School felt like it dragged on and on, even longer than usual. Rainbow would look at the clock, wait five minutes, and then look again and see that the clock had actually moved backwards two.
But finally, the bell rang. Rainbow burst out of the classroom, ignoring Cranky’s calls of, “The bell doesn’t dismiss you, I do!” behind her as she ran.
Honestly, Rainbow Dash hadn't dated much. This would be her first actual date. But she had thought it out (because math was boring). Food was always a good choice, right? Right. Everyone liked food. So that’s what she’d be going with.
At the Warzone, though, Adagio barely acknowledged her. She returned Rainbow’s friendly greeting with a raised eyebrow, and she got suited up and left while Rainbow was still tying her boots.
Rainbow pursed her lips as she watched Adagio leave, but then shook her head. That was fine. Everyone took it slow at first, right?
So after a couple rounds of paintball, she made her move. The whistle had blown for the end of the match, so she sidled over to the side of her locker and leaned nonchalantly against it. “Hey, Adagio!”
Adagio took the time to check her marker once more before speaking. “Rainbow Dash,” she returned.
“Good to see you,” Rainbow started. She winced ever so slightly. This was a bit awkward.
“You're just saying that because I didn't tag you last round.”
Rainbow snorted. That may have played a tiny part in her choosing now to have this conversation. “Maybe,” she said. “Anyway, I was thinking.”
“Thought I smelled something burning.”
Rainbow forced a small laugh. “Yeah. Anyway, you want to head out and grab something after?”
“What?”
“I figured something like pizza. You know, different, but not like anything fancy.”
Adagio furrowed her brow, as if confused. “I’m… not going out with you, Rainbow.”
“Oh,” Rainbow said. She could adapt. “Uh, sure, that’s fine. Kinda sprung it on you. How about tomorrow?”
“How about never?”
Rainbow blinked. Of all the answers she had been expecting (some snark about Adagio not paying, which had been Rainbow’s plan anyway), that had not been one of them. “Huh?”
“You didn't really think we were anything, did you?”
Rainbow's eyebrows knit together. What was she saying?
Adagio chuckled and shook her head. She looked at Rainbow with an incredulous smile. “I can't believe you fell for that,” she said.
Something cold settled in Rainbow's stomach. “Fell for what?”
Adagio rolled her eyes. “Wow. I'm impressed and dumbfounded at the same time. Good job, Rainbow, you out-idiot-ed Sonata.” She chuckled darkly. “What, did you think we'd ride off into the sunset together, rock paper scissoring all night?”
“Heh. Hot.”
Adagio spun around. “I will shove this paintball gun up your nose!” she howled.
The threat worked instantly; the speaker darted back into the bathroom, still holding his own marker in front of his pants. The resulting shrieks from inside (most of them feminine, all of them high-pitched) let him know he had in his haste chosen poorly.
But while this display had stopped one person from staring, it had not stopped the others. In fact, it had drawn more attention. Most of the other people present were now watching, some more discreetly than others.
But Rainbow wasn't paying attention to any of that. She was still trying to wrap her head around this turn of events. “But… that night. You knew all the-”
“We worked sports bars, remember?” Adagio answered bitingly. “I knew who was playing, knew the history, and it took me twenty minutes tops to find some fun facts and trivia at the library. The internet is a wonderful place.”
“But-”
“It will never work out between us, Rainbow! I won the bet. I seduced you, just like I've seduced hundreds of other people. You got played. You're just another notch in my belt. Leave it at that, Rainbow, because that's all you'll ever be. One of many.”
Rainbow exhaled shakily. Had she just been dumped? She had just been dumped. Technically, they hadn't even officially been a thing yet. She'd been dumped from that.
That had hurt much more than she’d expected it to.
“Good bye, Rainbow.” And with that, Adagio spun around and disappeared back into the arena.
Rainbow tossed her tray on the table and dropped into her seat, scowling at nothing in particular.
“Something bothering you?” Applejack asked.
“No,” Rainbow grumbled.
“You’re about as ornery as a wet hen,” Applejack observed.
Rainbow shoved a bite into her mouth. “Lucky me,” she said, mouth full.
Applejack knew better than to bother Rainbow when she was in this sort of mood. She turned and started talking to Rarity. “Killer test in history, huh?”
“Absolutely dreadful,” Rarity agreed. She also knew.
Sonata, however, did not. “Sounds like somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed,” she offered.
Rainbow counteroffered. “Sounds like someone should shut her face.”
“Rainbow,” Fluttershy said warningly.
But Rainbow was beyond caring right now. She jammed her fork into her mouth.
