Chapters Two months had passed since Aria and Adagio had their blowup and had been spending very little time together. Adagio's friendship with Sunset had grown and Aria, outside of going to school, had spent more and more time alone at home.
Another morning arrived and like she had been more and more recently, Aria woke up to an empty house. While she had grown to detest her older sister over everything that had happened recently, she still looked into her room secretly hoping she was there. As she headed down to fix herself some breakfast there was a knock on her door. She groaned, "Ugh, who could that be?"
She answered the door and it was Sunset. She asked, "May I come in?"
Aria sighed, "Sure, what do you want?"
Sunset replied, "Given that you two haven't spent much time together recently I'm not sure if you remember this or not but today is the day Adagio graduates."
Aria grunted, "Oh, and she couldn't come and tell me this herself?"
Sunset replied, "She just doesn't feel like putting up with you and besides, I'm graduating today too. I thought I would see if you wanted to come to the ceremony."
Despite Aria having no desire to be anywhere around her sister, she decided she would go for Sunset, "Sure, why not? It's not like I have anything else to do."
While Sunset could tell that Aria wasn't exactly thrilled to be doing this, she was happy that she would at least show up to the ceremony. Aria asked, "So what time is this going to happen?"
Sunset replied, "The ceremony starts at two this afternoon."
Aria simply nodded and affirmed that she would be there. As Sunset left something began to cross her mind, she realized there was one other she wanted to see her graduate but worried that she may not be able to come.
When she got home she opened the book she used to communicate with Twilight and wrote,
"Dear Princess Twilight,
It is me, Sunset. First I would like to thank you for everything you have done for me, helping me see that friendship is far better than trying to manipulate others through fear. I do want you to know that today is a very special day for me. Today is the day that not only do I graduate, but also Applejack and I don't know if you care or not, but Adagio is also graduating. I hope you can make it but if you can't, I will understand because I know how busy princess life is.
Sincerely,
Sunset Shimmer"
In Ponyville it was just another day as Twilight and Starlight were busy having another magic competition. As they were having a contest on how quickly they could turn objects into something else, the two heard a buzzing noise. Starlight stopped casting her spells and asked, "Twilight, what is that buzzing noise?"
Twilight stopped and discovered that the book she has kept hidden from Starlight was notifying her that she had a message. She grabbed the book and opened it. Starlight headed her way and asked, "What is that Twilight? Why was your book vibrating?"
Twilight replied, "Just a message from a friend." She teleported into her chambers and read the message. She said, "Wow, Sunset's graduating! I've got to go and watch this."
She took a quill and wrote her reply,
"Sunset, that is wonderful news! You bet I'll come. See you soon!
Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle"
While Twilight was ready and raring to go, she knew that she couldn't just disappear without telling Starlight and grabbing Spike. She teleported back downstairs to find Starlight with a curious look on her face. She asked, "Twilight, what was all that about?"
Twilight replied, "Well uh," While this was one thing Twilight didn't want Starlight to know about but realized that given Starlight saw the book vibrate with her own eyes, she had to tell her. She continued, "Well Starlight, some friends of mine need me to go and visit them."
Starlight asked, "Was that what was up with that book?" She gave Twilight a more curious look and continued, "And how are they able to communicate with you through a book?"
Twilight knew that this would not be the easiest thing to explain and something else crossed her mind, she thought that maybe this would be a great opportunity for a friendship lesson. She asked, "Starlight, what would you think about going with Spike and I to visit my friends?"
Starlight replied, "I'd love to! Where do they live?"
Twilight said, "Follow me." She then yelled out, "Spike, come here, I need you."
Spike came running out of the kitchen, "Yes ma'am!"
Twilight replied, "Our friends in the human world need us."
Spike asked, "What's going on? Is it anything bad?"
Twilight replied, "No and Starlight is coming with us."
Spike asked, "Really? Are you sure you want her knowing about the mirror and portal."
Starlight had a nervous look on her face and replied, "Mirror, portal, what are you talking about?"
Twilight said, "Just follow me and you'll find out."
Starlight followed Twilight up to her chambers where she saw this mirror. Starlight had never seen anything like this before as it had all sorts of wires connected to other devices. She asked, "Twilight, what is that thing?"
Twilight replied, "It's a very long story but it is how I visit my friends in the human world."
Starlight had heard about humans before, from a chance encounter with Lyra when she was at the comic store buying the latest "My Little Human" comic book. She gave Twilight an odd look and asked, "Humans? You're joking, right?"
Twilight activated the mirror and replied, "I'm not joking." Twilight saw Starlight give the glowing mirror a look of uncertainty and continued, "Once we go through this mirror you'll see that humans are real."
Starlight sighed, "Ok, I'm still having a hard time believing you but I'll come."
Twilight, Starlight and Spike headed into the mirror. Twilight and Spike were excited to see their friends in the human world while despite knowing that Twilight wouldn't lie about something like this, Starlight was full of skepticism. She wouldn't believe in these human friends of Twilight's until she saw them with her own eyes.
It was early in the afternoon when they arrived outside of CHS. While Twilight had somewhat grown accustomed to becoming a human and walking on two legs, this was something Starlight had never experienced before and she fell forward, catching herself with her hands. She looked at what were now her arms and was in a state of shock. She asked, "Twilight, what has happened to me? What are these things?"
While Twilight remembered how it was on her first trip to the human world, she couldn't help but laugh, "Starlight, those are hands! You're a human now."
Starlight managed to get up on two legs and held her arms out to try and balance herself. She saw that not only had her and Twilight changed, but so had Spike. She looked at him and asked, "Twilight, what has happened to Spike? He looks like a purple dog."
Spike replied, "That's what I am in this world, a dog."
Like she has every other time she went to the world of humans, Twilight had a backpack for Spike to ride around in. They could hear people talking off in the distance so Twilight opened her backpack and ordered, "Spike, get in."
Spike hopped in her backpack and they headed towards the talking. Off in the distance Twilight could see Sunset, Applejack and Adagio and quickly started running towards them. Starlight tried to keep up with her but wound up stumbling and falling over several times before finally reaching them.
The first one to talk to Twilight was Sunset. She embraced her and said, "Twilight, it's been so long! I'm so happy to see you!"
Twilight replied, "It's good to see you too Sunset." She then headed over towards Applejack, pulled her into an embrace and continued, "And it's good to see you too!"
Applejack said, "Well it's wonderful to see you too sugar cube!"
Twilight took a look at Sunset and Applejack in their caps and gowns and asked, "You two look wonderful, I bet you're happy this day has finally come."
Sunset replied, "Yeah, finally!"
Applejack added, "Yep, now Ah can spend more time workin' on the farm."
Twilight cast her gaze at Adagio and asked, "Soooo....what are you planning now?"
Adagio gave her a nervous smile, "Right now I'm not sure. I've had so much go on lately, I haven't even thought about it."
Given that Twilight had never gotten to know Adagio after the battle of the bands, she only gave her a nervous smile. Sunset noticed that Twilight had a friend with her. She asked, "Twilight, who is this with you?"
Twilight turned to Starlight and motioned for her to reply, "I'm Starlight Glimmer, I am currently Twilight's student. Who are you?"
Sunset replied, "I'm Sunset Shimmer, one of Twilight's friends."
Despite the two being friends, Twilight seemed a bit unnerved that Sunset would have one of her former adversaries with her but then realized that maybe Sunset is doing a better job at making friends than she expected. She asked, "So Sunset, are you and Adagio friends?"
Before Sunset could reply Adagio interrupted, "Yes we're friends now and if it weren't for her friendship I don't even know where I would be right now."
Twilight was shocked. She gasped, "Really Sunset, you're friends with Adagio even after what she and her sisters did?"
Sunset replied, "Twilight, I did what I thought you would do. No one else in this school wanted anything to do with her and her sisters so I gave them a chance and while it wasn't easy at first, I befriended them."
Twilight developed a mile wide grin on her face as she replied, "Wow Sunset, I knew you had changed but I never imagined you'd take the initiative like that!" She cast her gaze towards Adagio and asked, "So was it just you Sunset befriended or did she become friends with your sisters as well."
The very mention of her sisters caused Adagio to hang her head low. Twilight saw this and asked, "What's wrong?"
Adagio buried her face in her hands causing Sunset to answer, "Right now isn't the best time to be bringing up her sisters."
Starlight, who had been quiet for the most part asked, "What happened with your sisters? Did all of you have a huge blow up or something?"
The continued talk about her sisters became too much for Adagio so she took off the other way. Sunset looked at the two and said, "I'd tell you what happened but I don't want to betray her trust. I'm the only one she trusts and I don't want to lose that or her friendship."
Twilight sighed, "Well I can understand that."
After running off, Adagio ran into someone she didn't really want to, her sister Aria. Aria saw that she was upset and couldn't help but wonder what upset her, "So Dagi, what upset you this time? Did someone bring up Sonata or something?"
Adagio grunted, "Not now Aria, this isn't the best time. Twilight was asking about it and I couldn't take it."
Aria's eyes grew wide when she heard this. She asked, "Twilight, as in Twilight Sparkle? The same Twilight who was responsible for destroying our gems?"
Adagio sighed, "Yes, that Twilight."
Aria saw which direction her sister had ran from and immediately headed that way. While she was in no mood for conversation from her enemy, she wanted to know a thing or two. When she finally found Twilight she saw that she was still talking to Sunset. She yelled, "Sunset, how's it going?" She then cast her gaze at Twilight and asked, "So Twilight, how are you?"
Twilight was shocked that Aria would actually ask her how she was doing. She gave her a nervous smile and replied, "Um, ok. How about you?"
Aria replied, "Well it could be better, it could be worse."
Twilight asked, "So what about Sonata, how is she doing?"
Aria cringed at the very mention of her name and the fact that she asked how she was doing made her nervous. Sunset saw this and interrupted, "Twilight, like it is with Adagio, bringing up her sisters isn't a good idea, especially Sonata."
Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. She remembered how close of sisters the Dazzlings were and now here they are not even wanting to speak about one another. She asked, "So did you three have a fight after the battle of the bands?"
