Aria's Challenge

by Gear Works

First published 1st of October, 2015

Aria decides to be a bully to get what she wants. But there's one student that she couldn't break, and she hate him the most. When they are forced to work on a project together, she learns that there's a better way to get what she wants.

When the Dazzlings get another chance at Canterlot High, Aria decides that there's one way the get what she wants, by being a bully. The only problem she has is that she can't break one geek who she keeps crashing into. And when they are paired up in shop class, she has to find a way to get what she wants.

And the only way to do that is the one way that she hates the most.

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Cover art done by MaddyMoiselle

Who's The Bully Here?

My name is Gear Works, but some people call me Gears. I’m what you would call a geek, because of my love of geeky things, but I don’t look like the type with the nerdy glasses and pocket protectors. I look more like to average person. I attended a school in Baltimare where I was bullied a lot during middle school. But I started to learn how to deal with bullies by not giving in to them. When I started high school, some bullies almost crossed the line with me, until some other students about their size stepped in and made sure they didn’t bully me again. That didn’t stop them from trying again. When my parents decided to go on a missionary trip, they were worried that things would get worse without them around. So they decided to transfer me to Canterlot High, where I was told it was a safer school to attend.

I learned during my first year at Canterlot High that some strange happenings were going on. Something about Equestrian magic appearing at the school. I mean if you told others that there were students who became fire demon princesses or mind controlling sirens, they would thing you were crazy. Well, it has happen, and I was lucky enough to avoid those encounters. Why, you ask? Another problem in my life is that I have a hard time finding a girlfriend, and for many reasons that I don’t want to get into. So I never went to the Fall Formal or the Battle of the Bands.

It’s been two weeks since the Battle of the Bands, and I’m just returning to school from a weekend of being by myself, making my way to my English class. I haven’t had much luck making friends for a while. Well, expect one who I met as a bully, before she was reformed, so to speak.

“Morning, Gears.” I looked up to see Sunset Shimmer looking refreshed as ever. She was known as the biggest bully in the school, but every time she tried to get into my head, I didn’t even budge. After a few weeks, she gave up on messing with me to focus on others because my willpower was strong. It wasn’t until after the Fall Formal that she was different. It was like the roles were reversed. She wasn’t bullying anyone, and everyone else was giving her mean stares. When I had a chance to talk to her alone, she explained what happened back in the Fall Formal and how she learned from her mistakes. The only problem was that no one was willing to give her a second chance...well, five other girls did at least. I promised that I would be willing to give her that chance and she became my first friend at this school, even if everyone else didn’t like her.

“Morning, Sunset. How did your science research go?”

“Don’t even remind me,” she replied. “I’m still trying to get the rainbow blast out of my system.”

“So, you have no idea where your magic comes from when you ‘pony’ up?” I asked.

“I might have to look outside the box if I plan to find those answers,” she replied. “So, how was your weekend?”

“Same as always,” I replied in a dull voice.

“How come whenever the weekend comes around, you look so depressed? There has to be something to do out there, besides going to Sugarcube Corner and grabbing a quick bite to eat. Is there something that has been bothering you?”

Just as she said that, a blue girl with the ponytail walked in with a hop and a smile. Her name was Sonata Dusk, one of the three so-called sirens that tried to take over the school during the Battle of the Bands. Since they lost their powers that night, they were believed to be tossed out of the school, until Sunset saw them and asked Principal Celestia to give them a second chance, hoping they will do the same thing that Sunset did after the Fall Formal. It was pure luck that everyone liked her more than her sisters because of her bubbly personality. She even got herself a boyfriend in a couple of days. Don’t know who the lucky guy was, but I guess I missed out on picking up a girlfriend easily.

As I was staring at her, Sunset picked up on why I felt so depressed every weekend. “I see. You still having a hard time finding a girlfriend.” I nodded. “I know I told you a few girls that I know to look into, but you said that there was something that separated you from each of them. I don’t know why you can at least ask one of them out.”

“Because I still have that fear of being rejected in front of everyone,” I said. “And if I recall, they were all members of The Rainbooms, who had to perform to stop the sirens’ magic.”

“I know,” she replied. “I guess you want someone who’s more normal, and we’re not as normal, with our ‘pony’ powers and all. Well, with everything coming back to normal, again, I can see if my friends know anyone who would be right for you. Best I can do after what you did for me.”

“This coming from a former unicorn, I’m grateful for your help,” I said.

It was after English class that I was making my way to my next class when I hear a voice calling me.

“Hey, Gears. Wait up. I want to ask you something?” I looked behind me to see Sonata running towards me, waving her hand. “Sunset said that you have been having a hard time finding a girlfriend.”

“That’s true,” I replied.

“Well, she told me why you won’t ask any members of the Rainbooms, so I was wondering if you would ask one of my sisters out,” she said.

“I’m sorry, but I have met your “sisters”, and I don’t see any chance of that happening.”

Sonata put on her sad face and said, “But why? Adagio would be nice to be with.”

“Adagio still likes to focus on her image,” I said. “She’s just like Rarity and her fashion sense.”

“Well, what about Aria?” she asked me.

“You have got to be joking,” I said. “Did you forget what happened the first day the three of you came to this school?”

I remember back to that day when they first came her. I was making my way to the computer lab when I saw Sunset coming my way.

“Hey, Sunset. I just heard you name being called on the intercom.”

“I know,” she replied. “I’m getting to show some new students the school. Wish me luck in making some new friends that don’t know about my past.”

“If they’re single girls, you know what to do,” I said.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten about our promise,” she said as she was making her way to the lobby.

It was after I finished what I needed to do at the computer lab that I was making my way out of the room when I bumped into a girl beyond the door.

“Hey, watch it, loser.” I looked to see that I crashed into a purple girl with pigtails.

I got back up and said, “Sorry, didn’t see you there. I was in a hurry.”

“Well, you should be sorry,” replied the purple girl.

“Hey, take it easy on my friend. He said he was sorry,” Sunset said in my defense. I noticed that this was the group that Sunset was giving a tour to. The others were a blue girl with a ponytail and a golden girl with big, puffy hair.

“Well, tell your friend that he should show some respect,” she replied.

“That’s enough, Aria,” the golden girl spoke, stopping the purple girl from causing any trouble. She looked at me and said, “Sorry if my sister was being rude. She has a hard time getting use to new people.”

“That’s because she acts that way to everyone,” said the blue girl.

“Oh, shut up, Sonata,” replied the purple girl.

“Will the two of you just shut up!” the golden girl said, giving them a mean stare.

“Well, I need to be on my way,” I said. “Hope you enjoy the tour.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Sonata said. “I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me.”

And at some point, she’s going to forget what I told her again.

“But don’t you have shop class with both Adagio and Aria at the end of the day?” Sonata asked.

“Yes,” I replied, “but Aria has been acting like a bully ever since you lost your powers. She’s already been forcing her partner to do all the work in our last pairing.”

“And you were paired with Adagio, right?” she added. “She showed me her queen chess piece, and said that you made a knight chess piece.”

“You are right about that,” I added. “She was able to catch on to the programming in creating the piece, but I didn’t feel a strong connection with her. I just don’t think it would work out with the both of us.”

“Well, I tried anyway,” she said in disappointment. “If I come up with anyone else, I’ll let you know.” And she just went on her way in a cheerful mood.

I decided to make my way to my next classes before heading to the cafeteria for lunch. There were times I spend it up in the library trying to catch up on my studying, but this time, I didn’t have any catching up to do. I was able to find a table to sit at, by myself. So I took out my sandwich and drink that I always do for lunch and just pass the time before my next class. Sunset would ask me to join her and her friends, but I felt like I stick out as the only guy in the group. Plus, the former sirens were sitting with them. That included Aria, who I just wanted to stay away from, because she was always acting like a bully to others, and I didn’t want to stir up any trouble. As I was eating my lunch, I noticed that Adagio was walking my way.

“Is this seat taken, Gears?” she said. I just shook my head, and she went to sit down next to me. “So Sonata tells me that you are having a hard time finding a girlfriend.” I placed my hand on my face in disgust. “I would be willing to take you out on a date, but she does bring up a good point. If I wanted a boyfriend, you wouldn’t be the type for me. I mean, you do look cute, but I want someone who’s better. No offense.”

“None taken,” I replied. “You always wanted to focus on your image more than anything else after what happened. No offense.”

“Nice counterattack,” she said. “Now I understand why you handle bullies with ease.”

“So, did you come over to ask me out or bully me?” I asked.

She let out a sigh and said, “It’s not like me to act like this, but I’m worried about Aria’s approach. I mean, Sonata got her bubbly personality to gain everyone’s trust, and she was able to get a boyfriend that quickly. Don’t know what they see in each other. And I have been trying to use my...body...to gain their trust, but I don’t think I’m doing a good job.”

“Well, I would think with your good looks, you can still win a guy’s heart, even if you don’t have a siren’s song,” I said.

“Very funny,” she replied. “But Aria’s idea of forcing others to do what she wants is going too far. She’s been bullying geeks, nerds, and weaklings as easy targets, without anyone else noticing. And if I recall, you’re a geek as well.”

“So what are you trying to say, anyway?” I said.

“Help her understand that there’s a better way. I don’t know how, but I don’t want to see her expelled from school for her actions,” she requested.

“I only just refuse what any bully asks me to do. I can’t just make them change who they are. That’s for them to decide.” Adagio started to get out of her seat and turned away before I spoke again. “But thanks for telling me this. At least I know what to expect for her in shop class. Maybe she will find out for herself what she needs to do, before it’s too late.”

“Well, thanks for listening to me,” she said. “I’ll see you in shop class. And I hope we work together on our next pairing. Somehow, I’ve become a fast learner from you.”

I was in shop class, where Mr. Iron Will was going to assign our new pairings for the next two weeks at a new station. The last two weeks I was paired with Adagio working on plastic crafting, where we made our own chess pieces. Aria was working with another student working on electronics, or more likely, forcing him to do her part of the work. As the parings were being made, Iron Will was about to announce Aria and Adagio’s pairing.

“Adagio, you will be working on wood working with Bright Idea. Aria, you will be working on computer programming with Gears.”

“WHAT?” Aria said. “I have to work with him?”

“Iron Will has made the pairings. Aria doesn’t like it, then Iron Will can give Aria a failing grade. That what Aria wants?”

“Fine, I’ll work with him,” Aria said.

Aria and me went to the computer station where we were to create a basic program that Iron Will wants us to work on. Aria was not pleased with working with me. She knew this because we have a tendency of running in to each other. She always try to blame me and threaten me, but I just made some counter comment to throw her off, making her more angry.

“Look,” Aria quietly said, “I would like to get a passing grade, so I hope you plan on doing all the work. If you don’t, then...”

“Then what?” I quietly cut her off in response. “You’ll beat me up? Or is it something worse.” She gave me her mean look. “Look, don’t expect me to do all the work for you like the last guy. You want a passing grade, then we work together, whether you like it of not.”

So I grabbed the programming book and laid it in from of her. I started to show her what she needed to learn, and all she did was let it go in one ear and out the other. When I ask her to show me how it was done, she said she “couldn’t understand”. The both of us were getting nowhere before class ended. Now I need to figure out how to make her understand before the both of us get a failing grade in class.

Next morning, I went to school, still wondering how I can get Aria to understand. With that on my mind, I didn’t realize that Sunset was trying to get my attention.

“Gears, is everything OK? You look out of it. Is something wrong with you?”

“Oh, I know, I know, I know,” Sonata said. “It’s because he’s paired up with Aria in shop class.”

“How did you know that?” I asked.

“Because she wouldn’t stop talking about how she has to work with you,” she replied.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Sunset asked.

“I don’t know,” Sonata replied. “All I know is that she won’t stop talking about him.”

“It’s a bad thing, Sunset,” I said. “She’s trying to make me do all the work for her. I’m trying to get her to learn the stuff, but she doesn’t give a ‘you know what’ about it.”

“Well, I’m sure you can find a way to make it work,” Sunset said.

“Thanks for your support,” as I rolled my eyes.

Day by day, I was dealing with the same problem with Aria in Shop class, and the two of us was getting nowhere in getting our assignment somewhat done. When I came to school on Friday, I knew I was running out of time in getting my shop assignment done, and trying to make it happen in under a week felt like it was impossible. As I came to the school entrance, Adagio stopped me from entering.

“Look, I can see you are having a hard time working with Aria in Shop class, and I know both of you have one more week to get the assignment done,” she said.

“And I haven’t made much progress in getting the assignment like I have in previous assignments,” I said. “How am I able to get her to work on it instead of leaving it to me.”

“Remember when I asked for your help in making her understand that there has to be a better way?” I nodded. “Just standing up to her isn’t enough to solve the problem.”

“So you want me to just give in to her demands?”

She shook her head. “You need to find some leverage to make her learn.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe…take her out on a date.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! How is that supposed to help?”

