Sorry for posting this so late, and thank you for your patience. The holidays have kept me busy, and so has school, but this three-day weekend has given me time to finally work on the things I want. So, without further ado, here is the LAST chapter of CaD. It's been a fun ride, and thank you to all who have joined me on it, and been here all the way up to this point.

The ending of this chapter wouldn't exist without Spyro dragon hero here on .


That night, the three sirens slept in peace. No worry. No hate. No fear. They were simply at peace. All three, Aria, Sonata, and Adagio, slept together in a heap, something they hadn't done since they were very little. It felt so nice, so much so that it almost made them want to revisit those times. And Aria felt a warmth in her chest that she hadn't felt since before she could remember. She guessed it could be nothing other than love. Real love. The sirens had always had a bond that kept them together, but she couldn't remember actually loving either of them until recently. It was probably likewise for Adagio. But Sonata...she just loved everypony. Aria smirked. That blue siren really was something else.

From a time when she was little, Aria had changed and become more distant. Bitter. She'd learned to hate rather than love, to be selfish, and it had hurt the ones around her. And she hadn't cared. But now, so drastic a change it was, that she felt nothing short of love for the other two. For Adagio, she loved her as a leader, comrade, friend, sister. For Sonata, she loved her as dear as one could. Having been turned around twice from the clutches of greed only to come back to these two knuckleheads each time, she felt that her devotion grew, and that the three of them were now closer than ever before.

And, from each other, they all felt the adoration that they so long had craved for.


One Month Later

Laughter was all that could be heard as two creatures chased each other through the water. One, colored as blue as the sea around her, giggled and shrieked every time the purple one behind her snapped playfully at her tail as she chased her. Suddenly, the blue one dived straight down, hoping to shake off the purple one.

"Come on, Sonata!" She growled as she changed direction, grinning. "Just stop for a moment!" Sonata giggled.

"Haha, no way, Ari!" She yelped, diving faster, which only made the other pick up speed as well. As the ocean floor grew closer, Sonata suddenly pulled up, but before she could dart out of the way again, Aria was on top of her, pinning her against the ground. The purple siren chuckled and put her mouth next to Sonata's ear.

"Gotcha~" Sonata wriggled slightly, trying to get free, but it was no use. With some effort, she turned onto her back so she could face the purple siren looming over her with a victorious smirk.

"Oh please, I let you catch me..." She mumbled, pouting slightly. Aria rolled her eyes.

"Yeah right." She said, nuzzling Sonata's muzzle playfully. "Quit being a poor sport and just admit it." Sonata huffed softly before allowing a small smile to form on her muzzle.

"Okay, fine...you, the great Aria Blaze, are faster and stronger than me. Happy?" Aria's smirk widened.

"Very." She stated, getting off of Sonata. The blue siren righted herself and gave Aria a playful glare.

"Pompous jerk..." She muttered. Aria's ears perked, and she whipped her head in Sonata's direction.

"What was that, darling~?" She asked, her features scrunching into a fake snarl. Sonata stiffened before returning the look.

"I said...you're a jerk!" She laughed before suddenly darting off again at full speed, this time going straight up. Aria chuckled before following right behind. Sonata burst through the water's surface, Aria coming right after. The blue siren landed on the rocks, and she let out a squeak of surprise when Aria landed on top of her once again. Sonata giggled. "Get off, jerk!"

"And what if I don't want to?" Aria said, grinning. Sonata smirked.

"Then I'll do this!" She exclaimed before craning her head to bite Aria's foreleg. Aria jumped slightly at the unexpected advance.

"So that's how ya wanna play, huh?" She asked, yanking her foreleg out of Sonata's jaws and backing off of her. Sonata got up and turned towards Aria, lowering herself to the rocks defensively. Aria smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Heh, you actually think you can take me on? Don't make me laugh."

"You won't be laughing when I'm done with ya!" Sonata said, growling playfully as her tail lashed at the air. Aria grinned, exposing her fangs as she lowered herself as well.

"Very well, then. We haven't had a good play fight in years. Just one thing, Sonata..."