Again Aria didn't want to discuss this stuff, she wanted to know about Twilight's life and Equestria. She lied, "We didn't have a huge blow up but I have a question, how is life in Equestria?"
Twilight, thinking that perhaps Aria had changed some like Adagio, replied, "Oh nothing special is going on. With the exception of me having a student" she pointed at Starlight who gave Aria a nervous smile "things are pretty normal."
Aria asked, "So have you had to defeat any villains lately? Have you had to cast anyone into Tartarus?"
Twilight replied, "Well we haven't had to cast anyone into Tartarus but my student here" she pointed at Starlight "was part of a team of friends that saved Equestria from a second attack from Chrysalis."
Aria gave Starlight a smile and said, "Well that's good that you saved Equestria. I doubt anyone would want to live under her rule." Once she found out that things in Equestria are pretty normal she decided it was time to go. She gave Twilight a smile and continued, "Well I really must get going" She began to walk away before lying, "I need to go get Dagi so she won't be late."
Aria casually headed off in not the direction of where Adagio had ran, but the portal. She thought to herself, "Yes, Twilight is here which means the portal is open!" Once she got out of sight from Twilight and Sunset, she picked up the pace. Finally she reached the base of the old statue where the portal was located.
She took a look at what used to be the base of a horse statue with a smile. She looked back and laughed, "Good riddance Dagi, good riddance humans, you are all the worst!" She looked back towards the portal and said, "And Equestria, here I come!"
She stepped into the portal leaving a bright flash of light behind her. As she was traveling through the portal, so many memories from so long ago came back to her. Memories of she and her sisters trying to take over Equestria with their voices came back, their encounter with Starswirl came back and the trip through that portal when they were banished came back to her. After what seemed to be forever to her, she flew through the other end of the portal and crashed head first onto the floor, knocking herself unconscious.
Aria finally did it, she was able to escape the world of humans and return to Equestria. In the process of going through the portal, she crashed head first into the floor in Twilight's chambers, knocking herself unconscious. When she finally came to she looked around at her surroundings with curiosity. She pulled herself up onto her hooves and realized that something didn't seem right. She looked in the mirror and saw that she was not a siren, but a unicorn.
At first she was not overly thrilled but then realized that this transformation would make life much easier for her. Not only would it make it easy for her to blend in and avoid detection, it would also make life easier given that she now had magic. Standing on four legs wasn't hard for her but it was walking on four legs that would prove to be a bit of a challenge for her. On a couple of attempts to simply get out of Twilight's bedroom she fell but it didn't take her long to be able to handle walking like a pony.
Given that she was in a castle, which was obviously Twilight's, she couldn't help but wonder what part of Equestria she was in. Once she found her way out of the castle she found herself in a quaint village filled with all sorts of ponies. She looked around nervously and despite knowing that nopony would ever know who she was or even know about her history, she couldn't help but be nervous. One thing she did know though was that she was hungry and had to find a place to get a bite to eat.
She saw that a market was set up in the middle of town and figured that was a good place to start. She would not be overly thrilled when she saw ponies exchanging bits for food. She realized that she simply couldn't go begging the vendors for food, that she would have to find somepony generous enough to give her something until she could find a job and get a paycheck.
She smelled something quite familiar, something tasty. She headed into what appeared to be a sweets shop and was greeted by a pink earth pony, "Hello, I've never seen you before!"
Aria was nervous, very nervous as she was about to communicate with the first Equestrian in over 1,000 years. She replied, "Well I'm new here. I do have a question, where am I?"
This caused the pony to give her a curious look, "Well you're in Ponyville!"
Ponyville. That was a place that did not exist the last time Aria was in Equestria. While she was already nervous, she was even more nervous at this point, so nervous that she didn't have her usual attitude about her. She wasn't sure exactly what to say but said, "Ponyville, ok." Her stomach began to growl loudly prompting her to ask, "I don't mean to be a bother but do you have something to eat."
The pony handed her a cupcake and replied, "Sure, have a cupcake!"
This would be another challenge for her. Since she no longer had hands, she would have to find some other way to grab the treat. She grabbed the cupcake with her mouth and used one hoof to hold onto it while she ate it, prompting the pony to wonder why she wasn't using her magic.
She asked, "Uh, why aren't you using your magic?"
Aria replied, "Well I can't access it."
Pinkie asked, "Why not?"
Aria again became nervous. She knew she couldn't just tell her the truth so she lied, "Well my parents never taught me and I was the only unicorn in my school so we didn't have magic books."
Pinkie had a sad look on her face, "I'm sorry about that." Her sad look changed to a smile and she continued, "Don't you worry, my friend Twilight is great with magic! I bet she could teach you!"
Twilight, the one name that Aria did not want to hear. She replied, "Uh, ok. I'll have to check that out.
Aria had finished her cupcake and really wanted to get going but wanted to know one thing. She continued, "You wouldn't happen to know if anywhere is hiring, would you?"
Pinkie replied, "Well there is this dentist that has a help wanted sign in her window, you could always ask her!"
Aria said, "Dentist's office, got it." Before Pinkie could say anything she rushed out the door to find this place. At this moment she was kind of regretting returning to Equestria but realized that it was either this or continue to put up with her sister who she had grown distant from and what would likely be a very uncertain and possibly unpleasant future in the human world.
Learning to Use Her Magic
The following morning arrived and Aria was woken up before sunrise by Colgate, "Aria, get up. I want us to eat breakfast and get up to Canterlot."
This was one thing that Aria had not experienced in ages, being woke up before sunrise. She wiped her eyes and groaned, "This early? The sun hasn't even come up yet!"
Colgate replied, "If you're going to live with me, you'll have to get used to it. I'm an early riser and I like to get things done as quickly as possible."
Aria nodded and crawled out of bed. She was shocked when she got into the dining room. She discovered that Colgate and Lyra had cooked a hearty meal for them. On her plate were eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns and to go along with it, the three had a pitcher of cider. She was in a state of shock as never had she had such a hearty breakfast. She never had much as a siren and there were times in the human world where she had to do without breakfast and even when she had it, the meals were meager. She asked, "This is all for me? I've never seen this kind of breakfast in my life!"
Colgate replied, "Yep, everything on that plate is for you. You may dislike getting up early but after seeing this, I hope you'll think it is worth it."
Aria gave her a smile, "You bet it is worth it!"
After eating their breakfast Colgate and Aria headed to the train station to head to Canterlot. While such things were common in the human world, she never remembered such things existing in Equestria before she was banished. The ride up to Canterlot was quiet but not uncomfortable. Once they disembarked from the train Colgate said, "Follow me, I'll take you to the library."
Aria followed her as they headed through town. Like she was in Ponyville, she couldn't help but be nervous knowing that it is the capitol city. When they went into the library Aria was shocked. Never before in her life had she seen so many books in one place. She commented, "Wow, this library is huge! It is nothing like any other library I have ever seen!"
Colgate asked, "Aria, I thought you said you lived out in the middle of nowhere and that it was just a couple of months ago that you ventured out on your own?"
Aria replied, "Ok, I did go through uhm....well I can't remember exactly where but they did have a small library. I went in there but they had no books on magic."
This made Colgate wonder a bit about what Aria had told her but didn't think much of it. When they reached the magic section Colgate levitated some of the basic magic books down to them. Aria saw this and was shocked that Colgate could so easily get the books down. She asked, "Colgate, how were you able to get those books down so easily?"
Colgate replied, "I've been studying magic my whole life and I learned levitation when I was just a filly. I actually had it down before I was accepted into Celestia's school."
Aria said, "Wow, you must have been really talented."
Colgate replied, "I am very talented." She pointed towards the books and continued, "Let's get you started."
Aria used her hooves to open the first book and began to go over the material. As she began to read it, it was like trying to read a foreign language to her. She asked, "Colgate, could you help me? While I can read it, trying to understand the material is like trying to understand Latin."
Colgate gave her an odd look and asked, "What the hay is Latin?"
Aria quickly realized that she had slipped up by using something from the human world as an analogy. She replied, "Oh, it was just a term that my parents would use."
Colgate sighed, "Uh-huh." She leaned over Aria's shoulder and continued, "Alright, I can understand that the language here may be a bit hard for beginners to understand so I'll go over this with you in laymen's terms."
Colgate began to translate everything into something that anypony could understand and it didn't take long for Aria to get it. She commented, "Oh, so that's what all that means!"
Colgate replied, "Alright, now that you've read it and seem to understand it, I want you to try to levitate one of these books."
Aria nodded and began to try to do it. She lit up her horn and at first all that came out were a few sparks but she was not one to give up easily. She focused more on the book and grabbed it in her aura. She was grunting and she was putting all of her newly accessed energy into trying to do this and after a few minutes of trying, she was able to lift the book a few inches off the table before dropping it.
Aria had a look of frustration on her face as she was disappointed in her lack luster performance. Before she could say anything a couple of young colts walked by and one said, "Oooh, look at that loser!"
The other added, "Yeah, a full grown unicorn and she can just barely lift a book!"
This angered Aria. She snapped, "You know what, you know nothing about me so just shut up."
The two laughed which prompted Aria to continue, "You know what, you two are the worst!"
The two laughed again before walking away and Colgate had a curious look on her face. She asked, "What was all that about and what do you mean they are 'the worst?'"
Again Aria realized that she had messed up, only much more so. She knew that she simply couldn't let her angry outbursts or the personality she had dating back to when she was a siren show in the event Colgate knew about their history. She replied, "I'm sorry Colgate, I'm just frustrated and them laughing like that really angered me."
Colgate patted her on the shoulder and replied, "Oh don't worry about it. I wanted to say something but had I told them what I wanted to say, I likely would have got us both banned from here." She pointed back at the book and continued, "Alright, you've shown that you can levitate, we just have to get you to where you can put more energy into it."
Aria nodded and Colgate continued to translate the material into words that are easier to understand. Soon Colgate got them to the section she considered vital, learning to add strength into her spells. Colgate said, "Alright, to really get this down you need to not only focus on the object, but picture it being lifted in your mind. That will help you tap into the abilities that you can't access right now."
