> Dazzling Rainbow
>  by VitalSpark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> One Spare Ticket to the Wonderbolts Show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash paced back and forth next to the entrance of her house, thinking to herself. She took a bite of the apple in her hand, then groaned and threw it away. It landed perfectly in the bin. "Okay, Rainbow, calm down," she said for the five-millionth time. "Ugh, but I can't! This isn't just hanging, this officially counts as a date. I don't know if I can—"

Rainbow's words were cut off at the sound of the doorbell ringing. She froze, then turned to the door, slowly reaching her hand out to the handle.

"I've got this." Rainbow opened the door… then immediately slammed it shut when she saw the familiar overload of curly orange hair, and the streak of yellow, along with the purple and blue outfit which would catch everyone's attention in the middle of a fricking Wonderbolts tournament. "What the hell are you doing here?!" she unexpectedly yelled, leaning against the door, heart pounding.

"Charmed to see you too, Rainbow Dash," came a voice through the wooden door. "And what am I doing here? I heard from Cloudy Kicks that you might have a spare ticket to the Wonderbolts tournament." She paused for a moment. "Are we really going to have to conduct this entire conversation through a door. I mean, I know my voice is delicious, but isn't the whole package even better?"

Rainbow scoffed. "You… Wonderbolts?" She turned around and opened the door. "And you know that's not what I meant. You. Adagio! You think you can just waltz up, and expect to go with me to the Wonderbolts tournament? Fat chance. I'm waiting for Cloudy Kicks." She went to shut the door again.

"You can wait all you like," Adagio said, "but she's not coming. Haven't you checked your messages lately? Her brother was in an accident. In Trottingham. Her parents have taken the whole family there to be with him. Why else do you think she was offering her ticket to all and sundry?"

Rainbow Dash stopped and opened the door again. She frowned at Adagio, then pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through till she found the messages. She took a minute or so to read, then closed the phone and turned back to Adagio. "You really wanna come?"

Adagio had her reasons but for now, preferred to stay aloof. She pushed past Rainbow Dash, striding into the building like she owned it. "Of course. I was told the tickets were already paid for, and there would be free food. Thanks to you and your… friends… I can no longer consume my usual source of sustenance. However, your human food has proven itself adequate."

"Okay. So, do you have any interest in the Wonderbolts at all, or do you just wanna eat?" Rainbow sighed. "Fine. Whatever. You can come. Just, please, get out of my house. And if you tell anyone about this, I, um…" — she bit her lip — "never mind! Let's go, or we'll be late!" She marched outside.

Adagio spun on her heel and followed Rainbow out of the house, pointedly ignoring Rainbow's question about the Wonderbolts. Sheesh, she thought, what is with this girl's attitude? It was her and her friends that destroyed my amulet… the way she's acting, it's almost as if she thinks I owe her an apology!

She followed Rainbow to the gate at the front of the house and they both turned left out of it.

Rainbow walked over to the shelves hanging on the wall outside and picked up two helmets, throwing one to Adagio. "Heads up!" she joked, still with an annoyed tone. She walked off around the corner, out of Adagio's sight.

Adagio looked at the helmet she had been passed. "Surely she doesn't expect me to be able to fit all my hair into… that?!" she muttered under her breath.

She reached up and removed the spiky hair grip from her hair, not wanting that to be pressed up against her skull, then with a bit of effort, pushed the helmet down over her head, putting the hair grip around her wrist so she wouldn't lose it.

She waited for Rainbow Dash to return.

Rainbow Dash gripped the handles and slightly struggled to push the heavy motorbike out of the back and towards the road. "I can't believe I'm riding this with you."

Adagio raised her eyebrows and looked at the machine. "Not yet, you're not." She circled the motorbike. "Are you sure this machine is safe? What qualifications do you have to operate it?"

"Puh-leaze! I've ridden this thing like, a thousand times!" Rainbow Dash said. "Besides, we won't get to the tournament on time if we walk. Fastest way." She said, climbing on. "Hurry up then!"

Adagio huffed. "Fine, but if we come off this thing and die, then…" She realized she didn't have any appropriate threat to add to the end of that sentence. She climbed on behind Rainbow Dash and not seeing any handles to clasp, clung onto the girl in front of her.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip, a slight blush crawling to her cheeks. She shook her head lightly and started the engine, before heading off onto the road.

The wind rushing past whipped the ends of Adagio's hair, making it fly around behind her like a slinky that had been possessed by the devil. She clung on tighter, her hands beginning to sweat. "Is it much further?!" she shouted, trying to make herself heard over the roar of the motor.

"I'm sorry!" Rainbow Dash called. "I can't hear you over the sounds of my awesome driving!" She swerved around the corner, looking ahead. "Not far!"

"Okay," Adagio muttered to herself, "not much further… you can do this."

"Pfft!" she spat out some of Rainbow's hair that had gotten in her mouth.

"Pfft—" Rainbow held back a laugh. "Blame the wind!" She smirked and speed up, just before she raced into the parking lot and straight into a slot, slamming on the brakes. "Sweet, broke my record!" She jumped off, fist pumping the air.

Adagio climbed off the bike, her knees trembling slightly. "I… I think I'm walking home afterwards."

She took her helmet off and bent down to inspect her hair in the rear view mirror. "Arghhh!" she shrieked.

Rainbow turned around when Adagio screamed, then finally lost it. She burst out laughing, placing her hands around her stomach as she doubled over.  "You… look… ridiculous!" She called and continued laughing, hard enough for tears to form in her eyes.

"Pfft! At least with me, it's only temporary." She hadn't meant that to come out loud, but somehow it did. Adagio balanced her helmet on the handlebars of the bike. “So where do we go?”

Rainbow Dash did the same, shaking her hair a little to get it back in it's normal position. "This way." She walked down the parking lot and around the corner.

Adagio followed Rainbow, struggling to keep up as she still felt a little unsteady on her feet after the journey. "Hey, wait up!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes and stopped, turning around. "Gees, Adagio. Thought you could handle it."

"Shut it! Sonata has a car… okay? A car. I'm not used to motorbikes." She caught up with Rainbow, and started walking a few paces ahead to prove a point.

"Okay, I get it. But seriously. You haven't even ridden a bike before?" Rainbow asked, walking towards the entrance.

"Bicycles… non-motorized ones, of course. I used to own a penny-farthing, back when those were fashionable," Adagio called over her shoulder.

"What the hell are they?" Rainbow asked as they neared the entrance. She held out the tickets.

"They're a type of bicycle. It doesn't matter though." Adagio watched as the man at the gate checked their tickets and waved them through.

"Seats 13A and 13B," he called out as they went past.

"What?!" said Adagio. "Reserved seating?! We can't just sit where we like? I actually need to sit next to you?!"

"Yep. Can't do anything about it, sadly," Rainbow Dash said as she waved her hand, walking past the seated people in row thirteen.

From their seats there was a good view of the velodrome. Almost as soon as they sat down, loud rock music started playing. The crowd started chanting the names of various Wonderbolts —Soarin, Spitfire, Misty, etc. Adagio wasn't familiar with all of them, but recognized a couple of the more famous names.

Rainbow Dash leaned forward on her seat, head in her hands as she grinned widely. "He's almost here! Oh my gosh!" She called out happily, watching closely.

At the climax of the song, five of the Wonderbolts zoomed out on their motorbikes, in a triangular formation. Their bikes blazed smoke trails in all the colours of the rainbow, or five colours of the rainbow anyway.

"Hey, look, Rainbow Dash… they're doing a tribute to your hair," Adagio quipped sarcastically.

Rainbow continued to stare forward, love hearts in her eyes. "It's him! Soarin!" she said, pointing forward. "Isn't he just sooo cute?" 

"Pfft! If you like pretty boys. I'm more interested in… that one." Adagio pointed at the leader of the Wonderbolts — Spitfire.

"Yeah, well, they're all awesome! But I've always liked Soarin the best." Rainbow said, continuing to watch with wide eyes.

Adagio reached into her hair and pulled out a pair of binoculars. She put them to her eyes and zoomed in on Spitfire's chest, twisting them to get them into focus. "Perfect," she muttered.

Rainbow looked to her side and blinked. "Hey, give me those," she said, snatching them out of Adagio's hands and peering at Soarin as he raced around. "Oh my gosh, look! He's gonna do a jump!" she squealed, shaking Adagio's shoulder.

Adagio huffed. "I didn't bring them here to fuel your fangirl crush, you know?" She squinted to make out Spitfire as she raced past. Adagio was pretty sure that the Wonderbolt was wearing it. But how to get hold of it? "I wonder how we could get backstage, Rainbow? I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you? You hear about that sort of thing, don't you? Famous people inviting groupies back after the show."

Rainbow gasped, turning to face Adagio. "Yes! We could try when the show is finished! I'm sure Soarin will let us in, he's really nice!" she said, turning back to the show.

Adagio snatched back her binoculars and stashed them in her hair.  "'Nice'… 'nice'… we can't rely on 'nice'. We need to make use of 'sexy'." She looked at Rainbow… she was cute, but her whole style was kind of boyish. If they hoped to get back stage, she might need to do something drastic.

"Sexy?" Rainbow Dash said, staring at her. "What are you thinking?"

"Stand up," Adagio said. She looked behind them at the people in the seats in the next row. "Don't worry… they'll still be able to see."

"Uh, okay," Rainbow said, standing up. "Why?"

Adagio appraised her outfit. She yanked Rainbow's skirt up a few inches to make it look shorter. But then noticed Rainbow was wearing something underneath her skirt. "Those cycling shorts… you're not 'going commando' under them, are you?"

"Of course not," Rainbow said, "but what are you doing?!" She blushed and looked around.

"Okay then, lose them. Let's see some thigh!"

"But why?" Rainbow asked, biting her lip.

"Because the Wonderbolts are only going to invite us back if they want to sleep with us," Adagio explained. "Don't look so shocked. It's how this world works. It doesn't mean we have to go through with it… believe me, I have no intention of that… but they have to want us."

"Uhhh, o–okay…" Rainbow blushed deeper and pulled off her shorts. "This okay?"

"It would be better if we could do something with your hair… maybe add some more volume and curls to it, but I haven't brought my equipment." She looked Rainbow up and down. Fitted top, sorry skirt, nice legs… yes, she'd do nicely. "Passable."

She fiddled with her own hair a little, trying to restore some of its springiness.

She looked at Rainbow still standing there. "Sit down. I mean I'm sure the people in the row behind are enjoying the view, but stop being such an exhibitionist! Save it for the Wonderbolts." She turned her attention back to the show.

"Uh, right," Rainbow said, and sat down, going back to watching the Wonderbolts. 

After some time, the Wonderbolts began the display that Adagio thought would probably be the grand finale. "Come on, Rainbow Dash. Let's find the stage door before the crowds start to move."

"Okay, okay." Rainbow held her hands down in front of her skirt and followed Adagio, still keeping her head turned to watch the ending.

Adagio guided the girl through the venue, trying to prevent her from crashing into anything because she clearly wasn't looking where she was going. "That looks like the right place, don't you think, Rainbow?… Rainbow?!"

Rainbow turned her head to face Adagio. "Huh? What were you saying?"

Adagio rolled her eyes. "This… it looks like the way backstage doesn't it?" It was an unmarked, unguarded door. Adagio tried the handle… locked.

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow said. "But, of course it's locked."

Spitfire wiped the sweat off her forehead and walked towards the door, stopping when she saw the two girls. "Excuse me, what are you two doing here?"

Rainbow Dash tensed, but Adagio jumped in before she had a chance to blow it. "We were talking to Soarin’ before the show and he asked if we wanted to come back stage." She couldn't believe it. There it was, around Spitfire's neck. She could almost reach out and grab it. But that would never do. She needed all three.

"Hmmm…" Spitfire said. “I'll have to have a talk with that idiot later.” She walked in between them and opened the door. 

"Soarin's busy right now. You can wait for him in here," she said, walking inside. 

"Sweet!" Rainbow said happily.

"Thank you," Adagio said, stepping inside and holding the door open for Rainbow Dash.

The corridor on the other side had dozens of doors leading off it.

"Thanks!" Rainbow said and went in, following behind the two.

Spitfire stopped in front of Soarin's room. "Since he so kindly invited you in… you two can wait in here. I have stuff to do," she said, walking off down the hall.

"Sweet! Soarin's room!" Rainbow said, opening the door.

Adagio and Rainbow went into the room. Adagio looked around. It was possible Soarin had one of the three, but it seemed more likely that they'd all be worn by the female Wonderbolts. She shut the door behind them, and started looking through drawers, under cushions and so on.

Rainbow watched Adagio. "Uh… what are you doing?"

"I'm… a…" — Adagio tried to think of an excuse — "really big Soarin fan. Aren't you? I'm just trying to find something to take as a souvenir." This made her sound like a thief — not that she wasn't — but still. "Something he won't miss, like an old candy wrapper or something."

Rainbow let out a laugh. "Haha, sure," she said sarcastically and walked up to Adagio. "Seriously, what are you looking for?" She placed a hand on her hip.

"It doesn't matter. I don't think it's going to be here anyway," Adagio sighed and sat on the large red sofa.

"Right…" Rainbow said, sitting down next to her. She was still curious, but she would let it slide… for now. "So, um… how… have you been, I guess?"

"Awful," Adagio said, letting her usual guard down. "Since that Shimmer girl destroyed our amulets, we've felt nothing but hunger. It won't kill us. Barely even causes pain. It's just an intense… well… hunger. And now we have no way of satisfying it."

"I see," Rainbow said sadly. Despite being part of the battle, she was starting to feel… sorry. Of course, Rainbow Dash didn't want another bad element at the school, but she knew what it was like to be unsatisfied. But, she couldn't think of anything to do about it. Too bad they fed off negative energy.

"No way, that is, until we can find a way back to our home." Adagio stopped. She'd said too much.

"Back home? Is… is that all you really want? To just collect negative energy and go home and do the same thing? What will you do then? Think about it, what's better: going back home with ultimate power and then doing nothing but being feared for the rest of your immortal lives, or staying here, going to school, getting jobs and settling down… actually living your life? You don't have to be evil, and you never had to," Rainbow said seriously, before hiding her face and turning a deep shade of red. Goddammit, that was embarrassing. Oh crap.

"You really think we were being evil, taking what we needed to feed? You eat meat… does your little pink-haired hippie friend call you evil for that? Is that country girl you always hang out with evil for eating all those apples? Apple trees are alive too." Adagio crossed her legs. "Besides which… we know we're not welcome in this world. We've been here a thousand years, and… settling down? marriage? Nobody's ever wanted to do that."

N–Nobody?" Rainbow Dash stuttered, looking down, knotting her fingers together. "I–I…"

"Well. I have married in the past a few times, but that was always strategic, and not since seventeenth century anyway. They were never for love… only for power. And there was never any question of having children… I don't even know if that would work with a siren and a human."

"So, only men then. What would you do if, say, a female, um, l–loved you…?" Rainbow asked. "I–I mean, I'm just curious, since gay marriage is legal now and all, haha…"

"Well, I'm not saying it was fair, but it tended to be the men who held the power anyway, so that question didn't often come up. Though there was a certain concubine in the court of Louis XIV who… I did some favours for in exchange for a few favours of a different kind from the king." She didn't know why she was telling Rainbow Dash all this. "This goes no further than these walls, right?"

"Yes, of course! Uh, cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Rainbow said quickly. "But, um, you didn't answer my question. What would you do if a female loved you?"

"Well, I suppose that would depend on who it was. But really, it's quite a hypothetical question. As I said, no human has ever loved us. They just used us to… satisfy their urges… just as we've used them to get what we need. That's not love though."

"So… I would be the first…" Rainbow Dash whispered, then shook her head. No, no, no! What in the world is wrong with me? "I… see," she said simply, thinking. If only…

"So that is why we need to find a way back to Equestria. There are other hippocampi there for… companionship. And enough magic to feed without our amulets. Here in this world, there is nothing for us. Aria feels it even more than I. She says she could never love a human. I… I don't know…" Adagio shook her head. "… Given how long we've been stuck in these bodies, I almost feel like I'm one of them myself. I… don't think I'd have any theoretical objection. I… I even came close once."

"Came close to what?" Rainbow asked, curious again.

"Close to falling in love… I think."

"Really? Who with?" Rainbow asked, then leaned back against the couch. "Oh, uh, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to…"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Adagio said, shaking her head. "She's kind of famous. But it… it didn't end well."

"Famous?" Rainbow asked, her voice wavering a bit. Yeah… thought not. "Please, I've heard crazier stuff. I'll believe this."

"Joan of Arc. I met her when she was about your age. Never met anyone with more fight and more spirit than her. Two years later, she was dead. That's the trouble with being an immortal being… you can't love someone… they'll only slip away from you. But still, I never expected her to be taken away so soon." A single tear rolled down Adagio's cheek.

Rainbow's face held a sad expression, and she lifted up a hand to wipe the tear of Adagio's face. "I… I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay. It was a long time ago. I've barely even thought about her in years." Adagio sniffed.
"You know… in a way you remind me of her."

"H–Huh?" Rainbow said, blushing lightly again. "I-I do?"

"Yes, she never knew how to dress to show off her best assets either," Adagio laughed.

"H–Hey!" Rainbow called out, blushing harder. "I'm not THAT bad! I just never really liked that kind of stuff! I never even wore skirts when I was young!"

"Seriously… you play sports ALL THE TIME. Of course you're going to have legs that people are going to want to look at."

"Well, I wore short shorts. Skirts were way of the question! Then, I met Fluttershy. But, I never really thought about that," Rainbow said, then thought for a minute. "Say… would you be one of those people?"

Adagio leaned forward slightly so her hair hung down and covered her blush. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm so above that sort of thing."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Uh huh. You totally weren't the one who made me dress like this in the first place," she said sarcastically.

"That wasn't for my benefit," Adagio scoffed, recovering her composure and leaning back on the sofa. "Well, I suppose it was to get us in here, so indirectly for my benefit. But just because I know what will make you look better, does not mean I have a crush on you. And if Aria told you I did, she was… I was… I was just joking with her."

"Oh. Well, no, I haven't spoke with Aria. I–It's fine, really," Rainbow said.

"Good. Because she's lying anyway. I never said anything." Adagio blushed again.

Rainbow looked away and nodded. "Okay. I understand."

"But… theoretically… if I did—" Adagio cut herself off. "No, never mind."

Rainbow squinted her eyes shut and sniffed. "Yeah, I get it…"

Adagio took the hair tie that was still around her wrist and absent-mindedly used it to fix her hair. She stood up and walked to the dressing table, looking at it in the mirror to check it was straight. She went back to the sofa, sitting a little closer to Rainbow. "So, this Soarin'… you have a crush on him or something?" she asked.

"I used to, when I was younger. Now, he's just awesome. Besides, th–there's someone else I have feelings for." Rainbow looked up and faced Adagio.

"Oh, right… of course. You were meant to be coming here with Cloudy Kicks, right."

"Y–yeah? Well, now I came with you! A–And sometimes things change… so… there! I mean, uh, hopefully that won't make this weird or anything… gah! No, no, it's not okay. It's not alright." Rainbow Dash placed her hands on Adagio;s shoulders. "Sorry about this."

Adagio listened to Rainbow blathering on nonsensically about something being weird or not weird and not knowing what she was talking about. She was slightly startled when Rainbow suddenly put her hands on her shoulders. She saw Rainbow lick her lips quickly. Was she… was she really going to…?

Adagio felt her lips were moist too and realized she'd been licking hers. She closed her eyes, but then opened them again because she didn't want to miss this.

Rainbow was leaning forward, her face coming closer to Adagio. Adagio felt their lips make contact and drew a quick breath through her nose.

Rainbow Dash placed a hand on Adagio's cheek as she tasted the sweet siren's lips against her own. She was full of mixed feelings. Her stomach buzzed with a new, exciting feeling of pleasure; something she'd never felt during all her time with Cloudy. On the other hand, her mind was full of worry. What if she didn't like it? What would happen next? Along with this, she had slight feelings of regret stored. For goodness sake, she was a kissing Adagio. The leader of the three sirens who tried to take over the school. But more importantly, Rainbow's heart held love, and hope. She hoped that this wasn't the first and last time. She hoped that somewhere, deep down, they could be together, no matter what.

Soarin marched down the hallway happily, swinging his arms. Fleetfoot rolled her eyes and turned to his room, opening the door… and quickly shut it again. Soarin blinked.

"What? What's going on?" he asked, confused.

"You really, really don't want to know. Uh, just… come to mine instead," Fleetfoot said and turned away, walking down the hall. Soarin shrugged and followed after.

Adagio thought she heard a sound from the door and broke off the kiss to look. The door still seemed closed but she could hear muffled voices outside. She held up her finger to her lips indicating for Rainbow to stay quiet. After a moment, she could hear footstep receding from the door. That was close.

Adagio looked back at Rainbow and almost pounced on her, pushing her back on the sofa into a waiting pile of cushions, their lips meeting in another kiss.

Rainbow moaned out in delight as she placed her hands on Adagio's back, moving them down slowly with every second. Her heart pounded with excitement, all other thoughts rushing away. Rainbow wanted this. She wanted it so bad.

Adagio leaned over Rainbow, her hair forming a curtain around their faces. Her tongue slipped into the human girl's mouth and hungrily sought out its counterpart. She felt Rainbow's hands on her back, and leaned into her in response, pressing her body hard against her.

Rainbow moaned silently at the feeling, her blue coloured cheeks as bright as a strawberry. Oh yeah, she could live with this.

