Sunset Shimmer has her eyes opened to the reality of the world she lives in when a former siren comes to call.
Sunset Shimmer is finally happy, or so she thinks. Her perfect world gets turned upside down one night when she receives a visit from a former siren. What happens next explains quite a lot.
I stared down at the page that should have been full of math homework but instead looked more like a surreal art project invading from the margins. It’s not like I wanted to fail my class, but plans for the weekend drew my mind away to the awesome party Pinkie Pie would be hosting tomorrow night. How could I possibly focus on trigonometry when every shape I drew kept morphing into a balloon or slice of cake? Having friends sure was nice, but it really put a damper on my studies.
Background noise from the stereo filled in the gaps between commercials on the TV. The extra distraction probably wasn’t helping my concentration. I could try and make some kind of excuse that the dog ate my homework, except Spike went back to Equestria for the second time over a week ago. Also, fortunately and unfortunately, I lived with the Principal and more recently her sister the Vice Principal—I still can’t believe that foreign exchange student story actually worked. It’s like I was supposed to be here or something. It sure wasn’t the same as living in Canterlot Castle, but their house had everything I needed—and it was free. Even so, studying under Celestia sure was easier back when I was a pony.
Dinner break. Gotta stop for gas.
I tossed the math book aside, flicked off the TV, and walked over to the kitchen. The sisters had gone out to eat, and I was on my own tonight. Nothing really sounded good though. It was nights like tonight where a sampler of local grasses might have hit the spot, but this human body had an unpleasant way of disagreeing with my former equine diet. A little fruit—maybe some toast—I wasn’t in a position where I could be all that picky.
Vegetable lasagna! Yes!
I thought we’d cleaned up the last of that days ago. Thank goodness there was a slice hiding in the back of the fridge. I checked it for mold and gave it a sniff. That’s another thing I missed—my sense of smell was terrible these days. I could barely tell the difference between fresh and boiled cabbage, let alone a leftover slice of lasagna that’s still good to eat versus one that went bad more than a month ago.
I brushed the thought aside given the rumble in my belly. I was as hungry as a horse, and I wasn’t going to let even a slightly questionable lasagna go to waste. The microwave took a few seconds to zap my dinner into shape. That’s something I’d never be able to live without should I ever think about going home. Although, I’m sure if I put my mind to it, I could always piece together some kind of magic oven. I wonder how well hay reheats? Not that it mattered; this was my new home.
The time ticked down to zero and out popped my piping hot dish. Staring at the plate, I couldn’t help but facepalm when the knock came from the front door. Too bad the stereo was on, or else I could have pretended that no one was home.
“Always at dinner. If it’s not the phone, it’s the door. Why can’t people interrupt homework time instead?”
I tossed the plate back in the oven and went to go see how quickly I could dismiss whoever wanted to visit this late at night. It was probably someone wanting to see one or both of the sisters, so I had a pretty good chance of making it back to my food before it would need another zap. On the other hand, it might be one of my friends. Not that I didn’t love them all to pieces, but the personal time I had going tonight was something I needed more than clingy friends. Unless, of course, they could help me with math; then I would be okay with a visit.
I opened the door.
It took a moment to process what I was seeing. “Oh, no,” I said, trying to shut the door as quickly as I could. How stupid of me to open up without checking the peephole first. Now her dumb foot was stuck in the jamb.
“Let me in, Shimmer. I just want to talk.”
I held the door in a losing battle against the wedge of her foot. “No way, Aria. I don’t want anything to do with the Dazzlings ever again.”
“Hear me out, Sunset. It’s not what you think. I need your help.”
I grunted and heaved my entire weight against the door. It wasn’t much leverage, and I certainly wasn’t going anywhere with the giant boot rock in the way. “Move your foot and get lost, Aria. I don’t want any trouble tonight.”
“I’m dying.”
I rolled to the side and flung the door open. “You’re what?!”
“More or less.” Aria Blaze strutted past heading straight for the good chair in the living room. “It’s not like I can actually die here in this cage, right? So, what’s for dinner? Swamp-water stew?”
I shook my head and slammed the front door shut. The former siren clearly owned round one. This match was going the distance, however. I stormed after her, mentally prepared to physically toss her out on her tail if it came to that. She was about my size, and I was pretty sure I could take her down if I had to.
Rounding the couch, I laid right in. “Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna aren’t here. You can come back later or make an appointment. Right now, I think you need to leave.” I really needed to work on my delivery. It was all so much easier when I had no idea what it meant to be a friend. Darn magic of friendship getting in the way of trying to throw someone out.
“Why would I want to talk to them?” Aria gave me one of her signature smirks, but other than that looked a little unsure of herself. The way she sat on her hands without crossing her legs or her arms like she usually did caught me a little off-guard. She didn’t seem to be playing her normal game.
“Don’t tell me you came over to talk to me.” I gave her the stare. “It’s not like we’re friends or anything. Why don’t you go bother your gal pals, Adagio or Sonata?”
“I can’t talk to them,” Aria pleaded with her wide eyes quickly breaking down her tough girl facade. “We broke up.” The tears were a nice touch. Really sold the whole look.
“Heh. I guess you want me to feel sorry for you then?” I folded my arms and glared at the intruder. “That is, of course, if you aren’t just lying to me again.”
Aria slouched forward with her elbows on her knees, staring at the floor. “Look, I’m sorry that I lied to you. You weren’t going to let me in, and I had no other choice. You’re the only one that can help.” She raised her head and looked at me straight on. “Just hear me out, okay?”
“Fine.” I plopped down on the couch and crossed my legs and arms assuming a full defensive posture. The roll of my eyes probably wasn’t necessary, but I did that too. “Tell me why you’re here so I can get back to my dinner and hopefully finish my homework sometime tonight.”
“Homework…” Aria giggled. Given the current situation, I couldn’t help but wonder why. Was this the part where she would fess up to lying again or were things about to get super weird? I almost wanted to feel sorry for her, but I couldn’t quite get past the recent battle we fought. I still had a lot to learn about being a good friend and Twilight was a whole lot better at forgiveness than me. Having a former magic demon sitting in the next chair, one minute on the verge of tears, and the next giggling like a lunatic, didn’t sit right with the old self-preservation instincts. It wasn’t that long ago that I found myself in her shoes. The irony wasn’t wasted on me. Still, there were a lot of ways in which this wouldn’t end well for one or both of us.
“What’s so funny?” I asked with a flip of my hair.
“Just you.” Aria flopped back in her chair. “Here I thought you were smart and knew what you were doing. I guess I was wrong.”
“I’m not going to sit here and take your insults.” Standing up, I pointed toward the door. “You can leave right now for all I care, little miss Aria Blaze.”
“Little, hah!” Aria just shook her head. “Sunset, how old do you think I am?”
“I have no idea. Seventeen? Eighteen?” The game was starting to annoy me even before it started. The longer we played, the more I knew I wasn’t getting back to homework anytime soon. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“Humor me.” Aria’s smirk was back. “At least tell me how old you are—or more precisely, how old do you think you are?”
“I’ll be eighteen next month. And I still don’t see how it matters.” At this point I was just going to buy some time until the sisters got back. They could deal with the ex-siren, and I could get back to my homework.
“And how long have you been here?” Aria continued with her questions. “And by ‘here’ I mean, Canterlot High.”
“About four years,” I replied as politely as I could through gritted teeth. “I am a senior, after all.”
Aria took a deep breath and focused right in on me. “I doubt you’ll believe what I have to say, Sunset Shimmer, but what if I told you I have been here for almost six hundred and forty years, not to mention the over nineteen-thousand lunar cycles by Equestrian reckoning?” Aria’s evil grin looked slightly less menacing given her skewed pony tails.
“Nice try, Aria.” I sat back down, quick to dismiss the crazy. “If I didn’t already know you were a siren, I’d be laughing right now.”
Aria leapt to her feet and lunged forward. “Don’t you ever call me that again! I’m a pony—same as you!” She stopped just an inch away as my reflexes yanked me back into the seat-back cushion, and my hands shot up to guard my face.
“O—kay?” I peeked over my hands and set my feet back on the floor as Aria disengaged. “Whatever you say, Aria.” I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Adrenaline shot through my veins as my body’s delayed reaction ran its course. Flight or fight, and somehow I chose flight. The real question now sat out in the open: how did she know I was a pony? And why did she think she was one too? Wasn’t she a siren turned human by the magic of the portal?
Aria grabbed my math textbook and flung it across the room. The binding snapped as it hit the wall leaving a dent in the wood panel. “You’re living in your own worst nightmare, pony girl, and you’re too dumb to even realize it. Adagio was right; I am screwed.”
“Settle down, Aria, or I’m calling the cops!” This was getting out of hand. If I could trust that either of the sisters actually had their cell phones on them or that either of them were charged, I would be making that call right now. As it was, I could already see Luna’s phone sitting in the key basket on the counter. Help could be minutes away, or hours.
“You think I care about the cops? You think any of this even matters?” Aria shouted as she slammed herself back in her chair and buried her head between her curled up legs. “This whole place is a prison! Why is that so hard to see?”
I took a hard look at the broken girl sobbing though tortured gasps of air supporting her whiny moan. She looked an awful lot like me a few months ago—I wasn’t too stubborn to admit it. Maybe Twilight had taught me something. Maybe it was my turn to pay it forward. In any case, I knew one thing for certain: Aria needed a friend.
“Aria,” I said in the most calm and steady voice I could manage, “how can I help?”
She lifted her head and reined in the tears. A rabid raccoon would seem less threatening than she did just a moment ago with her heavy mascara and eye shadow streaking down her face. The poor little girl that sat in front of me seemed barely a shell of my former enemy. The magic of friendship strikes again.
“Can we start over?” she asked.
Aria was alone and came to me for help. I wasn’t doing her any favors by fighting an honest request. All that mattered was finding out if she was being honest or not. I may have had my doubts, but her disheveled look bordering on desperation warranted delay in judgment until I had a better picture of her situation.
“Alright,” I said, finally relenting, “with a few conditions. No more lies and no more crazy. I want straight talk and answers.”
“Done and done,” she shot back without a moments hesitation. “But first things first. I haven’t eaten in forever, and that smell is driving me nuts. If I’m going to have to keep it together, I need to eat. What have you got for dinner?”
So much for earning my trust. She barged into the house, nearly took off my head, and then practically demanded dinner. Smooth, real smooth. A con artist if I ever saw one. Still, it looked like she truly hadn’t eaten in forever, so what did I have to lose?
“I don’t know,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders. That silly little grin of hers looked even more silly now. Like a pet anxiously awaiting a meal, she hung over the back of the chair and followed me with her eyes as I made my way toward the kitchen. “My food was ready to eat when you barged in, but I guess you can take a look in the fridge and help yourself to whatever you like. I don’t think the sisters will mind.”
“I’ll just have whatever you’re having.” She hopped off the chair and followed me in. “Unless you’re having meat. In that case, I’ll have a salad.”
I laughed. Some habits were hard to break, and I knew that feeling all too well. “You must be a pony after all. Come on, let’s see what we can find.”
I opened the fridge, and we both sat in awe of the view of something so full, and yet, so empty. Half the stuff was old enough to have spawned a new colony of intelligent life. The rest was a barely edible byproduct of the most evil form of potential nutrition available—soy. She dug right in, and I happened to find an apple that wasn’t completely rotten plus some grape juice to help wash it down. Feeling a bit weird with an actual meal all to myself, I offered her a bit of my lasagna as well.
We sat opposite one another, and I stared across the table watching her devour the meal. Once the last bite of food left her plate, she leaned back and met my gaze. We hadn’t exchanged two words in the time it took to clear our plates.
“Sunset, why are you here?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” I replied after swallowing the last bite from my own plate.
“I mean, what did you do back in Equestria to get sent here?”
I still wasn’t quite sure what she meant, but I tried to answer the best that I could. “Nobody sent me. I came here on my own. I figured out how the mirror worked and came through the portal to get away from my old life.” She just sat there. I could tell she was holding something back. “At least, that’s what happened the first time.”
“The… first time?” She stuck a finger in each ear and cleared them out giving the impression that she hadn’t heard me right. “Do you mean you’ve been back home since you first set hoof through the gate?”
“Well, yeah. Once.” I put down my fork and took a long drink. It didn’t seem like something to get all worked up over. “Just last fall, around the time of the Fall Formal, I went back as part of my ‘Master Plan’. Things sort of didn’t work out the way I had planned though.” It wasn’t one of my brighter moments. “I’ve been thinking about going back to visit after I take care of finals, but—”
She jumped to her feet and circled around the table. “So you know how to control the portal? We need to go back! Could you open it right now?”
I crossed my arms and gave her the look. “Of course, but that’s not going to happen without talking to the Princess first.”
“How do you do that, and how long would it take?” The crazy started to slip back into Aria’s look.
I wasn’t sure that I could trust her intentions, but I still held all the cards. She wasn’t going anywhere for now. I still needed answers about why she wanted to go back. “I can send a message whenever I want, but before I do, I want to know more about you—and why you’re so eager to get back to Equestria.”
Aria took a slow walk back around the table and took her seat. She closed her eyes and cupped her hands out in front like she was getting ready to pray. “Sunset, I want to die.”
Shocked? No. Stunned? Bewildered? I didn’t know what to make of her comment. “Why would you say something like that? Didn’t you promise no more lies or crazy talk?” I was trying to have a nice chat with a crazy person. I should have expected this.
“It’s not a lie, and it’s not crazy.” She calmly stood up and started walking back to the living room. “Can we go find someplace more comfy to talk? This might take a while to explain.”
I dumped the dishes in the sink and followed her out to the couch. Passing the phone, I debated calling Celestia again. Maybe Aria was suicidal? I wasn’t sure if she had any triggers other than being called a siren, but I didn’t want to push her away if she had a death wish. It looked like she was open to talking to me alone and bringing in someone else could set her off. I needed to understand what was going through her head, so I passed over the chance to make the call.
I slipped into the chair across from the couch, trying to keep things as casual as I could. “So, Aria, why do you want to go back to Equestria?”
“Let me explain.” She bit her lip and stared at the floor. “I’m not lying, and I’m not crazy. What I said was the truth. I want to go back to Equestria so I can die. Believe me, if you ever live to be sixteen-hundred and twenty-five years old, you’ll want to die too. Especially when almost all of that time was spent locked up in a cage. I can’t take it anymore. I just want it to end.”
I smoothed out my skirt and tried to stay focused without losing my cool. “I guess when you put it like that, it makes a little more sense.” I lied. It didn’t. “So, why do you need to go back to Equestria—to die?”
Aria jerked up to face me. “Because, pony girl, you can’t die here in Starswirl’s prison.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” I moved a little forward, interest piqued. That name rung a bell. “How is that possible, and why do you keep referring to this place as a prison?”
“I’ll try and keep it simple. You just try and understand, okay?” She grabbed both her pony tails and pulled, clearly frustrated. “This entire world is one big prison.”
I stopped for a moment to let that thought sink in. The wheels started turning in my head. The pieces still had trouble fitting together. “Come again? How is this place a prison?”
“Let me spell it out for you since you clearly haven’t caught on. You’re an inmate in the most elaborate prisoner reformation system ever concocted by pony magic. Starswirl built this place to ‘help’ prisoners he deemed ‘worthy of reform’. All the others got sent to Tartarus. Although, it seems he forgot about us at some point along the way.”
Well, here we were. Back to crazy talk. “I don’t get it. There’s hundreds of people here. Are you saying we’re all inmates in some gigantic magic prison? Frankly, I find that a bit hard to believe.”
“Look around, Shimmer. The truth is right there if you open your eyes to see it. You’re a smart pony, figure it out.”
“Sorry, Aria. I’m going to need a little more proof if you want me to believe your story. And by the way, how do you know I’m a pony?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” She smiled once again. That smile spoke volumes, mostly sarcastic or demeaning, and I didn’t like it one bit. “You’re one of the only people here with the ability to use magic. Only someone with ties to the real world can carry that talent.”
I threw my arms in the air, frustration getting the better of me. “So, is that it? You’re here to try and steal my magic? Sorry to tell you this, but I’m not a unicorn any more. The closest thing I have to magic in this world is what you saw back on that stage. Good luck using the magic of friendship to get you home.”
Aria sat back and casually flipped the end of one of her tails. “I think you missed the point, Shimmer. I’m not here to steal your magic. I’m here to ask for your help in getting back home. That’s it. Honestly, if you didn’t know so much about the portal, I wouldn’t be here wasting my time with you. If you really do have a way out, I want in on that, and you should want it too. We don’t have much time before the reset.”
I folded my arms and shook my head. “Let me get this straight. We’re supposed to be trapped in some kind of prison, but you want me to open the door so you can go home and die? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It would if you’d open your eyes to the truth,” Aria said, straight-faced. “There’s a story to tell, if you’re willing to listen.”
“I’m all ears.” I settled in and got comfortable. “Tell me how any of that makes sense, and I’ll see about opening the portal. Fair warning, this story better be good.”
Aria took a deep breath and settled back into her seat as well. “Listen up, because I’m only going through this once. I used to be a pony like everypony else. That was a long time ago, a little over sixteen hundred years by Equestrian reckoning. After my friends and I were cursed, we became something else, something that the other ponies wanted to keep locked away. When we were captured and tossed through the portal, the old wizard gave us a few instructions laying out the basics of what he hoped we’d accomplish with this little game of his. At first, we blew them off. Now that we’ve lost our magic, it matters, a lot.”
“So it matters that you lost your magic?” I asked.
“I wasn’t finished.” She rolled her eyes and folded her arms. “I’m trying to explain, and you’re just interrupting.”
“Whatever.” I crossed my legs and sank back in my seat. “Get to the point already.”
“The point is, Sunset, we’re trapped in a temporal bubble, a construct of magic built on another plane of existence. Nobody grows old here; nobody dies.”
“Well that’s a lie,” I said with a smirk. “I know for a fact that I’ve grown up—I have pictures to prove it. Same with my friends.”
She slapped a palm to her forehead. “I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about us. We’re the inmates—they’re part of the system. Let’s try and focus on the time paradox, shall we? Think back over four years ago—you probably think that’s when you were back in Equestria. You’re wrong. One school year here is like thirty moons back home. Every four years in this world, that clock resets. Just so we’re clear, that’s ten years of home time for each cycle, if you do the math. When the clock runs out, we revert back to how we arrived, and the rest of the system simply restarts. We’re supposed to learn some kind of lesson, rehabilitation if you want to use that term. If we don’t make any progress according to Starswirl’s rules, we go back to the beginning. In less than a month, you won’t remember your friends, and they won’t remember you. You’ll be a freshman again, and they’ll be moving on.”
“Okay, now we’re back to the crazy talk.” I stood up. “First you say I’m stupid. Then you attack me. Now you’re bringing my friends into it? I’m done with this. You need to leave.” I pointed to the door.
“Fine.” Aria got up as well. “If you think I’m crazy, then answer this: If everyone here is just a mirror of a pony back home, why haven’t you ever met your human double?”
I sat back down. A lot of what she was saying sounded ridiculous, but that was a good question. Why didn’t I have a double? Why hadn’t I met her? I didn’t know how to answer that one.
“You can’t answer that, can you? You’ve never met your double.”
I ran my fingers through my hair searching for an answer.
“This whole world is fake, Sunset Shimmer. Everyone here is just a reflection of a real pony from back home—none of them are real. When you stepped through the portal, you effectively became your mirror image. You can’t die, you won’t age past the four year cycle, and unless you know a way out, you’re stuck here forever in the living nightmare of endless high school hell.”
Something was starting to click. I didn’t want to believe what she was saying, but somehow it was starting to make sense.
“It’s part of the magic.” Aria ventured a smile, one that didn’t seem fake this time around. “Kind of like these prison uniforms—ever wonder why you’re always wearing the same clothes every day?”
“That does seem kind of strange…” I picked at the edge of my skirt, the same one I’d been wearing for as far back as I could remember. “I just thought it was part of the local culture. As a pony, I never gave it a second thought being naked all the time.”
“Ever wonder why no one ever questions you being a student? Why a bunch of random kids show up to school every day, and it’s never the same? The only thing that stays constant is the principal, and even that changed if you go back far enough. The original school master was Starswirl himself. Celestia and Luna came along right after he disappeared. For the longest time, Luna wasn’t even here, and now she decides to come back? What changed? Tell me that doesn’t raise any questions, or maybe you just don’t remember?”
“I… I remember a little,” I said.
I thought back over the years. Luna’s return meant that the prophesy had come to pass. In fact, she was the reason I decided to go back to Equestria in the first place. But, that didn’t make any sense. It should have taken over seventy years before that happened. There had to be a new princess by Celestia’s side which meant that there was magic that was meant for me. I had to take back what was rightfully mine. I never even questioned it.
“Look at me, Sunset. I’m just like you. I’m a prisoner in a make believe world, stuck in the body of a high school girl for the past sixteen-hundred plus years. You said it yourself—you think you’re an eighteen-year-old pony. Take another look. I’ve seen you before, off and on for the past couple cycles. You’re much older than you think, at least fifty if I had to take a guess. I’ve used my magic to protect my mind through each and every reset, but you weren’t as lucky. Now that my magic is gone, we have to escape before the next cycle begins. Otherwise, we go back to the beginning and start all over on our eternal journey toward ‘reformation’.”
“That…makes total sense,” I said, exhaling along with my dwindling disbelief. “Why didn’t I see it before?” Somehow, I couldn’t say how exactly, I actually believed her.
“I’ve done my time, Sunset. I want to go home and live out the rest of my life in peace. No games. I just want to grow old and die.” Aria stared down at her hands. “I sorta miss my hooves as well.”
