• Published 18th Sep 2015
  • 2,698 Views, 115 Comments

I Can Smile - Eyeswirl the Weirded



On her own, Sonata hatches a scheme that involves making the most of what she can do better than the others ever could.

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Bonus Chapter! Too Many Loose Ends!

Flashback. Kinda. Or like, memory.

"Bowl," ordered Pinkie.

"Bowl," confirmed Sonata, passing the baking equipment, just like the first time.

"Flour."

Sonata handed her what she asked for, her stomach spinning for more than the memory of what that first batch did to it. "Flour."

"Something sweet."

"Something sweet." She never quite found out what this 'something' was...

"A bit of salt."

"But just a pinch."

Pinkie giggled. "Yep!"

When they sat down while waiting for the cupcakes to bake, Sonata gave an apologetic smile. A real one this time. "Pinkie? There's something I've been wanting to tell you."

"That you were the one who ate most of the cupcakes the first time?" Pinkie snorted. "I know, I was there, silly!"

"N-no, actually, uh..." She gulped, no longer able to look Pinkie in the eye. "I k-kinda need to say 'sorry.' Y'see, when I first came to you, I wasn't actually thinking about making friends, or cupcakes, or MyStable profiles, I just wanted to-" A pink finger pressed her mouth shut. She dared look up to see Pinkie giving her a sympathetic smile.

"It's okay."

Sonata moved her head backward to escape the Pinknese Finger-Trap. "It is?"

"Well, kinda. It's like, lying to your friends when you're not even friends yet is bad, but I still had fun that day, other than when things got barfy, that wasn't fun at all, although I did like popping the cap off the medicine jar! Pop!" She giggle-snorted before going on. "Anyway, it wasn't okay, but right now, we really are friends, and you wouldn't think of doing anything bad to your friends, right?"

"Right!"

"Then it's okay!"

"Ri-..." Sonata scratched her head. "But, I still lied to you, to everybody."

Pinkie nodded, her smile no weaker. "And now you're saying 'sorry,' I'm saying 'I forgive you.' Simple."

"But-"

Pink Finger Word-Seal, Go! "No buts, I'm forgiving you whether you want me to or not!" Sonata couldn't argue, because Pink Finger Word-Seal was go. Genius! She sealed the sealing with words, of all things, giving Sonata a wink. "Because friends forgive each other, silly!"

Freed again from her silence, Sonata smiled gratefully. "You're a good friend."

"Heehee! That's why I had to forgive you!"

Not long after, the two enjoyed the fruits of their labor: Fruit-free cupcakes.

"So," Pinkie asked, "how are things going with you and Fluttershy?"

Sonata choked on her cupcake for a minute. "Wh-WHAT?!"

"Ooh, bad guess? Sorry, are you and Rarity a thing?"

Blue turned red. "DOUBLE WHAT!"

"Wrong again? Hm. You and Aria?"

Sonata was nearly glowing now. "NO!!"

"You and Applejack? I know I've seen you eyeballin' her fresh apples, if you know what I-"

"PINKIE!!"

Pinkie gasped, holding both hands to her cheeks. "It's me?! Aww, shucks, Nata!"

Sonata faceplanted on the kitchen counter.

---

Meanwhile, back at the Dazzlings' house, Aria once again found herself heading to Adagio's room. The door was rarely closed these days, but only because Adagio got the wrong idea when Aria had vaguely suggested that she didn't like seeing it closed all the time.

Sheesh, she thought with a tiny grin, she worries too much.

The door open, Aria easily popped her head in to see Adagio getting dressed in the poofy, purple outfit she'd worn the night they lost their gems. It felt like a weird choice, considering...

"Getting ready for your date?"

Adagio whirled around to face her. "IT IS NOT A-" she stopped, took a deep breath, and composed herself. "It is not a date. It is a casual meeting between f-friends."

"Uh-huh. You wear that to a casual meeting?"

Crossing her arms, Adagio hoped to hide the color in her face by turning away. "S-Sunset asked me to wear it." The trade-off was that Sunset would keep her bad-girl jacket on through the night. Good deal.

Snickering, Aria took a moment to look around the room, observing the little gifts, nick-nacks, and other little things that weren't there before they found themselves with new friends. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"Well, arrangements to meet are typically ironed out before their fruition."

"Not that," Aria said while giving Adagio an appraising look and holding her arms out to gesture to their surroundings, "this, everything since that big fight we had."

Cinching the belt to her outfit, Adagio rested a hand on her hip and looked back at Aria. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Sonata going to the Rainbooms, getting their trust, and then coming back to us with all their gooey friendship to spread and share, with her, the one we always get to do the innocent, smiley routine, doing all the heavy lifting." She crossed her arms. "I've been thinking about what you said to us during that little three-way shouting match, the exact words you used whenever you yelled at Sonata, saying stuff like "Why don't you do better?" and "I'm sure you'd make... oh, maybe a half-dozen friends at best!" or "Go on, find one person who likes you for more than your 'pretty little smile!'", all the stuff she actually went out and did."

Adagio shrugged, her face passive. "She's an impressionable little dolt, I suppose, but she's still our dolt. Your point?" Aria just stared at her, which drew a look of surprise. "What, you think I set her up to go talk to them?"

"You might've. Along with holing up in your room pretending to cry, or Hell, really forcing yourself to, because you knew I, that I'd-" Aria blushed, but she wasn't about to stop her tirade now. "-th-that I wouldn't just leave you like that, so that I wouldn't be at risk of going out, finding Sonata, and unwittingly ruining the rest of the plan."