"What?"

"...don't feel too bad when you lose!" She growled, grinning. Sonata huffed.

"That's it!" She barked before lunging at Aria, who responded quickly by doing the same.

~o~

When Adagio surfaced, holding some fish in her mouth, the first thing she noticed was Aria and Sonata in a writhing mess of pushing, biting, and growling. She shook her head and ignored them as she settled herself on the far edge of the rocks and set the fish down. With a small, knowing smirk, Adagio crossed her forelegs in a somewhat elegant manner before calling out.

"Girls, I brought food~!" Almost immediately, the sound of tussling stopped, and before she knew it, Aria and Sonata were in front of her, looking down hungrily at her catch.

"Wow Dagi, thanks!" Sonata chirped before grabbing one of the fish, munching on it happily, the previous fight completely forgotten.

"Yeah, thanks!" Aria said, doing the same.

"Of course~" Adagio said pleasantly before her tone suddenly turned. "It's not as if you two would get off your tail fins to hunt once in a while." Aria scoffed.

"Well, it's not like you ever invite us to go along."

"You need an invitation to aid in feeding us?"

"That's not what I mean..."

"Well, it sure sounds like it. Why do I even need to invite you, anyway? Can't you hunt on your own? That's what I've been doing for nearly a month, now. Even when my shoulder was shattered, I still hunted for you two! Sonata, I can understand. She was injured, too. But you were fine, Aria." The purple siren, knowing that, once again, Adagio was right, huffed and flicked her ear in slight annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah, alright...I'll start pulling my weight more." Adagio nodded in satisfaction.

"Thank you." Her tone then changed to a much kinder one. "Really." Aria looked up at her due to her tone and gave a small half-smile, nodding in return.

~o~

As Adagio sunbathed on the rocks, trying to keep up her 'physical display,' as she called it, Aria and Sonata were below the waves, continuing their unfinished play-fight, which once again ended with Aria pinning Sonata on her back. She grinned.

"C'mon, Dusky, this is starting to get old." She taunted. Sonata huffed and pinned her ears against her head.

"Well, maybe you're just really heavy! That's why it's so easy for you to pin me!" Aria jerked her head back.

"And what's that supposed to mean? You calling me fat?" Sonata then giggled.

"Hehe, maybe~" Aria huffed.

"Says the one who eats more than Adagio and I combined." Sonata pouted.

"Shush..." Aria smirked victoriously.

"Exactly~" She said, getting off of the blue siren. Sonata sighed and righted herself once again. "So, we done for now? Finally settled who's better?" Sonata narrowed her eyes at Aria with a half-smile.

"For now~" She said.

"Heh, good~" Aria responded, starting to swim off in a random direction, motioning Sonata to follow. With a happy chirp, Sonata swam up next to her.

"So, where're we going?" She asked curiously. Aria rolled her eyes.

"Don't you remember? Celestia said she wanted us at her castle at midday today. Since it's almost midday, I think we should start heading out, no?"

"Oh, yeeeaaaaah..." She then paused before a shiver rippled through her body. "Do...do you think we're in trouble...?"

"Why would we be? We haven't done anything wrong recently."

"Oh. Right." She paused again. "Uh, shouldn't we get Adagio before we leave?" She asked. Aria scoffed.

"Psht, the old hag knows how to get there. She doesn't need to tag along with us." Sonata scrunched up her muzzle a bit.

"I don't like it when you call her that. We're all the same age, and when you call her old, it makes me feel old...and I'm not old! I'm only four thousand...something...something..." She paused, looking into the distance, thinking hard. After a few moments, she shook her head rapidly. "Oh well, I don't remember!" Aria giggled slightly.

"I don't remember either. That's a lot of birthdays to keep track of. But I do know that we're nearing the five thousand mark."

"You see! I'm still young!" Aria smirked at this.

"But you're old as dirt in mortal terms~"

"Shush, you..." Aria chuckled, leaning over to nuzzle Sonata as they swam.

"But, yes, compared to our life span, we are very young." Sonata smiled brightly at this.

