//------------------------------// // A Siren's Truth // Story: Equestria Girls: Life Goes On // by Blackbird2 //------------------------------// Equestria Girls: Life Goes On Chapter 5: A Siren’s Truth Aria leaned back into the couch as she enjoyed one of the rare times when she had the apartment all to herself. Well, not all to herself. Blackbird had come over and they decided to watch an actual good movie for once. Of course they still couldn’t help but throw a few snide comments out here and there. Despite that though, Aria had a genuine smile on her face. Something that had actually become a little more frequent since they had officially started dating about a month or so ago. Being with him made her feel really relaxed. More relaxed then she felt in...forever! So relaxed in fact that she let her body slump over a bit until her head was resting on Blackbird’s shoulder. The grey boy tensed a bit when he felt her weight on him. “Umm...Aria?” he asked, surprised by the unusually intimate gesture. The former Dazzling’s smiled faded a bit. “Just...shut up, okay?” she requested with only a slight edge to her voice. “Alright,” he agreed. They went back to watching the movie in a sort of comfortable/uncomfortable silence. After a few seconds of her simply laying on his shoulder, Blackbird lifted his arm so he could wrap it around her shoulders and draw her closer to him. Surprisingly she took the invitation and scooted her body even closer to his. She even let out a content sigh. It felt...nice. Too nice. “Okay, let me up this is getting weird!” she suddenly blurted out as she pulled his arm off her and got up from the couch. “Whoa! Hey!” he cried out in surprise as he looked at her in confusion. “Did I do something wrong?” “No! It’s just...” Aria paused before she spun around and chewed on her thumbnail nervously. Ever since their relationship had started to develop further there was a question that had been on her mind. Something nagging at the back of her brain that was afraid to ask. Something that she usually tried to hide behind her usual snark and bravado but for some reason the moment on the couch just now made it shoot past all her defenses. “Just what?” Blackbird asked as he stood up as well. “Just...just why do you even like me?!” she blurted out, spinning around so fast that her purple and teal twin tails whipped around her. “What?!” he replied, again completely caught off guard by her. “Why do you like me?!” Aria asked again in an almost desperate tone. “I don’t even like me! Yet here you are trying to get into a relationship with me even though you already have a girlfriend who you’re so adorable with it makes me physically ill sometimes!” She let out a huff before her shoulders slumped a bit. “And here I am a mess in, like, everything in my life right now! So why would someone so...nice like you want to be with a pain in the ass like me?’ Blackbird stared in surprise of her blunt honesty for a second before her, smiled softly and gently placed his hands on her bare shoulders for reassurance. “Honestly that’s exactly why I like you,” he confessed. “Yeah Moonie and I get along super well, but I also like that you challenge me a bit. You’re not afraid to call me out when I’m being stupid and I love our snaking matches. They’re just fun! And yeah maybe you don’t express your emotions all that well, but it’s not like I’m that great at it either so we can help each other on that.” His smile then shifted into a cheeky smirk. “Plus you’re hot.” Aria let out a small chortle despite herself and in an even more surprising move than the outburst that started the conversation, pulled him into a tight hug. Once he recovered from the shock of the action, Blackbird brought his arms up to her back to return the loving embrace. “You’re an idiot,” Aria said into his shoulder, the tip of her smile peeking out just above it. “But you’re my idiot.” “Well yours and Moonie’s,” Blackbird corrected. Her grip tightened on him a bit. “Well you’re mine right now and that’s all I care about.” After almost a minute of holding each other they finally pulled back just enough to stare into each other’s eyes. Blackbird brought one of his hands up to her right cheek to which she nuzzled her face against it. As they continued to stare at each other their faces grew closer and closer. Their eye closed and their lips parted ever so slightly until... The suddenly burst open causing them both to scream and jump a few inches off the floor. They turned to see Sonata lumbering into the apartment in a slouched posture. “Ugh! Work today SUUUUUUUUUUCKED!” she proclaimed