“So, how was the New Year’s party?” Sweet Leaf asked.
Lemon Zest shrugged. It’d been a few days since they came back from Our Town. The school had barely started and even though they were preparing for the exams, she decided that she’d spend at least a few days a week helping in the hospice. So there she was, dressed in white and walking down the corridor with her new friend.
“I don’t know, no one told me yet,” Lemon said. “I didn’t feel well, so I had a few drinks and the next thing I remember was someone checking my pulse in the morning.”
“Poor girl,” Sweet Leaf said. “You’d better chill out with drinking.”
“Yeah, I’m going to,” Lemon muttered. “If Sunny could, I can stop drinking too.”
Sweet Leaf smiled. “That’s the spirit.”
“I also threw up on the train.” Lemon blushed. “Not the best experience.”
Sweet Leaf shook her head as they approached one of the rooms. “Since you’re new, you’ll be helping with patients who aren’t seriously ill.” She looked at Lemon. “You’ll meet Ms. Cranberry. She probably thinks we’re her daughters, no matter what you say. She also likes to sing. That’s, like, one of the few things she remembers.”
“Damn…” Lemon shuddered.
“Don’t mind her if she’s a bit rude,” Sweet Leaf sighed. “She doesn’t mean to.”
“I won’t,” Lemon replied. “How long is she like that?”
“A few years.” Sweet Leaf opened the door. “She remembers things from the past pretty well, but the present…”
Lemon raised her eyebrows. “You call that not being seriously ill?”
Sweet Leaf’s expression faltered. “In comparison to those who are unconscious, that is. After spending a long time here, it’s hard to, you know–”
“Care?” Lemon asked.
“I guess so.” Sweet Leaf sighed before putting on a professional smile. “Good afternoon, Ms. Cranberry…”
The round, fired from behind the thick bushes, pierced the tank’s armour, hitting the ammunition rack. The turret was ripped off by the explosion that shredded most of the crew. Those who avoided that fate, weren’t much better off; the fuel tank burst, engulfing the wreckage in flames.
“How did you do that?” Featherweight asked, staring at the screen in disbelief.
“I was supposed to learn physics, so I learned the placement of the ammo rack in every single tank instead,” Indigo replied, looking at him from behind her laptop. “Watch me and learn.” She rolled out of her hideout and aimed at another tank which disappeared in a huge explosion. The chat immediately filled with angry-looking cyrillic.
“Yeah, you too. And all that with a broken finger,” Indigo muttered. “Where’s everyone? What the–” Her jaw dropped when she saw that her tank suddenly exploded, hit by an unexpected shell from behind. The closer examination revealed that the shell came from a ridiculously large howitzer mounted on a tank belonging to someone called The_Muffin_Queen.
“Straight in the ass.” Featherweight chuckled.
“Oh, shut up.” Indigo groaned.
Bulk entered the room and sat on the couch next to Indigo. “You’re on fire again?”
“Yeah, but first I managed to fry your little brother,” Indigo replied. “Screw this game. I was supposed to learn physics.”
“I’d never say you were a science type,” Bulk said.
“I’m not.” Indigo shrugged. “I just don’t feel like being worse than Fleur. Or Suri Polomare. Sugarcoat and Sunny may get a pass.”
“Let me guess: by the end of the year, you all meet and battle to death?” Bulk asked, chuckling. “The last one standing graduates.”
“We don’t meet.” Indigo smirked. “We prefer hiding in the bushes with sniper rifles. Except of Sour, she prefers a bow.”
“Whose idea was to give her a bow in the first place?” Bulk scratched his head. “That just doesn’t add up…”
“It was supposed to improve her self-control,” Indigo replied. “She apparently shot her sister that never existed, so it didn’t work.”
Featherweight smiled. “Whatever. Self-control or not, she’s still gorgeous.”
Indigo raised her eyebrows. “She didn’t punch you enough? Or was it too strong?”
