//------------------------------// // The Truth of The Sirens // Story: Aria's Challenge // by Gear Works //------------------------------// Aria started to feel much better since she gotten a lot off her chest. But somehow, I knew that there was more to the story about what happened to the sea ponies of Equestria. So I decided to explain to Sunset Shimmer in private about what I have learned from Aria. Well, she was surprised about Adagio being a princess, which could explain why she was acted as the boss of the group. But to learn that the sea ponies were extinct wasn’t quite true. Turns out that during her time in Equestria when she was Princess Celestia’s pupil, she learned that there were sea ponies living in the seas around Equestria, and that only she was the only one who has had contact with them for years. So she decided to write a message in her book and see if they can look into it. It wouldn’t be until weeks later that we would finally get a reply from Princess Twilight. Dear Sunset Shimmer, Princess Luna wants to meet with the former sirens soon in Equestria. She wishes to clear up some details as to what happen to the sea ponies of Aquatica. Bring Gear Works with you. I was surprised to find out that I would be traveling to the same world that these magical ponies come from. So we decided to meet up at the statue on a Saturday, keeping things secret from the Dazzlings. As I arrived at the school’s statue, I saw Applejack waiting there. “Hey Gears,” Applejack said waving to me. “Applejack, what are you doing here?” I asked as I leaned on the statue next to her. “Waiting for Sunset. She wants me to hold on to the book while she travels to Equestria with you guys. Said that she wanted to patch up some old wounds, if you know what I mean.” “I see.” “So, you going to the pony world, right?” “Looks that way.” “Ever thought about what you would turn into when you get there?” “Not really. I’m just surprised that I’m invited to their world.” “I’m sure there’s a good reason.” Just then, we saw Sunset, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata walking up. “About time you girls show up,” I said. “Sorry for the wait,” replied Sunset. “Hey, how come Aria’s boyfriend is here and I couldn’t invite mine?” asked Sonata. “You’ll see soon enough,” replied Sunset. And without a doubt, there was a strange swirl coming from the statue and a flash of light. The next thing that happened was Princess Twilight coming out of the statue base. Well, stumbling actually. “Still need to look on the landing,” replied Twilight. Sunset walked up to Twilight and gave her a hug. “Just in time.” “Sorry that it took so long to find them. We had some problems in the Crystal Empire with an…old friend of ours,” replied Twilight. “Find who?” asked Adagio. “Why your descendants, Princess Adagio,” replied Sunset. Adagio was in shock. She looked to her sisters and asked, “OK, who told them that I was a princess?” Sonata raised her hands, saying, “Not me!” Adagio looked at Aria. That’s when Aria walk up to me in pure anger, saying, “I thought I told you not to say anything about this.” Sunset got in between us and said, “Easy Aria. He only told me about it, and I knew something wasn’t right about your story.” Twilight said, “Adagio, it turns out that there were survivors from Aquatica.” Adagio said, “That can’t be. The city was wiped out long ago. We saw it.” “What you saw what the aftermath of the war of Aquatica,” replied Twilight. “Yea, after what your princesses did to the city,” replied Aria. “Our parents died there. We saw their remains in the city.” “If you come with me, Princess Luna will explain everything to you,” said Twilight. “She thinks you deserve the right to know. Now come on. We don’t want to keep her waiting.” “Wait a minute. How are we going to move in your world?” asked Sonata. “We’re sirens. Sea ponies. Without our pendants, we can’t travel on land.” “Glad you asked,” replied Twilight. “I was looking into that, and if I’m correct, you’re more human than you were sea pony. So you should turn into a regular pony once you travel through the portal. Now, are you all ready to go?” “Just a minute.” Sunset brought out her book and handed it to Applejack. “Keep me posted if anything bad happens here. You know how to use it.” “Will do, Sunset. Gears, have a nice trip in the other world.” “I’ll send you a postcard,” I statistically replied. “Wait, you’re coming as well?” Aria asked me. “Well, they did send me an invite. Should I refuse?” “No. It’s just…we’ll go together.” “Then let’s go.” And Sonata was the first to go through the portal. “Sonata!” Adagio decided to follow her through the portal. “I better make sure they make it safely.” Twilight did the same and followed. “Gears, remember that you will be on all fours when you arrive. I’m not sure which breed you will be, but you will be a pony, remember.” And Sunset went through the portal. I looked at Aria and said, “Ready?” She grabbed my hand and said, “Sure…together.” And both of us went through the portal together. As we were