The Dazzlings Arrival - by Elky
The Dazzlings Arrival
It began quietly
The waves washing up against the shoreline of the bay, gradually growing stronger
A spark of light suddenly burst into life amongst the water offshore, bobbing uncertainly
As the light continued to grow into an orb, trails of electricity burst and struck out across the water and sand
Reaching its full mass the orb of light began to buckle and heave
In a torrent of energy the orb broke, and three creatures, unlike any other were spewed forth into the world
Their serpentine bodies crashed through the surf and slid to a halt upon the sand
Sirens
-
Adagio roared in fury as she swung her head about to see the swirling portal through which they’d passed snap out of existence
That blasted unicorn wizard had tricked them and banished them from Equestria
“I’m going to tear that bastard’s damned throat out!” she howled slamming a fore hoof against the shore
She cast an angry glare over her fellow sirens
“Aria! Sonata! Get up!” she hissed slapping her tail against the tide
Sonata quivered and shook, her eyes shut as she whimpered, curling in on herself
Aria heaved herself up onto her fore hooves, returning Adagio’s glare
“What happe-” her eyes flared open before she could finish, and she dropped to the ground writhing
“Aria! What are you doing?” Adagio growled with annoyance
The purple siren opened her mouth, only to release a terrible scream as she continued to flail about
Her wrenching cry was soon joined by Sonata, the two sirens thrashing as Adagio watched in confusion
“What is going on with you two?” she questioned
Only then did the pain strike her, like a lightning bolt
Searing pain roared through Adagio’s body, it felt like her scales were on fire as she desperately howled and launched herself towards the ocean
Behind her Aria and Sonata’s own cries doubled in their intensity, as sickening sound as there throats struggled to ever higher pitch
Adagio hit the water expecting it to quench the fire coursing through her body, but the pain only continued to grow
Adagio felt sure her skull was on the verge of splitting apart from the agony
The sound of bones cracking and joints popping penetrated their cries, as a new pain took over from the fire
Adagio could feel her body spasm and twist violently as her bones changed, rapidly shrinking and re arranging themselves under her scales
Adagio wailed slamming her fore hooves against the sand, even as they warped and snapped into new shape
Quickly the painful change reached her hips and tail, Adagio was sure she must have bit her own tongue as she felt her scales peel away and her tail tear in two
The feeling of muscles and tendons realigning themselves inside her brought bile to her mouth, this was unnatural, some kind of cruel curse
She spat and bashed her head back against the sand, as the change reached her face
She could feel her skin move like tallow, contorting as the bones in her jaw cracked and shrank, her teeth blunting themselves as she bit her tongue again
The wails of Aria and Sonata were beginning to die down, their own change having come upon them before adagio’s own
Slowly but surely Adagio’s own pain began to dim as she heaved and sucked for air, her insides flaring in pain as her internal organs were remade
She couldn’t take this anymore, bashing her head back against the sand Adagio fell limp and let unconsciousness take her
Adagio’s eyes flickered open as she awoke, waves lapped at her body as she lay on the sand
Her body ached with dull pain as she reached up to brush sea salt and sand from her face
She froze, and stared in confusion at what had been her fore hoof
It had been replaced with some weird alien appendage
She flexed its digits curling them into a ball and stretching them back out again, fragile but she supposed maybe there was some utility to them
Resting back Adagio listened to the sounds of the waves as she allowed herself to breath, she didn’t have her gills anymore, that was evident
Feeling down her ‘fore legs’ and torso she could tell that her magnificent golden scales were gone, replaced by soft naked flesh
“What have we been turned into” she whispered through a rough throat
Hooking the digits of her new forelimbs into the sand she heaved herself up into a sitting position to actually look at the rest of the changes
Her tail was gone, and in its place was a pair of slim, long legs
She couldn’t think of any creature that looked like this
Turning her head about she could feel weight swing about on her scalp, reaching up she could feel the sodden curls of, what a mane?
Brushing it back behind small ears, she looked for the others
Both of them, blue and purple lay further up on the shoreline, their new bodies limp on the sand
“You two awake? Aria? Sonata?” she tried calling, her throat stinging with effort
Grimacing Adagio pulled herself onto her front, digging her knuckles into the sand and dragging herself towards Aria, the closer of the two bodies
“Aria, Aria! Wake up you idiot” Adagio cursed reaching the purple siren
Aria stirred slightly, awakening
“Uugh… you don’t have to yell” she grumbled rolling over to squint at Adagio
“What the fuck happened to you?” she stopped staring
Adagio glanced at her naked body and then gestured at Aria
“I don’t know, we’ve all been transformed into these things”
“What!?”