more to the heavens than them. “DAMMIT SONATA!!!” Aria screamed angrily. The blue girl straightened her stance at her older sister’s berating scream then blinked at the two of them. “What? What’d I do?” she asked in total ignorance. After she study the scene for a moment though, she started to figure out exactly what she had walked into and a teasing smile spread over her face. “Oooooh I get it! You two were having some alone time, weren’t you?” she asked cheekily. “Yes. We were. Now if you could just leave us alone, that would be great!” Aria told her as she made a shooing motion with her hands. “Alright, alright fine. I want to take a shower anyway,” Sonata said before she tossed her cap onto the bed and whipped of her shirt to reveal a black, lacy bra underneath. “SONATA!!!” the older sister screamed again as she placed a hand over Blackbird’s eyes like a parent would their child. “Whaaaaaat?!” she wailed in annoyance. Again it took her a moment to realize her faux pas. And once again a surprisingly devious smile crossed her face when she figured it out. “What’s the matter Aria, afraid your boyfriend might prefer your not-so-little sister when he sees these?” she teased, pushing her impressively sized breasts up a bit. A confused look then returned to her face. “Though honestly I still don’t get what humans see in these things.” “What?” Blackbird asked as the oddly worded sentence. “Nothing! She means nothing! And I believe she was gonna take a shower, right Sonata?!” Aria growled the last words through gritted teeth. “Yeah, yeah,” the blue girl waved as she walked past to couple towards the bathroom door, pulling her hair out of its ponytail as she did so. It was only when the door was close that Aria finally lowered her hand from Blackbird’s face. “You know as surprised as you may be to learn this, I have seen breasts before,” he joked. “Still doesn’t mean I want you ogling my little sister,” Aria grumbled. “Fair enough. I’ll just say you have some lovely breasts yourself,” he complimented with a wink. She stared at him for a few seconds, unsure if she wanted to still kiss him or kick him for that remark. Instead she just rolled her eye and tucked her arms under her breasts in a way that pushed them up to be more noticeable. “Whatever,” she snorted dismissively even with a smile at the edges of her mouth. She fell back onto the couch and let her arms fall down as she relaxed again. She looked up at him and patted the space next to her. He smiled as he sat down and the second he did she leaned on him once again. After a moment’s hesitation, he wrapped his arm over her shoulder again and pulled her even closer. “Soooo...you okay with this now?” he asked tentatively. “Still feels a little weird but...I could definitely get used to it,” she told him softly. “Hey I’ll take it,” he joked. She gave a small chuckle then settled into a comfortable silence as they went back to watching the movie. Unfortunately, they’re happy moment was spoiled when another voice spoke up behind them. “Awwww, isn’t this just precious?” Adagio’s mocking voice rang out. Aria’s brow narrowed in anger as she regretfully pulled herself up from Blackbird to give her sister a death glare. “What are you doing here Adagio?” she demanded. “I live here,” came the deadpan reply. Adagio then turned her attention to Blackbird, who had also stood up at this point. She placed her hands on her hips and stared him up and down in a studious manner. “So. You’re the boyfriend, huh?” she muttered, still looking him over. “Yeah that’d be me,” Blackbird replied a little unsurely. “Wait! How did you know?!” Aria sputtered in annoyance. She then turned to the bathroom door and called out, “Sonata! Did you tell Adagio about Blackbird?!” “What?!” Sonata’s voice called out from the other side of the door. “It wasn’t her,” Adagio spoke up, cutting off Aria before she could yell again. “I figured something had to be up the way you’ve been sneaking around the last few months. Plus, I peeked over your shoulder a few times while you were editing your little videos and saw the same boy in them over and over again.” “You WHAT?!” Aria screeched and clutched her teeth and fists in anger. “Do you have any respect for anyone’s privacy?!” “Oh please! Like we have much privacy in this hell hole,” the older sister remarked as she motioned around the small apartment. “Besides I think it’s perfectly within my right to look out for my little sister’s best interest.” As always her tone held a malicious tinge that belied her concerned nature. It was a tone that Aria was far too familiar with. One