~Heartbeat~

by Rainbowfan45

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Equestria Girls, Main 7 (EqG), Profanity, Drama, Original Character, Aria Blaze, Comedy
Length: 9081

What happens when you fall in love but you're too scared to say it? Well...interesting things, actually.

Syntax is a girl who knows what she wants. She's fallen in love. And with one of the school's most notorious troublemakers. However, she's a tad too nervous to come out and say it.

So she loves from a distance and talks to her friends, until they decide to take action for her.

This story is not a prequel to anything or a sequel to anything. It's a stand-alone tale.

Published 2021-05-17 14:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2021-06-10 20:09:09 UTC

Perfectly Obvious

"...and theeeeennnn I popped up out of her surprise cake screaming 'HAPPY CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING THAT SUPER DUPER A+!' Hehehe. Poor Twilight fell over into the punch bowl."

The girls at the table burst into uproarious laughter at Pinkie's story, Twilight adjusting her glasses with an embarrassed expression supplementing her grin.

"Well, to be fair, I really was very surprised." She admitted. "Luckily, Pinkie was prepared, and doused me in a bucket of water so the punch washed right off. Although...the living room floor was a disaster."

"Totally awesome!" Rainbow stated, fist-bumping the hyperactive party girl. "I wish I could have seen that!"

"Dear me, the thought of that fabulous outfit ruined by red punch stains though..." Rarity shuddered and then smirked. "But I suppose it was quite the hilarious picture."

"Oh it was." Applejack was grinning widely. "Pinkie dragged me an' Fluttershy along. Gotta say it was quite a hoot watchin' Twilight tryin' to get that punch bowl unstuck from herself."

Fluttershy giggled, nodding in agreement with the farm girl's statements. Sunset, for her part, wiped a stray tear of laughter from her eye and inhaled deeply to regain her composure.

The only one not in hysterics at the table drew their attention from their mirth, and Rainbow arched an eyebrow.

"Yo, Syntax! You ok over there?"

The teen didn't even't seem to register her words. She was sitting with her elbows on the table and her chin resting in her palms, gazing with a fairly dreamy expression across the room, apparently lost in deep contemplation.

"What is she even staring at?" Twilight frowned, trying to follow the girl's line of vision.

"Syntax!" Rainbow all but yelled, at the same time giving her pale lavender and light peach coloured braid a tug.

"Huh?!!" Syntax snapped out of her daze with a jolt. "Wha- Oh. Uh....sorry."

"Are you alright, you looked like you were in another dimension for a moment." Rarity commented.

"Uhhhh...y-yeah. Yeah, I'm good! Totally!" Syntax rubbed her neck with an embarrassed chuckle, face flushing slightly. "S-sorry. I guess I just zoned out."

"I'll say." Rainbow stared at her intensely. "What were you staring at so hard?"

Syntax gulped, letting her dark blue eyes slowly shift back to the object of her earlier intense interest. This time, her line of vision was fairly easy to follow, and her expression was very easy to read, and several jaws dropped in astonishment.

Across the room, singled out from everyone else by Syntax's gaze, was one of three notorious troublemakers. Aria Blaze. One of the Dazzling sisters that had been defeated in the battle of the bands, Aria was, for all intents and purposes, the worst of the lot now, having taken that position from Adagio. The eldest and youngest of the trio were remarkably calmer and easier to deal with, but Aria was still a very difficult pill to swallow.

The only one who had thus far gotten anywhere close to cracking the mystery of the intimidating girl was Syntax. Aria let her in on a deeper level than she allowed to anyone else, and the two of them had gotten to be friends. Syntax was the only one who could come close to matching Aria's attitudes and sarcasm, as well as her strength, and she was the only one who seemed to deeply understand the siren.

Aria, having apparently caught the stares, glared across the room from the table she shared with her sisters, though her expression softened a fraction as her eyes fell on Syntax and she nodded to her friend. Syntax grinned slightly and waved in return, before Aria grew occupied in conversation with her sisters again.

"Uh, darling, forgive my bluntness, but...your face right now..." Rarity hesitated.

Syntax looked at her, slightly arching one eyebrow in confusion.

"What she means," Sunset offered hesitantly, "is that uh, your expression just now when Aria met your look, well, it was uh..."

"Very loving." Twilight offered.

Syntax blinked and her face turned scarlet as she nervously laughed. "Uh...heh heh. I, uh, I don't know what you mean."

"Sure you do, silly! You have a crush on Aria!" Pinkie piped up cheerfully.

"I-" Syntax grappled for the words to answer the statement, finally settling on something. "W-we're just friends! Really good friends! And well, I'm practically her sister, just like Adagio and Sonata, she said so herself! And uh, yeah. That."

"Syntax, your face could rival a tomato right now, and your eyes are telling us different from what your mouth is." Sunset grinned at her.

"I'm no romance expert, but even I can see you totally have a huge crush on her!" Rainbow put in with a wink.

"But-" Syntax was desperately searching her mind for some form of plausible denial, but it was eluding her.

"Darling, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Rarity assured her with a warm smile. "Honestly, you two are actually quite perfect for each other from what we have seen of your interactions."

"Why?" Syntax asked, only to redden further. "I m-mean, if I had a crush, w-which I don't."

"You compliment her nicely." Rarity said with a knowing grin. "In other words, darling, you provide balance. She is, well, you know how she is. And you are able to handle her attitudes and behaviours quite well and easily. We have watched you."

Syntax inhaled. "I just understand her, I guess. We get along pretty well."

"You do." Sunset nodded. "You guys have a lot of fun times, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Why not tell us some of them, darling?" Rarity asked, genuine curiosity on her face.

"Yeah! Tell us what super fun awesome fantastic stuff you do!" Pinkie bounced in her seat. "We only know her as kind of a mean meany pants, but she's trying to be nicer, but she's at her nicest with you so what's she like?!"

Syntax grinned at the energetic babbling. "Well, I mean, she's a lot of fun to hang out with. We go to the mall, the movies, out to grab pizza. Pineapple is still best, by the way, Rainbow!"

