I would like to thank Icecreammac for editing this and I would also like to thank Sadistic Fluttershy for proof reading this and for helping with it as well. Below you will see a picture of what Sonata is supposed to look like. You will also see what a hippocampus looks like as well that photo is below the one of Sonata.

Twilight found herself unable to sleep as she tossed and turned on the couch provided to her by Celestia and Luna. Sitting up, she saw on the DVD player's clock that it was two in the morning. Sighing, she lay back down and tried to sleep, but she found she couldn't even close her eyes, too preoccupied as she was on her thoughts of having to tell her mentor about Sunset’s death.

Dinner had gone as well as could be expected. Celestia had eaten quickly and excused herself to be alone, while Luna had offered a video game for Twilight to play to distract her mind from the day's events. After an hour and half of playing with Luna, Twilight lay down on the couch to unsuccessfully try to sleep.

“Can’t sleep, Twilight?” Luna's voice came from around the corner. “I couldn't help noticing you tossing and turning for some time now.”

Twilight sat up, letting the blanket fall back to the couch. “Yeah, I can’t sleep. Sunset’s death hit me pretty hard, and I need to go back to Equestria to let Princess Celestia know about this.” Looking down, Twilight sniffed, trying to hold back her tears, “Why, Luna? Why did she do it? I just don’t understand why this had to happen.” Looking back up Twilight continued. “I know why she did it. I know she must have been hurt by all that she lost these past few weeks. She must have been so alone but what I really mean is why did she feel the need to do it? We could have worked it out she and I could have I don’t know done....something.”

Walking over to her, Luna laid her hand onto Twilight's shoulder, saying softly, “I wish I knew, Twilight. If you want a ride to the school, I'll be glad to help.” Luna sat down next to Twilight, holding the princess in her arms. “You're going to feel anger, sadness, confusion. You're going to want to scream and yell. And that's normal, but do know that if you need someone to talk to, I’ll be here for you.”

“Thank you, Luna.” Twilight hugged Luna lightly. “I’ll be ready to go in just a few minutes.”

“Alright, I’ll get dressed, and I will wait for you at the portal. And don't worry about my sister. She's out cold right now, and I think she will sleep for the entire night. Is there anyone that you will bring out of the portal?”

Twilight thought for a second, then replied, “Yes. I'll be coming back with Gilda, Sonata Dusk and Summer. I'm sure you're aware of the first two, but Summer will be...a surprise.” Twilight headed to the bathroom to change. “I’ll more than likely be bringing Princess Celestia with me, as well.” Stopping in her tracks, Twilight quickly turned around, saying, “Uh, is that alright with you? I mean, to have--”

“Yes, Twilight, that is alright with me, although you should warn her that the Cakes might not take too kindly to her showing up at Sunset's funeral.” Luna paused for a bit. “I will talk with my sister about allowing her counterpart to stay here. I am sure your princess will want to learn all she can while she is here.”

“Thank you. Now, I need to get ready.”

“I’ll go get the car started and let it warm up, then.”

“Alright.”

Luna headed out to start the car, and Twilight went to get changed. Soon after, Twilight found herself sitting in Luna's car. Luna had gone back in to get her wallet, and when she returned and climbed into the driver's seat, she noticed that Twilight was looking at a black motorcyle, clearly confused by it.

“Wondering what it is?" Luna asked. When Twilight nodded, Luna replied. "It's called a motorcycle. It belongs to my sister.”

“Does she drive it at all?” Twilight asked. “I mean, it looks rather dangerous.”

“Not anymore. Now, we need to go. I’ll wait for you at the portal.”

Not long later, Twilight entered the portal, finding to her pleasant surprise that her home smelled of freshly baked goods. Thinking Pinkie was in the kitchen, Twilight made her way there, only to instead find Sonata cooking at the stove. Twilight froze, taken aback at Sonata's appearance. She looked much like the image summoned during the Battle of the Bands, a hippocampus with a large dorsal fin and fins on her front two legs. However, while she still had the rather sharp teeth, she looked smaller and less imposing. This, however, didn't stop Twilight from having flashbacks to the sirens' near-victory. Twilight took notice of Sonata's cutie mark a upside down trident with a gold crown at the top of it and quaver eighth musical note facing to the left. There was also a pink heart behind the musical note and trident. Twilight said nothing to Sonata of her cutie mark thinking it was best not to push the issue.

