Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been super busy. Just got a job and stuff, sooooo...yeah.


Sonata reared up and whinnied with joy. The dragon let out a couple happy chirps and flapped her wings excitedly, seeing that Sonata recognized her.

"Oh, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you!" Sonata yelped, hopping in circles. "How did you find your way here?!" The dragon chuffed in lack of understanding of what she was saying, but her expression still remained joyful in seeing her friend again. Sonata then stopped and looked at the creature. "Oh...oh, no...how am I gonna explain this to human Applejack? Or Adagio?! You're not supposed to be here! This isn't your world! You need to go back, Steven!" The dragon let out a sad groan and lowered her head, wondering why she was getting yelled at. Sonata's gaze softened and she sighed. "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie..." She muttered, going up on her hind legs and putting her forehead to Steven's. "I'm not mad. You're just not supposed to be here. We'll both get in trouble!" The dragon's long tail swayed quickly, as she couldn't exactly wag such a tail. She nuzzled Sonata pleadingly, who laughed and nuzzled the dragon back. With a final giggle, she sighed. "Okay, I guess you can...stay for a while longer. I did miss you a whole bunch, you little troublemaker!" She then paused and looked up at the creature. "...or...big troublemaker?" The dragon chirped happily at her. Steven then noticed Sonata's injury again, and her ears drooped. She leaned her head over to examine the wound. "Huh?" Sonata wondered, watching. The dragon then drew out her long tongue and gently slid it over the gash. Sonata blinked in confusion, but gasped in surprise when Steven pulled away, and the gash began to close up. It didn't heal fully, but all that was left was a faded scar and some missing fur. She looked at the dragon in wonder. "H-how'd you do that? How'd you know you could do that?!" Steven gave her a sheepish look. "Wow...that's really amazing! Hmm..." She then gasped. "Steven, come with me! I know someone who could use your help!" She said. The dragon looked at her in mild understanding. Sonata rolled her eyes with a giggle and morphed her body, turning into siren form. She looked back at Steven, who was looking at her in shock and confusion at the transformation. "Just come on." She said, beginning to take off. Steven, now understanding that she was to follow, began beating her powerful wings, lifting her off the ground as well. Sonata smiled and began flying, the small dragon following close behind.

~o~

"What the hell is that thing doing here?!" Steven lowered her head as the golden siren stood in a defensive position, despite the pain, and glared at her. "No dragons on siren territory!" She spat. Sonata flew in between the two and looked at her leader pleadingly.

"Dagi, this isn't just any dragon! Don't attack!" Adagio whipped her long tail angrily.

"Well, it sure looks like a dragon to me!" She snarled. Sonata shook her head rapidly.

"No, no, no, that's not what I mean! Adagio, this is Steven! She went through the portal and turned into a dragon! At least...I think that's what happened." She said with a shrug. Adagio immediately lost her defensive posture and looked at the dragon in disbelief.

"Th-that...that's your damn mutt?!" She asked, then winced when she felt the pain in her neck spike from the yelling. She groaned and rested herself back down. From where she lay, though, she glared at the two. "Sonata Dusk, you'd better have a great fucking excuse for bringing her here." She growled. "Why didn't you send her back?!" Sonata finally glared back at Adagio and growled, her previous anger towards her returning.

"Well, if you would let me explain myself before you open your big, obnoxious mouth, then you would know that I would've sent her back, but she fixed a wound I had by licking it, and I was thinking that she could make you better too!" She yelled. "I only wanted to help, Dagi, but it's hard to when you don't just trust that I know what I'm doing!" Adagio lifted her head slowly and blinked in surprise as she stared at Sonata. Her expression softened immediately, and she looked down and sighed.

"Sonata, I'm...I'm sorry. I just...I'm under a lot of stress, and...and I can see that you are too. So...why don't we both just calm down and take a breather..." Sonata closed her eyes and sighed as well, releasing her tension and built up stress.

"Fine..." She muttered. "...but only if you let Steven stay so that she can help you." Adagio looked skeptically over at the patiently waiting dragon and exhaled.

"Fine." With a small smile and a nod, Sonata looked at Steven and pointed with a hoof at the wounds dotting the golden siren's neck. Steven let out a curt, rumbling purr in understanding and walked up to Adagio.

As soon as the dragons tongue touched Adagio's scales, she quivered in disgust and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I'm gonna get you for this, Dusk..." She muttered, watching the dragon out of the corner of her eye. Sonata rolled her eyes.

"Just stop complaining and accept the help, would ya?" Adagio huffed and stared out into the distance. After a few minutes, Steven was done 'slobbering', as Adagio had put it, all over the golden siren's neck, and the end result was similar to Sonata's, where all that was left was a faded remnant of what was once there. Adagio shook her head rapidly, testing it out, and felt surprised when she found that any pain was near nonexistent.

"Huh." She said in amusement. Sonata looked at her.

