It's Not A Date
I was outside next to the statue, waiting for Aria to show up. “I hope she didn’t decide to ditch me.”
“Oh, I didn’t think you would care about me. As if.” Aria showed up behind the statue. “Besides, Adagio would kill me if I didn’t go through this.”
“At least someone is keeping an eye on you,” I said.
“Yea, yea, yea,” she responded. “Since the classrooms close up early on Fridays, where do you want to go and study?”
“How about…Sugarcube Corner?”
“What? In front of everyone else there?” Her eyes were wide open, and then she lowered her head and said, “Fine. As long as you’re buying.”
“You even been there…as a human?” I asked.
“If that was a joke, it wasn’t funny. But no, I haven’t.”
“Well, a good treat and drink will do you some good while we look over what you need help on.”
So we walked on down to Sugarcube Corner and went inside, walking up to the counter. Aria was looking at the sweets behind the glass display when Mrs. Cake came up to the counter.
“Hello, Gears,” Mrs. Cake said. “The usual again?”
“Like always, Mrs. Cake,” I replied.
“And I see you finally brought someone with you. What does she want?”
Aria was having a hard time deciding when a familiar voice comes from behind the counter. “Why don’t she try what he’s having.” I saw that it was Pinkie Pie working behind the counter. “I’m sure Aria hasn’t tried anything here. And Sonata’s boyfriend decided to order two of the same on their first date.”
“This is not a date, Pinkie. It’s just…a study session,” Aria replied.
“On a Friday?” Pinkie replied. “Please. No one studies on a Friday. It’s no fun.”
“I’m making an exception,” I said. “At least before she changes her mind and bails on me.”
“So what’s your usual, Gears?” Aria asked.
I looked a Pinkie for her to answer for me. “White cake with white icing, and a vanilla milkshake. Good for a…study session.”
“Well, I guess it’s a start,” Aria answered.
“I’ll get the shakes,” Pinkie said as she went to work.
“That will be $9.50,” Mrs. Cake said.
“I knew Pinkie was going to at that pun. Here’s a ten. Keep the change.”
“Thanks, Gears. I’ll have it brought to your table.”
We went to the back corner table, where I always like to sit when I come here. Aria brought out her Algebra book and notes, and I brought out my tablet to use as an assistant. We started to look over what she knew and where she was lost in understanding. I was able to point out where she was getting confused and looked up for examples problems on my tablet to see if she can solve them. We got through some of the programs before our order arrived, allowing us to take a break.
“So you never tried anything like this?” I asked Aria.
“No. Never felt like eating it. All I did was whatever Sonata cooked, or we would order pizza.”
“Sonata can cook?” I said with a surprised look on my face.
“Yea. I think it has to do with the fact that she takes a Home Economics class, and already has two weeks in. But I think she might have some experience in it in the past when we first arrived here. I don’t know.”
“Sunset told me that, from what she learned from Twilight, you faced Star Swirl over a thousand years ago before her time. Were you stuck here for so long, trying to stay alive with your siren magic?” I asked.
“We’ve only been her for less than a year.” She pondered the question for a moment before she continued. “When you think about it, I wonder if he sent us to the parallel world in the future.”
“Parallel time travel. That’s a first. And made to be a one-way trip.” She gave me a confused look, so I decided to explain it better. “I mean there’s time travel, warp space travel, dimensional worlds, and parallel worlds. What you went through was into a parallel world, but maybe he added some magic to transport you into the future where magic doesn’t exist. If it were a thousand years ago, you would be exposed to a different kind of magic, if he knew about the parallel world during his time.”
She gave me a surprised look on her face. “How…did you come up with that idea?”
“I watch a lot of sci-fi, fantasy, and anime. While it’s not real, it brings up the theories about what is around us. I like to think a lot.”
She shook her head like crazy. “I don’t think I can even figure out all that.”
“That’s why we study. We gain knowledge in what we learn. Otherwise, we just look stupid.”
