//------------------------------//
// Palling Around the Pool 
// Story: Reformation Buddies 
// by Metool Bard 
//------------------------------//

Ugh~.  I will never understand why humans have to wear these stupid things whenever they want to go swimming.

That's what Sonata wanted to say as she stared at her sky blue one-piece bathing suit.  She made a point to complain about it every time Swim Class rolled around.  But this time, other things were on her mind.  The morning was almost done, and since her encounter with Vinyl, she didn't get a chance to meet any of the other Rainbooms.  She heaved a great sigh and started undoing her ponytail.

"You're unusually quiet today, Sonata," Adagio observed as she slipped into her own purple one-piece. "Don't tell me you're still fretting over Discord."

"N-no!" Sonata squeaked defensively. "I-I haven't thought about Discord since this morning!  I don't know what you're talking about!"

Adagio raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay, Sonata?"

"Fine!  Never been better!" Sonata shouted, her shoulders growing stiff.

Aria scoffed as she undid her pigtails, but didn't say anything else.  Adagio looked between the two and frowned.

"You two are hiding something from me, aren't you?" she said, folding her arms.

"What?  Nah," said Aria with a playful laugh. "You're just being paranoid, Adagio."

"What she said!" Sonata blurted out. "I've got nothing to hide, honest!  I wouldn't lie to you, Adagio!"

Aria stifled another laugh while Adagio gave Sonata a skeptical look.

"Look me in the eye and say that," she challenged, towering over Sonata.

Sonata swallowed. "I, um..."

"Hey, slowpokes!  We're all waiting on you three!  Pick it up, would ya?"

A familiar scratchy voice caused Sonata's head to whip around.  She caught a quick glimpse of Rainbow Dash's multicolored swimsuit and sky blue bathing cap as she exited the girl's locker room.  In that moment, Sonata's spirits rose from their doldrums.

This is my chance! she thought. I can finally warn the Rainbooms about Discord!

"Sonata, are you listening to me?" Adagio growled.

"Hold that thought," said Sonata.  With that, she hastily changed into her swimsuit and ran after Rainbow Dash.  She just got out of the locker room when a loud whistle caused her to stop.  The whistle came from a serious-looking woman with a rosy complexion and blue hair.

"How many times must I tell you, Ms. Dusk?" the teacher scolded. "No running along the edge of the pool."

"S-sorry, Ms. Firefly," Sonata said sheepishly. "I just—"

"Don't give me excuses, Ms. Dusk," Firefly barked. "Just go find a seat over there."

She pointed to the edge of the pool's deep end, where all of the student were lined up in a row.  Sonata found an empty spot next to Rainbow Dash and made a beeline towards it, making sure not to run.  As she sat down, Firefly cleared her throat.

"Alright, everyone.  Today, we're going to go through all the strokes we learned so far," she said. "I expect twenty laps out of each of you.  Four laps front crawl, four laps back stroke..."

Sonata drowned out the rest of the teacher's instructions as she tried to get Rainbow Dash's attention. "Psst!"

Rainbow Dash gave Sonata an annoyed look and kept her attention on Firefly.

"Psssssst~!" Sonata hissed.

"Shhh~!" Rainbow Dash hissed back, putting a finger to her lips.

"C-c'mon, this is really important!" Sonata whispered.

"It can't be more important than this," Rainbow retorted, dipping her voice. "Now be quiet.  You'll get us both in trouble."

"But we're already in trouble!" Sonata cried. "This world is gonna become worse than the worst, and you have to stop it!  Just like you stopped us!"

Sonata heard an annoyed cough down the row.  Looking beyond Rainbow Dash, she saw Aria in her green two-piece suit giving her a cold glare.  Sonata blushed.

"Uh, I still hate you for that, by the way," she said with a sheepish chuckle.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "You alright there?"

"No, I'm not alright!" Sonata exclaimed softly. "This world is gonna be totally screwed up unless you and the Rainbooms stop—"

*Tw-EET*

A loud whistle interrupted her train of thought.  Sonata and Rainbow Dash looked up, only to find Firefly standing over them and tapping her foot.