“What happened to our bodies, our gems” the purple siren panicked, reaching for her neck
The red gem was still there though
Adagio was surprised to see that it wasn’t connected to Aria’s body however
Instead it hung limply from a black cord underneath Aria’s sand ragged hair
Adagio reached a up to her own throat and felt the reassuring facets of her gem, they’d become pendants
She couldn’t remember feeling that particular change during all the pain invoked by their change
Probably for the best though, it couldn’t have been pleasant
“Bad enough that we got banished, we’ve had our bodies cursed as well?” the purple siren muttered looking over her new limbs and stretching unfamiliar joints
“Damn the hide of that filthy unicorn”
Adagio sighed as she sat alongside the purple siren, looking up to watch as overhead the sun was starting to descend away to the west
“We should find ourselves some shelter for the night, these bodies may take a bit of getting used too” she mused
“Right, best we grab our idiot too, I guess” Aria frowned
Together they dragged themselves over to where Sonata lay
The blue siren was curled in on herself trembling
Adagio wasn’t sure if it was shock of their transformation or the settling chill air that was affecting her so
“Sonata, come on, we need to move off the shoreline, up amongst the trees and rocks, otherwise we’ll die down here
Sonata gave a heaving sob and curled tighter upon herself
“No, I don’t want to move, everything hurts and I just want it to stop” she cried faintly
"Why are you always the worst, Sonata" Aria grumbled
Adagio ground her teeth she absolutely wasn’t going to put up with this shit here and now
“Sonata, you’ll move because I fucking told you to!” she hissed
Leaning down Adagio grabbed the nape of Sonata’s neck with her teeth and bit firmly, pulling Sonata up
“Ow, ow, ow, okay I’ll move, please Dagi, just let go” Sonata pleaded immediately
It was slow moving but they eventually got themselves past the sand and into a sizable hollow where they could sleep
Some nearby boulders and stunted trees would help give them a little cover from the sea breeze too
The ground was harsh and uncomfortable against their new skin but it would have to do for tonight
“Wherever we are, this place is the worst, why is it so fucking cold” Aria muttered huddling up, facing Sonata with a frown
“I’m just trying to stay warm, idiot”
Sonata flicked her eyes away from Aria’s still trembling a little
Adagio had to agree, their new bodies evidently weren’t made to resist the raw elements of nature
“We’ll just have to make do, girls” Adagio answered joining the other two sirens in their makeshift huddle, wrapping her arms around Sonata
“Stay close together, we can keep each other warm enough until morning”
With the light of dawn came warmth
The three sirens rushed back out onto the sand to reinvigorate themselves
“So what happened to us?” Sonata asked poking her body while they sat in the sunlight
“It would seem that, Starswirl, put a spell on our bodies to take away even more of our power” Adagio replied
“Well what’re we going to do now then, Adagio, these bodies are pretty bad” aria asked folding her fore limbs
“Well we’ll have to learn to use them properly”
“For starters, they look like they’re meant for walking upright, we just need something to balance ourselves against while we practice” Adagio added looking about
“Wait, what about walking on all fours like ponies do?” Sonata asked pulling her legs under herself
“Like this”
The blue siren arose awkwardly, her back legs longer than her front legs leaving her head hanging down and her rear up in the air
“Sonata, stop, that looks all kinds of wrong”
“It is funny though” Aria muttered under her breath
“Aria, give me your shoulder to lean on and I’ll show you both what I’m talking about”
Resting her foreleg on Aria’s shoulder, Adagio concentrated on bringing one of her back legs up under herself, planting it in the sand
From her kneeling position Adagio slowly raised herself up, bringing her other leg in under herself as she stood, careful to not overbalance
“Ha, see, this makes much more sense” she smirked wobbling a little as the other sirens watched
It wasn’t long before Adagio swayed a little too far, falling back onto the sand
“We just need more practice is all” she scowled
It took the better part of three hours before they could stand steadily and awkwardly shuffle about the shore upright
Sonata still overbalanced occasionally but Adagio thought they were coming along just fine as it was
“So what are these anyway, they’re nice and soft?” Sonata asked hefting the mounds of flesh on her chest as they sat taking a break
“And why are yours smaller than mine?”