Aria replied, "Alright, I'll do my best." Aria again grabbed the book in her aura but this time she pictured the book being lifted in her mind and she was easily able to lift the book.
Colgate put her leg around her and said, "Wow, you're learning fast! Even I wasn't able to go from just barely being able to lift it to easily lifting it!"
Aria replied, "Thanks"
Colgate returned those books to their appropriate place and grabbed another book, one on hornwriting. She said, "Alright, since it looks like you have levitation down already, we need to work on your hornwriting."
Aria asked, "Hornwriting?"
Colgate replied, "Your hornwriting. I saw how you were when you were trying to fill out that job application. Unicorns can grab a hold of pens and simply use their magic to make their writing legible."
Very soon it hit Aria as to what Colgate was talking about. She said, "Oh, my handwriting!"
Colgate gave her an odd look before laughing, "Handwriting? What did you do, get up in the night and read Lyra's comic books?"
Aria asked, "Lyra's comic books?"
Colgate continued to laugh, "Her comic books are called 'My Little Human.' They are about these mythological creatures called humans." Her laugh only grew louder, "Get this, my sister actually believes that in some other dimension those creatures actually exist! I've tried telling her for years that they aren't real but even though she is an adult, she still insists they exist."
Aria gave her a nervous laugh, "Yeah, that does sound kind of odd."
Colgate continued, "Ok, enough about my sister's beliefs. Let's get back to work." Colgate went and grabbed some paper and a pen. She then set them down in front of Aria. She opened the book on hornwriting and said, "Ok, I want you to read the start of this, focus on the material and then once you think you are ready, I want you to write your name on that paper."
Aria focused intently on the material and after ten minutes, she decided to take a shot at writing her name. She grabbed the pen and wrote her name on the paper. Colgate was amazed that her hornwriting was as good as it was. She gasped, "Wow Aria, for a unicorn who is using magic to write her name for the very first time, that looks amazing!"
Aria was thrilled that she was able to grasp all of this so easily. She grabbed Colgate and replied, "Thanks Colgate, thanks for helping me with this!"
Colgate said, "Well we will be working on this more during the upcoming week but there is one thing that is vital that you learn to be able to be my receptionist, you must learn how to use a computer.
Aria replied, "But I already know how to use a computer."
Colgate asked, "How? How do you know how to use a computer if you grew up in the middle of nowhere? Where did you learn to use one?"
Once again Aria had slipped up, saying something that doesn't go along with what she told Colgate about her past. She knew she had to lie her way out of this, "Well after I left my hometown and I stopped in a town with a library and computers, the librarian sort of showed me how it works."
Colgate led her over to the computers and said, "Well let's see how good you are."
Aria looked at it and turned it on. She sat down at it and once it fired up and the icons were on the desktop she asked, "So, what program do you want me to open?"
Colgate pointed to the icon for a word processing program. Aria grabbed the mouse and clicked on it. It was hard for her to click it with her hoof at first but eventually got the program up and running. Colgate ordered, "Ok, now let's check your typing skills."
Aria gave her a nervous look and began to type. In the human world it was easy for her given that fingers were small and despite Equestrian keyboards being larger as they were designed for hooves, she still had a lot of problems. Aria tried typing the first thing that came to mind,
"My sitr Adgio ids tge witds, sje toik the aife of thw ;osera thAr saud i shoudln havew sid anytyont avour Somars at het fumerak."
Colgate looked at this and sighed, "Ok, you may know how to use a computer but you have no clue on how to type." She began to walk away and continued, "I'm going to grab a book that will explain the process involved in using your magic to type. It will go into detail about the energies involved in it."
While Colgate headed off to grab the appropriate book and Aria looked at what she had typed. She realized that once again she had made a mistake but luckily it was so messed up that Colgate couldn't make it out. When Colgate returned she placed the book off to Aria's side. She said, "Ok, I want you to read through the first part of this and then try to type what you attempted to earlier."
Aria began to read through the material and as she read it, she couldn't believe how easy typing could be for a unicorn. What bothered her though is that Colgate wanted her to type the exact thing she tried to earlier made her nervous. She did know though that she would have to and hope that Colgate wouldn't think anything of it. She typed,
"My sister Adagio is the worst. She took the side of those that said I shouldn't have said anything about Sonata at her funeral."
Colgate read it and said, "Now that is much better! Once we get back to Ponyville I'll teach you to use the program I use to schedule appointments and the program for billing." She took a closer look at what she typed and asked, "You have a sister?"
Aria replied, "Yes, I do. Her name is Adagio Dazzle."
Colgate and asked, "Who is this Sonata you mentioned having a funeral?"
Aria replied, "She is my other sister."
Colgate asked, "Ok, you mention a funeral. I thought you said that you barely met any other ponies until after your parents died and you went out on your own." Her voice became more intense as she continued, "You make it sound like a lot of ponies showed up to her funeral and that there were some troublemakers."
This really unnerved Aria. While she had figured out ways to lie her way out of other things, she had gone into way too much detail this time. After a couple of nervous looks she replied, "Well this happened after my sisters and I left....." Aria finally realized that she should stop lying and tell Colgate the truth if she wants to stay in her good graces. She held her head low and asked, "Colgate, can we talk somewhere in private?"
Colgate sighed, "Yeah, sure. Let's get going and I'll get us a hotel for the week so I can keep on teaching you more magic. I want you to at least be good with basic magic so that you'll be able to do your job efficiently."
The two left the library and headed towards a local hotel. Aria was nervous, very nervous as she knew that her very future could be at stake over how Colgate reacted to her initial lies and the fact that she is one of the sirens that was banished so long ago.
Author's Note
Most of this chapter will be done in a back and forth dialogue format.
Revealing Her Past
After getting finished at the library, Aria and Colgate headed to a hotel to get a room for the week. Aria was very happy that Colgate wanted to spend that much time helping her with her magic but knowing that Colgate wanted to know more about Adagio and Sonata frightened her yet she knew that things may wind up much worse if she keeps up with the lies and it is discovered later on than it would be if she just let her know now.
Revealing Her Past
After they checked in they headed up to their room and plopped on their beds. The relaxation would not last long as Colgate wanted to know the truth about Sonata's funeral and why it sounded like there were plenty of ponies in attendance. She asked, "Aria, back to where we were, why did you make it sound like a lot of ponies went to Sonata's funeral yet you claim you hardly met anypony until after you left home?"
Aria replied, "Colgate, I have to admit something to you. The things I have told you are a lie, I didn't come from some remote town."
Colgate sat up with a scowl and snapped, "What? You lied to me?" Her glare deepened and her voice became angrier, "Tell me then, what is your REAL story?"
Aria replied, "Well it is a rather long story."
Colgate sighed, "I'm listening."
Aria began, "Well like I told you, my name is Aria Blaze. Long, long ago my sisters and I were sirens here in Equestria...."
Colgate interrupted, "You're joking, right?"
Aria continued, "No, I am not joking. Given that you went to Celestia's school I'm sure you studied history and know how Starswirl banished three sirens to a different world through some sort of mirror."
Colgate sighed, "Yes, I along with every other unicorn who has been in Celestia's school knows about that. We all know how the sirens tried to destroy the world with their hate creating singing."
Aria continued, "Well I was one of those sirens that were banished. The other two were Adagio Dazzle and Sonata Dusk."
Colgate took a much closer look at her and replied, "I knew that manestyle you have looked familiar, that is the same manestyle the purple siren that was banished wore."
Aria continued, "Yes, that was me. Once my sisters and I were banished I kept the same style."
Colgate asked, "Tell me, where were you banished and what was the place you were banished to like? Was it like Tartarus, was it some sort of void where there is nothing or what?"
Aria continued, "No, he banished us to the world of humans...."
Colgate broke down laughing, "Ok Aria, enough with this. You know just as well as I do that there are no such things as humans."
Aria replied, "Actually Colgate, there is. We were banished there and it was believed that in that world we would not be able to harm anyone but since we still had our red pendants we still had our singing voices and we were able to."
Colgate laughed, "Oh and if you were banished there, how the hay did you get back?"
Aria replied, "Well Twilight Sparkle is in possession of that mirror and fixed it to where she can open it when she wants. She had been there before and I knew where she came from so when she returned for one of her friend's graduation, I knew the portal was open and I came home."
Colgate's scowl returned as she asked, "You're joking, right? You mean to tell me that Twilight has this mirror and is basically using it like a toy?" Her voice became more intense as she continued, "I find that very hard to believe."
Aria replied, "Well if Twilight hasn't returned from the human world yet and we can get into her castle, I'll prove it!"
One part of Colgate wanted to believe her but the other part knew that she couldn't just go into Twilight's castle and show her. She sighed, "Well let's go to Ponyville and see if Twilight is home. If she isn't, I can unlock her door and you can show me this thing."
Aria got up and said, "Well let's go."
Proving Her Case
As Aria and Colgate headed to the train station, Aria was nervous. She knew she was right but couldn't help but wonder if Twilight was already home and she would not be able to show it to Colgate. Colgate however, was pretty sure that Aria was simply telling her a tall tale knowing that her claim could never be proven true.
When they arrived in Ponyville all seemed to be normal, the market was set up and ponies were out doing their regular business. The two headed to Twilight's castle to see if she was home. Colgate knocked and asked, "Twilight, are you home?"
There was no answer and after a couple of minutes, Colgate attempted to unlock the door and much to her surprise, the door was unlocked. She asked, "Aria, was it unlocked when you left this place after you allegedly returned to Equestria?"
Aria replied, "No, I unlocked it on my way out."
The two headed in and Aria led Colgate up to Twilight's chambers. Colgate was shocked by what she saw. Sure enough, there was the mirror but it looked vastly different than it did in the history books as it was connected to all sorts of devices. Aria pointed at it and continued, "Just walk through it and you'll see that I'm not lying."
Colgate sighed, "Very well, follow me."
The two walked through the mirror and when they arrived on the other side, both stumbled forward onto their hands and knees. Colgate looked at herself and asked, "What the hay? Other than my skin color I look like those hideous things in my sister's comic books."
