Fleur dis Lee walked down the street, looking at her reflection in the window display. The new coat she’d gotten in Paris looked perfect on her. She smirked, thinking of reuniting with her boyfriend, Fancy Pants, and how impressed he’d be with her style.
Her ponderings were rather abruptly interrupted by a huge snowball that splattered on her head, sending her tumbling on the ground.
“Told you.” Indigo turned to Sandalwood, who gave her five dollars. They stood on the other side of the street, watching Fleur getting up.
“Nique ta mère, connasse!” Fleur exclaimed, aiding the foreign phrase with a gesture known in the country of her ancestors as bras d’honneur.
“That was extremely immature,” Sugarcoat said to Indigo while showing Fleur a much more international gesture of peace and love with her middle finger. “This being said, it’s Fleur… But I bet you wouldn’t throw a snowball at Suri.”
“You’ll see when we meet her,” Indigo replied as they walked away from Fleur hastily. “Although she’d probably throw something back at me. Possibly yellow snow.”
“Yeah.” Sandalwood chuckled. “And don’t do that around Bulk. He doesn’t like you being naughty.”
“Depends on the meaning of the word.” Indigo smirked. “Also, I guess I won’t have many occasions in that Our Town. To meet Suri, I mean.”
“I hope whatever place we’ll end up in there has thick walls between rooms,” Sugarcoat muttered. “I mean, Sour, Lemon, and Sunny may feel jealous.”
“Of you?” Indigo chuckled. “Please. Also, I thought we’d spend more time together…”
Sandalwood grinned. “I like your way of thinking…”
He immediately earned a punch in the arm from Indigo. “Don’t even think about it,” she said. “Or we’ll leave you and Bulk to have some alone time.”
“I’m not sure if he’d agree,” Sandalwood replied. “Also, there are some, umm… technical problems, I suppose.”
Indigo frowned. “Let’s just leave that topic, okay?”
“Sure.” Sandalwood stopped by the shop at the corner of the street. “I was just going to buy some oatmeal anyway. Do you want something?”
“Nah, I’ll wait,” Indigo replied. After Sandalwood and Sugarcoat walked into the store, she looked around, searching for familiar faces. It seemed, however, that her friends had chosen other means of getting to the train station. Indigo wasn’t surprised; she had a hard time imagining Sunny covering large distances on foot.
“Hello again, dumbbell,” Indigo heard, right before being shoved into a snow drift. She got up, spitting some snow and saw Fleur running away.
“Hey!” Indigo shouted, throwing a handful of snow at her and missing badly. “Come back here! I’m not done with you!” She groaned. “Damn French…”
It was early morning and Sour Sweet already felt the need to murder someone. In this case, Sunny Flare, who kept packing and repacking her suitcases. Sour, who hadn’t even had time to unpack her things after running away from home, wanted to catch some sleep, but it was rather hard with all the noises Sunny kept making.
“What the fuck is it again?” Sour asked, covering one of her ears with a pillow. She still couldn’t hear anything with the other one; while it made not hearing Sunny easier, soon she found it pretty annoying. “It’s just a few days in the mountains. You don’t have to pack more shit than your weight is…”
“But there’s gonna be a New Year’s party!” Sunny exclaimed, opening a closet with more dresses than Sour Sweet had seen in her life. “And I want to stay sober through it, so I’ll be concerned with how I look all the time!”
“I don’t have such problems,” Sour Sweet said. “I look like a psychotic potato with freckles anyway.”
“Which doesn’t change the fact that you’re built like a supermodel,” Sunny said. “If you ever let me–”
“No.” Sour Sweet shuddered, clenching her fists. “Just no. Don’t even mention it.”
A doorbell rang. Sour Sweet closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.
“Does it make you feel hungry?” Sunny asked, getting up. “If it’s your parents, should I tell them that you’re here?”
“Go fuck yourself,” Sour Sweet muttered, cowering on the bed.
“No, then.” Sunny walked downstairs and opened the front door. “Oh, hi Lemon.”
She immediately thought Lemon looked unusually frowny. Her hair was messier than usual and she was clenching her fists. Considering her typical attitude, Sunny thought that she was about to throw a tantrum.
“Is Sour Sweet here?” Lemon asked.
Sunny shrugged. “What makes you think she is?”
“She’s not with Indigo or Sugarcoat and she has no more friends that’d let her stay at their home,” Lemon replied.
Sunny nodded. “Have you read the obituaries?”
“What?” Lemon’s jaw dropped.
“Okay, she’s here.” Sunny turned back. “Sour Sweet! Lemon is here to see you!”
Sunny could swear that when Sour Sweet descended the stairs, the temperature outside dropped by a few degrees. She and Lemon Zest gave each other nasty glares. The storm was coming and she was about to end up in the middle of it.
“You.” Lemon took a deep breath. “I just had a really unpleasant talk with your parents. Apparently someone told them that we used to be together…” Her voice faltered. “What the hell did you tell them?”
“Do they want you to come back to me?” Sour Sweet asked.
Lemon growled, walking closer to Sour Sweet and shoving Sunny aside. “You wish! You kinda… told your whole family about me! And of course it’s completely not your fault! It’s never your fault, huh?!”
Sunny raised her finger. “Well, to be honest, you weren’t exactly hiding…” She saw Sour’s face and closed her mouth.
“Yeah, because you were completely innocent!” Sour Sweet exclaimed. “I was with you when you needed me, but when I needed you…”
“Girls, stop arguing.” Sunny opened the closet in the corridor and grabbed a huge Christmas sweater with two holes for heads. “I got you a get-together sweater…”
Lemon and Sour Sweet paused looked at each other.
