A Problematic Romance

Chapters

You like WHO?!
Acceptance...Kind of
The Nervous Meets the Oblivious
The Date
Not Far Behind
Resolution...of Sorts

You like WHO?!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunset nodded at that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The pink-haired girl smiled widely before replying.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The girls all exchanged looks before Applejack answered him.

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

Rainbow nodded at that before speaking up herself.

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

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

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

She then narrowed her eyes a little.

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

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

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

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

"Yes! Yes I would!"

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

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

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

"Okay-dokey-loki!"

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

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

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

"...there's this girl."

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

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

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

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

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

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

Randy coughed nervously at that.

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

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

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

Randy looked away slightly.

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

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

"What about the time you dated Suri Polomare?"

The boy grimaced at that.

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

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

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

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

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

And finally, it was Applejack's turn.

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

Randy looked particularly embarrassed about this one.

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

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

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

But Randy finished it for her.

"Failure?"

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

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

Rainbow turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Applejack then spoke up after that.

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

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

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

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

"It's...Sonata."

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

"...Sonata?"

Randy nodded.

"As in Sonata Dusk?" Rarity added.

Another nod from Randy.

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

Yet another nod.

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

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

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

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

"...WHAT?!"

Acceptance...Kind of

As one might expect from the rather unexpected outburst given by Rainbow Dash, half of the cafeteria had suddenly ceased doing whatever it was they were doing and instead turned to the Rainboom's table. The mood immediately became very awkward for all of them, especially Rainbow herself, who looked around and only now noticed the stares, realising what a scene she must have been making. Her face turning a bright red shade, she chuckled nervously as she began to slowly sit back down next to her friends, all of whom had been covering their faces to one degree or another, embarrassed by their friend's behaviour. It took a while, but eventually the rest of the students of the cafeteria began to turn back to their own meals and activities, leaving the Rainbooms to consider the, quite frankly, shocking news that Randy had just given them. Of all of the girls, Rarity was the first to speak.

"Um...Randy, darling? I don't mean to question your tastes in women, but if I may ask...why?"

Randy looked at all of them, understanding exactly why they were reacting this way to what he'd just said. So, letting out a sigh, he began to explain himself.

"Look, I know this probably isn't going to sound like a good idea to you girls, and in truth I was pretty hesitant to go anywhere near her or the other two after the band battle happened."

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that.

"So why the sudden change of heart?"

Randy thought on that for a moment, trying his best to put the words together in his mind.

"Well...thing is, I've seen her here and there around the school, at times when Adagio or Aria weren't with her. From what I've seen, she seems to act differently to them in a lot of ways."

Applejack looked to him, her curiosity piqued.

"In what way, sugarcube?"

The boy looked to her, seeing the look of doubt on her face. He knew this was going to be a tough sell, and though he'd never say so himself, there was even a part of him that had trouble really accepting this whole thing. Even so, he knew he had to give at least some kind of answer.

"For one thing, you know that look the other two have on their faces? The one that says "I hate you all and I want you to stay away" every time one of the other students passes them by?"

The Rainbooms all looked to each other and gave grave nods, all knowing well enough exactly the looks he was talking about. And though no words were spoken between them, the expression on their faces made it clear to Randy that they knew where he was going with this. Sonata had indeed been absent those particular disdainful looks, at least when compared to the other two. But he also knew that a reason such as this was not going to be enough to try and convince these girls that approaching Sonata in this way was a good idea. It was a sentiment expressed quite vocally by Rainbow, who still had a look of "are you kidding me" upon her face.

"Look, Randy. I know your reputation in past girlfriends...well...sucks..."

Rainbow took a moment to look away from the frown the boy was giving her after those words before continuing.

"...but don't you think you'd be better off going after someone...I dunno...safer?"

Randy raised an eyebrow at that.

"Wasn't it you guys who said that they don't have powers anymore?"

The Rainbooms all looked at each other and gave a rather begrudging sound of acknowledgement of that, confirming Randy's question. The Dazzlings had indeed been deprived of all of their magical ability and were, as a result, no more powerful than any of them. But even so, there were other things to take in mind, as Sunset now explained.

"You DO know that they're not really girls, right? They're Sirens, from another world. Are you sure you'd be okay going out with someone who isn't even human?"

Almost as if the universe itself had heard her, the girls and Randy all turned their heads to see none other than Flash Sentry, who was carrying his guitar and walking behind the boy as he passed their table. Giving them a glance and a wave as he passed by, which the girls returned, Flash had little idea of just how awkward he'd made Sunset's position. And it was a fact that Randy was quick to pick up on, as he raised an eyebrow at her and, without breaking eye-contact, gestured to Flash as the latter kept on walking away. He didn't say anything, but the message was clear. After all, there was already a precedent at this school for guys dating non-human girls, as Sunset was well aware of, given her tone of voice.

"Okay...point taken."

Randy opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by, of all people, Fluttershy, who meekly raised her hand so the others could see her. Turning, they all looked in her direction as she spoke.

"Um...well...we said we wanted the Dazzlings to be part of school life and make friends and stuff...right?"

The rest of the girls all looked at each other before giving slow nods to Fluttershy, who then continued.

"Then...wouldn't Randy asking out Sonata help with that? I mean...if that's okay with you?"