Aria gave her an intense look and asked, "Do you believe me now? Do you believe me when I say I was a siren that was banished to the human world?"
Colgate sighed, "Yes Aria, I believe you."
As they were trying to get up they heard voices heading towards the portal. Aria yelled, "It's Twilight, Starlight, Sunset and my sister Adagio! We have to get back through the portal before they see us! We have to get out of here, get out of Twilight's castle and get back up to Canterlot!"
Colgate nodded and while Aria had got up on her feet and ran through, Colgate crawled through on her hands and knees. Once they returned to Equestria they knew that they likely didn't have much time to get out so they galloped out of Twilight's castle and off to the train station. Some of the ponies in town were curious as to why they would be galloping through the center of town but luckily for them, nopony saw them come out of Twilight's castle.
When they arrived at the train station Aria was beginning to speak when Colgate whispered into her ear, "Not a word until we are back in our hotel room, got it?"
Aria nodded and the two boarded the train. They were very quiet on the ride up there and did not say much of anything until they got back to their hotel room. Once they got back to their room Colgate apologized, "I'm sorry for doubting you Aria. I never imagined that Twilight had that thing and I'll be honest, I always questioned whether the whole thing involving Starswirl and banishing sirens was even real, one part of me thought it was just an old mare's tale." She plopped back on her bed and asked, "So what all happened while you were in that world?"
Aria replied, "Well like I said, while for quite some time we weren't able to cause many problems with our singing, once we got to Canterlot High where there was actually Equestrian magic, we were able to create a lot of hate through our singing and had it not been for Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer, my sisters and I could have not only conquered that high school, but that world."
Colgate said, "Well perhaps it is best you didn't. If the humans there are anything like the ones in my sister's comic books, they have no magic and that would be a horrible way to live, not having magic."
Aria replied, "I'll admit, it wasn't the most pleasant place for us but eventually, after a thousand years, we finally adjusted and after we were defeated at the battle of the bands, they finally began to tolerate the place but my hatred for it and my desire to come home never died."
Colgate asked, "This battle of the bands, what was it anyway?"
Aria replied, "Well it was this contest at that high school to see which students had the best band. In the end it was my sisters and I going up against Twilight and her loser friends."
Colgate gasped, "What, she has been there before?"
Aria replied, "Yes, she has. I don't know how she knew but after my sisters and I began to really have an impact on that place, she shows up and using her freaky magic they not only defeated us, but they shattered our red pendants that helped us not only sing well and stir up hate, but to live for as long as we did."
Colgate asked, "So what happened to those pendants anyway?"
Aria began to become agitated, "Well like I said, it was Twilight and her loser friends that used a freaky spell to not only defeat us but they destroyed our pendants! After that, we lost our immortality over there and began to age normally." She began angrier and snapped, "And without them we couldn't sing anymore! We went from having beautiful voices to sounding horrible!" She eventually snapped, "Ugh, I swear, they are the worst!"
Colgate gave her a smile and this angered Aria, "Why are you smiling over that? Are you amused that I can't sing anymore?"
Colgate replied, "No, that is not the case. It seems as though those pendants allowed you three to cause a lot of problems but without it, you can't stir up hate by singing nor can you cause any problems. I am smiling because this way you are just an ordinary unicorn who means nopony any harm and that could help you get your citizenship."
Aria asked, "Regarding the whole citizenship thing, what am I going to tell Celestia about my past? She just can't know that at one time I was a siren, can she?"
Colgate replied, "Aria, the best thing to do with Celestia is to be honest. If I were you I would open up about everything. If she sees that you are not afraid to share your past despite what could happen, that will gain you her respect. Also, when she sees that you can not harm anypony and by having me there to vouch for you, I think you'll be able to get your citizenship and after that, a job as my receptionist."
Despite what Colgate said, Aria became nervous. She asked, "But what if she wants to banish me to Tartarus or even worse, throw me back into that stupid place I escaped from. I don't want to get thrown back there!"
Colgate put her hoof around her and replied, "Aria, just be truthful with her. Honesty is a virtue in her eyes and like I said, with me there to vouch for you, you should be fine."
Aria asked, "So when will we go see Celestia about this?"
Colgate replied, "Like I said not too long after I offered to help you with everything, we will go see her on Monday morning." Colgate yawned and saw that it was getting late. She continued, "I don't know about you but I'm getting really tired. How about we get some sleep and tomorrow I'll help you with your magic more?"
Aria said, "Sounds good."
Colgate replied, "Ok, well good night."
Aria returned, "Good night."
As she laid there trying to get to sleep, Aria still couldn't believe it. She still couldn't believe that a pony who was once in Celestia's school would do so much for her. She was ecstatic that she was helping her with her magic but she was even happier that despite learning that she was one of the sirens that was banished, that Colgate still wanted to help her get Equestrian citizenship.
A Discussion With Celestia
After a very productive day of studying magic and improving her skills, Aria and Colgate wake up on Monday ready themselves for what would be one of the most important days in Aria's life, her meeting with Princess Celestia where she not only would reveal her past, but would seek Equestrian citizenship.
Before they would head to the palace though, they would head down to the lobby to have some breakfast. While the breakfast Colgate served her was amazing, the buffet the hotel had was beyond amazing to Aria. She quickly grabbed herself a large serving of eggs, bacon, hash browns and naturally, a large glass of cider.
Colgate saw this and asked, "I take it you like what you see?"
Aria replied, "You know Colgate, ever since I've been back and met you, I've had the best meals in my life!"
Colgate asked, "Hmmm....I would have thought you had plenty of good meals in the human world."
Aria replied, "I will admit, I saw a few good meals but still, nothing like this!" She began to head towards a table and continued, "Enough about that though, let's eat and then head to the palace."
Colgate gave her a smile and the two sat down to eat. Despite being fairly nervous, Aria was downing her meal very quickly. This shocked Colgate because whenever she was nervous, she would normally have problems eating.
Once they were finished eating they headed to the palace and were greeted by two guards. One asked, "Halt, who goes there?"
The other added, "State your business."
Colgate replied, "My name is Dr. M. Colgate. At one time I was in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. The unicorn with me is Aria Blaze and both of us need to speak to the princess."
The guard said, "Well follow me and I will see if she will see you."
They followed the guard towards the throne room and while it was completely foreign to Aria, Colgate remembered the layout of the palace very well. When they approached the entrance to the throne room the guard continued, "You two stay here, I will see if Celestia will see you or not."
The two nodded as the guard headed towards the throne where Celestia was sitting. He continued, "Your Majesty, there are two unicorns here who wish to speak to you."
Celestia asked, "What are the names of these unicorns?"
The guard replied, "One of them identifies herself as Dr. M. Colgate and the other goes by the name of Aria Blaze."
The name Dr. M. Colgate was very familiar to Celestia so she replied, "Dr. Colgate was one of my students in the past so I will see them."
The guard grabbed the two unicorns and led them towards the throne. The first to say anything was Celestia, "Colgate, it has been so long! How have you been?"
Colgate replied, "Things have been going quite well, how about yourself?"
Celestia said, "Well, princess life can be stressful. I've dealt with foreign dignitaries, I have been teaching students, handling the sun like always and the most important thing, having plenty of cake!" Celestia looked back towards the dining hall and continued, How about you two join me for some cake and we can talk."
Colgate asked, "Do you have any sugar free? You know how I am when it comes to sweets."
Celestia replied, "I know, I know, the dentist in you won't have it so I'll see what I can do."
The two headed back to the dining hall where they were immediately greeted by one of the chefs. He asked, "Your mid-morning cake I take it?"
Celestia replied, "Well make that two servings" she pointed at Colgate and continued, "and if it is at all possible, I need a slice of sugar free because she is a dentist and won't eat sugar."
The chef nodded and headed back to fix their treats. Celestia cast her gaze at Colgate and asked, "Colgate, so what brings you here and who is this with you?"
Colgate replied, "The pony with me is named Aria Blaze and has a major problem and something that she must reveal to you."
Celestia had a look of curiosity on her face as she said, "Alright Aria, tell me what it is you wish to tell me."
Aria began, Your Majesty, I know this may sound odd to you and I have a feeling it may anger you but this concerns my history."
Celestia became very curious and replied, "Alright, I'm listening."
Aria continued, "Long ago, my sisters and I caused much strife here in Equestria. We were sirens and I was one of the three that Starswirl the Bearded banished from Equestria through a mirror."
Celestia at first thought that Aria was joking but then realized that Colgate would not bring a pony before her to tell tall tales. She raised her brow and said, "Seriously, you were a siren? How can that be, you are a unicorn."
Colgate interrupted, "Your Majesty, I think I know why that is but just let her tell you everything. When she told me it was a lot to take in but I assure you, what she is going to tell you is the truth."
Celestia replied, "Alright Aria, please continue."
Aria continued, "Like I said, my sisters and I caused a lot of hate in Equestria with our singing until we were banished by Starswirl. He wound up banishing us to the world of humans. Before he cast us through some mirror I remember him telling us that we would never cause anyone any kind of problems there and for hundreds and hundreds of years, we did not until we decided to enroll in a school in that world."
Celestia said, "I see, please continue."
Aria continued, "This school was known as Canterlot High School."
Celestia's ears perked up as she knew about the place since it was where Sunset Shimmer came from when she stole Twilight's crown. With a curious look on her face she asked, "What happened there?"
Aria continued, "Well, as you know sirens draw power off of hatred that we generate from our singing. When Starswirl banished us we managed to hold onto our red pendants that gave us that power. When we got there something seemed strange about the place. With most people in that world, we couldn't gather much hate but there, our singing generated a great amount of it and we were able to start manipulating the other students there and even get them under our power."
Celestia asked, "Oh, and what happened next?"
Aria continued, "It seemed like we were going to have that whole school under our power and eventually we wanted to go on to take the whole world but it was Twilight Sparkle and a group of friends there that had some sort of counter-spell song that they used and with the aid of this girl known as Sunset Shimmer, was able to defeat us and shatter our pendants."
