The air sped past their heads as they shot down towards the ground, using their powerful magic to set their course and fly true across the city. Adagio, Aria and Sonata headed straight for the outskirts of their conquered city, smiling all the way. For a newcomer had arrived. One with great power that they could claim as their own. Adagio especially was looking forward to this. True, absorbing magic from any pony had a pleasant feel to it, but from a powerful magic user? Perhaps a strong unicorn? That was something else altogether. She grinned enthusiastically as they all sped up their flight, buildings shooting past them left right and centre. For they had dropped the guise of rulers, and in this moment, they were hunters, out to search for their prey. And soon enough, they reached the outermost border of the city, and looked down to see the one who had arrived here.

As Adagio had predicted, the new arrival was a unicorn, albeit a very old one. Grey in his fur and white in his mane, he looked up at them with an expression that was hard to read. Upon his face was the most enormous beard Adagio had ever seen on a pony, reaching all the way to the ground and even dragging along it a little bit. She never saw the point of such things on these creatures, but even so, she was almost impressed with the sheer size of it. Aside from that, the most notable thing about this old stallion was his attire. A dark blue in colour, he bore a combination of cape and hat, the latter of which was lined with many bells. All-in-all, it was safe to say that this unicorn was quite a sight, even after everything else she and her sisters had encountered in the last few months. Nevertheless, they had arrived here for a reason, and now they had come face-to-face with their quarry. Smirking, Adagio spoke up first.

"Welcome, traveller. We who rule this city welcome you."

The old stallion said nothing, merely staring at them intently for a few moments. Adagio's smiled faded a little under his gaze, turning to look upon her sisters, both of whom were turning to look at her with a look that shouted "what is this guy doing?" Still, Adagio was not one to drop appearances, and so cleared her throat a little before speaking up again.

"If may ask...why have your journeyed so far?"

It was here that the old stallion finally reacted to them, but, to the surprise of all three, his action towards them was a bow, his head lowered in a gesture of respect. Needless to say, this caught the sisters off-guard somewhat, but they kept their gaze on him as he finally spoke up, his voice deep and commanding.

"I am Starswirl. I come from lands to the east of here, having heard of the goings on here on the coast. Do I have the honour of addressing Adagio Dazzle, Queen of the Sirens?"

The elder sister was quite shocked at this stallion's behaviour. The only time anypony had ever spoken to her like this was when they were under her enchantment. And yet, here was this old stallion, showing exactly the kind of deference she desired without any magical interference from her or anypony else. As expected, this caused her to raise an eyebrow at him, her voice tinted with cautiousness.

"I am. How is it that you know of me? I do not recall my name having travelled far."

The stallion stood up, looking at her right in the eye. His expression had changed from it's stoic appearance to something new. There was a glimmer of something in his eye, and for a brief moment, Adagio could have sworn that it was sadness. She did not have time to consider that for long however, as Starswirl then spoke up again.

"I heard of what's been happening here, but I did not need to hear names to know yours."

He turned his head, looking right at the other sisters.

"Or yours. Sonata Dusk. Aria Blaze."

All three sisters looked at each other, knowing that they were thinking the same thing. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to arrive here, act all nice, find out who this pony was, then absorb his magic just like they'd done with everypony else. Instead, they found something altogether different. This Starswirl had them at a complete disadvantage, at least in terms of who knew what, and that disturbed them to no end. Adagio, her expression now a stern one, looked upon the old stallion with a slight tint of anger in her voice.

"You know much. How is this so?"

Starswirl looked upon her again, his expression having softened considerably since the first time he looked upon them.

"You three are the..."

There was a brief moment as Starswirl looked away from them, his expression almost pained, though why, Adagio did not know. Eventually though, he took a deep breath and looked back at them.

"You are the daughters of Pacifica, Queen of the Seas, yes?"

Adagio's eyes widened with shock after hearing that. This pony knew about their Mother? How? As far as they knew, nopony had ever even heard of the Sirens, much less knew the names of it's royal family with such familiarity. The elder sister floated down, her face a mix of many emotions after having heard her Mother's name after so long. She spoke softly, her voice shushed.

