• Published 7th Aug 2022
  • 1,521 Views, 35 Comments

Secondo - Lil Penpusher



It has been well over a thousand years since their so-called 'banishment'. Their unjust imprisonment, confinement in pure darkness. But the show must go on, for all the world is a stage, and they knew that with time, their final act would await.

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Serenata

"For the last time, Aria, what is with you and your persistence on this?"

Adagio rolled her eyes and rested her head up against her left fin as she sat upon her newly claimed throne.

"We can't just move on, Adagio. Think for just one moment and forget about Equestria while we're here. We've only just gotten free and you already want us to move on Equestria - that's madness, and it won't work."

The stoic realist of the trio crossed her fins defiantly, giving her supposed leader a slight frown.

"What is there for us to do here, still? We have these mortals under our spell and they feed us magic enough to sustain us. That is the extent of their usefulness, so why stick around?"

Aria face-palmed and moaned.

"Adagio, are you really that blind? Look around yourself for even just a second! This world is not the one we left when Starswirl locked us away. There's no feudal towns, no castles, no simpleton peasants and no knights and archers here. This is a world far beyond our understanding now, and that's not good. We need to understand what we're fighting with, and fighting against."

"Oh yeah, I was wondering why these knights' swords looked so oddly shaped!"

The two of them looked to their youngest member as she hovered mid-air next to one of the royal guards. Their pupils visibly grew in size as the blue siren took the odd, unknown weapon out of the soldier's claws and began to inspect it up close.

"Sonata, don't-"

BANG!

Everyone, even the sirens themselves, ducked their heads instinctively as the rifle in Sonata's fins went off, the bullet digging itself into the nearby wall without any casualties. Thankfully.

"Ehehe..." Sonata grinned back at Adagio and Aria who looked positively furious with her, before quickly turning back towards the soldier and pressing the rifle back into his claws. "Here you go! Sorryyyy!"

"Ugh, you two are the worst to be doing this with," Adagio remarked with rolling eyes.

"You're not much better yourself, you know. Sonata might be a hinderance at times but at least she isn't scheming stupid plans that will just get us right back to square one and banished again."

Sonata perked up and smiled. "Yeah! Wait... hey!" Aria didn't bother paying her any mind that time.

"You've always held us back with your stupid 'what if' scenarios. While I was living in the here and now, you always theorised about a world that doesn't exist."

"But it does exist, Adagio! Look around you!" She gestured towards Sonata, then. "Look at that, even.

"Me?" Sonata asked innocently, and both grumpily frowned. She shrank a little. "Sorry."

"Look at that weapon. This stuff is common here now, and I doubt even we would be able to live through a volley of them. A Bow was never a big threat to us, swords even less so, but what now? What about the machines that they fly through the air to meet us? What about the weapons that can kill in an instant? What about-"

"FINE! Fine. Just shut up already, ugh. We'll do it your way just this once if it means you will quit bothering me about it. We do have other things to be doing right now, you know?"

"Suits me," Aria replied simply.

"Awww, look at us!" Sonata gave out with cheer. "We're getting the band back together! Though I guess we never were apart...?"

Aria gritted her teeth and specifically looked the other way.

"We'll finally get to do everything we've always wanted to do, after all this wait! And we'll do it together!"

Aria gasped audibly as she was grabbed and held close to her younger, blue partner in an attempt for a hug. She resisted it heavily, trying to keep herself away as best she could.

"Hm. You know, for what it's worth, Sonata, you make a good point," Adagio remarked. Sonata's eyes glittered from the rare approval of one of her kin. "We lost everything way back then, all to that group of ponies who thought themselves above the rules of nature."

The yellow siren eyed Aria, who by now had managed to shake off Sonata.

"Perhaps you're right, Aria. This is a new world, in a way. New ways, new opportunities. Still, our magic will reign supreme in the end all the same, and we'll finally have what we've been asking for all these long years."

Aria grinned, for once supporting the pompous, self-pronounced leader. "It'll be interesting to see what the world has become as we sway them. But doing that won't be as easy as it was in the past, and even back then we dropped our guard in the end."

