//------------------------------//
// Sour Sweet. Photograph. 
// Story: Sorry. 
// by zman123 
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Tomorrow.

Sour Sweet shook uncontrollably as she sat in the empty school corridor, waiting for the next lesson to begin. Tears blurred her vision and there was a loud ringing in her ears which she was sure was deafening her by the second. The voices, the voices were terrible. Pain, so much pain...

She was deaf to the loud tolling of the school bell which announced the start of the last lesson and it was not until she felt a vigorous tugging of her arm as a tall, muscular jock much larger than her found her hiding place, that she finally came to.

She ran, trying her best not to stagger in her dizzy state, and only just managed to avoid bumping into several students all of which shouted angrily at her. It was only thanks to a miracle that she eventually managed despite her blurring vision to make it to her class.

"Sit down, miss Sweet" ordered the teacher, clearly blind to the blank, cold look in Sour's reddened eyes. "I said sit down" repeated the teacher, raising his voice more than a little. Sour Sweet tried without success to walk forward towards her seat but it was clear her numb and senseless muscles would not cooperate as she succeeded only in staggering into another student by accident, causing him to drop the folder he was holding onto the floor. "Sit down NOW!" bellowed the teacher, dropping his facade of civility completely "SIT OR I'LL MAKE SURE EVERY LAST ONE OF YOUR SUBJECTS GETS A FAILING GRADE AND YOU GET EXPELLED FROM THIS SCHOOL AND NEVER SEE YOUR PRECIOUS FRIEND AGAIN!", he stared at her with eyes of flame that made him look more of a serial killer than a serial killer.

"Escort this troublemaker to her seat" he barked, salvaging a touch of composure, still breathing heavily. Two large and muscular students quickly got up from their seats and grabbed Sour by her arms ,and like policemen they marched her like a prisoner towards her seat where they waited until Sour Sweet had sat down before finally releasing their iron grip on her.

"Face the front" barked the teacher "and get out your textbook troublemaker. One little peep from you and I send you to detention after school for a week." The minutes crawled by like years as Sour Sweet tried without success to take in everything the teacher was putting up so quickly on the board and to copy all of it down. It was difficult for her to copy even one sentence down before the teacher changed the slide. The pen felt like ice in her already freezing hands and the room which said 25 degrees Celsius on the thermostat, felt like the arctic.

And when the worksheets were given out, consisting of work she had done all this year, she still had 3 pages left blank when the bell rang as opposed to everyone else who had finished long before the bell. The teacher growled at her like a savage animal but by now even her ears seemed to loose function as she heard nothing at all.

She felt nothing as the teacher shoved her senseless body out of the classroom and threw her bag at her so that it hit her in the shoulder hard.

For several minutes she stood completely still, unable to utter even a whisper as the pounding on her skull felt harder than ever before. She waited for Indigo Zap to come and shake her arm, to touch her cheek gently and beg her to say something. She waited for Indigo's warm and intimate embrace as she wrapped her arms around Sour and let Sour Sweet sob into her shoulder until the tears finally dried up, and Indigo patted her several times gently before asking if she was alright.

But Indigo didn't come. In desperation she called Indigo's name several times, but Indigo didn't come. "Stop ignoring me Indigo. Please. It's not funny" demanded Sour Sweet as she searched up and down the corridor frantically to find that she was completely on her own.

Indigo wasn't there. Indigo had left the school without her for some inexplicable reason. But perhaps if Sour Sweet ran quickly enough she could still catch her friend, the only thing she felt at that very moment could bring her out of this terrible nightmare. She dashed outside with speed that would drive the cross country champ to tears of envy and shame, and stared frantically. No one was there. Indigo Zap had gone home without her, and betrayed her.

"But" protested Sour Sweet "I thought we were friends". Her tone was neither sour nor sweet, only regretful and desperate. But Indigo Zap was a loyal friend and she would trust Indigo Zap with her very life. Common sense told her that Indigo Zap could not have deliberately have left her and she slapped herself hard in the face for accusing Indigo Zap of doing such terrible things. Indigo Zap wasn't like that.

Sour Sweet sighed. Indigo Zap wasn't here and there was no telling where she had gone or why she had left. But Sour Sweet knew that whatever Indigo Zap's intentions for leaving her were. they must have been good and noble. But then, Indigo Zap hadn't been in the last lesson either. If Indigo Zap had, then she would have given that teacher a blow he would not soon forget and told that bully from earlier to shove off and mind his own business.

