“Somepony’s looking good today!”
The text message came with a picture. It came with a picture of Rainbow Dash from behind, caught with her mane in the sunlight and her tail wrapped around her hips. It had her bent over her desk, her head turned so one could just see the glasses perched on the end of her muzzle and catch the faintest hint of her smile. It made her look smart, attractive—mature beyond her soon-to-be-sixteen years. Like jailbait.
Rainbow lifted her head from her desk and looked in the direction the picture was taken from. There were no other students there, but there was a window at the edge of the classroom. It overlooked school grounds full of bushes and cover, and beyond that, the city.
The commlink on her ankle buzzed and produced a beep only Rainbow Dash could hear. She tapped it with her off-hoof and read the next message.
“:)”
The little hairs of her coat stood up on end. She forced herself to take a deep breath, and turned back to her desk. She focused on her book. The lesson for the day was about aluminum. Which was fine.
Rainbow had always liked school. She wasn’t the smartest student, and she didn’t really like the subject matter, but school wasn’t about learning. If a pony wanted to learn about aluminum, they could get a personalized robotic tutor. They could get a personalized robotic tutor primarily made of aluminum if they really wanted. School was about learning to interact with other ponies even if you weren’t necessarily friends with them. Boring students got points for sitting quietly and being civil, but Rainbow always got her points by talking. She asked the interesting ponies questions, and made them feel good when they answered. She got to meet new ponies every day. It was fun.
Her commlink buzzed. She tried to ignore it. She buried her nose in her book and stared at a chart on the average cost of aluminum oxide over time, glaring at it until her eyes hurt. The cuff buzzed again. Her hoof tapped the touch screen.
“Across the room, on your left. Brown mare with a white mane.” Then, “You’re getting noticed all over!”
Rainbow lifted her head. The classroom was a circle with long curved desks centered around an open space, and opposite her on the left there was indeed a young mare.
She looked a little older. Maybe she was seventeen or maybe she was an early bloomer, but she’d lost all traces of that fillyhood awkwardness. She kept her mane long and decorated her ears with silver earrings that matched her cutie mark. Rainbow wasn’t sure if they were a way of bragging that she’d found her special talent or if she just thought they looked pretty, but either way they made her seem mature. And when Rainbow looked at her, she looked back.
Their eyes met. She smiled. Before she could stop herself, Rainbow smiled too. The mare across the room blushed. Rainbow looked back at her book, but it was too late.
She could hear the other mare standing up. Hooves clicked on the hardwood floor. Rainbow’s shoulders scrunched and her tail tucked in tight between her legs. She focused on a paragraph about the Neighyer process.
“Hey,” the mare said softly. She was right by Rainbow’s side.
“Hey,” Rainbow turned to face her. She looked just as good up close. “What’s up?”
“Not much. I don’t think we’ve met before.” She extended a hoof. “I’m Silver Spanner.”
“Rainbow Dash.” Their hooves met with a click. A soft chime sounded from Rainbow’s desk, and a green light flashed. She got two points for affably meeting somepony new. Silver Spanner giggled. She had a good voice, light and melodious.
“You know you can disable that, right?” The smile stayed on her face. On another student, it would have seemed mocking, but she seemed friendly. She glanced at Rainbow’s flanks, and it wasn’t to comment on the absence of a cutie mark.
Rainbow looked back at the window. There was still nopony in sight. “Yeah.” She swallowed. Her mouth was suddenly dry. “But, I shouldn’t.”
Rainbow glanced at the mare’s flanks, leaning over so she could get a better look. Then Rainbow realized what she was doing, and her ears folded tight against her head.
“If that’s what you want.” The mare giggled again. “Mind if I ask you for help?”
“I’m a little busy.” A red light flashed. Her desk let out an angry beep.
Her wrist-cuff buzzed.
“Oh, I know.” The mare hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. “I just meant, later. We’ve got that building project this afternoon, right? I always do the team projects with Slapshot, but she’s, you know. Sick today. Probably going to go home early.” Rainbow knew Slapshot. She was across the room. She didn’t look sick.
“So…” Silver Spanner cleared her throat. She smiled again. “You want to be my project partner? Hang out a bit?”
Rainbow stared at Silver.
If she smiled back and said yes, they would hang out. There would be messages about how attractive she was, about her and other mares, about how good it was she was maturing at her own rate. There would be pictures of them nuzzling, or hugging. Maybe, if things got that far, there would be pictures of them together. Pictures of Rainbow with her tail up. Pictures of Rainbow losing her virginity to this cute girl across the way.
If she scowled and said that Slapshot looked fine, Silver would wander back dejected. Her desk would give an angry little buzz. There’d be pictures of her with a nasty look on her face. There’d be pictures of her rejecting this sweet creature. There would be questions about why she was so anti-social. There would be questions about why she couldn’t accept who she is. There would be questions about why she made things so hard on herself.
If she made an excuse, there would be pictures of her lying. And then the messages would come.
She couldn’t decide what to do. The wheels turned in her head, but no answers emerged. She realized, too late, that her answer had been chosen by default. She’d chosen to sit there with a dumb look on her face, until Silver frowned.
Rainbow’s commlink buzzed. Then it buzzed again. There were more pictures inside. More messages. She was out of options and out of time. So she did the only thing she could do.
She grabbed Silver Spanner’s head, yanked her forward, and smashed her face into the hardwood desk.