"Is there something you two girls want to share with the rest of the class?" she asked.

"N-no, ma'am," said Rainbow Dash nervously. "J-just skip it."

Sonata's eyes widened. No!  I can't miss my chance now!

"I have something to say!" Sonata yelled, her hand shooting into the air. "And that is..."

She trailed off when she noticed Adagio giving her suspicious looks.  Sweat poured down her face, and she swallowed.

"That is what, Ms. Dusk?" inquired Firefly. "What did you want to say?"

Sonata hemmed and hawed, trying to rack her brain for an answer. "Um, uh...  What I wanted to say is that, I have nothing to say?"

It took sheer force of will for Aria to prevent herself from bursting out laughing.  Firefly, however, was less than amused.

"Double laps.  Both of you," she ordered.

Rainbow Dash folded her arms and pouted. "Thanks a lot," she grumbled, giving Sonata a dirty look.

"B-b-b-b-b-b-but..." Sonata stuttered.

"Complain, and I'll make it triple," Firefly warned.

Sonata clammed up in an instant. "Y-yes'm," she whimpered.

Firefly sighed. "The things I put up with," she groused before turning back to her students. "Alright, everyone!  Remember, this is not a race!  I expect you all to simply do your best!  On your marks, get set..."

With the sound of her whistle, all of the students dove into the pool.


***


When class ended, Sonata didn't even bother to dry off.  She simply marched into the girl's locker room and slammed her head into one of the doors with a dull clang.

"Great.  Just great," she mumbled. "If she didn't hate me before, she must hate me now.  Aria's right.  They won't listen to me."

"Hey there."

Sonata jumped as she heard a familiar voice call out to her.  She turned around to see Rainbow Dash clad in a light blue towel with her symbol plastered on it.  Sonata's face lost all color.

"O-oh, h-heh heh," she chuckled nervously. "I-it's you.  I-I guess you're still mad at me about, well, y'know.  Everything.  U-um, p-please don't hurt me."

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. "What?  Why would I want to hurt you?"

"Because you hate me."

Rainbow Dash scratched her head. "Uh, okay.  That's, not exactly why I wanted to talk to you."

Sonata blinked. "It isn't?"

"I was just wondering why you were acting so uptight," Rainbow Dash said with a shrug.

Sonata gave Rainbow Dash a quizzical look. "Why would you want to know that?"

"Well, you got me in trouble with Ms. Firefly; I think I deserve to know why," Rainbow Dash said frankly, folding her arms.

Sonata looked all around the room to make sure the coast was clear.  Unfortunately, Adagio was right in earshot.  She hastily cleared her throat.

"Um, well, funny you should ask that," she said, wiping some sweat from her brow. "Y-y'see, uh, I-I can't tell you that right now."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?  Why not?"

"For reasons," Sonata said hastily. "Just, reasons."

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. "You said something about this world being in danger before."

"D-did I?" Sonata said, rubbing the back of her head. "Wh-when did I say that?  I-I clearly didn't say that."

Rainbow Dash deadpanned. "Wow, and I thought Applejack was a terrible liar."

"L-look, I really really want to tell you, but I can't," said Sonata. "Y-you gotta believe me."

Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head. "I have no idea what you're babbling about, but I've got no time to figure it out right now," she said. "I scheduled a practicing session in the Music Room right after this, and I gotta get changed."

"W-well, maybe we can talk over lunch or something," said Sonata, twiddling her fingers. "You usually have lunch with the other Rainbooms, right?"

"Uh, yeah," said Rainbow Dash, arching an eyebrow. "Why do you care?  I thought you didn't like us."

"Well, I don't," said Sonata. "It's just that this is super duper important, and you need to hear me out."

Rainbow Dash massaged her temples. "Okay, this is really starting to confuse me.  I'm just gonna jet."

"W-wait, j-just one more thing!" Sonata called out.

Rainbow Dash turned her head. "What is it?"

Sonata placed her hands behind her back and shuffled her feet. "Um, do you, hate me?"

