Night fell quickly enough, and after we all took a nap, ate a dinner of meatloaf for the humans and some Jollhoof rice for the Equestrians, we were all ready and awake enough to try and keep a guard on the statue. The plan for us was to sleep in a few of the barn's upstairs living quarters which existed on both side of the barn. Half of us would watch on the side that faced the statue, the other half would watch from the side facing the road. The sky had cleared completely, but the weather forecast said that around midnight or so the first wave of the snowstorm would start. In the east, the familiar moon I'd seen for thirty years was rising, waxing and shining its silvery light on the world. I could feel a sense of fascination coming from the Eclipse Blade, or at least a part of it as the light of the moon shone on it. I could also feel Luna's curiosity at this as well, and I wondered if bringing her here to see Earth's night would be a fun idea.

Myself, Zecora, Scarlet, Mac and Spike would stay in the side facing the statue, while the five girls would be watching in the side facing the road. The Smith family owned a few old walkie talkies that still worked, so we were using those as well as our cell phones to keep in contact with each other. Marigold wanted to stay up with us, but Pomeline vehemently forbade it. I told the two that it might be a good idea to sleep in the basement for better protection since I suspected that the Sirens, if they did indeed come, would come armed. Pomeline said that there was a granny flat in the basement with a spare bedroom where they could sleep. She told Marigold that it could be a bit like a grandma and granddaughter only slumber party.

Mac and I were on the first watch, with Spike trying hard to stay awake with us, but I insisted he sleep, so he was curled up in a sleeping bag on a small cot near a corner. Zecora and Scarlet were in sleeping bags of their own, Zecora in mine and Scarlet in one that she was borrowing from the Smiths. In another corner, there was a space heater which was keeping the room warm. The lights were off, and I was sipping some pumpkin spice flavored coffee from a thermos to try and stay awake with Mac.

We didn't say much for a long while. Slowly, the moon rose higher into the sky until its light was at its apex. We had checked in with the girls a few times and they'd checked in on us a couple times as well, but so far nothing.

Finally, after a couple hours, Mac spoke up. "Hey, can I ask you somethin'?"

Startled that he would start a conversation, I nodded, not taking my eyes off of the farmland below me. "Sure."

"What do you think of Applejack?"

I raised an eyebrow at the question, and gave him a glance. He wasn't looking at me, but the expression in his eyes as he looked out at the darkened farm before him was one of curiosity. He gave me a quick glance as well before looking back out. I quickly looked out, scanning the land. "Well, during our first meeting, she did throw a lasso around my neck and tried to kill me, but since that day she's apologized over and over again for it despite me saying I've forgiven her. We've gotten close and bonded over a few things, one major event being the death of our parents."

"Her parents died as well?" Mac asked in a softer voice.

I nodded. "Yeah. They died due to disease."

"Same with ours," Mac said in understanding.

"Sorry to hear that," I said sympathetically.

"I've made my peace with it," Mac said. "They're both together in heaven, now. At least, I believe so."

I smiled. "I've no doubt they are."

He nodded and there was silence for a bit. A small breeze blew up and a small patch of clouds began approaching the moon. A motion activated security light attached to the detached garage flashed on, flooding the farmhouse and the driveway with its light as a raccoon and their family crossed its path, running towards the road. I heard Mac mutter something about trash pandas before he added, "But now what do you make of Applejack?"

"Well, she's very loyal to those she holds dear," I said, blinking away the sudden light and trying not to lose my acquired night vision, "and she's very dependable. She's one of my closest friends, and one of the more reasonable Ponies. She has a good head on her shoulders, and I can talk to her about more serious topics easier than I can with others except maybe Zecora and now possibly Scarlet. She's very dear to me. Why do you ask?"

Mac nodded, and as the security light turned off, he slowly said, "I know Jackie better than most," he said. "Back when she was about fifteen, 'bout half a year before our parents passed, she got a major crush on one of the boys at her school, Camelot High. She had 'im over a few times and I saw a look in her eyes I haven't seen before. The crush didn't last, since the boy turned out to be a player, but I've seen that look a couple more times when she developed large crushes. Nothin' ever became of 'em, but I saw that very same look in Applejack's eyes when she was talkin' to you earlier. If Jackie and Applejack are parallel versions of each other, I think that Pony might have a thing for you."