“Make her see who you are…the real you. I know it sounds crazy, but if she can understand you better, maybe she can change. You have been having a hard time finding a girlfriend, Sunset told me. And the weekend is around the corner. You want to spend it by yourself worrying how to get that assignment done in a week?”

“She’s not going to go with me on a date. And if we try to date each other, it would be a big mess. It’s not going to happen.”

“Well, if I have to make it happen, then so be it.” She started to head off into the school.

“I don’t even know how that could work in the first place,” I asked myself.

After going through half of my classes, I was making my way to the cafeteria with my purple notebook with my Algebra II notes to look over before a test next period, when someone came out of one of the classrooms, crashing into me and knocking my stuff to the floor.

“Hey, watch it…oh you have got to be kidding me. AGAIN???” I looked up to see that it was Aria who crashed into me. “Why don’t you watch where you’re going, jerk.”

“Excuse me, but it was you who crashed into me!”

“Whatever. I’m out of here.” She grabbed her stuff, including her purple notebook, and left. I grabbed my stuff and made my way to the cafeteria.

I sat down at one of the small tables to eat while looking over my notes. I placed my purple notebook on the table to make sure I remember what was going to be on the Algebra II test, but when I opened the notebook, I saw what didn’t look like my own notes. It looked like music notes. I looked at the front of the book to see that it was Aria’s music notebook. That’s the only class that she can handle by herself without bullying anyone. Maybe she hopes to get her siren magic back, which I don’t see happening.

“Well, if she has my notes, they might as well be gone. I’ll just have to handle the test with what I have in my head. I know that’s the best I can do.” So I closed the notebook and went to finish my lunch. At that point, someone tapped my shoulder, surprising me in the process.

“Sorry if I scared you.” I saw that it was Sunset behind me. “I think this is yours.” She had a purple notebook in her hand. “And you might have Aria’s notebook by mistake.”

“I do. It’s right here.” I handed her Aria’s notebook and took my notebook that Sunset was holding.

“Adagio and me had to convince Aria to make the exchange with certain conditions, since this was her music notebook that she treasures. You might want to look at the end of your notes.” She walked back to sit with her friends for lunch.

I decided to take a look at what she was talking about in my notebook, only to find that there was a note on one of the blank pages.

Look, I heard that you are good in math, since this is your Algebra II notebook. I’m in Algebra I and have been trying to get others to do my work. But I’m not getting help when a test comes up and I need help. I might be regretting this, but I would like for you to tutor me in math so I can understand. I know you have my music notebook, which is something that I need, since music is my strong suite. If you can teach me Algebra I, I’ll help you get our Shop class assignment done in a week.

Aria

P.S. Sonata thinks that we are going on a date. So remember that this is not a DATE!!!

If this wasn’t the leverage that Adagio was talking about, I don’t know what is.

When I got to Shop class, Aria was at our station looking over the book that was in there. I looked at Adagio, who looked back at me and gave me a wink. I just gave a grin, knowing that she had something to do with this. I went over to our station to talk to Aria.

“So you need help understanding Algebra I?” I asked.

She sighs and said, “Yes, I do. I just wished I never bumped into you in the first place.”

“Well, now you’re stuck with me. And if you want me to help you, I need to see if you can finally understand what we have to do in this class.”

“Fine. I’ll listen this time. I just know Adagio would kill me if I didn’t.”

So we started working on our assignment, looking over what we need to do and how the program needed to be laid out. We worked on parts to see what would work and what wouldn’t. We only got a little bit done, but wrote down some notes in hopes to look them over this weekend before class started.

“So, is that enough to let you teach me how to understand Algebra I?” she asked.

“Well, I did do good on my Algebra II test earlier today, and you proved that you can get stuff done with some help, so I can tutor you on Algebra I…right now.

“Wait, you mean ‘now’ now?” she said.

“Well, more like in a few minutes,” I said. “Get your books that you need help and meet me outside. And don’t think you can back out of this.”

“Do I even have a choice?” She went out of the classroom to get her stuff. Adagio started to walk you towards me.

“Told you I can make it happen,” Adagio said.

“I just got lucky that she crashed into me at the right time,” I said.

“I’m sure you did,” she said with a giggle.

“Wait, did you have something to do with her crashing into me?”

“Maybe,” she responded, “but a siren doesn’t reveal all her secrets.”

“Too bad you’re not a siren.” She started to get angry, then just laughed it off. “Well, you’re a good siren at heart. One day, you’ll be able to sing without having to put anyone under your spell.”

“To sing naturally is all I want right now,” she said. “And I’ll let the fans decide if they like me or not.”

It's Not A Date

I was outside next to the statue, waiting for Aria to show up. “I hope she didn’t decide to ditch me.”

“Oh, I didn’t think you would care about me. As if.” Aria showed up behind the statue. “Besides, Adagio would kill me if I didn’t go through this.”

“At least someone is keeping an eye on you,” I said.

“Yea, yea, yea,” she responded. “Since the classrooms close up early on Fridays, where do you want to go and study?”

“How about…Sugarcube Corner?”

“What? In front of everyone else there?” Her eyes were wide open, and then she lowered her head and said, “Fine. As long as you’re buying.”

“You even been there…as a human?” I asked.

“If that was a joke, it wasn’t funny. But no, I haven’t.”

“Well, a good treat and drink will do you some good while we look over what you need help on.”

So we walked on down to Sugarcube Corner and went inside, walking up to the counter. Aria was looking at the sweets behind the glass display when Mrs. Cake came up to the counter.

“Hello, Gears,” Mrs. Cake said. “The usual again?”

“Like always, Mrs. Cake,” I replied.

“And I see you finally brought someone with you. What does she want?”

Aria was having a hard time deciding when a familiar voice comes from behind the counter. “Why don’t she try what he’s having.” I saw that it was Pinkie Pie working behind the counter. “I’m sure Aria hasn’t tried anything here. And Sonata’s boyfriend decided to order two of the same on their first date.”

“This is not a date, Pinkie. It’s just…a study session,” Aria replied.

“On a Friday?” Pinkie replied. “Please. No one studies on a Friday. It’s no fun.”

“I’m making an exception,” I said. “At least before she changes her mind and bails on me.”

“So what’s your usual, Gears?” Aria asked.

I looked a Pinkie for her to answer for me. “White cake with white icing, and a vanilla milkshake. Good for a…study session.”

“Well, I guess it’s a start,” Aria answered.

“I’ll get the shakes,” Pinkie said as she went to work.

“That will be $9.50,” Mrs. Cake said.

“I knew Pinkie was going to at that pun. Here’s a ten. Keep the change.”

“Thanks, Gears. I’ll have it brought to your table.”

We went to the back corner table, where I always like to sit when I come here. Aria brought out her Algebra book and notes, and I brought out my tablet to use as an assistant. We started to look over what she knew and where she was lost in understanding. I was able to point out where she was getting confused and looked up for examples problems on my tablet to see if she can solve them. We got through some of the programs before our order arrived, allowing us to take a break.

“So you never tried anything like this?” I asked Aria.

“No. Never felt like eating it. All I did was whatever Sonata cooked, or we would order pizza.”

“Sonata can cook?” I said with a surprised look on my face.

“Yea. I think it has to do with the fact that she takes a Home Economics class, and already has two weeks in. But I think she might have some experience in it in the past when we first arrived here. I don’t know.”

“Sunset told me that, from what she learned from Twilight, you faced Star Swirl over a thousand years ago before her time. Were you stuck here for so long, trying to stay alive with your siren magic?” I asked.

“We’ve only been her for less than a year.” She pondered the question for a moment before she continued. “When you think about it, I wonder if he sent us to the parallel world in the future.”

“Parallel time travel. That’s a first. And made to be a one-way trip.” She gave me a confused look, so I decided to explain it better. “I mean there’s time travel, warp space travel, dimensional worlds, and parallel worlds. What you went through was into a parallel world, but maybe he added some magic to transport you into the future where magic doesn’t exist. If it were a thousand years ago, you would be exposed to a different kind of magic, if he knew about the parallel world during his time.”

She gave me a surprised look on her face. “How…did you come up with that idea?”

“I watch a lot of sci-fi, fantasy, and anime. While it’s not real, it brings up the theories about what is around us. I like to think a lot.”

She shook her head like crazy. “I don’t think I can even figure out all that.”

“That’s why we study. We gain knowledge in what we learn. Otherwise, we just look stupid.”

“Tell that to my sister, Sonata. She can’t keep all that knowledge in her head. I think everything that she talks about is from whatever she just sees.”

I noticed that she hasn’t touched her cake since we chatted. “Well, are you going to take a bite or not.”

She took a bite of her cake at the same time I took one for mine. She started to enjoy what she ate and took a few more bites to eat. “This is pretty good. You always order this?”

“Yea,” I said. “It’s the only thing that I would like to have whenever I come here. I sometimes take some cupcakes or donuts with me back to my apartment. And the milkshake is good as well during the warm days.”

She took a sip of her milkshake and felt a chill go through her. “I guess that’s what Sonata calls a brain freeze. What do you drink on cold nights?”

“Hot chocolate with marshmallows. Mrs. Cake makes sure she has a lot ready when the snow comes along.”

“You said you live in an apartment. You live by yourself or with your parents?” she asked.

“By myself,” I answered. “My parents are on this…what’s the best way to say this…overseas group project trip, I guess would be the best way to describe it. It’s unclear if they will be back this summer, but they already paid for my apartment stay for a year. If they have to stay longer, they will make sure my place is covered for another year.”

“So you don’t have a problem living by yourself?” she asked.

“That depends. I don’t have a problem with being by myself when I need to study. But on the weekends, it does get boring to just live by myself, not knowing what to do.”

“I’m stuck with two siren sisters where I live. One is loud and annoying, and the other is bossy. Not that I don’t like them. I guess…”

“They’re the only family that you have.” I finished her comment.

“Yea.” She let out a small laugh. “I guess they are. Even if we’re different, we’re part of the same family.” She looked up at the time and noticed how much time has passed. “We’ve been talking about everything else more that studying.”

“You’re right. It feels like it’s been a long time since I have had a simple chat with someone.”

“All I ever did was complain with my sisters when we were out. And that was before we lost our…powers.”

I noticed that she still felt the pain of losing her siren powers after the Battle of the Bands. “Have you ever thought that what you had was more of a curse than a gift?”

She started to lose her cool when I asked that to her. Then she realized where she was and didn’t want to create a scene and calmed down. “What we had was something great, something powerful, something…” And then it hit her. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it was a curse. It wasn’t something we wanted, but something we needed. Something we craved. All we did was to want more of it. And with it gone…I felt I still wanted it all, no matter how I got it.”

“Even if you had to bully almost every student to get it?” She looked down, not wanting to answer the question. “Look at your sisters. They’ve at least moved forward in other ways. Sonata became the bubbly girl that everyone likes, and she even got a boyfriend just days after that event. And Adagio is trying her best to…well, sweet talk every guy around.”

“If you mean showing off that body of hers,” she replied.

“Well, she has tried that, but she’s unsure that it’s working,” I said.

“Oh come on. You know she’s got the body that can charm any guy. I don’t even come close to what she has in looks.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t agree with you on that,” I said as I stared straight at her. “I think you look good enough to get a guy of your type.”

“Now you sound like Adagio. She always says that I should get a boyfriend so that I can get anything I want from him. Please. Last thing I need is a guy who wants to cuddle and kiss and do who-knows-what.”

“Aria, not every guy is like that. I’m sure there’s a few ‘bad boys’ out there that you would go for.”

“And what would you know. You don’t even have a girlfriend. I’m surprised that you didn’t even go for Adagio. You were paired up with her in shop class in our last pairing. She even tried to get you to take a peek when she leaned forward towards you.”

“If that was the case, then I would have asked Rarity out, since I have her in another class. They both think alike when it comes to flirting.”

“And what’s holding you back from doing so,” Aria said, pushing the topic forward.

“They both have high standards.”

Aria started to think about that before she answered. “You could be right. I mean, you are a geek, and geeks don’t have the higher standards as most men. No offense.”

“None taken. I just don’t like being rejected on the spot when I ask them out, because I know that’s what they will do.”

“I can not believe them.” We heard someone say that out loud that we looked to see where that came from.

“For a moment, I thought that was Rarity that I heard,” I said.

“Well, I don’t see her anywhere,” Aria replied. “Maybe it was someone who sounds close to her.”

‘Well…never mind. Maybe I’m just hearing things differently.”

“You know, she would be the only other person who would try to play matchmaker for either of us,” Aria recommended. I nodded at that idea. “Let me ask you this. We knew that no one else, except the Rainbooms, liked Sunset, but you started to like her when everyone else didn’t. Why not ask her out.”

“At the time, I would have stood out, having others think she was using me like she did with Flash Sentry. You could say that I got used to her being a good friend, and nothing more.”

