Epilogue: Goodbye for Now
"Nice place," Aria drawled to herself, her hooves clicking against the ground as she paced around the small, secluded pillar of stone she'd been sent to. There were other such pillars within flying distance, but nothing to recommend any one of them over this one. Beyond that, all she could see was the eternally dark sky. There was no sign of any sort of ground below, nor any way out. Logically, she knew that Cerberus guarded the only exit, so theoretically she could find him and thus know how to escape, but she had little interest in that right now. Cerberus stood guard over the most cunning and dangerous beings in the world, and even if she could somehow overpower or trick him, getting back to Equestria would do her little good. At worst, it might lead to more trouble for her sisters, and this would all have been for nothing.
She'd assumed that there would be other prisoners here, people whom she could manipulate and bring under her control, but she couldn't see any from here. There was quite a bit of negative energy to feed on, meaning that there had to be others somewhere nearby. The energy was a bit different than what she was used to. The magic had a blackish tinge to it, and burned slightly as she took it in. It wasn't an unpleasant burn, exactly, but it was rather unexpected—the closest comparison she could think of was how her mouth had felt after Sonata had dared her to try drinking hot sauce. Aria's best guess was that the magic of Tartarus was somehow tainted, or at least slightly different from Equestria. Still, the negative energy fueled her and increased her strength like usual, and there was certainly plenty of it. Once she'd begun to feed, she'd snapped the chains that Celestia had bound her with like taffy. They had turned out to be completely mundane metal, apparently more for show than function. She would even be able to produce her true siren form without much trouble, though doing so now would be a waste of energy.
A flash of colorful magic in the corner of her eye caught her attention. One of the pillars close to her had somehow been changed. It no longer looked like stone, but was striped in red and white like a candy cane. As she watched, further embellishments appeared: a miniature sun with a silhouette of Celestia's head making a silly face in it, a geyser of what seemed to be soda, and an oddly flat replica of Canterlot. Soon, the strange creation was populated by shadows of ponies and other creatures. They seemed to have no substance, and would fall through the stone floor or fly off into nothingness if left unattended, but otherwise they trotted about their business like usual.
What in Tartarus is going on? Aria wondered. She shook her head at the unintentionally ironic choice of words. A pair of fin-like appendages snapped open from her sides, and she winged her way toward the strange spectacle. As she drew closer, she saw something that made her pupils shrink and her fins nearly lock up in mid-flight. An unmistakable black-and-red throne sat in the middle of that pillar, antlers branching from the top and rubies staring outward like menacing red eyes. Discord's throne.
Pleading to whatever deities might care that he hadn't noticed her, she immediately backpedaled and raced for what she'd come to think of as "her" pillar. She remembered all too well what had happened the last time they'd met Discord, and back then she'd had her sisters at her side. Aria wasn't afraid of much, but a mad draconequus who could literally turn her inside-out on a whim was up there.
"Ah, there you are!" a jocular voice cried out. With a flash of white light, Discord appeared directly in her flight path.
Aria flared her fins desperately to stop her momentum. Without taking time to think about what she was doing, she channeled energy from her heart into a massive blast of sound, which she screamed at Discord. The red waves of magic broke over him with no visible effect.
"Now that was rather rude, wasn't it?" Discord asked, sounding a bit miffed. He dug his talon claws deep into one ear and pulled out an earplug that was nearly the size of his entire head. "And after I went to all this trouble for you."
"Discord," Aria stated, trying her best to sound cool and collected. "So the ponies got you too?"
"Oh, no no no." Discord paused, then cocked his head. "Well, yes, actually. In a manner of speaking. Suffice it to say that I'm here of my own free will, and I can leave whenever I please."
His answer explained exactly nothing, but Aria didn't press the matter.
"So what do you want with me?" she asked instead. If Discord really could leave Tartarus whenever he wanted, then she would see to it that he finished his business here as soon as possible.
"Why, I'm here to throw you a housewarming party!" Discord exclaimed. He folded his arms and tapped his chin thoughtfully, producing a sound oddly like a dog yelping. "Pillarwarming party? Realmwarming party? Oh, you know what I mean."
"A party?" Aria repeated skeptically. She had some thoughts about what Discord's idea of a "party" could be, and none of them were pleasant.
"Indeed. You didn't think I'd set up all of those decorations just for fun, did you?" Discord questioned. "I mean, I did, but the idea was that you would come and have some fun too."
"Um..." Aria had no idea how to respond to this, and the fact that she was nearly trembling with fear wasn't helping her think.
"Close enough," Discord said. He reached toward her with his lion's paw. Aria cried out and tried to evade, but the limb stretched and twisted impossibly and he caught her with ease. With a flash of light, she found herself standing in the middle of the Canterlot replica—which, she now realized, was made of cardboard—next to Discord. The soda geyser was on his other side.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Aria demanded angrily, but the draconequus was already lost in thought.
"Hmm." Discord tapped his chin again, creating a disquieting assortment of noises. "Something's missing... ah!" He stretched out with his talons and took hold of a zipper in midair that certainly hadn't been there before. "After all, what's a party without guests?" He somehow unzipped the air, revealing a swirling portal of energy that looked extremely familiar. After all, Twilight had taken Aria and her sisters through an identical one just a few hours before.
Aria took a hesitant step forward, her fear and rage momentarily overwhelmed by fascination. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked.
"That would depend on what you think it is," Discord replied matter-of-factly.
"I think," Aria quipped back, "that you just opened a portal to Equestria in the middle of Tartarus. Are you setting me free?"
"Heavens, no," Discord answered. "Celestia would have my head. I can always grow a new one, but it's a rather unpleasant process."
"Enough beating around the bush, Discord," Aria snapped, her diffidence finally overcome by annoyance, "what are you up to?"
"I think you'll find out in about..." Discord checked his wrist, which suddenly had a golden watch on it, "...three seconds."
They lapsed into silence as the watch ticked out the promised time. Exactly on the third tick of the second hand, the portal shimmered and rippled as something, or someone, pushed through it.
