//------------------------------//
// J3: Rise of the Machines 
// Story: Science Fiction 
// by Bookish Delight 
//------------------------------//

Juniper Montage and Twilight Sparkle walked through Canterlot Mall's concourse, side-by-side. People bustled around them, though not nearly as many people as those who made up the crowds both girls dealt with when working weekends. 

Which was just fine with Juniper. Right now, it was just a regular workday before the late afternoon rush. She welcomed the—relatively speaking—peace and quiet.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet up with me, Twilight," Juniper said. "To be honest, even if I hadn't suddenly needed a running buddy to help me buy props, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself. All I knew was that if I had to deal with one more reserved theater seating conflict for Harmony War..." Juniper's expression scrunched. "Seriously, for a movie that seems to be causing so many tears online, people sure are falling over each other to watch it."

Twilight laughed. "So, I've heard! And it's no problem at all! Congratulations on your next movie getting off the ground, by the way. I'm glad to help you out with pre-production."

"Thanks, and thanks! Yeah, I was losing hope that Fluttershy would ever agree to it. I wonder what changed her mind. Works for me, though—now Photo Finish owes me twenty bucks." Juniper snickered.

"I was actually wondering what to do with myself for this lunch break, too," Twilight said. "All I knew was that I didn't want to spend it surrounded by broken consumer electronics." She looked at Juniper with a jubilant smile. "Guess things just lined up perfectly."

"Yeah." Juniper watched, and silently rooted for, a noisy child doing her best to tug mother into the video arcade they were passing by at the moment. "Not gonna lie, though, I still feel pretty special." She flashed Twilight a quizzical look. "I mean, I so often see you leaving the mall with Sunset during lunch breaks."

"Well, yes, I do often like to walk through the park with Sunset. Just to clear our minds of the day so far, of course," Twilight said, her cheeks tinting so lightly that Juniper almost didn't catch them. Almost. "But she said she was busy with Rainbow Dash for lunch today." She shrugged. "Which is fine. Besides, there are times when I just enjoy being around civilization."

"If one can call a mall 'civilized'," Juniper quipped. 

Twilight giggled. "Touché. But yes. I was, uh, a little afraid you'd take it the wrong way, if you get my drift?" Twilight tapped her index fingers together. "Yeah. Thanks for not. Taking that. Badly."

Juniper laughed, bumping shoulders with Twilight. "Come on! We're both past awkward apologies at this point, aren't we?"

Twilight slouched with a sheepish smile. "Well, yeah, but—"

"Look, there are best friends, and then there are super best friends," Juniper said. "I know the score. Trust me, I'm flattered to pinch-hit for the Great Sunset Shimmer(tm)." She placed the back of her hand to her temple, exhaling into her best diva impression. "The Montage life is a lonely life," she said, her voice dripping with fake, lilted melodrama, "but she lives it with the grace and stride befitting a rising star! Witness her plight and be moved!" 

Twilight took several steps away from Juniper. "Hey, it's working! Your performance is moving me to the other end of the mall in record time."

"Hah! See?" Juniper stretched both her arms outward, laughing. "Seriously, world, just give me my Oscar already! I don't even have to try anymore, I'm so good."

Twilight laughed, rejoined Juniper, and sighed in relief. "You are. Thanks again. Though, if we're still being honest," Twilight said, biting her lip, "That's... actually something that's crossed my mind every time I pass by the theater." 

"What, getting me my Oscar? Trust me, Twi, your smarts are wasted on the Academy."

"No, not that." Twilight stopped in the middle of the concourse and turned to face Juniper directly. "Why don't you transfer to one of our schools? You've made friends in both. It's got to be lonely, working as much as you do with none of those friends around."

"I. Um. Wow, this is sudden." Juniper hesitated, allowing herself to be distracted by the big box electronics store to her right—ooh, 4K televisions had dropped another hundred dollars in price!—before looking back at Twilight. 

Twilight was still looking back at her. Juniper deadpanned. "You... still want an answer, don't you?"

Twilight nodded.

