Viewer discretion is advised for younger audiences. Naw jk, but it does get a little...ehhh...
When Aria awoke, she opened her eyes slowly, and notice how bleary her vision was from how much crying she'd done. She squeezed her eyes shut, embarrassed. She hadn't cried like that since she was a little siren. She sighed and opened them again, her gaze coming into focus. The moments before her sleep came back to her, and she felt a lump in her throat. Sonata... How would she be able to face her sirenkin again after what she'd done? Granted, she hadn't really caused much havoc, as compared to the old days, but she'd still done some damage. But the thing she'd done the most damage to wasn't causing ponies to turn on each other. It was her relationship with Sonata. She looked down. How could she have been so blind? So selfish? So...forgetful? Once again, she was reminded of the pain that comes with the powerlust. One is supposed to learn from their mistakes, and what did she do? Did the same exact thing again. But what had blinded her so greatly? Was she truly that desperate?
Aria looked down at her chest and brought a hoof up to it, caressing the stone. But...if I see the error of my ways...then why does it feel so hard to let go? Why do I want to go back and live happily with the others...but also continue with...this? Aria sighed, her head beginning to ache with the indecision. What should she do? She obviously can't have both. She'd already tried with Sonata. So, it was down to...which meant most to her. Her siren kinship...or the immeasurable power...
Aria growled, her teeth grinding. She could never recall a time where she was so at war with herself. Perhaps a bit of a swim would clear her mind. She swam a few feet to the mouth of the cave, but before she exited, she looked back. She hesitated before quickly swimming over to the gold necklaces and retrieving them from the sand. She hastily slipped them on before finally leaving the cave. Little did she know that she had company.
~o~O~o~
The dolphins nickered at each other quietly from the outside of the cave. They were angry and anxious. They could see that Aria was beginning to stray from the grip of the corruption, and they were not happy. This would completely ruin their queen's plan! Obviously, persuasion wouldn't work now. It was time to do it the changeling way, astray from their leader's rules. Maybe, when they succeed, they will be congratulated, or even promoted! So, yes, Chrysalis' 'persuasion' technique will have to be put to the side. Now...now was the time to use force. But, first, they would have a little fun.
~o~
As Aria swam, she exhaled deeply, lost in thought. Everything was quiet and still until she felt a great change in the water currents. Her eyes widened, and she looked around, but she didn't have to look far as something zoomed past her, then something else on her other side. Her pulse sped up as she looked around wildly. Then, suddenly, when she turned, she saw something she hoped she'd never see again. Two familiar-looking dolphins with glowing, green eyes. Aria snarled and backed up. She'd easily be able to take both of them on at once, with her being so much bigger than them. But what happened next surprised her. They spoke.
"Well, hello there, Aria." A male voice said.
"How very nice to see you." The female said silkily, beginning to slowly move around her. Aria watched her warily.
"Wh-what do you want from me? Why are you here?!" She growled. The male snickered.
"Well...we just happened to notice that...you've been straying from your path a bit. We just came to correct you."
"Path?" She questioned, looking confused. "C-correct?"
"That's right..." She heard the female's voice right next to her ear, and she darted away from her. She looked at the two dolphins angrily.
"What are you talking about?!" Both porpoises began slowly swimming towards her.
"You see..." The male began. "...we just can't have you leave behind your path to glory. To...power. It would entirely ruin our plans."
"P-plans?" She asked, her voice shaking a bit. The female chuckled.
"Indeed. We can see that you want to go back to your...so-called 'friends.' But we can't have that." The female paused before her body began to morph, and Aria backed up with a gasp. For what now was before her...was herself. "What's the matter, Aria?" The purple siren's ears flattened against her head. She then felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked over and saw that the male had become also become her. She pushed him off of her.
"Get away from me!" She screeched, what was once fear becoming bubbling anger. She looked at the two creatures, who were now shaped to look like her. "What...what...are you?" The male licked his lips.
"Changelings." He said, and no sooner did he do so, did the two shape-shifters lunge at the purple siren.