"Huh? This isn't Twilight's castle," a familiar blue-coated pony cried out in confusion. She looked around and shuffled her hooves nervously. "Where are we, 'Dagi?"
A second pony emerged, striding much more confidently than the first, just in time to hear the question. She looked around carefully, taking note of the stone pillars, the darkened sky, and the crazed version of Canterlot she found herself in. She couldn't fail to notice Discord and Aria standing nearby.
"Hmm. If I had to guess," Adagio stated, "I would say we're in Tartarus." She nodded at the draconequus. "If I had to guess who's responsible, it was probably your pen pal."
"Aria!" Sonata squealed, finally spotting her sister. Without missing a beat, she hurled herself bodily into Aria, forcing the other siren to catch her in an awkward embrace or be knocked to the ground.
"Oh, now I get it," Aria groaned. She looked past her ecstatic sister to lock eyes with the spirit of chaos. "The ponies sent you here to torture me."
With a good cry and a night's sleep behind her, Twilight was feeling a lot calmer about her decision to banish Aria. She still wanted to talk it over with Celestia, and especially to find out exactly why the other princesses had pushed her toward that decision, but the more she thought about it, the more certain she was that she'd made the right call.
Twilight and Sunset had returned to Equestria the following morning. Twilight had sent a letter off to Celestia, and almost immediately gotten a reply inviting them both to take a walk through the gardens with the princess. Twilight could have teleported herself to Canterlot again, but bringing Sunset along for the trip would have been difficult even for her, so they had opted to take the train instead. The trip had passed in relative silence, as both ponies were lost in their respective thoughts, but it had been a companionable silence rather than an awkward one.
Now, the two of them walked beside Princess Celestia as they passed through the halls of the palace and out into the beautiful royal gardens. Trees and flowers of every type imaginable, many of which could not be found anywhere else in Equestria, stretched out before them. Locked gates and strategically placed guards guaranteed their privacy, and Celestia's notably absent regalia promised that this was meant to be a friendly conversation rather than an official one.
The three walked for a time in silence, as each waited for another to broach the uncomfortable topic. Sunset in particular found this to be a difficult task, not only because she had so recently made up with her former mentor, but because strolling through the gardens like this was bringing back many memories that, tainted as they were by Sunset's past actions, were not as sweet as they should have been. Without meaning to, she found herself trailing a couple of steps behind the others.
Twilight paused to smell a particularly bright red flower. It had a sweet, calming scent, with just a hint of spice beneath it. Twilight took a deep breath, losing herself in the aroma for a moment. At last, she felt ready to bring up the reason why they were there.
"Celestia?" Twilight gently broke the silence.
"Yes?" Celestia asked kindly, continuing to walk down the path.
"Did... did I do the right thing yesterday?"
Celestia lidded her eyes thoughtfully, as if pondering exactly how she wanted to answer that. "Do you believe that you did?" she asked.
Twilight exhaled softly. She'd been expecting something like that. "Based on all available evidence, I would have to say yes," she replied. "Aria Blaze was still a very real threat, and all that I really had telling me that she was lying about controlling her sisters was a gut reaction."
"Lying?" Celestia asked in genuine surprise. "Why would you think that she was lying?"
"Like I said, just a feeling," Twilight answered. "It doesn't seem right that the sirens would be able to affect one another like that. Still, Adagio supported the story, and even Star Swirl said that it was plausible." She shook her head. "That's not even the point. The point is that I don't know if I'm comfortable with condemning somepony like I did. Even somepony who, by all accounts, seemed to deserve it."
Celestia nodded. "I understand. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that being a princess is not always easy. Sometimes we must make difficult or painful decisions for the good of our ponies, or as the law demands. I know you have some small experience with that already."
"Well, there was the time I almost let Rainbow Dash trade Fluttershy away for a book," Twilight remembered sheepishly. Sunset's eyebrows twitched, and she made a mental note to ask about that one later.
"Which was the correct ruling," Celestia replied. "Since both parties had agreed to the trade, it was not your place to overturn it. Thankfully, that incident worked out for the best. I know that it's not quite the same, but in this case you made a similarly unpleasant—but ultimately correct—decision." She paused. "Still, it is one thing to think that you have done the right thing. I asked if you believe it."
"Hm?" Now that was something that Twilight had not been expecting. "I'm not sure I understand."
"Your mind is telling you that you came to the right conclusion," Celestia explained, "but I think your heart is telling you something else. That's why you're here, isn't it?"
"It's..." Twilight's ears twitched, then drooped slightly. "I guess I don't really know what my heart is telling me. That's the problem. I still think I did the right thing, but when I think about how badly I hurt Sonata and Adagio by doing it, I just don't know."
"So the issue is not really that you're questioning your decision, but that you feel guilty about causing others pain," Celestia observed.
"Yeah," Twilight answered. "It's not the first time I've had to do something like this," she continued, remembering how many of the other villains she'd faced had wound up imprisoned, blasted away, or in one case shattered to bits, "but it's the first time I've done it... I don't know... deliberately? And it's the first time that the one I banished had family to be hurt by it."
Celestia stopped and turned around. "Twilight," she said seriously, "all you did was your duty as a princess of Equestria. You must not blame yourself for what Aria's actions led her to. Ultimately, she was the one who caused Adagio and Sonata such pain, not you."
"You must have gone through this yourself, right?" Twilight asked. She was thinking specifically of when Celestia had been forced to banish Nightmare Moon, but felt that particular topic was likely off-limits. "I mean, when your decisions hurt other ponies, even if they were the right decisions?"
Celestia nodded. "More times than I care to remember," she replied. "I won't lie and say that it becomes easy, but you eventually learn to place the blame where it belongs."
They walked in silence for another few minutes.
"Sunset Shimmer," Princess Celestia said after a while, "you've been very quiet. What's troubling you?"
Sunset felt a thrill at hearing her mentor speak her name again, but it was muted beneath her confused thoughts about the pony before her. "It's..." She licked her lips nervously, a habit she'd picked up as a human. "I guess I've never really seen this side of you before," she finally said. "Even when I finally came back to Equestria, you were so understanding and forgiving. It was strange to see you pushing for banishment."
