"Yip, yip, yip!"
"Ee, e, e, eeee!"
"Tell us what he says!"
For the rest of the day the comments and laughter had followed Sugarcoat around the school like an unbearable musk she could not escape. She didn't mind being ignored, she didn't even mind being hated, but the constant attention was almost more than she could bear. It was only a small consolation that she was pretty sure it would be less intense going forward into the future, though there was a very real possibility of it following her around for the rest of her school life.
"Are you sure you're okay?" At last school had let out, and Sunny's Flare's comforting hand on her shoulder guided her away from the school along a somewhat more serpentine route than she would normally take to avoid the other students.
"Not really." Sugarcoat shrugged casually. "But what are you gonna do?"
"I don't know." Sunny Flare patted her shoulder comfortingly. "But if there's anything we can do for you, please let us know."
"I will... thank you." Sugarcoat nodded, and the two of them lapsed into a friendly silence, though Sugarcoat was pretty sure there was a hint of unease from her friend. She didn't mention it however until they rounded the last corner leading up to Sugarcoat's house at the end of the street.
Sugarcoat didn't like awkward silences. "Is there something you want to say to me?"
Sunny Flare blushed. "Please don't see me as judgmental."
"That depends on whether you sound judgmental or not."
"It just feels... sudden, is all." Sunny Flare shook her head. "How long have you had this particular interest?"
"A few years, maybe." Sugarcoat shrugged. "I never really did anything with it until recently. Too focused on studying."
"Weren't we all?" Sunny Flare chuckled as the two friends approached the house at the end of the block. "I guess the honest version is that it sounds... weird, to me, to think of you that way. But that doesn't mean I'm going to try to push you away or spend less time with you. I just hope you feel comfortable coming to me with this kind of thing yourself, in the future."
"I don't." Sugarcoat shook her head. "Not after hearing that it does change how you see me."
"I... yeah, that's fair." Sunny Flare blushed deeply and cast a guilty glance at the ground.
Without looking back Sugarcoat moved to unlock her front door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sunny. It's been a really long day."
"Yeah, I understand. Goodnight." Sunny's voice faded behind her as Sugarcoat closed the door and locked it with a swift swipe of her finger.
With a heavy sigh she made her way upstairs to unwind from the long school day. She got herself a nice warm shower, a fresh pair of loose sweat pants and a simple tank top, and a bowl of strawberry ice cream before making her way into the office on the first floor, where her computer was quietly humming its way through its idle processes.
The computer booted up and Sugarcoat set to work doing her daily browsing as she shoveled spoonfulls of dairy and sugar into her mouth. A few webcomics, a few message boards she occasionally frequented, broken up by a few short funny videos. It wasn't until she felt her muscles finally begin to relax that she allowed herself to check in on her latest internet work, and navigate her way to Fimfiction dot net.
Her latest story, In the Shadow of Grief, was doing quite well. A majority of the comments and responses were quite positive, though as with all such things there was a significant amount of biased backlash. Normally she would ignore this, too, but after the day she had had, the number of thumbs down grated on her nerves more than it typically would.
She noticed after a few more strawberry bites, however, that she had received a private message. Despite her blog, she really wasn't very well known for her writing, and rarely got any direct contact with anybody, so she found herself intrigued by this. She was less intrigued and more disgusted when she clicked on her PM folder and found that the new message was by a user named 'Sugarcoat'. A quick check of their profile confirmed that the account had been made today.
Sugarcoat considered simply deleting the message and contacting the moderators about harassment, but the message itself sounded strangely innocuous.
Sugarcoat: Hey, I read your new story. I just wanted to let you know I think it's really good.
Sugarcoat leaned back in her seat for a moment with a scowl on her lips. It was probably leading into some kind of troll, why else would they use Sugarcoat's real name? But perhaps she could have some fun with them at least. So she responded.
SugarHopps: Thank you, I spent a few weeks working on it.
The reply was surprisingly immediate, as if the troll was sitting at the computer waiting for her.
Sugarcoat: It shows! You should definitely keep at it.
SugarHopps: I had every intention of doing that. I'm actually thinking of a sequel right now.
Sugarcoat: Really? Can I ask what it's about?
SugarHopps: It's about Judy coming back to life and getting into a kung fu rap battle with Sugar over Nick's affections.
Sugarcoat: Hm. Maybe you should work on your concept a little more. I know you can do better!
SugarHopps: What, really? No condescending claims that it's a masterpiece because you're only throwing praise my way ironically?
Sugarcoat: No way, I genuinely enjoyed it. I mean sure, the plot is a little cheesy, but the writing is just so full of emotion. I can tell you really cared about it. Plus it was really hot!
SugarHopps: Who are you? There's no way you go to my school.
Sugarcoat: I'm a friend who enjoyed the story. I think I'm gonna read more, in fact.
SugarHopps: Sunny Flare? Are you trying to cheer me up?
Sugarcoat: Try again.
SugarHopps: Twilight Sparkle? Did someone tell you what happened?
Sugarcoat: Afraid not.
SugarHopps: I would guess Sour, Lemon, or Indigo, but they're not introverted net dwellers like some of us.
Sugarcoat: It's a mystery!
SugarHopps: If you really enjoy the story, and you really want to be my friend, why won't you tell me who you are?
Sugarcoat: Maybe I'm not ready for that kind of commitment! I'm shy!
SugarHopps: Fluttershy?
Sugarcoat: Now you're just making up names.
SugarHopps: Right. Well, thank you for the kind words, I suppose.
Sugarcoat: You're welcome! I'll get around to reading some of your others too, but time is limited tonight, so I'll leave reviews when I do get to read them! Talk to you later!
SugarHopps: Okay. Goodnight.
Sugarcoat leaned back in her seat with her fingers in a pyramid in front of her chest and her eyes staring into the screen as if she could find the mysterious fan through sheer willpower. It didn't work, however, but it still lightened her heart to know that someone at Crystal Prep, evidently, didn't think that she was a freak to be shunned. Someone had actually enjoyed the story on its own merits.
It was a petty thing hardly worth feeling better about... but her heart still lightened just a little bit.