When Sonata noticed Twilight standing slack-jawed in the doorway, she said happily, “Oh, goody, your home. Like, thanks for letting me--” Sonata’s words fell short when she noticed the sad look on Twilight's face. “What’s wrong, Twilight?”

“I...hurt somepony I thought was my friend.” Looking around, Twilight continued, “Where’s Spike?”

"Who’s Spike?” Twilight frowned at this, though Sonata seemed oblivious to it. “Whoever he is, I'm sure he'll show up. Is there anything I can do to help? I mean, you did save Summer, and you also let me come home for a bit, so I kinda owe you one.”

“No, Sonata, there isn’t anything that you can do, but I think there's something I can do for you. But first, I really need to find Spike. You know, the little purple dog?”

“Oh, yeah! I think Spike's in there, trying to hide from Gilda.” Sonata pointed to the room across the hallway. “Uh, what are you gonna do to me. It's not gonna hurt, is it?”

“No, it won't hurt. I think we've had enough pain for a lifetime. I'm going to give you something.” Twilight took out one of the blue heart stones from her saddle bag, floating it over to Sonata and saying gently, “With this, you can feed on positive energy rather than negative energy, and thus, you can come home for good.” Looking down, she continued, “That is...if you want to.”

Sonata took the gem in her finned hooves, looked at it, then beamed a big smile, saying happily as she began to wiggle and dance about the kitchen, “I get to come home, I get to come home! I can’t wait to tell--”

She cut herself off. “Wait, what am I doing!?” Sonata set the stone down on the floor as she continued sadly, “I can’t take this, Twilight. I'm, like, really happy to be able to come home for good. For realizes, I am. But I...can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I want my sisters to come home, too, and I know that you’ll--”

“Yes, I'll let them come home, and I'll make sure they get the same stones as the one you have now. Now, if you’ll tell me where Summer and Gilda are, I’ll--”

“Library for Summer, and I think Gilda's out on the third-floor balcony," Sonata interrupted, smiling in relief. "Gilda sorta freaked out when she saw us in our natural states. But I think she's doing much better. She even made it crystal clear that she still won’t leave Summer’s side. Like, even when Princess Celestia asked to speak to Summer alone, Gilda stood her ground and wouldn’t back off.”

“Oh, great. That’ll make talking to the princess all the easier," Twilight said sarcastically. "Now I have to go calm down a griffon that has no idea how strong she actually is.” Snorting lightly, Twilight turned around to leave as she huffed out, “Can this day get any worse?”

Twilight walked into the room behind her, finding Spike asleep a stuffed bugbear in his claws. He muttered to himself as he slept peacefully, “I’ll eat the red one later, Sonata.”

Twilight chuckled, covering him up with his blanket and kissing him on his forehead. “Sleep well, Spike. May you dream of lots of gems and happier times for Equestria.”

Her smile fading, Twilight reluctantly walked to the library. Gilda was fortunately there, along with Summer. Both were curled up in front of roaring fireplace. Princess Celestia was also present, reading from some of Twilights books. Twilight took a deep breath and said, “P-Princess Celestia, I need to speak with you.”

Princess Celestia looked up from her book. Raising a wing to her lips, she quietly replied, “Shhh. They're sleeping. Let’s go outside and talk.”

Twilight watched as Celestia set down the book she had been reading and unfurled her wings, taking to the air, taking care not to let her gust of air scatter any books or papers. Celestia motioned for Twilight to join her, and the two found themselves outside in the cool night's air.

Twilight looked down when she landed in front of her mentor, saying, “This isn't easy to say, but--”

“It's about Sunset, isn’t it, Twilight?”