Celestia's ears drooped slightly. "You do know that I have had to sentence many beings to banishment, or worse, do you not?" she asked.
"Yes," Sunset said uncertainly, "of course."
"Punishing those who do wrong is an unfortunate part of ruling," Celestia continued. "I do not enjoy it by any means, but I do what I must."
"What about me, though?" Sunset persisted. "I could have endangered all of Equestria by taking the Element of Magic, and I tried to kill Twilight and her friends. Why did you forgive me so easily?"
Celestia did not respond for a long moment. "You think that I was playing favorites," she observed sadly.
Sunset winced. She'd hoped never to hear that tone from her former teacher again. It was too similar to how she'd sounded when Sunset had shouted at her before running away. Twilight also looked profoundly uncomfortable.
"Sunset Shimmer," Celestia said, "aside from the fact that Twilight told me of your heroic actions the first time the sirens appeared, and gave you a royal pardon for your past crimes, you apologized and asked forgiveness of your own accord. You said that you wanted another chance, a chance to be better, and your actions upheld your words. Had Aria made similar efforts, I would have happily agreed that she deserved the opportunity. Do you understand now?"
"Is it really that simple?" Sunset asked. "If Aria had said she was sorry, she wouldn't be in Tartarus right now?"
"She would have had to show it through more than her words, but essentially yes," Celestia answered. "If she had shown remorse, or a desire to learn the value of friendship instead of simply dominance, I would have pushed to give her that chance. Unfortunately, she showed no signs of changing her ways."
Sunset scuffed the ground uncertainly.
"Do you think that I'm a hypocrite?" Celestia asked quietly.
Sunset's ears shot upright and her eyes widened. "No, of course not!" she exclaimed. "I... I just wanted to understand. I never meant to make it sound like that. I'm sorry."
Celestia smiled sadly. "It is alright," she said. She paused. "You are grown mares now, both of you. You are seeing sides of Equestria, and of me, and of yourselves, that you have not seen before. I certainly understand that that can be uncomfortable."
Twilight and Sunset shared uncertain looks.
"However," Celestia continued, "I also know that you are both intelligent and strong, with good hearts and kind spirits. Listen to them, and to each other, and you can be sure that you will do the right thing, even if it doesn't always feel like it."
They were all silent for a long moment, as the two younger ponies considered Celestia's words.
"I am about to ask you a question," Celestia said. "I want to assure you that there is no right or wrong answer to this, and nothing you say will upset or disappoint me. I simply want you both to listen to your hearts and tell me what they say, whatever that may be. Now, I must ask both of you once more: do you believe that we made the right decision yesterday?"
Twilight and Sunset looked at each other uncomfortably, then looked away to listen to their own thoughts. Twilight closed her eyes as she thought it over. Ultimately, she had been the one who made the final decision. It had seemed right at the time, but was it really? Celestia had pushed her into it, sort of, but it also made perfect sense. Celestia had over a millennium of experience in ruling a nation, and had easily seen the flaws in Twilight's idealistic suggestion. Still, wasn't she the princess of friendship? Wasn't she supposed to help spread the magic of friendship across all of Equestria, to everypony who would accept it?
Who would accept it. That was the real problem, wasn't it? Aria wouldn't. Like Sombra or Tirek, she had been single-mindedly driven toward what she perceived as power. Adagio and Sonata seemed to be coming around, but all of Twilight's efforts had come to nothing with Aria. Why? Why were some people so set in their ways, so certain that nothing mattered except their own personal gains? Why did there seem to be some few beings that friendship simply didn't reach?
Perhaps, in another thousand years, she might have the answer to that. For now, however, though it hurt to admit even to herself, what her heart was telling her was clear. She opened her eyes and glanced to the side, once again meeting Sunset Shimmer's brilliant blue gaze. An unspoken question and answer passed between them.
Celestia had waited patiently as they looked within. Now that both had returned from their reveries and looked back up at her, she inclined her head slightly to show that she was listening. They had come to the same conclusion.
"Yes."
"Aria!" Sonata giggled, bumping unsteadily into her sister and shoving a cup toward her face. "Aria, you gotta try this stuff!" she mumbled around the cup in her teeth. She and Adagio had been here for a couple of hours now, enjoying their sister's company and the party that Discord had put together. She had only recently discovered that the soda geyser in the middle was really good. Like, really good.
With a look of distaste, Aria leaned over the cup and sniffed it. She wrinkled her nose at the sharp scent of the drink inside. "Sonata, alcohol doesn't work on us," she said.
"Well, not with that attitude!" Sonata slurred.
Aria looked suspiciously over at Discord, who shrugged and smiled too innocently. His folded hands and the angelic halo over his head didn't help matters.
"Give me that," Aria muttered, taking the cup from Sonata and throwing it aside.
"Hey!" Sonata protested. Far too late, she reached out to stop her sister from dropping the drink.
"Go have a taco or something," Aria suggested dismissively, shoving Sonata toward a table laden with food.
Sonata rolled her eyes. "You get excited about Taco Tuesday one time..." she muttered as she made her way over to the table. While food didn't benefit them in any way, she really did enjoy the taste of it. Discord slithered through the air to join her.
Adagio chuckled. "Lighten up, Aria."
Aria turned her attention to the only other one present who wasn't concerned with stuffing her muzzle. "This is Discord we're talking about," she muttered. "I don't trust him, and I especially don't trust him making stuff that can actually get us drunk."
"He's on our side," Adagio replied. "I think. And he's probably the only one who can go to Tartarus and back whenever he wants. He might be your only friend for a long time."
"My friend?" Aria scoffed. "Don't tell me you're buying into that stuff already."
Adagio shrugged. "It's worth a try. What I was doing before sure didn't get us anywhere." She looked around what would be her sister's home for the next thousand years. "At least, not anywhere we wanted to be," she added quietly.
"Adagio," Aria said sharply, "this wasn't your fault. This was my choice, and I'm not sorry I made it."
"It'll be a thousand years," Adagio murmured. The immensity of that time still didn't seem real to her. That was almost as long as they'd been alive. "How's Tartarus treating you so far?"
