Subject 40: Beach Brawl
“Sorry...I didn’t mean to attack you like that. I was just being cautious.”
Aria Blaze. One of the three Sirens from Equestria that were currently living in this world as humans. Here, they were a music group known as The Dazzlings. The sisters seemed to have a rough life here, given the fact that they had to work despite being a relatively young age. I felt for them. Like the other girls, she also wore an outfit called a swimsuit--though her variation only covered her chest and lower body.
“I understand. You were just looking out for yourself. Impressive self-defense you have there. Now what were you saying regarding magic?”
I sat with her beneath a coconut tree. Aria sat with her legs crossed...how strange. “Basically. We’ve been here forever and well, it’s not easy to work without magic. Still it’s...not terrible. We have fans now, and hobbies. So it’s mostly okay. I assume you attend Canterlot High too, right?”
This was probably not the smartest move to make, but I had a reason for it. “I’m...actually from Equestria myself. I’m working with Twilight on a way to get back.”
To my surprise, Aria didn’t look interested in that at all. In fact, she responded with a sigh. “I see...well, hopefully you can make it home.”
“You have no interest in going back?”
“Hell no! That place is the reason we’re stuck here. I’d never wanna go back there, not on my life…” Aria hunched over with regret in her eyes. I could tell that part of her wanted to return to having power, but she wanted to move past that now. “Anyway...what are you here for?”
Ah yes. Maybe she could provide me with insight on what to do, given that her and her sisters essentially became powerless. So, I explained my goal to her and Cozy Glow. Her response was quite the surprising one.
“...Oh man. I remember that name. I heard it being used as a rumor but...anyway. Sounds like what you’re doing is...pretty brave, and pretty dumb. Even if you do save her, the amount of trust she’ll have to regain is monumental.”
I knew that. However… “Are you speaking from experience?”
Aria rolled her eyes. “Ugh, don’t remind me. But yes, I am. Even now, when we’re powerless, it’s hard for the other kids at school to trust us.”
“Do you want to make more friends?”
“Ugh! I do! For the sake of not getting weird looks all the time, sure. It’s a bit hard for me since I have...aggression issues.”
I sensed a theme here. But now wasn’t the time. “Well, you’re not aggressive with me, are you?”
“Pff. That’s because it’s been a while since I’ve chatted with a boy, so I figured why not? Heh. That aside, knowing you’re from Equestria also makes it a little easier I guess. I just wish it was easier...but no one at that school trusts us very well. If you’re trying to do the same for Cozy, it’s going to be a hard battle, even once she’s freed.”
“I’m aware of that, trust me. But before I have to go, is there a chance I can talk with your other sisters?”
Aria stood up. “I guess. Hopefully they aren’t on edge like I was. Our campsite is this way,” she directed me towards the path and we walked. It was only about 20 paces away before we happened upon their little campsite with a fire pit and logs for them to sit around the fire on. A nice place to rest in the sand. “A-dawg. Sonata! Got a dude from Eques who wants to speak to you! Hmph. They should be around...wait here while I look.”
I took a seat on one of the logs. “No problem.” Aria went off in another direction to look for her sisters. When she was gone, I felt a rustling from beneath me within the log. “Hm?” I leaned over and found a blue-skinned girl who hid inside. “Oh. Are you Sonata Dusk?”
“Shhh! Yes I am. But I’m hiding right now. It’s my favorite game to play!” she crawled out of the log and sat on top of it next to me. Sonata’s swimsuit was more modest, being a sort of dress-like variation with tacos patterned all over “I totes heard everything you were saying to Aria. In short, yes. Cozy deserves another chance! And hey, I know Aria said it might be hard, but it’s gonna be fun too.”
I tilted my head. “Really? What makes you think so?”
“Well you’re gonna watch over her to make sure she stays in line, right?”
“Of course.”
