The Siren

by McPoodle

Chapter 32

September 29. A lot of episodes have happened since the last chapter: “The Cutie Mark Chronicles”, “Owl’s Well That Ends Well”, “The Cutie Pox”, “Baby Cakes”, “Ponyville Confidential”, “The Last Roundup”… It’s four days after “The Mysterious Mare Do Well”. It’s the last day of “One Bad Apple”. And it’s Tuesday.

Despite some bad things happening this had been a great week for Sweetie Belle.

Bad Thing #1 was Rarity being buried under a mountain of orders. But that meant that she wasn’t constantly trying to butt into Sweetie’s life. (Sweetie liked how Rarity had changed as a result of the Sisterhooves Social, but that change had come with a tendency to get a little too sisterly at times.)

Bad Thing #2 was Scootaloo being out of town so she could be with her parents, who only came home every few years or so. Of course, it was incredibly selfish of Sweetie to label this event as “bad”, but the fact was, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were supposed to be inseparable, yet here they were…separated. For two whole weeks! However, having Apple Bloom to herself meant that Sweetie Belle saw a completely different side to her, one willing to help with crossword puzzles, have a book club discussion of Grace of Green Gables, or try on dresses, all activities that never would have happened with Scootaloo around.

Bad Thing #3 was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon finally leaving them alone. Wait, that wasn’t bad at all. At first, the two snobs had been too busy dealing with their part in the Gabby Gums debacle from two weeks earlier to dare to be seen around the CMC. But then starting this week, they had just sort of disappeared from view. Oh, they would show up for class, but they always seemed distracted, looking out the window and counting the minutes until the end of class like Snips or Snails. And once the school door was opened at the end of the day they would race out, and that would be the end of them until the next day. It was a good thing…but kind of nerve-wracking. Sweetie Belle had a feeling in her gut that the last horseshoe was about to drop…what she would end up calling “Bad Thing #4”.

~ ~ ~

The unraveling of Sweetie’s good mood had actually begun on Thursday afternoon, when Sweetie had visited Apple Bloom at Sweet Apple Acres for a study session. Sweetie had expected to spend the day with Apple Bloom in the CMC Clubhouse, but Bloom had said that her cousin, Babs Seed from Manehattan, was visiting and Bloom had let her move into the clubhouse. Sweetie had wanted to meet Babs, but Bloom had instead taken her up to her room in the farmhouse. She had seen Babs walking through the kitchen when they were preparing snacks. She had tried to introduce herself, but Babs only glared at her and walked past. She dismissed the encounter and thought nothing more of it.

~ ~ ~

On Monday night, Sweetie was preparing to leave Carousel Boutique to return to the Belle House. As she was gathering her things, there was a knock on the door. A curious Sweetie peeked out the window a few seconds later and saw Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and Babs Seed talking to Rarity. Considering how busy Rarity was, she expected that the conversation to be brief, but instead Rarity had invited the three fillies into the Boutique. Sweetie had walked past on her way out, and again Babs glared at her.

The next morning had turned out to be unexpectedly chilly, and so Sweetie had run over to the Boutique to pick up a scarf. She found Rarity working furiously at her sewing machine. Beside her were about a dozen dresses for fillies. The drawings on the walls made it clear that she had completely ignored her orders to spend all night working for Diamond, Silver and Babs.

~ ~ ~

The major event, though, was Tuesday after school. The results of Friday’s test were announced, and both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had gotten A’s.

After school the pair had walked over to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate. Apple Bloom had taken one look at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon drinking milkshakes with Babs at the Corner’s only table when she had immediately turned around and left. “I…I forgot I’ve got some really big chores to do at home. Sorry, Sweetie,” she had said, practically running out of sight.

Sweetie had shrugged. Sure, it would have been nice to share a treat with Bloom, but Pinkie Pie’s promise of a milkshake for her next ‘A’ still held up, so Sweetie walked right in. She tried her best to stay out of sight of the two bullies, but it turned out she need not bother, because their attention was riveted on the character of Babs, causing them to laugh at every one of the visitor’s stories. As there was no longer any place to sit, Sweetie got her vanilla shake to go.

There was an open grassy yard behind Sugarcube Corner, so Sweetie drank her milkshake there, in the shade of a tree. She pulled out her copy of Grace of the Island, opened it to where she had left off, and continued reading.

“Babss? Bab Sseed?”

Sweetie looked up, to see Twist crossing the yard towards Babs, Diamond and Silver, who were walking down the street bordering the yard, with Babs in the lead. None of them appeared to have noticed Sweetie.

Babs stopped, a frown on her face.

“I’m Twist, and I’d love to get to know another Apple,” Twist said, extending a hoof. “Could we talk?”

Babs said something that Sweetie couldn’t hear, and then Twist fell over, causing Sweetie to jump to her hooves.

