• Member Since 5th Jan, 2015
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NaiadSagaIotaOar


do not throw souls

T

Chapters VIII-XII are from a technically complete first draft, posted in hope of providing closure as I don't see myself properly finishing this story. Read at your own peril.


Who is Adagio? The immortal scourge of two worlds? The living embodiment of dangerous beauty and musical perfection?

Or is she a lost soul in need of a friend? A sister struggling to reunite her fractious family before it's too late?

...A strange girl who can't possibly be all the things she looks like?


Graciously provided with editing, prereading, and occasional beverage consultation by forbloodysummer.

Coverart by Lucy-Tan.

Chapters (12)
Comments ( 81 )

Alright, sure, you got my attention.

Ah, it's finally here!

“Oh. Well, that’s not very exciting, is it?” Adagio muttered. Rolling her eyes, she drained her glass, pausing to stare at it before setting it down and eying Sunset closely. “This’ll be more interesting, then: I know it’s probably too much to ask, because you’re so disgustingly selfless, but do you still hate me, by any chance?”

I rarely see selflessness called out as an unfavorable trait, but the strength of this and Adagio's strong independent siren behavior hit the right chord. She's poofy and strong and don't need no Sunset.

Okay, maybe not the last one.

I look forward to more!

Cool, I know you've been working on this a long time. I'm anxious to see where it goes.

I am totally confused on what the heck is going on. I guess I am too tired for this right now. It still seems really good.

Off to a thrilling start. Love the glimpse of the past and the saucy and sauced Adagio. Without her sisters her wit must be getting stir crazy for targets to skewer.

The banter is nice and to this day I am sad that Rainbow Rocks had so little talking of the sirens themselves. Aside from the general shape of their personalities. So it is good here to show her depths. Look forward to more and the evolving mystery of what that chance encounter might bring!

9296053
I'm not sure she'd be Adagio if she wasn't saucy :raritywink:

The banter is nice and to this day I am sad that Rainbow Rocks had so little talking of the sirens themselves.

It's a bit of a mixed blessing, I think--what talking time they did have left a strong impression and hinted at character, which gives some vague guidelines to work with, but with so little actual, like, deep interaction there's so much room to fiddle with them and invent characters that they're absurdly versatile and canon pinning down their characterization more could have detracted from that. So while I wouldn't have been opposed to their canon appearance being more fleshed-out, I think they're darn near optimized for fanfiction purposes.

Thanks for the comment and follow, hope you'll enjoy what comes next :twilightsmile:

9295587

Ah, it's finally here!

Only took me two bloody years :twilightsheepish:

I rarely see selflessness called out as an unfavorable trait

It really is, from Dagi's POV, though! Selfless people are like yucky moldy bread to her. They don't have the warm gooey center that selfish people do.

I look forward to more!

I'll see what I can do :raritywink:

The whole thing isn't technically done, but quite a bit of it is, so I should be able to pop out an update once a week for a while. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

9296078
If our Cheeto queen thinks selfishness is blessed, then it is so. 🙏

This is all going to be a terrible train wreck and it will be interesting to see if there are any survivors.

The cover art alone has my attention. I'll put it in my read it later and see how often this updates!

9296478
Thanks for your interest! I have quite a few more chapters mostly or entirely written, so barring any unexpected hurdles I should be able to keep up a weekly update schedule for a while :twilightsmile:


9296093
That sounds like an Adagio-approved kind of thought. Fitting place for it :pinkiehappy:

Is this about Adagio meeting herself? How much do they talk about how much the dazzlings are to be blamed about everything in this story?
Not sure if you understand how I mean it exactly, but I'm not sure if I'm in the mood for Adagio not wanting to do something and everyone talking about how evil they where to convince her to do something.

9296798
I would encourage you to give the first chapter a chance, because I think it'll answer most of your questions fairly quickly. I'm not going to spoil much, but I don't think I'd say there's much guilt-tripping going on in this story (I hope there isn't, anyway, because I'm very not a fan of that myself).

9296806
Yes I think i can do that it#s not to big, but I have to see when I have the time for that at the moment.
Oh and what your saying sounds good enough.
I have seen good and bad Equestrian girls stories, I just have to see in which direction this story goes for myself.

Go, a voice whispered to her. Not the one she’d known, but comforting and familiar all the same. Powerful, like a crackling fire. She knew it was that voice that had sundered the crystal wall. We will follow.