Adagio gave her a flat stare before chuckling and shaking her head. "Aria, do you hear yourself? We've been working together for a long time, you know me. Think about it;" Her cheeks tinted pink, "would I really enact a plan that put me in the pathetic, humiliating position of blubbering like an infant for longer than maybe a minute? Let alone doing so for days because I thought it would keep you," she was making her sarcastic, faux-sweet face again, "who is obviously known for being oh-so sensitive to tears, house-bound while relying on Sonata Dusk to go out and pave the way for our recovery by going out and forming special bonds with not just people that hated us, but the very girls who destroyed our magic?"

Aria's eyes narrowed. "It worked, didn't it?"

Adagio blinked twice, then scoffed and walked out of the room. "You are so paranoid."

Watching her go, Aria found herself wearing a tiny smirk. You didn't say "no."

Author's Note:

Did Pinkie know all along? Did Adagio engineer the whole thing? Did Pinkie? Was everything that happened according to one or both's plans? Were they secretly working together?! Even though it was never so much as hinted at...? Or was it all a big, crazy series of events that just kinda worked out by the end?

The more I think about it, I'm not sure either. If that doesn't demonstrate that writing can send messages we didn't intend it to, from three evil divas not being all bad, to any of my complaints in the last AN, I don't know what does. I had a real Dear Princess Celestia moment writing this story, so I hope it was as thought-provoking for you as it was for me, or at least half as entertaining.

Thanks for reading! :twilightsmile:

Comments ( 50 )

Watching her go, Aria found herself wearing a tiny smirk. You didn't say "no."

Of course Adagio didn't say "no"; Since there was no plan that could go wrong, Aria was just being paranoid! (or was it?... :pinkiegasp:).

It was a funny little story that brought more than a few laughs out of me. Talk about a juggernaut, i didn't think Sonata would have made it off the soccer field with so many balls to the face.

Also, you deserve a break, you cranked out these chapters super quick. I'm not complaining at all, because it gave me the chance to move this to the complete pile. Then again my i have my suscipions you had this all wrote out and slowly released chapters.

Sonata moved her head backward to escape the Pinknese Finger-Trap. "It is?"

Pinknese Finger-Trap, that's a new one.

Pink Finger Word-Seal, Go! "No buts, I'm forgiving you whether you want me to or not!" Sonata couldn't argue, because Pink Finger Word-Seal was go. Genius! She sealed the sealing with words, of all things, giving Sonata a wink. "Because friends forgive each other, silly!"

Pinki Finger Word-Seal. Amusing.

"So," Pinkie asked, "how are things going with you and Fluttershy?"
Sonata choked on her cupcake for a minute. "Wh-WHAT?!"
"Ooh, bad guess? Sorry, are you and Rarity a thing?"
Blue turned red. "DOUBLE WHAT!"

Oh this is gonna be fun.

Sonata faceplanted on the kitchen counter.

HEH!

Crossing her arms, Adagio hoped to hide the color in her face by turning away. "S-Sunset asked me to wear it." The trade-off was that Sunset would keep her bad-girl jacket on through the night. Good deal.

Agreed.

Watching her go, Aria found herself wearing a tiny smirk. You didn't say "no."

True.

6445584
Partially correct! I wrote most of the story out over the course of a month or so, went over the chapters once, started publishing Friday, then got the last few chapters done this weekend. :twilightsmile:

Wow this story moved fast, I finished the last 5 chapters at once. I like the idea this story has for Adagio's character. If Fluttershy had never stopped listening to Iron Will, she probably would have ended up like Adagio. Similarly, a huge setback for Adagio is enough to at least temporarily reset her into her old shy mode.

This isn't actually part of the story, but I want to say how strongly I agree with the author's note last chapter. When I first watched the series pilot, the first two episodes were pretty good, but they didn't really stand out to me. What made me want to keep watching the show was the fact that Luna immediately gets her throne back and is welcomed back, full stop. Redemption is probably my single favorite theme in fantasy, and its what I think is at the core of the show. Like I said at the beginning, I almost didn't read this story because I've seen so many stories where one Dazzling gets redeemed and the other two go die in a ditch, and that just ruins the story for me. One of the ways I think the show has gotten better recently is it seems like they're remembering the ethos of "leave no villain behind" with Discord and Gilda so far, and hopefully others to come.

The only thing that ruins this story for me: Aria finally has a chance to come up with a brilliant plan, and she maps it out on the planning board, why didn't the Dazzling support her by sneaking into the local zoo's reptile house with kerosene and matches? :raritywink:

6447182
"leave no villain behind," I like that. :twilightsmile:

Yes, the real win for any decent good guy isn't beating the other guy into paste, it's showing him why he's wrong and convincing him to stop before someone gets hurt. "The greatest victory is the battle not fought," they say, and our canon heroes have flubbed that a few times. Not sure Celestia ever got it right. Still, Gilda, Discord, and Trixie show us that even if they aren't shown the error of their ways the first time, there's generally hope in the future. The only antagonistic characters I can recall not having been reformed by their second appearance are Flim and Flam, and I'm sure they'll straighten out eventually.