Babs, Diamond and Silver laughed cruelly in unison and then trotted off as if nothing was the matter.

Sweetie raced over to the prone Twist. To her shock, she watched as the earth pony kept punching herself in the face with the hoof she had previously extended in greeting. “Twist, Twist what are you doing? Twist, please stop!” she cried.

Twist made no acknowledgement that she had heard anything that Sweetie had said and continued to hurt herself.

“Help!” Sweetie cried out. “Somepony help!” She wrapped her hooves around Twist’s punching hoof and tried in vain to wrestle it away from her face.

Sweetie’s cries soon attracted other ponies, who succeeded in immobilizing Twist. Zecora—who had been in the area looking at books—produced a leaf that she had crushed under Twist’s snout, causing her to fall unconscious. Truffle had appeared with the wagon he always pulled around. Twist was placed aboard, and Truffle had pulled it towards Ponyville Hospital, accompanied by Zecora.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake had appeared and asked for an explanation. Sweetie had tried to provide it, but nopony present had believed her.

~ ~ ~

Apple Bloom caught Sweetie Belle sneaking around the CMC Clubhouse.

“Sweetie?”

Sweetie screamed. When Babs stuck her head out of the window, Sweetie turned and ran.

Apple Bloom gave chase. Before long she was able to tackle Sweetie to the ground.

“Don’t let her get me! Don’t let her get me!” Sweetie cried.

“It’s OK, it’s OK!” Bloom assured her. “Nopony’s going to get you.”

Sweetie calmed down and had then started crying.

Bloom wrapped a hoof around her withers. “What’s wrong, Sweetie?” she asked.

“You…you won’t believe me!” Sweetie cried.

“Well…maybe I will, and maybe I won’t,” Bloom said. “I will listen to you, no matter what.”

Sweetie slowly calmed down, sniffling a few times. And then she told Bloom what had happened with Twist.

Apple Bloom had not laughed at her or tried to correct her story. “Sweetie, Sweetie. I know what happened.”

“You do?” Sweetie asked.

“Yes,” Bloom said. She paused for a few seconds, looking uncertain. “Twist…has a condition,” she said at last. “And Babs must have accidentally set it off.”

Sweetie looked at Apple Bloom for a long while. She found the story rather unlikely, but it’s not like the theory she had come up with was any more plausible. “Okay,” she said at last. “Twist is at the hospital,” she said. “I think it’s too late to visit her, but I’m going before school tomorrow. Are you going to be there?”

Bloom looked back at the clubhouse before turning back to Sweetie. “Yes,” she finally said. “I’m gonna fix this,” she said. “Could…could you go home?” she then asked with an apologetic tone. “I’ve got stuff to do.”

“More chores?” asked Sweetie.

Bloom blinked a couple of times. “Oh yeah! More chores. Sorry. I promise that I’ll make everything better.”

Sweetie wasn’t quite sure what Bloom was referring to. “Um…alright. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

---

Apple Bloom climbed up the steps that led to the entrance of the former Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse. With every step she winced—a metal clip was firmly attached to the middle of the back of her neck, and it sent shooting pains down her spine with every step. On reaching the door she knocked.

The door was answered by a bored Silver Spoon. “What?” she asked.

Apple Bloom looked over Silver’s shoulder. “Babs, I’m done with what you’re doing. You need to drop this char—”

"—Silence!” Babs ordered. There was a strange tone in her voice, and her eyes seemed to swirl.

Bloom smirked at her. “No,” she said defiantly. "You need to stop using charm on—”

Babs’ jaw dropped. “—Shut up!” she ordered. When that failed to work, she just put a hoof over Apple Bloom’s mouth. “How are you doing that?” she whispered. “No, never mind that. What are you doing?” She looked back at Diamond and Silver before looking back at Bloom. “They’ll remember everything!”

Bloom batted the hoof aside. Looking over at the dazed expressions of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, she said, “You two should know that Babs is not like other ponies. She—”

Babs lunged at her. Bloom, expecting this move, easily dodged and jumped right off the platform outside the treetop entrance, hopping lightly from one branch to another to quickly reach the ground. She still winced with every step.

Babs, attempting to replicate the feat, ended up crashing to the ground.

Apple Bloom ran for the barn, her teeth clenched in pain.

Diamond and Silver walked out of the clubhouse and appeared to be about to copy Bab’s disastrous descent.

“Wait there!” Babs ordered.

The two other fillies froze in place.

Babs then turned and gave chase to her cousin, fully prepared to administer the beating of a lifetime.

---

Babs followed Apple Bloom into the barn, only to lose sight of her. “Where are you, Bloom!” she shouted. Hearing some motion, she turned towards a stack of hay bales.

Applejack stepped into view atop the highest bale. In her changeling form, which meant that this was serious.