“Maybe their udders, like on a cow, would make sense why yours are the biggest then, you always liked eating cows” Aria teased flicking a twig at the blue siren
“Yeah well you ate all the pigs, so what does that say about you” Sonata retorted sticking out her tongue
Adagio rubbed at her temples, if this infighting continued she didn’t know what she’d do, Aria and Sonata seemed ready to argue over anything
She blamed their poor sleeping conditions last night, even huddled up together, they needed somewhere else to sleep, somewhere out of the elements
Letting her gaze wander down along the bay’s shoreline Adagio looked about the small rocky cliffs for a likely spot
There
Just a short climb from the waterside sat the mouth of a cave, perfect
“Girls, enough arguing, come with me” she commanded standing up and walking down the shore
The other two clumsily fell into step with her as she spoke
“I think we can all agree that last night’s sleeping conditions were rotten, so we’re going to take that cave, and see if we can’t sleep easier”
To get to the cave they had to scramble up over a tumble of rocks and edge past the tidal pools, Adagio cursed as they moved
Their skin was weak and soft, gaining scratches and abrasions as they crawled up to the cave
Flopping over into the entrance however, Adagio decided it had been worth it
A deep layer of sand covered the cave’s floor and the rock sill they’d dropped over would buffer them from wind and rain
This would do quite nicely
The sirens lay about the interior of the cave, now sheltered from outside for the most part
Adagio yawned and stretched out considering what else they’d need
The rumbling from a red faced Sonata gave answer to her question
Food, of course
Adagio could feel her own stomach protest, seemingly awoken by Sonata’s own grumblings
“Uugh, alright girls, sounds like it’s time we figured out what we’re going to do for food” she hummed, earning a small grin from the blue siren
“Thanks Dagi”
“Oh don’t thank me yet, Aria, Sonata, both of you go search past the tree line, see if you can find some berries or fruit that we might be able to eat” she ordered, approaching the cave entrance
“Wait, why do I have to go with the idiot, and you get to stay here?” Aria demanded sitting up
“I’m not staying here, Aria, while you two are rummaging amongst the trees I’m going to try and fetch some seaweed from the rocks, it’ll be better than nothing”
“Besides I wouldn’t trust either of you with the task, can’t have one of you accidentally drown yourselves now” Adagio answered clambering just outside of the cave
With any further protests silenced both Aria climbed out of the cave and set off for the tree line while Adagio carefully lowered herself down towards the water
She hoped that she might find more than just seaweed for them to eat
Thoughts of crab danced in her mind as she stopped and splashed seawater on some of her earlier scratches
Wincing she moved on, slowly climbing across the slippery surface of the rocks and scooping up seaweed, until she had an arm full of what she decided looked best
slowly working her way back she watched as the other two came wandering back out onto the sand further up the bay, walking back and singing out to here
“Hmm, I hope they found us something good to eat” Adagio whispered with a wry grin
Before changing course for the sand to meet them
“What is it girls?” Adagio asked dropping back down to the sand and steadying herself
“Look Dagi, we found berries loads of them” Sonata cheered bouncing up and down
“There’s some root tubers too, yams I think” Aria added throwing a glare in Sonata’s direction
“I was going to go fetch wood for a fire so we can try cooking this stuff” continued depositing her goods into Sonata’s arms
“Alone, this time”
Sonata pouted as Aria stalked away into the trees again
“What did you do to make her angry this time, Sonata?”
“What, I only squeezed her udders once”
“Why, Sonata?”
“Well I wondered if they felt as nice as mine, that’s all”
“Right, well don’t even think of trying to touch mine then”
“Okay Dagi”
They had all the different foods separated out and ready when Aria came back with the wood, then came their next problem
Starting a fire
Together they all squatted around the wood kindling, striking stone against stone or rubbing sticks together
Adagio threw aside the stones and slumped back
“This is impossible, how can anyone be expected to start a fire without magic”
Sonata dropped her sticks and blew cold air on her hands, Aria stopped to look at them both before striking her rocks again
“Stop then, I’ll get this damn fire lit, even if it takes me all damn night” she grumbled trying to ignore Sonata, as she cuddled up behind her
“Let go of me”
“Just saying thank you”
“Alright, then you can let go now”
Adagio gratefully retired and popped a few of the ‘berries’ in her mouth, they were very sweet and juicy
“Sonata, I don’t think these are berries, I think they’re grapes” Adagio announced, swallowing the fruit
“Really, I’ve never eaten grapes before, are they good?”
