Mind over Midnight

by Moproblems Moharmoney

Interlude - Dinner at the Dazzlings

Today had been awesome! At least I thought so, sure my boss kinda had a weird meltdown again, but he let me go early with double pay! I'd lost the note attached to the cash as well which sucked, but it couldn't have been too important or else he'd have said something. Either way, it meant Mexican night at Casa Del Sonata...and Aria...and (ugh) Adagio.

I trudged eastwards from the city, my lame dress shoes scuffing as the thinning suburbs eventually turned to rural decay. Sure, the dilapidated shacks and ruined timber buildings were a bit spooky, but I kinda liked them. Reminded me of our home during the Civil War. Well, Mine and Adagios home. Aria had been a nurse then, she'd wanted to be "more active in the community" which was weird, but whatever. When the fighting started she'd joined up. Anyway, we tried to keep in contact, but the army moved around constantly. She used to be a lot perkier before the war, I miss that Aria.

It took a few hours, but here she was. Home. It wasn't a particularly big van, but the VW Camper was an antique, one of the first released back in the sixties. We had so much fun back then, the wind in our hair, the open road. It was amazing. Kinda necessary as well when you get run out of a town after riling everyone up and need a place to sleep. I'd named her Raidne after our Mom. The others wanted something scary, but it was too cute for that. Plus I wanted something with her name that was ours, not a stuffy book or the...statue. Starswirl had to die after that we vowed. Looking at our makeshift camp though you could see the plan had gone a bit off course.

'Redneck Chique' was what Daggy had called it once. Raidne took centre place of course, doors open to air out the funk of three perma-seventeen-year-olds sleeping together. I'd put a few colourful folding chairs we'd stolen over the years around the site, just something to make it a bit prettier. Who didn't like bright colours? Then there was the fire. The flickering glow sent a shiver through me. It was dumb, three thousand and thirty-eight years old, yet I *still* burnt myself every time. Blech. Finally, there were our trunks, we tried to live light but even so, there was some stuff you just couldn't get rid of. Cooking equipment, all-weather clothes, mementoes, that kind of stuff. Aria made a big deal about them, always buying tougher ones whenever we had spare cash. Seeing them strewn about camp haphazardly meant something had happened, an argument between my sisters no doubt. Aria was usually the tidiest of us after all.

Speaking of my sisters I could see Adagio frantically writing in a notepad, childishly sitting as far away from Aria as possible whilst still being in camp. Maybe song lyrics? The few times we took a 'serious' (ugh) approach to the whole pop star thing that had been her domain. My other sister meanwhile was furiously jabbing the fire, her stick probably an imagined knife going in Daggys back. We loved each other really, things just got, well, difficult.

"Hey all, guess who's super cute, has two thumbs, food and a ton of cash?" I beamed. The glares thrown at me were duly ignored, my smile unwavering. "Dinner will be in ten girls, just wanna get changed." I dropped the bags of groceries I'd bought on my way out of the city, eager to get out of this frumpy stuff. It just wasn't my style.

Diving into Raidne I grabbed my hoody, grey with a faded kitten on the front it began life as one of Adagios most likely. She'd taken to collecting them from any boys she'd con into a 'relationship' (aka free showers and wifi for the rest of us) and had dozens. A pair of sweatpants and boots finished the ensemble. Not particularly stylish, but comfortable and easy to clean. As I began Rummaging through our supply trunks for the cooking utensils the ever-dulcet tones of my sarcastic sister floated over.

"If we're having Mexican again I'm gonna barf."

Smiling sweetly at her, I prepped the stew pot over the fire. "You were gonna get barf if my boss hadn't had a freak-out again and paid me early," I paused, a note of worry in my voice now. "I couldn't find anything in the dumpsters this morning."

"Wait, what?" blurted Adagio, momentarily pausing in her scribbles. The dumpster diving had been her idea, we'd been pushed into it when it became apparent that no more magic meant no more free meals. It was dirty and uncomfortable, but there'd been no other option, my job could barely keep us going in gas and basic amenities as is.

Thinking back to this morning I sighed. "The fast food places are on to us Daggy, everything was covered in bleach, even the bleach!"

Growling, Adagio threw her notebook to the ground. "Why in Tartarus name are we reduced to this!" She stood and threw her pen next, Aria yelping as it bounced off her head. From the way my already grumpy sister was looking I could tell this was the start of a 'good-natured' family argument. Having enough of screaming matches today I wisely tuned them out, focusing on chopping the ingredients for the Pozole.

"Because someone thought it'd be a great idea to try and take over the world, then fight an Alicorn in a magical duel"

“At least I had an idea!”

"It was a stupid idea."

"Yeah well...well... you're an idiot."

"Cool burn Daggy."

"So," I began, desperately hoping to break the tension, "How was your day girls?"

Eh, OK," Aria grunted, idly looking at her nails and grimacing at their state. "Sewed up that hole in my pants and did some more work on the Neightreon. We've got thirty rubes at the five dollar level and one on the ten." The ancient laptop sat near her, the beach ball of doom spinning slowly on its screen. Neightreon had been a pet project for my sister and it was starting to show dividends. Playing us off as an amateur pop group we sold access to our old music to fans, claiming the stylistic inconsistencies were 'experimental'. I just hoped no one listened too closely to that performance in the forties, how we got Lois Armstrong involved I still don't know.