"Bite your tongue!" Rainbow spat in mock fury. "Pineapple pizza sucks and you should be banished for liking it!"

These two had, for a long time, had a running feud between them over the existence of pineapple on pizza, with Rainbow swearing up and down that it should be eradicated from the very universe, and Syntax counter-arguing that it shouldn't because it was absolutely delicious.

"Pineapple pizza rocks and you should be banished for hating it!" Syntax shot back.

"You can't make me like it!"

"You can't make me NOT like it!"

"NOW LOOK, PINEAPPLE ON PIZZA IS A WAR CRIME!"

"NO, ITS YOUR HATE OF IT THAT'S A WAR CRIME!"

"Ahem!! Girls!!"

Sunset's interruption made both girls cease arguing and look at each other, realizing they had gotten up and were now both practically kneeling on the table, right up in each other's faces. Play fight forgotten, they both laughed and took their seats.

"If it makes you feel better," Syntax said, "Aria hates it too."

"Good! She has common sense."

"We're gonna continue this later, Rainbow!"

"You better bet we are!"

"Girls, please!" Rarity interjected, rolling her eyes. "Spare us the drama between you!"

"...says the ultimate drama queen." Rainbow and Syntax chorused, before smirking and high-fiving each other.

"Wha-! How dare you! I am utterly offended!" Rarity said indignantly.

"Now now, simmer down Sally." Applejack snickered, draping an arm around her. "Ya know they're just teasin', sugarcube. Plus they're a tad bit right."

"Traitor." Rarity huffed in mock annoyance, before leaning into her embrace. Applejack just grinned and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"So, back to the subject at hand..." Sunset said with a shake of her head.

"What were we talking about again?" Syntax asked, confused.

"You and Aria." Fluttershy replied with a soft smile. "You were um, sharing your fun times with her."

"Oh yeah." Syntax took a deep breath and refocused her thoughts. "Movies, mall, pizza, phone calls, texts. We like to spend a lot of time together. She's pretty cool to hang out with. We talk a lot and laugh, and we're both really adventurous and we can both be smartasses."

"I ship it." Pinkie said randomly, guzzling down her soda from lunch.

"We're not a ship." Syntax said drily.

"SyntaxBlaze. AriaTax. SynAria." Pinkie shut one eye, squinting at the ceiling as she rattled off couple names. "Blyntax."

"Pinkie, we're not-"

"TaxAria. Blazyn. Oooohhhh...Blazyn sounds good!"

Syntax facepalmed while the others just laughed.

"You two are Blazyn hot together! Huh? Huh??" Pinkie grinned widely, clearly impressed with her own pun while the others stopped laughing and shook their heads.

"No. Just no." Rainbow said in some distaste. "Pinkie, that was horrible."

"I'll work on it!"

"So anyway!" Rarity interrupted before the discussion could get derailed further. "How do you see her, darling? You've told us what she sees you as, but how do you see her? What does she make you feel?"

Syntax opened her mouth to reply, then shut it and let herself think for a long moment. Her gaze wandered over to Aria, who was currently busy snitching fries from Adagio's plate, and her lips curved into a slight smile. She never took her eyes off the siren as she finally responded to Rarity's question.

"She makes me feel happy. She makes me feel like I'm on top of the world just hanging out with her. She can make me laugh when I don't even want to smile, and I get a little tongue tied at times trying to talk to her, but she understand me perfectly. She's in my head, she knows what I'm thinking before I say it, and she can sense my mood before I even open my mouth. Whenever she says my name or just looks at me, my heart just goes all crazy and I could absolutely melt. I'm at my happiest when I'm with her, and when we part ways it's as if I don't want to spend even a moment away from her. I want her by my side all....the..."

She broke off, realizing what she was saying as soon as it left her mouth, her eyes widening in shock as they snapped to her grinning companions.

"Oh. Oh god. Guys...?"

"Yesssss??" Pinkie answered first, and she was grinning the widest of all of them.

"Forget a crush. I think I..." Syntax swallowed hard. "I think I'm completely in love."

"Well, obviously." Rarity said with a smirk. "Darling, it's all over your face. And in your eyes when you look at her."

Syntax let her head drop on the table with a soft thump. "Shit. I didn't want to fall in love. Love sucks at times. I don't want either of us hurt."

"True." Sunset leaned back in her chair. "But regardless of whether you wanted to or not, you did fall in love. And I personally think that's great."

Syntax lifted her head and looked at Aria again, feeling her heart rate increase exponentially when the other girl caught her staring and gazed back intently. She finally looked back at the others.

"I'm definitely in love."

The girls snickered and grinned as they watched her plop her head back down on the table with a huge sigh of mixed confusion and happiness, before the sudden sound of the bell that signaled lunch was over sent them all scrambling to ditch their trash and rush to their next classes.

Author's Note

I have a friend, and he and I, much like Syntax and Rainbow, have a constantly running feud over pineapple pizza XD

Syntax's position = My position
Rainbow's position = His position

It's not mandatory, but share your position in the comments!
Comment #pineapplepizzagang if you agree with it, and #warcrime if you're against it xD

Also, you can comment on it on his user page too, here's the link: Liuv

Still like ya Liuv, even though you're wrong XD

Hanging Out

"Hey Aria! Wait up!"

The siren slowed her pace enough for the one who had yelled to catch up.

"Hey Syn." She flashed a small grin, her features softening a bit at her friend's approach.

Syntax fell into step alongside her. "Heya! So, did you get my text during literature class?"

Aria snorted. "Which one out of about a hundred?"

"The one about going to the mall after school, dummy."

"Ohhhh, was that meant for today? I thought it meant next week."

"Smartass."

"You know it."

"So, want to go? We can check out whatever's new, and grab some pizza. Or maybe we could just grab pizza and go hang out at my place. You could finally show me how to play those games you like so much."

Aria pretended to deeply consider it. "Hmmm...nah. Not today."

Her keen eyes took in Syntax's reactions. Her expression falling to one of disappointment, Syntax kicked at a peeble with a sigh.

