Serenade looked down at her hands and opened and closed them a few times. Her fingers were hairless and fleshy, something she found odd. Taking her hands, she ran then down her form to get an idea of what the rest of her looked like. She could feel an hourglass figure on herself which was strangely satisfying. Her buttocks seemed firm and round, something that carried over from her Equestrian form. She nodded in satisfaction at that.

Running her hands along her front side, she felt her stomach, flat as expected since she no longer needed to eat. Coming to her chest, she noted she now had breasts upon it. Feeling them she could see they were about a handful each, and under one she could feel the scar where Glitch had pierced her with the Siren’s Bane. She scowled a little just touching the spot, but she composed herself.

Her new human form was somewhat alien to her, though she had some time to get used to it while she was traveling through the underworld. She wondered how long she had been gone, as time moved differently in the underworld than it did in Equestria. She assumed that Arax was occupied gathering minions to do her bidding, and he would arrive through the portal soon. He was a reliable subordinate, as much as Serenade hated to praise mortals.

She was somewhat disappointed at how drab and unappealing the human world was. It didn’t seem all that interesting, or astounding compared to Equestria; if anything, it was far more boring-looking to her.

Serenade closed her eyes and focused her senses. After a good eight seconds, she could tell there wasn’t any magic within miles of her. It was clear that humans lacked magic, which meant charging her powers would be somewhat tricky if she were to use up more of her power. She could regain a lot of her power over time, as her body would produce energy slowly, but it was going to be a time-consuming process.

Humans seemed to live entirely without magic, Serenade wondered how that was possible. Surely they had some kind of substitute for it? Or did humans really live such a drab existence without anything to stride for? In her mind, without the pursuit of power, there was no reason to exist, no reason to push forward. Life was two-fold; acquiring power, and then using that power to destroy your enemies.

As much as she loathed Sunset Shimmer though, she couldn’t deny that the feeling of using the entirety of her power in a battle was exhilarating. She hoped that Sunset Shimmer hadn’t grown too much weaker by the time they finally met in battle once more. She had waited far too long for her revenge, she didn’t want it to be over too quickly. She longed for a battle that would push her to her absolute limits, and Sunset to hers. Only when their powers were on full display, and they had enjoyed a glorious battle, only then would Sunset die. She would beg Serenade for mercy first, and Serenade would spit in her face before killing her.

Revenge was all that mattered, after that, she would focus her efforts on taking over Equestria and then the human world, just for the fun of it. It seemed an easy enough task, after all, the human world lacked magic.

Serenade took a few steps to get her bearings, she felt a cold breeze across her body, and her nipples hardened slightly from the frigid temperature. In Equestria, she had experienced being cold before, but it was rare with her coat of fur. Her body clearly was far weaker than she had anticipated if she could feel the temperature, it had been centuries since she experienced feeling this way.

She wondered how humans managed to survive if they had no natural coats, but surmised they likely had to wear clothing at all times. With an annoyed sigh, she knew that staying in this forest wasn’t a productive use of her time, she would need to get a sense of where she was and a quick understanding of how the human world worked, and more importantly, she would need clothes for the time being.

Casually, the woman wandered through the woods, remembering what direction she was headed so she could return to her origin point later when necessary, after all, Arax would arrive later, hopefully with an entourage of minions for her. He was instructed to recruit more to her cause, then he would bring himself over to the human world after her, and then Lightning Dust was put in charge of bringing their minions over.

While Lightning Dust had abandoned their cause prior, Serenade believed this was an excellent test of her loyalty going forward. If she failed them, Serenade had instructed Shield to kill her and complete her task himself.

After a bit of walking, Serenade came to an asphalt road. She leaned down and touched it with her fingers, feeling the rough texture. Looking down the middle, she could see lines separating one side from the other. She took a few more steps in only for a vehicle to make a loud honking sound at her. Looking up, she saw a large metal contraption on wheels slow to a stop in front of her.

The door opened and a man with scruffy-looking hair stepped out to scold her. “Hey, you’re right in the middle of the…” He paused as Serenade came to a stand.

The petite woman in front of him was completely nude but incredibly beautiful. Flustered, he stumbled on his words. “A-are you alright, miss? What’re you doing out here… Like this?” He asked.

Serenade approached carefully and placed a hand upon the car, feeling the metallic paint job of the yellow vehicle. “Pray-tell, stranger… What is this?”

He looked down at the car before looking back up at her. “My… Car?”

“Car… What magic powers this…?” She asked.

“Gasoline…?” He blinked.

Serenade was starting to piece things together. Humans had found other means to accomplish their daily tasks. Without magic, they relied on other forms of innovation to live their lives productively. “I see…”

“Miss… What happened to your clothing? How did you get out here?” He asked.

Serenade approached him and placed a finger under his chin as she forced his eyes to meet her own. The only clothing she had was her amulet still secured around her neck. “I require your expertise with this… car…” She glanced down at the car.

“Uh… Okay…” He blinked.

A black tendril came out of Serenade’s back and slithered like a snack as it caressed his cheek. She could smell the sweat running down his neck as it touched him. “What the…?” He gulped.

The tendril wrapped around his neck and gripped him gently as Serenade whispered in his ear. “Be a good boy, do what you’re told and I won’t kill you, do you understand?”

