> The Sirens Song > by stormfury12 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The sirens > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the back alley way of a small building, a lone figure was cloaked by the night, not even the moon illuminated her body. A girl, or at least a being who appeared to be a girl, was in actuality a Siren, and had now been banished to an unknown world. "What...what is this? Where are we! Aria!? Sonata!?" The girl had orange hair and purple eyes. Her name was Adagio. She shot up and found herself unable to stand, she instantly fell over into a puddle of water and gasped at her reflection. She was unable to scream due to the mix of awe, and horror that overcame her. "What am I!?" she brought her limbs up to her face, they had five fingers on them. She wiggled them and felt dread overcome her. What was she? She looked around for her friends. Her allies. They were no where to be seen, at least not to her. "Sonata!? Aria!?" Adagio began to breath heavily, her chest felt like it was on fire, her entire body felt weak as if it was about to fall apart any second. She was lost, confused, and felt her composure begin to fall apart. "Take deep breaths Adagio..." She opened her mouth and took a long deep breath, and found that she had relaxed somewhat. "By freaking Lord Tirek, Adagio, you're so freaking loud!" A voice chimed in. Adagio turned and saw a purple haired girl standing in the darkness. Her arms folded and a disgusted look was etched across her face. "A...Aria!? Is that....you?" Adagio tried to stand up again but fell back to the ground. Her entire body was different, she had yet to adjust to it. "Well duh. Jeez Adagio you're the worst sometimes." Aria walked over and held her hand out to Adagio who took hold of it and Aria pulled her up. "How are you standing? Or walking for that matter?" Adagio asked. Aria rolled her eyes and snorted. "Its easy. Jeez, and you're supposed to be our ever so grand leader." Adagio was too freaked out and disoriented to be angered by Aria's words. She wobbled around for a moment before something came to her mind, as if she all of a sudden understood how to control this odd new body. An instinct if you will. "Aha!" A feeling of success came over Adagio. "Jeez well aren't you just grand. You learned how to walk. Bravo." Aria sarcastically clapped her hands and was met with Adagio's cold glare. "Aria would you please hold you tongue for one moment. We need-" "Need to what? Get a better leader that's what! It was your idea to trust StarSwirl, it was your idea to buy these stupid jewels from that creepy pony, and it was your idea to create our Siren manifestations to attack Equestria. This is all your fault. Some leader you are! You're the worst in every way Adagio." Aria practically snarled. Adagio felt anger overcome her and she grabbed Aria by the collar of her hood and brought her in close. "It was a group effort Aria! All three of us wanted to be more than simple ponies! Don't blame me for everything!" Adagio let go of Aria's collar. "Besides if you betrayed us I would-" "Do what? Yell at me a little? You're powerless here just like me and Sonata!" Adagio did all she could to remain calm and collected. Aria did this from time to time, she had always been moody and quick to anger. She had yet to see or hear Sonata and a small part of her was worried for her. "We just need to relax, okay? Now Aria, where's Sonata?" Aria rolled her eyes and nodded over to the corner of the alleyway. Sure enough Sonata was laying sprawled out and upside down on a bed of a garbage. Her long blue hair was messy and wild. "Sonata! Are you okay?" "Adagio? Oh I think so...I feel funny though..." Sonata rolled off the bag of trash and slammed into a puddle. "Oh my gosh! A monster! it's a monster! Ah!" Aria slapped her hand on to her face and shook her head. Adagio walked over and helped Sonata up. "Oh...yeah it's just water. I'm fine. I'm fine....I think..." Sonatas gaze came to her reflection in the puddle and she let out a high pitch scream. "What am I! What is this and this and this and that?!" Sonata looked over her entire body at lighting fast speed. Her breathing was growing faster and faster along with her heart beat. "What happened to us!?" "I don't know what we are, but I do know that we aren't in Equestria any more. We need to stay calm-" Adagio replied "Calm? Ha, and you're over here freaking out. Jeez what a hypocrite." Aria chimed in with a sneer. "Right now is not the time Aria! We need to figure out where we are, what we are now, and if any of our powers remain with us." Adagio spat back. She had made herself the leader when the three joined forces, mainly because of her ability to remain calm in most situations and keep her mind on the situation at hand. Aria usually only ever thought about herself while Sonata was too naive to do much in the way of planning and solving things. "Well we still have our jewels at least, maybe we can still sing!" Sonata fiddled with the scarlet jewel around her neck. "Yes we still have our jewels, but we need to test them first. You're probably right Sonata." Adagio walked towards the exit of the alleyway with a curvacious stride, bringing out her hips. "What are you doing Adagio? You look like a freaking fool." Aria spat. "I don't know, but I like it. I feel good. Now lets find a test subject."She motioned for them to follow, and they did. They flipped up their hoods and peered out of the alleyway opening. There were strange lights and an odd path that was a dark grey and covered in yellow lines. The buildings were similar to Equestria's but looked sharper, and far more advanced. "This place is so weird..." Sonata looked around in awe at all of the sights. It was nothing like she had ever seen before. Adagio pointed towards a figure walking along the sidewalk. He was tall and thin with long hair, and a beanie. "Well lets see what we can do. Ready girls?" Aria and Sonata nodded in response and the three jumped out of the alleyway onto the sidewalk causing the long haired guy to jump a little. "What the heck?! You guys scared me!" He relaxed a little but his face was now sour with irritation. Adagio began to hum, and soon Sonata and Aria followed in a beautiful and melodic song. The long haired guy was confused at first, but soon he felt strange as if some force was commanding his body. His body froze and became stiff while his eyes glowed with a creepy green hue. "Yes! We still have our power!" Adagio cut the hum off causing the boy to shake his head. He shrugged and walked off as if nothing had happened. "What are you doing Adagio!? We could have had dinner!" Aria yelled. "You can gorge your huge appetite later Aria! We still have our powers...and you know what that means right?" Adagio held the jewel firmly between her slender fingers. Aria's sour frown turned into a twisted smile. Sonata looked at both of them in confusion. "What does it mean?" Sonata asked. An awkward pause followed, and Aria groaned and folded her arms. Adagio turned towards Sonata and giggled. "It means dear, that we can regain our powers...." Adagio swiveled on her heel and stood against the wind with her hands firmly on her hips, and a large smile across her face. "And take back what belongs to us! We can be adored again, no not can...we will!" > Thunderstorm > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adagio, Aria, and Sonata walked along the sidewalk, their hoods shadowing their faces. After trying out their powers on the long haired guy, they decided to go and scout out this new world and figure out where they were. All three had noted that somehow they had quickly grown comfortable with their new forms. They knew how to control their bodies, among other