Is The Height of Folly
There were many, scattered all throughout the oceans of the world, who asserted that even a siren’s blood was an instrument of chaos. There were some who said that cutting a siren just gave her another mouth, that her blood would pollute the waters around her and call those who swam in it to shed more blood. There were a scant few who said that it wasn’t blood at all that flowed through a siren, just more discordant music.
Aria could see plenty of her blood, and it seemed to her as though there was nothing special about it at all.
It came as some small relief that it wasn’t just hers that had been shed. A muse clung to life not too far from her—muses didn’t look all that different to sirens, but they always had pearly-white scales and their brains were too weak for any two to sing different songs—gasping pathetic attempts at music and widening its own wounds with its writhing.
“Now, what might we have here?”
A shadow crawled over Aria, descending upon the dying muse. The jagged hooves of a siren with scales as soft as silk but as bright as gold and harder than stone crept downwards. They skewered their helpless prey, pressing into it until it finally stopped moving and gave one last ugly death rattle.
And then the other siren faced Aria, forked tongue flicking out over her teeth as her mouth shaped into a wicked smirk. “Aren’t you a good little soldier, now? How does it feel, dying just like your queen would have asked you to?”
Aria scowled back at her, eyes falling on the twinkling ruby unnaturally implanted in Adagio’s chest. Then she squeezed her eyes shut, knowing all too well what kind of things beauty like Adagio’s could do to her. “Better a dead soldier than a witch like you.” She tried to snarl, but spasms of pain ripped through her chest and her voice came out as more of a strangled wheeze.
“I thought we sirens prided ourselves on individuality.” Adagio’s voice drew closer, slithering into Aria’s ear. “Are those your words or your queen’s? You don’t have to be afraid of me just because she is.”
Adagio didn’t wait for a response, nor did she get one. She just drew closer, then sent a spike of agony into Aria’s brain when she dipped a sharp hoof into an open wound. “Do you want to live forever? You can be beautiful, just like me. You can be feared, just like your queen. You won’t have to live your life for anyone but yourself.”
Weariness made Aria want to keep her eyes closed, but pain drove her to open them, and when she did, they immediately glued themselves to a second ruby pinched between Adagio’s hooves.
“What are you, Aria? The world will not remember soldiers. Your queen’s already forgotten about you.” Adagio drew closer still. “Leave a scar behind you, not a corpse.”
Weakly, the world growing dim around her, Aria reached out towards the ruby.
Canterlot High School looked peaceful, brightly-colored even at night.
Aria walked towards it, already pondering how it would look in a few hours after she’d set it ablaze.
The thought had came to her earlier that morning, in the shower.
That would be nice, she’d told herself. She could burn down the school, and that would be her scar. For months, years, maybe, she’d leave a stronger mark than she’d managed in centuries.
Plans that had been formulating in her head—most of which amounted to “Fuck it, I’ll figure something out” anyway—came to a halt when she passed in front of that ridiculous horse statue and heard a voice call out to her.
“Hey. Been a little while, hasn’t it?”
Aria stopped where she stood, looked and saw Sunset Shimmer calmly seated on the ground by the statue’s base, intermittently jotting a few things down in a notebook but mostly just staring at the school.
“Yeah. That it has.” Aria looked at the school, then back to Sunset. What a mood-killer. “What’re you doing out here so late? School’s not supposed to be in session.”
“It’s quieter this time of night, don’t you think?” Sunset barely looked at her, just kept writing. “I like coming out here when nobody’s around.”
“Why’s that?”
“It’s… all pretty silly, really.” Sunset breathed out a sheepish chuckle, mouth lifting into a smile. “I’m actually kinda embarrassed to say.”
Aria cocked an eyebrow, leaned against the statue and folded her arms over her chest. “In that case, I’m not leaving until you do.”
Sunset laughed again—Aria couldn't believe how much she hated that stupid, cheerful sound—and patted the concrete next to her. “Wanna come and sit with me, then?”
“Alright.” The concrete was cold and rough. “So. What’s with you and the school?”
