Cotton ropes creaked under mild strain as Aria swayed idly in her hammock bed, flipping a short knife between her fingers and staring at the blank ceiling. One leg dangled lazily off the edge, bare toes skimming the carpet as she rocked to and fro. Music blasted from her computer speakers, heavy with drums and coarse vocals, the bass sending gentle vibrations through the hammock’s anchor points.
The apartment was so empty lately. Adagio still insisted on working, even after Aria made it clear that it wasn’t necessary. Sonata was always going out, either to pester Adagio at work or hang with the Rainbooms after classes. With the two of them gone, things got lonely sometimes. Not that she’d ever admit it, but she missed having them around. Without them, her life was too quiet.
Sure, she could check the stock reports for the upteenth time, but what was the point? Her investments were solid, and she would get an alert on her phone if anything truly shocking happened. Even the whole Paper Cut fiasco had been taken care of. Her complaint had sparked a thorough investigation, leading to the discovery of several sexual harassment charges that the ugly bastard had had swept under the rug by some of his friends in HR. She had even received a private commendation from the CEO, Mr. Moneybags, thanking her for making him aware and helping the company save face. Of course, she could care less about either. Paper Cut had hurt her sister, and that was reason enough for her.
Unfortunately, with that pet project done, she was once again left to her boredom. The television was in the other room, but that would require getting up, so that was out of the question. She could text Applejack, but the farm girl was probably still doing her chores. School would have only gotten out, what, an hour ago?
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sudden knocking startled the siren out of her reverie, making her jump and nick her finger with the blade. “Ouch, fuck!” She swore, clenching her fist to suck on her knuckle. Gripping the knife in her uninjured hand, she levered herself out of her hammock and stalked toward the front door, grumbling irritably. If it was the creep next door again…
“I told you, if you bitch about my music again, I’m gonna make both our lives easier and cut off your ears!” She threw the door open with a snarl, fixing the intruder with a glare.
“Gaaah!” Rainbow Dash screamed, stumbling back away from the siren with wide eyes. “Uh, h-hi, Aria,” She sputtered, shakily trying to recover from her slip. Her eyes flicked nervously between the other girl’s fierce scowl and the knife still clutched in her hand.
Aria scowled, but lowered the blade, flicking it closed before slipping it into her pocket. “What the hell do you want?” She asked sharply, already regretting her decision to open the door without checking the peephole first.
Rainbow swallowed. “I- I came to apologize.” She raised her hand to forestall Aria’s snide remark. “No, for real. Look, I know words don’t mean much, a-and I’m not so good with them, so…” She reached into her pocket and pulled out two paper tickets. “Wanna hit the Royals game?”
Aria frowned, snatching up the tickets and inspecting them with suspicion. “Baseball?” She scoffed.
“Um, yeah,” Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her neck. “The game starts in like an hour. I know it’s short notice, but I only got the tickets today.”
Aria glared at the tickets for a while, considering the offer. Even before the incident at the Sisterhood Social, she had hated Rainbow the most out of all the Rainbooms. Sure, Sunset and the princess had been the major players in the Dazzlings’ defeat, but the band was named after her. She had started the band, she had egged them on, and she had been the most in-your-face about the battle. She was rude, she was arrogant, she was short tempered…
She was not all that different from Aria. Her scowl deepened. Rainbow had been the one to hit her back at the Sisterhood Social, but could she really say she would not have done the same thing in her shoes? If she was honest, the only thing keeping her from picking a fight back then was Sonata and the fact that she was so horribly outnumbered. And what about Adagio, and Applejack? Adagio wanted her to get along with the Rainbooms, if only to make life easier for everyone. And Applejack had turned out to be alright, after a while. Was it really fair to hold a grudge?
A spike of anger flashed through her, and she clenched her fist around the tickets. Why shouldn’t she hold a grudge though? Rainbow had struck first from a position of advantage, and all prior attempts at apology had been nothing short of pathetic. Aria was a siren, or had been before Rainbow and her friends had taken her powers. But she still had her pride!
“U-um,” Rainbow said, interrupting her reverie. She flinched back as the siren shot her a seething glare, but rallied quickly. “So, do you forgive me?”
“Why?” Aria growled, “Why should I forgive you, and why do you care?”