It was Aria's turn to shrug. "It's hard to say. I was only here for a few hours before Discord showed up, then you two came a couple minutes later. There's plenty of negative energy, though, which means there are bound to be some other people around that I can get under my spell."
"That's good," Adagio answered. She'd tried some of the energy herself, but found the strangely hot feel of it not to her liking. She was glad that Aria didn't seem to mind it.
The two sisters were quiet for a moment, then Adagio stepped forward and wrapped a foreleg around Aria's shoulders. "We're really gonna miss you," Adagio said.
"Ugh, don't be like that," Aria grumbled. "You're here now, aren't you? You can miss me when you're gone."
Aria extricated herself from Adagio's hug and went to join the others at the snack table. Adagio followed closely behind.
From there, the festivities began in earnest. Adagio partook of some of the spiked soda from the fountain—just enough to feel pleasantly warm, not nearly as much as Sonata had—and even Aria took a taste, though she didn't much like it. With Discord running the show, entertainments and games were as plentiful as they were odd, and even the normally uptight Aria couldn't stop a smile from spreading across her face as time went on.
With no sun or moon, and certainly no clocks, there was no way to tell time in Tartarus. One hour flowed seamlessly into the next, which Aria thought might be for the best, given how impossibly long she was going to be there. If the years passed in a timeless blur, so much the better. Eventually, however, the three sirens realized that they were becoming very sleepy. They could have burned magic to alleviate the need, but it seemed that things were winding down anyway. Indeed, around the same time, Discord snapped his talons and brought the festivities to a halt.
"Unfortunately," he said, "I'm afraid that if I overstay my welcome in Tartarus, Celestia may catch on to what I'm doing. I'm not exactly supposed to be here," he confided in a stage whisper.
All three sirens felt their hearts sinking as they realized that this was truly goodbye.
"We can come back though, right?" Sonata asked, her lower lip trembling.
"Eventually, yes," Discord said. "But again, if I do this too often, I'll have some 'splaining to do, and so will the two of you. You may have been pardoned, but I don't think I need to tell you that you're on thin ice right now. Speaking of, you might want to step to the side."
Sonata looked down and quickly moved off of the small patch of frozen soda she was standing on.
The three sisters formed a loose circle, gazing sadly at one another. Even Aria realized, somewhat to her surprise, that she was going to miss being with them. Goddesses help her, she was even going to miss Sonata's stupid face. "Well," Aria said, hiding her feelings behind a smooth face, "see you later, I guess."
"Yeah," Adagio replied, her voice similarly controlled. "See you."
Sonata showed no such restraint. With an anguished wail, she threw herself around Aria's shoulders and wept into her mane. "I love you, Aria," she repeated her words from the day before. The words she'd said right before ripping out Aria's magic, ending the fight with the Rainbooms and ultimately landing her sister here in this awful place. Guilt writhed in her like a serpent. "I'm-I'm so sorry!"
Well, maybe she wasn't going to miss Sonata's stupid face quite that much. "Alright, alright," she mumbled, trying to push the hysterical siren off of her. "I love you too. Sheesh."
Rather than moving to help, Adagio joined the hug, much to Aria's consternation. "I love you too, you know," Adagio said to her. "I never said it, but it's true."
"Yeah, I know," Aria said. "You too. Great, we all love each other, now will you get off of me?"
"Hehe. Sorry," Sonata said, a smile breaking through her crying. She stepped back to stand beside Discord, and Adagio joined her a second later.
"Well, this has been lovely," Discord said to Aria with a wink, "thank you for having us all over." He reached out, once again taking hold of a zipper in the air that certainly hadn't been there a moment ago. "We must do this again sometime." He opened the portal again.
Out of curiosity, Aria tried to take a step closer to the portal and found that she couldn't. It was keeping her back somehow, like one magnet repelling another. Apparently, supposed friends or not, there was a limit to what Discord was willing to risk. At least nobody commented on her inability to take even a single step closer to the other world.
"Goodbye, Aria," Adagio repeated.
"See you, Adagio," Aria answered.
"Bye," Sonata added, then shook her head. "No. Just, bye for now. We'll see you again, alright?"
"I can't wait," Aria replied dryly. Despite her always-sarcastic tone, she thought she just might mean it. "Goodbye for now."
Two days after Aria's sentencing, Pinkie sat alone in her room texting with Sonata. Twilight hadn't come back from Equestria, though she'd had Sunset Shimmer reassure them that she was only a message away whenever they needed her. The portal had closed behind Sunset, cutting off the worlds again.
Sunset Shimmer had been in a bit of a state herself. Apparently, after their reunion and reconciliation, Princess Celestia had asked if she wanted to return and resume her studies as the princess's personal student. It had been quite a while since Twilight finished her own studies and ascended, and it seemed that Celestia was ready for another. Sunset, however, was afraid that things could never be the same between them, and she was reluctant to leave the life she had in the human world. After talking it over with her friends, Sunset had decided to defer the decision for a while. Princess Celestia had assured her that there was no hurry, so it seemed that Sunset Shimmer would be staying, at least for now.
That's good, Sonata replied via text. It would feel weird if Sunset wasn't around.
Yeah, Pinkie agreed.
Her phone remained silent for nearly five minutes, during which time she cast about for another conversation topic. She had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach, something warning her that Sonata was becoming distant. It was understandable, maybe, given what had just happened to her sister and Pinkie's indirect role in it, but she was desperate to stop them from drifting apart. Pinkie nearly dropped the phone when it finally buzzed again.
What about Twilight?
Pinkie swallowed nervously. So many things could go bad if she answered this in the wrong way.
She's alright, I think. She was upset about Aria, but I guess she and Sunny talked it over with their version of Celestia, and it seems like she's feeling better.
She stared at the words on her screen. Something was missing. There needed to be something personal in there, something to let Sonata know that she cared. Pinkie pressed enter a few times to make space between paragraphs, and added another line.
Are you alright? Are you mad at her?
The silence after she sent the message was even longer than last time. Pinkie's heart leaped when her phone vibrated.
I don't think so. Aria said that Twilight was just doing what was right for the ponies, and I guess I can't be mad about that. I'm more hurt than anything else.