topped off by the Cheshire grin she almost always wore. The one that always made Aria want to knock those perfectly little teeth right out of her head. Especially when it was turned towards her. And even more especially now that it was turned towards her boyfriend as well. Well she definitely had some choice words forming in her mouth for her “concerned sister” right now. Words that were lost when she felt Blackbird place a calming hand on her shoulder. She looked over at him and he smiled at her before giving a soft nod. She sighed then did what she could to relax herself. “Yeah, I’m her boyfriend,” he said to Adagio. “And given that I just met Sonata, I’m gonna guess you’re the older sister she’s told me about.” “I am,” Adagio replied as she cocked a hip. “What has she told you about me?” “Well mostly that you’re a tremendous bitch,” he said flatly. “Although she did seem to leave out your impressive lack of breasts!” Both Aria and Adagio stared at him dumbfounded. For Aria it was surprise from just how blunt and vicious Blackbird was being and for Adagio it was from the shock of anyone talking to her like that! “How...how dare you?!” she snapped even as she brought her arms up to cover her less than impressive chest. “And how dare you waste all those delicious cheeseballs by putting them together in that mess you call a hairdo!” Blackbird retorted. At this point Aria had completely lost it and fell back onto the couch in a fit of uproarious laughter. Adagio, meanwhile, found herself in the same position Aria had been in just a few minutes ago; standing still with her teeth and fist clenched together in seething anger. “Why...you...little...” she growled, “Well this has been fun but I should probably get going now,” Blackbird cut her off then looked over at Aria. “Talk later?” “Oh definitely!” she said after one last chuckle. “Cool. Later then cutie,” he smiled then looked at the still seething Adagio. “Bye bitch!” He gave a quick wave before strutting out of the door. The second he closed it behind Adagio let out a frustrated scream then glared at Aria. “YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DATE HIM ANYMORE!!!” she shrieked, pointing towards the door. “Pfft! Yeah, like that will happen,” Aria shrugged off. “I mean it Aria,” Adagio continued, crossing her arms over her chest again. “He’s...he’s...” “Able to put you in your place?” she asked as she stood up and looked her older sister right in the eye. “I think you’re just mad cause all the things he said were true, cheeseball hair.” Adagio’s hand flew from her chest to her hair, which she hugged and stroked almost defensively “Don’t you ever make fun of my hair! I spend hours making sure it’s just perfect!” she snapped. “And I spend hours picking clumps of it out of the shower drain!” “Oh like yours doesn’t do the same thing!” “At least I’m courteous enough to pick them out when I’m done with my shower!” While they argued about the shower, they failed to notice that Sonata had finished hers and currently had her head peeking out from the bathroom door. “Hey Aria? Is your boyfriend still here? Cause I forgot to bring any other clothes in here with me,” she explained sheepishly. “No, he’s gone,” Aria sighed and rubbed her temple a bit. “Oh good!” The door then flung wide open to reveal Sonata wearing absolutely nothing but a towel wrapped around her head. “PUT ON ANOTHER TOWEL!!!” both Aria and Adagio screamed at her. ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) A few weeks later, the apartment had returned to what passed for normal. The three sisters went to work, came home and each did their various things. Because the apartment was so small they tried not to be in there all at the same time so they wouldn’t be in each other’s ways. But sometimes things just worked out that they were all in the apartment at the same time. Today was one of those days. Surprisingly though, they were all getting along rather well and things were peaceful. Adagio sitting on her bed flipping through a fashion magazine while Sonata was lying on the other bed playing on her phone as Aria sat on the couch editing her latest video. After she saved her latest bit of progress she leaned back and stretched her arms over her head. In the process of doing so she noticed she had received a message on her cell phone while editing. She took her headphones of and laid them on her laptop before picking up her phone and reading the message. She let out a slight chuckle before she sent a reply. An action that didn’t go unnoticed by Adagio. “Was that your boyfriend?” she asked in a teasing