“I’m gonna be leaving sometime. ‘Bout a year or so from now, I’d say.” Sunset closed her book, leaned back and sighed. “I’d thought that I’d go back to Equestria, at one point, but now… I think this world is my home, and that school right there? That is where the life I always wanted to live began.” She smiled again. It was the happiest thing Aria had seen all day. “So, in a year or so, when I leave and… I don’t know, go off to college or something… I want to be able to look back and just know that this place existed and that I was there.”
The balance between happy and stupid was a perilously thin one, and that last part tipped Sunset firmly in favor of the latter. “So take a picture and be done with it.”
“Already did, actually.” Without being prompted, Sunset whipped out her phone, pulled up a picture of the school that looked only a few minutes old, and winked. “Do you have someplace like that?”
Aria stared at Sunset for a long while. “No. I don’t,” she drawled. “Queen of the sirens just couldn’t stand having someone else claim to be prettier than her, so she started a war. Got a lot of people killed—including me, if you’re wondering—and then didn’t even live to see the day Adagio won it for her.”
“I’m sorry.”
Aria waved her hand, muttering curses under her breath. “If I wept for stupid cunts like her, I’d have myself another ocean. No, she didn’t care about anything but stroking her own ego. Maybe she had more in common with Adagio than she thought.” Aria’s lip curled. “It took Adagio two tries, you know. To get me to take that gem she offered me. I guess I told her no loudly enough the first time that she took it as a challenge. Said she’d make me powerful and beautiful and all that stupid crap, stalked me until I was desperate enough to say yes.”
“Wasn’t that what you wanted?”
“Little girls want to be beautiful. Then they grow up.” Aria looked back at herself and wondered if she’d done that part yet. “No,” she said, more to herself, “Adagio didn’t do anything for me but beat me over the head with a silver spoon until I just knew I was better than people like you.”
“So, what did you want?”
“Who knows? I didn’t want to die for a queen who didn’t even know I existed, that’s for sure. Now… I don’t think there’s anything I want. Just a bunch of stupid dreams. Nothing worth spending a life for.” Not when you’ve only got one left to give.
“Our lives are spent doing nothing but chasing dreams, and every step we take brings us just a little bit closer to the person we’ve always dreamed of being.”
Aria snorted, reached out and flicked Sunset in the forehead. “Well, aren’t you pretentious?”
Sunset chuckled, and gestured towards the school. “It’s something that a very wise mare told me once. I didn’t believe it until I was… oh, right about there, on my knees, crying my eyes out, begging forgiveness.”
“Good for you.” Aria glowered at the sky. “But suppose my dream was to… oh, I don’t know…” She gave a flippant shrug and a dry chuckle. “We both like the nighttime. What if I wanted to put the sun out? What would you tell me to do then? Chase that dream ‘til I’ve ground my feet down to bone and burned my eyes to a crisp?”
“Well…” Sunset laughed again. Aria didn’t hate it quite as much as the first time. “No, I’d ask you to find a different dream. Why do you want to make the sun go out?”
Aria shrugged. “Why not? Nobody else ever has.” She kept looking up and felt her mouth shape into a smirk. “I could be the first. Wouldn’t that make for a good story?”
“Fame, then? You still want to be adored, don’t you?”
Of course. Who didn’t? “Nobody who’s not adored gets remembered.”
Sunset lifted an eyebrow. “What about the other sirens? They’d remember you, right?”
Aria snorted, spitting out a mirthless cackle. “Adagio’s probably already forgotten either of us ever existed. Sonata’s sure trying to, only she’s dumb enough to stick around.” She shook her head. “No, they don’t exactly adore me.”
Sunset looked at her for a while. “I disagree,” she said, lifting an index finger pointedly, “but not with that.” Then she pointed at a spot on the concrete, just a few feet in front of them. “Stand over there for a second?”
Aria shot a glare, but complied. She stood up, walked over, and turned to face Sunset with a grimace adorning her face.
“Perfect.” Sunset held up her phone, pressed a button, and then hurried over and showed Aria a freshly-taken picture. “How does that look? I could get it printed out and bring it to you sometime, if you’d like.”