things. Aria and Sonata hadn't given it much thought, but this had been on Adagio's mind almost the entire time. She felt no reason to explain it to Aria or Sonata, and kept her thoughts to herself. She had come to the conclusion that upon entering this world they gained an instinct that allowed them to quickly adapt from their pony forms to these new forms. Adagio felt comfortable in her skin, and this also surprised her. It seemed that not only did they gain new instincts but their very way of thinking seemed to change as well. She had noticed that while walking Sonata had commented on an outfit being "cute", this was interesting to Adagio, how could anyone who's never worn clothing before find an outfit to be cute? It had to be that their minds and bodies were adjusting to this new surrounding. "Where are we going Adagio? It looks like it could rain any second!" Aria asked. Adagio snapped out of her thought process and looked up, and sure enough the morning sky was full of cold grays and thick clouds ready to release their burdens at any second. Adagio also noticed that they had been aimlessly walking. She usually stayed focused, and she would need to be if they would ever have a hope of living in this world. She looked around quickly trying to find anything useful, after a few seconds her eyes lit up at the sight of a sign that read Public Library. "To the library of course! We need to learn more about this world don't we?" Adagio motioned them to follow her and the three quickly walked towards the library. The rain began to fall and a clap of thunder roared. Sonata jumped at the sound of the thunder. "I hate this! When can we go home?" Sonata was shivering and the downpour of rain made her look even more pitiful. "Never! Thanks to our oh so wise leader! So suck it up Sonata!" Aria yelled causing Sonata to tear up a little. "I'm just scared Aria! I'm just scared that's all." Sonata quietly replied. She tugged her hood down farther and covered her face more. She had always been the most innocent of them. Adagio remembered how they had found her. She was being bullied by some other ponies when Adagio and Aria had arrived. Aria quickly jumped to Sonata's defense and beat the other ponies to a pulp. She had stated that it was the way of Lord Tirek. While Aria may have been protective then, that sure was no longer the case now. Sonata was almost always treated like dirt by her. Adagio wasn't much better though, and she knew it, but felt little guilt. She never stood in the way of Aria or Sonatas bickering unless it annoyed her. "Both of you need to calm down. We're almost there." They soon made it to the front door and Adagio flipped her hood down and opened the front door. She walked inside and was taken back by the size of everything. It was a lot larger than the ones in Equestria. Sonata and Aria followed closely behind and they too flipped their hoods down. "Can I help you three ladies?" Asked an older looking man behind the front counter. Adagio motioned for them to stay put and quiet. They nodded and began to look around the building. "Why of course sir. We were wondering if you could tell us where we are? We got lost on the way to our uncle's." She strode over to the desk with a false smile. Adagio had always been good at deception. She had learned it from her master, she didn't want to think about those days with her, they were only full of contempt. The old man smiled kindly. "Why of course. You're in Canterlot." Adagio was stunned. Canterlot? This was in no way shape or form Canterlot. There were no castles, or guards of any kind. She giggled a little and pretended to be as normal as possible "Thank you sir. Now would you be so kind as to tell us where the history books are?" Adagio's mind was running a mile a minute. Star Swirl had banished them, and sent them spiraling through a vortex. It wasn't completely out of the question that this may be an alternate universe of some kind. She had heard myths of those existing. She had always been skeptical of them, but that was the only way this place would make any since. "Well the history section is over there." The old man pointed towards the back of the library. "Thank you for all of the help." Adagio thanked him with a large fake grin. "Oh no problem miss. If you need anything else I'll gladly help." The old man smiled kindly at her. Adagio turned back towards Sonata and Aria. Sonata was still in awe at everything while Aria stood with her arms folded as usual, and appearing just as sour and annoyed as usual. "Okay so here's what I can gather. Star Swirl banished us and sent us to an alternate reality. This is apparently Canterlot." Adagio rested her hands on her hips. "The history books are back there. We don't need too much information, just enough to get us on our feet." "Impossible. That's just so stupid. This? Canterlot? Ha!" Aria spat. "Then where do you think we are? What explanation does someone like yourself have for this?" Adagio replied. Aria rolled her eyes and crunched herself up a little. "That's what I thought. Now come help me figure out more about this place. We need to do research." She motioned for them to follow her to the back. Once they arrived at the back of the library they began to tear books free of their resting places on the shelves. "So I guess that's what we get for letting you run things. Banishment to another dimension." Aria muttered under her breath. Adagio grabbed a book from the shelf and tried to ignore Aria. "I mean who's idea was it to buy these in the first place." Aria shook her jewel a little. "I mean it sure wasn't me or Sonata." Sonata was busy looking through a picture book. She seemed to genuinely be amazed by it. "All we wanted was to start a new life. To be adored. That's all, but you had to-" "Aria. Would you please silence yourself. It was yet again, a group effort." Adagio flipped through the pages of a large textbook and soaked in the information word by word. "A group effort? Sure..." Aria plopped herself on a chair and threw the book she had on the ground and folded her arms again. "I can say with one hundred percent honesty that it sure as heck wasn't my idea to get banished by Star Swirl." "And what? It was mine? All of this was my doing? Because being banished is obviously what I wanted!" Adagio was beginning to grow annoyed. "Well if we would have remained silent when Star Swirl came, then-" "Now Aria you and your bottomless stomach would never had remained silent. So do us a favor and shut your mouth. We're here now, and we need to stay focused on the situation at hand." Adagio threw a book at Aria which landed neatly on her lap. The cover read "The complete history of war" Aria smiled a little. "Fine." Aria grumbled. She flipped through the pages of the war history book. Aria had always wanted to prove her strength, her intelligence, everything. She had been denied that much for so long. As much as she complained and whined at Adagio, she secretly was thankful that she was remotely important in any shape way or form. Even if now they were at the bottom of the barrel. At least she was needed. She was the tough one, the one who kept the other two safe, that's how it was in her head at least. "Oh my gosh! Run horsey run!" Sonata yelled at the picture book as if it was a living thing causing Aria to roll her eyes again. Adagio ignored both of them and continued reading. Another clap of thunder caused Sonata to jump and drop her book. "I hate thunderstorms...." She whimpered and picked her book up again. "Aw...I lost my place." Adagio sat down on the chair adjacent to Aria and flipped through the pages some more. She had a lot left to do. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata remained in the library for several hours before Adagio finally slammed the text book she was reading shut which caused Aria to wake up from her sleep with a jerk and Sonata to jump with a loud cry. "Okay girls that's enough for now." said Adagio with a smile. "Finally. Jeez." Aria stood up and stretched with a yawn. Sonata walked over with a large stack of comics, and picture books. "Can I check these out?" She asked. Aria ignored her and began walking off towards the exit. "Pick one of them and slide it in your jacket. We can't check anything out Sonata." Adagio made a motion replicating sliding a book up her jacket. Sonata nodded and looked through her stack trying to decide on which one she wanted to keep. She did this for several minutes, taking one book and staring at it for a moment before shaking her head and looking at another. "Hurry up! I'm sick of waiting!" Aria shouted from the doorway with a groan. She was responded by the old librarian making a shush sound. She sneered at him. "Um, I can't decide on which one!" Sonata held a colorful picture book called "The mare's escape." in one hand and a comic called "Transformares" in the other. 'Here just take this one, lets go." Adagio grabbed the picture book and slid it into Sonatas jacket. "Oh okay. I liked that one the most anyways." Sonata seemed to be genuinely content with it. Sonata and Adagio walked to the front and were greeted by an annoyed Aria. "Took you two long enough." She spat. "I'm starving." It was at that moment that Adagio realized how hungry she was. Her stomach growled in agreement along with Sonata's. "My stomachs yelling at me! I don't know what I did..." Sonata rubbed her stomach with a small adorable frown. "Come on I saw a place on the way here. Follow me." Adagio walked outside and the other two girls followed. They began walking back towards town. Now that they had sunlight they could find their way around easier. "So where exactly is this place? And are we going to be eating normal food?" Aria made a disgusted looking face. "I hate that stuff. After feeding on magic for so long it tastes terrible to me now." "Well our magic still worked on that long haired man right? Well then why wouldn't our feeding magic work? We could just pop into any of these places, stir up trouble and get out." Adagio was guiding them to a food joint that they had passed that morning. Several teens had been there, and they would no doubt be easy to stir up. Aria looked at the town ahead of them. It was rather small and didn't seem too busy. It reminded her of her old town. She had hated that place. It had been full of ignorant fools and stuck up idiots. It was just the worst. > Aria Blaze > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. > Cracks > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You see girls? I told you both that we could still feed off their negative energy." Adagio giggled a little under her breath. She felt better now that she had had a meal. Aria and Sonata were satisfied at the moment as well. The three girls stood outside a shop across the street from the food place. They hadn't done much, they just walked in, and sat down before they began to sing. Their voices were still perfectly fine, but their ability to absorb the negative energy of others seemed to have taken a hit. Aria stood with her arms folded and a sour face as usual, and Sonata was swaying back and forth on her heels. "Yeah, but it wasn't much, and it was actually a lot harder to absorb than before." Aria commented. She was right, the three had struggled to absorb the negative energy into them. "Well its to be expected. We lost a lot of our strength when we were banished here after all." Adagio wasn't happy about it, but she knew that there was no point in complaining. Survive and over come was how she lived most of the time. "Anyways, now that we're all full or at least not hungry, we should find a place to stay." "What do you mean? Aren't we going back?" Sonata asked. "You know? To Equestria?" She still had yet to grasp the fact that their banishment wasn't temporary. "No, we're stuck here." Aria spat. Sonata rubbed her shoulder and pouted slightly. She wanted to go back home. "You're the worst sometimes, no wait all the time." "No reason to be mean at me Aria! I was just asking." Sonata folded her arms and stuck her nose to the air. "Don't even start you two. Now where are we going to stay?" Adagio rubbed her chin and tried to think of something, anything that would be good. They had no family or friends, but that was no different from when they had been Equestria, they didn't know anyone in this place, and they still had little to no clue as to what was going on. Adagio pulled a rolled up piece of paper out of her back pocket. "What's that?" Aria asked while pointing at the paper. "It's a map, I grabbed one on the way out of the library. Were neither of you paying attention?" Adagio unrolled the piece of paper and eyed the map of Canterlot. It wasn't too terribly large, and there was a lot of forested areas and grassy areas. "Here would be good for now." Adagio pointed at the Canterlot public park. "A park? Really Adagio? You can't think of anything better?" Aria asked with a sneer. "A park sounds perfectly fine to me. I like nature, no I love nature!" Sonata added with a smile. She had been raised in a very rural area of Equestria that had been cut off from most of the surrounding areas thanks to its heavy forests and constant downpour of rain. She had never liked the rain much at all, and she loathed thunderstorms, but she adored nature as a whole. "Well Aria where else do you think we can go? This isn't Equestria and I'm not seeing anywhere else on here. Unless you want to sleep in a sewer or a drainage pipe, this is what we have. Now doesn't a sewer or pipe sound like an absolutely lovely nap spot? It truly is quite relaxing." Adagio brought her hand up to her chest and spoke with thick accent composed of sarcasm. Aria rolled her eyes. "No that doesn't sound good at all! Our hair would be all dirty, and we'd be all smelly!" Sonata replied, not realizing that Adagio was being sarcastic. "Sonata you idiot, she was being a sarcastic-" Aria snarled. "A sarcastic what dear?" Adagio cut her off with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing...." Aria grumbled. Adagio took a deep breath and showed the other two girls the map. "Okay it looks like its about a mile or so from here. We just need to follow the main road, take a left at the High School, and follow the road until we reach a bridge. At the bridge we take right and go for a little bit, and we should be in the park." Adagio ran her finger across the map while she gave orders. Sonata and Aria nodded with each sentence that left Adagios mouth. "Once we get to the park we'll search it out and find a suitable place to call ours." "That seems like a really far walk Adagio..." Sonata whimpered. "Dear I walked across practically all of Equestria in search of others until I found you two. Walking is far from a problem for me. So for now you'll have to suck it up Sonata." Adagio rolled the map back up and slid it back into her pocket. She was speaking the truth. After leaving her master, Adagio trekked across the entirety of Equestria in search of a new life. She had met Aria and Sonata during her travels, and the three had decided to become a trio. "Well what are you two waiting for? Lets get going!" Aria began to walk away from Adagio and Sonata. "Hey! Wait for me! Aria!" Sonata dashed after Aria and was followed by Adagio who simply walked. She couldn't believe how low they had sunk. Bottom of the barrel again. She sighed and thought about all of the events that had led up to this moment. In a way it had been her fault, but at the same time Sonata