Sonie, I really wish you'd come over and visit, Pinkie replied. You're my friend now. We're all your friends. We want to be there for you, and Adagio too.
This time, Sonata's reply was almost immediate. I don't think I'm ready for that yet. And please don't call me Sonie. I'm not ready for that either.
The words hit Pinkie like a shot to the stomach. She had to blink tears from her eyes before replying. I'm sorry.
It's okay, Sonata replied. I know how you feel about me, and it's okay.
Pinkie's stomach leaped into her throat, and blood rushed to her face until it perfectly matched her hair. Really?
Yeah. Pinkie could almost hear Sonata's giggle through the text. When you've been around for a thousand years or so, you start to learn the signs.
Pinkie's mind was so full of possible answers that she couldn't seem to get any of them out. Her fingers trembled over the buttons of her phone, but no possible response seemed adequate to convey just how strong her feelings were, how much she wanted to know what Sonata felt, and how much she wanted to assure the other girl that, no matter what, she wouldn't hold her final decision against her. Before she could find the right words, another message arrived.
I really don't know how I feel right now. I'm all confused. You were so wonderful when you were helping us, but I'm too upset about Aria to really think about it right now.
Pinkie stifled a cry. She imagined that she knew Sonata well enough to pick up on what she wasn't saying: some part of her blamed Pinkie and her friends for what had happened to Aria. She wasn't just upset, she was upset with them.
Maybe someday I'll be ready to think about it, the message went on, maybe even someday soon. But not right now. Until then, friends?
Pinkie's lips quivered with something that was half-smile, half-misery. Friends! I'll talk to you later, 'kay?
OK. Bye, Pinkie.
Bye.
Pinkie set the phone down on her nightstand with a trembling hand, threw herself down onto her pillows, and cried.
Sonata replaced the phone in her pocket and looked over to Adagio, who was next to her on the couch and had been advising her throughout the conversation. "How was that?" she asked sadly.
"Good," Adagio reassured her. "Perfect. Now she knows exactly how you feel."
"Even I don't know exactly how I feel," Sonata mumbled.
"Come here," Adagio said, reaching out to hug her sister. "You didn't say no, just 'not now.' At least they'll all know that we're willing to be their friends. That was what those ponies wanted, right?"
"Yeah," Sonata agreed quietly. They sat in silence for a while, simply taking comfort from each other's company.
"So," Adagio finally asked with a smirk, "what's the plan?"
"Huh?!" Sonata yelped.
"This friendship thing was your idea," Adagio chuckled. "How do we do it?"
"Uhhh," Sonata stammered, her mind racing as she tried to remember exactly what friends did. "I guess... we invite them over? Friends do that a lot, right?"
"Sounds about right," Adagio agreed, "and I guess we owe them one for saving our lives. We'll throw them a party."
"Awesome!" Sonata squealed. "Um. How do we do that?"
"Hm. Beats me," Adagio admitted. "I bet Silver Breeze would know. Should we plan for next weekend?"
"Yeah!" Sonata exclaimed, her previous gloom all but completely dispelled.
"Alright. You invite the girls, and I'll talk to Silver Breeze and work out the logistics," Adagio instructed. "We'll do it next Saturday, as long as that works for the Rainbooms. Got it?"
"Got it." Sonata snapped a clumsy salute. She leaped up from the couch to start her task, only to pause as she passed a framed picture of Aria sitting on the table. She slowly reached down and picked it up, unprepared for the surge of conflicting emotions that seeing her sister's face sparked within her.
As she pondered the picture, Adagio came up behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay," she said softly. "Aria's going to be fine, and someday we'll see her again."
"But I miss her so much already," Sonata whispered. She turned to face her sister. "At least we got to say goodbye, though."
"Yeah," Adagio murmured. They faced each other in silence for a moment, each lost in her own thoughts. Finally, Adagio shook her head to clear it. "Come on," she said, nudging Sonata toward the hall. "We've got a party to plan."
"Yeah," Sonata agreed, a bit of light coming back to her eyes. She set the picture down again. "Bye, Aria," she whispered.
And hello, friends.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Sammy-Jack · 43k words · 321 9 · 6.8k views
- Daniel-Gleebits · 91k words · 445 15 · 7.4k views
- DWK · 46k words · 480 11 · 7.7k views
- Majin Syeekoh · 2.6k words · 289 6 · 7.5k views
- Pony Professor · 18k words · 182 9 · 5.1k views
- DJLowrider · 7.2k words · 424 7 · 9k views
- SkycatcherEQ · 17k words · 759 18 · 19k views
- ArgonMatrix · 7.4k words · 156 3 · 3.8k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.036 seconds
Total duration
622 users online
1,022,866 hits today, 2,782,760 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Welp, it was good while it lasted. I'm sorry, but these last few chapters have disengaged me so much from this story.
Well, that was a lovely bittersweet 'end'. Good work on the story.
I have to say, I still have the same issue from the last chapter I commented on. This felt way too much like an ass pull to try to get Celestia off the hook for pressuring Twilight into a PR stunt. It also shows that ultimately, Twilight doesn't really give a damn about keeping her word, no matter how much she claims it upset her to break it. I think Twilight should have called Celestia out on her behavior, as well as Luna's. Instead it's a case of 'easily forgiven' for them, so yes there was a lot of favorites being played here. It really didn't feel appropriate. Especially since in this case, it made Celestia and Luna the bad guys and they got to win in the end, and did so because they were able to pressure Twilight into giving the ruling they wanted instead of giving a ruling that would actually have been fair and would have pleased far more people. In the long run, Equestria had all but forgotten the very existence of the Sirens outside of maybe a handful of scholars, such as Twilight herself. They were in no danger from the Sirens whatsoever and, as we know, they did what they did for the sake of their survival. Granted, this doesn't mean the Sirens hadn't messed with people over the millennium they've stayed on the human side of the portal. But it does explain the why of it. Would you blame a T-Rex for eating another dinosaur in order to survive, or would you just say it was doing what was in its nature to do?