“Why bother?” Aria looked back at the school, idly pondering how long it would take for a burned-down school to be rebuilt, as well as the odds of Sunset being there two nights in a row.
“Because now, even if you walked out of this city and never came back, I’d be able to remember you. As long as this photograph exists, I’ll be able to look at it and think, ‘Yeah. Aria was there that night, and she wasn’t so bad deep down.’ ”
“That’s it? You’ll remember that you talked to me that one time? That’s not very much.”
“No, it isn’t,” Sunset said with a flippant shrug and a cheeky grin. “But it’s a step, isn’t it? You’ve got one person who’ll remember you now no matter what you do—and, no offense, but I think we can both agree I don’t adore you. But if I show this to my friends, that’s seven. Who’s to say you can’t find more? Don’t fight to put the sun out, because that’s a fight you’ll never win. Fight to be remembered, because you’ve already got one good hit in.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long, long time.”
Another laugh, and then that beam persisted. “That, I don’t disagree with. But does it help? If it does, then, well… I’d say it doesn't really matter, wouldn’t you agree?”
Aria went silent. She listened to what Sunset said, stared at the picture, and heard a dozen questions echoing through her head. Rhetoricals, many of them had been once.
When she looked at that picture, a few answers dawned on her.
“Yeah,” she muttered under her breath, stuffing her hands into her pockets. “Yeah, I guess it does.” She felt her brow knitting, spun slowly on her heel and walked away. “I’ll...” She bit her lip. “I’ll see you around,” she said, but more important things needed to be done.
It took Aria a week to hunt down the courage she needed. Long silences were always the hardest to break.
The house they’d all swindled their way into had never really been a home, but then they’d never tried to make it one. Plain walls marred by cracks and peeling paint stood grim and silent, with nary a sound and only a hint of a stagnant scent in the air.
Aria had hated that house for as long as she could remember. Vicious barbs echoed in her memories, accompanied by a twisted scowl, a slam of a door, and a rapid, one-way march into the night.
Now that she thought about it, maybe it had all been for the better.
Aria stood outside a door, staring at the wood. She’d walked by it without sparing a glance hundreds of times, and now that she finally stood ready to change a habit, she realized she’d all but forgotten what effort felt like.
No better time to learn, she’d told herself every day for the past week.
That day, she finally took her own advice, stepping into a room of prettiness in shambles. In the distant corner, sprawled out on a bed, a blue shape stirred, the empty stare she’d been wearing growing tinted with worry. The face that had known Aria the longest of all the ones she’d seen that year regarded her with the most fear.
Aria wasn’t sure what sort of feeling that gave her. Regret seemed too strong of a word, perhaps. Icy demeanors and heated invectives sprang to mind, but she couldn’t think of a single one she’d take back if she could. The past didn’t matter, and maybe she had pretended it did.
Longing, then. That seemed as good a word as any.
Swallowing a breath, Aria walked over, only to be wounded when Sonata responded by scurrying farther into the corner. What kind of face was she supposed to wear to make someone stop being afraid of her?
And when had innovation ever frightened her before?
“Hey.” She faltered for a moment, then forcibly lifted the corners of her mouth. Smiles were probably a safe bet. It didn’t work right away, but whatever. Aria moved closer until she stood right by Sonata’s bed, then breathed out a sigh to calm herself, gesturing to the bed. “Mind if I join you?”
Worry blended with confusion, but a small nod gave her permission. Aria sat cross-legged on the bed, facing Sonata, and struggled to maintain eye contact. She felt her smile slipping, and didn’t feel like her efforts to keep it up made it quite natural. “So…” She faltered again. What am I supposed to say? “Let’s be better than this,” she said, finally.
Sonata gave her a silent stare, then looked away, drew her knees to her chest and hugged them. “What do you mean?” she whispered.
“I don’t know.” Aria bit her lip, fought to keep thinking. Bull-headedness finally stopped caring about inarticulateness. “We can… I don’t know, try and learn to sing again, or” —Fuck, what do normal people do— “maybe get jobs or something.” She saw Sonata wilting again, clenched her teeth and pushed forward. “Come on.” She stuck out her hand. “Let’s just… do something. We’ll worry about whether or not it works later.”