"Damn. I was hoping you would go."

Snorting, Aria playfully punched her shoulder. "Girl, you are way too easy to pull a fast one on. Sure I'll go."

Syntax glared at her even as she smirked. "You are such a bitch sometimes, y'know that?"

"Who, me? No, I had no idea." Aria deadpanned, making Syntax laugh outright.

"So which option is it? Mall all afternoon or grab pizza and go to my place?" She asked.

"Pizza and then my place." Aria returned with a wicked grin. "If I'm going to teach you the fine art of gaming, I need all of my equipment."

"You'll go easy on me, right?"

"I'll go easy for one actual round." Aria snickered. "After that you either learn to beat me fast, or I continuously kill you til you do."

"Should have known." Syntax rolled her eyes. "Come on, last one to the mall is a rotten egg."

It turned out to be a tie, both girls casually sliding to home plate at the same time. In other words, they both crashed simultaneously into the trash can outside the mall's only pizza station, falling over it and scattering its contents.

"Next time the victory is mine." Aria said with a breathless huff as she picked herself up and helped Syntax up as well.

"Yeah yeah." Syntax brushed off her jeans and righted the can, quickly collecting the scattered trash and throwing it back in it. "Let's order our pizza and go. I'm anxious to learn how to game."

"You mean you're anxious for me to beat you at it." Aria grinned.

"Ass." Syntax huffed.

"Hey, I'm an evil siren, ok? I gotta be a bitch, I got a reputation to uphold."

"Not with me, you don't." Syntax shot back. "I like who you actually are."

"And who am I?" Aria held the door open, and they went inside.

"You're my friend." Syntax responded. "You're pretty cool and fun to hang out with."

Aria was quiet as the approached the counter and ordered their pizza. Plenty of cheese for Aria and lots of mixed veggies for them both.

"What, no pineapple this time?" Aria broke her silence to ask.

"Nope. I fight over its right to exist enough with Rainbow, I am not fighting you too."

"Chicken." Aria said with a snort. "You just know I'd kick your ass in a debate over it."

"No...?"

Aria laughed. "Yeah, uh huh, sure."

Syntax rolled her eyes in feigned annoyance.

The pizza was ready fairly quickly, and they grabbed it and left, stopping off to grab sodas before heading to the Dazzling apartment, which was only a couple of blocks from school. Adagio and Sonata were not yet home, and Aria explained that they had decided to go catch a movie after school and then go for tacos after that.

In short order, they were seated on the couch, pizza and sodas at the ready, and Aria was explaining the game controllers to her friend. She'd picked an easy to learn video game for them to play, and Syntax was a willing pupil, quickly learning the buttons and the rules of the game.

"HaHA!" she crowed triumphantly when she succeeded in finally beating Aria in a round. "Take that!"

"Impressive." Aria admitted, tossing her controller and grabbing her now cold pizza. "How about we eat, and then we move into the extreme level?"

Syntax arched an eyebrow, picking up the slice from her plate and taking a bite. "What's the extreme level?"

"It's where I actually go full competitive and annihilate your ass repeatedly." Aria returned, smirking almost evilly.

"Oh joy." Syntax said sarcastically. "I look forward to it."

Aria elbowed her lightly in the ribcage. "You did better than I thought. You're actually providing a challenge...unlike Sonata and Adagio. Those two wimps don't even really try. Beating them is way too easy."

Syntax snickered. "I'm too stubborn to be wimpy."

"Good." Aria looked her up and down, nodding. "I like stubborn. It's more fun."

They continued to eat their pizza in companionable silence, and Syntax had the perfect opportunity to actually think about her current position. She was seated directly beside Aria, their shoulders touching, and since both of them were in short sleeves t-shirts, it was direct skin to skin contact, and it was doing weird things to Syntax. Her heart rate had increased dramatically, and was so loud she was certain Aria had to hear it. If she did, she gave no indication. Looking her over out of the corner of her eye, Syntax took a really good look at her features for the first time since admitting out loud to her friends that she loved her.

She was really a very good looking girl. Tall and slender, with an amazing smile when she let it show, and her eyes...Syntax released a faint sigh. Those absolutely beautiful violet orbs that shimmered like fine glass in the right lighting. Syntax told herself that Aria must still have some magic, because she fell under a spell every time those eyes met hers, making her go weak at the knees and sending her heart into a frighteningly fast cadence of beats. And the adorable laugh she reserved for when she and Syntax were by themselves just further entranced her.

Perhaps it was just wishful thinking that she could ever have a chance with Aria. She didn't even know if Aria was into girls, although she figured it would be easy enough to find out if she asked one of her sisters. They would likely know. But that was only if she ever got up enough nerve to confess her feelings to Aria in the first place. Sure, she had admitted it to herself, and to her friends, but to actually look Aria dead in the eye and say "I love you"? She would much rather take her chances walking into a cave full of fire breathing dragons.

"Hey! Syn! You conscious?!"

Aria's sharp tone combined with a pinch to her arm made Syntax jump back to reality with a start. She grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry. Zoned out."

"I noticed. You do that a lot. Got something on your mind?" Aria raised a brow in slight concern.

'Yeah, I'm in love with you.'

"Uhhhhh, nope!" Syntax burst out, grabbing for her discarded controller. "So! How bout that extreme round?"

"Oh ho ho, let's do this." Aria grabbed hers as well. "Time for me to totally kick your ass, newbie!"

"Bring it, bitch."

Snorting, Aria started up the game, and further talking was abandoned in favour of viciously competitive gameplay.

Friendly Assistance

The bell jingled to announce her arrival as Syntax strolled into Sugarcube Corner the following day. Her friends were all present at their usual table, and Pinkie waved as she said into a seat.

"Heya Syntax! How's Syntaxia?!"

"Pinkie, we're not a ship." Syntax said with a sigh.

"Not yet!" Pinkie sang out. "But you wanna be! Besides, SynBlaze is soooo cute!!"

"Pinkie, please." Sunset shook her head. "Those names are terrible."