The Rainbooms fell silent as they all looked to each other once again, considering Fluttershy's words carefully. In truth, thy knew she had a point. The Dazzlings had, since their defeat, been largely keeping to themselves, save for the few instances where the Rainbooms had chosen to interact with them, and even then it wasn't the best of starts. If their friend were to approach one of them, and even ask one of them out, that might, in theory anyway, go a long way towards them becoming less hostile. At the very least it would make ONE of them less hostile anyway. Although the group clearly had reservations about all this, they all turned to Sunset, giving her looks that showed they wanted her to be the one to tell Randy about all this. Sighing, she turned to face him before speaking.

"I guess...if this is something you really want to try...then you have our blessing for it."

Randy smiled at Sunset and the other girls, all of whom returned the gesture, albeit with much smaller smiles, save for Pinkie of course, whose smile was wide enough to pop out of her head. The boy gently placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder before addressing them.

"Thanks guys. I appreciate this."

They all nodded to him and watched as he began to walk away, no doubt to start going over to the Dazzlings' table and speak to Sonata. Once he was far enough away, their smiles faded and they gave each other worried looks. It was a sentiment best expressed by Rainbow, who chose this moment to speak up again.

"You know that feeling you get when watching a disaster movie that the characters you like are going to get messed up by the end of it? Anyone else got that feeling right now?"

There was a general murmur of agreement between the six girls, even Fluttershy, over that statement. However, Sunset, whose expression had become more serious, leaned forward, a movement imitated by the others, before speaking in a somewhat hushed voice.

"There's another reason we need to let him do this. Does anyone else find it strange that a guy like Randy, who has every reason to dislike the Dazzlings after what they did to him and everyone else, suddenly decided he wants to date one of them? Just out of the blue like that?"

The girls all looked at each other before Rarity spoke up.

"My dear Sunset! You're not suggesting that they've regained some of their powers, are you?"

Sunset shook her head a little at that.

"I can't rule anything out yet. But if there's a chance, we need to keep an eye on it. If I'm wrong, great. If I'm right..."

She leaned back a little and looked over to where Randy had been walking away from them.

"...then our friend there may be the best way for us to know for sure."

The Nervous Meets the Oblivious

In a quiet corner of the cafeteria, where most students seemed to be giving a wide berth, sat three girls. Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. The Dazzlings, natives of the world of Equestria, had more-or-less taken up the role that Sunset Shimmer had experienced for the better part of the last year. They were outcasts, with the whole student body bearing great anger and mistrust of them because of their actions. To say that they looked miserable because of all this would have been a great understatement. They looked positively distraught, knowing full well that the power they once held in their hands was gone forever, and that they'd never have the victory they once fought so hard to gain.

All three of the girls were eating their meals, though Adagio and Aria seemed far less willing to do so as Sonata was. The blue-haired girl was practically wolfing her food down while the other two just stared at their plates and only occasionally took a bite. As this carried on for some time, Aria looked up at Sonata and frowned.

"How can you stand to eat that stuff?"

Sonata, oblivious to the anger in her companion's voice, smiled as she looked up at her.

"Because it's good!"

Aria scoffed at that, but her attention was then drawn to Adagio, who spoke up in a dour tone.

"As much as it pains me to admit, we should probably follow Sonata's example. We can't feed on hate anymore, so this...urgh...food is all we have."

The purple-haired girl threw down her fork and slumped down into her chair somewhat.

"I can't believe this! Stuck in a place that hates us. Can't feed like we used to. Can't make people do what we want. This sucks!

Adagio did her best to ignore her compatriot's whining as usual, as hard as it might have been, and instead carried on with her meal as best she could. Sonata meanwhile was looking to Aria with a somewhat confused look on her face.

"Well...it could be worse."

Aria raised an eyebrow at that.

"How could this POSSIBLY be worse?!"

Sonata smiled widely, not getting the aggressive undercurrent of her friend's words.

"At least we still have each other!"

Even Adagio couldn't ignore that statement, and both she and Aria looked directly at Sonata. They stared at her and the blissfully ignorant look on her face before simultaneously smacking their foreheads in frustration. Sonata meanwhile was tilting her head with confusion, wondering why her friends were behaving this way. It was a curiosity soon sated by Adagio's next words, which were dripping with frustration and anger.

"Sonata, as much as I hate to mimic Aria in these matters, you really are the worst!"

The blue Dazzling looked somewhat taken aback by her leader's words, almost as much as she was by the fact that Aria seemed to be agreeing with her for once, judging by her silent nodding. The girl looked down at her food, realising perhaps for the first time that her fellow Sirens were simply in no mood for cheering up, even though that's all she wanted to do for them right now. Sure, she said to herself, things were bad, but they weren't alone as long as they had each other. At least, that was what she kept telling herself. And yet, with all they'd gone through, it really did seem as though Aria and Adagio only ever wanted to drift away. It was, needless to say, something that depressed her a great deal.

The mood amongst the Dazzlings was, as one might expect, rather uncomfortable after this little exchange between it's members. It would have most likely continued this way for some time, had it not been for the sudden sound of someone clearing their throat. It was a sound that was easily recognised as one performing such an action not so much for the clearing, but to simply be noticed. Turning, the Dazzlings all looked upon the source of the sound, a boy their age, who now stood just a foot or two away from their table. He was standing silently, albeit with a somewhat nervous expression on his face, and just watching the three of them. Sonata looked at him with some confusion, Aria with disdain and Adagio simply with a raised eyebrow as she spoke.

"Can we help you?"

The boy remained silent, fiddling with his hands a little as he stood there, a clear sign of nerves. Eventually though he managed to get some words out.