Celestia asked, "Oh, and what happened once those pendants were shattered?"
Aria continued, "Well my sisters and I lost our singing abilities along with our ability to cause problems. After that, we became regular teenage girls trying to get through school and life in general."
Celestia asked, "Aria, I want you to sing me a song that you and your sisters sang to cause problems in that world."
Aria protested, "But I sound horrible!"
Celestia requested, "Aria, I need to know if what you say is true. Please, sing me a song."
Aria sighed, "Well, here I go
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn't know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you're under our spell
Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh
Now you've fallen under our spell
Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
We've got the music, makes you move it
We've got the music, makes you move it
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn't know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you're under our spell
Listen to the sound of my voice
Oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh
Soon you'll find you don't have a choice
Oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh
Captured in the web of my song
Oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh
Soon you'll all be singing along
Oh, whoa, oh
We've got the music, makes you move it
We've got the music, makes you move it
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn't know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you're under our spell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn't know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you're under our spell"
When Celestia heard this, she thought Aria sounded alright but given that nothing happened with them, that she posed no threat. She said, "Well, the lyrics are catchy but I don't think you'll be brainwashing anypony with it. Now back to where you were."
Aria continued, "Ok, like I said we became regular teenage girls trying to get through the life of a typical teenage girl. We had school to deal with and after what happened with the whole song and brainwashing a lot of students, no one really liked us."
Celestia replied, "Well that is sad that no one liked you."
Aria continued, "Eventually people got to where they would tolerate us but we did have one friend, Sunset Shimmer."
Celestia asked, "This Sunset Shimmer, what did she look like?"
Aria replied, "Well she had yellow and red hair, it kind of resembled how bacon looks when it is cooked."
Celestia chuckled, "That is what a lot of my students always said when she was my protege, some of them called her bacon mare." She became more serious and continued, "Ok, enough about that. I want to know why you came back to Equestria after being banished and much more importantly, how you got back. Starswirl assumed after he banished you three that you would never be able to return."
Aria continued, "Well, Princess Twilight Sparkle visits the human world sometimes and recently she went there to attend the graduation of Sunset and this other girl named Applejack. As for why I came home, my sister Adagio just couldn't put up with one another anymore and I always wanted to be able to come home. I knew where that portal was and when she showed up, I knew I could come home."
Celestia became very angry, "What? Twilight is just traveling back and forth with that thing? She isn't keeping me informed when she is using it? Doesn't she know how dangerous that is?"
Aria replied, "I wouldn't know but when I returned to Equestria, I noticed that she had that thing hooked up to a lot of different devices."
Colgate added, "I might be wrong but I think she has fixed that thing to where she can open it whenever she wants rather than waiting for it to open every thirty moons like I learned it does in my obscure pony history class."
Celestia pounded her hoof on the table and noticed that Aria shied back. She said, "I'm sorry about the angry outburst. I am upset that Twilight would just use that thing like it is a toy and come and go as she......"
Celestia would be interrupted by the chef when he brought in three slices of cake. He said, "Your cake your Majesty."
Celestia licked her chops and her mood became much more cheerful, "Thank you." She pointed her hoof at Colgate and continued, "And remember, she's the one that wants sugar free."
The chef nodded and gave the other two their cake. Celestia asked, "Besides you admitting to being one of the sirens, I'm sure you want to discuss something else as well."
Aria replied, "That is true your Majesty."
Celestia said, "Alright, but first thing is first, we are going to have our cake and I have one huge rule when it comes to cake, no serious discussions! I want to enjoy my cake and I want my guests to enjoy theirs!"
At this point, everything seemed to be going alright and given that Celestia seemed to not have any negative reaction to her past, she thought everything would be fine. Naturally she wanted to move on to the citizenship issue but knew that bringing that up now would be a bad idea, especially given Celestia's stance on what is to be discussed while she is having cake.
After what seemed to be a good discussion over Aria's past and a casual discussion over cake, the three wanted to get back to business. Celestia asked, "Alright, where were we? Oh yes, you had shared you history with me and said you want to talk to me about something else."
Aria asked, "That is correct your Majesty."
Celestia replied, "What else do you wish to discuss?"
Aria asked, "Given that you did not have any negative reaction about my past, the first thing I would like to know is if you are going to wind up banishing me again?"
Celestia gave her a smile, "Goodness no! You don't have any powers that would allow you to cause anypony any harm, you seem friendly and I am going to be honest, I never expected anypony with your history to come to me and not only admit your past, but to go into such detail about it so no, I will not be banishing you anywhere."
Colgate nudged Aria and said, "Aria, ask her about what I brought you up here for."
Aria asked, "Princess Celestia, I do have another thing to ask you. I want to become a productive citizen of Equestria and to apply for a job, I have to be a citizen and have an ID number but I don't have one of those."
Colgate added, "She wants to be my receptionist but I'm not going to hire somepony without proper identification."
Celestia replied, "I can understand that." She turned to Aria and continued, "Follow me. I may be pretty old but I think that back in the day that sirens were Equestrian citizens and had the same rights as ponies and had ID numbers."
The two followed Celestia into a wing of the palace that not even Colgate knew existed. After a long ten minute walk the three arrived in a dimly lit room that looked like it was not entered very often. Celestia asked, "Aria, do you remember how long ago it was when you were banished?"
Aria replied, "It had to be at least a thousand years ago."
While she was not sure exactly where it would be, she headed into the earlier birth records and began her long, arduous search. After nearly two hours of digging through folders she pulled out a folder with Aria's name on it. She returned it to her and said, "I think I found it."
Aria opened it and sure enough, there was a record of her. In the folder was her birth certificate, a copy of her Equestrian Citizenship Card and a picture taken not too long after she was born. Colgate saw this and said, "Awwww....you were such an adorable little thing!"
Celestia put her hoof around Aria and added, "I'm betting she was the most adorable baby siren!"
Aria said, "I was not adorable! I'm sure Sonata was but I was not adorable!" Aria wanted to get away from them talking about her being adorable so she asked, "Princess Celestia, I'm wondering if I could get a copy of my birth certificate and get a new ID card because I doubt my originals are still around after being gone for so long."
Celestia replied, "Of course you can." She then became more serious, "After we get that done I want the three of us to pay Twilight a visit."
Colgate asked, "Why all three of us?"
Celestia replied, "You'll find out when we get there."
Aria was not only relieved but she was happy, she was the happiest she could remember ever being. She was happy because finally she could start over, she could live like every other citizen, she would have the proper documents to be able to apply for jobs and luckily for her, Colgate was more than ready to hire her.
Author's Note
Aria's Baby Picture
When she woke up that morning, Aria was very nervous over what Celestia would say and do when she told her the truth but just like Colgate told her, telling her the complete truth wound up being the best thing to do. Even better, Aria would not have to fill out any paperwork or go through any hassles in getting her citizenship given that she already had it and had never lost it. Now all she would have to do is fill out the application for the position of Colgate's receptionist and her dream of being a productive citizen of Equestria would come true.
While Aria and Colgate were both happy and had huge smiles on their faces, the same could not be said for Celestia. She was admittedly happy for Aria but the fact that Twilight would be so reckless in using that mirror angered her greatly and she was going to make sure this would not continue.
As the three headed to the train station the ponies of Canterlot watched in shock as Celestia NEVER traveled on a regular train. She always went by chariot with a couple of guard ponies but for Celestia, this time would be different. The conductor was shocked when he saw her. When he saw her heading to the ticket window he stopped her. He said, "Your Majesty, no need to buy a ticket, this trip is on us."
She pointed her wing at Colgate and Aria and asked, "What about these two?"
The conductor asked, "If they are guests of yours, then they may travel for free as well."
Celestia gave the two a smile and instructed them to follow her on board. The train wasn't overly crowded that day so the three were able to ride in a car on their own. Once the train pulled out of the station Colgate asked, "Your Majesty...."
Celestia interrupted, "Just Celestia please. You two are my guests and there is no need to be so formal."
Colgate continued, "Thank you Celestia. Now I do have a question, what are your plans for Twilight with how she is misusing that mirror."
Celestia replied, "I haven't decided yet but once we get there, you'll see."
While Aria didn't think too much of Celestia's response, Colgate knew more about Celestia and how she behaves in certain situations. She didn't think anything bad would happen to Twilight but figured a stern lecture would be a given.
When they arrived in Ponyville, everypony was equally as shocked to see Celestia disembark from the train for the same reasons the ponies in Canterlot were shocked to see her board a regular passenger train. Colgate and Aria followed Celestia over to Twilight's castle and when they arrived, Celestia pounded on the door more loudly than normal. She said, "Twilight, we need to talk."
It took a minute for Twilight to answer but when she did answer, she was shocked by what she would see. Not only did she see Celestia waiting for her, she also saw Colgate and a unicorn she had never seen before. Twilight asked, "Celestia, you need to see me?"
Celestia replied, "Yes Twilight, I do." She looked in and asked, "May we come in?"
Twilight said, "Yeah, of course."
Twilight motioned for them to go in and Celestia said, "Twilight, we need to speak somewhere in private."
Twilight nervously replied, "Uhm, ok. We can always talk in the dining hall."
Twilight led them towards the dining hall and they all sat down. Twilight asked, "Celestia, why did you want to speak to me in private and why are Colgate and this other unicorn joining us?"
Celestia replied, "Take a look at this unicorn, a very close look."
Twilight began staring at Aria, taking a closer look at her. After a minute she noticed something about Aria and the way she wore her mane, she knew she had seen that style before. Then it hit her, she knew exactly who the unicorn was. Her eyes grew wide and she asked, "Aria Blaze? How did you get here?" She then turned to Celestia and asked, "Celestia, what are you doing with her?" She pointed her wing up towards her chambers and yelled, "Come on Aria, you're going back where you belong."
Twilight grabbed her in her aura but it was quickly broken by Celestia. Celestia glared at her and said, "Twilight, Aria is not being banished and regarding banishment, we need to have a little talk about that mirror."
Twilight could tell by Celestia's tone of voice that she was not thrilled. Twilight asked, "What is it you want to talk about?"