“Tell that to my sister, Sonata. She can’t keep all that knowledge in her head. I think everything that she talks about is from whatever she just sees.”
I noticed that she hasn’t touched her cake since we chatted. “Well, are you going to take a bite or not.”
She took a bite of her cake at the same time I took one for mine. She started to enjoy what she ate and took a few more bites to eat. “This is pretty good. You always order this?”
“Yea,” I said. “It’s the only thing that I would like to have whenever I come here. I sometimes take some cupcakes or donuts with me back to my apartment. And the milkshake is good as well during the warm days.”
She took a sip of her milkshake and felt a chill go through her. “I guess that’s what Sonata calls a brain freeze. What do you drink on cold nights?”
“Hot chocolate with marshmallows. Mrs. Cake makes sure she has a lot ready when the snow comes along.”
“You said you live in an apartment. You live by yourself or with your parents?” she asked.
“By myself,” I answered. “My parents are on this…what’s the best way to say this…overseas group project trip, I guess would be the best way to describe it. It’s unclear if they will be back this summer, but they already paid for my apartment stay for a year. If they have to stay longer, they will make sure my place is covered for another year.”
“So you don’t have a problem living by yourself?” she asked.
“That depends. I don’t have a problem with being by myself when I need to study. But on the weekends, it does get boring to just live by myself, not knowing what to do.”
“I’m stuck with two siren sisters where I live. One is loud and annoying, and the other is bossy. Not that I don’t like them. I guess…”
“They’re the only family that you have.” I finished her comment.
“Yea.” She let out a small laugh. “I guess they are. Even if we’re different, we’re part of the same family.” She looked up at the time and noticed how much time has passed. “We’ve been talking about everything else more that studying.”
“You’re right. It feels like it’s been a long time since I have had a simple chat with someone.”
“All I ever did was complain with my sisters when we were out. And that was before we lost our…powers.”
I noticed that she still felt the pain of losing her siren powers after the Battle of the Bands. “Have you ever thought that what you had was more of a curse than a gift?”
She started to lose her cool when I asked that to her. Then she realized where she was and didn’t want to create a scene and calmed down. “What we had was something great, something powerful, something…” And then it hit her. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it was a curse. It wasn’t something we wanted, but something we needed. Something we craved. All we did was to want more of it. And with it gone…I felt I still wanted it all, no matter how I got it.”
“Even if you had to bully almost every student to get it?” She looked down, not wanting to answer the question. “Look at your sisters. They’ve at least moved forward in other ways. Sonata became the bubbly girl that everyone likes, and she even got a boyfriend just days after that event. And Adagio is trying her best to…well, sweet talk every guy around.”
“If you mean showing off that body of hers,” she replied.
“Well, she has tried that, but she’s unsure that it’s working,” I said.
“Oh come on. You know she’s got the body that can charm any guy. I don’t even come close to what she has in looks.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t agree with you on that,” I said as I stared straight at her. “I think you look good enough to get a guy of your type.”
“Now you sound like Adagio. She always says that I should get a boyfriend so that I can get anything I want from him. Please. Last thing I need is a guy who wants to cuddle and kiss and do who-knows-what.”
“Aria, not every guy is like that. I’m sure there’s a few ‘bad boys’ out there that you would go for.”
“And what would you know. You don’t even have a girlfriend. I’m surprised that you didn’t even go for Adagio. You were paired up with her in shop class in our last pairing. She even tried to get you to take a peek when she leaned forward towards you.”
“If that was the case, then I would have asked Rarity out, since I have her in another class. They both think alike when it comes to flirting.”
“And what’s holding you back from doing so,” Aria said, pushing the topic forward.
“They both have high standards.”
Aria started to think about that before she answered. “You could be right. I mean, you are a geek, and geeks don’t have the higher standards as most men. No offense.”
“None taken. I just don’t like being rejected on the spot when I ask them out, because I know that’s what they will do.”