"Um...hello. Erm...you probably don't know me. In fact I'm fairly certain you don't but..."

One look at the growing frustration and annoyance in Adagio's expression made it clear that he should speed things up a bit.

"Well, my name is Random Insert. But my friends just call me Randy for short."

Adagio turned away from him a little and looked back to her food before speaking to him again.

"In that case we'll just stick to Random Insert then."

Randy looked away from her briefly, clearly looking uncomfortable.

"Okay, awkward first introduction."

He then looked back to them, clearing his throat a second time before speaking, this time looking over to Sonata and walking a few steps in her direction.

"Actually...I was hoping to speak to you, Miss Sonata."

That seemed to catch everyone's attention, as not only did Sonata look at him with a surprised look in her face, but Adagio and Aria also looked at him, their own faces bearing looks of confusion. They glanced to each other, and while they said nothing, they were both thinking the same thing: Why would this guy want to talk to Sonata of all people? As they turned to look at him, they couldn't help but notice a slight shade of red emerging on his face. It was clearly a blush, and as he once again fumbled his words, his purpose here became clear to the two girls.

"Um...I was wondering...that is, if you're not doing anything, if you might like to...er...join me for a walk on the school grounds...maybe?"

Sonata stared at him with a somewhat blank expression on her face, as if this was the first time anyone had ever asked such a thing of her. Briefly, she cast a glance over to Adagio and Aria, where she noticed that her friends were becoming somewhat annoyed with this guy, as evidenced by Aria's words as she spoke up next.

"Are you seriously trying to ask out Sonata, of all people, out on a date?"

The blue girl's eyes widened and she looked up at Randy again, whose blush was becoming even more pronounced after Aria's outburst.

"Is that true?"

Randy opened his mouth a few times to answer her, but the words were struggling to come out. There was a worry in him at this point that his approaching her was a big mistake on his part, that she'd just say "no" and this whole thing would be a colossal error on his part. However, that wasn't what happened, as Sonata's face just broke out into a big smile as she clasped her hands together.

"Oh! That's so nice! Thank you!"

Randy, not quite believing what he'd heard, stood there with a blank stare on his face, not unlike what Sonata's was like a few moments ago, before shaking his head and speaking in a marginally more confident voice.

"I...yes! That is what I'm doing. Asking you out, I mean. A date is what I'm asking and what I'm asking is...that."

Sonata, having completely glossed over the fact that Randy had just made a display that would make even Pinkie Pie groan at how awkward it was, simply continued to smile at him, which the boy promptly returned. That smile faded soon afterwards however as Adagio soon spoke up.

"Wow...you have lousy taste in girls, boy."

Randy and Sonata turned to face her, with the latter looking more than a little insulted by that statement.

"Hey! He's trying to be nice here! He doesn't deserve that!"

Adagio scoffed just before Aria spoke up.

"Oh please! What he's just done is walk into a knife shop and picked out the dullest blade on the shelf."

The boy, watching all this, suddenly had a deep urge to try and back away before things got out of hand. And given what he'd heard these girls were capable of, he even started to fear for his own safety at this point. However, he was stopped from doing anything by Sonata, who promptly stood up from the table, her eyes still glaring angrily at the other two girls, before walking over to him and grabbing onto his arm tightly.

"Well if THAT'S how you're going to be today, then you can just finish you lunch without me!"

She then looked to Randy, her face filled with determination.

"Let's go, Roger!"

The boy looked at her with some hesitation.

"Erm...it's Randy."

Sonata, still keeping that same expression, simply nodded before starting to drag him away from the table.

"Yeah, that."

The other two Dazzlings merely kept their eyes on the two until they were too far away to see, before begrudgingly getting back to their meals. However, after sitting in silence for a minute or two, Aria, in a somewhat unexpected turn, turned to her leader and spoke in a somewhat hushed voice.

"We're going after her...right?"

Adagio looked to her with a frown.

"Of course!"

Meanwhile, Randy was being pulled a long at quite a pace by Sonata, who was still clearly angry at what her companions had said to her. As the two moved through the cafeteria, the boy began to notice all the surprised looks he was getting from the other students. Though he could not blame them, this WAS one of the Sirens he was with after all. Things thankfully became more familiar to him as he was eventually dragged past the table of the Rainbooms, where all six of the girls looked on with surprise as he passed them by, Sonata apparently oblivious to them. As he passed, he gave a weak smile and shrugged his shoulders, to which the Rainbooms gave him wide smiles and waved frantically in his direction, apparently wishing him luck by doing so. Once he and Sonata were out of earshot however, Rarity, still bearing her forced grin, leaned over to speak to Sunset.

"We're following him...right?"

Sunset, also grinning in a forced manner, answered her.

"Of course."

The Date

To say that Randy had found himself in an unexpected situation would not be untrue. Here he was, walking alongside the very girl he wanted to spend time with, outside the cafeteria and heading to no destination in particular. Sonata was leading the way, still holding onto him arm quite firmly, and he just let her pull him along, doing his best to ignore the odd looks he and she were getting from the occasional students passing them by. Eventually, Sonata eventually stopped pulling and let him go, and so he looked at her as she found a nearby bench to sit upon. Watching her, Randy noted how she patted the spot next to where she was sitting, clearly inviting him to join her. Although hesitant, he nevertheless accepted her offer and sat down.

