Chapter 3: All We Are
"This seems like a nice place," Indigo Zap's voice was sincere as she followed Sugarcoat's new friend through the hallways of Starlight Glimmer's Beacon Of Hope. The hallways were nicely decorated, though the colors were somewhat muted all around. As she passed various doors in the hallways, she saw recreational rooms of various kinds. One had an indoor pool, where several girls in one-piece swimsuits were lounging by the poolside chatting in low tones. In the next room was a small group of boys lounging on a sofa taking turns passing a video game controller back and forth.
"I can't think of a better place." Night Glider had a wistful smile on her lips as she led the way. "We have everything a person could want. Good food, good games, good friends."
"Sounds good." Indigo smirked. "So what do you like to do?"
"Me? I like to swim, personally." Night Glider stretched her arms out over her head. "I have an extra swim suit, if you'd like to try the pool."
"Do you think that would be okay?" Indigo asked worriedly. "I'm just a guest here..."
"Of course it is. Our home is everybody's home, they simply need to ask." Night Glider winked. "Come on, my room is this way!"
"Uh..." Indigo cleared her throat as she followed Night Glider into a wing of the building marked with a 'female' symbol on the door that opened into the hallway. "Just so we're clear, I'm not into girls... you know, just in case."
Night Glider smirked back over her shoulder. "That's okay, I don't think you're my type anyway. No offense."
"Oh, no, no of course not..." Indigo followed her into the bedroom, standing by the door while Night Glider dug through her drawers. "Why aren't I your type?"
"Here, I think we're close to the same size." Night Glider held out a plain blue one piece.
"Thanks." Indigo took it. "Why wouldn't you go out with me?" When Night Glider turned back to the bed behind her to begin undressing Indigo continued. "Seriously, you'll go out with Sugarcoat and not me? What the heck?"
Answers weren't forthcoming however, so Indigo Zap gave up the fight and changed into the proffered swimsuit. It seemed a little strange, but they were here to learn about this place, and while Sugarcoat was grilling the headmaster, she had might as well run with it and see where the day took her. What was the worst that could happen?
***
"I think... you're doing a good job here, Miss Glimmer." Sugarcoat spoke with an honest nod of her head. "If Crystal Prep has shown me anything, it's the worst in people. One person in particular..." Sugarcoat's mind seemed to clear slightly as her eyes met Starlight Glimmer's again. "A student named Sunset Shimmer."
"Ah." Starlight leaned back in her seat with a wistful sigh. "I'm sorry you had to inherit that particular problem."
"She's been a huge problem for me and my friends for a while now. In fact... we kind of came here hoping to learn more about her, or what we can do with her."
"I wish I had an answer for you, but some people just can't be saved or reasoned with." Starlight Glimmer cocked her head with a sad smile. "I did everything I could to show her the error of her ways. But it looks like she's found a place she truly belongs." A slight smirk tugged at her cheek. "Good for her, I suppose."
"Yeah, she does seem to fit right in there..."
"And you don't, if you don't mind my saying so." Starlight gave her a smile. "You seem way too intelligent to waste your time dealing with the rat-race of Crystal Preparatory Academy."
"I admit I had the same thought, just now."
"And our doors are open to you as a school, even if you don't intend to live here."
"Thank you..." Sugarcoat shook her head. "But such a decision shouldn't be made in a day. After all, I still have my education to think about... and how it'll affect my future."
"We may not have Crystal Prep's reputation, but we do all we can to give the best education. Of course, I wouldn't ask you to make such a decision now." Starlight Glimmer stood and approached Sugarcoat. "Would you like to join your friend in her tour of the grounds?"
"I think that would be fine, yes. Thank you for your time." Sugarcoat shook Starlight Glimmer's hand, but paused at the door before opening it. "If I may ask... did you know how intelligent Sunset Shimmer really is?"
"It didn't matter." Starlight Glimmer shook her head. "She dedicated all of that intelligence to pursuing her own ego. That doesn't help anybody, even herself, in the long run."