One of Adagio's hands slid up Rainbow's leg, resting on her upper thigh. She broke off from kissing the girl's lips to lay a trail of kisses over her cheek before nuzzling into her neck.
Rainbow Dash let out a small gasp, whispering to the leader of the sirens. "A–Adagio…" A rush of pleasure went through her, but was quickly replaced with more regret and worry. Despite how good it felt, she… "Stop. Please, stop."

Adagio paused, lifted her hand from Rainbow's thigh and caressed Rainbow's cheek instead. She looked into Rainbow's eyes. "Why? You want this as much as I do. You need this." She closed her eyes. "I need this," she muttered.

"I just… I do, but that still doesn't make it right… I–I'm just worried, that's all…" Rainbow said, looking away. "I still have feelings for you, but I just don't know if we should do this now."

"If not now, then when?" Adagio kissed Rainbow on the cheek and looked at her pleadingly, showing a rare moment of vulnerability.

"I–I don't know, but… just not now. I think it might be a good time to, um, leave," Rainbow said, sitting up. Rainbow Dash stood up and led the way out first. "So, do you have a home or… cause I can take you if you want."

Adagio stood up, still looking flustered. "Yeah… well, Sonata and Aria and I share a place. It's not much… in the last few centuries our fortunes have dwindled. But it's a place of our own."

"Really? Well, you just tell me where to go then," Rainbow said, walking down the hall. They left the building and went towards Rainbow's bike.

Adagio grabbed her helmet… or rather the helmet Rainbow had lent to her… and put it on, this time without hesitation. "Sure, I'll give you directions… if you can hear me over that… thing." She waited for Rainbow to get onto the bike.

Rainbow placed on her own helmet, mounting the bike. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Adagio climbed onto the bike behind Rainbow, knowing to cling onto her tight. Unlike the last time, when she wrapped her arms around the girl in front, she felt a certain… comfort… a certain happiness. She didn't feel apprehensive about the ride at all… she felt that Rainbow would keep her safe.

Rainbow smiled a little and started up, racing back onto the road. "Okay, so which way are we going from here?"

"Head back to town and take the second left once you're past the school," Adagio explained into Rainbow's ear.

"Got it!" Rainbow said, continuing on straight. As she rode, she thought to herself about the previous events.

Rainbow's hair whipped in Adagio's face, but this time she didn't really mind. Trees and buildings rushed past them in a blur, and soon they were on Adagio's street. She pointed at a white-painted detached house with a small, somewhat overgrown front garden and a brown brick wall at the front.

Rainbow halted in front of the house. "Well. Your house is, um, nice," she said.

"Yeah, I know, it looks a bit… run down," Adagio said. "I really wish Sonata or Aria would get off their lazy butts and tidy the place up a bit."

She pushed open the gate and stood aside for Rainbow. "You are coming in, yes?"

"Well, if it's okay, sure!" Rainbow said and jumped off her bike, dragging it inside the backyard with her.

Adagio walked up the garden path, fishing around in her hair and pulling out her house keys. "No, it's fine. Sonata and Aria have gone to some conference on investment. Trying to make the most out of our remaining savings. I don't know why Aria went… she really doesn't have a head for that sort of thing."

Since when would Sonata be into that sort of thing? Rainbow thought, then nodded and followed her inside. "Well, the inside's not that bad," she said, looking around. "It looks pretty normal."

"Living room's over there," Adagio said, pointing to the left. "Make yourself at home." She turned towards the kitchen. "Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee? I don't think there's much to eat."
"It's fine, I'm not hungry. Coffee would be great though, thanks!" Rainbow said, making her way onto the living room. She sat down on the couch.

Adagio emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later, carrying two mugs of coffee. She passed one to Rainbow, and flicked on the TV, turning down the volume to a low murmur. "You don't mind do you… it's just I'm so used to those two idiots arguing all the time, I feel uncomfortable if it's too quiet."

"Not at all," Rainbow said, curling up her legs as she held the mug in her hands. She blew on it for a bit, before taking a sip. "Hm, this is really good!"

Adagio went to sit beside her on the couch, but then thought otherwise. She crossed the room to sit on the armchair. "Yes, well I've had years of practice… years."

"Of course," Rainbow said, sipping the rest slowly. "I… I wish I could have lived as long as that."

"Meh. After the first couple of hundred years, there aren't really many big new experiences to try out. So you find yourself getting excited about stupid new things instead — like when those shoes with the wheels on them first came out."

"Oh yeah! Those are sick! But, I was talking about the past. I bet I could pass my history tests so easily if I knew all of that!" Rainbow laughed.

"History? I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast this morning." She took a sip of her drink and put the cup down on a coffee table. "You tend to remember the events that are important to your life. I can't remember the battles of the Napoleonic wars or any of that stuff that would come up in tests."

"Oh, true. But, if you experienced it, you might remember it better when it actually comes up in a test than anyone else. And if you studied it, you would also remember it, and easily fix the memory in your mind. You never really forget anything, you just have trouble remembering," Rainbow said, finishing the last of her coffee.

"Forget… have trouble remembering… might as well be the same thing." Adagio picked up her cup and drank some more. "So, how long have you been riding that bike of yours?"

"Ever since I found about the Wonderbolts, I've always dreamed of it. My dad gave me one for my birthday just recently. But before then, I practiced with him a lot." Rainbow said, placing down the mug. She looked up at the time. "Speaking of my bike, I should get home before it's too late."

"Don't feel the need to leave on my account," Adagio said. "I'd love it if you could stay for a while… without those two here… it can be a bit boring. And there's nothing good on TV tonight." She gestured at the TV.

"Dad’s coming home tonight, I gotta get back before seven." Rainbow stood up. "Sorry. I–I guess I'll see you another time." She started to walk away, but then turned back to Adagio and lightly pecked her on the lips. “See ya," she said, exiting the house.

Rainbow walked outside, cheeks flushed red, as she placed her helmet and climbed on her bike, speeding off down the road. Her thoughts were focused deeply on today. So deep, in fact, that she was hardly watching where she was going.

Adagio's heart fluttered at Rainbow's kiss. She was sad to see her leave. She sighed and collected up the coffee cups, taking them to the kitchen and washing them. She hunted for some food. There was no real point. Human food didn't satisfy the kind of hunger she had. But it was something to do. She managed to scrape together the ingredients for a cheese sandwich. 

She sat down on the sofa, where Rainbow had been sitting, the seat still slightly warm from its previous occupant, and turned up the volume on the TV. Some drama was just ending.

Adagio dozed off to sleep. She didn't know for how long — perhaps minutes, perhaps hours — but the next thing she knew, she was waking up to the opening music of the TV news. "Welcome to this night’s news headlines. Starting us off, an incident has been reported on Starswirl Street, involving a teenage girl on a motorcycle. We believe the cause was…"

Starswirl Street? Adagio thought. Why, that's not two blocks from here. She sat up and watched intently.

The news switched to an ambulance scene, as the reporter kept speaking. For about a second or two, the rainbow colours in the victim's hair stood out amongst the almost dark night.

Adagio jumped to her feet, recognizing the girl from the report — it was Rainbow Dash. She ran out to the garage, clutching the car keys. Officially speaking, she'd been banned from driving about 30 years ago, but this was an emergency.

She pulled out of the driveway and headed straight for Canterlot Central Hospital. Despite the name, it was in fact Canterlot's only hospital, so she could be certain that Rainbow Dash had been taken there.

Having parked her car, she found her way to reception. She pushed to the front of the queue. "Where's Rainbow Dash?! Is she okay?!"


> Ward Two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Excuse me, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep it down in here. There are tired patients. Now, who are you and who do you want to see?" The lady at the reception asked, looking up at her.

"I'm here to see Rainbow Dash — she was in some kind of traffic accident. I'm her…" — Adagio thought for a moment — "… sister."

"I see," the receptionist said. "In that case, you may see her, but please be very, VERY quiet. Ward 2, room 18. Next," she said, waving Adagio off.

Adagio hurried along the corridors, following signposts. She quickly found the correct room and pushed open the door. Stepping inside, she went from bed to bed, looking for Rainbow.
Rainbow Dash lay unconscious, staring up at the ceiling. Her face was pale, and the injuries covering her could be clearly seen, especially the amount of soaked blood through the many giant bandages that covered her cuts and bruises. Luckily they managed to get her here in time. Despite not looking as bad as she should, Rainbow was suffering from a major blow to the head.

Adagio saw rainbow-coloured hair poking out through some bandages and realized she'd found Rainbow Dash's bed. There were no doctors or nurses around, so she picked up the clipboard at the end of Rainbow's bed to try to figure out what had happened, but it was all gobbledegook to her. She put the clipboard down. She pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed. She leaned towards Rainbow and took her hand, clasping it tightly.

Rainbow took short breaths. While she was saved from anything severe for now, she would've been screaming in pain if she had been awake during the time.

Adagio sighed. She blamed herself for the accident. She should have insisted that Rainbow stay longer. She didn't know why she cared so much — she'd seen many people come and go. But it hadn't bothered her… not since… Joan. She rested her head on the bed beside Rainbow's chest, listening to the sound of her breathing, tears forming in her eyes.

Rainbow felt the pressure on her hand long before anything else. Despite feeling weak, hurt and tired, she very slowly pressed down, squeezing back. She could just think - and she knew who it was.

Adagio felt Rainbow squeeze back on her hand. One of the machines by her bedside started bleeping. She looked around. She was sure a doctor should be here to see this, but she didn't want to leave Rainbow's side to fetch one. There was an emergency call button by the side of the bed, so she reached out to press it, never letting go of Rainbow's hand.

Rainbow stirred slightly, but still lacked any sufficient energy to respond to much else. She could hear footsteps, as well as the beeping of many machines. Dr Vital Spark rushed into the room.

"What's happening?" Adagio asked him.

He consulted the machines. "She appears to be waking up."

"That's good then, yes?"

He shook his head. "With the amount of swelling her brain sustained in the accident, we'd been hoping she'd remain unconscious for a while. If she wakes up, she's likely to be in a lot of pain."

"Well… there's medication for that sort of thing, right?"

Dr Spark shook his head again. "Not for her. According to her notes, she has allergies to all of the medications strong enough for her level of injuries. We can give her paracetamol, but that will barely take the edge off what she's going to feel."

The next thing Rainbow felt was the pain — even before she had the energy to open her eyes. It wasn't that bad at first, but she from the words she heard from Adagio and the doctor, she knew it was going to get worse. She squinted, a scared look forming. She wasn't ready for this.

Adagio noticed Rainbow's eyes moving. She leaned over her, and had flashbacks of leaving over her on Soarin's couch. "Rainbow… Rainbow, are you okay?"

Rainbow just managed to shake her head, which seemed to make the pain worse. She felt around and grabbed Adagio's hand, squeezing it again. She was shaking.

"Don't… don't try to move," Adagio said, vaguely aware that moving might make her injuries worse. She sat back down by Rainbow's side. "Surely, doctor, there must be something you can do to relieve her pain."

"It will fade in time," Dr Spark said. "The only thing I can suggest is to keep talking to her. Take her mind off things."

Rainbow sobbed lightly as they spoke, shivering. Her breathing changed from slow to extremely fast paced. Despite the pain, she continued to squeeze Adagio's hand. Doing this gave her the slightest feeling of comfort.

"It'll be okay, Rainbow," Adagio assured. She looked around but the doctor had left. "When will her family get here," she muttered. She remembered Rainbow mentioning a father.


+


Rainbow Blitz pulled up in his car, just finishing up a phone call. He hung up and turned off the car, taking out the keys and walking up to the front door, noticing that all the lights were off.

"She must be asleep," he said, as he entered, turning on the lounge room light. He placed his stuff down and walked upstairs to his daughter’s room to check on her. 

She wasn't there. 

"Rainbow?" he called, looking around the house. "Rainbow???" he called, running outside again. Then he noticed something else; her bike was also missing. 

"She can't still be out, can she?" he asked. Okay, now he was worried. He quickly locked the door again, and climbed into the car, calling her number as he drove out. 

Voicemail. 

"Dammit, Rainbow Dash, where are you?" He asked as he took off down the street. It took him about less than a few minutes to reach the scene of the accident and his eyes immediately fell on the broken blue coloured motorbike which lay in front of a red car.

"Oh no." He parked his car and quickly rushed out, running to the nearest person. "Excuse me, what happened here?" 

"An accident between a young girl on a bike and a man in a car. I'll never forget the colour of her hair, if you're interested. It was rainbow," a women said.

Rainbow... Blaze quickly rushed off and sped his way towards the hospital. 

Rainbow Dash let out a tear as the pain increased — she didn't know how she was going to get through this. If she had the energy, she'd probably scream. It was enough to make someone want to kill themselves, but then, what would be the point of it all? She tried to distract herself which anything, but it didn't seem to be working very well.

Adagio stroked Rainbow's forehead. "So… can you remember much about the accident? What happened?"

"D–Don't… about that…" Rainbow said quietly, wishing that she could just fall asleep again. The pain intensified with every second.

Rainbow Blitz walked into the hospital. "Yes, Rainbow Dash's father. Thank you." He marched down the hall with the directions, eventually finding the ward. He walked in, then stopped when he saw Adagio.

Adagio heard the door open behind her. She turned around to see a man with hair the same colours as Rainbow's. Because of his age and the clear resemblance, she assumed he must be Rainbow's father. "Mr… errr… Dash?" she asked.

Rainbow Blitz nodded and walked forward. "Is… is she going to be alright?"

Rainbow Dash cried a little harder, gripping the edge of the bed and Adagio's hand. Really tight.

Adagio wasn't sure. "I don't know. They mentioned swelling on her brain, but I… I don't know if that's dangerous." Adagio put her other hand on Rainbow Blitz's shoulder to reassure him.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip hard as well, digging her nails into Adagio's skin unintentionally.

Rainbow Blitz nodded and sat down. "And, um, you are…?"

Adagio winced slightly in pain, but buried it. "I'm Adagio Dazzle. I'm a… errr…" Friend? Not really. Too early to say girlfriend… far to early. What was she?

In any case she was saved from having to answer when Dr Spark returned to the room. "Hi, you must be Rainbow Dash's father. A nurse told me you'd arrived. There's no easy way to tell you this, but Rainbow took a bad knock to the head in her accident and this has resulted in some swelling to her brain. Normally we'd sedate a patient in this state, but according to her notes she's allergic to just about every drug we could use. Swelling can make it hard for blood to reach all the parts of the brain, and cutting off blood supply can lead to cell loss and brain damage. However, the fact that she's conscious is a good sign."

Rainbow Blitz nodded again, taking in all the information. He seemed calm about it, but Blitz knew that freaking out wasn't going to make it any better, even if he was extremely worried. So, he just turned his attention to his daughter. And stared.

Adagio stroked Rainbow's hair affectionately. "If I know anything about your daughter, I know she's a fighter. She's not the kind of girl to give up easily."

Rainbow Blitz nodded. "You're right. Thanks."

Rainbow Dash released the pressure on Adagio's hand as the pain subsided, a small smile flickered on her face. At this, she opened her eyes, which normally would've been good sign if she could see more than blurry blobs. She blinked a few times, but wasn't sure if that was making it better or worse.

"Rainbow… you're awake again," Adagio said. "Your dad is here now." She felt the urge to hug Rainbow, but resisted because of her father's presence.

Rainbow nodded slightly and blinked again. At least the colours were becoming much clearer — she could definitely see rainbow hair and blue skin. She blinked again. Despite the tears in her eyes, she could see the lines. One more blink and everything was almost fine, but the bright lights in the room weren’t really helping. 

She looked from Adagio to her dad, and, remembering the pain she was in before, she sniffed. 
"D–Dagi… Dad… s–sorry…" she cried quietly.

"Rainbow, can you remember what happened?" her father asked.

He looked at Adagio. "I think right now it might be best if it were… just family?"

Although she never really wanted to let go, Adagio managed to get her hand free from Rainbow's clasp and turned to leave.

Rainbow's hand twitched and she could feel a tear fall as Adagio walked out of the room. Her stomach churned with feelings of sadness. But, to be honest, she wasn't exactly sure why…

"Rainbow… this is important," her dad said, taking Adagio's chair. "You need to think. Is there anything you remember about the accident? Anything at all? We need to get it written down so we can take it to the family lawyer."

Rainbow's forehead creased and slowly wiped the tears from her eyes, before looking up at her. "There… there isn't much to say. I was riding my bike, thinking deeply to myself. Most likely not… not watching where I was going. Then… then I heard shouting, and the sound of a horn beeping. I barely had time to work out what was going on before I… could see nothing but darkness." Rainbow closed her eyes tightly and blinked, squeezing out yet another tear.

Rainbow Blitz shook his head. "No, this won't do. Not watching? You'll need to leave that part out of your story. Can you remember any licence plates? Car makes and colours? Anything is useful."

Rainbow simply shook her head. What did he think? She wasn't watching, and that's what happened. Why was it so important that she had to have seen something?

"Well, I'm glad to see you're recovering. Just… don't rush yourself to feel better too quickly. This was a serious accident, and we need for it to seem serious to anybody in a position to… errr… punish those responsible. So don't go recovering too quickly, Rainbow." He stood up. "Anyway, now I know you're okay, I should go talk with our lawyer. I'll see that we're… I mean you're fully compensated for this."

Rainbow Blitz walked towards the door. "Should I send…" — he struggled to remember the name — "your friend back in?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yes, please." She frowned lightly at her father's actions, but didn't say anything.

Rainbow Blitz left the room and almost tripped over Adagio's legs. She had been waiting on the seats outside, legs crossed and outstretched.

"You… errr… friend… she'd like to see you again. Keep an eye on her for me, will you? I have some important things to do." Blitz strode off down the corridor.

Adagio hesitantly pushed open the door and walked over to Rainbow's bed.

Rainbow smiled when she saw Adagio and very carefully sat up against the pillows. She winced slightly, but decided it was worth it.

Adagio sat back in the seat she'd vacated earlier. She was glad to see Rainbow able to sit up a little. She was clearly improving quickly. She took one of Rainbow's hands in both of hers. "How are you feeling, Rainbow?" she asked. "I came here as soon as I heard about your accident."

"Fine, I guess… I don't know," Rainbow said. "I'm sorry this had to happen…"

"What are you apologizing to me for? It's not like you asked for this to happen."

"Well, no, but…" Rainbow sighed, "it was my fault. I'm the one to blame. I mean, sure, it's not like I knew the car was going to be there, but… I wasn't paying attention. I swerved out into the middle of the road and I caused it. If I was just—"

"Don't blame yourself, Rainbow. You were the only one that got hurt anyway. On the news, they said… it doesn't matter. Nobody else got hurt." Adagio clasped Rainbow's hand.

Despite Rainbow obviously still being in pain, and distress, Adagio felt happy. If you'd asked her the day before about whether she'd be happy in a situation like this, she would have replied, "obviously!" Her rival, lying in hospital, in pain… what could be better? But now she was happy for a different reason. She'd thought she was going to lose Rainbow, but that wasn't going to happen…

Adagio smiled and stroked the back of Rainbow's hand. "You're going to be okay, Rainbow."

"That's a relief, at least," Rainbow said, smiling, before letting out an unwanted yawn.

Adagio's stomach grumbled. "I'm hungry," she announced. "Hey Rainbow, when was the last time you ate? We only had coffee back at mine, and we didn't eat anything at the Wonderbolts show. Do you want me to find that doctor and find out if you're allowed to eat?"

"Well, I don't feel hungry, but it might be good. It has been a while," Rainbow said.

Adagio let go of Rainbow's hand. "I'll be back in a few minutes.”

She walked out of the room and headed back to the main area of the ward. She caught sight of a familiar face. "Dr Spark!" she called.

Dr Spark approached. "You're… Ms Dash, right?"

"No, I'm her fr—" Adagio remembered her cover story of being Rainbow's sister. "Yes, I'm Ms Dash… but please, call me Adagio."

"Adagio Dash… lovely name," Dr Spark started, and Adagio thought it did have a nice ring to it. "What is it that I can do for you?"

"I was wondering… is Rainbow allowed to eat? I know sometimes patients are not supposed to."

"That's mostly before surgery," the doctor assured her. "Now that Rainbow seems to be recovering, we don't anticipate her needing any surgery."

"So she can eat?" Adagio asked.

The doctor nodded. "The hospital canteen does takeaway food," he added.

Adagio hurried in the direction he'd gestured, and soon returned to Rainbow's room with a selection of sandwiches — more than the two of them could possibly eat, but she hadn't know what would be Rainbow's favourites, so she just got a wide variety — along with a few chocolate bars and a bottles of fruit juice.

She laid them out on the table at the side of Rainbow's bed. "Take your pick," she said, smiling.

"Sweet! Thanks a lot!" Rainbow said, looking through the pile of plastic-wrapped sandwiches. She pulled a ham and cheese one, unwrapped it, and took a bite.

Adagio unwrapped the tuna mayo sandwich. After all these years in a human body, she'd still never lost the taste for fish. She started eating hers.

Sandwich after sandwich, Rainbow ate, occasionally stopping to have a chocolate bar and a drink. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. Eventually, she put down an unfinished sandwich and let out another yawn.

"You're tired. You need to get some sleep. Do you want me to go?" Adagio asked.

Rainbow shook her head. "Stay with me until I fall asleep please?" she pleaded.

"Of course," Adagio said. She looked around. There was nobody else in the room. "Would you like me to… sing to you?"

Rainbow nodded, smiling as she lay back down.