“Well, there’s one thing we can both agree upon,” Sour Sweet said. “Five seconds of a head start?”
“Two,” Lemon replied. “She can run fast.”
“Okay.” Sour smirked and turned to Sunny.
Sunny backpedalled. “Girls, what are you doing?”
Flash Sentry panted. Catching up with Muffins was hard, not only because she insisted on using cross-country skis for getting to the railway station. It was also because she spent most of the morning explaining to him that the sun was actually a cucumber.
Normally, Flash wouldn’t pay attention, but after a year of dealing with ponies, sirens, and demons, even such an unlikely occurrence didn’t seem all that detached from reality. The longer he pondered about this question, the more it seemed to him that there might have been some grain of truth in it. Especially since the day was rather cloudy.
He finally managed to catch up with Muffins in front of a huge house in a prim and proper district, mostly because the pavement had been cleared of snow; nothing really unusual in such a prim and proper district.
“Look,” Muffins said, picking up something huge and wooly. “Someone threw away a totally good get-together sweater!”
Flash nodded absent-mindedly, more interested in the ruckus going on a bit further down the pavement. As he went closer, he realised that most of it was caused by girls he was supposed to go to Our Town with. This fact didn’t really make his day any better.
He had to admit that, despite being much shorter, Sunny could hold her ground against Lemon and Sour, as evidenced by Sour limping around and clutching her shin. Even worse for her, this soon ended up with Lemon deciding that beating the crap out of Sunny wasn’t as fun as making snowballs and taking potshots at Sour.
“Do you understand anything of that?” Flash asked when Muffins finally took off her skis and walked to him.
Muffins tilted her head and shrugged. “Not really.”
Right at the same moment, Sour decided to fight back. She darted forward like a cornered animal and punched Sunny in the stomach. Then she turned, grabbing a handful of snow from the nearby fence and throwing it at Lemon.
Luckily for Lemon, her reflexes pretty much matched Sour’s aim. She ducked and the snowball went wide, hitting Muffins in the face.
“Damn… You okay?” Flash asked.
“Move away, Flash Sentry,” Muffins muttered, picking up the get-together sweater and one of her ski poles. “I shall bring peace here…”
Flash backed off as she walked towards the fighting group. He looked at his watch and decided that if they didn’t want to miss the train, he’d have to take care of the transport.
Listening to the first screams, he grabbed his phone and opened the app.
Bulk was already at the platform when Indigo, Sandalwood, and Sugarcoat reached the railway station. He was sitting on the bench, wearing a leather jacket, his backpack by his side, and watched them as they approached him.
“What happened to you?” he asked Indigo, seeing her wet clothes.
“I forgot the history lessons,” Indigo replied. “If you start a war with France, they eventually find a way to screw you over.”
“Ah, that explains it.” Bulk smirked. “Have you seen Flash on the way? He’s gonna miss the train.”
“Same with Lemon, Sour, and Sunny.” Sugarcoat looked around. “Those three are always late…”
“Well, Sour Sweet apparently ran away from home,” Indigo said. “Lemon texted me, asking if I keep her under my bed.”
“Yeah, me too.” Sugarcoat nodded. “As if I let her live with me again. She talks in her sleep, raids your fridge, eats all the cheese, and then remembers that she’s lactose-intolerant. And you don’t wanna be close when she lets one rip. Seriously, that’s probably banned by Geneva conventions.”
“We really didn’t need that knowledge,” Bulk muttered.
“Speak for yourself,” Sandalwood replied. “I mean, that’s a part of living together, right? Dealing with all those little inconveniences…”
“Oh, please…” Sugarcoat rolled her eyes.
“And while we’re at it, yours don’t smell like pansies either,” Sandalwood muttered, earning a glare and a backpack getting tossed at him.
“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone, as they say,” Indigo said. “Also, I’d better call Lemon. Maybe she forgot that we were supposed to go today.”
“Who says that?” Sugarcoat asked. “I don’t.”
Indigo furrowed her eyebrows, listening to the noises coming from her phone. “Dunno. I hear her saying that she’s on her way, but it sounds like someone is trying to choke a baboon in the background.”
Bulk winced. “I haven’t heard anyone calling it that before…”
“I mean a literal baboon.” Indigo stifled a chuckle. “Seriously, it sounds like she’s taking a scenic route across the jungle.”
Sandalwood took a look at the car park near the train station and frowned. “Damn. The Geneva convention guys heard you, Sugarcoat.” He pointed at the large, black car that had just parked near the entrance. “Do we run?”
“Wait,” Indigo said. “I think it’s Flash…”
By the time they reached the station, Flash was pretty sure that he had pissed off some powerful deity who decided to make his life miserable. When the driver finally arrived, all of the girls were wearing the get-together sweater, which didn’t exactly make them get together, but most certainly pissed Sour Sweet off.
To make things worse, the driver turned out to be a tall and thin old woman with grey hair and an expression suggesting that four girls wearing one sweater who ended up in the back of her car were definitely not the best thing she’d seen in her life. She wore a black coat, but Flash was pretty sure that she had another one at home, made of dalmatians.
His mood got completely ruined when he opened the trunk of the car to put all the bags there. A large collection of kitchen knives he found was rather worrying, and he wasn’t sure whether a similar amount of spoons and forks should calm him down or make him panic.
“Don’t worry, I use those at work,” the woman said. “My other work, that is,” she added, seeing his expression. “Could you tell that tall one to stop yelling like a choked baboon?”
“I… I’m not sure she’d listen.” Flash sighed and took a seat next to the driver. Luckily, she wasn’t very talkative and the ride passed uneventfully, once he learned to ignore the noises from the backseat.
Finally, they reached the railway station. Just one stare from the driver made Flash quickly give her five stars before getting out to grab the luggage.