We hear someone drop their glass on a table, followed by a “Sorry” afterwards. I took a quick glance at one of the tables on the other side, which looked very strange. I got Aria to come close to me and whispered, “Do you think we’re being watched?” as I directed her to that one table.

She took a quick glance and whispered, “I don’t know. You don’t think those girls were trying to hook us up in the first place.”

“Well, we have been talking about other things a lot than studying. That could lead this to being a…date.” Aria started to grind her teeth until I gave a confused looked on my face. Then she started to worry herself.

“Those reactions that we heard happened after we brought up Rarity and Sunset’s names,” she said. “Do you think…?”

“Well, we have finished eating. You want to get out of here and see what happens?” I asked.

“Good idea,” she replied.

We packed up our things and started making our way out of Sugarcube Corner, with me waving Mrs. Cake goodbye. Not knowing if we were being watched, we decided to talk about other things while heading back to the school grounds, bringing up our talk about Adagio again.

“Tell me that she walks like this.” Aria placed a hand on her side and started walking, swaying her hips from side to side and swinging her other arm in rhythm.

“Just like a runway model,” I said.

“See. She has the hips that I don’t have, even if I was more like her backup. Not to mention these,” she said as she placed her hands on her chest.”

“And what’s wrong with yours?” I asked.

“Mine’s are about the same size as Rainbow Dash’s. And she’s an athlete. Even Applejack has a better body than mine, and hers is more fit. I’m even surprised that you would go for a girl like her.”

“Have you even asked Rarity about Applejack’s parents?” Aria shook her head. “I talked to Rarity if Applejack was looking for a guy, and she brought up about how Applejack lost her parents back then.”

“What happened?” she asked.

“Better you ask Rarity that question than me. She has a better detail about the issue,” I said. “I mean she’s good looking, but I know she has her hands full with the family.”

Aria let out a long sigh and said, “I guess everyone has their own standards, and somehow you don’t even come close to what they would want.”

“Yea. Maybe I’ll have better luck when I go to college after the next school year, if I have any luck at all.”

We arrived at the school grounds, where we were waiting for Aria’s ride to get here.

“Who was it that was supposed to pick you up?” I asked Aria.

“I think it was Sunset,” she answered. “Adagio hasn’t gotten her license, which is a problem at this time.”

“Because any of you were not even born in this world,” I said. “No official birth records, no license.”

“Well, Vice Principal Luna is trying to get something worked out for us,” she said. I nodded.

We decided to sit down at the steps and watch the sunset behind the hills while we waited, which took a long time. Aria started to worry that her ride wasn’t going to show up. I did recommend that she could sleep at my place, which wasn’t far from the school, if she didn’t feel like walking home in the dark. But we had a feeling they were around, hiding from us. We knew they were trying to hook us up in the first place and wanted to see it happen. I knew we needed another distraction from all this.

I looked at the statue and asked Aria, “Have you or your sisters ever thought about going back to the other world?”

“Not really. I mean it goes to the current time that Sunset comes from, not to our time that we came from.”

“Where did you end up when you arrive her?” I asked her.

It was in an alleyway on the other side of that hill, I believe.” She pointed to the hill in front of us. “I remember when we stayed at a café one night when the Fall Formal was going on. That’s when Adagio saw that strange light over the hill. When we stepped outside, we saw a spiral rainbow light come up and strike down in a single beam. I think this is where it happened, from what we were told.”

“When I saw the flash, I went outside of my apartment to see where it was coming from. The next thing that happens was the rainbow light you described. I thought I was seeing things until I heard the stories. Makes you wonder what else could happen.”

“We could be attacked by changelings.” I had a confused look on my face. “They’re creatures that can transform into something that they see. Maybe I’m really a changeling, or are you?”

“Really?” I said.

“I’m just joking,” she said. “I don’t think they have found a way to come into this world anyway, so we don’t have to worry. If they did, they wouldn’t have the magic to transform.”

“Good point,” I said. “But going back to the question. If it didn’t matter what time period it was, would you still go back, just to see how much has changed?”

“Probability not. I mean, when we were sirens, we were a sea-pony species. And we had magic that allowed us to float on land. Without the magic, we wouldn’t be able to get anywhere unless it was in the water.”

“Maybe I can carry you around,” I said.

“I would like to see how you can do that…as an earth pony.” She laughed at that.

“Challenge accepted.” So I picked her up and laid her in my arms.

“HEY!!!” she said as she hooked her arms around my neck. “I said as an earth pony, not a human. Now put me down.”

So I gently put her down on her feet. I noticed that her arms were still around my neck and we were just staring at each other. For some reason, I felt this spark inside me, and somehow she felt it in her too because she started to come close to my face to kiss me.

Only to be interrupted by someone squealing in the bushes nearby. She unhooked her arms around me so we can look around to where it came from.

“Sonata,” Aria said, “I know that’s you out there. You better come out of those bushes before I decide to burn them.” There was complete silence. “Gears, do you have a lighter with you?”

“I think so,” I said. “Let me check my bag.”

“OK, OK, OK. You win.” We saw Sonata coming out of one of the bushes.

“Care to explain why you were following us?” Aria asked Sonata.

“Oh, well, we wanted to make sure that you two had a great date tonight.”

“We?” Aria responded.

Sonata started to nervously sweat after her slip up and tried to correct herself. “We? I mean, me. Yea, me.”

Aria started to glare at her with pure anger. “Adagio, you better show yourself before I decide to hunt you down and beat that pretty face of yours.”

“Good job, idiot.” Adagio started to come out of the bush next to Sonata.

“I knew you were behind all this,” Aria said with anger in her voice.

“Wait a minute,” I said stopping her in her tracks. “If I recall correctly, I thought I heard Rarity back where we ate. And whoever said sorry was not Sonata or Adagio.” I glared at the other bushes to see if anyone else was around. “SUNSET??? IF YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS AND IN THOSE BUSHES AS WELL, GET YOUR SORRY REARS OUT NOW!!!” At that point, Sunset came out of another bush, and the rest of the Rainbooms also appeared, including Pinkie Pie, who we saw back where we ate.

Sunset nervously said, “Um, hey. So, um, how was your…date?”

“Sunset,” I said. “When I asked you to help me find a girlfriend, I didn’t mean it to be done this way.”

Sunset started to scratch the back of her head, trying to find a good excuse of what she had done.

“And Pinkie, how did you get off work so quickly?” I asked.

“Oh, I told Mrs. Cake that I needed to take a break.” Pinkie replied.

“Well I’m surprised to see that you decided to take a long break,” Aria added.

“This coming from someone who can’t swing her hips the right way,” Adagio said.

“Not to mention that we prefer higher standards in guys,” Rarity added as Adagio nodded.

“Last I recall, Adagio, you said you wanted someone better than me because I wasn’t your type.” Adagio shifted her eyes before cracking a fake grin.

“Especially after you tried to flirt with Gears back when he was your partner in shop class,” Aria added. “And don’t even think about denying it because I saw you do it with my own two eyes.”

“Adagio, were you trying to flirt with him?” Rarity asked.

“Excuse me,” Applejack interrupted, “but why’d ya care when ya keep tellin’ every guy about mah parents, Rarity?”

“Well, um, I, um, wanted to…make sure that…everyone understands you better,” Rarity said as she was cracking her own fake grin.

“What, so ya can get ‘em guys for yourself?” Applejack asked Rarity. “Could explain why I ain’t got a date from one of them guys.”

“Well, at least you’re not as flat and someone else I know,” Rarity said, pointing out to Rainbow Dash.

“Wait just a minute,” Dash interrupted. “I am not flat. I have an awesome, well fit body.”

‘If that’s the case, why can’t you even get a date yourself?” Adagio said to Dash.

“Because I’m awesome, that’s why. And I don’t have to show off my body to get someone’s attention like you.”

Fluttershy interrupted everyone else and said, “Um, you do know that they are still here.” She pointed at Aria and me, in which we were not pleased when they looked this way.

“You know what, Aria? I think we should reward them for getting us together,” I said, giving her a wink.

“That’s right. We should do so,” Aria replied, smashing her fist at each other.

“A reward? That’s great!” Pinkie responded.

“Um, Pinkie,” Sunset said. “I don’t think it’s a reward that we want to receive.”

They soon realized what was we had planning for them, and it wasn’t pretty. “RUN!!!!” All of them ran away in a panic like there was no tomorrow. Once they were out of our site, we just laughed at what just happened.

“I can’t believe they went for it,” Aria said.

“And did you see how they reacted to each other after hearing us talk about them? It was priceless,” I said.

We kept laughing until we were tired out of laughter.

“That was the best time I have ever had in my life,” Aria said. “I guess I was glad to spend some time with you, or I wouldn’t have seen that kind of display that just happened.”

“So what do you plan on doing now?” I asked Aria.

“Don’t know. No sense going back home after what Sonata and Adagio tried to pull.” She looked at me and asked, “Is that offer of yours still available?”

“If you don’t mind joining me in some anime viewing?” I asked her.

“That would be really nice.” After saying that, she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“What was that for?”

“Well, I might be willing to give you a chance to be my boyfriend…if you’re up for the challenge?”

“Challenge accepted,” I answered.

A shot came from out of nowhere. “THEY’RE NOW AN ITEM!!!!”

“PINKIE!!!!!!!!!!”

I shook my head and said, “I don’t know what to do with those girls.”

Aria looked into my eyes and responded, “Don’t know, and don’t care.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to arcanelexicon for the errors in this chapter. MS Word didn't see them as errors.

If you want to understand why I didn't go with what everyone else has done on how the sirens got here, then you need to read MLP: FIENDship is Magic issue 3 and look at the last page of the comic.

A Path of Ups and Downs

Aria decided to stay at my place for the night, since Sunset and Adagio had a part in all this, and she didn’t want to confront them. We came up to my apartment door on the second floor, and as I was getting my keys out, Aria took a look from the outside edge to see the view that was towards the school. She had an idea of the limited view from here when those last two magic events happened. I finally unlocked the door and invited her in.

“Welcome to my humble apartment. It’s not much, but it gets me through the days.”

My place was a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment, with the kitchen in the open view of the living area.

“You want something to eat?” I asked Aria. “I have sandwich food, microwave pizza…”

“Pizza sounds good,” She quickly responded. “You have cheese pizza?”

“Will four-cheese pizza do?” She happily nodded. “Why don’t you look around while I warm it up.”

I went to the freezer to grab a four-cheese pizza, take it out of its box, placed it on it’s heating pad, and popped it in the microwave. Aria went to my bookcase to look at some of the books and DVDs that I had placed there.

“Ninja Turtles!? You a fan of them?” she asked me.

“Yep. Have you ever seen any of their movies?”

“Only the first one…zip neck.”

Oh, so she knows the insults scene in the movie. This will be good.

I said, “Really…atomic mouth?”

She replies, “Yea, barfaroni.”

“I didn’t know you were a geek, camel breath.”

“I’m not, dome head.”

“My head is not shaped like that, elf lips.”

“Watch it, funkoid.”

“You wish, gak face.”

“Excuse me, horse brain.”

We stopped and looked at each other, knowing that was the last insult listed in the movie, and just giggled.

“I can’t believe you remember the insults used while they were fixing the old truck,” I said.

“And it end it off is by saying ‘it works’. I wish there was an insult that starts with the letter ‘I’,” she responded. She looked at some of the other DVDs on the shelf and asked, “What are these cartoons you have here. Fullmetal Alchemist, Sailor Moon, Ronin Warriors…”

“Oh, that’s anime,” I responded. “It’s like cartoons, but from overseas and for older people. While you’re there, can you grab volumes one and two of Full Metal Panic. That has a mix of action, comedy, drama, and sci-fi all in one.”

“Sure,” she said. “Just make sure you have some cola out to go with the pizza.”

I went into the fridge and grabbed a couple cans of cola. As I was waiting on the pizza to finish, I noticed that she got the DVDs I asked for, but was looking at the diary that was on my desk.

“Gears, who’s Sombra?” she asked.

“Oh, Sunset gave me that book from Twilight. He was some evil king of a crystal empire back in the other world.”

“Wait, did you say the Crystal Empire?”

I heard the microwave beep and went to get the pizza out, letting it settle for a moment. “Yea, you’ve been there in your time?”

“Heck no,” she said. “One, our music doesn’t have an effect on crystal ponies. And two, it’s surrounded by freezing weather. We wouldn’t last a minute to get there.”

“So it’s far north?” I asked her.

“In a way, but I’m not sure how far north it is. Besides, why do you want to know about this stuff?”

“I’m helping Sunset out on some of her research into dark magic. She wants to make sure that her friends can catch on to any new signs that show up so we don’t have another crazy magic event happening again…no offense.”