Adagio tried to think of a song she knew that wasn't about trying to manipulate people's minds. The only one that popped into her head was a lullaby from her native land. She stroked Rainbow's hair singing, "hush now, quiet now, it's time to rest your sleepy head…"

Rainbow closed her eyes and very gently and slowly drifted off to the sleep; the sweet sound of Adagio's voice still resonated in her mind.

Adagio waited until Rainbow had been asleep for a good five minutes before leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. At the last moment she changed her mind and kissed Rainbow softly on the lips.

She turned and quietly left the room to prepare some things for when Rainbow woke up.

Rainbow stirred lightly before opening her eyes and sitting up in the bed. She let out a morning yawn and blinked a couple of times.

Adagio had put up a couple of Wonderbolts posters on the wall near Rainbow's bed. There was a vase of fresh cut flowers on the table, and an orange pony plushy wearing a hat at the foot of the bed.

Adagio herself was in the arm chair, slumped over, and snoring quietly.

Rainbow looked around happily. "Sweet! This feels just like home." Her eyes rested on Adagio and she smiled. "Thanks," she said to the sleeping girl, the picked up the plushie at the end of the bed, squeezing it.

Dr Spark walked into the room to see Rainbow Dash sitting up in bed. "I'm glad to see you're looking a lot better. Nurse Redheart has been checking on you overnight, and she's told me that your recovery is unlike anything she's ever seen before. If it's okay, I'd like to check your vital signs now. And we'll get you an appointment with a physiotherapist this afternoon to see what they think is the next step in your treatment."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Alright. Uh, will I be alright to go to school tomorrow?" she asked.

Dr Spark frowned. "I wouldn't have thought so. You've still been in a major accident. We don't even know if you can walk yet."

Adagio became aware of voices nearby and began to stir.

Rainbow sighed. "Alright. Well, um, I can call my friends… right?"

"Of course," he answered, "though we don't like people using mobile phones on the wards. It can interfere with the equipment."

Adagio opened her eyes.

Dr Spark continued, "there is a payphone out in the ward. I can get a nurse to take you there, if you like."

Rainbow nodded. "Yes please."

Adagio became aware of her surroundings just as Dr Spark was leaving. She wiped a little drool from her chin. "Rainbow, you're awake! I was… I was trying to stay awake for you but, I guess I must have dozed off. Was that the doctor you were talking to?"

Rainbow nodded again. "Yeah." She grinned. "Thanks a lot for all of this by the way!"

Adagio yawned. "No problem. Your dad let me into your house to pick up some things. I got you a change of clothes and stuff too… it's in the drawer. I don't know if they'll let you change out of your hospital gown thing though."

At that point the nurse arrived, pushing a wheelchair.

"Thanks," Rainbow said, then looked to her right and let out another small sigh. "As expected. I didn't think it was that bad. I can't even feel any pain."

"Well," said Nurse Redheart. "You're still using the wheelchair until you've been seen by a physiotherapist. Hospital policy."

Adagio helped Rainbow get into the chair, and the nurse wheeled her out into the ward, with Adagio following not far behind.

Rainbow leaned forward, head resting on her hands.

They arrived at the phone.

"Do you want me to leave? Give you some privacy?" Adagio asked.

Rainbow nodded. "That would be best for now," she said, and waited as Adagio left. She quickly grabbed the phone off the wall and dialled Applejack's number, which she knew by heart.

Adagio went to talk to the doctors to find out when Rainbow's appointment was with the physiotherapist. They were still under the impression that she was Rainbow's sister, so told her everything she needed to know… it would be at 11am.

Applejack picked up the phone. "Hello? Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack speaking. How can I help you?"

"Hey, Applejack," Rainbow said, half-smiling. "It's me, Rainbow Dash."

"Hey, Rainbow, haven't heard from you all weekend. How was the show? More interestingly… how was Cloudy?" Applejack said, her smirk almost audible.

"Uh, yeah, about that… well, it's a long story…" Rainbow stopped and thought for a minute. "Cloudy didn't show up. Instead, I ended up going with Adagio, who somehow found out about it. I just decided to get it over and done with, but… things happened and… I went over to Adagio's place for a bit. On the way home… well… I, um… crashed and ended up in hospital." Rainbow bit her lip.

Applejack thought for a moment. "Adagio?! I… well, that's a surprise. But you're okay, I take it? Do you need anything? I can pop by your house and pick you up a change of clothes."

"No, it's okay, Adagio did that too." Rainbow looked down. "You see, um… we kinda, uh… well, we…" She struggled to let out the truth.

Applejack listened to Rainbow over the phone. "Rainbow, is there something you're not telling me?"

Rainbow bit harder down on her lip, her cheeks burning. "U–uh, well, it's…" She grunted in frustration and gripped the ends of her hair. "Ah! At the Wonderbolts we kissed and now I love—" Rainbow quickly placed her free hand over her mouth.

"You what?!" Applejack almost exploded. "You kissed that evil… demon… thing?!" She started pacing back and forth. "I… there's only one logical explanation… she must have somehow regained her powers… gotten you in some kind of trance…" She continued rambling.

Rainbow's mood suddenly changed from embarrassed to angry. "That's it? That's all you have to say?! I'll tell you this: I'm not under any damn spell! And Adagio isn't an evil demon thing! She's a human being just like all of us! You gave Sunset a chance! In fact, you were the one who taught me to give people second chances! What is so different about Adagio? I can tell you about Adagio; she's changed. She's more caring and she's nicer than YOU!" Rainbow yelled, slamming the phone down. After a few seconds of glaring at the phone, she gasped. "I–I…" She sniffed. "I…"

Applejack shook the phone and held it to her ear again. She tapped the screen, and listened again. "Guess she must've hung up…" She sighed. She had only been trying to be honest.

Adagio watched as Rainbow got more and more worked up and finally slammed the phone down. She could see Rainbow was upset but didn't know whether to try to comfort her. Still, there was nobody else around for Rainbow to talk to, so she supposed it would have to be her. She walked back to Rainbow and put her hand on her shoulder.

Rainbow turned around to face Adagio, tears forming in her eyes. She shook her head and hugged her, crying.

Adagio hugged Rainbow tightly. "What's happened?" she asked, not knowing why she was so upset.

"I–I… didn't mean to… yell… she probably hates me now… I just felt so angry all of a sudden, but I'm sorry… and…" Rainbow trailed off, still crying into Adagio's chest.

"Who? Who hates… you know what? It doesn't matter." Adagio wasn't quite sure how to deal with people getting emotional like this. "Should we… should I take you back to your room?"

Rainbow nodded, and sniffed again, moving away as she leaned back against the wheelchair. "I'm sorry…"

Adagio wheeled her back to her room, on the way noting the time on the clock. It was only about thirty minutes before Rainbow's appointment with the physiotherapist.

Back in the room, she helped Rainbow back into bed, blushing slightly when Rainbow's gown rode up her thighs and she almost got a glimpse of her behind. She pulled the covers over Rainbow and found a leftover unopened bottle of juice. "Thirsty?" she asked.

Rainbow shook her head. "Nah," she said simply.

"Must just be me then." Adagio opened the orange juice, and took a gulp.

Rainbow shrugged and looked up at the clock.


+


Adagio watched as Rainbow met with the physiotherapist. In her office, Rainbow practiced walking back and forth, holding onto a freestanding railing, with the physiotherapist taking notes.

"Rainbow, your recovery has been remarkable. I'm going to recommend a pair of crutches for you, but we should be able to discharge you from hospital this afternoon, provided your main doctor is happy with that."

"I hope so," Rainbow said. "Sitting around in the hospital all this time has been driving me crazy!" she said, before stumbling lightly, gripping onto the rail with her other hand. "Though, I think I'll take you up on that crutches thing."

The physiotherapist gave Rainbow Dash the crutches and Adagio led her back to the room, opening doors for her.

After Rainbow was back in bed, sitting up and eating grapes, Dr Spark came into the room. "So, how's my miracle patient feeling now?"

"Great!" Rainbow replied, grinning. "Well, better, anyway." She said, popping another grape into her mouth.

Dr Spark looked at his notes. "Well, I've just been reading over the notes from your physio, and she seems to think you're okay to go home now. Your head injury seems to have healed nicely. We could keep you in another night, but if you feel okay to go home, we can discharge you this afternoon."

"As soon as possible! I don't know how much longer I can stand it in here." Rainbow said.

"Okay, I'll send the nurse in with the paperwork," Dr Spark said, leaving the room.

Adagio turned to Rainbow. "Are you sure you want to go home straight away? You heard what he said… you could stay here another night."

"Definitely sure!" Rainbow said. "Why would I want to stay another night?" she asked.

"How are you going to get home? Should we call your dad, or… I still have Sonata's car in the car park?" Adagio offered.

"Either way. It would be better to get yours home then to call another in," Rainbow said, eating another grape. She quickly swallowed. "Wait… Sonata's car?"

"Well… she's officially the driver of the three of us. It's all because—"

Adagio was interrupted by Nurse Redheart arriving. "Ms Dash, I hear you'll be leaving us. I have these forms for you to fill in." She deposited them in front of Rainbow and offered a pen.

"Sure!" Rainbow took the pen and started writing, looking up at Adagio for a bit. "Uh, you were saying?"

"It's umm…" — Adagio looked at the nurse — "never mind. I can tell you later."

"Oh, okay." Rainbow said and continued writing.

Once Rainbow had completed the form, Nurse Redheart took the papers and left.

"You should probably change out of that hospital gown," Adagio suggested. She turned to face the other direction to give Rainbow some privacy.

Rainbow nodded and stood up, pulling off her gown as she reached for her clothes.

Adagio rambled over her shoulder. "Anyway, the thing with the car. Yeah, I was kinda banned from driving about thirty years ago. I'm a perfectly safe driver, it's just there was this whole incident with the officer and the goat and the bridge… you don't really want to know." Adagio didn't peek.

"Uh… yeah, you may be right," Rainbow said, sitting down to pull up her pants. "Ow!" She winced as the fabric rubbed past her scratches. "I probably should've chosen the skirt."

"Sorry, when I chose the clothes, I wasn't really thinking about that. I just choose the kind of stuff you usually wear," Adagio said, still not peeking.

"It's fine," Rainbow said, pulling on her shirt. "Okay, done."

Adagio turned around. It was good to see Rainbow looking kind of back to her old self again. She passed the girl her crutches. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Rainbow nodded, holding the crutches close to her as she hopped along after Adagio. "Ugh. So slow."

Adagio held the front door of the hospital open for Rainbow, standing to the side to let her through. "Don't worry. I'm an immortal being. I'm never in any hurry," she joked.

"Oh yeah." Rainbow said, forcing a laugh. Inside, however, her heart sank. An immortal being… she will live on forever… while… I… Rainbow thought, looking down as she walked.

Adagio led the way to Sonata's car. She opened the door for Rainbow Dash and helped her inside, before closing the door, stowing the crutches in the boot, and dashing round to the driver's side to climb in. "Where to, then? Your place?" she asked.

"Actually…" Rainbow knotted her fingers together. "Can we go back to your place for a little bit? I… don't want to go home just yet. I'm sure my dad will understand," Rainbow said, emphasizing 'dad' in quite an annoyed tone.

"I… was that… ?" — Adagio wondered how best to ask if that's who she'd been arguing with on the phone, but decided it was best to let it go — she didn't want to interfere.

"Yeah, sure," she said, and turned the key in the ignition, sparking the engine to life. "I can treat you to another of my perfectly made coffees."

Rainbow grinned, lighting up. "Sweet!" she said.

As she drove, Adagio tried to take Rainbow's mind off the accident. "So, how are things going at school now? I've heard via the grapevine that you're preparing for some kind of contest against Crystal Prep."

"Yeah," Rainbow said. "It's pretty intense, since we're really serious on winning! But, uh… I guess I can't ride motorbikes with crutches. And this had to happen after my song too…"

"What so— nevermind."

Adagio turned a corner onto the main street, driving past the scene of Rainbow's accident. There were skid marks visible on the road.

Rainbow peered out the window, her eyes widening slightly. She gulped. "I hope that never happens again. I may have been out, but for a split second I knew I was absolutely terrified when I came back to my senses while riding."

"They say that if you fall off your horse… errr… bike, then the best thing to do is get straight back on," Adagio said, trying to comfort her. "Of course, that would be if you still had a bike to get back onto. I imagine it got pretty wrecked."

She rounded the next corner, going past the school.

"Oh… yeah…" Rainbow said sadly. "And it was new too." She shook her head and turned away from the window, half smiling. "Thanks, Adagio."

Adagio took the second left after the school, turning onto her street, and soon pulled up in the driveway outside the house. She hopped out of the car, retrieved Rainbow's crutches from the boot, and then helped Rainbow out of her side.

"Here we are then… home sweet home… I wonder if Sonata and Aria are back yet."

"Probably. It's been a while," Rainbow said, heading up the path. "Imagine the looks on their faces when they see me, with you," she added, laughing a little.

Adagio pushed open the door to the house to see Aria and Sonata's overnight bags sitting in the hall. They'd obviously returned recently. She pushed them out of the way to make room for Rainbow.

Turning to her right, she saw them both in the kitchen, standing by the oven and looking tense — obviously the sound of an opening door had interrupted an argument. A smell of fresh tacos wafted out from the room.

Aria turned to face the new arrivals. "Well, look what the cat dragged in!"
> Three Tacos Each
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sonata gasped. "What happened?"

Rainbow blinked. "Oh, uh, it's—"

"Adagio, have you lost your mind?" Sonata asked, tilting her head. She turned to Rainbow. "Oh, were you saying something?"

Rainbow Dash waved a hand. "Never mind. Look, it's a long story. A really long story."

Aria spoke about Rainbow as if she weren't even in the room. "What is it doing here, Dagi?"

"Don't speak about her like that," Adagio snapped. "She's had an accident, and she needed my help. Let's just leave it at that."

"Oh...okay." Sonata looked up at the time. "Ah crap! We're gonna be late!" she said, picking up the bags. 

"Didn't you guys just get here?" Rainbow asked, confused.

"Oh no, we arrived a while ago! We were actually wondering where Adagio was that whole time. But now we have to go again," Sonata explained simply, walking out the door.

Aria chased after her. "Sonata, you idiot!" she shouted, snatching up a sports bag as she ran out of the door. "You forgot the gas torch, drill, and Hillary Clinton masks!"

Adagio turned to Rainbow. "I don't think I even want to know."

Rainbow shrugged. "Me neither." She hopped over and sat down on the couch.

"So, do you want that coffee now, or maybe something to eat?" She walked into the kitchen and turned the oven off. Peering through the window in the oven door, she said, "those idiots would have burnt the house down! But it looks like we've got free tacos if you're hungry."

Rainbow breathed in the smell. "Well, they did a good job. I'll take both!" She grinned.

Adagio left the tacos in the oven to keep warm while she busied herself making coffee. "You're lucky. This means you won't have to taste my terrible cooking. Sonata's quite the chef — she trained under Auguste Escoffier."

She soon returned to the living room carrying a tray with two coffee mugs and two plates of tacos — three taco shells each.

"I'm surprised Sonata's the one who does everything around here. She seemed like such an airhead at school. Never expected to see her driving, cooking or dealing with money. I just saw her… well, being silly all the time," Rainbow said as she moved forward on the couch to eat.

Adagio sat down. "Oh, she is. There's just a handful of things she can do really, really well. An idiot savant, if you like."

"I see," Rainbow said and took a bite of the tacos.

Adagio took a sip of her coffee. "So you're planning on going straight back to school tomorrow as if nothing's happened? Not going to use your accident as an excuse for some time off?"

Rainbow shook her head, swallowing. "I'd rather go back to school. I mean, it'll be tiring and boring as usual, but it's better than sitting around all day. I mean, it's not like I'll be doing much else at home," she said.

"And I suppose then you get to be with your friends." Adagio took a bite of taco.

"Oh yeah. There's that… too," Rainbow said, picking up her coffee.

"Is… is something wrong?" Adagio pressed.

"Uh, nope! Everything's fine!" Rainbow said quickly, drinking her coffee to try to avoid the subject. "This is seriously really good! I wouldn't be able to make anything as good as this, haha!" She laughed awkwardly.

Adagio turned back to her food and looked at her out of the corner of her eye. She decided to drop the matter… for now. "If you'd had as much practice at making tacos as our little princess has, you sure would."

Adagio exhaled sharply. "Sheesh! I still remember when she first discovered tacos. For the next few months, she made absolutely horrible tacos. The tacos you're eating are the result of literally DECADES of practice. I'm surprised she hasn't gotten bored of them."

"Um, that's Sonata?" Rainbow said. "Seems like it, anyway."

"But… ummm… you know… she's one of my best friends. We go back so long… we got back forever. You can't let petty things like bad tacos come between you." Adagio finished the taco.

Rainbow stopped drinking and put down her coffee. Can't let petty things like bad tacos come between you… that sounds like a saying. If that's so, then what happened at the hospital on the phone… was that like a bad taco too? She sighed. Probably not, she thought, the whole time staring ahead at the wall.

Adagio started her last taco, this one containing chicken or something that looked chickeny, and watched Rainbow's reaction. Yes, that phone call at the hospital must definitely have been an argument with one of her friends, and not her father as she'd earlier assumed.

"You know," she said, taking a sip of coffee, "you could stay overnight here." She blushed at the implication. "I mean, we have a spare room you could stay in. I could take you to school in the morning." And watch how you are with your friends.

Rainbow shook out of her thoughts and looked at Adagio. "Huh? Stay here? Oh, sure! Sounds great!"

Adagio thought for a moment. "But you don't have another change of clothes." She assessed Rainbow for a few seconds. "You'd probably fit into some of Aria's things. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Well… she would, but when have I ever cared what she thought? You might be a little… bigger… on top, but we'll squeeze you into something."

"Okay," Rainbow said, finishing her meal, "sounds great!" She grinned and leaned back against the couch. "Thanks a lot."

Adagio finished the last of her coffee. "So there's still a bit of time before then. What would you like to do? Anything you want to talk about?"

"I don't really have anything to say. Well, I think." Rainbow sighed. "When you left the room, my dad was talking about what happened with me, but he really only wanted to know so he could sue someone, I could tell. I didn't say anything, but who knows, he's probably trying to get the car driver arrested or something…"

"That sucks," Adagio muttered. "You know, where I come from… my kind… it's actually the male that gives birth. Doesn't mean they give a damn what happens afterwards."

"Really?" Rainbow said, and thought about it. "That might as well be what happened to me. My mom left the moment I was born, and I haven't seen her since," she said simply. "Well… who were your parents?"

"I don't know. Never knew them. Something Sonata and Aria have in common with me. That's sad about your mother though. Ever tried tracking her down?"

"Like I can. I don't know her name, or what she looks like… dad never says anything. When I was young, he just told me she left. Never why… never showed me anything either. I have no idea. If there was a way, I would. But I have a feeling mum doesn't want me to, anyway," Rainbow said.

Adagio sighed. "Well, I suppose there's nothing you could do then."

Adagio picked up the plates and cups and took them to the kitchen, depositing them and returning to her guest. "So I suppose with your mother gone, and your father… like that, that's why you fixated on the Wonderbolts. I mean… sorry if I seem to be psychoanalysing you."

"It's fine. And yeah, that's pretty much it. I mean, my dad helped… a lot. He quit smoking and drinking when I was born, and spent all his time looking after me. I guess that's why I understand the suing… he's just trying to protect me, to the point of not even thinking straight. I overreacted a little… without realising what he must have been going through. But now, things are different. I'm growing up. Heck, I can even ride my own motorcycle! But I feel like… like I'm not ready. To go out into the world, I mean. Or, at least I did feel like that. Then you came, and… yeah. You get the idea." Rainbow blushed. "But honestly, I feel like… I'm starting to rethink my dream of becoming a Wonderbolt."

"Well, that seems good of him, I suppose." Adagio sat down next to Rainbow on the couch. "I know what that's like… having to rethink your plans. After you…" Adagio paused. "After our plans had to be… abandoned, after the battle of the bands, we had to come up with a new idea. That was why I was so keen to see the Wonderbolts you see? There were these rumours of three magical amulets. They wouldn't restore our powers, but they might help us… get back home." She leaned back. "But now I don't even know about that. Maybe there's a chance for something new in this world. Something meaningful?"

"There's always a chance for something meaningful," Rainbow said with a smile. "Goddammit that sounds sappy." She bit her lip. "Uh, what I meant was…" She looked away and blushed. "I–I love you, Adagio, and I want to be with you...forever."

"I…" Adagio was lost for words. She wanted this so much, but after last time, after Joan, she didn't know if she could stand to have her heart broken another time. She jumped to her feet. "I… I should get your room ready." She ran out of the room and up the stairs to her own room, where she closed the door, leaned against it and slumped down to the floor, burying her face in her hands, not happy, nor sad, just shocked and confused.

"God… goddamit!" Rainbow yelled, pulling the ends of her hair. She resisted destroying the lounge room, since this wasn't her house. Instead, she resorted to yelling at herself. What kind of move was that?! I'm an idiot! No matter what I do, I always push people away! Maybe I should just give up on it all together, be alone forever!

After a few minutes, Adagio picked herself up and thought it best to carry out her promise. She went to the bathroom and opened the linen closet, taking out satin sheets and pillowcases, before going to prepare the rarely used guest room for Rainbow Dash… if Rainbow even still wanted to stay following her performance.

Rainbow sighed and sat back down on the couch. She placed her hands on her head and continued thinking. Now what…? I’ve ruined everything…

Adagio descended the stairs and saw that Rainbow was still on the couch. Good… she hadn't completely blown it. "Rainbow, should I… um… should I show you your room?"