The athlete bit her lip. “I just, you seem really cool, you know? Now that we aren’t enemies or… whatever was going on at the Social. I already admitted I was out of line there, I don’t know what more you want from me!” She seemed to recover her courage as she spoke, and by the end she met Aria’s amethyst gaze with her own, fixing her with a determined stare.
“Fine, you really want to make it up to me?” Aria said icily, a malevolent gleam in her eye. “Close your eyes and stand up straight.”
Rainbow gulped, her eyes widening in understanding. She nodded, taking a deep breath. “Alright, you wanna see if I can take what I dish out, is that it? Well fine!” She threw back her shoulders, standing at attention like a freshly minted cadet, chest out and eyes clenched shut. “I’ve taken a soccer cleat to the face, I ain’t scared of you.”
Aria grinned sadistically at the younger girl, taking her time to really make her sweat. She made a point to loudly crack her knuckles, one at a time, relishing at the way Rainbow flinched at the sound. Maybe it was a bit cruel, but she had been waiting months for an opportunity like this. Adagio had made them all promise not to seek revenge for the Battle of the Bands, even before they got to know the girls better. But she’d never said anything about what happened at the social. She finally had the chance for some payback, and she wanted to savor it.
Rainbow shifted her weight, feeling antsy at being kept waiting. Cracking an eye open, she snuck a peek at the siren. “Come on, are you gonna hit me or- Gaah!” She doubled over in pain, clenching her stomach where Aria’s fist had driven into her gut at full power. Dropping to a knee, her face paled as she wheezed in agony. “You- hah- you bitch!” She rasped. “You were supposed to hit my face!”
“Please,” Aria laughed derisively, “I would have broken your fucking jaw, and I really don’t want to explain a black eye to your friends.” She turned and stepped back into the apartment, tickets still in hand. “Let me grab my shit and we can go.”
“K-kay,” Rainbow gasped, leaning against the wall for support.
Aria quickly grabbed her wallet, shoes, and jacket, suddenly feeling much lighter than she had all morning. She stepped out a few minutes later, locking the door behind her. “Come on, rockstar. Let’s motor.” Sticking out her hand, she helped the winded girl regain her feet, before giving her a comradely slap to the back. Who knew, maybe she could get used to the whole “friendship” thing after all. It sure beat the Tartarus out of sitting around the apartment all day.
==O==
The game was already into the second inning by the time Rainbow and Aria found their seats, both lugging armfuls of stadium food, including cheesy nachos, caramel popcorn, and giant pretzels. Aria had developed a healthy appreciation for junk food over her last few months of needing to eat, and remained a fan despite both Adagio’s scolding and Sonata’s insistence on eating “real food.” At least Rainbow could appreciate the sweet and salty garbage the stadium peddled for outrageous prices. Aria would have been offended by the markup, if not for the fact that her stock increased every time they made a sale.
“Ugh, sorry we didn’t make it in time for first pitch,” Rainbow grunted, squeezing in front of a row of people to get to her chair. “I didn’t think we were cutting it so close.” She finally made it through, Aria close behind her, slipping past the people with casual ease.
The siren shrugged indifferently as she took her seat. “Doesn’t matter to me, I don’t really care for baseball.”
Rainbow cocked her head. “Really? Huh, for some reason I imagined you’d be really into sports.”
Aria shrugged, tossing a handful of popcorn into her mouth. “Wishful thinking?” She suggested after swallowing. “Honestly, modern team sports are so tame. Where’s all the blood? Where’s the naked gladiators fighting to the death for honor and freedom?”
Rainbow laughed, nearly choking on her pretzel. “Maybe you should try hockey!” she said around her mouthful.
The siren rolled her eyes. “Still too many pads. I’m more into boxing.”
“Hey, boxing is cool,” Rainbow nodded. Movement caught her eye down on the field. “Oh, nice double play! We’re up to bat!”
Aria scoffed, smirking. “And by ‘we,’ you mean?”
“The home team, duh!” Rainbow cried excitedly, “That’s us!”
Aria leaned back, raising her eyebrow tauntingly at the athlete. “I didn’t know you were a member of the Canterlot Royals.”
“Come on, dude! It’s the home team. A victory for them is a victory for us all!” She declared, raising a blue fist to the sky.