"You...you knew our Mother?"

Starswirl nodded a little.

"I did, though it was many years ago...before your time."

There was a brief shift in his expression as he said that. Adagio recognised it immediately as nostalgia. Perhaps he was recalling days of his past friendship with her Mother? If, indeed, that was the kind of relationship he had with her. This was a great deal of shocking information she was receiving, but soon enough, her expression became more stern as she suddenly remembered the reason why they were all here. Drawing back from him, she assumed a more regal posture before speaking in a somewhat commanding tone.

"Why did you come here...truly?"

Starswirl looked down at the ground, his face a sad one, before speaking up.

"I...I came to ask that you stop."

Adagio raised an eyebrow at that.

"Stop? Stop what exactly?"

The old stallion looked upwards, frowning at the elder sister.

"This!"

He had raised a hoof pointing to something behind the three Sirens. Turning, Adagio saw that he was pointing towards the city, specifically, towards the ponies that could be seen in the streets, still fighting amongst themselves. Realization dawned on her as she finally understood this stallion’s true purpose here. He had come to convince them to stop their campaign. To give up on their dreams of a new Kingdom for themselves and allow the ponies they ruled to go back to the lives they had before. Frowning, Adagio turned back to Starswirl and regarded him carefully. Everypony they'd met so far had been ones that had never spoken a single word against them, having either been under their power or otherwise preyed upon. But this stallion was different. This was a challenger, the first they'd come across since this whole plan of theirs had started. And that was something Adagio was not willing to tolerate.

"You forget yourself, old pony. You are in the presence of the Sirens! In the presence of the Queen of that mighty race!"

Starswirl's expression changed, descending into one of melancholy as he looked right at Adagio.

"I know you are. No other could have your Mother's eyes."

In that instant, Adagio's face of command and authority dropped and she instead took on a look of utter shock. Why had he said that? Why would he remember Pacifica's eyes? And more importantly, why would he look so sad at seeing Adagio and her sisters in all of this? In the elder Siren's mind, if he was truly intent on stopping them, he would have used some magic on them already. Why parley in this way? But there was something in his eyes that Adagio could not place. It was the look of one who was recalling old memories, happy ones. But what had actually occurred between him and their Mother? And as Adagio considered that question, her mind brought forth her own memories. Memories of a certain bedtime story her Mother used to tell them every night. A story she told them on that fateful night when they had lost her. A story of a Siren and a stallion, of the meeting of land and sea, and of falling in love. Adagio looked down at the stallion before her, his sadness becoming more and more clear to her, and for a brief moment, her voice caught in her throat.

She looked over to her sisters, and for a brief moment, she saw a look of confusion on both of them. Whether they were thinking the same thing, she couldn't say. All she knew was that she had made a vow to them, the last of her family, and she was not about to let this stallion, this stranger, come along and just try and make them give it all up. Frowning, she leaned forward before speaking at him in an aggressive tone.

"I don't care who you claim to be, old stallion. We Sirens will rule...even if we have to carve our way through all of ponykind to do it!"

There was silence between Starswirl and the Sirens, and Adagio and her sisters waited patiently for him to make his next move. They no longer cared about absorbing his magic now. They just wanted him gone. Adagio kept her gaze on him intently, until finally, she saw, to her surprise, that a single tear was flowing down his cheek as he finally spoke up.

"If your Mother could see what you have done...she would feel nothing but shame."

With those words, all of time seemed to stop. Adagio stared at the old stallion, seeing that he meant everything he'd just said to her. She couldn't speak, those words repeating themselves over and over in her mind. Aria and Sonata were also aghast at it all. But eventually, Adagio's expression changed. No longer was it a blank state of shock. Instead, her face twisted into one of anger. No, more than that. It was a look of utter hate. In this one moment, she felt more hatred towards this one stallion than she had ever felt for anypony in her entire life. Her fury growing, the gem on her chest began to glow bright red, and soon enough, the gems of her sisters followed suit as their respective bearers gain the same look of hate as Adagio. They floated high above, looking down at Starswirl, who merely kept standing there, watching them. Eventually, when they were high enough, Adagio finally broke the silence.