Rainbow looked up. "Uh, sure," she said, part of her hoping that this whole thing would just blow away, but… she still wanted to be with her.

Adagio stood on the bottom step and gestured for Rainbow to come upstairs. Rainbow trailed after her, holding onto the rail as she walked up the stairs. Adagio stood on the landing and pointed towards the door. She took a sharp intake of breath when Rainbow brushed past her, her heart beating faster at just that small amount of contact. Rainbow bit her lip and opened the door, walking inside. 

"It's great. Thanks," she said simply. "I–I mean, uh, it really is! Yeah. Don't listen to me."

"You need to get settled in… do you… do you want me to go?"

"I… I don't mind, really…" Rainbow said awkwardly, as she sat down on the bed, placing her crutches on the ground. "Your choice. Oh, can I have a shower…?" she started to ask, but then looked down at her legs, the crutches and Adagio and turned bright red. Fuck…

"Yeah, sure," Adagio answered. "Do you think a bath might be easier, in your condition?"

"You have a bath? Really?" Rainbow said excitedly. "Oh, uh, sure. Yeah, it would."

"Of course," Adagio said. "The bathroom's just across the hall." She bent down to retrieve Rainbow's crutches and passed them to her. "I'll show you."

Rainbow nodded and followed her down the hall. Adagio pushed open a door, revealing a large bathroom with a white tiled floor. The frosted window was open a crack, letting a slight breeze in which caused soft white the curtains to flutter. There was a bath in the corner, along with all the other usual amenities. Adagio stood in the doorway and bit her lip, waiting for Rainbow to brush past her again.

Rainbow walked in and looked around. "It's really nice!" She leaned her crutches against the bathroom sink, figuring she'd be alright in here, since there was a lot of stuff to lean on.

"Do you want me to run the bath for you? Or should I just leave you to it?" Adagio asked.

"I think I might need your help, actually," Rainbow said. "Just for the bath, I'll be fine afterwards."

"Okay," Adagio answered, walking over to the bath. She put the plug in and turned on both taps. She went to the bathroom cabinet and got out a bottle of shower-gel and some shampoo, putting them on the side of the bath while the water ran.

Rainbow turned around and watched. "Wow. It looks really inviting. Thanks a lot."

"Is there anything else?"

"No thanks, I'm good. Uh, but I'll need something to change into after…" Rainbow said. "Then I'll be good."

"I'll go and get you something then," Adagio offered, and left to go to Aria's room.

"Thanks." Rainbow said, taking off her shirt when Adagio left. She turned to the mirror and looked at her figure, like she normally did. Nope. No growth in these breasts. Goddammit.

Adagio returned carrying a change of clothes. She pushed open the bathroom door and was surprised to see Rainbow topless. For a moment, she stood there, jaw hanging open, admiring Rainbow's muscular but still feminine chest and arms. "I… umm… here are the clothes," she said, looking away, her cheeks turning the same colour as Pinkie Pie's hair.

Rainbow's face turned bright red and she turned away. "Uh, thanks," she said quickly.

Adagio left the bathroom feeling flustered. She closed the door behind her and rushed to her room, flopping down in bed.

Rainbow bit her lip and finished undressing, getting into the bath. She gasped lightly at the feel of the warm water against the skin. It was nothing like a shower; it was much more relaxing. Adagio was right, this was better. If her crutches weren't sitting on the sink next to her, Rainbow would have said she felt totally fine.

Adagio thought about Rainbow in the bath. She was so tempted to sneak back. Just a little peek wouldn't hurt, would it? No, Rainbow would never forgive her.

Rainbow moved her legs closer to the body to get a better look at the length of the bath. Honestly, it was big enough for two… her face again turned red as the image popped into her mind. "Oh God… there must be something wrong with me."

Rainbow’s hands began to wander over her body. By the time she finally climbed out of the bath and steadied herself on her crutches, she wasn’t sure she felt any cleaner, but certainly felt a lot less stressed.

Adagio meanwhile, had decided to destress as well. Wiping her hands afterwards and buckling her belt, she looked up and caught the sight of Rainbow Dash standing in the doorway. Her jaw dropped open and she fumbled for words. "I… uh… Rainbow… I didn't… I didn't expect you to be out of the bath so soon."

Rainbow gripped the back of her towel tightly and looked down. "Nice to know I wasn't the only one who got off…" she said, blushing deeply again. "Well, I'm not really sure I'm finished. I wonder how long I'm going to have to stand here on my sore legs before you get the memo," she said; pretty straightforward for someone like her. But then again, her legs hurt. A lot.

Adagio was surprised by what she'd just heard. "I just… I…" She quickly stood up, helping Rainbow onto the bed.

Rainbow sighed and looked down. "Sorry. I didn't mean to." She apologized, but wasn't really sure if she meant it. She wanted the images to come out of her head, but not drift away. No, she wanted them to become a reality. The blush on her face deepened. "Adagio…" she accidentally said out loud.

Adagio didn't know what else to do — she leaned over Rainbow and kissed her on the lips. Slowly and gently, but backed with a real feeling of love and passion. Her hand ran down Rainbow's wet hair, and caressed her shoulder.

Rainbow placed her hand up on the back of Adagio's neck, returning the kiss. Her stomach had a nervous feeling, but every time it came, it quickly disappeared with the feeling of the siren's soft, sweet lips once again pressed against her own. Even if nothing came after this night, she wanted everything from this night. Besides; what happened in here, stayed in here.


+


An hour later, Adagio put her arm around Rainbow and snuggled into the valley between her head and shoulder. "You must be tired," she whispered. "Why don't we forget about the guest room. You can sleep in here with me."

The two girls drifted off to sleep.
> Four Pancakes For Breakfast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adagio slid a fourth pancake onto the stack on the plate, and put the plate on the tray, before switching off the stove. She put a bottle of maple syrup on the tray too, and the mug of coffee she'd just prepared and carefully started carrying it up the stairs. Going up and down the stairs would be hard on Rainbow's legs, so she thought breakfast in bed might be a nice treat.

As she climbed the stairs, she briefly wondered where the hell her two idiot housemates had gone, but reflected that for now, it might be better they stayed away. All thoughts of Aria and Sonata evaporated when she pushed open the bedroom door to see a naked Rainbow Dash sleeping in her bed. The sheets were only half covering her, leaving a buttock and one of Rainbow's gloriously firm (but injured) legs. Rainbow was breathing heavily, not quite a snore, and a small rivulet of dribble had run down her cheek, which on anybody else Adagio would find disgusting, but on Rainbow she found rather endearing. She sat beside her on the bed, and gently shook her by the shoulder to wake her.

Rainbow stirred lightly and blinked her eyes open. Normally, she would've objected getting up, but the smell of pancakes hit her long before anything else, and she quickly sat up, wiping the drool off her chin.

"Mornin'," she said, yawning a little. "They look delicious!"

"Good morning, beautiful. They should be. I followed a recipe and everything," Adagio said, actually rather proud of herself. She put the tray down on Rainbow's lap.

Rainbow moved around a bit to get comfortable, then picked up the knife and fork and cut herself a piece dripping with golden syrup. She placed it in her mouth and nodded as she chewed.

"Ish is really goo'!" she said with her mouth full.

Adagio sat down on the bed beside Rainbow. "I'm glad. I tested a couple downstairs, but I tend not to really eat breakfast. It… doesn't satisfy the kind of hunger we sirens have." She kissed the top of Rainbow's head.

Rainbow nodded and continued eating, thinking to herself. The Wonderbolts pendants… I wonder if they actually would've worked…

"Eat up," Adagio said, looking at the alarm clock. "We need to get you dressed and ready for school. Assuming you still want to go, that is. There's a blizzard forecast later today, so I insist on dropping you off and picking you up in the car."

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, I do. But the car sounds good, thanks," she said, eating a little faster.

"Say, have you even told your dad you've been discharged from hospital?" Adagio asked, detecting a plot hole.

Rainbow shook her head. "No… I haven't actually. But, um, he'll find out anyway."

"Won't he be worried about where you've been?"

Rainbow shrugged and popped the last piece in her mouth. Of course he will. Worried that he won't get his— okay, stop. "Yeah, I'll call him later," she said, moving the tray off her legs.

"Okay, just make sure you do. I don't want him thinking I've kidnapped you or something," Adagio chuckled.

She took the tray from Rainbow. "Those clothes of Aria's are probably still in the bathroom. I'll go and fetch them for you," she said, heading towards the door.

"Thanks," Rainbow said, smiling a little.

Adagio took the tray out of the room and carried it downstairs. She put it on the kitchen counter then hurried up to the bathroom to fetch the clothes as promised. Returning to the room, she asked Rainbow, "do you need any help getting them on, or are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," she said truthfully, holding them up. "I never really got a good look at these. Aria has good taste in clothing!" Rainbow said as she pulled on the pants.

"Well, purple looks good on anyone," Adagio mused. She busied herself making the bed.

Rainbow finished dressing and looked at the time. "Just in time!" She stood up and looked around. "Oh yeah. My crutches are still against the bathroom sink, heh."

"Don't worry, I'll get them for you," Adagio offered, walking out of the room and across to the bathroom. She picked up the crutches, as well as Rainbow Dash's clothes from the day before and returned to her room. She gave Rainbow the crutches and put the dirty clothes in the washing basket.

"Thanks again." Rainbow took them and walked towards the door. "Okay, all ready!"

Adagio led Rainbow downstairs. She grabbed her keys off the small side table beside the front door and opened it for Rainbow, standing to the side of the door.

Rainbow walked outside, brushing past Adagio yet again as she made her way towards the car.
As Rainbow brushed past Adagio the memories of last night flooded back vividly. She blushed, but turned away to hide it, busying herself with closing the door and making sure it was properly locked. She led the way down to the car, opening the passenger door for Rainbow.

Rainbow removed her crutches from under her arms and leaned forward to slide them in the back of the car before sitting inside.

Adagio put the crutches in the boot of the car, and went around to the driver's seat, letting herself in. She checked the rearview mirror and reversed out of the driveway.

Rainbow once again stared out the window as the car raced down the streets. Thoughts about last night flooded into her mind and she blushed slightly. No, it wasn't a dream, it was all real. And now she was heading off to school, and she certainly wasn't looking forward to facing Applejack. But she had to do it anyway.

Minutes later, Adagio pulled up in front of the school. She helped Rainbow out of the car and gave her her crutches. Snow had begun to fall, and a few snowflakes settled in Rainbow's hair.

Adagio stood in front of Rainbow awkwardly for a few moments, not knowing whether to shake her hand, pat her back, or kiss her with tongues. She settled on giving her a friendly kiss on the cheek. "I'll pick you up again at 3.30, right?" she checked.

Rainbow nodded. "See ya!" she said cheerfully, walking off down the path. 

Applejack pulled her coat around her tighter and picked up the pace, trying to get to school and out of this cold. This unseasonably bad weather would play havoc on their next harvest.

Up ahead she saw a car pull up — an unfamiliar one — with a very familiar person stepping out. She stopped in the street and watched as Adagio and Rainbow spoke for a moment and Adagio kissed Rainbow.

Once she saw Adagio pull away in the car, Applejack hurried to catch up with Rainbow Dash, which was much easier than usual as the latter was walking with crutches. "Hey, Rainbow! Was that Adagio I saw you with again?!"

Rainbow gripped her crutches tightly as she walked. "Yes. Yes, it was." Problem?

Applejack followed a pace or two behind Rainbow. "I'm… I'm sorry about yesterday… on the phone… ranting at you like that. But you can't have forgotten what they were like when they came to this school? What they tried to do?"

"But you can't have forgotten what Sunset was like when she came to this school? What she tried to do?" Rainbow sighed. "You can say whatever you want, Applejack, but I'm not going to listen," she said simply, walking up the steps to the door.

Applejack helped her with the door. "But Sunset apologized. She tried to make good on her past mistakes. Sunset's…" — Applejack tried to search for the right word… special? better? sexy? — "Sunset's different."

"Because it was easier for her!" Rainbow snapped. "Sure, she had to get on friendly terms with the whole school, but she was pretty much accepted into our group the night of the fall formal. She got glares from other students, but at least she had you guys to help her. But since you guys clearly won't give Adagio a chance — apology or not — she's never going to learn about the magic of friendship or anything that Sunset Shimmer did! Sometimes, the good guys have to show a little kindness first. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a class to get to," Rainbow said, walking inside.

Pinkie blinked; suddenly her and the rest of the group were standing behind Applejack. "Wow. Intense," she said.

Applejack shrugged and looked around at the rest of the girls. "You guys see the difference, don't you? Adagio is… she's irredeemable. Isn’t she?"

Pinkie shrugged as well. "Sonata's nice! I have her phone number!" 

"Is she? Rainbow does have a point, darling. I mean, you may think she's irredeemable, but Rainbow does not," Rarity said. "What I'm saying is… not a book by it's cover but… you're judging a story by it's beginning. I mean, I can't see myself being friends with any of those three, but that doesn't necessarily mean we can't be friends with them. Not that I want to get between you two or anything, I just thought I'd say that," Rarity said awkwardly. "We should get to class, anyway."

"I think Aria can be really sweet," Fluttershy said. "I met her yesterday at the shopping center and she helped me with my shopping bags because they were too heavy. Oh, um, not that I'm going against what you say, Applejack…" 

Applejack sighed. Should couldn't understand why her friends were being so damned stubborn and refusing to see her point. "Yeah, I suppose we'd better get to class."

Rainbow sighed as she sat down at one of the empty cafeteria tables, placing her crutches on the ground next to her, staring out the snow covered window next to her. It was getting pretty heavy out there, and she was glad for the ride. Rainbow turned back to the empty spot in front of her, and, unluckily for her, Cloudy Kicks walked by. She tensed.

"There you are Rainbow! Sorry I couldn't be there on Saturday. How have you been?" she asked.

"Uh, Cloudy? There's something I have to tell you," Rainbow started.

"Sure," Cloudy said, diving into the unoccupied seat. "Fire away!"

Rainbow knotted her fingers together. "I… I'm… we have to break up, Cloudy. You see, Adagio showed up to go to the Wonderbolts show instead of you, and…" Rainbow continued to tell the whole story again from the beginning, lacking any sort of guilty feeling during so. "And that's what happened. I'm sorry, but… I love Adagio."

Cloudy stared at her open-mouthed. "I… I… probably didn't need all those details about what you did last night, Rainbow. Kind of explicit and personal. Too much information, as they say. Especially the bit with your tongue and her… yeah… but… I get the picture. It's fine… it's okay. We were never really ever going to get that serious anyway, were we? It was just a bit of fun. I hope you're really happy with her, but if you ever need a bit of fun in the meantime, then you know where I am!"

Rainbow blushed lightly. "Right, sorry. O-Oh okay, see ya."

"Sure thing." Cloudy picked up her football, and walked towards the queue for food, bouncing it on her knee the whole way.

Rainbow once again stared outside at the ravaging blizzard. A few students could be seen rushing inside as it got worse.

Applejack came up behind Rainbow and put her hand on her shoulder. "Listen, Rainbow… about earlier… I just wanted to say—"

She was interrupted by the crackle of the speakers of the school's announcement system. Both girls looked up to see what was going on.

"Students. As you may all have noticed, the blizzard outside is getting worse as we speak. Due to the severe weather, we have agreed to allow you all to head home early for today. If you need us to call your parents, or you cannot make it home for any reason, please come to the front office. That is all."

Rainbow bit her lip. It made sense, but… Adagio wasn't coming until 3:30, and stupidly she’d never asked for her number. There were probably plenty of people crowded in the office already. It'll be okay. I'll just walk. It isn’t that far away. She stood up and turned around to face Applejack. "Oh, hey," she said, bending down to pick up her crutches.

"Rainbow, you weren't planning on walking home, were you? I can call your dad. I have my phone. He'll come an pick you up. Or if he can't make it, I'm sure Big Mac will give you a lift to your house. I'm getting him to pick me up anyway"

"Uh, no, of course not. Adagio's coming to get me," Rainbow lied. "It's cool." I honestly don't know if I'll be able to stand being with you for much longer today, she thought, walking away down the hall.

Applejack sighed in frustration and walked the opposite direction.

Rainbow sighed as well and continued down the hall, opening the door to outside.  A huge gust of wind blew in her face, but she ignored it and pushed herself outside. No one else was around. Good.


+


Adagio was bored at home with nobody to talk to. She flipped on the radio to listen to some music. The Humantones were playing. At the end of the song, the news announcer came on. Adagio was only half paying attention but her ears pricked up at the announcement that Canterlot High School was closing early because of snow.

"Yes! It means I can pick up Rainbow early," she said, pulling on her coat and rushing out to the car. She turned the key in the ignition, but the engine just made a choking sound.

Rainbow Dash continued to walk through, the cold not affecting her just yet. Eventually, she found herself shivering, but couldn't wrap her arms around herself with her crutches. She kept going, squinting to see ahead of her.

"Crap!" Adagio muttered. She got out of the car, pulled her gloves on, and swept the built-up snow off the bonnet of the car, hoping the engine might warm up a little. She went inside to get a bucket of hot water.

Rainbow stopped and looked around, holding herself up against the strong gusts of snow. She had no idea where she was. 

"O–Okay, t–this is harder th–than i–it sounded…" she stuttered, a nervous feeling forming in her stomach. She kept walking through the thick layer of snow which continued to build up around her.

Adagio poured the hot water over the car bonnet. "I have no idea if this will work," she said to herself.

She sat back in the car and tried the ignition again. Still nothing.

"School, home, I–I don't care…" Rainbow whispered. "G–gotta get out of here…" She stepped forward again, but the scratches, along with the cold and the constant brush of snowflakes made every step as extremely painful.

"Come on, goddamnit!" Adagio screeched, trying the ignition again. At last the engine sprung to life, surprising her. She cautiously pulled out of the driveway, going slowly to avoid skidding on the ice.

Every step Rainbow took, she got slower and slower, her legs shaking. She subconsciously wrapped her arms around her body, but this only caused her crutches to fall down into the white snow. Combine the matching colours of her crutches and the falling snow and Rainbow's slightly blurred vision, she couldn't see them at all. Still, she crouched down to the ground and tried to find them. 

Nothing.

Adagio pulled up outside the school and scanned the faces of the few remaining students. She couldn't see Rainbow anywhere, and with her hair… well, she'd be hard to miss. She did see one familiar face though — Applejack looked like she was waiting for someone.

Rainbow sighed, her breath clearly visible in the cold air, and tried to push herself off the ground again. She had to make it back, she just had to. However, she was a fool to come out here in the first place. Rainbow Dash squinted, tears forming as she pressured her sore legs to rise up off the ground. 

Applejack looked around constantly in search of her brother. When she turned and spotted Adagio at the school — without Rainbow — she frowned. She was pretty sure Rainbow already left.

Adagio reluctantly approached Applejack. "Hello, Applejack," she said through gritted teeth. "Have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere? I was supposed to be picking her up after school."

Applejack's hands turned into fists. "She… told me you were picking her up. Then she left. Ah came out here later and… assumed she was already with ya."

Rainbow only just managed to stand up, but it was all for naught when another gust of wind blew and her knees buckled; she fell to the ground and winced, trying not to scream as she once again tried to get up. But with every movement, she could feel her energy leaving her as the cold intensified. She had to get back, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling tired…

"Well, I was picking her up, but I only found out the school was closing early half an hour ago," Adagio explained. She looked around some more but couldn't spot her face. "Well, thanks Applejack."

She hurried back to the car and turned the key in the ignition. The engine was still warm from before so it started first time. But which way to go? She didn't know whether Rainbow would have headed back to her dad's house, or gone to hers. She wanted to believe that Rainbow would come to her, but sighed, realizing that the other possibility was more likely. She drove straight forwards, heading for Rainbow's house.

Rainbow breathed heavily, her eyelids half closed, the cold, scared feeling in her stomach returning. If she wasn't found, she would… die. She would collapse, and be lying on the ground, eventually covered the by the thick mounds of white snow in the middle of the huge blizzard. 
As much as she wanted to get up, any energy she had left to do was gone.

Adagio drove slowly towards Rainbow's house. It was funny — it had only been three days since she'd last been here, but it felt like more than a week. Her eyes scanned for that familiar mop of rainbow hair on the way, but most people she saw were wearing hooded jackets, so could have been anyone. She pulled up in front of the house. Though she didn't relish another encounter for Rainbow's father, she needed to make sure Rainbow had gotten home safely, so she knocked on the front door.

Rainbow Blitz looked up from the newspaper. Who would be visiting at a time like this? He walked up and opened the door, a huge gust of wind coming through. "You, um, Adagio. What can I do for you?"

"Is Rainbow home?" Adagio asked, looking around for signs that she might have returned — crutches for instance.

Rainbow Blitz shook his head. "I haven't heard anything from her, so she isn't here. She didn't even call me — I'm not sure if she's even out of the hospital yet."

"Yeah, she discharged herself yesterday afternoon," Adagio said casually. "She went to school this morning, but what with the snow, they closed early. I just wanted to check she'd made it back okay."

Rainbow Blitz shook his head again. "Like I said, she isn't here. Maybe she went back with one of her friends… Pinkie or Fluttershy or the Apple girl."

Rainbow curled up into a ball and cried, her tears freezing to her cheeks as she shivered. This was it. She was going to die.

"No, I checked with Applejack. I suppose the others are a possibility, but I think if she wasn't coming here, she'd probably go back to mine. Anyway, you stay here and wait for her." She saw a pen on a nearby table, and used it to scribble her phone number on the back of an old receipt she found in her pocket. "And tell her to give me a call and let me know she's okay when she comes back."