all traveling through the portal, it was like a swirling river of dizziness. Then a flash of light happened, and I saw myself on the other side of what looked like a room made of crystal. “Gears, you OK?” I looked to see what sounded like Aria, but I was looking at a purple earth pony with purple pigtails. “Aria?” “Can you get up?” she asked me. I started to get up, but noticed that I had hooves for hands. “Just pretend that you’re trying to crawl, since you’re an earth pony like Aria,” said the orange unicorn with fiery hair. “Sunset?” “Yea. Told you that you would be walking on all fours,” she replied. “Hey, look at me. I can fly,” said the blue pegasus with the blue ponytail. “More like float,” replied the orange unicorn with the orange puffy hair. “Is that Sonata and Adagio?” “Yea, it is,” replied Aria. “How come Adagio’s horn is smaller that Sunset’s,” I asked. “Wait, I’m a unicorn?” Adagio started to feel her forehead to find the small horn on her. “The longer the horn, the more experienced you are with magic,” replied the lavender alicorn. I did my best to walk up to her. “So this is what an alicorn looks like, Twilight.” “You have yet to see the other princesses,” replied Twilight. Just then, the doors opened and in walked a small, purple…dragon? “Twilight, Princess Luna is here.” “Send her in, Spike.” Spike went out of the room. “Is that your pet dog we saw?” asked Sonata. “Yes, that’s him. And he’s not my pet, he’s my assistant,” replied Twilight. Spike returned to the room, escorting another alicorn princess. She had an azure body and hair that was dark as night. “Are these the sirens you speak about, Twilight?” the azure alicorn replied. “They are. Everyone, this is Princess Luna, controller of the moon,” said Twilight. I was confused for a moment. “Don’t worry, Gears. I wasn’t sure that your vice principal was the same Luna that I knew when I first arrived in your world,” explained Twilight. Princess Luna walked up to me. “And this is the one called Gear Works?” “Yes, princess,” I said, trying to bow, but falling down on the floor. Princess Luna let out a small giggle, then emitted a glow from her horn. I could see myself glowing as I was lifted up and back on my hooves. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll understand how to walk like a pony in time. Now if you all come with me, I’ll be happy to show you your homeland.” “You mean the one that you destroyed?” Adagio was mad when she was reminded of her home. Princess Luna stared back at Adagio and said, “You have no idea what your father was dealing with in the first place, do you?” “I know that you found a way to enter my kingdom, destroy all of my citizens, and killed my parents!” yelled Adagio. “If I had my powers again, I would see to it that you kill yourself with just a single order!” That was when Princess Luna started to hover and her eyes started to glow. “HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME WITHOUT KNOWING THE TRUTH OF YOUR KIND!!!” The voice was so loud that Adagio started to back away with a hint of fear inside her. Twilight said, “Adagio, I know you’re mad with the loss of your kingdom. But there’s another side to this story that you don’t know, including the history of the Kraken.” “It’s best that you go with her so you can see the truth for yourself,” said Sunset. “You’re not coming?” asked Sonata. “I have some…personal business to attend to,” replied Sunset. I said, “Come on. We won’t solve anything by just standing here. I think it’s best to see the truth ourselves. Then we can decide who should take the blame.” “Fine,” replied Adagio. “But I know what I saw back then. Don’t even think that I would forgive you for what you done.” And she started to walk off. Princess Luna, Sonata, Aria, and me started to follow Adagio until Princess Luna took the lead and guided us outside. When we got outside, we noticed that we were at the back of a tree-shaped crystal castle. “We plan to take a back route to a train that will take us to Aquatica,” Princess Luna explained. So we traveled through the forest until we reached some tracks. There was a crystal-like train in front of us, and what looked like two bat ponies guarding it. “We are ready to go, your majesty,” said one of the bat ponies. “Good. Let the train operator know that we are ready to go,” replied Princess Luna. Both bat ponies went inside the train, and the rest of us followed. We found the car empty and took our seats. I can see that Adagio didn’t want to sit next to Princess Luna and motioned Aria to sit next to her sister while I sat next to the princess. Sonata just decided to lay on a seat on the other side of the car. We felt the train move. One of the bat ponies came back and said, “We should arrive at the west coast in over an hour.” “That will be all,” replied Princess Luna. When he left, she looked at Adagio and said, “I think it’s time you knew the truth about your kingdom.” In the Everfree Forest, Celestia and Luna were overseeing their new castle when a manticore came running up to them. “Melvin, what