Well, this is it...the final chapter...
This is the one with the feels. But don't worry. They're happy feels.
Also, I did it again, and pulled an all-nighter trying to get this damn chapter done. So, sorry if it's crappy, cause I'm, like, half asleep right now...
Now, without further ado, enjoy the final chapter of After the Battle! And be sure to look out for the sequel! I'll tell you guys the title once I start it!
Aria looked at Sonata, wondering what she could be thinking. Steven nose at the dirt sadly. Sonata sighed, finally grasping what happened.
"B-but...how?" She asked in a shaky voice. Aria looked away.
"I...don't know..." She muttered. Suddenly, they heard footsteps behind them. They turned around, and Steven began wagging her tail ever so slightly. A kind-looking old lady was standing there with a sympathetic smile on her face.
"Oh, hi, Granny Smith..." Sonata said, forcing a smile.
"Well, hello, young'uns." She said, then looked sadly at the dirt mound. "Ah see you found Li'l Biscuit's...restin' place." Sonata wiped a tear from her eye.
"Wh-what happened to it?" She asked. Granny Smith sighed.
"Well...Li'l Biscuit was playin' with his siblings, but while he was runnin', he dashed out inta the street. The truck driver didn't see him 'til it was too late..." Sonata gasped and put a hand to her mouth. Aria took her hand and placed it on Sonata's shoulder comfortingly.
"B-but...that's terrible! That's not right!" Sonata said, a hint of anger in her tone. "It's not fair!" Granny Smith looked at Sonata.
"Ah know, darlin', but sometimes the world ain't a pretty place. And there's nothing we can do about it. But it's things like this that make you stronger. It prepares you for uglier things in the future..." She said with a hint of a smile. Aria nodded in agreement, but Sonata looked unfazed by her words. The purple-haired siren sighed and put an arm around Sonata.
"Come on, Dusky. Let's not linger over here. It's ruining your happy personality." Aria said as sort of a joke, walking Sonata towards the house. Granny Smith began walking back too, hesitantly followed by Steven and her remaining pups. Suddenly, the canine let out a sort of bark, and began running ahead. Aria looked in the direction she was running, and saw a sight for sore eyes. It was none other than Applejack, picking apples off a tree. She heard the wolf's bark and looked over with a smile, then looked past the dog to see the approaching sirens and Granny Smith. Her eyes widened, and her smile turned into a grin as she waved. Suddenly, Sonata was able to smile, and she squealed excitedly.
"APPLEJACK!" She yelled, running up to the country girl and throwing herself at her in a hug. Aria sighed in relief, glad that the girl had forgotten about the pup for now. Suddenly, Aria felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Granny Smith smiling at her.
"Ah'm gonna head on back to the house so that ah can prepare a nice apple pie for you young'uns, with you bein' our guests an' all." She said cheerfully. Aria smiled, deciding not to be rude in telling her that she didn't exactly fancy apples.
"Thanks." She said simply. Granny Smith nodded, and began walking back to the house as Aria walked up to the two girls. The pups ran up and began hopping around Applejack and wagging their tails.
"It's mighty nice to see you two again." She said with her usual tip of the hat.
"Same to you." Aria said.
"It's been...what? A month, now? It appears we got a bit of catchin' up ta do." Sonata smiled and nodded rapidly. With a wave, motioning for the two to follow, Applejack began walking towards the house. The sirens followed, and Steven ran ahead again, followed by her pups. Sonata giggled at this, slightly skipping as she walked. They walked to the house and went into the living room. Three little girls were sitting in the middle of the floor, laughing. They immediately became quiet as Applejack entered the room with the sirens. Their eyes widened. Sonata did a slight, sheepish wave in greeting. They just stared at them before the one known as Sweetie Belle suddenly shot up onto her feet.
"It's the monsters!" She said before the two others stood up as well, and they all dashed out of the room and up the stairs. Applejack scoffed.
"Well, now...that was uncalled for..." She said, then turned to the sirens. "Sorry for mah sister and her friends'...rude welcome." Aria half-smiled.
"Don't worry. Really. We're used to it."
"Really? Well, that's a cryin' shame..." Applejack said as she went to sit on the couch, and the sirens did the same. "So, what've you been up to? Not gettin' into to much trouble, I hope." Aria leaned back with a content sigh.