“Oh, Cousin Applejack!” Babs said, trying desperately to make both her voice and her emotions project goodwill. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“You can stop what you’ve been doing to the ponies in this town,” Applejack said sternly.

Babs spotted Apple Bloom hiding behind her sister. “Bloom!” she hissed. “Did you snitch on me?”

“No, she just made sure that I was close enough to the Clubhouse to sense what you’ve been doing to those two fillies,” Applejack said.

“Mighty impressive,” Granny Smith added, stepping up to be beside her granddaughters. She was also in her native form. “Charming ponies that quickly. Normal changelings can’t do anything like that. Must be your cutie mark.” She pointed at Babs’s mark, a pair of abstract swirls that could be interpreted as a symbol for hypnosis.

“I…I was just taking care of Apple Bloom’s bullies. They were making her life miserable. You ought to be thanking me.”

“No, I don’t think so,” said Granny. “You’ve nearly exposed us. Do you have any idea what kind of damage that could do to every changeling in the Apple Clan?”

“But…it’s a good thing,” Babs insisted, growing increasingly desperate. “I got my mark stopping that train robber on the way to Ponyville.” (No, not the Basilisk. A copycat.) “I’ve got this power for a reason!”

“Probably,” Granny replied. “But this isn’t it. You need to release them…and anypony else still under your control.”

“Starting with Twist,” said Apple Bloom.

From the looks Applejack and Granny gave Bloom, it was clear she hadn’t told them about Twist. She had truly kept the Pinkie Promise that Babs had arm-twisted her into making not to snitch before they figured things out on their own.

“I…I…” Babs babbled.

“Look, I get it,” said Applejack. “That ‘friend’ of yours that was getting bullied at school back home—that was you. You’re taking care of the bully problem here, as a warm-up for what you’ll do back in Manehattan.”

“And now you want me to stop!” Babs cried, suddenly motivated. “You haven’t seen what they’ve done to me. To my pony friends. Well I can’t let them do it anymore. And I’m starting here, with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. You’ve got to let me finish. You’ve got to let me break them! I’m so close to finding out their secret fears. I just have to put them on permanent loop, and then—”

“No, Babs,” Applejack said with authority. “This ends now.”

“You can’t make me!” Babs cried. “I’m more powerful than all of you together!”

“You…weren’t able to control me!” Apple Bloom cried, wincing a bit at the continued pressure of the clamp on her spine.

“That’s because of whatever that thing is on your neck!” Babs retorted. “Where did that come from anyway?”

Granny glared down in anger. “That device came out of tragedy. Because some Everfree monsters developed their own version of a changeling’s Charm. Thanks to that ‘thing’, there will be no more Apples lost to mind control.” She visibly calmed herself before continuing. “So us giving you a chance right now should be seen as being mighty generous. More generous than might be expected under the circumstances.

“Stand down, Babs.”

Babs spread her hooves. “N…no.”

Instead of engaging her physically, as Babs expected, Applejack and Granny responded by opening their mouths wide.

Apple Bloom pulled out a little scroll and began to read it. “Babington Samantha Seed, you are hereby banished from the Apple Clan. No member of the Clan is permitted to assist you in your life in any way, including your parents and your siblings.”

Babs cried out, and fell to the floor, shifting into her native form. This was not from the effect of the words being spoken, but because she suddenly felt the love being pulled out of her by the two adults.

“Any and all changelings are obligated to drain the majority of love out of you whenever they encounter you, leaving only barely enough love to live by.

“No changeling will attempt to hinder your movements, and you are free to try to live somewhere away from the Apple Clan. If you happen to run into any trouble as a result, know that—”

“Uncle!” Babs cried out, tears running down her face. She was experiencing the feeling of complete abandonment, of discovering that everything you loved was dead, and you alone survived to feel that pain forever. “I surrender! Anything you want! Please!”

Applejack and Granny shut their mouths.

Babs lay there panting. “I had no idea,” she whimpered. “Bullying was nothing compared to this. I’ll show you the counter-spell. It’s a lot less painful than the clip-thing.”

Applejack hopped down from the bales and approached Babs, with Granny watching warily. They touched horns, and the spell was transferred. Applejack returned to the bales and gave the spell to Granny and Apple Bloom.

Granny reached over and pulled the clip off of Apple Bloom, who then collapsed and lost her disguise. She panted in exhaustion.

Applejack fired the spell behind the hay bales, and Winona cautiously crawled out. She looked at Babs and growled.

“She was lying there in complete silence for three days,” Apple Bloom explained. “She could have starved to death if Big Mac hadn’t found her.”

“Well she wouldn’t shut up,” Babs muttered under her breath.

“Speaking of which: It’s alright, Big Mac,” Applejack announced. “The spell checks out.”

Big Mac stepped into view right next to Babs, causing the filly to startle. “Were you there the whole time?” she asked.

