//------------------------------// // I Want to Watch You Grieve // Story: Subway Girl // by Space Jazz //------------------------------// “Oh, Sweet Celestia, I missed that smell,” Sunset slurred as Twilight draped her arm over her shoulder. “You never told me what soap you use.” “Yes, I have,” Twilight said, not realizing she was getting into a useless argument with a drunk person. “Dirty Springwash from that place in the Canterlot Mall.” “It’s sooooo minty!” Sunset sang, hovering her nose over the collar of Twilight’s sweater. Twilight helped her down the steps from the house. “It’s vegan, too.” “How do you know all my turn ons?” Sunset asked with a raspy gasp. We dated, Twilight thought. But she knew better than to encourage Sunset while she was in this state. Instead, she just kept quiet, walking them both the short distance to her car. She had planned the route on her phone. It was the fastest way to Sunset’s apartment that avoided the major streets. It was times like this that she wished she didn’t fail her behind the wheel test so many times. She could drive just fine, and she could ace any test on paper. However, there was something so inherently stressful about the practical test that she couldn’t handle. Functionally, a learner’s permit was a good as a license anyway. She loaded Sunset into the passenger seat and struggled to keep her still to put on the seatbelt. It was an awkward battle of choicely angled limbs, but Twilight managed to incapacitate Sunset enough to click it closed. “At least someone had fun tonight,” Twilight mumbled as she walked over to the driver’s side. Not too far behind, a trio of women watched the scene play out from the front yard of the house as they spilled out from a party that had long died down and only the sad people remained—partying sadly. “Everyone here’s on the table, huh?” Aria asked, her tone smug. She crossed her arms and kicked at an unfortunate pebble. “If you didn’t tell her to fuck off earlier, she’d probably give us a ride home.” “Shut it.” Adagio booked a ride on her phone. “How much you wanna bet her parents bought her that car?” Aria asked, taking a seat at the curb. “This Prius is for driving to school and the library only. Don’t even think about giving any strangers roadside assistance, if you’re catching my drift, sweetie.” Adagio kept playing with the scrunchie, ignoring her sister’s tirade and suggestive hand motions as she stretched it between her fingers. Rich girl. Stretch. Socially inexperienced. Stretch. Friend of Sunset Shimmer. She pulled the band a little too far back, and it went flying into Sonata’s face. Childish. Adagio nodded. This could be fun. —🍜🌮🍣🍜— Twilight nearly jumped as Adagio took a seat next to her on the bus. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do, especially once she remembered that she had just promised to never see her again. But the bus was a little crowded, so there was a chance that Adagio only sat next to her to get a spot to sit. Twilight scooched towards the window, giving up the space on the seat. Adagio didn’t even notice the smallest of kindnesses. “Where do you get off?” Adagio asked, whipping her head and breaking the silence. The annoyance was clear in her tone as was the sculpted sneer. “Second and Park?” Adagio rolled her eyes. “I meant in asking me out and then following me to a party.” “I didn’t follow you,” she said defensively, tugging at the straps of her bag. “My friend dragged me there.” Adagio sighed, seemingly accepting the answer. She held out the scrunchie from before and dropped it into Twilight’s hand. “Thanks for not being a total dick last week.” “Oh, um.” Twilight studied the band. There was a long strand of orange hair still stuck on it, and she briefly wondered what shampoo Adagio used and if it was too forward of her to ask. “You didn’t have to. I have more of these—” “Canterlot Mall. Tonight. Eight.” The bus’ breaks squealed, and Adagio lazily stood up. “Come hungry. Wear something cute.” Twilight nodded a little too enthusiastically, then watched her date exit the bus. Once again, her gaze followed her all the way to the sad looking Subway. The moment Adagio disappeared, Twilight did a celebratory fist-pump, having come to the (absolutely incorrect) conclusion that being nice was all one had to do to get a date. She wanted to tell all her friends but stopped herself from informing her group chat. Unfortunately but wisely, she came to the realization that Sunset would’ve only been proud if it wasn’t the one person Twilight wasn’t supposed to court. Eventually, Second and Park came around, and Twilight almost missed it in her excitement of her date. She rushed off the bus and skipped her way back home, already envisioning what she was going to wear. She modeled her outfits to her puppy Spike, who seemed to excitedly approve of everything. —🍜🌮🍣🍜— Adagio noted the tassels on the sleeves of Aria’s jacket. “Fringe?” “Yeehaw, bitch,” Aria said with an exaggerated