“Well, duh. There it is, big guy. See, you gotta just go with the flow and stuff. I mean, look at me. Yeah sometimes I may forget to brush my hair or remember a basic math problem, or maybe sometimes I just don’t understand a joke…” Sonata frowned and I saw her eyes water for a moment. “But that’s okay! Because I’m me! I’m special, I’m wild! Tacos are my thing!”
I giggled. The girl was pretty knowledgeable despite her ditzy demeanor. “And what do you mean by that?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Just be you! Do what you wanna do and don’t let anyone keep you from accomplishing your goals!” She said with a bright smile. “No matter how many times you’re called stupid, air-headed or if they look at you funny. Just keep going.”
Yup. She had the right idea. I couldn’t stop here when I was down. I needed to push forward for a better tomorrow no matter who stands in my way. “Thanks, Sonata. You made some good points.”
She let out a pleased sort of giggle. “Heheh! No problem, fellow Equestrian!”
“Ugh, found her, at last. A-dawg was fishing over by the tide pool in the ocean.”
Adagio Dazzle herself...in fishing gear? That was an unexpected look. “Fishing is an art, Aria. It can’t be rushed. Besides, I caught these three beauties for our campout dinner,” she boasted while she showed off a dozen massive sea bass that were attached to her fishing reel. Come to think, it made sense. Sirens are from the ocean after all. To them, fishing was a mere hobby. “And you are?” the eldest Dazzling looked at me.
I introduced myself and explained how and why I was here. When I mentioned a certain name, it caught Adagio’s attention. “...Neighsay, you say? Hm, that name sounds familiar.”
Sonata loomed over her sister’s shoulder with a rabid drool. “Ohhhh yes...come to mama little fishes.”
“Cool it, Sonata,” Aria pulled her away, “You know how you get when you haven’t had a good fish in a while. Let me cook, A-dawg. Then you’ll be free to talk to this dude or whatever.” She took the bundle of fish off the line, and set them in the icebox nearby. Both she and Sonata went to stoke the fire.
“Hmph. Less work for me,” Adagio said with a shrug, “Aria’s been getting better with cooking lately, so why not?” She started to remove her fishing vest and boots. Once the gear was off, she was down to a simple white tank top and shorts, and then removed that to finally get down to her swimsuit which looked similar to Aria's, but orange instead of purple. “Ughhh!” she groaned as she flopped next to me on the log. “You would not believe how murderous the sun was while I was out in the ocean. So you want my opinion on the whole Cozy Glow thing, I take it?”
I nodded. “Please. Give me your honest opinion.”
The former siren lied down with her body across my lap with a magazine in her hands. The human version of Rarity was on the cover. “Personally, I think you should follow your heart and do what you think is right. Don’t focus so much on the words of others. If you want something, take it.”
I didn’t mind of course. Her hair was soft so it didn’t provide any discomfort for me as she relaxed there. “Oh? You think I should do my own thing?”
“Obviously. It’s your life. Why would you let others dictate how you should live it? If you want to break the status quo, then break it. If you want to take back something that you feel was stolen unjustly--in this case being Cozy’s life--then take it.”
She looked up from her magazine and smiled at her two sisters. Sonata was busy making fish noises and Aria rolled her eyes. The purple siren would then imitate a piranha with hissing noises. Sonata giggled and tackled her, claiming to be a suckerfish now. It escalated into a tickle fight.
“If I was too busy worrying about everything, then I wouldn’t be able to keep those fools smiling. Sometimes it’s better to stay focused on one thing than try to do everything. Or...something like that. Either way, we’re all we have. To this day, we still get odd looks at Canterlot High due to lack of trust. So...if you want to give Cozy a better life, take care of her, help people trust her. No one else is gonna do it for her.”
Of course. That was the part I was missing the entire time. Maybe if...wait...I felt something. Twilight’s radar. I quickly reached into my pocket.
Adagio got off of me and sat up with a concerned look on her face. “Something wrong, hun?”
“Ah. No, I...I have to...sorry, I need to go.” Much to their confusion, I left their campsite. The radar buzzed due to the fact that the magical signature had gotten stronger. And very close too...this was something strong enough to affect the surrounding area for sure.
