//------------------------------// // ARIA // Story: Aria Blaze: Throat Puncher // by Dubs Rewatcher //------------------------------// As she looked through the glass doors into the CHS cafeteria, Aria’s starving soul roared with the ferocity of three grown manticores. So many students, blissfully unaware that they were about to be feasted on. Even as she stood there, her limbs heavy with hunger, she tasted them. The sweet flavor washed across her tongue. “This is it, girls,” Adagio said, pumping a fist. “The moment we’ve been waiting for!” “Lunch?” Sonata cried. Adagio groaned. “The chance to get our true Equestrian magic back.” “Oh.” Sonata nodded. “Right.” Was this really it? Surely whatever student that possessed the Equestrian magic would be in this cafeteria. Conquer them, and their old magic would return. And after that... a meal unlike any other. The hunger would finally leave. Adagio hadn’t yet told them what the plan was—she always liked to save it until the last second, probably for the same reason she loved posing so much: drama. Sirens were nothing if not performers. In the years since they had been banished, the Dazzlings had made dozens of attempts at conquering the human race, but they all boiled down to one simple plan: turn the humans against each other—usually through jealousy or fear—and feast upon the negative energy until their Equestrian magic returned. And yet, no matter how many times they tried it, it never worked; their original magic never came back. They always stayed hungry, and always stayed powerless. In their entire time as a team, Adagio had never come up with a plan that worked. The thought sent a gnawing pain to the depths of Aria’s soul. But as she gazed at her soon-to-be meal, any doubts that she had faded away. This was the biggest opportunity they’d had in years; surely Adagio knew what she was doing. Adagio turned to the double doors and cast a snide glance inside. “Our voices are just strong enough to make them want something so badly they’ll fight to get it.” What. “So we’re just gonna do what we always do?” Aria said, quite a bit louder than she had intended. “Stir up some trouble and feed on the negative energy? Some plan, Adagio!” Adagio shot Aria a glare. “Oh, don’t you talk to me about plans, Little Miss Sociopath. I could rant about kittens for five minutes, and it would still make more sense than your throat-punching fetish!” Aria tightened her fists. “Excuse me?” “You heard what I said. We’ll be lucky if that Sunset Shimmer human hasn’t told everyone about the freaky new girl who spends her time punching people. We can only hope that you haven’t ruined us.” ‘Punch her.’ “At least my fists got us somewhere!” Aria screamed back, her voice booming through the hallways. “If it wasn’t for them, we never would have even enrolled! We’d still be sitting at home, whining about how hungry we are!” ‘Do it do it PUNCH.’ Adagio crossed her arms. “The only one I ever hear whining is you; even Sonata isn’t that much of a crybaby.” ‘PUNCH THROAT DO IT PUNCH’ Growling, Aria forced herself to turn away and walk down the hall, rubbing her tingling hands together again. She mumbled curses under her breath, wiggled her toes, fluttered her eyelids—anything to make her brain stop feeling like it was going to melt. “And besides,” Adagio said, pointing at the cafeteria, “this won’t be the same as the times before! There is Equestrian magic here. Their negative energy will give us the power we need to make this entire world do our bidding!” Her assurances just made Aria’s heart beat faster. The electricity flowing through her veins had melded with her hunger, and it was all ripping a hole in her chest. She hated it. She wanted it gone. She needed it to be gone. She wanted to hurt someone. “But we can get lunch after though, right?” Sonata asked. She pointed to a nearby poster and added, “It’s Taco Tuesday!” Aria spun around, eyes falling onto Sonata’s bruised throat. 'Yes.’ She walked toward Sonata. She had only punched Sonata once, and already she had memorized the shape of her windpipe. Aria wondered how many hits it would take to crush her trachea for good. Probably not many. While Sonata was looking away, she pulled back her fist and readied the swing— She caught Adagio in the corner of her eye and froze. At once, every sense roared. Her knuckles itched, screamed. ‘DO IT.’ Compared to Sonata, this was nothing. This lightning cutting through her muscles was worse than anything she had ever felt. ‘PUNCH HER PUNCH HER NOW.’ She knew she could do it. Adagio was right there; her throat was wide open. Aria locked her arms at her sides. She wasn’t going to punch their leader. …But what kind of leader was she, really? Her plans never worked. They still could go weeks, even months without a proper meal. Aria went to bed hungry nearly every night, lulled to sleep by the raw pleading of her soul. And no matter how many times Aria proved herself, Adagio still insulted her, still treated her like she was no better than Sonata. She was better than Sonata. A carton of spoiled milk was better than Sonata. Adagio thought she was invulnerable. She thought that she was perfect. But it wasn’t true. It never had been. Aria wasn’t going to punch Adagio, no—but she wasn’t going to let Adagio lead them to ruin, either. “Just follow my lead!” Adagio yipped, giving Sonata a little shove. With the steadiest voice she could manage, Aria built up a smile and said, “Or we could follow my lead.” Adagio leapt forward and grabbed Aria’s jacket, yanking her off of her feet. “My lead,” she seethed through gritted teeth. Aria punched Adagio in the throat. Adagio recoiled from the impact, staggering backwards and crashing hard into a locker before spilling to the floor. On her knees, she shuddered with the force of her coughing, to the point that they resembled dry heaves more than any sort of attempt to breathe. Her