Someone proposed that this just be a collection of musical parodies, and it seems like I've got an otherwise unrelated song and situation to share every year, so here we are.
Chapter 1: "Please Come Back"
Prior to their long, emotional, and life-changing recovery from their wicked ways, the sirens stood on the cusp of their ultimate vengeance when a message from their old enemies made them stop and reconsider.
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Chapter 2: "The Birthday Song"
The sirens didn't have this 'birthday' thing back home, especially not when, if they had their way, they'd have been lavished with love every day anyway. When they came to the human world and learned of the practice, it stuck with them.
Following a long, emotional, and life-changing recovery from their wicked ways and an ordinary (give or take Pinkie Pie) birthday party earlier that day, the sirens invite their dearest friend, Sunset Shimmer, along to witness a special part of one such celebration.
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Chapter 3: "Request Night"
The sirens have a bi-monthly tradition that interests their friends.
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Note: Not a sequel to anything, but for the purposes of this story, the sirens are reformed offscreen and have been in the human world for at least a few decades prior to the events of Rainbow Rocks. That in mind, the following might make more sense.
Pastiche - 1. A work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist.
2. A musical medley, typically quoting other works.
I think it's safe to say Aria won this time. Though that leaves me curious (and a little afraid) as to what Sonata will spend the next year planning to top that
Amazingly fun story. I didn't catch the reference so I'll just have to go reread both stories, darn.
Haven't dealt with these many cat puns since the English Dub of Digimon Adventure and 02. Gatomon. ALL the damn time.
Shots fired!
I don't know why they still try to make a competition of it, to me it looks like Adagio wins every single time.
Adagio's little addendum there was a very nice touch.
And I just love the dynamic you gave them here.
Kind-of-mother-but-not-quite Adagio is always sweet to see and the way Aria and Sonata put so much effort into their gifts for her while still annoying the hell out of each other was incredibly endearing and a part of me feels like the rest of the week could have been filled with activities of a similar tone. In any case, I think it's a very fitting way of handling a birthday with them.
I should probably also say that, given Aria's singing voice, the first song and the justification behind it was in some ways surprisingly fitting, even if the next one completely stole the show.
Beyond that, there are so many fabulous mental images you put in my head here. Cataria, Fairy Adagio and her cuddly companion Needle-Maw, the "book report"... I could go on, but just about every little detail from start to finish was a treat and the ending was absolutely adorable.
Overall, one of the funniest things I've seen all month.
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Do you mean the chapter title? Because her last line in the story is breathless plea for the oxygen tank, which was thrown in more to give a quick cut to Sunset's POV and leave Aria and Sonata alone for that warm smiles moment.
MamaDagio and the bickering pseudo-sisters don't have much grounding in canon (well, okay, maybe the second one), but some trace of it definitely fits for their group. Whether Aria and Sonata are genuine in this rivalry they've got going or only keep it up because it's the most surefire way they know to get Adagio to laugh like that is something I tried to leave to the reader's imagination.
Even if it's not at the same intensity every day (or even every week), such a guess would not be far off for the sort of thing I'd probably come up with if this had continued.
I remember you mentioning somewhere that you couldn't really see them settling down into a civilized lifestyle so easily even when their magic was gone, but cutesy, light-hearted fluff being a favorite of mine, I dare dream that they could at least spend a few years just chilling out and enjoying life, even if they don't find a happy place to settle down in doing so. (They do here, of course, but still)
If there's a voice actor gag in there, it's the first I'm hearing it.
I just went with that one because it was the kind of slow, slightly gooey love song I could picture certain interpretations of Adagio having a taste for. Truth be told, I kind of think Sonata (having the deeper, more sultry singing voice) might have been more appropriate, but it was Aria I imagined singing some variation of the Weird Al song.
And of course, glad you enjoyed!
I missed the song parodies from your other fics. I know they arent the easiest to make, but dang if it wasnt worth it.
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This one and its lines with many syllables (between 11 and 20-ish, for the longer ones) was a bit more difficult than most, but reading along with the tunes is always fun in the end.
I can't think of a single other author that blends cute and funny quite as well as you do.
7740012 Ah, sorry. I probably should have been more specific, but you were considerate enough to avoid spoiling my story and so I didn't want to be too specific. I was referring to Adagio's line right after the reference.
