//------------------------------// // Six-Lettered Word // Story: No Hugs for Sugar Crush // by FerociousCreation //------------------------------// Remember, Sugar: keep calm and don’t mention Mineral. The Chocolate Palace’s bell rang a happy tune. However, to Sugar, it was the call of potential doom as Saradiamond entered the store with a skip in her step. “Good afternoon, Saradiamond,” Sugar smiled from behind the counter, despite feeling the same nervous itch that crawled up her neck. The crystal pony’s body caught the sunlight, and the sun made an attempt to blind Sugar. But despite the light, she tried her best to keep them open. “Hello, Sugar,” Saradiamond said. “How are you doing today?” “Just enjoying the downtime. What about you?” Saradiamond beamed, “I’m doing fantastic! I read my interview with Morganite when I was at lunch.” “I-is that right? Hehe…” Sugar scanned over the joyful unicorn in an attempt to find if Saradiamond was hiding anything in plain sight. But the happy mare refused to be negative in the slightest. Maybe she didn’t turn the page and see the picture of me and Mineral. “What did you think of it?” “Oh, I loved it!” Saradiamond answered. “It makes me feel like a celebrity to have my name in a magazine!” She sat down at the table closest to Sugar with a sigh. “You know my usual. Two cinnamon sugar cookies.” Sugar's nervous mood began to dissolve, but it didn’t fully go away. Her guard began to lower as she started to behave like her regular self. “Coming right up. Also, I must say, you are much more cheery than usual.” The crystal pony stiffened, “N-no I am not!” Sugar smiled and batted a hoof at Saradiamond. “I know you don’t want others to see you act girly. But don’t worry if you stop being a tomboy in front of me for a few minutes. There’s nothing wrong with mares being mares.” Saradiamond giggled, “I know. It’s just I have a model to stand by. The other jousters know me for being tough. But I know I can trust you to keep our girl talks secret.” A mental punch jabbed into Sugar’s heart. From all of the secrets Sugar was holding back, she didn’t feel worthy of Saradiamond’s trust. “Thanks,” Sugar muttered. The thestral obtained her customer’s order and placed the two cookies on a plate. “And what free mini-cookie would you like?” Sugar asked. “Oh, umm… I’ll pick when I leave.” “Okay.” Sugar walked around the counter and gave the dish to Saradiamond. “So what do you like about being interviewed?” Since there was nopony else present, and because business never really existed in the afternoon, Sugar sat across from Saradiamond. “The fame. The attention. You know, the usual things that ponies yearn to possess.” The unicorn levitated one cookie and spun it around a few times. Light from the sun twinkled off the tiny flakes of sugar that spotted the sweet. “And I love the attention.” “I wish I could handle having attention,” Sugar said. “Even though my Min- I mean, Magical Milk Cookies have gotten quite the reputation, I still get flustered when ponies thank me for making something so unique.” Good catch, Sugar. You almost slipped up there. Saradiamond nibbled on her cookie while she listened. She licked her lips and grinned, “Then what convinced you to get an interview with Morganite?” Sugar’s eyes almost fell out of her head as they widened. “Did- did you read it?” It’s over! She knows! “Don’t be so surprised, Sugar,” Saradiamond laughed. “I was bound to find out eventually.” Since her interview was the core focus of the discussion, Sugar asked, “What did you think of it?” “To be honest, I actually didn’t read it. In fact, I don’t know the full details of your interview.” Saradiamond was either telling the full-hearted truth or was the best liar in all of Equestria. She didn’t have the slightest crease in her brow. And neither of the corners of her lips drooped. “You don’t look upset that I didn’t tell you Morganite interviewed me,” Sugar said, unsure why Saradiamond maintained herself in such a positive manner. “I thought you would be upset that I would keep something like that from you.” Saradiamond blinked at Sugar. “Why would I ever be mad at you? There is nothing wrong with what you did.” Sugar still found that hard to believe and looked down at her forehooves. “Aww, Sugar. Don’t be like that,” the crystal pony smiled. The sun completed its routine departure, leaving the Chocolate Palace by dipping behind the buildings. Saradiamond was much easier to