“She has studied magic. Why can’t she…” Aria stopped and realized her reasoning for this. “I forgot. She was exposed to magic that turned her into a she-demon.”

“She’s scared that if she explored how dark magic is created, she could become that raging she-demon again,” I said. “Bring it over here, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure…Fluttershy.” I should have seen that coming.

She brought the book and DVDs over while I started to cut the small pizza into four slices. When she opened the book back up, she flipped through some of the pages until one page stood out to her.

“An Umbrum?”

“You know of this term, Aria?”

“I’ve heard it somewhere before. Some kind of…dark pony race. I think my sister Adagio would know this better than me.” She looked through more of the diary while eating some pizza until the last written page. “Did you know what happened after all that?”

“Twilight wrote down some lose notes explaining what happened after that. She was scared of taking the book away from its location, but with events happening in both worlds, they needed answers to prepare for what’s to come. And I have a way with creating theories from what I look at, so I hope that I can help out.”

“But you’re no expert in magic. You can’t even cast any like the Rainbooms,” she replied

“It’s not a matter of using magic, but how to identify it. When I show you what’s on those DVDs,” I pointed to the two that I asked her to collect, “You’ll get an understanding of what I mean.”

After we finished our pizza, she went to put the book back on my desk while I went to the DVD player with the DVDs. As I was getting set up, she walked up to me and said, “What is this?” I looked back at her and saw that she was holding my dice bag. But I didn’t have dice in that bag. She pulled out a red crystal fragment.

I said, “I wish you didn’t see what was in there.”

“Well guess what? I did.” She threw the piece at me and said, “Why do you have pieces from our broken pendants?”

“Because I was trying to figure out how it kept what little magic was left in those when you arrived here and how it was lost when they broke.”

“The last thing I needed to be reminded of is…this…damn…CURSE!!!” she said as she threw piece after piece at me. When she pulled out a bigger shard, I stood up and grabbed her arm before she threw the shard at me. “Let go of me.”

“No,” I replied.

She gave me that mean looked and said again, “Let go of me!”

“NO!!!”

She started to grab my arm, trying to get me to release her. “I said LET…GO…OF…ME!!!”

“STOP IT!!!”

“NOT UNTIL…YOU…” She kept trying until she gave up in dropped the shard. Once I let go of her, she fell on to her knees and starting to cry.

I got onto my knees, looked at her and said, “Look, it was Adagio who handed these to me. She said that Sunset collected them after you ran off the stage in defeat. Adagio didn’t want to see them either, and decided to bring them to me to keep them out of your sight.”

She rubbed the tears from her eyes and said, “Then why are you studying them? What purpose are they good for?”

“Sunset believes that Equestrian magic could still be around here, and it’s possible that there could be others who have something like this to contain what magic they need to do what needs to be done. I haven’t had much time to study what kind of crystal they are, but they are not like any I have studied before. Plus they both wanted to make sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands and trusted me with them.”

“The last thing I need is to be reminded of who I was before and not who I am now,” she said.

“We all have our own scars to deal with,” I said. “All we can do is just bear with what we have done in the past and just try to move forward. And if that’s something you can’t do alone…then I’ll be happy to help you through it. I’ve already dealt with my scars in the past before coming here. And if it makes you feel any better, then I’ll help you deal with yours.”

She started to stare into my eyes while trying to make out what I just said. Once she understood, she rushed towards me and kissed me. It wasn’t just any kiss, but one of forgiveness. Once our lips were separated, she said, “I’m sorry. I was rushed to judgment before understanding what was going on. You’re doing what you can to keep others safe from harm, and making sure that people like us don’t become the monsters that we were once before.

After seeing the forgiveness in her, I got up to my feet and extended my hands to her to help her up. When she grabbed both of my hands, I pulled her up so fast that she was pressed in front of me. Putting my arms around her waist, I stared into her eyes and kissed her back. This time with a longer, more passionate kiss. Once our lips were separated, she stared at me, trying to catch her breath.

“You need to work on how to kiss a girl,” she said.

“You know that you’re the first girl I kissed in my entire life,” I replied.

“And you’re the first human I have kissed in my entire life. But it’s a start.” She noticed the DVD cases on the floor. “So, are you just going to stand there like a statue, or are you planning to show my that show you wanted to play?”

“If you can collect those shards that you threw at me and place them back in the bag, I’ll finish setting up.” She gave me this surprised, but scared look. “Consider this as your first step in the healing process.” She agreed with me and started to grab the shards and placed them back in the bag, closing the bag and placing it back on the table. I finished getting the show ready and sat down on the couch with the remote in my hand, inviting her to sit next to me.

***Three hours later***

“That had to be magic that was used to destroy that big machine,” she said.

“It’s not magic, Aria. It’s advance technology that has yet to be made in this time of day. The Lambda Driver bends the fabric of reality to how you want it to be. In this day of age, science and technology does what magic did ages ago.”

“I don’t think I can grasp the process of how all that is created. But if I can make a paper fan and use it to slap Sonata senseless, I’ll go with that.”

“You just want to knock her senseless every single time she says something that means nothing at all.”

“Because she’s an airhead. I don’t even know how you put up with her in the same class that you share with her.”

“For some reason, she’s pretty good in English class.” Aria’s eyes went wide open. “I mean it. She’s that good when she’s into the stories that we have to read. It’s like she’s a part of the story.”

She just shook her head and said, “I can’t even phantom the idea that she can do that.” She got up and started to stretch out, feeling tired after a long and crazy day that we went through. “OK if I take a shower before getting some sleep?”

“Sure,” I replied. “Bathroom is to your right and the towels are in the closet at the back.” But she decided to pull me up off the couch. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to get you to join me,” she said.

“Wait, what?”

“Oh come on. You know you want to join me. What are you, chicken?”

“I’m trying to be a gentleman, thank you very much.”

She let go of me and put her hands on her hips and puffed up her face. “See, that’s the problem that you have. You’re too kind and respectful to others that either they plan to use you or think you’re too good for them. That’s why you couldn’t get a girlfriend in the first place.”

“And what am I supposed to do about that?” I ask.

“For starters, you can join me in a shower. It’s not like you’ve seen anything new. On second thought, you’re seeing something for the first time. And I know you don’t have a body that any girl would love to see in the buff.”

“Like Adagio?” I added.

She laughed and then said, “Yes, like Adagio. Only she would go for a guy like that. And just so you know, I don’t have a good looking body myself, so that makes us even. Besides, I think you’ve earned my trust.” She started to make her way to the closet to grab a couple towels and looked back at me. “Just so you know, that doesn’t me that you can ‘do it’ with me.”

“Works fine with me,” I responded.

So we got undressed and took a shower together. It was ‘I scrub your back if you scrub mine’ kind of shower. And we did noticed that we have our flaws in looks, but that didn’t bother us. But it was when I was scrubbing her back that I noticed that she was spaced out while the water was flowing above her. After getting out of the shower and drying off, I wrapped my towel around my waist and she wrapped hers around her body, and we went back to my bedroom to get some sleep wear for Aria. That’s when I noticed her sitting on the bed, looking spaced out again. I had a guess what was on her mind and had to ask.

“Do you miss your home?”

She snapped back into reality and responded, “Why should I care about Equestria?”

“I’m not talking about Equestria in general, but your hometown.” She gave me a confused look as to why I was asking that. “You’ve been spaced out since our shower. Does the feel of water make you miss it?”

She looked down and said, “Kind of, but I doubt it’s no longer around, since it was in the deep sea over a thousand years ago.”

Still with my towel around my waist, I sat down next to her and put my arm around her shoulder, causing her to place her head next to me. “Maybe it’s still around. You could ask Sunset about your hometown, and she can contact Twilight to look into it.”

“Who cares. Sonata would have forgotten about it, and Adagio has lost interested in returning there, now that we are no longer sirens.”

“Doesn’t hurt to try,” I said.

“There’s no need to try. It’s in the past, and I need to start moving forward,” she said.

“Well, next time you want to stay at my place, I’ll make sure you get a bubble bath instead of a shower. Might help you relax while you reflect on the good times back in your hometown.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise. Now do you have something for me to sleep in, or am I just going to sleep naked?”

I got up and went to my closet. I found a baseball jersey I had and threw it to her. “Here, wear this. It’s an old baseball jersey that our school was selling after they got new jerseys for the team. Should be big enough for you.” I looked away and went to get out some boxers for me to sleep in. After putting them on and removing the towel, I noticed Aria with the jersey on, covering her body and halfway reaching to her knees.

“How do I look?” she asked me.

“Like you are officially my girlfriend.”

She sat back down on the bed and giggled. “This has been the craziest day ever…for the both of us.” She paused to think before she continued. “Do you think this will work, you know, between us?”

I sat back down next to her to think of an answer to her question. “I don’t know. Maybe this is common in a relationship. You know, having to deal with its ups and downs. I guess the only way to know is to give it a chance and see what happens.”

So I went and turned off the light and we both slept together in my bed. Just then, she decided to cuddle up with me. “Aria?” She looked up at me. “I thought you didn’t like to cuddle.”

“I’m making an exception. Night.” She cuddled back up and went to sleep. I decided to kiss on her forehead and went to sleep as well.

Why Me and Not Them?

Author's Notes:

This chapter involves flashbacks, explaining why Gears knew of the problems of finding a girlfriend from those that he knew.

The sunrise was coming through the blinds, waking me up. I noticed that it was a bit past eight, so I gently got out of bed, making sure I didn’t disturb Aria. I put on some morning clothes and went to the kitchen to fix up some breakfast. I went and grabbed the blueberry muffin mix and small milk and poured it into the bowl, mixed it up and poured it into the muffin tray. 15 minutes in the oven will do the trick.

While that was cooking, I grabbed the remote to find something on TV. Best I could go for was the nation news channel. I went to grab Sombra’s diary and added another note that came across my mind, something that Aria brought up back at Sugarcube Corner. I saw in the hallway was Aria, still looking sleepy with her hair down and still wearing my baseball jersey. I finished my note and closed the book.

“Morning Aria,” I said.

“Morning…Gears,” Aria replied, still feeling sleepy. “What’s for breakfast?”

“I hope blueberry muffins and orange juice will do,” I said.

“Works for me.” Aria went to sit on the stool next to the counter and saw what was on the TV. “Is that the best you can find on TV?”

“It’s not like it was around 20 years ago,” I said. “Back then, it was Saturday morning cartoons. But new educational standards changed all that. Now most local channels have to air anything that requires kids to learn, which pretty much kills the meaning of cartoons. Now most of the classics are on DVD.”

“Everyone has to be a critic about what kids should watch. At least you have a way to experience what your parents saw back then.” I poured a couple of glasses of orange juice for the both of us. “Can I ask you something?”

I gave her one of the glasses of orange juice, saying, “What is it?”

“This might sound…weird…but why do you think it might work for us? I mean I know you had a simple reason with Sunset and Adagio, and maybe with Rarity. I think you brought up Applejack as well. You think you can explain it better, since you know almost all of them.”

“Well, it goes back to the first day of the school year, when I transferred here.”

[Flashback: First Day of School]

Principal Celestia just finished up with her explanation of Canterlot High to me. We both went out of her office, where I was met with what looked like a blonde farm girl with a Stetson hat.

“Gear Works, this is Applejack. She’s going to show you around the school while I get your class schedule worked out before classes start.”

“Thank you, Principle Celestia,” I replied.

“Come on, sugarcube. I’ll show you how to get around this school,” Applejack said.

As we walked out of the principle’s office, she asked me, “So, where are you from?”

“Baltimare.”

“Sounds like a tough city to be living in. Any reason why you moved here?”

“Well, my parents went on a missionary trip, and felt like I would be safer attending this school.”

“From the sound of it, you must have been bullied back there. Parents can be over-protective when it comes to troubled cities.”

“Well, I did have some friends stand up for me in High School, but they didn’t want to take any chances. So now I’m finishing up my school years here. By the way, I’m surprised you caught on with my past problems.”

“Well, thanks partner,” she replied, blushing. “I hope I wasn’t getting into your space?”

“Oh no,” I said, waving my hands. “I’m glad you caught on. You have a way to size up theories from what you see or hear.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that, but thanks again.”

As we were walking down the hallway, explaining the rooms, a pink, puffy-haired girl popped out of no where, saying, “Hello there, you must be new here, my name’s Pinkie Pie, what’s you’re name, where did you come from, why are you…”

Applejack placed her hand of Pinkie’s mouth. “Easy there Pinkie. This here’s Gear Works. He just got here. Think you can keep your cool?” Pinkie nodded her hand, allowing Applejack to remove her hand from Pinkie’s mouth.

“Nice to meet you, Pinkie. You can call me Gears, if you like,” I replied.

“Nice to meet you, Gears. Well, maybe we can talk later at Sugarcube Corner. I work there most of the time,” Pinkie said.