Adagio nodded and picked a few more grapes, passing some over to the blue siren
“Yeah don’t feed me or nothing, just making fire here” Aria grumbled again as Sonata snuck up behind here grapes in hand
“Hello, are you two even liste-” Aria started, twisting her head about as Sonata darted forward to push a grape in her mouth
“Ding, one point for Sonata” the blue siren grinned raising another grape
Aria glared at her before relenting and opening her mouth, letting Sonata pop another one in
“You’re the worst, Sonata, but keep those grapes coming” she finished returning to the kindling
It was a while later when with a spark Aria was able to coax a small flame amongst the wood, cautiously building it up until it filled the cave with light and warmth
Each of them took turns trying to cook what food they had, the yams ended up nice and crunchy and didn’t taste too bad with seaweed Adagio had dried out
The three sirens sat quietly around the fire gently humming, no song in particular, just an old tune for practicing their harmony
Adagio would lead the tune with Aria and Sonata alternating their pitch behind her, like the tides of the ocean, it was calming
Letting the last few notes drift away as she stilled her voice Adagio starred down at the floor in disquiet
The other two sirens looked at her in confusion
“What’s up Dagi?”
“Yeah, why’d you stop singing?”
“Girls, I don’t know what we do next” she sighed settling back and closing her eyes
"we're in the hands of luck now"
The sound of drumbeats woke and brought the sirens forth from their cave in the early hours of the following day
Stood upon the rocky outcropping outside they watched as three longships came into view of the bay, their sails striped through with red and white
“Equestrian?”
“Doesn’t look like it, Adagio”
“Come on girls, this is the luck we’ve been hopingfor, sing them into the bay” Adagio barked, taking a quick breath
They stood out on the open rock and raised their voices out into the air
A change came over the drumbeat, as each of the ships turned towards shore, their oars beating the water with measured strokes as they approached
The sirens stilled their voices and watched as the ships beached themselves upon the sand
Dozens of creatures leapt over the sides of each vessel, grabbing ropes and hauling the ships further ashore
“Hey, they look like what we’ve turned into” Sonata exclaimed
Adagio had to agree, their new appearances definitely shared similarities with these seafarers
“Why aren’t they naked too?” Sonata asked
“Because it’s unlikely that they were banished like us, they’re likely the native race of this world” Adagio reasoned watching the ships
She was surprised to see how different the each of the passengers disembarking from the vessels were, males, females, even children
“Odd assortment of passengers, hopefully they’ll be willing to talk with us” Adagio reasoned
“Yeah well we’ll find out soon enough, Adagio, we’ve been spotted” Aria frowned and pointed down on the shoreline where a small group of seafarers were looking back at them
“Well then, no time like the present for a meet and greet” She grinned
The three sirens met the seafarers at the edge of the rocks
One of them, likely the leader, was talking to them in a strange tongue, evidently trying to communicate with them
Adagio sighed and stepped forward, she guessed she’d have to try this without words
She gestured to the other two and herself before pointing out to the ocean, trying to make clear where they were from, adding gestures to say they needed food and water
Their leader glanced out at the ocean and back to them, a hint of curiosity in his eyes before he called to one of his followers
Immediately they jogged off towards the ship returning shortly carrying bundles of clothes
The leader smiled and waved the sirens forward, giving a bundle to each of them
They were dresses and cloaks, simple in design but better than nothing Adagio decided as she wriggled into the dress
She looked back to see the seafarers leader swat one of his followers for starring at Sonata’s naked body while she struggled for a moment with her dress
Satisfied that the sirens were clothed the leader waved for them to come to the ships, gesturing food and drink
Following, the sirens found the seafarers quite hospitable
They were afforded space to sit and given bowls ladled out with hot fish soup
Adagio couldn’t ignore her hunger once the seafarers withdrew and gave the three their privacy to feed
“Damn! It’s nice to finally eat a real meal” Aria grinned savagely wolfing down her bowl of soup and tearing into the hard bread left for them
“Yeah, they’re really nice” Sonata agreed
Adagio only frowned and took a drink of fresh water from a clay cup
“They may have their own ulterior purposes, girls, we’ll keep an eye on them, and learn what we can while we’re here”
“Why bother, we can just stir up some trouble and feed off their negative energy” Aria quipped
“And when they're spent then what, Aria, we need to know more about this world, more about its people” Adagio growled
“We need to endure until we can be sure of our new place here”
Aria stopped and put aside the bread, eyes narrowing as she looked back at Adagio
Sonata had stopped eating and sat looking back and forth between the other two sirens her eyes full of apprehension
“You don’t intend for us to try again, do you?” Aria hissed quietly
“Why not, Aria, there is so little magic here in this world, who could possibly stop us now?”
“We’ve very long lives ahead of us, it might take years but we can absolutely gain the power required” Adagio grinned
Aria backed down and folded her fore limbs again
“So wait what are we doing now?” Sonata asked, easing as the tension dropped
Adagio couldn’t help but smile
“We’re going to conquer the world Sonata, then we’re going home to take Equestria, because why have one when we can have both”
There and then the siren's made their purpose clear