Celestia developed a scowl on her face and replied, "From what I understand you have been using that mirror like a toy. From what I understand, you have fixed that thing to where you can open it whenever you want." Her eyes narrowed and she asked, "Is that correct?"
Twilight gulped, "I have fixed it that way....."
Celestia interrupted, "May I ask why you did that?"
Twilight replied, "So that I can travel back and forth to see my friends in the human world and help them if they need it."
Celestia asked, "Twilight, do you know the dangers of simply opening that mirror whenever you want?"
Twilight replied, "Uh...."
Celestia pointed her wing at Aria and interrupted, "How do you think Aria, one of the sirens, was able to get home?" She looked at Aria and continued, "Aria, how about you tell her how you got here."
Before Aria could say anything Twilight asked, "Aria, if you were one of the sirens how is it that you are now a unicorn? Why didn't you become a siren when you returned?"
Aria replied, "I honestly don't know why, I just did."
Celestia interrupted, "Enough about Aria being a unicorn." She cast her gaze towards Aria and ordered, "Tell her how you got here."
Aria nodded and began, "Twilight, I remember how you arrived in the human world from Equestria to aid your friends in stopping my sisters and I from taking over Canterlot High and then eventually the world. I don't know if my sister told you this or not but her and I had been having serious issues."
Twilight replied, "She did and I must say, I don't blame her. From what she told me, you became downright horrible to her."
Aria continued, "Once things got really bad between us I began thinking about returning home and wondered when it would open again. Well when you decided to show up for Sunset and Applejack's graduation, I knew the portal was open and that I could come home."
Before Aria could continue Celestia snapped, "What? You just decided to open that thing so you could attend a graduation?"
Twilight replied, "Well yeah, Sunset was graduating and so was Applejack."
Celestia asked, "I do want to know how you knew this but more importantly I would like to know if you understand the dangers of just opening that thing when you want?"
Twilight became upset, "Celestia, you are always the one who wanted me to make more friends and I have done that in both worlds and after I reformed Sunset, I wanted to be there. To answer your other question, I didn't even think about the dangers involved in it."
Celestia did a facehoof and sighed, "I can't believe this. Twilight, you are one of the smartest ponies in the world yet you are this careless?" She raised her voice and continued, "I groom you to be a princess yet you don't even think of what could happen when handling an ancient relic like this?"
Twilight yelled, "No, I didn't. I'm sorry I wanted to go and visit my friends and attend Sunset's graduation, ok? I'm sorry I have friends in more than one dimension, ok?"
For a moment the room was so silent one could hear a pin drop until Celestia suggested, "You know Twilight, I think we should take a trip to this other world, you, Aria and myself."
Colgate asked, "What about me?"
Celestia replied, "I think it would be best if you remain here and wait for us on this side of the portal. That way if something comes through you can either force it back or detain it until we get home."
Colgate was actually relieved that she didn't have to return to the human world where she would have no magic. She said, "Don't worry Celestia, I'll stand guard and make sure nothing bad happens."
Celestia replied, "Good." She looked towards the stairs and ordered, "Twilight, lead us to the mirror."
Twilight gave Celestia a nervous look and she led the three up to her chambers. While Twilight had seen Celestia displeased before, she could tell that she was more than displeased, she was angry. She couldn't help but wonder what Celestia had in store for their trip to the human world but did know one thing, that she would likely confront Sunset over not just her just running off so long ago but also coming and stealing her crown.
Return to the Human World
Princess Twilight was nervous, very nervous. Thanks to Aria Blaze, Celestia learned that she had been using the mirror in ways that she probably shouldn't have been. When the four arrived in Twilight's chambers Celestia looked at the mirror in disgust. It made her mad enough that Twilight would just use it for non-important reasons but seeing that she did indeed rig it to where she could open it with her own eyes only made her angrier.
She got up in Twilight's face and asked, "Twilight, would you care to explain this to me? Tell me exactly why you did this and what the ramifications of you not doing this would have been?"
Twilight shied back, "I got a letter from Sunset Shimmer saying that the sirens were trying to brainwash everyone at Canterlot High!"
Celestia asked, "Oh, and how did you get this message or is this one of those instances that I would rather not know."
Twilight grabbed the book that she communicated with Sunset through. When Celestia saw this she put her hoof over her face with a scowl. Her tone of voice became more irritated as she continued, "Tell me Twilight, what made you think that this was even remotely a good idea?"
Twilight replied, "As you know it was Sunset Shimmer who stole my crown when that mirror was open on its own and she was trying to force her will on that school! I finally got her to see the importance of friendship and wanted a way to keep in touch with her to see how she was doing."
Celestia sighed, "Well I suppose this is partially my fault for not only not putting a seal on that cursed thing when you got back but trusting you to actually keep track of that thing." Her voice became more intense as she continued, "If I had the gift of foresight I would have just locked that thing up in a place where it would never be a threat to anypony, whether it was open or not."
Twilight protested, "But Celestia...."
Celestia ordered, "Twilight, activate that thing. I have business to take care of with a former student of mine and I'm sure Aria has business to settle with her sister" she glared at Twilight and sighed, "And you're coming with us so you don't deactivate that thing while we're there and strand us" she gave Colgate a smile and finished, "And I want you to stay here to make sure nothing bad comes through it."
Colgate replied, "Got it."
Twilight activated the mirror and the three stepped through. While Aria and Twilight knew exactly what to expect, Celestia had no clue as to what was going to happen. Once they crashed out of the other side of the portal, Celestia was kneeling on her hands and knees wondering what had happened to her. She asked, "What the hay has happened to me?"
Aria replied, "You have become a human, all of us have."
Celestia gasped, "What? There is a place where humans are actually real?" She began to giggle, "I hope Lyra never finds out about this thing or she'll want to come here and probably never leave."
Twilight rolled her eyes over the comment and turned to Aria, "Aria, you know this place very well. Where do you think your sister and Sunset Shimmer would be?"
Aria replied, "Well Adagio had been spending a lot of time with Sunset because of how her and I had grown to hate each other after Sonata's death."
Celestia said, "Lead the way then."
Aria looked at her surroundings with a scowl on her face. When she went through the portal this was the absolute last place she ever wanted to see. After a few minutes of walking they approached Sunset's house. She pointed towards it and said, "There is Sunset's house, let's go see if anypony is home."
The three headed towards the house and upon arrival, Aria knocked on the door. At first no one answered. Twilight knocked on the door thinking she may get someone to answer, "Sunset, it's me Twilight!"
Almost immediately the door opened and Sunset answered. She was shocked to not only see Twilight, but Aria and Celestia. Sunset hugged Twilight and asked, "Twilight, you're back so soon?" She looked at Celestia and added, "Principal Celestia......"
Celestia interrupted, "It's Princess Celestia."
Sunset stood there in shock before replying, "Princess Celestia? What are you doing here?"
Celestia replied, "To have a little talk." She looked behind Sunset asked, "Where is Adagio, Aria needs to speak to her."
Sunset gave Celestia a glare and replied, "Right now isn't a good time. I am not sure if she ever wants to speak to Aria again after not only treating her like dirt but also just running off the way she did."
Celestia was not thrilled by Sunset's glare. To her it was Sunset being the same old Sunset who ran through that mirror, that of somepony who became overly ambitious and wanted power. Celestia ordered, "Drop the scowl Sunset, we need to talk."
Aria asked, "Sunset, where is my sister? I need to speak to her."
At first Sunset glared at Aria until she saw Celestia giving her a glare that mirrored her own. She replied, "She told me she was headed to the cemetery to visit Sonata's grave and make sure they moved it to the right place."
Aria snapped, "What, they moved her casket? Where the hell did they move it to?"
Sunset replied, "Well Adagio felt bad over how you two were with her and her boyfriend so she fixed it to where their graves would be together."
Aria screamed, "She did what? Ugh, when I get my hooves, I mean hands on her!" She did a facepalm and continued, "I swear, she is just as much of a sentimental crybaby as Sonata was!" She turned towards Celestia and asked, "Celestia, is it ok if I go talk to my sister over this?"
Celestia replied, "Yes and bring her here while you're at it."
Aria nodded and headed towards the cemetery. She would not be thrilled by what she would see. She found her sister kneeling before a couple fresh graves towards the back of the cemetery. She stormed towards her sister and yelled, "What the hell is this?"
Adagio looked up and was in shock. She asked, "Aria, where the hell have you been? I've been worried sick about you!"
Aria snapped, "Oh and since when have you given a shit about me?" She glared down towards the new location of Sonata's grave and continued, "And what the fuck is this? Why the hell was Sonata's grave moved?"
Adagio replied, "Well Principal Celestia, Vice-Principal Luna, Sunset and myself talked to the directors of the cemetery and told them about how much Sonata and her boyfriend loved one another and since the plot next to his grave was available, we got them to allow us to move it so they'll always be together."
Aria did a facepalm and yelled, "Ugh good grief. I would love to know why the hell you became such a softy. Up until that night Sonata's dead boyfriend showed up in our TV you had a level head on your shoulders and now you have the same sappy mindset Sonata had." She raised her voice and groaned, "I swear, you are the worst!"
Adagio yelled, "There you go again with the whole 'the worst' thing again! Does that even have any meaning to you anymore or do you only apply it to me because I'm not the bad girl I used to be?"
Aria grunted, "Whatever Dagi, I need you to come with me."
Adagio asked, "Oh, and why should I come with you with the way you've been?"
Aria replied, "There's somepony, I mean someone at Sunset's place that needs to talk to you."
Adagio's jaw dropped open when she heard Aria using Equestrian terminology. She asked, "You went to Equestria didn't you? You brought someone from there that wants to talk to me, didn't you?"
Aria pointed in the direction of Sunset's house and said, "You'll see when we get there. Now let's get going, she doesn't want to have to be in this cursed place any longer than I do."
Adagio headed towards Sunset's house in a suddenly foul mood but at the same time she couldn't help but be nervous. She wondered who it was that wanted to talk to her. She was pretty sure it wasn't Twilight because if it were her, she and Sunset would have come to get her rather than Aria.