“What are you…?” He spoke in a shaky voice.

“Something far beyond your comprehension, boy…” She whispered.

“W-what do you want me to do?” He asked.

Serenade released him and the tendril retreated into her body as she opened the car door for him. “You’re going to take me somewhere…”

He nodded before sitting down in the driver’s seat. He pressed a button and the passenger seat opened for her. Serenade gracefully sat down and closed the door behind her.

The man inhaled and exhaled nervously. “So… Where am I going?”

She kept her eyes straight forward and spoke. “Take me to where I can get clothes…”

He nodded and revved the engine as he sped to the nearest city as fast as he could. Their car ride was fairly silent as he glanced over at the mysterious woman a few times. His mind had so many questions about her, but common sense told him not to ask them. He could tell she was taking extra care to keep her long golden hair in front of her other eye.

There was also the detail of how a naked woman ended up in the woods. His eyes wandered to her figure noting she was quite attractive, though there was a scar above one of her breasts. Serenade caught him looking and spoke in a serious tone. “I suggest you keep your focus on getting us to our destination because I can just kill you all the same…”

He nodded and his face turned red as he locked his eyes on the road. The rest of the journey was silent before they arrived at the nearest city. Serenade looked out the window to take in the sight. A city within the human world was definitely different from what she was used to. Buildings seemed to practically reach the sky, a relatively impressive feat considering humans lacked magic.

Hundreds of cars surrounded them, which gave Serenade the impression that this device was a relatively common mode of transportation for humans. As she saw other humans wandering about, she could see that her hunch was correct: humans wore clothing in lieu of having fur coats. It seemed quite inefficient, these humans were definitely far less evolved than even the mortals of Equestria.

The driver cleared his throat as he spoke nervously. “So… Uh… Where would you prefer clothes from?”

Looking around her, she decided if she had to wear clothes, she wanted the best of the best, anything else wouldn’t be fitting for a siren after all. “Take me somewhere expensive…”

He raised a brow wondering how a woman with no clothing or money was just going to walk into the most expensive boutique in the city and walk out with a wardrobe, but he decided not to question it and instead do as she asked. Taking a right turn, he came to 8th street, and across the street from a little eatery called “Spare Time”, there was the most expensive clothing store in town; Dynasty Fashions.

He stopped the car and Serenade looked the building up and down. It was quite lavish and stood out from the rest of the buildings. Just looking at it, she could tell it was quite expensive. Looking over at the driver, a tendril came out of her back and pointed at him threateningly. “You will wait here until I come back. If you drive away, I will find you and hunt you down…”

He nodded as a bead of sweat ran down his neck. Once Serenade was satisfied that he would not flee, she opened the car door and stepped out, shutting it behind her.

Around her, people instantly started staring at the nude woman. Mothers covered their children’s eyes to hide her nudity from them. Serenade could hear whispers and people chattering about her but paid no mind to it. Walking toward the large glass doors, Serenade let herself into the store and she was instantly met by security.

“Miss, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” One of the guards said.

“That’s quite alright, I’ll only be a few minutes…” Serenade grinned.

He sighed and picked up his radio. “I’m gonna need someone to get ahold of the-“ He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Serenade grabbed his wrist and twisted it. With a loud snap, his hand was broken causing him to drop his radio. He screamed in pain as he dropped to his knees.

Another guard reached for a taser, but Serenade moved quickly and jabbed him in the gut. After he kneeled down, she grabbed his finger and snapped it back, causing him to scream.

Once she was inside, she raised her left hand, causing black tendrils to come out of the ground, blocking the exit. To her good fortune, she had come to the store shortly before closing, so there were no customers, only employees. Several guards inside the store took notice of her and approached only for Serenade to grab the shoulder of one and squeeze hard enough to hear a crack, followed by her summoning tendrils to grab the other few. In about eight seconds she had the entire bottom floor at her mercy, entrapped one way or another.

Looking at the front counter, a young short woman with short black hair and pale skin trembled as Serenade came closer and closer.

Once the siren was only two feet away, her menacing face transformed into a smile, which somehow only made her seem creepier to the sales associate. The woman placed a gentle hand on the counter and smiled. “I’m looking for some clothes.”

Ponyville Castle was as busy as ever, Princess Twilight Sparkle received many seeking her audience after the takeover of Equestria, followed by her excursion to Dragon Scar, which resulted in treaties between the two nations; the mare had become quite popular among the citizens, especially for a royal family member. She had become far more than just the face of friendship, and with added popularity came added security.

With the recent boon of magical discovery that came after the war, every royal castle now came with scanners to detect illusion spells (though some of the more advanced mages could still fool them with the right know-how), demon detection equipment, and much more. Furthermore, the royal family had developed bands for all royal guards with unique magical signatures for the purpose of identification and clearance checks which would be assigned throughout restricted areas of the castle.

Needless to say, security was tight, but that wasn’t enough to stop a young griffon who had spent weeks studying the castle. He had never ventured to Ponyville before, but after his arrival, he had kept a low profile while scoping out the castle at night. He had paid close attention to the guards’ patrols and looked everywhere to find some kind of hole in their security.