“Someone has to help me carry those,” he said. “Those purple bags weigh a ton.”
“Leave them, those are mine,” Sunny muttered. Getting out of the car in the sweater took her a while, but she finally stood up, having Lemon behind her back. “Also, I feel molested.”
“My hands are here,” Lemon said, raising her hands. “And you’re free to go.”
“Thanks.” Sunny slipped out of the sweater and took her bags from Flash. “Those are pretty delicate.”
“Can I go too?” Sour Sweet asked Muffins.
“Only if you behave,” Muffins replied. Sour Sweet quickly followed Sunny, leaving only Lemon and Muffins in the sweater. Flash sighed and walked to the platform, feeling the stares the rest of his friends were giving him.
“What happened?” Sandalwood asked when the whole group reunited.
“I have no idea.” Flash shrugged.
“Sounds like my whole life,” Muffins said. “Like seriously, first it was kinda dark and wet and then I got out and there was this doctor who checked if I was breathing and–”
“You can’t possibly remember that,” Sugarcoat muttered.
“Nah, I’m talking about that one time when I fell into the well.”
“How do you fall into the well?” Indigo asked.
“Gravity. Look it up.”
Indigo furrowed her eyebrows. “I mean… Not technically, but–”
“Long story,” Muffins said. “I’ll tell you on a train.”
“It’s a long story, indeed.” Bulk nodded. “I heard it before.”
“That was the other time I fell into a well,” Muffins smirked. “It wasn’t as interesting. Just wait...”
“... and then it turned out someone sprayed WD40 on the brakes of my bicycle.”
The train rocked on the tracks in the middle of barren fields covered in snow, which kept falling from grey sky. Their compartment was warm and bright; Flash was trying to tune the acoustic guitar he’d brought with him while Muffins kept telling stories, one more absurd than the other.
“Was that you?” Bulk asked. Indigo was sitting on his lap, nodding off.
“Yeah.” Muffins blushed. “Who’d think that to make them work smoother, you don’t have to spray the brake disc.” She shrugged. “So anyway, I fell off the cliff…”
“Did you survive?” Lemon asked. Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet gave her weird looks.
“Well, next thing I remember was some half-naked hippie giving me CPR. I got high from her breath alone,” Muffins replied.
“Been there before,” Sunny muttered, checking something on her wrist device.
“Okay, I’m done.” Flash looked at his guitar. “It should be fine now.”
“But does it djent?” Sugarcoat asked.
“It has six standard strings,” Flash replied. “Of course it can’t djent. Also, you and Ringo should meet. He’s also into djent and hatred towards the world.”
Sugarcoat shrugged. “I prefer noise and mathcore, myself.”
“I never heard of any of those,” Bulk muttered. “But then, I mostly listen to classical music. Which, despite what Flash thinks, doesn’t exactly mean classic rock.”
Lemon smirked. “Don’t worry. Sugarcoat listens only to stuff no one ever heard about. Like, she’d be into a dude banging a hammer against a metal pipe.”
Indigo opened her eyes. “Banging? No banging, I’m tired.” She turned on Bulk’s lap, resting her face against the window and snoring.
“Only one thing on her mind, huh?” Sandalwood muttered.
“Two.” Flash played a chord on his guitar. “One of them is sleeping.”
“But seriously, Bulk, you and her…” Sandalwood smirked. “I sometimes wonder how–”
“Don’t.” Bulk muttered. His words were punctuated with a dramatic chord of Flash’s guitar.
“Yeah, better not,” Sunny said. “Sour Sweet is weirdly excited even without that.” She pointed at Sour Sweet, who was staring through the window at the unfolding snowstorm.
“Of course I’ll murder that prissy one first,” Sour Sweet whispered to herself. “Then I’ll sacrifice the rest to the god of wind…”
“Okay, that’s weird even for you,” Sugarcoat said.
“What?” Sour Sweet smiled in the most unconvincing way. “I’m just screwing with you.”
Sugarcoat sighed. “Have you ever thought of becoming a stand-up comedian?”
“No, why?” Sour Sweet asked.
“Don’t do that. Ever.”
Bulk smirked. “After one routine, the whole audience would be fearing for their lives. We need to drop her at some open mic venue just to see this.”
“Right after that, we give them Sugarcoat,” Sandalwood said. “And watch them turning into an angry mob after she offends everyone.”
Flash stopped playing guitar. “Nah, there’s no way Sugarcoat can offend everyone.”
“With a tough room, I just start talking about politics,” Sugarcoat replied. “That, or my views on young mothers and their brats.”
“Okay, that may work.” Flash played a quick chord progression. “I need to come up with lyrics to this. Something about a girl who offended everyone.”
“It’s pretty appropriate that you’re using those cliché chords for it.” Sugarcoat muttered. “I really appreciate that.”
Sandalwood looked at Muffins. “I assume that’s the moment when we should feel jealous, right?”
“Oh, please.” Muffins smirked. “Flash wouldn’t leave me for Sugarcoat.”
Indigo opened her eyes. “I wouldn’t leave you for Sugarcoat either.”
“How about me?” Bulk asked.
“Same.” Indigo blinked and rubbed her eyes. “Even if I wasn’t straight, I just wouldn’t be into her.” She turned to Bulk. “Besides, Sugarcoat never made me a Christmas sweater.”
“I can make you a Christmas sweater.” Muffins pointed at the sweater she and Lemon Zest kept wearing during the whole train ride. “For you and Bulk, even.”
“No, thanks.” Indigo shuddered. “He’d just carry me around, my legs dangling in the air…”
“Could’ve grown a bit more,” Sour Sweet muttered.