But then come to think of it, she hadn't seen Indigo Zap all day today, or yesterday for that matter. Sour Sweet took a deep breath and tried without success to clear the ringing in her head as she tried to recall when exactly Indigo Zap had really left. She tried very hard to play back the events of the previous few weeks, but they would not come, hard as she tried. It was as if for the previous weeks, she had seen the world through a broken windscreen, as she was unable to recall anything in the last two weeks before yesterday clearly.

Sour Sweet sighed. Staying here to try and puzzle out this unsolvable mystery was useless and Indigo Zap would not come here anytime soon. So she shrugged as she began the long trek home, since she had forgotten to bring money once more. Her memory had been very poor as of late. If Indigo was here, she'd have reminded her.

It was late by the time she had gotten home, and every muscle in her body felt on fire. Sweat trickled from her head, soaking her uniform and her head burned with exhaustion. With what seemed like the last ounce of her breath, she made it to her apartment door and somehow managed to fish her key card from her cluttered backpack and swipe it successfully into the scanner. But not before she was hit with a hail of raindrops as the treacherous grey clouds that gathered in the sky betrayed her.

She staggered inside and somehow despite her blurring vision managed to make it up the stairs onto the top floor where she lived. Then she swiped the key card once more when she arrived at her room, and stepped inside, collapsing onto the floor from fatigue.

It was Friday today, but what was the point. If Indigo Zap wasn't here with her, all her weekend would be spent doing was sat alone in her room looking occasionally at the world outside through the window, sighing in pain and agony.

She looked at her pill bottle. It had run out again today. No wonder her brain felt so frazzled. She had been so lonely and upset that she had long forgotten to go get more medicine to sooth the ailments of a troubled mind. Like what happened at the friendship games. Only that time, it was because she was so engrossed in training and preparing herself for the games, with Indigo Zap encouraging her forward every step of the way.

She slapped herself hard in the face. She treasured each pill like a bar of solid gold. Without them, the very last thing she had to remind herself that she was just a normal person like everyone else, was lost to her. Her sanity, her ability to think clearly and coherently but most of all, her chance to prove not just to herself but to others that she did kind of have a heart and at the end of the day, that she was in fact simply trying to be as good a person as she could like the neurotypicals. The pharmacist never seemed to have more than one pill bottle each week since her condition was so very rare in these "modern times".

Her condition had no known cure, only treatments that were temporary at best. The surgeon also stated it would likely worsen with age. The surgeon said something else too that she never fully understood. Something about a harsh childhood and low self esteem being key things to watch out for. But the session ended before she had a chance to ask what he meant.

She sighed. If Indigo Zap was here now, she'd say something along the lines of "keep moving forward. What's done is done. You did what you could and you should not be upset." It was those short but meaningful phrases Indigo would drop to show the rest of the team how respectable a leader she was. Unlike many so called "leaders" Indigo Zap did not simply barge in one day yelling "I'm the leader. Do everything I say or else". Nor did she lure her teammates through lies and illusions, Indigo Zap was upfront about everything she did and would answer any question honestly telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing else when asked by her friends. That cowboy hat girl from the other school could suck it, Indigo was more trustworthy than her.

Indigo Zap was an elected leader, elected by the rest of the team to lead. Unlike most votes, it was not a vote where the person who got the most votes won. It was a vote where when the voting time came, everyone agreed and not one vote was cast against Indigo Zap, who stepped up meekly and humbly, promising to act only in the best interest of her beloved friends when she won the election.

Sour Sweet's tears slowly began to dissipate as she took from her pocket, her most valued possession and held it up to her eyes so she could see it clearly in the dim lighting of her cheap room. It was a picture of Indigo Zap, that Indigo Zap gave to her on their first trip outside of school together as friends. The photo was worn, having been in Sour Sweet's pocket for a long time. The image was clearly defacing, and several rips were visible on it. Yet it lost none of the value in Sour Sweet's eyes. She closed her eyes, and thought.

"No, don't leave me. Don't leave me" begged Sour Sweet. "Stay with me. Please. I can't survive without you for that long"

"I have to go" admitted Indigo Zap shamefully. "If I don't go, it'll be at least year before I can see them again and not for this long either. They normally only come back for a couple of days each year."

"You don't understand" Sour Sweet explains, clearly desperate "When you hold my hand, I feel, I feel safe. When you walk with me, I feel that I'm not just a sick girl with mental issues. The bullies leave me alone when you stand by me as a friend. But now that you go, I'll go back to being the "psycho" everyone thinks I am. I'll go back to being the bipolar girl who can never decide whether to be sweet or sour, and everyone'll... mock me"

Indigo Zap said nothing. She only nodded sullenly. "Wait. please. I'll be back soon, I promise." she said as she dissipated back into the nearly closing mall.