With his long revelation, I tried to think back to our more recent talks and interactions with each other. She'd always seemed to feel comfortable around me, and I felt the same around her. She felt like a stable comforting presence whenever the two of us would lean against some of AJ's favorite apple trees and watched the sunset going down. Sometimes, no words passed between us, just comfortable silence. Sometimes we would sing songs from our worlds we would teach each other. Sometimes, I would tell her about more modern farming practices, sometimes she would talk about some of her favorite recipes. All in all, the conversations between us were some of the ones I cherished most ever since our time in Equestria. She was also better at hiding her emotions than most Ponies, hardly ever crying except on the inside, if that episode Tanks For The Memories was to be believed. She was definitely a lovely Pony to look at, and she didn't need any makeup or any fancy clothing to show it.

I smiled a bit, and Mac must have seen this because he said, "What's that laugh for? Are you makin' fun of my theory?"

"Hypothesis," I automatically corrected. Being with Twilight had rubbed off on me as well. "And no, I was just thinking back to all the times I've spent with Applejack on her farm."

"You thinkin' about if I'm tellin' the truth?" Mac asked.

"Well, AJ is a bit harder to read than other Ponies," I said. "If you've seen the show, at least, the episodes that haven't come out in this world yet, it would make sense."

Mac nodded. "I'll take your word for it. But I don't think I'm wrong."

I shrugged. "If she does like me, then I don't have the skill to see it."

"I'm not sure if even she knows," Mac said. "Jackie can be stubborn about a lot of things, and she denied having those crushes, even when Mom found her cryin' in her room after her first crush ended. She's less stubborn about it now, but I don't know if Applejack had any similar crushes back where you all are from. That's just my take."

"Hmm…well, thanks for telling me," I said, and I meant it. I liked Applejack well enough, and if she, too, had some feelings for me and did manage to speak them aloud, I would have no problem seeing where that kind of relationship between us would go.

"You're welcome," Mac said, taking another sip of his coffee, which had gotten a bit cooler.

With that, we went back to watching out of the window. A large wall of clouds had begun to roll in from the east, although the moon was still clearly visible and shining down on the land. I pushed any thoughts about any kind of romance between me and Applejack aside so I could focus on the task at hand. Or tried to, at least. The occasional thought about her would still sneak back into my mind as the minutes passed. And the thoughts were oddly pleasant, just like any past thoughts I had about relationships with Pinkie, Twilight and Fluttershy.

Just before the clouds began to roll over the moon, Mac stiffened. Instantly on alert, I followed where he was looking, which to my surprise was down the road. A dark colored Prius, its lights off, was slowly coming down the driveway. I grabbed a part of binoculars and tried to get a good look at the driver, but the driver was wearing a black hoodie. The figure in the passenger seat was wearing a dark hoodie as well. However, when I looked in the back seat to see if I could see a third figure, I was caught off guard when I saw not one, but at least two figures, one in the middle seat smaller than the other.

Mac grabbed the walkie talkie and said, "We have incomin', over."

"Is it the Dazzlin's, over?" Jackie's voice came quickly over the mic.

Mac held the walkie talkie over to me. "I don't know," I said, "there's a car coming up the driveway, but the driver and passengers are wearing hoodies. And there aren't three, but four that I can see, over."

"Should we come over to yah, over?" Jackie asked.

"No, stay there for a while," I said. "We'll keep you posted, over."

"Just be careful, over," Jackie said worriedly.

"We will. Over and out." As Mac pulled the walkie talkie away, I added, "Mac, wake the others. We might need their help."

"Got it."

As he began to wake them, the car pulled into the driveway, only for its motion to trigger the security light. The car stopped immediately, and in the light, I saw that the car, which I had thought at first was black, was actually a deep purple. Slowly, the car backed away from the light and stopped, sitting there waiting.

By this time, Zecora and Scarlet were already awake and by my side, looking out the window surreptitiously at the newcomers. Zecora put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Is that them, love?"

"If the car was black, I'd say that might be some kind of government car," I replied quietly. "But I don't know if it's the Dazzlings or not. Unless there were more Sirens than I thought."

"Who else could it be?" Scarlet asked.

"I don't know," I replied.

We watched and waited. A bleary Spike joined us, asking for some coffee, but he was quickly denied by me and Mac. The car just sat there, lights off. Finally, when the security lights went off, the doors opened. To my surprise, five hooded individuals came out, but to my dismay, the smaller passenger in the back was grabbed and something pressed against their head. In the slowly vanishing light of the moon behind the clouds, I saw a gleam of metal. A pistol. Scarlet stiffened beside me. "Shit…is that a gun?!"