The same applies here. And again, Twilight had the right of it when she initially declared banishment back to the other side of the mirror, especially since they could turn the portal on and off at will the way Twilight had it set up now. Further, Celestia even admitted to the fact that she was doing this to appear a certain way towards her subjects. So yes, this was a damned PR stunt, and it came right out of her own mouth. Twilight not only doesn't call her on any of this, she doesn't call Luna out on her buillshit line about 'earning' her forgiveness or anything. So Twilight had the right of it, and the right answer, but she then lost the right of it when she allowed Celestia and Luna their way.
I like the story overall, but the ending was crap in my opinion. It was pretty much ass pull after ass pull. And all of it largely intended to let Celestia and Luna get off scott free for acting like manipulative bitches. Celestia moreso than Luna, but Luna's still right there cheering on Celestia for forcing Twilight to give a ruling that she, rather than Twilight, wants. And all for the sake of publicity. Frankly I'm surprised Sonata is willing to be anywhere near Twilight at this point since, as I mentioned, Twilight gave her word that things would be alright, and instead of keeping to that promise, allowed Celestia and Luna their way at a time when it was entirely inappropriate to do so.
See you around. Good that Aria's gonna get visitors... and I suspect that's Tirek's rage at the world she's tasting.
Lyra knows that feel, Sonata. You sit differently one time...
well, that was quite the ride.
i was kind of expecting a stinger with Aria flying around tartarus while barking orders to her new army of the damned as they built her a castle or something...
I will be reading this again and again until the sequels come up.
*sniffle*
Love it. Shame about Aria, but at the same time, perfectly within character, I feel. I would love to see this universe get explored a little more, maybe see what happens with Pinkie and Sonata. I haven't seen those two being shipped together before.
5488846
Derpy know the feeling, too. You say "Muffins" one time
Love it. Shame about Aria, but at the same time, perfectly within character, I feel. I would love to see this universe get explored a little more, maybe see what happens with Pinkie and Sonata. I haven't seen those two being shipped together before.
5488846
Derpy know the feeling, too. You say "Muffins" one time
The ending was kinda sad, but I enjoyed the story overall. Nice work.
So that was the reasoning? Sunset Shimmer got off completely scott free, and Aria, who committed pretty much the exact same crimes, got banished for a thousand years, simply because Aria didn't break down in a big emotional scene asking for forgiveness? They know jack shit about her emotional state, or how she actually feels on the matter. Just because she didn't beg for forgiveness from the people she hates, means she doesn't feel sorry? Maybe, maybe not. They don't know that though.
It really feels like Celestia is making excuses for pushing Twilight into a certain ruling in a snap decision. And it really feels like Twilight and Sunset don't actually agree with the decision, but are too afraid to contradict Celestia's decision to actually speak up about it. It feels like all of that stuff Celestia came up with was an afterthought. That's kinda bullshit. This version of Celestia really seems like a hypocrite. And Starswirl kinda threw one of his daughters to the wolves to save the other two.
And of course Sonata isn't mad at Twilight. I mean, why would she be? Just a bit of going back on your word and promises, nothing a princess really needs to have any concern about! What a wonderful precedent this teaches Twilight. If your mentor has a different opinion on how to handle royal matters than you, go with their decision, no matter what you want to happen.
It's not even that she's being punished. But it's that she's being punished so severely for seemingly no reason other than that's how long Luna, who tried to kill a whole lot more people than Sunset and Aria combined, was banished for before she broke out. And Celestia didn't even do that because she wanted to. And that's not even getting into the fact that Luna kinda committed the same exact crimes once she got out, and was immediately forgiven because she's Celestia's sister.
Celestia is really, really biased. That's not even up for argument. She just is. And it looks like she's being really biased in this case as well.
I'm afraid I don't have much to say other than I liked it
Well, and that I hope that any sequels have Aria: Queen of Tartarus at least mentioned, but that might be pushing it.
Nicely done, I've got to say. You did well with this.^^
I've enjoyed this story very much. Bittersweet ending, though.
I'm glad that while she may be stuck in Tartarus, Aria will still get occasional visits from her sisters, courtesy of Discord.
I was saddened by that last scene with Pinkie and Sonata's messages to each other. I was hoping those two would get together, because there really haven't been a lot of stories that had this particular shipping. But, alas it didn't happen... at least not yet. As Adagio said: "You didn't say no, just 'not now.'" So there's still a possibility in the future.
Speaking of which, I do hope that you do follow this up with a sequel or two. Needless to say, I will be there when you do.
Great job!
5488761
I feel the same. Up until Aria's "trial" I would have highly recommended this fic. Now though? Not so much. I might still show it to people who are interested in a case of a story starting off so strongly and ending with a... polarizing last few chapters (to put it kindly).
5490052 Yeah, same. I'd be like, OK, read everything except for "A Second Chance" onwards, 'cause those chapters suck.
That ending was pretty satisfying. I still think Pinkie's crush is out of place in the story, but it's a small enough thing that I can easily pretend it's not there.
But yeah, beyond that, I'm pretty satisfied with how this story turned out. I'm looking forward to any potential sequels/spinoffs.
5489587
The Equestrian Justice System.
Because nothing rehabilitates someone toward the idea of friendship like 1000 years of isolation. That will teach them to not have the common sense to be in Celestias' inner circle.
5488802
5489587
You know what really bothers me?
For all of Celestia's "Do you trust me?" and "Trust in yourself" talk—she didn't actually trust Twilight enough to make her own decision.
This was a good ending. Goodbye story.
And hello sorrow that I feel when waiting/praying for a sequel.
A good ending. Bittersweet but good. Well done
I'll just repeat what Murkglow wrote:
With the exception of the sleepover/Pinkie has a crush on Sonata chapter.
So this is a mixed bag for me. But then again... If you ask me, if one of the sirens has to be resistant to change Adagio would be the more fitting choice. Aria didn't quite make sense.
But anyway, this ending...no. Just no.
All in all I appreciate your effort on this story and it has some really great moments but the bad stuff about it is really really bad so ultimately I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Do I really believe I made the right choice saying so?
Yes.