is it?” asked Luna. The manticore displayed a scroll for them to see. Luna used her magic to take the scroll and unroll it. To the one who brought the land ponies together, I am in need of your help. My kingdom is falling into dark times as my king has falling under the Karken’s spell and turned into a tyrant to the sea ponies below. Please, I request your aid, for I fear the land ponies will be the next to fall. Come to the Dragon’s Cove and call on Leviathan, the spirit of the ocean. He will guide you to me. “How were you able to get this message?” Celestia asked Melvin. The manticore let out some growls that only Luna could understand. “He said that a sea creature delivered it to him so that it can be brought to us. Then it disappeared into river nearby,” explained Luna. “I fear this is a serious threat. But both of us cannot leave to deal with it,” explained Celestia. “I shall go and see to it that it is resolved.” “Please, sister. Allow me to handle this instead,” replied Luna. “You have helped the ponies keep clam where I could not.” “And you are not ready to handle an issue like this alone again. I’ll will take care of it myself,” explained Celestia. The manticore growled, telling Luna something. “He says that he knows a race of bat ponies that can aid me on this journey. Please, let me handle this.” Celestia took a moment before she made her decision. “OK. If you can request the bat ponies help, then I shall leave it to you.” “Thank you, sister.’ And Luna followed the manticore to the bat ponies cave. “Was that the first time you met them?” I asked, pointing to the two guards that were with us. “Of their breed, yes,” replied Luna. “When I met them, they agreed to help me and had two of them travel with me to the west coast of Equestria, where I was to arrive at the Dragon’s Cove. Luna was flying with two of the bat ponies, Shadow Wing and Night Fang. They arrived at the west coast of Equestria, where they were able to find what looked like the stone head of a dragon. “Lady Luna, I believe we have found the Dragon’s Cove,” said Shadow Wing. “Then let us land and pray that this Leviathan can guide us to the one who called us,” replied Luna. All three of them landed and walked up to the stone head. Luna decided to use her loud voice to call the creature. “LEVIATHAN!!! WE HAVE COME TO ASSIST YOU!!!” It wasn’t long until a whirlpool appeared, and a sea serpent made of water appeared. “WHO ARE YOU THAT SUMMONS ME?” “MY NAME IS LUNA, ONE OF THE SISTER ALICORNS THAT YOUR MASTER HAS CALLED UPON! WE REQUEST THAT YOU TAKE US TO THE ONE WHO REQUESTS OUR AID!” “THEN I SHALL TAKE YOU TO HIM!” Leviathan opened its mouth and swallowed all three ponies. Then dive into the sea with them. The three ponies were worried that they would die in the sea, but Leviathan said, “DO NOT WORRY. MY MAGIC WILL MAKE YOU ABLE TO BREATH AND WALK UNDERWATER.” “Thank you,” replied Luna. “Can you explain what has happened to this underwater kingdom?” “THE CITY OF AQUATICA HAS FALLEN UNDER THE SIRENS CURSE, AND THE ONE THEY CALL THE KARKEN IS THE CAUSE OF ALL OF THIS! I HAVE TRIED TO CONTAIN HIM FROM SPREADING THE CURSE, BUT SOMEONE HAS FOUND THE SACRED GEMS AND BROUGHT THEM TO THE KING! NOW HE IS UNDER ITS POWER AND MUST BE STOP!” “Are all of its citizens under its control?” asked Luna. “IT IS NOT! THE ONE WHO REQUESTED YOUR AID WILL EXPLAIN WHEN WE ARRIVE!” As they continued, they arrived to an underwater cave. It was there that they were released from Leviathan’s mouth, in which they were able to breath underwater from the creature’s magic. All three of them walked inside the cave, seeing young sea ponies scared, until they came across a meeting room where several sea ponies were in discussion. The one that was in charge noticed the three land ponies and requested the other sea ponies to leave. “Thank you for responding to my call. My name is Tenor Blaze, captain of the city guard.” “Wait a minute. Why is it that my father decided to call for your aid?” asked Aria. Princess Luna said, “Listen, and you will understand.” “My name is Luna, one of the sister alicorns that you requested. These of my companions, Shadow Wing and Night Fang.” “I was expecting two alicorns,” Tenor said. “My sister had to stay behind to watch over the land. But I assure you that our aid alone is enough to handle the task,” replied Luna. “So be it. The reason I summoned you here is because our king has been cursed by the siren’s magic. There are those who remain loyal to him, but those who oppose his actions are captured and killed. And to make matters worse, the gems that help spread this curse has now been given to three female sea ponies, one of them being my daughter.” “What are these gems that you speak?” asked Luna. “They once belong to a trio of sirens who worked for a creature called the Karken. It terrorized the seas long ago, and sent its sirens to take control of those who sailed those rough seas. They were defeated, but their gems were hidden away. Now someone has brought those gems to Aquatica and used them to take