I put my hand over her mouth. "Yes," I whispered, frustrated at having been right. "Let's move. Mac, grab the rifle and tell Jackie to grab hers as well. We've got a hostage situation. I'm going down there to see what's going on." I pointed to the journal. "Spike, write back to Twilight and the others and let them know we have a hostage situation unfolding. Mac, don't police yet if we can help it."

"Alright," Mac said with a nod.

"On it," Spike said, grabbing the pen and journal, opening it and beginning to quickly write.

"Be careful, babe," Scarlet said, kissing my cheek quickly.

Zecora did the same. "Save the hostages, if you can," she said.

"I'll do my best." So saying, I grabbed the Eclipse Blade and one of the spare walkie talkies. Turning it on, I quickly but quietly rushed out of the room.

When I made my way down the stairs, I headed to one of the smaller barn doors. Quietly opening it, I put my black hood over me and walked out towards the car. As I approached, I could hear a trembling, but strangely familiar voice, calling out, "…let my brother go, please!"

"Shut up," an unknown female voice said in a harsh whisper. "You said you could track that magic, now where is it?!"

"Please…don't hurt Brandan," the female voice said with a whimper.

"Just tell us where the magic is coming from, and we'll let your puny brother go," the same voice said again in the same tone.

As I approached, I got a good look at the situation. One hooded figure was standing next to the driver, holding something against their back. Another figure had their hands around a smaller figure's neck, something pressed into their back. A third figure stood a few feet away from the others, looking around the farm quickly as if looking for something. From the smaller hostage, a trembling but familiar male voice called out, "Twyla…I'm scared."

"It'll be alright, Bran," the voice, which was a perfect mirror for Twilight Sparkle, called out to the owner of the Spike soundalike in as much of a reassuring tone as she could muster, "It'll be alright."

I didn't think I'd be meeting Twilight and Spike's Earth counterparts so soon, I thought as I stealthily walked closer, hiding behind a large brush.

"Where is the magic?" the voice, belonging to the figure behind Brandan, said once more.

"Adagio, are you sure it's coming from here?" another voice, a bit deeper than the first, asked. This belonged to the figure holding Twyla hostage.

"If this pathetic human is right, then yes," the first voice, Adagio presumably, replied. I finally identified the voice as belonging to the figure holding Brandan hostage.

"I'm trying," Twyla said, clearly on the verge of tears, "but I can't detect anything anymore!"

"Then you're not of any more use to us, are you?" Adagio said menacingly.

I acted quickly, focusing within myself and releasing a decent amount of my own magic, then began backing away towards the barn again. A small device in Twyla's hand began beeping. "Wait! I have something!" she exclaimed with relief. "It's coming from the barn!"

"Sonata, go check it out," Adagio ordered.

"Why me?" a third voice whined. "You always pick me."

"Just go," Adagio hissed. "We don't want to wake the humans on this farm, do we? They'll call the damned cops, and you don't want to deal with them. Again!"

"Fiiiine…but you owe me some Chipotle later," Sonata grumbled, pulling out a gun of her own and walking over towards the barn.

"I don't owe you shit," Adagio snarled. "Just go!"

I brought my walkie talkie up and whispered, "Sitrep, the Sirens are here, they've kidnapped two humans and are holding one hostage while the other is tracking magic here. One of them is coming into the barn. Don't do anything stupid, but if you can capture her without alerting the others, do so. Be careful, the one coming in is armed with a pistol. Text me if you capture her."

I watched as Sonata headed into the barn. As she did so, the second voice, presumably the twintailed Aria, grumbled, "God, I hate this world. It's the worst."

"Really? I love it here," Adagio said in a sarcastic voice.

"Fuck off, you cunt," Aria growled. "Ever since that human got the jump on us, it's gotten so much worse," Aria snarled, reaching up to her neck. "Useless broken gems…"

"That was no human who attacked us, Aria, and you know it," Adagio said. "She was from Equestria. And if there's magic in this world, then there has to be a portal back there!"

I want to try and pull that gun away from Adagio, but I'm pretty sure Aria's armed too, I thought. I need both of them to pull out their guns for me to see. My hand went to the hilt of my sword. Instantly, I felt the warmth and love flowing from Celestia, Luna, and both sides of the blade. They filled me with reassurance and stability which began banishing all doubts. I sent wave after wave of thanks back through the link. I very slowly drew the sword, and even in the very low light of night, it gleamed with a silvery golden glow, like a mixture of sunlight and moonlight. "Not yet, Eclipse," I whispered, "and hopefully never." The two sides of Eclipse broadcast hope directly into me. It was if the two sides of her were saying, We hope we won't have to fight, either, but if we do, we are here for thee, friend.