It is a little bit of a stretch, but I think most of the joy of fanfiction comes from extrapolating from the source material and I think it's plausible enough to work. I'm sorry to say that that other interpretation of Aria and Sonata's rivalry never crossed my mind reading this story, but I'm really liking that idea now that you mention it.
It's a very sweet notion in a slightly manipulative and conniving siren-esque kind of way.
Probably. That sounds like something I would say. Of course, I usually think of them as being hundreds of years old, which I imagine would make the sudden loss of magic quite a bit more jarring than in stories like this where the time frame involved isn't quite as daunting. Granted, a few decades is still a long-ish time, but your interpretation of their background usually makes it a lot easier to accept that they'd adjust well. And as I'm usually in favor of fluffly/cutesy things, I wasn't going to complain either way.
There isn't. Not that I know of, anyway.
My thought was that Aria's higher, somewhat softer voice would be naturally suited for a sappy song like that (which I can totally see Adagio being into). Although as you said, Sonata would work as well.
7742746
Aww, thanks!
7742966
Oh, that one! Yes, I thought that line fit nicely there.
Indeed! Another example comes to mind, but saying it would be spoilers for something.
If dragons can be genuinely clueless about why someone would bother with basic niceness (going by the Dragon Lord episode), it wouldn't surprise me if the sirens thought a simple thing like "I feel _____, could you please _____" was a sentence from a foreign language. In this rendition, they might be more or less past that, but 'pretty please' still wouldn't get them such a pure reaction.
This was brilliant and hilarious and sweet and fun. I loved it!
I laughed aloud many times reading this
And those were some of the best cat puns I've heard in quite a while. Was it a reference for Aria from the Adogio series? I like the balance here of them liking each other but also kind of hating each other, and the way Aria and Sonata have managed to square that with not irritating Adagio too much with their bickering. I think you were right to leave it with just Sunset, having the others there wouldn't have served much of a purpose story-wise, and probably cluttered it.
7745715
Glad you enjoyed!
No, the cat puns are just cat puns. I've seen those stories, but never read them. Not crazy about memes.
That's the part that gets to her the most, and I don't know if I adequately outlined it in the story, but part of her cry-laughing is tears of joy/heart-touchyness.
7745730
I think that came across, it's clear that she's very happy about the whole situation. It's probably a realistic take on how people might interact after being together for so long, too (they're immortal in this one, right? I read it yesterday but I think I remember that being the case...). You'd be hard pressed to stick around with someone you genuinely hated for that long, but also you'd be completely sick of them.
7745750
I didn't go into detail, but they aren't quite immortal/ageless after the Battle in this rendition. They haven't noticeably aged since arriving in the human world, but how all that works is something I intend to explain in the next Here Comes The Sun chapter (work in progress). I went with a similar set up to that story because I initially had the thought of this one as being part of it, but what happens here wasn't going to fit what I had going in HCtS without stretch-marks. I guess I could have made a spin-off type thing, but it seemed easier to make an unrelated one-shot and be done with it.
That, and my usual thing is to assume they've only been in the human world for a couple years, about as long as Sunset, but there needed to be a longer time frame for this ongoing birthday thing to work and I generally don't like the interpretation that they've been there for a thousand years for reasons I've rambled about elsewhere.
Or, for simplicity's sake, I guess you can say they're immortal. The fic is over, so it doesn't really matter much.
7745765 That fits, I don't like the immortality interpretation angle either, but you're right they need to have been together for a while for this to work. I'm afraid I can't remember the details of Here Comes The Sun that clearly, I was intending to reread it when you were adding new chapters again after some of your other stories had wrapped up. I remember enjoying it so far though.
It's always hard to know what to do with spin-off one-shots, it's nice to expand from larger, existing stories, but sometimes the parent-story canon is restrictive and it's in the one-shot's best interest if it can stand on its own.
Oh boy, that was great. What a story! I really like the lyrics you made, pure gold. Makes me wish someone would dub this. Ten thumbs up.
7767759
If I could sing (or had money for recording equipment and possibly sound-proofing of some sort so as not to disturb neighbors), I'd probably sing my parodies myself, but alas.
Glad you enjoyed!