Help us be beautiful, another familiar voice said. That one was soft and delicate, like a flower riding a ripple. It was that voice that tugged on her, encouraging her to rise.

I love how you can immediately tell who's who here. And it's such a wonderful way of them both being positive, and showing Adagio why they need her, each in their own way.

Adagio blinked, then shook her head. Stupid thoughts and feelings and—and all that drivel. Wasn’t the wine supposed to have stomped it all out for a little while? She should’ve known better than to trust fermented grapes.

The above is kind of echoed here, with Adagio first sounding like Aria, and then like Sonata :twilightsmile: Which I guess leads to the question of how long you have to live with two people before you're able to internalise them to the point that them actually being there isn't necessary anymore?

9296979
Whatever you feel like doing :twilightsmile:

I think you're quite right to be worried; the sirens in particular seem to get a lot of that guilt-tripping stuff going in on stories about them, which I just don't get. So I really like that you're hesitant for that reason, because I would be too.

9296990

Which I guess leads to the question of how long you have to live with two people before you're able to internalise them to the point that them actually being there isn't necessary anymore?

Ooo, that's an interesting prospect. For purposes of this story, I don't quite think it works that way--Adagio's internalized a lot of them and knows how they think and stuff, but she still misses them badly, so it's not like she's, like, completely assimilated their characters into her mind or something. But it's interesting now to think of two immortals living together long enough and knowing each other so well that they could, like, I dunno, perfectly picture in any given scenario exactly what the other one could do, whether they're there or not.

Hmmm.

I think I really like that thought :pinkiehappy:

9297024
Okay my last comment on this, I'm always glad to see someone feeling the same way.
It's not that I hate Equestria girls or some elements of the show or movies, but sadly I'm a bit to focused on what is wrong with the movies/series or stories sometimes like the reasons for transformations and stuff like that or how they acted around the cutie Mark in the show.
edit : I think most of the time it's just the fact that the show was not meant for adults even if they maybe do some stuff for the fans once in a while.

This was a combination of the sirens being treated this and that way and it's more difficult for me to find good stories in the Equestrian girls world than the pony world.

I just wanted you to know that, but I promise you to give this a fair chance.

9296288
No promises, but you know how I love train wrecks :raritywink:

Step by step, Adagio, it's just the begining.

I like Dazzlings. I'm always happy when i see interesting story with them. I'm looking forward to next chapter.

So, I was originally planning on posting this chapter tomorrow, but then I remembered tomorrow was Thanksgiving, so I went ahead and posted it a day early. I’ll probably plan on updating every Thursday going onwards, though, so the next chapter should be coming on the 29th.

The violet dress had been so pretty, once, just like her.

:fluttershysad: I really like this opening paragraph, it sets the tone very nicely.

And the descriptions of Aria and Sonata's bedrooms after they'd gone, with them ever so slightly neater, and missing trinkets, was a lovely touch. Especially with Adagio remembering which cuddlies weren't there :fluttercry:

Is there a significance to it being an otter and a walrus?

Poor Adagio! So quickly turned on!

I find it interesting that Adagio is the one that wants to strike back immediately and Aria the one that suggests to simply hold out. I suppose inaction is a branch of her usual apathy. Though she might have an interesting point. For High Schoolers in senior year, just waiting a few years and life itself might do more of a job breaking up the humane 7 than anything else.

In anycase, love the emotions in this, even if it leaves our poofy haired leader without any subjects.

9306840

Is there a significance to it being an otter and a walrus?

Otters are cute, walruses are goofy-looking, and they both like water, which is, like, every Sonata-approval-box checked.

9311094

I find it interesting that Adagio is the one that wants to strike back immediately and Aria the one that suggests to simply hold out.

This is an odd one--Aria's confrontational verbally, and quick to jump down people's throats, but in Rainbow Rocks, Adagio's the one who gets physical more often (Both with Sunset and with Aria), even though she tends to shut conflicts down rather than drag them out like Aria does. Between that aggression and the same inflated ego she has here that makes her livid that somebody else looks like her... obviously, there's a lot of room to fiddle with them, but I think Adagio being the vengeful one isn't entirely out of the question.

I'm glad you're liking the emotion so far :twilightsmile: There should be plenty more to come!