“Said the girl who has grown out of every single of her uniforms. At least twice a year.” Indigo smiled at Bulk. “Not that I mind being carried…”
Sunny Flare sighed. “How much longer will this trip take?”
“All night,” Lemon replied. “Not that I mind...”
The first ray of sunshine found its way through the clouds and reached the windows of the train. Hardly anyone saw it; most of the passengers were asleep. In fact, just two of them were awake at the moment and even that was saying much. Lemon Zest was nodding off; she’d reached the end of her playlist a while ago and all that she could listen to now was Muffins.
“So, they say that if a virgin ever leaves Canterlot High, the horse statue will move.” Muffins said. She didn’t look sleepy at all, making Lemon wonder how she was doing it. “Knowing some girls in my class, this statue will friggin’ gallop across the town soon…”
“Dude…” Lemon muttered, staring at her friends, who were sleeping on their seats in positions that’d make yoga masters proud. The train was now climbing up a hill; the sun was shining and Lemon could see the outline of some buildings nearby.
“To think about it, we should wake them up.” Muffins looked around and cleared her throat. “Wake up, guys! We hit an iceberg!”
“What the fuck, Muffins…” Flash muttered, looking around groggily.
“No, but seriously, you’d better pack your stuff, guys.” Muffins stood up. Lemon, having no other choice, stood up with her. “We’re close to the station.”
The compartment exploded in chaos as everyone woke up, trying to collect their belongings. Indigo barely avoided getting hit by one of Sunny’s bags. Luckily, Bulk managed to deflect it so it fell on Sandalwood’s lap instead.
“What the hell are you carrying in here?” Sandalwood cried. “Bricks?”
“Make-up, jewellery, a two-way radio…” Sunny replied, grabbing the bag. “What? I need to be in touch with the numbers stations.”
“Yeah, you could miss a signal from your mothership,” Sugarcoat muttered, helping Sandalwood up. “Come on, cowboy, I’ll help you with your pains later.”
The train skidded to a halt and they walked out on the platform. The large thermometer in front of the station’s building showed a humble -4°F on one side of the scale and -20°C on the other. Despite that, the weather was sunny and the air was dry, thus lessening the impact of the temperature.
The town, however, wasn’t so impressive. Indigo was sure that they and a couple of people that left the train with them doubled its population.
“It’s just one street,” Sugarcoat said, looking around.
“’Our Village’ didn’t sound as good as ‘Our Town’, but we’re expanding,” replied a tall, pink skinned girl wearing an apron, who was walking nearby. She pointed at the unfinished hotel at one end of the street and at the nearby hills. Indigo noticed a couple of ski lifts installed on the slopes, as well as a small ski jumping hill.
“Is there even anything worth seeing in this town?” Sunny Flare asked. “For someone who isn’t much into skiing and doesn’t want to spend all the time in the bars?”
“We only have one bar,” the girl replied. “But if you want, you can always visit my bakery. Just ask for Sugar Belle.”
“Well, that sounds like a plan,” Indigo said. “Though I’m more into skiing, myself.”
“How about historical landmarks?” Sugarcoat asked.
Sugar Belle furrowed her eyebrows for a moment. “Well, there’s Starlight Glimmer’s house.”
“You mean, that Sunset Shimmer’s friend?” Muffins asked. “I didn’t know she’s that famous.”
Sugar Belle raised her eyebrows. “Is that Sunset Shimmer in her sixties, eh? Because if not, that must be some other Starlight Glimmer. The one I’m talking about was probably the most famous person born here.”
“What did she do?” Sunny asked. “Invented a new way of using maple syrup?”
“Nah, it’s easy to remember,” Sugar Belle replied. “1971, seventy-one bullets in her and that was the end of Starlight Glimmer.”
Sugarcoat sighed.“Was it because of her painful rhymes?”
“I guess murders, bank robberies, and leading a cult were also a factor,” Sugar Belle deadpanned.
“Cool,” Sour Sweet muttered. “I need to see that house.”
“First, we have to get to the hotel,” Bulk said. “Then we can take a look around…”
While the top floor of the hotel hadn’t been finished yet, the rest of the building seemed quite functional. It stood right at the end of the town’s only street, followed on by a board informing the tourists that they were entering Our Town (also called Notre Ville), population 110.
Appropriately, the receptionist seemed to only speak Quebec French, but after hearing a couple of sacres from Sunny Flare, she quickly found a couple of rooms for them.
It soon turned out that despite its size, the town was pretty popular among tourists. Sunny barely managed to put her bags in the room she was supposed to share with Sour Sweet, when she was assaulted by some green-skinned girl wearing a dark jacket and black trousers.
“Hello, I’m Sophisticata,” the girl said quickly, before Sunny managed to hide in her room. “I know you.”
“I did nothing wrong and I have to call my lawyer first,” Sunny said.
“You’re that girl who broke into a store wearing a–”
“Yeah, I know.” Sunny rolled her eyes, opening the door to her room and gesturing Sour Sweet towards herself. Sour Sweet only looked at Sophisticata and gave Sunny the finger.
Sophisticata didn’t notice that. “I’ve heard your mother is in the movie industry, right?”
“More like TV shows and ads,” Sunny replied. “What do you want?”
“Well, I’m an actress.” Sophisticata stood straight. “Why, let the stricken deer go weep…”
“Nice.” Sunny smirked. “What’s that?”
Sophisticata furrowed her eyebrows for a moment, but then smiled again. “I thought that since we’re from the same town and I kinda know Muffins, you’d help me with my future career…”
“Well, maybe one day.” Sunny looked around and saw Indigo, Bulk, Muffins, and Lemon going somewhere. “We can talk about it later after I’m done skiing. See ya!” She turned back and ran to the group of her friends.
