//------------------------------//
// 24: Boarding the Ride 
// Story: Shining Together 
// by Bookish Delight 
//------------------------------//

Starlight lay back on the sofa with a satisfied sigh after gulping down her third burger. They'd actually been surprisingly good—not quite gourmet hayburger-grade, but they'd do in a pinch. Also, Zecora had a way with herbs and spices that Starlight had never encountered before, even in Canterlot's best eating establishments. She wondered if her world's Zecora possessed the same gifts. Perhaps she could convince Princess Twilight to approve a field trip...

Both her and Sunset's cocktails were over half finished by this point. Her drink was also quite good—she hadn't slurped on a good blueberry drink in some time, not since the time Trixie's wagon had broken down on her last tour in Fillydelphia and they'd made an impromptu "date night" out of it. 

Starlight's smile slackened as she reminisced on the night in the wagon they'd spent by their lonesome. Those had been very good times.

Wow, she was actually smiling. Maybe Zecora's strongest drinks could hang with her palate.

"So, yeah, the absolute weirdest and stupidest visitors I ever had to my office," she said, completely off the cuff while raising her glass, "were these two idiots with half-chopped apples on their butts. I don't even know how they got in, but they said they'd heard of my amazing guidance counseling skills—you know, the ones I'd been putting into exclusive private practice for less than six months—and tried to convince me that I should franchise. For 70/30 profit-spilt, their way, of course. And then when I said 'of course not, you bumbling morons, get the hell out of my office,' they tried—"

"A song and dance number?" Sunset asked.

Starlight sat up with a start, looking at Sunset with wide eyes. "You know them?"

Sunset snorted. "Yeah. That's just Flim and Flam. They do that stuff. Their get-rich-quick schemes only ever work once before they're exposed, but you still have to watch out for that first step—"

Starlight gasped. "Holy crap, they have names?" After a second more of thought, she laughed, adding, "Holy crap, those are their names? I've never wanted to talk to someone's parents more in my life—wait, hang on." She held up two fingers. "Two of everyone, and you knew exactly who I was talking about. Does that mean they're in this world, too?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Yyyyyyyyyep. They own a thrift shop not far from here. Three guesses as to how they can afford to sell their wares so cheap."

Starlight was over to Sunset's side like a shot. "Can we go to their place?"Her grin turned from serene to manic, and she tapped her fingers together. "I don't even care if they're not the same ones, I just want to make them feel like dirt." 

Sunset sipped the last of her daiquiri. "Someone's looking real 'reformed' right now." 

"Screw that, it's fine when they deserve it! They wouldn't stop coming over for days, they're why the friendship school has special magic-activated building admission bracelets now... well, that and Discord."

Sunset raised her eyebrows. "What'd he do?"

"He was Discord," Starlight grumbled.

Sunset lowered her eyebrows and chuckled. "Yeah, that tracks."

"Of course it does." Starlight rubbed her hands together with giddy giggles. "Either way, far as I'm concerned, every breath any Flim and Flam take, in any universe, is a gift from me." She cackled mock-dramatically, then exhaled and slouched into the sofa again, relaxing as tension left her body for the first time in days. It wasn't all the tension. But it—and the alcohol, she was sure to some extent—was enough to help. Enough to let her approach subjects she didn't really want to.

Silence hung over the room for a long while before Starlight finally finished her glass, and put it down on the coffee table with an audible clink. She bunched up her legs close, hugging herself. "So to make any sense of the craziness you saw with your gem, you're going to need context."

Sunset nodded. "Only if you're up for it."

Starlight rolled her eyes and huffed. "It's either now while I'm buzzed and actually the tiniest bit relaxed, or we wait however long it takes for me to get my nerve up while sober. And neither of us have that kind of time. So," she said, shifting her body to lean in Sunset's direction. "How much did Twilight tell you about me?"

Several more moments passed before finally, Sunset said, "Nowhere near as much I wanted to know? But the subject was a lot more sensitive back then." She shifted her body to lean in Starlight's direction. "Let's just say my wanting to know more about you in general is a pretty big reason you're here right now."

Starlight ignored the warm feelings flushing through her as she smiled at Sunset. "Then strap yourself in, honey. 'Cause this is gonna get good."