//------------------------------//
// Fur Crying Out Loud Part 02 
// Story: The Shadowbolts Adventures 
// by DragonShadow 
//------------------------------//

Back when Twilight Sparkle attended Crystal Prep High School, she had been special enough to earn herself a special private study space from Dean Cadence. Of course, after she left the room had remained empty, until she bequeathed it to Sugarcoat. Naturally, this was the first place Indigo Zap and their circle of friends rushed to after Sugarcoat vanished from the cafeteria like a cat seeking shelter from the storm. 

"I can barely believe that really happened." Lemon Zest had her hands clenched in front of her with a look of worry on her face. "It really happened, right?" 

"If it didn't, someone would've woken up by now." Sunny Flare assured her. 

Indigo Zap clenched her fists in front of the door. "I can't believe Sunset Shimmer would stoop that low. Dragging someone's private hobby out for everyone to hear like that. I wanna go slug her one!" 

Sour Sweet threw her hands into the air. "Finally someone is talking sense around here!" 

"Please don't, you'll just be doing her work for her," Sunny Flare pointed out. 

Sonata tapped Sour Sweet's shoulder and made a few quick signs with her hands, which Sour Sweet translated for everybody else. "Sonata says she thought the story sounded really good. She should be proud." 

"Yeah, that's not really the problem here..." Sunny Flare replied. 

"Well? Are we gonna stand out here the rest of the day or go be there for our friend?" Lemon Zest rubbed her arm. "Because part of me wants to stand out here all day..." 

Sugarcoat's voice was only slightly muffled by the door. "You know I can hear you out there." 

"Busted!" Indigo exclaimed. 

Sugarcoat continued. "Come in or not. It won't change anything. I'm not leaving." 

The gathered friends exchanged a glance and only the slightest of nods before Indigo Zap gripped the door handle and pushed her way inside. 

It had been some time since they had been in Sugarcoat's private school laboratory. It actually looked like a nice little room now, complete with wall furnishings, a couple of bookshelves lined up in the back, and even a futon for napping set up between the computer desk and the bookshelves. There were two displays on the computer desk, though only one computer, that looked a lot newer than the one Twilight had left behind. Sugarcoat was seated on the wheeled chair in front of the desk as funny cat videos played on the monitor, though she wasn't smiling. 

"Dang, Sugarcoat." Indigo looked around at the room in awe. "This is like a whole little house you have here." 

"You must spend a lot of time here..." Sunny Flare noted. 

"Yes, well, I'll be spending more now." Sugarcoat glanced towards the back. "I need to find a place to fit a microwave and a fridge." She looked back up at the gathered group, who had all fallen silent as they stared at Sugarcoat. "Go ahead. Laugh, ask, whatever your impulses tell you to do. I suppose I have nothing further to hide from you girls anyway." 

Sunny Flare took a deep breath. "First off, this doesn't change anything, okay? We still want to be your friends." 

"Noted." 

"Secondly..." Indigo rubbed the back of her neck. "Just out of friendly curiosity... was that what it sounded like...?" 

"Fanfiction of my own bunnysona fucking Nickolas Wylde? Yes." Sugarcoat smirked. "I assumed that would be obvious." 

Lemon spoke up next. "But... why would you write that?" 

"He's hot." Sugarcoat turned towards her monitor with her fingers making a pyramid in front of her. "His smooth personality, his take-charge attitude, always being the smartest person in the room and still having the capacity for moments of quiet sensitivity... mmmh..." Sugarcoat was practically purring by the time she finished speaking, if a human girl could pull that off. 

Sour Sweet grunted. "I don't know if I like the way you're looking at those cat videos." The others all whirled on her in surprise, while Sugarcoat just punched the monitor with her index finger to turn it off. 

"Hey, she didn't mean it!" Sunny Flare raised her hands calmingly. "I guess we're all just a little confused about... you know..." 

"Well I don't want to fuck animals." Sugarcoat swiveled to look at them directly now. "And I don't own a fursuit either, if you were going to ask." 

Lemon scratched her forehead. "I don't even know what that is..." 

Sugarcoat smirked. "Feel free to look it up." Her smirk faded as she leaned forward in her seat with her elbows on her knees, reaching up with one hand to push her glasses into place on the top of her nose. "Yes, I do have a thing for anthropomorphic cartoon characters. No, I don't want to fuck actual animals or pretend I am one in real life. I enjoy dwelling in my fantasies sometimes. It's a break from the rules and standards of the real world. You already know that about me." 

"I think I understand." Sunny Flare nodded. "And as I said, whatever you're into, it's perfectly fine. It doesn't change how we see you. Right girls?" Everyone else in the room nodded. 

"You don't nod." Sugrcoat pointed at Sonata. "I don't know you well enough to get a nod from you." Sonata looked down guiltily. 

"And if anyone else tries to give you crap about this, we'll be there to get your back too." Indigo Zap gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up and an exaggerated wink. "Nobody's gonna harass our friend for being who she is." 

"I feel like you're promising the impossible... but I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless." Sugarcoat stood from the computer chair to march up to her friends, reaching her arms out to pull them into a group hug that they gladly entered. One hand pushed lightly on Sonata's chest to evict her from the hug-pile. "I don't know you well enough yet." 

Sonata Dusk sighed, but kept on smiling as she watched the friends bond.