Minutes passed, and the tension continued to grow. Adagio began appearing to grow impatient. I held my phone screen against my chest so that if I got a text, it wouldn't give away my position. Finally, I got a text from Jackie: got her! along with a picture of an unhooded and shackled Sonata. In the light of the camera's flash, I could see the young girl's features more closely. She was Caucasian, with dark blue eyes. She had her long light brown hair tied up in a high ponytail, and was wearing a dark royal purple hoodie, blue jeans and a pair of white and light purple sneakers. I could see Mac aiming a shotgun at her, and there was a terrified expression in her eyes. I could almost see tears in those eyes as well. I pulled up the walkie talkie and whispered into it, "Don't hurt her, but tell her that the Emperor of Aelyssia is here and demands that she bend the knee when this is over."

"I knew Sonata was worthless, but this is ridiculous," Adagio snarled as she pulled out a phone, tapping it quickly then putting it to her ear. After a few seconds, the Dazzling leader growled and stuffed the phone back into her pocket. "That little taco loving slut," she hissed. "Where is she?!"

"What now, Adagio?" Aria asked. "We can't just leave these humans here."

"No we can't," Adagio said, grabbing Brandan hard and shoving him towards the barn. Only he was shoved so hard he fell into the gravel laced dust road. "That's why we're taking them with us. Someone knows we're here. Come on!"

"They're coming to the barn," I whispered into the walkie talkie. "I'm coming back. Do not shoot at them! They're using the hostages as shields."

I quickly retraced my steps and entered the barn before the Sirens and their hostages could enter. Quietly, I made my way through the farm equipment towards the door, keeping close to the wall with my sword still drawn. As I approached the door, it was shoved open by Adagio, who stepped in with Brandan in front of her. "Alright, I know somebody's in here," she shouted, "and you have one of us, I'm sure! Come on out, or I put a hole in this pathetic human here!" So saying, she put the gun directly to Brandan's head. It was an older model, I saw now, a Colt 45. I stayed silent, keeping an eye on the gun closely. Aria and Twyla came in behind the two, the latter still trembling with terror. Slowly, I began once more to release magic, forming a small ball of magic on the other side of the barn.

In response, Twyla's machine began beeping and flashing. The flashing illuminated her face, and I saw that she had a nearly identical face to Twilight, only with large black rimmed glasses. "There's magic again!"

"Where?" Adagio asked, turning back to Twyla.

With Adagio briefly distracted, and with both guns now clear in my sights, I grabbed the pistols in my magical grasp and pulled them out of their hands before they could think. Adagio and Aria both shouted in alarm as they lost their weapons, which were flung away into the darkness. "What the fuck?!" Aria shouted.

Moving slowly, I walked out, Eclipse now glowing brightly with a mixture of her magic and my own. I aimed the blade directly at them, while at the same time ensnaring them in my magic, lifting them up off the ground, holding them tightly enough to cause discomfort but not permanent damage. In the glow of the sword, I could see a startled look appear in the Siren's human face. I glared directly into her eyes. "Never bring a gun to a magic fight, Adagio Dazzling." I looked at both of them, then raised myself taller. "Surrender to me, now! Your Emperor commands it!"

"Owowow! Stop it! You're crushing my boobs!" Aria shouted.

"I said surrender!" I shouted, walking up and pressing the blade close towards Adagio's neck. "Do it, or I do worse to you than the Pony that attacked you!"

Adagio's stunned expression turned to fury, but she nodded. "Fine, fine! You win! We surrender!"

"A wise choice," I said as I slowly put them down. I loosened my grip on them, but didn't completely let go. At the same time, Twyla rushed over to Brandan, hugging him tightly and sobbing in fear and relief. Bringing up my walkie talkie, I pressed the button and said, "I have them! Bring down the shackles!"

A door opened from above, and Mac rushed out, carrying the two extra shackles I'd brought from Equestria. A half minute later, the two were shackled. I released them from my magic grip, picked up the two pistols from the ground and, sheathing my sword, aimed the pistols at them. "Sirens from Equestria, huh? Never thought I'd see the day when I'd meet the three of you."