“Gods, you sound so much like Sonata it isn’t funny,” Aria muttered. “So who are we playing,” She asked, putting sarcastic emphasis on the “we.”
“The Everfree Manticores,” Rainbow replied dramatically, giving the statement far more weight than it deserved. She pointed toward the dugouts, where the Everfree team’s grey and red uniforms stood in stark contrast to the white and gold of the home team. “They’re our long time rivals! They always get first pick ‘cause they’re from the capital, and they knocked us out of the World Series three times in the last ten years!” She ripped another chunk off her pretzel and chewed it thoughtfully. “Plus, they’re like, one city over, so the two teams end up playing against each other a lot.”
Aria nodded thoughtfully. “You know, we got a couple of good feedings from sports events like this. Not from the stadium usually, but Dagi liked to hit up the sports bars during the bigger games. Find a place with lots of alcohol and a nice mix of fans from both teams, and we could start an all-out brawl in minutes.” She smiled wistfully, “Those were good days.”
Rainbow stared at the siren, ignoring the field for a moment as she tried to process what she had said. “You really liked to stir up trouble, didn’t you?”
Shrugging, Aria grinned. “Fish gotta eat. But yeah, it was pretty fun, playing you monkeys off each other. Even got into a few scrapes myself, just for the fun of it.”
Rainbow scowled. “You’re just trying to get a rise out of me, aren’t you?”
Aria’s grin widened.
“Well, it won’t work!” Rainbow declared emphatically. “You know why? Because I think that’s kind of cool!” She twisted in her seat, punching the air before wincing and rubbing her abs. “Geez, you really did a number on me, Ari.”
The siren chuckled. “I went easy on you.” Then she smirked. “So, starting bar fights is cool now?”
Rainbow flinched at the mocking tone, and her face took on a slightly pink glow. “I mean, not like that but… it’s kinda funny, right? Getting a bunch of grown men to fight it out over a game like that. A-as long as no one got hurt, I mean!” She snickered. “I can just see my dad decking someone in the face before getting thrown through a cheap table like in an old western.”
Aria laughed. “There were a few good fights, yeah.” She glanced down. Her popcorn was almost completely gone, and she had put a good dent in her tray of nachos too. “Shit, we forgot drinks.”
“I didn’t forget!” Rainbow said past another mouthful of junk food. “Our hands were full.”
“Whatever,” Aria said, rolling her eyes. “Be right back.”
“Hey,” Rainbow called after her, “Can you get me something, too? All this salty crap is making me thirsty.”
Aria pushed herself into the aisle before glancing back. “You got money?”
“I scored the tickets!” Rainbow answered indignantly, shouting to be heard over the noise of the crowd.
“Whatever!” Aria huffed, “Fine, what do you want?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, just grab me whatever you get I guess!”
Aria rolled her eyes and casually flipped her off. “Cop out!” She began her trek back to the vending area when her face lit up with an idea. Veering away from the soda fountain, she set her sights on a particular booth.
==O==
“Here,” Aria said, shoving a tall glass into Rainbow’s hands.
Rainbow blinked, regarding the foaming, golden liquid in confusion, before giving it a careful sniff. “What the heck is this!?”
“Beer,” Aria said, rolling her eyes. Taking her seat, she slouched back and took a long drought from her own glass.
“I can see that,” Rainbow said irritably. “Why?”
Aria shrugged, hiding her smirk behind another sip of beer. “You said you’d take whatever I’m having. I’m having beer. Pain in the ass to get, too. Fucking bartender carded me, thought my ID was fake. I mean, it is, but still. Fortunately for you, I also had one of Sonata’s spares on me.”
“But- but I can’t drink beer,” Rainbow stuttered, “I’m seventeen!”
“Kids these days,” Aria scoffed. “Guess I’m stuck with Applejack as my only drinking buddy.”
“I guess so,” Rainbow said grouchily, glaring at Aria as she slipped the tumbler into the cup holder on her armrest. Then she blinked, her brain finally processing what the siren had just said. “Wait, Applejack drinks!?”
“Obviously,” Aria rolled her eyes, “How else would she stay sane around you girls?”
Rainbow’s glare hardened at the insult, but she quickly turned her attention back to the drink. She knew it was a bad idea to fall for Aria’s taunting, but she really did want to make things better between them. Maybe accepting her offering could help put them on the right track.