Sonata hesitated, staring at Aria like she didn’t recognize her. There was an air of wariness to her, but a faint glimmer of desire in her eyes. “Aria, wh-why are you being so…” She hung her head, retreated farther into the corner. “What are you trying to…”
“Hell if I know.” Aria pressed her fingers into her temple, knitted her brow. “You don’t have to listen to me,” she murmured. After a pause, she forced out a dry chuckle. “Who knows, maybe you’d be better off if you just walked out and forgot all about me. But, if you are gonna stick around—” breathing deeply, she met Sonata’s eyes “—I don’t want your last memory of me to be a part where I was a bitch.
“So, c’mon.” Aria inched closer, still holding out her hand. “What we were doing didn’t work out, so we’ll find some other way to get what we want.”
After a long pause, a flicker of a smile played on Sonata’s lips, the first that Aria had seen for a long time, and it bolstered an already-kindled spark of hope.
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This was a very well done piece. Congratulations
That was very sweet,
Always happy to see a story from you and this did not disappoint. Thank you so much. I think I have some things to think about now.
I like to think that, concurrently with this, the Aria and Sonata from Burnonomics are on their merry way to Crystal Prep
This is a spectacular worldbuilding moment, suggesting so much with so little
It might even have made a great short bio line, if you hadn't only recently changed yours 
Do we think, then, that with Adagio on their side, the sirens escaped having their feathers pulled out?
This is, of course, my favourite moment and line
Aww but you changed the silver spoon line
8524270
Yeah, but then I’d be quoting myself
Not sure how I feel about that, seems like it’d make for a bad first impression. Loved writing that line, though!
Who said she was on their side?
To be honest, I haven’t thought too much about this headcanon beyond what’s presented right here; I think I was abruptly smitten with this Adagio as I was writing that first scene, so I’d love to expand on it, if an opportunity arises 😍 Could go either way, I suppose. I think I mentioned this at one point, but bits of the background here came from bits and pieces cut out of that one other story thing we’ve been talking about, which is why I’m going to have to be pretty wishy-washy with this one.
I think that this creepy-and-still-kinda-sexy-but-mostly-just-creepy-witch/hermit-thing Adagio is easily my second (Or maybe first, even
) favorite rendition to write. That one line honestly makes me want to know what the rest of her story is.
Reluctantly. Very reluctantly. Not to say that I don’t adore the original, but it felt a little out of place to me, just a little too lewd in a story that’s otherwise occasionally vulgar but consistently chaste.
So really, it’s your own damn fault for telling me to take out that original first scene
8524221
You’re very welcome
8524152
Also had a bit of a SunAria itch come up lately, and I think this is the closest I’ll come to shipping them in the foreseeable future. Anyway, glad you liked it!
I felt like Aria needed some love after reading Bullets, so the timing was exceedingly convenient
8524090
I think I drew a tiny little bit more from personal experience with this one than I usually do. Glad to hear the final product was worth reading!
Thanks!
8524435
True, that would be tacky
I was thinking more like a book sometimes has a few lines on its inside cover as a teaser of what's to come, but perhaps it doesn't translate too well to short bio fields.
Then I shall ask nothing more on the subject
There weren't many details on what Aria was like as a siren without a gem, other than a dying soldier. So I figured the gem turned Adagio into a magical bioweapon of sorts, which led to the witch line.
I didn't so much get the creepy vibe as I did an intimidating one, but perhaps that was mostly the physical size of an Equestrian siren and the threat she potentially posed to a dying Aria (and did pose to the muse).
Bugger, I'd have suggested mentioning body parts elsewhere if I'd known
8524435
Agreed! I was a little curious about that actually
Hmm, the part about Aria wanting to burn down the school was probably funnier to me than it should have been, since I've been on this huge Heathers kick lately. Knowing Aria, I'm surprised she waited until the place was empty, especially if she was trying to make the news.