Heck, I even have hope for Lord "It Is As Useless As He Is" Tirek and Starlight "I Created Harmony!" Glimmer! :raritystarry:

Queen "In My Heart, There Is No Room!" Chrysalis though, I'm a little worried about, given Cadence's approach to martial law. :fluttershysad:

why didn't the Dazzling support her by sneaking into the local zoo's reptile house with kerosene and matches? :raritywink:

I like to think dousing dinosaur mascot outfits with flame-retardant chemicals before putting them on, lighting them up, and running around like maniacs for a minute or two is as close as they could get without losing a lot of friendship points to pyromania. :twilightsheepish:

I call this caper: "Happy Birthday, Aria!"

6447224

Yes, the real win for any decent good guy isn't beating the other guy into paste, it's showing him why he's wrong and convincing him to stop before someone gets hurt. "The greatest victory is the battle not fought," they say, and our canon heroes have flubbed that a few times.

It's why so many people loved "Keep Calm and Flutter On," a major villain was converted from a threat to an ally without violence.

The only antagonistic characters I can recall not having been reformed by their second appearance are Flim and Flam, and I'm sure they'll straighten out eventually.

They're the ones I want to see reformed most. Still annoyed they brought in Silver Shill instead of just having the brothers learn that lesson themselves.

Heck, I even have hope for Lord "It Is As Useless As He Is" Tirek and Starlight "I Created Harmony!" Glimmer! :raritystarry:

I've always looked for the glimmer of goodness in any villain. Admittedly its incredibly hard to find in Tirek, and I really doubt a stone plateau in the depths of hell is conducive to rehabilitation, but he kept that amulet of his brother for millennia... What I want to see for Starlight Glimmer more than any reform/befriending by the Mane 6 is her being welcomed back to Our Town. You know, the town she helped found, and poured her blood sweat and tears into building so that everyone there could have friends, even if it was Starlight's own twisted, distorted version of friendship?

Queen "In My Heart, There Is No Room!" Chrysalis though, I'm a little worried about, given Cadence's approach to martial law.

Yeah, of the possibly executed villains (ignoring comics here) Cadance is 2 for 2.

I like to think dousing dinosaur mascot outfits with flame-retardant chemicals before putting them on, lighting them up, and running around like maniacs for a minute or two is as close as they could get without losing a lot of friendship points to pyromania. :twilightsheepish:
I call this caper: "Happy Birthday, Aria!"

Most metal birthday ever!

The first 4 chapters were disturbingly making me both amused and horrified of Sonata’s misfortunes – the mental imagery of a teenage girl being stomped by a crowd, assaulted by a pack of dogs, getting food poisoning and getting beaten up was some kind of Looney Tunes/Tom and Jerry level of violence, which felt a bit too cruel. But at the same time every chapter was providing me with bits of sincerity and genuine emotions that by the chapter 6 went into the full overdrive and was able to kick especially hard in the “feelz” department, leaving me with a bunch of pleasant emotions even past the very end.

Once again you absolutely nailed the characterization. Sonata being evil felt exactly like her from RR movie and not like author was just having a grim-dark fetish. Vulnerable Adagio while being an unusual imagery for a character felt absolutely plausible, the same can be said about Aria dropping down her whole “tough” act. Them going from tears and depression to happy ending felt genuine and spot on and overall made for an incredibly enjoyable and, most importantly, deserving closure for the characters that haven’t received it officially (yet, If ever – Oct 13th will put all concerns to rest).

Overall – pure and fresh joy. Thank you.

6447278
6447224

You are forgetting about Lightning Dust who got booted out Wonderbolt Academy for 1 mistake and wrong attitude regarding the matter – a pretty sad end of a life dream.

s6.postimg.org/dd47s96ap/Pirate_Approved.jpg

I think this one might need to replace 'Fluff & Kidnapping' in the Captain's Chest, :moustache:

6447472
Cool. :pinkiesmile:

6447285

The first 4 chapters were disturbingly making me both amused and horrified of Sonata’s misfortunes – the mental imagery of a teenage girl being stomped by a crowd, assaulted by a pack of dogs, getting food poisoning and getting beaten up was some kind of Looney Tunes/Tom and Jerry level of violence, which felt a bit too cruel. But at the same time every chapter was providing me with bits of sincerity and genuine emotions

All deliberate. :coolphoto:

Specifically, as most of those SoloNata stories tend to put the other two through Hell, I wanted to see how the shoe fit on the other foot, for once. At the same time, I didn't just want to do more of the same thing, or it would probably stop being funny pretty fast. Compromise! I had Sonata be the one to get slapped silly by karma and her own mistakes (and a possibly possessed soccer ball, though half the time that one was her fault anyway) while giving her enough bright, uplifting moments that she wouldn't just lose the will to continue before the epiphany could hit her.

That, and while Aria and Adagio are left out of the slapstick, they aren't exactly having a great time either. I don't picture any of the sirens really being happy without the others, at least not if they split up on ugly terms. :fluttershysad:

yet, If ever – Oct 13th will put all concerns to rest

Wai-huh? What happens on Oct 13th? Another siren comic? The start of the Equestria Girls series? :rainbowhuh:
If so, all news to me! I'm still planning to do that cheerleader story if our favorite divas (or, mine at least) don't make an appearance/get completely shafted in Friendship Games this Saturday. Whenever I'm able to catch the movie, I mean. :derpyderp2:

You are forgetting about Lightning Dust who got booted out Wonderbolt Academy for 1 mistake and wrong attitude regarding the matter – a pretty sad end of a life dream.

Eh, being a Wonderbolt isn't much of a dream, I hope Rainbow eventually drops those incompetent deadbeats like a rock. :applejackunsure: Let them keep their hollow prestige, their unearned hero status, their precious records, I just hope someone points out that they never seem to do anything but screw up until someone else steps in.

