her over.

Rainbow Dash quickly got up and sped in to punch Aria backwards, then continued punching in succession and ended her combo with a kick, knocking her across the ground.

Aria struggled standing up, shaking the cobwebs as she did. "You're starting to tick me off." Aria sent a menacing glare at Rainbow Dash. "Big mistake."

"Hey you already made the mistake of taking Flurry and hurting a friend of mine," Rainbow Dash said.

"Well you're making me put up an effort, which I don't like being bothered with," Aria said, then charged again at Rainbow Dash, the speedy Pegasus reciprocating and clashing against each other.

Nearby Pinkie Pie and Sonata were glaring hard at each other, staring into each other's eyes, waiting for their opportunity to attack. Pinkie Pie however had something else in mind, she was more hoping to find Flurry Heart and escape with her, knowing that unlike her other friends, she isn't really the combat type, most of her fights were spur of the moment and she rarely gets into any of them.

Pinkie figures her best option is just evading Sonata and trying to find Flurry, wondering where the little filly might be. Since her friends were more focused on fighting than answers, Pinkie figured this would be the best time to speak up.

"Alright, time for you to fess up, where's Flurry Heart?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Like I'm telling you," Sonata said with a bit of an attitude.

"Look, I don't like fighting, I'm more of a party girl at best," Pinkie said. "But I'll do just about anything to rescue Flurry, she's my best friend's niece, and her parents are really nice ponies, so if I have to fight you then I will, but I'm just going to be a nice little pony and give you a chance to back out and just bring over that filly."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but there's no way we're giving up Flurry, besides why would you even want to have her back?" Sonata asked. "We're going to destroy this land after all, not many ponies are going to survive, why endanger Flurry? She's safer with us."

"Yeah, but we're like, totally going to beat you since baddies like you...see, you never win," Pinkie said.

"Baddies huh?" Sonata asked. "So just because we're going by our nature makes us baddies? What makes you ponies so great anyway?"

"We have the Magic of Friendship," Pinkie said.

"That's...kinda catchy I'll admit," Sonata said. "But we're still not going to back down, Queen Chrysalis will realize her goals, and me and my friends are going to get revenge for what The Pillars did to us!" Sonata got into a stance. "If you're going to fight, then I suggest you get to it, because I'm not holding back!"

Pinkie wasn't too keen on fighting, but she would do anything to get Flurry Heart back. She didn't know what to expect fighting a Siren however, she would just have to do her best.

The battle continued on, neither side willing to give up.

---

Twilight was still looking for some answers back at the castle, though the lack of information was starting to frustrate the Alicorn Princess.

"Come on! There has to be something!" Twilight said, tossing a book away before searching through another.

"Maybe we're looking in the wrong library?" Starlight asked.

"Canterlot's Library is vast, if there's any place in Equestria that would have answers, it would be here," Twilight said.

"But what about The Crystal Empire?" Sunburst suggested. "There might be clues there."

"Yeah, our library is just as big if not bigger," Cadance said.

Twilight gasped in realization, "That's right, and their library is at least over 1000 years old with very little updates, there might be more valuable information there as well."

"Great thinking Sunburst! There's no doubt we'll find what we need there!" Starlight said excitedly.

"We'll depart to The Crystal Empire as soon as possible," Twilight said. "At least once Princess Celestia comes back with that pony she was talking about."

"I am curious," Trixie said, moving some books around. "Who could Princess Celestia mean?"

"Hard to say, especially given all the talented Unicorns that have gone to Princess Celestia's school," Twilight said.

"Yes, I am well aware, I have been there myself," Trixie boasted.

"I didn't know you were a student Trixie," Suburst said.

"Well I don't like to brag," Trixie said, fluffing her mane a bit. This got her an odd look from Twilight and Starlight.

"If Princess Celestia is getting this pony herself, she must be of great importance, I trust her judgement," Cadance said.

"Same here, I've never doubted Celestia...that much," Twilight muttered the last part.

Moments later, Celestia returned to the room, getting the attention of the ponies there.

"Oh you're back, did you find the pony you mentioned before?" Twilight asked.

"She's right here," Celestia said, gesturing to a Unicorn with a yellow coat, firey colored mane and a sun Cutie Mark. "You might know of her Twilight."

Twilight gazed closely, "Wait a minute...you're..."

The pony smirked a bit, waving to the ponies. "Nice to meet all of you, name's Sunset Shimmer, not sure if any of you know me, but I definitely know about you." She turned to Celestia, "I am surprised that you contacted me after all this time, guess this means you really do forgive me."

"Of course I do, we all make mistakes," Celestia said.

That took Trixie by surprise, "Wait, forgive you? For what?"

"I'll explain later," Sunset said, then trotted towards Twilight. "So, care to explain everything to me, Princess?"

Somehow some awkward tension could be felt in the room, hopefully this wouldn't get in the way of everypony finding out information about The Sirens.

Comments

[OmniFox]

Awkward!