"Honestly, things have never been better. When we're in our siren forms, we mostly spend time in the water. And since we don't feed on negativity now, we've had to obtain food more...manually. We now hunt like the sea creatures we are."
"Hmm...interesting. What about when you're not in the water? Can you fly like your astral projections did?" Aria nodded.
"But we do have the ability to take on the forms of the common pony as well. It definitely makes things easier."
"Huh. W-" Suddenly, Steven came up and jumped on Applejack, licking her face. "Ah! Steven, get off!" She said, laughing. The pups ran in, jumping onto the couch. Sonata giggled, grabbing one of them and setting it onto her lap. It wagged its tail happily as she pet it.
"Wait, why are they spending so much time here? Don't they live in the woods?" Sonata asked. Applejack chuckled.
"Well, that's actually an interestin' story. Yes, they do still live in the woods. But you see, after you left, Steven started comin' around here for some reason. Guess she could smell yer scent here more than anywhere. Day after day, she came by, and eventually started bringin' her pups along, too. They wouldn't let anyone else near 'em, but after a couple weeks, they got more comfortable bein' around people. Now, they come by nearly every other day. We even got to namin' the pups."
"Really?!" Sonata asked excitedly. Applejack nodded. Sonata held up the white one on her lap. "What's this one?" She asked.
"That's Misty. She's a sweetheart." Applejack said with a smile. Aria saw the black one lying next to her and patted his head.
"And this one?" Aria asked.
"Shadow." The last two, a brown one and a gray one, were playfully wrestling. "And those two there. The brown one is bear, 'cause she kinda looks like one. And the gray one...well, that's Steven Jr. He looks just like his mother." Sonata smiled, then sighed.
"Also...Li'l Biscuit..." She muttered. Applejack looked at Sonata sadly, then looked down and sighed.
"Ah...ah didn't know you knew about him..." She said. Aria glanced at the country girl.
"Granny Smith told us..." She said.
"Hmm...he was a good boy. Always gettin' inta trouble, though. Guess...it finally caught up ta him, huh?"
"Guess so..." Aria muttered. Suddenly, Granny Smith came into the room holding three plates. Each plate held a slice of fresh apple pie.
"Here you go, dearies." She said, distributing a plate out to each of them. Sonata thankfully smiled as she took hers.
"Thank ya, granny." Applejack said.
"No problem, young'uns." She said before exiting the room. Sonata and Applejack immediately dug in, but Aria just stared at her piece. Sonata noticed this, and rolled her eyes.
"Eat it, Ari!" Sonata said as more of a demand than a plead. Aria sighed and took her fork, cutting a piece off of the slice.
"If I die, stay the hell away from my grave. Knowing you, you'd probably leave tacos instead of flowers." Sonata giggled, and Aria picked the piece up with her fork, then brought it up to her mouth. With a look of disgust and regret, she put the piece in her mouth. As she chewed, she looked at Sonata with an 'I hate you...' look. "This...is...agony..." Aria said while chewing. Applejack chuckled.
"Don't forget ta finish it, Aria. The whole slice." She said, causing the siren to glare at her. Once Aria swallowed the piece of pie, she spoke.
"There is no way in Tartarus I'm finishing this..." She said. Applejack was about to say something, but Sonata stopped her with a sigh.
"Oh, there's no use in arguing with her, Applejack." She said, taking Aria's piece. The purple siren looked at Applejack smugly as Sonata began eating the second slice.
A couple minutes later, while Aria was playing with the pups as they crawled on her, she felt a tug on her arm. She looked over at Sonata.
"Ari, I'm full..." Aria raised an eyebrow.
"That's a first." She said, looking at Sonata's plate to see a bit of pie left. There honestly wasn't that much left. A couple of fork-fulls left at the most. "Oh, come on. You can finish that." She said.
"Nu-uh." Sonata said, giving her puppy eyes. Aria's eyes widened.
"Oh, I know what you're doing, now. No, I'm not going to eat any more. Forget it."
"Oh, come on, Ari! She was nice enough to make some for you! Eat it!"
"No."
"Yes!" Sonata said, taking a large chunk of it on the fork and holding it up to Aria's face.