"Perhaps..." Sugarcoat opened the door and emerged out into the hallway leading to the front entrance.
"She has no doubt taken your friend to one of the rec rooms down the hallway there." Starlight pointed down the hallway leading deeper into the mansion.
"Thanks." Sugarcoat waved back at the school headmistress again before heading the indicated direction. She made her way down the much longer hallway, passing several rooms of lounging boys and girls until she spotted Indigo's head bobbing up and down in a pool surrounding by other girls, who were all chattering excitedly. Sugarcoat watched from the door in amusement for a couple of moments. The girls were drilling Indigo with questions about her experiences outside the school.
"Is it true the boys at other schools don't shower?"
"I've never done a sniff test, but I'm pretty sure that's true for some of them... okay most of them."
Sugarcoat cackled. "I see it took you all of fifteen minutes of being left alone to get your clothes off, Indigo Zap."
"Oh har har." Indigo rolled her eyes. "I was just checking out the place. Turns out it's kind of nice."
"Well I've always thought so." Night Glider smiled up at Sugarcoat. "Would you like to join us, too?"
"I don't have anywhere to be. If you have a spare swimsuit, I could hang around for a while. Besides, you've already coaxed my ride home in there with you."
"Hey, you could always walk home if you're that desperate to leave." Indigo smirked.
"Or I could steal your keys and drive home myself. That's also an option."
"Touch my ride without permission and I will eat your kidneys."
So Sugarcoat joined the girls in the pool, wearing a swimsuit borrowed from one of Night Glider's friends. It was an amicable soak in a well-kept pool, and was pretty good exercise too, Sugarcoat knew. Things only got awkward when Indigo Zap tried to suggest a race, a suggestion that was quickly shut down by Night Glider and her friends. It seemed those who lived here didn't appreciate any sort of competition, no matter how nonexistent the stakes.
"Competing doesn't serve anybody any good," Night Glider admonished her in a soft, but firm voice. "Your ego won't help others, your compassion will."
"That's... uh... deep." Indigo smiled sheepishly.
It wasn't much longer after that when Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap decided it was time to go, and Night Glider showed them to the front doors after gathering up their belongings from her room. She turned towards them with a warm smile. "I hope you can both come back soon. We're always happy to see new friends come in and learn about us."
"Yeah, we just might do that." Sugarcoat pulled her friend into a hug with a friendly smile, which seemed to delight the smaller girl. "I'll see you around."
"Take care!" Night Glider was waving them off until they reached the car and took off down the street. they had spent most of the day hanging out with Night Glider and her companions, until the sun had fallen halfway behind the horizon. Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap were both pretty relaxed, moreso perhaps than they had any right to be for a couple of girls on a mission of the utmost importance. This was for the good of their future, after all.
"So what's your impression of them?" Sugarcoat asked curiously. "Honestly."
"Honestly, they seem a little weird, but not in a bad way." Indigo shrugged. "Sour Sweet and Pinkie Pie are way weirder than them."
"Hm. Yeah, you have a point."
"Did Miss Glimmer have anything to say about Sunset Shimmer?"
"Just that she would never listen to anything she said."
"So, what we probably could've guessed." Indigo smirked. "What now?"
Sugarcoat shrugged as she stared out the window of her car, watching the terrain pass on their way back home. "I am curious about something... but it'll have to wait for tomorrow."
***
The next day Sugarcoat approached Twilight Sparkle's front door with her hands behind her back. Twilight always had a way of making sense of things that made no sense to the rest of them, so perhaps she could give Sugarcoat some perspective on this particular issue as well. Plus the non-evil Sunset Shimmer could usually be found hanging around. With any luck she could provide a little extra insight into what she wanted to know.
Twilight's response was swift. Only moments after Sugarcoat's knock the door swung open and Twilight's eyes sparkled with pleasant recognition behind her thick glasses. "Sugarcoat! This is a pleasant surprise! Come in!"
"Thank you." Sugarcoat stepped inside. As she had expected, Sunset Shimmer was parked on the couch with Spike the talking dog sitting in her lap. "I hope I'm not interrupting."