Applejack added, “Sugarcube Corner is a dessert shop that most of us like to hang out. You should think about going over there later today. Good way to make some friends while ya there.”

“Well, I need to greet more new students. Bye.” And Pinkie was off like a puff of smoke.

Applejack said, “Don’t worry. Pinkie’s like that all the time. Takes some time to get used to her.”

“I can see that,” I replied.

As we continued our tour, we come across another girl with fiery hair and a black leather jacket.

“Well, well, well. Does the farm girl now have a boyfriend, or are you just trying to protect him?”

“Sunset, why don’t you just bug off,” Applejack responded.

“Oh, I’m hurt.” Sunset replied sarcastically. “He seem weak to me, farm girl.” She walked up to me and tried to flip my head with her finger. “Talk about a loser.”

I yawned with my hand and said, “Is that the best you can do? Been there, seen that.”

Sunset started to get mad, saying, “Is that supposed to be a joke?”

“I don’t know. Is it?” I replied sarcastically.

She got into my face and said, “I’m watching you,” and started to walk by me. I slightly slid my foot out, causing Sunset to lose her balance for a moment.

“Might want to watch it there. Floor can be slippery at times.”

She marched off in anger.

Applejack said, “That’s pretty gusty you did there. That Sunset always wants to cause trouble.”

“All I do is not give in to them. That’s what makes them weak,” I said.

[End Flashback]

Aria was in shock. “Damn. I never figure you do that to her.”

“Well, that was the old, she-demon Sunset I faced. When I went back to the principle’s office, I had my class schedule. Applejack noticed that I didn’t share any classes with her, but wouldn’t mind seeing me at Sugarcube Corner one day. I rarely get to see her around. And I was curious of her.”

“And why was that?” Aria asked me.

“I first found out on the first Wednesday of school.”

[Flashback: near the school statue, first week of the school year]

“Come on, Fluttershy. Who wants to help out at some pet shop?” Sunset asked.

“Um, it’s an animal shelter,” Fluttershy replied quietly.

“Whatever.” Sunset said, scaring Fluttershy. “Why don’t you just give up and go back to the hole you came out of.”

“What’s wrong? Scared that you’ll get your pretty face scratched up?” I responded.

She turned around to see me, saying, “You! Why should you care about this little baby over there?”

I just stared at her.

She said in an angry tone, “Stop staring at me.”

I kept staring at her.

Her tone went up. “I said stop staring at me.”

I still kept staring at her.

She yelled, “I said…”

“Make me,” I replied with a smile, cutting her off.

She got furious and stormed off into the school.

“See you in first period,” I yelled to her. I looked at Fluttershy as she was trying to pick up some of the falling fliers and decided to help her. “Everything OK?”

This spooked her for a moment before she could respond. “Oh, sorry. I’m…a little sensitive…around others. I’m…Fluttershy.”

“Name’s Gear Works. But you can call me Gears if you like.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, you’re the one who stood up against Sunset on the first day, right?”

“How did you know?” I asked.

“Applejack told me about it. I’m one of her friends. I’m surprised that you did so again today.”

“Well, someone has to.” I had most of the fliers in my hand and gave them to her. “Here you go. I need to get to class.” I started to head into the school.

[End Flashback]

“I was surprised that the school knew of what I did,” I said. “But no one knew whom I looked like unless I said my name. I also sat in the front of the classroom next to the door in every class, so this made it hard to really see my face. I did help out at the animal shelter one weekend, where I met Fluttershy’s friend, Rainbow Dash. She was surprised about me in the same way. And it was the same with Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner. She was the one who kept me up-to-date with what was going on around.”

The oven timer went off, so I went to take out the muffins and fix them up with some butter in them. I placed them on a plate and took them to the counter for us to eat.

As Aria was grabbing one of the muffins, she asked, “And what about Rarity? You did say that she was in one of your classes.”

“Now that was the most interesting part. She was in my history class and sat behind me since the first day.”

[Flashback: History Class, early in the school year]

I was busy looking over some of my lesson notes from the day before when she walked in with her friends. Rarity. With that smooth purple hair, gorgeous looks, and those sparkles in her eyes, you would think she was a goddess. But I know I would never stand a chance to get a date with her. I know that girls like them are way out of reach in my book. And while she decided to sit behind me, she never bothers to talk to me unless she forgot any school supplies that she needed for class.

“Come on, Rarity. It’s like shouldn’t be a problem to decide which design to work on?” said one girl.

“That’s right. Any one of them will work just fine,” said another girl.

Rarity responded, “Dear, this is Mr. Fancy Pants we’re talking about. He expects the best for his stores, and I will not let Suri get the best of me. It must be the best one to stand out. I don’t have time to design all four in a week.”

Another reason she’s out of my reach is that she’s a teenage fashion designer, hoping to be the best out there.

“Maybe you should ask a guy to get their point of view,” the first girl recommended.

Rarity responded, “You’re right. Since he is a gentleman, I need someone who could come close to him. Um, excuse me?” I felt a tap on my shoulder and noticed that she was talking to me. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but can you help me out, dear. I’m trying to decide which design I should work on that can impress a gentleman.”

She showed me four dress designs, each one a different color: red, blue, yellow, and purple. I looked at each one as they had a different design, but was having a hard time deciding.

“I’m not sure which one catches my eye,” I said.

“Oh dear. Forgive me. I’m sorry that I wasted your time on making a silly decision,” Rarity replied.

“No, it’s OK. Maybe you can give me a reason on why you have to decide on what you’re doing. Then I can have a better idea on what’s going on and maybe make a decision,” I said.

So she quickly gave me an explanation on the dresses and what was working on. After hearing all that, I was able to make a logical decision.

“I think you should work on the fiery red dress. And if you do have time still, the midnight blue dress should be the next one to work on,” I said.

Rarity replied, “Oh that’s brilliant. Thank you for telling me this. Now I know what I need to do. Thank you, mister…um…I don’t think I remember your name before?”

“It’s Gear Works. But you can call me Gears if you like,” I said.

“Well…Thank you…Gears,” Rarity hesitantly replied.

[End Flashback]

“So you first talked to her because of a fashion problem she was having?” Aria asked.

“I know. Weird, isn’t it. A week later, she congratulated me for helping with her decision. Not only did she get the first choice done, but she also had enough time to finish the second choice. And both of them were selected over what Suri had with her. But there were times when she was hesitant to talk to me. It wasn’t until she asks me if I could tutor her for her Geometry class. I asked if we could go to Sugarcube Corner so I can help her study, which she agreed.”

[Flashback: Sugarcube Corner, after school.]

We walked in to Sugarcube Corner with our book bags and approached the counter.

Pinkie waved and said, “Hello there.”

“Hi Pinkie.” We looked at each other, realizing that we said the same thing together.

Pinkie responded, “Oh, did you finally get yourself a date Rarity?”

“Oh no, no, no, no. This is a study session that we’re having, Pinkie,” Rarity replied.

Pinkie asked, “So, the usual?”

“Yes.” We noticed that we replied the same time, again.

“Coming right up,” Pinkie replied.

We sat on the stools in front of the counter, when Rarity asks, “So, you come here often?”

“Every now and then,” I replied.

Rarity asked, “So what’s the usual for you? Oh wait. Why don’t we guess what it is?”

“OK. You go first,” I said.

She thought for a moment before making her guess. “Let’s see. You like to have…a white cake with icing, and a…chocolate shake. Now you guess mine.”

So I took a moment to think, and then had a guess in mind. “You like to have…cheesecake, and…let’s see…cappuccino. That’s my guess.”

We our orders came out; we were close to our guesses. She had a cheesecake with strawberry topping and mocha latte. I had a white cake with white icing, and a vanilla shake with no toppings.

“I was expecting colored icing, but didn’t expect white on white,” Rarity said.

“And I didn’t expect that you use strawberry toppings on your cheesecake,” I said. “But I guess we could have done better on our drinks.”

“That’s true. At least it’s not wintertime. That’s when Mrs. Cake brings out the hot chocolate,” Rarity added.

So we went over where Rarity was having problems in her Geometry class while having our treats until she started to understand it better. After we finished our study session, we left Sugarcube Corner so she could to talk to me about a few things.

“So, you know Pinkie, right?” she asked me.

“Since she popped out of no where on the first day while I was given the tour of the school,” I said.

“Then you must know Applejack as well. And you also met Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, right?” Rarity asked me.

“That’s right,” I said. “Are they all friends of yours?” She nodded. “So I’m guessing that you’ve heard about me before, right?”

“I have, dear,” Rarity replied. “I’m just surprised that you would stand up to that girl. She once dated Flash Sentry, but later broke up. Now she acts like she owns the school. No one has ever stood up to her the way you did. I just hope you don’t regret what you have done.”

I said, “Well, she does sit behind me in my first period English class. But she’s given up on bothering me a couple of weeks ago. She must now think I’m a waste of her time. But there is something that you could help me with.”

“I’ll be happy to help,” Rarity said. “What do you need to know?”

“Since you know Applejack, I was hoping you could tell me more about her,” I asked. “I’ve been curious about her since the first day of school. Does she have a boyfriend?”

“Oh, she doesn’t have one. Maybe it has to do with the loss of her parents,” Rarity said.

That’s when Rarity told me about how Applejack loss her parents when she was young, and how her grandma had to help take care of her and both her older brother and younger sister. That would make me think that she doesn’t have time for a boyfriend.

“Well, thanks for telling me about this,” I said. “I can understand about her better, since I don’t see her a lot around school.”

“Not a problem, dear. I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” Rarity said.

[End Flashback]

“So you decided to give up on Applejack because of the loss of her parents? I don’t even understand why that should be a problem,” Aria said.

“Sunset said the same thing. I told her that back at my last school, I came across various excuses on why any girl doesn’t want to date me. I needed to find one girl who I believed wouldn’t have an excuse to date me,” I said.

“Then tell me why you thought you would get rejected by one of them,” Aria asked me.

“Applejack would say that I deserve someone better, because of the baggage that she has to carry since the loss of her parents. Rarity would expect high standards in a guy, which I wouldn’t come close to expect as a friend. Fluttershy is timid and would have a hard time trying anything. Pinkie Pie is just hyper and weird that I have no idea how to deal with her. And as for Rainbow Dash, another guy in my Algebra II class has an interest in her, but doesn’t know how to tell her about it, so I don’t want to get in the way between them.”

“And you wanted Sunset to help you find one, but the ones she knew were not an option. Why not ask Sunset on a date. You became one of her friends after the Fall Formal. Why not take it to the next level?” Aria asked me.

“It goes back to after the Fall Formal.”

[Flashback: Outside the school, Monday after the Fall Formal]

I came across the school to see the entrance destroyed and a crater-size hold between the entrance and the statue. I saw Vice Principal Luna looking over the area, as Sunset and two guys were working on the school entrance. She told me that school would be closed for a week until the repairs have been made. So I decided to go to Sugarcube Corner, where several of the students were there, talking about the Fall Formal. I asked Pinkie what happen, and her story was so odd that I couldn’t believe it. How Sunset turned into a she-demon, taking control of the school, and how Pinkie and her friends “Pony Up” with a new girl name Twilight Sparkle.

After having my usual, I decided to take a walk around the park to clear my head. The sun was starting to set when I started to head back home. When I came across the damaged school, I saw Sunset sitting next to the statue.

She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “So, you want to pick on me now? Go on ahead. I deserve it after what I did to you and everyone else.”

“I only stand up to bullies. I don’t act like one towards them,” I said. We were silent for a moment before I asked her. “So, is it true that you turned into a raging she-demon?”

Sunset replied, “Yes, I did. I put on a magical crown and it showed me who I became. This statue here is actually a portal to my home world, Equestria. And I’m not an actual girl, but a magical unicorn pony from that world.” I looked at the statue to see where the portal was. “Don’t bother finding it. It’s now closed for another 30 moons, whatever that is in this world. It was only open for a few days, which allowed me to return there to find out that another alicorn princess held the Element of Magic. I figure that if I had it, I can finally take an army of humans and conquer Equestria before the portal closed.”

I reached for her hand and asked, “Perhaps it would help if you told me from the beginning.” She slowly reached for my hand, and I pulled her up.

She started to tell me about her time in this magical world called Equestria and what led her to escape to this world the past few years. I took everything into account and believed in what she was talking about.

“Sounds like you were on a destined path, but decided to go and take your own path. And it looks like this Twilight Sparkle decided to take the same destined path that you were on and made it to its goal that you failed to noticed,” I said.

“Strange isn’t it,” Sunset said. “And it was thanks to that crown to show who I really was.”

“Well, it looks like you have been given a second chance to redeem yourself,” I said. “And if it’s a friend you need, then I’ll be happy to be your friend.”

“Really, after all I did?” I nodded. Sunset reached out to hug me, saying “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. If there’s anything you need me to help you on, just let me know.”