"You...you...DARE!!!"

That final word carried across the land around them, spoken so loudly and amplified by her magic that it was strong enough to even knock down nearby trees. Her anger still white hot in her chest, the elder sister continued.

"You think you can come here and speak such filth to us? To me?! We are the Sirens! The greatest race in all the world! We will not let our dreams fall today! Not to our thralls! Not to you! Not to anypony!"

Starswirl kept his gaze upon them, looking right into Adagio's eyes. And there, he saw the truth. He saw that, just like him, she had meant every word. Though it was clear that he had not wanted it to be so, the truth was now staring him in the face. These Sirens could not be dissuaded. They would not give up this path and let free all they had conquered. If given the chance they would spread their dark power as far as their ambition would take them, all to fulfil their dream of reviving the people's lost glory. The Sirens watched as the old stallion looked down, letting out a deep sigh before looking up at them once more. His expression was one of both sadness and disappointment, but at this point, neither Adagio nor her sister cared, and he knew that. Instead, he simply called up to them.

"So be it."

Starswirl closed his eyes, concentrating hard and causing his horn to glow brightly with his magic. Adagio saw this from above and gestured to her sisters, letting them know that the time had come to attack. They opened their mouths wide and shouted down, their magic having strengthened their voices to the point where they could use it as a weapon. The destructive songs shot downwards, heading straight for Starswirl, but to the shock of the Sirens, the voices did not make contact. Instead, they were intercepted by a barrier of magic the old stallion had erected around him, and all the while he kept on focusing magic into his horn. Growling in frustration, Adagio began to fly down fast, her sisters soon behind her. It did not take long for them to reach him, their gemstones glowing even brighter than before with their anger. Bolts of magical power shot forth from the jewels, but once again, they merely bounced off Starswirl's defences.

Adagio hissed at the stallion, and it was here that he finally opened his eyes again. To Adagio's confusion, she saw him crying again, tears almost continually flowing down his cheeks. But she soon had other matters to focus on, as she saw that his horn had begun to glow so brightly that it was almost blinding. His expression becoming a stern one, Starswirl shot his magic upwards, right into the sky. The Sirens looked on with confusion, not knowing why he'd want to aim his magic so clearly away from them. But soon, they began to see something happen in the sky. There was something emerging there, something like a spiral, growing larger and larger with every passing moment. The Sirens looked at each other, not knowing what this thing was, but in only a few moments, they began to feel something. It was as if the air around them had become strong water currents, pulling them against their will.

The sisters all looked at each other with shock as they realised what was happening, that the stallions magic was drawing them towards the strange apparition in the sky. Concentrating, they tried strengthening the magic around them as they attempted flying away from it. But regardless of how hard they tried, the pull was just too strong. Eventually, Adagio looked on as she heard a familiar scream, and her face became one of horror as she saw Sonata lose control and began flying upwards towards the hole in the sky. Aria called out to her in fear, but soon enough she too was flying upwards. Adagio was the last with any strength left in her, and as she felt her flight power begin to fade, she looked upon Starswirl one last time, giving him an utterly venomous look before she finally lost control. Upwards she flew, hurtling frantically before eventually crossing the threshold, screaming all the way.

Moments passed after Adagio's entry into the portal, and soon afterwards, it began to fade, the sky above returning to the calm appearance it had before this whole fight began. Starswirl exhaled deeply having exerted himself a great deal during all this. But as he looked upwards towards the sky, where the Sirens were last seen, he could no longer hold it back. His knees buckled and he collapsed onto the ground, weeping uncontrollably. With the tears being soaked up by the dry earth below him, he turned his head, looking upon the vast ocean beside the city, and spoke with a wobbling voice.

"Forgive me, Pacifica...our daughters left me no choice."