“I can not believe them.” We heard someone say that out loud that we looked to see where that came from.
“For a moment, I thought that was Rarity that I heard,” I said.
“Well, I don’t see her anywhere,” Aria replied. “Maybe it was someone who sounds close to her.”
‘Well…never mind. Maybe I’m just hearing things differently.”
“You know, she would be the only other person who would try to play matchmaker for either of us,” Aria recommended. I nodded at that idea. “Let me ask you this. We knew that no one else, except the Rainbooms, liked Sunset, but you started to like her when everyone else didn’t. Why not ask her out.”
“At the time, I would have stood out, having others think she was using me like she did with Flash Sentry. You could say that I got used to her being a good friend, and nothing more.”
We hear someone drop their glass on a table, followed by a “Sorry” afterwards. I took a quick glance at one of the tables on the other side, which looked very strange. I got Aria to come close to me and whispered, “Do you think we’re being watched?” as I directed her to that one table.
She took a quick glance and whispered, “I don’t know. You don’t think those girls were trying to hook us up in the first place.”
“Well, we have been talking about other things a lot than studying. That could lead this to being a…date.” Aria started to grind her teeth until I gave a confused looked on my face. Then she started to worry herself.
“Those reactions that we heard happened after we brought up Rarity and Sunset’s names,” she said. “Do you think…?”
“Well, we have finished eating. You want to get out of here and see what happens?” I asked.
“Good idea,” she replied.
We packed up our things and started making our way out of Sugarcube Corner, with me waving Mrs. Cake goodbye. Not knowing if we were being watched, we decided to talk about other things while heading back to the school grounds, bringing up our talk about Adagio again.
“Tell me that she walks like this.” Aria placed a hand on her side and started walking, swaying her hips from side to side and swinging her other arm in rhythm.
“Just like a runway model,” I said.
“See. She has the hips that I don’t have, even if I was more like her backup. Not to mention these,” she said as she placed her hands on her chest.”
“And what’s wrong with yours?” I asked.
“Mine’s are about the same size as Rainbow Dash’s. And she’s an athlete. Even Applejack has a better body than mine, and hers is more fit. I’m even surprised that you would go for a girl like her.”
“Have you even asked Rarity about Applejack’s parents?” Aria shook her head. “I talked to Rarity if Applejack was looking for a guy, and she brought up about how Applejack lost her parents back then.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“Better you ask Rarity that question than me. She has a better detail about the issue,” I said. “I mean she’s good looking, but I know she has her hands full with the family.”
Aria let out a long sigh and said, “I guess everyone has their own standards, and somehow you don’t even come close to what they would want.”
“Yea. Maybe I’ll have better luck when I go to college after the next school year, if I have any luck at all.”
We arrived at the school grounds, where we were waiting for Aria’s ride to get here.
“Who was it that was supposed to pick you up?” I asked Aria.
“I think it was Sunset,” she answered. “Adagio hasn’t gotten her license, which is a problem at this time.”
“Because any of you were not even born in this world,” I said. “No official birth records, no license.”
“Well, Vice Principal Luna is trying to get something worked out for us,” she said. I nodded.
We decided to sit down at the steps and watch the sunset behind the hills while we waited, which took a long time. Aria started to worry that her ride wasn’t going to show up. I did recommend that she could sleep at my place, which wasn’t far from the school, if she didn’t feel like walking home in the dark. But we had a feeling they were around, hiding from us. We knew they were trying to hook us up in the first place and wanted to see it happen. I knew we needed another distraction from all this.
I looked at the statue and asked Aria, “Have you or your sisters ever thought about going back to the other world?”
“Not really. I mean it goes to the current time that Sunset comes from, not to our time that we came from.”
“Where did you end up when you arrive her?” I asked her.
It was in an alleyway on the other side of that hill, I believe.” She pointed to the hill in front of us. “I remember when we stayed at a café one night when the Fall Formal was going on. That’s when Adagio saw that strange light over the hill. When we stepped outside, we saw a spiral rainbow light come up and strike down in a single beam. I think this is where it happened, from what we were told.”
