Canterlot High during lunch was, perhaps, the busiest time of the day for all of the students there. Everyone would get together and enjoy each other's company, get involved in their little cliques, or just work out their plans for the upcoming weekend. Today was no exception, as the air was abuzz with the voices of hundreds of teenagers and pre-teens going about their business. At one table in particular was a group of girls that had earned quite a reputation for themselves. A group that had been named the "Rainbooms", after the band they'd formed in a recent music competition the school had hosted.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and even one-time outcast Sunset Shimmer, all firm friends who had grown immensely close to one another. And while the competition had long since ended, they'd still kept the name of their band, partly because they'd got used to the idea of them being referred to collectively by it, but mostly because they still enjoyed practising their music together every once in a while. Today though, they had other things to be discussing, as Sunset was in the middle of doing right now.

"So...any rumblings from our new "friends" from Equestria?"

Even without giving names, all of the girls there knew who she was talking about. The Sirens, Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze, who were better known as the "Dazzlings". They'd caused quite a bit of problems for the students of Canterlot High not so long ago, but thanks to the intervention of a certain Princess, they'd been stopped. Now, stripped of their powers, they'd been rendered into little more than three ordinary high school girls, just like the rest of them. And while the Rainbooms had made steps to try and reach out a hand to them, everyone knew things were still shaky.

As for right now though, the other girls merely gave thoughtful looks at each other before Applejack replied to Sunset.

"No problems yet, sugarcube. They seem to just be keepin to themselves."

Sunset nodded at that.

"Well, as long as they’re not up to any of their old tricks again, we can probably relax, at least for now."

The former student of Celestia then turned her attention to Fluttershy, as did the rest, as she began to speak up.

"Um...didn't we say that we were going to try and be friends with them? All this "keepin an eye on them" stuff doesn't seem very...er...friendly."

It was Rarity who answered the girl, putting her hand on her shoulder before speaking.

"I know, dear. But given everything they've done we can't take too many chances. We have no idea if their powers are gone forever, or if they could recover them, or anything."

Fluttershy then turned to Rainbow Dash, who placed her hand on her other shoulder.

"We're not gonna make em outcasts or anything. Heck, they've done a good enough job of that themselves. But we're just...being careful."

Fluttershy, still clearly uncomfortable with this sort of thing, nevertheless nodded in agreement with that. With that position established, the girls started to discuss other things amongst themselves for a brief while, until Pinkie, out of nowhere, leapt up from her seat and started waving to someone away from their table. Turning, the rest of the girls saw who it was she was looking at. A boy their age, who only now noticed Pinkie, and nervously waved back before approaching the table. The girls smiled at him as he approached.

"You wanted something, Pinkie?" the boy asked.

The pink-haired girl smiled widely before replying.

"Yep! Just wondering if you and your guys are up for that music practice after school!"

The boy, gaining a look of understanding, smiled a little before answering.

"Oh, that. Yeah, we're still on."

Still smiling, Pinkie sat back down, just before Rainbow let out a chuckle.

"Don't let out victory at the battle of the bands intimidate you, Randy. We're gonna go easy on you guys...mostly."

The girls all chuckled at that display, as did Randy, before the latter began to turn and start to walk away. After having taken only a step or two, he stopped, and seemed to hesitate about something. Seeing this, the girls all looked to him, becoming curious as to why he was behaving like this. Eventually, he turned back around to face them and spoke, his voice still bearing that same nervousness.

"Um...can I ask you guys something?"

The girls all exchanged looks before Applejack answered him.

"Shoot, Randy. Y'all can come to use fer anythin. We've known each other ever since we first came to this school!"

Rainbow nodded at that before speaking up herself.

"Yeah! You and me even grew up as next-door neighbours, remember?"

Before Randy could respond to those words, he was interrupted by Pinkie, who was looking at the group with confusion on her face.

"Why are you guys all saying this stuff out loud when we already know all this?"

She then narrowed her eyes a little.

"Are you just trying to shoehorn in a previously-unmentioned-but-still-established friendship between us and him so people don't ask why we're being so friendly to a guy we've seemingly only just met?"

The group had been rendered utterly silent as their friend's bizarre outburst, and remained that way until Randy broke the silence.

"If we say "no", would you believe us?"

Pinkie then stood up tall, her hands on her hips and a face filled with determination.

"Yes! Yes I would!"

Randy then looked to all the other girls, who promptly just shrugged their shoulders at him, before he replied to Pinkie.

"In which case, no, that's not what we're doing."

Pinkie' in stark contrast to her previous behaviour, simply broke out into a massive smile before making an "ok" sign with her hand.

"Okay-dokey-loki!"

The girl then sat back down and started eating her lunch meal, completely oblivious to the stares the others were giving her. Randy, in a rather hurried attempt to move away from this awkwardness as soon as possible, started speaking up again.

"So...anyway, I wanted to talk to you guys about something important. You see..."

The boy started looking very nervous, though it was not until he spoke that the Rainbooms understood why.

"...there's this girl."