~o~
Aria bellowed as she was assaulted, one snapping down on one of her forelegs, and the other trying to snap at her throat-not to kill her, but to subdue her-but Aria tried her best to fend it off. The one on her leg began shaking their head violently, tearing the skin. With a roar, Aria bit down on the back of its neck, doing the same violent head shaking, until he let go. He let out a screech of pain and backed away, but while Aria was distracted, the other came in and barreled into her. Her vision went blurry for a moment, but before she could bring it back into focus, the other had wrapped her jaws around her neck. Instinctively, Aria brought up her tail and whipped it in the face. It released her, giving her the upper hand. Now filled with rage, Aria lunged at it and pinned it to the seabed. She put her face inches from the 'changeling' and snarled. It looked at her for a moment before its purple skin began to change color, and Aria gasped when, in just a few seconds, a blue siren was underneath her. It was Sonata.
The changeling grinned. Perfect! Hahaha! The simple trait of hesitation when seeing the one you love. I'd like to see her hurt me now. Lets take this up a notch. 'Sonata's' eyes became big and glossy, and she let out a soft whimper.
"Ari..." She said in a small, sweet voice. "...y-you wouldn't hurt me, would you?" Aria felt a knot in her chest. Of course this Sonata was fake, so why was she being so hesitant? Come on, Aria! Snap out of it! Aria shook her head and growled, looking back at 'Sonata.' She grinned a bit, her common sense kicking in for once, and she saw below her nothing more than a pathetic shape-shifter who hides behind faces. She growled.
"Nice trick...but you could've done better." And, with that, she mercilessly wrapped her jaws around the creature's throat and bit down hard, hearing the satisfactory cracking of bones as the spine snapped, killing her before she had a chance to react. Blood mixed with the water, creating a murky, red cloud. Aria then turned her attention to the male, who was back in his dolphin form. He let out a few fearful noises as Aria began swimming up to him, a look of anger in her eyes. This one tried a similar tactic, but he switched it up in desperate hope that it would work. In a panic, he transformed into Adagio, a hopeful look on his face. Aria stopped in front of him and sighed. "How disappointing." She said with a tsk. He gulped.
"Wh-what do you mean?" He asked. Aria chuckled.
"Well...it's just that...I don't think you could've picked an easier target!" The male gasped, but that breath was his last as Aria lunged at his throat, ending his life quickly. As she released his limp form, she looked down at him in pity. "How unfortunate, to be born such a creature." She stated. With a sigh, she swam up to the surface. I've had enough of underwater for now... She thought as she leapt from the waves and into the air. Now...time to do what I should've done a long time ago...
~o~
Aria had been flying for a while when the familiar cave came into view. She immediately accelerated and, in no time, was landed in front of the cave mouth. She morphed her body back to a pony and trotted inside. When she reached the main cave, the lights were already on, and the old pony stood in the center of the cave, behind the stone table. She looked up upon Aria's entrance.
"Ah, Aria, my dear." She greeted. "How goes the quest for power?" Aria walked up to her and sighed, putting a hoof to the stone around her neck.
"Well...you see...that's kinda why I came here. The thing is, Niova...I...I'm not really sure I want to do this anymore..." She said. The old pony jerked her head back in surprise.
"Whatever do you mean? Of course you want it!" Aria shook her head.
"No. I just...thank you for giving me this opportunity, but...I just...I can't do this anymore." She stated, a bit more firmly. The old pony was silent for a moment. She seemed to be in thought. Aria blinked in surprise, though, when she saw Niova's expression become suddenly not-so-friendly. She snapped her attention to Aria and cleared her throat.
"Very well. If that's how you want it." She said, her tone sounding serious and angry, with a hint of cockiness. "But, first, allow me to introduce myself." She growled as a sickeningly green glow engulfed her, and Aria watched in horror as the old pony began to grow and morph, the once normal-looking body now mangled and twisted. In seconds, what stood before her was something she'd never seen before. A very tall pony-like creature, with a twisted horn, holes in her legs, and hole-filled, bug-like wings. Aria took a step back as she remembered the green glow from the dolphins, and how they could change shape as well.
"Y-you're a ch-changeling!" She said, her voice shaking. The dark pony chuckled darkly as she strutted in front of Aria.
"I am Queen Chrysalis, queen of the changelings." She said proudly. "And we are also masters of deceit."
"Wh-what does that have to do with anything?"