In this moment, the two simply sat in silence. Neither of them really seemed to know what to do right now, and so Randy simply looked around nervously, taking stock of all the various buildings, trees and even the occasional bush around them. It wasn't long however before Sonata let out a cough, gaining his attention. She looked down a little, keeping her clenched fists on her knees, before speaking to him.

"I'm...sorry about those two."

It didn't take a genius to figure out who she meant, as Randy spoke up in response.

"Oh, it's fine. Believe me, I've heard worse."

Sonata kept her eyes on the ground, her expression becoming more angry with every passing moment.

"I just...argh! Can't they just be happy about good things happening to us? Why do they always have to be so mean? I mean, yeah, things are bad right now, but they'll get better...eventually. They're just...just...the WORST!"

Randy got the distinct feeling that this was something she said a lot. Clearly there was a lot of bad feeling between this girls and her friends, though the boy felt it was probably wise not to get involved. However, though that was indeed what wisdom would have suggested, there were times when Randy just didn't listen to such feelings. This was one of them, as he nervously started to speak to her again.

"Well...they're your friends, right? I'm sure things between you will improve....possibly."

Sonata looked up at him for the first time in this conversation, her face bearing a small smile.

"If Aria were here, she'd probably say you sounded like a walking after-school special right now."

Rather than feeling insulted, Randy instead chuckled at that statement, prompting another smile from Sonata.

"You're so nice. Why can't Adagio and Aria be more like you?"

Randy coughed a bit before replying.

"Well, to be fair, we haven't really spoke than much. So you don't really know me that wall."

Sonata looked away and pondered that for a moment. In this brief moment, Randy got the distinct impression that this was a girl that took people at first impressions. He'd been nice during this first meeting, so that’s what she assumed he was. Not that he was saying that he wasn't nice of course, at least he certainly thought he was. It was an open and accepting way of thinking, if somewhat dangerous at times, though he hesitated to tell her, lest she be insulted. Instead, he simply opted to remain silent until she spoke again, which thankfully didn't take long.

"I've got it! Why don't we just ask stuff about each other right here?"

Randy raised an eyebrow.

"What...just like that?"

Sonata didn't reply, merely nodding her head enthusiastically in response. The boy didn't think this an unreasonable request exactly, but for someone to just say "let's ask really personal questions about each other and give honest answers" was not the kind of thing he was used to. Still, the happy expression on her face was rather persuasive, so, adjusting how he was sitting on the bench, he turned to face her once more.

"Okay then. Do you want to go first?"

After another frantic nodding of her head, Sonata looked as though she was thinking long and hard over what to ask. Eventually, she broke out into a look that would not have seemed out-of-place with a bright lightbulb hovering over her head.

"Okay then, where did you grow up?"

A fairly standard first question, but not unreasonable. Randy started wording it all in his mind before speaking.

"Well, I've been here in Canterlot my whole life. Grew up right next door to Rainbow and..."

He was stopped from saying that by Sonata, who suddenly gained a somewhat worried look on her face.

"You...you're friends with Rainbow Dash? Are you friends with the other Rainbooms too?"

Randy stopped dead in his tracks when she asked him that. It wasn't something he'd considered before, but now that he'd been asked the question, he felt foolish for not considering it earlier. Of course his friendship to the Rainbooms would be a problem for her! After everything that had gone on between them, how could she feel anything but bitter about it? As much as he didn't want to upset the girl, he felt he had no choice but to be honest about this. And so, slowly, he nodded his head. Sonata looked away from him, her expression difficult to read, and for a moment, the boy felt she would just leave him here and now. But that wasn't what happened. Instead, after letting out a sigh, she spoke again.

"...It's fine."

The boy Raised an eyebrow at that, unsure if he'd heard that right.

"You're...you're okay with that?"

Sonata gave a slow nod before speaking again.

"Yeah. I mean...they've tried being nice to me and the girls, even after everything we did. I guess...I can live with that."

Despite her words, Randy was sure that this whole matter had still brought up some bad experiences for her. So, desperate to try and bring the conversation back to something more pleasant, Randy considered his options carefully before coming up with something to ask her.

"So...you're from another world?"

Sonata looked up at him, her expression somewhat more perky than before.

"Yeah, Equestria. It was a great home. I haven't been there in such a long time."

His curiosity was piqued by that statement.

"How long ago did you last see it?"

The girl considered that for a while before answering.

"Oh...about a thousand years or so."

Randy's eyes widened at that, clearly not having expected that answer.

"A th...a thousand years? Well...erm...you look great for it."

Sonata looked away, blushing slightly. It was, as one might expect, an absolutely adorable look for her, though Randy was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he was on a date with a girl who had been around for many centuries before he was even born. Still, he'd managed to get at least something right with this date so far, so there was that to be happy about. As for right now, he knew he had his foot in the door with that question, and now he knew that, as demanded of his curiosity at least, he should learn more.

"So is there anything your like to do? When you're not at school I mean?"

The blue girl thought on that for a while before her expression changed to one of sadness, much to Randy's confusion. She looked as though she hesitated to speak her mind on this, but eventually she began to explain herself.

"Well...I did used to enjoy my singing."

And that explained everything Randy needed to know in an instant. It was well known that, when Sonata and the other Dazzlings first arrived at this school, all three of them had magnificent singing voices, magically enhanced by the amulets they wore, a keepsake from their homeland of Equestria. When the Rainbooms had defeated them, those amulets had been shattered and, as a result, their singing no longer had the impact it once was. While he was glad that these girls no longer had the power to control people, as he himself had been among them, he couldn't help but feel bad when he looked at Sonata. The way she seemed so depressed made it clear to him that singing had been something that she loved, and that skill had been taken away from her.