“Well, there is one thing I could use some help on. I’ve been having a hard time finding a girlfriend. And it’s because I keep coming across every kind of excuse that they give me, even since I was at my last school.”

“And what kind of excuse have you come across the most?” Sunset asked me.

“What if I asked you to be my girlfriend?” I asked her.

She took a moment to think about it before she knew why I was having this problem. “I see. They would think you deserve someone better because of the baggage they carried. Not as much as I have, but something like that. And I have a lot to patch up, which isn’t going to be easy. So don’t expect me to be your girlfriend, since I dated Flash just to become popular.” That sentence hit her so hard that she covered her face. “Now I really feel bad for how I acted.”

“It’s not your fault. We all make mistakes. We just have to learn from them,” I said.

“Then I’ll do what I can to help you, but I don’t know how I can help at this time,” Sunset replied.

“Maybe in time, you will be able to help me with this problem.”

[End Flashback]

“So when she brought up the rest of the Rainbooms, you told her the reasons it wouldn’t work, just like you now told me,” Aria said.

“Yep, and while the students have forgiven her after your defeat, I never really felt like asking her again. I knew there would be some patching up to do, and she’s just like Twilight. Maybe one day, she would like to go back to her home world, now that the portal can be opened at any time.”

“But look at us. I’m a siren and sea pony, and she’s a unicorn. Wouldn’t that be the same thing?”

“I think whatever siren powers you had are now gone,” I said. “So you could be just as human as me. And if that’s the case, if you went through the portal, you may or may not turn into a sea pony. You could become an earth pony, which proves that all your magic powers are gone.”

“Maybe, but we may never know,” Aria said. “And since I plan on staying here, I guess we could give it a shot. I just hope they don’t regret not taking a chance with you.”

“Then would you like to go on a date with me…today?” I asked her.

She stared at me and her cheeks started to turn red. “Seriously. Like, right now? Um, I…I guess so. This would be an actual first date, right?”

“I think so,” I replied.

“Then you wouldn’t might if we go back to my place so I can get some fresh clothes to wear?” she asked me.

“Sure. I need to return Sombra’s diary back to Sunset anyway. She’s going to want to know what we discovered last night.”

So we went and finish up our breakfast before getting dressed and leave my apartment.

Define "Date"

We walked out of my apartment with book bags on our shoulders. I made sure it was locked before heading out. As we were making our way to Sunset’s apartment, we went by the school once again. It was the spot where we decided to give our relationship a shot. I saw Aria stop and look at the statue.

“Still thinking about seeing Equestria in its current state?” I asked her.

“I don’t know. Let’s just go to the apartment.”

So we decided to continue to Sunset’s apartment. It was on the second floor of one of your common apartment complexes, one that was easy for Sunset to afford. I heard that she had gemstones from her own world to exchange for the money we had, since bits have no meaning in this world. Hard to say if it’s real gold or not, but gemstones have good value on the market, if you know what you have and where to go to. She knew it was enough for maybe four to five years with her living standards here, so when high school is finished for her, where she goes is her decision. But I’m hope that having three former sirens won’t hamper her living plans.

When we arrived at Sunset’s door, I knocked on it a few times.

“Hang on, hang on. I’m coming.” The door opened, revealing who was calling behind the door: Adagio. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the love couple coming over.”

“Shut up, Dagi,” Aria said as she pushed Adagio aside to get in. I followed behind her. “I’m just here to get changed, since I didn’t have a change of clothes this morning.” But she was stopped to see Sunset sitting on the couch with another purple-haired girl. “P-p-princess Twilight. W-w-what are you…”

“It’s OK, Aria. I’m just here to check up on how you girls are doing. And please, just call me Twilight. I’m not too big on titles.” She got up and started to walk towards me. “And you must be Gear Works.” She begins to shake my hand. “I’m sorry we never been introduced in person, but I’m grateful that you have been helping out with what we have been finding as of late. Sunset tells me that you’re good at creating theories.”

“I am, and I have some ideas from the diary you wanted me to look at. That’s why I’m here as well.”

“Oh, did you have some theories that would raise concern for Twilight?” Sunset asked me.

“I have, including one that came to me after last night when I was with Aria. But I think Adagio might be able to fill in some historic details on one issue.”

Aria asked, “Dagi, ever heard of the Umbrum?”

Adagio placed a finger on her chin, trying to think on the term. “It feels like a long time since I’ve heard that name. Is the coffee ready, my brain needs a wake up call.”

Sunset looked over at the coffee pot, and then said, “It’ll be another fifteen minutes. We can discuss it after he leaves. I’m guessing living for over a thousand years can make you forget a lot about the past.”

“Um missy, I hate to tell you this, but I’m still in my hundreds,” Adagio corrected. This left Sunset and Twilight confused.

I said, “Twilight, you might want to look at the latest theory that I thought of last night.” She opened the book to the extra sheets of papers, and I pointed to the one I was talking about.

“Parallel time travel?”

“Yes,” I said. “When Sombra was defeated over a thousand years ago, he placed a curse on the Crystal Empire, taking it with him. When it returned, you wrote that the Crystal Ponies didn’t remember a thing. I think the spell he cast was somewhat close to what Star Swirl cast on the sirens long ago.”

“You remember when we got dragged into the mirror back then while we were performing?” Aria asked Adagio.

“Of course. The next thing, we’re falling in an alley as human beings, with our gems as pendants carrying what little magic we had left. We spent over a month trying to understand this world and gather what energy to get stronger until we saw Equestrian magic in the air at night.”

“And there were electric lamp posts and two to three story brick buildings. We were wearing hoodies as part of the clothes that were given to us in this world,” Aria added.

“And that kind of stuff never appeared a thousand of years ago.” Sunset slapped her hand on her face. “That explains why you keep looking at that world history book you’ve been keeping all this time.”

“And the hero of CHS just finally found out how we really got here,” Adagio said like she just defeated the Rainbooms in one blow. “I can’t even believe you never asked me about that when we moved in with you. If I had my pendent with all that pony magic in it, you’re be begging for mercy right now.”

That’s when Aria slapped Adagio at the back of her head, causing her to look back at Aria in a rage.

“Well, you left all those shards at Gears’ place. You could have just kept them and maybe find a way to get your goddamn magic back just to do so,” Aria yelled.

“That, Aria, was a JOKE!!! Like you can’t even…” And that’s when it hit her. “Wait, did you find the shards that were with him?”

Aria yelled, “Damn right I did. Ever since last night at Sugarcube Corner, I wished I never had seen them in the first place. I wish I wasn’t even a damn siren, because all that did to us was nothing but trouble. Why just throw them in the trash, or bury them in the deep sea?”

“Because they can still be a threat to both our worlds,” Twilight said as she stood up. “Aria, this was my choice to begin with. I wasn’t sure if Star Swirl left any other threats in this world or not, and having the shards could be dangerous if exposed to the full effects of Equestrian magic in my world. That’s why we needed someone to trust to keep them safe until we know more about how they were created and if they were safe to be disposed of.”

“And that’s why they left them with me, Aria,” I said. “I knew I could keep them safe and maybe find out what kind of material they are as well. I have my ideas, but I need time to study the matter further.”

“I’m sorry,” Aria replied. “I just…excuse me while I go get changed.” And she walked off to her room, slamming the door.

Sunset said, “Sounds like you really had an effect on her, Gears.”

I said, “I know. And somehow, it’s going to be rough for her to get over it.”

Adagio said, “Give her some time. She’ll grow out of it. I know I’ve been trying to do so since I’ve moved in with Sunset.”

Aria opened the door and yelled, “Where’s Sonata?”

“Out on a date…AGAIN!!!” Adagio answered.

“Goddamn it.” Aria slammed the door again. “I’m going to kill her.”

Adagio laughed and said, “Sounds like Sonata got into Aria’s stuff before her big date.”

“Is that common?” I asked Adagio.

“Just about. At least it would get her mind off what we just talked about.”

Twilight came up to me and asked, “Gears, can we talk…in private?”

I looked at Sunset, not knowing how to respond. But she gave me a nod and a smile, assuring me that this would be important. So the two of us went outside while I waited for Aria.

“Look, I want to thank you on a few things,” Twilight said. “First off, I’m glad that you took the shards out of our hands and into yours. It gives me some relief from it until we know more. Second, thanks for looking over Sombra’s diary and bringing it back with some ideas in mind. I’ll be glad when I have it back where it belongs. That book gives me the creeps.”

“I’m glad I could help,” I responded.

“And last, Sunset told me how they tried to get you and Aria together so she can stop acting like a bully. She’s been giving me updates on any changes in the siren’s behavior, and what Aria was doing really worried me for a while.”

“I didn’t think it would work between us, but I think there’s a chance,” I said.

“Well, I hope it does, otherwise, Sunset will be regretting it ever since.”

“Why would she regret doing this,” I asked Twilight.

“I…guess she never has told you before.” I was confused at what she was trying to say. “I might as well get this out of the way. When I came back here to take on the sirens, Sunset made a confession to me. She told me how she once bullied you, but you wouldn’t budge. Then you offer your friendship to her after the Fall Formal. She’s been wanting to ask you out because of how kind you were to her, but with all the negative stares she was getting, well…”

“She didn’t want to drag me into her life,” I responded. “I can understand that from the start, because I’ve faced that before.”

“That’s not quite it. She was hoping that she could spend some time with you in someplace where it was just the two of you. But she wasn’t sure how to send that message to you. I guess it was her first experience at true love, but the timing was off. And even after she helped defeat the sirens, she couldn’t muster up the courage to finally ask you out. But seeing how you have helped Aria in making a change, she made the sacrifice to just let you go.”

“Well then, I might have to repay the favor and find her a boyfriend that can make her happy,” I said. “Speaking of which, since you had a thing for Flash, do you plan to see him while you’re here?”

“Oh, Flash?” She was in shock, and then started to fool with her hair. “Well, I…I don’t know. I…didn’t plan…on meeting him. Maybe?”

“Forget I bought it up,” I said. “I can see that you have a hard time reacting to something like that.”

“I guess I’m too focused on magic and being the Princess of Friendship that love’s something I need to learn about.”

“Just make sure you learn it soon. I’m sure some…ponies will use your status for their own means, if you catch my drift.”

“There’s just one more thing I need to ask you, Gears. When Aria touched the shards, anything happened that was out of the ordinary?”

“Nope,” I said. “If I was to take a guess, in the state they are in, there’s no way they can hold any dark magic. I think our former sirens are safe from its influence. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they can be fused or molded into a perfect gem just to hold that magic again.”

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that,” Twilight said. “I’ll do what I can on my side to learn on those gems, if there’s anything worth finding.”

It was then that the front door opened and Aria walked outside. “Ready for our date, Gears?” I was stunned at her new look that she was showing. Unlike her usual look, she was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and jeans. And she didn’t bother with fixing up her pigtails; she just let all of her hair down. “What, don’t like my new look?”

“Actually, I do. It’s…it’s a nice look for you,” I said. “Let’s go then.”

So we said our goodbyes with Twilight, since we may not see her again in some time, and decided to walk towards the park. I figure it would be a good place to start for our first date. I recall hearing about several food trucks parked there every Saturday, so getting something to eat there will be a bonus. As we were making our way down there, we heard some activity at one of the outdoor basketball courts.

“Come on, man. I know you can’t get past me.”

“In your dreams, Dash.”

It was Rainbow Dash and Soarin having some one on one basketball. We stopped and watched the display going on. Soarin was making his way and jumping towards the basket, only to have Dash knock the ball out of his hands and send it bouncing towards us.

“Oh, hey there Gears. You and Aria on a date?” Dash asked as I picked up the ball.

“That’s right,” I replied as I passed the ball back to her. “Making our way to the park. What are you two doing?”

“Playing some b-ball,” Soarin replied. “Trying to beat Dash in some one on one.”

“Trying…and failing,” Dash added. “We could ask you two to join us, but I know sports isn’t your thing.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” I said. “Since you like to knock the wind out of me at every sport.”

“Hey Gears, can I talk to you for a moment?” Soarin said.

“Sure. Aria, why don’t you talk to Dash for a moment while I take care of this.”

So Aria walked over to where Dash was at while Soarin brought me away from the two.

“Your actually dating Aria…after what she’s done to the school?”

“She’s starting to change, OK? Besides, why haven’t you asked Dash out on a date yourself?”

“We are on a date,” Soarin replied, but I gave him that look that he wasn’t telling the truth. “OK, it’s not a date. I don’t know how to tell her this after we’ve been friends for so long. And what if I tell her and she rejects me on the spot?”

“I know, you don’t want to damage the friendship that you have earned for so long,” I said. “Look at her. You’re the only male athlete that’s come close to her standards. And I haven’t heard anyone trying to make a move on her, unless they were setting themselves up to fail. At least I haven’t before. Just take a chance. If you have to, use Aria and me as an example to get the hint across. Just…spend some time talking and see if you can find that spark that the two of you have been looking for.”