Juniper sighed. "Guess I may as well tell the truth. You deserve that much. That truth being: I actually looked into it."

Twilight's face lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah." Juniper squeezed her hands together. "Did all my research. By which I mean I talked to Sunny Flare, who helped me visit CPA, just like you helped me tour your school. After which I did a lot of thinking."

"A dangerous pastime," Twilight said with a slanted grin.

"I know," Juniper said, grinning back in kind. "Though probably you more than me." Juniper sighed again. "But the conclusion I came to is that... I'm not sure either school's a good fit for me."

Juniper paced back and forth in front of Twilight, then stopped back in front of the big box store, with its state-of the art phones, televisions, game consoles and related merchandise placed tantalizingly inside the windows. "Crystal Prep is swank, and glitzy, and everyone there is good at what they do. Probably the best. Sunny even recommended I head up their film department."

Twilight nodded. "That makes sense. You've got professional and hobbyist experience."

"Yeah, I do." Juniper deflated. "But then I looked at the rest of the school, and its students. And how they... kind of always stepped over each other to get the right answers in class, or to make sure they got the credit for scoring goals on teams. And I realized, if I ended up going to Crystal Prep, I'd be too scared, all the time, of just ending up being as obsessive as they are, to the point of not caring about the people around me. Been there, done that, have the phone footage on the Internet that I'll never be able to erase." 

Juniper rolled her eyes and turned to Twilight. "I don't want to get that crazy about anything, much less film, ever again. And that place prides itself on cuhrayzee." She paused then added. "Uh, no offense meant, of course. Heh heh."

"None taken, believe me." Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes as well. "We've both seen the Shadowbolts turn over a new leaf, and Principal Cadance is a lot nicer than Principal Cinch," Twilight said. "But, it's anyone's guess when their mindsets will spread across the rest of the school." She placed her fingers to her chin in thought. "Anyway, your reasoning for not going there is sound, but what about Canterlot High? So many of us would love to have you there! And our film division is pretty lacking, too. Don't tell Photo I said that."

"Heh. Well, that one's..." Juniper looked away, scratching her head. "A little more complicated. And it's why I've been holding off having this conversation up till now."

Twilight stepped in close and took hold of Juniper's hand. "You can have the conversation with me," Twilight said. "Whatever it is, I'll understand."

Juniper sighed, smiling inwardly. She never could say no to Twilight, and today wasn't going to be any different. "Well," Juniper said, "how do I put this... oh!" She spied, and pointed to, a nearby antique store. 

"You know everything I said about CPA? Well, CHS is the other extreme. It's super-friendly, super-homey, and super... all over the place compared to CPA's specialization. You guys are the complete opposite of Crystal Prep Academy in every way, and that should work for me. Problem is... well, it doesn't.

"One school feels too extraordinary for me. The other's too... ordinary." Juniper said, gesturing to both stores, then to Twilight. "There's gotta be a happy medium somewhere. One that pushes the envelope but doesn't go full tilt with it. I've lived the ordinary life, I've lived the super-inside baseball movie life, and I've messed up both." Juniper closed her eyes, drooped her head, and sighed. "So yeah. I'm not sure what to do yet."

Juniper felt—and relished—Twilight's reassuring hands on her shoulders. "Told you I'd understand," Twilight said.

"Seriously?" Juniper said, looking back up. "You're not just saying that?"

Twilight giggled. "Balance is a fundamental principle, and driving force, of science. It governs so many of the things that make our world work, not to mention, easier for us to make sense of—weight, mass, chemical equations, atomic structure. And I feel that extends to the people living in our world as well. There's power in balance and promise in always keeping one's options open. 

"I love the overt friendliness, and sometimes mundaneness, of Canterlot High, because I spent so much time at CPA being pushed to excel, with nothing but negative reinforcement for my trouble. After living both ways myself, I absolutely feel pursuing a more balanced environment for your life is very smart. And admirable."

Juniper smiled, her heart warming and swelling, just like every time she and Twilight hung out. "Thanks so much, Twilight. I'm not sure why I keep underestimating the genius science nerd to understand basic human reasoning."