“When I saw the flash, I went outside of my apartment to see where it was coming from. The next thing that happens was the rainbow light you described. I thought I was seeing things until I heard the stories. Makes you wonder what else could happen.”
“We could be attacked by changelings.” I had a confused look on my face. “They’re creatures that can transform into something that they see. Maybe I’m really a changeling, or are you?”
“Really?” I said.
“I’m just joking,” she said. “I don’t think they have found a way to come into this world anyway, so we don’t have to worry. If they did, they wouldn’t have the magic to transform.”
“Good point,” I said. “But going back to the question. If it didn’t matter what time period it was, would you still go back, just to see how much has changed?”
“Probability not. I mean, when we were sirens, we were a sea-pony species. And we had magic that allowed us to float on land. Without the magic, we wouldn’t be able to get anywhere unless it was in the water.”
“Maybe I can carry you around,” I said.
“I would like to see how you can do that…as an earth pony.” She laughed at that.
“Challenge accepted.” So I picked her up and laid her in my arms.
“HEY!!!” she said as she hooked her arms around my neck. “I said as an earth pony, not a human. Now put me down.”
So I gently put her down on her feet. I noticed that her arms were still around my neck and we were just staring at each other. For some reason, I felt this spark inside me, and somehow she felt it in her too because she started to come close to my face to kiss me.
Only to be interrupted by someone squealing in the bushes nearby. She unhooked her arms around me so we can look around to where it came from.
“Sonata,” Aria said, “I know that’s you out there. You better come out of those bushes before I decide to burn them.” There was complete silence. “Gears, do you have a lighter with you?”
“I think so,” I said. “Let me check my bag.”
“OK, OK, OK. You win.” We saw Sonata coming out of one of the bushes.
“Care to explain why you were following us?” Aria asked Sonata.
“Oh, well, we wanted to make sure that you two had a great date tonight.”
“We?” Aria responded.
Sonata started to nervously sweat after her slip up and tried to correct herself. “We? I mean, me. Yea, me.”
Aria started to glare at her with pure anger. “Adagio, you better show yourself before I decide to hunt you down and beat that pretty face of yours.”
“Good job, idiot.” Adagio started to come out of the bush next to Sonata.
“I knew you were behind all this,” Aria said with anger in her voice.
“Wait a minute,” I said stopping her in her tracks. “If I recall correctly, I thought I heard Rarity back where we ate. And whoever said sorry was not Sonata or Adagio.” I glared at the other bushes to see if anyone else was around. “SUNSET??? IF YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS AND IN THOSE BUSHES AS WELL, GET YOUR SORRY REARS OUT NOW!!!” At that point, Sunset came out of another bush, and the rest of the Rainbooms also appeared, including Pinkie Pie, who we saw back where we ate.
Sunset nervously said, “Um, hey. So, um, how was your…date?”
“Sunset,” I said. “When I asked you to help me find a girlfriend, I didn’t mean it to be done this way.”
Sunset started to scratch the back of her head, trying to find a good excuse of what she had done.
“And Pinkie, how did you get off work so quickly?” I asked.
“Oh, I told Mrs. Cake that I needed to take a break.” Pinkie replied.
“Well I’m surprised to see that you decided to take a long break,” Aria added.
“This coming from someone who can’t swing her hips the right way,” Adagio said.
“Not to mention that we prefer higher standards in guys,” Rarity added as Adagio nodded.
“Last I recall, Adagio, you said you wanted someone better than me because I wasn’t your type.” Adagio shifted her eyes before cracking a fake grin.
“Especially after you tried to flirt with Gears back when he was your partner in shop class,” Aria added. “And don’t even think about denying it because I saw you do it with my own two eyes.”
“Adagio, were you trying to flirt with him?” Rarity asked.