"Yes!" She cheered. Aria smirked at her, beginning to swim towards the surface.

~o~

Hesitating at the castle doors, Aria and Sonata stood in their pony forms, wondering what the princess could possibly want. Aria exhaled deeply.

"Okay, remember, we didn't do anything wrong. Just don't worry, or act suspicious. Act natural. It should all go down smoothly." She said, glancing sideways at Sonata. The blue pony shuddered before nodding, still looking worried. Aria looked to the castle doors before trodding forward, stopping in front of them before knocking her hoof against the entrance. Almost immediately, it opened, revealing two guards. Putting on a brave face, Aria stepped forward, giving the guards a scowl for good measure. "Where's the princess? We came to see her." She said, slightly demandingly. Gotta raise that tough reputation again somehow. One of the guards gave her a slightly intimidated look, but held his bearing.

"Princess Celestia is in the conference room, waiting. You're two minutes late. And...isn't there supposed to be a third one?" Aria scoffed.

"Oh, she'll be here...sooner or later." The guards shared a glance before shrugging.

"Right." The other guard said. "Miss Blaze, Miss Dusk, if you'll come with me." He said, beginning to walk off, the other guard following right behind. It was Aria and Sonata's turn to share a glance before following the two stallions.

As they neared a familiar door, Sonata lowered her ears. The conference room had always made her uncomfortable. Ever since she was brought here not long ago to help plan on how to take down Aria when she had been in her power craze. Ah, memories...

The doors to the room opened, revealing a long table with many chairs, and Celestia sitting in the largest one a the end.

"Welcome, sirens." She greeted with a powerful voice. Sonata trembled slightly, but Aria stepped forward without hesitation, head held high.

"Thank you, Celestia." She said, sounding uncharacteristically proper.

"Come, have a seat." The princess offered. With a nod, Aria began walking over to the seat closest to Celestia, Sonata slinking behind, peeking at the princess worriedly. As Aria seated herself, and Sonata sat next to her, Celestia looked around.

"Where's Adagio?" She questioned. Aria smirked.

"Fashionably late, I suppose." Celestia glowered a bit before turning her attention to the two.

"Well, that's unfortunate, because I have something that I think you three will find quite dazzling." She said with a smirk. Aria's ears perked in amusement while even Sonata let out a bit of a giggle at the princess' comical choice of words. Said princess then cleared her throat. "But, in all seriousness and professionalism, we'll have to wait for her. This...is something quite big in your siren standards." She said, offering the two a wink. Aria's eyes widened anxiously. What could it b-

"I'm here, I'm here!" A familiar voice was heard from outside of the room. It sounded quite ticked. "Hey, hey, hey, I know how to open a damn door myself! I don't need your lousy unicorn magic! Out of my way!" The doors to the room suddenly swung open, and there stood a fuming orange pony, the two guards from before on the ground behind her. She stormed into the room, glaring at the other two sirens. "You two! I was looking everywhere for you, and I-" She paused mid-rant as she noticed that they weren't alone in the room. Slowly, she turned her head to look at Princess Celestia, who had an eyebrow raised at her. Immediately, Adagio gasped before dipping her head respectfully, beginning to spout off an apology. Celestia interrupted her with a chuckle.

"Now, now, Adagio...there's no need for formalities. We're all friends here." She said with a welcoming smile, motioning to the chair across from Aria. With a gratitude-filled expression, Adagio trotted over to the aforementioned chair and sat down, looking at the princess expectantly. With a nod, Celestia finally began. "Now, you three are probably wondering why I've called you in. I can tell you now that it's nothing bad." An audible sigh of relief could be heard from Sonata. "You see, I've been doing some research on your kind, and I've also been watching your behavior and actions closely." Aria couldn't help but feel a tad violated at hearing that. "I must say that I am very impressed with your progress and reformation. While it wasn't as...easy as I would've hoped..." She said, stealing a glance at Aria. "...I can see that you three are really trying." She smiled. "And, I thought...that hard work and dedication like this...deserves a reward." All three of the sirens perked their ears at this. Reward? Celestia suddenly clapped her hooves together a couple times and, seconds later, a guard carrying a box with his unicorn magic came in through the doors. Aria's ears lowered. Something seemed oddly familiar about this scene, but she shook off the shudders that overtook her as she was filled with the anticipation of knowing what was in that lavish box.