"Where's Sonata?!" Aria demanded.

"You will speak to your Emperor when spoken to, Aria Blaze!" I boomed with my best air of authority, using a slight portion of my Royal Canterlot Voice. This caused the two Sirens to flinch in fear, but I continued, lowering my voice. "Upstairs, now. Sonata Dusk is unharmed. Now…get moving!"

"What about these two?" Mac asked, looking down at Twyla and Brandon.

"Take them to the other room and have Spike, your sister and her friends look after them," I said. "You, Zecora, Scarlet and I are gonna deal with these criminals."

Ten minutes later, all three Sirens were sitting on three folded metal chairs in one of the empty rooms, their hoods removed. Adagio and Aria were both also Caucasian like Sonata, although Aria looked like she might have had some Asiatic ancestry in her. Adagio had long blonde curly hair tied back behind her with a scrunchie that had foam spikes in them, but her hair was so wavy and curly that it spread out and fell loosely behind her. She had light brown eyes and was wearing a light purple hoodie. Aria was a black haired and dark brown eyed twintailed girl with a green hoodie and two scrunchies with silver stars sewn into them.

I was seated in front of them on one of the same chairs. Mac was sitting to the side, guarding the pistols and keeping his rifle at the ready just in case. Scarlet and Zecora were both beside me, standing on either side of me. I had removed my hoodie, revealing my Aelyssian clothing. I'd put my crown on and had my sword lying across my lap, still in its sheath. The light above the room was now on and the shades drawn. Outside, the clouds had finally arrived and the wind had picked up, buffeting against the windows.

There was silence between all of us, until finally Adagio spoke up. "So, are you gonna say something or what?" she asked. "What are you gonna do to us?"

"You're not gonna do anything dirty to us, are you?" Sonata asked in a genuinely scared voice.

"Do you really think that the Emperor of Aelyssia would stoop so low as to touch any of you inappropriately?" I asked.

"Aelyssia is dead," Adagio said. "That empire died a long time ago. The line of emperors was broken."

I quickly drew my sword. "And it has been restarted and remade," I said. "Do you recognize this sword?"

The three Sirens gaped in stunned silence at the sword. It was Sonata who quietly whispered, "The Sword of Emperors…"

"Quiet!" Adagio hissed.

"But it is!" Sonata shouted back at her fellow Siren. "I remember what it looked like when it was just the Sunsword and Moonsword!"

"Shut up!" Adagio growled. "It can't be Eclipse!"

I poured magic through the sword, and it flashed with its sunny and moonlit glow. Ancient Aelyssian runes, which read as ECLIPSE: SWORD OF EMPERORS on both side shone with a pure white light. Everyone in the room, even Mac, held up their hands to block the glow. Only I could still see in said glow. I lowered the brightness and sheathed the sword. "This is the Eclipse Blade, Sword of Emperors. I claimed the Sunsword in Virynth Atheos, and I claimed the Moonsword in combat after slaying the tyrant Dragon Lord Torch. Thus, I have ascended to the Crimson Throne of Aelyssia."

Aria glared at me with pure hatred. "We aren't going back to Aelyssia," she said angrily. "We won't be shackled in a marriage we don't want! Especially not to the Emperor, if that's who you really are!"

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Now that's an interesting thing to say," I said. "Why would I force any of you into a marriage?"

Their anger quickly turned to confusion. They looked at each other, then slipped into a melodious language, which quickly came into my mind. "Does he really not know?" Sonata asked in the language of the Sirens.

"I thought for sure he was going to force us to wed him," Aria said, sounding repulsed.

"Calm down, girls," Adagio said, "we can tell him a little lie. He won't know."

"Unless he already speaks your language," I replied, glaring at them. Switching back to English, I said, "Unless you don't want me to toss you deep into Virynth Atheos' dungeons for the rest of your miserable lives, you will tell me the truth, and you will DO IT NOW!"

When I stood and shouted at them with the full might of my Royal Canterlot Voice, they all flinched and pressed themselves as much against their chairs as they could. Sonata even whimpered. However, Zecora and Scarlet both put their hands on my shoulders, squeezing affectionately. I took a few deep breaths, then faced the Sirens. I bowed to them. "My apologies, that was uncalled for," I said before I sat back down. "Now, I have no intention of forcing any of you to marry me, so tell me why you thought I would."

Now more at their ease, Adagio took the lead and told the story. With some angry additions from the others, I discovered that not only were they alive during the last days of the Aelyssian Empire, but they were, in fact, all princesses.