I chuckled. “It may sound silly, but I kinda miss my tail.”
“So, it’s settled then? You know a way out of here, and you’re going to help me get home?” She looked at me with a set of pleading eyes. How could I say no?
“I can’t promise anything, Aria.” I got up and started walking toward the hallway. “I’ll be right back. I just need to get something from my room.”
“Can I come with you?” She stood up as well.
“Sure, if you promise to behave,” I replied, waving her on in a ‘follow me’ gesture.
My journal sat undisturbed right where I left it. Occasionally it would glow and buzz indicating that I had a message waiting from my friend, Twilight. With Aria right on my tail, I walked over to my nightstand and scooped it up. I also pulled a pen from the drawer before settling up on my bed.
“So what’s the plan?” Aria asked as she plopped herself down at my vanity. “You got some kind of magic key to unlock the portal?”
“No, but I have a friend that does.” Maybe this was wrong, and I shouldn’t drag Twilight into it. Still, if Aria was right, I was just as much a prisoner here as she was. “Before I ask her to open the portal, though, I want to be absolutely certain that you are telling the truth. How do I know I can trust you?”
“You can’t.” Aria got up and crossed over to the bed where she sat down next to me. “I got real good at telling lies and making ponies believe anything I wanted. Of course, the magic was a big part of that.” She held a hand up to the broken necklace chain around her neck. “Without my magic, I can’t make you believe a word I say. You just have to trust me.”
Now I was confused. Was she telling the truth? Did she have enough magic left to make me believe some part of her story? The whole perception that I was having this struggle in my head suggested I was thinking for myself. Twilight was only a few strokes away. Maybe she could help? The only way to know for sure was to let this play out and see where it led.
“Alright,” I said shaking my head out of the clouds. “I’ll write a message to Princess Twilight. If she believes your story, she can open the portal and we can go home.”
I stopped right there. If Aria was right, then I needed to ask one more thing before I brought in the Princess. I wouldn’t have thought to ask her before, but the idea of writing a letter to my friend jarred the thought loose.
“Aria?” I asked. “What about Adagio and Sonata?”
“What about them?” Aria’s cocky reply caught me off-guard. “Sonata’s too scared to go home and Adagio knows she can’t take over Equestria, so she’s settled on trying to take over the prison instead. They’re both morons.”
“That’s not really fair to your friends if we leave them here, is it?” The moral quandary could be debated, but given my recent brush with the power of friendship, I wanted to lean toward saving them too.
Aria grunted and folded her arms across her chest. “They aren’t my friends, so what does it matter?”
I shook my head. “What do you mean, ‘they aren’t your friends’? Haven’t you been together, like, forever?”
“Yeah, but we aren’t friends. The only thing that kept us together was the magic.” Aria fumbled with the strand around her neck. “We used to be friends back when we were ponies, but the siren spell changed all of that.”
I set the book back down on the side away from Aria and laid the pen on top. “Okay, if you want to earn my trust, I need to hear the whole story. What happened with the magic? Tell me everything.”
“There isn’t a whole lot to tell, honestly.” Aria dipped her chin looking down at the shattered jewel clutch that used to be the focus of her power. “We were just three young fillies with raging hormones—same as everypony else. We had our eyes on a few colts, but they never seemed to be interested in hooking up with us. That’s when we made our big mistake.”
“How old were you, and how big a mistake are we talking about here?” I didn’t like where this was going.
“It’s not like that, trust me,” Aria scoffed. “We were just a trio of messed up earth ponies looking to score a date. Our big mistake was getting involved with magic.”
“Okay, well, that’s a relief.” Granted, magic could be a pretty tricky subject as well. “I’m just glad were aren’t talking something super crazy, like, umm... whatever. I totally understand magic—I used to be a unicorn.”
“Yeah… You don’t understand anything about this magic though.” Aria hopped down off the bed and began to pace across the floor. “He said it would solve all our problems. He told us we could have anything we wanted. All we had to do was let the siren’s call take over.”
“Didn’t that sound too good to be true?” I asked. “I mean, why would you trust somepony who said magic could solve all your problems?”
“We were young. We were stupid.” Aria stopped her circular dance. “Did I mention that we were earth ponies?” She resumed her pace. “What did we know about magic? For all we knew, horns and wings and whatever shiny crystals he gave us would solve all our problems in the blink of an eye. Like I said, it was the biggest mistake of my life. I’ve been paying for it ever since.”
“So what happened next?” I tried to get the conversation back on track.
“You know the rest. I became a siren—a creature of magic that uses her voice to make everypony else do whatever she wants—enemy to all and friend to none. I did some pretty awful stuff back then, and then I got locked up in here. The door closed, the key got tossed, and the rest is history.” When she finished with her dramatic performance, she flopped down on the bed face first.
“So, what if we got you back to Equestria? Wouldn’t you just go back to being a siren?”
Aria rolled over and pulled her arms up over her head. “Look, Shimmer, I’ll say this one more time. I’m not a siren, I’m a pony. The magic that turned me into that flying monster was destroyed with my jewel. I don’t have any magic left, and I never will again. You can be sure of that.”
I had heard enough. “Alright, I’ll write the letter, and we can see what Twilight says.” I picked up the pen and opened the book to a fresh page. “Let me make it clear, however—either we all go home, or none of us leaves.”
“Whatever. I don’t care what you do with the others, I just want to go home.” Aria slid off the bed and crumbled to her knees. “Stick me in the deepest dungeon you can find for all I care.” Falling forward, she landed on her wrists. “I want my hooves, and I want my tail, and I want to die an old fuchsia mare.” She hung her head with her hair falling around her face. Crumpling up into a little ball on the floor, the once-powerful siren pony let it all go.
I set the pen to the paper and began writing:
Dear Princess Twilight,
I’ve decided to come home, and I’m bringing some friends with me. I need you to open the portal. You probably have a lot of questions, but there’s no need to worry. Meet me at the statue, and I’ll explain everything.
The sudden interruption caught me off guard. With my concentration broken, all the complex workings of my most recent spell, deconstructing the intricacies of the mirror portal magic, fizzled away to nothing. Ten spongy fingers fused together bringing back the familiar stockiness of two sturdy hooves. I turned, once again on four legs, to face my assistant.
“What’re you doing?” Spike asked, a hint of fear for my well-being not altogether concealed in his question. My half pony, half human form obviously gave him pause to wonder about my mental state.
“Research,” I replied in a direct but casual tone. I had asked to be left alone. This project required my complete concentration, not to mention the potential for collateral damage. “It’s very dangerous, but I need to understand all I can so that I can help my friend.”
“I don’t like where this is going, Twilight.” Spike gave me one of those looks, a smirk with a raised eyebrow and disapproving glare. “Are you sure she needs our help? I thought we left her in good hands?”
“Heh,” I blushed and pulled up a forehoof to validate there were no residual spell effects. “Funny you should say that.” As always, Spike had a way of pointing out the obvious flaws in my logic. “That’s actually a big part of the problem. Sunset gave up her tail, hooves, and even her horn—she’s human now, and that’s just… not right. I need to help her, Spike. I have to know why she wants to remain a human.”
“Well, she does have her other friends...” Spike’s disapproving glare softened to a more puzzled expression. “The two of you keep in touch with that journal of hers. Did she say she needed help?”
“Not exactly… I’m just having trouble comprehending how she could be happy being something she’s not. After all, she’s a pony, at least on the inside. I thought maybe it would help to try and see things from her point of view—that’s all.” Thinking over the past few weeks of back and forth conversation mediated by a magical diary, happiness was not the term I would use to describe Sunset Shimmer’s condition. “She has her friends, and she’s making progress on paying back her debt to the school, but I know there’s something else, something she’s not telling me. There’s a reason she refuses to come back to Equestria.”
Spike folded his arms and rolled his eyes. “Isn’t there a reason she left in the first place? Maybe Celestia knows?”
“That’s just it, Spike,” I said as I began to pace the floor. “I’ve spoken to the Princess, and she’s totally fine with letting her come back. But when I told Sunset, she immediately tried to change the subject; she kept talking about her hands and feet and how much she enjoyed being human. Why would she say that? It doesn’t make any sense. Why would she give up her magic just so she could walk upright?”
Spike shook his head. “I think you’re over-thinking it.”
“You don’t understand,” I replied. “Sunset Shimmer spent her whole life studying magic, just like me. Something must have happened to drive her away from her destiny, and now she’s making excuses not to talk about it. The human world may be nice and all, but she’s hiding from her past. As her friend, I feel I should help, but it’s been a week since she’s written to me, and I don’t know what else to do.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t do anything,” Spike said.
I returned a glare.
Spike let out a sigh. “Alright, but I don’t think experimenting like this is going to help. Why don’t you talk to the Princess and see what she has to say?”
“To be honest,” I said, my tail and ears drooping with my mood, “I’ve been avoiding that. Whenever the topic of Sunset leaving home comes up, Celestia doesn’t seem too happy about it. Although, when I asked about bringing her back to Equestria, she seemed very happy. I had hoped to avoid the questions about why Sunset left and skip right to the happy reunion of teacher and student.”
“I’m sure if you ask, she’ll give you an answer. Even if she doesn’t know, what’s the harm in asking?”
“I guess you’re right, Spike,” I said bowing my head. The steady buzz from my equipment overshadowed the heavy silence. I turned it all off with a flick of my horn.
“There’s one big thing that’s been bothering me,” I added, “I don’t ever recall seeing Sunset around Canterlot growing up. Celestia told me she was her old student, but that doesn’t make any sense—I was her personal student, for like, the last fifteen years. I’d never met Sunset Shimmer before I went through the mirror. Nothing about her really makes any sense. If Celestia is hiding something, I’m not sure I want to know. What if it hurts our new friendship?”
“Beats me,” Spike said. “But you’re not going to get an answer if you never ask the question.”
With a defeated sigh, I turned and headed for my room. “I guess there’s no avoiding it. Better fly to Canterlot so I can talk to the Princess.”
“Couldn’t you just write her a letter, like right now?” Spike asked.
“I have a feeling this is something too important for a letter.” Nearly out the door myself, I stopped and craned my neck around. “Thank you for helping me sort things out, Spike. I really appreciate how you keep me grounded.”
“No problem, Twilight. I’m always here to help.” Spike’s smile warmed my heart. I don’t know what I would do without him.
Even with her new friends helping her out, I had to wonder if Sunset really felt alone in that other place. Why wouldn’t she choose to come home, even for a visit? What drove her away in the first place? Having hands sure felt different, but I certainly wouldn’t give up everything I was just to be human. Vacations were one thing, but a whole new life? Hopefully Celestia could shed some light on the situation. Hopefully I wouldn’t regret finding the answers.
The afternoon flight to Canterlot helped to clear my head. Alone, soaring above the clouds, I felt like I was in my own private world. The sense of freedom buoyed me up, but not for long. Clinging tight to my flank, my saddle bag carried Celestia’s half of Sunset’s journal, a small reminder of my mission and the pony I was struggling to help. I imagined being like this forever, alone in a strange world without my pony friends, never seeing another equine face as long as I lived. The thought of leaving my own body behind in the process brought chills to my wings. With the mountain castle swiftly approaching, I focused my thoughts on getting to the root of the issue.
The guards were quick to greet me. I wanted to keep things low key, but my meager protest fell on deaf ears. Before I knew it, I found myself being presented to Celestia with all the fanfare of an official royal visit.
“The Princess, Twilight Sparkle!” one of the them shouted, followed by a blast of trumpets. Anxious and a little afraid to confront the truth, I stepped forward.
I peered across the royal hall, feeling small and insignificant in the light of such an introduction right in the middle of Day Court proceedings. The warm glow of Celestia’s smile helped to loosen my legs as I broke into a canter to reach her throne. She watched my approach and took a few steps down from her seat, meeting me at the foot of the dais. We embraced as family might after a prolonged absence.
“Twilight, it’s so wonderful to see you,” she said, her hoof gently wrapping around my mane. “But… why are you trembling? Is something wrong?”
The chills spread further than my wings, it would seem. I fell back from our hug. “It’s… Sunset. We… We need to talk.”
Celestia’s smile faded to a worried slant. She motioned to the side. “Perhaps we should speak in private.”
I gave a nod and moved toward the small doors on the west side of the hall. A guard rushed ahead and opened the way, giving a salute as we passed. With a thud from the door closing behind, I found myself in a cozy room with a pair of high backed chairs and a small table the perfect size for a tea tray.
Celestia stepped forward and took up position on the far chair. “Please, have a seat. I hope everything is alright, but I gather that is not the case. Is Sunset in trouble?”
I slid into the opposite chair and tried to raise my head to meet my mentor’s gaze. I knew what I had to say wasn’t the end of the world, but it wouldn’t be cause for celebration either. The last thing I wanted to do was bring up a painful memory. “Sunset Shimmer doesn’t want to come home.” I ventured a peak at her reaction.
“Is that… all?” Celestia asked. Her mane seemed to freeze awaiting my response.
“I don’t know why she wants to stay in the human world,” I replied, my heart pounding in my chest. “I told her she could come home, that all was forgiven, but she won’t even talk to me about it.”
I waited, in silence, staring into the eyes of the Princess. If I looked really hard, I could just make out the smallest of tears forming in the corners of those eyes. I didn’t want to look. I couldn’t turn away. The pain her memories brought shone through her generous attempt at a smile.
I had tried in the past to get an answer, but she would never open up. Now, I gathered up all the courage I could muster, the question rising to the tip of my tongue. It might break her heart, but I had to know. “Be honest with me, Princess. What happened to make her leave?”
Celestia took a deep breath. “I did.”
Nothing could have prepared me for that.
Crestfallen, Celestia slumped back into her chair. “I am to blame. It was my fault she left.”
I sat and let the idea settle in my head. Following what seemed like an eternity of second guessing myself, I continued.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “What did you do that caused her to leave?”
“She believes that I lied to her, and she hasn’t forgiven me for it.” Celestia adjusted her posture, sitting tall once again. “I am old, Twilight Sparkle, and I have kept many secrets. Forgive me for having kept this from you—it is time you knew the truth. Sunset Shimmer, the golden mare of Canterlot, is my daughter.”
My mouth hung ajar. Words tried to escape, but my own shock contained any possible outburst.
“Adopted, of course,” Celestia added, much to my relief and continued surprise. “She came to me as a foal, tightly wrapped in a hoofstitched blanket along with a note carrying a simple request that she be taken care of, carefully deposited on the steps of the castle. I tried for many years to track down her parents, to no avail. I suspect they realized the spark she carried within and felt inadequate to fulfill the role of raising such a gifted unicorn.”
“So, she was special? And her parents abandoned her?” I toyed with the notion of my own parents leaving me in a similar fashion. The very idea strained at the foundation of everything I held dear in my relationship with my own mother and father.
“I raised her as my own, in light of the circumstances.” Celestia lifted her head and smiled with her most encouraging smile. “She brought a ray of sunshine into my life that I had not felt since the loss of my sister, Princess Luna. I loved my daughter with all my heart, as a real mother should. Many years passed, and she blossomed into a beautiful young filly, the time swiftly approaching where she would gain her cutie mark.” Celestia paused and looked me square in the face. “And that is where you come in.”
“What do you mean?“ I said, quickly trying to piece together the information being presented. “Sunset and I are about the same age. Wouldn’t that mean she got her cutie mark about the same time I did?”
“Not exactly,” Celestia replied. “Hers came in a much different light than yours. While it remained a beautiful and fulfilling experience for the both of you, I am sorry to say, Sunset’s marking blossomed as much out of jealousy and rage as it did from a realization of her destiny. My love for her remained as true as it always had, but she didn’t see it that way. You see, Sunset valued one thing above all else, my total love and affection. She made it her goal to become just like me, which included the desire to become an alicorn. I tried to temper her expectations, tried to steer her in another direction, but I only succeeded in fueling her desire. Her mark made that evident. She was a daughter of the sun.”
“But I don’t remember her at all. How is it possible that we never met growing up?”
“From the moment I met you, Twilight, I knew you were special. I wanted to teach you everything that I knew, but I realized that wasn’t what needed to happen. Ever since Sunset realized her mark, I knew things would never be the same between us, and I couldn’t let that happen again with you. With the help of Cadance, I taught you what you needed to know to fulfill the prophesy, something I failed to do with my own daughter. As much as I loved her, she was not to be the key to redeeming my sister as she was mistakenly led to believe.”
Looking over at the window with bright shafts of the late evening sun streaming down across the small table and reflecting up into my eyes, I magically drew in the curtain. Given the small interruption, I felt obligated to restart the discussion. “So you kept us apart because Sunset saw me as her competition?”
“Not at all,” Celestia replied. “My daughter left long before you were even born.”
“What? How?” I had more questions with each passing minute.
“The magic of the mirror world can be difficult to understand, Starswirl liked to complicate everything. Sunset had no idea what she was getting herself into. I understood only slightly more than she. In the time since she left, I have been able to go back over all the history of Starswirl and the mirror that we have available. Some of it I found buried deep in the restricted section of the Canterlot Library. What I learned helped me realize that where she went was probably the best place she could go. She needed time, and that’s exactly what she received. Suffice it to say, it has been seventy-five long years since I last held my daughter.”
“But that means… I—I don’t understand.” I failed to grasp how any of what I was hearing made sense. If Celestia was telling the truth, Sunset would have been nearly a hundred years old.
“It’s probably best if I let her tell you why she left in her own words.” Celestia rose from the chair. “Come with me, there is something I need to show you.”
I thought for a moment that I should mention the journal tucked under my wing, perhaps let Sunset weigh in on the discussion, but instead, I quietly nodded and followed Celestia’s lead. Her magic opened the doors, and we strode through the royal hall. A number of guard ponies stood at attention, merely saluting as we trotted past. Out the main doors and down the corridor we went. Up the great staircase and finally spilling out on one of the upper floors, I always remained one step behind. The tapping of our hooves echoed through the hallway as we drove by half a dozen similar rooms—sleeping quarters on this level—coming to a stop in front of an archway containing a mural of the sun.
“Please forgive me for having kept this from you for so long, Twilight,” Celestia said as she ignited her horn. “I tried to seal away her memory, and I am ashamed to have done so with such impeccable execution. Not even my own sister is aware of the full extent of Sunset’s past.”
Celestia’s magic met with the wall. The glow from the painting grew to the point of melting. Slowly, a door, much like the others along the hallway, materialized within the arch. Golden embellishments along the grain marked the room as one belonging to royalty. In the center of the door sat Sunset Shimmer’s cutie mark. With a final twist of the magic, the handle turned and the doorway opened.
A bright red and sun-kissed swirl of yellow met my gaze. Between the red rug and the yellow drapes, the four-post bed with the gently hanging orange canopy above, there could be little doubt. Owing to the unmistakable decor, I knew instantly that this was Sunset’s former bedroom.
Celestia crossed the threshold and motioned for me to follow. “Everything is as it was when she left. I sealed it off the same night that she broke my heart.”
I stepped inside.
Even with the bright colors and warm palate, I felt a chill in the air. The curtains drew back in Celestia’s hold, and the last rays of the evening sun flooded the room. I took another few steps forward and arranged myself in the light, trying to fight off the pallor of the space left frozen in time.
“Please excuse me a moment.” Celestia turned back toward the sun and quickly brought it down past the horizon. Moments later, the moon rose into the sky, another exchange of power with her sister complete.
Celestia drew up next to the bed and lifted a mirror from the nightstand. “I must remind you, Twilight, this message comes from many years ago. As I can infer from your dealings with her, she is not the same today as she once was, but this may help you to see why she left.”
The mirror floated over the bed and transfered into my field of influence. I brought it in close examining the sunburst pattern that rimmed the edge. My own reflection covered the glass surface, but it faded away just as quickly as I took notice. In it’s place, the flowing mane and bright yellow-orange horn of a slightly younger Sunset Shimmer came into focus. I concentrated on holding the mirror aloft while the framed image began to speak.
“Finally, I know the truth. Everything I ever wanted to be, my destiny, you stole it from me. How could you betray me? How could you let me believe this humongous lie? You told me I was special, that I was destined for greatness. You did this; you lied to me all these years. You were never my mother, and I was a fool to believe in the prophesy. You were only using me to get what you wanted.” An eerie smile spread across Sunset’s face. “I’ll show you! I’ll do everything in my power to deny your happy reunion. By the time you find this, there won’t be anything you can do to stop me. Just you wait and see! I’ll see you in thirty moons—mother.”
The image faded out against the echo of a sinister laugh. I gently laid the mirror on the bed. Looking up into Celestia’s face, she tried, but failed to hold back her tears. Her horn alight, a flash tore into the mirror, glass splintering in the assault.
“I never want to hear those hurtful words spoken again.” She fell back on her haunches and dabbled at her eyes with a foreleg. “Sunset left because she discovered I was not her natural mother, and she felt that I abandoned her in favor of somepony else fulfilling the prophesy of Nightmare Moon, just like her real mother did when she was born. I pushed her too hard, and in so doing, pushed her away.”
I turned my gaze toward the moon, hanging in the sky overhead. “I still don’t understand. What does the prophecy of Nightmare Moon have to do with her leaving?”
“Perhaps it would help if you read it in full.” Celestia motioned over toward Sunset’s study desk, and a large tome opened to a middle page. “Your copy was altered, but Sunset had the original script. The prophecy clearly spoke of a daughter of the stars, and not, as Sunset realized, a daughter of the sun. Go ahead, have a look.”
I moved over to the desk and gazed down at the page. It looked quite similar to the book Predictions and Prophesies from my own collection. The topic sat open on “Mare in the Moon”, and I read the passage aloud:
”On the longest day of the thousandth year, The stars shall aid in her escape. Take care lest the night, with the moon beaming bright, Make the sun in the sky disappear.