As luck would have it, he had discovered one. Near a window on the second floor of the castle, there was a patrol route with a security check around the corner of a hallway. At exactly 8:00 PM, a guard would be making his way down that hallway just past the window, and there was a good eight-minute window where he had no one behind him. It was the perfect opportunity.

The griffon flew up to the window silently and peered through it carefully, making sure not to cast a shadow on the hall down below. Right on schedule, the guard he was expecting was making his rounds, and exactly when his back was turned, the griffon popped the window open carefully and silently as he slipped down and crept up behind the stallion. Before the guard had a chance to even tell what was going on, the griffon knocked him as hard as he could on his head, rendering him unconscious.

Tapping him eight times, the griffon was confident that he was out cold, and so he quickly snapped off the bracelet that would grant him clearance to the next area and placed it upon his own wrist. He then began to remove the stallion’s armor and tried to fit it on. The body armor barely fit over his slender frame, but the helmet was far too large, so he abandoned it.

He knew that he would have to move quickly if he hoped to pull this plan off, as he was likely to be discovered if someone came to that hall and discovered the unconscious guard.

He hurriedly trotted past the security checkpoint which had a small light that turned green as he passed. The griffon let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in.

Cautiously, the creature made his way down the next hall toward his next destination after studying a map of the castle. He was on his way to Starlight Glimmer’s quarters, a necessary stop on his way to his final destination.

Coming up to a nearby turn he was stopped by another guard. “Hey, I don’t recognize you… Are you new?”

The griffon cleared his throat and tried to sound believable. “Uh… Yeah, I started this morning…”

“Let me see your security band…” The guard asked.

Carefully, the griffon showed the band. The guard held his own band close to it and it made a magic projection of his security clearance appear. Nodding, the stallion gestured down the hall. “You’re out of your zone, no one comes past here without level 8 clearance; Starlight Glimmer’s orders. She demanded security to be beefed up since the war.”

“I see…” The griffon said.

“You need to go back to zone 2B, it’s just down that way and you’ll be patrolling from there to the stairwell for the next hour, got it?” The guard instructed.

The griffon nodded and gave a fake salute. “Understood.”

When the stallion turned around to return to his own patrol, the griffon quickly jumped on top of him and gripped his neck. The stallion tried to throw him off but the griffon held on tight and choked him out until he finally gave in and passed out. Once he was down, the griffon moved quickly to Starlight’s quarters.

Brushing himself off, he took a deep breath and exhaled before tapping on the door, trying to appear as official as possible.

A sleepy Starlight Glimmer answered the door, rubbing her eye as she yawned. “What is it? Do you know what hour it is?”

The griffon gave a fake salute as he spoke. “Miss, I was instructed to inspect your quarters, we have reason to believe there may be a terrorist loose in the castle.”

Starlight blinked and tilted her head. “My quarters? Who would give such an order?”

“Ma’am the orders came down directly from Princess Twilight.” The griffon lied.

Starlight scratched her chin curiously. “That’s weird… Twilight usually would inform me if something like that was going on…”

“Ma’am, it’s an evolving situation, I just found out myself. If you would like, you may supervise my inspection.” He stated.

Nodding, Starlight gestured for him to come into the room. He lowered his salute and did as instructed while Starlight followed. She grumbled about how tired she was before the two were inside. Once in the room, the griffon reached into his saddle bag and produced a small blade which he wielded in his right claw before grabbing Starlight with his left and held the knife to her neck.

The mare yelped before she froze not wanting to agitate her attacker. The griffon spoke quietly. “If you cooperate with me, I am not going to hurt you, okay? I just need you to help me run a little errand and you’re free to go…”

Starlight nodded. “Okay… Fine, what do you want?”

“You’re going to take me to Princess Twilight. You’re the only one in this castle who has the authority to take me right there…” The griffon explained.

Starlight sighed. “You think you’re just going to walk into Twilight’s office like this?”

“It’s the only chance I have…” The griffon explained.

Starlight sighed. “And what’s your plan after that? You’re not going to be able to walk out of this castle after that…”

“Let me worry about that, now come on, move.” He held the knife tighter to her neck to encourage her to start walking.

With a sigh, Starlight began moving forward. “I swear, how do I keep ending up in these situations…”

“Unlucky, I suppose…” The griffon replied as the two began to make their way down the hall toward the stairs. A set of guards guarding the stairwell quickly raised their weapons as they saw the two, but the griffon called out to them.

“Drop ‘em!” He demanded.

“Do as he says…” Starlight added.

The two guards laid down their weapons on the floor.

“Good, now face the wall, both of you.” The griffon commanded.

They both did as they were told and Starlight and he ascended the stairs backward, so the griffon could keep his eyes on the guards. Once they were up onto the next floor, the two began to make their way past more guards before ascending to the next floor where Princess Twilight’s office would be. Outside were two guards stationed but the griffon quickly gained control of them using Starlight.

“Stand down… We need to speak to Twilight…” Starlight stated.

“Ma’am with all due respect, we can not allow this terrorist to see the princess…” One of the guards stated.

“I said stand down…” Starlight repeated.

Nodding, the guards stepped back to allow Starlight and her captor to enter the office. Carefully, he shut the door behind them.

Once inside, a disheveled Twilight Sparkle with a short messy mane looked over at the two. She froze before picking up a pair of glasses from the table and planted them on her face.