control of our king. I have been building a resistance group in secret to take down the king by any means necessary. But I fear I’m too late for the worse to happen.” “The new sirens, one of them being your daughter,” explained Luna. “Yes, but these sirens are led by the king’s daughter, and I fear they have already made it to the surface. But the king must be stopped before they decide to invade your homeland. At this time, my wife is with the queen, who has tried to bring the king to his senses, but to no avail. Now I feel that they are in danger from where they stand. If the king knew about my actions, he will see to it that my wife no longer exist. If we are to stop him, we must act fast.” Luna said, “If that is the case, what do you want us to do?” “I can see what you are trying to do, and it won’t work,” said Adagio. “If you think you can place the blame on my father for the death of my kind, you’re wrong. You were able to get others on your side to start a war just so they could kill each other. You even did the same to Aria’s father.” “SHUT UP!!!” Aria started at Adagio and said, “Don’t you dare bring my father into this. My father was brave and noble, but he had the common sense when something was wrong. He always resolved everything peacefully.” “You would side her over me,” replied Adagio. “Do you even remember how those pendants work?” asked Aria. “They gave up powers…powers that we craved for. They were nothing more than a curse, and I was tired of seeing them. Or didn’t you forget that you gave them to Gears to keep them out of our sight.” I could see it in her face. It was the same time she handed those shards to me. She wanted to put everything in the past. And now, I brought her here to face her past once again. “Adagio, let’s listen to the rest of the story. Perhaps you can finally know the truth that has been kept from you,” I said. Adagio looked up and said, “Continue.” “Thank you,” replied Luna. “So we invaded Aquatica. My companions led the groups of sea ponies that opposed the king into battle. During that time I followed Tenor through an underground passageway to catch the king by surprise and make sure both of your mothers were safe. But somehow, he learned about their treachery before we could reach them.” Luna and Tenor were making their way to the queen’s chambers. But by the time they arrived, the saw that the door was broken open. They went inside and to Tenor’s surprise, he saw his wife dead. As he swam to her aid, Luna went to check the queen, who was barely breathing. Luna called Tenor’s name, which he swam over. “My queen, what happened?” responded Tenor. The queen, barely able to breath said, “I’m sorry, but…he found out…about us…Your wife…did her best…to protect…me…Please, stop my…husband before…the worse comes…to pass.” “I promise that I will,” replied Tenor. “And…promise that…you will…save…my daughter…from…the…curse…” The queen passed away, saying her final breath. Tenor, in a furious rage, began his hunt for the king. Luna followed him, making sure it doesn’t get any worse. They were able to find the king in the main chambers with a couple of guards with him. “TRAITOR!!! How dare you oppose me.” “It is you who is the traitor,” replied Tenor. “You dare bring this curse to our kingdom…and to my daughter.” He draw his coral sword with his hoof. “Your reign of terror ends here.” The king was able to draw his coral sword with his hoof, and both of them clashed swords against each other. The guards that were with the king went after Luna, who was able to create a sword with her magic in order to defend herself. As the duel went on, Luna was able to take out the guards. But the king was able to knock down Tenor. The king was about to strike Tenor with his sword when Luna blasted him with her magic, knocking him back for a moment. Seeing this as an opening, Tenor took his sword and lunge it into his chest. Pulling the sword back out, he slashed the king’s neck, making it harder to breath underwater without his gills for support. It was then that the king fell dead. Tenor, trying to catch his breath, said, “It is over.” He went to Luna, saying, “Now you must find the sirens and…remove their…curse.” Tenor started to collapse, and Luna went to his side. She could see a deep wound on the side of his body. “You are wounded,” replied Luna. “It seems that…I was careless…in battle,” replied Tenor. “At least…I can join…my wife…in peace. Promise…that you will…find my…daughter…and remove…the curse…from her and…the others…” “I promise that I will do what I can to find them and remove the curse from them to the best of my ability,” replied Luna. “Thank…you…Luna…” Tenor soon then passed away. “And so I was tasked in finding you three in hopes that I could find a way to remove the siren’s curse. But I was too late. I learned that Star Swirl encounter you and banished you to another world before I could even know what was happening. My sister decided to hold on to the mirror in case we can find a way to bring you back and remove the curse. But during that time, we