"Not this time, Aria. We've had a thousand years to prepare for this, and I will personally make sure that nopony takes this chance for vengeance and rightful domination from us, again. Without the pathetic pillars, the world is a playground, technology or not."

Aria seemed less convinced of those words, but conceded, too tired to start just another argument. "We'll have to work for it," she argued, instead. "But victory will be all the more satisfying."

"And we'll win together!" Sonata jumped in. This time, Aria was quick to slap away her fins as they tried to grab and hug her again. "Like way back when! Or, well, maybe not like back then... but it'll be fun!"

Adagio chuckled, and smirked at the younger siren. "Oh we'll do it together, alright. And the ponies, zebras, griffons and more won't want to turn away."


Many hours had passed since the initial takeover by the Sirens. After their initial 'orientation' in the throne room, they had gone out throughout the nation of the Hippogriffs to spread their song to every town and city in the land, including Seaquestria beneath the waves which, to their surprise, was already mostly under their spell to begin with. Those mortals had really done a decent job for them.

Now, as that was done, they had time to turn to slightly less pressing matters. Specifically, the Royal Dungeons beneath the Royal Palace, dug into Mount Aris as a high-security prison ages ago. Most of it was empty now, as most prisoners needed only to be sung to in order for them to become completely loyal citizens - if anything their violent tendencies were a benefit for the sirens in public now, as it would stir up more strife and hate. Still, a few high-importance prisoners remained for the three to deal with.

"This way, excellencies."

A Hippogriff in a white cloak of feathers led the three through the dimly lit prison. Its hallways were narrow and only allowed the bulking creatures to float along single-file one after another, at which point Adagio of course took the lead.

After another half a minute of travel through the catacombs, past the many empty cells whose prior inmates had already been enthralled by them throughout the day, they stopped as the griffon did. He gestured towards the cell he was adjacent to. It looked no different than the many others before it.

"This is the one."

Adagio slowly moved up towards the bars of the cell, and looked inside, already noting the pink-furred creature hunched up in one of the far corners of the cell. She grinned, and looked to the jailor.

"Open up," she commanded, and the Hippogriff obeyed without hesitation, his keys rattling as he picked out the right one.

A metallic creak cried out as the heavy, barred door was opened for the three of them to enter. Adagio was first in, and the two others tagged along behind her.

"Well, well, well," the yellow-scaled siren began, hovering slightly above the ground about a meter from the inmate. "Is this the new look of royalty?"

Novo sat hunched over in the dark corner of her cell, shrouded mostly in darkness, but her bright, pink feathers gave her away in an instant.

"What's wrong, majesty? Do you need a song to cheer up, perhaps?" Aria commented with a self-assured grin.

"Wait, but our spell just makes everyone hate everyone around them. I don't think it actually cheers people-" Sonata paused as the other two deadpanned at her, "-ooooooh. Right. Got it."

"Who... what are you...?" faintly asked the former Queen without bothering to look at either of the three.

"Sorry, what was that?" Aria remarked, holding a fin up to her ear as if she couldn't hear her.

"Yes, I think you should speak up a little. And isn't it common courtesy to look at somepony when you're talking to them?" Adagio added on, crossing her fins.

The Queen slowly shuffled and turned around on the spot, lifting her rear, turning to face the three, then sitting down as before again. Only now did she look up and saw who and what she was actually dealing with. Her eyes seemed to widen, probably in fear.

"What... what are you?"

"Hmm? You don't know us?" Adagio returned, as if insulted by the lack of knowledge.

"It's so hard for music to be remembered and praised these days," Aria added, shaking her head in shame.

The two of them gave one another a quick glance, and then laughed.

"We're Sirens," Adagio finally answered truthfully. "Does that ring a bell now?"

"Sirens...? But... no, no you can't be. Your kind was-"

"Ah, so you do know. Very good," Adagio interrupted.

"Please. Why?" Novo inquired. "Why did you come here? What did you do to my people?"

"Oh nothing much," the yellow leader claimed dismissively. "We're simple singers, you know. We go wherever we desire, sing our songs, and mortals can't help but dance along."

Novo remained silent. Her head sank again. The three enjoyed seeing a former Monarch, the incarnation of a whole nation, so helpless and defeated before them. Their first victory of many, they thought.