Best to prepare and raise up a light, For darkness seeks e’er to destroy. Like the rise of the sun, a new day begun; The moon with twilight before.
A princess is born, a spark of new life, Magic in all that she brings. A glimmer of hope to set the past right; Friendship alight on her wings.
The sun and the moon shall return to the sky, Crowned by the stars in a ring. Ponies will cheer, when all is made clear; Harmony, once again, King!”
Crouched down in my huddled pose, I squeaked out a weak response. “I-I don’t know what to say. My cutie mark… My friends… The stars in a ring bound by the magic of friendship… I had no idea.”
“The past is in the past, Twilight. We must move forward.” With the tears removed, Celestia stood once again. “I never truly lied to my daughter. Adopted or not, I love her and always will. As with you, she has a spark within her that may one day reveal amazing things. She needs to know that. She needs to know I still believe in her potential, her destiny. Even if she was not able to play a part in my sister’s return, that doesn’t change what she means to me.”
“Maybe if you were to tell her yourself, perhaps in a letter?” I retrieved the journal from my bag and laid it out on the bed.
A dourness returned to Celestia’s face. “I remember that night years ago, returning from my duties with both lowering the sun and raising the moon. I meant to tuck Sunset into bed and found her message waiting for me. It took me a while to realize what she had done. I didn’t have time to react before the mirror closed. The only hope I had of reaching out to her then was that journal. I had enchanted a copy for myself to communicate with her whenever we were apart, but I wasn’t sure she had taken her copy with her when she went through the portal. Out of everything in this room, that was the one item I never found. I took it on faith that she had.
“I tried writing many times, and by studying the magic signature on the portal I knew the message went through. It was my hope that she would write to me and we could work out our differences when she was ready. Even though I kept trying, I never got a response. Whenever the portal was scheduled to open, I kept a close watch in the hopes that my daughter would return. I never had the courage to go through myself. I’m actually quite glad to see you both using it now. Perhaps, after all this time, she would hear what I have to say…”
In the glow of Celestia’s magic, the book opened to a blank page. A golden quill materialized and she reached out to begin writing.
Before she could lay quill to paper, another’s words began to fill the page. We both paused to read the message.
I sat on a park bench as the sun set behind the school in the distance. It would be cold soon. For the first time in like, ever, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Adagio always took care of things. Even though we fought all the time, I could always count on Aria when I needed her. They both left me. Now, I had no one.
—Helpless—
Without my voice, my magic, to fall back on, I had no protection. Dinner ended up being a half-eaten bagel out of a garbage can. A cat scratched my arm as I fished it out. I tried real hard not to cry. A couple drops of blood mixed with the tears soaking into my skirt. Life was so much easier when I could get people to do whatever I wanted. With my voice, I had control. Maybe that was why no one wanted to help me now. I wasn’t special anymore.
The deli told me I had to pay for my sandwich. People at the big house where I always stayed slammed the door in my face. After the battle of the bands, I wasn’t sure if I could set foot in the school again—not until the reset at least. Everyone hated me. I used to feed on that hate. I never realized how much I needed it, needed my magic, just to survive. Pathetic and stupid—that was me in a nutshell.
—Scared—
I curled up on the bench, shivering, watching overhead as the stars came out. I remembered when I used to do it for fun. A long time ago, in a far away place, I actually enjoyed going out to the meadow, laying on the cool grass and watching the small lights twinkle into existence. The stars in the sky here weren’t the stars I remembered growing up. Symmetry and order ruled over this place. My stars were wild. My stars told stories. These stars just watched me, silently judging me. I missed my old stars.
How I wished that I could go back to the time before all the magic. Once, I had a family, and friends; all of that changed with the magic. I still remember that day when I accepted the necklace. I thought it would help. Instead, I heard the siren’s call, and that’s when she took over my life. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I only wanted love. What I got was the exact opposite of that. Life would have been better without the magic, without the siren’s voice in my head.
They were right to push me away. I wasn’t their daughter anymore. I wasn’t their sister, or friend. I wasn’t anyone’s special somepony. I deserved what I got.
The broken clutch where the cursed gem once sat still hung from my neck. My life as a siren was over. The noose felt heavier than ever before. With the pact that I made centuries ago finally broken, I reached back and undid the clasp. The worthless necklace fell to the ground. A giant anchor of guilt, hate, and loneliness fell away with it.
I sat up.
Things didn’t look so hopeless all of a sudden. An idea came to mind, and for once, it wasn’t a stupid idea. Could it be that after all these years, I had finally learned my lesson? Could I finally be free?
I jumped to my feet, my heart pounding in my chest. My eyes opened wide on the view of my hands stretched out in front of me. The tips of my fingers tingled in anticipation. The thought of returning to my former self overshadowed my hunger and pain. I raised my gaze to the glow of the moon overhead.
“It’s time to go home!” I shouted for everyone to hear, even with no one around.
“Nice one, Sonata. Did you think of that all on your own?”
Perhaps I wasn’t as alone as I thought. I turned around. “Hey, Adagio.” The spark of energy I felt just moments ago died as soon as she spoke. I don’t know why, but she always made me feel so stupid. Maybe I was. I mean, how in the world was I going to get home anyway? It was a dumb idea. I didn’t even know the first step to take.
“So, while you’ve been out here wasting your time, I’ve been busy figuring out our next move.” Adagio flicked back her hair and struck a pose in the moonlight.
“But, didn’t you say that you never wanted to see me again?” I asked, a little confused given our recent breakup.
“Forget what I said. It doesn’t matter now. I have a new plan to get what I… uh… we want, and it’s going to take all of us to pull it off.” She turned to the right and then to the left, scanning the rest of the park. “Where’s Aria?”
I threw up my hands and hunched my shoulders. “I don’t know. Isn’t she with you?”
“Does it look like she’s with me?” Adagio said, rolling her eyes and marching off in a huff. “Seriously, could you be any dumber?”
She asked some pretty weird questions. “I-I don’t know… maybe? Is that part of your plan?” She looked mad, and I didn’t want to piss her off any more than she already was.
Her growl didn’t seem too friendly. “Ugh, nevermind. Follow me, and let’s go find her.”
“Umm,” I said, not trying to dig myself any deeper of a hole, “it’s kind of late. Couldn’t we find some place to sleep for the night and go look for her tomorrow?”
The glare in her eyes gave me even more reason to be afraid. “Just shut up and follow me!” She turned back to the path. I didn’t dare go against her. Like the ‘stupid’ friend I was, I did as she ordered.
(Aria Blaze)
Sunset lifted her pen from the page.
“Is that it?” I asked. “When do we get to go home?”
Sunset tipped her head to look at me, that cheesy smile of hers plastered across her face. “I’m not sure. We’ll have to wait to hear back from Princess Twilight.”
“Ugh, back to the waiting.” I flopped down on her bed. “Why does this have to be so hard?”
“It could take a little while, so—”
Sunset was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. The chatter of the Warden and her assistant filtered down the hall to the room where we were. I didn’t think they would be back so soon. “Horsefeathers!” I scanned over my options—closet, under bed, or out the window. There wasn’t a whole lot of choice.
“What’s wrong?” Sunset asked.
“Uhh, the Warden is back,” I said, jumping off the bed and hurrying over to the window. “We’ve got to get out of here.” I had it open in a flash.
“Why?” Sunset said, not even moving an inch from her spot on the bed. “It’s not like we’re in trouble or anything.”
I stuck my foot out the window. “Maybe for you, but you’re not the one who brainwashed the main construct into reprogramming the scenario.” The ground looked really far away. I hesitated, knowing that I was going to have to jump.
“You’re not making any sense again.” Sunset got up and casually walked over to me. She reached out a hand and placed it on my shoulder. “Aria, you don’t have to worry about Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna. They aren’t as bad as you think. Come back inside, and let’s go say hi.”
I had to stop and dwell on that for a moment. Between the thought of jumping out a window into the prickly bushes below, or presenting myself to the warden of the jail, I had about an even chance of which one would be less painful. Against my better judgment, I opted to put a little trust in the pony. I swung my leg inside just as the ‘Principal’ and ‘Vice Principal’ both walked in the door.
“Hello there,” the Warden said. “I see you have a guest tonight, Sunset. Are you both studying hard for finals?” She put her hands on her hips and smiled down at me.
“Oh, yeah. Aria came over to help me with my math homework. We were just taking a little break to get some air.” Sunset closed the window behind me. I had no choice but to stand, even though I tried not to look the Warden in the eye standing right next to her.
Her assistant stepped over by the bed, glancing down at the book Sunset had been writing in. “Well then, it is getting a bit late. Shouldn’t you two be thinking about calling it a night?”
“Actually, Luna,” Sunset said, “I wondered if it would be okay if my friend stayed the night. We’ve got a lot we still need to go over, and finals are coming up really soon. Plus, it’s not even a school night.”
“I don’t see why not, as long as you’re focusing on your studies,” the Warden said. “But we should probably break out some sleeping bags seeing as we don’t have any extra beds in the house. I’ll be right back.”
She left the room.
“Don’t stay up too late chatting,” the Warden’s assistant gave me another cautious glance before following her superior out the door.
I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when, out of nowhere, Sunset’s book started glowing and buzzing. Sunset dove across the bed, silencing the noise as soon as she opened it up.
The Warden’s assistant poked her head back in the room. “What was that noise?” she asked.
Sunset pressed the book behind her, swiftly grabbing her cell phone off the nightstand instead. “Nothing. Just texting my other friends to let them know what we’re doing tonight.”
“Okay, but no more friends coming over. We wouldn’t want this little study sleepover turning into a party.” She turned to leave again. “And lights out in thirty minutes. I don’t want you two staying up all night either.”
“Okay,” both Sunset and I said together.
Just as soon as she left, the Warden returned. “Here are those sleeping bags I promised.” She tossed one white and gold bag along with a black and blue one on the floor. A nice fluffy pillow landed on top. “Sleep tight, girls.”
We both kept still until the sound of two sets of footsteps had retreated down the hall with two separate bedroom doors closing tight after them. I finally let out a small sigh of relief. Crossing the room, I shut the door en route to the bed. “What did she say?” I asked Sunset.
Sunset looked a bit confused. I nodded over at the book she had partially stuffed behind her. Things clicked. “Oh, right.” She fumbled with the book, but managed to bring it out and set it on the bed so we could both read.
Dear Sunset Shimmer,
I would be happy to open the portal as soon as I fly home. I’ll be staying the night here in Canterlot, but I hope to be able to travel back to Ponyville tomorrow morning. I’ll see you at the portal shortly before lunch.
I’m not so sure about bringing your friends, as there are certain interdimensional inconsistencies that may prove to be problematic, but we can talk about that when we meet up.
I can’t wait to see you again, and I’m so glad to hear you’ve decided to come home.
See you soon!
Your friend,
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Sunset flopped back on the pillow. “I guess that’s it then. We go to bed, wake up and have one last human breakfast, and then we go home.”
“You’ve forgotten one important detail, Shimmer.” I couldn’t help but give her a little grin. “Your Princess friend said she’s opening the portal a little before lunch, her time. That means she’s opening the portal in the middle of the night, by our time. We’ve only got five or six hours.”
“That’s right,” Sunset said, bolting upright. “I totally forgot about the time conversion. No wonder when I went back through the mirror it was the middle of the night in Equestria, but it was already early morning here.” Sunset took the book and scribbled a hasty ‘See you then!’ before setting it over on her nightstand. “Let’s go get ready for bed. I’ve got a bunch of questions I still need to ask, and not a lot of time to get answers.”
“Fine by me,” I said. “But I don’t really have anything else to wear to bed.” I glanced down at my prison uniform, quite a bit on the worse for wear end of things.
“I can fix that.” Sunset’s smile felt less than reassuring.
In a little more time than it took for her to overrule my objections, I was wearing a silly looking pair of pinkish-purple pajamas with a not-so-cute sun design plastered across my chest. Adagio would never let me live this down if she saw me in this get up. To make it worse, Sunset had on a matching pair. We looked like a couple of awkward twins.
“I call the white bag!” Sunset said as she grabbed up the pair of sleeping bags from off the floor. She tossed me the dark one and began laying hers out. I just shook my head and rolled out my bag alongside. Once settled, she shut off the light, and we both made ourselves comfortable. It would be a short night, so I stowed my complaints about the sleeping arrangements.
I laid there quietly for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling and trying to clear my head, hoping to avoid any more discussion that wasn’t necessary to the point of getting us home. Unfortunately, Sunset wasn’t going to let me fall asleep that easily.
“So, what was it like being a siren?” Sunset asked much too soon after my head hit the pillow. “I mean, if you don’t mind my asking.”
I drew in a deep breath. Hopefully I could answer her questions quickly and get a little rest before we had to leave. “It was amazing and terrifying at the same time.” I sat up a bit and propped myself up on one arm. “Amazing because I could use magic, and terrifying because of what I did with it.”
“I kind of know the feeling.”
“I doubt it.” It wasn’t like she knew how it felt to destroy everything and everyone she ever loved. “I’m just glad to be rid of it now.”
Sunset propped herself up as well. “Honest, I know how that is. I used to feel small and helpless, and magic felt like the only way to show that I wasn’t. The whole reason I came here was to prove to my mother how powerful I could become when I wasn’t stuck living in her shadow. I ended up stealing what I thought should have been mine, and it turned me into something that I discovered I didn’t want to be. Lucky for me, I had some friends to help me out. They showed me what the magic of friendship is all about. I’ve been trying to repay the damage I caused ever since.”
“Yeah, well, good for you.” I rolled over, not wanting to talk about her friends anymore. “Good to know life worked out so well for at least one of us.”
The silence felt too good to be true, and only lasted a moment.
“So, what happened with Adagio and Sonata?” Sunset asked, the mention of those names twisting the daggers in my back.
“I don’t want to talk about it. We broke up; end of story.”
“Do you have a way to get a hold of them?”
“No, and I really don’t care.” As long as I made it home, I didn’t care what happened to them. They deserved this place. “Can we just not talk about them?”
“We need to find them before we leave.”
“Knock yourself out,” I said. “Just open the portal, let me go though, and you and your Princess can take all the time you want hunting them down. I don’t want anything to do with either of them.”
“I know you’re upset, Aria, but they’re your friends. We can’t just leave them here.”
“They aren’t my friends anymore. Friends don’t ruin your life. Friends don’t lie to you. Friends don’t help their friends turn into sirens. That magic forced us together, but now that it’s gone, there’s no reason for me to stay with them. I’m done with the Dazzlings, forever.” It felt really good to say that. It also felt terrible at the same time.
“But… everything you’ve been through… together?”
“It doesn’t mean anything. I wish none of it had ever happened. Magic’s been trouble since the moment I got saddled with it. My whole life was ruined by one stupid mistake. Those two remind me of all that; I need a break, a fresh start. Hopefully the Guardian sees that and let’s me out of here, but I guess we’ll find out when we get to the portal.”
“What do you mean? Who’s this Guardian? Are you talking about Principal Celestia?
“No, not the Warden. The Guardian—the prison security system. You’ve seen it before. We triggered it at the Battle of the Bands. It’s what destroyed our magic pendants.”
“Oh… you mean our magic of friendship? That’s how we ended up defeating you and destroying your siren pendants, right?”
I had to stifle a laugh. “You honestly think you had magic powerful enough to defeat us? That’s funny.” I flopped back down on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. “No. We took a blast from the Guardian, the automatic defense system that guards the prison. It can sense magic, and it tries to suppress it whenever it can, especially if the magic registers high enough. Going full blown siren mode must have triggered the failsafe. It monitors the portal too. If not for that, we would have escaped a long time ago. Unfortunately for us, its magic is even more powerful than anything we could ever muster to bust ourselves out of here—believe me, we’ve tried.”
“But, then how do you plan on leaving tomorrow?”
“No more magic, no more Guardian in my way.” I turned back toward her. “You just keep your end of the deal and make sure that portal gets opened. I’ll worry about the Guardian.”
A much more subdued Sunset Shimmer voice whispered back, “Okay, Aria. Let’s get some sleep. I’ll set the alarm for four am.”
“Night, Shimmer.”
“Good night, Aria.”
I rolled over and looked out the window at the moon hanging in the sky up above. It was hard to believe that in just a few hours, I would be setting hoof back in my homeland. The only thing that stood in my way now was the Guardian. Hopefully the instructions were right. I couldn’t bear another lie.
(Adagio Dazzle)
Breaking into the school was easier than I thought it would be. After spending two long hours searching for Aria, I needed a place to eat and sleep. Good thing the school was empty and would be for the rest of the weekend. An open window in the teacher’s lounge gave me an open invitation to come inside and make myself at home. Too bad I had to have Sonata tagging along. I still took full credit for our lucky break.
“Are you sure we should be in here?” Sonata asked after stumbling through the window and landing on the floor.
I walked over to the teacher’s fridge to see what kind of food we had on the dinner menu. “Of course, Sonata. Why do you think they left the window open?”
“Maybe they just forgot to close it.”
I gave her a glare. “Don’t be stupid. An open window is just as good as an open door.” Turning back to the food, I made sure to grab the good looking containers and helped myself to a late evening meal.
Sonata made her way over. The only things that were left were whatever was leaking out of a brown paper sack and an apple that looked more like a prune turned date. “I think I’ll just have a drink from the fountain,” she said.
“Whatever.” Unfortunately, I needed her for my plan to work, otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered to bring her along. Sonata wasn’t the brains of the group, but she could come in handy when I needed some muscle, or at least some background vocals. Piecing my magic back together wasn’t going to be easy, but I had a plan for getting it done. I sat down and ate without giving her another thought.
After the last bite of leftover potato salad, green beans, and some sort of loaf of meat, I finally felt full, at least as far as my stomach was concerned. I held the small sack dangling from my neck and felt the lingering energy writhe within. What little remained in the shards of the gemstones’ magic needed to last until the plan could be set in motion. I couldn’t afford to feed on that until I recharged my powers. Before that could happen, I needed to find those ponies. Even before that, I had to find Aria.
“That’s my bed,” I said, giving Sonata a growling glare.
Sonata tried to look all innocent as she sat there on the only couch in the room. “But, where am I going to sleep?” She managed to get up before I came over to move her myself.
“I don’t care. Think of something, otherwise, I’m sure you won’t mind the floor.” I brushed her aside and sat down. My shoes came off and my feet went up. I laid down across the couch and tried to figure out a way to avoid the rise in the middle. The little pillow on the end wasn’t very soft, but it was better than nothing. I motioned over to Sonata who was just standing there looking like a lost dog. “Just find someplace else and go to sleep. We’ve got a lot to do, and we need to be ready for tomorrow.”
She nodded her head, and I rolled over and closed my eyes. The pouch felt nice and warm against my skin.
I closed my eyes, but found myself fighting sleep. I couldn’t tell if I was excited, or nervous, or scared, or all of the above. Going home would change a lot of things, and I wasn’t sure that I was ready to face my mother.
If what Aria said was true, then I had been gone for quite a long time. It actually made sense, in a weird way. When I left Equestria, there was plenty of time before the prophesy was supposed to be fulfilled. I was young—and still am for all that matters—head full of steam, but everything I thought I knew ended up being a lie. Well, not exactly a lie; more of a misperception on my part. I had no idea what it took to become an alicorn, and judging by Twilight’s experience, I wouldn’t have made it there anyway. The prophesy wasn’t mine to fulfill, and I was a fool for making myself believe otherwise.
When Luna suddenly arrived in the middle of last school year, I had to wonder if my calculations were off. The mirror should have been open given the thirty moons that had passed since I arrived, but it wasn’t. I spent months trying to figure out a way to get home before stumbling on the opening right before the Fall Formal, exactly three years to the day since I came into this new world, at least according to the reckoning of time I could remember.
The only thought I had running through my head when I found the gateway open was stealing the Element of Harmony that should have been my claim to power and fame, in the process, ruining the life of whoever managed to fulfill the prophesy. I knew enough about it from all my study; it wasn’t a secret to me. However, I didn’t fully understand the true power the elements held. My plan, consequently, wasn’t even a good plan. Everything I did was clouded by my thirst for revenge and hate. It felt awful even thinking about it. The twisted limbs, the demon form, the corruption of so many innocent people all bent to my will—I had certainly fallen much further than I realized. Aria and I were practically the same, even if she would never admit it.
Twilight helped me see my error. She gave me the second chance that I needed. Thanks to her, and thanks to all my new friends, I could finally say that I was happy with my life. Happy and sad. Happy for being able to feel loved and appreciated; sad for knowing that I’d hurt so many people, and ponies—my mother most of all. The thought of facing her again kept me from going back with Twilight. I needed time, more time than I had. I needed to show that I had changed and made up for all the pain I had caused. Only then would I be able to beg her forgiveness.
Aria’s visit changed everything.
It fell to me to make sure that Aria didn’t make the same mistakes I did by leaving her friends behind. Even if she didn’t think of them as friends right now, they didn’t deserve to stay locked up in a cage forever. I assured myself that they would come around if given the chance. I’d seen the magic of friendship do some pretty crazy and amazing things; maybe all they needed was someone to be their friend without the siren magic forcing the issue. In any case, they all deserved a second chance, or third chance, or as many chances as they needed to see the light. I was going to make sure that they got that.
Making that promise to myself, I finally settled my thoughts enough to drift off to sleep.
I woke to the sound of my phone alarm ringing, four am on the dot. We didn’t have much time. Aria stirred in the sleeping bag next to me.
“Time to wake up and get going,” I said.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she replied. “I heard the alarm too.”