manner. “In fact it was,” Aria replied with a slight smirk. “Jealous?” “Of that loser? Hardly. Quite frankly you’re too good for him,” Adagio muttered before she went back to her magazine. “Wow Adagio that almost sounded like a compliment,” the younger sister replied. She was about to put her headphones back on to resume her editing but right before she could, Adagio spoke up again. “I do wonder though, have you told him what you really are? Your true nature?” she pressed with a malicious grin. “Do you think he’d still care for you if he knew?” Aria paused and held tightly onto her headphones. “Yes. Yes, he would,” she said softly, seeming to tell herself more than Adagio. “Really? You don’t sound so sure,” Adagio continued to tease. Now Aria’s hands were gripping the headphones so tightly they were shaking and the plastic creaked a bit from the strain. “Shut up,” she growled in the same quiet tone as before. “What was that?” “I. Said. SHUT UP!!!” She flung the headphones to the floor as she bolted up right from the couch, causing both Adagio and Sonata to jump in surprised. Aria then vaulted over the couch in a surprisingly fluid motion so she could storm over to the bed and get right in Adagio’s face. “JUST SHUT UP FOR ONCE IN YOUR MISERABLE LIFE!!!” she screamed, jabbing a finger right into her sister’s face. “And that’s what you are, miserable! So you have to make everyone else around you miserable too! Well guess what Adagio? I’M SICK OF IT!! I’m sure Sonata is too!” “Well kinda,” Sonata meekly added. “See?!” Aria continued, motioning to their youngest sister. “We’re happy here Adagio! Is this the life we all wanted? No! But we’re making the best of it! Your problem is you’re not in charge for once! You can’t boss us around and you hate that! We don’t need to rely on you to survive anymore and it drives you nuts! We finally have a chance to have our own lives! And, yeah, that means finding someone who actually cares about you!” She then marched over to the night stand on her side of the bed, causing Sonata to shrink back a bit in fear, then rummaged through it a bit before she pulled out the ascot Blackbird had bought for her. “You see this?!” she asked, holding up the pink piece of fabric. “Blackbird bought this for me on our firs date! You know why? Cause he wanted to! I didn’t have to enchant him to make him get it for me. He just...wanted to do it,” she sighed and held it close to her chest. “Do you have any idea what the feels like?” Adagio looked like she was going to respond but Aria cut her off. “No. You don’t! Because you haven’t even tried to make an actual connection with anyone since we lost our magic. Which, by the way, was your fault! I tried to tell you we should have done something different but NOOOOOOO! As always Adagio just has be to in control. Well this,” she waved her arms around the small apartment, “is where that got us! And you know what? I’m okay with it.” She sighed and placed the ascot in her pocket. “Yeah it’s not the best life but it’s a life. We can live! And that’s what I’ve been doing! Maybe it’s time you started doing the same.” She then quickly grabbed her shoes and marched out of the apartment before Adagio could say anything, making sure to slam the door as she did so. She descended the stairs and when threw open the front door to the building and just started walking down the sidewalk. She didn’t know exactly where she was going, she just knew she had to get away from Adagio for awhile. She shoved her hands in her pockets and the second she did she felt the ascot she had placed inside one. The feel of the light, soft fabric brought Adagio’s question racing back to the forefront of her mind. “Do you think he’d still care for you if he knew?” She stopped dead in her tracks. As good as it felt to finally let Adagio have it, she knew the reason her question had upset her so much is because it was one she had been asking herself for a while now. Ever since their relationship had become more serious, she wondered how or even if she should tell Blackbird about her past. Would he hate her? Would he even believe her? They were questions she really didn’t know if she wanted the answers to and would just not ask them at all. But she knew eventually she would have to. Might as well just get it out of the way now, she thought. She reached into her other pocket and thankfully had put her phone in it somewhere during all that commotion. It would have been really embarrassing to have to go back for it right now. She pulled it out and quickly brought up Blackbird’s name to text him. ~Hey, you at your place?