"Probably because I... usually don't," Twilight said, squeezing her arm in embarrassment. "But I like to think I get my friends."

Juniper smiled wider. "Yeah. You do."

"That said, don't think too long about alternatives," Twilight said. "Otherwise you'll be a year behind all of your friends." Twilight winked. "Who will be in college."

Juniper huffed. "Don't worry, I'll figure things out. You'll hear from me sooner rather than later. I promise."

Twilight smiled back. "Good. And, if you don't mind commuting? Between me and my friends—especially Pinkie—I have tons of contacts in other schools. I could ask around."

"Ooh, that'd be great, thanks," Juniper said, her mind and voice drifting as she looked around herself, taking in the sights of various colored signs as they passed by store after store. Candy shops, clothes shops, the fringes of the upstairs food court, and even the video arcade, placed her in a state of Zen that was ironically hard for her to achieve when she was in her room, by herself, surrounded by reminders of her cinematic passions. "Almost as great as this place. I can never get enough of walking through here when there's no weekend crowds."

Twilight giggled. "I know what you mean. Shopping centers certainly have changed. They were boring for me when I was growing up, so I always spent time in the library. But now that marketing to geek culture is economically viable? I can just walk in here and find things I'm actually interested in just by—" She stopped with a loud gasp.

"What, what happened?" Juniper frantically looked around. "Store on fire? Clearance sale? Someone fell down Devil's Gorge and has a compound fracture of the lower mandible?"

"The city sealed up Devil's Gorge last year!" Twilight rushed to a window, plastering her face and hands against the glass. "Oh, my goodness! Juniper, look!"

Juniper looked above the window Twilight was glued to, to see the name "RoboShop" above a store full of metallic gadgets, big and small. From what she could tell, everything inside could be used to make any of those robots she saw on television sometimes. Which she'd always enjoyed. What had been the outcome of the proposed battle between that one large domestic construction robot vs. Neighpon's finest, anyway?

"This is exactly what I mean!" Twilight said, waking Juniper from her thoughts. "There certainly weren't any stores nearby when I was growing up where I could just walk inside to grab spare robotics parts! I had to mail-order everything!" She pointed to a gleaming circuit board inside a plastic clamshell package. "Eeeeeee! And they have the new CybreHeart Deluxe Microcontroller! It's just what I need to finish my latest project!"

"Whoa," Juniper said. "What project is that?"

After a momentary look of surprise, Twilight replied, "Well, I'm developing a new programming language specifically for Canterlot Elementary's STEM initiative. There are already efforts being made to make robotics programming as much like domestic language as possible, but now I'm trying to lower the barrier to entry as much as possible while still keeping things versatile—"

Juniper gasped. "So that children can learn hardware programming languages alongside basic reading and writing?" 

Twilight gasped back. "You... understood me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Juniper spread her arms. "This is huge! Like, what you're talking about is still experimental stuff in scattered schools across the country! People are still trying to get it accepted as part of basic curriculum!" She cast Twilight a lazy eye. "You're trying to leapfrog the government again, aren't you?"

Twilight still looked stunned. 

"Okay," Juniper said, "I'm officially gonna need a lifeline here."

"Even Sunset just smiles and nods when I talk about robotics in detail," Twilight said, softly. "I know she doesn't get everything I do. But she gets enough that I'm always okay explaining. You, though, right from the jump..." Twilight shook her head and smiled. "Sorry. I'm just really happy right now."

Juniper smiled back. "I love the concepts you're discussing. I'm just not any good at them." She shrugged. "But if Transformares has taught me anything, it's that the closer a girl's able to get to her hardware, the better."

Twilight burst out laughing, sitting on a nearby bench to contain herself.

"I'm serious!" Juniper said, sitting next to Twilight. "The moment you get into the creative arts, it means you have to do at least cursory research on a whole bunch of things. You want to make a movie about a secret agent, you need to know a little bit about how governments work, and what rules you can or can't break."