8524481
Yeah, I think it’d work a lot better there, because the cover usually has things about the story, whereas the bio field’s connected directly to the author
Although, I’m kinda sad I used that line there now, ‘cause I think it’d make a pretty freakin’ awesome description for a first-person story
I can see where you’re coming from
This was the line that made her more creepy, for me at least:
Ooo, I like that
And now I’m getting ideas
Too many ideas.
If you felt like writing a clopfic prequel, you could use the original line in a more literal sense
8524485
As much as I would love to say I hammered out 2.7 kilowords in one night as a direct response to your story, I’m afraid it was entirely coincidental. I think I started this one about two weeks ago, and worked on it on and off as something of a short break from a bigger project that I only got around to finishing recently.
So, uh... the short answer to that is, “It’s not that kind of story.”
But, to be honest, I like to think that Aria’s not entirely sold on the idea herself; notice that she pretty much loses interest once she finds out she’s not alone. She’s fairly resentful of Adagio, but I think she’s kind of going along with what she’d been told anyway, just because she has this vague idea of what she wants but no proper clue as to how she’s supposed to get it. If she were more committed to Adagio’s philosophy, then yeah, she’d probably have tried to work things out differently, but as it was she was basically grasping at straws anyway.
That’s how I like to see it, anyway.
8524573
I think this is a more innovative use on a character speaking in the present of their death in past tense, where as a first person description it suggests a ghost story or something? So I think it's better here, personally
I don't remember if I've ever read that angle before, it sounds vaguely familiar, but maybe it's just that I've read this one a few times recently?
8524573
Still, the timing was fantastic, intentional or not.
Hey, it's possible! That's how Bullets came to be
Yeah, we'll go ahead and blame my initial Heathers connection for that assumption
I also missed the part that it was happening at night haha. I figured it out once Sunset showed up.
8524657
8525153 I'm not sure you want to read that, any more than I want to write it
Cutlery & Cacti does have a certain ring to it, though...
s6.postimg.org/5pzpmopep/Pirate_Approved2.jpg
now that was some enjoyable moments. oh the battle to be remembered, to make a mark...
or to not at all in glee!
9034612
Wow, it is weird to see notifications for this story popping up for me
While this, overall, is not my favorite of the stories I've published, there're a couple lines and bits here that I thoroughly enjoy
Adagio's "Leave a scar" line, in particular, is one of my favorite things I've ever made her say 
Anyway, I'm glad you liked it! It's nice to see comments trickling in even several months after publication
9034668
I’ve been a Shut down eye for a bit- but this was one of your stories i kept track of, just to see how it was. i recalled enjoying your other siren work so i hoped to enjoy this. and when the eye decided to open up, i picked this one up.
that there is a good line. hehehe!
9034678
Ah, okay. This one’s gotten a bit overshadowed by the other two I’ve published recently, I think, so it’s nice to see it getting a little more attention
Gruff, profane Aria is the best Aria.
9213726
P-people still read this one?
Also, lies. Gruff, profane Aria is the only Aria. Every other one is only a pale imitation.
9213921
All hail the One True Aria.
9213924
Yes. Hailing is what must be done to her.
She'll probably call us all cunts for doing it.
But that's why we love her
9213967
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/6/17/1464057__safe_artist-colon-edyammies_aria+blaze_equestria+girls_bust_clothes_female_finger+gun_finger+guns_open+mouth_pointing_reaction+image_simple+ba.png
yesyes exactlyy
Ok, you totally got me with that quote.
Anyways, that was such a sweet story with a sweet interaction between Sunset and Aria. You earned my follow.
9230236
Thanks for reading
9230483
You're welcome.
9213921
I definitely read it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it at that! A pleasant way to enjoy the evening and take a break from trying to figure out what to do with myself! So thanks!
9658846
I'm glad people still manage to find this one now and then--I think I've done much, much better than this one, but there're at least bits of it I still quite like (I've always meant to write more of Adagio as she is in the first scene here, but never quite had the right story for it).
Thanks for reading, it was a nice surprise
Well now! This is certainly interesting! The Rainbooms don't make friends with the Dazzlings to "reform them". Instead, one of them (ironically the one often written to have the most hate for the 'booms) has a chance encounter with Sunset and all the right things are said for her to think about changing her life herself. I like this take on the idea!