"That gem around your neck, for example." She began. "Did you actually think someone would just give you that much power without expecting something in return?" She purred.
"L-like what?" Aria asked. Chrysalis chuckled.
"Oh, nothing much." She then put a hoof to her own gem. Her horn began to glow, and in seconds, the stone began to do the same, and Aria looked down to find hers glowing as well. "I was hoping you'd collect more negative energy before crawling back here, but I suppose you have enough to suffice." Aria was about to ask what she meant by all this, but before she could do anything, a beam of light blasted from Chrysalis' purple gem and fired right into Aria's blue one. Aria let out a shrill shriek of pain as her body felt like it was being torn from the inside. It felt like her insides were twisting, and she could feel her energy dropping drastically. After a bit, when the ordeal was over, the light connecting the two gems had faded, leaving Chrysalis' gem glowing brighter than before, and Aria's dull and faded. The purple pony collapsed on the floor, all energy she'd had completely wiped out. She let out a shaky breath as she attempted to stand, but it was no use. She shifted her eyes to look at the changeling queen.
"Wh-why...why would you do this...?" Aria asked weakly. Chrysalis scoffed.
"Because, my dear, now that I have your magic within this stone, I can use it!" She then chuckled. "Then I'd be able to feed my beloved subjects! After all, negativity is so much easier to obtain than love. Have you seen the kind of disharmony us changelings can sow?" Aria's eyes widened, anger filling her.
"Oh yeah...? Well...I think two of your beloved subjects are sleeping with the fishes..." She said weakly, but with the cockiest of grins. Chrysalis' head then snapped to Aria, and she growled.
"What do you mean by that?" She then blinked and gasped. "They...they haven't returned yet...they should've returned a while ago!" She snarled and got in Aria's face. "What did you do to them?!" Aria, seeing as she had the upper hand, chuckled, and lifted her head shakily from the ground.
"I ripped out their throats before they had a chance to scream..." She said. A look of fear crossed Chrysalis's face, and she backed up.
"D-damn you...Damn you!" She growled. "Very well! Then let's see how you fare against my army!" She then looked to one of the tunnels. "Changelings! To me!" She called. Aria suddenly heard massive amounts of buzzing coming from the direction Chrysalis was looking. She felt fear fill her, and she gasped. Fighting just two had been a bit of a struggle. But a whole army of them? No way. She had to bail. Filled with sudden adrenaline, Aria managed to somewhat stand up and, with the last of her energy, morphed into a siren. Not having time to exit through the normal way, she unceremoniously shot straight up into the air, and smashed into the cave roof. It cracked at first, but when she backed up and did it again, she went straight through, but the impact had left her dizzy, and she almost fell out of the air. However, she kept flying, desperate to get away and back to her friends. Her family. By now, she'd just about give anything to be back with them, living normally.
Behind her, she could hear the buzzing following her, but she dared not look back. Quickly, she dove into the water and swam about, looking for somewhere to hide. Finally, she found a large divot dug out of a reef. She immediately squeezed herself inside and lied her body down, finally allowing herself to take deep, calming breaths. But this was short-lived as she heard countless splashes in the water, and soon saw hundreds of dolphins, sharks, and various other sea creatures swim right past her cave. I had no idea there were so many changelings... She thought, wide-eyed. As she lied there, exhausted from both the once again stripping of her magic and the chase, she still remained tense as she watched, hoping none of them would notice the cave mouth.
~o~
It took a good bit of time, but eventually, the changelings cleared out, and she could finally start to relax. She exhaled and let her head plop onto the sand. The natural adrenaline now gone from her body, Aria now felt the full weight of the exhaustion, and she felt like she couldn't even move. For a while, she lied there, trying to muster up what little strength she could for her journey back home, when suddenly, she heard a sound. She perked her ears, and she slowly lifted her head. It was clicking. The clicking of a dolphin. Aria internally groaned as she felt dread wash over her. The heard the clicking get louder, getting closer to the cave. Aria huffed as she attempted to lift herself off the sandy floor. Weak as she was, she would not go down without a fight. When the clicking came from right outside the cave entrance, Aria bared her fangs and snarled, darting out of the cave to face the creature. But she was surprised with what she saw.
It was...a baby dolphin.
With glowing green eyes...
:I