"ITS A WORK IN PROGRESS, SUNSET!" Pinkie yelled, before sipping her milkshake with gusto.

"I noticed you two at the mall yesterday." Rarity said with a smile. "That was a rather impressively unladylike crash into the pizzaria's trash can."

"It was a race, Rarity." Syntax replied, rolling her eyes. "We weren't exactly trying to be ladylike."

"A race?! Who won?!" Rainbow demanded.

"It was a tie."

"Damn it, I thought you were going to say you won." Rainbow huffed in mock disappointment. "After all I taught you about racing, Syntax."

"Yeah, you were a great help, senpai." She fired back without missing a beat. "You taught me how to crash perfectly into a post on my first day."

Rainbow reddened. "That post wasn't there the time I ran that trail before!!"

"What did it do, grow legs and walk?!"

"I will throw a donut at you!"

"I'll hit you with an entire pineapple pizza!"

"I will break your best pencil!"

"I'll tie your shoelaces together!!"

"Girls!" This time it was the more reserved Fluttershy that broke up the argument. "I think we all want to hear how Syntax spent her time with Aria. Right?"

"Yes!" chorused Sunset and Twilight, while Applejack and Rarity nodded.

"Let's hear it! Come on! What'd you do?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.

Syntax filled them in on her time with Aria, and the girls chuckled as her expression became animated and her eyes glistened with joy.

"Darling, you're perfectly glowing, you are so happy." Rarity smiled.

Syntax looked at each one, then threw her hands up and slumped into her chair.

"I love that girl. But what's the point? I'm not sure she even likes girls, and besides I'm too scared to tell her."

"She likes you, silly. A lot too, if she spent so much time teaching you games." Pinkie grinned. "Adagio said she never teaches anyone anything. Ever!"

"Yeah, but do I have a chance? I mean, she's so amazing and deserves the absolute best, and I'm just...well, me. Am I even good enough?" Syntax heaved a sigh.

"Syntax." Twilight leaned forward. "You are an amazing person. You have a great heart, you're kind, loyal, compassionate, and you genuinely care about people. Anyone would be proud to have you as a girlfriend."

Syntax flushed and rubbed her neck. "But I feel so...so...inadequate!"

"You're not." Rainbow piped up. "You're a really cool and awesome person, Syntax. And if you wanna try a relationship with Aria, then you ought to just straight up tell her!"

"But she said she sees me like one of her sisters!" Syntax protested. "How can I tell her how I feel knowing that?! What if she honestly sees me as that and I tell her my true feelings, and it makes everything so awkward? What if she ignores me afterwards and never talks to me again?"

"You two are friends." Sunset replied. "I've noticed she seems incredibly loyal to you and protective of you. I don't believe she is going to leave you behind just because you tell her you have feelings for her."

"Yeah but I'm too scared." Syntax slumped further in her chair. "I don't want to mess things up. We have a pretty decent friendship, I don't want to lose that."

"For the sake of argument, let's say you had a crush on me." Sunset offered. "And let's say you told me. Try it."

"Huh?"

"Tell me you have a crush on me."

"But I don't have-"

"I know that, Syntax, this is just for the sake of this conversation. To prove a point. So tell me."

"Fine. I have a crush on you."

Sunset let silence reign for a moment before nodding in satisfaction.

"Point proven."

"...What?" Syntax looked hopelessly confused.

"You said you have a crush on me, I'm still here. Point proven."

"Uhhhh, Sunset?" Twilight interrupted with a arched eyebrows. "I'm not so sure this was entirely a true experiment. First of all, she doesn't have a crush on you, secondly, you knew she was going to say it. This only works if you don't know she's gonna say it."

Sunset huffed. "Fine, you do it then."

Twilight leaned over and whispered to Syntax, who blinked but gave a nod. She shut her eyes for a second, then opened them.

"I have a crush on you, Rainbow."

Rainbow spit her soda across the table. "WHAT?! Uhhhhh...I mean...ok? I guess. This is weird."

"Yeah! Besides, she totally has a girlfriend!" Pinkie piped up helpfully.

All eyes landed on Rainbow. "Wha- n-no I don't...I mean..."

The athlete was blushing furiously. Everyone laughed, except for Fluttershy, who leaned over and gave her a somewhat timid kiss on the cheek.

"You can admit it now."

Rainbow sighed in defeat, then grinned in joy as she hugged Fluttershy.

"Ok ok. Fluttershy and I are dating. Happy now, Pinkie?!"

"Yeppers!!!"

"I think we all just lost where we were going with this." Sunset stated.

"Look, Syntax." Rainbow narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Just march your butt up to Aria, look her dead in the eye, and say 'I love you'. Short, sweet, and to the point."

"...that actually works?" Syntax asked.

"Quite well, darling." Rarity nodded. "It is the direct approach that Applejack used with me, and you can see it worked out beautifully."

Applejack beamed with pride at the loving look Rarity bestowed on her. Syntax rubbed her head.

"I just...I don't know if I actually can though." She said. "I mean, I think visiting a cave full of dragons would be safer and easier."

"Oh woman up, Syntax!" Rainbow said in exasperation. "Are you a girl or are you a chicken?!"

"Chicken. Definitely. Bawk bawk." Syntax returned without a split second of hesitation, flapping her elbows for good measure.

Rainbow facepalmed. "You're perfect for her, you're just as much a smartass as she is."

"Darling, I think what Rainbow Dash has been trying to say is that you should just come right out and tell Aria how you feel." Rarity interjected. "And you should not let your fear stop you. You're Syntax Silver, adventurer and daredevil extraordinare! You laugh in the face of danger! You mock the shadows! Now, what are you going to do, darling?!"

She meant this to be completely motivational. Syntax, however, had other ideas.

"I'm going to not say a word!" She said emphatically. "I am just too terrified, I'm sorry. I don't want to mess things up."

"Would...you excuse me for just a moment?" Rarity nudged Applejack and motioned her to follow, and the two left the table together.