“What a wankbubble,” she muttered once they were outside Sophisticata’s earshot. “You guys know her?”
“Of course,” Bulk replied. “I didn’t know Sophisticata decided to come here too.”
“You know what that means?” Muffins asked. “Drama Letter is somewhere here too.” She smirked. “Those two are sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S–”
“Huh.” Sunny shuddered. “At least she didn’t try to reach my mother through my bed.”
“You wouldn’t be her type,” Muffins said. They went outside the hotel and walked down a path leading towards ski slopes. “She’s only gay for Drama Letter.” She sniffed. “You don’t even smell like Drama Letter.”
“She does smell like drama in general, though…” Indigo muttered.
Lemon walked closer to Sunny and sniffed her hair. “I don’t think so. More like sweat, whiskey, train, and expensive jasmine perfume on the top of that.”
Sunny froze, pushing Lemon away. “Oh, tabarnak...”
Bulk looked at the hill unsurely. Contrary to his worries, he managed to borrow skis that’d fit him without any problems. However, it’d been a while since he went skiing and he most definitely didn’t want Indigo to best him at it.
However, it seemed that at least he wouldn’t be the worst. Muffins and Lemon chose snowboards, but Sunny insisted on skis. When she finally put them on, Bulk thought that he should get a camera. Not for any social media, but rather for an insurance company.
“Okay.” Sunny looked at her legs, now adorned by pink skis and boots of the same colour. “How do I turn?”
“Quickly,” Indigo replied. “You lean in the desired direction and move your skis in there. It’s kinda like rollerskating. Any more questions?”
“How do I get to the top of the hill?” Sunny asked.
“With a lift.” Bulk pointed at a T-bar lift leading up one of the easiest routes on the slope.
“I’ll go with you.” Indigo slid towards the lift on her skis and waited for Sunny. “You stand here, place this bar under your butt…”
“Ouch!” Sunny yelled when the lift yanked her upwards. Indigo shook her head, looking at her as she was dragged upwards. Then she caught another bar and followed her friend.
“Don’t let it go!” Indigo shouted. “Or else I’ll run you over!”
In response, Sunny muttered something incomprehensible. Luckily, she managed to get to the top without falling off the lift, although she nearly fell after leaving it.
“I’m fine,” she said when Indigo joined her. “So, now I’m going down, right?”
“Yeah,” Indigo replied. “Just make sure to turn and ride across the slope, not straight down or you’ll get too fast.”
“Sure.” Sunny pushed herself off the snow with the ski poles and rushed down. Indigo watched her as she slid down the first few metres of the slope without falling. Which, in turn, surprised her so greatly that she immediately collapsed, losing a pole.
“Not bad.” Indigo said, riding to Sunny and helping her up.
Indeed, soon Sunny’s skills improved enough for her to join the rest of the group by the aerial lift. This route was much longer and more steep, but at least the aerial lift wasn’t yanking her butt.
“If someone tries to swing the gondola, I’ll kill them, okay?” Sunny said, looking at Muffins and Lemon, who kept giggling.
“Assuming you can reach them,” Bulk said. The gondola was leaning slightly to the right because of his weight, giving Sunny a closer view on the ground.
“You’re not being fair,” Indigo said. “I mean, Lemon and Muffins keep falling too.”
“They’re snowboarding. It’s a part of the fun,” Bulk replied. “And I’m pretty sure they’re doing it on purpose.”
“I once fell so hard my eyes went straight,” Muffins muttered. “That’s so messed up, you have no idea.”
“Actually, I do,” Lemon said. “I mean, my eyes are like that by default.”
“Whatever,” Indigo muttered, pushing herself off the snow and skiing down the hill. Soon, she left everybody behind, slaloming between poles placed on one side of the slope. The wind blowing around her deafened her as she turned across the plain of snow.
She turned towards the top of the hill and saw Bulk approaching her – once he managed to gain some speed, he was nearly unstoppable. Indigo couldn’t see Muffins and Lemon anywhere; she guessed they chose the part of the slope littered with rails and ramps where they could show off their skills.
Indigo reached the edge of the slope and made a sharp turn, speeding up. The snow was smooth and the sun was shining; nothing could stop her. She blinked, watching the last part of the slope in front of her. It was more gentle, leading towards the ski lifts. Cutting right through it, she accelerated, braking only before the rows of safety nets at the end of the slope.
“Awesome!” she exclaimed, rubbing her thighs, sore from all the turning. Bulk stopped next to her, followed by Lemon.
“I made a backflip,” Lemon said, breathing heavily.
“I only scared some kid off,” Bulk muttered. “Where’s Muffins?”
At the same moment, Muffins collapsed and skid to a halt in front of him. “I made a frontflip with a method grab, but hell, never again. It’s a bad idea to land on the rail and fall off of it.”
“Yeah, it’s better to have a spine than not to have it.” Bulk nodded.
“Do tell.” Muffins got up. “I first became interested in extreme sports after watching the Dudesons.”
“That explains many things.” Bulk smirked.
“Yeah, it totally does.” Indigo shrugged. “Has anyone seen Sunny?”
Suddenly, she felt that someone rode over the backs of her skis, missing her by a few inches and rammed into the safety nets, screaming. A second later, they heard the sound of two heavy objects colliding, followed by the car alarm.
“I’m fine…” Sunny groaned.
“Let me guess: you forgot how to brake?” Indigo asked, looking at the trail of destruction, leading across the safety nets towards an off-road car with a nasty scratch in the door. “Good thing we got you a helmet.”