It was an admittedly rude way to leave them be, but I was lucky. About ten minutes had actually passed, so I didn’t waste too much time. And it was interesting to see a group of former villains actually go through a sort of self-reformation process. From what I could tell, it didn’t seem as if they had that much outside help. To me, it sounded as if they came to the conclusion about how evil they were on their own. It lined up perfectly with what I had imagined. But now wasn’t the time for that.
I came closer and closer to the source of the magic when Sunset appeared next to me. “You felt it too?” she started to jog with me in the direction that the radar pointed us. The hot sand only made us run faster.
“Yeah. Though, beyond that. I actually met the Dazzlings. They have their own campsite just over that hill.”
“Oh? I...hope they didn’t give you any trouble, did they?”
I shook my head. “None at all. They were pretty reasonable and accepting of their fate. I was...actually surprised to find that they all cared for each other so much. But can you recall any of your friends actually helping them?”
“...No, I can’t, actually. When we beat them, they kinda just went off on their own. We didn’t see them again until the night of the PostCrush concert where they were also performing. Aside from that, I don’t remember--Ah!”
We were interrupted by the Scientist Twilight who jumped down from a tree in front of us. “It’s a simple factor. Because of the fact that they no longer have the ability to suck on souls through the magic of their singing for attention, it allows them to be themselves.” She tapped a notepad with her pencil, “This bit is conjecture based on the evidence at hand, but it’s entirely possible that their overwhelming guilt has made them realize just how wrong their actions were. And so, through self-isolation, they have tried to slowly redeem themselves by actually learning how to sing and becoming real artists.” She cleared her throat, adjusted her glasses, and smirked at us, “No need to thank me.”
Sunset couldn’t help but smile. “So that’s what it is. They’ve managed to essentially improve themselves...I’m almost jealous.”
“Hey, Sunny, don’t be,” Twilight put an arm around her friend, “You showed me how to rectify my approach to science and how dangerous magic can be. Just like how your friends did the same for you. Minus the science part, I think.”
“Hehehe! You’re right. But come on. We need to find this Gate, and shut it down before it causes trouble.”
Dammit! Me and my mouth sidetracked us! No matter. We were closer to it now more than ever. It didn’t take us long until the radar Twilight gave me led us to a tide pool near the rocks. Was this the one that Adagio had fished in a bit earlier?
I got down on my knee and inspected the water--wow this felt weird, but I also felt cool doing it. There was nothing too crazy that I could immediately make out--aside from the saltiness of the water. “Hmm…my sensory abilities are a bit dull here…”
Sunset also did the same, and took a knee next to me. “Sensory? What kind of magic do you have?”
“Well, it’s more of an innate thing I’ve trained myself to do over the years. Back home, I’m an earth pony, you see. And with that, came the ability for me to sense things through the earth itself. It’s how I became a detective.”
Behind us, Twilight climbed another coconut tree and looked out at the ocean with her binoculars. Sunset rubbed her chin as she looked at the water. “Hm...there’s definitely magic here. I can feel it. We better get the others in case things get crazy. Come on,” she stood up, and started to walk the other way.
Just then, we felt a violent rumbling beneath the sand. It threw us off-balance, and caused Twilight to fall to the sand from her tree branch. “Wah! Uh, guys! You might wanna get back!”
“Wha?” I held onto my hat, and watched as a giant crab emerged from the water! “Ahhh!” I leapt out of the way just before one of its claws could snap at me. “What kind of crab is this?!”
“This is a European Shore crab!” Twilight helped me up and started to run, “More specifically a red-clawed crab or Carcinus Maenas. They’re native to--”
Sunset cut her off, “Less talking! More running!” But the very second she tried to run down the sandy path, she hit a magic barrier wall and fell to the ground. “Oof! What the--”
The crab continued to follow us with its giant pincers that snapped. It looked ready to cut a tree in two! “Twilight, what’s going on?!”