“Besides, she recently met a guy,” Bulk said. “A really big guy.”
“And his girlfriend,” Indigo added. “You know, Sour Sweet prefers guys who started to shave. Same goes for the girls.”
Bulk raised his eyebrows. “Do girls in your school shave?”
“No, some of them grow beards,” Indigo replied.
Featherweight’s eyes widened. “I’ll be in my room.”
Bulk shook his head after Featherweight ran upstairs. “I’m pretty sure I wasn’t like that when I was his age.”
“Yeah, sure.” Indigo chuckled. “I was that little girl with bruised knees. And I wanted to get my sister out of jail before I realised that she was a total douche.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else from you,” Bulk said. “You just seem like someone who’d do that.”
“My initial plan involved a stolen jet and a ton of explosives,” Indigo said. “But all I could afford was a bicycle and a few boxes of firecrackers. Cinch still doesn’t know who set them off in the toilet at the second floor.”
Bulk shook his head. “And they say kids from elite schools are serious and never do dumb pranks…”
“Yeah, sure.” Indigo chuckled, stretching her hands on the couch. “The only difference between a normal kid blowing shit up with firecrackers and a kid from an elite school doing the same is that the latter says ‘now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds’ when it goes off.”
“Yeah,” Bulk replied. “And what do you say when you’re caught? ‘Woe is me’?”
“More like, ‘I won’t tell anything without my lawyer’,” Indigo said. “Or at least Sunny says so.”
“Who else but her.” Bulk chuckled. “Though I guess Sandalwood would say something like this. Right before trying to run.”
Indigo nodded, leaning closer to Bulk. “Guess those two would hook up if Sugarcoat didn’t get there first. They both are kinda off. Not, like, Sour Sweet-level off, but still not exactly right.”
“Born a hundred years too early, I’d say…” Bulk embraced Indigo. “By the way, how’s Sour Sweet? Haven’t heard from her since we came back.” He looked at the ceiling. “And it seems she’s gonna become my sister-in-law one day…”
Indigo laughed, resting herself against his arm.
The shiny walls of Crystal Prep Academy had seen and heard all kinds of things over the years. They soaked all the students’ joys and tragedies over the years like a sponge and never gave any of the secrets back. They were quiet, immobile observers.
Sour Sweet was sure that if the walls could, they’d scream constantly. She rested herself against one of them, trying to catch a breath.
“What’s going on?” Sunny asked.
“I’m pregnant,” Sour Sweet replied. The walls took that information with silence, as the foundation of such a respectable academy should. Sunny Flare, not so much.
“Did you take your meds? What the fuck are you talking about?” she asked.
“My stomach hurts.” Sour Sweet winced. “And I had sex with that guy in Our Town recently…”
“And his girlfriend too, if I recall correctly. Besides, It’s January 4th,” Sunny muttered. “That was three days ago. I had a misfortune to see that you used a condom. And you stole my Plan B.”
“You don’t use it anyway,” Sour Sweet replied.
“But I could.” Sunny groaned and looked at her wrist device. “It’s probably just Montezuma’s Revenge. Are you going? The soccer training starts soon.”
“Wait a minute.” Sour Sweet shuddered, covering her mouth, and rushed to the bathroom.
The first stall was out of order since someone blew it up with firecrackers when Sour was a freshman. Sour really hoped that person died because of some painful rash in unreachable places. The second stall was occupied and Sour barely made it to the third before leaning over and throwing up.
“Geez…” she rasped, standing up and flushing the toilet. Straightening her uniform, she staggered out of the stall and leaned against the sink. A quick look into the mirror revealed sunken eyes and dry, parchment-like skin, topped with messy hair and bloodshot eyes.
“You should’ve stayed at home today,” Sour Sweet muttered to her reflection. After getting back from Our Town, she went back to her parents’ house, ready to face the punishment. To her surprise, there was none, but she was pretty sure her family had something special in store for her.