I have been waiting two years to post this comment:

But it was either those or teach herself how to cook

Adagio, sort your life out!

Wait, was that last part actually just a dream? Is Sunset losing it? Thanks, Adagio.

9321762
If you recall, from earlier in the chapter:

“No,” Adagio said, “I don’t. But you did a few things you didn’t need to do last night. Fair’s fair.” She glanced down, tugging at the hem of her robe, then flicking her head. “Let’s take this inside. I’m not wearing a thing under this and I’m about to catch my death of cold.”

Proximity to barely-dressed sirens has been known to leave one with a less-than-lucid mental state :trollestia:

Sure it was dream. Siren magic doesn't work on Sunset. Sunset's magic power is too strong to be influenced by it.

I appreciate what you're doing with this. Adagio has bewitched countless others, but only now is she breaking free from her own hypnotic master.

I was thinking about what the best Sonata moment in any story is, because it might be her lying to Aria here. Competition comes from her little speech to Aria in the latest chapter of Welcome to the Show, her setup near the start of Taco Quest as only slightly removed from totally evil but still getting along with Pinkie, her general machinations in I Can Smile (though one specific moment doesn't really stand out), and probably quite a lot of what she does in Justice3442's stories, where Sonata rather suits the tone.

This one might be top, though. Somehow Sonata manages to be the wisest of the bunch here, and fantastically selfless and selfish at the same time. She's certainly the one who best understands the emotion behind it all, which is a rather scary thought. And it's so much sadder that we see the analysis of the fallout through her eyes rather than Adagio's or Aria's :fluttercry:

I think you might have accidentally given Sonata depth and made her into an actual character instead of a food-based catchphrase?

“Well…” But then, just like that, flippancy bounced back into Aria’s voice and disdain into her downward-turned eyes. “You do still dress like a hooker, but I don’t think anyone could change that now.”

Zing!

9335115
While it was the second Adagio that made me conceptualize this story, it was the angle of Adagio grappling with her ruby that really got me excited to write it :twilightsmile: Can't say much (Spoilers! :raritywink:), but it's one of my favorite parts.

9335754
:twilightblush:
Not to toot my own horn too much, but for all that I usually don't care too much for Sonata in serious stories, I feel like, here, her being the silly, ditzy one just fits seamlessly; when Adagio has so much ambition it blinds her and Aria has just enough for it to be painful, Sonata's got so little that she neither wants anything too lofty nor works very hard for things that're achievable, which right away sets her brand of floundering apart from her sisters'.

… Thinking about this chapter makes me sad :fluttercry:

I think that each chapter, or at least most of them, explicitly contain a phrase relating to Dagi's crumbling composure. As the story goes on, it's neat to see how the layers of her relate and crumple. Nicely done update!

Wanderer D
Moderator

I'm enjoying this story, and definitely loving Adagio's character. Keep up the good work!

I honestly seem to trust Siren Adagio MORE then Human Adagio, something about this chapter has made me distrust her (Human Dagi)

9358068
Ooo, I don't know how consistent a trend that is, but probably, yeah? This story hasn't always been very nice to Dagi :fluttershysad:

9358173
I'm pleasantly surprised you've given another of my stories a chance :twilightsmile: Thanks for reading, hope you continue to enjoy it!

9359064
Spoilers
Siren Adagio is faaar too cute to be untrustworthy :rainbowkiss: derpicdn.net/img/2016/1/16/1067779/full.png

Interesting stuff. I wonder if human Adagio's sisters are also taking a break from her. Or if perhaps they're in jail, or dead or something. I feel like something bad has probably happened to them, given some of the implications we've seen. Nice chapter.

I either missed the part where Adagio figured out Sunset had the rest of her shards, or Adagio's a good detective. Either way, this is a real fun story so far. A refreshing take on the dynamic between the sisters, and even between Sunset and Adagio.

9359104
Unless I'm mistaken--this story's been revised fairly extensively, so I lose track sometimes of what's made it to the final draft and what's been cut or changed along the way--Adagio doesn't know explicitly that Sunset has them.

But at the end, all she says is: "I would start with Sunset." Which I think would be a fairly obvious first step, since Sunset's one of only a handful of people who even know about the shards.

9359095
Either one or zero of those guesses is less wrong than a non-negative number of the others.
:trollestia:

9359120

Either one or zero of those guesses is less wrong than a non-negative number of the others.