Starlight gave a sheepish smile. “Hey, Twilight.”

“I see you’ve brought trouble with you…” Twilight replied.

“Such is my nature.” Starlight chuckled nervously.

The griffon grunted. “Can you two catch up later?”

Twilight nodded, she seemed relatively calm about the situation. “Alright then, what’s your name, young one?”

“Galeal,” he said.

Nodding, Twilight leaned in with a smile. “What can I do for you today then, Galeal?”

He kept his knife tight against Starlight’s neck, only for Twilight to give a dismissive hoof gesture. “You can put that down, no one is going to come in here, I promise you that.”

Galeal was about to protest, but somehow he felt like he could trust her words, so he lowered his weapon and released Starlight. “Sorry… I wouldn’t have done any of this if there was an easier way to get in here…”

“Yes, well security measures have been higher for some time now, so I can see how those who request an audience with me are left a bit impatient, though I haven’t had one take one of my assistants, hostage, before though, so that’s definitely one for my journal.” Twilight grinned.

“I never intended to hurt anyone, I'm sorry. I just needed to speak with you, that’s all…” Galeal said.

Twilight chuckled and nodded. “Well, you’re speaking to me now, so I suppose we should make this a productive meeting. What is it that I can do for you, Galeal?”

Galeal reached into a saddlebag he was carrying and retrieved a photograph which he handed to Twilight. The mare took the picture in her hoof and adjusted her reading glasses as she looked it over. A young unicorn looked back at her, his mane a shining white, and he sported a very effeminate face Had she not known any better, she would have assumed him a mare.

She blinked and handed the photo back to Galeal. “Who is this pony?”

“Someone I’m looking for…” Galeal said.

Twilight leaned back in her chair with a smile. “And what makes you think that I would know where they are?”

“I have my reasons, but I know his last known location was here,” Galeal spoke.

“How do you know such a thing?” Twilight asked.

“I have my ways, now… Have you seen him?” Galeal asked.

Twilight frowned and shook her head. “I’m afraid not. His face seems vaguely familiar, but I haven’t seen him, sorry.”

Galeal frowned. “So you haven’t seen Eclipse either, then?”

Another raspy voice could be heard from the other room. “Eclipse?”

All of them in the room turned as a dragon entered. Her pink scales shined in the fluorescent light of the room which she had to duck down to enter. “Did you say his name was Eclipse?” She asked.

“I did, who are you?” Galeal asked with a raised brow.

“Cinder Razorclaw.” She offered her claw to the griffon.

Galeal looked down at her claw for a moment before taking it in his own and shaking it. “Galeal…”

“That’s an interesting name… So Galeal… Why are you looking for Eclipse?” Cinder questioned.

“He’s…” Galeal paused trying to think of how to word it. His face turned a shade of red. “He’s important to me…”

“Ah, young love…” Twilight chimed in.

“It’s not like that!” Galeal blushed.

“No worries, your secret is safe with us.” Cinder giggled.

Galeal rolled his eyes.

“I think you mentioned you were in love once, right Cinder?” Twilight asked.

Cinder nodded. “Yes, but my family believes in mating for life, so after that didn’t work out, it’s just me now…”

“How tragic…” Twilight frowned.

"You don't even know the half of it, Twilight..." Cinder stated.

Galeal coughed. “Not that your love lives aren’t fascinating to me, but can we get back on topic? How do you know Eclipse?”

Cinder blinked and smiled at the young griffon. “Oh, he was a student of mine. He fought alongside us during the war, I trained him to fight. He was quite the dedicated student too.”

“Where is he now?” Galeal asked. He was surprised to hear that the young shy unicorn that he knew was capable of training to be a warrior.

Cinder frowned. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in some time…”

Galeal placed a claw upon his chin. “Is it alright if I take a look around?”

Twilight laughed. “You break in here, you take my assistant hostage, and now you expect me to give you free rein to explore my castle?”

Cinder stepped forward and placed a claw upon Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight, please… He’s in love.”

“That’s not true…” Galeal mumbled.

Cinder ignored his denial. “Twilight, people do strange things when they’re in love, and as far as I can see… No one has been seriously hurt. What harm could it do to let him try to find whatever information he is after?”

“Well… It doesn’t exactly help that he won’t tell us how he even knows that the unicorn was even here…” Twilight bit her lip.

“We all have our own secrets that we keep, Twilight.” Cinder reminded.

With a sigh, Twilight nodded. “Alright, I’ll put the word out that you’re allowed to explore, but when you’re done, I expect you to leave.”

He nodded.

“Also, restricted areas are off-limits. Got it?” Twilight stated.

Galeal nodded again. “Thank you…”

Twilight gestured toward the door. “You have an hour, but after that, you will be escorted out, and if you go into any restricted areas, you’ll be escorted out immediately.”

Galeal bowed to show his respect. “Thank you, again.”

“Yes, well, off you go.” Twilight dismissed him.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for, Galeal.” Cinder smiled at him.

Galeal nodded and quickly made his exit, not wanting to waste any time. Truthfully, he already knew where he wanted to go, he just needed the freedom to get to the place where he needed to be. With Twilight telling the guards to stand down and allow him to explore more freely, he could get to where he wanted to be.