drawl, dragging her hand across the fringe along the bottom of her other arm. Adagio then judged Sonata’s Hawaiian shirt and Birkenstocks. “I dressed myself today,” Sonata chirped, letting her loose tropical top flap around. “Good for you.” The eldest siren wasn’t all too sure what she was expecting when she told her sisters to “dress gay,” but this wasn’t it. Having shared a space with those two, Adagio quickly learned to be extremely specific with her directions, otherwise they’d do it in the most annoying way possible. Aria did it just to piss her off, and Sonata was Sonata. She decided to just move past it as she booked a ride to the mall. —🍜🌮🍣🍜— Twilight looked down at the time on her phone. They were late. Though, she wasn’t sure what the plan for the date was. An evening at the Canterlot Shopping Center could have been anything. There was a movie theater, a bowling alley, and a karaoke joint. All those were one time payments for a brief respite from the capitalist machine. That didn’t even cover the amount of dining options from fast food kiosks to high dining like the sushi place where Sunset worked. Even then, they didn’t even have to do anything more than just spend the evening walking around and people watching or window shopping. That would show them. All Adagio said was to wear something cute and to come hungry. And hungry she was. For the last few minutes, she debated on grabbing a microwaved cinnamon bun that was almost certainly radioactive. Then she glanced over to the food court and found a Subway tucked into the corner. It was like those things were stalking her. She wasn’t all that worried about that being the date spot. A food court Subway was just about the unsexiest idea to ever exist. As for the “something cute,” she just used her old reliable: a sleek but modest dark purple dress. It was form fitting but covered everything with the help of her leggings. She just hoped it was enough to impress her date… And her date’s… friends? Sure enough, Adagio Dazzle was flanked by two other women, dressed as straight as a sandwich artist cutting open a footlong at Subway, which veered to the side like an awkward grimace—very much like Twilight's face. Twilight quickly recognized Sonata from her first run in with her date at her work. The other girl was familiar but she couldn’t place it just yet. Twilight waved. A tight, subtle movement like a princess in a parade. “Hi.” “Hey.” Adagio put her hands to her hips and stared her down like a costumed villain in a magical theme park would. “Sorry to just spring this on you, but this is Sonata and Aria. They’re super gay and madly in love.” Adagio could feel the middle finger burning from inside the pocket of Aria’s fringe jacket. Panic flashed in Twilight’s eyes for a split second before she performed a manual override on her emotions. Adagio had never said anything about this being a double date. Twilight didn’t even consider it in her long checklist of things to prepare for during first dates. Now, not only did she have to impress Adagio enough to be her lover, she had to get with her friends. Play it cool, Twilight. “Cool, cool, cool, cooooool,” Twilight said coolly. “Pleasure to meet you both.” “Yo,” said Aria, a look of utter disinterest on her face. Did she even want to be here? Or was that kind of unimpassioned hatred for everything just part of her vibe? “Samesies,” Sonata hummed. Unlike the other two, her eyes seemed to be missing whatever scorn the others had for her. It was more like a certain obliviousness to everything. “So, did you have anything in mind?” Twilight asked. She wasn’t really feeling like much. Anything really. She just hit that certain point where she just wanted something inside her, for refusal of better phrasing. Adagio shrugged and stepped out into the greater mall. “Literally anything but the food court.” Sonata bounced behind her. “Well, there’s tac—“ “There’s this pretty chill vegan place on the other side of the mall,” Aria said, barreling over the other siren. “Kinda bougie but whatever.” Adagio hummed. “I was thinking something with a little more meat. If we go outside, there’s a little bistro. What about you, Twilight?” They were getting farther from the coffee Twilight first had in mind. Meanwhile Twilight, as a budding bisexual, was incapable of making a decision. “Uh, anything sounds good, really.” “Meet in the middle?” Adagio asked with a shrug. “Neighponese?” Oh, goddess no, anywhere but there. Twilight felt her body react before she did. Her stomach shriveled, removing any appetite she had built up as her mouth went dry. “I, uh.” “Fine with me,” Aria said. Already two votes. “So?” “Yeah… cool,” Twilight wheezed. At this point it was much too late to give her input without seeming really pushy. “Cool.” So, out of politeness, she followed the trio to the sushi restaurant at the end of the mall. She racked her brain for an explanation as she knew going in that the optics were almost certainly not good. Out of