Back then, about a hundred years before the Fae and Dragons went to war, the Siren's microcontinent and a few surrounding islands were broken up into three small kingdoms, although they were more like dukedoms. Adagio, Aria and Sonata belonged to the royal families of each kingdom under imperial rule. They were close friends back then, but a few years before the Dragons went to war, Dormog wanted to establish deeper ties with the Sirens, so he and his advisors proposed forming a royal marriage between each Siren kingdom.

Obviously, none of those princesses wanted that, so they secretly fled their countries, heading west towards what then was known as the Unknown Lands. They stole royal artifacts that would give them more power, three of the seven Madrigal Gems. With them, they began to ensnare the unwilling Ponies they eventually came across. As they continued their story, it played out similarly to how it happened in canon. They were defeated by the Pillars of Equestria after about a hundred years of them tormenting small Pony villages, and were banished to Earth, appearing in the Americas over a thousand years ago.

Not only was I surprised to hear that they were princesses, but that they had fled their homes to escape a marriage they didn't want. When they finished, Adagio stood and approached me, a clear fury in her voice. "I don't care if you're the Emperor or not. I will NOT marry you! And neither will they!"

Mac stood to stop them, but I stood as well and held out a hand to stop him. I was about the same height as Adagio. I looked deep into her eyes, and slowly brought my hand up to her shoulder. "That marriage pledge was not made by me or any of my own. I hereby dissolve that agreement. You are free from it. However, that doesn't mean you are free from me. You have much to answer for."

Adagio smirked. "We've spent a lot of our lives on Earth," she said, "what are you going to do? Send us off to jail?"

I pointed to their necks. Each of them were wearing a plain golden chain with shattered remains of red gems. "You're completely human, now," I said, "and I highly doubt you're as long lived as any Dragonkin anymore. Sure, I could send you to jail for kidnapping, threatening a minor, attempted murder, trespassing onto this farm, and you'd go away for a while. But as a human, you'll now have a shorter lifespan than when you were all Sirens. You might die in jail, especially when they hear you assaulted a minor. Humans, even ones in jail, don't take too kindly to child endangerment. The rumors will spread, and one day, when you least expect it, they'll beat you to within an inch of your life. You've lived among humans, you know how we can be. We are the apex predator of this planet. You're just three young adult girls. There are almost seven billion humans on Earth right now. Who's gonna win?"

The more I spoke, the more Adagio's angry look turned to one of fear. When I finished, she was trembling, Aria had a grim expression, and Sonata was whimpering. "Do we even have a choice?" Adagio asked with a final burst of defiance.

"Yes, of course you do," I said. "You come with me back to Equestria either in a body bag, or in chains."

Sonata couldn't take it anymore. She jumped out of her chair and flung herself at my feet. "Mercy! Please have mercy!" she begged in the Siren language.

"Sonata! What are you doing?!" Adagio asked sharply.

"I don't wanna die!" Sonata shouted, looking up at me with tear stained eyes. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Seeing her like this, I felt a bit guilty at how I'd scared them, especially her. I always felt like Sonata was a Siren I might be able to become friends with fast. She was a lot like Pinkie Pie in a way, at least, in the movie she was. I walked over and crouched in front of her. Holding out my hand, I said, "Stand up, Princess Sonata."

Hesitantly, she reached out and took my hand. It was cool and trembling. I gave her a reassuring smile and brought out a handkerchief. I wiped her tears away. "I don't want to be the cause of your deaths, either," I said as I helped her to her feet. I gently led her back to the chair, sat her down, then turned back to Adagio. "And you're right. I can't try you here for crimes on Earth. What I can do, however, is take you back with me to Equestria and try you not only as the Emperor of Aelyssia, but as a Knight of the Kingdom of Equestria. Without your gems, you are unable to cause any more damage, and even if you could, those shackles you're in are Aelyssian."

Adagio looked at the shackles, then slowly back at me. Her defiance was long gone now, and there was a look of resignation in her eyes. "What are you planning on doing with us when you take us back?" she asked.

"I have a few ideas," I said. "And now that I know you're actually royalty, more ideas are brewing in my head."

"I thought you said you weren't gonna force us to marry you," Aria said with suspicion.

