A Harsh Beginning


"Hey Aria! Aria, look!"
"Sonata, I don't care, so stop asking me to look"
The blue siren stopped midway and pulled out of her underwater loop
"What’s up Aria? You’re all grumpy again"
"I’m bored is what's up" the purple siren replied resting her snout across her fore hooves as she looked out over the seabed
"There’s nothing to do around here anymore"
"We could chase down some lunch"
"That’s always your first answer, to feed your own fat face"
"My face isn't fat, I’ve never put on any fat in my life” Sonata huffed
"A mystery all its own" Aria interjected
The blue siren floated in the steady swell of the current, pondering a method to cheering up her childhood friend
Well friend in a sense more that as hatchlings, Sonata was usually paired up with Aria when they were learning how to sing and hunt, to the latter’s chagrin
"Well maybe we could go exploring past the point of the cape, we've never been down past there before?" Sonata suggested, rolling herself belly up in the water
"Not too afraid of the supposed giant kraken, sure, better than doing nothing" Aria replied pushing off from the sand
There was no haste to their journey as the two sirens glided through the azure waters
It was serene here, far away from the rest of Equestria and its troubles
Sonata performed a lazy corkscrew over Aria, whom watched with disinterest
"Do you ever think there's more to life, Sonata?" Aria asked as they rounded the end of the cape and dove into deeper water
“We swim, we hunt and we sing” the blue siren shrugged
"I dunno, what else is there?" she added spiralling under a rock shelf
"Uugh, singing, I would hardly call that monotonous droning singing, Sonata”
"It’s not that bad, at least everyone gets to have fun by singing together"
Aria snatched up a crab as they passed, crunching straight through its shell and draining the meat out

"We’d be better off with out them, they only hold our voices back" Aria replied spitting out shell fragments
"But only two of us? That’s not enough to form our own choir"
Aria frowned and made for the surface breaking through and allowing herself to drift in the sun
Sonata wasn’t far behind popping her head out of the sea and keeping pace with Aria
“I wish I could help Aria, you're no fun when you're mopey”
Sonata worried about Aria, more and more she’d acting out, clashing with other sirens and putting less and less effort into her singing
"Maybe I can help you"
The two sirens spun about to find themselves facing a golden scaled siren, smirking at them
"If you're interested that is" the siren added ducking back under the waves
Aria and Sonata followed suit
"Who are you?" Aria asked, curiosity outweighing caution for now
"Oh, my name is Adagio, Adagio Dazzle" the newcomer announced with a flourish
"Hi, I’m Sonata, and this is Aria" Sonata smiled politely
"You’re not from around here, what do you want?" Aria asked caution now taking effect
"Hmmm, I’m a traveller, never stay in one place too long, and I couldn't help but overhear that you wanted to form your own sea choir"
Adagio swam around the pair her smirk not once leaving her as she looked them up and down
"I’d be more than happy for you to join me, three voices would be far stronger than just one after all" the golden siren smiled finishing her second circuit and facing them again
"Join you?" Aria asked throwing Sonata a glance
"Why of course, like I said, I never stay in one place too long, you’d have to come with me if you want a chance to really use your voices”
Adagio approached them resting a fore hoof on the red gem each bore on their sternum
“Do you know what these are?” she asked with a sly smile