She tried to recall anything from the previous lessons. All she remembered were fever and her stomach twisting; she only managed to eat a few bites of her lunch before excusing herself.
“But on the other hand, at home your parents would probably find you something to do, sick or not,” Sour Sweet continued. “Yeah, take care of Sweet Dreams so we don’t have to drag her to the kindergarten if she doesn’t want to. Because rotavirus is a fun thing to get if you’re six.”
“Are you okay?”
Sour Sweet’s stomach made a somersault when she heard the voice. She turned back and saw that the girl occupying the second stall just left it and was now looking at her. She was short, with long, green hair, slightly darker than Lemon Zest’s. Sour noticed that she wore a brown skirt, a yellow blouse and a hat rather than a Crystal Prep Academy uniform. How she was let in was anybody’s guess.
“I’m fine…” Sour Sweet turned the tap and drank some water from it. “Just watch out, I can puke or something. Who are you?”
“Sweet Leaf,” the girl replied. “I came here to pick up a friend, but I think she has some training or something. And of course, I got lost. Are you sure you’re fine?”
“Yes.” Sour Sweet’s stomach grumbled. “No.” She ran back to the toilet, throwing up the water she’d drank. “Screw that training…” she muttered, rolling back from the stall. “I’d better go to the nurse before I dehydrate completely.” She looked at Sweet Leaf. “The nurse’s office is close to the gym, so you can wait there for your friend.”
“Thanks.” Sweet Leaf helped Sour stagger out of the bathroom. They walked downstairs and headed for the gym. Sour caught a glimpse of her friends playing; the pitch was covered in snow, so they had to switch to indoor activities until the weather improved.
The visit in the nurse’s office was rather short. Sour decided not to tell the nurse about her pregnancy scare; after a conversation with Sunny, she found it rather silly herself. She got some meds and was told to go home and drink a lot of water. She was about to do so, when she saw Sweet Leaf sitting on a bench in the corridor next to the gym. For some reason, the girl looked familiar to her.
“So, what are you and your friend up to?” Sour asked. “Not many of us have friends from other schools.”
“We’re volunteering in the hospice,” Sweet Leaf replied.
“No way,” Sour muttered. “Sunny Flare is still there?”
“She was there, but it’s not her,” Sweet Leaf said, her smile faltering. “That’d be–”
The door to the gym opened and the team walked out, chatting happily. Sour Sweet looked away from them and saw Sunny Flare who stopped in the middle of the door, causing several other girls to yell at her for blocking the path. Sour Sweet waved to her; Sunny, however didn’t wave back, muttering something under her breath.
“Oh, shitwaffle,” Sunny Flare muttered. She looked at Sour Sweet and at the girl next to her. Then she looked back to see if Lemon Zest was still helping Diwata Aino and Frosty Orange to gather all the balls after the training.
“What’s going on?” Indigo asked.
Sunny turned to her, frowning. “Can you kill me quickly?”
“Sure, why?” Indigo smirked.
“Because whatever happens, someone’s gonna rip my legs off and leave me to bleed out,” Sunny replied.
“And that wouldn’t be me?” Indigo raised her eyebrows. “What did you do?”
“Wait a minute.” Sunny pulled Indigo away and walked to Sour Sweet. “Are you better?” she asked, ostensibly ignoring Sweet Leaf. “Indigo said she’d drive you home. You can wait in her car till we take a shower.”
Indigo furrowed her eyebrows. “Wha–”
The look Sunny gave her immediately silenced her. “Yeah, you can go. Just don’t throw up on the upholstery, I had it cleaned recently. I’ll give you my keys.”
Sour said a quick ‘bye’ to Sweet Leaf and they walked away. Indigo gave her the keys and, when they were already in the changing room, walked to Sunny Flare.
“What was that about?” she asked.
“Showers,” Sunny replied. “Quick, before Fleur takes them over.”
“Suri is already there,” Indigo said.
Sunny sighed and shook her head. “Then you’ll get rid of her.”