Besides, Applejack was like, her number one rival. If the farm girl could handle a little alcohol, then she could too! She brought the glass to her lips before taking another sniff. It still smelled awful, but she was not about to let a little thing like that stop her. Scrunching up her nose to block the smell, she tipped the glass back and took a little sip. Her face twisted in disgust as the liquid hit her tongue, nearly spilling the drink as she let loose a few spluttering coughs.
“Yeah,” Aria chuckled, “It’s kinda shit beer. But it’ll all taste bad to a newbie like you.”
“F-fuck you, Aria,” Rainbow wheezed, catching her breath.
“Yeah, yeah,” She answered, dismissively waving the athlete off. “You’re taking it like a real champ.”
Scowling, Rainbow shot the siren another withering look. “I can’t believe you actually like this stuff.”
“This?” Aria asked, glancing thoughtfully at her tumbler. “Nah, this stuff is shit. The good stuff’s at home.”
Grimacing, Rainbow shook her head. “I’ll take your word for it.” Returning her attention to the field below, she hesitantly tried another sip. It did not taste any better, but it did seem to go down a bit easier than before. Steeling herself, she took a longer drought.
==O==
“Yeah! Go Royals! Woowoowoowoowoooo!”
The crowd exploded in wild cheers as the Royals’ hitter smashed the ball far into the outfield, earning the team two runs and putting them back in the lead. Even Aria had to admit that it was an impressive play, as the hitter himself managed to make it half way around the diamond before the Manticores got their hands on the ball.
“Well, that was neat,” The siren begrudgingly admitted, clapping with only token sarcasm.
“Neat!? That was freaking awesome!” Rainbow declared at the top of her lungs.
“Yeah…” Aria said, giving her exuberant companion a strange look. The girl’s glass sat empty near the teenager’s arm, even though Aria was still nursing her own. She snickered. The alcohol was clearly having an effect. Not too surprising, perhaps. Rainbow was a fairly small girl, and this was her first experience with the stuff. Still, Aria was not about to pass up the chance to embarrass her formal rival.
“Hey, Rainbow,” She began, a devious smirk on her face.
“YEEAAAH! GOOO ROYALS!”
On second though, the girl could embarrass herself just fine without Aria’s help. The siren’s smirk grew into a grin as Rainbow pulled off her jersey, whipping it frantically around her head. Fortunately, she had been wearing a sports bra, but even so the autumn air carried no small chill. But if Aria were worried about unwanted attention, she need not have bothered. Despite the cold, some of the women in the stands were wearing even less, and an entire row of men had discarded their own shirts to show off the giant letters spelling out R-O-Y-A-L-S painted across their chests. Aria shook her head. Humans were fucking weird.
Still, she was not about to pass up the chance to get one over on her former enemy. Chuckling, she grabbed her phone and snapped a couple pictures of the unruly teen. She could not deny, the sight of the girl shouting like that, shirt waving wildly and face red with excitement, was absolutely hilarious. Who knew, maybe she would turn out to be entertaining after all.
“Hey!” Rainbow shouted, startling Aria, who fumbled to get her phone out of sight.
“What?” The siren asked irritably, hoping that the girl was not about to make a scene about the pictures.
Fortunately, Rainbow remained oblivious to Aria’s behaviour. “You know what we should do?” She asked, grin widening in excitement. “Let’s take a picture and send it to Zephyr!”
Aria blinked, eying the teen with suspicion. “That creep? Why in Tartarus would I want to do that?”
“Because,” Rainbow said, drawing out the word as her grin got even wider, “It would seriously piss him off!”
“Explain,” Aria said, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed and eyebrow raised.
“Well, he gave me the tickets,” Rainbow explained. “But like fuck I’m going anywhere with him. Tickets or no, I’m not about to go on a date with that loser! Buuut I didn’t want them to go to waste, since they were already paid for and all, so I thought I’d invite you!”
“So,” Aria said slowly, fixing Rainbow with a frown, “The only reason you invited me here was to spite Zephyr?” Her frown morphed into a predatory grin. “Well why didn’t you say that to begin with? I might not have even hit you!”