~ she wrote. She waited a bit anxiously for the reply. Thankfully it wasn’t a long way. ~Yeah,~ came the simple reply. ~Is it cool if I come over right now?~ ~Yeah sure. Something up?~ ~I just...need to tell you something.~ ~...~ Her heart sank a bit at those three little dots. ~This...doesn’t sound very encouraging.~ ~Look just...please wait til I get there before you freak out or anything, okay?~ ~I’ll do my best.~ ~I’ll be there soon!~ ~Okay.~ She closed the text log with a heavy sigh then opened up the app to call for a ride. No way was she waiting for a taxi or the bus right now! ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Blackbird sat in his apartment doing his best not to freak out over Aria’s texts. While it was possible she just wanted to come over, there was something about them that seemed....off to him. Course it could just be his anxiety running away with him as it had tendency to do but he couldn’t shake the feeling something was with her. Hopefully it wasn’t anything too serious. Hopefully she wasn’t- His thoughts were cut off by a rapid knocking at the door. He took a breath to calm his nerves then got up to answer it. The second he opened the door, before he would even say “Hi” to her, Aria leapt at him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a tight hug. Once he got over the initial shock, he let the door go to close on its own so he would wrap his arms around her and return the hug. They stood silently holding each other for nearly a minute before Blackbird finally spoke up. “Soooo...I guess you’re not breaking up with me?” he asked hesitantly. She let out a slight chuckle at the absurdity of that question. “No. I’m not,” she sighed then pulled away from him and looked him in the eye. “But you might want to break up with me after I tell you what I have to tell you.” He looked down into her violet eyes and saw an uneasiness he hadn’t seen before in them. “I...feel I’m gonna need to sit down for this one,” he muttered. “Yeah. Probably,” she agreed with a nod. While Blackbird walked over and set back down on the couch, Aria moved behind the coffee table and paced a bit as she wrung her fingers together and occasionally pulled one of her twin tails. It was weird to see her usual snarky confidence replaced with such nervous, unsure energy. He really wanted to get up to hug her again but he knew she had to get whatever it is off her chest. A chest that rose and fell as she took a few deep breathes in an effort to compose herself enough to speak. “So,” she finally breathed. “So?” he asked back. “I’ve been keeping something from you,” she stated. “Well we’ve only known each other a few months, so there’s plenty we need to find out about each other,” he remarked. “No this is a...pretty big thing,” she insisted. “Like...what?” Again she paused and took a deep breath. “Like that fact that I’m not technically human.” A heavy silence hung over the room after that statement. Blackbird looked at her for any sign that she was joking or messing with him but couldn’t find any. He arched an eyebrow then leaned back against the couch. “Go on...” he encouraged. And so she did. She told him everything. About being from Equestria, being a Siren, getting banished to this world, the things she and her sisters did to survive, the events at CHS and finally being beaten by the Rainbooms. Through it all he never looked away from her or questioned her or barely changed his expression. He just sat there and took in this fantastical story. When she was finally done she let out a surprisingly relieved sigh. It actually felt good to get all that off her chest. But of course now she had to face whatever came next. “Soooooo...what do you think?” she asked pensively. Blackbird brought a hand up to his chin and rubbed his goatee a bit as he searched his mind for what exactly he should say first. After a few seconds he went with the only one that popped in there first. “So you’re a thousand years old?” he asked. Aria blinked and tilted her head. “Well...certainly wasn’t expecting that!” she replied. “Yeah. Sorry. No. It’s just...I mean...that’s a lot to take in!” he exclaimed. “Then you believe me?” she asked, still slightly rattled. “I mean there are really only two options here. Either this is all true which mean, holy crap!! Or you’ve made up the most elaborate story ever to break up with me! And considering you said you didn’t want to break up and that you’re the type to just say you would if you did want to then...yeah I’m gonna go with this bring true. Which again, HOLY CRAP!!!!” He explained and fell back against the couch