Rainbow Dash tapped her chin in thought. "Well, that's hard to say.  I mean, you and the other Dazzlings did try to take over the school last week, but you're not really a threat anymore.  I dunno, I guess I don't know enough about you guys as normal teenage girls to answer that."  She then smirked. "'Sides, anyone who can give me a run for my money in the pool earns some brownie points in my book."

Sonata blinked. "Y-you like my swimming?"

Rainbow Dash let out a lighthearted laugh. "Girl, I'm surprised you aren't on the Wondercolts swim team yet.  You totally should ask Ms. Firefly about signing up.  When she's in a better mood, that is."

Sonata blushed and twiddled her fingers. "Oh, well, thanks.  It comes with living most of my life in the water, y'know.  Being a sea pony and all that."  She then tugged at her swimsuit and scowled. "Though I think I would be better if I didn't have to wear this skintight trap and just—"

"And I'm bailing on this conversation before it gets awkward," said Rainbow Dash, cutting across Sonata. "Seeya later, Sonata."

With that, she darted off.  Before Sonata could fully process what happened, she heard an angry voice behind her.

"And what was that all about?"

Sonata gulped and turned around.  Aria was right behind her, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.

"N-nothing," Sonata said sheepishly. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really?  Because it sounds to me like you were trying to be all buddy-buddy with our mortal enemy," said Aria, staring daggers at Sonata.

"N-no, nothing like that," said Sonata frantically, waving her arms about. "I-I was just trying to, well, y'know.  That."

"What?"

"What do you mean what?  You know what I'm talking about."

Aria sneered. "Oh, I'm not so sure, Sonata.  Why don't you fill me in?  Or are you unable to because of reasons?"

Sonata tilted her head. "That's exactly it, Aria.  How'd you know what I was gonna say?"

Aria sighed. "And it flies right over your head."

"Huh?"

"I was trying to mess with you, Sonata.  Of course I know what you're talking about," Aria growled. "It's just that the way you're going about it has me, concerned."

"Hey, I didn't ask her to compliment my swimming," Sonata protested. "She just did.  And by the way, why would she do that if she hated me?"

Aria palmed her face. "To keep up appearances, you nimrod.  Doy!"

"Well, you don't know that," Sonata countered. "I bet I know more about the Rainbooms than you do."

"Do not."

"Do too!"

"Do not."

"Do too!"

Aria raised her hands and stopped the childish argument short. "Alright, fine.  Go ahead and try to prove me wrong.  Just make sure that Adagio's not in earshot before you announce your warning to the world."

Sonata stared at Aria for a moment. "W-wait.  Are you, helping me?"

Aria flinched. "Wh-what?  No, I'm not!"

"Really?  'Cause it sounds like you're helping me."

Aria's cheeks began to burn. "I told you, Sonata.  I'm not helping you with anything."

"Are you sure?  That last thing you said sounded pretty helpful to me."

"I-I was just pointing out how stupid you are!  I'm always doing that!"

Sonata smirked. "You're worried about me, aren't you?"

"I am not!" Aria snapped, turning away from Sonata.

"Are too," Sonata insisted, poking Aria's arm.

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not am not am not~!"

"Are too are too are too~!"

"Am not times infinity!"

"Are—"

"Oh, will you two just shut up?!"

The debate was interrupted by Adagio marching in between Aria and Sonata, giving them both dirty looks.

"Must you always bicker and argue over every little thing?" she groused. "I can't hear myself think.  You know, I'm almost glad you two aren't with me on joining Discord.  You'd probably screw everything up because you're a pair of idiots."

With that, she stormed off.  Sonata leaned in close to Aria and cupped her hand over her ear.

"Hey, Aria," she whispered.

Aria rolled her eyes. "What?"

Sonata snickered. "Are too times infinity."

Aria blushed profusely and clenched her hands into fists. "You're the worst, Sonata."

"No, you," said Sonata, sticking out her tongue at Aria.

Aria sighed and walked over to her own locker. Stupid Sonata, she griped mentally. She's so dumb, she couldn't find her way out of a paper bag if I gave her a map.  If it wasn't for me and Adagio, she'd never be able to function in this world.  N-not that I care about that or anything...