Naturally, he had no intention of keeping his promise of staying away from restricted areas, as where he had to go was inside the restricted archives, he was just thankful that Twilight wasn’t wise enough to search him when he entered her chamber, as she would have discovered some items that might have made her question his intentions.

He made his way down a few floors, nodding politely at guards as he passed, though it was clear from a few of the looks he got, that they weren’t exactly thrilled that he was allowed to roam around, and some definitely followed him with their eyes a bit longer than usual. He surmised that word had gotten around about him knocking a few of the guards out.

Once he was down to the floor he wanted to be, he checked around the royal archives and sure enough, two guards blocked the entrance. Galeal cursed under his breath, realizing this was going to be more annoying than he had hoped. He reached into his bag and retrieved a parchment that showed a map of Equestria, and he had stared at the same map so many times in the past few months, and now it showed a small glowing red dot on a certain place within the castle, a place within the archives. He knew that meant Eclipse was there, somehow. It didn’t make much sense, but he knew it meant he was close to finding the unicorn again.

Galeal thought about his options. If he made his entrance into the royal archives too obvious by knocking out the guards, he was certain to not be able to leave the castle; he’d be detained and likely put in some kind of jail. Even if he distracted the guards or convinced them to leave with some kind of lie, eventually they would figure out he only did so to get into the archives, and thus he’d be detained by Twilight in that scenario as well.

He scratched his chin as he thought it over. No option available to him allowed him to enter the archives and also leave the castle.

Then it occurred to him, if Eclipse had pulled it off, there must have been a way to do it. Something in that room was the reason why Eclipse just vanished off of his map.

What he needed to do was find a way inside, getting out wasn’t as much of a priority.

Reaching into his saddlebag, he retrieved a small glass orb, glowing with a green magic aura. He had purchased it from a unicorn prior to making his arrival. It would dispel the magic barrier keeping him out of the archives long enough for him to enter. Given that he was not a unicorn and thus had no magic, he had to rely on such things to gain entry.

He clutched it tightly in his claw as he considered what to do about the guards.

He took a deep breath and after a good eight minutes of thinking, he decided to try and go with a lie.

Clearing his throat, he approached the guards and spoke. “Excuse me, I was just told that Princess Twilight needed all the guards to report to her office on the top floor.” He gestured toward the stairs where he came from as he spoke.

One of the guards raised a suspicious brow. “When did she say that?”

“Just a little bit ago, I was sent down to get the message to you two,” Galeal lied.

“Why would she send you?” He squinted at the griffon.

Galeal maintained his composure as he continued. “She knew you couldn’t leave your post, so she sent someone. Apparently, she needed to discuss new security protocols.”

“That’s not like her to leave the archives unguarded…” The guard rubbed his chin.

“She said that the barrier should be sufficient, and the meeting will only take a few minutes,” Galeal stated.

The guard stood there with a suspicious look, but after looking the griffon up and down, he realized that such a young griffon lacked the resources to enter the archives anyway. “Alright, if that’s what she wants.” He gestured for his fellow guard to follow him and the two made their way down the hall.

Once the two were out of sight, Galeal rolled his eyes at how gullible they were. Twilight really needed to hire more competent staff, clearly.

Quickly cracking the magic orb in his palm, Galeal rushed through the magic barrier and found his way into the archives. There were scrolls and tomes lining virtually every wall, and bookshelves packed together so tightly it wasn’t easy to navigate.

Checking his map, he could see where he was looking for was somewhere on the west side of the room. Wandering to the west side he found what appeared to be some kind of stone door. He checked around it to see if there was some way to open it, but it lacked a handle.

He peered around the room, noticing a book on a nearby shelf that looked far brighter than every other book on the shelf. It was eight spaces away from the wall, and vibrant purple on a row of books that were all dark black, in fact, the entire shelf was filled only with black books.

Approaching carefully, Galeal pulled the book from the shelf and heard a loud clicking noise followed by the door opening. He chuckled at how elaborate Twilight had been to hide this chamber. It was also fitting that the bookworm had hidden the mechanism within a bookshelf.

Wasting no time, the griffon made his way through the door which he noticed closed behind him after eighty seconds from when he opened it. The door must have been on some kind of timer.

When he entered the new room, he found himself standing in front of a large mirror. He reached forward and touched it only to find it rippled at the touch of his talon. He quickly retracted his claw but then stepped closer. Could this be how Eclipse escaped the castle?

Twilight had finally gotten back to work and had managed to look over a good eight pages of the paperwork in front of herself, only to once again be interrupted. The door to her office had opened once more and this time a guard had entered. He huffed and puffed as he tried to speak. “Princess… The…” He paused and tried to catch his breath.

“Breathe…” Twilight stated.

He nodded and took a few breaths before speaking again. “Princess, the griffon has broken into the royal archives!”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “I should have known he was going to do something like this… Has the area been secured?”

He nodded. “We’ve got the area closed off waiting for your arrival.”

Twilight removed her glasses and nodded as she stood up and walked around her desk. “Alright, let’s go then.”

The guard bowed respectfully before her and began to lead her down to the archives. As the two ventured down a stairwell, Twilight wondered why Galeal had broken her trust, he didn’t seem like he was the kind of creature who was interested in wealth or power. Would there really be anything in the archives that could help him find his friend, Eclipse?