Syntax sighed and went to order a milkshake. When she returned to the table, Rarity and Applejack were back, the former looking pleased and the latter looking skeptical. The group sat in silence, sipping their drinks and, in Pinkie's case, drawing balloons all over multiple napkins. The bell to the shop dinged to announce a newcomer, and the girls facing the door all sat up straighter and blinked. Footsteps approached their table.

"Fine, Rarity, I'm here. What do you want?"

Syntax immediately choked on her milkshake at the familiar irritated voice, going into a massive coughing fit. Rainbow helpfully slapped her on the back as she fought to get her breath. She looked up at Aria, then back at Rarity.

"Wha-what is going on?"

"An intervention. You need to tell her the truth." Rarity said firmly.

Aria's eyebrow went up a notch as Syntax flushed and then turned utterly pale, her eyes widening in panic.

"No. Nononono...no! Rarity, no! Don't do this!"

"You said yourself you would never do it, but with the right motivation I think you can." Rarity insisted.

"Rarity-"

"Oh go on, darling. You need to tell her your feelings for her."

Syntax struggled to speak, but found it impossible for several seconds. Her panicked gaze went from one girl to another, and then with a wordless squeak she bolted from the table and fled from the shop.

"Oh dear." Fluttershy murmured.

"That...might have been a bit unadvisable." Sunset muttered.

"Oh gracious." Rarity said in worry. "I didn't mean to make her run off. I should go after-"

"I'll go." Aria glared at her. "Are you gonna tell me why I'm here first? What feelings?"

"Uhhh, I believe that's up to Syntax to explain." Twilight said slowly.

Rolling her eyes, Aria stalked out after Syntax, ignoring Pinkie's following scream of, "BYE SYRIA!"

"Pinkie, please stop." Sunset pleaded.

"THEY ARE CUTE TOGETHER AND WILL BE SHIPPED!" Pinkie yelled in determination, before guzzling the remainder of her milkshake in one go as the others facepalmed and groaned in frustration.

Heart to Heart

Syntax didn't know how long she had been running, but she eventually found herself at a small park on the other side of the city. She collapsed onto a bench, chest heaving with painful breaths, and tried to collect her scrambled thoughts while soothing her equally scrambled emotions. Her phone dinged with a message and she pulled it out and looked. It was from Aria.

Where are you?

Syntax hesitated. Did she really want to be around her right now? Another message popped up.

I feel like I made you upset by coming to the bakery...

Ok, that was it. No way was she letting Aria blame herself for anything.

You didn't. I just...panicked. it wasn't you.

Syn, where are you? Please tell me.

Sighing, Syntax texted the exact location, knowing it was probably better to just get this over with now that Aria knew something was up.

Stay there and wait. I'll be there in 10.

Pocketing her phone, Syntax buried her face in her hands and tried to steady her breathing, which was rapidly turning to panicked breathing at the thought of Aria knowing her secret crush on her. Well, alright, this was admittedly beyond just a crush. Ugh. What had Rarity been thinking?! Putting her in such a hugely awkward position and trying to force her into a confession of love! Although really, she knew the fashionista had only been trying to help.

She finally got her breathing calmed down, and gazed out over the park, silently hoping she had enough courage in her body somewhere to tell Aria everything in her heart. So lost was she in deep contemplation that she did not even notice she wasn't alone anymore til a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Gah!" She shrieked in panic.

"Whoa, hey, easy. It's me." Aria slid onto the bench next to her. "I said your name, but you were a thousand miles away."

Syntax gulped. "Y-yeah, kind of."

"What happened back there, Syn? Did I do something?" Aria looked genuinely concerned. "I feel like there was something you needed to say but you panicked."

"Heh. Yeah." Syntax sighed, heart racing again. "I just...I don't know where to start."

"Why not just tell me?"

"Because I'm scared I'll mess everything up between us."

"Psh. Please. I got your back no matter what. Now what do you want to tell me?"

Well. It was now or never.

"I...really really like you. I mean I-I have feelings for you."

She kept her head down, face flushed as she refused to look up.

The low chuckle from beside her took her by surprise, and Aria wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You trying to say you're in love with me?"

"Y-yes."

Another chuckle. "Idiot. I already knew that."

"Wait, what?! You knew?!"

"You suck at hiding things, Syn. I'm in your head, remember? I can read you like a book."

"Riiiight." Syntax sighed, mentally scolding herself for getting so worked up over nothing. "Ugh. The girls were right, I panicked over nothing."

"Why did you panic?" Aria asked in genuine curiosity. "What were you so afraid of?"

"I thought I mess everything up between us." Syntax admitted. "I thought if I told you I loved you, it's make it really awkward and maybe you would quit talking to me or hanging out with me."

"You really are an idiot." Aria lightly smacked the back of her head. "How many times have I told you that I have your back and I'm not going anywhere, no matter what you say or do?"

"Yeah, I know, I know. I guess I was just overthinking things."

"You think?" Aria chuckled again. "Syntax, listen. I will never stop you from telling your true feelings. You can be honest with me about anything, no matter what it is."

"Heh. So it doesn't bother you that I-" Syntax stopped, uncertain.

"You can say it. Keeping it all bottled up isn't good, because you'll just explode later."

Syntax twisted in her seat, pools of navy locking into ones of violet.

"You're absolutely a joy to hang out with. You're fun, you're funny, you're smart. You know what I'm thinking, feeling, and what my mood is without me even saying anything. You're really good hearted deep down under the rough and tough surface. And I am deeply in love with you."

She flushed but her gaze never wavered. Aria lightly blushed and let out a soft cough before giving her a hug.

"I really like you, Syntax." She said quietly.

"Um...well...I wanted to ask if uh..." Syntax struggled for the words. "I mean, I'm really serious about this. And um, if y-you maybe share the feeling or think you might or...well, would you maybe, possibly want to be...m-more than just a friend?"

She was impossibly red, and fighting desperately to say the right thing, but unsuccessfully. Aria tightened her hold slightly.

"Are you trying to ask me to be your girlfriend?"

"Yeah. Th-that." Syntax muttered, glad Aria knew her so well.