"Without giving away any actual national security secrets," Twilight said.

"Bingo," Juniper replied. "You want to make... I don't know, a city-country romance? You have to talk to people like Applejack and Rarity—but never at the same time, because they instantly start arguing. Seriously, I know that genre's all the rage, but I do not get it."

Twilight laughed again. "So, you have to do the work, too, in your own way."

"Yep," Juniper said. "You have to, if only to make the movie even more compelling. Films don't just compete with other films for peoples' time, money, and appreciation. They compete with all forms of entertainment. You've got video games, you've got concerts and live shows, you've got ten thousand channels with nothing good on." Juniper folded her hands behind her head. "And if I'm going to become the Princess of All Media one day, I need to know this stuff."

"Princess of All Media?" Twilight looked at Juniper with a slanted grin. "That's a pretty lofty title."

"Hey, I just aim high," Juniper said. "Just like I know you wanna be the Princess of all Te—"

Twilight clamped her hand over Juniper's mouth and laughed nervously. "Who told you that? I've only ever used that designation around..." she gasped. "Spike."

Juniper nodded through Twilight's grip.

"I told him to keep my grand designs under wraps! He shall feel my royal wrath," Twilight said, with a mock-unhinged giggle. "I'll buy him the nutritious brand of dog food he hates and make him eat it for a month!"

"Whoa, calm down, Twi," Juniper said, pulling Twilight's hand off her. "No need to go all supervillain on me—I didn't need to be the world's greatest detective to figure out your #ScienceGoals. Why do you think I became friends with you? Way I figure it, you're either the one who causes the robot apocalypse, or you'll ascend to the top of the sciencey-tech world in two decades or less, and that means instant film venture capital!" Juniper leaned back, kicking up her legs with her own over-the-top cackle.

Twilight gasped. "Wait," she said with a hurt look. "Are you saying all I am to you is insurance? Or a... business venture?"

"What?" Juniper blinked. "No, no, I just mean, I..." Upon seeing Twilight shrink back, Juniper panicked. What had she done? "Twilight," she said, quickly taking her friend's hands. "You are one of my best friends in the entire world. You're also one of my only friends in the entire world. I. Love. You. Like. Crazy. Because you're a massive dork. Because you're great at what you do. Because you're into so many things I can only gaze at from a distance." 

Juniper pointed back to RoboShop. "Like, we both looked into the window of that robotics store and we both visualized two different things! You, as usual, visualized ways to make peoples' lives easier. I visualized the makings of a screenplay about one woman waging war against an overwhelming sentient machine army. One is good for two hours of peoples' time. The other changes the world for the better in a million different ways. 

"And that's what makes you cool as heck," Juniper said, squeezing Twilight's hands. "Which is worth more to me than any amount of money."

"I... really appreciate that speech," Twilight said through her deep blush, "but... I was kidding."

Juniper blanched. Her heart plopped into her stomach. "What."

"W-wait," Twilight said. "You couldn't tell? I thought we were both still being silly and play-acting, I—"

"No, this is all on me." Juniper put her hand behind her head in embarrassment. "Geez, I guess I should have caught the ball, huh? Sorry. I'm still learning the whole best friend thing. Still... a little scared that I could lose what we have at any moment."

"Don't be," Twilight said, hugging Juniper. "Because you won't. I'm sorry for scaring you."

Juniper hugged back. "It's okay. I won't lie: networking is always a thing, and I want us to still be on each other's contact lists when we get to the top. But that's never on my mind when we hang out. I can't afford for it to be."

"You know what? I bet I'll need tons of entertainment to keep myself sane while being the Princess of All Tech." Twilight broke the hug, but kept her arms around Juniper's shoulders, looking into her eyes. "Maybe enough to invest in the studio of whatever movie mogul is sure to crop up... in the future?"

Juniper looked back into Twilight's eyes, suddenly feeling the most confident she had been all month. Maybe this "best friends" thing would work out, after all. 

Eventually, anyway.

"Guess we'll see each other when we get there," she said.