"So it was magic..."

She looked up at Adagio with a look of disbelief.

"Wasn't it?"

"You're smarter than you look, you know. I'm surprised they teach about us Sirens these days, still, in some capacity."

"No, we don't," answered the former Queen, shaking her head. Adagio almost felt a little disappointed. "But I'd heard from a friend of my daughter that Starswirl told her about-"

"DO NOT use that wizard's name in our presence!" Adagio lashed out in an instant. She lifted a fin to hit the prisoner with, but Sonata quickly held it back.

"Easy, Adagio! Easy!"

Aria, at the same time, looked openly surprised, and wondered more so at what that Hippogriff had said.

"Wait, so this... friend of your daughter, she met Starswirl? But Starswirl is long dead, isn't he?"

At that notion, even Adagio seemed to freeze. She took in her companion's question... and she, too, wondered now if it could be true.

"The Pillars and him were locked in limbo for a long time. Thanks to the Elements of Harmony, though, they are free once again. I assure you he is alive and well."

While the yellow siren was lost for words - a rare occurence - Aria continued eyeing the former monarch inquisitively.

"Why should we trust you in saying that? How do we know you aren't just spitting lies to irritate us?"

She sighed, and looked over towards the purple one.

"Would it matter? You could just sing a song at any point and I'd be unable to lie to you, anyway. Perhaps I can be spared of such a fate if I showed myself... cooperative."

She shivered, hating herself for saying these things, and it was visible. Normally Adagio, especially, would have taken great pride in such things, but right now, she seemed almost petrified.

"Hmph. You're not much use unless you're under our spell to begin with. Adagio, what's your take on this?" Aria looked to her companion, but found her idle, unresponsive and frozen. "Adagio?" she repeated.

"Helloooo~! Adagioooo~!" Sonata added, poking her repeatedly.

"He..." Adagio finally gave out. "He's alive?"

Aria already saw how her fins were rolled up into de-facto fists out of boiled up rage.

"Adagio, snap out of it, we-"

Ignoring both Sonata and Aria, Adagio snapped, and grabbed the Hippogriff sat before her. With all her strength she lifted her from the ground, darted forward, and finally pressed her against the cold, hard stone wall. She barely even took in Novo's groans and moans from the pain she had probably just caused her.

"WHERE!? WHERE IS HE! AND WHERE ARE THE OTHERS!"

"Adagio! Calm down!" Sonata cried out, trying to pull her off of Novo but without success.

"TELL ME!" the Leader further shouted and insisted.

"He... he's in Equestria. Probably."

"PROBABLY!?"

"Adagio, this isn't helping. Stop it," Aria complained, as well.

"Hmph."

The lead singer's frown grew more fierce for a second, before she relented, dropping Novo onto the ground rear-first with a hard thud.

"Congratulations, majesty," she said to Novo as the latter was recovering from the pain so suddenly inflicted on her. "You've indeed proven very useful to us. Unfortunately, I don't want our revenge to hinge on such petty mortal things as 'trust'."

"You really think it's worth it, Adagio?" Aria chimed in, gesturing to the dethroned monarch. "She's effectively a hostage, now. If we leave her like this, she could come in handy as a bargaining tool."

"We won't need bargaining tools with our powers. Besides, we can still fool the masses if she's under our spell. It's all a matter of presentation."

Aria showed herself satisfied enough to concede, much to the grinning delight of Adagio. Sonata, on the other hand, seemed very upbeat about the proposition.

"I mean, manipulating the masse is basically all we've ever done, right? I don't think that's gonna be an issue!"

Somewhat needless to say, in the minds of Aria and Adagio, but they agreed, either way.

"Wait, wait, I-"

"Sorry, majesty," Adagio interrupted, giving Novo no time to defend herself as the Sirens readied themselves.

"Making you dance to the beat is kind of our thing, you know?" Sonata finished.

"Wait! No! You have to listen to me!" Novo pleaded, but without success.


"Maregypt?" Aria muttered along with a shrug.

"If that Queen is really right, then apparently so. Somnambula is originally from there, so it isn't as if it's illogical. Especially if the pillars really did splinter. Most of them are probably settled down and in the equivalent of retirement... those fools," Adagio replied.