“Yes, Princess.” Twilight knelt before Celestia, and the princess took notice that Twilight was trembling. “I'm sorry, Princess. There's no easy way to say it, so I'll just come out with it.” Looking up as her tears began to flow, Twilight sobbed out, “Sunset is gone, Princess. Her life has been awful these past few weeks, from the school turning on her to her friends abandoning her. And she couldn't just come home after I banished her. And now she’s gone!”

Princess Celestia blinked a couple of times, allowing Twilight's confession to sink in before she stammered on her words. “Y-You did w-what, Twilight?”

“I banished her.”

Swallowing hard, Princess Celestia looked sternly at Twilight, saying, “On whose authority did you banish her?”

“Princess Celestia, I'm a princess now. I acted on my authority for what I thought was the good of all of Equestria.”

“Explain yourself.” Celestia could hardly believe her own ears. Celestia thought to herself “How could she do such a thing?”

“I thought at the time being that Sunset was too dangerous to be allowed back in Equestria, so after I was able to get the portal to open whenever I wanted, I wrote the decree and read it aloud to her. Only, I didn’t give her a chance to explain herself, nor did I bring her to court for a formal hearing. I--”

“You have said quite enough!” Celestia snapped bitterly. “It is bad enough that I have lost my daughter twice now, but to hear that you actually did this breaks my heart. How dare you, Twilight?” Twilight took a step back, gulping as tears ran down her cheeks. Princess Celestia stepped forward, a look of pure anger clearly etched on her face. “How dare you think that you can issue such a punishment without first contacting me or going to the high courts!”

Celestia paused, seeing the look of fear on Twilight's face, the same look that Sunset had when she herself had yelled at her in the same manner. Backing away, Celestia calmed down a bit before continuing, “I'm sorry if I frightened you, Twilight.” Celestia looked down, her wings drooping slightly as her own tears started to flow.

Twilight, for her part, was astonished. “P-Princess, I'm so sorry. I didn’t know that Sunset was your daughter. I didn’t know she was going to take her own life.” Princess Celestia looked up as she heard Twilight continue through thick sobs “I deserve your anger. I deserve to be banished. I deserve all of it!”

Quickly picking Twilight up in her hooves and wrapping her wings around the young princess, Celestia soothingly said, “Twilight, it wasn’t your fault. You didn't know what was going to happen. I'm sorry I got so angry with you. I loved her, too. I only wish I could have helped her.”

Celestia held Twilight in her hooves, allowing her to cry into her shoulders. “If anypony is truly at fault, it is I. I should have been the one to go after her, not you. I placed too much of my burden on your shoulders. Can you forgive me for asking you to go after your--”

“Uh, excuse me." Celestia turned her head to face Summer, who stood sheepishly in the doorway. "Sonata says that dinner's ready, and Gilda wants to know if she can borrow some of the books in the library, but if this isn't a good time--”

“No, Summer, it’s alright. We'll be in in just a minute. I just need to speak with Twilight for a second, then the two of us will join you and Gilda. And speaking of Gilda, is she trying to fly again?”

With a slight chuckle, Summer replied, “No. I think once was enough for her. Oh, before I forget, I wanna apologize again for Gilda.” Looking down, Summer continued, “I know she can be a hooffull at times, but...I love her.”

“That’s alright.” Turning back to face Twilight, Celestia continued, “Walk with me. I need to speak with you in private.” Celestia looked back to Summer, quickly adding, “Would you tell Gilda and Sonata that we will join you both in a few minutes, please?”

“Of course.” Summer nodded, turning to go inside, she closed her eyes, muttering to herself. “Keep it together, Thirteen. Now is not the time for vengeance. Think only of Gilda and nothing else.”

Twilight began to walk with Princess Celestia as the latter softly said, “Twilight, do you know why we have the courts and why, even as a princess, you are forbidden to take matters such as banishment into your own hooves?”

“No, Princess, I don’t. They just tend to bog things down and get in the way of getting things done.” Twilight looked down, her ears against her head. “I know what I did was wrong. I wish in my heart there was some way to fix it.”