Indigo groaned and pushed the door to the showers open. Two of the four showers were taken; however, instead of choosing one of the free ones, Indigo walked to Suri.
“Polomare, get the fuck out,” she muttered.
“Why?” Suri asked, looking at Indigo like she was something that got stuck in a toilet.
“Because I feel uncomfortable bathing with a crazy lesbo,” Indigo replied.
“How about her?” Suri pointed at Sunny. “Also, considering that you and your psychotic lesbo friend wanted to beat the crap out of me in the showers once, you’re the least convincing homophobe I know. Bothersome.”
“You know what bothers me?” Indigo walked to Suri and looked down at her. “Your face. Get out before I change it a bit.”
“Fine,” Suri muttered getting out of the shower. “Cunt.”
“Takes one to know one,” Indigo muttered before turning to Melon Mint, who was showering as far from them as possible, trying to look at them without actually staring. “You can stay.”
“Just don’t listen,” Sunny said.
“Now she’ll definitely listen.” Indigo turned the tap, pouring lukewarm water all over herself. “What was all that about?”
“Have you seen that girl next to Sour?” Sunny asked, leaning towards Indigo.
Indigo shrugged. “Looked like she wasn’t from here. Never seen her before.”
“I did,” Sunny replied. “It’s that idiot who works in the hospice and wants to go to Africa. And you’ve heard Lemon today.”
“I didn’t,” Indigo replied. “I can’t exactly run well with bruised ribs, so I was too busy humiliating Fleur with my free throws.”
“She went to that hospice and works there now, even though she doesn’t have to.” Sunny rolled her eyes. “That girl came here to get her and go there and now she’s hanging out with Sour.”
“How horrible,” Indigo deadpanned. “Are there dragons in this fairy tale?”
Sunny sighed. “For my friend, you’re sometimes dense. You totally don’t get the context.”
“Then provide it.” Indigo splashed some water on Sunny. “Illuminate me.”
Sunny nodded, unperturbed. “So, Lemon knows that girl, Sour knows that girl, but they probably don’t know each of them know her too, and you know how… unstable Sour can be as of late. Besides, I may have hacked that girl’s phone and now I own quite a few of her nudes. Some of them are pretty good.”
Indigo facepalmed. “And you wonder why people think you’re a carpet muncher.”
“Oh, come on,” Sunny muttered. “And if we assume that Sour Sweet hypothetically saw those photos…”
“She saw them, didn’t she?” Indigo groaned.
Sunny smiled in the most innocent way she could muster. “How did you know?”
“I know you for long enough to know you’re a slippery cunt,” Indigo replied.
“That’s the soap,” Sunny said, looking down at herself. “So, what do you think of it?”
Indigo looked at Melon Mint, who was busy not listening to them and standing under the shower with a confused expression. “It’s a clusterfuck,” she said.
“Indeed.” Sunny nodded. “And sooner or later someone may think punching me in the face is a good idea.”
“Wait, it isn’t?”
Sunny sighed and shook her head.
The gym was filled with people; Indigo didn’t know most of them, which was an usual thing in January. She’d already shown two of them how to use the equipment without harming themselves; now she was sitting in front of the mirror with a pair of dumbbells, lifting them slowly. Her biceps burned; with a sharp exhale, she put the weights on the floor.
“Just one more series, with heavier ones,” she muttered.
“You won’t be able to lift your hands tomorrow,” Bulk said. “Especially with a broken finger.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Indigo replied, looking at her injured finger. She couldn’t use it to grip the dumbbell and her other fingers were aching. “On a side note, I have to ask you a question.”
Bulk put down the barbell. “Yes?”
“What’s the name of a girl with dark-green hair and a hat who’s probably from Canterlot High and volunteers in the hospice?” Indigo asked. “Sunny didn’t seem to remember it.”
“You mean Sweet Leaf?” Bulk shrugged. “Sandalwood knows her better. She’s friends with Paisley from his band. And Starlight… You know Starlight, right?”
