Welcome

Aria glared at her ceiling, feeling as if it was mocking her. She scowled at the moonlight through the window, she sneered at her pillow and blanket, she growled at her stomach for feeling hungry after skipping dinner. Aria felt everything was mocking her. Mocking her inability to sleep, mocking her bad attitude. Mocking how today, of all days, she dared to be more social and struck up a conversation with Button's mom, who was also shopping. Mocking how she got home late and wasn't there for Grandpa or Adagio, mocking how she didn't pick up on how scared Adagio was until the situation was almost over. Mocking how it was Sonata who calmed everyone down when Adagio asked Aria to comfort her. Mocking how much trouble she makes for her family.

Mocking how absolutely useless and annoying she was to everyone around her.

Aria slammed a fist against against the wall-

Crack!

...A few seconds later, Aria remembered to breathe. Shakily moving towards the spot on the wall she hit, she examined it closely and found a dent.

"Ohhhhhh noooooo..." she whimpered.

Great, now I put a crack and a dent in my wall right as Grandpa ends up in the hospital. I can see it now! "Oh hey Aria, I know money has been rough this year with the medical bills, but I went and got another part time job to compensate. What's that? You made a dent in the wall? Don't worry, I'm sure Sonata can a get job too. After all, unlike you, she's good at talking to people when she's not scared senseless! Good job protecting her from all the bullying, big sister!"

Aria grit her teeth a raised her fist. Catching herself, she held her hand closely to herself. She stroked the top of hand with her thumb, trying to calm herself down. You're losing it, don't do anything else stupid tonight. Just... just stop thinking about...

Aria sighed, she knew she wasn't going to stop thinking about this. Maybe she could find something to do. "Grandpa always said if you can't stop your brain from running in circles, you might as well try to do something productive." It was too late to do farm work. It would be a bad use of time and energy to try and clean a barn or two in the dark by herself. Her sisters are sleeping. The house doesn't need to be cleaned. She already finished all her homework

Aria didn't want to think about this, but it would better to confront it now than later.

She and her sisters are probably going to have to get jobs. Adagio has a decent reputation around town due to her always lending a helping hand and having the patience of a saint. Sonata and herself though are a lot more antisocial. Aria was aware she had a temper issue, and she was sure the town was as well. She hoped she didn't have that hard of a time getting a job. Poor Sonata is probably going to have it the roughest, she loved her little sister dearly, but Sonata had a fragile heart. She hoped that she was strong enough to support both Sonata and Grandpa through this. She envied how well Adagio handled problems thrown her way...

She shook her head, she was getting off track. Sonata did fine with children, maybe she could get a babysitting job of some sorts, or hopefully a teacher's aid for the younger students. Adagio could probably do anything well. She was like a cat: she always landed on her feet no matter what was thrown at her. Aria... she didn't know what she could do well. All she was good at was farm work, and that's only because of repetition! She wasn't good at anything else!

"What if I can't get a job?" Aria started to sob. "What if I can't get a job and my sisters are stuck supporting me? What if they can't support me? What if I never manage to become a contributing member of society?.. Why can't I just be normal like everyone else? I just want to be able to work and talk to people without it being awkward!"

Aria quietly sobbed in her pillow, trying her hardest to keep her voice down. Once she stopped hiccuping she started to quietly sing to herself.

Music. Music was the magic that brought her sisters together. Even though the three of them didn't have much in common, all three of them loved music, especially singing. Every night all three of them would sit in front of Grandpa's old radio, taking turns on what channel to listen to... "I might not be good at anything, but at least I can sing."

Aria wiped her eyes after calming down. She wasn't a good for nothing.  Sure, both of her sisters are better singers than her, but she can sing just fine too, and she loves it. Too bad singing isn't gonna land her a job, especially in a no name town like Jollyville... But still...

She got up and walked over to her dresser, inside it, she pulled out a form.

The Shores Conservatory of Music

It was an application form to a rather famous conservatory that only the best of the best singers graduate form. Aria doodled out her info on it for fun one day while daydreaming attending it. If she could end up becoming a famous singer she wouldn't care how much money she make, being able to sing her songs to everyone... The very thought of it made Aria's heart flutter. She could never send the form in though. Even if by some chance she did get accepted, there's no way they could afford to send her there. It was a nice dream, but that's it, nothing more than a dream.

Aria groaned. Her goal was to be productive, not think about depressing things.

Well, it's not productive exactly, but I could read. Yeah, that works, just read a book and relax... Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, She bent down near her bed and pulled out a medium sized box. In this box was Aria's forbidden guilty pleasure, a shame that she would never survive her sisters learning about, something she would take with her to the grave.

Romance novels.

She has always secretly dreamed of meeting her soul mate. The one person on this planet that won't drive her nuts, the one who always be able to bring a smile on face and sweep her off her legs. Someone to go on dates with, laugh with, cuddle with, make out with...