came across many problems along the way. Problems that made me forget my promise that I wanted to keep.” Adagio was speechless. She hanged her head low, realizing the truth. She finally learned that it was her father that killed her mother and Aria’s mother in the process. And it was Aria’s father that ended the king’s life. Aria looked at Adagio and said, “I’m sorry for what my father did.” “No,” replied Adagio, and looked back at her. “It was my father’s doing that lead to all of this. Your father was a hero, while mine was nothing more than a villain.” Both of them hugged each other. “So now you know the truth,” I said. “What will you do now?” Adagio thought for a moment, then asked Luna, “You said that there were sea ponies alive. How did that happen?” “It was Sonata’s parents who took the survivors to a new home, which is where we are traveling at this moment.” Sonata perked up. “You mean my parents were still alive? How did you know that they were my parents?” “When I told them the aftermath and the promise I made with Tenor and the queen, they told me that their daughter was the third siren in the group. They felt that they may never see their daughter again, but prayed that the curse would be lifted one day.” Sonata looked down for a moment. “I see.” Then her spirits were lifted once again. “Well, at least they made sure our kind still lives to this day, right?” “They did,” replied Adagio. “I’ll be glad to see what the city looks like now, since thousands of years have passed in this world.” “You will be surprised when you see it,” explained Princess Luna. “But we will need Leviathan to take us there, and that will require us passing the old city of Aquatica in order to reach New Aquatica. It is there that they now call home.” It wasn’t long before the train reached its destination. When we got off the train, is was but a short walk to the coast line. That was when we saw the rock formation of a dragon’s head. “So, is this the spot?” I asked. “It is Gears. Now don’t be afraid when it swallows you, for that is the way it can cast its magic to allow you to breath underwater.” Luna walked up and began summoning the creature. “LEVIATHAN!!! WE HAVE COME TO TRAVEL TO AQUATICA!!!” It was then that we saw a whirlpool appear and a creature of water appear, just like in Princess Luna’s story. “LUNA! ARE THESE THE SIRENS THAT YOU HAVE TOLD ME ABOUT?” “They are, Leviathan. But they do not possess the powers they once had.” I can see Leviathan come up to Adagio, who was a bit nervous. Then, it turned to Aria and Sonata. “YOU ARE THE ONE CALLED ARIA! YOUR FATHER DIED A HERO! BE PROUD OF THAT! AND YOU SONATA SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR PARENTS TO GUIDE THE SEA PONIES TO THEIR NEW HOME!” It was then that it came up to me. “AND WHO MIGHT YOU BE?” Princess Luna was able to answer that for me. “This is Gear Works. He is the one who protects the shards of the sirens so that they do not fall into the hooves of evil.” “I SEE! THEN I SHOULD TAKE YOU TO NEW AQUATICA. LADY FINN WISHES TO SEE ALL OF YOU!” That was when it opened its mouth, allowing us to enter. Once inside the belly of the beast, we were sent into the sea. Somehow, I was able to see through the creature and see everything underwater. As we were going deeper, I started to have this strange feeling coming over me. I could see it in the others as well. Somehow, gills started to form on our necks, allowing us to breath underwater. It took a moment, but we were able to adept to our new gills. As we journeyed deeper, Princess Luna pointed to what looked like an old city. It was none other that Old Aquatica, the cursed kingdom as they now call it. Our journey went farther until we saw bright underwater lights glowing ahead. It was then that we arrived at New Aquatica. Leviathan opened its mouth, allowing us to exit. I could feel the water, yet, it was like I was breathing air. “Surprised?” Aria said to me. “Just about. This is so new to me.” “It feels…different for me. Maybe because I’m an earth pony instead of a sea pony. Aria stayed next to my side as all of us started to walk into the new city. That was when a sea pony swam up to us. But as I looked closer, I could see a gem on its chest. “Welcome to Aquatica. My name is Ruby. Lady Finn is expecting you.” “Are you a siren?” asked Sonata. “I am, but I’m one of Leviathan’s sirens. It is my job to keep all threats away from our city, and make sure no harm is done to our kind. Now come with me.” We followed the siren to what looked like the capital of the city. As we went inside, we were met by a female sea pony. “Princess Luna.” “Lady Finn. It is nice to see you again.” Both Princess Luna and Lady Finn embraced in a hug before letting go. It was then at Lady Finn looked at us. “Is this the queen’s daughter that was banished many years ago?” “It is, Lady Finn. As well as the hero’s daughter and the founders daughter,” explained Luna. “I see,” replied Lady Finn. “I’m sure you have lots of questions, and I’ll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.” Adagio