Both girls broke out laughing, Aria in breathy chuckles and Rainbow in full-on guffaws. Despite her inebriation, Rainbow actually managed to recover first, punching Aria playfully on the shoulder. “Nah, that’s not the only reason. Everything else I said was true too. People always say my apologies suck, so I’d been looking for something to break the ice anyway. Sticking it to Zeph is just a bonus!”
“Oh,” Aria said, blinking. Tartarus, the girl was serious. She really was trying to apologise for what she did. At the Social at least. The former siren still was not sure if she was ready to forgive the girls for everything else, but… well, she’d managed to get on alright with Applejack at least. And she could not deny some grudging admiration for the girl’s head-on approach to life. If she were honest with herself, she doubted she would have acted much differently in Rainbow’s shoes.
“Heh, for the record,” The siren said awkwardly, her voice picking up a slight rasp, “I think it was pretty cool of you to just stand there and take a hit like that, just to prove you were sorry.”
“Heh, thanks,” Rainbow said, wincing as she poked the discolored bruise slowly growing on her abdomen. “And, for the record, thanks for not giving me a black eye or breaking my jaw or whatever.” She smirked, a cocky smile that would not have looked out of place on any of the Dazzlings, and extended her hand. “Friends?”
“Don’t push your luck,” Aria said, begrudgingly taking the offered hand. Then she smirked. “But it’s a start.”
Rainbow’s smirk transformed into a grin, and she smugly copied Aria’s posture, arms crossed and slouching in her seat. The look was ruined a moment later when her bare back touched the cold plastic, sending a chill up her spine. “Damn, why am I so cold all of a sudden?”
==O==
The crowd roared in excitement as the Royals knocked out the last Manticore pitcher, once again securing their two run lead. Aria grimaced, all the noise and people beginning to get on her nerves. She hated crowds, and as much as she hated to admit it, she really did not handle them well without one of her sisters to keep her company. She might have managed better with someone like Applejack, but Rainbow… even with whatever understanding the two had come to, she was still a lot to handle. She had only gotten louder and more rambunctious as the game wore on, and her antics had quickly gone from hilarious to just annoying. At least she had managed to replace her shirt. Aria was beginning to think that giving the girl alcohol was a mistake.
Aria herself was on her second drink. The meagre alcohol content was enough to take the edge off, but she was still growing distinctly uncomfortable. A glance at the scoreboard told her that the game was still early in its seventh inning, which meant they were only about two thirds of the way through. She was just beginning to consider taking a bathroom break to get herself some space when the sound of hard rock music drew her attention toward the jumbotron. The screen showed a formation of distinctive, blue and gold stunt planes, roaring through the sky alongside a bold countdown.
Aria leaned forward in her seat, eyes widening in interest. Following the direction of the crowd, she looked up just in time to see the very same jets cresting the rim of the stadium, their powerful jet engines shaking the stands with their proximity.
“Holy shit,” The siren said, voice bordering dangerously on genuine awe, “Those are the Wonderbolts!”
The blue and gold jets blasted low over the stadium, waggling their wings in salute before turning into a sharp vertical climb ending in a huge loop, all to the cheers of the audience. The show continued for several minutes, the trio of planes flipping around each other in a dazzling array of skill, finally finishing off when the three aircraft began leaking columns of thick white smoke, ducking and weaving around each other to create the Royals’ Crown logo.
Aria watched the entire display with a wide grin on her face. “Man, those things are awesome. The shit humans come up with. You know they can almost hit mach two? Too bad they aren’t allowed to break the sound barriers at events, but then I guess I’d prefer not to be bleeding from my ears.” She laughed self-consciously, expecting the athlete to call her out on her little nerd-out.
Hearing no response, the siren glanced back at her companion. The girl was staring, no, glaring up at the sky where the three planes were departing. Her jaw was clenched tightly, and her eyes had a somewhat glassy tint to them. Aria’s eyes narrowed. She was well familiar with the signs of growing aggravation. “Uh, everything alright there, rockstar?” She asked, against her better judgment.
Rainbow’s chin wobbled, as if she was trying to open her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Her face suddenly twisted into a fierce scowl, and she ran her arm across her eyes before shooting the bleachers a glare with enough acidity to burn through the next six rows. “Y-yeah, I’m fine,” She said shakily, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Aria rolled her eyes. Sure, a good friend would probably press her for information, or try to come up with some trite nonsense to make her companion feel better, but Aria was not quite there yet with Rainbow, and she never knew what to say in those kinds of situations. So she opted for an old classic. “Whatever.”