"No way, I was just psyching myself up for our camping trip next week." Twilight blushed. "With Sunset's help, of course. I've never actually gone camping before."
"I told you it'll be fine." Sunset smiled from the couch. "If Principal Celestia says that Camp Everfree is a nice place, I'm sure it's a nice place."
"Just make sure you don't get eaten by any bears while you're there," Sugarcoat scolded her. "If you get eaten it should be by something fun. Like a cougar." She looked back and forth between Sunset and Twilight's blank, but slightly amused stares. Twilight had a soft rosey blush on her cheeks. "I swear I didn't mean it like that before I said it but this is the path I've chosen for myself, evidently."
Twilight giggled and closed the door behind her. "Settle in, I'll get you a drink." Twilight turned to head into the kitchen.
"Thank you." Sugarcoat moved to sit beside Sunset, who had Spike curled up in her lap with a small picture book sitting on her knees. "What are you doing there?"
"I'm helping Spike learn to read." Sunset scratched the little puppy behind the ears.
"I'm gonna be literate!" Spike stuck out his furry chest proudly.
"That's... really decent of you, Sunset Shimmer."
"I try to help out where I can." Sunset waved off the compliment with a soft blush. "Got a lot to make up for."
"Could I ask you kind of a personal question, Sunset?"
"Ask away."
"Why are you a good person?" The awkward silence that followed didn't deter Sugarcoat from her chosen path. "I've been trying to figure out what to do about our Sunset Shimmer, but everything I find out leads me to think she's just naturally selfish to the exclusion of all others. Were you ever like that?"
"Yes, I was."
"So what changed?"
The silence reigned for several more seconds before Twilight walked in, holding a small mug of tea out to Sugarcoat, which she accepted with a murmur. "I've never heard this story either." Twilight sat down on the couch on Sunset's right side. "You don't have to tell the story, if you don't want to."
"It's alright." Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath. "If it'll help in any way, I'll tell you about where I come from and the things I did. It's just the past, after all."
Sunset Shimmer told them about what happened back in her homeworld of Equestria, and the events that led her here, to their world. Of how she demanded more and more power, of her obsession with proving her worth and superiority. The more she spoke, the easier it was for Sugarcoat to see the second Sunset Shimmer in her. The girl Sunset Shimmer described, the braggart loner with few interests beyond her own superiority, slotted so easily into the role of the girl Starlight Glimmer had spoken of. As Sunset Shimmer reached the end of her tale, where she was welcomed with open arms by the girls of Canterlot High, that was where the girl sitting before her suddenly seemed to take shape.
"It was a heck of an experience, I can tell you that." Sunset glanced to her right, where Twilight was holding her hand in a tight, comforting grip. "I guess sometimes you have to see the monster you're becoming the hard way..."
"Do you think you could have changed without that experience?"
"I honestly don't know." Sunset met Sugarcoat's eyes with a helpless shrug. "I can't say what she's been through or what she really thinks. Maybe she already did and it didn't help. Maybe she never will..."
"I see." Sugarcoat put her hand to her chin. "If things had happened differently for you, do you think you would have been hopeless?"
"Sugarcoat!" Twilight protested suddenly. "Come on, that's just mean."
"It's okay, Twi." Sunset squeezed Twilight's hand as she met Sugarcoat's eyes. There was a solemnity in them that Sugarcoat had rarely seen from her before. "If you want me to be completely honest? Yes. If my friends hadn't reached out to me, and pulled me back... I probably would have kept going. Who knows where I would have ended up. That was why, even after the portal opened again, I decided to stay here permanently. I need my friends to remind me why I need to try to be good."
Sugarcoat nodded slowly, then stood up from the couch and shoved her hands in her vest pockets. "Thank you, Sunset. I think that helps me quite a bit."
"Don't mention it. I hope you finally take care of your problem with... well, me." Sunset smirked.
"Yeah, me too." Sugarcoat waved and turned to walk outside, closing the door softly behind her.