She walked towards the door. "I'm going to go out and look for her again."

Adagio rushed back to the car and made a U-turn in the street, driving back towards the school faster than was probably safe in this weather.

Rainbow blinked a couple of times, the slightest bit of vision returning to her. Her hands curled into fists and she pushed herself up, using whatever energy she had to stand up. She definitely wouldn't be able to go anywhere, but if just one person saw her…

Adagio drove past the school, slowing down. Applejack seemed to have gone now. There were hardly any people still around. She slowly drove towards her own house, looking for Rainbow along the way, hoping that when she got back, Rainbow would be there on the doorstep looking grumpy at Adagio for not being in to answer the door.

Adagio suddenly spotted a distinctive flash of rainbow colours on the ground. She stopped the car and got out, running over to where she'd seen it. It was Rainbow Dash. She'd collapsed in the snow. Adagio shook Rainbow's shoulder. "Rainbow!"

Rainbow barely stirred; her breathing was getting shorter and shorter by the minute. Even so, the warm feeling on her shoulder made her feel like she was going to be okay, even in the slightest. Even if she was unresponsive. The only sense she held was feel.

She felt it was getting too cold to even do that.

Rainbow didn't seem to be responding, so Adagio dug her out of the snow and lifted her in her arms. For such a slim girl, she was heavier than she looked. She carried her back to the car and laid her across the back seats. She leaned in to turn the heating on in the car and shut the doors with Rainbow safey inside and then returned to the pavement to look for Rainbow's crutches.

Adagio felt around in the snow and soon found one crutch and then the other. She stashed them in the boot of the car and got into the driver's seat. It was now pretty warm — virtually tropical in fact — in the car, and Adagio drove home.

Pulling into the driveway, she looked over her shoulder to see how Rainbow was.

Rainbow stirred lightly and the first thing she did when she was partially awake was sneeze, rubbing her nose. 

She… she was alive.

She still felt the slightest bit cold, but she was awake, and that was good.

Unless heaven existed. Was she in heaven?

She blinked her eyes open and looked around.

Oh, good. Adagio's car.

Oh, dammit. She's gonna kill me if she finds out. 

Oh, but she's probably gonna ask anyway. It's definite. I'm dead.

But alive too.

"A–A–Adagio… s–sorry…" she said, not too loud, but loud enough for her to hear.

"Rainbow, thank goodness you're okay," Adagio gushed then sighed with relief. She hadn't been sure whether to take Rainbow here or back to the hospital, but here was closer, and it seemed to have been the right choice.

Adagio switched off the heating and got out of the car. She helped Rainbow out, supporting her as they walked up the path to the front door. She fished out her keys and let them inside.

She noticed the light on the answering machine was blinking, but didn't bother checking her messages just yet. She sat Rainbow down on the couch and rushed upstairs to get some blankets.

Rainbow Dash stared up at the ceiling. 'Thank goodness you're okay' she said. That was it. Adagio isn’t angry.

Rainbow felt terrible, and the sickly feeling in her stomach returned for an entirely different reason. She could've died, and it would've been her fault. All because she tried to make her own way home. She wiped her eyes and tried to pull herself together. She wasn't the one who should be crying.

Adagio returned with a couple of thick blankets. The house's heating was controlled by themostat, so had been running as soon as it started getting cold outside in the morning, but Adagio still thought Rainbow could do with an extra something to keep her warm. She draped one blanket around Rainbow's shoulders and put the other over her lap. "Let me get you a cup of hot chocolate," Adagio insisted.

Rainbow wrapped her arms around, keeping the blankets close to her. She was still tired. Rainbow would've refused Adagio's offer, but she was gone before she could think. She leaned her head back against the arm of the couch, wrapped in the blankets, she couldn't fight the waves of sleep.

Adagio returned minutes later, but Rainbow was asleep. She sat beside Rainbow, pulling one of the blankets over so that they were both under it, and snuggled up to Rainbow's side to help her keep warm.

Rainbow blinked her eyes open to the sun shining in her eyes. She honestly didn't really want to think about the time or day today, but since it was still snowing outside, school would probably be off anyway.

Rainbow didn't move when she saw Adagio sleeping next to her. Huh, I actually woke up first for once.

Adagio dozed peacefully. She was dreaming about a fluffy pink pony. It was dancing on a rainbow. The colours of the rainbow were so vivid. Rainbow… Rainbow… Rainbow Dash! She suddenly opened her eyes, but still all she could see was a rainbow. She sat up straight and pulled a long blue hair out of her mouth. "Ergh! Your hair was in my face," she complained. She had not slept comfortably, and her mood this morning was reflecting that.

"S–Sorry," Rainbow apologized, sitting up. "You can continue sleeping if you want." As much as she tried to get it out of her mind, her thoughts were still on what happened last night. She was still worried about it, but most of all, she felt like an idiot.

"Don't be silly," Adagio said, hugging Rainbow and kissing her cheek. She looked at the table beside the couch and the two mugs there. "Want a cup of… cold chocolate?"

Rainbow let out a small laugh. "Sure, I guess. It can't be that bad." She picked up one of the mugs and took a sip.

Adagio picked up the other and drank some. It was just like drinking chocolate milk. She briefly wondered whether it was advisable to drink something that had been lying around out in the open overnight, but dismissed such worries. "I think I prefer it hot, but this will do."

She looked out of the window. It was still snowing. She snuggled closer to Rainbow, put an arm around her, and pulled the blankets tighter around them.

Rainbow smiled a little, then felt a wave of regret staring at the snow outside. She just couldn't let this feeling stay inside of her. She placed down her cup and sighed. "L–Look, I'm sorry about last night…"

"What are you apologizing for?" Adagio asked. "You're the one who almost… almost…" The thought was too horrible to put into words. "I'm the one who should be sorry, for not getting to you sooner. It's just I was talking to your dad—" Her jaw dropped and she put her hand over her mouth. "Oh shit! You need to phone your dad! He must be worried sick!"

Rainbow sighed, slightly annoyed that she still couldn't tell her. "Yeah… I–I guess I'll do that then…"

"You'll do it right now!" Adagio got up and fetched the phone. "I'll go make some breakfast while you're on the phone."

"O–Okay." Rainbow said. It was probably for the best…

She punched in her dad's number and held the phone to her ear.

Adagio thought something hot would be best. She poured some oats and water into a pot, preparing to make porridge. She was sure that there was some kind of ratio she was supposed to use, but just guessed.

"Hello, Rainbow Blitz speaking?" came the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hey dad," Rainbow said awkwardly. "It's, um, Rainbow."

"Oh, Rainbow, I'd been wondering where you'd gotten too. Did you stay over at Flitter and Cloudchaser's house again?"

"Uh no," Rainbow said. "I'm at Adagio's house. Things happened… and yeah."

"But you're okay?" Blitz asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Rainbow replied. I think.

"Listen, honey, I've had some bad news… you might want to sit down."

Rainbow's forehead creased and she did so. "Okay… what is it?"

Rainbow heard a sigh come over the phone, followed by her father's voice again. "It's… I don't know how to tell you this, but… I've been talking to our lawyer, and to some eyewitnesses, and… I don't think we're going to be able to sue."

"And…? I told you; it's my fault!" Rainbow said. "And that's the truth. I don't want anyone sued for something they didn't do."

"Well, it's not going to happen now anyway," Blitz said. "Listen, are you coming home soon? I'm going to be away for a few days, so I just wanted to check you've still got your house keys."

"Uh, yeah, sure. I'll come back in a bit." Rainbow said. "See ya."

Adagio came back carrying a tray with two bowls of very lumpy-looking porridge.

Rainbow placed the phone down and turned to Adagio. The first thing she saw was the two bowls of, um… "What's that?" Rainbow asked, staring down at the mixture in the bowls.

"It's porridge!" Adagio said, proud of herself. "Only, some of it isn't fully cooked," she admitted, "and some other bits might be burnt." She put the bowls down. "Still, I put lots of sugar on it, so you won't be able to taste anything else anyway."

"Uh… thanks, I guess," Rainbow said, biting her lip. She shrugged and took a bite, but already she could taste the mildness of it, even through all the sugar. And honestly, she didn't really like sugar on her porridge. Oh, how do I say it…? I don't want to anger her… "Uh, I don't want to sound rude, since you look like you tried your hardest… but, do you want me to teach you?" Rainbow looked up at Adagio, awkwardly grinning.

Adagio shrugged. "Umm… I guess."

She stood up, then looked at Rainbow. "I should probably go fetch those crutches; they're still in the car."

"Okay!" Rainbow said, standing up.

Adagio was still wearing her boots from the afternoon before, having fallen asleep on the sofa accidentally. So she just threw on her coat to head out to the car. The snow was thick now: half way up to her knees. She crunched through it to the rear of the car, retrieved the crutches then went back inside, stomping her feet on the doormat to shake off as much snow as she could.

She noticed the light still blinking on the answering machine. Really need to check that, she thought to herself, then went into the living room to give Rainbow the crutches.

Rainbow took them from her. "Thanks," she said, making her way into the kitchen. She looked forward at the dirty pan, which, as she thought, had a fair few oats stuck to the bottom. "Rule number one: never forget to regularly stir."

"Stir?" Adagio asked. "What's the point? It just moves oats from one part of the pan to another part of the pan. They're all still in the pan."

Rainbow held back a laugh. "Well, if you don't stir, all of the oats stick to the bottom of the pan and cook faster than the others. That's why some of them were burnt. You scraped them all off the bottom of the pan."

She grabbed the pan and filled it up with water, and refilling it with oats, placing it on the stove and turning up the heat. She handed Adagio a wooden spoon. "Go on," she said, moving out of the way to let Adagio stand in front of the stove.

Adagio did as instructed, stirring with oats with a visible lack of enthusiasm.

"See? It may be boring, but if you want the porridge to turn out right, that's what you have to do. For the next… five minutes or som" Rainbow said. "Oh. Do you have any salt?"

"Five minutes?! Can’t I turn up the heat and do it in two and a half? Oh well. Yes, there should be some in that cupboard I think."

"Five minutes," Rainbow said as she peered into the cupboard. She pulled out the salt and sprinkled it into the pan.

Adagio kept stirring. She yawned.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Patience is step number two. That's a really big part of cooking."

"That sounds a bit cheesy," Adagio observed. "Did you read that in a magazine or something?"

"Nope. It was in a really basic cooking book I read when I was like five. And yes, I have been cooking since then," Rainbow said as she leaned on the kitchen counter. "Dad can't cook. I mean, when I was a baby, he didn't have to, obviously. Aside from the stories I remember about how he failed with the milk powder." She laughed. "But yeah, until I could cook, it was basically all take-away or canned food. I haven't gone near a tin since."

"Okay, makes sense. I've never really had to cook. Usually been able to find people to do it for me. And when there were no people available, then Aria," Adagio chuckled. "And of course Sonata can do tacos. And nachos. And that's about it."

"Yeah." Rainbow looked into the pan. "You're done. It looks great!" she said, turning off the stove.

"Yes," Adagio said, "better than earlier, I suppose."

"Well, you still made it," Rainbow said. "Really, it was just a matter of stirring." She grabbed the bowls from before and emptied them into the bin, refilling them with the recently made porridge. “Stirring and patience.”

Adagio sat on a stool at the kitchen bench and started eating. "Well, I admit it is better this way. Though I do think you need sugar. You humans need it for energy. And after your accident… and the… yesterday afternoon… I think you need to eat well."

"Uh, well, I don't really like sugar on my porridge. You wouldn't happen to have any juice, would you?" Rainbow asked, eating a spoonful.

Adagio hopped down off her stool and opened the fridge. There was milk, some kind of medical sample pots containing… Adagio didn't even want to think about it… and… yes, some juice. "Is orange juice okay?" she asked, looking at the print on the side of the carton and surprised to see it was still in date.

"Sure!" Rainbow replied with her mouth full, and kept eating.

Adagio poured a glass of orange juice for Rainbow and put the carton in the fridge before returning to her stool and finishing her breakfast.

Rainbow swallowed her previous spoonful and started drinking. Now she was thirsty.

"So, what are your plans for the day?" Adagio asked a little hesitantly. She knew Rainbow would probably have things to do, but hoped there might be a little free time they could spend together. "I imagine your school will be closed. Have you seen how deep the snow is now?"

Rainbow shook her head. "And I don't think I want to. Oh, I have to get home soon, dad's leaving and he's expecting me to be there when he goes. Um, by the way. I was just wondering if you're going to check your voicemail."

"Yeah, I keep meaning to do that," Adagio said and hopped back off the stool and went to the hallway. She returned a few minutes later. "You're not going to believe this… Aria and Sonata are in jail."

"Eh?" Rainbow said, her eyes widening. "What'd they do? Did the person say?"

"Well, it was Aria on the phone. They apparently get one phone call each. Sonata phoned some phone sex hotline or something." Adagio facepalmed. "They were apparently arrested on suspicion of planning a bank robbery. Aria doesn't think they'll make the charges stick, but she's worried that if they dig too deep into her record… they might see that it goes back a long way… like centuries."

"Oh, that's not good. So, what will you do if they find out? What do you think will happen?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know. Best case scenario, they'll dismiss it as a random computer error. Like Y2K bug or something. But anyway, I need to go down there and bail those idiots out. Again. Do you want a lift to your house? I'll have to go past that area anyway."

"Sure," Rainbow said, standing up and grabbing her crutches again. "Thanks."

Adagio grabbed her coat and handed Rainbow hers from the hook by the door. She opened the door and they stepped into the cold heading towards the car. "You okay out here? It's a bit icy in places."

"It's fine. I'll just have to watch where I put my crutches," Rainbow said, heading up to the passenger side of the car.

Adagio pulled open the passenger door for Rainbow and went around to let herself in. She shut the door and shivered. She put the heating on. "Let's just wait a few minutes for it to warm up," she suggested.

Rainbow nodded, and still the thoughts from last night rushed through her.

"Adagio, yesterday, I… I walked out myself. I don't really know what I was thinking. This was my fault, and I don't know why I did it."

"It's… it's okay… really, you had no way of knowing I was coming to get you. I mean… it was stupid, with your legs, but… I suppose maybe you've always felt so invincible, you didn't want to admit to yourself that right now… you're a little vulnerable." Adagio leaned over and put her arms around Rainbow to let her know that everything was alright.

"Yeah… I guess," Rainbow said, smiling. "Thanks, Adagio."

Adagio broke away from the hug and looked Rainbow in the eye. "While we're talking… I wanted to say about the night before that… I… we haven't spoken about it since. I know it was all so crazy and hectic, but what does it mean? Are you my… g-girlfriend now?"

Rainbow pecked her on the lips. "If you want me to be," she said with a smile. Suddenly, she felt a heat wave and moved back. "Phew. Is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?"

"I… yes, of course I do!" Adagio said, trying to suppress the idiotic-looking grin that had suddenly come to her face. "And yeah, I think the heating is kicking in now. We should probably get going soon. But… do you think… maybe we could… go on a date? Not now, I mean… but soon?"

"Sure! I won't be doing much for the next few days anyway," Rainbow said with a grin.

"Maybe I could pick you up tomorrow night then? We could go out for dinner?" Adagio offered, starting the engine. "That should give me plenty of time to deal with the idiots." And get the idiots used to the idea of Rainbow and me dating.

"Sure!" Rainbow said, converting to a smile. "Can't wait."

Adagio backed out of the driveway and started towards Rainbow's house. "Should we say seven o'clock?"

"Yep! I'll be ready!" Rainbow grabbed her crutches and climbed out of the car. "See ya!" She watched as Adagio rode off, before heading inside.


+


Adagio looked in her bedroom mirror and adjusted her hair. She took out some shockingly red lipstick and applied it. She took a glance at her bed, with the sheets she still hadn't changed… couldn't bring herself to change since Rainbow had spent the night in them. Then she left her room.

She walked past Aria's bedroom where Aria was bickering with Sonata over some trivial matter. "Bye, girls," she called out to them. If she hadn't had to blow half their savings on their bail money, she might actually be able to afford to take Rainbow out to a fancy restaurant. Instead she'd have to take Rainbow to a more affordable establishment.

She grabbed Sonata's car keys off the small table by the front door, and headed for the car.

Most of the snow had melted by now, but there were still icy patches on the roads, so she had to drive slowly. She arrived just a few minutes after seven and knocked on the door.

"Coming!" Rainbow Dash called from upstairs, sticking the last earring in before heading down the stairs, opening the door. Her hair was braided and hung over one side of her shoulder, which stood out against the black and blue dress, but which also stood in against her skin. On her feet, she sported small white heels with  bows. And on her face, she applied a slightly darker shade of blue eyeshadow then her skin, and a small amount of blush. "S–So, what do you think?" she asked, slightly embarrassed.

Adagio was speechless, and wished she'd made more of an effort herself. "Wow! Umm… very… unlike what you'd normally wear but… umm… WOW! Are you ready to go straight away? I have the car outside."

"Yeah, I'm ready." Rainbow said with a smile, walking outside.

Adagio led her to the car. Although she seemed to be walking fine now, even in heels, Adagio still opened the passenger door for her out of habit. "Your carriage awaits," she joked.

Rainbow laughed a little. "Thanks," she said and sat down inside.

Adagio shut the door and walked around to the driver's side. She sat down, closed the door and started the engine. She was wearing flat pumps for driving, but had a pair of heels in a bag on the back seat to change into when she got to the restaurant. She was just about to pull out from the kerb but decided first to lean over and kiss Rainbow on the cheek.

Rainbow blushed lightly and smiled at her.

"Let's go then." Adagio drove off.

Minutes later she pulled up in front of a Spanish tapas restaurant. "I think you'll enjoy it here," she said. Rainbow climbed out of the car and walked around to the other side. It already smelt delicious. "I've been here before with Aria and Sonata," Adagio explained. She held open the restaurant door for Rainbow. Rainbow stepped inside and took a moment to look around, keeping an eye out for an empty table.

The restaurant seemed very busy. The only unoccupied tables had "RESERVED" signs on them. Adagio snapped her fingers and a dark-haired waiter turned his attention to them. "Booking for Dazzle?" Adagio asked.

The waiter consulted a clipboard hanging on a hook near the door. "Right this way," he said in an accent, "your table is ready."

"Oh, right," Rainbow said, following behind.

The two were soon seated at a table. There was a small vase of flowers — carnations, Adagio thought — and a single candle. Rainbow looked beautiful as the reflections of the flames sparkled in her eyes.

Adagio nervously smoothed down her long dark purple dress. "So have you eaten much Spanish food before?" she asked.

"Much? I haven't eaten any," Rainbow admitted, "but it all smells really delicious! I'm sure I'll like it."

"Would you like me to order for the both of us? I've spent many years in Europe." Several hundred, actually.

"Sure, I don't mind!" Rainbow said. "It's always fun to try new things."

The waiter came and Adagio ordered Patatas Bravas, Chorizo al Vino, Albondigas, Calamares, Croquetas, Gambas al Ajillo, and Bacalao along with a salad, some bread, and bottle of Rioja.

"I hope you don't mind me ordering so much seafood," Adagio said. "It's just that back home, we used to live by the sea, and I've never really lost the taste for it."

"Totally fine. It all sounds delicious," Rainbow said truthfully. "You must come here a lot."

"We've been here a few times. We did live in Spain for many years though. That's how Sonata acquired a treat for Spanish food, and later Mexican food when we decided to head to the colonies," Adagio reminisced. She reached out and held hands with Rainbow across the table.

"I wish I was there. I mean, there were some tough times in the past, but being immortal you wouldn't have to worry about it," Rainbow said. "It sounds like it might be a nice experience."

"It wasn't all fun and games. There were wars, bloodshed… sometimes not even caused by us. I'm much happier now in here… with you."

A couple of waiters brought out several plates of food and arranged them on the table, along with two empty plates with they put in front of Adagio and Rainbow.

Rainbow looked around at the selection of foods. "It looks delicious!" she said, suddenly unsure about which one she should try first.

"Just help yourself to whichever things you like the look of," Adagio suggested. She put a potato croquette, a few prawns and some salad on her plate and started eating them with her fork.

Rainbow grinned and placed one of everything on her plate. She picked up the meatball and popped it into her mouth.

"So, what's been happening at school since the girls and I left?" Adagio asked. "Have they put in place that screening policy for new students that they were talking about?"

"Well, we haven't had any new students, so I don't really know. I'm sure the next new student or students won't immediately go up to the principal and put them under a spell that then means they don't believe that we think the new students are evil… uh, no offense. But we're having the Friendship Games soon. Guess it doesn't matter to me since I really don't think I want to participate anymore."

"Why is that?" Adagio asked. "I mean, I know you've been injured, but if you're fully fit, you still want to, right?"

"Well, uh, I signed up with motorbike riding and I really don't think I wanna do that anymore… the games are only a few days away and everything else is full," Rainbow said. "So yeah." She took a bite out of the prawn.

"They provide the bikes though, right? So you would still have something to ride." Adagio finished what was on her plate and helped herself to chorizo and bread.

"Yeah, but…" Rainbow trailed off and kept eating.

"… but you're afraid that what happened before will happen again," Adagio said, completing Rainbow's thought.

Rainbow nodded and swallowed, looking down at her plate. "Hm."

"What are the chances of lightning striking in the same place twice?" Adagio asked.

"Smaller then the chances of crashing on a motorbike twice," Rainbow said, not convinced. "I get your point, but I'm still scared." She continued eating.

Adagio made a little sandwich from the chorizo, salad and bread on her plate. "Do you remember that first time you gave me a ride on your bike? I was pretty scared then, but you being there made me feel better. Do you think riding a bike with someone you trust would help?" She bit into the sandwich.