Sunset and Adagio's Return
After Aria left to go and get Adagio, Celestia and Twilight sat down to talk to Sunset. Sunset gave Twilight a nervous look as she knew that Celestia, despite it having been years, was still not very happy with her. She figured that perhaps if she was respectful towards her, that maybe things would go alright. She asked, "So....Princess Celestia, what brings you by?"
Celestia replied, "Many, many things although I'm sure you probably know what those are."
Sunset asked, "Are you still mad because I dropped out of school and ran through that mirror?"
Celestia replied, "I'm not mad but I am disappointed and irritated that you would do such a thing." She pointed at Twilight and continued, "You know Sunset, if you would have had patience, not wanted me to fast track you to being a princess and not fled through that mirror like a spoiled brat, YOU could have been a princess."
Sunset suddenly felt like maybe Twilight was responsible for this. She glared at Twilight and asked, "Twilight, did you put her up to this? Did you want her to come here and...."
Celestia interrupted, "No Sunset, she did not put me up to this. I am going to tell you though that I am not thrilled with you and her using that book to communicate nor am I happy with you sending her messages just so she will come and go as she pleases."
Sunset was stunned that Celestia would know about the book and became nervous as Celestia began to scowl, "Tell me Sunset, are you the one who asked her to rig that mirror so she can open it on her own?"
Sunset replied, "No, I didn't. I simply sent her a message about the sirens trying to take over the school and she did what anyone who cares about their friends would do, she found a way to get here without having to wait until our world was enslaved by them."
Celestia corrected, "You mean THIS world. This is not YOUR world Sunset. You are originally from Equestria, not this place."
Sunset protested, "But Celestia...."
Celestia interrupted, "That is Princess Celestia to you."
Sunset shied back, "Princess Celestia, as you know I had no friends there in Equestria but thanks to Twilight, I have made some very special friends here and to me, this world IS my home!"
Before anyone could say anything else Aria and Adagio arrived. When Adagio saw Celestia there, she knew something was up and realized that she better be respectful. She asked, "Princess Celestia, you want to speak to me?"
Celestia replied, "I do but we are all going on a little walk." She looked at Aria and continued, "Like it was coming here, you know this place very well. Lead the way."
Aria nodded and they all followed her to the portal. When Sunset and Adagio saw where they were being led they were not amused, especially Sunset. She asked, "You're taking us to Equestria, aren't you?"
Celestia gave her a half smile, "Yes, I am. We have some business to take care of and it can only be done there."
While Sunset was not thrilled, Adagio was nervous. Not only was she nervous about what Celestia would do but she also was worried about not being in her natural habitat as sirens' prefer the water. She asked, "Princess Celestia, I am a siren, how am I...."
Aria had a feeling as to what her concern would be. She interrupted, "Dagi, when I went through I became a unicorn. With our pendants having been shattered, you will likely become a pony as well."
Adagio gave her a nervous look as they stood there in front of the portal. As Aria headed through, Sunset and Adagio hesitated. Adagio asked, "Princess, so how long will we be in Equestria?"
Sunset added, "I'm hoping it won't be too long because I have plans with my friends tonight."
Celestia gave them a smile and replied, "Just go through the portal ladies."
They gave her a nervous look and headed through the portal. Like it was when they went to the human world, they flew through all sorts of swirling colors before crashing onto the floor in Twilight's bedroom where they were greeted by Colgate. Colgate asked, "I take it you got who you wanted?"
Celestia replied, "Yes, I did." She turned towards Twilight and ordered, "Deactivate the mirror."
Twilight did as ordered and it was then that Adagio and Sunset realized that they may not be going home as soon as they had hoped. What bothered them more was when Celestia told Twilight to begin disconnecting the mirror from all the devices that she had it hooked up to.
Adagio stepped in front of the mirror and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw, she discovered that like her sister, she had been transformed into a unicorn. She was obviously not pleased that she had to return to Equestria as she feared what may happen but then it hit her, Celestia had done nothing to her sister and she also realized that maybe this would be a chance to start over, again. She realized that maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
Sunset on the other hoof, was not one bit happy. She saw Twilight disconnecting the mirror and glared at Celestia, "Celestia...."
Again Celestia interrupted, "That is Princess Celestia to you Sunset."
Sunset sighed, "Princess Celestia, why is she unhooking the mirror from everything? How am I going to get back to have dinner with my friends?"
Celestia saw that Twilight had completely unhooked the mirror and knew that the time had come to do what she wished she had done when Twilight returned with her crown. Her horn began to glow gold as she held it in her aura. Sunset kept on trying to get Celestia's attention but she did not hear her as her eyes were glowing white. At first Celestia only wanted to seal the mirror in the event she had to use it to banish somepony there but then it hit her, she could just banish evildoers to Tartarus. She began to put more energy into her hold on the mirror and the next sound they heard would anger Sunset and devastate Twilight, the sound of breaking glass.
Celestia put one final burst of energy into her hold and the mirror shattered. Twilight began to tear up realizing that she would never again see her friends and Sunset became angry, very angry, "Princess Celestia, how could you do that? How could you just destroy an ancient relic?"
Celestia replied, "Sunset Shimmer, this mirror has caused me enough problems as of late and now that you and Adagio are back in Equestria where you belong, I decided it has to go. Besides, this is one ancient relic that we are all better off without."
Sunset gave Celestia a death look, the same look that she gave Celestia on the day she ran off, "Princess Celestia, you are the one who always emphasized friendship so much and here you go taking me away from my friends."
While Celestia was clearly not happy with Sunset's demeanor, Twilight couldn't help but feel bad. She put her hoof around Sunset and said, "Sunset, I have some wonderful friends here in Equestria, friends who mirror our friends in the human world exactly. I'm sure they would love to meet you."
Sunset asked, "Do you think they would like me? Do you think they would accept me as a friend given my past."
Twilight couldn't help but laugh, "Sunset, they have befriended a pony who did much worse than you ever did. They befriended a pony who nearly destroyed Equestria with her time travel spell."
Sunset gave Twilight a nervous look, "I take it you mean Starlight?"
Twilight replied, "Yes......"
Celestia interrupted, "Well I think we need to have a meeting in the throne room. I know Colgate already has plans for Aria but Sunset and Adagio, we need to discuss your futures. We need to discuss what you will do now that you are back home."
Before any of them could reply, Celestia, Colgate and Aria began to head downstairs so the other three followed suit. Sunset was angry, Twilight was devastated that she would never see her human friends again and Adagio had mixed emotions. She was confident that Celestia would not punish her in any way but she was sad that she would never again be able to visit Sonata's grave.
Once they arrived in the throne room they sat down to discuss what to do with Adagio and Sunset, given that they had returned after their they had been gone for so long. The first to say anything was Twilight, "So Celestia, what are we going to do with these three?"
Celestia asked, "These three?"
Twilight replied, "Sunset, Adagio and Aria."
Before Celestia could say anything Colgate said, "Regarding Aria, I have already taken her into my home, we had been up in Canterlot and I was helping her access her newfound magic and once she has a good enough grasp on it, I'm hiring her as my receptionist so she is taken care of."
Adagio asked, "But won't she need proof of citizenship to apply for a job?"
Celestia replied, "Aria's citizenship records are up in Canterlot Tower along with everypony else's records and don't worry, yours was right next to hers."
Adagio asked, "So I won't have to worry about applying for citizenship or anything like that?"
Celestia replied, "No, you won't. But I do want to know though, what are your plans now that you are back in Equestria? What do you plan to do with your life?"
Adagio replied, "I'm not sure. You just dragged me back here and you expect me to already have plans? I don't even know anything about Equestria or how much it has changed since I was last here."
Colgate interjected, "Celestia, since I took Aria in and have a job ready for her, I suppose I could do the same for Adagio" She gave Aria and Adagio a glare and continued, "assuming you two can put your past behind you and get along."
Adagio asked, "Could my sister and I talk in the next room? We really need to work out our differences."
Celestia replied, "Yes, you may."
Adagio and Aria headed into the next room to talk. Once they got out of earshot of everypony Adagio glared at Aria and asked, "Was this your plan? Was it your plan to have Celestia go through the mirror and bring me back here?"
Aria replied, "No Dagi, Celestia didn't even know about my history until Colgate took me to the palace to check on citizenship."
Adagio asked, "How did she know you were one of the sirens Starswirl banished? Did you just go there and confess the whole truth hoping she wouldn't punish you?"
Aria replied, "Actually it was Colgate who told me to tell her about my whole past. One thing I learned is that Celestia respects those who are honest and so does Colgate. But I will let you know something, I did tell Celestia about Twilight's misuse of that cursed mirror so I suppose I could say I'm partially responsible."
Adagio sighed, "Well maybe this won't be so bad but we do have other issues to discuss, issues involving personal matters."
Aria groaned, "Oh, I take it you're still upset over how I started treating you once you became a softy?"
Adagio began, "It is much more than that. This involves everything, your putting Sonata down after she died, you killing her boyfriend, you driving her to suicide...."
Aria interrupted, "I did not drive her to suicide. As I remember, the coroner said that Sonata just rolled over in her sleep and suffocated herself."
Adagio snapped, "Yes that is what he said but that does not rule out suicide and you know you treated her like shit. You know you constantly belittled her and perhaps she just couldn't take it anymore. Maybe she wanted to get away from you and thought that death was the only way out."
Aria could tell that this argument was going nowhere in a hurry and didn't feel like having a shouting match that would not be well received by either Colgate or Celestia. She sighed, "Dagi, we have been through a lot. We were banished to a horrid place for a thousand years, we lost our ability to sing and we lost our sister so I think we need to stop dwelling on everything because we can't go back and change things. We can only move forward and I don't know about you but I want to move forward and become a productive member of Equestria. I just want to wash my hooves of that horrid place we were stuck in."
Adagio was not thrilled by this. She snapped, "So you want to wash your hooves of Sonata?"
Aria replied, "I never said that. I said I wanted to wash my hooves of that place, NOT Sonata. Sonata was sent there with us too, remember?" She put her hoof over her face and continued, "Look, I'm going to admit, in our final months in the human world, I grew to despise you but I want to put that behind me. We are back in Equestria and I want a fresh start. My hate towards you was from that world and I want no part of it."