The purple girl sporadically flipped through her notes. “I don’t know! This is just like what happened with the tentacle plants in the jungle except on a crab?!”
“Yo, FYI!” Sunset rubbed her head as she stood up, “We’re trapped in here! The crab is projecting some sort of magical shell-like barrier that’s keeping us locked in.”
“Eek! Try your phone!”
She took out her device with a screen on it, “Ugh! No reception! The magic is interfering with the signal. Looks like we’re on our own. We have to defeat this crab monster and close that Gate to Equestria before anything else gets magically enhanced.”
“Alright then,” Twilight interlocked her fingers and stretched, “Let’s make fresh gejang out of this creepy crawler.”
Sunset and I both looked at her with silent confusion.
Twilight straightened her glasses, “It’s a crab dish. Soy sauce? From the far east? You guys would like it, trust me.”
“Well, we have no choice,” I proclaimed while I reached into my coat for my trusty weapon, “We’re going to have to fight it ourselves.” When I pulled it out, its appearance had been modified slightly to adapt to the different world it was in. The lever was slimmer, which allowed fingers to slip through, the barrel was longer, and it had blinking lights on top now. Really? Looked like something out of a video game. Hm.
“Cool-looking gun,” Sunset commented, “I feel like I’ve seen that design somewhere before, but I can’t put my finger on it. For now, I have a plan. Twilight--use your telekinesis to forcefully stop the crab’s claws. Pale and I will flank it from both sides and take it down.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes, “That plan sounds preeeetty simple,” and she suddenly grinned, “I love it! Let’s go!” With her hands outstretched, she caught the giant crab’s claws in her purple magical aura which kept them from swiping at us.
We dashed. Sunset and I took to the offensive. She went right, and I went left. For her first move, she conjured a ball of fire in her hands. She charged it until it became as large as a car! “Get steamed, fool!” she proclaimed, and flung it at the crab.
At the same time, I flicked out my gun, and fired a few shots. Instead of compressed air, actual bullets flew out. Made sense since I lost my magical properties--so would the weapon. Now it was a normal rifle.
Unfortunately, the bullets bounced off the crab’s shell like harmless pebbles, and Sunset’s fireball simply dissipated as soon as it came into contact with the beast. “What?! That should’ve fried it!” she complained.
I was also annoyed since I had to actually reload my weapon. “Our attacks have no effect? Then what can we do…?”
Twilight struggled from where she stood. “Ngh! I can’t hold its claws much longer! It’s overpowering me!” Her stance was shaky, arms quaky. It wouldn’t be much longer until she lost her hold entirely.
“New plan! We get up close and personal!” Sunset balled her fist with a crazed smile on her face. The hand lit ablaze, and she ran towards the giant crustacean. “HAAAA!” She leapt into the air, and would strike down at an angle, “VIGOR DUNK!” but the moment her fist came into contact with the struggling crab, the fire went out. The result was nothing more than a harmless tap. “What?! That’s bull! That attack always pierces armor!” she fell to the ground and landed on her rear.
I put my weapon away, and charged in. Maybe I still had my extreme strength? Only one way to find out! “HRHGH!” I attempted to seize control of the massive crab by getting a hold of its legs. Sadly, that didn’t work either. “Grrr! Come on!” I planted my feet in the sand, but nothing happened. Either I lost my strength when I came over, or the crab was too heavy.
“No! Nononono! Gah!” Twilight panicked as she lost her hold on the crab. Its claws were free now, and they took a swipe at Sunset. “Look out!” The purple girl dashed over and tackled her friend out of the way. They were safe, thankfully.
They both needed time to recover and think up a new plan. So I acted quickly. “Hey! Heeeey!” I shouted and waved my hands around to get its attention. The giant crab noticed me, and started to follow. Since it had projected a dome-like shield around the nearby area, I could only run in a circular path to avoid it. “I’ll distract it. You two think up a plan!”