"I-I suppose so…" Rainbow smiled a little bit. "Thanks. But I wouldn't think it would be allowed." she said.

Adagio finished chewing. "I don't mean in the games! But during practice."

"Oh, I guess," Rainbow said, finishing the food on her plate and filling it up again.

"You're not… nervous about being seen with me… around school, are you?"

"Of course not! I'm worried about what people will think about you being there, with me or not. But, um, I think it'd be best if I spoke to Celestia on Monday first…"

"But let's not worry about this now!" she said and finished her food again. "Do you think you can stay over at my place tonight?"

"Yes, Celestia. She and I didn't exactly leave things on the best of terms. I don't think she likes me very much… understandably." Adagio pushed the food around on her plate with her fork.

"And yes, I'd like that. It must be lonely in that house all by yourself."

"It's not that bad. Well, maybe it is. I stay up late playing video games and skyping PInkie." Rainbow said. "But all of my single player video games; I've finished them about 10 times. Each."

"Ah," Adagio said, finishing her plate, "I've never been much of one for games. Perhaps you could show me?" She reached out and grabbed the dish of prawns from the middle of the table. "Did you want any more of these?"

"Nah, I'm good," Rainbow said. "And sure, I'd love to show you!" She grinned.

Adagio tipped the rest of the prawns onto her plate. "Damn, I love seafood," she said. Noticing that they were nearly out of tapas, she asked, "so you want to order a dessert, or should we just get out of here?"

"It depends on what they have. I have ice=cream at home, though, and it'll be cheaper." Rainbow said.

"Lots of chocolate things, oh, and they make their own lemon sorbet — it's really good. And don't worry about the money," Adagio said. "I'm paying."

"Well, yeah, that's why I'm worrying about," Rainbow Dash said. "It's fine."

Adagio beckoned the waiter over. Even without her pendant she held a certain power over the opposite sex. "Could we see the dessert menu?" she asked and he went off to get it.

The waiter brought over two menus. "So, what do you think looks good, Rainbow?"  Adagio asked.

"Hm…" Rainbow scrolled through. "I don't really know. To be honest, I'd be fine with anything." She placed down the menu. "How about you choose something for me?"

"I'm not really that hungry," Adagio said. "How about we get a bowl of that sorbet I told you about to share?"

"Sure!" Rainbow said. "I'm cool with that."

Adagio called the waiter over and gave him the menus back. "Can we just have a bowl of your famous sorbet, please? And… err… two spoons?" The waiter nodded and left.

"Okay!" Rainbow said. "Sounds delicious, I'm hungry again!"

"Well then," Adagio chuckled, "I guess I'd better eat quick before you get it all."

"Hey!" Rainbow said, folding her arms. "You better not. But then again, you'll be the one with the sore stomach."

Just then the waiter returned with a large bowl of lemon sorbet, and the requested two spoons. "You're in for a real treat here, Rainbow. They make it themselves here, out of actual Spanish lemons… imported… from Spain!"

"Nah shit, Sherlock," Rainbow said with a grin, picking up her spoon. "Just kidding. Sounds really cool! And looks really good."

Adagio picked up a spoon too and took a scoop of the sorbet. She held it out to Rainbow's mouth. "Try it."

Rainbow's cheeks flushed and she bit down on the spoon, swallowing the icecream. "It's really good!" She took a spoonful herself and ate it.

Adagio helped herself to a spoonful. "I tried making some at home once, but… I might have… burnt it."

Rainbow almost choked on her ice-cream, swallowing. "How can you burn ice-cream? Isn't it just ingredients blended together and frozen?"

"I… I did tell you I wasn't really much of a cook," Adagio said, blushing.

"Yes, but I didn't really think making ice-cream counted as 'cooking'… more like making. I'm just curious how you pulled that off," Rainbow said, continuing to eat.

"Look, I've had people to cook for me almost my whole life. I've been 'de-skilled' now." Adagio took another spoonful.

"I get it, I get it." Rainbow said. "Well, if you ever need help, I'll be glad to!" She said, continuing to eat.

"Thanks," Adagio said, grinning.

Briefly in her mind she saw a vision of the future — a possible future — she was unloading a washing machine, a couple of kids, maybe 3 or 4 years old were running around screaming and playing, and Rainbow was cooking dinner for them all. She shook her head and the vision faded. It was far too early to start daydreaming about things like that.

Rainbow stared into the ice-cream bowl, which was already half empty. She was a little bit full now though, so she placed down her spoon.

Adagio finished the sorbet and summoned the waiter over again. "Can we have the bill, please?" she asked.

Rainbow placed her fork into the bowl and waited.

The waiter brought the bill and Adagio paid it by debit card, adding on a tip. "Should we get going then?" she asked.

"Yep!" Rainbow said and stood up, waiting for Adagio before walking out the door.

Adagio opened the car door for Rainbow and then walked around to the driver's side. She got in and fastened her seat belt. "So, we're going back to yours, right?"

"Yep!" Rainbow said, buckling up.

Adagio started the car and drove towards Rainbow's house. "Mind if I put the radio on?" she asked.

Rainbow shook her head. "Go for it."

Adagio turned on the radio. A song was just beginning: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. "Oh, I love this song!" she said, smiling.

"Never heard it before," Rainbow said. "Sounds… a bit lame."

"Well, you'll just have to grin and bear it," Adagio said. "We're nearly there anyway."

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow said and leaned back against the chair, staring at the roof.

"Scaramouch, scaramouch, will you do the fandango?" Adagio sang. "Thunderbolts and lightning, very very—" She pulled over and stopped the car. "Damn, it was just getting to the best bit. Oh well."

Rainbow thought about it for a bit, like she was jotting down notes in her mind. Likes Queen… an old band, no doubt. I'll have to ask Dad. She stepped out of the car and waited for Adagio.

Adagio got out of the car and pressed the button on the car key to lock it, the lights blinking to indicate success. "After you," she gestured towards Rainbow's house.

Rainbow nodded and walked up the path, unlocking the house and entering. She held open the door for Adagio, grabbing her crutches in the meantime.

Adagio walked into the house. The two times she'd been before — once before the Wonderbolts show, and again on Monday afternoon — she hadn't seen any further than the hallway. She glanced around, waiting for Rainbow to show her where to go.

Rainbow blinked, then got the message. "Oh, right. Uh, the lounge room's this way." She said, leading her.

Adagio followed Rainbow to the lounge. She glanced at her phone — it was only 9.30 — still too early for bed. "So, we were talking about you showing me some of your games…" she reminded Rainbow.

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow placed her crutches on the ground and opened one of the cupboards below the TV. It was full of video games. She pulled out a select few, and stared at them, before remembering something. She dug to the back of the cupboard and pulled out two DJ turntables; and a game to go with it.

"I don't know if you'll want to play or not, but I've redone every single player level in this game loads of times, and I've been dying to do a battle." She grabbed two of the Wii controllers on the charger and plugged them into the hole in the turntables, handing one to Adagio. She waited for the console to turn on, then slipped the game in, turning on the TV.

"You can watch first if you want."

"Ummm… sure," Adagio said. "I'll watch." She sat on the couch and waited for Rainbow to start doing whatever she was meant to be watching.

Rainbow entered the game with the turntable controls and waited for it to load up. When it did, she selected the "free play" option, and chose a song. She then placed her left hand on the three buttons coloured red, green and blue on the record player looking thing, and her other hand on a silver stick thing which looked like it twirled. She chose a character, selected the difficulty of medium and hit start.

Adagio watched, taking it all in, trying to remember where you were supposed to put your hands. "Medium? Can we put it on easy when I play?" she asked.

"You can choose your own separate difficulty when you join." Rainbow said, as the music started, she began to press the buttons; occasionally twisting the knob or moving the flat stick side to side, all the while keeping her eyes on the screen.

"That's good, because what you're doing looks really tricky," Adagio said.

"Eh, loads of practice," Rainbow said, continuing the song. In a few minutes, she finished, and with a pretty decent score too.

"You wanna try now? You can choose the song."

"Okay, it looks like fun," Adagio said, standing up. "How do I get the list of songs?"

"Just spin the record to scroll; not too fast, or use the other knob - the darker one - to move up and down. The green button is used for selection," Rainbow explained. "Click on free play."

Adagio didn't recognize any of the song titles, so just picked one at random. She tried emulating what Rainbow Dash had been doing, but failed miserably, the TV emitting horrible sounds.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip and scratched the back of her neck. What you'd expect from a newcomer…

Adagio kept moving the wheel thing, eventually settling on moving it up an inch, then down an inch, in time with the beat of the music. It didn't sound too awful, but was nowhere near as good as Rainbow's performance. Finally the song drew to an end, and she let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Rainbow smiled. "You did great for your first try! Well, better than most other people, anyway. But you'll get there!" She placed the turntable on her lap. "Then we'll battle."

"I get another practice first though, yeah?" Adagio asked.

"Of course," Rainbow said. "Take as long as you need!"

Adagio thought for a moment. "Can you talk me through it?"

"Oh, of course!" Rainbow sat a bit closer to Adagio.

Adagio held the control in her lap and confidently selected yet another song she had no idea about. The song started playing and she started turning the wheel thing more or less at random.

"What do I do with these buttons then?" Adagio asked after some time.

"You… you press them. In time with the notes on the screen," Rainbow said simply. "You also have to spin the record when it gets to the scratches. You hold down the button and move it back and forth for as long as you have to. Or, sometimes, you just hold it down."

"Oh, I wondered what those things on the screen were supposed to be for," Adagio said, things dropping into place in her head. She tried to follow the instructions, and started to get things mostly right, albeit a little out of time.

"That's it! You're getting it!" Rainbow said, constantly looking between her movements and the screen.

By the end of the song, Adagio was mostly managing to play the game in time with the on-screen prompts, with only a few mistakes.

"Now you've got it!" Rainbow said, grinning. "Nice one."

Adagio grinned. "It's easy when you know how!"

"Think you're ready to have a battle?" Rainbow asked.

"Me and you? You and me? You want to see who is better?" Adagio asked. She thought about Rainbow's proposition for a few moments. "Yeah, I suppose so. What's so wrong with a little competition?"

Rainbow bit her lip. "Interesting choice of words there," she said and scrolled to the battle section. "Any song you want in particular?"

"I don't know any of them. Just pick a good one," Adagio answered.

"Okay!" Rainbow scrolled through and selected one she barely played. Just to make it a bit fairer.

Adagio set the controller squarely in the middle of her lap and braced herself waiting for the music to start.

Rainbow smirked at Adagio, and — somehow — idiotically forgot to hit the first note. Great.

Adagio did what Rainbow had shown her, pressing the buttons on time with the display on the TV. The scores on the screen showed that Rainbow was in the lead so far, but it was still close.
Rainbow smiled, continuing as her score rose fast. Unexpected by Adagio, Rainbow earned herself a rewind and spun her record, freezing Adagio. 

Adagio's jaw dropped as Rainbow's score shot ahead of hers. "Hey! No fair!" she laughed.

Rainbow grinned. "All part of the game," she said, focusing on the screen.

Adagio now had barely half of Rainbow's score and the song seemed to be coming to an end. She gritted her teeth and did her best, but by the time the song finished, Rainbow still had a comfortable lead.

Rainbow folded her arms and leaned back against the couch, grin still on her face. "That's game!" She turned to Adagio. You did pretty good!"

"You think it's over, Rainbow?!" Adagio said, turning to face her. "I'm not done yet. Best of three!"

"Woah! Serious competitor!" Rainbow said, laughing. "Alright, you're on!" she said, heading to the song menu again.

"Can we do one of the songs I did before at least?" Adagio asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow said and chose one she remembered her doing. "But I've done all of these songs about 20 times each! Doesn't bother me!"

Adagio held onto her controller. "Okay, here goes." The song started, and she followed the coloured prompts on screen, doing slightly better than last time.

Rainbow frowned slightly as she stared at the screen; Adagio's score was tie with hers, and it stayed that way for the whole first minute of the song. Sweat formed on Rainbow's forehead as she felt herself close to losing.

Adagio kept concentrating on the screen but shifted a little closer to Rainbow. She put the controller on her knees so she could keep playing one-handed. Her other hand she put on Rainbow's thigh, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Ah!" Rainbow said, blushing lightly as she turned to Adagio. "What was that— ah, crap!" She quickly turned back to the game, her cheeks burning.

Adagio was in the lead now, but suddenly the song jumped back about 30 seconds. She was confused, but kept playing through it, racking up more points. She knew she'd distracted Rainbow a little, but couldn't understand why Rainbow had suddenly stopped playing. It was like her controller had frozen up for a while.

Rainbow bit her lip as Adagio's score rose higher. Dammit…

Adagio kept going and soon noticed Rainbow had started playing again. Rainbow was catching up, but if she remembered the song rightly, there wasn't much time to go.

Rainbow kept shooting over the other side of the screen, fumbling on the buttons and missing a far amount of notes towards the end.

At the end of the song, Adagio jumped out of her seat, almost sending the controller flying across the room. "Yes! Yes! In your FACE, Rainbow Dash!" she shouted.

"Ugh!" Rainbow fell back against the couch. "Fine. Last one wins all! And I guarantee, I won't lose this time! You choose the song."

Adagio sat down but was on still such a high from winning that she just spun the wheel and pressed the button without even looking what she'd chosen.

Rainbow grinned. "You were kinda asking to lose there. Best song ever!"

Adagio shrugged. If she had won last time, she didn't see why she shouldn't be able to win again. She waited for the music to start.

Rainbow smirked and glued her eyes to the screen, hitting every note so far.

Adagio tried to keep up, but the music was fast, and she missed a lot of the notes. Rainbow was getting way ahead of her, and she decided to play dirty. She leaned in towards Rainbow and whispered into her ear, "you know, this whole evening, I've not been wearing any panties."

A slight blush crept onto Rainbow's face, but disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared, and she kept going.

Dammit! Adagio thought. I was sure that would get to her. The fact that it hadn't gotten to Rainbow got to Adagio. Am I really losing my touch? Distracted, she fell way behind.

Soon, the song was finished, and Rainbow fist pumped the air. "Told ya I'd win!" She looked at Adagio's score. "Hm? I was sure you were doing better than that before. What happened?"

"Oh… I…" Adagio trailed off, a little unsure of herself. Normally a line like she'd used earlier would be enough to get any guy (or girl) hot under the collar. It wasn't even a lie.

Rainbow smirked and leaned closer to Adagio, pulling up her skirt.

"Woah, seriously? You weren't kidding when you said that!" 

"I… yes, I was serious," she said, flattening her skirt and blushing. "Of course, I had intended it to be a surprise for later."

She paused a moment. "You know the whole time at the restaurant, I was hoping you might drop something under the table and have to bend down and pick it up. I… I was even tempted to push something off the table myself."

"Seriously? And you didn't. Why?" Rainbow asked.

"Frankly I thought you'd probably just make me pick it up," Adagio answered. "After all, you are injured."

"Oh, well, it depended on who it was closer too. But I would've," Rainbow said.

"And… would you have… enjoyed that experience?" Adagio asked a little hesitantly.

"Of course! But I wasn't going to be thrown off in the middle of the competition. If only you could've read my mind during that moment," Rainbow said.

"Oh, really?" Adagio said, smirking. "Interesting reading, was it?"

Rainbow blushed and scratched the back of her neck. "Fantasies are always an option."

Adagio shifted closer to Rainbow and put her hand on Rainbow's cheek. "It doesn't have to be just fantasy, you know?"

Rainbow blushed lightly and kissed Adagio's forehead. "W-Well, it does now. I just don't know if I'm ready to do it again for a while… last time kinda hurt. N-Not that it was your fault or anything, but…yeah," Rainbow said. 

Adagio looked up and gazed into Rainbow's magenta eyes. "Don't worry, we can go as slow as you like." She kissed Rainbow lightly on the lips.

Rainbow smiled a little, then let out a yawn. She looked up at the clock. "Wow, I didn't even realise how late it was!"

"Yeah, we were playing for a while," Adagio said. "Am I going to be sleeping with you? I mean… I don't mean… gah!" She turned bright red. "I mean where am I going to be sleeping?"

"I have a spare bed under mine. It shouldn't take long to set up," Rainbow said, grabbing her crutches and walking towards the stairs.

"Okay," Adagio said, following her, "but you just point out where everything is. I don't want you doing any heavy lifting or anything."

"Oh, uh, okay." Rainbow slowly made her way up the stairs and towards her room, pointing under the bed. "There."

Adagio tugged the bed out hard, not expecting it to be on wheels, and it came rolling out quickly, bashing into her shin. "Ow!" She sucked in her breath. "Don't worry, I'm okay."

She wheeled it over to an clear space in the room, not far from Rainbow's bed.

"Where should I get blankets and stuff," she asked.

"Oh, there should be a few in the cupboard next to the bathroom," Rainbow said, pointing down the hall.

Adagio went out to fetch some sheets and blankets and returned moments later clutching a whole armful.

"Damn, I didn't think we had that many," Rainbow commented, hopping onto her bed.

"Well, it's cold," Adagio answered. "Plus I don't have any pyjamas."

"Oh, yeah," Rainbow said. "Sorry about that. I don't think I'd have anything that'd fit." She said, lying back against the pillow.

"It's no problem," Adagio answered, reaching back to unzip herself. "I don't normally wear them anyway."

Rainbow's face turned bright red and she rolled over. "Well… night."

Adagio finished taking her clothes off and slipped into bed. She sheets felt cold, but after a few moments her body heat had warmed them up and she snuggled down. "Goodnight, Rainbow."
> Five X's
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow rolled over to face the ceiling before blinking her eyes open, the bright sun through the cracks in the curtains greeting her. "Ugh. What time is it?" she asked aloud, unsure if Adagio was in the room or not.

"Half past ten," Adagio answered calmly. "You've been asleep for almost eleven hours."

Rainbow frowned lightly. "Well, that wasted almost half my day," she said, sitting up, her stomach rumbling. "Heh, perfect timing," she grinned.

Adagio rolled onto her side to face Rainbow. "Your body probably still needs rest to recover from everything it's been through." She grinned. "I woke up hours ago."

"That, or I'm just tired," Rainbow said, still grinning. "Anyway, it's kinda hard to concentrate on much with an empty stomach."

Adagio ignored Rainbow's concerns. "But I've been… errr… keeping myself busy."

Rainbow blinked. "What? Busy with what?"

"Oh, nothing," Adagio said. She climbed out of bed. "Oh, I hope you don't mind me borrowing these clothes. Let's go downstairs and have some breakfast."

"Breakfast," Rainbow said with a chuckle. "Not entirely sure if 'breakfast' means the first meal of the day or the meal you have in the morning. In one case, it is not breakfast time." She hopped off the bed and walked towards the door.

Adagio hurried to get in front of her and lead her to the kitchen. There on the table was a basket of croissants, pain au chocolate, and other pastries, along with pots of jam and spreads, a stack of toast, and a bowl of fresh fruit. "Sorry… the umm… toast will be pretty cold by now," Adagio said.

"Wow," Rainbow said, "you've been keeping yourself busy alright. Thanks!" She sat down and looked around at all the food, before her eyes rested on the croissants.

"Uh… what's that?" she asked, looking back at Adagio.

"Croissants… I'm surprised you haven't tried them before… I got them from that bakery just around the corner from you. That's why I needed to borrow your clothes. And also because it feels weird preparing food naked. They're just a pastry thing. You can have them with jam or cheese or ham… oh crap… I forgot to get the cheese and ham. Never mind."

"We have a bakery around the corner?" Rainbow asked. "Eh, must be new," she said before picking one and taking a bite just by itself.
"Yeah, it's next door to the fruit and veg shop," Adagio said, sitting down at the table.

Rainbow blinked. "Well, they're pretty good."

"So, sit yourself down then, and eat some breakfast," Adagio suggested.

"Heh, right." Rainbow sat down and grabbed herself a plate, filling it with food.

Adagio put a couple of croissants on her plate and spooned a dollop of strawberry jam onto it. She proceeded to tear chunks of the pastry and dip them into the jam before eating them. "So, what should we do today?" she asked.

"I… I don't know," Rainbow said. "I never really thought about it," she added as she started to eat.

Adagio shrugged. She had an idea, but wasn't sure whether Rainbow would be interested. "Well, this is probably a stupid idea, but a couple of days ago I got sent a two-for-the-price-of-one voucher for a theme park. I suppose because it's winter they're trying to get as many people into the park as possible."

"Really?" Rainbow said excitedly. "Where is it?"

"About half an hour in the car," Adagio said. "It's just outside Trottingham."

"Sweet! We should go then! It's been a while since I've been to one of those places!" Rainbow said.

Adagio cleared up the breakfast things and put the plates away in the sink. "Is it okay if I pop home, get showered and changed and pick you up in about an hour?" she asked.

"Of course," Rainbow said. "I should get ready too. See ya soon!"

Adagio gave Rainbow a kiss on the cheek and turned to go to the door.

Rainbow smiled and watched her leave, before racing upstairs to get ready. Or, well, as fast as she could race.


*


Adagio drove home a little unsure about Rainbow's feelings for her. They'd had a nice date, and she'd gone to a lot of effort with that breakfast, but she felt like something was holding Rainbow back. Maybe their history was too much? She sighed as she pulled into the driveway.

Opening the door to her house, she found Sonata and Aria playing cards in the living room.

"You've been with Rainbow Crash this whole time?" Aria asked as she walked into the room. "She must be good in bed."