Thinking hard on this matter, Randy decided to come forward about something, though he was hesitant to do so.

"You know...you still sing well, Sonata."

The Dazzling looked up at him with a confused look on her face, prompting him to explain himself.

"Well, er...I was asked by one of the teachers during class to fetch a book from the library a few days ago. So there I was, walking down the hallway...when I heard singing."

Another blush started to appear on Sonata's face as she heard this story, and Randy figured that she'd understood where this was going. Even so, he continued.

"I looked around and...there your were. You were by your locker, all alone and...you were singing. And I...thought it was nice."

Sonata looked away from him, looking more than a little embarrassed.

"You weren't meant to see that."

Now it was Randy's turn to look confused.

"After everything you and the other girls went though, I'm surprised you'd have any problems singing with an audience."

Sonata shook her head before replying to that.

"It's not that. It's...Adagio. Ever since we lost our ability to feed off the magic of hate and strife, she just hasn't considered our singing worth doing anymore. I've been practising, when I've been on my own, and...I guess I just didn’t want her to find out in case she got angry with me."

Randy was, needless to say, rather taken aback by this. Here was a girl that, from the moment she and her friends entered this school, had given off a great sense of confidence in herself. Yet here she was, so unsure. Her two friends, though he used that term loosely, clearly had issues with the loss of their singing, much like Sonata did. But while Sonata at least tried to practise with what she had left, the other two just seems to try and ignore it, as if that would make things better. And there Sonata was, being told that what she loved doing was no longer seen as useful or "worth it" by those she spent her time with. No wonder she looked so down about all this, Randy thought to himself.

However, as he considered that, a new thought came to mind for him. Although, he was worried about how she might react to it.

"Could...could I hear it?"

Sonata looked at him, her face filled with confusion over that statement, leading to him elaborating.

"Erm...I meant your singing. Could I hear it?"

The girl's eyes widened with shock over that request, and she fumbled her words in response, leading to Randy becoming very worried that he might have offended her in some way.

"I'm sorry. If I've overstepped..."

But he was interrupted by Sonata, who raised one hand before speaking.

"No, it's fine. It's just...you're the first person that's ever asked me to sing before."

Given what they're singing did to others in the past, he had no doubt of that. However, he'd made his request, and he felt he should stick to it.

"Well, there's a first time for everything, right?"

Sonata considered that for a moment before breaking out into a smile, which Randy returned. The girl looked away from him, checking to make sure nobody else was around to hear her, before gently placing her hand on her throat, then clearing it a little. She opened her mouth and began to let out a melody. There were no words or lyrics coming out of her, merely her voice. And as Randy listened to it, he couldn't help but smile at how nice it sounded. True, when compared to how she and the other Dazzling used to sing when they were together and had their powers, this might not have sounded anything special. But it was nice to listen to, the voice of someone who clearly had some talent in singing and enjoyed doing it. Randy leaned back and watched her let out her tune, enjoying every moment of it.

And as she sang, she began to look happier and happier. Singing had been something that brought joy to her life, and while her voice no longer had the power to magically sway others, it was obviously something that still made her happy to do, even if she got nothing out of it. And here, in this moment, in this place, he'd given her an opportunity not to just sing, but to do it for someone who enjoyed listening to it. He'd given her this brief moment of happiness, which, perhaps more than anything else today, brought a smile to his face. As the minutes rolled by peacefully, Sonata's pleasant melody began to quiet down as she eventually stopped singing, turning to Randy with a smile and a blush on her face. Randy returned the expression, and then watched as Sonata leaned in closer, gently placing a hand upon his own.

A blush started to form on his own face at this moment as he watched Sonata close her eyes and lean her head against his shoulder. As she stayed there, he heard her speak to him n a rather hushed voice.

"Thank you."

Although somewhat taken aback by this behaviour, Randy nevertheless smiled at her, pacing one arm around her shoulders.

"You're, erm...you're welcome."

This one moment was, in Randy's mind, worth every single ounce of awkwardness and nerves he'd been through until this point. He'd wanted to spend time with this girl, and here he was, having a great time with her. Things were absolutely perfect. Or rather, it WOULD have been perfect, if it wasn't for the sudden and loud shouting of someone nearby.

"See! I told you things would be okay!"

The young couple leapt up from the bench together and spun around, only to find none other than Pinkie Pie, standing amidst some nearby bushes with her hands on her hips and a wide smile on her face. Looking down, the two saw that she was not alone, as Pinkie was but one of eight girls that had been hiding there. To the surprise of both of them, it was not only the Rainbooms, but also Adagio and Aria, all of whom were now looking very guilty and nervous. As the two looked upon them, Sonata in particular gaining a rather angry expression on her face, the girls all looked to each other, except Pinkie who was just oblivious to all this, as Sunset looked to the two and spoke.

"Okay...we can explain."

Not Far Behind

As one might expect, people who have gained a great deal of fame and recognition would find it very difficult to move around while trying to go unseen and unnoticed. This was the situation the Rainbooms found themselves in after their friend, Randy, had left the cafeteria, following his would-be crush, Sonata. The girls had already decided to observe the two, even before the blue-haired girl agreed to go with their friend, and so had left the cafeteria as soon as they were sure the two couldn't see them. They'd kept a safe distance, darting behind trash cans and walls, pretty much anything they could find if there was even a chance that they were going to be spotted. Needless to say, this was proving a rather difficult undertaking.