“Excuse me,” Applejack interrupted, “but why’d ya care when ya keep tellin’ every guy about mah parents, Rarity?”
“Well, um, I, um, wanted to…make sure that…everyone understands you better,” Rarity said as she was cracking her own fake grin.
“What, so ya can get ‘em guys for yourself?” Applejack asked Rarity. “Could explain why I ain’t got a date from one of them guys.”
“Well, at least you’re not as flat and someone else I know,” Rarity said, pointing out to Rainbow Dash.
“Wait just a minute,” Dash interrupted. “I am not flat. I have an awesome, well fit body.”
‘If that’s the case, why can’t you even get a date yourself?” Adagio said to Dash.
“Because I’m awesome, that’s why. And I don’t have to show off my body to get someone’s attention like you.”
Fluttershy interrupted everyone else and said, “Um, you do know that they are still here.” She pointed at Aria and me, in which we were not pleased when they looked this way.
“You know what, Aria? I think we should reward them for getting us together,” I said, giving her a wink.
“That’s right. We should do so,” Aria replied, smashing her fist at each other.
“A reward? That’s great!” Pinkie responded.
“Um, Pinkie,” Sunset said. “I don’t think it’s a reward that we want to receive.”
They soon realized what was we had planning for them, and it wasn’t pretty. “RUN!!!!” All of them ran away in a panic like there was no tomorrow. Once they were out of our site, we just laughed at what just happened.
“I can’t believe they went for it,” Aria said.
“And did you see how they reacted to each other after hearing us talk about them? It was priceless,” I said.
We kept laughing until we were tired out of laughter.
“That was the best time I have ever had in my life,” Aria said. “I guess I was glad to spend some time with you, or I wouldn’t have seen that kind of display that just happened.”
“So what do you plan on doing now?” I asked Aria.
“Don’t know. No sense going back home after what Sonata and Adagio tried to pull.” She looked at me and asked, “Is that offer of yours still available?”
“If you don’t mind joining me in some anime viewing?” I asked her.
“That would be really nice.” After saying that, she gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“What was that for?”
“Well, I might be willing to give you a chance to be my boyfriend…if you’re up for the challenge?”
“Challenge accepted,” I answered.
A shot came from out of nowhere. “THEY’RE NOW AN ITEM!!!!”
“PINKIE!!!!!!!!!!”
I shook my head and said, “I don’t know what to do with those girls.”
Aria looked into my eyes and responded, “Don’t know, and don’t care.”
Thanks to arcanelexicon for the errors in this chapter. MS Word didn't see them as errors.
If you want to understand why I didn't go with what everyone else has done on how the sirens got here, then you need to read MLP: FIENDship is Magic issue 3 and look at the last page of the comic.
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Great story
6481640 Thanks. This is my first time doing a short story like this.
6485041 Thanks. I was going from my background experience from my times being bullied, to the years That I have had a hard time finding a girl friend of my own. It is the first time doing something like this, and I'll take your feedback to heart.
6485090 nothing wrong with that. It's the best stories that pull from our own experiences. Like I said it's still a good story. Just try to flush out the words, make it sound believable. For instance one thing you can reflect on is "why didn't he ask Sunset out?" Explain why
A good read with some funny moments.
Still I would really like to see a few chapters with more sheananigans after they got together, just to see how things evolved, still really good.
6485220 I think I said that in this chapter.
6485638 I have thought about another chapter, but wanted to leave it at that for now. The shenanigans part would be new, but that would require some more thinking. If people are interested in me adding more, then I can see what I can do.
Got distracted by a few grammar/spelling errors here and there (mostly on the 2nd chapter) but a good read overall. Have a like :)
6511077 MS Word was able to point out some of the errors, but if you can message me which ones you noticed, I can can see if they can be fixed.
Sequel?
6529705 I'm actually working on a bonus chapter. I might make a sequel after that, because I want to have the focus on a few different characters besides Aria.
Really awesome chapter!