"No!" Sonata sighed, then she got an idea. A grin spread across Sonata's face before she suddenly leaned forward and kissed Aria. The purple siren made a muffled gasp at the completely unexpected move. After a couple seconds, Sonata pulled away, leaving Aria dumbfounded. As her mouth was hanging open for the short amount of time it was, Sonata took the opportunity and shoved the piece of pie in her mouth. Aria growled as she snapped back to reality, glaring at Sonata as she chewed. "I hate you..." Aria grumbled. Sonata giggled and rested her head on Aria's shoulder.
"Love you too, Ari." She said. Applejack raised an eyebrow before speaking.
"Ah, yes, that reminds me..." She pointed her fork at the sirens. "...what about you two? Are you...uh..."
"Together?" Aria asked as she swallowed the piece of pie. Applejack nodded. Aria sighed and leaned back, glancing at the siren who was still leaning against her. She smiled a bit, almost completely forgetting the stunt she'd just pulled. "Yeah, I'd say we are..." Sonata made a weird, purr-like sound, snuggling further into Aria's side. The purple-haired siren put an arm around her, drawing her even closer.
"Well, that's nice." Applejack said with a genuine smile. "But why were you surprised when she kissed you? I'd think you'd be used ta somethin' like that after a month." Aria rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, well...she kissed me only once before, and that was before we left to go back home. In our siren forms, it's kinda difficult to 'kiss,' per se. We mostly nuzzle, lick, or even...cuddle." Aria winced and shuddered at the use of the 'lovey-dovey' term.
"Yep!" Sonata said happily. Applejack smiled again.
"Well then, that's understandable." She said.
~o~
After spending over three hours of talking, playing games, and laughing with Applejack, the two sirens unfortunately had to leave. Sonata looked sadly back at the house as Applejack stood at the doorway, waving. She waved back with a sigh. Steven stood next to Applejack, barking and whimpering in a sad farewell.
"Bye, Steven! I'm gonna miss you!" Sonata yelled, a couple tears coming to her eyes. She sniffled, getting Aria's attention. She purple siren looked at her softly and grabbed her hand, causing Sonata to look at her.
"Hey, it's not like we're leaving forever. Remember, we can come back anytime." Sonata wiped her eyes and nodded. As they continued walking, Sonata yanked on Aria's arm.
"Ari, did you notice that Sunset wasn't at Applejack's?" Aria looked into the distance like she was thinking, then looked at Sonata.
"Now that you mention it, yeah. Maybe she was able to finally get a place of her own. Like...an apartment or something." Sonata smiled.
"I hope so. I hope she didn't go back to that awful, old house." Aria nodded in agreement. The two walked for a while, and were almost at the school. They were passing by a few food shops when Sonata suddenly froze. And since the two were holding hands, that caused Aria to be yanked backwards. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at Sonata. The girl was shaking and breathing heavily.
"Sonata, what is it?" She asked, a hint of worry in her voice. Sonata looked to the side, looking at something past Aria. She slowly lifted her shaky hand and pointed. Aria turned around, and saw a dark alleyway. But that was all she saw. She looked back at Sonata. "What are you looking at?" She asked. Sonata didn't say anything. She just continued shaking and pointing. Aria turned her attention back to the shadowy alley. She stared at it for a moment, then squinted as her eyes began to adjust. Then, she gasped. She might not have been able to see in the darkness that well, but that shade of orange was unmistakable. Aria slowly walked over to the entrance of the alley, her eyes adjusting further. What she saw made her want to look away. It was none other than Adagio. But...she was slumped against the brick wall, her head hung with her hair covering part of her face. It was dark around her eyes, and it also looked like she hadn't eaten in forever. Aria put a hand to her mouth in shock. Was she...d- No, Aria! Don't think like that! She can't be...right? Sonata slowly walked up behind Aria, peering at the shattered girl.
"W-what happened to her...?" She asked. Aria was about to respond when, suddenly, the girl's head shot up in a panicked manner. Aria and Sonata froze as her head whipped around to meet their gazes. Adagio's eyes snapped open wide, and she gasped.
