//------------------------------// // Chapter 1- Aria // Story: A Dazzling Tale // by Darkmetroidz //------------------------------// Aria's alarm clock started blaring at 8:00 AM. She woke up with a groan, assessing her mood for the day. She was somewhere in the realm of screaming at or stabbing the first person who made eye contact with her. About her Saturday norm. She got out of her tiny, uncomfortable bed and began rummaging through her dresser. Her wardrobe choices were scant, but she settled on a pair of (unintentionally) ripped jeans, and her T-shirt for work. She had about half an hour before her shift started. Just enough time to grab a cereal bar and leave. The only consolation of losing her Siren powers was that it was now a lot easier to sate her appetite. But that hardly made up for what she had lost. Aria still fondly remembered her years in Austria, when she had been a legend of the stage, able to bend the most powerful men in Europe to her will. She had managed to cause more than one war that way. But then Sonata had to drag them to this backwater country. Aria had one secret she had been harboring from the others all those years that they had been in Austria; she enjoyed singing in the opera. When they first arrived, Aria had hated it with a burning passion. But, as time passed, Aria realized that not only was she incredibly good at it, she was also enjoyed being the lead performer. Every time before and almost every time since, Adagio had always been the lead singer. But in Austria she had been happy to let Aria take the most demanding parts of their performances. And she loved it with a burning passion. She had gotten rather used to being the queen of the stage when Adagio and Sonata "surprised" her with tickets to the United States. She dismissed the other sirens from her head. No point making her any more likely to commit a murder today. Without her singing skills, she wouldn't be able to dissuade the cops from arresting her. She walked to the Canterlot mall, brows knit into a constant scowl, sending a clear message of "Don't fuck with me" to anyone who looked at her. She had no idea why she had taken a job working at Capitol Records. Sure, she knew a lot about music, but at the same time the job made her miserable. All day long, she was reminded of what she had lost, by the never-ending stream of classic rock that came out of the store's speakers. A huge standee of Freddie Mercury was on display in the back of the store. She had to resist the urge to rip its stupid head off. Even Aria had been awed by his voice when she first heard Bohemian Rhapsody over the radio decades ago. Now his stupid moustache just drove her insane. Seeing anything even vaguely related to music made her seethe with rage. The day at least had the mercy to be uneventful. Barely anyone came into the store that day, with the exception of the school's disk jockey, Vinyl Scratch. The girl must have bought every record the the store carried, twice. Every day, Aria saw her checking out with another huge stack of vinyls and CDs. She had no idea where Vinyl got the kind of money she dropped there on a regular basis, but Aria was seriously considering finding out. She could use the extra cash. For today though, there was nothing left to do but grab this week's paycheck from the little box in the back of the store and go home. Her check would probably be stashed in a little lockbox she had brought with her from Austria, along with what little of value she still had. There was one thing in that box that could make a difference in their lives, but Aria refused to show it to Adagio or Sonata. She had lost or abandoned all of the beautiful clothes and jewelry she had brought from Vienna, except for one piece. The year had been 1758, and a young Hapsburg prince had fallen for the bewitching opera singer. He had requested Aria perform at his coronation, an opportunity to which Aria excitedly agreed. Not only would this be one of her biggest performances ever, she was doing it alone. As a token of his favor, she had given Aria a diamond necklace that must have cost a fortune, even by the royal family's standards. She didn't like him, of course. He was kind of nice, but he was ugly as sin. She made fun of Americans for screwing their cousins, but this man couldn't have been more inbred if he were a sandwich. She still took the necklace, and kept it all these years as a memento of Austria. Selling the thing could easily get the Sirens out of this dead-end town, but Aria didn't want to give it up. It was the one thing she had left from the life that they had stolen from her, and there was no way in hell she was going to sell it to help out that stuck-up bitch Adagio or that useless numbskull Sonata. She left the mall and started walking home. It isn't fair. She grumbled. Her stomach was growling again. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, and that had been almost twelve hours ago. She looked around the empty street, too hungry to make it home. She noticed a little retro diner a few blocks down the street. She dug around in her jeans pockets, trying to find her wallet. Adagio's rule was that they were supposed to always eat at home, because it saved money on food, but Aria wasn't in the mood to obey Adagio. She looked inside the crusty old piece of leather. In a mix of fives and ones, she had about fifteen bucks. Easily enough for a meal. She looked at the diner again. Rockin' Reggie's 60's Grill, eh? She had kind of enjoyed the sixties. Their career as pop singers had kept them gorged on energy, and had gotten to kiss Paul McCartney at the Grammys in 1968. It had been a fun decade. Aria began weighing the choice in her head. Hmm, on one hand, I love burgers and shakes, but on the other hand, Ms. Bitchtits says we're not supposed to eat out. The decision came pretty easily. She pushed open the door, and for the time being, let her problems go, immersing herself in nostalgia. The situation in the restaurant was immediately different than how she remembered it. Back in the sixties, people would immediately have recognized her as a pop star and offered to buy her food. Today, almost no one spared a sideways glance to the girl with the massive purple and green ponytails. She walked up to the counter. A scrawny teenager was working the register. This part looks about right, She thought. Between his pathetic excuse for a beard and hilariously high-pitched voice, he looked like every soda jerk she had met while that term still meant something. "Good evening Miss, what can I get for you?" He asked politely, voice cracking on every word. Aria scanned over the menu, which was spelled out above his head on a letter board. "Eh, gimme a Cheeseburger and a chocolate shake." The kid started scribbling her order on a piece of paper. "What would you like on your burger?" He asked again. "Lettuce, tomato, and pickles." He hung the note on a clip in the window that separated kitchen and restaurant, and rung the bell. They did go for authenticity. Aria observed. The place did look like it had been ripped straight out of the sixties. They even had a jukebox in the corner. I wonder... Aria went to look at the machine. She began pressing the buttons on the console, flipping through to see if she could find one of the records she was looking for. Sure enough, she found one. A vinyl with a purple label titled "Nightfire" by the band Annie and the Heartbreakers. That had been one of many cover names the Dazzlings had used over the years. Aria had written that particular album, and was particularly proud of the B-side hit, "Fight for My Heartstrings". Millions of teenage boys had flocked to hear her masterpiece, filled with idiotic fantasies that maybe he was the one she was singing about. In truth the song was, like everything else, cooked up to make people fight. In that regard, the album had been a huge success. One of their concerts had broken into a massive brawl that left eighteen people hospitalized. Aria put a quarter into the jukebox and let the record play. She sat at a corner table and allowed her voice to fill the room. Who will it be? I'm yours for the taking! All you have to do is fight for me! C'mon, bring it on, till your arms are aching! Bring your A-game in one, two, three! Fight, fight, fight until you can't anymore Give me a good show, don't be a bore! Aria looked around as the record continued to spin. A faint rumbling had begun with the record, at first so quietly Aria couldn't hear it over the ancient vinyl that was, miraculously, unscratched. But as the four-minute track continued, it got louder. People were arguing. Vigorously. Aria couldn't believe it. She dug around in her pocket, where she kept the broken shards of her pendant wrapped up in a paper towel. She was shocked by the crystal shards. They were glowing, wealky, but they were glowing nonetheless. They were weakly pulling the aura of hatred and anger into them, trying to fill with power. Aria let out a little gasp as she saw two of the smaller pieces fuse into one bigger shard. "Miss, here's your order." The teenage employee snapped Aria back to reality, away from the countless broken pieces of red gem in her lap. He deposited a tray in front of her, with a delicious-looking burger, and an alluring milkshake in an old-fashioned glass. "I tell you, I love that song." The kid commented. He walked over to the jukebox, and popped another quarter into it. The song began playing again, and the arguing continued. Aria looked at her crystal shards intently. They shimmered, but they didn't fuse. Aria began processing what had happened as she chowed down on her dinner. Okay, so I put on one of our old songs, and it makes people fight, just like when we sang it live. The people start releasing energy, and it makes my pendant start to fix itself. Aria's eyes lit up with realization. If I can fix mine without Adagio or Sonata knowing, I can get myself out of this two-bit country! She could finally be rid of the other Sirens, and probably sneak back to Austria, the closest thing she had to a home. She took another bite out of her burger. And soon Adagio and Sonata will be out of my life for good. She smiled at the thought. She would have to be sneaky. Aria had no doubts she could hide an elephant from Sonata in their apartment, but Adagio wasn't so stupid. Aria would need to figure out how to get her amulet to keep reassembling itself. There were only about twelve patrons in the restaurant. She would need to get a lot more power if she was going to fix the entire thing.