Poking her tongue out at Aria, my eldest sister grabbed her discarded notebook, flopping in another chair with all the grace of a walrus. “I've kept myself busy,” she mumbled cagily.

"Plotting. It's all she's been doing, 'Rainbooms this, Rainbooms that', it's kinda sad, to be honest," said Aria, eyes rolling.

I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the mechanical 'chop-chop-chop' sound as I worked through the vegetables. Bad with fire? Yes. Good with knives? Even bigger yes.

"I am TRYING to avenge us, avenge the loss of our power! Our status! Our..." She paused then, her voice wavering, and I could tell exactly what was eating her.

The knife stopped. "I get it Daggy, we're not immortal anymore." It hadn't been obvious initially. Sure, we couldn't sing or siphon negative energy, but we could still plan, plot, and play the long game right? Wrong. Barely two months after the Battle of the Bands Aria had a growth spurt. The first in several thousand years. It's still weird to see her towering over Adagio.

We'd panicked then, words were said, and now it was an unwritten rule. We don't talk about death. Ever.

"I refuse to die of old age in a world full of hairless apes!"

....And there goes that rule. I sighed, ignoring the bickering and eventual cat fight in the background. I loved my family, but they were...what was it Calmy said when I last talked about them? Oh yeah, 'dysfunctional' and 'co-dependent'. Not sure what that means exactly, but it sounds right. Last time I overheard him say that to someone he told them to cut ties. Now, I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even I know that's wrong.

Love is weird after all, but you never let it go.

Author's Note:

Sonata isn't just Calmys secretary, she has a vibrant and...uh...interesting life too!

Whilst most stories present Sonata as purely 100% wacky, I feel there's a lot more under the surface then we see, especially considering how long they've been around.

Comments

[Enduring Man-Child]

This was great! So nice to see things from Sonata's point of view (the sweetest and cutest siren) without her being a total airhead. Also, mortality. Eugh.

Adagio as a Civil War nurse? I would never have expected that from the most cynical and tsundere siren.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Aria as a possibly traumatized Civil War veteran is an unexpected wrinkle. I wonder if Sonata’s ever considered asking Calmy for an employee discount for his services.

Fascinating look at the Sirens’ situation. Their circumstances and relatio ship are some of the more interesting dials to adjust in this setting. Seeing them as roughly equals is an unusual delight. Looking forward to seeing what else you do with them, to say nothing of Twilight’s sessions.

[Moproblems Moharmoney]

11274308
The fun thing to me is that Sonata is weirdly the most well adjusted to working with "normal" people even outside of this fic. Adagio is too high on Villainous shenanigans to lower herself to it and Aria has too much sass and agression. Meanwhile Sonatas just a ditz, and if your hiring teenagers Ditzy isnt THAT unexpected.

[Moproblems Moharmoney]

11274286
Nothing ruins your faith in the world like being at Bull Run.

[NocKode]

Honestly i always preferred that the dazzlings came on earth not too long before eqg1 like what idw implied but having them live through world history like this is a fun concept

[Wild Stallion]

Plus I wanted something with her name that was ours, not a stuffy book or the...statue. Starswirl had to die after that we vowed.

So Celestia isn't the first one to turn people into stone? Intresting.

I wonder what they would think of Discord's escape and reformation?

[ExplosionMare]

I'm really liking the setup for the Dazzlings here. It's interesting to see the aftermath of them losing their powers and how they're just trying to make ends meet now. Kinda wonder how Aria managed to get into the army, though.

I would also like to point out that I noticed quite a few grammar errors/inconsistencies here and there. Nothing major, but I would suggest reviewing this chapter to get rid of those little errors.

[Moproblems Moharmoney]

11331738
Any highlights? I work without an editor so it's a one man job.

[ExplosionMare]

11274320

Speaking of my sisters I could see Adagio frantically writing in a notepad, childishly sitting as far away from Aria as was possible whilst still being in camp. Maybe song lyrics? The few times we took a 'serious' (ugh) approach to the whole pop star thing that had been her domain. My other sister meanwhile was furiously jabbing the fire, her stick probably an imagined knife going in Daggys back. We loved each other really, things just got, well, difficult.

Eh, OK," Aria grunted, idly looked at her nails and grimacing at their state. "Sewed up that hole in my pants and did some more work on the Neightreon. We've got thirty rubes at the five dollar level and one on the ten." The ancient laptop sat near her, the beach ball of doom spinning slowly on its screen. Neightreon had been a pet project for my sister and ir was starting to show dividends. Playing us off as an amateur pop group we sold access to of our old music to fans, claiming the stylistic inconsistencies were 'experimental'. I just hoped no one listened too closely to that performance in the forties, how we got Lois Armstrong involved I still don't know.

Here's a couple of examples. For the first bold mark, "was" should be taken out since it isn't necessary. For the second one, "it" was just spelled wrong. To make things easier on yourself, put this chapter through a spellcheck and it should catch most errors for you.

[Wasko736]

11308474
Unfaire!