Sunny sighed, trying to get up, but the skis and the slight incline of the car park definitely weren’t making it easier for her. “Shut up and help me…”
Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet walked towards the abandoned house and looked at it. It was on the other side of the town, a bit away from other buildings. Despite that, it was well-preserved, with a plaque next to the door.
“Starlight Glimmer, December 7th, 1941 – August 8th, 1971, cult leader, bank robber, and murderer lived here,” Sugarcoat read. “Not much.” She looked at the door. “Seems that there’s a museum inside, though.”
“One day there’ll be such a plaque next to my door.” Sour Sweet smirked. “But maybe it’ll say something nicer.”
“Yeah. Something like, ‘managed not to murder anyone with an axe’,” Sugarcoat replied.
The door opened and two girls walked out of the house. Sugarcoat recognised one of them as Sandalwood’s classmate, Sophisticata. The other, with green hair and a beret, was most likely Drama Letter – the transparent closet those two apparently lived in was one of Sandalwood’s favourite gossip subjects.
“So, I think that her love life could use some work in the movie,” Sophisticata said. “I mean, you look a bit similar, so you could play her, while I’d play your best friend–”
“I know someone who looks more like her,” Drama Letter replied. “That Sunset Shimmer’s friend. Hell, I think her name is Starlight too.”
“You mean that green one?”
“No, that’s the other Starlight.”
Sugarcoat cleared her throat. “Excuse me, what are you talking about?”
Sophisticata looked at her. “Oh, you’re Sunny Flare’s friend, right? We’re planning to make a movie based on Starlight Glimmer’s biography, but we need money, a producer, actors, basically everything. Unfortunately, Sunny Flare didn’t have time to talk with us–”
“Maybe because she and her mother are hopeless alcoholics,” Sour Sweet muttered.
“Shut up, Sour,” Sugarcoat muttered, looking at her phone. “So, you’re saying that you want to make a movie about Starlight Glimmer? Focusing on what exactly?”
“Her relationships,” Sophisticata replied.
“And her fight against the establishment…” Drama Letter paused, seeing Sugarcoat’s glare.
“Wi-fi here is shit, but I just read she eviscerated two people before the bank director opened the vault for her,” Sugarcoat replied. “The money went into arming and reinforcing the ranch-turned-fortress where she eventually got killed along with, like, half of her followers. I prefer the establishment, somehow.”
Sophisticata blushed, furrowing her eyebrows. “Well, Bonnie Bons and Troubleshoes Clyde also became popcultural icons, despite–”
“Which doesn’t change the fact that he was a common criminal and she was an idiot who liked bad boys,” Sugarcoat replied. “There’s at least one in every class, but none of them gets a romantic legend about them, am I right?” She turned to Sour Sweet.
Sour Sweet nodded. “Lemon is like that. I was her bad girl.”
“More like troubled,” Sugarcoat muttered. “But that still doesn’t change the fact that we’re focusing too much on people who end up wrecking stuff up rather than those who build it.”
“For the record: if you say ‘no wonder this world looks like this’, I’m out,” Sour Sweet said.
“I won’t,” Sugarcoat replied. “Now, let’s see that museum.”
Drama Letter raised her eyebrows. “You still want to see it?”
Sugarcoat opened the door. “Well, I may not like her, but I wouldn’t miss an occasion to learn more about her. See you later, guys…”
Flash cursed under his breath. Everybody went off somewhere, leaving him and Sandalwood in their room while they were unpacking their stuff. Now they met in the corridor and, having nothing better to do, they started to look around for something the town had to offer. Which in this case, meant playing pool at the ground floor of their hotel.
“So… best of twenty-five?” Flash asked when Sandalwood potted the eight ball again. “Where did you even learn to play that well? A year ago, I’d totally own you.”
“Sugarcoat,” Sandalwood replied. “She taught me to play snooker. Once you get that, you’re pretty much unbeatable in puny old pool.”
Flash suddenly remembered something from the night they spent in the furniture store. “Is it because of the, umm… bigger table?”
“No, we just play it from time to time.” Sandalwood sighed. “It’d be pretty hard with all the other people and stuff...“ He smirked. “Why are you asking? Did Muffins–”
“Too early for that,” Flash replied. “Way too early.” He looked at the pool table. “Hmm, we need to find something I could actually win at.”
“So, Monopoly, Jenga, laser tag, and muay thai are off,” Sandalwood muttered. He looked around and saw some blue-skinned guy with curly hair, sitting by the wall and reading something. He had a badge with the hotel logo. “Hmm, let’s ask him. He seems a bit bored.”
Flash shrugged and followed Sandalwood, who stood by the blue guy, whose name, according to the badge was Party Favor.
“Hello,” Sandalwood said. “What’s up? We’re looking for something interesting to do.”
Party Favor raised his head from his notes and smirked.
“Well, now he got the wrong idea,” Flash whispered.
Party Favor looked at him and his smirk grew wider. “The owner of the liquor store runs a casino in the back of his business. You walk to the guy, ask for the Arrogant Bastard Ale and he’ll let you in. As for the other things, there are those three girls. I don’t need that, but I’ve heard they’re very open-minded. Less so since this blonde guy is here, but at least they got tested recently and it’s totally safe.”
“No, thanks,” Sandalwood replied. “I have a girlfriend and my friend is non-practising.”
Party Favor gave Flash a look and nodded. “Ouch.”
Flash groaned and kicked Sandalwood’s ankle, to no effect.
“Anyway,” Party Favor said. “We just managed to launch the Finnish sauna in the hotel. We still need to try it out.”
“Sounds like fun,” Sandalwood said, still ignoring Flash. “Where is it?”
“I’ll show you.” Party Favor stood up and led them downstairs, to the basement.
“It’s a bad idea,” Flash muttered, when they were walking down the stairs. “I mean, we don’t know this dude.”