arms trembled from the effort of holding herself up. Her face had gone a clammy white. Aria gasped and took a step back. A dull ache ran down the length of her arm; that last punch may have been the hardest she had ever thrown. Looking at the way Adagio was crumpled against the lockers and the dark diamond-shaped mark on her own fist, she realized: if it hadn’t been for Adagio’s amulet getting in the way, Aria probably would have snapped her windpipe in half. Sonata didn’t say a word. She just stared, eyes flitting between the two. Aria’s thoughts spun like a top, bouncing from one side of her brain to the other. Wringing her hands, Aria gulped and opened her mouth to try and apologize. Yet she couldn’t make the words come out. As she watched Adagio struggle to stand, only to fall back to the floor, Aria felt a sudden giddiness fill her chest. She had to hold back the giggles rising up her throat. It was only when she realized that Adagio wasn’t getting up anytime soon that she stopped resisting the urge. If only the Elders could see this. Aria took a step toward Adagio and grinned as the older siren flinched away from the sound. She balled up her fists, laughing louder and louder as Adagio tried to crawl away, only to bump into the lockers. Aria slammed her fist into the metal just beside Adagio’s throat, earning her a strangled yelp in response. Adagio coughed and looked up at Aria. “What’s wrong with—” “I’m the leader now,” Aria said. “From now on, you’re gonna do everything I say.” Adagio narrowed her eyes. “You can’t just—” Aria punched the locker again, making Adagio jump. She nodded. “Yeah. I think I can.” As Adagio leaned against the locker and tried to catch her breath, Aria flipped her hair and walked away. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Sonata looking her way, grimacing. Aria shot her a deathly glare. “What are you staring at, idiot?” Sonata looked away. She scurried over to where Adagio lay and helped her back up to her feet. Aria turned her attention back to the cafeteria. She was the leader of the Dazzlings now, which meant that she needed a plan. And considering that it was already past noon, the school day would be over soon, so they needed to act quickly. She furrowed her brows, trying to think of something that might inspire enough fear, anger, and hatred to finally satiate her hunger. An idea popped off in her head, sending a grin crawling across her lips. None of these pathetic humans had ever seen real magic, right? She’d been to “magic shows” before and had seen their awed reactions to the simplest parlor tricks. What if the Dazzlings showed them what real magic was? They’d teleport around, cast a few levitation spells. Do it once, and the entire school shuts down in panic. Do it twice, the city. Do it enough times, and entire countries start breaking down, unable to deal with such a rejection of their reality. They would create enough chaos to destroy society, and then they would feast upon the panicked ashes. …Of course, that would require the Dazzlings to still have their powers, which they didn’t. So that plan was out. Hrm. This leader thing was harder than it looked. Aria considered just running in and punching a thousand people in the throat—but she stopped herself. Throat punching required finesse. It required tact. It wasn’t something you could just do to an entire school in a single sitting. She needed something that was small but had potential to grow. Something that could work in stages, maybe… Her eyes widened. That’s it! She looked over her shoulder at Adagio and Sonata, who were huddled together, whispering to one another. “Hey!” she barked, startling them both into silence. “Stop gawking and follow me.” As they took their places by her side, Aria laid her palms on the glass door and licked her lips. “Dinner time.” She took a deep breath and walked into the cafeteria. “Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh… Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh…” Their soft, amulet-enhanced voices floated through the cafeteria like smoke, wrapping around the ears of everyone in the room. Flares of pleasure ran through Aria’s body as every student turned to watch them. “We heard you want to get together… we heard you want to rock this school. We thought of something that is better—something that changes all the rules.” The lyrics flowed from Aria’s lips as easily as air. Aside from enhancing her voice, the amulet that hung from her neck altered her thoughts, telling her just what words to sing in order to get the best result. It was beautiful. She strode through the café, swiping a finger along the chins of every student she passed. All eyes fell upon her swaying hips, which moved perfectly in time with their voices. Adagio had always been the “sexy” one—but Aria knew that she was twice the woman Adagio ever was. The three met in the center of the cafeteria and raised their arms high into the air, giving everyone a good look at their shining red gems. “Why pretend we’re all the same, when some of us shine brighter?” She twirled away from the group, grinning as she heard Adagio’s and Sonata’s voices underscore hers. Sonata was always a follower; she didn’t care about who was giving her orders, as long as they were being given. But Adagio? Aria was delighted to see her taking her new role in stride. “Here’s a chance to find your flame! Are you a loser or a fighter?” She wrapped her long arms around the chest of a particularly scrawny boy, whose eyes lit up at her touch. She knew that he would do anything for a girl like her—he would do anything and everything she asked. Something as simple as giving up his happiness to feed her was child’s play. Just as she felt him leaning into her, she spun away to another table and looked two girls wearing tracksuits right in the eyes. “Me and you, you and me… why don’t we see who is better? We don’t