Upon reaching the archives, Twilight nodded at the two guards as she entered by herself, as even guards were forbidden from entry. Upon her entrance, she saw that they must have contacted Starlight as well, as she was already on the scene.

Twilight smiled at her friend. “Guess they told you too?”

Starlight grinned at Twilight. “It’s been an interesting start to the day for me. First I get taken hostage by a homosexual griffon and now I’m looking through the royal archives for Luna knows what. We really do know how to have fun here at the castle, don’t we?”

Twilight laughed at her ability to ease the tension of a situation. “That we do, though I’m sure the little guy meant no harm. Doesn’t exactly strike me as the terrorist type…”

Starlight nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he barely would touch me with that knife… Seemed hesitant the entire time, I doubt he could hurt a fly. He really must miss his friend…”

A frown came to Twilight as she realized how right Starlight was. “Yeah, sounds like he really loves him…”

“What’re we gonna do when we catch him then?” Starlight questioned.

Twilight tapped her chin in thought. “I guess we can give him a warning, and tell him he’s forbidden from coming to the castle without an escort from now on. Depending on the severity of whatever it is he did in here…”

“Let’s look around then, can’t be that hard to find a griffon, right?” Starlight suggested.

“They would stand out around here for sure.” Twilight laughed.

The two mares split up and began to circle around the archives. Twilight’s meticulous nature and insistence on organizing the archives caused her to notice right away that nothing seemed to truly be disturbed. It didn’t seem like he was too interested in the information available there.

Twilight’s attention was quickly pulled to the other side of the archives though as she heard Starlight’s voice call her. “Hey Twilight, you might wanna see this…”

Running to the other side of the room, Twilight came to Starlight’s side. The unicorn was using a spell to find any kind of prints, and Twilight could see a claw print lit up on a particular book, she knew which one it was too.

Twilight pulled the book and sure enough, a secret chamber opened up revealing a familiar mirror.

Starlight and Twilight stood in silence for a brief moment before Starlight spoke what they both were clearly thinking. “Well, I guess that answers the question of how they both got out of here without being seen…”

“This can’t be good…” Twilight sighed.

Twilight was pacing back in forth in Starlight’s office as the two discussed what needed to be done about the mirror situation.

“This can’t keep happening, Starlight…” Twilight sighed.

Starlight tilted her head in confusion. “So a couple of lovers traveled to the other world to be together, I don’t see what harm it’ll do.”

Twilight shook her head and approached Starlight’s desk, placing both hooves atop it. “Starlight, that world has no magic, anomalies like Equestrians going there greatly upsets the balance of that world, it happened before when the sirens were sent there by Starswirl, granted he had no idea what he was doing, and it happened again when Sunset went though, and even me going through there has caused a lot of damage…”

“Wow, sounds like that place has a lot of bad luck…” Starlight attempted to lighten the mood.

“Starlight, I’m serious. A girl was murdered over there because of involvement from our world. I did everything I could to keep order and balance, but if we keep having incidents like this, it could lead to that world becoming aware of our own… And not in a good way…” Twilight explained.

Starlight frowned. “I guess I see your point… But what can we do? Do we send someone after them?”

Twilight shook her head. “Out of the question. We can’t just keep using the portal willy-nilly. I think we need to take somewhat drastic measures going forward…”

“Such as?” Starlight raised a brow.

Letting out a sigh, Twilight stepped away from the desk and rubbed her temple. She then ran her hoof through her short messy mane. “I think we need to put a serious magic lock on the portal, genetic lock even. Making it so the only way it’ll open is with a spell cast by me…”

“Seems reasonable…” Starlight paused, knowing that when it came to Twilight, there was definitely more coming.

“And… A strict one-way policy. We have to also think about our own world… Things that come from there can’t be coming back here either, while it saved our behinds in the past, we can’t just let our worlds interfere with each other… Not yet, neither of our worlds is ready for that yet…” Twilight sighed.

“So those two are…” Starlight was interrupted.

“Gone. No way back, from here on, anyone who goes there has to have my approval and it’s a one-way trip,” Twilight stated firmly.

“Those poor kids… They didn’t know what they were doing though…” Starlight attempted to reason with Twilight.

“It doesn’t matter, we have to think about the bigger picture, Starlight. I was careless to let him wander around here, but it won’t happen again…” Twilight said.

“Let’s hope he can find Eclipse then…” Starlight frowned.

Twilight sighed and nodded. “Yeah… Let’s hope his hunch was right…”

Serenade stood with a bra in her hands, examining it up and down. She turned her head trying to figure it out. The store saleswoman stood there awkwardly trying to look away from the girl who had at least managed to figure out how to put the pair of black panties on.

Turning the article upside down, she still couldn’t understand it. Finally, she spoke to the saleswoman. “What the hell is this thing? Why did you give it to me?”

The saleswoman’s face turned a shade of crimson. “That’s… A bra…”

“And its purpose?” Serenade asked.

The clerk blinked. “You’ve… Never seen one?”

Serenade shook her head. “No.”

Where did this woman come from? The saleswoman wondered. “It’s for you…” She paused as she made a gesture toward her own chest.