walked up. “First off, why are there sirens in this city?” “You mean Leviathan’s sirens. They are what you would call the peace keepers of our city. They are sea ponies who have surrender their name and place in order to be the protectors of this city.” Ruby spoke up. “I once had a name, but surrender it when I became a siren. Now I’m know only as Ruby. We are similar to the cursed siren that you once were, but our songs are used to bring peace to the sea.” “How do you absorb energy to live?” asked Aria. “By offering ourselves to Leviathan, of course. It is that which gives us life. And when our time has come, we surrender our gems, and lives, to be passed to the next one.” “It’s like they follow a code of some kind,” I said. “It is but tradition in our city,” replied Ruby. Adagio decided to ask another question. “As we were traveling here, I couldn’t see any remains in the old city. Why is that?” “Because our ancestors were able to find their remains and give them a proper burial. Follow me.” We followed Lady Finn to the back of the capital, where there was a graveyard of unmarked crosses laid out. Lady Finn guided us to the big plaque that was in the center of the graveyard. When we arrived, the three former sirens were in shocked. When I looked at them I could see why. On one side was Sonata’s parents’ graves, which both of them had what looked like sea shell necklaces on them. On the other side was Aria’s parents’ graves. Laying in front of them was what looked like a sword and a trident. And at the center was none other than Adagio’s mother’s grave. Laying in front of it was a crown. “These ones we were able to identify,” explained Lady Finn. “But the other ones have been left unmarked. Each one you see is a life that was taken by the king’s actions.” “Is there a reason the king wasn’t buried here?” I asked. “It’s because he was cursed and weak,” replied Adagio. “He doesn’t deserve a burial for what he has done. May he rest in shame.” “I understand your pain,” Lady Finn said as she placed a hoof on Adagio’s shoulder. “His will was weak because of his role as a king. But Tenor’s will was strong, and was able to avoid the siren’s spell from controlling him.” Lady Finn walked up to the queen’s grave and took the crown from its location and gave it to Adagio. “Take this crown, for it belongs to you.” But Adagio stopped her from doing so. “I cannot. I gave up the title long ago. I have no need for it.” “Then take it to remind you of your mother. She stayed strong, even up to her dying breath.” Adagio though for a moment, then gently took the crown from Lady Finn. “Lady Finn, is it OK if I take my parents’ necklaces? I gave these as a gift before I left them,” explained Sonata. “Please do,” replied Lady Finn. “It was thanks to them that we are still here today.” Sonata was able to remove the necklaces from the graves, then said to herself, “Thank you, for all you have done for me.” I walked up to Aria and asked, “Was these your father’s weapons?” “Yes. I remember the symbol that was on the trident. It was the captain’s mark, proof that he was the captain of the city guard.” “And the sword you see was the one that killed the king,” explained Lady Finn. “If you wish, you are welcome to take them.” Aria looked over and said, “Princess Luna, would you hold on to these items for me. I’m not sure I can carry them with these hooves.” “It would be my pleasure.” Princess Luna emitted a glow from her horn, which took control of the sword and trident and placed then at her side. “Lady Finn, there is one pressing matter to attend to.” “The shards of the sirens. Yes, I am aware of that. Who is in possession of them.” “I am.” I raised my hoof. “And what is the condition of the shards?” “From what I can understand, they no longer contain any magic,” I explained. “But there is still doubt that they can be reforged and contain the same magic that it once possess.” “We have been looking into the issue, but cannot find an answer,” explained Lady Finn. “Princess Luna, it is best that you travel to the Crystal Empire and see if there is a way for the shards to be safe from evil. I’m sure they will have an answer there.” “Then we shall make haste to the Crystal Empire,” replied Princess Luna. “Thank you for all that you have done.” “One more thing.” Lady Finn signaled Ruby to come over. She came with what looked like a shield. “This shield is made from the scales of Leviathan.” “While Leviathan maintains its spirit form, it can change into a physical form when it must attack on the surface. In both forms, it sheds its scales for us to use as shield. Please take this as a gift from us for all you have done to protect the shards from harm.” Ruby gave the shield to me, which I was able to place on my back. “Thank you, Ruby. And send my thanks to the others as well,” I said. Ruby bowed to me. “It is time to leave.” And we all followed Princess Luna back to Leviathan so that we would return to the surface with the belongs that were given to us. Our next destination would be the Crystal Empire.