“OK, if you say so,” Soarin said with a hint of concern.

I looked back and called Aria, seeing if she was ready to go. She was and rejoined me as we were leaving Soarin and Dash to their basketball game while we went to the park. When we finally got there, we saw several food trucks out there. We looked at what trucks were there for today, and I pointed out the one with the grilled cheese sandwiches.

We decided to order one grill cheese sandwich, since it would be big enough to share, and a couple of drinks. It was another first for Aria, and she could tell because of how gooey the cheese was in the sandwich. She wanted to know about the other food trucks that were there, in which I explained to her what they have and how they operate. She started to learn what this world had to offer. It was like she was more human than before.

After we finished eating, we threw away our trash into the trashcan and I decided to take her to one spot in the park that she would enjoy. It was at a tree on top of a hill that looked over the park lake. I sat down right next to the tree and patted the spot next to me for Aria to sit. When she sat down, she wrapped her arm around mine and laid her head on my shoulder. We enjoyed the moment, until it was interrupted by a familiar blue girl with white hair.

“Well look what we have here. If it isn’t one of the girls that decided to mess with the Great and Powerful Trixie weeks ago. If you think you can avoid Trixie, then you are so mistaken. Trixie plans to get back for…what…you…did…” She soon noticed that I was with here. “Gears, what are you doing with this troublemaker?”

I replied, “First off, will you at least cut the theatrical act like always? I don’t have a problem with it, but it’s getting a bit old. And second, I’m on a date with the new Aria, not the bully that you used to know.”

“You know her?” Aria asked me.

“She’s sits next to me in my Science II class. We’ve worked on a few group assignments, but the way she talks can be a problem.”

“Trixie does not have a problem with how Trixie talks to others.” I just gave her a mean stare. “FINE!!! If you want me to talk like everyone else, then I’ll do it. I only talk like that because it makes me feel superior in front of others.”

Aria was surprised. “Wow. I didn’t know your stance against bullies would have an effect on Trixie.”

“It’s because bullies want to feel superior towards other,” I said, “if you haven’t forgotten what you were trying to do before.”

“Good point,” Aria responded.

‘It’s because I don’t want to feel weak in front of others,” Trixie said as she sat down not far from where we were sitting. “I’ve been picked on when I was little. And this was the only was to make sure I wasn’t weak in front of them.”

I asked, “If you knew this from the start, why didn’t explain it to me in the first place?”

“Because you didn’t need to know,” Trixie replied. “But, since it’s possible that we will have to work together again, it might be wise to explain it to you. Just don’t tell this to anyone, OK?”

“Our lips are sealed,” Aria replied.

It went quiet for a moment before Trixie broke the silence.

“Aria, you should be lucky to have him at your side.”

“What makes you say that?” Aria asked Trixie.

“Well…look at him. He’s able to stand up for himself and never backs down. Not many students have the guts to do that.”

“Well thanks for the complement,” I said, “but I think there’s more to it than just that.”

Trixie took a deep breath and said, “There is. I have a class with Rarity, and she heard from Applejack early in the school year that someone was able to stand up to Sunset on their first day. I was surprised to hear this and thought that…well…maybe he’s the one for me.”

“Wait, you had a crush on me?” I asked her.

“I did, but seeing how you couldn’t stand the way I talk, plus the fact that I didn’t want to remove the mask I had on me in front of everyone else, made it more of a challenge to confess. But when Rarity knew that we had the same science class, she wanted to know more about you from my view because she was curious. The one thing that stood out was the fact that you were good at math classes, like you told me. So she decided to set up a study session with you just to learn more about you.”

“Wait a minute,” I said. “You mean that study session I had weeks before the Fall Formal was an excuse to get to know me better? Why didn’t she just ask me in the first place?”

“She wasn’t sure,” Trixie relied. “And I had a feeling that she would have her as your boyfriend instead of me. I know she’s better than me when it comes to guys, but after I heard that she lost interest in you because you were curious about Applejack, I just gave up as well. And then there was that Twilight verses Sunset episode that just sidetrack everyone around, I guess we all forgot about you because you didn’t show at the Fall Formal.”

“Damn,” Aria responded. “Talk about mixed messages in finding true love. And you don’t need a siren’s song to make that happen. But we wouldn’t be able to absorb anything out of that.”

“And why would that be, Miss Aria?” Trixie said with a strict tone.

“Because the energy we absorb comes from anger, not confusion.”

Trixie thought for a moment before she responded. “You might have a point.”

Trixie got up, cleared her throat, and said, “Well, Trixie doesn’t want to bother the lovely couple any further, so Trixie will head onward to wherever Trixie is needed. Bye.” And she walked away from us.

“Well that was interesting,” Aria said. “To find out that Trixie and Rarity had an interest in you.”

“You can throw Sunset in the mix as well,” I said.

Aria was confused about that, so I explained what Twilight told me about Sunset’s interest in me.

“Well that explains everything,” Aria said. “Do you think that Applejack would have been interested in you as well?”

“Don’t know,” I replied. “But I don’t think it would matter now. Maybe fate led us together.”

“Let’s just hope Dash and Soarin are finally dating,” Aria said.

“I hope so.” Then I just realized what she said. “Hold on, how did you know that?”

“While you were talking to Soarin, Dash was asking me how she should approach him about her feelings for him.”

I asked, “And how long was she interested in him?”

“For quite a while. She wouldn’t say.”

“Well, I guess their first date will hit off well,” I said.

“Well, it wasn’t much of a first date for us, but we learned a lot about you and our friends as well,” Aria said.

“There’s still time before we have to go back. Let’s enjoy it why we still can.”

So we spent an hour at the same spot, watching the view and everything that went by. We decided to head back to drop Aria off at Sunset’s apartment so that she could have dinner with her sisters (and give Sonata a piece of her mind). We gave each other a parting kiss on the lips and promised to meet together Monday morning at school. I went back to my apartment for a quick bite to eat and relax for the night, when I got a call from an unknown number.

“I know Aria or her sisters have a cell phone, so who would be calling me this late?” I said to myself.

I answered the phone and said, “Hello, may I ask who this is?”

“It’s me, sugarcube. Applejack.”

“Applejack? How did you get my number?”

“Sunset gave it to me. After what happened last night, I figure I get this off my chest. After I talked to Rarity about what she was doing talking about my parents, we decided to put it all in the past. She was just surprised that you were interested in me since I gave you the school tour, and it just slipped out.”

“I think it’s because she was interested in me. Trixie told me about it”

“I know. Rarity told me as well. I guess you came across Trixie today. She didn’t give you any problems, did she?”

“Nope, just wanted to get something off her chest as well.”

“I think I know what that would be, but I might as well do the same. When I saw how you stood up to Sunset that day, I was impressed as to how bold you were in front of her. And you did the same in helping Fluttershy later on. She told me this. In fact, I actual wished that we shared at least one class together.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, I was hoping you would have asked me out to the Fall Formal back then when we crossed paths at times. But for some reason, you never brought it up. But I guess it was good that you didn’t, or you would have been caught up in the magical takeover that happened. Plus we were busy helping Twilight win the crown so that she can have it back and return home with it. Besides, you have Aria now, and that’s the best thing that could ever happen to you. She needs someone to show her what she should be doing with her life, and I know you can do that.”

“Well…I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, just remember. If you break up with her, don’t expect any of us to be her replacement, you hear? You treat her right, OK?”

“OK Applejack, I will. And tell the girls that I plan to her them find boyfriends if I can. I should repay you all for what you did, even if it was planned.”

“Most of us shouldn’t have a problem with that, even Sunset. But I’m sure that Adagio could use some help. Just swinging those hips ain’t helping her one bit.”

“OK, I start with her when I get the chance. I hope to run by you at school Monday.”

“You too partner. Bye.”

I hanged up on my phone and said to myself, “Can’t believe she was interested in me from the beginning. But I think this was the best for all of us. Aria is an interesting girl, even if she was a siren. Maybe she could help me in understanding the shards and how her powers once work, if she’s brave enough to face her fears. I know nothing happened when she touched them, so they could be harmless. But I won’t know unless we trust in each other to do this. We might be different, but I know we’re human, and that we can make mistakes and learn from them. We just need to believe that we can make this happen.”

Author's Notes:

Now that things are going forward, who knows where this is going down the road.

Double Date, Nothing but Trouble

Aria and me finally got our project done in a week, with little time to spare. I already turned in the program design along with the small diskette that he gave us. (Yes, it was an old DOS related program on the computer that’s over ten years old that can fit what we created on a 1 MB diskette.) With ten minutes before school was over, we started talking about…older electronics.

“I have seen the computers in the computer lab and in the library, but this one’s not like those, now that I think about it,” said Aria.

“It’s an older model, and works easier with accessing DOS based programs like Qbasic,” I said. “It’s the only way you can read and access the code of any program. I have my father’s desktop computer with Win XP on it. It’s over a decade old, compared to the current operating system. It also has some diskette drives on it, plus USB ports. It’s old, but I like playing the older, simpler games on that one when I feel like it. Otherwise, I use my laptop for most of my other stuff.”

“You must be into this stuff,” Aria replied.

“Some geeks like to remember the older stuff as a reference and realized how far we’ve come along in this world,” I said. “It’s how we remember our roots in the tech world.”

“Think you can show it to me…tonight?” Aria was giving me that romantic look with her eyes.

“So which sister have you been spending you time with to pull off that look?” I asked her.

“If it’s working, does it matter?” she replied.

“Well, I got nothing better to do this weekend. No homework assignments for me,” I said.

She replied, “Same here.”

“Good, it gives me an excuse to have another TV marathon with Sunset.” We looked at saw that it was Adagio looking over us.

“Another failed attempt to get a date, I see.” Aria was giving a smirk on her face.

“Rub it in, Aria. Going for Bright Idea wasn’t much of a…bright idea.” She face-palm after saying that.

“At least your wood project came out good, from what I saw,” I said.

“Yea. I guess that’s the best that could come out of it,” Adagio replied. “At least I can now help out with Fluttershy on those birdhouses that she likes to build. Listening to the singing birds helps me remember what I’m trying to do with my life now.”

Just then, to school bell rang, signaling the end of school. Everyone started to grab their things and left the room. Adagio started to do the same, but Aria stayed for a moment.

“Do you want to come over right now?” I asked.

“I was hoping that I could stay over for the weekend,” Aria said as she had her hands together behind her back. “Maybe watch some of your DVDs that you have?”

“Sure,” I said. “Make sure you have what you need from home for the weekend.”

“Will do.” She gave me a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room.

I was at home, getting ready for Aria to come and stay for the weekend. I looked over to see if I had all that I needed. DVDs? Check. Classic gaming systems? Check. Microwave pizza, drinks, and snacks? Check, check, and check.

And then I saw the bag with the pendent shards. I still remember how she hated seeing those pieces a week ago. So I decided to put the bag away in one of the desk drawers so she doesn’t have to be reminded of them.

Just then, I heard three dull knocks from the front door.

“I wonder who that could be? I don’t think Aria would be knocking that way.”

So I looked through the peephole and was shocked at what I saw. I unlocked and opened the door to see Aria with a bruise on her cheek.

“Aria, what happened?” I asked while walking her inside before closing the door.

“Some jerk decided to sucker-punch me as I was walking towards your place.”

“Here, lay down on the couch while I get an ice pack for that bruise.” I went to the freezer and pulled out an ice pack that I keep for such emergencies. I went back to Aria and had her place it on her cheek. “Did you see who it was?”

“No. He had a hoodie on, covering his face. He just…rushed me from behind the school statue, punched me in the face, and ran off.”

“Another student, perhaps?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe there are some others that we came across that didn’t like us after taking control of them.”

“I guess going by Sugarcube Corner with Rainbow Dash and Soarin is out of the question,” I said.

She looked at me and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“Soarin called me after I got home and asked if I can bring you along to go on a double date with them. He just asked her out, and feels a bit nervous about doing this.”

“What time?”

“In about a couple of hours,” I told her.

“You think this bruise will settle down?”

“As long as you keep that ice pack on it, it should.”

“Well, no sense backing down,” she said. “Maybe Dash would have an idea on who attacked me, if it’s someone from the school.” She looked around and asked, “ Any idea what to do to kill some time?”

“I hate to get into a movie at this time, and I’m not sure what you feel like doing right now?”

“Why not see what’s going on in sports?” she asked me. “Sunset did get me into sports, since she plays on the basketball team this year.”

“Sure. I wanted to check up on hockey anyway,” I said.

So I turned on the TV and switched it to the sports channel for us to watch while her cheek was trying to heal.