"Shut up, Aria!" Adagio said, mounting the stairs. At least they hadn't commented on the fact that she was wearing Rainbow's clothes. She locked the bathroom door and stripped off before turning the taps on the shower. Once the water was at the right temperature, she stepped inside and washed herself.

After towelling herself dry, she returned to her room and got dressed. Jogging trousers and a hooded top seemed a sensible choice for a trip to a theme park in the winter. She glanced at the alarm clock — still half an hour before she needed to leave to pick Rainbow up. She sighed — oh well, should spend some time with those idiots, she thought, I've barely seen them the last few days.

She went downstairs to find Aria and Sonata.

Aria placed down her cards with a smirk: she had all four aces. Sonata smirked even wider and placed down four jokers. Aria groaned and Sonata grinned, snatching up the last of the lollies in front of Aria.

"Hey, Adagio. Bet you can't beat me," Sonata said, folding her arms proudly.

"Ugh! I don't have time for your petty card games, Sonata," Adagio answered. "I came looking for some advice. I wanted someone wise — someone experienced in matters of love and life — who could help me make sense of what's going on. Someone I can trust. Someone who would be able to give me good advice. Someone who can ease this aching feeling I have in my chest. Unfortunately, all I have is you two."

Sonata looked away. "Well, that's not very nice. But..." She looked back with a smirk. "I'll promise to help you if you play with me. Just one game!"

Adagio sighed. "Fine! What are we playing? Please tell me it's not Go Fish."

"Nup! Snap!" Sonata grinned.

"Urgh!" Adagio groaned, shuffling the pack. She looked around for Aria, but she'd already made her escape. Adagio dealt the cards into two piles. "You go first then."

Sonata flipped over her first card and placed it down onto the table, the whole time keeping her eyes glued on the cards.

Adagio put a card on top of Sonata's, not really paying any attention. "So, the other night… Sunday night, it was… hard to believe it's been almost a week… things got a little… steamy between Rainbow and I… but since then, well, we've been hanging out almost constantly, but I feel like she's holding back from me a little. And I don't know what it is… could I have done something wrong?"

"Hmmm…" Sonata thought about it as she placed a card down. "Nope. It's not you," she said simply. "Have you been with her the whole time since you got together?"

Adagio shrugged, putting down another card. "Well, obviously not the whole time. She had school that one day… half a day. She stayed over here during the worst of the snow storm. The next day she went back to hers, and it was the following night I picked her up for our date at that tapas place. And I've been with her the whole time until… I dunno… 40 minutes ago?"

"Maybe she's getting texts from a secret admirer, and they confessed, and she doesn't know what to do because she really likes you but at the same time she's liked this person before as well and wants to give it a shot but doesn't want to hurt your feelings and so she's worried that she might make the heartbreak worse and doesn't want to go too far!" Sonata took a deep breath and placed down another card. "Or it could just be what you said. After all, we are the evil sirens who tried to take over the school. Ooh, snap!" She slammed her hand down and then grinned, picking up all the cards for her own.

"Maybe…" Adagio said, about to put down another card. "Oh, you said snap, so you get to go next. Gah! You're making me paranoid. Me! Paranoid!"

Sonata giggled and placed down a card. "Well, you asked."

"I suppose I did," Adagio answered, "I just didn't expect you to be so brutal with the truth… I suppose a lot of people underestimate you though, Sonata." She glanced at the wall clock. "Sheesh! Is that the time? I'm gonna put down all my cards. Go all in. Final card wins." Adagio had no idea how that would work in Snap, but she just wanted to get the game over with.

Sonata giggled. "That's not really how the game works. It's fine, Dagi. You can go. Have fun!" 

Adagio leapt up and headed out the door. "Bye, Nata," she called.

She trudged to the car, opened the front passenger door, closing it again when she realized Rainbow wasn't here. She rolled her eyes, thanking her lucky stars that Aria didn't see that — she'd never let it go. She went round to the driver's side, got in, started the car, and drove to Rainbow's house.


*


Rainbow quickly showered, then marched into her room with her towel wrapped around her to choose what she was going to wear. She rummaged through her drawers, but after five minutes of checking and rechecking, she couldn't decide.

She fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Come on! I'm going to a theme park! How can it be so hard to just wear something?" she called out, lifting her arms in the air before flopping them down by her side.

"Hmmm…" she looked to the left and saw a notebook to her left. Frowning in confusion, she slid across her bed and picked it up to the front page. Rarity's phone number, written in a sparkly pink pen, covered the whole page. Rainbow blinked and rolled her eyes, closing it again. 
Wait a second…

She took the book and headed back downstairs, grabbing the phone and hesitating for a second, before finally dialing Rarity's number. 

"Hello, Rarity's House of Fashion, Miss Rarity speaking," Rarity said, answering the phone. It was something new she was trying.

"Uh… Rarity? What are you doing?" Rainbow asked, tilting her head. 

"Is that you, Rainbow? Well, it won't be long before I graduate, so I've decided to take a more professional approach to my fashion interests. How I answer the phone is just one facet of the overall scheme," Rarity answered. "But I'm sure you didn't call to discuss my telephone manner. I always have time for you, darling, but I am rather busy, so if you could get to the point, that would be appreciated."

"Uh, sure. Sorry to bother you, but I'm going out on a date to the theme park and I'm having trouble deciding what to wear," Rainbow said, her cheeks slightly red.

"A… date? I take it this is with Adagio Dazzle again? Applejack has been texting me non-stop about that. I've tried to calm her down, but I don't know how successful I've been. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was… no, doesn't matter. So, a theme park…" Rarity thought for a bit. "It's warmed up slightly since the snow. You might be able to get away with a microskirt if you pair it up with thick leggings and thigh-high boots to stop your legs getting cold. And a big, baggy woollen sweater can hide a multitude of other layers underneath to keep you warm. That combination should be attractive on you, but still practical for rides and the like."

"Thanks Rarity!" Rainbow said. "Sounds great! So, uh, were you going to say something?" she asked, curious. 

"No, it was nothing," Rarity muttered. "I was just thinking about how Applejack and Cloudy Kicks had that massive falling out a couple of weeks ago, and now they're friends again, but Applejack is suddenly anti-Adagio… well, not suddenly. Obviously the rivalry goes way back to the Battle, but… I don't know… headcanons," she laughed.

Rainbow shrugged and grinned awkwardly. "I see..." Has she been hanging out with Pinkie too much? "Well, thanks for your help Rarity. See ya." She placed the phone down. Applejack and Cloudy Kicks had an argument? When did that happen?

Rainbow walked up to her room and, with Rarity's outfit plan in mind, pulled out the corresponding items. She was halfway through pulling on her boots and tights when she heard a beep. Frowning, she looked around the room and found her phone stashed underneath the bed. Oh, so that's where it was! She picked it up and checked the notification.

"Sunset?" she said, opening it up.

The text read: Hey, Rainbow. Are you doing anything today? I thought maybe we could hang out and discuss strategy for the Friendship Games. Sunset xxxxx

Rainbow frowned lightly and thought for a bit. She was going to hang out with Adagio, but surely she wouldn't be at the park for too long. Besides, Adagio would understand if she told her.

Rainbow texted back: Sure. I can see you after lunch. You okay with that?

She peered closer at the text. She didn't think that putting 'xxx' was something friends did. But five x’s? She shrugged.

Rainbow pressed send, then quickly finished getting dressed, heading downstairs to wait for Adagio.

Adagio knocked on the door or Rainbow's house, a little hesitantly. Could there be something in what Sonata was saying?

Rainbow smiled and opened the door. Well, best not think about it now. "Hey Adagio! Let's go," she said, grinning.

Adagio raised her eyebrows, seeing Rainbow. Wow! she thought. This was so unlike how Rainbow normally dressed. So… feminine… but still practical. After a moment she collected her thoughts. "Come on," she said, leading the way to the car. She'd had to park a little way down the street because there were no parking spots close to Rainbow's house. But she'd parked as close as she could because she was aware that walking was still a strain for Rainbow.

Rainbow nodded and followed her down, thinking as she did. Though, I still have to tell her about the meeting. "Hey, Adagio?"

"Yes, Rainbow?" Adagio asked, opening the car door for her.

Rainbow sat in the car and waited for Adagio to sit in the seat next to her. "Umm, I got a text from Sunset asking to meet up with me today. I said I'd meet her at lunch, but totally forgot what the time was. I really don't want to rush our time together, but I don't want to be too late either. Is it okay if we cut it short a little?"

"Ummm…" Adagio thought for a moment. "My voucher is a 2-for-1 deal, but it doesn't limit the number of tickets. Sunset could come with us too, if you like. We could bring a fourth person too and they'd get a free ticket."

"Really?" Rainbow looked around, then remembered. "Uh, guess I better call her then. I'll be right back." She got out of the car and headed back inside to the phone to call Sunset. Quickly dialing her number, she leaned against the wall and waited.

"Hey, Rainbow," came the voice on the other side of the phone. "I was just getting ready to meet you."

"Uh, yeah, about that. See, it turns out my date was gonna be longer than I thought, so Ad- I mean, my date suggested that you come along with a friend. You don't need to worry about the money," Rainbow said.

"Come along where?" Sunset asked.

"Oh, right. Theme park!" Rainbow said.

"Cool. Are you going to come around and pick me up? Is your dad driving?" Sunset asked.

"Uh, my date is. But sure, we can do that!" Rainbow said. "See ya."

Sunset hung up the phone and thought about who else she'd like to invite to the theme park. She had to pick someone. It would be weird if it were just she, Rainbow, and Rainbow's date. Awkward. Having someone else there would take the pressure off. She dialled a number and waited for them to answer.

Pinkie happily stirred around the mixture for her cake, smiling happily. She was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing.

"Hello! Pinkie Pie here!" she said happily.

"Pinkie, are you busy today?" Sunset asked.

"Nopey dope!" Pinkie replied. "I've been making cakes all day! That's how unbusy I've been!"

"You make cakes when you're busy, you make cakes when you're free," Sunset laughed. "How would you like to come to the funnest place on earth?" she asked, trying to really sell the idea.

Pinkie gasped happily. "Would I ever?! When? Where? Ooh, this sounds so exciting!"

"It's some theme park… Rainbow's invited us along. I think… I think Adagio's going to be there. She wouldn't say, but… they've been spending a lot of time together."

"Ohhhh! That's fine! I love theme parks! I'll see you guys there then!" Pinkie replied, grinning. 

Rainbow climbed back into the car. "I told Sunset we'd pick her up," she said, buckling her seatbelt.

"Sure thing," Adagio said. "But you'll need to give me directions." She started the car and drove.

"Yep," Rainbow said, pointing out the way as they headed to Sunset's house.

They soon pulled up outside Sunset's house. She was waiting outside for them. She walked over to the car, seeing that it was indeed Adagio, as she suspected, that was Rainbow's date.
She opened the back door and climbed in, trying to act relaxed about sharing a vehicle with her once enemy and now rival. "Hi guys," she said in a casual tone, "how are you?"

"Very good," Adagio answered politely.

"Great!" Rainbow replied. "What about you?"

"Better now," Sunset answered, smiling at Rainbow.

Rainbow frowned lightly and tilted her head. "That's, um, great." She turned back, confused. What was that just now? Is she trying…? Nah, she wouldn't be.

Adagio started the car. "Are we picking anyone else up?"

"Yeah… no actually. Pinkie said she'd meet us there," Sunset answered, not knowing how Pinkie knew which theme park they were going to. Just Pinkie being Pinkie, she supposed. "Should we put some music on?" she asked. "It will make the journey go faster."

Adagio switched the radio on and said, "look, why don't you choose the channel?"

"Okay!" Rainbow complied to do so, grinning as she recognized the song. "Sweet! I love Rihanna!"

"Oh, yes, I know this one," Adagio said. "Round and around and around and around we go," she sung along.

Sunset sat in the back seat. I hope I don't have to put up with this singing all the way there, she thought to herself. She sounds really bad without that amulet.

"Ohhh now tell me now tell me now tell me now you know," Rainbow sang, smiling.

Sunset groaned. Duets? This is going to be a long journey.


*


Pinkie looked left or right as she waited for the girls, grinning. Pinkie being Pinkie again, she had gotten there before them. She waved happily as she saw the girls pull up as the entrance.

Rainbow waved back and climbed out as soon as the car stopped. "Hey, Pinkie!"

"Hiya! So… you and Adagio, huh?"

Sunset climbed out of the car, interested in hearing Rainbow's response to this. Just how close are Rainbow and Adagio?

Adagio locked the car and stretched her legs. She smiled at Pinkie's question. Perhaps Rainbow is going to make it 'official'.

Rainbow bit her lip and looked back at Sunset. "Uh… I–I guess," she said awkwardly. "I–I mean… never mind, let's just go." She walked in ahead of them. 

"Okay!" Pinkie said, following her.

Neither Adagio nor Sunset were very pleased by Rainbow's response. They both followed Rainbow and Pinkie a short distance behind.

At the gates, Adagio handed over the voucher and paid for the tickets.

"I don't mind paying for me and Pinkie," Sunset said.

Adagio shook her head. "No, it's fine. Maybe you can buy us all a snack and a drink later?"

They all walked into the theme park. Rainbow shook away what happened before when she saw all the really big rides ahead of them. "Woah. This is gonna be awesome!" 

Pinkie looked around, grinning and agreeing.

"Err… yeah," Sunset said, shuffling her feet and staring up at the rollercoaster towering over her. "Awesome is the word…"

Adagio grabbed Rainbow by the hand. "Let's go on that one first!" she said, pointing.

Rainbow looked up and grinned. "Yeah! Sunset, Pinkie, let's go!"

"Sure!" Pinkie said happily. "I love roller-coasters!"

Adagio and Rainbow led the girls to the queue for the roller-coaster, which was thankfully quite a short line.

Sunset followed nervously from behind. "Yeah, roller-coasters are great," she said with mock enthusiasm. Still, maybe if I could somehow manage to sit next to Rainbow, it might be okay.

Pinkie ran ahead of Rainbow, who looked back at Sunset. "Bit of a slow poke are we?" Rainbow asked with a apologetic grin. She walked back to stand with Sunset.

"Yeah, I'm just nervous… for you… with your leg injuries, will you be okay?" Sunset asked. "I wouldn't mind waiting down here with you while they went on the ride."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Rainbow said. She looked forward at where Adagio and Pinkie were. 
"Come on, we gotta catch up." She took Sunset's hand and walked forward.

Sunset enjoyed the warmth of Rainbow's hand. It was a comforting feeling. They stood in line behind Adagio and Pinkie. It was hard to see how many people were in the queue in front of them because there was a lot of hair in the way.

"Okay! How much further?" Rainbow asked either Adagio or Pinkie, trying to see in front of them.

"Oh, we're next!" Pinkie said cheerfully. 

"Sweet!" Rainbow said.

Adagio climbed into the roller-coaster carriage. She turned to look for Rainbow, but Pinkie was right behind her and climbed into the next seat. Rainbow and Sunset sat in the seats behind.
"Hold on tight, girls, this looked like a wild ride," Adagio said.

Sunset held onto the bar in front of her so tight that her knuckles turned white. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.

Rainbow kept the grin on her face as the roller-coaster slowly started moving forward.

Pinkie jingled in her seat. "Ooh, this is gonna be so fun! Oh, gotta take some selfies at this part!" She took out her phone and held it up as the carriage neared the drop. "Okay, everyone, scream as loud as you can!"

"Arghhhhhhh!" Adagio screamed, not really trying to honour Pinkie's suggestion… more because of the enormous drop she was teetering on the edge of.

Sunset sat with her eyes tight shut, but could tell from the screams of the people around her that something bad was about to happen.

Rainbow held her arms up and Pinkie snapped the photo just as the roller-coaster zoomed down to start the wild ride, in which Rainbow quickly held onto the bar again. Sunset opened her eyes just a crack and quickly regretted it, screwing them shut again. She grabbed hold of Rainbow Dash and buried her face in Rainbow's shoulder.

"Woah!" Rainbow looked to her left. "Sunset, are you okay?" she shouted loud enough for her to hear.

"Yes," Sunset answered, opening her eyes and looking at Rainbow. "I'm… fine." She was surprised at the truth in her own words. Looking into Rainbow's eyes, everything really did feel fine.

"Good, because we're getting to the highest part," Rainbow said, turning back at the front.

"Holy crap!" Adagio exclaimed, seeing the climb in front of them.

Sunset peeked through the gap between Pinkie's poufy hair and Adagio's wild mane, and gritted her teeth. Well, maybe she wasn't fine, but at least better with Rainbow by her side. She clung onto Rainbow even tighter.

"Ugh, Sunset, can't breathe," Rainbow said, but too quiet for anyone to hear over the sounds of everyone's screaming.

"Hereeeeee we goooooo!" Pinkie called out, grinning widely.

The roller-coaster plummeted downwards before doing a loop-the-loop. Everyone screamed.
Finally it came to a standstill at the end of the ride. The bars holding everybody in lifted, and Adagio stood and stretched her legs. Sunset seemed unable or unwilling to let go of Rainbow.

"Sunset. Hey, Sunset!" Rainbow said, pulling herself away from her grasp, almost falling out of the carriage. "What was that? I didn't mind you gripping onto me, but you could've at least given me room to breathe! Gees. You know, if you were scared, you didn't have to ride."

"Sorry about that. It was just… I wasn't scared… I just needed to… hold on… for safety," she tried to explain.

Adagio took Rainbow by the hand and glared at Sunset. "Come on, let's go and find another ride."

"That's what the bars are for, Sunset." Rainbow added, following Adagio.

Pinkie blinked and turned to Sunset. "Wanna try the Twister?" she asked.

"I don't even know what that is," Sunset admitted, imagining some kind of candy, "but sure."

"Oh, it's a ride that spins around really fast! Come on!" Pinkie took Sunset's arm and raced off.

Sunset watched as she was dragged away from Rainbow and Adagio. She supposed they'd meet up again soon. Still, spinning didn't sound as bad as what she'd just been through… I mean… how fast could it be?!

Adagio led Rainbow through the theme park until they came to a ride where you sit on boats the shape of swans. "Oooh… look!" she said. "It's called The Love Tunnel. Let's go on that… you know, ironically."

"Uh, sure," Rainbow said, following her into the queue.

Soon Adagio and Rainbow were at the front of the queue. Adagio helped Rainbow into boat and got in herself. The swan started sailing by itself along the ride's "river". It soon went into a heart-shaped tunnel. Adagio scooted over to sit a little closer to Rainbow, and put her hand on Rainbow's stripy tights.

Rainbow half smiled, but it was starting to feel a little awkward. And honestly, the ride was boring. But she kept her mouth shut, since they were already on the ride; no point in complaining.

Adagio moved her hand and put it around Rainbow's shoulder. "I know this ride is silly but… it's nice, just the two of us, isn't it?" The tunnel was lit with pink lights.

"I–I guess…" Rainbow said. "I was honestly enjoying myself better with the other two, even if Sunset was strangling me… I mean, not that I don't like spending time with you, but a theme park is more fun with loads of people." 

"Oh, okay," Adagio answered, crossing her arms.

Rainbow sighed. "Sorry. It's nice," she replied, honestly not sure if he meant it or not.

"Honestly, it was just a bit of fun, Rainbow. I thought you'd see the funny side of… this!" Adagio gestured at the walls of the tunnel which were painted with flowers, and hearts, and rainbows, and unicorns, and stars, and for some reason what looked like bottles of beer, but… they must have supposed to have been champagne or something. Classical music blared out of tinny speakers. "Come on, it's pretty cheesy!"

Rainbow half smiled. "I guess."

"Anyway, it'll be over soon, Rainbow. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Adagio chuckled.

"And I last I see the light," Rainbow sung quietly for no particular reason than the light at the end of the tunnel.

Adagio and Rainbow passed out of the tunnel and their swan boat took them back to the place they'd first gotten on the ride. There was no queue for other people to come on The Love Tunnel, so the attendant running the ride called out, "want another turn?"

Rainbow looked around at other rides before her stomach let out a loud rumble. "Heh, didn't expect that," she said.

"We should go find Sunset," Adagio suggested. "She was going to buy everyone some food, wasn't she?"

"Yeah, good idea," Rainbow said. "It could take a while though, I don't know where she went."

"I think Pinkie said something about a twisty thing?" Adagio asked.

"Oh, okay. We'll look for that then," Rainbow replied. 

"Already spotted it!" Adagio said, pointing to a sign saying "The Twister" in the distance.


*


Pinkie stopped in front of the ride while it was running, since people were still out. She grinned and quickly dragged Sunset to the line. "This is gonna be so much fun!" Pinkie grinned as the ride slowed down and everyone who was on climbed off. The line started to move forward.

Sunset followed Pinkie onto the ride. "Sure… fun." She didn't like the look of the people coming off the ride. Most of them seemed unable to walk straight.

Pinkie skipped happily up the steps into one of the two person carriages, motioning for Sunset to sit in next to her. Sunset sat next to Pinkie. She hoped it wouldn't go too fast. "Okay!" Pinkie called as the ride slowly started up. "Here we go! Oh, more selfies!" She dug her phone out again and held it up.

Sunset felt the ride starting to slowly turn. This didn't seem too bad.

"Ooh, ooh, it's speeding up!" Pinkie said as she took the picture, grinning. 

Sunset's face turned into a grimace as the ride got faster. "Pinkieeeee! Why didn't you tell me it got so faaaaasssttt?!"

"Hehe, whoopsie!" Pinkie said, grinning. "It's not that bad! You'll get used to it!" 