Rainbow continued to brood for another minute, the two girls an island of silence in the sea of chattering people. Finally, an uncharacteristically quiet, strained voice broke the silence, barely audible over the crowd. “Can we go now?”
Aria snapped her head toward the girl, a flash of irritation crossing her face. How dare she suggest such a thing? The girl had come to her home and dragged her to this miserable little stadium, and now she wanted to bail? The siren felt her jaw clench in irritation.
And then, as soon as it came, it passed. Why was she so mad? She had just been thinking about leaving herself, what was so wrong with Rainbow suggesting it? She shook her head to clear it, then nodded begrudgingly. “Yeah, I’m about sick of this shit, let’s go.”
“Thanks,” Rainbow said weakly.
It took a few minutes to navigate the crowd, it was not long before the two girls escaped the crowds, weaving through vending areas and restroom lines before finally reaching the park atrium. The giant lobby was empty at this point, the ticket counters closed and the visitors all either in the stands or around the inner ring. They had a straight shot to the exits, when something caught the siren’s eye. “Hold on a minute.”
“Whaaat?” Rainbow asked, a hint of irritation sneaking into her voice.
“I wanna check this out,” Aria answered vaguely, marching past the pillars and trophy cases that decorated the space to a sizeable enclosure at the end. Tall, chain link fences reached nearly floor to ceiling, and an abandoned booth sat next to the entrance, advertising five minutes of use for fifteen dollars. Inside sat a pair of pitching machines, the cage set up into two lanes so two people could use the cage at once.
“What, the batting cages?” Rainbow asked impatiently, “They’re closed now, everyone’s at the game. Besides, the price is a total ripoff. Can’t we just go?”
“Look,” Aria answered shortly, “I dunno what your deal is right now, but I only agreed to come to this thing to get out of the apartment for a while, and I’m not ready to head back yet.” The cage door was shut, loosely locked with a short length of chain. Aria squinted and scoffed as she inspected the padlock. Cheap bastards. Grabbing the lock, she pulled it away from the door and gave it a firm rap with her knuckles. The lock clicked as the tumbler dropped open, and Aria slit the chain off with ease.
“Woah,” Rainbow gasped, her sour mood temporarily forgotten. “How did you do that?”
“Siren magic,” Aria answered sarcastically. “It’s just a cheap lock. It doesn’t do much more than tell us we shouldn’t be here, but I don’t really care.”
“Fair enough, I guess,” Rainbow said unsurely. “Still, why break in instead of find something else to do?”
“Because fuck you?” Aria shot back, grabbing a purple batting helmet from the rack and tossing Rainbow a green one. “Now grab a fucking bat and stop bitching.”
Rainbow scowled, but bit back a retort as she slipped on her own helmet. She was trying to get on the siren’s good side, and the last thing she wanted was to ruin the progress they’d made by starting a fight. Besides, she really didn’t want stadium security to come over while they were in a restricted area. And, if she was totally honest, sneaking into the batting cage unsupervised was kind of cool.
The interior of the batting cage was divided into two parallel lanes, separated by a tight curtain of tough netting, ensuring that any bad hits would not send the balls into the other person’s space. The floor was slightly sloped, allowing any balls fired to feed back into the machines at the far end. After making sure that she and Dash each had a bat, Aria flipped the switch on the wall, setting the machines to begin at a medium speed after a short countdown.
A buzzer sounded, and the machines lit their warning lights as the sound of whirring belts filled the air. Within seconds, the first balls fed into their hoppers and launched at the girls. Rather than baseballs, the machines were loaded with tennis balls, since the stadium did not want people getting hurt. They were lighter and slower, but their size was close enough to provide a challenge. Setting her feet, Aria gripped her bat and swung hard at the incoming green blur.
Phump!
The ball connected with the bat, squishing into a thin disk before springing back into shape and launching back toward the machine at frightening speed, adding the bat’s momentum to its own. Aria smirked, happy with such a solid hit, and passively noted that Rainbow had connected with her ball as well. Nodding, she reset her grip, and the two quickly fell into a silent competition, each waiting for the other to miss a shot.