Aria turned so they were making eye contact and then gave her a quick and featherlight kiss on the lips. Syntax inhaled sharply at the gesture.

"I...w-well that s-seems like a yes...?"

"Heheh. I will need to think about that, Syn. But God I really do like you." Aria hugged her tightly.

"That's totally fine." Syntax said, suddenly confident again. "I can be patient. I'll wait for a month, or a year. Hell, I'll wait five years if I have to."

They sat in silence for several minutes, until Syntax suddenly remembered something.

"Oh! The girls!" She exclaimed. "I should probably go assure them I'm good and tell Rarity I'm not mad."

"Eh, ok. I'll come you with if you want."

"You sure?"

"Well...maybe not. You know how I hate interacting with anyone but you on a nice level. Being so nice is exhausting, I don't know how you do it."

Syntax snorted. "Ok fine. You go be a bitch to some people, I'll go handle this and meet you at the pizza place later?"

"Sounds like a plan."

When Syntax returned to Sugarcube Corner, the girls were all still there, though from the looks of things their spirits had been dampered considerably.

"What's up guys?" she asked, sliding into her chair.

"Syntax! Darling, listen, I do apologize if I way overstepped-"

Syntax held up a hand, a silly grin on her face. "Shh. No. It's totally fine. In fact, I am back to thank you."

"What, you mean you're not mad??"

"Nope!"

"So what happened?!" Rainbow demanded.

"Well, we talked. And I told her my feelings. Annnnd you were right. It wasn't awkward and she didn't ditch me."

"Ha! Told you."

"Yeah yeah."

"So what did she say?" Sunset asked.

"She said she really likes me. And we'll, I uh, asked her to be my girlfriend. Kind of."

"What do you mean, kind of?!" Rainbow sputtered.

"Well, I stammered like an idiot and didn't get the actual phrase out, but she understood my meaning. She said she needs to think about it."

"BLARIA FOR THE WIN!" Pinkie screamed.

"...we're not a ship!"

"Yet!"

Syntax groaned. "Ok fine. Yet."

"THEN BLYNARIA IT IS!"

"No." Rainbow shook her head." Pinkie, stop."

"They will have a ship name if it's the last thing I do!" Pinkie yelled in determination.

"Ugh. Ok well, while you figure that out, I'm going on a date." Syntax stood up.

"Ooh, a date?!" Rarity grinned.

"Well I'm calling it one!! Unofficially. In my head."

"Have fun, Aryn*!!!" Pinkie shouted as she left the shop.

"Pinkie..." Rainbow said wearily.

"I. Will. Ship. Them. Blatax will rise!!"

"...I give up."

Author's Note

*Aryn= pronounced like Erin/Aaron.

I'm sorry if the ship names are bad xD if you have ideas for a good one I can settle on, please tell me!

Next chapter to be uploaded soon!!!

Join the Club

"Ughhhh! Come onnnn, why are you making me do this!" Aria protested loudly in minor annoyance as she was dragged forcibly along the sidewalk.

"Because! It's time you start hanging out with us crazy girls and getting to know everyone better!" Syntax replied, unfazed.

"I hate you for this! I despise such levels of niceness!"

"I know, it's pure hell for you." Syntax deadpanned.

"Exactly! I'm a notorious mean girl, not some stupid ass nicey nice, happy to chat loser!"

"Uh huh."

"Give me two good reasons why I should go through with this!!"

"One, you like me and will do pretty much anything I ask. Two, you can't pass up a chance to potentially be a bitch to them in a setting where they know you're totally joking because deep down they actually interest you and you'd like to get to know them."

"Damn you, stay out of my head!"

"No can do." Syntax paused outside the Pie residence. "You ready?"

"No! And I don't have to like this! I hate it! I protest! And you're an ass for dragging me into it!"

"Did I ever tell you you're an absolute Tsundere?"

"...Shut the hell up." Aria muttered, but offered no denial.

Snickering, Syntax knocked on the door, and it opened a second later to reveal a grinning Pinkie Pie.

"Ohhhhh you made it!!" She squealed, before tackle-hugging Syntax.

She let go after a second and unceremoniously did the same to Aria, the siren trying to squirm out of her tight grip.

"I hate you all..." She muttered sullenly when her efforts failed.

Syntax giggled at the girl's reaction and Pinkie released her captive before dragging them into the house.

"SARIA IS HERE!!!!" she screamed happily, her declaration leading to the sound of hurrying footsteps as the remains girls appeared from various rooms.

"The hell is Saria?!" Aria demanded, scowling.

"Shh, don't question it." Syntax locked her arm through Aria's. "She's trying to give us a ship name."

"But we're not-"

"Shhhh! It's Pinkie, don't even try to stop this. I already have, and I failed."

"You have such weird friends."

"No weirder than you!" Rainbow piped up, hearing the comment.

Aria glared. "I know multiple ways of kicking your ass."

"Oh yeah?! You wanna tangle?! I'm game!"

"Not advisable." Syntax said with a smirk. "I can match her pretty well but she still can beat me, so you don't stand a chance. No offense, Rainbow."

"WHO WANTS CUPCAKES?!!" Pinkie yelled, ending the discussion for the time being.

As they settled down to munch on cupcakes and got to talking, Syntax noticed that Aria slowly started to loosen up a little, even exchanging playful and creative insults with Rainbow. At one point, she looked at Syntax and smirked.

"I was wrong. Your friends are kinda alright. I like them, they interest me."

"Told you so!"

"You're not so horrible yourself." Sunset told her, earning a glare followed by a snort of laughter.

"I am. I'm a mean girl. I gotta keep up my reputation."

"Nahhh." Syntax booked her nose and grinned. "You're just a cute and funny girl."

"Shut up!" Aria said, blushing as she flung a napkin at her. "I'm not cute!"

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not! You're the cute one!"

"No you!"

"No you!!"

"You're both cute!!" Pinkie shouted.

"Noooooo!" Both girls wailed in unison.

"Syntax is cute. I am not." Aria insisted indignantly. "And I swear if you deny it one more time, Syntax...!"