"And I meant that," I said, "but you still need to be punished for your actions against old Equestria." I walked back to the chair and turned towards them. "But since you're subjects of Aelyssia, your punishment will fall on me to dispense. You not only stole from Old Aelyssia, but you tormented Ponies, current allies of Aelyssia. As such, forthwith, you will be forced to work in the reconstruction of Virynth Atheos. I also will require your help when I travel to the old Siren lands to bring them back into the fold if they so desire. I will not strip you of your royal ranks, but for now, think of yourselves as under indentured servitude to me and the Empire until such time as I deem you worthy of release."

Aria and Adagio didn't look too happy about it, but Sonata gave me a small but grateful smile. "We hear and obey, my liege," she said in halting Aelyssian. She turned to the others, and nudged them. "Hey! Come on and say it!"

Adiago looked at Aria, who had a frown on her face. They both turned to me, and at the same time, said, "We hear and obey, my liege."

I stood. "Good. I'm glad that we could solve this like civilized beings." I turned to Mac. "Mac, could you and Jackie get them some warm blankets and a few extra cots? I can't take them back to Equestria until morning."

"Eeyup," he said, standing and walking out of the room.

"Cots? Really?" Adagio asked with a snark.

"I could just as easily have you sleep on hay with their horses," I said.

"Dagi! Be nice!" Sonata said.

Adagio sighed. "Yeah yeah, sorry…"

"Cots are all we have right now," I said by means of explanation. "My prisoners you may be at the moment, but I don't mistreat those under my command or care. And you three are currently both. I must warn you, however, I have under my employ two Lycans and the former Fae Queen. I fully expect you to behave around her."

Aria shot to her feet, eyes blazing with rage. "You have a FAE with you!? Those fucking cunts destroyed Aelyssia!"

"The Aelyssia you fled from," I reminded her sternly, putting my hand on my sword handle warningly. "She is under my service for the moment. And as your Emperor, I'm ordering you to behave around her. In fact, just behave in general."

"She's better not get in my way," Aria snarled. "I've got a few things to say to her!"

"I'm sure you do, but right now, no," I said. "That is an order!"

"Fine…anything to get out of this world," Aria said.

"Do tacos exist over there?" Sonata asked hopefully.

I looked down at her, then smiled. "I'm sure we can do something." Sonata was quickly becoming my favorite of the Sirens.

Just then, Mac and Jackie came back with three cots and a few thick blankets and pillows. Mac put the cots down, opened them out and set them up. Jackie put the blankets down, setting up the cots. She glared with pure rage at the Sirens. "Yah don't deserve these, yah fucking bitches," she snarled. "Not after what yah did tah Twyla and Brandan."

"Jackie, enough," Mac said, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder.

Jackie quickly shook her brother's arm off, storming off. Mac looked after her. "I'll go after her," he said, walking out.

"No, I'll go after her," I said. "You stay here and keep an eye on these Siren princesses."

"You sure, Jethro?" he asked.

"I am."

However, when I looked back at the Sirens, they were all looking at me with confusion. Adagio was the first to say anything. "Wait, your name's Jethro? That's a Bible name! You're a human!"

"So what?" I asked.

"Humans don't exist in Equestria!" she shouted. "And they can't be the Dragon Emperor!"

"Well, technically, it didn't say anywhere that whoever claimed Eclipse had to be a Dragon or Dragonkin," Sonata said, sounding just a bit more intelligent than normal.

"Correct," I said, holding up the blade for them to see. "You stand before Jethro Bethridge, human and Emperor of Aelyssia. But when you come through the portal tomorrow morning with me, you'll see what I've become." Looking back at Zecora, I said in Farasi, "Be careful. Chain them to the cots, but make them comfortable. I'm going to see the others."

"Be well, dearest," Zecora said with a warm smile.

Scarlet smiled. "I don't know what you said, but we'll be okay here," she said reassuringly.

So saying, I threw my hoodie back on, walked to the neighboring room where the girls were surrounding and trying their best to comfort a blubbering Twyla and terrified Brandon. Now that I could see her, she definitely had the exact same look as Twilight, but she was wearing her hair back in a bun. The girls were talking to Twyla, while Spike was talking to his human counterpart.

When Twyla saw me come in, she quickly stood, rushed over to me, and threw her arms around me, clutching me tightly. "Thank you! Thank you for saving me and my brother!" she shouted into my hoodie, sobbing gratefully.

Surprised by this sudden display, I wrapped my arms around her gently. "Shhh…the Sirens won't hurt you now," I said reassuringly. "I'm taking them back where they belong."