and Aria were equally to blame. Adagio was the leader however, and as such was the one that was considered responsible for everything. She had found Aria broken and crying by a tree, she was so pitiful looking then. Now Aria stood tall with her arms crossed and her heart full of spite. Sonata hadn't changed too terribly much, aside from her speech having greatly improved. Adagio looked at her hand, how had she changed? Was she different? She had to be. People change all of the time, or ponies change all of the time. She was a "person" now though, and her mind seemed to be slightly cracked now. She could feel it. Like something had snapped within her. Maybe it was her innocence? She had started the group to be nothing more than a trio of singers, but then so many things had taken place, and now they were here. "Adagio hurry up!" Sonata cupped her hands around her mouth and called out. Adagio snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see Aria and Sonata waiting for her by the bridge. That hadn't taken very long. She ran up to them. "Are you okay Adagio? You've been awfully quiet." "Oh yes Sonata, I'm fine. Just thinking things over. We're almost there." Adagio motioned for them to follow, and they did. The way to the park was all nature, trees surrounded them, and which each step they felt a leaf crunch beneath their feet. "Oh by Celestia! It's so beautiful in here." Sonata took a deep breath and smelled the air around her. "Don't get too comfy Sonata." Aria shoved her aside and walked by her. "Hey! That wasn't nice!" Sonata yelled with a sour look in her eyes. "Well I'm not nice. deal with it." "Stop it you two, you aren't making this any better." Adagio cut in causing them to stop. They continued through the forest for several minutes until reaching a small clearing. "You girls see anything?" "No. Just a bunch of nature stuff." Aria sat on a nearby rock and picked up a rock before chucking it at a tree. "Look there's a cave!" Sonata happily pointed at a small cave opening. It was partially hidden by brush. Adagio smiled and patted Sonata on the back. "Good job dear. Now Aria come help us move this brush." Adagio bent over and began to remove the foliage along with Sonata. "Sure, whatever." Aria stood up and brushed the dirt off her pants. She walked over to them and began to help. After a few minutes the cave was opened. It was a small opening, and the inside didn't look very large. "This place looks like a dump Adagio." Adagio ignore her, to Adagio it was perfect. "Well Aria, if it was any larger then others may want to explore it, and its well hidden. We have our privacy as well, and yes I realize it looks bad now, but give it time." Adagio stood back up and rested her hand on her hip. "We'll rest here for the time being and fix it up as soon as possible." Sonata sat on a nearby stump and looked around her. All of the nature around her made her feel better. It reminded her of her days in Equestria, even though the nature made her happy, her memories did not. > Sonata Dusk > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sonata sat quietly in the forest near her home. She swayed gently back and forth to the sound of her melodic humming. The wind blew gently causing her lone blue hair to flow in the breeze. It was so peaceful out here. She wasn't a loner by any means, but she liked it when everything was simple and calm. Simplicity was what Sonata loved most, and to her this was perfect. "Sonata? What are you doing out here?! You're gonna get hit by a tree or something." Sonata turned towards the direction of the voice. It was one of the ponies that lived in her town. He was a lumberjack, and was busy chopping away at the tree. "If ya don't move you might get hurt." He paused his chopping and waited for Sonata to move, but she didn't. She began to giggle loudly. "I can get hurt if I'm just sitting here silly head." She laughed a little and went back to her humming. "Well if you don't move this giant scary tree is gonna smash you up!" The lumberjack yelled. He held his axe with some of the magic from his horn. He was growing tired of this. "The tree's aren't scary! They're pretty!" Sonata called back. The lumberjack replied with a long groan. "Look if you don't move now things are gonna get messy Sonata." He snapped back. "Messy? Then we'll just have to clean it up!" She started to sway some more with a large smile across her face. "Go! Get out of the woods! Now!" The lumberjack was tired of playing around and snapped. "Get! Get going! Go!" He yelled. Sonata looked at the ground sadly. She didn't want to go back into town. She wanted to stay here where it was peaceful. "But the ponies in town are mean to me!" She called back. "Please don't make me go!" "I don't care! I have a job to do, so get your plot outta here." He nodded towards town, and Sonata whimpered a little before slowly walking down the path towards town. Soon she exited the woods and felt gentle rain drops hit her. She didn't like the rain, it scared her. Ever since she was a filly the thunder and lightning had terrified her. It was only raining now, but with each step she grew more and more paranoid of a clap of thunder or lightning strike. She was so busy thinking to herself that she didn't notice a mare walking in front of her. "Watch where you're walking!" Sonata had accidentally bumped into the mare causing her to drop several bags of vegetables. Tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots rolled around the dirt path. "Dang it Sonata! You're such a ditz! Go do something!" "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Here let me help." Sonata jumped over and started grabbing veggies and throwing them into the mare's bag. The veggies Sonata had picked up were covered in mud and dirt, and she began to throw them into the one bag remaining that had fresh veggies. "Stop it! Sonata!" The mare rammed into Sonata's side sending her flying into a mud puddle. "You idiot! They're all dirty now! Do me a favor and leave me alone!" She yelled and quickly walked off. Sonata remained in the puddle for a moment. All she had wanted to do was help a little. She sobbed quietly and pulled herself out of the mud. "Oh look Sonata's playing in the mud like a filly!" A couple of colts walked by and began to laugh. They didn't bother to stop or anything, but they spoke loud enough for Sonata to here. Her cheeks flared up and she felt her eyes grow watery. "No! I wasn't! I just fell..." Sonata whipped her eyes off trying to get rid of the tears and ended up getting some mud in them. She shrieked and fell backwards again into the puddle. "I...I didn't mean to...." After a few minutes she finally found the will to pull herself up. She continued down the dirt path until she reached her house. She went inside and took a long bath. She let herself soak for a while, and listened to the gentle raindrops on her roof. She took deep breaths and began to hum softly to herself. Sonata loved to sing, but no other pony seemed to appreciate it like her mom had. Her mom had always made her feel good about herself, but now she was gone, and Sonata was all alone. She continued to hum, and tried to ignore all of the negative thoughts that were flooding her head. After several minutes she felt herself smile, and become calm. Suddenly out of nowhere a clap of thunder made her jump out of the water with a loud shriek. She slipped on the floor and fell over on her side. "Why am I such a ditz...." She moaned. After a few minutes of just laying there she got up and dried herself off. "So much for relaxing..." She mumbled. She walked downstairs after drying off and pulled out a large stack of picture books that she had checked out from the library. She loved books, but found normal