Syntax studied her, weighing her options. And then she grinned impishly.

"I'm not, and you can't make me say I am!"

It was probably not the best decision. Aria's eyes narrowed as an evil grin formed on her lips.

"You really shouldn't have said that. But since you did, I'm going to enjoy this."

"Shit." Syntax replied, before shrieking and scrambling to escape as Aria lunged for her.

"Ooooh!!! Run Syntax! Don't let her catch you!" Pinkie yelled in encouragement.

"Well this should be good." Rainbow commented as they settled back to watch the scene unfold.

"Come here!" Aria ordered, chasing Syntax around the room.

"Nope!" was the reply. "You're not catching me!"

"Oh I'm not, huh?" Aria snorted and leaped over a chair with ease, landing directly in Syntax's path.

"Ahhh!" the younger girl promptly tried to backpedal, only to fail as she crashed into Aria.

"Gotcha!" Aria shouted in triumph, arms circling her waist and holding her fast.

"Noooo! Nononono! Let go!" Syntax yelled, struggling. "You'll never make me admit anything!"

"Never say never!"

Aria lifted her with ease and carried her back to the others, placing her on her back on the floor before rapidly straddling her body and pinning her down so she couldn't escape.

"And now!" She grinned wickedly. "I'll be nice. I'll give you one final chance to admit your cuteness or, well, I will have to get drastic!"

"Oh dear." Fluttershy said in worry from the sidelines. "You won't hurt her?"

"Of course not!" Aria retorted indignantly. "What do you think I am, a monster?"

The girls exchanged glances and Aria huffed. "Don't answer that. But no, I won't hurt her."

She looked back down at her captive, who didn't seem to be too horribly traumatized by her predicament.

"I'll never admit it!" The girl vowed firmly.

"Fine, you asked for this."

Aria snickered and attacked with both hands, viciously tickling her stomach and sides. Syntax shrieked in protest, squirming and wriggling in a vain attempt to escape even as she succumbed to hysterical laughter.

"Aww yeah!" Rainbow yelled enthusiastically with a grin. "Get her, Aria!!"

"Tickle torture! Tickle torture!" Pinkie cried, before throwing herself on top of Rainbow and tickling her mercilessly.

"Ahhh! Pinkie! Get off! Nooo!" Rainbow howled, trying to shove the hyper menace off of her.

The others looked from Aria and Syntax to Pinkie and Rainbow, amused and concerned.

"Should we help?" Twilight asked.

"I'll help." Sunset returned, smirking before tackling her.

"Gah! Sunset, no! Not what I meant!" Twilight yelled, before she was subjected to violent tickling. "Stooooppp! I meant help them!"

"May as well join in." Applejack looked at Rarity with a smirk.

"No! Applejack, don't you dare!!!" Rarity yelled, but her protest was ignored as her girlfriend attacked anyway.

Fluttershy looked from one to the other, wide eyed. "Oh dear, oh dear..."

She made an attempt to slip away to a safer room, only to shriek as the breathless Rainbow nabbed her and dragged her down next to her.

"No, Rainbow Dash, no!" She squeaked, before her girlfriend's fingers found the most ticklish spots on her ribcage.

The room was filled with shrieks of laughter as well as desperate pleading from the victims being tickled, and gradually the mass tickling died down til only Aria and Syntax were left. Completely out of breath and sore from all the laughter, Syntax decided to be smart and finally waved her hands in surrender.

"Ok! Ok!! I give up! I admit it! I'm cute!"

Aria stopped and grinned down smugly while everyone else laughed. She got off of her prisoner, letting her sit up, and patted her head.

"Good girl. Next time I won't go so easy on you."

"Yeah yeah." Syntax inhaled deeply. "You didn't go easy on me this time!"

Aria snickered and reached for another cupcake, Syntax inching up to sit directly next to her and also reaching for a cupcake.

"I gotta say, Aria, you're pretty awesome after all." Rainbow told her.

"You guys are tolerable." Aria replied. "Syntax might be able to force me to hang out with you more."

"Right, yeah, of course." Syntax said drily. "Because we all know you hate it so much you'd never willingly agree to do this again."

"If this gets around, I'm gonna bust your asses." Aria threatened in a very much non-threatening tone.

"Duly noted." Syntax returned. "Now here, have this."

She nabbed Aria's cupcake and shoved it into the siren's mouth, prompting everyone to explode into laughter as the girl wiped excessive frosting off her face with a mock scowl at the girl by her side.

How I want To Love You

Syntax stuck out her tongue in concentration, eyes narrowed as she stared at the television screen. Her thumbs danced across the buttons of the game controller in her hands as she battled Aria in yet another game.

"Sorry, Syn, buuuuut..." Aria smirked as with a final move she defeated her opponent.

"Oh come on!" Syntax shouted in frustration.

"That makes six times so far today." Her companion stated with a smug look on her face.

Syntax responded with a low growl accompanied by a death glare, and Aria burst out laughing. Groaning, Syntax stood up from the couch and stretched.

"I need a break. Something else to clear my head and chillax so I can actually beat you for once." She scowled at the responding snicker. "How bout we go grab an ice cream cone and go to the park?"

Aria tossed her controller to the side and stood up, running her fingers through her hair as she grinned slightly.

"Yeah, ok. I guess that sounds fun."

She started for the door.

"Ahem. Aria?"

She paused. "What?"

"You wanna put some pants on first?"

Aria looked down at the brilliant orange underwear she wore and rolled her eyes.

"Right."

Syntax laughed as Aria stalked to her room. The siren hated wearing pants around the apartment. They made her hot and uncomfortable, so she was much more at home in a pair of thin shorts or, as was more usual, just her underwear. And Syntax could care less, as she sometimes ditched her own pants for the sake of being cool and comfortable. Aria returned wearing a pair of purple slacks.

"You know, one of these days, I'm going to walk out that door in my t-shirt and underwear just for the hell of it." She announced.

"Given your choice of underwear colours, I don't think that's a good idea." Syntax returned, grinning as they exited the apartment.