“I am afraid there is nothing either of us can do to fix this.”

Twilight was silent for a bit before asking, “Princess, how can Sunset be your daughter? I thought you didn’t have any daughters?”

“I’ll get to that in a little bit, but back on topic, it is because of my sister that we have the court system that we have.”

“I don’t understand. I thought you acted with the good of Equestria in mind, like I did. Or, well, like how I thought I did.” Twilight didn’t look up as she continued, “I thought you had no choice but to banish Princess Luna to the moon.”

“That’s not entirely correct. While it is stated in the history books that I didn’t have a choice, the reality was that I did indeed have a choice. I could have chosen to knock her out and take her helmet off, trapping the creature called Nightmare Moon inside Luna’s helmet forever. I could have chosen to run away and gather my strength for a later fight. There are lots of choices that I wish I made, but I didn't consider a single one of them.” Looking down at Twilight, Celestia sighed. “The point is that I had a choice, yet I couldn't see them. Thus, I established the court system and gave them much of my authority. Sometimes, you need to rely on others to see the choices available to you.”

“I see.”

“I still have authority over our armies during war, I still have the authority to issue decrees, I still have the authority to hear appeals brought to me from the court system, and I still have the authority to punish the guilty, though the punishment may not exceed the crime. But I do not have the authority to try criminals except for the most grievous of crimes, and even then, I have a group of judges to aid me and give me counsel during those cases.”

“But Sunset committed an act of treason, didn’t she? She stole my crown and threatened to commit war against you to rule all of Equestria.”

“And what proof do you have other than your word of that threat?”

“There are witnesses on the other side of the mirror. And Spike. They all heard her say this.”

“Yes, that is true, but do you really think the courts would allow Sunset to be tried for treason committed on the other side of the mirror when they don’t even know about the mirror?”

“Well, I...” Twilight sighed, closing her eyes. She continued bitterly, “No, I can’t say that they would.” Looking up, she said, “So, what, I was supposed to then just to let her go unpunished, then?”

“No, she needed to face what she did, but you should have allowed her to face her punishment with the courts. We may not have any applicable witnesses to her threat of treason, but we did have applicable witnesses of her theft, and even though she took your crown, she still had rights, rights which you took from her wrongly and illegally.”

“I'm sorry, Princess.” Twilight looked back down her ears drooped against the sides of her head “I am so sorry for all that I have done Princess”

“I am not the one that you need to apologize to. You are to go back to the human world and make your case to those that hurt Sunset.”

Celestia sighed as she continued, “I will be going with you to help you make your case and to say goodbye to Sunset.”

“You should know that the Cakes might not want to see you at her funeral. They've filed to adopt her, and they've been very protective of her.”

Twilight gulped slightly. “Princess Luna’s counterpart is waiting for me on the other end of the portal. She's willing to talk to your counterpart about allowing you to stay with her until this whole mess is over with.”

“How did this happen anyway, Twilight?”

“Applejack's, Rainbow's, and Rarity's sisters took it upon themselves to post everyone's secrets online until Sunset's friends all left her and the school hated her. It was shortly after then that,” Twilight looked back down, “Sunset took her….own life.”

“I see. I think I need to have a talk with your friends.”

“They've already yelled at their sisters, as have I. And I've already given them a piece of my mind.”

“I do not intend to yell at them, nor do I intend to punish them. I will also be going to help answer whatever questions they or you might have regarding Sunset’s life here.”

Though Twilight still wanted an answer to her question on whether Sunset really was Princess Celestia’s daughter, she decided to wait till a better time to ask again.

Princess Celestia turned around and headed back to the castle, soon joining Gilda, Summer and Sonata. She filled them in on her intentions to travel to the human world, deciding to eat there.

After cleaning up, the five stood before the portal. Gilda stood next to Summer, holding the pony's hoof in her talon. Gulping, she and Summer entered the portal first, followed shortly by Princess Celestia. Twilight followed after leaving a message for Spike to read after he woke up. After a short trip, the five were once again in the human world.