Serenade looked down at her own breasts. She had noticed that humans covered them up, but she wasn’t aware there was a specific article of clothing for such. The woman placed her hands on her breasts and felt the scar that was given to her by Sunset Shimmer.

“Why though?” Serenade asked.

The store clerk made an awkward face realizing she was about to explain how a bra works to a full-grown adult. “It’s for support, reducing back pain, that kind of thing?”

Serenade shrugged, not sure she understood but then looked at the bra once more.

“How does it work?” She asked.

Sighing, the saleswoman approached and took the bra from Serenade. She positioned it so she could slip it onto her and then fastened it. She then gently and carefully positioned Serenade toward the mirror.

Serenade placed a hand on her waist and turned sideways. She actually found herself enjoying the appearance of the matching black underwear, complementing the curves on her body. She could see the appeal to humans quite easily. Her form was quite feminine, very appropriate for a seductress such as herself.

“I like it, now, pass me the rest.” She gestured to the saleswoman.

Nodding, the saleswoman passed the clothing she had selected out for Serenade after considering her body. As much as she felt frightened by the strange blond woman, she somehow found herself able to conduct her job regardless.

Taking the pile from the saleswoman, Serenade identified a pair of stockings by their shape matching her legs. She knew that back in Equestria sometimes ponies wore socks, so it wasn’t too out of the ordinary for her.

She then took the large dress that had been prepared for her and slipped it over her head. The saleswoman assisted her in getting her arms through the sleeves and adjusted the dress for her. After the adjustments were made, Serenade noticed at the bottom of a pile was the eyepatch she had requested. She lifted her hair and placed it upon herself, letting her hair drop after.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she loved the look of the lacy black lolita dress. It had white and red trimmings, two bows at the waist, revealing a white part underneath. Thanks to the built-in corset, her form was still shown to onlookers who would want to see it.

The girl turned to see the other side and smiled at how it looked. Finally, she looked back at the saleswoman. “What do you think?”

The saleswoman gave a sheepish smile with a thumbs up. “Very sexy.”

“I think so too.” Serenade nodded.

“Put the boots on the finish the outfit and I’ll meet you at the counter?” The saleswoman suggested.

Serenade looked down at the black heeled boots. She nodded as she leaned down to put them on, standing up after. She looked in the mirror and smiled as she noticed the boots added an inch or two to her pygmy height.

Wandering out of the dressing room, the siren approached the counter where the saleswoman stood behind. The saleswoman cleared her throat. “I take it you want to pay with credit…?”

Serenade laughed and leaned in carefully. She placed a finger on the woman’s chin and seductively ran it along her jawline. “Sweetheart… I haven’t held onto money in a long time.”

“How will you be…” The saleswoman stopped realizing what a ridiculous question that was.

Serenade laughed as a black tendril came out of the sleeve of her dress. The tendril caressed the woman’s cheek as Serenade spoke. “You’re just going to look the other way, and if you or anyone in this store say anything to anyone…”

Serenade leaned in closer and whispered into the woman’s ear. “I’ll kill you all.”

Gulping the saleswoman nodded nervously. “Y-yes then… N-no charge…”

Serenade giggled as she leaned back and retracted the tendril. “Have a good one, and be thankful, it’s been a while since I’ve killed someone, the temptation is quite high…”

The saleswoman felt a cold sweat run down her neck as she watched the blond walk away. With the flick of her hand, the tendrils blocking the door retracted and seemed to vanish into thin air. Serenade stepped outside, now donning her new wardrobe, quite pleased with herself. She knew it was only a matter of time before Arax finally arrived.

Sure enough, the man she had threatened to drive her there was waiting patiently for her return. She grinned at what an obedient little servant he was being. If he weren’t such a pathetic weakling, she would have considered making him her slave.

Walking around to the passenger side of the car, Serenade opened the door and smiled as she sat down. “Well, you’ve been a good boy, haven’t you?” She grinned.

He nodded. “Yeah… Just what else do you want from me…?”

“Oooo, so eager to please, I could use more slaves like you, most of the ones I have are so unwilling to please…” She spoke in a seductive tone.

He felt sweat run down his neck as she made the suggestion. “W-where to?” He attempted to change the subject.

“Back to where you found me, and be quick about it.” Serenade gestured toward the road.

“Yes, ma’am…” He nodded as he started the engine.

Leaning back, Serenade looked at herself in the side mirror, admiring her own beauty. That saleswoman was right, she was sexy. She felt like she could make men do whatever she wanted with ease, no need for powers even. She touched her amulet upon her neck. With demon abilities at her disposal, she rarely had to use her siren talents, but it was nice to break them out once in a while. Deep down, she still got thrills from making men do her bidding and teasing them.

As the two drove. Serenade looked over at the human driving her. He wasn’t much to look at, but she studied him to learn all she could about humans.

Once she finished, she leaned back in her seat and grinned. She could get used to being driven around by car. It reminded her of a lot of chariots back in Equestria. The woman recalled being carried wherever she went and onlookers would bow down to her whenever she passed. In Equestria, she was once the supreme ruler, but in this human world, not a soul knew her name. She had to change that.