I got up and stretched. Flexing my fingers and toes, I took a moment to appreciate the benefits of having opposable thumbs and individual digits to control. I wouldn’t have them for much longer. Hooves felt like old-fashioned blunt objects in contrast to human hands and feet. At least I would have my magic again. Given all the changes I had adjusted to in settling in this world, the list of things I was giving up by going home practically outnumbered the reverse. The thought of hauling the microwave along with us crossed my mind for just a second before Aria started to strip naked right in front of me.
I gave out a small, “eep.”
“What? It’s not like ponies wear clothes,” she said with everything hanging out for anyone to see through the obviously-not-see-though-glass walls of my room, in the dark, at four in the morning.
I had to swallow my pride, something I had gotten used to over the past few years and who knows how many more besides. “Yeah, but… it’s a little different,” I managed to say.
She didn’t say anything else and quickly got dressed in her regular clothes. I turned my back to her and did the same. That would certainly be one thing I would have to get used to again. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. An image of a naked stallion, or a perfectly normal stallion not wearing clothes as was completely acceptable in pony culture, flashed into my head. Tails… yeah, I did sort of miss my tail. I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into a nice, juicy hayburger as well. Thinking about going home and everything that entailed wasn’t helping my current situation.
One question had been bothering me before I fell asleep, and again now that the return to Equestria was rather imminent. It seemed a bit late in the game to be asking, but I did so anyway. “Aria, what’s going to happen when you step through the portal? I mean, we’re supposed to be a lot older than we are, right? When I traveled back, I wasn’t there for very long, but it still felt weird. If I had stayed, would I have become some old, gray mare as time caught up with my pony body? And you… you might just turn into a pile of dust.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Aria said in a hushed tone. “The rules say that we won’t lose any time in our true form while we’re here. It’s part of the rehabilitation process. I’m pretty sure our normal bodies are held in some sort of magical stasis so that we don’t die the second we step through. You even tested it yourself, so there shouldn’t be a problem for me.”
“I hope you’re right.” I grabbed my diary and a pen off my nightstand and shoved them in my book bag which I slung over my shoulder. Aria grabbed the door handle and slowly opened the door. The house was dark, and every sound carried throughout. I brought a finger to my lips and motioned for her to stay quiet. She just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, rolling her eyes like I’d just said the most obvious thing I possibly could.
With the bedroom door open, we crept out into the hall and made our way toward the front room. A few steps out, my foot caught a squeaky spot in the floor. I froze. Not even the crickets were making any noise at this hour. Listening for a reaction from the back bedrooms, we both waited for what seemed like forever before we moved again. The rest of the path to the door thankfully went without incident. I laid my hand on the front door handle and lifted up as I turned so it wouldn’t brush against the ground as much when I opened it. A mild swishing sound was all that marked our passing. Keeping to our super stealthy plan, we miraculously made it out of the house without rousing the sisters.
Crossing the street and making our way toward the school, the night breeze caught me in a bit of a chill. I hadn’t thought to bring a full jacket. My skirt didn’t help matters much either. By the time we walked two blocks, my arms and legs were covered in goose bumps and my knees began to knock as I tried to fight off the cold. One thing that a pony body had over a human one was the nice, warm, built in fur coat. Up ahead, Canterlot High felt even colder in the dank pre-dawn light of a receding moon overhead. The equine statue marking the portal to Equestria out front held a regal pose reminiscent of the imposing grandeur of the golden gates of Canterlot Palace. I kept my head down and kept on walking.
My first goal was meeting up with Twilight. After that, we would have to discuss what to do about the former sirens. I wasn’t too worried about Aria, but I wasn’t going to leave the others behind, if I could help it. I also didn’t want to get my other friends involved if I didn’t have to, owing to the obvious complications that their presence would raise. ‘Oh, I’m sorry. You’re just a construct of ancient pony magic set to provide containment and rehabilitation opportunity for our less than desirable but still reformable criminals.’ Somehow, it didn’t sound true, even though I felt deep down in my heart that it was. I imagined Applejack’s head would explode if I told her the truth.
I paced along quietly until Aria broke the silence.
“Hey, Shimmer, isn’t that your princess friend?” she said, pointing up ahead toward the statue.
I looked up. At the base of the statue, right where she said she would be, I saw Twilight.
“Hey, Twilight,” I said, waving to her as we picked up the pace to close the last hundred yards. “Hang on, we’re coming!”
Twilight turned around. A pair of glasses fell to the base of her nose. She quickly tugged on a hood, turned, and ran. Instead of going through the portal, she bolted up the street.
I slowed, not really knowing what to make of her behavior.
Before she had taken a dozen steps, though, she stopped. She held out her hands, glowing with an odd shimmer, and then turned back toward us. In less than a second, she simply vanished. At the same time, another, differently dressed Twilight stumbled out of the portal.
I turned to Aria. “Did you see what I just saw?”
“Yeah, Shimmer. Didn’t we already go over this? I wasn’t joking when I asked the question of why you had never run into your own double. Now let’s go say hi, so we can all get out of here.”
We both made our way over to the statue and met the second Twilight, just getting her bearings with her newly acquired form.
“Twilight? Is that you?” I asked.
“Yep, it’s me. Who else would it be?” Twilight held her arms open wide, and I ran into her with a huge hug of my own.
“I’m so glad you came,” I said. We parted, and I waved over to Aria. “You remember Aria Blaze, right?”
Twilight took a step back. She passed her gaze quickly between the two of us. “Um, yeah… isn’t she… wasn’t there… I’m kind of confused. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, umm… nice to meet you, Princess.” Aria held out her hand to shake. She looked a little apprehensive staring up at the horse statue on top of the portal.
Twilight reluctantly met the offer. “Nice to meet you too, I guess.” She paused and smiled back at me, speaking through gritted teeth. “Is this the friend that you wrote to me about, and isn’t she one of those sirens we fought not too long ago?”
“Yep, and it’s a long story,” I said. “Right now, we’ve got a little problem to deal with, and I was wondering if you could help with that. Before we can go home, we’ve got to find Adagio and Sonata as well. Aria doesn’t have any way to contact them, and we can’t leave them here alone.”
“Umm… So, let me get this straight. You want to take all three sirens back to Equestria with us?” Twilight said, wringing her hands and looking like she was ready to run to the bathroom. “I wasn’t really prepared for that. There’s sort of a… surprise waiting…” She briefly glanced over at Aria. “No offense, but… could you give us a few moments to talk about this in private?”
“Sure, no problem.” Aria held up her hands and took a few steps back. “I’ll behave. Just don’t leave without me.” She moved cautiously away from the statue, letting us have a little space to talk.
Twilight grabbed me by the arm and yanked me around to the other side of the statue. I made sure we still had a line on Aria, just in case she thought about making a break for it.
“What in Celestia’s name are you doing?” Twilight said, whispering, but making it clear that she wasn’t at all happy. “She’s a siren! She’s here for a reason, and we can’t just bring her home without taking the proper precautions.”
“I know, Twilight, but it’s not what it looks like. There’s a lot more to this place than I ever knew, and we can work out the details later. I know it may sound hard to believe, but Aria isn’t a siren anymore. She’s lost her magic, and she just wants to go home. I recently discovered she’s actually a pony, just like us. The whole siren thing was part of a curse that’s been broken, and now she really wants to go home. It’s not a problem, honest. I’ll need your help to find the others, and then we can work out the rest once we’re all back home. Just trust me on this, please.”
“I don’t know, Sunset. It doesn’t sound right to me. As a princess, I shouldn’t be taking unnecessary risks when it comes to the safety and security of Equestria. Are you sure she’s lost all of her magic? And how do you know she’s really a pony?”
“I just do, Twilight. It’s complicated.” I turned back to give a little wave to Aria who was waiting ever so impatiently about twenty yards off. Right in that moment, out of the corner of my eye, I happened to catch another person streaking toward us.
A bright orange ball of hair rushed out from the bushes near the school, crossed the courtyard, and made a beeline straight for us.
“Adagio, stop!” Aria yelled.
“Out of my way, Aria!” Adagio Dazzle yelled back and pushed right past her. Streams of magic energy floated off her back. Simple siren wings beat with a vengeance driving her forward faster than any human could run. “Nothing can stop me now!”
Before we could even act, she dove into the portal.
“I thought you said they didn’t have their magic anymore,” Twilight said as I stood there with my jaw hanging wide open.
“I-I thought they didn’t. Aria must have lied.” The shock of that realization reignited my ire.
We both swung around to the south side of the statue, blocking Aria who had come up chasing after Adagio.
“We have to catch her. She’s dangerous!” Aria tried to push through, but between the two of us, we held her back. In our little struggle, I managed to catch my finger on the necklace hanging from Aria’s neck. With a bit of a twist, the clasp came loose and the remnant of her siren jewel clasp fell to the ground.
“Wait for me!” As if in answer to the unasked question of where Sonata Dusk was, she rushed forward at a significantly slower pace, also lacking the aforementioned wings that Adagio bore.
“Hold it!” I yelled, before testing to see if I could hold back both a second and third former siren from invading my homeland.
Sonata stopped just short of the patio. “But, Adagio… Aria, what are we going…” The young woman sank to her knees and started to cry.
“Stop that, Sonata! Quit with the tears!” Aria gave up on trying to push her way past, and instead, turned her attention on Sonata. “We’ll find her. Don’t worry.” Something clicked. Aria’s normally tough exterior showed some cracks. There was something in her look that seemed like she was on the verge of a breakdown of her own. “She won’t make it very far on what little magic she had salvaged there.”
“But… the portal? She made it through?” Sonata pointed up at the statue above the portal.
“Yeah, the Guardian system must be broken.” Aria walked over and reached down, taking Sonata in a hug. “It’ll be okay. We’ll get home. Trust me.” Sonata reached out and completed the hug. Her tears only partially abated within the embrace of a friend. The early morning sun kept sending additional rays of light over the horizon, brightening an otherwise dull and cold scene.
I looked over at Twilight. She looked back at me. We were both at a loss for words.
The awkward moment lasted only long enough for Aria to give Sonata some basic comfort before she rose up and turned back on us. “Look, you two, I’ve tried being nice. I’ve tried being patient. So, I’m going to say this one more time, I’ve paid for what I’ve done, and I’m going home now, and no one is going to stop me. Step aside, and let the Guardian choose to allow me through or not; same with Sonata.” She hauled Sonata to her feet and began marching forward.
I nodded to Twilight. “We’ll all go, together.”
Twilight took a moment to weigh the thought, but quietly agreed, nodding in return. She stepped up to the portal. “I’ll go first, you two follow, and then Sunset. Count to three before following so we don’t end up piled on top of one another on the other side.”
Twilight led the way, stepping confidently into the portal. Sonata approached, prodded on by Aria. She balled her fists and clenched her eyes shut. After a silent three count, she raised her leg up high and stepped through the portal.
Aria looked up at the statue and then over at me. “Thanks, Shimmer, but don’t think this means that I owe you anything. I’ve done my time.” She swished her tongue around her mouth and spat on the ground at the base of the portal before defiantly stepping through.
I glanced over my shoulder at the morning sun cresting over the hills in the distance and then back toward the school. The windows of Canterlot High sparkled, especially the ones I had worked to rebuild recently. I still wasn’t sure if I was prepared to return home, but ready or not, the moment had arrived. With a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes, folded my arms, and stepped through the portal myself.
If I had to describe the feeling of sailing through the indeterminate vortex of chaos and color that connected the two worlds bound by Starswirl’s portal, I would have to hold that thought because I would make myself sick. I could feel my body changing. Hands and feet became hooves, face became muzzle, my tail returned in all of its wonderful glory. Best of all, I felt my magic blossom within as my horn sprouted from my head. The full impact of becoming a pony again didn’t even have a chance to hit me before I stumbled out the other side and into the pure chaos that awaited me there.
“Spike! Send a message to Princess Luna!” Twilight shouted. “Then go find the others as fast as you can, and a doctor as well. We need reinforcements, now!” Her horn was alight, sending a containment field to encompass the cowering pair of ponies that rightly resembled Aria and Sonata. Even in her evident rage, she looked utterly lost and afraid. Spike took off at a run, headed out of the room before I could ask what was going on.
The portal closed behind me. My book bag slid off my furry shoulder and crashed onto the floor. I gathered my hooves under me and took a step forward, nearly tripping over myself as I went.
“Sunset!” Twilight yelled out to me. “I need your help!”
I steadied myself before realizing the full extent of what was going on. Ten yards away, under the protective watch of my own best friend, lay the one pony I didn’t expect to see so soon after arriving. My mother, unconscious and bleeding from the flank, lay still, prone on the castle floor. Adagio was nowhere in sight.
I rushed forward, my emotions quickly taking a hold of me. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure, but I could use some help with the Princess, or holding those sirens until we can settle all of this.” Twilight had a fire in her eyes that she was quickly trying to dose with her tears.
I took one look over at Aria and Sonata. Aria raised her hooves in surrender. Sonata buried her muzzle in hers. “Forget about them for now. I don’t think they’re the problem. Let’s focus on the Princess.” I hopped up and placed a hoof over the gash in my mother’s flank. “We need bandages. Can you get some?”
Twilight turned to take another look at her captives, and then came back around to Celestia and I. She dropped her spell and opened up her wings. “I’ll be right back.” With an instant charge of her horn, she teleported away.
I sat and stared into my mother’s closed eyes, holding her side and gently caressing her barely floating mane. Nuzzling in close, I could feel her breathing, shallow and somewhat broken. The warmth of her coat was surely not diminished by my cold tears in holding her tight for the first time in however long it had been. In the past few hours, months, and even years or decades that I had had waited for this moment, I never imagined we would meet again like this.
A crack of thunder shook the room. A dark form burst into existence. I tried to remain close to my mother’s side, but fell away a little in shock.
“Who dares attack my sister? They shall face my wrath, unfettered!”
I would have to assume that Spike’s letter had already made it to Luna, and that she hadn’t taken the news well. My aunt, who I had never met in pony form, hovered above me, her gaze piercing into my soul, her horn poised to strike with minimal provocation. I cowered below.
“Aunt Luna?” I said before being cut off.
Twilight reappeared in a flash at Luna’s side, bandages in tow. “I’m back, and I brought what I could find.” She sailed over to me and deposited her light load. I got to work as fast as I could. She then turned back to Luna. “Thank the stars you’re here, Princess. We need to call out the royal guard. There’s an escaped siren on the loose, and two more that need to be handled over there.” She raised a hoof and pointed over at the two ponies who hadn’t moved from the spot where they sat from before I got there.
Luna paused to consider the pair. “I see no sirens, only ponies. In what direction has my sister’s assailant fled?”
“I’m not sure. We weren’t able to follow her.” Twilight looked torn between assisting me with Celestia, dealing with Aria and Sonata, or chasing off after Adagio with Luna.
“I’ll take care of the Princess. You go take care of the sirens.” I laid out a strip of bandage against the slice in mother’s already blood soaked and matted, dark pink fur. As I pressed into her side, a soft moan escaped her mouth. “Mother? Can you hear me?” The words nearly caught in my throat as the world around me fell away. I focused everything I could on listening for her reply.
A million thoughts raced through my head. Most of them weren’t particularly positive. As much as I cared about Sunset Shimmer, I now regretted opening the portal without a contingency plan. Thanks to me, a dangerous assailant was loose in Equestria, and Celestia had suffered the initial blow.
My little surprise in having her greet Sunset upon our return completely backfired. The Princess had let her guard down in anticipation of meeting her daughter. Adagio’s preemptive attack cleared a path for escape before Celestia knew what hit her. Luckily, the siren’s magic wasn’t as strong as it could have been. Spike witnessed it all and hurriedly recounted the brief exchange in the critical moments before I sent him to gather the others. Even after being attacked, Celestia remained calm and apologetic, that is, once she regained consciousness. Her daughter’s return meant more than anything the siren’s threat posed or her wound could take away from souring the tender moment.
Luna agreed that we had a national emergency on our hooves and quickly left to try and track down Adagio before the trail went cold. I asked that she follow her, but not engage. We still had no idea how dangerous or desperate she was. Judging by the damage the lead siren caused within seconds of returning to Equestria, I couldn’t underestimate the risk that she posed. As for the other two sirens, I needed to know more about their plans.
Leaving Celestia and Sunset to their reunion, I felt obligated to both welcome and interrogate Aria and Sonata. Owing to their patience and general lack of aggression, I was hopeful that they would be of assistance in resolving the matter peacefully. Looks could be deceiving, even when they appeared to be normal ponies, so I kept a protection spell at the ready, just in case.
“Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, welcome home.” I began with a bit of positive reinforcement. For all I could tell, and going off Sunset’s depiction, they were both on our side, and I wanted to keep it that way. “As you can see, we have a bit of an issue that needs to be addressed. For the time being, you may consider yourselves trotting on thin ice.”
“Look,” Aria said, “We don’t want any trouble. You can’t blame us for whatever Adagio is up to. We had nothing to do with attacking the Warden, uhh, Princess.”
Sonata sobbed and sniffled alongside her friend. “I just… want to go… home.”
Aria laid a foreleg over Sonata’s shoulder and pulled her close. “Keep it together, Sonata. We’re almost there.”
“So, I take it there is more to your plan than making it through the portal?” I cast an inquisitive eye down on the pair. “Do I need to be worried about you two?”
Aria cradled Sonata, gently stroking her mane and nuzzling her cheek. “We’re not the ones you should be worried about. My plan was only to make it back home and try to reclaim my old life. I have no idea what Adagio is up to, and I don’t really care. We’re the victims here, so you might want focus your efforts on finding her before she stirs up more trouble. I’m sure that she’s cooked up some crazy new scheme to try and take over the world, but I want no part in it. The last time I went along with one of her plans, it got me locked up in jail for sixteen hundred years. I definitely don’t want a repeat of that.”
“Then you have no idea where she is or what she’s planning to do beyond the general ‘take over the world’ goal?” I asked. “Remember, the more you help me, the more I can help you.”
Aria shook her head.
Sonata raised hers. “She’s trying to recharge the siren’s magic.” She stretched a foreleg across her eyes wiping away the persistent tears. “She’s gathered the remnants of our gemstones and plans on using their combined energy to take over this world. Even an idiot like me can see that plain as day.”
Aria looked stunned at Sonata’s revelation. “So that’s how she made it through the portal under the radar and with her magic somewhat intact. The broken fragments don’t register with the complete siren signature.”
Given my limited understanding of the magical history involved, I had to question how Adagio planned on accomplishing such a feat as convoluted as restoring shards of broken magic. “How is that even possible? Weren’t the stones destroyed at the battle of the bands? How does she plan on recharging them?”
“No offense, Princess, but you have no idea the kind of power you’re dealing with. And to think, I believed her when she told us she tossed them all away, just worthless old junk.” Aria pulled back and reached up to feel for the missing necklace which wasn’t dangling from her neck anymore. “There couldn’t have been a lot of magic left in those gems when they shattered, but if she’s gathered all the pieces, who knows what she’ll be able to do with their combined energy. If she manages to restore their raw power, she’ll be unstoppable.” Aria paused, the color draining from her face like she’d seen a ghost. “It’s even possible that she could restore the original curse. We can’t let that happen!”
I watched the fire in her eyes flare. Big warning lights and sirens blared in my head. Everything was starting to make sense. “So, that’s your plan. Keep us busy while your friend restores your magic. I should have—”
“No!” Aria yelled. “I don’t want anything to do with magic ever again! Magic ruined my life, and the lives of my friends and family. You have to believe me, Princess.”
“How can I trust anything you say? You could be leading me in the wrong direction from the start.” I wasn’t all that comfortable playing the role of antagonist, but the information coming out of our talk actually seemed like we were getting somewhere.
“Because, Princess, I wouldn’t wish the siren’s curse on my worst enemy, let alone myself.” Aria sat up tall and brought a hoof over her chest. “I promise that I want nothing more than to be done with this blasted curse, forever. If that means helping you track down Adagio Dazzle, and stopping her before she can recharge the siren gemstones, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
“No offense, but I think we’ll wait for Princess Luna to pick up the trail. We can’t be too cautious.”
“She’s headed for the Frozen Reach,” Sonata said, interjecting once more. “Aria’s telling the truth, and you need to listen. We don’t have much time to waste.”
I studied both their faces, trying to detect any hint of lie or deception. “That’s still only the word of two sirens to go on. You’ll have to forgive me if I—”
“And what if I gave you a third?” a familiar voice filled the hall with an ominous echo. Just the thought of his presence sent a chill down my spine, bringing my day to an unfathomable new low. “My little sirens, returning home after all this time, I see.” Evidently, it had a similar effect on the sirens.
No sooner than our newest guest had arrived, Aria sprung from her spot.
“Discord!” Aria screamed, leaping at the Lord of Chaos mere seconds after he materialized. She flung herself at him, hind legs bucking wildly. One hoof almost caught him square in the face before he vanished and reappeared behind me.
Aria landed in a heap after missing her target and spun around to reacquire him. She reared up and charged. I sat in her direct line, Discord clinging to my mane in a futile attempt to hide himself.
“Save me, Twilight,” he said. “The crazy mare wants to hurt me.”
I lit up my horn, catching Aria in an immobilization field.
“Let me go!” Aria yelled. “He deserves the bucking I’m about to deliver!”
“Ouch!” Discord yelped.
“That’s for my family.” Sonata drew back and kicked him again. “And that’s for my friends.”
“Oww. Quit it!”
The sight of Sonata kicking Discord in the shin actually brought a smile to my face. She wasn’t nearly as ferocious as Aria, sort of like watching Fluttershy scold a Timberwolf.
“And that’s for me.” Sonata finished her kicks while Discord fit himself with pads and a feather-filled pillow strapped around his mid section.