As her legs carried her down the sidewalk, her mind slowly compiled this new information with what she had learned already. From Sunset Shimmer, from Night Glider, from Starlight Glimmer, and even from Zecora. That reading that night had started all of this, after all... and yet something she said that night wasn't quite fitting with what Sunset Shimmer had told her. She knew taking a fortune teller at her word was probably a mistake, but she liked to keep all of her bases covered, and fake or not, the woman had sounded very wise.
The Youth Club was only a couple of blocks from Twilight Sparkle's place. It was largely empty at this time of day, and she was sad to see that the neon sign above Zecora's door at the end of the back hallway was dark. So Sugarcoat made her way to the bar and leaned against the counter.
"Hey, do you know when the fortune teller gets in?" Sugarcoat jerked her thumb towards the back.
It wasn't the bartender who responded. "I start in about an hour, but I'm always happy to help a child in need." Sugarcoat turned around to see Zecora standing between her and the front door. She was clad in a pair of normal blue jeans and a black t-shirt, a total contrast to the fancy garb she wore when she was in the back.
"If you start in an hour... did you... know I would be looking for you now?"
Zecora smirked. "I can't say I did. Even I need a paycheck." Zecora approached the counter and reached out a hand to pluck a small envelope the bartender held out to her. She opened it, glanced inside, then nodded in satisfaction and slid it into one of her pockets.
"Ah." Sugarcoat shook her head. "I hate to make you work off the clock, but I just felt like I needed to ask you something."
"Ask away, I say." Zecora slid onto the barseat beside her.
Sugarcoat quickly sat down beside her. "When I came to see you the other day... you talked about choices. That choices are what shape our lives..."
"Did I?" Zecora asked curiously. "I don't believe that was what I said."
"You said my choice would shape my heart..."
"Yes, and it would." Zecora nodded. "I didn't say choices were the only things that could shape us."
"What else can?"
"Life." Zecora rapped one of her fingers on the wooden countertop as she flashed Sugarcoat a smile over her shoulder. "From the greatest act of God to the smallest coincidence, anything can change our lives. Other people, holes in the ground, a stapler, a sheet of paper left in the wrong place can change everything forever."
"Then why put so much emphasis on this choice?"
"Because it's up to you what choice to make here... as with everything else." Zecora nodded. "All of your choices shape who you are... but they are rarely the catalysts of change themselves. Very few people can simply choose to change, you choose how to respond to life, and that changes you."
"Life constantly provides choices that create change. Then... what you told me was pointless. If we're constantly running into reasons to make choices that change us, then telling me I'd have to choose how to change was like telling me I'd have to breathe."
Zecora pursed her lips with a nod. "That's one way to look at it." She smiled slyly. "But it made you think about your life and the choices you were making, didn't it?"
Sugarcoat stared at her incredulously, then couldn't help a soft chuckle that crept out of her lips. "I suppose it did. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately."
"That's good. Too few young people think anymore about what their actions might bring upon themselves and others."
"If I may ask one more thing... do you think there's a point of no return?" Sugarcoat glanced over at her companion solemnly. "A point where you've chosen your path and can't choose anything else, no matter what happens? Where changing becomes impossible?"
Zecora took a deep breath and seemed to be seriously considering that for several long minutes. At last she let her breath out in one long rush of air and turned towards her. "If there is, I've never seen it."
***
Sugarcoat's path was decided by the time she marched through the hallways of Crystal Prep towards the lunch room. As she pushed through the large double-doors, she immediately caught sight of her friends occupying the table on the far side of the room. The rest of the table was empty, as per usual. Cinch's hit out on them, combined with their general weirdness compared to the rest of school, had them sitting alone during lunch most days. Of course, they weren't the only ones. Sunset Shimmer had a table almost entirely to herself, and those who were sitting at the table were sitting as far from her as physically possible. Sitting with Cinch's grumpy lapdog was almost as bad as sitting with Cinch's sworn enemies.
Sugarcoat made her way through the cafeteria line, gathered up her food, and made her way towards her friends. She didn't sit, however, instead hovering behind Indigo for a moment.