Context: Just in the most recent episode, Rainbow claimed she didn't have the stamina for long-distance flying. When she flies far enough that one of the Wonderbolts is sure she won't make it back in time to go get Spitfire, guess which one isn't even visibly winded when they return?

Other than that, though, it would be nice to see Lightning Dust (and Suri Polomare, and Ahuizotl,(Cabelaron and his goons got off scot-free as I recall) and Prince Blueblood, and Diamond Tiara+Silver Spoon, etc...) finding happiness too. :twilightsmile:

6447815

yet, If ever – Oct 13th will put all concerns to rest

Wai-huh? What happens on Oct 13th? Another siren comic? The start of the Equestria Girls series? :rainbowhuh:
If so, all news to me! I'm still planning to do that cheerleader story if our favorite divas (or, mine at least) don't make an appearance/get completely shafted in Friendship Games this Saturday. Whenever I'm able to catch the movie, I mean. :derpyderp2:

While Friendship Games will indeed air this Saturday 20 pm EST only on Discovery ©, TV versions of previous movies tend to had certain scenes being cut, along with credits and, most importantly, post-credit scenes. Even if sirens won't make an appearance this Saturday, they could still be among scenes that were cut and put on DVDs and Blurays that will be available on Oct 13th. Also, one of the soundtrack songs is also exclusive to disks.

6447965
Ah, phooey. Does that mean I should wait until the whole thing is available before publishing anything? I've got the first chapter ready to go, but not if there's no need. Other stories to invest that time in, and all. :trixieshiftright:

6447981
I see absolutely no way how having more of your stories to enjoy would result in any negative impact on siren's "official" fate (or unfortunate official disregard).

6448028
Thank you, but it would have a negative impact on all that other stuff I've kept hanging for months, in that the hanging would be extended further. :twilightsheepish:

Well, We'll just have to wait and see! Even if I do publish Cheerleader Sirens by next week, the movies tend not to have all that much happen in their run time, so (and these may prove to be my dying words) I'm sure the story won't be that long. More-so if I'm mainly covering things from the sirens' POV while the main cast is doing their thing in the background.

Vulnerable Adagio – best Adagio.

Pinkie Pie as a shipper? I can see it.

And of course Adagio won't outright deny it... even if she wasn't behind everything, her ego wouldn't let her say that. Or rather her insecurities. I like your idea of her being propped up by having two loyal minions all the time and bereft without their support. Because being on your own for the first time in decades/centuries must be a very frightening thing.

6447224
That's a beautiful birthday plan.

6457975
The contrast between World-Conquering Megalomaniac and Nervous, Uncertain Wallflower might be what made Sunset so popular the second time around. A walking, solidified wall of confidence suddenly needing a hug has that effect, I think. :derpyderp2:


6458161

Only ten years? Given Starswirl was alive over a thousand years ago, that's a very large time-warping effect from moving across dimensions. I know it has to alter time to some extent, because the timelines with Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle don't line up otherwise, but I didn't realize it was that big.

I don't know if I conveyed it very well, but I meant to have Sonata say that they were together for roughly ten years before being banished, only floating around Canterlot City for a few months or so (as I feel makes more sense than centuries of little or no progress), if not some odd combination. Maybe they roamed Equestria for 6 and a half years before roaming the other world for the remaining 3 and a half, but my thinking is if Starswirl catapulted them forward, what difference does it make if it's a hundred years or a thousand? Most pony magic seems to lean toward the latter, so it feels pretty reasonable to me, with the flow of time being unaffected in both worlds.

Then again, I vaguely recall something about Rainbow Rocks taking place 5 months after the first movie, uncertain as to whether or not that applies to Equestria as well. :applejackunsure:

It's the little touches like Sonata and Adagio teasing Aria over her burning dinosaur drawings that make these characters feel like rounded people in your story, instead of having them just focused on the main thrust of things and only talking about plot relevant stuff (redemption and friends in this case), as I sometimes see authors do. A character who only talks about those things doesn't give the audience a real feel for their personality.

Glad they feel distinctly people-ish! :pinkiehappy:
If I ever write or have written any character that comes across as really flat, I apologize. :fluttershyouch:

Also, I do agree that it's absolutely bizarre how often one of the Dazzlings (Sonata in particular) gets redeemed and the others get left in the dust, for stories set in a universe that had an insane goddess shown the light in the first two episodes and later went on to reform Discord.

I've heard the theory that some think of Silver Spoon as 'the good one' between her and Diamond Tiara partly because Silver is a little bit more visually appealing with her pretty little braids and glasses, and people might unconsciously want the comparatively good-looking characters to be good.

Maybe Sonata's silly smiles and airhead moments are doing something similar, next to the slasher smiles and grumpiness next to her? I'm not sure, but even for a show about silly, big-eyed ponies, the notion that only the cute ones should be spared creeps me out a bit. On that note, I like to think that Fluttershy would even protect a hagfish. :scootangel:

Lots of good little jokes in this chapter, I won't go into all of them, but I like the idea of world domination through friendship. It is, literally, magical power after all.

Something in the back of my head said that two reformed megalomaniacs would probably think something like this, the power that stopped and eventually converted them clearly being something that part of them would want to seize for themselves. I can't say if they'll get far in trying to make the whole world get along, but making acquaintances from day to day seems like a good start. :pinkiesmile:

Pinkie Pie as a shipper? I can see it.