“Such hostility,” he said, turning to better place me in between himself and both of his assailants. “And to think, I came all the way over here to say hello to my old friends. Whatever have I done to deserve such a rude reception?”
“This is all your fault, Discord,” Aria said, still struggling within my containment field. “You’re the one that cursed us with the magic that ruined our lives!”
“Now, now, miss… Aria Blaze, if I recall. Temper, temper.” Discord made his way out from behind me and over toward the immobilized pony. “As I remember, I was only doing what you wanted me to do. A mutual agreement was struck that we both benefited from. That’s how contracts work.” Discord’s devilish grin spread across his face.
“No pony benefited from that deal, you liar.” Aria tried to raise a hoof to strike out at Discord, but my magic held her in check. Knowing that Discord was involved made everything else that much easier to comprehend.
“Whatever do you mean? You got your magic which helped you win over the hearts of those around you, and I got to chalk up another win in the ol’ chaos department. We all came out winners!” Discord chuckled and placed a little gold star sticker on Aria’s crown, just below her mane.
“You turned us into sirens!” Aria screamed.
“Isn’t that what you wanted? It certainly sounded like what you wanted at the time.”
“Not considering the cost!” Aria closed her eyes and hung her head. The fire inside her went out just as quickly as it had ignited. Curious as to the details of their ancient agreement, I watched as the former siren broke down into tears. Carefully, I loosened my grasp on her and let her sink to the floor. Sonata circled around and laid down next to her friend, comfort reciprocated in the reversal of roles.
“You tricked us, and we all paid the price,” Sonata said, looked up at Discord and I, her eyes filling with tears once again as well. “We wanted to find love, Discord. We didn’t want that love to be stolen.”
“Oh well, it’s not like you can conjure such things out of thin air. Who do I look like?” Discord snapped his claw and a bright, tri-colored mane resembling that of my sister-in-law’s cascaded down the back of his neck. “The Princess of Love?”
Even I wanted to smack him now. “So let me get this straight. Sonata, Aria, and Adagio made a deal with you, Discord, and you turned them into sirens? Why?”
“Why not?” Discord replied. “It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Who was I to know what sort of far reaching consequences our silly little bargain would have? In fact, you should be thanking me, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Without my participation in this little love pact, the entire kingdom of Equestria wouldn’t even exist today.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Where do you think he stole the magic from that made the three of them sirens in the first place?” Sunset asked, having rejoined the conversation with Celestia as well, a bandage wrapped around her barrel and a slight limp in her step.
“I have no idea.” I glanced around at the five other faces all staring, smirking, and smiling back at me. For the life of me, I couldn’t place the final piece to the puzzle. “Look, it’s been a really stressful day so far, so will somepony please fill me in here?”
Celestia broke the silence lingering in the wake of my awkward question. “Twilight,” she said in her plain speaking voice, “Discord created the siren’s magic by stealing the fire of love from the hearts of those dearest to them. Using that love, he crafted the jewels that formed the core of their powers. The cold void he left in their coltfriend’s hearts is what turned them into windigos, which, in turn, led to the events we now celebrate as Hearth’s Warming Eve.”
“Well, when you put it like that, it makes me look bad,” Discord said. “Still, who doesn’t love making fun and exciting new creatures?”
“Demon!” Aria shouted through her tears.
I could feel my anger rising to a boil. “Discord…” He took a few steps back.
“Now, Twilight,” he began.
“Fix this now!” I said with a firm and commanding tone, my horn lit and not at all bordering on thoughts of physical violence.
Discord continued to back away as I advanced toward him. “Well, you see… it’s sort of… well, complicated.”
“I don’t care. You started this. You’re going to fix it!”
“Would you look at the time…” Discord backed into the wall. “Aria, Sonata, you’ll find everything you need right where we left it. I trust you know the way. Good luck!” With that, he snapped his claws again, and vanished.
As if to add insult to injury, as soon as I turned around to face the others, the throne room doors opened. In charged Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and even Spike riding atop Fluttershy.
“We’re here!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
“Where’re the sirens?” Applejack asked.
I glanced over toward Sunset and Celestia. “Can I go back to bed and forget this day ever happened?”
Celestia placed a leg over Sunset’s shoulder. “No, you may not. I wouldn’t trade anything for having my daughter back home.” Her smile matched with Sunset’s. Out of everything else, at least there was one bright ray of sunshine to come out of this mess.
With everyone gathered, somepony decided it was a good time to hold a welcome home party. It ended up being a less than fancy lunch with a few last minute cupcakes added to the mix. Fortunately, Spike was able to whip together a respectable table on very short notice. I tried to keep the meal short and stay focused on the threat Adagio posed. Unfortunately, the others had already strayed deep into friendly conversation territory by the time Luna returned.
“So, let me get this straight,” Rainbow Dash said. “You’re Sunset Shimmer, the pony that stole Twilight’s crown right after her coronation?”
Sunset looked up from her plate with an already half eaten pile of hayfries and alfalfa loaf smeared across her muzzle. “That’s me. Man, I forgot how good Equestrian food tastes!” She licked her lips clean and dove in for another mouthful.
“And, you’re the daughter of Princess Celestia?” Rarity asked, a little taken back by the sloppy eating.
“Mm-hmm,” Sunset replied, smiling through the bits of hay sticking out of her mouth. “Adopted, of course.” A couple bits of food sprayed out with her answer. “And let me say, it’s totally weird to be meeting you guys as ponies for the first time. I feel like I already know you so well, but not really, if that makes any sense.” Celestia beamed with pride, barely touching her food, although I wasn’t sure if that was on account of her injury, the quality of the meal, or the way she couldn’t keep her eyes off Sunset.
“Of course,” Rarity replied, magically levitating the food particles off of her own face, “though it’s hard not to see a strong family resemblance between you and your… umm… mother.”
Most of the attention remained on Sunset throughout the meal. Sitting next to Celestia on one side with me on the other, I felt a little out of place. Aria sat quietly, munching away on her loaf and fries. Sonata licked the frosting off her cupcake, already finished with her meal and starting on dessert.
Pinkie clapped her hooves, taking an immediate liking to Sonata. “I just know we’re going to be best friends; we eat our cupcakes the same way!” Sonata blushed before shoving the rest of the cupcake in her mouth. With how fast she gulped down her meal, I felt like offering her the leftovers from mine. She seemed to be starving.
“What about you two?” Applejack asked the former sirens, turning the focus around and off of Sunset for a change. “I’m still not sure I understand this whole magic siren business.”
Aria sighed. “It’s a long story, something I’d rather not get into right now. The bottom line is, Adagio needs to be stopped before she does something we’ll all regret.”
Right on cue, Luna swept into the throne room turned banquet hall. “Friends, I have tracked the siren threat as far as I could. Her trail leads west, although the residue of her magic signature diminishes with distance. I believe she is headed for Rainbow Falls, perhaps even the mountain caverns and ocean beyond.”
I availed myself of the opportunity to clear the food and bring up the map. With a quick flash of my horn, and against the protests of the few that hadn’t finished lunch yet, the land of Equestria now occupied the table before us. “Alright, that means we don’t have much time to plan our defense.” I laid my hoof on the table, and a familiar sensation gripped my cutie mark. The glowing, pulsating magic that activated within my mark whenever there was a friendship problem brought my miniature beacon to the point indicating the Castle of Friendship. I glanced around the table looking for an indication of the same magic affecting each of my friends. Surprisingly, I didn’t see it.
Sunset reached up to get a better view, but recoiled as the magic took hold. Her actual cutie mark glowed like a miniature sun, adding itself in miniature to the map next to mine. “What is that?” she asked.
“It’s the magic of the cutie map,” I replied. “Whenever there’s a friendship problem that requires our help, it shows us where to go and who should help.”
“Well, that’s where you’re headed.” Aria pointed out the peaks of the Smoky Mountains. As soon as she leaned over the map to make her indication, her own cutie mark joined mine and Sunset’s, hovering above the castle.
“And there’s our home!” Sonata added, pointing to a clearing on the far western side of the map next to the ocean. Her hoof grazed the table, and a fourth mark joined the others.
Rainbow Dash poked her hoof at the table along with Applejack and Pinkie Pie. “Hey, wait a sec. Why isn’t this thing working? Where’s my cutie mark?”
“I don’t know, Rainbow,” I said. “I’ve never seen it use any other cutie marks except for the six of us. Maybe the map is broken?”
“Hold on,” Celestia said, raising her hoof for calm. “Let’s be sure we aren’t forgetting anypony.” With a wave of her horn and a gentle touch of her hoof, eight other marks, including a miniature version of Spike, one for Luna, the rest of the element bearers, and herself, all appeared on the map. Not only that, but what I assumed to be Adagio’s mark also appeared on the map, a bit further off to the west of town and continuing on in the direction of Rainbow Falls and the Smoky Mountains.
I gasped as I felt the familiar tingle radiate up my spine, the cutie map’s magic couldn’t be denied. The marks for myself, Sunset, Aria, and Sonata all floated away from the castle. Following their short flight, they all arrived at the location that Aria had pointed out, joining Adagio’s in circling the peak of the tallest, snowcapped mountain in the Smoky range. The rest remained right where they were, hovering above the castle in Ponyville.
“Hey, this isn’t fair!” Rainbow Dash said. “The map is definitely broken.”
“Hah,” Luna said, deriding the map’s instructions, “I shall not sit idly by while there exists a threat in my kingdom!”
“Hold, sister,” Celestia said, calmly ending further discussion. “The magic that guides this map comes directly from the Tree of Harmony. Since this is Twilight’s domain, she has the final say on the matter, but I would council that we abide by the map’s indication.” She turned and looked down at me. “Twilight, what do you think we should do?”
All the eyes in the room fell on me. I studied the map again, hoping to find a better explanation. The indication was clear.
“We need to stop Adagio before she restores the curse,” Aria added. “I can’t go back to life as a siren. I can’t go back to prison!”
I took in Aria’s words which felt like they came from a place of honesty and fear. Looking over at Sunset, I watched her nod back at me. “I need to fix this—we need to fix this, together,” she said.
“We need to help our friend before she makes the same mistake again,” Sonata said. “She won’t listen to anypony else, but Aria and I should be able to get through to her.”
I nodded my head and addressed the group at the table. “The map is right. There’s no point in risking anypony else. We know what we have to do, and we have the right ponies for the job. Let’s saddle up and get moving.”
Everyone helped us pack. We had to travel light, but there was no sense in heading out unprepared. In no time at all, we found ourselves at the Ponyville train station, ready to board the train for Rainbow Falls.
“Thank you, Rarity,” I said. “These cloaks should help keep us warm, especially if the Frozen Reach really lives up to its name.”
“Trust me, you haven’t felt cold until you’ve been to the Reach.” Aria slung her new cloak over her back. The packs hanging under that had what little climbing gear we could find on short notice and a small bundle of provisions for the road ahead.
Sonata took some pointers from Pinkie Pie and came away with a pack half full of rock candy, a necessity for the area where we were headed. I wasn’t too sure if we would run into any trouble, but it helped to have that contingency covered.
Sunset packed up one of the journals and gave the other to the Princess. Their parting hug almost brought me to tears. It felt really weird to think of Sunset as Celestia’s daughter, but I was getting used to the thought the more I saw them together.
I left Spike in charge of the castle, as usual, but the rest of my friends seemed less accepting of the mission plan. I called them all together to try and smooth everything over. With everyone gathered in a circle, away from the rest, I secretly laid out my backup plan.
“Girls, I have something that I need you all to do. While the map may have a better idea of how this is all supposed to work out, I don’t think you should all just sit here and wait it out. While we go after Adagio, I want the rest of you to track down Discord. He started all of this, and I have a feeling we’ll need him to finish it too.”
“What if we can’t find him, or what if he doesn’t want to help?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Then we use our secret weapon,” I said. “We send in Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy gulped. “Me?”
“Yes, Fluttershy, I want you to help convince Discord that he needs to fix the problem he created. If you can’t convince him, then nothing will.”
“We’ll do our best, Twilight,” Applejack said. “You take care, and don’t let those sirens out of your sight.”
“I will, Applejack. Good luck to you, too.”
I said my goodbyes and boarded the train. A few minutes later, I settled in for the ride with my unusual traveling companions. If I didn’t know any better, hunting down a siren with two former sirens and a unicorn that once tried to steal my element of harmony would have been the least likely thing I would have thought could have happened to me today when I woke up this morning. Fortunately, I trusted in the magic of friendship, and I knew Sunset had my back. I wasn’t too sure of Aria and Sonata, but I had to start somewhere. Hopefully, their friendship with Adagio would lead to a swift resolution.
As the train raced down the tracks, I had to keep fighting the feeling that I was galloping straight into a trap.
I could barely remember the last time I stood on four hooves. The happy memories from long ago mixed with the bitterness and regret I held for my actions that led to today. As soon as my hoof touched the floor, I wanted to burst out in tears of joy. One look at the Warden brought all the bad feelings back.
I felt terrible seeing the damage that Adagio had caused. I wanted to crawl into the corner and hide from the pain I felt welling up inside from empathizing with her victim. All the heartache we caused through the years could be summed up in this moment. Grateful as I was for not being immediately tossed back in jail, I knew I had to muster up the courage to help Twilight and Sunset, and most of all Adagio. She had to be stopped; the curse had to be broken.
Lunch helped settle my nerves. More than anything else, I enjoyed the opportunity to bond with a new friend over an incredibly yummy cupcake dessert. I don’t know what drew me to Pinkie Pie, but I felt a connection right from moment I sampled her frosting. Maybe something about her reminded me of my sister, Strawberry Fields. She always used to make the best pies and cakes.
Standing on the platform and saying goodbye so recently after I’d had a chance to say hello got me thinking. None of these ponies, outside of Twilight and Sunset, had ever met me. Other than what they had read about or been told, no pony knew who I was or what I had done. There was a good chance I could start over with a clean slate. I no longer looked like a siren, and I finally felt like I was in a position where I could fit in again. No more hiding away or being shunned; no more using magic to force others to do as I pleased only to have the love they offered feel hollow and meaningless. No longer would the hunger and thirst to feed on their hate and contention drive me to do bad things. I actually had a chance to find real love. For that, I was grateful.
I lugged the pack that Pinkie helped fill onto the train. Smells from a dozen different berry flavored rock candies brought back memories I’d long since repressed. The country I found myself in wasn’t all that different from my former home, but going off the map in Twilight’s castle, there was quite the distance that separated us from the open meadows and berry fields my family used to tend. Long after the train left the station, I found myself hanging out the window and waving back at my new friend with a grateful smile fixed across my muzzle.
“Sonata,” Aria said, pulling gently on my tail, “please sit down and get your tail out of my face.”
I brought myself inside, but left the window cracked open with a hoof hanging out to dance in the wind. “Sorry, Aria,” I said, tucking my tail on the other side away from her seat. Normally she would have punched me, or yelled, but there seemed to be something different about her, something that I hadn’t witnessed in a very long time. Maybe the soft purple fur wrapped around her body kept her from lashing out like the cold siren scales always seemed to encourage.
Twilight sat across the gap next to Sunset, both facing back at us. I could read from her cautious smile that she still didn’t trust us. Not that I could blame her; we did quite the number on their group back at the Battle of the Bands. She raised a hoof to her mouth and gave a little cough, clearing her throat. “So, we’ve got a decent ride ahead of us. Would either of you care to shed some light on the situation? A little backstory would be nice.”
“What is there to talk about?” Aria said. “You know the history, or at least you should if you’ve read the books I’m sure Starswirl wrote about us.”
“It seems that there wasn’t a whole lot that he wrote on the topic, and it certainly doesn’t cover the parts about a magical contract with Discord, or how your coltfriends turned into windigos.” Twilight motioned toward Sunset, shaking her head. “He also didn’t leave a whole lot of information about the portal that led to the human world, unless I just haven’t gotten my hooves on it yet.”
“I learned most of what I know by trial and error,” Sunset said. “Mother said she found a few more references buried in the Canterlot Archives after I left, but I’m not sure where she learned about the windigos. She may have just figured that out for herself when Discord arrived today, at least she never told me about it until a minute or two before I brought it up with you.”
“Well, who better than to help fill in the gaps in our history than the ponies that helped create it?” Twilight feigned a laugh and ended in a sigh.
“I can tell you what happened with Discord,” I said, still waving my hoof lazily out the window, “but it might help to know where it all began.”
“That sounds great, Sonata,” Sunset said, inching forward in her seat. “I would love to hear what happened, if you don’t mind sharing.”
“Not at all,” I said. “Maybe Aria can help tell the story too?”
“Go ahead, Sonata,” Aria said with a yawn. “I didn’t get much sleep last night, and I’m feeling pretty tired.” She stretched and settled back into her seat. “How about you start, and I’ll add what I can as you go, that is, unless I fall asleep first?”
I smiled and nodded.
“I guess I’ll start from the beginning.” I reached up and closed the window, giving a cheerful smile to my audience. “A long time ago, in a valley not so far, but pretty far away, there lived a group of ponies…”
Twilight sat back and clapped her forehooves together. “This is so exciting. It’s like I get a history lesson straight from the author of the book itself.”
I tried to set the scene as best I could. “In the years that followed the destruction of Dream Castle in the heart of Dream Valley, the core group of earth ponies resettled at Paradise Estates in the western foothills of the Smoky Mountains. It was a rough couple of years, breaking in new fields and planting our crops. For the most part, we lived in peace with our neighbors and the other tribes, prosperity followed in due time. I was born shortly after the first crop came in. A lot of other ponies were as well, including Aria and Adagio.
“Every evening in town, all the ponies would gather together and share stories, sing songs, and partake in each other’s company. The three of us got our names from parents who were grateful for the songs that helped them recover after all the trouble they had been through together. From the very beginning, the three of us shared in that bond.
“As the years passed, the population grew, and small groups of families left the Estates to venture out into the wild to make their own way. One such family was my own. Aria and Adagio’s families came with us, but settled far enough apart that we didn’t see each other every day. We made our home along a small river not far from the ocean, the Smoky Mountain peaks barely a set of bumps on the eastern horizon.
“My five older sisters kept me company when I wasn’t able to play with my friends, but I always felt left out in a way, seeing as they were all much older than I was. Strawberry Fields was five years older than me and the rest even more. I was always the foal, coddled and kept safe, but never really trusted with anything important. My biggest job came down to singing to the berry plants every night before my mother tucked me in bed.
“As I grew older, I spent most evenings lying in the fields, watching for the stars to fill up the sky, and signing to myself. Once in a while, Aria would come to visit and we’d lay in the fields together enjoying a warm summer breeze. Adagio never really liked to gaze up at the stars, but she did enjoy the singing. She would join us on occasion. Whenever the three of us got together, our parents would let us stay up late so we could talk and sing long into the night. Sometimes we would fall asleep on the hill overlooking the raspberry plot. We were young and didn’t have a care in the world.”
Aria shook her head. “If there was anything to complain about, it was that all we had were each other and our families. Sonata had five older sisters, but I had six older brothers, so I was always picked on for trying to prove I was just as strong or smart as they were. Being a young filly didn’t really help. I had to work for everything I had and rarely got a break. Adagio was an only foal, and her parents treated her like a princess. She never had to work. In fact, she pretty much got whatever she wanted. It always seemed strange to me how she never remained happy despite having everything a filly her age could have wanted.”
I nodded. “Even being so close, we all led very different lives.” Aria turned back to me, and I continued the story. “We knew we were destined to be a team. Each of us received our cutie marks on the same day, at the same time, performing for our families during a special get together we held a few times a year. Our talents never really focused on farming, but our voices helped keep our loved ones entertained. That far away from town, it counted for a lot.
“My family raised berries, Aria’s farmed grain, and Adagio’s grew the vegetables—they planted fruit trees as well, but they took a few years to really start producing. All of us pooled our resources to bring the harvest into town a few times a year. The first couple seasons that I traveled back to the Estates, I got to sit in the wagon. As I grew older and came into my own, I had to pull a cart as well. One by one, all my sisters married off, the load getting heavier with each one that left to start her own family.”
“Yeah,” Aria said, “It would have been convenient if they had all married my brothers, but they found other stallions and my brothers found other mares. Each time there was a wedding, we had to pick up more of the slack. I know we both looked forward to the day when we would find a stallion of our own, but it seemed like such a hopeless dream seeing as we only went into town a couple of times a year, and spent most of that time helping our parents sell the crop in the marketplace.
“Adagio’s parents hired out a lot of their seasonal work, but I was always too busy to flirt with any colt that came to plow or buck at their farm, even if it was only a few miles down the road. That didn’t stop Adagio. She drove her father crazy with the way she always toyed with the help. But that all changed one year on our final trip to the Estates.
“We’d finished the last of the harvest, and all of us made the trip into town to sell off our surplus and prepare for winter. Adagio spent the whole trip boasting about how she’d messed around with the colt her father had hired to help on their farm while Sonata and I pulled our own carts. She teased us by snuggling up on her coltfriend’s flank right under her father’s clueless muzzle.”
“Anyway,” I said, trying to keep the story focused on the point I was trying to make, “Adagio convinced us to go out with her coltfriend and a couple of other colts he introduced us to in town.”
“That’s where things went south,” Aria said.
“How so?” Twilight asked. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Not if you recall how the story ends,” Sunset said, shaking her head in reply.
“Oh… right,” Twilight said, blushing and hanging her head, sheepishly staring at the floor.
“We had an amazing couple of days together.” I hung my head thinking back to that time. “He was everything I ever wanted, kind, generous, handsome…”
“We didn’t have sex, or anything like that,” Aria said, breaking me out of my waking dream. “Well, at least Sonata and I didn’t. Our new coltfriends were really nice, and they made sure we were taken care of. Honestly, I thought I had found the pony I could finally settle down with.”