look at, and Sugar still saw no disappointment in her friend. “I swear, you did nothing wrong to me.” “Promise?” Sugar asked. “If I had to swear again, I might as well be your sister.” The two mares roared in laughter, their voices only present for themselves. “Hehe, okay. I believe you.” “I’m glad you do,” Saradiamond said. She took a much larger bite of the cinnamon sugar cookie just as her cheeks flushed. Sugar tilted her head, curious what got the mare so flustered. “I’m also glad you and I get to do this with you.” “You mean talk with me?” “Not just that.” The smile finally subsided. Sugar knew what was coming. “I get to talk to another mare and be open to you. Just like Nebula.” And there it was. The name that changed every atmosphere. Whenever Sugar thought, heard, and even seen the name nebula, she always envisioned a purple galaxy with millions of stars occupying it. The very definition of nebula had several meanings to Sugar. A friend. A mare. A thestral. A tragedy. All packed into one six-lettered word. “Sugar, I must confess something to you.” “Is it about… him?” Sugar asked. She herself made sure Mineral’s name was not used. “No, not Mineral. And you know as well as I do, I don’t like the mere mention of his name.” It continued to pain Sugar that he was much more sensitive material than Nebula, which was a surprise on its own. Whenever Saradiamond would ever talk about the past, she never mentioned anything about Mineral as if to wipe the memory of him clean from her brain. Sugar didn’t mind her friend refusing to talk about him. It saved her the trouble of being poisoned with any negative thoughts. She was still in love with Mineral, and she preferred to remain that way unabated. “You see, Sugar,” Saradiamond began, “this last month of you and I just talking has been very, very enjoyable. But I want to address that I… that I…” The pause kept Sugar on a very thin edge. Saradiamond could say anything following such a vague statement. “I know you said you can trust me,” Sugar smiled, even though she wanted to grab her friend by the shoulders and shake the rest of the “that I” comment out. “And I do trust you,” Saradiamond nodded. “Our friendship means a lot to me.” “As it does for me, too.” The remainder of the first cookie was claimed by a hard bite. Saradiamond chewed for one long, quiet minute. “The thing is…” She grunted and glared at the plate. “Ugh, why is this so hard to get out!” Sugar made an attempt to guess what was on Saradiamond’s mind. “Are you moving away?” “Oh nononono! My jousting career is way too important to me. And besides, the Crystal Empire is my home. I would never leave it.” “Well, that’s good to know,” Sugar smiled. The thought of Saradiamond not being around the kingdom would ease a lot of stress for Sugar. The chances of her meeting Mineral again would diminish to a near zero. But Saradiamond began to grow on Sugar. “Alright, I’m going to just get it out!” Saradiamond took in a deep breath. “I don’t want you to think you are a substitute!” She held in the air before finally letting it escape her in a hot puff. “What do you mean?” “Nebula. That’s what I mean.” Both of Saradiamond’s ears fell back. “You and her are so much alike. But you are also not like her. I don’t want you to think that I come around just so I can pretend you are Nebula.” A weak grin rose the corners of the mare’s mouth. “You really are a good pony.” “Why thank you, Saradiamond.” Sugar beamed at the sweet comment. “That does mean a lot for you to say that.” “How can I not tell you that? You are just too kind. I was just worried you might have assumed I only came around because you were a thestral.” Sugar gave the statement some thought. “I’ll admit, I did believe that for a while.” Saradiamond levitated the second cookie and nibbled on it. She made no eye contact with Sugar as she slowly consumed the edges. “But then I learned more about you, and I forgot that I reminded you of Nebula for the most part.” The edges of the cinnamon cookie were completely chewed off when Saradiamond placed it back onto the plate. “Well, thank you for being my friend. The world needs more mares like you.” “Hehe, thanks and your welcome.” With the crystal pony in a much better mood, Sugar chose to dangerously return to discussing her interview. “So, how did you come to learn about my interview? Did Morganite tell you?” “She didn’t tell me. It was Steadfast who read your interview after I was