"And just what is wrong with the colour?!" Aria demanded in mock anger.

"It's either really bright or a really weird combination of colours."

"It's not that weird!"

"Aria, you have a set that's bright purple with hideous neon pink dots. Who even makes such an awful mix?!"

"Says the one who once had on neon red ones covered with the most neon pink cats in existence!"

"...touché."

The girls shared a laugh as they made their way down the street, conversation drifting to other topics such as games, parties, and the Rainbooms' latest shenanigans. They stopped at the ice cream shop to collect their cones, and then strolled leisurely to the park.

Choosing a quiet spot in the shade of a massive oak, the two of them settled into the lush green grass, not saying much as they focused on devouring their sweet and icy treats. Once the last of their cones had vanished into their mouths, they stretched out in the grass, feet in opposite directions, Syntax's head on Aria's left shoulder while Aria's rested on her own left, the sides of their heads nearly brushing against each other. They stared up at the tree above them, and through the spaces to the clear blue sky above that.

"Syn? Can I ask you something?" Aria finally asked.

"Sure." Syntax answered without hesitating.

"Why would you fall in love with me, of all people? I mean, there are lots of boys at school, and other girls too if you wanted. Why me?"

This was honestly not an unexpected question. Syntax had already guessed she would ask at some point, and while she couldn't fully explain why she had fallen for her, she could tell her what had drawn her interest in her. She inhaled.

"There was...is, something in you that I like."

"Yeah, but what? I'm a notorious troublemaker. I'm kind of an obvious bad girl, you could say."

The other girl snorted, rolling her navy eyes. "And just maybe I like bad girls."

She heard Aria inhale sharply and mutter something about that being innapropriate, and she grinned. "That's not what I meant, Aria."

"Ok, fine, but just tell me why you fell for me."

"I could see something in you that everyone else didn't at first." Syntax replied. "In spite of your bluff and bluster and bad girlish persona, I could tell you had a good heart. And then I saw you with your sisters, and you seem to actually care about them. That and we bonded really fast, because we have a lot in common. I don't know, it's tough to explain. I do know that one day not long after we met, you grinned at me and my entire world fell apart into the chaos and confusion of being in love, and I was perfectly fine with it."

"Oh. Syn...what do you see me as? I mean, what am I to you?"

Syntax rolled into a sitting position and focused intently on Aria, eyes sparkling but serious.

"You're one of the few people I'd trust with my life. You're my closest companion, the one I can talk to about anything, and the one that never judges me based on what I think or feel. You're funny, smart, cool, and absolutely adorable. I love every minute of the time we spend together. And you are the one I would love to call mine. I would love to say you're my girlfriend."

Aria was blushing furiously, but her eyes were locked into Syntax's and she wasn't trying to interrupt or anything. So the other girl pressed on courageously.

"And I know you might be thinking I just want you due to some kind of wild sex drive, but honestly Aria, I don't even care about that. Not now at least. I want you because I love you, plain and simple. And there's an entire list of ways I want to love you, and not one of them involves the other thing."

Aria leaned closer, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. "Like what?"

Syntax blinked. "Huh?"

"The list. What kind of things?"

"I..." Syntax reddened and looked down. "I mean, it's kinda sappy and romantic..."

"I don't care if it is, please just share it with me."

"Uh...are you sure, cuz I'm gonna be telling you what I want to do with you, and that might be awkward."

"Nothing wrong with being honest. And I'd like to know. Hearing you talk about these things kinda...makes me see you differently."

"Is that good or bad?"

Aria inhaled deeply. "I-I might be falling in love with you too. I just...I can't say for sure, it's just, it's confusing."

"Join the club." Syntax smiled. "If you want to hear it, then I'll tell you."

"Please."

"Alright then." Syntax drew a breath. "I really want to do adorable and sappy things. Like for instance, let's say we're sitting in a park in the shade, and you're looking ultra adorable, and all I can think about is that I love you. And I might lean in closer to you and kiss you on the cheek, and tell you just how special you are to me."

She leaned closer to the blushing siren, her breath warm on her face as she planted a light peck on her cheek, startling herself at her boldness. Her voice dropped, her words audible to Aria's ears alone.

"You might not know it, but you are very special to me. I can't tell you how much I love you because there's not enough words in existence to do it justice."

Aria caught her lower lip between her teeth, inhaling deeply as her face turned a shade darker with embarrassment, but she made no attempt to move away.

"Anyway." Syntax went on, a tad bit louder, "Then I would want to push you back into the grass and crawl right into your arms."

She did exactly that, gently pushing Aria back into the grass before planting her body fully on hers and snuggling into her happily. Aria squeaked adorably, instinctively wrapping her arms around her.

"And from there, I would put my head on your shoulder and nuzzle my face into your neck to make you go all red and make you giggle."

This she did with plenty of enthusiasm, and Aria let out a giggle. "What else?"

Syntax was no longer interested in the play by play she was giving. "Then, this."

She turned Aria's face towards her and ever so gently kissed her on the lips. It was different than the kiss Aria had given her after she'd told her how she felt. That one had been light and extremely fast. This one was gentle, yes, but a little deeper and alot slower. Aria quietly squeaked, eyes closing as she simply surrendered to it, lost in the moment. Her heart was hammering furiously in her chest, and she couldn't deny she loved the sweet tenderness of the contact.

Syntax finally released from her lips, her face scarlet as she managed an embarrassed chuckle. "I, uh, yeah. The list has several tender moments like that."

Aria hugged her tighter, her breath warm as she spoke softly into her ear. "I wouldn't mind finding out those other moments. If you would like to show me."

Syntax giggled. "Yeah. But can I snuggle you for now?"

"You damn well better." Aria returned. "I demand it."

Syntax snickered. "Careful, you might be accused of loving these snuggles."

"No, they're absolutely hideous." Aria tightened her hold. "That's why you have to keep it up. I hate it so much it's gonna take a looooong time to even partially win me over to it!"

"Oh, yes, of course." Syntax snuggled even closer.

They stayed that way, snuggled up adorably in the shade, simply enjoying the closeness.