“And then Adagio got in a fight with her coltfriend.” I didn’t know why, but I found myself tearing up. “I’m pretty sure it was all Adagio’s fault, but since we were friends, and the colts were all friends, we each stuck to our sides. The breakup got ugly. That’s when Discord showed up.”
“He hit up Adagio first, and she convinced us to go along with the plan.” Aria paused and shook her head. “He told us he could make it so that we could use our voices to make anypony love us. All we had to do was agree to the terms. Adagio agreed without blinking an eye. I’d never even heard of a siren before. For all I knew, it was a fancy name for a good singer. I had no clue they were some kind of half-fish and half-pony beast.”
Light brown, with a dark mane and tail—I couldn’t get the image of my old coltfriend out of my head. With every tear I shed, I felt the pain of betrayal sink into my own heart. “The very nice and very handsome colts that we’d met and hung out with never saw it coming. Discord used our desire for affection and our recent fight against us. Their hearts went cold as he helped us drain all the love from within them to create the magic that fueled our song: the curse of the siren’s call.
“The magic changed them, us as well. Cold as ice, they made their way to the mountain peaks while we turned our fins to the sea. We never saw them again.”
Aria laid her hoof over mine. She remained largely unshaken, but deep down inside, I knew she felt the same way as I did. She held it together long enough to continue the story. “Using our powers at first seemed fun, and exciting, that is until we realized we would need a continual supply of magical energy to satisfy our desire for unnatural love and attention. Discord knew that the only way we could recharge our magic was by making all the ponies that we loved miserable. By the time we realized what he’d done, we were already lost in the magic of the siren’s call. We had no choice, we couldn’t go back. We were hungry, and we needed to feed.”
“We turned jaded, and bitter,” I said, recovering from my tears and trying to refocus. “The magic created a vicious cycle where we used it to make ponies fight, which continued to fuel our magic and kept us fed. It took a while to learn how to use our powers, so the villagers were able to fight back. We tried to go home, thinking that somehow our families wouldn’t find it strange that their daughters had become monsters. That lasted long enough for us to ruin our parents lives and make them all hate each other.
“Our hunger grew, and so did the threat we posed to the town. Little by little, we destroyed the lives of every pony we came across, that is until we faced Starswirl.”
Aria stuck out her hoof, pointing over at Sunset. “You may think he overpowered us, but he didn’t. He only outsmarted us. He came to the fight armed with earplugs and that blasted mirror portal to the other dimension he created. Before we even knew what hit us, we were stuck in strange new bodies, forced into magical rehab, and locked away from everything and everypony we ever knew—the hollow constructs of our friends and family all around made us even angrier.”
I helped lower her pointing hoof. “He was nice enough to give us some basic instructions, but we didn’t really pay them any attention until the world started the first cycle, four years into our term. The biggest condition for our release was that we give up our magic. Going by the fact that the curse was a contract, and we weren’t really in control of our own actions while we were cursed, there wasn’t much hope for that happening. From that point on, we settled in for the long haul.”
Aria clenched her hooves to her chest. “After the Battle of the Bands, I finally realized that the curse had been broken. It’s like I woke up from a bad dream. I knew I had to get out of the prison, and I finally had the chance to make it happen, but the portal was closed. That’s when I came to you, Sunset.”
“I’m glad you did,” Sunset said. “But how did you know I was a pony?”
“Because you had magic, Equestrian magic. We weren’t sure at first who in your little group controlled it, but when we easily overran the rest of your band, it became pretty clear who the real pony was.”
“Actually, it was Twilight’s magic that started all of that,” Sunset said, leaning over and nudging the Princess. “If it wasn’t for her Element of Harmony, none of us would have been able to ‘Pony Up’ when we played.”
Twilight nudged Sunset back. “Actually, it all comes down to the power of the magic of friendship. Each of the elements derive their power from that. As far as we know, it’s the most powerful force in Equestria, if not the universe.”
“Well, Discord might prove you wrong on that count,” Aria said, tapping her hoof nervously on her seat. “If he’s got the power to create sirens and windigos, I’m not sure what the magic of friendship has on that.”
“Actually, Discord was defeated by the Elements of Harmony, not once, not twice, but multiple times. He’s actually come a very long way since you last dealt with him. My friends and I helped turn him around, and we now consider him mostly reformed.” Twilight chuckled a bit followed by another sigh. “He does have his moments though.”
“I can’t forgive him, not after what he did to our coltfriends, or to us.” Aria crossed her forelegs and slumped back in her chair.
“It would be nice if he could make things right again, but I’m not so sure that he can.” I shook my head thinking back to the lessons that Starswirl gave. “Some of what Starswirl taught during his time as headmaster and warden gave us a glimpse into the old world, and by all we can tell, the windigos were defeated and sealed in a cave high in the snow capped mountains overlooking Paradise Estates. I’m not sure why he didn’t send them through the portal, unless he wasn’t able to open it again when he needed to.”
“They’re probably dead, but that’s where Adagio is headed to try and recharge her magic, along with ours.” Aria held her head in her hooves and rocked from side to side. “Why won’t this nightmare ever end? I just want to be free.”
“Speaking from my own experience, I know how you feel,” Sunset said. She got down off her seat and made her way over to Aria. Aria looked up, the pain and hurt she felt quite evident in her wet eyes. Taking a hoof from each of us in hers, Sunset pulled us into a group hug. “When I thought I was all alone, a good friend helped me see how wrong I was. With her help, and the help of all my friends, I turned my life around. Now, it’s my turn to help you. I believe in the magic of friendship, and I know if we work together, we can help Adagio too.”
“I hope you’re right,” I said, leaning over her right shoulder. “Adagio is my friend, even if she doesn’t always do the right thing.”
Aria whimpered and moaned from Sunset’s other shoulder. “Just promise that, if you get the chance, you’ll destroy the gems, once and for all. I can’t go back to living under the thrall of the siren’s call. No pony should ever have to suffer that fate.”
Twilight watched out the window, quietly studying the view ahead. I turned and saw the distant hills rising up into mountain peaks, our journey not quite finished, but getting closer with every passing minute. All I could think of was Adagio, all alone, and wishing I could persuade her to abandon her plans. If the magic of friendship was indeed as powerful as it seemed, we had a chance. I just hoped we would make it in time.
The magic eked out, barely enough left to turn a few heads. I felt the heat draining from the gems pressed tight to my chest. My wings were gone, nearly one hundred percent pony again, but still, I journeyed on. I’d gotten this far, and I couldn’t afford to stop now. A little tune kept us marching west, toward the mountains. The pulse of the magic beat in time with my heart, and I could feel the energy flowing though me, controlling the mare plodding down the path with myself safely hidden inside her wagon.
I had spent way too much of what little I had left on making it through the portal and securing my escape from the castle. The Warden went down without too much trouble, but Aria’s betrayal still left a sour taste in my mouth. Why did she have to join their side? Couldn’t she see how close we were? Couldn’t she taste victory just a chorus away?
I didn’t have time to explain things to Sonata; it would have taken an hour, or more. We had to act fast, but at least I got through, no real thanks to their diversions. With the portal open, and nothing to prevent us from crossing over, I jumped at the chance the second I realized it was there. Trying to sleep on that lumpy couch in the teacher’s lounge left me tossing and turning most of the night, and luckily I caught sight of the early morning exchange at the portal in time to act.
I expected much more resistance from both the Guardian system and the ponies who should have been guarding the portal. To my surprise, all I found was a small dragon and the pony version of the school principal blocking my path to freedom. Regardless, I took care of them and flew to safely before they could summon reinforcements. I wasn’t in a state where I could sustain a prolonged flight, nor did I wish to chance being captured again. Siren magic carried me most of the way to my destination, but my wings started to give out, and I needed another option to carry me the rest of the way. That plan took hold the moment I saw the young mare traveling the road below with the covered wagon.
Without my wings, I was vulnerable. I still had my voice, but nowhere near the mobility. Four legs might have been fine for walking, but I needed to fly in order to scale the mountain. For that, I had to recharge my magic. I had hoped there was a town nearby where I could stir up some trouble. Ponies weren’t as easy to feed on as human constructs, but I could always fall back on some old tricks, and by the look of the supplies in the wagon, I had a good idea about how I could make that happen. Fortune, or fate set me on this simple unicorn slave. She seemed like the type that could put on a bad show even without much help from me. All we needed was an audience and a little time to sit back and feed.
All afternoon she rode, my command driving her on. I let her stop for a drink a few times; wouldn’t want to ruin my setup by pushing her over the edge. I needed her to perform if and when we ever found a suitable venue. There wasn’t much in the way of anything that stood out except the occasional traveler we had passed in the past couple of hours. We needed a city, or town, somewhere I could really draw in a crowd and stock up on magical energy.
It felt like the old days, planning for my next meal, waiting in anticipation to drink in the energy and feel the power rushing through me. No longer confined to a frail and helpless form, locked away in a cage and left to suffer, this was my time to shine. I would make them all pay for what they did to me. I would teach them the cost of turning me down, stealing my freedom, my dreams. I knew what it meant to break somepony’s heart, they had done it to me. I knew how to take it back, make it better than it ever was before. I had been given a gift, and I planned on sharing it.
Soon, everypony would know what it felt like to offer up their heart and be rejected. With every squeak of the wheels and every bump in the road, I came nearer to making my dreams a reality for all.
The path wound through the countryside, over hills and streams until we came to a fork in the road. The mare stopped in front of the signpost, waiting for my instruction. To the left read Los Pegasus; to the right, Rainbow Falls. I’d never heard of either one. Nothing looked familiar after a millennium and a half locked away in a magical prison.
“Which town is closer,” I asked.
The blue mare replied, “Trixie believes Rainbow Falls is closer, but she was on her way to Los Pegasus. The Great and Powerful Trixie has a show to perform there.”
The magic wouldn’t hold for long. I needed a place to recharge. “Take a right. We’ll have you perform sooner rather than later.” I sent out a few more bars of song to wrap up her mind and set her on the right path.
“Trixie shall perform in Rainbow Falls tonight.” She picked up her step and turned the wagon toward the hills. I sat back and wrapped myself in her cloak, the cold settling in with the afternoon breeze. Her curious way that she referred to herself made me laugh, not much different than Sonata back in the good old days. It had been quite a long time since then, and I’d almost forgotten how it used to be. The hooves brought back the reminder of home and family, not that any of that mattered at the moment.
Nothing mattered, except restoring my magic—and revenge.
We rode up the path and climbed the hills into the lower mountain range. A village, carved into the mountain itself, presented a possible chance to make good on my plans. The local crowd looked like they were in the mood for some dinner theater, and I put my little pony to work on setting up her act. Slipping out of her cloak and quietly exiting the wagon, I settled in beside one of the shops with a good view of the stage. My old pony form let me blend in with the growing crowd without arousing any suspicion.
I gazed up at the mountain peaks above, a song in my heart swelling up the longer I stared. I felt the magic calling to me, stronger than ever before. I had to be close. Only a little while yet, and I would have the energy I needed to climb to the top and secure my victory. Still, I had to be careful. One wrong move without my stronger magic to assist, and I could fall. I pushed back the hunger, just a little while longer.
The villagers gathered once they saw the magic act coming together, eager to catch a glimpse of the show. I lay in wait, my gems prepared to capture all the backlash from the upcoming orchestrated failure. I licked my lips with anticipation for the coming feast.
In a bit of anti-climactic smoke, barely rising above her tail, Trixie pranced onto the makeshift stage.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie shall amaze you with her one-of-a-kind display. Gather round and witness for yourselves, the magic that drove off an ursa major, a raging manticore, and a bugbear all in one afternoon. Feast your eyes upon the greatness that is Trixie!” A spark shot out of her horn, not enough to create a full firework display, but enough to turn a few heads.
I sat back and watched, not really needing to do anything right away. Things were just starting to warm up.
“For the first trick, Trixie needs a volunteer. You there, in the front, come up and lay down your coin purse.”
“Me?” said a stallion that looked like he’d seen a few fights in his day. He turned his head to both sides and eventually came up when no pony else made a move. Laying a sack of bits on Trixie’s stand, he stepped back a single step. “I better get that back, or there won’t be anything ‘great’ or ‘powerful’ left after I get done with you.” His menacing growl didn’t even phase Trixie.
“No worries. Trixie shall do the impossible and double your bits, right before your eyes.” Trixie lit her horn and focused what little concentration I allowed her. Her magic flared around the sack. Smoke, followed by flame, engulfed it completely. The sack burned away leaving a pile of blackened bits and ash sitting on the table. “Oops..”
The stallion roared, “My sack! What have you done? You’re going to pay for that, you fool!”
“Uhh, don’t worry…” Trixie stood there, shaking like a leaf. “It’s all part of the act. By the end of the show, you’ll have your sack restored and your bits doubled, Trixie promises. Do we have another volunteer?”
The stallion collected his bits, and a good amount of ash, and stormed off the stage. Clearly unhappy, it seemed his anger would hold until after the show. The prospect of receiving double his bits had something to do with the tempering of his threat, no doubt. It might have also had something to do with the energy I was siphoning off of him the whole time.
Trixie’s act was worse than I thought. In the course of twenty minutes, she’d removed the color from a mare’s tail, drenched a couple of colts, torched a nearby storefront, and nearly taken somepony’s head off with another failed attempt at a firework. I couldn’t complain, the energy being fed into my gemstones tasted wonderful. By feeding off the negative energy of the crowd, I helped drain away the tension and rage allowing her show to continue. If not for me, she would have been run out of town in less than half the time she’d been out there.
The flow of magic continued, not as strong as I had hoped given the shattered stones hanging from my neck, but plenty for now. The warm glow returned midway through the eighth stunt. Without the original source restoring their fractured power, I couldn’t expect to gather much more energy without risking their fragile state. I had enough to get me up the mountain, and it was time to cut Trixie loose.
“Hey there, what are you doing?” an official looking stallion said, waving a small club at me like he planned on using it for something other than rolling out pizza dough. He caught me in the act, but he was about to get more show than he bargained for.
My fangs flared, my wings popped. Scales rolled down my spine and covered my back. I sprang from the shadows and roared through the crowd. Everypony scattered. It felt good to be back in part-siren form, my forked tongue sifting out the notes as I sang. I missed my tail, but the magic could only take my transformation so far without being fully restored. Still, I looked the part, and it did the trick.
I belted out a high note, shattering the glass all around. Trixie stared at me, not sure of what to do. I laughed, toying with the crowd now running away, trying to find shelter from my attack. I looked rather menacing, if not completely transformed. Trixie lit her stub of a horn once again, a small orange spark leaping out toward me. I couldn’t waste any more time, or magic so I took to the sky, not even looking back as I shot up the mountain, a singular destination high on the peak awaiting my arrival. The pathetic town of Rainbow Falls disappeared in the mist as I rose past the clouds. I would be back to take care of them later.
The cold air ran chill through my bones as I flew up the mountain, my scales doing little to fend off the cold. I cursed the light flurry of snow that swirled around the peak and down the long draw through the pass. My wings were the first part to succumb to the cold, iced over soon after I reached the higher atmosphere and barely able to flap. Once again, the magic it took to maintain a portion of my proper form quickly depleted my reserves, and I fully reverted to pony as soon as I found a safe place to set down.
The path ahead lay covered in snow and ice. Giant crags jutted out along the way, randomly marking the narrow slice of road leading over the mountain pass. With my destination nearly in sight, I took to my hooves and marched forward, taking care not to punch through a snow drift or slip and fall off a ledge. The wind whistling through my ears beckoned me onward to the top.
My fur coat gave me some respite from the cold, much more than my siren scales afforded. Each breath I took felt like fire in my lungs, burning with the cold, sapping heat from my core. Hiking in the shadow of the mountains, the sun fell away much earlier than it might have otherwise. In the failing light of day, I kept moving up the mountain, my desire and dreams driving me on with a small, non-consolation thought nagging at the back of my mind, I wished I had kept that silly mare’s cloak.
Reaching the summit, tears of joy froze around my eye sockets. Tucked away to the side of the path, I found my destination, the entrance to a cave that had been calling out to me from the moment I set hoof in this world. I knew the place the instant I saw it. Starswirl may have told us about how something or other had happened here long ago that set ponykind on a path toward tribal unification and cooperative rule, but I knew it held much more than that. This cave held the source of my magic, the frozen heart of a former coltfriend, a just reward for all the pain he had caused me.
I galloped up the path as fast as my hooves could carry me, along with the snow and ice they had built up during my hike. As I neared the cave entrance, my breath caught in my throat—something was there. A flickering light from inside indicated that somepony had taken up shelter or residence within. This did not bode well—for them.
My rage came to a boil throwing off the ice clinging to my mane, tail and coat; this was my domain and nopony else had a claim to its magic. I called forth my siren form, changing as much as I could bring my waning power to bear. Bursting through the entrance, I screamed, “Get out, intruder!” My voice echoed through the cave, shaking the ice encrusted walls and startling the lone occupant.
Hunched over a fire and warming a small, speckled stone in the flame, a large, furry beast turned and grinned at me, flashing a few rows of shiny teeth before tossing the rock in his mouth and biting down hard with a sickening crunch. He swallowed and roared, angered to life by my pronouncement. I could tell he wasn’t leaving without a fight.
I yelled, my magic infused voice toppling the beast in a note. He tumbled over the fire, extinguishing the flames in his shaggy white fur as he fell. The cave fell into a graying dark, the only light coming from the dying rays of the setting sun barely carrying past the entrance.
I darted to the rear of the cave, the natural acoustics of the space amplifying my attack. I sung out again, battering the already stunned beast with another blast. I scored a direct hit, knocking what little fight remained in him aside.
His toothy grin disappeared. He looked up at me with pleading eyes, crumpled in the corner of the cave, coddling a paw. I glared down at him with a confident smile. “Get out, now!” I opened my mouth and took in a deep breath, ready to sing the final note to finish him off. Quickly, he rose to his feet, mostly dodged my trailing attack, and sprinted from the cave, yelping and howling in retreat.
No sooner had he fled, I sank to my hooves, the magic in me nearly spent. I misjudged how much energy I had left after my flight, and the fight took almost everything that remained. My heart thumped in my chest, heaving out the beat, slowing swiftly with the growing cold. I reached out toward the rear cave wall, a sheet of ice crusted with glittering snow crystals. Brushing aside the frost, my hoof met frozen rock, nothing but stone and ice where I expected something else, something much more familiar.
The cold soaked through my fur, tail and mane ineffective in fending it off. With fire put out, and the cave quickly venting what little warmth remained, I clung to the only source of heat I had, the gems in the pouch around my neck. The warm glow fed my comfort as I held them tight to my chest. Eyes closing, the cave sunk into the blackness of night as the sun finally set and the light from the entrance faded, leaving me alone in the dark.
Riding on a train was a new experience. So was joining up with two former rivals to track down a former friend. I wasn’t sure what made me decide this was the right thing to do, but I knew I couldn’t go back to what I was doing before. Teaming up with Sunset got me this far, and I needed to see it through to the end, or be labeled a traitor all over again.
Recalling the story of my youth, and how I’d been tricked into becoming a siren, got me thinking. I could never go back to being just a pony. I would always have a part of me that knew what it meant to be a siren. That thought alone shook me harder than seeing Discord again after all those years locked away in prison. Had it really been my destiny to become a siren? Were my musical talents always meant to feed on anger and hate while propping up a façade of love and adoration? Could I ever silence my past? Would I ever be able to sing from my heart again? What would my heart-song sound like now?
I didn’t have the answers.
While I struggled with the questions about my past, another question posed a more pressing issue. Should Adagio succeed with her plans, would I get caught up in them again? The alternative seemed to be death, or another stint in Starswirl’s eternal jail. My options seemed clear enough, either I helped in stopping Adagio, or died trying. Perhaps both.
With as much as the magic of the siren’s call took over my life, I would fight to my last breath before I allowed that to happen again. I could never go back to feeding on empty promises and hollow attractions. I needed love, the true kind, not something forged on revenge or beaten into submission by the flashing rage of a stilted mare.
My dreams recalling a young filly in love swept away like the countryside passing in momentary flits of imagination and grieving memory. At least Sunset got to see her mother again. I didn’t have that luxury. I would never be able to look my mother in the eyes and tell her how sorry I was for what I had done. I felt the weight of that burden linger, placing a damper on whatever joy I might have felt being back on my hooves.
The train chugged up the hills toward a strange little town perched on the side of a mountain. I was told the city had a number of fancy rainbows connecting the various plateaus, but the evening light was fading fast, and along with it, the city’s namesake falls. We pulled into the station a little after sunset.
Twilight took charge the moment we came to a stop. “Alright, everypony, let’s grab our gear and get settled in town. We’ll spend the night here and climb the mountain when we’re fresh and ready in the morning.”
We all nodded in agreement. The ride wasn’t all that taxing, but I was quite tired following the events of the past day. Sonata and Sunset shared my same sentiment, as I had caught Sunset drifting off for the past hour of our journey. I lifted my pack onto my back and helped Sonata secure hers. It felt nice to have her here with me, but I still wished it wasn’t under these awful conditions.
Sunset Shimmer already had her packs loaded, and suddenly pointed out the window toward the center of town with the light of a dozen torches flickering in the square, drawing our attention to the gathered crowd down the street. “I wonder what’s going on? By the look of those torches, it doesn’t look good.”
I opened the window, staring out through the dark and trying to piece together the scene. “I hope it’s not what I think it is.” I was afraid I knew the answer to the next question even before anypony could ask it. “Let’s go see what kind of damage she caused. Hopefully she didn’t kill anypony, including herself. If she escaped, maybe the locals know where she went.”