The more people falling in love, the more weddings, and thus, the more wedding cake! Remember who reunited Cranky and Matilda, after all. :raritywink:

And of course Adagio won't outright deny it... even if she wasn't behind everything, her ego wouldn't let her say that. Or rather her insecurities. I like your idea of her being propped up by having two loyal minions all the time and bereft without their support. Because being on your own for the first time in decades/centuries must be a very frightening thing.

In a few ways, she reminds me of Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I think Adagio took it a little better here, from some point of view, but Azula was at least still mostly functional during her breakdown, not a weeping wreck... Initially.

Sunset getting all shy and hesitant after losing her hold on the school kinda makes sense in that context too, I think.

That's a beautiful birthday plan.

Innit? They'd have to have a sizable body of water nearby to extinguish themselves with, but I can totally picture Pinkie setting up a Big, Burnin' Pyromania Party. Probably taking place at night, tiki torches everywhere, barbecue and sparklers for cake candles or something, ending with everyone flopping over on the grass to enjoy fireworks. :pinkiehappy:

6471833
No, no, thank you. :twilightsmile:

Like I always said, even the best comedies have a mood changing scene in it somewhere to make the funny part more noticeable.

I guess my fear is things getting too heavy and serious before making the jump to all violence and grimdark, maybe with a long-standing conspiracy and an ancient cult or two thrown in. Seems to be a thing with long-runners. :pinkiesick:

6471844 Think of it as a trampoline- you start high, go lower than the surface level, only to bounce back higher than ever before. The last thing you want to do is desensitize (hard word is hard) your audience by being too funny all the time or too tragic all the time. Nothing is good all the time.

6744349
Well I know where I'm fleeing if certain parties take office! :pinkiehappy:

Well, after a brief glance through the comments I see everyone's mostly talked about what I wanted to comment on this final chapter...

Damn.

Not much for me to comment on here other than this was a delight to read. Sonata's perspective and characterization felt really natural to me reading this, and really everyone seems just right with the odd little flourish here and there that made them real characters rather than walking plot devices.

If I had to pick the single best thing about this fic, it's that you didn't leave anyone behind here. Everyone gets on the redemption wagon. I know it's been talked to death here, but too many writers often forget tabout the villains after their defeat or only focus on the "cute" klutzy one while leaving the others to, at best, live cold, lonely lives. I understand wanted to make a fic darker, but that takes away from warmth and heart that I was drawn to in this show. Everyone deserves a second chance.

Anyway, I think I'll cut off here by saying you've earned another fan here, Eyeswirl.

6815174

If I had to pick the single best thing about this fic, it's that you didn't leave anyone behind here. Everyone gets on the redemption wagon. I know it's been talked to death here, but too many writers often forget tabout the villains after their defeat or only focus on the "cute" klutzy one while leaving the others to, at best, live cold, lonely lives. I understand wanted to make a fic darker, but that takes away from warmth and heart that I was drawn to in this show. Everyone deserves a second chance.

About 90% of the reason this fic was written, right there. I've probably ranted about it enough already, both in Author's Notes and this very comment section, but the idea of people only being allowed happiness based on their popularity is all kinds of wrong, especially for a show like this.

Glad you enjoyed! :pinkiehappy:

That cover picture is unnerving.

6862777
Contrary to some fan depictions, Sonata is not an innocent little angel. I feel like the cropped image drops that hint nicely. :coolphoto:

6995916
Timey-wimey stuff sums it up, yes. I know it's the general default headcanon, but them having been in the human world for a thousand years and acting a lot like they just got there recently just doesn't make much sense to me.

And yes, in this story, Sunset has been human longer. I generally like to think that they got there at the exact same time in different places, but the explanation is a very long-winded speculation. :derpyderp2:

6995945
I like that... but in part because throwing around immortality in pony is a bit of a thing for me. I prefer explanations/headcanons that don't have that in them, except in places it is explicit (immortal Celestia and Luna, longliving dragons, etc).

Alright. I enjoyed this quite a bit. Lighthearted but with enough drama to give it gravitas. Gave me a couple out loud laughs, even.

I wasn't sure if there was going to be genuine redemptions given that there were evil master plans as recently as two chapters ago, but there it is.

I like... playing with the idea that Sonata isn't actually any more benevolent than the other girls. I mean... there isn't anything in-canon that indicates it, right? It's just people's tendencies to look at the ditz who's cheerier and be like "yes! she's the real good one!"

I've seen this completely inverted just once, where Sonata, more than Aria or Adagio, lost her marbles as a result of Rainbow Rocks. And her ability to have a disarming veneer goes very badly.

But I'm pretty happy it goes the other direction.

And yeah, as far as I'm concerned, redemption is basically fair play for every MLP villain. The canon is super redeemy. I'm fine with it not being that way, since not every story needs a redeemable villain, but It is my sincere wish to find at least one of every villain redeemed.

But that does mean somebody has to tackle a Tirek redemption someday. They've done it with Sombra so... anything's possible!

6996143
Indeed, on multiple accounts! :pinkiehappy:

I've never liked the assumption that cute/funny = DEFINITELY good and sweet and innocent because, honestly? There's nothing defensible about the idea. Case in point: Adagio made plenty of adorable faces and had a few hilarious lines herself ("You'll have to excuse them, they're idiots.") and is regularly seen as a soulless bitch.
Furthermore? Parasprites.