"My god..." She whispered. She began to move to stand up, but found it difficult. She shakily stood up with the help of the wall. Aria flinched at this sight, finding it hard to watch her once strong leader reduced to this. How could she have gotten this weak? She looked half-dead, and she was so thin. When Adagio had stood up, she took her weight off the wall, and took a step towards the other two sirens. That's when Aria saw it. The knife. And from the look of it, it had been recently used...
"Ad-d-dagio...?" Aria said, taking a step back.
"A-aria..." Adagio said weakly. Aria watched as she moved closer, now only a few feet away. Aria thought she was about to be murdered in cold blood right then and there, but she was surprised as she saw the knife suddenly fall to the ground with a clatter. "A-ari..." Then, without warning, Adagio quickly moved forward and threw herself at Aria, who was surprised when she felt the girl's arms wrap around her tightly. Suddenly, Adagio started just full-on crying into Aria's shoulder. "Aria, I-I'm s-so sorry! P-please forgive me! I d-don't know what I w-was thinking! I-I was just s-so scared! A-and after the last time I saw you, I th-thought I'd never s-see you again..." Aria blinked in surprise before sighing and throwing her arms around Adagio, emotion filling her to the brim.
"Oh my god, Adagio..." She muttered, burying her face into the girl's shoulder. Adagio kept muttering 'please' and 'forgive me' as she continued to cry into Aria's shoulder. Tears started forming in Aria's eyes as she held the broken girl. She then saw Sonata in the corner of her eye, and saw that she was tearing up too. She turned her attention back to Adagio and sighed into her shoulder. "Shh, shh, it's okay, Dagi...I forgive you..." She whispered. Aria then looked over Adagio's shoulder to see the knife on the ground, which had a bit of fresh-looking blood on it. She closed her eyes, hoping it wasn't for the reason she thought. After a couple minutes of the emotional display, the two girls released each other, and Aria smiled as she wiped the tears from Adagio's face. "Dagi...what happened to you? And..." Aria looked at the knife. "...what did you use that on...?" Adagio sighed and looked down.
"It's not wh-what you think...I didn't kill anyone or anything..."
"Then what happened?"
"W-well...when you're a weak, helpless girl living out on the streets, guys sometimes see it as an...opportunity..." She muttered. "I needed to...protect myself..." Aria closed her eyes with a sad sigh.
"I'm so sorry, Adagio." Adagio put a hand on Aria's shoulder.
"No, it is I who's sorry. I t-tried to kill you, for Celestia's sake! I would change everything if I could..."
"What made you change your mind anyway?" Aria asked. Adagio half-smiled and turned her gaze to Sonata.
"I owe it partly to her..." She said. Sonata's eyes widened.
"Me?" She asked. Adagio smiled and reached into her pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it, and showed its contents to the other two sirens.
"Remember this?" Adagio asked. Sonata gasped, recognizing it immediately. On the paper was a picture of three poorly drawn hippocampus-like creatures who were smiling and seemingly enjoying each others' company. "I just want us to be like this again..." She whispered. Aria smiled.
"I honestly didn't think it'd have much of an effect." She said. Sonata giggled and ran up, engulfing the poofy-haired siren in a hug. Adagio put her arms around her in turn, holding her close. Sonata nuzzled her face into the crook of Adagio's neck.
"We love you, Dagi!" Sonata said. Adagio smiled, hugging Sonata tighter.
"I...love you guys, too..." She said. Sonata let go of Adagio and smiled at her.
"Does this mean you'll come back home with us, finally?!" Adagio's eyes widened.
"Back...home?" She asked. Aria smiled and grabbed Adagio's hand.
"Yes. Home." She said.
"So there is a way back?" She asked in shock before closing her eyes. "Thank goodness..." She muttered. She then opened her eyes and looked at Aria. "There's nothing I'd love more..." Aria smiled thankfully.
"Then let's go...together." She said. Adagio smiled genuinely and nodded. Sonata walked up and grabbed Adagio's other hand, and they all began walking back to the portal. Adagio was sure her return wouldn't be well-received by the residents of Equestria, but she was certain that, whatever happens, as long a she had Aria and Sonata with her, she'd be just fine..
Who knew that our lives would change so much...after the battle?
Hope you guys enjoyed! And for whoever cared enough to read this whole dang thing through, you get a hug and a cookie! *distributes hugs and cookies* This is totally normal! XD Well, until next time, my friends.