Aria trotted along the dirt road that ran through the middle of her town, Scapemare, and kept her head low to the ground. She had just been humiliated, again. All she wanted to do was sing, and every time she did everyone would laugh at her for how awful she was. She genuinely tried her best to sound good, but nothing she did worked. She sighed and tried to keep herself from being noticed. As she walked she noticed a small group of colts and mares, the ones that had heard her sing in the park. "Oh hey look! If it isn't little miss sour note!" A colt yelled out causing several mares and colts to start laughing. This wasn't the first time that somepony had made fun of her singing, it was all too common really. Grumpy song, stormy pitch, sour note, and more were all common names that she was referred to by the other ponies. Aria sighed and tried her best to avoid their stares.
"Shut up! I'm better than you at least!" Aria yelled back, her face red from embarrassment. Laughter filled her ears. She hated to be laughed at. It always made her feel terrible.
"Aria, a rock with a cold would sound better than you!" He laughed. The other mares and colts joined in as well. Aria began to tear up a little and tried to run, but everywhere she went was laughter. They wanted to make her hurt, that was the only thing that they wanted to do to her. She felt like everyone was out to get her, and to make her hurt. She kept trying to escape, but there was always some pony blocking her path, and laughing in her face.
"All of you shut up! You're all just the worst!" She cried and tried to run off, but they wouldn't allow her too. "Leave me alone!" She burst through the crowd head first and ran off towards her house. The group didn't seem to care, and continued to laugh. She hated everyone. All she wanted was to sing, and to be happy and proud of it, and she couldn't. It was like some big twisted joke that Celestia was playing on her. A mockery of her very existence. One giant joke, that's what it all was. She kept running until she made it back to her house. It was small and cozy, and at the far end of town where no one would bother her. She pushed the door open and walked inside leaving the door to shut itself. Books on singing littered the floor and were piled up on her table. She had read all of them several times over, but it felt like she was doing nothing but wasting her time. She sat down on a chair and sighed. For a few moments she remained completely silent before she began to hum quietly to herself. It had been what her mother had done to put her to sleep before she had passed away. She sung quietly under her breath for several minutes before growing disgusted with herself.
"No....I sound terrible. Why can't I sing!?" Aria felt the tears return. She wanted to sing so badly, to express herself through her voice, but she had such a terrible and unattractive voice. She had done nothing but try and try, and had only ever been met with complete and utter failure. "Why am I talking to myself? This place is a mess, I better clean it up." Aria hopped off the chair and began to clean. She needed to take her mind off of things. After a little while everything was neat and tidy, or at least clean enough for her. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"Blaze? Aria Blaze? I have a package for you." Aria opened her door and was greeted by the village mailman. He was a nice stallion, and Aria had never found a reason to dislike him.
"Is it books?" Asked Aria. She had ordered some more books on singing, these were a little more expensive, but she was borderline obsessed and needed to make her self better no matter what.
"I think so. Here you go" The mailman handed her the package and she grabbed it.
"Thank you. Have a good day."
"You too." the mailman trotted away to go deliver some more packages. Aria quickly slammed the door shut behind her and tore the package open. The books were large, and colorful. They're quality was far above what she usually had the ability to read. It had taken her months of saving up to buy these, and a large smile spread across her face as she skimmed each line.
"I hope these work." She muttered. "I really need to stop talking to myself. I'm freaking myself out a little." She spent the rest of the night doing nothing but reading. After that night she continued reading them for several days until she had completed every single one of the exercises and had made sure to do everything exactly the way the book had said to do. She sang and sang, and sang, and felt like she was getting better. She smiled slightly and felt like she had finally improved. It was late so she decided to go and get some rest. Her dreams were full of crowds of mares and stallions of all shapes and sizes cheering for her. Adoring her. She loved every last second. Morning came quickly, much too quickly for her. She rolled out of bed and rubbed the sleep out her eyes. Aria decided to go and sing in the park again to see if she had indeed gotten any better, this time she felt like she was ready. She walked towards the park and was met with the usual stares and hidden giggles. She would prove to every pony that she was a great singer!
"Oh by Celestia, if it isn't sour pitch again." The colt from earlier walked up to her along with a group of mares and other colts."Have you come to make our ears numb?"
"No, I've come to absorb you into the beauty that is my singing." Aria spat back. The group rolled their eyes and began to snicker.
"Well, well I'm kind of a little excited to see where this is going." He replied, "Which probably won't be too far." The group erupted in laughter again, sending a surge of anger along Arias spine.
"Why don't you all shut up and allow me to put you all in your place!" Aria ran up to the top of the hill and cleared her throat. She looked around and noticed that a small crowd had formed around her. She began to feel sweat roll down her snout. She was starting to feel a little sick. She hadn't practiced enough and thanks to that little stunt she pulled, she was now forced to sing in front of every pony. She took a deep breath and began to sing. She wasn't terrible, but was far from good. Her voice was shaky and out of tune, and she had to stop and take breaths every few seconds. The crowd began to giggle.
"Wow some show. You went about an inch." The colt erupted in a gut busting laugh followed by the rest of the crowd. The crowd was also filled with boo's and ponies yelling at how much she sucked. Aria felt tears build up in her eyes.
"You didn't even give me chance!" She yelled.
"You don't need chances! Some pony like you will never, and I mean never be able to sing! So stop embarrassing yourself Aria!" A mare in the crowd shouted.
"Yeah! Stop singing!" Another added.
"Stop singing! Stop singing! Stop singing!" A chant had formed in the crowd. Aria looked around her in horror. Tears running down her cheeks. How could they be so cruel to her? She wasn't that bad. She couldn't be. Not after all that. All those times she had practiced, all the countless hours she had spent singing. It had to amount to something!
"I...I hate all of you!" She screamed and ran away. The laughter and boo's seemed to follow her along with the chant. She ran, and ran, and didn't look back. She didn't want to look back. She wanted to run away, far away from the cruel voices. After running for a long time she found herself tired and soaked in tears. She stopped by a tree near the path and sat down under its shade. "Why won't any pony like my singing? What am I doing wrong? I...I try so hard..." She sobbed and spoke under her breath.
"I understand your feeling dear." A mare's voice broke through her sobbing. Aria looked up and saw a light orange mare with large beautiful purple eyes and fluffy orange hair. She held her hoof out to Aria.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Aria looked away from the stranger. The mare eyed the ground and avoided eye contact.
"I'm like you. Some pony who wishes to sing and spread her beautiful songs to others, but alas cannot due to being cursed with a sour voice. I understand how you must feel." The mare sounded sincere. "My name is Adagio Dazzle."
"Aria Blaze." Aria quietly replied. "I don't know if I can trust a complete stranger or not."
"I understand, but really why would I have any reason to lie to you? Here listen." Adagio began to sing. She appeared to be trying with all of her heart, but like Aria she was out of tune, and not very good. "See? I have embarrassed myself again."
"Why?" Aria was beginning to grow curious as to Adagio's reasoning for even talking to her. "What do you want with me?"
"Well I was traveling to begin a new life, as well as start a band or singing group of some kind, but with ponies like me." She held her hand out. "Ponies that can understand one another." Aria looked at Adagio who smiled back at her.
"I'll join. I have no reason to stay here." Aria accepted Adagio's hoof and got up. She looked back at her town with nothing but contempt. It was a long shot, but Aria knew she had nothing to lose.