Eventually though, they fortunately found themselves no longer having to do much moving around, as both Randy and Sonata soon sat upon a bench on the outskirts of the school grounds. With great haste, the six girls managed to find a group of nearby bushes, ducking behind them and peering through the plants' tiny branches to keep an eye on the two lovebirds. In order to make sure they weren't heard themselves, they knew the trade-off would be that they wouldn't be able to hear their friend or Sonata either. So what the two would eventually talk about, they could only guess at this point. As the girls kept their gaze on the two, watching for any sign of foul play on the part of Sonata, Rainbow couldn’t help but let out a groan.

"Ugh! This is a terrible idea! Spying on a friend's date? I mean, even if it is with her of all people!?"

Rarity turned to her friend with a somewhat worried look.

"While I would never think to intrude on romance like this on any other day, this is an exceptional circumstance. Like Sunset said, we don't know whether or not this is simply some plan by the Dazzlings."

The fashionista might have said more, but was interrupted by the sound of scoffing to her left. Turning, she was surprised to find that it was Pinkie, who was simply rolling her eyes at her friend's words.

"Don't be silly! I'll be this will all turn out great! Randy will have a girlfriend, one of the Dazzlings will have been made happier, and everyone will just feel good about it."

Sunset turned to face her happy-go-lucky friend, her face bearing a similar look of concern to Rarity's.

"I want to believe that, Pinkie. I really do. But we can't take any chances."

Pinkie looked somewhat down at her friend's behaviour at all this, but nevertheless seemed to accept their decision, begrudgingly at least. Looking back to the couple on the bench, Sunset squinted her eyes and watched them, noting in particular how Sonata seemed somewhat upset at something. In fact, now that she thought about it, the girl was actually looking rather angry when she was pulling Randy along in the cafeteria. She figured it couldn't have been something Randy did to upset her, or else she wouldn't be going with him like this. Maybe it was something with the other Dazzlings perhaps? It really did seem that they fought with each other quite a lot. Perhaps this date with Randy was Sonata's way of just getting away from those two for a bit. Regardless of her reasons, Sunset kept her eyes focused on them.

As the six of them kept watching however, they started to hear the rustling of leaves and branches to their right, leading to them all turning their heads to see what it was. They watched as the bushes near them began to move, as if something was coming through them. Although worried that they were going to be discovered, that worry soon turned to shock once they saw who it was that came through the bushes. None other than Adagio Dazzle and Aria Blaze. The two had bits of leaves and twigs in their outfits, showing that they'd struggled to move through the plants somewhat, but their faces were plastered with the same look of shock as the Rainbooms once they caught sight of them. It was a sentiment echoed in Aria's voice.

"What are you doing here?!"

Applejack narrowed her eyes at that statement.

"We were about to ask y'all the same question!"

Adagio and Aria, kneeling to the ground in the same way as the Rainbooms to avoid being seen by the nearby couple, looked somewhat annoyed by them before the former spoke.

"Isn't it obvious? We're here to make sure you're little friend doesn't try anything with Sonata."

Rainbow, looking somewhat insulted by that statement, inched closer to the two Dazzlings, bringing her face right up to Adagio's, before answering.

"Oh yeah? Well we're here to make your little friend doesn't try anything with Randy!"

Adagio scoffed at that.

"Oh please! Sonata couldn't figure out how to use a door labelled "pull", much less manipulate some guy without either of us helping her!"

For the first time in this situation, Fluttershy decided to speak up.

"Um...that doesn't seem very nice. Isn't she your friend?"

Adagio, flipping some of her considerable large hairstyle out of her face, looked at Fluttershy with a raised eyebrow.

"She is one of the only members of our race, at least in this world. We Sirens have to stick together."

Sunset returned Adagio's raised eyebrow.

"Well...that's nice...I guess."

It was hardly the friendliest declaration in history, but it did show that there was some form of kinship between the three girls. And that was, at the very least, something. Besides, Sunset told herself, if these three could feel protective towards one another, that gave some chance that they could become friends with others. It was a slim chance, at least with these two, but it was there all the same. Nevertheless, Sunset, along with all the other girls, turned their attention back to Randy and Sonata, who seemed to be having a conversation of sorts. As they continued to speak to each other, on matters that the Rainbooms and Dazzlings couldn't hear from this distance, Aria let out a groan.

"Ugh! Why would that guy even try and get with Sonata anyway?"

Rarity turned to face the disgruntled girl, her expression one of annoyance with her.

"Well, for your information, Randy was under the impression that someone should at least TRY and approach you girls. That goal just happened to coincide with his little crush on Sonata, that's all."

Aria rolled her eyes at that.

"The guy sounds like a walking after-school special if you ask me."

Rarity, not wanting to get into a fight with her, simply looked back to the boy and Sonata. As they noticed that the blue girl seemed to be looking somewhat embarrassed about something, Adagio spoke.

"I always knew Sonata never had the best of tastes, but dating a human? You'd never catch me doing that."

Sunset, rather than looking irritated at Adagio for those words, simply looked at her with a smirk.

"Don't knock it till you've tried it, Siren."

Adagio raised an eyebrow at that, not really understanding where Sunset was coming from. The other Rainbooms though were well aware of what Sunset was talking about, remembering well how she used to date a human herself despite not originally being one. And while the relationship in question hadn't been the best, it at least showed that getting together with humans was not something the girl was opposed to. And neither did Sonata it seemed, as she suddenly gave Randy a big smile over something he'd said to her. The hidden girls all watched carefully as Sonata seemed to be clearing her throat for something. Then, to the surprise of all of them, they could finally hear her, as she began to let out a song of some sort.