all the places Twilight could have taken Adagio, the restaurant where her ex-girlfriend worked might as well have been the worst possible option. If she could retract her previous thought regarding food court Subways as a date spot, she wouldn’t because those things were still gross and tacky. It would be fine. All she had to do was play it cool. Sunset Shimmer, who had been standing at a little counter in the front of the restaurant with her phone hidden in between two stacks of menus, cursed to herself as she watched her ex-girlfriend parade in with three women she could still genuinely call her enemies (even after she put in all this effort into being a good person [how rude!]). Still, she was at work and had to be professional, so she decided to treat them the same way she did with any other customer: with aloofness and a fake sugary voice glazed on top. “H-hey, S-Sunset,” Twilight squeaked. She could feel her heart trying to push her back the way she came. “What a… coincidence. I didn’t think you were in today.” “I’ve worked the same schedule since before we met.” “Right. Must’ve forgot.” Twilight said with an awkward laugh. “Party of how many?” Sunset asked. It came out passive aggressive as it was obvious to everyone what was happening. Twilight held up four shaky fingers. “F-four,” she said redundantly. “Righty-O.” Sunset straightened out the menus in her hands. “Follow me.” She made sure to walk right by Twilight and spoke out the side of her mouth. “When I told you to stay away from the sirens, the proper response was to not date all three at the same time.” Twilight swallowed. “All… three?” Sunset led them deeper into the depths of their new shared hell for the next hour or so. There was a cute little koi aquarium, and it was happy hour! Buy one get one half-off special for the house sake. What luck. They took a little private booth in the corner. Adagio sat across from Twilight, who had decided to sit next to Sonata (the arguably least threatening woman in the restaurant. Aria sat at her “date’s” side in the center of the booth. Twilight racked her mental rolodex on where to start the conversation. For all she knew, she was dropped in a den of sharks. She was the new person in this group dynamic. If she offended just one of the three, her chances of continuing her relationship with Adagio would be shot. Not to mention, they had a history with her ex-girlfriend, their waitress. No pressure. “You look nice,” Twilight said. It was relatively meaningless, and they both knew it. Adagio always looked nice. Looking nice was a large part of the reason Twilight even noticed her in the first place even if she wouldn’t admit it. Attraction was a heck of a motivator. “Thanks.” The way she said it didn’t seem all too appreciative. “So what’s your deal?” That was an awfully confrontational way of asking that, Twilight thought. “Well,” Twilight started, speaking up before she knew what she was going to say. “I’m in school, studying to be a mechanical engineer. Well, I wanted to be a neurosurgeon when I was little, but then I learned the sight of blood kinda freaks me out. And you know, mechanical systems are kinda like brains in their own way.” “Fascinating,” Adagio said, not finding it fascinating. “You know, Aria’s studying to be a brain surgeon herself.” She shot a glance Aria’s way and stared through the burning hatred. “She can tell you all about what it’s like.” “Really?” Twilight’s eyes lit up. “I mean, I still kept up with the medical textbooks, but practical settings are something else entirely.” Aria narrowed her eyes. “Don’t poke at the wrong thing with the knife.” That was all she said on the topic. Twilight cringed and decided to let the subject die there as if it were a patient with a scalpel through the postcentral gyrus, which would have been totally fine because the patient wouldn’t feel it (or anything anymore, really.) Thankfully, the conversation livened up (or was further ruined) as Sunset Shimmer stepped up, holding a notepad and a pen. She stared into Adagio, who only met her back with a smug smile, baring teeth. “Can I get you all something to drink?” From the smell of her breath, it was pretty likely that she could give a qualified recommendation of the house brews. “Water,” Twilight said, her eyes pleading for forgiveness, which was not on the menu for tonight. Aria flipped through the drink menu. “A bottle of Gin Uma.” “I’m gonna need to see ID” Aria handed over a card. “It’s expired,” Sunset said. “I’m not,” Aria countered. Sunset flicked the card back on the table. “Need a valid ID. Restaurant policy.” “You were so much cooler when we smoked out last week.” So that’s where I first saw her. Twilight flattened out the creases on the tablecloth. It was a small world, it seemed. “I’m just gonna bring a pitcher of water,” Sunset said, mercifully stepping away from the table and leaving behind all the tension. Twilight sunk a little in her seat, just a bit relieved there wouldn’t