"She won't come back" sighed Sour Sweet wistfully "She won't come back for 2 weeks and when she does, she'll probably have found another girl much nicer than I could ever be and I, I won't have her anymore. I don't blame her." Sour Sweet said as she buried her face in her palms.

20 minutes later and Sour Sweet had long wanted to go home and forget she had ever had a friend as good as Indigo Zap. She didn't know her other friends back then and Indigo was the only friend she had. The only one who didn't just ignore her when the bullies came back for yet another go at the weak and helpless bipolar one with no parents and no one to miss her. Only grief kept her sat on that cold, stony bench, unable to move as she continued to sob and sob.

"I'm sorry I took so long" shouted a voice. But Indigo Zap had already left for her vacation. "Its okay, please don't cry. I'm here. I'm here." the voice pleaded.

Very reluctantly, Sour Sweet looked up. She frowned. She didn't need illusions. She needed her friend back.

"I'm really sorry for the delay. I just wanted to get you this present. But I'm sorry I took so long" Indigo Zap said as she put her hand on Sour Sweet's Shoulder to comfort her, something only loving mother's and father's would normally do.

"You didn't think I would just leave you behind like that. Please say you didn't best friend" asked Indigo Zap.

Sour Sweet quickly dabbed at her eye discreetly and quickly changed her expression. "Not for a second. You're not like that. You're loyal and you do care."

Indigo Zap blushed slightly at the compliment as she took from her pocket, a photo. "I'm sorry I couldn't get anything better. You told me you don't like sweets and all the other stuff, I didn't have enough money for it, I'm sorry. I really am"

Indigo Zap's hands trembled with embarrassment as she held the present up, it was clear she expected rejection and rage. It was clear she had hoped to do much better and was very apologetic for what she perceived to be a failing. It was that flustered expression that made Sour Sweet love Indigo Zap all the more.

"Photo finish took it for me. I, I hope you l, like it. It was all, all I could afford. I, h, hope it helps you, feel less lonely"

"You didn't have to give me anything. You're friendship is more than I could ever ask for"
Sour Sweet took a long, lasting look at the picture, which seemed more valuable in that second than all the diamonds in the world ever would be.

It was a picture of Indigo Zap. That alone made it award worthy, and worth a place in every national arts gallery in the world. But that wasn't what made it special. Indigo was not smiling in the photo, and that was great. Sour Sweet never liked people who were really, really smiley since she believed them to be evil. Smiles reminded her of the bullies who smiled when they bullied her and Indigo knew that and to make her happy, avoided the temptation to smile at the camera. But that didn't make it special either.

What was special was the outfit Indigo wore as she took the photo. It was not her usual outfit (her very formal school uniform) nor a more casual outfit. It wasn't a dress either despite how much Indigo Zap loved dresses and dressing in style. "Rainbow Dash always dresses in style" was Indigo Zap's catchphrase which she would sing at least 15 times a day on the bus to emphasise. It made Sour Sweet smile upon hearing it.

The outfit wasn't even one for a girl, and Sour knew that if Indigo Zap was seen wearing it in public, she'd be laughed at and thrown in the mental asylum without delay. Indigo Zap's outfit in the photo, was a black tuxedo. A black tuxedo complete with a very snazzy white shirt, a very neatly arranged bow tie, trousers and to top it all off, a bowler hat.

Sour Sweet knew why Indigo chose that outfit out of the hundreds of others, and it filled her heart with sunshine all the while, yes it did. And for the first time in a long time, she allowed herself a gentle smile.

"I hope you can think of this photograph as a symbol of our friendship" begged Indigo Zap pleadingly "So you can keep me, inside the pocket of your ripped jeans and so you can understand, that you will never, ever be alone again"

Sour Sweet only nodded. She had nothing to say to that.

"I have to go now, I'm sorry. But please, promise me just one thing. Please"

"Anything for you. Anything."

"Wait for me to come home. Wait for me. I'll be coming back for you one day. I give you my word." Indigo Zap sighed as she slowly let go of Sour's hand, and even more slowly began to trudge wearily away.

Sour Sweet only nodded once more still at a loss for words.