“He works here,” Sandalwood replied. “Murdering guests looks bad in the CV, you know.”
“That doesn’t calm me down at all…” Flash whispered, watching as Party Favor opened the door at the end of the corridor.
“Oh, come on…” Sandalwood shook his head. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
A while later, Party Favor emerged from behind the door, wearing only a towel wrapped around his hips. “Come on guys! It seems to work…”
“Do we run?” Flash whispered.
“Oh, come on,” Sandalwood muttered. “Don’t be a pansy…”
A few minutes later, they were sitting in the sauna, a nice room with brand new wooden benches and wooden walls adorned with small lamps. However, Flash and Sandalwood kept avoiding looking at each other. Mostly owing to the fact that Party Favor had gotten rid of the towel and prompted them to do the same.
“I swear, Sandalwood, if you comment on this, those stones are gonna end up somewhere they don’t belong,” Flash whispered.
“On what?” Sandalwood asked.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Sandalwood chuckled. “Oh, so you took a look after all? Well, now I know why they call the guy ‘Party Favor’. I’m pretty sure he’s popular at parties...”
“Not as much as you’d think,” Party Favor said. “It kinda scares the ladies. But enough of this. We don’t swear, speak about sex or anything controversial in the sauna.”
“So, Sandalwood will have to shut up.” Flash smirked.
“You wish,” Sandalwood replied. “Who said I can’t talk about something classy? Like, Greek art. Do you know that ancient Greeks found large package to look funny and so their figures are usually not well–”
“Ah, that explains why I am the town’s party planner,” Party Favor muttered. “As for the art, I prefer more modern stuff. Like, Midnight Meat Train. Cutting Class, Cheerleader Massacre, Sauna of the Dead...”
Flash suddenly felt cold, despite the thermometer on the wall proudly showing the temperature that’d make water boil, if there was any in the air. “How about something more positive?”
“We only get crappy cable and, in most cases, dial-up modems,” Party Favor replied. “That’s the best you can get.”
“Ah, that explains why the best-known citizen was a murderer,” Sandalwood said.
“Well, I’m pretty sure they didn’t have TV here in the 1940s.” Party Favor shrugged. “Ditto for at least a few decades after that.”
“That explains even more.” Flash wiped his forehead. “It sure gets hot in here…”
“The problem is, the showers haven’t exactly been installed yet.” Party Favor sighed. “But we can cool ourselves the traditional way. Outside.”
Sandalwood chuckled. “Hmm, why not? It’s not like someone can see us.”
Flash raised his finger. “Well, actually… Oh, come on…” He rolled his eyes, seeing Party Favor and Sandalwood running out of the sauna, towards the backdoor. Reluctantly, he followed them.
The blast of cold air pierced Flash’s skin like a bunch of flying needles. He jumped into the pile of snow, shuddering and trying not to watch Sandalwood rolling on the ground and yelling something.
After a while, Party Favor stood up. “Okay, now it’s cold. Let’s get ba–” He looked at the door. “Who closed it?”
“Me, why?” Flash asked.
Party Favor groaned. “It stays locked when you close it.”
“Not the best idea in case of fire,” Sandalwood muttered. “Don’t you have a key?”
“Where do you think I would keep the key?” Party Favor facepalmed. “It’s inside, with our clothes.”
“Well, shit,” Flash muttered. “There’s still the main entrance, though.”
“That’s not the best of your ideas, man,” Sandalwood said. “Ladies at the reception desk would faint seeing my perfect butt, not to mention Party Favor’s–”
Party Favor cleared his throat and furrowed his eyebrows, causing Sandalwood to shut up.
“There’s another way,” Flash said. “We can climb onto the balcony here.” He pointed at the sundeck at the back of the hotel. “It’s not like anyone uses it in winter…”
Drama Letter sighed, looking at Sophisticata who was sitting on the deck chair next to her. She’d been working very hard for the whole year to go somewhere in winter and of course she wanted to try everything, but even she wasn’t that crazy to sunbathe in winter. However, Sophisticata wanted to and what she wanted Drama did.
Sunbathing wasn’t actually that bad, as there was indeed sunny, but sitting in one place for too long was a bad idea – Drama Letter was getting a bit cold. What was worse, those two girls they had met by the museum came back and, of course, decided that sunbathing would be a good idea. Sophisticata looked less than amused when Drama tried to start a conversation.
“So, how was the museum?”
“I liked the photos,” the tall girl who Drama knew as Sweeten Sour’s crazy sister replied. “Especially those the police made in that house, full of blood.” She smirked at Drama. “And Sugarcoat found a friend.”
Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. “Some blonde wanker mistook me for a town slut. What’s wrong with those people?”
“Bunch of savages in this town.” Drama Letter shrugged and turned away to face a naked guy who just climbed onto the balcony. “This again?”
The guy backpedalled. “Err… Good morning.”
Sour Sweet got up from her deck chair. “Sentry? What the fuck? Get out of here, perv before I shove you back!”
“I’d rather not,” Flash replied. “I can totally explain that…”
“Let him stay,” Drama Letter said. “I have canvas somewhere here.” She took a closer look at Flash. “I don’t have a lot of paint, but it should be enough.”
Flash blushed. “It’s because it’s cold!”
“Surely,” Sugarcoat muttered. “Care to explain how you’ve gotten yourself into that situation?”
“Hello!” Sandalwood said, climbing on the balcony and standing in front of Sugarcoat.
Sugarcoat sighed and shook her head. “Nevermind, I know.”
The collision definitely suspended Sunny’s budding skiing career. She decided to pass some time by the hot dog stand near the slope. Soon, she was joined by Muffins and Lemon when they got tired of snowboarding.