“Ouch, thanks Twi,” Sunset dusted herself off and stood up. “Man, if only Rarity was here. She knows all about fighting giant crabs…”
“No time for that, Sun-buns. We need to come up with another plan,” Twilight pulled out another pencil from her hair as she scribbled in her notes. “Now...what did you feel when you punched it just now?”
Sunset flexed her hand, “Its shell...it was reinforced by magic. That’s why I couldn’t punch through it!”
“Hm...maybe if we ponied up, we could take it down. But without our friends, we can’t really do that…”
“Wait! I got it! Remember what happened when Rainbow overused her super speed?”
“Yeah it...caused all of our powers to--” A lightbulb went off over Twilight’s head, “Oh! I get it! We need to utilize our powers in constant repetition to cause a massive overload in our geodes. Then our friends will feel it too, and come find us!”
Sunset cheered. “That’s right!”
Twilight thought about it a bit more. “But...you know we do run the risk of tiring ourselves out before they get here, right?”
“Beats losing to what should be soup,” Sunsets fists lit up with fire once more, “Come on, let’s roast this thing!”
“Right behind ya!”
I was getting tired. Maybe I did lose my magical properties after all. Back home I could run for miles without even coming close to getting tired. Now? I was already winded after a few minutes of running from the crab. “Whew...damn...this can’t...end here…” But before the beast could snatch me with its pincers, Twilight held it back with her magic. “Oh?”
“C’mon Pale, let’s fight this thing for as long as we can,” she ordered, now breaking a bit of a sweat.
Sunset ran around it, and shot a volley of fireballs at it. Me? All I could do was make use of my gun and the seemingly infinite ammo I found in my vest pockets. None of it did any good anyways. It was all fodder for the red crustacean and barely caused it to flinch.
We fought and fought for about an hour straight until fatigue started to set in. We all stopped attacking, and could only manage to hide behind one of the nearby trees. “Whew...okay...new plan…” I said in between huffs of air.
“There has...to be...some way...we can stop this thing…” Sunset sputtered, just as out of breath as I was.
“We used...our powers...a lot, Sunset. Our friends...should be here...soon…”
With our luck. Someone actually did show up. But it wasn’t the rest of Twilight and Sunset’s friends like I initially imagined. It was...singing?
“Woah-oh-woah-oh...listen to us now…”
“Woah-oh-woah-oh...you are goin’ down....”
“Woah-oh-woah-oh...just leave them alone…”
“Woah-oh-woah-oh...go back to your home…”
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eh... they don’t absorb souls, just negative emotions. Also the ‘allows them to be themselves’ I personally think Sunset and her friends must of erase the Siren Species from Equestria (Fluttershy's worst crime to commit as a animal lover). At least to me that is.
The sirens were surprisingly pleasent and gave good points. I must say, I was quite surprised by the giant enemy crab. I wonder if that was Neighsay's doing.
They should have tried finding a weak spot to attack for maximum damage.
Oh, they got their powers back? I suppose it wouldn't be impossible.
10445003
Headcanon. XD
And probably, but they're happy here now.
10445004
Maybe, maybe not!
And yes. Though they don't bother using it for evil since they'd just get defeated again. So why not use it to help?
10445008
Are they happy? Because for them to be happy; they have to let go of their home, their species and if possible family (if they survive the 1000 years of their banishment). I know some people don't like comments like this but I like to think there's more going on then how they display it.
Wow. The Dazzlings are self-reformed and being heroes for once? Color me shocked. And nice to hear their stance on Cozy. As for that crab, I blame Neighsay.
10445036
You make good points. Don't worry, they'll address it in the next chapter.
10445057
Yup. They sorta figured out that they need to focus on each other to survive, so that's what's most important.
10445074
You know, throughout this entire story, I didn't see Spike anywhere. Love to hear his thoughts on the matter.
10446379
Good observation. He'll show up soon!
No one told me she became the Avatar: Master of the 7 elements. She's not capable of any combat spells as far as I know.
10958240
I thought it was cool so I decided to make her stronger.