Can this story be a place where random song parodies in EQG universe happens? Whenever you feel like it, no pressure.
7908362
Could be. I've certainly still got a few unpublished parodies to get around to, oddly enough.
.... welp, that shot Aria up a fair bit of points. A+ for that galacti scale sonata burn, WITH VIDEO FOOTAGE AND PERSONAL CAM BY GORK THAT WAS JOYOUS.
Aria the cat.
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8510141
Weirdly enough, her pigtails kind of remind me of dog ears.
8510268
Huh, I see what you mean
I hadn't spotted this one before; is this better?
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8510659
Aria might make a better cat than she does a dog. Certainly has the disposition for it. Just as well, with what I ended up writing.
8510862 I think all three sirens would probably be more like cats, even Sonata.
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Arinya, Sonyata, and Adagimeow could be a very cute band of fuzzballs.
8511857 Hmmm, I've got pictures of each of them as cats, or all three of them with cats, but not the other combination
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Adagio does not suit David Brent-style facial hair. I don't know what that's all about.
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I like how sad both Aria and her cat are. That's a good match.
very nice an sweet
you did a fantastic job
Pony People Partaking in Playing Parody Pastiches*?
*pastiche - 1. A work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist.
2. A musical medley, typically quoting other works.
8796900
I'm afraid the only Pony Person involved here is Sunset.
8796998
The Dazzlings were originally equine-like and the Rainbooms can gain equine features. Should that count?
8797725
Hm... Maybe so!
I can imagine Sunset doing a followup to this in a song.
Her presence is like nothing that I've felt before
She's lovely and endearing and yet so much more
I hear her vibrant laughter and see her smile
She asks me to come and join her, "Please stay a while"
Can't shake the feeling that I'm hanging by a thread
It seems to me she has her voice inside my head
Is my anticipation one of joy or dread?
I can't put my finger on it, can't put my finger on it
There's something weird about the way she speaks to me
There's something strange about her smelling like the sea
I didn't have the means to keep her from this harmony
She's some kind of siren girl, some kind of siren girl
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The party beat is thumping, she starts to dance
The crowds come out together, caught in her trance
Her sisters lend their voices and join her side
Now everyone's all swept up in the same tide
Can't shake the feeling that I'm in over my head
It seems to me I hang onto every word she's said
She makes a motion for the cheering crowd to spread
I can't put my finger on it, can't put my finger on it
There's something weird about the way she looks at me
There's something strange about her music and its key
I don't have the means to tell if she's friend or enemy
She's some kind of siren girl, some kind of siren girl
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There's something weird about the way she speaks to me
There's something strange about her smelling like the sea
I didn't have the means to keep her from this harmony
She's some kind of siren girl, some kind of siren girl
There's something weird about the way she looks at me
There's something strange about her music and its key
She's grinning gleefully, turns out she isn't done with me
She's some kind of siren girl, some kind of siren girl
8798995
Something like that would definitely be fitting for some point in the two getting to know each other, yes.
"I can't put my finger on it" and "there's something off about her" are perfect tie-ins to what Sunset actually said in Rainbow rocks, too, so nicely done there!
8799181
Thank you for noticing.
The tie-in to Rainbow Rocks was a big reason for going with this song. The others being how catchy it is and the sirens' seductive nature.
I like grunge Rarity, she would really make a good siren.
Nice to see the Rainbooms getting into the act too.
This series never fails to make me happy and smilely
And exposition fairy Adagio still being a thing is one of the best parts. Thank you very much for keeping this going 
Oh, I never expected this to be updated!
I think “dazzling oddities” might work, or something along those lines. If not, just make that a song at the least, pretty please?
8796900
So many p’s! Too many p’s!
Probably missed the intended feels due to getting distracted midway through wondering why anykelpie would expect the Hadal Archives to contain rituals calling for something as exotic as human blood... and then wondering if there really were such rituals there and what they'd be for... and then trying to decide how much creep factor is buried in that particular combination of song and audience... who can't even join in unless their summoning happens to complete and happens to accidentally result in them getting their singing voices back... and then thinking that actually, bringing back one of the Old Ones to participate in this song would make a lot of sense...
...Sorry. Not that I don't agree with the above comment - just happened to find and first read this on one of those days.
this was cute