After a couple of hours of watching sports updates, and a couple of sport science segments, which Aria became curious about, I looked at her bruise on her cheek and it started to look better. There was a mark still visible, but it wasn’t as swollen from earlier. We decided to head on to Sugarcube Corner to join up with Soarin and Rainbow Dash. The place was almost empty, maybe because most people would rather see a movie or go to an arcade, but not us. When we arrived, Soarin was able to greet us.

“Hey guys. Thanks for showing…”

He was shocked to see Aria’s bruise. Rainbow Dash also reacted the same way and responded.

“Aria, what happen to you?” Dash went up to Aria to look at the bruise.

“I got punched out of nowhere when I was walking to Gears’ place,” Aria replied.

Soarin asked Aria, “Did you see who it was?”

“No. He had a hoodie on, so I couldn’t get a look at his face. I think it was a guy, but I’m not sure.”

Dash recommended, “Well, maybe a nice, cool shake would help make you feel better.”

So we decided to sit at the stools next to the counter and wait for someone to come up and take our order. That’s when we heard a cheerful voice from the back of the building.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there in just a moment.”

No doubt that was Pinkie’s voice that we just heard. I just knew what was about to happen next when she came skipping out from the room.

“Okie-dokie. What do you *gasp* did some hooded guy punched you in the face?”

Knew it. Pinkie can be like that at times.

“Yep,” Aria replied. “Don’t even know who it was.”

“Well, that is just mean,” Pinkie said and puffed her cheeks.

“Perhaps you can fix up some milkshakes for us. We hope that can make Aria feel better,” I said.

“Okie-dokie-lokie. Vanilla for all?” All four of us nodded, and Pinkie got started to fix our shakes.

After she delivered our shakes, all five of us started talking about who would have attacked Aria. None of us heard from our school about anyone having a grudge with the former sirens. So we decided to change the subject and talk about other things. Pinkie told us about Mrs. Cake having to watch over the twins while Mr. Cake went to the store for some home supplies. Yes, they live upstairs in the back of the same place that they work at. I told them about a small, local shop that I knew when I was in Baltimare that sold custom home decorations was also a home for the owners as well. It was nice to learn how local businesses would also be a place to live for the owners.

We then got to talk about some of the new movies that were being shown tonight, which could explain the slow business going on here. But that gave Pinkie some time to get some fresh treats for the store when the customers come over after the movie. None of the movies caught our attention, which is why we came here. As we kept talking, Aria noticed something out the window. I looked at what she was looking at and saw that it was Sonata with some guy on the other side of the street.

“Hey, is that Sonata’s boyfriend over there?” I asked.

Pinkie answered. “Oh, that’s Stalwart Gray. I have a class with him this year.”

We saw Sonata doing something with her hands in front of him, which lead Aria to ask a question.

“What is she doing with her hands?”

I decided to ask. “Hey Pinkie, is Stalwart deaf?”

“Yep. I first learned about it when I did my “Welcome Back to School” surprise behind him. I was surprised to see that he didn’t react to my surprise, so I tapped his shoulder, and when he turned around, I saw that he had a hearing aide in his ear and thought “Oh, that’s why he didn’t respond, because he’s deaf.” So I decided to talk,” as she slow down her speech, “slowly and made sure my words came clear and see if his hearing aide was working and told him “surprise” to him.” She started to speak normally again. Well, Pinkie’s version of normal. “And I always remember that he’s deaf and that I have to think about the best way for a deaf person to hear, which is with my lips.”

“Wow!” Dash said with a surprised look on her face. “I never expected you to act that way on the fly.”

“I know,” Pinkie replied. “At least I didn’t yell in his face and use strange hand gestures that wasn’t sign-language like Sonata did the first time they met.”

“So that’s how she recognized him,” said Aria.

“When was this?” I asked Aria.

“Just after the Battle of the Bands, after we got…booed off the stage.” Aria cringed at the thought. “I got into a shouting match with Adagio, which became a fight, which she was just standing there, watching. Next thing we knew was that we saw her walking with him away from us. He wasn’t even afraid of us after what happen that night.”

“So that explains why they became an item so fast,” I said. “They knew each other before you girls returned to our school, just after the Battle of the Bands.”

“Then make a great couple,” Pinkie added.

Just as the couple was out of view, another person in a hood was walking along the same path that they were taking. Aria saw this, got off the stool, and went up to the window to get a closer look.

“That’s the guy. That’s the one who punched me,” she said.

We all got off our stools and walked up to Aria to see the guy she was talking about.

“Him?” I asked her, which she nodded.

“It looks like he’s…following Sonata and Stalwart,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Oh no he isn’t,” Aria said and started to head to the doorway.

I grabbed her, stopping her in her tracks, and said, “What are you going to do?”

“That guy tried to take me out. I’m not going to let him do it to my sister as well. He’s going to pay!” She jerked free from my grip and started to run outside to chase the hooded guy.

“This is not good,” Rainbow Dash said. “Pinkie, call Sunset and let her know what going on. We might need her help if this gets any worse.” Pinkie nodded and pulled out her cell phone. Dash looked at us and said, “We better follow her.” We nodded and made our way outside to chase Aria and the hooded guy down.

As we were chasing them on the sidewalk, we could see the hooded guy already pushed Stalwart to the ground before making a move on Sonata. Aria saw this and yelled at him, causing him to look back before he ran away. Aria kept chasing him down when we stop and check on the other two.

“You two OK?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I think so,” Sonata replied.

Soarin kneel down to check on Stalwart and said to us, “I take care of them. You go and help Aria out.” We nodded and started to catch up to Aria.

The chase continued on up to the park, where we lost sight of Aria and the hooded guy.

“Where did they go?” asked Rainbow Dash.

We looked around until we heard Aria yell again. I was able to see movement in the direction of the sound behind some trees.

“That way,” I said as I pointed at the direction of the movement.

Our pursuit went on when we saw Aria still chasing down the hooded man. He was close to the edge of the park when Aria hit something on the ground, causing her to lose her balance and fall down. When we got up to her, the hooded guy was almost out of the park, until a blaze of orange came through at tackle the guy down. I was able to pull Aria on her feet and we made our way to where the guy was tackled down. We saw Sunset running up to the scene and noticed that it was Adagio who tackled the guy.

Sunset said, “Pinkie told me what happen. When we saw you run into the park, we drove to the other side hoping that he would pass through. Adagio saw the movement coming over here and just went straight into him.”

“Good call, Sunset,” replied Dash. “Now let’s see who wanted to hurt our former siren friends.”

Sunset helped Adagio get the guy on his feet and removed his hood, only to find out that it was girl instead, and one that we remember seeing back at school on the women’s basketball team.

“LIGHTNING DUST!!!” yelled Dash. “What in the world are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? Making sure we don’t have a repeat performance at school,” replied Lightning Dust, as she was jerking herself loose.

“Like hell you are,” Aria replied in anger, while I was trying to hold her back.

“In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t have any magic powers, so we’re just as harmless as any other student in the school,” said Adagio.

“Then why are you even back in school? To cause more trouble?” said Dust.

“Principal Celestia agreed to give them a second chance after I found them out on their own,” said Sunset.

“Well so did you, and you almost made a mess of it,” Dust replied.

“In case you haven’t noticed, she saved all of the students, along with our help,” said Dash.

“I still don’t even buy it.”

‘That’s the problem with you, Lightning Dust,” said Dash. You’re always so self-centered that you can’t even see straight at what’s in front of you.”

“What I see is a boy who once faced troublemakers in the past. Now he’s dating one? Since when did he become so weak to do that?” said Dust.

Just hearing that really got my blood boiling. Enough that I ran and threw my fist into her face, knocking her to the ground and leaving her with a bloody nose.

“IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ME? THAT I’M WEAK? I’VE DEALT WITH BULLIES IN THE PAST, AND YOU’RE MIGHT JUST BE THE BIGGEST, MEANEST BULLY THAT NEEDED TO BE DECKED IN HER LIFE!!!”

The other girls were shocked to see how I was acting right now. Aria realized how I was acting and went and hugged me from behind, trying to calm me down, in which it started to have an effect on me. Rainbow Dash walked up to Lightning Dust and grabbed her by her collar and got into her face.

“Consider this your last warning. You try to pull another stunt like this, and not only will I see to it that you get kicked off the basketball team, but you won’t even be able to try out for the soccer team as well.”

Sunset walked up to her and added, “And if you think about getting the cops into this for that bloody nose, we’ll be happy to tell them about your assaults on Aria and the couple that you tried to attack.”

“So do us a favor and go home and get that nose cleaned up, because I’ll be watching you from here on out,” said Dash, letting her go.

Lightning Dust got up and ran off until she was out of view. Aria released me from her hug, and I decided to sit down at a nearby low wall. Soarin, Sonata, and Stalwart were able to find us at the edge of the park.

“Did you get him?” Soarin asked.

“It was actually Lightning Dust that was doing this,” replied Dash.

“Her again?” replied Soarin. “You would think she would get her act together after what she has done over a year ago.”

“Well, let’s hope that Gears’ punch in the nose would get the message across,” said Dash.

Soarin was shocked when he heard that and looked at me. Sunset walked up and sat next to me.

“I’ve never seen you act like that before. Were you like this back in Baltimare?”

I nodded, and then said, “I try my best to hold back. But when she said that about me…I just lost control. That’s how my life was back in Baltimare; everyone saying bad things to me. I almost wanted to do the same thing to a girl who was picking on me, but another girl and her boyfriend came to my aid and caused her to back off. This was why my parents wanted me to attend here instead while they were away. They were hoping I wouldn’t get into any more problems. Guess it doesn’t matter where I attend anyway.”

Aria sat down on the other side, wrapped her arm around mine, looked at me, and said, “Yes it does. You helped me understand what I needed to do to move on, and I’m grateful for that.”

“I have to agree with her,” Adagio added. “You’re smart and clever. And what if you had one bad episode? So what? We all have one at times.”

“This coming from the lead siren,” said Aria.

This lead Adagio to raise an eyebrow, curious as to what Aria just said, before she realized it’s meaning and just blew it off. “Whatever. I just wish you told me in the first place what happen when you arrived at Gears’ place. We could have looked into the matter, and all of this could have been avoided.”

“Well, I think we were able to get it resolved anyway,” said Sunset.

It was then that we saw Stalwart and Sonata exchanging sign language to each other. We weren’t sure what they were talking about, but Rainbow Dash decided to ask the question.

“Um, what are you two talking about?”

Sonata looked at us, which also caused Stalwart to do the same. “Well, we were wondering what to do, since we were coming to the park in the first place,” Sonata said and she was signing the words with her hands.

“We wanted to come to the park in the first place,” Stalwart said, which his speech wasn’t as clear as any other person, but enough to understand. “But maybe we can go to Sugarcube Corner instead.”

“Some of us were just there before all this happened,” I said. “We only had shakes there, and it was nearly empty. Maybe…all of us can just hang out there with Pinkie for a couple of hours. At least until business can pick up over there.”

“I could go for a slice of pie anyway,” Adagio said.

“If Pinkie has some fresh cookies there, I’m in,” Sunset added.

So we decided to return to Sugarcube Corner, with Sunset driving her car to a nearby parking lot. We took a booth and ordered some white cake and apple pie and sodas all around. We got talking to various shows, in which we made sure that Stalwart was able to read our lips, since his hearing can’t be as clear as usual is with his hearing aid. We got to talk about movies and shows, to music, to even stories from the siren’s time back in the pony world. It lasted for a couple of hours before we started to see other customers come in to the shop. Mr. Cake finally made it back in time for the late night rush. That’s when we decided to leave for the evening.

We waved to Pinkie as we were heading out and went our separate ways for the night. Aria went back with me to my place to watch a movie while staying the weekend with me.

After walking into my room, I lay down on the couch and asked Aria, “Want to pick up where we last left off last weekend?”

“Actually, I had something else in mind.” I saw Aria go up to the DVD shelf and picked out a different DVD. “I was thinking about this one.”

I saw the title and was surprised that she knew I had it. “The Last Starfighter?”

“Yep. Sunset told me about this one. I’m guessing you had her over back then?”

“Yep. After the Fall Formal, whenever her friends were busy on the weekends, she would ask me if she could come over for some company. I showed her my collection and that DVD was the first one she wanted to see. She said that she never got to watch sci-fi movies before and noticed that this was made before I was born. I blame my father for hooking me on those ones, but the creativity of those movies were interesting during that time.”

“Well, our would was filled with magic, not high tech. And we never experience space at all.” She walked on over and popped the DVD into the player and handed me the remote before lying on top of me. “I think it would be nice to watch.”

“Then the Last Starfighter it is.” I pressed play and started to movie.

“Just wait until you see what the Gunstar looks like,” I said.

“Is that the space ship in the movie?” asked Aria.

“You could say that,” I replied as I laid my arms around her neck.

“Then bring it on.”

Author's Notes:

The OC "Stalwart Gray" belongs to Sipioc. You can find his character in A Hushed Sonata.