books to be a little too difficult and intimidating to her. She liked picture books. She always felt the stories would come alive through the pictures. Sonata spent the rest of the day reading, and reading, and reading. While she read she hummed to herself slowly. Singing little songs here and there while her mind was being absorbed into the pages. If there was one thing she loved more than nature, and books, it was without a single doubt singing. Eventually she ran out of picture books and sat there staring up at the stack. She was debating with herself on going out and getting a new stack or re reading these again. After several minutes of internal conflict she decided to go out and check out some new ones. She jumped up and lifted up the towering stack of books with a smile. Slowly she opened the door and walked outside. The sky was still sad and gray, but it was no longer raining. Sonata smiled some more, maybe her luck was getting better. "Wow picture books? How old are you?" Sonata turned to see a group of colts. They always mocked her. "N...none of your business!" Sonata spat. "And have you guys heard her singing? By Celestia it's terrible." Another colt laughed along with a mare. "T...that's not very nice..." Sonata shrunk away from them. All of them loomed over her. "I mean all of us can hear it, it sounds like a drowning dog." Sonata felt her tears return. "I...I think I'm good..." She whimpered. "Wow Sonata actually though of something! You mean to tell us that you, Sonata Dusk, actually used you peanut sized brain?" They erupted in cruel laughter. Sonata backed away from them in fear. "Please...stop." She begged. They were backing her into a corner. She heard insult after insult thrown at her. She wanted to run away, but her legs wouldn't budge or move. "Please! Please stop!" She begged and began to shake. "Stop crying like a little filly! Just accept it Sonata! You're an idiot, a terrible singer, and completely useless!" A colt spat at her. "We say these things so that you won't ever come around, but you always do. We just can't get rid of you!" "All I wanted to do was go to the library!" She sobbed. "The library huh? And what would an idiot like you want from the library? More picture books!" He flung one of them into the mud, it had been one of her favorites. "Stop it!" "Hey you losers!" A stern voice broke through the crowd of insults and laughter. "Why don't you just mind your own business!" The voice belonged to a mare with a long purple mane tied back into two long straight pigtails. Her bangs fell messily on her face. Next to her was another mare, she had an orange fluffy cloud like mane, and breath taking purple eyes. The purple mare ran forward and slammed into the colts stomach and sent him flying. "Get your plots out of here or I'm going to smash them all!" She yelled. The crowd looked at one another then at the colt who was lying face down in the mud. In a frenzy they all dashed away. "Are you okay?" Asked the orange haired one. She trotted over and helped Sonata up. "Yeah. I think so. Thankzies ....that was really nice." Sonata thanked them with scarlet cheeks. "Thankzies? Is that even a word?" The purple one asked. "No dear, but its adorable at least. How rude of us not to introduce ourselves. I am Adagio Dazzle, and this young mare here is Aria Blaze." Adagio smiled kindly at her. Sonata couldn't help but smile back. "I'm Sonata. Sonata Dusk." She replied. "Not to be too quick or anything hon, but we couldn't help but hear that you sing?" Adagio raised an eyebrow. Aria remained in her place and was rubbing mud off her hooves. "Oh yeah, but no pony seems to like it very much." Sonata trailed off. Adagio smiled again, which made Sonata feel better, and pulled her in close. "Well what a coincidence, Aria and I were searching for a third member for our group! It's a singing trio, and we think you might be a grand addition." "For realzies!?" Sonata felt joy fly through her body. Some other ponies who would accept her. "I'm..I'm kind of a ditz, and the other ponies think I'm stupid..." "Intelligence and singing don't go together dear. We don't care how smart you are." Adagio hugged Sonata kindly. Sonata felt happiness take over her. Maybe she would finally be in the company of friends, and she would no longer have to fear bullies. She looked at Aria who simply rolled her eyes. She felt happy. Sonata smiled from ear to ear. > A new day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Several weeks had passed, but to Aria, Adagio, and Sonata it had felt like only a few hours. They spent their days scouting the town, stealing small items to add to their cave, and feeding off of the negativity of others. It was a pitiful existence, to be cast aside like they had. With each passing day Sonata and Adagio seemed to grow more and more accustomed to their new way of life, but Aria felt her blood begin to boil. Her anger towards the situation and ultimately their failure is what drove her. She wanted out, she wanted to go back and reclaim what she once had, but she knew that that was an impossible thing. She sang with the other two on the baseball field, and felt a tiny surge of power course through her veins. "When are we going to become strong again Adagio!" Aria was ready to burst, this life of theirs was far too pitiful, and she loathed it. "To be entirely honest with you dear, we probably won't. There doesn't seem to be much of any kind of magic here." Adagio replied. "If anything there probably isn't any." Aria sneered and continued to sing. The power they gained from others was so small, and miniscule she questioned why they even tried. After feeding at the baseball field the three left and began to head back towards their cave. Aria shoved her hands into her jacket. "This is so stupid. In actuality you're both the worst!" Aria spat. She stopped and stood outside of an apartment complex. "Watch your mouth Aria." Adagio turned and stomped over to her. "We both know you hate it here, but there is absolutely nothing we can do about it! So stop whining and come on." "Our song should be strong enough for us to get what we want. In all honesty and apartment room would be better than some smelly, crappy cave." Aria pointed at the apartment. Adagio suddenly felt stupid. How had she not though about this before? As much as she hated to admit it, Aria was right. "You bring up a good point Aria. Girls lets get ourselves something of a little higher class shall we?" Adagio smiled and looked up at the building. Aria and Sonata followed closely behind her as she entered the building. It was a nice place, and it appeared that the people who worked there actually cared about its appearance. The floor was clean, and the walls were a simple yet nice white. The place looked a little better than Adagio had imagined. "Can I help you?" Asked a young woman who was resting her cheek on her hand and flipping through a magazine. Boredom oozed out of her. Adagio smiled and cleared her throat. The three girls began to sing in a perfect melodic tune. The woman stiffened up and her eyes began to slowly change from blue to an sickly green. "One room, top floor, coming up." The woman's voice sounded almost robotic, and displayed no emotion at all. She bent over and a few moments later placed three silver keys on the desk. "Room three-O-two. Its on the top floor to your far left." "Why thank you very much." Adagio flipped her hands in a motion that silenced Aria and Sonata. They each grabbed a key off of the front desk. "Let us go and see if we enjoy this room." The three walked off and Adagio placed a hand firmly on her hip as they walked. After going up the flight of stairs they reached the room and opened it. It was a large room, and looked