Now, one might expect that a group of friends who have, apparently, known this boy for a long time, might be happy or ecstatic to find out that someone had caught his eye. However, that is now what happened here. Instead, the girls all looked to each other with varying expression of worry or concern. They all turned to look at Randy again before Sunset spoke up, her voice calmed but still carrying an element of concern to it.

"Um, Randy? No offense, but you haven't exactly had the best track record when it comes to romance."

Randy considered that before folding his arms and nodding a little.

"Well, yes, I admit I've had a mis-step here or there."

Before anyone else could say anything to that, Pinkie shot up again and waved her hand in the air, like a little kid waiting to answer a question in class.

"Ooh! Ooh! Like the time my sister Maud dumped you?"

Randy coughed nervously at that.

"Okay, in hindsight, it probably wasn’t my smartest move to tell her that I didn't find igneous rock formations all that interesting, but..."

He was then interrupted by Rainbow, who had a smirk on her face.

"And let's not forget the time you tried to ask out my old buddy, Gilda?"

Randy looked away slightly.

"Well, in my defense, how was I supposed to know I wasn't her...er...type?"

Then, it was Rarity's turn, who spoke with a raised eyebrow.

"What about the time you dated Suri Polomare?"

The boy grimaced at that.

"I'll admit that being used as a living mannequin for her new dress designs wasn't the BEST way for me to spend a week, but..."

Even Fluttershy interrupted at this point, albeit in her usual quiet manner.

"Didn't you date Photo Finish at one point?"

Randy started rubbing his temples, as if remembering a long-forgotten headache.

"So many flash-photography sessions. I was lucky to come out of that with my sight intact."

And finally, it was Applejack's turn.

"How bout when you agreed to let the Flim-Flam Brothers hook y'all up with a girl?"

Randy looked particularly embarrassed about this one.

"They made such a convincing argument. How could I have predicted that they'd set me up with your Grandmother of all people?"

Applejack giggled at that, as did all the rest of the Rainbooms, even Sunset. Randy, watching them, couldn't help but afford himself a chuckle also, albeit a very dry one. Even he had to admit that having so many things happen to one person in such quick succession would probably have seemed funny to those watching it from the outside. He didn't find it funny of course, but he wasn't going to start giving them grief for simply pointing it out. After the laughter had died down however, Sunset spoke up again.

"We're sorry for bringing all that up, it's just...we don't really want to see you go through another...erm..."

But Randy finished it for her.

"Failure?"

Sunset looked away, clearly uncomfortable with having made the suggestion. Randy, by contrast, simply let out a sigh before speaking again.

"It's okay, Sunset. And I appreciate what you're all trying to do. But I don't want to stay single for the rest of my life. And I know that if I keep trying, I'll at least find a girl I can have a steady relationship with."

Rainbow turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Say...why haven't you ever asked one of us out?"

The girls and Randy all turned to look at her. Realising how that might have sounded, a small blush appeared on Rainbow's face.

"Er...not that I'm suggesting you should! It's just...kinda weird, that's all."

Chuckling slightly at the embarrassed look on Rainbow's face, Randy began to answer her.

"I understand Rainbow, and in truth, the thought did cross my mind several times. But then I realised that if anything went wrong, if the relationship didn't work out, it might make things bad between us. I didn't want to risk that."

The girls all looked at each other before slowly nodding, understanding that he had a good point. So, with that settled, Rarity, in an effort to get things back on track, decided to ask the question that, frankly, she felt the group should have asked to start with.

"So...who's the lucky girl? Anyone we know?"

The rest of the Rainbooms all joined Rarity in staring at Randy, waiting for him to give is answer. However, he suddenly seemed very nervous about something, as evidenced by his tone as he started to speak.

"Well, er...technically you do know her."

Applejack then spoke up after that.

"Well? Come on then, boy Spit it out!"

Randy fumbled his words a little before starting to speak in a semi-coherent fashion.

"It's...er..."

He then let out a deliberate cough, one only used to try and hide the words that were being said underneath. The Rainbooms, not being idiots, all recognised this immediately and looked at him with rather stern faces at this point. Knowing there was little point in dragging this out, Randy sighed before speaking.

"It's...Sonata."

Although the rest of the cafeteria remained just as loud and vibrant as ever, the atmosphere around their table had become almost deathly silent. The girls all stared at him as if he'd just said the sky was falling or something. The boy, meanwhile, simply stood there, not wanting to look any of them in the eye. Eventually, the silence was, thankfully, broken, as Applejack spoke up.

"...Sonata?"

Randy nodded.

"As in Sonata Dusk?" Rarity added.

Another nod from Randy.

"As in Sonata Dusk of the Dazzlings?" Sunset said.

Yet another nod.

"As in Sonata Dusk of the Dazzlings who is really a Siren from another world who, only a few days ago, tried to take over you, the school and the entire world? THAT Sonata?!" Pinkie blurted.

Randy just kept nodding silently at this point, and didn't notice as Rainbow got up from her sitting position, her face bearing a look of uncharacteristic calm and emotionlessness.

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say..."

Her expression then morphed into one of both shock and anger.

"...WHAT?!"