"I need you to spot for me. I'm about to do something stupid."
Indigo looked back over her shoulder with a look of exasperation. "Oh boy, what is it this time?"
"Be ready to save my life." Sugarcoat marched away from her friends' table to the other empty table, moving across from Sunset Shimmer to plop down her tray and slide into the seat right in front of her. Sunset's eyes snapped up from her food to regard her in incredulous shock, but Sugarcoat didn't respond while she twisted the top off of her milk.
"Have you gone completely stupid?" Sunset Shimmer demanded.
"That's debatable."
"We hate each other."
"That's just not true."
"Oh really?"
"I don't hate you, and you don't know me." Sugarcoat poked her fork at Sunset pointedly before spearing a couple of green beans on the end of it and shoveling them into her mouth. She had swallowed in the stunned silence before continuing. "I've been looking into you since you started preying on us, and I've come across some interesting details."
"Am I supposed to be impressed by what a great spy you are?" Sunset sneered. "Stay out of my personal life, and you can stay away from my friends while you're at it."
"I think I have most of the relevant details I need to put together where you've been and what you've done. Growing up in Starlight Glimmer's Beacon Of Hope, going wild, being kicked out, and being taken in by Cinch in return for being her lackey." Sugarcoat ignored her. She shoveled up a forkful of corn to chew and swallow before continuing. "What I need from you is reasons, and a couple of time gaps filled in."
Sunset was visibly shaking by now, her face beet red. "And why would I tell you anything?"
"That's just it, you have no reason to. Except that I'm asking you to." Sugarcoat met Sunset's eyes for the first time since sitting down. Sunset was glaring death at her, but there was an awkward uncertainty hidden somewhere far underneath. "I always suspected Cinch was controlling you. Now I know she is. What I don't know is how complicit you've been in all the things that you've done. Did you hate it? Or did you like it?"
"You have gone completely stupid." Sunset Shimmer stood up.
"A friend of ours almost died when you took Sour Sweet's medicine, you know."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sunset Shimmer turned to march away from the table.
"I'll be under a tree on the north side of the park until six PM after school." Sugarcoat's parting words went ignored as Sunset Shimmer plopped down at another table, which was quickly vacated by most of the students, who all somehow finished their lunches at once.
With a sigh Sugarcoat lifted her tray and walked back to her friends to sit down beside Sunny Flare. Four pairs of eyes fixed on her in absolute shock as she began to dig into her lunch again.
Sour Sweet was the one who broke the silence. "What. The. F-"
***
Sugarcoat's pencil scribbled across the sheets of the open notebook in front of her, writing almost as fast as her brain could conjure the images. Images of foxes and rabbits going on adventures together, sharing sharp-witted quips and beating all odds. She was always honest about the things she did... aside from this particular passion of hers. There was no reason anybody needed to know, and even she had her limits. Making her life more difficult for no reason simply didn't sound appealing.
"Okay, so you got me curious enough to come." Sugarcoat blinked at the sound of a familiar voice and lifted her gaze from her notebook. At first she thought it was her friend, this world's Sunset Shimmer looked so much like her outside of her school uniform. Aside from the scowl on her lips, anyway. "Stand up."
"Excuse me?"
"Stand up." Sunset Shimmer made an upward gesture with her palm.
Sugarcoat stood up curiously, and soon felt herself being patted down by Sunset's rough hands. Sugarcoat raised her eyebrow as the hands ran up and down her torso and legs, as if searching for signs of a concealed weapon or wire. She even lifted her skirt and the bottom of her shirt. "I never knew you felt this way about me. At least buy me dinner first."
"Shut up." Sunset released her once she was satisfied that she was clean. "If you're not trying to get a recorded confession out of me, what exactly do you want?"
"Exactly what I said." Sugarcoat sat back down and patted the grass beside her. "Answers."
"You get three questions." Sunset Shimmer sat down stiffly with her back against the tree trunk, folding her legs in front of her and smoothing her school skirt down around her knees. "But afterwards you have to answer some of mine."