big enough to house four people. There was already furniture in it, and a large TV was situated on top of a nice table. "Wow! This place is really nice! Why hadn't we thought of this before?" Asked Sonata, her eyes appearing far brighter than usual. "Because our strength was powerful enough to control other yet. Now things should start to become far easier." Adagio replied. "We need to go back and pick up what we have in the cave. I'll head back and do that. You two keep an eye on things, and get this place set up if you would. I'll be right back, and don't do anything stupid!" Adagio headed out the door and shut it behind her, leaving Sonata and Aria alone in an awkward silence. Sonata smiled at Aria who snorted and threw herself onto the sofa. "Do you hate me Aria?" Asked Sonata. The question came out of the blue and surprised Aria who looked up at Sonata. She was standing with a slight frown and didn't seem as bubbly or bouncy as usual. "Why do you ask, Sonata?" Aria replied. Sonata looked down at her feet and began to pick at her fingers. "I don't know. You've been kind of mean to me lately, and I was just wondering if you hate me. I mean I-" Sonata trailed off and her voice grew quiet. Aria sat in silence for a moment before responding. "No. I don't hate you Sonata. I like you, in fact I love you like a sister. I may not show it much, but I love Adagio too. I'm just mad at the situation, not at you." Aria found herself talking with out much thought. "Sometimes its easier to let your anger out at those close to you, because you know that they won't leave. So I've been taking my frustration and anger out on you and Adagio. Sorry about that I guess." "That's the first time I've ever heard you apologize for anything. Are you sure you're okay Aria? Did you bump your head or something, maybe?" Sonata smiled a little. Aria folded her arms with a frown. "I just felt like I should say something or, as you just said, you might get the wrong idea. You and Adagio are all I have." Aria looked down at the floor. She suddenly felt a little guilty for having treated them so badly. It wasn't much, but it was something at least. "For realzies!?" Sonata's smile grew larger, and she jumped onto the sofa next to Aria. "You know Aria, for someone as mean, rude, loud, and stuff, you're like a big jar of yogurt on the inside." "Shut up Sonata." Aria felt her cheeks grow warm. "I hope Adagio doesn't mess anything up again." Meanwhile, Adagio was walking along the road that led to the cave. She had decided to go out on her own so that she could think about things. Aria, and Sonata usually kept her from thinking things over so every now and then she needed a moment of silence. Things felt like they were beginning to look up a little for them. Maybe adjusting wouldn't be so bad. The clouds above were gray and the wind was gentle and silent. She took a deep breath and inhaled the smells of the forest. The bridge overlooked a river so fog was common, and today it was quite foggy. Adagio had a hard time seeing and looked around her.. Suddenly she felt a pain rip through her body as she toppled over. She hadn't noticed a large rock and had tripped over it. "Ow, son of a-" She rubbed her leg and pushed herself back up. "Stupid fog, making me look like an idiot. Maybe this is how Sonata feels on a daily basis..." Adagio got up and brushed the dirt and grass off of her. She felt a drop of rain hit her cheek. "Oh come on! I didn't need this either!" Adagio yelled at the sky as if it could actually listen to her. With a groan she continued towards the cave. "I better make this quick so that I can get back before the storm goes crazy. She rushed off into the woods, this time she kept her eyes low to the ground so the she wouldn't trip again. She grasped her jewel and kept it safe. The jewel meant everything to her. It was what made her so strong, or at least it had at one point made her strong, but now it could save her. If it were to ever break she didn't know what she would do. Adagio arrived at the cave and moved the bushes aside. The rain was gentle at the moment, but she knew it could downpour at any second. She slid herself through the opening and hummed softly to herself causing the jewel to glow. She looked around the cave and grabbed the bag she used to carry things and began to fill it with their belongings. They didn't have much since everything they had they had to steal. She grabbed the few pieces of clothing they owned and stuffed them into the bag along with the map of Canterlot, the book Sonata had taken from the library, and a small gaming system that Aria and Sonata used along with the games they had for it. Adagio lifted the small device up. She had never touched nor played it before, but Aria and Sonata played it all the time. They didn't have this kind of technology in Equestria, and she found it to be interesting. "I can look at it later." She threw it in the bag and grabbed what ever was left before zipping it back up. Adagio pulled herself up and out of the cave and found that the storm had begun. "Crap!" She groaned. The wind slapped her in the face, but she kept going. The rain hadn't started falling down hard yet, so as of now it was just the wind. She walked with a fast pace along the side of the road. A clap of thunder rippled through the sky. "Sonata's probably scared right now." Adagio mumbled. It would take a minute to reach the room so Adagio began to soak herself in her memories. They weren't good memories by any means, but she found some pleasure in remembering the old days, it kept her going. She frowned and began to think back to her days as a young mare. > Adagio Dazzle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Adagio! Adagio! Get your plot up now!" The familiar shouts of Adagio's master filled her ears. It was a snobby and self centered voice, a voice that belonged to GoldenMane. Adagio sighed and set her dust rag down on the table she was cleaning. She had been up for hours cleaning and dusting GoldenMane's library. Adagio had never had any form of schooling, but had taught herself everything she had wanted through the countless number of books in her masters library. "Adagio! Where are you! You have yet to cook breakfast you lazy brat!" Adagio sighed and headed towards the stairs. "I'm already up mistress, I've been up for several hours actually." Adagio slowly stepped down the stairs of the gargantuan mansion that belonged to GoldenMane, it was pure white with shiny floors that were clean enough you could almost see ones reflection in them. Adagio was by all means a beautiful mare, but she was almost always dirty, covered in dust, and dirt from her constant working. Her hair was messy and even her usually bright purple eyes appeared to be dimming away. GoldenMane was seated in the huge kitchen with her snout to the air. "I don't see breakfast on the table. What do I even pay you for?" She snorted. GoldenMane was a beautiful unicorn, with pearl white fur, large sapphire eyes, and a long silky golden mane. She was also a truly talented singer, and had fans that had to be in the thousands. Even though she appeared to be beautiful, she was stuck up, rude, self centered, and arrogant. Adagio was nothing more than a simple maid, but to her it felt almost like slavery. Adagio trotted past her into the kitchen with a sigh. "Actual mistress, you don't pay me." Adagio mumbled. She hadn't meant for GoldenMane to hear that, but she did and released a low growl as a reply to Adagio's comment. "Watch your mouth you ungrateful brat!" GoldenMane spat. Adagio sighed and began to cook. She was accustomed to this kind of treatment, she got it practically every single day. Adagio cracked open a couple of eggs and spilled their contents