You know what would have made this way better? Sonata's conversation with Pinkie being written with internet grammar. Way more emotional.
"Bye," Sonata added, then shook her head. "No. Just, bye for now. We'll see you again, alright?"
--Spade
The ending caught me off guard as I was expecting more, but perhaps it was for the best to end it here. I didn't have high expectations for the story when I started reading it, but it turned out to be incredible and really enjoyable. Looking forward for more stories from you :)
Well, now this chapter at lest helps explain the reaction in the banishing of Aria and I still believed that it was more of a set up but I'm OK that Celestia was put on the spot.
I still feel a little funny that Twilight was made into a liar by her teacher to pander and show off to Equestria that she's en charge but I still I think that Twilight should really reconsider not listening to her feeling.
Since you brought up "Trade Ya" I think Twilight was still wrong as training an animal was still a second part of the deal and that the Mare broke a verbal contract once so the trade should be invalidated but I digress.
Right now you make Twilight out to be some machine that Celestia can use when she wants to make something seem fair.
But in the counter point you also have Discord go behind Celestia's back to keep the Dazzles together. Plus, you make it hard for Aria in Tartarus to feed and to try and control adding consequence to her designation I like that.
So in the end I didn't hate the chapter and it wasn't bad.
For me it was satisfying, but that is just me.
Thanks for taking the time to write this story.
I wish you the best for the future works I hope to read more from you.
Good luck in the future.
You just sent me on a nostalgia trip.
I loved the story. Quite a bit sad for the sirens, but at least they get what they want, right? Really hope you add a sequel!
I would be more verbose, but it has been said like ten times already. This was bullshit. The story up to the trial is good, then...
You twist celestia and a number of others into OOC Monsters, commit an atrocity of justice, turn equestrias goverment/justice system into a despotic monster along the way, offer some halfhearted criticisms that are brushed aside (and end with twilight learning the lesson that making people suffer for a millenium under questionable circumstances while heavily playing favorites because were depotic rulers is a-ok), and.... if i keep going ill lose my cool, but i think i could. It makes me feel angry on multiple levels, in story because... this, out of story for you... defiling twilights and celestias characters and ruining what was up to that point a very good story.
Ill echo the sentiments above. Up until the trial, i reccomend this story very much. If i ever show it to anyone, it will be with the end hacked of though...
As it is now, it very much earned its conversion to a T-Down.
Well that was something alright. Not really sure how I feel.
Wow, I haven't seen this theme in a long time.
The last time I saw it put like this was in a book called "The Devil's Court" where a kid sold his soul to win a basketball tournament. The whole idea was rather silly, but when I did research on it ((it was a school assignment), I noticed that the book referenced within that one did much the same thing. I can't remember the title, but basically a magician sold his soul to perform sorcery. In the end, al he would have had to do was ask for forgiveness, but he was filled with pride and didn't want to forgive himself. It's a neat concept to look at with a lot of the villains in cartoons and movies.
The ending was beautiful. I don't understand so many of the negative comments about it. In lives like this, there aren't always happy endings, and there's almost never a real end to a story arc. It leaves it open and up to the reader to decide how things play out. It feels complete, and the ending felt very natural and fitting. I'm not disappointed at all to see that the characters went through this ordeal and were not left unscathed. It added depth to the characters, especially Celestia, who did, in fact, make decisions like this many times before, and it left a mark on the world that will be around for a while.
In so many stories, I see the end wrap things up so much that the characters never grew or benefitted from the experience. Their mistakes were so easily forgiven that they're more likely to repeat them, and as other authors have said before, that leaves the reader feeling cheated. This story was not one of those. It had a great ending that left things exactly how they should have been. Not as an end, but as an AND. Because it would be impossible to say that "they all lived happily ever after" if one of the characters is suffering.
Don't take to heart what the non-constructive comments say. If they're not constructive criticism, they're just criticism. I think you did a fine job with this story, and while I know that my comment may not weigh as heavily as the volume of the others, or it may not offer any real value afterward, I just felt like saying how satisfied I was with this story.
I'm curious. At this point, are the Sirens mortal again? Will they even be alive when Aria gets out?
5496495 in this story, the sirens are mortal but ageless. That is to say, they can be killed (such as from starving to death) but will not die of age. So, assuming nothing goes horribly wrong, yes, they will be alive when Aria's sentence is up.
5495190 The support is most certainly appreciated. The backlash from the ending caught me off guard, but it's really just a few people being VERY vocal about it. I suppose you can't please everyone.
Hearing from people like you who enjoyed it is what makes the effort worthwhile. Thanks for the feedback!
5496584 Oh man, if you made a sequel of this, it would totally be a Futurama tribute, with Aria as Fry, trying to fit in with her sisters in the year 3000!
Just a small point, "immortal" usually just means ageless; if you want to indicate something also can't be killed, you usually tack on something like "invulnerable" or "indestructible."
5496672
I love it. Adagio can be Leela, Sonata can be Zoidberg. And Star Swirl can be Professor Farnsworth. Why is he alive again? Because shut up, that's why.
5496787 I would have gone with Amy for Sonata, but otherwise perfect. Oh and Discord could fill in for Bender (Bite my mismatched chaotic ass!)
5495190 many thought the punishment was excessive, this type of punishment is something reserved for corrupt gods, demons and very powerful beings with almost zero capacity for redemption or are extremely dangerous to be sent to prison or reformatory normal
also he expressed at a very manipulative celestia with twi basically told him is your decision but equally obey me.
twi was greatly submissive and did not have the courage to fight for what they believed correct
but with the respect she feels for celestia seems a realistic behavior
Celestia also showed a certain level of naivety
with this
"So be it. It is my honest hope That a thousand years in isolation May teach you the true value of love and friendship, and that you 'will return as a better pony. Farewell, Aria Blaze. "
as you will learn the value of friendship in a regime of absolute solitude, without any means that will help reabilitarse and besides
NMM was banished back his attempt to destroy the world
discord was sealed and return once again attempt to conquer Equestria
Shadow was sealed and try once again conquer the empire
Tirek was imprisoned in the tartaro and learned nothing of friendship just got higher resolution revenge
Sirens were banished to the human world and learned nothing
the pattern observed
sealing and imprisonment in the tartaro only serves to protect the community, but not for rehabilitar.celestia solely seal or jailed in the tartaro when there was no choice and was against the wall, but in this fic she was in complete control of the situation
the story is great but the ending was a bit extreme, and falls in the concept celestia only knows banish or imprison in the tartararo for 1000 years
although I admit I liked that discord try to help your manner, ironically discord was wiser and kind that He the princesses, if aria is rehabilitated will be by the actions of discord
I have to say, it's been quite the ride. I feel a little confused as to the certain... unfinished feeling there is here, but to be honest that just makes me hopeful that there's going to be more in store set in this universe. The adventures of Aria: Queen of the Underworld. The Sonata and Pinkie relationship. Sunset's ongoing quest into the redemption she seems to imagine she still needs to accomplish fully.