How a person as pure and devoted as Indigo could be so hated in a school which preached love and tolerance, she would never know. But Indigo was insulted more times a day than she could count by the students of Canterlot high, their rival school. They sang hateful songs about Indigo, and even made a hate website filled with slander and claiming Indigo committed all sorts of unspeakable crimes against humanity.

"I wanted to go to that school" Indigo once said to her. "The students there seemed so much more open to each other and the rules, so much more fair". But if that school was so fair, why did they allow the students to say such awful things about the saviour who saved her from those bullies when no one else would. Why did they hate Indigo despite her doing nothing wrong to them. And why did the fair teachers do nothing to stop all this.

Indigo had been called many horrible names by Canterlot High. "Bitch, Fucker, pile of shit" were some of the worst ones. But one insult took the cake. One insult was enough to drive anyone with a heart and soul to tears. Enough to make the person insulted commit suicide. That insult was "Flanderized".
"A flanderized Rainbow Dash who tries and fails to accomplish what the great and wonderful real Rainbow Dash did" the hate website claimed Indigo Zap was.

Sour Sweet rolled her eyes and face palmed as she put the photo away slowly. The good memory always turned sour when she thought of that one bit.

She lay on her bed, too exhausted to do much else. And with quivering fingers, she opened her drawer to a section where she kept all of the special cards Indigo gave to her, on birthdays, during Christmas and well you get the picture. They were worth much more than the presents they came with, and till this day, Sour Sweet hadn't lost a single one somehow. If one was to get lost or ripped, Sour Sweet preferred not to think about that. Indigo was never late with sending them either.

They did not say merry Christmas, or happy Easter or anything trivial, unimportant or superficial like that. They were special and each word that Indigo carefully chose to write on them was worth taking at face value. The messages were short, but it did not make them any less meaningful.

Sour Sweet took the one she got last Christmas and read it, trying very hard not to cry. "All that you touch, you change" it said. She had to steel herself before reading the next one which she got last Easter. "The past is never dead. It isn't even past." it read. What a positive message to give. It was never too late to go back and change. Priceless both to read, and read again.

The one from black Friday last year was longer, but still very catchy and memorable. "When thunder clouds start pouring down, light a fire they can't put out. Carve your name into the shining stars. Go venture far beyond the shores, don't forsake this life of yours, I'll guide you home no matter where you are" She thought back to it whenever she was about to do something she had never done before, and was nervous about. It calmed her like a narcotic.

Two more and she would be too tired to read any more. The one from Halloween was a good one that took her way back. "When you get older, your wild heart will live for younger days. Think of me if ever you're afraid". There was a reason she put it next to the one she got on black Friday.

But which one was last. Which one. All of them were so good but one had to be the one to end a sad, lonely day on. It was a tough choice, but it didn't take long for her to decide that the one from the Saint Valentines day massacre from the year before last year would be best to cheer her up, if only slightly.

This one was special even compared to the other ones. Sour Sweet's eyes closed with a yawn as she used her last ounce of energy to read the sentence even a genius like Einstein would do well to learn. And the message was not even trying to teach a moral, but trying to give a compliment.

"People who don't like you for their own selfish reasons when you did nothing wrong, are selfish freeloaders who would only like you for the services you'd provide for them. In essence they want the good without the bad and you cannot have that. At least in my opinion if you can't stand a person at their worst, you clearly don't deserve them at their best. No one can be happy and calm all the time, and when your friend isn't happy, you should be trying to cheer them up. Friendship is about give and take, and people who don't like you simply because of your changing moods, are selfish and not worth your friendship."

Sour Sweet was too tired today to write anything further in her diary which she kept in another drawer. Perhaps if she did, she would see that on the page a few days ago, she had written a note saying Indigo Zap was still sick and needed a few days to recover, and on another page 2 weeks before that it would say that Indigo Zap had not come to school because of her depression which would take a long time to recover from. But most of all, on the page for yesterday she had scrawled in large, bold yet very messy handwriting "I am afraid I will do something terrible. Someone help me."

Perhaps if the stress of Indigo Zap not being with her had not been so great, she would not have lost her step a few days ago while walking with a blurred vision, which had caused her to fall down a set of stairs and smack her head quiet hard on the ground below. It wasn't fatal and the damage certainly not permanent, it wasn't a major injury. But it wasn't painless either.

Her last thought as sleep came, was that things would have been different at the friendship games if she remembered her pills. Just as her head would not be so painful and her vision so blurred if she remembered her pills today. But these things were hard to remember when she was so busy panicking about the bully who could come for her any day now that Indigo Zap was not here.