“Our hearts” Aria answered receiving a small nod from Adagio
“Yes, that’s correct, but did you know they’re also the source of our magic, a magic that can become much more powerful than it is now”
Adagio shifted in close to them both whispering
“And if you follow me, I can show you just how far that magic extends”
Sonata felt a jolt of energy pass through her gem, it made her feel electric, though looking at Aria she looked unsettled, backing away from the other siren
“How about this, I’ll give you till midnight to think it over, and if you decide you’d rather stay here, bored and aging quietly in your colony then so be it”
“But if you want your voices to ring loud and far, then join me” Adagio grinned floating up from them
“I’ll be waiting”
-
"So what do you think, Aria?"
"About what, that psycho siren"
Sonata frowned and looked at Aria, the purple siren seemed distracted
“I know I said that we should do our own thing, but I’d rather avoid someone who is clearly trouble, and you should too”
"But what about all the stuff she said, we could take our singing to the whole of Equestria" Sonata exclaimed spreading her fore hooves wide
"I want to go with her, when will we ever get the chance again?"
"No Sonata! Just forget about it, she's trouble, it would be best to just put it from our minds, we’ll figure something else out tomorrow"
"But Aria..." Sonata whined
"No buts, idiot" Aria barked, before pausing and softening her grim frown
“Sorry, I’m just tense is all”
“It’s okay Aria” Sonata smiled as they returned back to the colony
-

Sonata fidgeted as she lay at the entrance of her cave, looking out over the amphitheatre like home of their siren colony
She chewed on a piece of seaweed watching over sirens circle about, somewhere further down she knew Aria was likely curled up in her own cave
Once she’d ask Aria to share a cave but the purple siren had been absolute that there was no way that was happening, ever
She thought back to the golden siren, Adagio Dazzle, she was so cool, so confident
Sonata couldn’t shake the daydreams in her head, Adagio, Aria and herself, the three of them singing songs so beautiful everyone would stop to listen to them
She watched idly as Aria slunk from her cave and glanced up in her direction, quickly bolting away amongst the coral and rocks
Must be hungry, Sonata decided rolling over and stretching her body out
I could leave now and see Adagio, she said she'd wait for us, no one would even see me leave Sonata pondered
But I’d miss Aria, maybe I could go and ask Adagio to give us more time before leaving, I know I could get Aria to see the right side of it with a little more time
Her mind set Sonata rolled back over and looked about the colony to make sure no one was paying her any attention
She shot out over the top of the amphitheatre and began the leisurely swim for end the cape again, her heart beating with excitement
She was careful as she slowly approached where they'd spoken with Adagio, Sonata didn't want to just barrel in and surprise her
She’d done that to Aria once and gotten yelled at for violating her privacy
As she got closer she could hear growling and thumping, a cloud of sand emanating over up from under the rock shelf 
Curiosity piqued Sonata carefully peeked around the edge of the tumbled rocks to take a look
It was Aria!

She and Adagio looked like they were in the middle of wrestling each other, their tails coiled about as they tried to push each other down
They seemed about equal, until Adagio shoved Aria into the sand and latched her teeth around the back of Aria's neck 
The purple siren went limp and stopped struggling panting heavily as Adagio remained coiled about her
“You enjoy that, Aria?” the golden siren sneered releasing her teeth
“But you know how it is, you win some and you lose some, and today…” Adagio stretched her back before leaning down next to Aria’s ear
“You lost” she crooned
The purple siren tried to raise her head before letting it slump down against the sand, her breathing was ragged as her eyes spotted Sonata and widened in surprise
"Sonata! Run away!" Aria gasped
Adagio's head snapped up and fixed on Sonata a grin creasing her maw
"Enjoy the show did we?" she asked gliding over the worn out Aria and circling around Sonata as she trembled
"Do you think you could do any better than her? She bet her obedience against my leaving here, what are you betting?” Adagio grinned bringing her head alongside Sonata’s
"N-no... I don’t want to fight, I just wanted to sing with you both" Sonata whimpered, afraid of what Adagio might do
"Well, that's good to hear, now we’ve all come to an accord"
Adagio looked between the two, her eyes narrowed
"So don’t even think you can leave, ever" she hissed, pulling away from Sonata and throwing her arms wide with a yell
"Tomorrow, girls, we take Equestria by song!"
-
Sonata waited until Adagio had fallen asleep in the night to approach Aria
"I’m sorry Aria, I should've helped you before"
"Why? Why did you come back to this crazy bitch?" Aria glared up at her, Sonata looked away unable to face Aria’s gaze
"I don't know"
"You’re the worst, Sonata"