Broken magic. A broken home. Three once-Dazzlings still live under the same roof, but drift apart as the weeks following their defeat pass on.
One spirals downward. Another moves forward. And Aria collapses inward—to her head full of dreams, held down by a shattered song and doubts of her own self-worth.
One night, an unwelcome voice finds her and leaves her with a choice to be made.
Thanks to Bookish Delight and Jondor for pre-reading plus feedback.
Big thanks to Holy for editing and critique.
(And uh... thanks to Csquared08 for comma police. Don't laugh. It's more of a thing than you might think.)
Cover art is my own.
As a note: This story's timeline is not in continuity with my others. Think of it as an AU to Open Door.
Chapters (4)
I felt at times like italics were being overused here, but I liked a lot of Aria's demeanor. There can't be enough stories of her being crass and vulgar like this. I'm definitely excited to see where this goes.
Very good, I'm loving the slew of Aria stories that are suddenly popping up.
9596500
I hear ya. I'm looking forward to checking out more of them when this is all wrapped up. Your latest one, especially, looks like it'll be a good read.
9596498
It was a good time, working with her through the process here. I've always liked your Dazzling stories as well.
9596498
Also, I took to heart your comment on the italics and made a few tweaks. In retrospect, I found a couple of places in the narration where it wasn't as necessary as I'd thought back when originally writing it. Thanks.
9596580
I'd love to hear what you think of it.
9596696
Yeah, that cover art WIP is something. If the guy(assuming) is still working on it, I can't wait for the finished piece.
9596702
it's my girlfriend actually, she also did the cover art for my story Featherfall. And yeah, it's WIP.
9596726
Ah, very nice. Something told me I was guessing wrong, heh.
9596580
That's a pleasant surprise! From what I remember of your older siren stories, I would've guessed mine mostly too cynical for your tastes. Thanks for letting me know I was wrong
The italics look more conservative now. I'm happy to help
The story is really good so far.
well done on a very powerful chapter.have a like and a follow.
Ew, this nerd is writing fics again.
What a dork
9597551
i.imgur.com/BMZxBga.png
Alright. I'm on board.
One thing that's never been established in canon is whether the Sirens were just being what they were or whether what they became was the result of pursuing the wrong path out of ignorance, greed or ambition. Without their need to prey on others' emotions, might they be better people?
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/321765768503230464/573172601661161494/unknown.png
This man had the audacity to challenge me. Can you believe it?
I'll show him a thing or two about commas
Story's been great so far. I like the cut of Aria's jib.
I am contractually obligated to hate you
9598405 they are referencing another book or two by them with those words. I believe those books are 'An Open Door' and 'Once Monsters'. I will say this, Keep up the good work
9598561
That's exactly why it's a contractual obligation. I helped edit both of those as well.
9598405
i.imgur.com/vHQVb4C.png
9598577
cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/552252348794273792.png?v=1
9598570
I'll say they were both good works as well. I like this peaceful happy ending for the dazzling.
Not all of this is sitting as well with me as the first chapter did, but I think that's at least partially due to conflicting headcanons when it comes to the sirens' characterizations. Adagio in particular feels a bit too defanged for my tastes.
I am really glad to see Aria making as big a deal as she is about being overshadowed by the other two, though! I've always thought it's comparatively difficult to make Aria her own distinct character without coming across as a less-interesting Adagio, but playing up the self-loathing and anger is a really nice way of accomplishing that. It is slightly disappointing that she doesn't come across quite as abrasive as she did in the first chapter, since that was something I really enjoyed about her, but it makes sense in context that she could be in a better mood for the rest of the story, and she does still get a few moments to lash out.
But, anyway, apart from a handful of nitpicks, I'm enjoying this so far. Looking forward to seeing how the music plan ends up playing out!
Sexy-muscles Aria is best Aria
9598651
Holy had the same critique of Adagio, so you're not alone. A lot of her personal progression happens "off screen" and ahead of Aria's, so there's some risk in it coming off as abrupt, I agree.
Glad to hear that overall you're still enjoying.
Edit: And I just now noticed that transposition of words in your quoted piece. Fixed it in the story.
9598651
I forgot to say in my last reply that I'm really glad my goal for Aria came through for you, in terms of struggling with her self image and acceptance.