"Princess..." Adagio began. "If I may...I don't see what we've done to deserve a 'reward.'" Aria's eyes snapped to Adagio, giving her a hard glare. What have we done to deserve a reward?! Everything! We're going against own own siren natures to make these goddamn ponies happy, and we lost everything that makes us sirens! The least we deserve is a measly reward for following the meaningless rules of the pony world like mindless sheep! Adagio noticed the glare and looked slightly taken aback before turning her gaze back to the princess, who chuckled.

"No need to be modest, Adagio. Plus, I think you'll quite literally be 'singing a different tune' when you see what the reward is." She said with a knowing smirk. The orange pony cocked her head slightly. Then, Celestia took the box with her own magic, with a thanks to the stallion, and sat it on the table, opening the lid. She then turned it so the sirens would be able to see the contents. All three's eyes widened. In the box, on a purple, velvet pillow, lay three golden necklaces, which were adorned with a single, beautiful blue stone in each one. Aria gulped slightly. Was this some kind of cruel humor? Celestia smiled, lifting one of the necklaces from the case with her magic and suspended it in the air. "Now, know that I do not give these pendants lightly. You must promise to stay reformed and meld into our peaceful society, lest I take this power from you and be forced to have you banished once more...and I'm sure that's something none of us want." The three sirens nodded uneasily in unison. Adagio then paused.

"W-wait, you said power. What power would that be? We've lost any that we had." Celestia held the pendant up higher.

"Not power that you have, power that you are to gain. These pendants...are special runes forged by none other than Zecora, the zebra you have met on previous occasions. They..." She then paused with a smirk for dramatic effect. "...will give you your voices back." The sirens gasped. "But, there's a tweak to it. Instead of disharmony and negativity, your voices will soothe and calm all who hear. And, unlike your previous stones, they will not require the collection of energy. It provides its own. No more having to feed off of power." Adagio's expression was awestruck as she stared in bedazzlement at the blue stone.

"Whoa..." She said breathily. "So...we'll be able to sing again..." Her expression then turned to a wide grin. "P-princess, that's...thank you, however can we repay you for this?" Celestia chuckled again.

"Nonsense, Adagio. You've already done enough. For your ability to lead the sirens after your return and, despite all the hardships you faced, persevering..." She said, bringing the necklace to Adagio placing it around her neck. "...I think you more than deserve this." She then turned to Sonata, who was still smiling brightly since hearing the news. "And Sonata..." She began again, picking another from the box. "...for never giving up on your friends when they needed you most, even when things seemed impossible." She placed the necklace around the blue pony's neck, who shuddered in delight. "Not many share your unbreakable spirit." Then, the room suddenly became silent as Celestia turned her attention to the last siren without a gem. Aria looked away nervously with a gulp. "Aria." The princess said. The purple pony looked back up at her, lowering her ears submissively. "I think nopony here deserves this more than you." Aria jerked in her seat slightly upon hearing this, her eyes widening.

"Wh-what...?" Celestia smiled warmly.

"You had fallen the farthest, meaning you have had to work twice as hard to be where you are. And that takes a lot of willpower. You had fallen into the clutches of greed and power, even after being offered equality and peace among us. You were desperate. And, in your desperation, you were corrupted. To bring yourself out of that twice...and to finally be fully reformed despite everything that has happened once realizing what really matters..." She said, placing the necklace around Aria's neck. "...now that takes a strong pony. And siren." She said with a small smirk. "Not everypony is able to reach that clarity." Aria looked down, placing a hoof tenderly on the stone as she intook a shaky breath. A smile formed on her face as she looked back up to Celestia.

"Th-thank you, princess. Thank you so much." Celestia smiled.

"No, sirens. Thank you."


~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~


Did anyone catch the secret message up at the top~? *snickers*