again. “I mean...magic is real?!” “Yeah,” she nodded. “Well...kinda here. Mostly it seems like magic from Equestria is being brought over here.” “That’s another thing, Equestria, that’s a whole other world full of talking horses and things?” “Ponies. And things. Yeah.” “And you’re a Siren. But instead of being half-fish, half -woman, you’re half-fish, half-horse?” “Basically,” Aria nodded then clutched her left arm nervously. “Does that...make a difference to you?” He got over his astonishment enough to realize that’s what a had been worrying her. He got up from the couch and walked over to her. He placed his hand gently on her shoulders and gave her a warm, loving smile. “No. Not in the slightest,” he reassured her. “Hell this has been the dream of some more for hundreds of years. Hey speaking of which, does that mean you’re where the legends of the Sirens came from?” “No that was already here,” she informed him. “One of the things our worlds have in common apparently. And to answer your question, no I’m not a thousand years old. Starswirl’s spell also sent us forward in time as well. I’d save we’ve been here about a decade or so.” “So still older than you look,” he said with a wink. “Yeah,” she smiled a bit, though it quickly faded. “So...what about everything else? What we did with our powers? Does that make you feel differently about me?” “Well...it’s something,” he noted as he gently started to rub her shoulders. “But I think the fact that you’ve been so nervous to tell me shows you’re remorseful for it. Plus, you said it was literally how you survived so I don’t know if I can be too mad about that.” He paused and placed his hands on her cheeks. “Either way it’s in the past now. You’re not that person, or Siren, anymore. Sure you’re little snarky most of the time but that’s what makes you who you are. The girl with thousands of people tuning in to watch her rip apart terrible movies on MyTube. And also the girl who won my heart. That’s the Aria I know.” He gave her another soft, loving smile to show her his words were genuine. One that quickly changed to a bit of a sly grin. “Besides, you work retail. That’s punishment enough for whatever you may have done in the past,” he quipped. Aria stared wide eyed at him before her face scrunched up a bit and a loud, carefree laughter escaped her lips. She threw her arms around him and continued to laugh into his shoulder. “Oh my God you’re such a dork! I love you!” she exclaimed happily. Again silence over took them as they both took in Aria’s words this time. “Aria did you just...” Blackbird asked, letting the question hang. “I...” Aria paused then pulled back from him so she could look him in the eyes. “Yes. Yes I did. And I don’t regret it! I mean what I said. I love you Blackbird.” He placed his hands on her cheeks again and stepped closer to her. “And I love you Aria,” he whispered right before her captured her lips with his in passionate, loving kiss. They held the kiss for nearly a minute, enjoying the loving feeling radiating from their closeness. Eventually though they finally broke apart and stare at each other. “So? Feel better?” Blackbird asked softly. “Yeah,” Aria sighed happily. “Just...don’t get use to this sappiness, okay?” “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” he smiled. “Now...how about we sit down? Still processing a lot of stuff.” “Yeah I could definitely sit down,” she said with an exhausted breath. “And...would you mind if I stayed over tonight? I just...can’t deal wit Adagio right now.” “Oooooh okay, that’s what happened,” he said in complete understanding. “Yeah that makes sense. And yeah you can stay over. You can take my bed tonight. I’ll share Moonie’s bed.” “I’m gonna guess that’s not the first time you’ve been in her bed,” Aria teased. “Not in the least,” he smiled back. “I mean you are welcomed to join us if you’d like.” “Yeah don’t push your luck there buddy,” she remarked, giving him a light punch in the arm. “Now that’s the Aria I know!” He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her back to the couch. They sat down and was their custom quickly pulled up some crappy movie for them to watch and make fun of and help take their minds off the day. Aria quickly curled up next to him and finally felt at ease letting him hold her. Being in a relationship was certainly something she had never planned on but now that she was in one, now that she was starting to feel good about herself, she wasn’t going to let it end anytime soon. This was her life now. And for the first time she could remember, it feel really, really good. The End