"Wait, you're taking them back to Equestria?!" Spike asked.

"Yes, Spike," I said. "They're going back there with us."

"Are yah sure that's such a good idea?" Jackie asked, still looking steamed. "They did so much to Twyla and Brandan! They deserve tah die!"

"And who are you to say what they deserve, Jaquelyn Smith?" I asked, breaking the hug with Twyla and advancing on her. "Are you God that you can pass judgement on them?"

She got right in my face. "They kidnapped the two siblin's there, made 'em come all the way out here, and were gonna kill 'em when they were done!"

"They will be punished appropriately, I promise," I said.

"Jaquelyn, do calm down," Trisha said, coming over and pulling Jackie away from me. "I know you're upset, we all are, but we can't afford to lose our heads."

Jackie grit her teeth, growling angrily until she let loose a loud scream of frustration before she relaxed. "Yer right…ah'm sorry, Jethro." She gave me an apologetic look.

"You've every right to be angry at what they did," I said, "but this is a problem for Equestria, not Earth. They should never have been banished to this world. They are Sirens, and as such, they're my subjects. Meaning I'll deal with them. And they're of more use to me alive currently, anyway."

"Why?" Dash asked.

"That's a long story for another time," I said. "You feeling better, Jackie?"

"Yeah, ah've simmered down now," Jackie said. "Ah just got so angry when Twyla told us what happened."

"What exactly did happen?" I asked, turning to Twyla and Brandan.

Twyla shrank back, her bottom lip trembling. "I…I don't want to talk about it," she said.

"We can tell you what happened," Shye said.

"Please do," I said, "I'm gonna need all the information I can get before passing my own judgement on them."

And so they told me what happened. Twyla was actually a student at Jasper Preparatory College, Camelot Community College's long term rival. She lived at home with her parents, older blood sibling and younger adopted sibling Brandan. About a month ago, right around the time I went back to Equestria from Earth the first time, Twyla's parents found three seriously weakened and wounded girls on the ground. They were about to take the three girls to the hospital, but one of them begged the older couple not to. Instead, Twyla's parents took them to their home and helped them get back to health, letting them stay in the fully furnished pool house on their property.

During that time, they discovered a room in the main house where Twyla had gotten permission from her parents to set up a small lab. This was where the story got a bit strange. Somehow, the Sirens discovered that she had been researching some unusual electromagnetic readings coming from somewhere in the city and had been trying hard to find it. They slowly began to befriend her and talked with her about these EM readings. Twyla, being a bit naïve, had told them about it, although the details were fuzzy. Dash admitted that a lot of the science stuff Twyla was spouting went way over her head.

Then, earlier that night, the Sirens woke Twyla and dragged her at gunpoint to her car. This woke Brandan who confronted the Sirens instead of calling the cops. This was what led to him being included in the kidnapping scheme. They forced her to follow the trail of strange energy her device was detecting until it led them to the Smith farm.

"And the rest, you know," Trisha said with finality.

I nodded, then walked over to Twyla. She flinched a bit when I put my hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Do you know your parents' number? Or your older brothers?" I asked.

"Y-Yes," they said, "but they're out of town right now. All three of them. They won't be back until two days from now."

"She can stay in mah bed," Jackie said. "Her and her brother. They deserve it after all they've been through."

"That's really nice of you, Jackie," I said. "But she might be stuck here with the snowstorm coming down," I said, pulling aside the curtains to show the land outside already covered in a thin coating of white.

"It's alright," Twyla said, her voice sounding a bit shaky, "I don't want to impose. I put my spiked tires on already."

"Nonsense, yer not imposin'!" Jackie said.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure you've got plenty of questions for all of us about what just happened, right?" I asked.

That brought her spirits back up and she nodded. "Yes! So many!"

"They'll have to wait until tomorrow, I'm afraid," I said. "It's late, and you and your brother should get some sleep. If you're able to go home tomorrow, you'll need all your wits about you. Driving in snow is never fun."

"Tell me about it," Twyla said. "Well…thank you for saving me again," she said with a grateful smile.

"Not a problem," I replied. "You sleep well, okay?"

As Jackie and Spike led Twyla and Brandan out of the room back towards the farmhouse, I turned to the others. Trisha was the first to speak. "So…what do we do about them? They saw magic and what you did. And we can't exactly explain Spike's appearance to them away. He and Brandan look like twins!"

I nodded slowly. "Tomorrow's breakfast is going to be very interesting…"