"It's only fair." Sugarcoat didn't take her eyes off of Sunset Shimmer. "What happened between the time Starlight Glimmer kicked you out of the orphanage to the time you ended up in Cinch's care?"
"No room for Genie-style perversions of your questions, is there?"
"I pride myself on being concise."
"And just so we're clear, nothing said here changes anything. I'm not giving up on my path for the sake of 'friendship' or whatever. I've got stuff I need to do."
"I said nothing of the sort. I just want to understand what turned you into this thing sitting beside me."
"You know, that kind of attitude won't make me more inclined to talk."
"I expect you to tell me the truth. I'm just giving you the same courtesy."
"Touche'." Sunset Shimmer leaned back against the tree, resting the back of her head against her cupped hands and letting one leg cross comfortably over the other. "So, what all have you managed to dig up on me anyway? How good are you at sleuthing?"
"I know Starlight Glimmer kicked you out of her orphanage, and you're staying with Cinch now."
"And you want the whole story, huh? I'm not much of a storyteller, and it's not very long anyway..."
"I lived in Starlight Glimmer's Beacon of Hope for almost as long as I could remember. Dad died when I was young, mom died when I was eight, so I ended up in an orphanage. I freaking hated it there. Everyone was nice to me, and Starlight Glimmer herself was always gentle when I was doing what she told me... but man, something about that place always rubbed me the wrong way. I was a little bookworm dreamer I guess. Always reading, always wondering, always looking forward to the things I knew I could do..."
"But it was like every time I started really getting into something, Miss Glimmer would try to pull me back... to hold me down. If I tried to get hold of anything she didn't approve of, she would take it and yell at me. I wanted to get out, I wanted to see everything, I wanted to learn and do great things, I knew I could do it, but she did everything she could to stop me. She yelled, she took my stuff, she grounded me, she hit me, but man, screw her! I was on a mission to make the most of my potential... and after a while, I guess pissing her off just became part of my mission."
"I even got into shoplifting. Not because I couldn't afford the stuff, but because I liked seeing the look on her face when I showed up with the cops. It was worth every punishment. Honestly I always thought her threats about putting me out on the street were hot air... guess the joke was on me. She actually dragged me out of the swimming pool on my eighteenth birthday, gave me an hour to gather up my things, and kicked me out onto the curb."
Sunset Shimmer shrugged carelessly and kicked her foot into the air, though Sugarcoat could see the tension in her face at the fairly recent memory. "No point in lying, I was freaking out of my mind. I had nowhere to go. I was sleeping on the street, begging for food, looking for a job nobody was offering, the whole shebang. For two whole weeks I kept that up, spending my nights in my sleeping bag in the alleys between buildings. I was cold, I was hungry, and... yeah, I was scared."
Sunset Shimmer was staring up at the fiery orange sky as she spoke. "I don't know why Dean Cadence noticed me in particular. I also don't know why Principal Cinch actually seemed to recognize me when Dean Cadence took me to meet her, but it was like she knew right away how smart I was. It was kind of freaky, but no way was I gonna turn down an offer to get off the street and get back on the road to a future that doesn't end in six diseases. Cinch lets me crash at her place, provides for me, and gives me a chance to get my education back on track. In exchange... well, I guess you know what she wants from me."
"Us." Sugarcoat nodded. "She wants you to torment us out of Crystal Prep, along with using your intelligence to boost Crystal Prep's reputation."
"What did you do to piss her off so much?"
"It's a long story. Suffice it to say we didn't uphold Crystal Prep's reputation as well as she would have liked."
"She really, really hates you."
"I suspected as much, ever since the Sour Sweet incident."
Sunset glanced down, then back up at the clouds. "I'm not apologizing, if you're trying to goad it out of me. I'm doing what I have to, here."
"You're not the one who needs to apologize. If anything I think things would have been worse if someone without a conscience had been the one to do it." Sugarcoat glanced over at her. "What are your plans after high school?"
"College. Somewhere far from here." Sunset nodded firmly. "I got the grades for a scholarship, just gotta ride out the rest of the year without ticking off Principal Cinch, and I can get the heck out of this whole situation."