Rainbow Dash immediately clenched her fists at this.

"I knew it! She's trying to hypnotise him!"

Applejack and Sunset gabbed onto her arms, restraining her from simply breaking their cover right here and now. Once they'd calmed her down a little, which was no mean feat, Sunset explained herself.

"Rainbow, we don't know what's going on here. For all we know, Randy asked her to do this."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that, as if it was the most ridiculous thing anyone could suggest. Her attention was then drawn to Adagio, who spoke up in her usual disdainful tone.

"You should listen to your friend, Rainbow. We have no powers anymore. So no matter how much Sonata sings, she's not going to influence anyone."

The rainbow-haired girl clearly still had some reservations about all this, but nevertheless agreed to sit and wait. So all of them kept listening as Sonata kept on singing. And as this went on, a thought came to Fluttershy, which she then voiced to Adagio.

"You know...she actually sounds quite nice."

The Dazzling leader rolled her eyes at that.

"I keep telling her it's pointless. We have no powers now. We can't feed off hate. So there's really no point to it. But she keeps on singing anyway, always when she thinks I'm not looking."

Sunset looked to her, an expression of curiosity upon her face.

"Why?"

Adagio considered this for a moment, and as she did so, her own expression began to change from one of annoyance to a far softer one as she kept on listening to her friend's song.

"She...just really loved to sing. Probably more than either of us ever did."

The Rainbooms all looked to each other, all having been surprised by this change of tone for Adagio. And as they looked ahead, observing the look on Sonata's face as she sang, there was no doubt in their minds that Adagio spoke the truth in this. Singing really did seem to make her happy, even if she got nothing out of it. As the moments passed them by, the feelings of worry they'd felt before, for Randy's safety, began to die down, and they felt that, just maybe, there was no evil scheme going on here. In truth, both Randy and Sonata seemed to be enjoying each other's company. And as the Rainbooms considered this, they gave each other small smiles. Eventually, Sonata's singing slowed down a bit before eventually stopping altogether.

The collection of girls all watched as they exchanged a few more words together before, to the surprise of all of them, Sonata leaned in close, resting her head against him, which led to Randy wrapping one arm around her shoulders. It was a pretty romantic display, all things considered, and Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity all let out "awww's" to show their approval of it, to which many of the other girls simply rolled their eyes. Aria though looked at the couple in front of her and gave a small chuckle.

"Not bad, Sonata. Got him, hook, line and sinker."

Sunset, having now been satisfied that nothing untoward was going on here, cast a glance over to Adagio. The Dazzling leader also turned to face her, and for a brief moment, though no words passed between them, they knew they had come to an understanding. Their respective friends seemed to be happy together, at least for now, and through that their groups might possibly learn to at least speak to each other on friendlier terms than they had been. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Letting out a sigh, Sunset knew that all they had to do now was back away slowly from this scene, leaving Randy and Sonata alone to enjoy the rest of the lunch break together. Unfortunately, that is not what happened, as Pinkie Pie, before anyone could stop her, leapt up to her feet, smiling widely with her hands on her hips and bellowed out a declaration.

"See? I told you things would be okay!"

The effect was immediate, as both Randy and Sonata were disturbed from their romantic moment together and leapt up out of the bench they were sitting on. Spinning around, both of them caught sight of Pinkie, who remained oblivious to what she had just done. Sunset, affording herself a slap to her forehead in frustration, looked on as both of their friends looked to see not only Pinkie, but all of them hiding amongst the bushes. Randy stood there with surprise on his face while Sonata seemed to grow angry. Knowing that there was no getting out of this, Sunset cast a nervous glance at her fellow conspirators before addressing the interrupted couple.

"Okay...we can explain."

Resolution...of Sorts

The scene that now played out in this quiet corner of the school grounds was about as awkward as one could ever hope to accomplish. On one side, we have both the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms, kneeling on the grass amongst the bushes, once hidden but now completely revealed to those they'd hoped to watch secretly. On the other side, there were the ones being watched, Sonata and Randy, the young couple whose time together had been quite suddenly interrupted by the reveal of their friends. As Sonata grew increasingly angry at the group gathered before her, Pinkie Pie, who had been completely unaware of her actions at this point, suddenly gained a look of understanding as she began to lower herself to the same level as the others, perhaps in the hopes that she'd slip everyone's notice.

Randy, meanwhile, had changed his expression from one of surprise to one of a smirk as he looked straight at Sunset.

"Well...in all my life, I don't think I've ever seen a jig that was quite as up as the jig-is-up right here in front of me."

It was a jest on his part to be sure, but beneath his words there was the very clear message that he was somewhat upset that his friends had spied on him like this. The Rainbooms, Sunset in particular, looked away from him, out of embarrassment, shame or perhaps some combination of the two. However, they soon snapped back to attention when Sonata stepped forward, her eyes glaring angrily at Adagio and Aria, and spoke.

"I can't BELIEVE you guys! You can't even let me go on a date without checking to see if I'm making a fool of myself?!"

Adagio, who until now had looked just as embarrassed as the others, stood up from her kneeling position and looked at Sonata with an equally angry expression.

"Hey! For your information, Aria and I were just out here to make sure Randolph..."