“Keep up your guard,” Twilight said, cinching down the packs around her middle. “We don’t know where Adagio might be, and I don’t want anypony else getting hurt. Stay with me, and we’ll take it slow. I’ll take point. Sunset, you cover our rear.”
“Uhh, sure, Twilight,” Sunset said, waving Sonata and I forward.
We got off the train, taking a cautious walk into town. By the look of the glass strewn streets and the flame licked buildings, I had to say Adagio must have been holding back. Either that, or her magic wasn’t all there yet. If she had wanted, and her magic levels allowed, she probably could have flattened the city. The fact that she hadn’t done that left me with a small sliver of hope for our survival, and hers.
The crowd cheered as we approached, torches lighting up the square in the growing dark of night. At first, I thought they were welcoming the Princess, come to save the town. On the contrary, they barely noticed our arrival, too caught up in some other pony to allow Twilight room to move forward.
“I can feel it, can you?” Sonata said, whispering in my ear. “She’s here, or she was. I can hear the magic calling out, the echo of her voice.”
I kept my comments to myself, giving only a small nod. The fact was, I could feel it too. I knew she was close. The signature of her voice left echos of her passing strong enough for even my pony ears to hear. It frightened me to think of what that meant.
“Excuse me,” Twilight said, tapping the rear of a stallion in the back of the assembled townsponies. “What happened here, and is everypony alright?”
The stallion brushed her off without even turning around to acknowledge her presence. “Quiet, I’m trying to hear the Councilmare.”
Not one to be denied, Twilight opened her wings and flapped into the air above the crowd. Torchlight filled the glow on her face. That look, once she saw past the outer ring of ponies, only served to unsettle my nerves. “Trixie?” she said, yelling above the noise and general chatter all around.
“Princess Twilight?” came the auspicious reply.
The crowd parted. Ponies finally took notice of the Princess and quickly opened their ranks to allow us passage to the head of the gathering. Twilight crept forward, keeping a cautious eye to any blind spots.
“Princess, we’re so glad that you’re here,” said an official looking mare standing at the center of the gathering. “You’re just in time to congratulate our heroine of the moment!” She motioned next to her at another mare wearing a purple pointed hat and cloak over her blue coat and light blue mane, sporting an awkward grin.
Twilight approached the official and gave a nod. “What happened here, and how was Trixie involved?” Twilight scanned the bashful mare up and down, a stern eye looking for answers.
In a quiet and timid voice, the blue mare spoke. “The Great and Powerful Trixie may have, umm, saved the town, umm, from an actual monster.”
“You what?” Twilight looked very much surprised at her statement. Trixie lowered her head, hiding her face behind a hoof, bracing against the reproach.
“Yes, it’s true! This amazing, young sorceress has saved us all. As head Councilpony, it is my great honor to pronounce today, Trixie Lulamoon day in Rainbow Falls!” The crowd let out a raucous cheer.
Trixie blushed so hard the red in her cheeks mixed with the blue in her fur to create pockets of deep purple on her face. “I… I don’t really… deserve…”
“Have a free meal at my tavern!” shouted a stallion in the crowd.
“Stay the night at my inn, no cost!” yelled another.
“Don’t worry about replacing my coin sack!” cried a third.
The cheers and hoofclapping as the crowd reverted to celebration mode nearly drowned out the pitiful squeak from Trixie. “Princess, help me…” I saw the fear in her eyes. It looked eerily similar to the expression I’d seen in dozens of victims in my time as a siren. Adagio had to be close.
I reached out and tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “We need to get her someplace safe, away from the crowd. She’s been under the thrall of siren magic, and we need to find out what she can remember.” Twilight nodded her understanding.
She reared up, flapping her wings and motioning for calm from the crowd. Once things had settled to a dull roar, she addressed the town. “Pardon the interruption, everypony, but I must ask that you postpone this celebration. There are urgent matters of national security that we must attend to right away. If everypony could help clean up the mess, we can hopefully continue this tomorrow. For now, I need to speak with Miss Lulamoon in private.
A few sighs mixed with the shuffling of hooves over shards of broken glass bringing the level of excitement in the air down a few notches. Twilight gathered Trixie and moved to find the innkeeper in the dispersing crowd. She quickly secured rooms for the night and added a request of the tavern master for a meal. Before I could take another moment to examine the damage in the square any further, I found myself moving with the others down the street toward the inn at the edge of town.
The fire burning in the corner fireplace cast shadows on the walls of the local inn. Twilight thanked the town leaders and ensured the support of the crown in the cleanup efforts, but quickly returned to her seat after asking for privacy. True to her station as princess, she got what she asked for. We had the room to ourselves with a nice dinner spread out on the table, just the four of us and the poor unicorn.
“Trixie, could you tell us what happened, as much as you can remember?” I asked.
She turned to her right. The plea in her eyes focused in on Twilight.
The Princess moved a little closer and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s alright, Trixie. These ponies are friends. No pony can hurt you now.”
Trixie’s lip quivered. I could see the painful memories, full of fear, hanging on the tip of her tongue. “Trixie… umm… I-I don’t really remember.”
“It’s okay, Trixie.” Twilight continued to pat her shoulder. “Just tell us what you do remember.”
“Trixie… I’ll try.” Trixie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A few more comforting pats from Twilight followed by a few more relaxing breaths, and she started to open up. “I remember leaving Canterlot this morning.”
“So you remember traveling to Rainbow Falls?” Sunset asked.
“No…” Trixie said, shaking her head, fumbling with her memories. “I planned on traveling to Los Pegasus. I had a show…”
“And that’s when you encountered Adagio?” I said, filling in the blank following her pause.
Trixie swallowed hard. “Yes. I-I think so.”
“She sang to you, didn’t she?” Sonata said, focused in on a dream with her eyes closed, listening to the wind outside the window and searching for any sign of Adagio on the breeze. I knew the look. While most might think Sonata wasn’t all that focused, it was quite the opposite. She had a knack for finding the balance and reading the signs that the universe had to give. She was deep in her element here.
Trixie nodded. “It sounded so nice. I-I couldn’t help myself. From the moment I saw her on the road up until she attacked the town, I don’t really remember what happened. It’s like I woke up in Rainbow Falls with a monster from my worst nightmares flapping and screeching down at me. I panicked!”
“Well, it’s a good thing you did,” Twilight said, comforting the poor mare once again. “The Councilmare tells me that you saved the town by frightening her off with your magic.”
“I highly doubt that,” I said, interjecting a bit of base truth into the story. “There is no way she fought off Adagio. If she had even a small slice of her siren magic available—”
“Aria, be nice,” Sunset said, turning around and giving me a sideways glare.
Trixie shook her head. “No. She’s right. I didn’t really do much of anything. I panicked and froze. It’s a fairly normal response for me. It must have looked like I did something, but, in the panic, I don’t think anypony could say for sure what happened.”
“That’s all well and good, but the real question is where she went from there.” Sunset got up to pace around the table. An apple floated alongside her while she took the occasional bite.
“I think she flew up into the mountains,” Trixie said, gaining a little bit of confidence in her voice. “But she could return at any time.”
“She’s following the call,” Sonata said, nodding sympathetically. “It’s faint, but it’s there. The closer we get, the stronger the draw. We know where she’s headed, the map showed us that much. It’s up there, somewhere, calling to us.”
Silence fell over our table with the only sound coming from the occasional bite or swallow. We all picked at our food, hungry, but not overly so. There wasn’t much else to say. We all knew what had to happen.
I looked around the table. Sober faces, knowing all too well the task in front of us, ate what we could to help assure us that things were as normal as they could possibly be. Midway through my salad greens, a commotion arose outside. A scream, followed by a roar, and the thundering stomp of an entire herd of ponies rumbling toward the inn lead to the door swinging open. The Councilmare from earlier stood in the doorway, a half dozen other ponies at her flanks.
“Sorry to interrupt, Princess, but we have an urgent need for your assistance.” She smiled a rough smile and peered back over her shoulder into the darkness dotted with scrambling torchlight. “It seems Rainbow Falls is attracting all sorts of odd beasts this evening.”
The roar from before rang out once again with a touch of painful howl punctuating the end.
“Let’s go!” Twilight sprang to her hooves and darted out into the street. Sunset Shimmer followed closely behind. I glanced over at Sonata. I wasn’t sure I was ready to face Adagio. She nodded, and together we ran after both of the others.
We galloped down the path toward the square. Passing many ponies headed in the opposite direction, we arrived without incident at the cause of the latest disruption. A yeti, sitting in the middle of town, his forepaw gingerly held in his lap, bellowed out a lament that could be heard at least three towns over.
Twilight approached. “Uhh, George? Is that you?”
The yeti wiped a bloodstained forearm across his face and lifted his sights on the Princess. “Mean pony hurt George; make George leave home. Princess pony help George?”
Sunset Shimmer cocked her head to the side. “I take it you know this yeti?”
Twilight stood her ground. “Of course I do. George is a good friend of mine.” She turned back to the Councilmare who had quietly approached from the shadows. “Could you bring me some bandages? He’s pretty beat up, and we’ll need to tend to his wounds right away.”
“Of course, Princess.” She signaled over to a pair of stallions who quickly left in search of the requested supplies.
Twilight scanned around the half dark square until she found myself and Sonata. “And could you fetch your pack, Sonata? Pinkie packed some things that could really help in this situation.”
Sonata nodded her head, happy to oblige in following the Princess’ command. We both turned around, and I escorted her back to the inn. By the time we returned to the square with the requested bag, Twilight had managed an impressive binding of the beast’s forearm and paw. George hugged her tight with his unbandaged arm.
Sonata brought her load forward, helping Twilight present it to the yeti. His eyes lit up the moment he caught sight of the pieces of candy within the bag. In no time at all, he’d chomped through a half dozen chunks. I was pretty sure before, but had it confirmed by his devouring of the snacks, that they did indeed contain actual rocks.
“Mmmm, George love pony treats. Where pink pony at?” He picked at his teeth with a free paw. They seemed far too sharp for his seeming love of munching on real rock candy.
Twilight pulled back on one final knot, adjusting the bandage around his arm. “Sorry, George. Pinkie didn’t make the trip with us. I’m sure she was thinking of you when she helped pack the rock candy, though.”
I moved forward, anxious to discover what had led this mountain dweller to come seeking help. His mention of a ‘mean pony’ fit the description of Adagio, but didn’t quite match up in terms of motive. What reason did she have for attacking him? “George, I wonder if you could tell us what happened up there on the mountain?”
“Flying pony yell at George, tell George to leave cave. George no want to leave, but pony hurt George. George need help, want to go back home.” His frown hid the multiple rows of teeth in his mouth.
Sonata hefted up another piece of rock candy which George eagerly gulped down. “It would seem that this poor yeti’s home is also our destination.” George’s smile opened up on taking in another bite.
“That means Adagio beat us to the magic source,” Sunset said, stomping a hoof. “She could be restoring her powers as we speak!”
“Well, it’s too late to climb the mountain tonight,” Twilight said. “As much as I hate to give Adagio all the time she needs, we can’t risk the climb in the dark. We should probably get some rest and be ready to go first thing in the morning.”
“Now or later,” I said, shaking my head, “we may already be too late.”
Following a significant withdrawal from the rock candy stores, we all agreed to meet up in the morning and tackle the climb together. George would lead the way, and we would be left to face Adagio in whatever form and power she possessed.
I wasn’t looking forward to morning.
Our rooms at the inn got a little more crowded with the addition of George. Twilight shared a bed with Sunset, and Sonata and I managed a pair of smaller beds in a room of our own. The town heroine, Trixie, got a room all to herself. So did George, although he might have been more comfortable curled up at the foot of Twilight’s bed. The arrangements weren’t terrible, and considering the circumstances, a lot more than I had hoped for.
Sonata and I finished what was left of our evening meal and soon found ourselves getting washed up for bed. We’d said our goodnights and taken our leave of the others even before Twilight finished catching up with her yeti friend. Sunset had taken quite an interest in George, and Twilight felt like it was a good time to recall the story of their first meeting. Before she got through setting the scene, I was already long gone, thinking about a nice warm bed, and my last chance for a good night sleep before facing whatever fate had in store for me tomorrow.
With a yawn, Sonata looked up at me as I tucked her in bed. “Aria, do you think there’s anything left of our homes?”
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” I said, running my hoof through her mane. She let out a contented sigh.
I turned to return to my own bed, eying the pillow with a strong desire for sleep. “Apart from being back in our old pony skin and fur, everything else in this world kept on changing without us while we were locked away in that other world. It gives us a chance to start over again, but we have to let go of our past.”
Sonata leaned over to stare out the window. “What if I don’t want to let go of them?”
“You have to, Sonata. Everypony we knew in the old days is long gone, family included. We’re all that’s left. All we can do now is take care of Adagio and make the best of what we have left for ourselves.”
“Aria?”
“Yes, Sonata?”
“Would you make me a promise?”
“What kind of promise is that?”
“Would you promise that you won’t hurt Adagio no matter what she tries to do?”
“I don’t know if I can promise that, but I’ll try. How’s that?”
The soft rush of air through Sonata’s muzzle filled the quiet in the room. I climbed up into bed and set my head on the pillow. “Good enough, I hope.”
I closed my eyes and settled down to sleep. The chill of the night air rolling off the mountain left me thankful for the warm sheets that wrapped tight around me, soft and comfortable like a fluffy cloud.
…
The song played in my head, a sweeping melody that called out to a time long ago. A building crescendo rocked me to sleep leading my dreams toward my one heartfelt desire. I danced across the meadow, forelegs locked around the shoulders of the colt I would deign to call my own. I wanted nothing more than for the song to go on forever, safe and secure in his embrace, our muzzles pressed together in the most beautiful expression of true love imaginable.
We danced apart. I reached out to him. He reached back to me. I gazed into his eyes as I sang out the melody of my heart to his attentive ears.
The light faltered; the music changed.
A discordant counterpoint wedged its way into the undertones.
He drew back in fear, like he’d seen a ghost. I looked down to see the scales falling neatly into place along my chest. The song in my heart changed key. He winced, grabbing at his chest with both forelegs and flattening his ears to his head. My song continued, becoming dark and staccato, tossing jabs with every note. I screamed on the inside while the melody played on. My part in the clash of musical disharmony faded into the background, an overriding voice taking command of the tune.
As the image of the colt faded into the darkness, his coat growing sickly and pale under the assault of my song, the twisted images of my friends rose up to greet me. My song merged with theirs as the nightmare took over. No longer my pony friends with their shiny fur coats and shimmering manes, the glare of scaled hide and leathery wings welcomed me to the fold. I felt my resistance slipping away as the warm glow of power filled my chest. I opened my mouth and belted out the note announcing my arrival to the world. Aria Blaze, now a siren, would never give her heart to another. She would always take what was hers.
…
I threw back the sheets, screaming in terror as I woke from the dream. “No!”
Looking down at my body, the nightmare was realized. My tail swished back and forth with my caudal fin ripping through the covers. I flexed the wings on my back, panting in horror as I glanced across the room at Sonata. My friend, the pony, then siren, then human, then pony, curled into a ball and wept, her tears rolling down her scales and disappearing into the soft mattress below.
I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. Twilight fell asleep much faster than I expected, but I had trouble getting comfortable while listening to her snore. The minutes ticked away with a steady knock from the wall mounted clock as well. The bed we shared in the Princess Suite was certainly big enough for the both of us, but it didn’t allow for an escape from the noise. After a short night and a total switch of scenery, I’d been fighting sleep all day. Now, I struggled to relax and find a way to settle my thoughts as well as quiet my nerves considering the threat that loomed over us.
Only a day ago, I thought I had everything figured out. My life was on track, and I had nothing to worry about. All of that changed when I decided to try and follow Twilight’s example. My hand, now hoof, had been forced, and it felt like I was barely keeping up on this wild ride. As much as I had looked forward to and dreaded the day I would return to this world, it didn’t feel right for some reason. Somehow, I felt like an alien in my own fur, a human masquerading as a pony and not the other way around.
I stretched my hooves over my head, almost unsure of the fact that I could feel my horn sticking out from under my mane. My tail twitched, an odd sensation to have given all the years I had spent attached to it. It struck me as weird that I could possibly feel more at home as a human than as a pony. With a hoof, I traced a line down my chest, brushing the fur one direction and then back again. I held the other in front of my muzzle catching the shine from the moonlight through the window on the tip of my toe. To think, this morning I had ten fingers and toes, and the closest thing to magic that I had at my disposal was a simple microwave.
I tried shutting my eyes. Every muscle in my neck tensed while I tried to force myself to think of nothing at all. Rolling from side to side didn’t help, and I heaved an audible sigh that nearly woke Twilight. Maybe it was the mission? Perhaps I couldn’t stop thinking about Adagio and what could possibly be going on in her head? How much of it came from the pony, and how much ended up being forced upon her by the siren’s curse?
Seeing Twilight’s friend, who could easily have been a huge, ferocious beast reduced to a sobbing mass of pitiful helplessness, gave me some serious concerns for what awaited us tomorrow. More than that, I felt sorry for Aria and Sonata, having to own up to their past while trying to stop their friend from a repeat performance.
Giving up on trying to sleep, I sat up in bed. Without any difficulty I reached out with my horn, pulled my diary out of my saddle bag hanging on the chair beside the dressing table, and floated it over to my lap. Without a proper quill and inkwell, I made due with a little horn-writing spell that I still remembered from long ago. At least my magic felt intact. The spells came easy, even with how rusty I was.
Mother, are you awake? I could really use your advice if you are.
I waited for a response. It might have been too late to try and contact her seeing as the sun had set many hours ago. She wasn’t known for being a night owl, at least in the years that I had any recollection of. The book lay across the comforter with the sheets pulled up over my hind legs, pillow propped up behind my back. This was the position I’d held many a night in putting together a last minute homework assignment, or working out my latest plot for revenge. It didn’t work all that well for a pony, but it felt more comfortable than any position I had tried thus far.
I stared at the page, illuminated by the glow of my horn and the stray shafts of moonlight filtering through the window, not really expecting any response. When a familiar golden script started filling the blank space, I got a little rush of excitement.
Dearest Sunset, I am always here for you. How can I be of assistance?
I smiled an inward smile and fired up my horn once again to write out my response.
It’s hard to explain. I don’t know what the problem is exactly, but I don’t quite feel comfortable in my own body. Does that sound strange to you? Also, Adagio might be a bigger problem than we thought. She’s already caused a mess in Rainbow Falls, and we’re not sure how close she could be to restoring her powers. All things considered, it’s been a pretty crazy day, and I’m having trouble falling asleep.
Celestia’s writing took another minute to start up again.
It sounds like you have a lot on your mind. Your first day back, not even settled in, and already you feel like the weight of Equestria lies on your shoulders. Perhaps you should focus on one thing at a time? You always had a talent for setting goals and achieving them. I know that when you put your mind to something, great things can happen. In that regard, I suggest you focus on what matters most, the thing you have the most control over, and let the rest be as it may. Then, my daughter, your mind may be at peace, and you will find that sleep comes easier.
I stared down at the yellowed parchment, re-reading her words a few times over. At the end of her message, she continued to draw a picture that began to fill the rest of the page. At first, it looked like the royal crest, a typical signature for official business of the crown. As the shape came together, the line weaving through the center of the sunburst pattern made it unmistakable—a perfectly accurate depiction of my own cutie mark rendered itself in the glowing golden ink matching the rest of my mother’s words. If this was a hint, it took me a while to decipher the clue. When I finally felt like I understood her message, I wrote out a simple reply.
Thank you, Mother. You always know exactly what to say.
Before I closed the book, I caught her last reply.
Always remember who you are, and that I will always love you.
I set the book aside, taking her words to heart. There was nothing I could do at the moment about Adagio, and I couldn’t go back to my life in the human world given what I now understood about its existence. All that remained of my troubles was of my own making. I had to come to terms with the fact that I was a pony, nothing more, nothing less. Once I accepted that fact, I would settle the noise, close my eyes, tuck in my hooves, wrap up my tail, and finally get some sleep.
My head hit the pillow for the second time only moments before the scream came from the adjoining room.
I bolted upright, leapt out of bed and scrambled for the door. Looking back from the hallway, I caught Twilight rolling out of bed, her horn raised with a near automatic defensive spell cast on reflex. I lit my horn to lead me through the dark corridor and into the next room. I didn’t bother to knock and threw back the door the moment I found it.
My magic filled the room with light, casting shadows against anything past my direct line of sight.
“Stop! Don’t hurt us!” Aria yelled, her cowering scaled body reflecting a partial glow from my hornlight. “It’s not what you think!” Sonata merely sobbed, curled up on her bed with her siren tail tucked between her forehooves, rocking back and forth.
Before I could even process what it was that had happened, Twilight joined our midnight gathering in a teleporting flash. Her horn flared with all the energy of an alicorn princess set to strike. “No pony move! …and no siren either!”
Without even thinking, I launched myself in front of the sirens. “Twilight, wait!” I wasn’t sure if Twilight intended to shoot first and ask questions later, or if she could actually process rational thought this closely removed from sleep. “Let’s take it easy. I’m sure there’s a reasonable—”
“Where is she? Where’s Adagio?” Twilight said, more awake than I would have given her credit for, her mane bristling with energy.
“She’s not here,” Aria said, hooves raised in surrender. Sonata stared blankly into the light shining from my horn, her tears still flowing from her large, vacant eyes.
“Where are your siren gems, the source of your magic?” Twilight said, continuing the questioning without a pause. “How did you change form?”
“I-I don’t know.” Aria bowed her head. “I just woke up like this.”