“Which one?” Indigo asked. “Starlight Glimmer – the cult leader, Starlight Glimmer – Sunset Shimmer’s friend Muffins had seen once, or that little one who tried to beat me?”
“The third of those,” Bulk replied. “She’s actually rather nice.”
“Not when Cloudy Kicks is around,” Indigo muttered, looking at her dumbbells. “Anyway, tell that Sweet Leaf to watch out for Sour Sweet.”
Bulk raised his eyebrows, looking at Indigo. “What did she do to Sour Sweet?”
“Nothing, but Sunny thinks the stuff may get ugly.” Indigo shrugged.
“And since when do you believe her?” Bulk turned back to the mirror and lifted the barbell.
Indigo grabbed the dumbbells and hissed, completing the first rep despite her muscles aching. “It’s kinda her fault, you know.”
“Of course…” Bulk smirked.
The small, electric car found its way through the snow-covered streets. Sweet Leaf looked at the dashboard and furrowed her eyebrows. “Let’s hope our battery doesn’t die in this weather.”
“Seems to be a thing for everyone.” Lemon looked through the window at someone who was trying unsuccessfully to start their car. “You’ll just run to the pharmacy, get those meds we ordered and go back. I’ll wait. If we turn the engine off, we may not turn it on again…”
“You just want me to get out in the cold while you stay inside, huh?” Sweet Leaf smirked.
“Kind of,” Lemon replied.
“Okay, then,” Sweet Leaf said. “Hmm, your girlfriend must’ve been worse than I thought.”
Lemon turned to her, shuddering. “Why do you think so?”
“When I said about you wanting me to get out of the car, you cowered as if you expected me to punch you,” Sweet Leaf replied, turning left on the intersection. “It’s not your dad. I’ve seen on Christmas that you’re more relaxed around him. You said you had a rough breakup recently, so I assume it was your girlfriend.”
“Yeah.” Lemon sighed. “Well, she isn’t bad, but she smacked me a few times. You know, on her bad days she doesn’t really care about what others think.”
Sweet Leaf nodded. “Guess she isn’t much better on her good days…”
“She’s fine,” Lemon replied. “She just has problems…” She looked outside. “Hey, I can see my house from here!”
“Problems. Surely.” Sweet Leaf parked next to a large pile of snow that could as well be someone’s unused car. “I’ll be right back.”
She got out of the car and walked to the pharmacy at the corner of the street. It was almost empty at this time of day. The only person who was there was no one else but Sour Sweet, who was just paying for the meds.
“Hello,” Sweet Leaf said, walking to her. “Feeling better?”
“Somewhat,” Sour Sweet replied. “I skipped school and now I’m curing myself.”
Sweet Leaf looked at the pills Sour Sweet just swept from the counter. “Prozac, Invega, Kaopectate…”
“There isn’t just one shit I have to deal with,” Sour Sweet muttered. “More like, a few of them.”
“I see.” Sweet Leaf replied. “You know, if you ever need some help… Like, we can drive you home.”
“No, thanks. I live on the other side of the street. Right now, I could use someone who knows how to entertain kids,” Sour Sweet said. “My brother and sister turn six soon and after the last year, no one in the family wants me to get dressed as a clown.” She shrugged. “I don’t know why.”
“I can give you Trixie’s number.” Sweet Leaf took her phone. “She does magic tricks and is good with kids.”
“Great.” Sour Sweet smiled. “Hmm, you may want to buy something…”
“Oh.” Sweet Leaf turned to the pharmacist, who was watching her, furrowing her eyebrows, and handed her a bunch of prescriptions and some papers. “Orders from the hospice.”
“You buy all those here?” Sour Sweet asked.
“No, just the ones we need, like, right now,” Sweet Leaf replied. “They trust me with that because they know I wouldn’t steal anything.”
“Ah, sure.” Sour Sweet nodded. “So, how about this Trixie?”