"Randy," the boy corrected.

"Whatever! To make sure he wasn't going to try anything! Believe it or not, your well-being actually matters to us!"

Sonata just let out a scoff at that.

"Yeah, right! You guys are just mean and want to spoil the one good thing that's happened to ANY of us in the last few days!"

Aria rolled her eyes at Sonata's accusations.

"Oh please! As if we don't have anything better to do than just follow you around?"

Before anyone else could say anything, Pinkie popped up right next to Aria and whispered in a manner that was still loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"Well, you kinda don't!"

One narrow-eyed glance from the purple-haired Siren shut Pinkie up pretty effectively, leading to her backing away slowly. Sonata meanwhile was still looking pretty upset, and as she stood there fuming over this, Sunset observed the whole thing. She knew getting involved with something like this was likely going to kick up a pretty big hornet's nest, but even so, she felt she had to intervene. So, stepping forward, she cleared her throat and got the blue girl's attention.

"You know...they meant what they said, when they said they were looking out for you."

Sonata looked at her, confused as to why she'd involve herself in this. It was a sentiment also expressed by Aria and Adagio as they too turned to face her. Coughing nervously, Sunset began to explain herself.

"When me and the Rainbooms came here, it was to make sure you weren’t just doing something bad to our friend. But them? They came here because they believed YOU might be the one in trouble."

The blue girl stared at Sunset, not quite believing what she was hearing. But then, as she turned to look at Adagio and Aria, she noticed the uncomfortable looks they had on their faces, trying desperately to not look them in the eye. The girl thought on this carefully, not sure how best to feel about all this. Then, she remembered something. Something that the boy at her side had told her not so long ago. That these two would eventually treat her better with time. In this moment, she realised that, just maybe, they'd cared more about her than she really gave her credit for. After all, they'd been together for all these centuries and had stuck with her through that entire time. And while neither of the other girls would openly admit to that, she could tell by the looks on their faces that they knew this too.

So, with her face breaking out into a big smile, she leapt forward and flung her arms around Aria and Adagio's necks, almost suffocating the girls in the massive hug she now gave them.

"Aw! I KNEW you guys cared!"

The other Dazzlings, after struggling a little to actually breathe after this adorable assault, reluctantly returned the hug, albeit with uncomfortable looks on their faces as they did so. As the three stayed together, the Rainbooms couldn't help but chuckle at this display. But that laughter soon died down as the sudden sound of someone clearing their throat made them very aware that Randy was still here and was waiting for them to explain themselves to him. Sunset, rather uncomfortably, stepped forward and began to speak.

"Randy...I'm sorry we followed you. We just...we had to make sure about her."

The boy frowned a little before letting out a sigh.

"I should be angry...but I'm not. After all..."

He turned his head and looked over to Sonata, who was still hugging her friends, before breaking out into a small smile of his own.

"...things ended happily for her. So I guess I should thank you for that."

The boy turned and smiled at the Rainbooms, all of whom returned the expression enthusiastically. Randy's attention was then suddenly drawn back to Sonata, as the girl had moved away from the other two Dazzlings and grabbed onto his arm, holding him close.

"You girls are going to LOVE him! He's so totally NOT the worst!"

Randy raised an eyebrow over that.

"Um...thanks?"

Adagio and Aria laughed at this display between the young couple, just before the former spoke.

"Well, I'd say you could do better, Sonata. But I'm glad you found someone that can at least keep you occupied."

A rather back-handed compliment, Randy thought to himself, though Sonata didn't seem to mind, or perhaps even understand it. Regardless, she seemed happy about all this, and since he'd managed to actually have some semblance of a successful time with her, he figured that at least counted as a plus in his favour. However, that good feeling was interrupted by Aria, who gave a somewhat mischievous grin as she approached Sonata.

"You know, Sonata...if you want to make sure you keep this guy, there is a pretty sure-fire way to get him to stay. You know, that thing all the guys like?"

Both Randy and Sonata stared at her, blushing furiously after she'd said that. Seeing the looks on their faces, chuckled a little before continuing.

"No, not THAT! I mean..."

She cast a glance over to Randy, who was looking curious about all this, before leaning forward and whispering in Sonata's ear. The boy looked over at the blue girl, seeing her face change from one of confusion to one of understanding, just before a smile broke out onto her face. Letting go of his arm, Sonata stood in front of him and looked down a little, poking the tips of her index fingers against each other. As she did this, a blush appeared on her cheeks as she looked up slightly, looking him right in the eye before speaking.

"S...senpai?"

All of the girls watched with shock on their faces as Randy's eyes widened considerably over this display, raising a hand and clutching his chest as though he'd just had a heart attack over this display of cuteness his new girlfriend had given him. Immediately afterwards he fell backwards right onto the grass, landing with a loud thump. Seeing this action, this more-than-likely deliberate exaggeration on Randy's part, the girls, Ranbooms and Dazzligns together, all burst out laughing at the boy who now laid before them, still clutching his chest. After a minute or two, as the laughter died down, Rainbow, who wiped a laughter-induced tear from her eye, spoke to him.

"Alright, Randy. Good one. You can get up now."

But, as the girls waited for him to get up as instructed, they noted how he instead continued to lie there. With their looks of amusement starting to fade, Sunset stepped forward.

"Um...Randy?"

With the boy still silent, Sonata, knelt down beside him and put two fingers onto his throat. After a few moments, she looked at the others, a look of uncertainty upon her face.

"I, er...think we need the nurse."