Adagio snapped, "So you really think it will be easy for me to just forget how you treated me? You treated me worse than you ever did Sonata in the days leading up to when you came back here...."
Aria interrupted, "Look Dagi, Colgate is offering to help you in the same way she helped me. Celestia has records of your citizenship so getting copies of that should be no problem and I bet that I could easily get her to take you in like she did me and convince her to help you access your unicorn magic." She put her hoof around Adagio and finished, "Sis, I simply want you to be able to assimilate into Equestria. I don't want you having to live in the Everfree Forest or in some homeless shelter in the big city. At least consider what I am suggesting, I think you owe yourself the opportunity you have."
There was something about the last part of what Aria said that hit Adagio. It wasn't the words she said, but how she said it. She seemed like she actually cared about her well-being. She seemed like she was being the sister she was so long ago before they were banished. She put her hoof around Aria and replied, "Ok sis, we'll start from scratch. I know it won't be easy but we'll do it."
Aria pulled Adagio close and continued, "We may be unicorns in this new Equestria but in our hearts we are still sirens and siren sisters are always there for one another." Her voice began to break as she continued, "And we lost our way in that world. We stopped acting like sirens, we began to act like humans."
Adagio's voice too began to break, "I agree but no more. Let's put our sisterly bond first again."
The two nodded and could feel that perhaps they were finally on the right path to not only making amends but becoming close sisters like they were in ancient times, in the times prior to their banishment.
While Adagio and Aria were in the other room hashing things out, Celestia and Twilight began to discuss Sunset's future. There was an odd silence at first until Sunset broke it, "So now that it seems like Adagio's future is taken care of, what about mine." She cast her gaze at Celestia and asked, "So would you be willing to take me back into your school?"
Celestia sighed, "I don't know Sunset. I remember how you were, I remember your impatience, I remember the scowls you would give me, I remember you talking about how you could become a princess just like me and the fact that you would just run off like that still bothers me."
Sunset asked, "So is that a no?"
Celestia replied, "I know everything you did in more recent times, stealing Twilight's crown, having control over a lot of those students in the human world, turning into a she-demon and most recently, those glares you gave me in your house and your anger over me destroying that mirror." She paused for a minute and her voice became a bit sad, "I'm sorry Sunset. As much as I think it would benefit you, I don't think I could trust you to......"
Twilight interrupted, "Well I could always take her in and she could be my student."
Sunset's ears perked up when she said this, "Really Twilight, you'd be willing to take me in as your student?"
Twilight replied, "Of course! I already kind of had you as a friendship student in the human world but now you'll be here and I can help you out even more!"
Sunset asked, "But what about Starlight?"
Twilight replied, "Starlight graduated and now she's spending more time helping another pony with friendship and magic so you would be my number one focus."
Sunset asked, "But where would I live?"
Twilight replied, "I have no shortage of extra rooms here in the castle so you would live here. That way you'll always be available and we can do what normal friends do too."
Sunset hugged Twilight, "That's great!"
Before she could say anything else Aria and Adagio returned to the throne room with smiles on their faces. Colgate saw this and asked, "I take it you two resolved your differences? I take it you two can at least co-exist without constantly yelling at one another?"
Aria replied, "Yes Colgate, we have."
Adagio added, "We had a good talk and we realized that in the human world we forgot what made us so close back when we were sirens, sisterhood. We have decided to be true sisters again."
Colgate gave them a smile and said, "Good." She got up, headed towards the door and continued, "Well Adagio, you'll move in with me, Aria and my sister Lyra." She gave them both a larger smile and continued, "Now let's go up to Canterlot and help Aria improve her magic and help you access yours."
Both enthusiastically agreed and followed Colgate out the door. Celestia gave Twilight and Sunset a smile and said, "Well it looks like everything turned out just fine."
Twilight gave her a smile and replied, "I guess it did."
Celestia said, "Now there is one more thing I need to take care of, I need to clean up that mess in your chambers and lock it away somewhere that it will never be seen again."
Twilight's face dropped when Celestia said this prompting her to continue, "I know how you are Twilight. I know you would find one way or another to fix it and given your intelligence, you would probably succeed."
Both Twilight and Sunset sighed when Celestia headed up to remove not just the shattered mirror, but all the equipment Twilight had up there. Sunset sighed, "Well I guess this is truly the end of us seeing the human world again."
Twilight replied, "I was hoping she wouldn't clean that up because I would have tried to fix it and together we could have fixed it."
Sunset continued, "Well I guess maybe it just isn't meant to be. I can make friends here in Equestria and like it seems to be with Aria and Adagio, I can make my life better. With you by my side, anything is possible."
Twilight gave her a smile and said, "Well since Celestia is up cleaning my room for me, how about we get you settled into yours?"
Sunset put her hoof around her and replied, "You're too good to me Twilight, way too good."
Sunset did know that she would miss her human friends but she did wind up forging close friendships with all of Twilight's friends and the friendship between her and Twilight grew closer than ever. For Aria and Adagio, things went better for them than they could have imagined. Both Aria and Adagio became good with magic and through extra studying, they began to learn the more advanced stuff. In the end Aria did become Colgate's receptionist and Colgate was able to get Adagio a job as a receptionist at the hospital. Most important for them though, the sisterly bond they had back when they were sirens returned.
Meeting Somepony Who Cares
After walking around for twenty minutes Aria finally saw a building with a "help wanted" sign in its window so she headed towards it. On the door it said, "Dr M. Colgate, D.D.S."
Aria saw this and headed in. When she got inside it smelled just like the dentist's office in the human world did so that reassure her a little. She headed to the check-in window and rang a bell, alerting to those in the back that they had a customer. Very quickly a mint green unicorn with gold eyes arrived. She asked, "Hello, how may I help you?"
Aria replied, "Uhm, hi. I saw the help wanted sign and I'm wondering if I could talk to Dr. Colgate about applying for a job."
Lyra said, "Well let me go see if she is available." Lyra headed back to find Colgate going through patient records and continued, "Sis, you have somepony up front who wants to apply for a job."
Colgate sighed, "Well it's a slow day so I'll go up and meet her."
Colgate headed up front to find a light purple unicorn with a dark purple and light blue mane and tail. She asked, "Hello, I'm Dr. Colgate. My sister told me that you are looking for a job?"
Given that the dentist had introduced herself to her, Aria figured she better do the same. She replied, "My name is Aria Blaze and yes I am looking for a job."
Colgate grabbed the proper paperwork, a clipboard and a pen and handed them to her. She said, "Well fill out this paperwork and given that nopony else has applied, I should be able to hire you on the spot."
Aria's pupils shrank when she saw this. She thought to herself, "How in the world am I going to fill this out? I can't even grab a pen!"
As Colgate headed back into the back, she sat down and grabbed the pen with her front hooves and began to try and fill the application out. She was frustrated because her writing wasn't even legible and as she looked down the application she realized her terrible writing was the least of her problems. She didn't have an address, she didn't have a phone number, she hadn't had any prior jobs in Equestria and to make matters worse, she didn't have an Equestrian ID number and she had no clue what her date of birth was. She did know that she couldn't just put some random date from over a thousand years ago.
This was the most nervous Aria had been in her life since her encounter with Starswirl so long ago. She called out, "Doctor Colgate, I need some help."
Colgate came rushing out and asked, "You filled it out already? That was quick."
Colgate looked down to see that all she had done was attempted to write her name. Colgate frowned, "What the hay is this? You can't even write your own name and you expect me to hire you?" She pointed at her horn and continued, "With as bad as this looks I'd swear you just used your hooves to try and write this."
Aria was very nervous at this point. She replied, "We-well, I did. I don't know how to access my magic."
Colgate's jaw dropped open when she heard this. She gasped, "What? You're a full grown unicorn and you can't even access your magic?"
Aria replied, "No, I can't." Before Colgate would question her further on the issue she told her the same lie that she did Pinkie, about how her parents never taught her.
Colgate threw her hooves up in the air and asked, "What about your school? Didn't your school teach you any magic?"
While Aria was able to lie to Pinkie about her schooling she knew she couldn't do the same with Colgate given that the job application asked about her education so she had to come up with a different lie, "Well you see, my family lived in a very remote part of Equestria. I didn't even see much in the way of other ponies until my parents died a couple of months ago and I headed out on my own."
Colgate gave Aria a sympathetic look and replied, "Tell you what, I'll take you into my home, I'll help you access your magical abilities and we'll go up to Canterlot and get you some paperwork based of what you know so you will be recognized as an Equestrian citizen."
Aria knew how things were in the human world regarding things like this and knew that it wasn't just that easy. She asked, "Doctor...."
Colgate interrupted, "Just call me Colgate. It would make me more comfortable."
Aria continued, "But Colgate, don't I have to have all sorts of documents to prove that I was born here?"
Colgate replied, "Don't worry Aria. I went to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and she knows how I am. She knows that I would not go in and simply lie for somepony."
Aria replied, "Well that's good."
Colgate looked up at the clock and noticed that it was 4:45. She said, "Tell you what, I close in 15 minutes so how about you wait here and after work my sister and I will take you out for supper. After that you can come home with us and I can get you situated in your new room."
Aria asked, "So when will you help me with my magic and help me with the citizenship issue?"
Colgate replied, "Tell you what, I'll reschedule some appointments for the next week and we can head up to Canterlot tomorrow and get you started with your magic. On Monday we'll go see Celestia and tell her about your situation and hopefully get you your papers."
Aria grabbed her and joyfully replied, "Thank you Colgate, you are the best!"
Colgate, who has never been a fan of physical touch embraced her back lightly and replied, "No problem Aria, no problem."
That evening and night was the best night that Aria had ever experienced. It was even more comfortable and her meal was more filling than she ever had as a siren and everything she experienced that night put the whole human world to shame. As she laid in bed that night trying to go to sleep she was ecstatic. She had a pony in her life who genuinely cared about her well-being, which is something that she had never had before.