Hell, with the way Aria (whose annoyed/pouty faces remain in the upper echelons of hugability for me) kept doubting and detracting, I'm a little surprised the standard wasn't to have her be "the only good one," that she's never interpreted as having nitpicked because deep down, she didn't want to be doing this and that if she were in charge, they'd go about things a little more gently. Not likely, I know, but neither is "too cute to be evil."
Ranting again. e.e

While I'd like to see a redeemed Tirek too, I'm afraid I'm hopelessly smitten with the sirens. Still, I like to think we'll at least hear about Scorpan dropping into see Tirek on a regular basis in canon, that if nothing else, it's a work in progress. :pinkiesmile:

My favorite origin version of the Sirens. Never liked people thinking they where ancient. And that corrupting part of the dark artifacts they had on them (loved it). Liked the version of Aria and Sonata also. Adagio though is my favorite when she is like in Sucker for a cute face .

Thanks for the story and have a like and a favorite.

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Yes
Both to the story and to the author's note.
Heck, for all my bellyaching about Discord being reformed, my issue is more with how it's been handled for the most part and less with the actual idea of it.

Equally important to proving the Power of Friendship is how it's handled, I think. Luckily for fanfic writers, we aren't working with screentime limitations.

A pretty apt comparison, where Aria and Feelings are concerned.

She tries, but her life has not been rich with touchy-feely moments up to now. :fluttershysad:

And of course, glad you enjoyed! :pinkiehappy:

Bravo! Everything about this worked really well. Sonata's thoughts were consistent with her dialogue in the film - that is to say, you made her believable and detailed without turning her into a different (much smarter) character in her own head. Completely on board with her being no better or worse than the other sirens, the angle of her being an innocent who fell in with the wrong crowd always bugs me. Like dim people can't be evil?

Also really really happy to see a complete absence of tacos and 'for realzies.' Broken Adagio was an angle I hadn't considered before, but the author's note is right that we never see her without support, so it's quite possible, and it worked well here. I like the approach that the sirens have their own flavour of friendship magic going on between the three of them, that they're stronger and happier as a unit, even if they get on each others' tits. With that in mind, the scenes of Aria ignoring Adagio in her room were a bit uncomfortable. In the end I don't mind so much if they find redemption or if they take over the world, as long as they end up not broken.

Speaking of Aria being the cute one, it's worth watching the song Battle Of The Bands quite closely, when it comes to the split-screen at the end of the chorus as all three of them cry 'battle!', it's Aria that looks like an adorable overgrown anime character, not Sonata. The rest of the time during all three Dazzlings songs, Sonata is every bit as malevolent as the other two (and as focused, and as competent), she has an almost completely different character off stage than on.

Final twist that it might have been Adagio's plan all along was a work of genius. Great job!

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Completely on board with her being no better or worse than the other sirens, the angle of her being an innocent who fell in with the wrong crowd always bugs me. Like dim people can't be evil?

I think the usual shtick is that she's "too cute to be evil." Never bought it myself, because I remember the Parasprites. :applejackunsure:

Broken Adagio was an angle I hadn't considered before, but the author's note is right that we never see her without support, so it's quite possible, and it worked well here.

It's a very rare characterization for her, but I thought it was worth experimenting with a little bit. (That it helped keep her and Aria out of the way of Sonata's antics was the main reason, but still) I too feel that it worked nicely this time. :pinkiesmile:

I like the approach that the sirens have their own flavour of friendship magic going on between the three of them, that they're stronger and happier as a unit, even if they get on each others' tits. With that in mind, the scenes of Aria ignoring Adagio in her room were a bit uncomfortable. In the end I don't mind so much if they find redemption or if they take over the world, as long as they end up not broken.

Given the name and premise of the show, I feel like it sends some really bleak signals if some kind of companionship doesn't ultimately win out. :twilightoops:

Speaking of Aria being the cute one, it's worth watching the song Battle Of The Bands quite closely, when it comes to the split-screen at the end of the chorus as all three of them cry 'battle!', it's Aria that looks like an adorable overgrown anime character, not Sonata. The rest of the time during all three Dazzlings songs, Sonata is every bit as malevolent as the other two (and as focused, and as competent), she has an almost completely different character off stage than on.

Aria's singing voice is actually the cutest of the three as well, I think. Comparison below.
(Aria starts at 1:55, Sonata at 3:50)

It's easier to hear during the chorus, but Aria's is high and girly, Sonata's is low and sensual, where Adagio is kind of between the two. And I find that neat. :twistnerd:

Final twist that it might have been Adagio's plan all along was a work of genius. Great job!

I can't rightly take credit for that part, because with the way things turned out, that interpretation was a complete accident. I only noticed it kind of looked that way when the fic was nearly finished, same case for the notion that Pinkie somehow orchestrated most of the story, too.

It helped me calm down a lot about the whole unintended messages thing I ranted about in one of the Author's Notes, so the last part of the last chapter was just kind of meant to demonstrate that kind of unintentional writing weirdness by pointing it out, then not definitively stating the truth either way.
Writing is a delicate art if one wishes to avoid sending the wrong messages. :derpyderp2:

And as usual, glad you enjoyed the story! :pinkiehappy:

7439330 Thank you so much for the video of the separated vocals, I'd never seen that before. That's eye-opening for many reasons! For one thing, I'd been trying to work out those harmonies for months, I knew they were there but couldn't get the pitching. You're right, of course, Aria has the much more delicate voice, and most of the Youtube commenters suggest that the she and Sonata must have had their audio tracks mislabelled.

I think it fits, though, for some surprisingly deep reasons. Sorry, I might go off on one here.

