Meanwhile, things were getting bad for Sasha and her family as well.

The water was completely frozen over, and the ice was thick.  They were trapped.

"Well, this is certainly a problem." Sasha muttered, staring up through the ice.  There was snow piled on top of it, too.  "How am I gonna help my friends if I can't even escape my own home?"

She swam back down to join Rex and Valerie.

"How bad is it, sis?" Valerie immediately asked when she noticed Sasha swim close.

"Yeah, do ya think we can bust through?" Rex asked.

Sasha shook her head slowly.  "It's frozen solid and super thick, not to mention there's too much snow on top.  It'd take a legion of phoenixes AND dragons using their fire to melt it all."

"Aww...but I'm hungry, and all the food's up there!" Rex complained.

"I know."

"And aren't you supposed to sing tonight?" Valerie pointed out.

"I KNOW."

"And your boyfriend's up there, too."

"I KN- ..HEY!!!"

The two siblings giggled.  "Well, it's true!"

Sasha's face reddened in embarrassment and she turned away.  "Why must you two be like this?"

She suddenly hesitated as a beam of light shined through the ice.  She looked up to see a group of centaurs and minotaurs clearing the snow off the ice.  Streak and Clop were with them.

"Well, at least the snow's off." she muttered, swimming up for a better look.

Streak noticed her.  "Yep, they're trapped there, alright." he muttered.

Lily and Tadpole watched nearby.  "How thick do you think the ice is?" Lily asked Tadpole.

"I don't know.  What if it's frozen all the way down?"

"That would be bad!"

"It's not frozen all the way down." a gentle voice reassured them.

The twins turned around to see their mother, Ala, standing over them. "It's only a few inches thick, but it'll be difficult to melt or shatter it."

"Are our friends gonna be trapped down there forever!?" Lily wailed, clinging to her mother.

"No, goodness, no." Ala said gently.  "They won't be trapped forever, but it might be a while before they're free."

"How long will it take, mama?" Tadpole asked, looking up at her with his head tilted.

"I don't know, but it'll definitely be a while."

Streak and Clop galloped back over.

"It's no use. It'll take weeks for us to break through the ice ourselves, even with everyone helping." Clop muttered. "I'm not sure if anyone'll be able to get any phoenixes or dragons to help. The dragons are too greedy and selfish, and phoenixes are afraid of water."

"Not all dragons n' phoenixes are like that, pop. You know that." Streak pointed out.

"Most are."

"Not all! We could still get help. I could get Zakk to help us, at least!"

"There's no way he could do it on his own."

"But if I convince him, he could convince others!"

"We're more likely to get a single cervitar to break the ice than that!"

"Are you calling us weak?" Ala butted in.

"N-no, hon. I'm just saying." Clop defended.

"Mmhm."

He rolled his eyes. "My point is, there's no use."

Streak rolled his eyes. "I still think it'd be worth a shot."

"You try if you want, but I'm not doing it." Clop snorted, storming away.

Streak just rolled his eyes.

"Well, we've done all we can for right now."

"We are gonna set them free eventually, right big bro?" Tadpole asked, his ears going down.

Streak ruffled his hair. "Eventually, Tadpole. Just...we can't right now."

He looked back at Sasha, who was still watching through the ice. She then looked away and swam back down.

"Looks like we won't be getting out anytime soon."

Her two siblings looked down.

"Sasha! Rex! Val!" Aaron's voice called.  "Come on, your mother's worried about you."

The three sirens looked down at their father before swimming to join him.

"Dad, do you think we'll ever get out?" Rex asked.

"I'm sure we'll be free eventually." Aaron muttered, trying to sound like he meant it, but Sasha could read the uncertainty in his voice.

"..yeah.  Eventually." she muttered.  "Eventually, as in too late."

At least she got to avoid singing.

That's the one good thing that happened...in her eyes, anyway.