I'M A GODDAMN CLAIRVOYANT!:pinkiegasp:

"We didn’t like each other.” Although one of them had done a better job pretending.

So Adagio's thought here, that Sonata is pretending, raises some interesting questions. How much is that just Adagio thinking flippant, negative thoughts, based on how she's feeling right now? How much is that genuinely how she thinks Sonata felt back then? How she thinks Sonata has always felt, even now?

And, of course, how close is it to the truth? We see both at the end here and in the siren reunion chapter that Sonata frequently deceives the other two. But she does so to keep them happy, and - Sonata's character in a single phrase - she's too sweet to believe to have ulterior motives for that. Again, we see at the beginning of this chapter that she can have her morals plugged in back to front sometimes (which is superb in this example!), but I got the impression her wish for them to be a happy family of sorts, and for Adagio and Aria to honestly get along and be nice to each other, was a sincere one.

Is that something you're happy to comment on, or should I stay quiet and keep reading?

"This-Dagi"'s Sisters are dead, aren't they?

Goddamn you've really got me worried for human Adagio's sisters. They're either comatose, dead, or in jail. Or some combination. And what is she planning to do to see them again? Hope to see more ASAP!

9383151
Oh dear, I certainly hope not! :fluttershyouch: If there's a Sonata somewhere in the human world, she's surely far too adorable to die :fluttershysad:

9383300
Would you like me to cheekily quote myself, or can you picture what I would say if I did?

9383139

Again, we see at the beginning of this chapter that she can have her morals plugged in back to front sometimes (which is superb in this example!), but I got the impression her wish for them to be a happy family of sorts, and for Adagio and Aria to honestly get along and be nice to each other, was a sincere one.

I think something that's fairly ingrained in all the sirens is that they're fundamentally selfish; their lifestyle hinges on them taking advantage of other people's emotions, which I think influences their morals. We see here that Sonata's willing to upstage someone else's personal drama because she doesn't want to not be the center of attention, and earlier in the story she's somewhat selfishly wishing Adagio and Aria would stick together even though she can see there's some friction there. When she's empathizing with someone and understanding their feelings and stuff, there's often at least an underlying thought of how she can use those feelings to get something she wants. Which I think lends an air of pragmatism to just about any emotional moment between two sirens; they're always looking out for ways to shape other people's feelings in a way that suits them (The very first thing Adagio did when she met Sunset waaay back in chapter 1 was to tell her a lie meant to get a reaction she'd find amusing).

And Sonata clearly gives her sisters' feelings some importance; she wants to see them being happy, so she's keen on looking for ways to make that happen. And we see Sonata willing to give her sisters' feelings more weight than her own honesty, while also feeling neglected by them. Perhaps she wouldn't mind too much if they were willing to do the same thing? In that case, she might prefer that they be nice to each other over being honest with each other.

(I'm not certain this Sonata is actually quite that twisted, but I think it's maybe an interesting thought)

But, furthermore, the sirens feed on conflict, and spread it wherever they go. That's just what they have to do. Buut they also have to stick together. So I kinda like the thought that they're just, like, kinda incapable of existing without some sort of conflict with each other? (Even with the two that did stick together, things aren't totally peachy) Maybe even that they'd be dissatisfied if they did?

And yet, we've seen in this story that Sonata sorta places less importance on their, like, siren-ness, than, say, Adagio does (Contrast Adagio's, "I don't make friends with morsels" line in the first chapter with how Sonata's gone out and done exactly that). Which stands to reason that, of the three, the one who'd be most alright with a total lack of inter-siren drama would be Sonata. Whereas the idea of not having that conflict could be a little foreign to the other two?

It's tricky to know how much to say without going into more spoilery territory :twilightsheepish: But that does sorta answer some of your questions?

Wanderer D
Moderator

I was thinking, what could be Sunset's deal here, is it just guilt? Attraction? Both? Adagio gives little of herself, being true to her nature. It gives me a very Sunset Boulevard feel.

“Well, one of them, the one you especially don’t like” —Sonata found another picture, of the same bunny sandwiched between her cheek and Adagio’s ample, technically-not-uncovered breasts, and set it aside as she closed the album and stood up— “cheated on her boyfriend, so we’re taking her clubbing to cheer her up.”

This part reminds me of the Aria’s Archive comic, where that was Aria’s favorite way to manipulate mortals.

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