Indigo, although tired too, wasn’t done yet. The sight of the ski jumping hill nearby intrigued her. It definitely wasn’t a thing of the past – both the hill and its surroundings were well-kept and apparently in a working condition. It was soon confirmed when Indigo saw someone sliding down the inrun and jumping into the air.
“Have you seen that?” Indigo asked. “Someone’s there.”
Bulk looked at the hill. “Let me guess: we need to investigate?”
“Of course,” Indigo replied. “You don’t hear much about ski jumping, these days.”
“Maybe because it’s like, dangerous?” Bulk shrugged. “But hey, why not. People who do that for a living must be interesting.”
“If a bit crazy,” Indigo said, looking at her skis. “I’ll get my regular shoes and we can go there.”
After a while of walking, they reached the surroundings of the venue. There were no bleachers around the landing slope, just a few decrepit wooden huts Indigo thought to be changing rooms. According to the board hanging on one of the walls, the K-point of the hill was located at fifty metres, and the hill size was fifty-five metres. The “hill record” field had been erased and rewritten a few times, but apparently the current record holder was someone called Double Diamond, who jumped sixty-one and half a metre.
“Not bad,” Bulk muttered, looking at the landing zone. Any jump over the sixty metres meant landing on the flat surface at the end of the slope which wasn’t a good news for anyone’s knees.
“Hmm, wonder where everyone went.” Indigo looked around. “Is there anybody out there?”
“I am.” A tall, pale man wearing a blue jumping suit and carrying a pair of long skis walked out of one of the huts. “Who are you?”
“I’m Indigo,” Indigo replied. “And this is Bulk. We were just checking out this hill. It’s pretty big, isn’t it?”
“Not really.” The guy looked up at the inrun. “We keep it from falling apart and use it for training, mostly. And by the way, I’m Double Diamond.”
“Still, it’s pretty impressive,” Bulk said. “I mean, looks like you put a lot of effort into it.”
Double Diamond sighed. “Not nearly enough. In fact, I’m considering moving out to– Wait…” He pointed at the small silhouette sitting on the bench at the top of the hill. The person waved at him and rode down the inrun.
“Wow…” Indigo muttered as the jumper took off, spreading the skis in mid-air, forming a large “V” with them. Hovering low above the slope, they reached a bit over fifty metres before landing with one leg slightly in front of the other and skiing towards the end of the landing zone.
“Not bad,” Double Diamond said. “But you could’ve gone further.”
“The wind was crap,” the other jumper replied, taking off the helmet and revealing spiky, white hair. “That was the longest I could do.”
“Understandable, given your fondness of long things…” Double Diamond chuckled.
“Oh, get off Party Favor…” the girl replied. “Wait, that came out wrong…” She looked at Indigo and Bulk as if she noticed them only now. “Hi guys! I’m Night Glider. Me and that melancholic gentleman are training to go to Garmisch-Partenkirchen next year…”
“Excuse me…” Bulk muttered. “Where?”
“The second competition of the Four Hills Tournament takes place there on New Year,” Double Diamond replied.
“Ah, that makes sense,” Indigo replied. “May I try?”
“What?” Bulk asked.
“I mean, it doesn’t look that hard,” Indigo said. “And you fly pretty low.”
“Remember that it’s not a ramp,” Night Glider muttered. “You have to actually jump when you reach the end of the inrun. The position in flight is also important.”
“Wait, you’re not letting her try, are you?” Bulk asked.
“Well, if we find shoes in her size…” Double Diamond shrugged. “It’d be fun to find someone else to help us. Wouldn’t you want to try too?”
“No, thanks,” Bulk replied. “I’m way too heavy… And Indigo doesn’t have a self-preservation instinct.”
“Oh really?” Indigo rolled her eyes. “I’ll show you that it’s totally safe…”
Twenty minutes later, Indigo, wearing a tight suit and a pair of long skis, sat on the bar at the top of the hill. The wind was blowing in her face, which, according to Night Glider, could allow her for a longer flight. She tried to remember everything she had been told, but there was quite a lot of it. Apparently positioning the skis in a “V” shape made them act like wings; Double Diamond was pretty sure she’d miss the take off point and fall, but introduced her to telemark landing anyway. Bulk, of course, thought she was crazy.
“I’ll show him crazy,” Indigo muttered to herself. “Sixty one and a half? I can do better than that.”
She looked down and saw Night Glider waving at her, giving her the signal. Indigo pushed herself off of the bar and slid down the runway.
It was a rough ride. The ice-carved tracks were far from smooth and the pair of skis she was given weren’t properly waxed. Additionally, ski jumpers didn’t use poles. Indigo spread her hands slightly, trying to keep balance in the squatting position.
Suddenly, she realised that the angle went more shallow. Seeing the end of the inrun getting close to her, Indigo jumped. For a brief moment, she enjoyed the feeling of smooth flight, trying to catch the air under her skis and glide off.
It didn’t last long. The crosswind hit her, causing her to lose her balance. She waved her hands, but the ground suddenly went up and hit her side, sending her tumbling down the hill. She lost her skis on the way, stopping on the flat surface at the bottom, where she lay down.
Bulk rushed to her. “Indigo! Are you okay?”
Indigo blinked a few times, wiping the pinkish snow off her face. “Holy fuck…” she muttered. “Can I go again?”
“To the doctor, maybe,” Night Glider muttered. “Girl, and I thought it was bad when I fell on my head for the first time.”
Indigo touched her face and looked at her glove which suddenly turned red. “Hmm, that’s my blood?” she asked. “Oh, dear…”
“Dammit, Indigo…” Bulk shook his head as Indigo passed out.