"Well...?" She urged. Adagio sighed.

"Well, I...uh...I guess I owe you an apology, Sonata. I really...appreciate this. Even if I am a little pissed that your canine-dragon thing is here, I'd still be here, unable to move on this rock while you're out there all alone looking for little miss power-hungry if she hadn't." Sonata nodded in agreement and approval. She then giggled when Steven suddenly came over and slid her tongue over Adagio's cheek as an acceptance of her apology, much to the siren's chagrin. Adagio growled in annoyance, but couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Okay, that's enough, you crazy canine...dragon...thing."

~o~

Steven was sitting at the edge of the rocks, looking out at the calm waves. She sat up straight, and almost looked like a guard or sentry of sorts. On the other side of the rocks, however, the two sirens were in conversation with each other.

"So...did you find her?" Sonata looked down.

"Yes..."

"How is she?"

"Not...not well..."

"What happened...?"

"W-well...I found out something. You know the gem that made her this way? The one that corrupted her?" Adagio nodded slowly. "Well...I learned that it's actually attached to her." Adagio jerked her head back in shock.

"What?! But how can another gem attach to a siren?!"

"That's exactly what I said!"

"That...that's just...impossible! There must be some dark magics at work, here..." She growled. Sonata nodded in solemn agreement.

"But...there's something else..." Adagio looked at Sonata curiously.

"What is it?"

"Well...you see...I had tried to take the stone away from her while she was sleeping, but...she woke up. And, where I was, I had nowhere to go. My fate was fully in her hooves. But you know what she did? She picked me up gently and brought me to safety. And this lead me to believe...that the old Aria is still in there somewhere. We just need to reach her. We need to show her how much we care." Adagio's eyes widened.

"Whoa. I wouldn't have expected her to be so...merciful, since, you know, we've been trying to stop her path to world domination and all."

"Exactly. Why would she be so merciful unless our Aria was still in there?" Adagio nodded.

"I agree. I just hope we can reach her in time before the madness takes her over..." Adagio then closed her eyes. "...because I remember being that power-hungry once. And it always takes over in the end. Always..." She then opened her eyes and looked at Sonata, a small smile finding its way onto her face. "That's why its good to have great friends to pull you off your pedestal and back down to earth." Sonata smiled widely and nodded. Then, her smile disappeared, and a look of urgency crossed her expression.

"But we don't have a whole lot of time."

"What do you mean?" Adagio asked in slight confusion. Sonata lowered her ears and looked down.

"W-well...while I was looking for Aria...I got confronted by...Princess Celestia..." This caused Adagio to reel her head back with a snort.

"Princess Celestia?!" Sonata nodded.

"A-and she told me...that I have three days to get Aria sorted out, or...she'll..." Sonata sniffled a bit. "O-or...she'll...she'll banish her!" Sonata screeched, letting her head fall to the rocks as she began sobbing, now feeling defeated as she faced the reality of the situation, and how unrealistic a goal it was. How was she going to get Aria back to normal in only three days?! That's not near enough time! But she couldn't get banished! Sonata couldn't even imagine a life without her beloved Aria. Adagio looked at Sonata with pity, and she leaned her head down, nuzzling the sobbing siren's cheek.

"Sonata...sweetheart...it'll be alright..." She said softly, even if she didn't know if that was exactly true. Sonata buried her face in Adagio's neck.

"N-no, it's not! There's no way we'll be able to do it inthree days! She's going to get b-banished or worse, and there's nothing we can do about it! I c-can't imagine life without her! I love her s-so much! And if she gets taken away from m-me, then I swear, I'll k-kill myself!" She sobbed. "I'll kill myself!" Adagio flinched at the last of her words, and could feel tears of her own welling up at seeing the amount of pain that this whole situation was causing her friend. But she blinked them back. No. She wouldn't cry. She needed to be strong for Sonata right now. She drew Sonata closer to her and held her close, trying to comfort her as much as possible.

"Sonata, don't...please don't say such things..." She whispered, her voice sounding slightly shaky. "I promise...I promise you that I will do everything in my power to help get her back. And I swear on my siren blood that I won't let her get banished. I promise...she'll come back to us..." Sonata sniffled and nuzzled Adagio.

"Th-thank you, Dagi..." She whimpered, sounding somewhat happier. "But...h-how will we do it in time?" Adagio cuddled Sonata and licked the tears off her face.

"I don't exactly know, sweetheart, but I can just feel it. I have a feeling that things will turn out alright. We just...need to have faith...and each others' backs. So no more fighting, alright? That goes for me, too." Sonata nodded, wiping the remainder of the tears from her own face.

"Y-yeah, okay..." She muttered, feeling her eyelids start to droop in the comfort of the golden siren's embrace

"Atta girl..." Adagio cooed, wrapping her tail around Sonata in both comfort and protection. "'Atta girl.."