be drinking at the table—though that seemed to be the only kindness Sunset was granting her tonight. She was fairly sure that she was on her own for the most part as the restaurant seemed to be a hellish combination of busy and understaffed at the moment. She stared down at the menu and bit her lip at the prices. She was used to scoring some free food by virtue of being friends with Sunset, but now she felt particularly guilty by just looking at the cost of a salad. The cheapest one sat at eight dollars and the priciest one, a lobster salad, sat at a prime fifty. Eventually, Twilight decided on a modest order, and even then her Inaniwa Udon set her back about twenty. “Oh, it’s fusion food,” Adagio hummed. “Fancy.” “What’cha thinkin?” Aria asked. Adagio shrugged, lazily dragging her finger down the menu. “The king crab ceviche sounds pretty good.” Not to sound classist, but Twilight felt these were awfully expensive dishes for people living on miniumum wage. Though, she didn’t mean that they didn’t deserve to enjoy the finer, pricier things in life just because of their job. She just thought the orders were impractical and outside their reach. Sunset returned with the pitcher, hand for now, the tension had eased up a fair amount. “Are you ready to order?” The trio nodded, and Twilight followed after them. Twilight got her udon, Adagio her ceviche, Aria a more expensive bowl of udon, and Sonata had been biting her lip and staring at Adagio, as if for permission. “Oh, and Sashimi Tacos for Sonata,” Adagio said casually, watching as Sonata still squirmed in her seat. “But it’s twelve dollars each,” Sonata said with a slight whine. “You won’t get mad again?” Adagio chuckled. “Get as many as you’d like.” “I’ll have five!” Sonata announced with a squee. Well, it seems they’re aware that they’re splurging tonight, Twilight thought. Nodding, Sunset collected the menus and left them to it, suspecting something was up at the way they seemed to be more than happy to order whatever they wanted. They never seemed that way before. As the date progressed, it seemed the trio of sirens talked mostly amongst themselves. Twilight had to interject, and the way Adagio and Aria looked back at her, it felt like she was intruding on them. Thankfully, mercifully, Sunset arrived with their meals, and Twilight at least had something to do on her date. The noodles were thick and chewy and the broth was just as rich as she could have wanted. At the very least, she could enjoy that from her date, even if it didn’t turn out like how she imagined. Twilight struggled to find an entry point into the siren’s conversation. Waiting for a lull and a pause just wide enough for her to squeeze her way in. However, it seemed that the only thing Aria seemed enthusiastic of was arguing with Adagio. “You do realize that’s a scam right?” Aria asked. “They lure you into an empty parking lot, knock you out and take your kidney’s for the black market.” “Well not if you get them first,” Adagio countered, lazily stirring her finger across the ice cold glass of water. “And what? Take theirs first?” Aria squinted, her mouth slightly open into a slight pout. Sonata leaned forward, leaning on the table with her palms. When she spoke, flecks of half chewed food spilled back onto the table. “That’s why we have the surgeon here!” Twilight coughed. “S-so how do you all know each other?” She tried to smile at them as a new wave of silence hit the table. “Work,” Aria answered. “Oh, um, neat,” Twilight pleated her dress at her knees. “So how long have you two been dating?” She made sure to direct that question towards Sonata, fearing having to make eye contact with Aria. Sonata seemed to pause for a moment, seemingly reading a script in her head. “Two years. On and off.” “Off for far longer,” Aria interjected, targeting her look at the other sirens. “Right,” Twilight hummed as she picked at her soup. “My friend says you’re close.” Adagio glared at Aria and spoke through her teeth. “Madly in love, remember?” Aria rolled her eyes. “We just don’t show it much in pu—“ Without warning, Sonata leapt and grabbed Aria by the fringe, pulling her in and bringing her in for a kiss. Aria pushed off and looked to the rest of the table, her skin tone a much deeper purple as blood rushed to her head. Adagio laughed to herself, seemingly getting Aria to glow even more. Taking in a quick breath, Aria stood up from her seat. “Sonata, bathroom. Now.” Sonata wilted like a puppy, nodding slightly before shuffling past Twilight. Then, she followed Aria through the restaurant and into a little hall were the restrooms sat, disappearing from the sight of the last two survivors of the date. Twilight swallowed. “So…” Adagio stood up. “I should probably check on them. They’ve been in there for a while now.” “But they’ve—“ Already rounding the booth, Adagio pinched at Twilight’s chin. “Just sit tight there, cutie.” Twilight’s face felt hot as she touched the spot where her date held her. “She