“Something bothering you?” Sonata asked.
“Yeah,” Rainbow said with her mouth full. “You.”
“Couldn't be!” Sonata said brightly.
“Well, you're the only one of us who got dropped on her head as a child, so-”
“Rainbow!” Rarity gasped.
“That wasn't nice,” Sonata said, a brief frown crinkling her forehead.
Rainbow stood up, taking her tray with her. “Ah, go choke on a fish stick.”
Still glowering, Rainbow nudged and bumped her way through the crowd and to her locker. She tossed her book in, but before she could retrieve the book for her next class, her locker door suddenly slammed shut.
An angry former siren stood there, one hand on the locker door, eyes narrowed, clearly determined to have this conversation. “You're taking something out on me,” Sonata started accusingly.
“What?”
“You're taking something out on me,” she repeated, crossing her arms and letting herself fall so she was leaning on the locker, pinning it shut with her shoulder. “Adagio and Aria did it all the time when they were mad, and you're doing it right now.”
“I am not.”
“You are, too. You threw that little hissy fit at lunch, and you've been glaring at me in class all day.” Sonata’s eyes flashed deviously. “Is it something I did?”
“No.”
“Is it something you did?”
“No.”
“Is it something one of your friends did?”
“No.”
“Is it something someone else did?”
“I’m not playing twenty questions, Sonata!”
Sonata seemed to brighten, and too late, Rainbow realized that 1) Sonata had been trying to get a rise out of her in an attempt to annoy the truth out of her, and 2) she had succeeded in doing so. Abandoning her locker and the needed book inside, she headed to class. It wasn’t like she was going to be paying much attention today, anyway.
Sonata apparently didn’t get the memo; or if she did, she didn't bother reading it. She continued, walking beside Rainbow with her hands crossed behind her back. “Did someone take your lunch?” she continued.
“No.”
“Did someone take your stuff?”
“No.”
“Did someone point out that you have the smallest breasts out of all your friends?”
Rainbow turned and scowled. “No, and yours aren’t much bigger,” she added bitingly.
“I'm more of a hips girl. Does it have to do with sports?”
“No.”
“Did you find someone awesomer than you?”
“No!”
“Is it a boy?” Sonata asked gleefully.
Rainbow lost it. She dropped her books, shoved Sonata against the wall, and snarled. “Because your sister came over to my house, set up a date, and then shot me down in front of everyone at the Warzone when I tried to reciprocate!”
There was a shocked silence. And then…
“Oh.”
Sonata sounded… contrite. Rainbow was confused enough at this turn of events that she stepped back, letting her go. As infuriating as the former siren was, she was still changing.
Very slightly. Very, very slightly. But still changing.
Sonata licked her lips. “She really shut you down hard,” she said, bringing one hand up and resting it on the back of the other.
“Yeah, you could say that,” Rainbow growled.
“She didn’t want to.”
Rainbow looked over. “Sure sounded like it. What, was she afraid to lose her ‘street cred’ in front of everyone?”
Sonata licked her lips, thinking of how best to word what she was trying to say. “Sometimes, when something good happens, we don't really believe it's possible. That there's no way this could actually be happening to us. So we push it away, keep the status quo.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. That was really deep, especially coming from an airhead like Sonata.
Sonata continued. “Like, when Pinkie kept trying to be my friend. I didn’t get it. I thought she was just trying to get me on her side to use me for something, some crazy plan she’d planned out in the future that she'd need me for.” She paused and furrowed her brow, considering. “But I don’t think Pinkie plans much of anything, though,” she admitted in a stage whisper. “I’m pretty sure she just makes things up as she goes along.”
Rainbow snorted. That was Pinkie. “So you think Adagio is doing that?”
“I know she's doing that. You're pretty cool.”
“Yeah?” Rainbow said, reluctantly accepting this praise.
“I’ve heard what goes on. I listen. She hangs out with you on purpose, and she likes it.”
Rainbow licked her lips. She had more been telling those stories to talk up herself, not talk about Adagio. It somewhat surprised her that Sonata had listened just to hear about her sister.
Sonata continued. “Adagio will play dirty to get her way. If she wanted you out, she would have taken you out, and only maybe made it look like an accident. The fact that she hasn’t means she enjoys it. She enjoys you. She even visited you in the hospital, remember?”
Rainbow nodded.
“I don't know what all you two did, or what exactly she said, and I’m not going to ask. But, you can make her happy.” She licked her lips. “Please make her happy?”
One side of Rainbow’s mouth curled up in a wry smile. “I’ll see what I can do.”