into a pan and began to heat them. While the eggs were cooking she pulled out a wad of dough and began working on a batch of biscuits. "I'm terribly sorry mistress." Adagio rolled out the dough and began to cut little circles into it. GoldenMane was a singer, and one of the best in Canterlot. Adagio was envious of her, and yet she knew that she would never be as good. She had spent countless hours trying to master singing so that maybe she could one day have a crowd of adoring fans like GoldenMane. No matter how hard Adagio tried though, she could just never get her pitch right. She knew she would never have the crowds of adoring fans, the fan letters, not even a crowd of any kind, and to top it all of GoldenMane didn't even appreciate her gift. Her master took such a beautiful blessing for granted. Adagio felt a ripple of jealousy and anger ripple down her spine and sadly shoved the tray of biscuits into the oven. "I am to have a party this evening, and all of Canterlot's best shall be here. I expect the place to be cleaned, shined, and everything else, along with a large assortment of party food." GoldenMane said. She was doing her makeup with her lips puckered out to add lipstick. Adagio had never worn make up in her life, and seeing the way GoldenMane looked, she didn't want to ever touch it. The eggs were finished cooking and Adagio placed them on a plate before turning back to grab the now finished biscuits. She placed them neatly on the plate next to the eggs and set the plate down in front of a sour looking GoldenMane. "I will take care of everything mistress. You don't need to worry." Adagio moved her messy bangs out of her eyes. GoldenMane began to eat. She took a few bites before gagging and spitting a wad of chewed up eggs onto the floor. "By Celestia! This tastes like garbage ran through a sewer drain!" "But, there just normal eggs. They tasted fine to me." Adagio replied. She was upset at the rudeness of her master, but at the same time grateful that all she had done was spit it out. GoldenMane had simply thrown the plate of food on the floor several times previously. "You ate these!? I can't believe I ate something that the germs of something as filthy as you!" GoldenMane got up and left her chair unmoved. "I will simply eat something on the way to the showcase. I better see this place sparkling when I return." She turned and lifted a large fur coat off of a jacket rack and wrapped it around her before pushing the doors of her mansion open. She then left and allowed the doors to shut loudly behind her. Adagio sighed and picked up the wad of eggs and threw it onto the plate of uneaten food. "Maybe your carriage will finally get smashed this time." Adagio smiled a little at the thought of GoldenMane being smashed to bits by anything. She deserved it. Adagio cleaned up the kitchen mess and began to figure out how much time she would have left after everything else was cleaned and fixed. None. She would have absolutely no time. This wasn't new either. Adagio usually looked terrible at practically every party that GoldenMane had ever held. This wouldn't be anything new. She let out another long sigh and began to clean up the mansion. She spent the entire day cleaning and cleaning. This was all she ever did. An endless cycle. Any hopes or dreams she once had had long been drowned away. She didn't know why she felt like she needed to stay here. She wasn't gaining anything from it. She cleaned and thought about things like she usually did. She had never known her true parents. They had left her alone, and the only living she had found in Canterlot was as a live in maid. Since then she had grown fearful of leaving. She didn't want to fail, and at the same time she felt like she was failing. Several hours passed and the moon eventually climbed its way up into the blackened sky. Adagio wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead. She had finished everything, and just barely too. She had cleaned the entire mansion, head to toe, and baked a large amount of food for the party as well as watered the plants and cleaned the outside gutters. Her entire body screamed with exhaustion, but she knew that she had to stay up and please the guests. Adagio sat down on a soft rose red couch and waited. GoldenMane was running a little late, and she figured that she would have a little time to clean up for once. She quickly rushed off and took a swift bath before putting on a nice black dress, and drying her hair so that it would puff up and look good. She was going so quickly that she barely had time to really look at herself in the mirror. Suddenly her eyes were attracted to the eyes of the orange, purple eyed mare in the mirror. "Is that really me?" She asked herself as if the reflection would say something. This was the first time she had ever had the chance to get dressed or look nice. "Of course its me. I sound retarded." Adagio groaned at how dumb she had sounded. Suddenly she heard the doorbell ring. "One moment please!" She called down. A few minutes later she opened the door to find GoldenMane and several stallions in fancy ties, and several fabulous mares. "Took you long enough. I am so glad that you bothered to look nice for us." GoldenMane said with a fake laugh that caused the crowd behind her to also join in. Adagio also smiled with a large fake grin and stepped aside. The crowd flooded into the mansion and soon the place was completely packed with stallions and mares. Adagio always had to open the door for GoldenMane as if she was of such a higher power that she didn't have to even do the most basic of things. Adagio served drinks and food to the guests. She set the tray down for a moment to adjust her hair "Excuse me miss?" A voice startled Adagio and she turned to see a stallion stand behind her. He smiled kindly at her. "Might I say that tonight's performance was splendid." Adagio was confused at first but looked around to see that almost every other mare was wearing a similar to dress to hers. The stallion must have mistaken her for a singer of some kind. "Well thank you very much." Adagio decided to just go with it. She had nothing to lose, and this might even turn out well. "I would absolutely adore it if you could do a follow up act possibly?" The stallion rolled his tongue with each word. Adagio nervously smiled again. "Well I don't know, I've been quite busy, and I don't think I could muster another performance as of now. > Myths > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I think we sounded slightly better that time!" Sonata laughed. Aria and Adagio cleared their throats and coughed a little, they had been singing for what had felt like hours. After abandoning GoldenMane, Adagio had decided to search for other ponies like her, ponies who had a passionate desire to sing, but had been cursed to be unable to do so. She had come across two other young mares during her travels, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. After meeting them she decided that the three should settle down and begin working on their singing together, working with friends on something was far more rewarding after all. While calling Aria and Sonata friends was slightly stretching it, Adagio had grown fond of them. She found Aria's brutal honesty humorous and felt that Sonata's simple mindedness was adorable in its own dorky way. They didn't always get along, Aria and Adagio butted heads almost constantly, and Sonata and Aria were always quick to argue with one another. It had taken them a rather long time to find where they were going to live, and after searching for a while they decided to settle down in a small sea side village by the name of Sand stone bay. It was a nice little town, it was mostly made up of earth