Aria blushed. She wanted to relax, but not get THAT relaxed. Maybe it would best to read something not so romantic... Pulling open her box, she shuffled through her books, looking for anything that wouldn't keep her up all night. Aria stopped when she came across her most precious book. A book she never actually read.

It was a book Grandpa made for her. She couldn't really bring herself to open the thing. The idea of reading a romance that Grandpa wrote, who is... well, GRANDPA, was just absolutely silly. Still, he said it had romance, but wasn't primarily about romance. Somewhat intrigued now on what Grandpa possibly would write, she cracked open the book...

A young unicorn colt barreled out of his room and ran towards the ballroom in the castle. Living in a Royal Castle deep within a magical forest is nice, but being in a secluded tower in a secluded castle in a SECLUDED FOREST made it very easy for anypony to lose track of time.

Aria chuckled, "anypony, really?.."

The colt had a light gray coat with a tinge of blue in it. His mane was a mess of colors, making it look like a rainbow. Somewhat small for his size, the colt had an ego more than large enough to make up for his height. His magenta eyes shined with intelligence; He was an adolescent, but also a prodigy, at his age he had already created five new spells. He usually wore a cocky grin on his face, but at the moment his face was ridden with concern.

The colt's name was Starswirl. He was the apprentice to the Alicorn of Creation, Loving Frost. He grew up making pottery with his earth pony parents. Not being so good with his hooves, he got frustrated and eventually made the very first transmutation spell in history. Loving Frost was making a tour of the country when she saw him cast his magic. Starswirl jumped at the opportunity to learn magic from the princess.

And now he was jumping down the stairs in fear.

Loving Frost made it very clear he had to attend social events. She also made it very clear what would happen if he DID NOT attend said social events. Starswirl held court in her place for day, and one day is all it took for him to gain a new level of respect for his mentor and a healthy fear of how stupid nobility could be. Not wanting to sit on a throne for 8 hours straight just to listen to one pony complaining about what another one did, he quickened his pace.

For once, Starswirl was glad that Frost forced him to exercise. He would have already been gasping for air when he skidded around the corner. The poor youth almost cried tears of joy when he saw the doors leading to the dance room. He slammed the doors opened.

"I'M HERE PRINCESS FROST!" Starswirl cheered.

The colt's grin slowly turned into a frown as he realized everypony in the ballroom was staring at him.

"Wonderful, my most exuberant student." Frost smiled at him. "I'm glad to see you're only an hour late this time."

"A- an hour? But..." Starswirl stammered.

He didn't understand! He was checking his clock all day while trying to create a...

"I DID IT! HAHA, I DID IT!!! I DID IT PRINCESS, I WENT FORWARD IN TIME USING MAGIC! I-..."

Everypony was glaring at him now.

"I... I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"It's quite alright my student, your excitement is understandable."

Starswirl gave her a hope filled smile.

"I'm sure a day managing the court tomorrow will help you to control that excitement."

Starswirl's head drooped, his worst fear had come true.

Frost chuckled, "Oh Starswirl, I am sorry, truly. But I'm afraid I can't let you off the hook, no matter how good your excuse is; especially since you always have one!"

"I understand Princess..."

"Starswirl slowly trotted over to the food stand to grab a drink while he sulked. It wasn't fair, he wasn't playing around or causing mischief. Why the princess have to punish him for simply studying magic? And each and everyday she always told him the same thing every time she kicked him out of the tower. "Make some friends!"

Starswirl almost jumped when he felt a hoof poking his shoulder.

"Hey!" A young pretty unicorn mare said. "Is it true, did you really time travel?

Starswirl puffed out his chest and grinned. "Of course! Doing something like time travel is easy for me, I'm the best wizard in the world! There's no unicorn more magical than me!"

She giggled, "Wow, really? My daddy says it was foolish to take a commoner on as a student, but you definitely act like royalty."

"What? Your Dad's full of it. Doesn't matter where you come from, you can do anything as long as you study hard enough!"

"Really, do you think I could learn how to time travel?"

"Yeah, it's easy, I'll have you jumping through time in, well, no time!" Starswirl frowned. "Well, once I work out how I time traveled in the first place..."

The young unicorn extended her hoof and fluttered her eyes at Starswirl. "My name is Platinum."

Starswirl stared at her hoof for a second before quickly shaking it. "S- Starswirl! I'm Starswirl... Nice to meet you."

"And it is nice..." Platinum pecked him on the cheek. "To meet you."

Starswirl sat there with his jaw hanging open as she slowly trotted away. He didn't notice his mentor sneaking up behind and-

The book gently slid out of Aria's grasp. Her worries of grandpa and self worth were long gone, now replaced with with thoughts of a castle full of strange creatures who could preform magic. Her conscious slipped away into a pleasant dream...