Whsht… phump!
Whsht… phump!
Rainbow grunted as her bat connected with a third ball, casting a glance over at the siren. “Not bad, Aria,” She said, “I thought you didn’t like sports.”
“Psh, I don’t” Aria scoffed, “But magic or no, I’m still a siren!”
“Still though,” Rainbow replied, as the next ball sailed down her lane. “It’s- hah- it’s pretty cool.”
Aria shrugged her acknowledgement, and the two soon lapsed into silent concentration, hitting ball after ball back down the lane.
Whsht… phump!
Whsht… phump!
“Wait,” Rainbow said, taking another swing, sending another ball back toward the machine. “I thought losing the gems cost you your powers? Shouldn’t you be normal teenagers?”
“Hah! What? Who told you that?” Aria laughed, smashing another ball down the lane. “We’re over a thousand years old. Nothing will ever be normal about us.”
“Oh…” Rainbow said, somewhat suspicious. “But wait, that doesn’t explain why you’re still so fast, and so strong!”
Whsht… phump!
“You’re hitting just as many as me,” Aria answered evasively.
“Yeah, but I- ah!- practice!” The athlete retorted. “According to Sunset, you just laze around the apartment all day.”
“I’m not lazing,” Aria growled. “I work from home.”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow said, and Aria could just hear the bait, even with Rainbow behind her. “What were you doing when I showed up?”
Whsht… phump!
Whsht… phump!
“So, why’d you suddenly go all emo back at the game?” Aira shot back smugly.
Whsht… swish!
“Damn it!” Dash hissed as her bat struck empty air. “I wasn’t going emo.”
“Oh yeah, what would you call it then?” The siren taunted.
“I just… don’t really like the Wonderbolts.” Rainbow muttered.
Whsht… phump!
“Why?” Aria asked, sincerely curious. She still had her reservations about the rainbow-headed freak, but something in her tone raised red flags in the siren’s mind. The girl sounded too much like Sonata when she was trying to hide something.
Rainbow sighed. “If I tell you, do you promise not to laugh?”
“No.”
Whsht… phump!
Whsht… phump!
Whsht… swish!
“Gah!” Rainbow shouted, “Damnit!”
Aria was suddenly startled by the sound of aluminum smashing into concrete, and she whirled to see the bat rolling away from a fuming Rainbow. She knew first hand that the girl could have a short temper, but just exploding like that seemed out of character. It was clear something was bothering her. Maybe she was just curious, or maybe she had been infected with that disease the humans called “empathy,” but for some reason Aria felt the need to pursue it.
“Everything alright over there?” The siren asked with fake nonchalance.
“I’m fine!” Rainbow growled, narrowly avoiding a tennis ball launched straight at her head as she stomped over to the control panel to switch off her machine. “I’m just so upset right now!” She growled, “And I don’t know why!”
“Um, yeah…” Aria said, managing a bit of genuine sheepishness. “That’s, um, probably the alcohol. It’ll do that sometimes.” Probably a bad idea in retrospect. Frowning, she strode over and flipped off her own machine. “You want to… um… ‘talk about it?’” She asked, making quoting motions with her fingers.
Rainbow grimaced, then nodded. Shit. Aria was not expecting her to actually say yes. Still, she was curious. “Okay,” She began, “Why do the Wonderbolts piss you off so much?”
The athlete sighed, shoulders slumping as she fell back against the chain link enclosure. “You ever have dreams? Like, something you want more than anything, and you’d do anything to make it happen?”
Aria glared at her flatly. “Yes.”
“Oh, right. That…” Rainbow at least had the decency to blush at her faux pas. “Look, I know there was the whole fate of the world thing going on, but we never meant to fuck you guys up that bad. I know the words don’t count for much, and I’m kind of fumbling the active apology right now, but I am sorry.”
Aria sighed, leaning against the wall opposite Dash. “Adagio’s been trying to convince us that we’re all in a better place without our gems. Sonata went for it, obviously. Optimistic little troll.” She rolled her eyes. “Me though? I hate it. I miss the power, the strength, the control. I hate being vulnerable, I hate that we can get sick, and I think no matter what happens, a part of me will always hate you and your friends for doing that to us.”
Rainbow tilted her head in confusion. “But, Sunset talked to Adagio. She said that doing all of that really hurt.”