She had to focus though, her first goal had to remain taking care of Sunset Shimmer, and securing more power for herself, to prevent anyone from overthrowing her in the future. This time, she had to plan ahead. A direct confrontation with Sunset Shimmer at that moment would be suicide. Even if she defeated her, announcing her presence there would draw too much unwanted attention, though she did see the irony in such thought given her dramatic entrance to the clothing store.

Still, even if she killed Sunset Shimmer before executing her entire plan, she would face a myriad of problems. Princess Twilight could potentially come looking for her, and she couldn’t afford that yet. Once her power was restored, sure she could defeat the mare with no problem, but she needed more than that, she needed an ace in the hole, and that is exactly what she had come to find.

She knew a truth that Twilight had kept hidden, even from Sunset Shimmer. It was a truth she had kept hidden from all, but after reading her personal archive, Serenade knew the truth, and she intended to exploit that truth. There was a secret within the human world that Serenade knew she could use to her advantage, she just needed to find it first.

Once her plan was complete, Serenade knew she would be unstoppable this time. She just needed the right things in the right places, and she would hold the keys to victory.

Sunset Shimmer definitely needed to die, but Serenade knew she had to wait. She needed to put herself in an ideal position before she made her strike, otherwise, she ran the risk of being humiliated again.

Serenade cupped her breast, squeezing gently as she remembered the scar there. All her life, she was the symbol of beauty, the symbol of femininity, the symbol of desire, and now her perfection was ruined. It was as if someone had scratched the finest of sculptures. To make matters worse, she had actually convinced Kiz that sirens and mortals could co-exist. Sunset Shimmer had tarnished the legacy of sirens in one fell swoop.

How could Kiz forget how mortals had treated them? How they had sought to undo their kind? How they had slaughtered them when it was convenient for them? The oldest siren alive and yet she had been duped by mortals.

Serenade couldn’t allow it. When she returned she would not spare any mortal sympathizers. She would make them all pay for the damage done to her body.

Ordinarily she would have healed the wound fully, but the Siren’s Bane would not allow such a thing. A wound inflicted on a siren from it would leave a permanent scar. Truthfully, she was lucky to still be alive; any weaker siren would have died from a single hit, and yet Serenade had survived two.

Still, it was fortunate she was in the human world now. The Siren’s Bane drew its power from the sirens of the world; meaning it would be useless in the human world, that meant Sunset’s trump card wasn’t available here.

Serenade’s driver pulled up to the forest by the side of the road and cleared his throat as he stopped the car. It was exactly where the two of them had first met. Serenade smiled lightly as she turned to him. A black tendril came out of the sleeve of her dress that pointed at him. “I should kill you… But that would be a waste of my power which I can’t afford right now…”

He gulped and said nothing as his eyes fixated on the tendril.

“When I step out of this car, you are to drive away and forget everything you saw here today, understand?” She instructed.

He nodded. “Yes ma’am… I didn’t see anything.”

She grinned and retracted the tendril back into her sleeve. “Good. Now run along like a good boy before I change my mind…”

He nodded as she stepped out of the car, and immediately he took off as fast as he could go. Serenade chuckled lightly at how easy it was to manipulate humans.

Carefully she retraced her steps back into the forest, and sure enough, she arrived back at the spot she needed to be for Arax’s arrival. She held her head as she noticed her body was quite fatigued. She had used up so much of her power just getting to the human world, and now she had used a considerable chunk of the supply she had left on that display she had made back at the clothing store.

She focused on her hand and tried to conjure up a shadow ball, but all she could muster was an orb no bigger than a peanut. She cursed in annoyance as she tried again, but no luck. Her power was considerably drained, it would take some time to recharge it.

Could she rely on Arax to take care of things in her absence? He was her most trusted subordinate, but in her weakened state, she wasn’t so sure she could trust anyone. Sure she could kill him whenever she desired, but anyone who wished to usurp her rule could do so in such a weakened state. Arax would have to hide her loss of power from the others until she was strong again. She loathed the idea of relying on him but it was her only option now.

She tried to focus her power to make a shadow ball once more, but this time nothing but black ethereal smoke came from her fingertips.

“Fuck…” She cursed again.

The siren blinked as she noticed a black swirl of energy forming in front of her. It was time.

She forced herself to stand up straight, awaiting Arax’s arrival. She watched as a small portal opened and out of it stepped a medium height man. His hair was long and messy, and black as midnight. His missing eye had been stitched close a long time ago.

Serenade noted he had a lean build, similar to how he was in Equestria. On the eyes, he wasn’t much to look at, but she could see his one piercing red eye staring at her as his nude form stepped forward out of the portal. He lacked any and all grace as he practiced walking, stumbling for the first two steps.

He took a good eight paces toward her, as Serenade watched him carefully.

She felt her head start to spin slightly as he came within a good foot or so of her, but she tried to keep her composure.

Arax stood up straight in front of his master and his deep raspy voice echoed in her ears as he addressed her. “Sorry, I’m late. It’s not easy finding someone to babysit some of our… lesser minions if you know what I mean.”

“I think I know all too well…” Serenade nodded.

Arax nodded back at her. “So, what’s the next part of the plan now that we’re here?”

Serenade nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but instead, she collapsed onto the ground right in front of Arax.

Hey! It's been a while hasn't it? Sorry, it took me so long to return, but I have so much going on. German classes, work, etc. But it's good to be back.