One could argue that it shows Aria's tough girl attitude is merely an act to hide a much gentler soul, or something like that. But I think it really highlights that Aria's a very, very good singer, and that she knows exactly what she's doing. In my experience, harmonising is a pain because you tend to get distracted by the lead vocal and end up singing along with that instead. There's none of that here, Aria weaves around the lead line hitting all sorts of different harmonies and counter melodies, seeming to pop out for some phrases and disappear again for others. And she does so in that soft tone, so that it never threatens to overshadow the lead part (also because she hits the highest notes of any of them, on the 'put your hands up' line, and that's much easier quietly), which helps enrich Adagio's part without ever distracting from a single tune for the ear to follow. Her part is that of a perfect wingman.

Sonata Dusk, on the other hand... I had to listen to her parts twice through, just in case I'd missed them and was only hearing Adagio's part instead. Sonata doubles the lead part through the prechorus and the chorus (the first syllable of the oh-woah-oh might be a different note to Adagio, but otherwise they're the same I think), and she has the higher backing part through the verse (the top harmony part usually being the easiest to hear, and therefore the easiest to pitch reliably). If Adagio could cover the verse woah backing parts as well as the lead (not impossible, but the breathing is tricky), then they could lose Sonata entirely and you'd hardly notice. Her only purpose is as a thickening agent for Adagio's voice - literally, the only thing Sonata adds to the work of the other two is thickness, which is arguably her character in a nutshell.

On that basis, I think a lot more weight is added to Aria's frustrations with Sonata, who appears to be carried by the other two. Combine that with her being easily distracted and sometimes blurting out their plans, and it's a wonder they're still together. I hadn't anticipated that, and might have to adjust my headcanon and planned future writings accordingly. It also draws such attention to Aria's competence that her butting heads with Adagio makes a lot more sense; I had assumed that she was just an ambitious second-in-command, but it might be more that Adagio is the grand visionary where Aria has expertise and focus. Again, that's not what I expected at all, I thought Aria would be the power behind things rather than the precision.

Hmmm. Anyway, sorry for the extended rant, but there's a lot there that made me think and rethink things.

7439419

Her only purpose is as a thickening agent for Adagio's voice - literally, the only thing Sonata adds to the work of the other two is thickness, which is arguably her character in a nutshell.

Other than making the occasional lyrical parody, I don't know a thing about music, but this line made me giggle. :pinkiesmile:

And,

I had assumed that she was just an ambitious second-in-command, but it might be more that Adagio is the grand visionary where Aria has expertise and focus.

this is an incredibly astute observation, because I originally had vague ideas of two short sequels to this story for Aria and Adagio, something like "I Can Push" and "I Can See," respectively. I still have the notes from around a year ago.

The first would have been about Aria helping someone move while talking to one of the Rainbooms about her role in the group, eventually confessing that she knows she could never really take over because she has no ideas, no real goals, where even Sonata can come up with a vague plan on the fly. (It didn't go so well for her at first, but still)
She would have outlined how she knows her biggest contribution to the group was poking Adagio for progress, always pushing her for more results to keep the three of them chugging along in whatever they were doing, hence trying to get her back into action through the events of I Can Smile. She would say that she might not have had the best ideas herself, but that pushing Adagio for what to do next was cake, as well as voicing a tiny insecurity that if Sonata ever wised up to this, she could steal Aria's job and render her completely useless outside of singing. Not like they needed muscle when they'd always just sang everyone into doing their bidding.
At the end, Aria would reveal her relief that they don't have to worry about plans and stuff anymore, because while she was good at keeping Adagio moving, she lived under constant pressure herself to make sure she kept it up, that now, she can push herself at her own pace without fear of being left behind.

The last one would have been about Adagio talking to a Rainboom about her glasses before the subject shifted to the role she no longer really played as 'leader' of the sirens, her initial fall to her own megalomania, and how she was well aware of Aria's aforementioned role, as well as Sonata being the one to give her ideas of what to actually strive for.
She would explain that without the others around, she wouldn't know what to do with herself even with all the power in the world, that they may never have realized it, but it was essentially the others telling her what to do by telling her what they wanted, and her job was to tell them how to get it, that her eye for the details and affinity for assessing the situation and acting accordingly (as she does in the movie and in this story) were her strengths, but due to the strict speak-when-spoken-to way she was raised in the spire back home, she lacked any real ambitions of her own.
Even from the very beginning, it was Sonata's idea to break into the spire to steal the gems, Adagio just told her how to do it, with the simplistic goal of being lavished with praise and adoration coming some time later. She could take one look around and hatch a relatively simple plan at a moment's notice, then build and build and build on it until the sirens had what they wanted, but it was much easier if she had some kind of target. Now, she would say with a smile, her only goal is that they live their lives in peace, and she knows just how to go about it!

Possible there would be some kind of bonus chapter in which Aria and Adagio reveal all of this to their favorite dimwit, how important they all were to each other, Sonata explaining that to her, the others were her buddies, her partners in crime, the kelpies that helped her when nobody else would, then tearfully hugs them as she says that's all that really matters. Huggy fade-out.

However, as I'd usually rather be working on silly slice-of-life stories and cutesy rom-coms and I don't feel the add-on stuff is necessary, that's probably as far as these ideas are going to go. That is what your comment brought to mind, though! :twilightsmile:

Hmmm. Anyway, sorry for the extended rant, but there's a lot there that made me think and rethink things.