"Yes, that's been our strategy so far as well." Sugarcoat nodded. "Bet it would make your job easier if we did transfer, though."
"Honestly, I don't care if you stay or not." Sunset shrugged. "That's Cinch's grudge. If you stay through the torture, hey, good for you, I guess."
"Would you still be saying that if Indigo Zap got her hands on you?"
Sunset Shimmer just smirked in response. "You know she's not around right now. I could totally take you."
"Yeah, yeah. Do you miss your friends at Starlight Glimmer's Beacon of Hope?"
"Friend. Singular." Sunset sighed. "And yeah, of course I do. Also that's four questions out of you. I get four, now."
"Technically you already asked one earlier."
"Psh, whatever. Why are you still at Crystal Prep? What the heck are you trying to prove?"
"That's two questions."
"Pick one."
Sugarcoat cackled. "One answer? We want to be able to say we graduated from there. On a personal note? I want to know that I didn't run away from this crap. Maybe it's stupid, maybe it's petty, but if I ran away from some underhanded school bully jerk, no matter what kind of dangerous crap she pulls, how could I put up with any kind of professional environment where things will probably be a lot worse? No offense."
Sunset shrugged. "Don't care. What's the deal with you and Night Glider? Are you just messing with her head to get to me or something?"
"That's two questions again."
"Just answer me! If you hurt her I will make this personal!"
Sugarcoat raised her hands defensively. "No, I'm not messing with her head just to get to you. I started talking to her for that reason, but she ended up being a cool girl. I think we could be very good friends, if Starlight Glimmer lets us keep talking."
"Well that would put you one step ahead of me." Sunset huffed. "She has to sneak out to see me."
"Yeah, I gathered that. Starlight Glimmer must hate you too."
"I never did march to her stupid beat." Sunset's teeth were grinding in barely contained rage. "I deserved more, I can be more! There's nothing I can't do if I just have a chance!"
"With your grades? You may be right..." Sugarcoat looked down at the grass thoughtfully. "You're a smart girl, Sunset. You didn't need someone trying to tell you not to be."
"Well... thank you." Sunset almost seemed taken aback by the agreement. "I've... never had anyone say that before."
"I call it as I see it." Sugarcoat was still staring at the grass with the wheels in her head turning."And I think I do see it. Thank you." Sugarcoat stood up from the grass and turned to leave.
"Uh... you're welcome?" Sunset stammered for a moment, then shook her head and jumped to her feet behind Sugarcoat. "You realize this doesn't change anything between us."
"Oh come on." Sugarcoat glanced back over her shoulder. "We were doing so good about being honest with each other, are you going to go and ruin that now?"
"What, you think I'm gonna throw away my livelihood and my future just to go easy on you now?"
"No." Sugarcoat met Sunset's gaze with confidence. "I didn't say you'd stop being a jerk to us. But that doesn't mean things aren't different, and you know it." Sunset just stared at her in silence, for once backing down with her mouth closed into a thin line. "See you around."
Satisfied, Sugarcoat turned to leave her writing tree with her notebook resting in the crook of her arm. Her mind was whirling even as she walked, and by the time she made it home, she knew what she was going to do...
***
Starlight Glimmer's Beacon Of Hope was quiet the following weekend, but looked more friendly than before as Sugarcoat climbed out of Indigo's car to approach the sidewalk. Perhaps being inside and chatting with the occupants had taken away some of the creepiness. Familiarity bred comfort, after all. Especially with Indigo Zap by her side, Sugarcoat wasn't nervous at all about coming to visit her new friends. Indigo had even been eager to come.
"Who can say no to an indoor swimming pool? Seriously." Indigo had exclaimed when asked to accompany her.
Night Glider opened the door to greet them with a wide smile and stepped aside. "Come on in! We've been waiting for you!"
"Thank you." Sugarcoat smiled as she and her friend stepped inside.
"I am so ready for a soak after the week we've had." Indigo Zap stretched with a loud groan and the popping of several joints. "Just point me to the pool!"