“What’s a little pain compared to the power of magic?” Aria snapped.
Rainbow frowned, idly fingering the blue crystal hanging from her neck. “I guess so. Even if it killed me, I don’t think I could ever pass up the chance to fly.” Silence fell between the two for a moment. “Fucking Wonderbolts.”
“What?” Aria asked, confused at the sudden change of topic.
“The fucking Wonderbolts, that was my dream,” Rainbow said dully. “All my life, ever since I was a kid, I would watch their shows and think: Man, that’s what I wanna be when I grow up. I had posters, toys, the whole shebang.” She sighed. “Then, Junior year, I decided to go for it. There was going to be a camp, like a training camp for teenagers who wanted to see what it was all about. They ran us through some of the tests and…” She choked off the finish. “I always knew, you know? I always knew something wasn’t right. It’s why I always play so aggressively, keep to the middle of the field, get up in people’s faces...”
“What is?” Aria asked, trying to mask her curiosity behind a bout of impatience. She really was interested, but she had little experience with this kind of thing, and Rainbow dragging it out was not helping.
Rainbow locked eyes with the siren, and Aria could have sworn there was a glassy wetness to them that could not be blamed on the beer. “I’m nearsighted. Things get far away, they get blurry. I can see maybe two thirds of the way down a soccer field before everything goes to shit. The only reason I was any good at all is my reflexes. Even if I couldn’t see it coming until the last second, I always managed to get the ball.”
She laughed weakly. “I should be grateful, you know? I have contacts now, and they really help. I can see the field all at once, and I don’t get so many headaches in class. But that cost me my dream, and sometimes I wonder if it was really worth it.”
Aria nodded. She could sympathise. Once again she was struck by just how similar she and Rainbow were, and for once the thought did not make her scowl in disgust. Even though she and her sisters were comfortable in their new lives, she would always miss the power and security of her magic, and all the hopes and dreams that came with it. Without that, there was nothing left for them, no ambition. They were just… surviving.
“Well, what now?” Aria asked, as much of herself as of her companion. “You’ve still got sports, right?”
Rainbow shrugged. “I like soccer alright, but it’s not, like, what I want to do my whole life. I mean, I would love to make the pros, get rich and famous, all that stuff. But it’s not gonna happen. I knew that, even before I got my contacts. My dad, he was a big football star in high school. Got a scholarship, was gonna make it big. But two years into college he threw out his arm, and never recovered. Guess that’s kind of why I’m so big on sports, you know? Dad always encouraged me to try everything. Soccer, rugby, lacrosse, even fucking disk golf!” She scoffed. “I love it, and it’s fun, but when I look out past the next couple of years, I don’t see myself making the pros, buying a mansion, and retiring at thirty. I see myself twisting my leg, busting my knee, and trying to relive my glory days through my teenage daughter while coaching little league softball.”
“Anyway,” She continued after a few seconds, “I think that’s part of why I went after you all so hard after the B.o.t.B. Besides the band, this whole hero thing is all I’ve got, you know?”
The pair fell silent for several minutes, each lost in her own thoughts. Rainbow’s story struck Aria far too close to home. And that was the problem. There was nothing Aria could say, because if she had the answers, she would not be in this situation to begin with. Anything she said would come off as trite horse shit, and she knew that she would get pissed off if someone answered a confession like that with platitudes. Still, there had to be something...
“Hey,” She said, catching Rainbow’s attention. “Why don’t we take that picture now?”
Rainbow grinned. “Yeah, I think pissing off Zephyr is exactly what I need right now.” She sidled up next to the siren, who had pulled out her smart phone. She threw her left arm around the siren’s shoulders and raised her right to flip off the camera as Aria held it out. With a click and a flash it was done, and Aria flipped the phone around to check the display. Rainbow was sticking her tongue out at the camera, and Aria was wearing a mocking grin. “It’s perfect!” Rainbow laughed. “Now send it to him, and say something like ‘thanks for the tickets, jackass!’”
Aria grinned and did just that, after getting the number from Rainbow’s phone. It was saved to her contacts as “Asshole #2.” While they were at it, they went ahead and exchanged their own phone numbers. They might have gotten off to a rocky start before, but Aria had a feeling that maybe the two of them could get along after all.