“A-yup,” Big Mac answered.

“And he was ready to stop you by any means necessary if you succeeded in taking us over,” said Applejack. She helped Bloom and Granny down to ground level.

Babs looked Big Mac up and down with trepidation. She wasn’t sure she would have survived “any means necessary”.

“Alright,” Granny said, looking down at her. “I rescind your banishment.” She fed her some love as she lifted her to her hooves.

Babs quietly looked around her.

“Come on,” Applejack instructed her, walking out of the barn as she resumed her pony disguise. “Let’s start with your primary targets.”

---

That night, Applejack called in a favor to visit the highly drugged Twist in Ponyville General, and Apple Bloom administered the cure.

The next morning Twilight Sparkle visited the hospital and leant her magic to Doctor Horse for use in a healing spell that left Twist as good as new.

Physically, at least.

As soon as visiting hours started, Twist was seen by Apple Bloom and Applejack.

Applejack explained what Babs had done, using vague non-changeling language in case anypony was overhearing the conversation. She insisted that Babs was not evil but in a bad place, and that she would do what she could to set Babs on a path out of her troubles.

“I’m sorry,” Apple Bloom had then said, looking anywhere but into Twist’s face. “I was willing to look the other way so long as it was just those two bullies, but I should have known that Babs wouldn’t stop there.”

Twist sniffled. “Apple Bloom, I’ve been their number one ffictim for years,” she said somberly. “I…I really hate the idea of hurting anypony, but them…I undersstand. You ssaved my life.”

“Well, but—” Apple Bloom protested, feeling worse and worse.

“It sstill countss,” Twist insisted. “I’ll find ssome way to make it up to you.”

“I figured you wouldn’t want anything to do with…Apples. Now that you’ve seen us doing something far worse than I ever could have imagined.”

Twist sat up a little higher in the bed. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “That wass worse.” She spent a few moments in silence being sure of her feelings before continuing. “I still want to be your friend. Even after what happened. Even knowing you decided to wait.” She looked hopefully over at Apple Bloom.

“I…I have to go,” Bloom stammered, before bursting out of the room.

Visible on a bench outside the room was Sweetie Belle with some edible flowers. Apple Bloom said something to her, and then dragged her away before the door swung closed.

Twist sighed.

Applejack laid down on the bed. (Twist didn’t take up that much room.) “I think I understand what’s going on,” she told the patient.

“You’re part of her…” Applejack began, before looking around to see who might overhear her. “…Her Apple life,” she finally said. “Right now with the CMC she’s exploring everything else, how to be a pony away from the Apples.

“You’re not the only one she’s avoiding—we hardly ever see her around the orchard when she isn’t eating or doing chores. The meetings at the Clubhouse don’t count, as that’s quite a ways away from the rest of us. She’s not doing this because of anything you did. You know that don’t you?”

“I know,” Twist said quietly. She supposed that what Applejack said had some merit. But the real reason Apple Bloom avoided her, she knew, was how Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had poisoned Apple Bloom’s mind. The same as they had done with all of Twist’s other former friends.

Like Twist had said, she understood why Bloom might stand aside while Babs was doing who knows what to the two bullies’ minds.

But at the end of the day, she wouldn’t want Diamond and Silver to be permanently harmed. And she was prepared to forgive Babs for her actions.

And a little part of her was mad at herself, by doing the nice thing all the time. The part that considered Twist to be a coward for not fighting back, for not taking over the school herself.

There are plenty of ponies who entertain such dark and violent thoughts. Equestria is as nice a place as it is because the majority of ponies refuse to allow such dark voices to dictate their actions.

---

Babs Seed returned to Manehattan that day, after all of her victims had been freed. Applejack accompanied her. That was the condition for not telling anypony in Manehattan about Babs’ actions, or their consequences. Applejack ensured that Babs’ family learned about her bullying.

Parents contacted parents. There was a fair amount of shouting and hoof-pointing, but as one side of the argument had secret emotion-sensing powers making it nearly impossible to lie to them, there were soon some suspensions administered.

Applejack returned home a week later, hopeful that Babs’ situation had been turned around. She promised to stay in touch with Babs and her family, to ensure that the fixes stuck.

---

Scootaloo returned to Ponyville the day that Babs Seed left, a full week earlier than anticipated. An entirely new type of creature had been spotted in the Smoky Mountains.

Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood studied creatures, not monsters. As such, they spent their time in areas as far away from ponies and pony magic as possible, as monsters tended to displace creatures over time, leaving much of Equestria with the same small variety of creatures everywhere.

“W…when are you coming back?” a desperate Scootaloo had asked them at the train station.

Not having heard her in their haste, they never answered her.

In Scootaloo’s eyes, that was practically the same as “Never”.

Author's Note:

Notes for this chapter can be found with Chapter 35.