Worry not, for as you can likely see, I'm intimately familiar with the feeling. :scootangel:

7439588 That's really interesting, it's a shame not to see it completed, it would be like the finishing touches of this version of the siren lore. But as you say, there are plenty of other things to spend time writing, and the story still feels complete without it. It's surprising how stuck one can get without that Aria role, it's easy to get lost in dreams within your head, it just needs someone constantly pushing to turn them into a reality.

Sorry for the brief reply, I have to go catch a plane, but I thought it was a really interesting discussion, thanks!

Whelp. I'm way, way late to the show here, aren't I? No surprise there. :ajbemused:

And naturally, the extremely thought-provoking comment section already swallowed up everything I might have had to say about this story, so I'll just say that you have clearly spent a lot of time thinking about these characters and it really shows. There might be one or two other stories out there of more serious tones that I liked slightly more, but when it comes to light-hearted characterizations of the Sirens, I think you've really hit the nail on the head, with this story in particular.

Many, many thanks for pointing this out to me. Hugely enjoyable read.
:heart:

7605458

Whelp. I'm way, way late to the show here, aren't I? No surprise there. :ajbemused:

We can't be everywhere at once. :twilightsheepish:

And naturally, the extremely thought-provoking comment section already swallowed up everything I might have had to say about this story, so I'll just say that you have clearly spent a lot of time thinking about these characters and it really shows.

Villains are usually the most interesting characters, and cry out for analysis and speculation if we aren't given any answers. These are just a few of the interpretations I've used for these three, and I've got a bunch more possible backstories that I haven't published yet. Seriously, I get more "Maybe It Went Like This..." out of these three than I did with Prince Blueblood (on whom I used to be similarly focused). :pinkiehappy:

There might be one or two other stories out there of more serious tones that I liked slightly more, but when it comes to light-hearted characterizations of the Sirens, I think you've really hit the nail on the head, with this story in particular.
Many, many thanks for pointing this out to me. Hugely enjoyable read.
:heart:

Glad you enjoyed! :twilightsmile:

I'd like to think the Pinkie knew what was going on (because it's Pinkie). Did she send Sonata around to the others, knowing what would happen? Probably not...maybe...:moustache:

7673826

I agree, Sonata's probably just as bad as the others, except with less of the lights on. And more entertaining.

The story definitely wouldn't have been as funny if I'd had Aria or Adagio going it alone in her place. For one thing, they might have succeeded. :twilightoops:

Let the record show that a more devious Sonata is still not very bright.

She wouldn't be Sonata otherwise. :raritywink:

Now, if the "Magic of Friendship" doesn't work on everyone, that doesn't mean it's a failure. By that logic, if a hero can't save every single person ever, they're a failure, and shouldn't even try.

The message presented in the show seems to be that friendship and harmony are omnipotent, unstoppable forces of undefiable power, as shown by the magical rainbow lasers that instantly fix everything when used and cannot be halted/countered in any way when properly warmed up. If that's true, then shouldn't they be able to save everyone? By definition, I would say the Magic of Friendship failing to work on anyone at all means it is capable of failing, as we've seen it do more than once. Friends fight all the time, from the human 5 staying apart for a few years in the EQG world thanks to Sunset, to random disagreements and disputes that may keep people apart for generations, like those hillbilly ponies in that episode I forget the name of. The friendships get knocked down over and over, but the key thing is getting up again.

Failing just means the 'all-powerful' part of the message is false, that there's more to it than standing together and holding hands to fix everything like it usually does for our heroes, but in no way, shape, or form does that mean that they shouldn't try. It may not always work, a la Chrysalis, but while the friendship our heroes try to spread is far from omnipotent when you take a good, hard look at it, it's still generally proven to be stronger than all the pain, hatred, and psychosis that drive the bad guys, provided they don't give up.

That is my take on the situation. :pinkiesmile:

Rant aside, I love this story.

Glad you enjoyed! :pinkiehappy:

7673934 Good points. Or maybe we're all just over-analyzing the entire thing, which is entirely possible. But, if over analysis leads to creativity and great works on this site, who cares?

7678026
At the very least, it leads to plenty of food for thought, which, though mileage may vary, can be just as fun! :pinkiehappy:

Comment posted by forbloodysummer deleted Nov 22nd, 2016

8044290
At no point has Fluttershy been presented as vegan.

(This was another very lovely story. Very sweet, at multiple points, however not saccharin I felt, so that it wound up being pleasantly warm. Using Sonata as the focus worked very well, she was comedy gold, and despite not being the... ah 'brightest' of the bunch, she did have her own kind of cunning, and made good points throughout the story... With that said, we must acquire the shipping chart and get Sonata shipped! It's practically criminal that Adagio gets her waifu Sunset and Sonata, the star of the story, did not acquire a waifu! Don't worry though-

'Adjusts glasses and unfolds long list to the floor'

There are plenty of candidates left to attempt to correct this oversight with. Starting with Rainbow, I do notice that Pinkie missed her...)

9034897
She and Rainbow were more like pals than anything else (give or take that whole secret betrayal thing only Pinkie and the other sirens ever found out about), but the idea was to leave Sonata's ship open-ended so the reader could decide for themselves which of those listed they liked best. :pinkiesmile:

9035472
(Ah, fair enough! Well then, I shall simply have to ship her... with Maud Pie! … It's perfect! There is no possible way that ship doesn't make sense and/or could backfire! I am a genius!

In all seriousness though, think the closest relation really was with Aria. If one was going to blossom into romance, that one would probably be it... … though I wouldn't put it past Sonata to try to court Fluttershy, to get to marrying her, so that she could have ready access to Fluttershy's toast.)

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