finished with reading ours.” Saradiamond grinned and broke her cookie in two with a magical force. “And he told me that your Magical Milk Cookies were inspired because of a particular stallion.” Sugar almost fled the shop in a mad dash for the moon. There was no doubt that Steadfast and Saradiamond knew the truth. “Did he tell you the name of said stallion?” “No. He kept me from trying to read it for some stupid reason. Maybe he wanted to keep your stallion of interest a secret to himself just to tease me.” It was nearly impossible for Sugar to believe that Saradiamond didn’t know about her and Mineral Water. But it was interesting that Saradiamond mentioned how Steadfast refused to allow her to see the magazine. Steadfast obviously knew the truth. Perhaps he didn’t want his teammate to know Sugar was friends with Mineral for their own good. “Aww, you are blushing, Sugar,” the unicorn giggled. “I’m-” Sugar’s tail curled around herself, flustered and scared. “I was too embarrassed to let you know about my inspiration.” “Is your inspiration handsome?” Saradiamond asked, then took a bite out of her cookie. It was too difficult for Sugar to answer the question. Her unstable walls were about to topple over. The only thing Sugar was able to do was nod her head. “Then that’s all I will ask,” Saradiamond said. “You don’t look like you want to discuss him at the moment.” “I don’t…” A soft smile twinkled off of Saradiamond’s face. “Then don’t worry. I won’t pressure you into telling me. And for good measure, I won’t read your interview until you are ready to talk about your inspiration.” Sugar saw a way out of her frightening situation but had to come up with a convincing lie in order to exit the day unharmed. “The reason why I didn’t tell you about my interview, and because my interview makes me nervous, is because… because…” “Did you tell Morganite anything embarrassing?” “Y-yes!” Sugar cleared her throat to appear less excited because Saradiamond assisted her unknowingly. “Yes. But I was too afraid of telling Morganite to take back the interview.” “Hmm… Maybe that’s why Steadfast didn’t want me to read your interview; he saw something that most likely would embarrass you if I knew about it.” It was absolutely stunning at how Saradiamond just took everything that was being fed to her at face value. Was she that oblivious to see that there might be something hiding in plain sight? Regardless, Sugar was glad her friend knew nothing about how Mineral was the pony who inspired the Mineral Milk Cookie. But that didn’t ease all worries for the thestral. Steadfast knew the obvious truth. She could only hope to confront him soon in an attempt to keep his lips quiet. “I will make sure Steadfast doesn’t tell me what he read for your sake,” Saradiamond repeated. “And if anypony heckles you because of an embarrassing truth, you know I am here for you.” “Thanks, Saradiamond.” “Hehe, what are friends for?” Not to be lied to. That’s for sure. *** “Sugar, you need to tell her the truth,” Nightshade said. “But I can’t!” Sugar whined as she rolled around on her bed. “I know she hates Mineral with a burning passion. And I don’t want her to hate me, either.” The older sibling rested a hoof onto Sugar’s shoulder. “I believe that you should tell her, anyways. In fact, you should tell Mineral that you’ve met Saradiamond, too. You’ve been unnecessarily stressing over this entire ordeal for a month. And it’s worrying me. I don’t like seeing my sister upset.” “I just don’t want to know what Mineral did to Nebula that broke her heart…” Nightshade shook her head, “Morganite and I are still on the same page about this entire ordeal. If you hide this from Mineral and Saradiamond any longer, things might get very complicated.” She flapped her wings once to propel herself off Sugar’s bed. “And others might have to get involved.” “But-” “I’m done talking about this. Figure a way out of this mess you put yourself through.” Sugar knew she was on Nightshade’s bad side when her sister refused to tease in any way. Without another word, Nightshade left Sugar’s room. Alone, the worried thestral grabbed her blankets and threw them over her head. But no matter how dark the room was, Sugar couldn’t hide from her troubles. She grabbed her largest pillow and snuggled against it. Sugar gave it a light kiss as she pretended the soft pillow was Mineral. “Will you still like me if you knew the truth?” The plush headrest gave no response.