have to be one and the same thing! What’s so wrong with a little competition?” The glare the two girls shared at that last word—Aria could have drank the anger from their eyes. Aria walked back to the front of the cafeteria, ready to let everyone know why they were there. The three Dazzlings gazed out upon their enraptured crowd and asked: “Are you afraid of failing the audition?” A low murmur rose from the students. Aria sauntered up to a young girl with a star barrette and wrapped a palm around her chin. The girl didn’t even react as Aria pulled her close, very nearly pressing their faces together. “You’re a star, and you should know it.” She saw the lights flicker in the girl’s eyes. They had caught her. She walked to a nearby table, stretched out her arms, and waited for her lackeys to come pick her up. Sonata was there in a second, but Adagio took a few moments to react. Nevertheless, they managed to get her up onto the table just in time for her to sing, “Yeah, you rise above the rest! It doesn’t matter who you hurt if you’re just proving you’re the best!” Her words shot through the room like an earthquake. She watched as every smile disappeared, replaced by distrustful frowns. Not distrustful of them, of course—distrustful of one another. Aria saw whatever small bit of unity this school had built up dissolve, right in front of her eyes. The sight nearly brought a tear to her eye. It was time for the grand finale. All three of them shot their fists high into the air. “Let’s have a battle! You want to win it! Let’s have a battle—battle of the bands!” Adagio sneered. “That was my plan!” “Uh-huh,” Aria said, disinterested. “I’m sure.” The Dazzlings danced through the room, soaking up the malice, the jealousy. They jumped from group to group, pumping their fists, shaking their bodies, doing everything to rile up the crowd. At this point, Aria wasn’t singing; she was roaring, screaming their call to arms for the world to hear. She couldn’t help but falter, however, as she looked across the room and saw Adagio just standing there, not singing. She looked shell-shocked, as if her favorite puppy had just been hit by a car. Aria stopped moving and waited for Adagio to notice her—when she did, Aria pounded her fists together. Adagio gulped and started singing again. “I can beat you!” she heard someone shout. “I so want this!” came another voice. Yes. As the conflict grew stronger, grew more potent, the lightest wisps of shimmering green smoke rose from the ground and wafted through the air. A cloud passed her and she took a deep breath, letting the fog flow through her. She moaned as the smoke coated her senses. It was richer than the darkest chocolate, sweeter than the ripest fruit. “Me and you, you and me… why don’t we see who is better? We don’t have to be one and the same thing! What’s so wrong with a little competition?” “I’m going out and winning the audition!” the entire crowd answered. Aria laughed. Arguments were starting. Fights were breaking out. In less than a minute, the Dazzlings—the Blazings had turned the cafeteria into a warzone. It was beautiful. A new type of power ran through Aria’s veins; it was one that she had never felt before. Her skin was made of electricity. Her thoughts were clearer than they had ever been. And, of course, her fists buzzed with energy. She could fight an entire army and take every soldier down without even a scratch. Is this what Adagio felt whenever they sang? She must have. Adagio had been holding out on them, feeding them her scraps. She’d never deserved to be leader. Aria, though? Being leader was her destiny. She was born to do this, no matter what any decrepit old siren told her. “Let’s have a battle, battle, battle! Battle of the bands!” It was over. Finally, she would be rid of this hunger. As the arguments grew louder and more intense, Aria walked to the front of the cafeteria, where Adagio and Sonata were waiting for her. Sonata clapped her hands. “That was really good, Ari! Especially considering it was your first time!” Aria should have been annoyed, but the negative energy flowing all around her was just too good. She smiled and nodded before turning her attention to Adagio, who was staring off into space. “What’s up with you?” “What…?” Adagio murmured after a moment. Without the amulet’s magic, her voice was like scrap metal. “Did you enjoy singing backup?” Aria asked, smirking. Adagio clenched her teeth and looked down. “No.” “Good.” Aria took a step toward the door. “Let’s get out of—” “Hey! Stop right there!” Aria turned back around, only to find two girls running up to them. The one in front was tall and muscular and wore a large cowboy hat, as if she were in a musical or something. The second was their tour guide from before… Sunny Bunny? The cowgirl walked straight up to Aria, close enough that Aria smelled her apple-scented breath. “You’ve got a lot of nerve,” she said, “waltzing on in here like you’re just a couple of innocent new kids. Sunset Shimmer here told me what you did to her, how you punched her right in the throat!” Aria blinked. “And?” “And I want you to know that you can’t fool me with all this fancy singing and sexy dancing.” The cowgirl grabbed Sun Stone, whose entire face had gone pink, and pulled her forward. “You seriously hurt my friend, and I expect you to apologize right now!” Aria punched the cowgirl in the throat. The cowgirl tilted her head a bit, taking the brunt of Aria’s fist on her chin. Even so, she stumbled backwards, only to trip over a soda can and fall flat on her rear. Sunbutt Flitter gasped and took a step back. Too late; Aria punched Sunshine in the throat. She didn’t even try to stay standing and crumpled to the ground right next to the cowgirl. Aria chuckled and walked out, cracking her knuckles as she went and ignoring the farmgirl’s embarrassed shouts. Adagio and Sonata shared a silent glance before following.