"Of course!" Night Glider giggled. "Come on, you can both change in my room."
"Ah, Sugarcoat!" Starlight Glimmer emerged from her office with a bright smile and open arms. "It's wonderful to see you back."
Sugarcoat nodded. "Thank you. It's nice to come spend some time with my new friends."
"And their pool," Indigo added hastily.
"I hope we'll be seeing a lot more of you both in the future." Starlight Glimmer was beaming. "If you wish to transfer here, I've already prepared the necessary paperwork."
Sugarcoat held up one hand. "That won't be necessary. I've already decided against it."
"Really?" Starlight's smile faltered. "I'm sorry to hear that. May I ask why? I can see how unhappy you are at Crystal Prep."
"Because I'm not sure things would actually improve here. You're a lot like Principal Cinch."
"Pardon me?" Starlight frowned. Night Glider and Indigo gave Sugarcoat stunned glares that almost pleaded for silence, but Sugarcoat wasn't one to not speak her mind.
"You're an extremist, just like her. You exist on the other side of the coin but at the end of the day you coddle those who share you view of the world and damn those who don't. And me? Well, Crystal Prep may not be perfect, but at least I won't be scolded for trying my hardest, there."
"Ahehehe..." Indigo gripped Sugarcoat's shoulders from behind tightly, hissing into her ear through clenched teeth. "Indoor pool, Sugarcoat!"
"If we lose access to it, then so be it."
Starlight shook her head with a sigh. "If this is about Sunset Shimmer, I assure you I did everything in my power to help her! She simply wouldn't allow me to, she couldn't get over her obsession with being the best. Principal Cinch would never have cared about her at all."
"No, she wouldn't, on a personal level. But from what Sunset says, you didn't really care about her either." Sugarcoat shrugged. "From what I heard, you cared about making her like you. You tried and tried to beat her into line because you thought it would be best for her, but that's not what she needed from you. You're right that people living in harmony keep the world peaceful, but it's people like her... like me... who change the world. Sunset Shimmer is brilliant, with her mind and her drive to accomplish, she could cure diseases, create new technologies, make the world a safer and better place... she just needed someone to guide her in the right direction, not repress her. Everyone is different, and you didn't like that. You failed her, Starlight Glimmer, not the other way around."
Night Glider was shaking in her plain slacks as her eyes whipped back and forth between Sugarcoat and her headmistress. Starlight Glimmer's face wavered between anger, surprise, and hurt. Sugarcoat's face was as calm as her voice, a statement of simple fact rather than an accusation.
When the silence reigned for more than five minutes Sugarcoat continued. "I understand if you want us to leave and not come back." Indigo groaned as if stabbed in the gut.
Starlight's eyes were piercing by now, but not in an angry way. She glanced over at her terrified pupil, then met Sugarcoat's gaze once again. "You've made a friend in my student... and I'll let you see her as long as you respect the house and the beliefs of those within it."
"Of course." Sugarcoat casually adjusted her glasses. "I only answered because you asked."
Night Glider nearly fainted in relief as Starlight Glimmer straightened up. "I hope you enjoy your time here." Her motions were stiff as she turned to march back into her office. The door lock clicked behind her.
"Don't do that to me!" Indigo clutched her chest with one hand.
"Why did you say those things?" Night Glider asked. "Do you... really believe them? Sunset Shimmer is my friend but I've always seen her as... believed she was..."
"I believe everything I said." Sugarcoat turned towards Night Glider. "And it's up to you to decide what you believe. No matter what I say, and no matter what Starlight Glimmer says."
Night Glider gulped with a slow nod. "Y-yeah, I understand..."
"Well, since you barely avoided getting us kicked out, it's pool time!" Indigo leapt towards the back ahead of her two companions.
Night Glider giggled. "Be honest. Is she just using us for our pool or something?"
"You'll grow on her." Sugarcoat slipped a comfortable arm around Night Glider's shoulders and walked into the back with her. "The rest of us did, no matter how different we were."