thinks I’m…” She turned around and leaned over the back of her booth seat. “Wait, is this date going well?” —🍜🌮🍣🍜— Aria nearly kicked in the bathroom door. “Sonata, what the fuck!?” “I’m sorry, Ari!” Sonata shrunk back. “She was just getting suspicious, and I had to do something.” “On the cheek would have been fine, you freak.” She rushed over to the sink and began rinsing out her mouth. The taste of Sonata lingered like whatever the hell Subway put in their tuna—because it sure wasn’t tuna. Tuna wasn’t supposed to taste like metal even if it was a rich in iron. But that was beside the point. The point was that Sonata kissed Aria, and it was weird and terrible and gross—much like Subway tun— “A little dramatic, aren’t we?” Adagio’s laugh echoed across the linoleum. “Screw you.” Aria wiped her mouth free of water. “The food here blew anyway.” “It’s a miracle you haven’t starved with just how picky you are.” Adagio leaned against a stall. “If Sonata isn’t good enough for you, what is?” Aria spat back into the sink. Little drops of tap water hung from her lip.”Let’s just go. I’m over it.” “You’re over everything.” Adagio walked past the lovers and looked up at the bathroom window. It was tight, but they had gone through tighter. The door was at a weird angle, which made the gap harder to slip through, but Adagio didn’t really see it as much of an obstacle. It took a simple flick of the head for the other girls to follow, giving her a boost to reach the window. Then, with a few carefully placed elbow strikes, she broke the hinge off the window and watched it fall into the bushes below. From then, it was only a simple matter of helping each other over and out. Did they feel any shame? No, not really. However, they did feel the cool night air as the broke out into the mall’s parking lot. They walked a block away and enlisted the help of a getaway driver by the name of Cranky Doodle. He was rated at four-point-eight stars and gave out pistachios to all his riders. His taste in music was as antiquated as he was, so the girls decided to rate him four out of five stars. A death sentence in this economy. All the while, Twilight waited for the three to come back. She looked over to their clean plates of food and pushed back any negative thoughts she had. They’d be back soon. She just knew it. There was no way they would just leave without a word, right? Twilight checked her the time on her phone and watched the minutes go by. Maybe it was an emergency. Something happened, something bad enough that they had to leave immediately. That was it. Totally. If they had exchanged numbers, Twilight would probably have a text explaining what happened. Yeah. Who was she kidding? Twilight took in a breath deep enough to suck the entire universe through her nose. She looked down at her food, a modest selection of sushi. It didn’t take her long to piece together that her orders were the least expensive items on the menu while her guests’… were not. She’d been had. Taken advantage of. They used her. Her cheeks felt hot, and she wondered if they would ever cool down before the inevitable the heat death of the universe (or cold death, you do you). She would have stormed out the restaurant if it wasn’t for the fact that she still had the bill to pay. The kicker was that the last person she wanted to see right now would be handing it to her anytime soon. She just hoped Sunset wouldn’t be too self-congratulatory. Unfortunately, Sunset was worse. She was kind. Twilight would’ve been fine with an “I told you so.” At the very least it gave her something to be mad about in the moment. Instead, she was forming an intimate relationship with humiliation, and their public display of affection was quickly becoming known to everyone else in the restaurant. “Whoa, Twilight.” Sunset dropped the server’s wallet on the table and rushed to her friend’s side. “You okay?” By that point, all the blood had worked its way up to Twilight’s face, and it wouldn’t have been strange to assume that red was her natural skin tone. She simply swallowed and forced out an, “I’m fine.” Sunset didn’t need her geode to know Twilight wasn’t fine. She had caught the sirens heading towards the bathroom in the corner of her eye. If she didn’t have a family’s giant order on her plate, she would’ve followed after them. All she could do now was be a good friend to Twilight. “It’s okay to be upset,” she said, her hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “I’m almost on my break. I can give you a ride home if you want.” Twilight managed the most subtle nod. It took forever for Sunset to notice that motion when they dated. However most of the time, she resorted to her geode to figure out what Twilight really wanted (most of the time this backfired). Sunset took a seat at the other end of the table and flattened the wrinkles in her apron with her palms. If she could allow herself to be selfish for just a moment, she would’ve admitted that she really needed that tip.