They entered the throne room once again, which this time was entirely vacant and empty, unlike the first time where a procession of guards had welcomed them.

"Well it seems they're all kinda old now. What if they're just too old to do their jobs now?" Sonata wondered.

"She's got a point. For once," Aria admitted. "The Queen told us the pillars were somehow woken up from their own limbo banishment of sorts by the 'Elements of Harmony' or whatever. What if Starswirl is just an old stallion now who isn't a threat, and those Elements are the real threat?"

"Don't worry. We'll be taking them all down bit by bit. Remember, together ponies have always been stronger, and luckily we're rather proficient at manipulating those groups into tearing themselves apart."

"You wanna make them fight each other? Ooooh. Smart!" the blue siren replied with a series of nods.

"Even so, we can't be underestimating that a lot of things have obviously changed. The Pillars still exist and might still be powerful and therefore problematic in their own right, but now they have the added back-up of the Elements of Harmony, not to mention those pony princesses who themselves are over a thousand years old by now." A little pesimistic as usual, but in her mind realistic, Aria crossed her fins as Adagio moved to take her seat on the throne again, as before. "Oh, and did I mention yet how everything in this world has advanced while we were gone? Nothing's the same now, Adagio. We'll need time and effort to prepare our revenge. Running at Somnambula in Maregypt, even if that means she's close-by, won't do us any good. I don't personally want to end up as a laughable foot note in history because a random soldier there shot us down with their weapon - it wouldn't even be Somnambula then, and we would be a joke forever."

"Well that, and we would also be dead."

Aria gave Sonata a stern look, causing the younger siren to shrug.

"What? It's true!"

"Relax, you two," Adagio commented, taking a seat as her monstrous form squeezed itself onto the throne. "We aren't exactly without help, you know? We already have an entire realm under under spell, and many other tiny fiefdoms are just across the channel for us to swoop into."

"It's... not gonna be that easy. I can already assure you of that."

Adagio rolled her eyes. Aria was always so pessimistic and ruining the mood.

"Perhaps. Hence why you will be looking into how to manipulate and utilise our new 'subjects' into serving us in this new world, and how they can aid us best in conquering this world."

Aria deadpanned. "You just want me to do the work for you, don't you?"

"You object, then?"

The purple one sighed. "I'll do it. If nothing else then because otherwise you'd have Sonata do it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sonata quickly wondered.

"It means you break everything you touch, Sonata. Or worse, you blow it all up."

"Do not!"

"Yes you do."

"If you're finished, I suggest getting to work, Aria," Adagio interrupted. "In the meantime, I'll look more into what the pillars and Equestria have been up to, meanwhile. Perhaps there's something we can exploit in recent history..."

"You do you. Just remember that this isn't a one-mare show."

Aria briefly frowned at Adagio, but the latter's grin was enough to make her want to simply get out as soon as possible.

"Oooh, and what can I do!?" Sonata shouted out, dashing back and forth mid-air with excitement. "Do I get to fight the bad guys? Oh! Or maybe-"

"Sonata."

Stopping dead in her tracks, the youngest of the three looked up towards her older companion.

"Yeah?"

"I've left two prisoners in the dungeons to interrogate and get information out of. Regrettably, I'm busy, so I'm even more regrettably leaving that task to you. Got it?"

"Interrogation? Why don't you just go down there, sing to them and have them tell you everything?" Sonata, somewhat understandably, wondered. For once, Adagio didn't blame the ditz of the group for responding to an order with a question.

"We may have use for them if they remain... independent, still. Or, so I believe. Look into it for me and see what they tell you. Don't use your magic without my permission. You got that?"

Sonata straightened out and saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" She giggled, and turned away to do her job as Adagio ran a fin across her face in embarssment at the childish demeanour of her companion.

The Pillars. The Elements. The Princesses. So much to do, and what seemed like very little time, and all in such a new environment, too. Her two partners were certainly bothersome and unideal picks, but they were the only picks, and all she had left, now. They would have to make do, and she would need to, somehow, exploit their strengths and minimise their annoying weaknesses to ensure a repeat of last time did not occur.

This time, they would not go down so easily.