I think the punishment thing was quite well done to be honest. I say that because of one thing: Evidently no one expected it, and it was done without randomly altering Aria's character. It was plausible in my view.
The only problem I saw was how apathetic she was to Sonata's essentially betraying her.
But the Pinkie - Sonata response... I don't know. I like happy endings, but I like sad endings more. They're more impactful. But this was a kind of limbo response. As I say, it lays open future avenue.
I think the only real problem was the overall lack of closure. The initial problem was solved chapters ago, and the new problem hastily cobbled together and resolved with an ending that confused the readers a little.
I don't think it could have been avoided without either prolonging the sirens being all powerful bit, or at least by introducing Starswirl earlier.
I enjoyed your story quite a lot, I must say. Even though Aria had to be separated from her sisters, I trully loved the fact that she had stayed true to herself. As for the other sirens, it turned out quite nice for them, and it would be nice to read a sequel and watch their further fate. Anyway, thank you for all the effort you put into your story.
That was good. I like how it wrapped up even if you might have to check your mailbox for a while to make sure there are no "cupcakes" in there. I am not exactly happy how it worked out for Aria. It was super obvious she took all the blame for herself in an effort to spare her sisters in an act of misguided love. I am of the opinion that at least one of the three would have figured that out. (Sunset, Twilight, and Celestia.) and I am willing to bet Luna likely knows anyway. Even if she's made no indication of suspicion. People who've been in bad places should know what others would do to protect what little they have. I think Luna would have done the exact thing Aria had done for Celestia. By the same logic it also sounds like a plan Sunset would likely implement if it meant keeping her new friends safe. Ugh, Sunset, Luna, and Aria all need to have a bad girls support group or something.
Some of this I hope will be addressed if you do a continuation. That's enough rambling from me though. Thank you for this story.
Even though the story itself was mostly wrapped up, it felt like Aria's part was left unfinished.
I mean, she sacrificed herself to get her friends off the hook. Not just in a taking-responsibility sense, which would have been right, but in a way that completely (not quite justifiably) absolved them while making her own punishment even worse than it would have been. That's not evil.
She's learning more slowly than the others, and still too stubborn to allow herself to feel remorse. That deserves more than a slap on the wrist, for sure, but even as an immortal being she doesn't deserve a thousand years of solitary confinement. Especially since everybody involved repeatedly states their hope that she gets reformed eventually once her term is up. How exactly will a thousand years of solitude and literally feeding on the hatred of hell itself do anything but drive her insane, let alone teach her the value of friendship?
The only reason she even has a chance at preserving her sanity and getting better is the fact that Discord and the others can pop in occasionally to visit her. Yet apparently Celestia would forbid even that if she found out about it. What the hell, pony princess?
5498404
Exactly! As long-term exile goes, they're batting an unsurprising zero for six in reforming villains. NMM, Discord, Sombra, Sunset (albeit self-imposed), Sirens, Tirek... the only three of these who later were reformed did so because they were offered friendship. (Though admittedly Sunset and Luna had also just taken a rainbow to the face that seemed to clear up whatever weird power was addling their brains.)
Awesome job! I love writing and I'm usually pretty critical, even of my two friends' stories. >< I loved this story and I'm sad it ended, but I hope to see a sequel when you come back from taking a break. Aria is my favorite Siren, so I was kind of shocked when she took the fall for everything. But I guess when you're close sisters, you'll do anything for each other. Beautiful story and beautiful ending. I love all the Dazzlings: Aria's negativity that is so close to mine, Adagio's scheming, and Sonata's airheadedness. =) I seriously hope to see a sequel in the future when you return. =)
Before I read this story can someone answer me these questions. Is Discord in this story and if so, what "role" does he play?
5496607
Honestly I think most of the negative comments are coming because, even though your characters are believable and acted reasonably, they are technically OOC based on what the show has shown us. Namely that forgiveness and redemption is usually the first option. Probably didn't help that most people have a hard time realizing that characters in a book often don't know everything we know. To them (the readers) it probably seemed stupidly obvious that Aria was sacrificing herself and they cant see why the Princesses arnt sure about that. (Because they don't know everything we know.) Also I get what you were trying to do with the whole, "1000 years in isolation will teach you the value of friendship" thing. Celestia is reasoning that you grow to appreciate that which you dont have. It looks good on paper but 9 times out of 10 it has the opposite effect. Still, if you had let Aria get off Scott free you'd be getting backlash from the people who dont like happy endings. As for me, I liked the story.
I'm now imagining Aria as becoming sort-of a warden of Taturus.
Anyway, just power-read through the whole story. Very good in my opinion while leaving room for more in the future. I'm not good with articulating words, so that's about the best review I can write right now.
5527481
It's kinda funny but this story and a lot of others (including my own) are going to be de-canonized when the new comic series comes out that has the origin stories for The Sirens, Tirek, Sombra, Queen Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon.
5527516
They get that exemption for their first crimes. However when they get released from their 1000 year imprisonment they both perform crimes again (Luna again attempts Eternal Night and Discord both attempts to take over, which he kinda pays for a little by getting turned to stone for a much shorter time, and later betrays them to Tirak) neither of which they then are punished for.
Your tags are inaccurate. This fic wasn't really that sad.