ponies and fishermares, and the entire place had a calm grayness to it. It was rarely sunny and the sky was practically always covered by a dreary overcast. For some reason all three of them liked it. "Jeez Sonata we still sound terrible." Aria sulked and threw her self onto the aqua blue living room sofa. The three of them had been practicing in the basement of their home. She had a point, but Adagio had noticed that they had slightly improved. She had found that they were now closer in key, and far better at singing together than they had been, it still didn't sound all that good, but it sounded better than before. "Hey Adagio, can you go get us a drink or something?" Adagio nodded and pulled out a drinking glass from a nearby cabinet and filled it with water. She then returned to Sonata and Aria and took a drink before handing Sonata the glass. Sonata took a drink, and then handed it off to Aria who finished it off. "Well we sound slightly better than before at least." Adagio finally said. They had mainly been practicing their ability to harmonize with one another as well as sing at a half way decent pitch. "Well I'm sick of sounding bad Adagio." Aria rolled over on the couch and groaned loudly. "We've been practicing and stuff for like a year now." Aria was yet again right. They had been working hard for almost a year now, and they had made little progress. They had checked out books, and even taken a couple lessons, but still to no avail. Adagio looked down at the ground, and tried to think of any possible solution. "Practice makes perfect Aria. Patience." Adagio replied. She also felt somewhat tired of waiting, but had a hard time admitting it. "Yeah! I mean we sound like one percent better!" Sonata smiled with a massive dorky grin. Adagio smiled slightly while Aria rolled her eyes. The smile Adagio had wasn't very genuine though. Sonata annoyed her from time to time. One of the biggest factors was that she wasn't as bright as her or Aria, and as a result Adagio was almost always stuck making decisions with Aria. The two didn't exactly see eye to eye on much. "I'm sick of waiting Adagio, and I have a feeling in my gut that you are too." Aria's words jabbed Adagio. She was yet again right. Adagio was indeed tired of waiting and trying for days on end, and making barely any difference. Maybe there was some way of becoming better without practice. She had thought of magic from time to time, but hadn't done a whole lot to further any ideas involving it. "Well I don't see you actively trying to find any new ways of becoming better Aria." Adagio said. Aria was particularly bad about speaking her mind, and not doing much action about it. "I suggested like a few weeks ago that we could go ask a unicorn of something for help. I mean they can do magic stuff right? So why couldn't they make us better singers?" Aria rolled upside down causing her purple bangs to hang off the sofa. "Well need I remind you that the only unicorns here are all stuck up and snobby. This is a rural fishing community, and the unicorns feel like they're better than the rest of the inhabitants here." Adagio had been asked by Aria a few weeks prior while passing a small group of unicorns. Adagio had told her to ignore it and that it wasn't a good idea. She felt like it wasn't at least. Who knew what magic spell the unicorn would perform. It was far too risky and unnecessary, but at the same time Adagio felt that there was a possibility that Aria was right, again. "Well I think I might have an idea." Sonata said. Aria and Adagio looked over at her and she smiled awkwardly. "Whats your grand idea Sonata?" asked Aria. "Well I've heard of this myth you know? I go to the library to read a lot and I found this one book of myths and legends." Sonata replied. Aria snorted and rolled off the sofa. "Myths and legends? This better be good." Aria grumbled. "Well one of the myths was about a creature called a siren, it has a beautiful voice unlike any other. There was also a myth about these thingys called siren jewels, which allow the wearer to sing wonderfully with like no effort at all. Whats even better is that the jewels are rumored to be here! Or around here I think." Sonata trailed off for a second and tapped her lip trying to think. "Yeah, I think that's it!" She nodded and smiled widely again. Aria rolled her eyes and laughed. Adagio however was somewhat interested. "That sounds so stupid Sonata." Aria spat with a small laugh. "Well I don't know, its more than you gave Aria." Sonata replied with a shrug. "Actually I think we should look into that." Adagio cut them off. The other two looked at her with slight confusion. No doubt Aria thought she had lost her mind, but Sonata, well Adagio had no idea why Sonata looked confused. "It's just way to far fetched Aria. I mean come on, Sirens?" Aria said. "Well griffons, minotaurs, hydra's, centaurs, and more stuff like that exist, Aria. Why would it be so far fetched? This is entire world is made up of magic pretty much. Maybe this is true." Adagio replied. Aria suddenly felt slightly dumb and blushed a little. "Well um, what do you plan on doing then Adagio? Just go out looking for this or something? I mean we would have better chances with unicorns than a myth." Aria brought up a good point, but at the same time Adagio figured that if they would use magic to sound better, then why not be the best there ever was? Adagio wanted to be adored, not just sing well. She didn't know if Sonata or Aria wanted that as well, but she didn't care. If this was true then things would change drastically. She imagined herself in front of a huge crowd of ponies, and all of them cheering her name. Any pony would do anything for her. She smiled widely. "Well obviously we go and see if this myth is true or not. I mean what would it hurt to go and do a little investigating." Adagio replied. "Well I don't know. It sounds way too convenient to me. If you're going to go and investigate this or what ever then I'm not tagging along." Aria scoffed and began towards the stairs of their home. "Where are you going?" Asked Sonata. "Where do you think? It's late. I'm going to go get some sleep." And with that Aria was gone. Sonata and Adagio remained in awkward silence for a few seconds before Sonata broke it. "So are you really going to go investigate it? I mean it was like just a story." Sonata sounded slightly worried. "Well why not. We have nothing to lose. Or at least I have nothing to lose. Don't worry about it Sonata, I'll go check it out tomorrow. For now you should get some rest." Adagio patted Sonata on the shoulder and smiled. "Well okay Adagio. Good night, and good luck I think." Sonata rushed off towards the stairs, but turned around quickly. "Oh and in the story it said that they're hidden in a cave by the sea. The cave is like super duper dark, and the door to it only opens up like during a rain storm or something. I don't remember. Well anyways good night Adagio!" And with that she was soon gone. Adagio stood in silence, and began to think to herself as usual. Why hadn't she thought of something like this before? She threw herself onto one of the sofas. She figured that she would just stop by the library and research it a little more in depth. She leaned over on her side and began to think of all the possibilities of being an amazing and jaw dropping singer. The endless crowds of fans. She smiled widely. They would do whatever she said. They would adore her and do whatever she asked in hopes of getting on her good side. It sounded amazing, and it sounded like there was a possible answer to their problems. For an idiot, Sonata wasn't half bad at throwing out ideas. Adagio giggled a little under her breath. Maybe this was the answer. She hoped it was.