Wow. Was that supposed to be meta? Because it kind of is.
To misquote the recent Spike short that was on YouTube: #sirenselfcare
Seriously, though, Aria has a heck of a lot of issues. I'm wondering how much of this is Adagio's fault, how much of this is just part of being a Siren and how much of this is something Aria has done to herself.
So, I wonder if there will be any more of Blueberry Cake in Aria's immediate future? Naturally, there must be some Sugarcoat and the rest of the Shadowbolts, especially if this is pre-Friendship Games. The Dazzlings' views on those events would be interesting to see!
this hit the ground gunning the engine. im already gripped, and I have to see where this'll go.
Comma police? Comma police!?
Why I oughtta
It took me a bit to remember where I'd seen the diner's name before, but when I did it was a pleasant surprise
I liked some parts of this--as a whole, I think it felt a bit too clean and easy a happy ending for my tastes, but I feel like that was more or less the point, so I hope people who like that sort of thing end up enjoying it more than I did.
That being said, the bit where the other people called out Rainbow Dash bugged me a little, I think mostly because it kind of trivialized Aria's struggle with being in her sisters' shadow. It wasn't that she necessarily had to do anything differently herself, because she was already being noticed--and I think you could attribute that to the makeover Rarity put her through, but when that wasn't so much Aria's decision as it was Rarity's, I still didn't find it too satisfying. I did really like that the ending had Aria going off and finding success doing her own thing, especially that being a singing thing, I just wish there'd been a bit more of that independence elsewhere.
9600390
Oh, that wasn't Rainbow who made the post, she just brought it to Rarity's attention after she'd found it. I might check that section again to see if I can do anything to make that clear. There were a few other clues though, as to who did post it.
Regarding the diner's name, I put that here just for her. I do hope she comes back to finish her story at some point, or at least gets a chance to see this one.
9600399
I guess I just saw Rainbow's name in the paragraphs around the post and jumped to conclusions 
Probably fine the way it is. Sorry for misreading!
… to be honest, looking back at that section now, I think that's more me being dumb than the story being confusing
I could not agree more.
What a wonderful little story. It's actually nice to see a story of Aria.
9599902
Interesting ideas, but unfortunately not in the scope of this one.
9599874
And also, yes. Thoughts that were on my mind as well.
Motorcycle scenes and coffee (tea?) shops.
I dig it,
Boy, haven't dusted this off in a while...
i.postimg.cc/8ccPQvJ5/Pirate-Approved2.jpg
9601576
Continue-Monkey has always been my topfav though.
Gotta love that guy.
9602270
Oh, well in that case...
i.postimg.cc/2y358pWL/continue-Monkey.jpg
That was beautiful... Well done.
This was worth the wait.
It's been quite a while since I thought about EQG, but this story reminded me why I loved it. It was a joy to spend time with Aria -- and Rarity (who is still my favourite of the original cast).
Turning Aria's unpopularity in the fanbase into an in-story bit of characterisation was a wonderful choice. I'm a bit jealous I never thought of doing something like that.
Other thoughts? Elegant prose, check. Offscreen Sundagio, check.
I was a bit worried in the final chapter that you were losing focus, but in the end everything came together and underscored the theme perfectly.
In short, I'm glad you came back to finish this. Well done.
9624776
There seems to be a thing with Adagio lovers also loving Rarity, and there's more to it than just Kazumi. I think it's that air of maturity that they both carry, relative to the rest of the cast.
I'm really glad to hear your thoughts on that last chapter. It was a concern of mine, and my editor's as well, but I'm glad it's all tying in for most readers like I'd hoped.
Excellent story!
Very pleased by this story. Welcome back.
I've finally gotten myself to read this, if only to get it out of the Tracking box. And I am not disappointed. Well...not completely. There was one small part of me hoping for some RariBlaze shipping, but I get that can't be the focus of every story. Still, for the story itself, that was good! I fell like it could have been longer, with showing Aria's journey in full, but you hit upon every important point to the extent that anything more would probably just be padding and fluff. So great work!
10160298
Thanks for this. Glad you enjoyed it. The idea of how or where to take the relationship did cross my mind, but I decided on leaving it 'just friends' for the benefit of the overall characterizations that I wanted to share.