“This had better not be a trick. I’m not in the mood for games.” Twilight moved toward the bed, her horn glowing a little softer, and without as much arcing implied force radiating from the tip.
“It’s the curse,” Sonata said, regaining some composure and brushing the tears from her face. “Adagio must have restored her powers, but the siren’s call doesn’t have the same effect on us without the gems.”
Aria slowly pulled the torn covers away from her tail. “We’ve been transformed, but not like before. I’m in control this time, I promise.”
Twilight gauged her response, weighing the need for caution with my plea to help. “For the moment…”
I stepped over to Sonata, reaching out a hoof to try and give what comfort I could. “Does it hurt? Can you move?” Being part sea creature, I wasn’t sure how mobile they would be on land.
Sonata propped herself up on her forehooves letting go of her tail and stretching out her wings. “I’m okay, just tired. The changes take a lot out of us, but I think they’re done now.” She wobbled to the side and fell back on her pillow.
“Leave it to Adagio to pick the perfect time to ruin my dreams with this nightmare.” Aria flopped back down on her bed, her hooves raised to cover her shaking head. “I can’t believe this is happening again. It was bad enough the first time. At least then I lost myself in the magic. What am I going to do now?”
“You’re going to fight it, and I’m going to stop Adagio before she goes any further.” Twilight walked over to the window and looked up toward the shrouded mountain peaks. “Sunset, you stay here and watch them. I’m going to fly up there and get to the bottom of this myself.”
I could only bring myself to find a single word to answer. “No!”
Twilight turned around to face me, showing a side that I had never seen before. “I wasn’t asking.” She unfolded her wings and set herself up with a commanding tone. “As a princess of Equestria, it is my duty to safeguard the kingdom. I can’t take the risk of allowing all three sirens to regain their magic. I’m giving you a royal order, Sunset Shimmer, stay here and keep an eye on them while I deal with Adagio. If I’m not back by morning, send word to Princess Celestia.”
“But, Twilight… the map… we’re all supposed to stick together.”
“The plan has changed. This ends now.”
“But—” I began to say, but Twilight teleported away before I could challenge her further. I sank to the floor. “What about the magic of friendship?”
To be honest, I was angry. I felt betrayed and abandoned by the one pony I thought would never do such a thing. Having invoked her royal duty made it only slightly less painful to hear. Alone with the sirens, my closest friends miles and even worlds away, there wasn’t much choice left.
As I sat on the floor, staring up through the window, I considered my options. I couldn’t follow Twilight without wings. A long walk up the mountain, in the dark, along unfamiliar paths through the snow and ice wouldn’t be doing either of us any favors. Following their transformation, Aria and Sonata could barely keep their eyes open. Exhausted, they quickly fell asleep, eliminating the possibility of enlisting their help. I did my best to tuck them both in before returning to my own room.
I crawled back in bed, my own exhaustion finally catching up to me. Before I closed my eyes, I brought my diary out, debating if I should wait to inform my mother. I worried about Twilight having to face Adagio alone, but I also worried about what might happen to our friendship if I went against her royal command. I opened the book to the previous spot and re-read mother’s message from earlier.
Somehow, reading those words, and hearing them spoken in my head, set my mind at ease. I wasn’t sure how long it took, but I fell asleep with the open book in front of me, hoping that everything outside of my control would turn out for the best.
Hours later, judging by the sunlight pouring through the open window, I woke to the gentle buzzing and rattling of my diary underhoof. I peeled open my eyes and drew back the pages to find my morning wake up call. In the most delicate script imaginable, my mother’s words brought me out of my haze, fully awake and ready to go.
Daughter of the Sun, now is your time to shine! Seize the day!
I smiled. If ever there was encouragement that needed to be given, it was now, and this was mine.
I got up and placed the book in my bag. While I worked to secure the load on my back, a knock came from the door.
“Come in,” I said.
The knob slowly turned, and the door slid open. Cautiously, a purple-scaled head peered around the edge. “Is it safe to come in?”
“As long as you’re still in control, Aria, you have nothing to fear from me.”
“That’s kind of the problem,” Aria said, slipping into the room with Sonata following closely behind. She shut the door once they both made it inside. “There’s something wrong.”
I suddenly came to the awful realization that Twilight hadn’t returned. “Oh no! Twilight!” I quickly finished latching the saddle bags around my barrel. “We have to help her!”
“Actually, we’re more worried about Adagio,” Sonata said. “The magic that’s been calling out to us this whole time, when I woke up this morning, I realized I couldn’t hear it any more.”
“Yeah, and seeing as we haven’t changed back into ponies, that’s not a good sign,” Aria said.
“Either way, we need to climb that mountain. Let’s go get George and—”
“I doubt the yeti is going to want to help us,” Aria said, shaking her head. “We already scared off the innkeeper coming down the hall. It won’t be long before the entire town is beating down our door. We need to go, and we need to hurry. Conjure up a pair of wings, and let’s fly!”
I stared at the sirens, their wings flexing and ready to go. The simple problem of my reaching the mountain summit came down to one missing puzzle piece. “I-I don’t know that spell.”
“What do you mean?” Aria asked. “Can’t you just make up a spell to give you wings? What kind of unicorn are you?”
I shook my head. For years, I had studied and tried to come up with the spell that would turn me into an alicorn. I had no idea how Twilight had managed it. “It doesn’t work like that. I’ve tried.”
“Well, we can’t just sit here. If those townsponies find us—”
“Wait!” I said. “I think I know what to do.” Thinking back through my memories, there was one instance that came into focus. My mother’s words, a friend in trouble, it made the answer clear as day.
“What are we going to do?” Sonata said, looking out the window at the gathering crowd in the square.
“Music!” I said.
Aria blanched. “Are you seriously suggesting we use our siren magic, that we don’t currently have control of, to fight our way through the town?”
“No…” I smiled, knowing how crazy the idea sounded. “Back in the other world, I was able to tap into a small amount of Equestrian magic. It only came out when I sang, but I think it’s the answer to our problem. Let me show you what I mean.” I had to hope it would still work now that I was a pony.
I took a deep breath and steadied myself. The tune came to mind, and I let it flow from my heart.
Power Was all I desired But all that grew inside me Was the darkness I acquired
Aria and Sonata stared at me like I had lost my mind. I kept with the song, feeling its power growing within.
When I began to fall And I lost the path ahead That's when your friendship found me And it lifted me instead
Sonata began to hum along. I focused my thoughts on Twilight, and my mother too. I belted out the chorus as the magic wrapped around me. Now was my time to shine!
Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny
Even Aria couldn’t deny the power of the music on display. She joined in on the tune with Sonata, tapping her hooves to the beat.
I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say
Blazing wings of solar power erupted from my back. Lighting up my horn, I thrust open the doors to the small balcony off the end of the suite.
That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today
I barely looked back to make sure Aria and Sonata followed as I took to the sky.
We raced up the mountain, cutting through clouds like a hot knife through butter. I knew the magic was temporary, but I held on tight, searching the trail below for any signs of life. Winding through the canyon, we fought against the wind. The altitude combined with the weather would have driven any pony other than a princess down to earth. The heat radiating from my wings put that fear to rest. We would not be stopped by the cold.
Without Twilight or George to lead the way, I had no idea where to find his cave. Without the magic calling out to them, neither did my companions. All I could do was trust that fate would lead us to the right place, and that we wouldn’t be too late when we arrived. I kept to the path, seeing as that was the most logical course of travel.
“There it is!” Aria yelled almost as soon as the opening in the mountainside came into view. I tucked in and made a dive for the finish.
The magic in my wings gave out just before I touched down. The last few yards ended with a nosedive into the snow followed by a short roll to the cave entrance. Aria and Sonata landed beside me, much more gracefully than I had managed.
I shook my head, trying to get my bearings. The chill of the mountain crept through my fur. I lit up my horn and projected into the cave. The sight that met my eyes caused me to drop the light spell while I struggled to force myself to move out of shock.
Straight inside the cave stood Princess Twilight Sparkle, frozen solid in a block of ice.
I charged ahead, heedless of the danger. Twilight’s expression, locked in place like a statue etched in stone, spelled out a look of surprise I was soon to feel myself.
Coming up short of the block, a rush of ice cold wind blasted me against the near wall. I reached up to shield my eyes from the spontaneous storm only to find Adagio taking laps around the ceiling. What surprised me wasn’t the fact she was flying, but that she carried along with the wind itself, the gale erupting directly from her frostbitten muzzle. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Somehow, Adagio Dazzle had shed her siren skin and gone full blown windigo.
I lit my horn to project a solar shield, trying my best to deflect her attack. The freezing rain pinned me down. It was all I could do to keep up a meager defense.
“Adagio! Stop!” Sonata raced to my aid. For her trouble, she caught a glancing blow from the ice shards being flung my direction and tumbled to the ground.
“What have you done?” Aria stared up at Adagio with an open mouth. “You’ve gone too far, Adagio!”
Adagio paused her assault long enough to cackle at Aria’s implication. “Too far? This is only the beginning. No longer will I allow the shackles on my broken heart to hold me back. I will have my revenge, and nothing can stop me now, least of all you.”
I used those precious seconds to my advantage, tumbling into position behind Twilight’s ice block. A quick glace around the room showed Sonata out cold with Aria now taking the brunt of Adagio’s renewed attack. She kept her busy, avoiding the blasts, dodging and looping, doing nothing more than holding her focus.
I set my hoof against the block, scraping at the surface to judge the material density. Thank Celestia, the ice had the magical properties of a spell. That gave me hope for saving my friend trapped inside. If it had been natural ice, the odds of her survival would have been near zero.
An errant blast had me ducking down to roll out of the line of fire. “Look out!” Aria yelled, too late but for my own reaction.
I was quickly running out of time. Without a plan of counterattack, this fight would be over before it really even started. I scanned the rest of the cave, trying to find anything I could use to help turn the tide. My frantic search settled on a tiny pool of water situated near the back. With all the blue and white from the ice and snow, it was hard to miss the glowing red coming from the only spot in the cave somehow not frozen solid.
I dove into a somersault at my earliest opening. Aria continued to draw Adagio’s fire while I sprinted to the pool. Reaching the spot, I dug down into the comfortably warm water and pulled a small sack attached to a necklace-like drawstring from deep within. I fumbled with the closure, trying to open the pouch before my hooves began to freeze.
The draw came loose. I dumped three perfect rubies onto the sole of my hoof. Realizing what they were, I turned and shouted out to Aria, “Catch!”
The gems flew from my grasp in a low arc. Aria swooped down to meet the throw.
Instead of catching the elements that would have given her the power to fight back, she lined herself up and whipped her tail around like a baseball bat. “Never again!” she screamed. The gems took the impact and rocketed toward the back cave wall, embedding themselves deep within the solid sheet of ice.
My cover blown, I stared up into the ice blue eyes of a furious windigo.
“What have you done?” Adagio said, the frosty edge falling off her voice. She raced to the wall, driving her hooves at the gaps left by the gems. “No! No, no, no, no, no—”
Jets of steam poured out of the channels blasting Adagio across the room. I scrambled to the side, casting my own bit of protective magic as the wall cracked and split, splintering out from the holes. Without even thinking, I raced back toward Twilight. Aria managed to drag Sonata out of the way and met me there as well. Back to back, we crouched in the lee of the ice block.
“I have a really bad feeling about this,” Aria said, trying her best to rouse Sonata.
“We have to get out of here,” I replied.
“Yeah, but—ahhhhh!” Aria cried out, falling over and grabbing her gut.
“What’s wrong?” I said.
“I—I don’t know. Ahhhh!” Aria lurched and shuddered, contorting on the ground while I sat, helpless to lend a hoof.
Sonata gasped and clutched her throat, suddenly coming to at the perfect moment to feel the shared effects of whatever came over Aria. All I could do was look on, powerless to aid either of them as they writhed in pain.
I fell against the ice block with Twilight staring back at me, that same look of shock on her face from before. I knew the only pony that could save us needed my help first, but I struggled to find the strength within to call up the magic required to free her. With all the solar magic I could conjure, I reared back and blasted the icy prison. The cold, unforgiving windigo spell held strong under my unsteady attack. Steam poured out across the room, only seconds from what would surely be an explosion.
All around, the ice of the cave began to crack. I knew I could save myself by simply running away, but I couldn’t leave my friends. With Aria and Sonata flopping around, their scales seemingly on fire, Adagio lost in the rising steam bath, and no pony or human left to help me, I happened to catch a glint of the sun’s rays shining off Aria’s thrashing tail through the opening at the cave entrance.
An idea burst into focus.
I ran toward the light, not to run away, but to try and save everypony I had come to help. Standing in the opening with full glow of the morning sun toward Canterlot at my back, steam billowing around my hooves, I raised my horn. Daughter of the Sun, now is your time to shine. Seize the day!
Sunlight gathered into focus through my horn, a beam of light carrying straight into the cave. Twilight’s block erupted in a shower of ice crystals the moment they collided.
“No!” Twilight shouted, finishing where she left off.
I yelled back. “Twilight! Group teleport! Now!”
Twilight took one look around the cave and picked out the bodies with her magic flaring to life. I leapt to the side as the eruption blew the entrance a wider opening.
The explosion flung me back, and I landed in a soft snow bank on the other side of the pass. I lay there, buried in the snow, rattled, but alive. Once the world stopped spinning, I sat up. Steam continued to pour out of the cave. With a bit of a struggle, I managed to regain my full footing. I looked back toward the cave and down the path, afraid to see if Twilight and the others had made it out or not. To my relief, a couple dozen yards away, I found a colorful—moving—display a sight for sore eyes.
I fell back into the snow, both relieved and exhausted. It didn’t take long before Twilight reached over the top of the snow bank, extending a hoof to pull me out.
She had her signature smile plastered across her muzzle. “Sunset, I don’t know how you managed it, but you have to see this for yourself.” With her help, I hauled myself out of the snow.
As soon as I emerged, I got knocked off my hooves again.
“Sunset! You’re alive!” Aria tackled me with a diving hug.
“Thank you sooooo much!” Sonata added, joining the pile.
Not truly expecting their reaction, I caught myself staring up into the two pony faces piled on top of me. “You’re… back to normal. That’s amazing!” We all shared a friendly nuzzle, nice to feel their soft fur against my cheeks. It warmed my heart to see my friends, alive and well.
Twilight gave a little chuckle. “Before you get too carried away, I think there’s somepony here who has something she’d like to say.”
Sonata and Aria rolled off and let me sit up. Twilight stepped back to reveal Adagio Dazzle, the pony—not the siren, and definitely not the windigo.
Adagio sat on her haunches, her poofy mane falling evenly to both sides of her head. “I’m… I’m sorry.” The only words she could manage to say were the only ones I needed to hear.
My joy in the moment overflowed my senses, and I couldn’t help but smile. She reminded me so much of myself, I felt like I needed to reach out and give her the biggest hug of all. Before I could make good on that thought, our little celebration had another interruption.
“Adagio?” a voice from back against the cave called out, echoing down the pass.
I glanced past Adagio. The rest turned around. From out of the steamy cave opening, a trio of stallions ambled into the snowy glare of the mountain pass.
Aria took off at a full gallop. Sonata raced to keep up. In no time at all, they fell into the embrace of their respective coltfriends. Adagio hung back with Twilight and myself, not seeming too eager to greet the new arrivals.
“I—I can’t,” she stammered.
I picked myself off the ground and stepped over to offer a little support. “You know the old saying, right? Time heals all wounds. Maybe there’s a chance you can start over?” I pointed over toward the lone stallion, starting to shiver in the wind, waiting for some kind of acknowledgment. Adagio turned away.
“This is all my fault,” Adagio said. “My pride led to this. I can never make up for it. That evil curse—my friends—my family—this never would have happened if I hadn’t lied to them.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“I was young, and stupid. I wanted to look like I was in charge, that I was always one hoof ahead of everypony else—a leader.” Adagio shook her head, a frozen tear trying to break free from the fur of her cheek. “I told them I had been with that stallion, but I hadn’t. He was always the perfect gentlecolt. I pushed him too far, and then I got mad when he wouldn’t play along. I loved him, but I don’t think he loved me back.”
“And Discord took advantage of the situation,” Twilight added.
“Did someone call for me?” In a puff of smoke, Discord himself materialized out of mountain-top-thin air. “Honestly, it’s so hard to avoid answering your calls when I don’t want to be found.” Twilight planted a hoof in her face. Adagio cowered away. I just shook my head. Discord lit up a smile. “Ohh, lovely! It appears you figured out your problems after all. Return all three gems, full of love, to their previous owners and the contract stands null and void. Check, check and check! No more windigos; no more sirens. Looks like my work here is done.”
“What?” I shouted. “You haven’t done anything!”
“Au contraire, mon petit poney. I set the wheels in motion that led to the founding of Equestria. I helped forge an entire world where you spent a considerable amount of time exploring your human condition. I created all this chaos so that you could put it all back together and learn your important life lessons while exercising the all important ‘magic of friendship’.” He held up his claws to emphasize the last point. “Admit it, if it wasn’t for me, your lives would be boring.”
Twilight heaved a long sigh, her breath instantly freezing in the air. “Discord, I’m too tired to argue about this. The least you could do right now is get us down off this mountain before we all freeze.”
“Consider it a bonus present.” Discord snapped his claw.
I drew in a warm breath, fresh from the fire of the tavern. Everyone crowded around the table, a little too close for comfort, but relieved to be out of the cold.
Adagio’s former coltfriend, seated right next to her, leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I think we need to talk.” Being on the other side, I heard every word.
Adagio blushed and shied away. “Yeah… I guess we should.”
“A round of drinks, for my friends,” Discord said, giving a slanted eye toward Aria. He waved a claw and set down a jug of cider along with eight glasses on the table. “I’ll leave you all to celebrate. Wouldn’t want to spoil your fun.” With another wave of his arm and a trailing puff of smoke, he vanished.
“Good riddance,” Aria said.
I raised my glass. “I’ll drink to that.” The others joined in, and we drained our drinks together.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. There were a lot of hugs and even more heart-felt ‘I’m sorry-ies’. We’d kept the damage to a minimum, and I was grateful for that. The train ride back to Ponyville was filled with introductions and life stories from a time before Twilight and I could even imagine.
Before we packed up, Twilight made sure the town had a plan to fix the damage and properly celebrate their new hero. Trixie made some new friends and decided to stay in Rainbow Falls for a while, or at least until her head got too big for the quiet mountain village. She seemed to take her newly acquired fame in stride.
George loved his new cave, complete with natural hot spring and expanded entertaining space in the back. Sonata left him the rest of her candy supply and promised to visit with Pinkie as soon as she could.
I took a back seat to most everything wrapping up. I had no one to apologize to, no old friends to reconnect with, and no real issues I needed to resolve with Twilight. We agreed that she had done what she had to, even if it was stupid, and I agreed that I would remind her about it every chance I got. That’s what friends are for, after all.
As for the windigos and the sirens, and even a certain she-demon, everypony agreed that we wouldn’t let the past define who we were. Everypony deserved a second chance, and a friend to help them up when they fell.
Sitting on the train, I grew more excited with every passing mile. I couldn’t wait to see my mother, share with her all the things I had learned in our time apart. Finally, I felt like I had made up for all the trouble I had caused. As the train pulled into the station, I gazed up at the castle across town, eager to feel her hooves around me once again.
A ringing sound from under my seat had me digging through my bags as soon as the train came to a stop. I reached in and pulled out my diary, but didn’t stop there. The ringing came from something else, something that sounded even more familiar—my cellphone.
I quickly grabbed the phone and answered the call putting it on speaker. “Hello?”
Pinkie’s frantic voice greeted me on the other end. “Hey there, pony Sunset Shimmer. Umm, the human Sunset Shimmer sort of vanished on us when our world started collapsing in on itself, so we were wondering if you could open up that portal thing-a-ma-bob and let us through before we get sucked into a scary vortex of magical oblivion? It looks like that magic stuff that came over with you and Twilight kind of changed us, so we aren’t just mindless automatons anymore. If it’s okay with you, it would be totally awesome if we could sneak on over to your world seeing as we kind of have this magical power that makes us sort of not totally human anymore. Any chance you could take care of that, like, now?”
“Hold on one second, Pinkie,” I said.
I turned to Twilight. She shook her head. “The portal was powered by the diary, and now both copies are on this side of the gateway.”
I glanced around at the rest of the ponies gathered in earshot.
“Don’t look at us,” Aria said. “We don’t do the magic stuff anymore.”
I turned back to the phone, almost ready to deliver the bad news. That’s when I realized the answer to my problem was literally floating right in front of me. “Umm… Twilight, how about we use my phone?”
Twilight shook her head some more. “I don’t know. I’ve never used human technology in an Equestrian spell before. The results could be unpredictable. Plus, what would happen to our pony friends if our human friends came through the portal?”
“Well,” Pinkie said, drawing out the reply from the other side, “we’ve got about one minute before it won’t matter, give or take sixty seconds.”
“Hope for the best?” I said.
Twilight bit her lip. “I guess we can give it a try.”
“Hold on, Pinkie. We’re coming.” I tossed the phone to Twilight. She blinked away from the train and took off flying across town.
I ran as hard as I could to catch up. It took what felt like forever to reach the castle. Once I made it to the doors, I threw them open and ran inside. There to greet me stood a duplicate set of ponies, two of each of my Canterlot High School friends, eying each other with a curious regard. The charred remains of my cellphone lay on the apex of the portal apparatus.
Rainbow Dash spoke to Twilight, “Yeah, so, umm, we couldn’t find Discord, but…”
One of the Pinkies cupped a hoof to her mouth. “Awkward.”