Sunset's head began to spin and her stomach began to churn. After several grueling minutes that felt like hours, the ride began to slow down.

Pinkie giggled and hopoed out of the carriage when the handle went up. "So, how was it?"

Sunset stepped off the ride in no mood to eat. She walked a little unsteadily. "I can't feel my legs!" she said. "And I wish I couldn't feel my stomach."

"Oh," Pinkie said. "Very unsmile indeed. Do you think you'll be okay?" she asked, following her. 

"Yeah, I just need to sit for a minute," Sunset said, looking around for a bench or a low wall.

"Oh, okay," Pinkie said, looking around.

Although Sunset couldn't see a bench, she did spot a small area of lawn and staggered over to that, sitting cross legged on the ground.

Rainbow and Adagio caught up with them. "Is everything alright?" Rainbow asked. She turned to Sunset. "Woah, Sunset, you're looking a little pale."

"Hey Rainbow," Sunset said, smiling. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just need to sit on solid ground for a while. Ground that isn't spinning. I'll tell you when the ground stops spinning." She saw Adagio standing behind Rainbow. "Hi, Adagio," she added, her smile dissolving.

Adagio nodded at her and turned to Pinkie. "Hi, Pinkie, I'm glad to see somebody has the guts to go on rides like that." She gestured to The Twister.

"It was sooooo much fun! I wanna ride it again!" Pinkie said happily.

"Yeah," Adagio said, looking at Sunset. "Let's all go on it together." She grinned.

Sunset looked less enthusiastic about the idea than the others. "I… I think I'll sit this one out. Could somebody stay with me?" She looked pleadingly at Rainbow.

Rainbow looked down at Sunset, bit her lip, then turned to Adagio and Pinkie apologetically. "I think I'm gonna stay with Sunset. You two go ahead."

"Okay!" Pinkie said and grabbed Adagio's arm, running off. "Seeee yaaaa!" she called.

Sunset lay back on the grass and looked up at the clouds. She was mostly feeling better now anyway, but didn't really fancy subjecting herself to that awful ride again. "Am I still looking pale?" she asked Rainbow.

"A little bit, yeah." Rainbow held out her hand. "Will you be fine to walk now?" she asked.

Sunset sat up straight. "Yeah, I think so. I should be asking you the same question! How are your legs now?"

"They hurt a little after long periods of time, but it's really just a pain going up stairs. Heh, must be a fast healer," Rainbow said with a grin.

"I wonder if it's a side-effect of the Equestrian magic," Sunset mumbled. She stood up. "Anyway, where we walking to?"

"Well, I was thinking it might be best for us to head to the bathroom… you know, just in case, seeing as how pale you look," Rainbow said, knotting her fingers together behind her back.

"Okay, if you really think so," Sunset said. "I suppose I could do with fixing up my make-up."

"Alright then," Rainbow said, half smiling once Sunset walked in front of her. She hoped it was empty.

Sunset walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She did look a little shaken up, but it was mostly her hair that was out of place. She ran the tap to wet her hands, and moved a few stray strands into their proper places.

Rainbow stood near her, leaning against the wall as she gripped the edges of the sinks she was between. She took a deep but quiet breath. "Sunset?"

"Yes?" Sunset replied, wetting her hands again.

Rainbow fought in her mind for the right thing to say. "Well, Adagio's been getting a little bit clingy lately… it's a little bit annoying, and… well, I…" She squinted her eyes shut and took Sunset's wrist, kissing her on the lips.

Sunset kissed back, putting an arm around Rainbow and pulling her closer. For a moment, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the kiss, but then she broke away. "What? No! Don't do this to me unless you mean it." She took a step back from Rainbow, but still Rainbow held onto her wrist.

"S–Sorry… I do mean it! Really! Anything you want me to do, I'll do it, just to be with you," Rainbow said, a determined look on her face.

Sunset looked at the floor, and then at Rainbow. She stepped forward again, and kissed her, pushing her back against the tiled wall of the bathroom, between two sinks. Her hands went to Rainbow's face and held her cheeks.

Sunset tilted her head to the side, opening her lips slightly. She let a hand slide down Rainbow's cheek and neck to rest on her shoulder. She'd dreamt of doing this with Rainbow for months, but had never thought Rainbow felt the same way.

Rainbow placed her arms around Sunset's back and held her close. The feeling honestly wasn't any more special then Adagio's, but either way, Rainbow liked it.
> I Can't Think of a Clever Name for Chapter Six
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, there they are!" Pinkie pointed forward at the two walking away from the bathroom.

Rainbow's eyes widened for a split second, but soon she calmed down. They weren't going to find out. There’s no way the others would guess what she and Sunset had just been doing. "Hey guys. Sorry we were gone for so long."

"No prob— wait… why is your hair so wet?" Adagio asked.

As much as she wanted to, Sunset knew that Rainbow would absolutely kill her if she told the truth. She and Rainbow were going to be a couple, and Adagio had to find out, but this was not the time or the place. Sunset needed to give Rainbow time to sit down and talk with Adagio. "We were… on the water ride — the one with the boats that go down the waterfall thing," she covered.

Adagio glanced at Pinkie. Maybe she wasn't so crazy suggesting they look for Sunset and Rainbow there. "Oh, was it fun?" she enquired.

Sunset smirked. "More than fun. Life changing. I got so wet." She looked sideways at Rainbow and smiled. "Best ride I've had since Flash Sentry. I mean, including Flash Sentry."

Rainbow replied with an awkward grin. "Anyway, we should head back."

"Awww… but we've only been on a few rides!" Pinkie complained.

"Well, you can stay here," Rainbow said. "I just feel really tired all of a sudden," she partly lied, starting to walk off. "I'm sure Sunset will stay with you," she turned around and said, before continuing on her way, lost in thought and worry. Why did I do that?

"Yay! Let's go, Sunny! I wanna go on the water ride too!" Pinkie grinned and dragged her off before she had a chance to say anything. 

"So, we're going back then?" Adagio asked. Dammit, she thought, we haven't even had lunch yet. Sunset was supposed to be supplying something for us to eat.

She started leading the way back to the theme park's front gate. "You really do look tired, Rainbow. Maybe you shouldn't have come out without your crutches today?"

Rainbow's mind froze for a second as she walked. What would she say? She thought about it for a few seconds. "Uh, yeah, maybe I shouldn’t've."

Passing through the gate, Adagio looked for the car. "There it is." It was right where they'd left it.

"You can lean on me for support, if you need it. You don't need to be too proud to ask. I'll still think you're awesome," Adagio said. Internally, she cringed at its cheesiness.

Rainbow winced slightly. "I–I'm fine," she replied, walking down the path, hands on top of one another in front of her. Goddammit, she thought, it's getting harder to say it every second. But, I have to do it for Sunset. I'll just wait ‘til I'm home, before she leaves.

Adagio thought Rainbow was acting a little odd… a little sad perhaps. She'd have to try to cheer her up. She opened the car door for Rainbow, waited for her to climb in, and then shut it behind her before scooting around to her side. Once in the car, she leaned over and kissed Rainbow on the cheek. "Whatever it is, you know I'll do anything to make it better," she promised. She started the car and the radio sprung to life too, still tuned into the same station as before.

Rainbow nodded, half smiling, but then turned around and faced out the window, her face falling back to it's sad state. Why? Just… why?

Adagio drove, trying to start conversations, but failing against a wall of one-word responses from her passenger. They soon pulled up outside Rainbow's house. She stopped the car and waited for Rainbow to get out.

Rainbow sighed as she gripped the door handle. "A–Adagio… I have something to tell you."

Adagio sighed with relief. "Good! Because I can tell there's something bothering you. And I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me. Whatever it is, we can face it together."

Rainbow bit her lip and shook lightly, turning around. "I–It's not like that… see, this is… we can't face it together because… because…" — she sighed and looked down — "I love Sunset. W–When we left, we headed t–to the bathroom and kissed, then had sex and… I–I love her. S-So..." — she opened the car door and climbed out — "I-I'm afraid we're through."

And just like that, Adagio's world crumbled.


* * *


She didn't even know how she got there, but the next thing she knew, she was curled up at home on the sofa, with her head in Sonata's lap. Sonata stroked Adagio's hair, and wiped away her tears with a handkerchief.

Sonata sighed sadly and held back her own tears as she gently caressed Adagio's hair. She wasn't even sure what to say. She didn't think cheering her up was the option here. 

Aria almost fell through the door, another snow storm was forming outside. "Ugh, stupid weather—"

"Shh!" Sonata said sharply, placing a hand to her lips. 

Aria froze and stayed silent, shutting the door and heading upstairs. 

Adagio grabbed the handkerchief from Sonata, blowing her nose and handing it back to her, the blue-haired siren looking somewhat disgustedly at the rag.

"Why? If… if she just wanted sex, she knew I was willing to give her that anytime she wanted," Adagio whispered, not really to Sonata, not really to anyone in particular. "I'm sure I would have been better than that pony girl anyway. What's her… thirty? years of experience compared to my millennium?"

Sonata placed the dirty handkerchief on the side table and still didn't say anything.

"I'm going upstairs," Adagio announced, standing up. "I need some time by myself." She walked to the bottom of the stairs, hesitated, went to the kitchen, and came out carrying a screw-top bottle of wine. She headed up the stairs to her room.

"Oh, okay." Sonata said, watching her leave. She turned to Aria and sighed. "I think we're going to need a bucket, just in case."


* * *


Rainbow lay across the bed, phone against her ear.  "Of course I love you! But I don't know what to do now! I mean, I hate seeing people upset! And she was the worst I'd ever seen her!" she yelled at Sunset, then sighed. "Sorry. I shouldn't be worrying about this. Adagio will get over it and… find someone else," she added. Hopefully.

"Of course she will," Sunset answered. "I mean… she's pretty enough… in her own way… if you like hair. Lots of hair. She'll find someone else. I mean, I'd be surprised if she hadn't already. Those housemates of hers always seemed pretty close to each other, if you know what I—" She paused for a moment. "I mean, I didn't mean to cast aspersions. I'm sure you weren't just another one in a long line of girls for her. I didn't mean it like that." Sunset wasn't making things any better, so she decided to change the topic. "So, when are we going to tell the girls? I can't wait to make it 'official'!"

Rainbow thought about her words, then replied, smiling slightly, "We'll tell them together, on the first day back at school."

Sunset grinned from ear to ear thinking about that. She'd be so proud to have scored the hottest girl in class as her girlfriend. "I can't wait!" she gushed.

"So… now that we're an item… should we go on a date? I mean… after the Friendship Games of course. I don't want to be distracted from my training too much."

"Yeah, me neither. And, sure, I'd love to." She rolled over to face the ceiling, smiling, but her smile quickly faded at the thought of the look on Adagio's face. She shook her head and groaned silently. Stop haunting me!

"Bye then, I'd better get back to this maths homework," Sunset said. "You know there's a rumour that there might be a maths contest as part of the Games, so I'm gonna need to hit these books! Don't want to lose that part to whatever student Crystal Prep tries to put against me! Goodbye," she said happily and blew a kiss over the phone.

"Alright. Good luck!" Rainbow said, before hanging up.

Sunset put the phone down and sighed happily. She sat at her desk and gazed at the little collection of photos of Rainbow Dash she'd kept there for months. She picked up the old apple juice carton of Rainbow's that had formed the centerpiece of her Rainbow Dash collection, and threw it in the bin. She didn't need that any more… not now she'd swapped spit with Rainbow in person!

She smiled again and opened her textbook, turning to the page she was up to.


* * *


Rainbow walked down the road from her home to school. Her legs felt perfectly fine to her now, so she’d decided it'd probably be okay to head off without her crutches.

Sunset met Fluttershy by the corner near her house. Despite being nearly a legal adult and not exactly living in the roughest part of town, Fluttershy still got a little nervous walking to school on her own, so was glad of Sunset's company most mornings.

Sunset greeted her with a huge smile on her face. "Good morning!" she beamed.

"Hi, Sunset," Fluttershy said, walking towards the school, but turning back when she noticed Sunset was still standing at the corner. "Sunset… are you coming?"

"I've got a secret!"

"Oh… well, that's nice," Fluttershy said.

“Don’t you wanna know?”

“Well… if it’s a secret, I wouldn’t want to—”

Sunset squealed. "I can't tell you. But I want to tell you. But I mustn't tell you! But you can keep a secret, right? But Rainbow would kill me! But you won't tell Rainbow you [i[know, will you?"

"Know what?" Fluttershy said. "I–I mean… I'm sorry to interrupt, but what do I know?"

"Rainbow and I are…" — Sunset took a deep breath — "DATING!"

Fluttershy raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I thought she was with… never mind. That's nice for you. Should we get going to school? And don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Rainbow kicked a rock along with the way, huffing. Her eyes closed, she heard an "ow" come from in front of her and opened her eyes to see who she hit. "Oh, sorry, Applejack…" she said simply. "I didn't mean to." Having apologised, she kept walking, looking down. 

Applejack blinked and grabbed her arm. "Come on now. If ya keep walking with your head down, you're gonna bump into something. What's wrong?"

Rainbow sighed. "Nothing! I just thought, you know… our argument…" She took a deep breath. "Sorry about that. I'll actually have you know I'm not with Adagio anymore. I broke up with her on Friday, because Sunset and I…"

"You and Sunset?" Applejack asked, her face falling, but she put on a smile. "That's great! Ahm happy for you two!"

"Just don't tell her I told you. We were meant to wait for each other," Rainbow said quickly.

"Just ‘cos Ah’m called the Element of Honesty, don’t mean I can’t keep a secret. Now, let's get to class," Applejack said, walking ahead.

Sunset and Fluttershy walked into their first class together — double English.


* * *


Adagio woke. The light hurt her eyes. She needed the toilet… desperately… so sprung out of bed quickly, the sudden movement prompting a splitting headache. She almost tripped over the two empty wine bottles on her bedroom floor and rushed to the bathroom across the hall. How come her mouth felt so dry the same morning her bladder felt so full? 

Fully toileted, she went downstairs for a glass of water before noticing the time on the kitchen clock. Nearly midday?! How had she slept so late. It was Monday. Rainbow had said that she was going to talk to Celestia about her coming to help Rainbow get back to her biking on Monday.

Rainbow… she didn't know where they still stood. They weren't going out any more, but… they were still friends, right? Would she still be expecting Adagio to turn up at the school? Adagio supposed it couldn't hurt. Finishing her water, she grabbed the car keys and headed out.


* * *


"Fluttershy," Sunset said, as they queued up for food, "you can have my broccoli if I can have your meat."

"Deal," Fluttershy said. Though she wasn't really saving any animals through her vegetarianism if all she did was pass her meat to someone else. They collected their food and moved to the seating area, sitting with the other girls.

Rainbow smiled at Sunset and took a bite of her sandwich. For the time being, all thoughts of Adagio left her mind. She looked around the group and then at Sunset, hoping she got the message.

Sunset finished chewing her sandwich. "Girls, Rainbow and I have something to tell you."

Rainbow grinned slightly and stood up. Applejack leaned back on the chair, looking smug. Fluttershy held a small smile as well. Rainbow walked around to Sunset to stand with her and face the whole group. Rarity and Pinkie were eager to find out what they had to say.

"Girls, Sunset and I, we're…" Rainbow trailed off, as if something was telling her not to say it, but she shook it away. "Sunset and I are dating," she finished.

Rarity was the only girl to look genuinely surprised, but Fluttershy and Applejack faked it well enough, and Pinkie… nothing ever seemed to take Pinkie by surprise — the other girls barely even knew what her surprised face looked like.

Rainbow blushed a little and sat back down, knitting her fingers together. "So… yeah." 

Adagio arrived at the school and parked the car. She supposed she should probably go see Celestia, but she didn't fancy walking through all the corridors. She remembered there was a side entrance to the school, just past the dining room, so walked around that way. Adagio pushed open the side door and walked towards Celestia's office. It wasn't far and thankfully she didn't see anybody she recognized. 

"Well, ah think it's mighty swell!" Applejack said, smiling. She reached over the table to pat Rainbow on the back. As she did so, she spotted the orange haired siren running past at the back and tensed up a little, moving away. "Uh, if you'll just excuse me for a bit," she said, exiting the cafeteria.

Adagio peeked in the little window in Celestia’s office door and saw that the principal was on the telephone. She sat on one of the chairs outside the office and waited, hoping nobody she knew would see her.

Applejack went around to the back of the cafeteria and looked around a bit, before walking forward. She spotted Adagio around the corner, and thought to herself for a minute, before walking out behind. "Adagio, just what do you think you're doing?"

"I… umm… hello Applejack," Adagio said, turning towards her in surprise. "I'm… I'm just here to talk to the principal about getting that ban revoked? You know, where I was banned from ever setting foot on school property."

"Yeah, sure. That's gonna work," Applejack said sarcastically. "Look, you ain't going in there before I've had a few words with you." She pointed a finger at her. "Why is Rainbow suddenly with Sunset? What'd you do to her? Ah swear to god, if you hurt her…"

"Me?! Hurt her?!" Adagio said. She had an urge to slap Applejack, but restrained herself. Instead she got up and punched a nearby wall. "Holy fuck!" she muttered, shaking her hand in pain.

Applejack frowned and grabbed Adagio's arm. "What happened?" she demanded.

"I punched the wall, you idiot!"

"Not that, I meant what happened with Rainbow?" Applejack clarified.

"You… you've seemed so worried that I was going to hurt her… you didn't seem to consider the other possibility." Adagio sat down beside Applejack and leaned forward, her hair covering her face. "I… she dumped me the other day. For Sunset. That's not even the worst part. They had sex… while we were still dating… I mean literally during an actual date!" She raised her head and tears were visible in her eyes. "I mean, I know I've done bad things in the past, but did I really deserve that?"

Applejack stepped back. "Consarnit," she mumbled, bending down to her level, wiping a tear out of Adagio's eye. "A-Ah'm sorry. Ah didn't mean to. Ah know heartbreak, and nobody deserves it." And now ah wanna go over there and beat the hell out of Dash, she thought, without really meaning to.

Adagio buried her head in Applejack's shoulder. "And now… now I'm here to ask Celestia if I'm allowed back at the school to help Rainbow train for the Friendship Games, because that's what we talked about… but I don't even know if she still wants that and… I'm afraid to ask her because… well, because if I'm honest, I already know the answer," she sobbed. "I just don't want to hear it."

"Ah'll help ya," Applejack let out, before she could even process it. "Ah'll help ya with Celestia, then ah'll go talk to Rainbow Dash. FInd out if she still wants to be your friend." Yeah, after ah teach her a lesson. She rubbed her hand down Adagio's back. She was kinda worried this might not turn out well, but they could always do something about it if it didn't… Applejack honestly didn't want to leave her — or anybody — like this.

Adagio sniffed. "That's… that's very good of you." She looked up at the door. "Could you check if she's still on the phone?"

Applejack nodded, standing up. She peered inside and after a few seconds, turned back to Adagio. "Yeah, she's done. Do ya want me to go in first, or…?"

"Maybe it might be best if you did go in first," Adagio said. "After all, I am still technically not supposed to come within 50 yards of the school grounds."

"Sure," Applejack said, knocking on the door, before entering. "Principal Celestia? Sorry to bother you, but ah need to talk to you for a bit."

"Why, Applejack," Celestia said, "come in, sit down. I always have time for all of my students, especially one who is going to make the whole school proud at the Games."

"Uh, yeah," Applejack said and sat down. "But this is about an entirely different matter. You remember… the Fall Formal right?" she asked, but continued without waiting for a reply. "And how we gave Sunset Shimmer a second chance? Well, suppose we decided to help one of the Dazzlings… and she wanted to come back to school…"

"Hmm…" Celestia said thoughtfully. "But in the aftermath of the battle, it turned out they were all thousands of years old. I don't really know what benefit they'd get from coming to high school. Why attend history classes, if you've lived through half of it?"

"Uh, that's true, but school isn't all work, Principal Celestia. She could, you know, make some friends and live a normal life. It doesn't matter whether or not she knows what she's learning. Also, there's another reason. It involves the Friendship Games," Applejack said.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

Applejack felt she should tell her the truth: Adagio wants to help Rainbow Dash in her training, but felt it wouldn't be taken so easily as what she could say, and still allow Adagio to help Rainbow. "She wants to compete," Applejack lied, crossing her fingers behind her back.

"Compete, eh?" Celestia said, thinking. She had to admit that whatever the Dazzlings had done at the school, they certainly seemed fiercely competitive, and having even just one of them on the team might inspire the same competitive spirit amongst the other team members. "Okay, do you have her telelphone number? I'll speak with her."

"Actually, she's outside right now.," Applejack said, standing up and opening the door. She peered around the corner. "You can come in now."

Adagio stood and walked through the door, having used her time outside to fix her makeup and generally make herself look presentable again after her minor break-down. "Celestia," she said in greeting.

"Adagio?" Celestia said in surprise. "When Applejack said 'one of the Dazzlings' I assumed it would be Sonata. So you want to come back to school?"

Adagio was a little uncertain and looked towards Applejack.

Applejack nodded. "That's what she told me." She turned towards Adagio. "It'll be nice for you to get to know everyone and start anew. Ah know it might take a while, but I'll be there if ya need me."

Adagio shrugged at Applejack. So be it, she thought. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. "Yes, I'd like to come back," she announced. "And in time, I hope I can convince Aria and Sonata through my example."

Celestia seemed impressed. "You can go now. I think Adagio and I have some talking to do."

"Alright then," Applejack said and exited the office. She started to walk off, but then looked back for a second, before continuing on her way. Why am I helping her? she thought, placing a hand on her forehead.