//------------------------------//
// Reignited 
// Story: How Lemon Got Her Zest Back 
// by mayorlight 
//------------------------------//

Lemon was thunderstruck. Either this was a dream or somebody had spiked her drink with some powerful hallucinogen! Never in a million years would she have ever imagined she would find Sour Sweet - of all people - swiveling her hips as a go-go dancer! Lemon stepped forward in a daze, wondering if her former classmate would dissipate like some psychedelic illusion.

"Yeah, it has been a while," Lemon mustered with some effort.

The other two dancers exchanged glances before the lavender-haired girl spoke.

"We'll be in the break room. Catch you in a bit, Midori."

With that, they walked past Lemon and Sour and disappeared down a branching corridor. Internally, Lemon breathed a sigh of relief. They must have taken her for some crazed stalker chasing after their colleague!  Oddly, Lemon had the feeling that she had seen both of them before...somewhere. She waited until they were both well out of earshot before speaking again.

"So, uh...small world, huh?"

"C'mon, let's go someplace where we can talk."

Sour led Lemon further down the hall to a door emblazoned with a bright golden star. Inside was a brightly-lit dressing room. Near the vanity counter was a shelf lined with four mannequin heads, all of which were bald save for one with a bright neon yellow wig. Sour gestured for Lemon to take a seat in one of the folding chairs as she placed her green wig onto one of the bald heads.

"That was quite a number you and your co-workers did just now," Lemon said. "I liked it."

Sour pulled up a chair for herself. "Thank you. Guess I've still got some of that ol' dance magic, eh?"

"You sure do! You know, I thought you'd all but vanished. Last I heard, you were teaching archery to campers at Camp Everfree. I never pictured you working with kids!"

"Keeping them interested is half the battle," Sour tittered. "Kinda gives you a whole new respect for our teachers. But it was a fun gig. Gloriosa Daisy is a great boss to work for. Her brother is alright," Sour's face now contorted into a sneer. "When he's not cracking dumb jokes."

"I'm surprised you didn't try out for the national archery team."

Sour's gaze drifted to the vanity mirror - to hers and Lemon's reflections. "Indigo said the same thing the last time she and I talked. I did consider it, but...honestly, Crystal Prep gave me all the competition I can stomach for a lifetime. I just wanted to go out and experience life - to make my own mistakes and learn from them - without having to prove anything to anyone." Sour now looked back toward her friend. "The thing is, I still don't know what I want to do with my life."

Had Lemon's hands not been planted on the chair, she would have toppled out of it. The Sour she had known at Crystal Prep approached nearly everything in life as she did with archery - lining up her shots before shooting her arrows. More often than not, she hit her targets. To hear that her classmate and fellow Friendship Games finalist was in the exact same boat as she was hit her like a ton of bricks.

"What did you do after the summer season at Everfree ended?" Lemon asked.

"I got a job at Sprawlmart. Lasted about three weeks before I got canned."

"What happened?"

"One day, I'm taking my break in the cafeteria when a couple of punks with their arms full of LEGO make a dash for the exit. The security guard grabbed one but the other was getting away. I was only thirty feet away, so I grabbed a soda can from the cafe cooler and chucked it at the second guy." At this Sour grinned. "Beaned him right on his temple!"

"Ha!" Lemon gave a clap of her hands. Now this was the Sour Sweet she knew! "Aw man, if somebody had gotten a video on their phone, it would have gone viral!"

That probably was for the best," Sour sighed.

"Why do you say that?"

"Once the first guy sees his buddy drop, he gives up. We take them to the security office and later the police haul them away. No big deal, right? The next morning, the store manager calls me into his office and tells me that they can no longer employ me, as the guy I beaned could potentially sue the store for 'excessive force.'" She gestured quotation marks with her fingers.

Lemon scoffed. "Oh, what bull!"

"Yeah, I said as much myself. After that, I landed a job as a call center rep for a credit card company. I lasted about two months there before they fired me for telling off one rude customer too many." At this, Sour shrugged. "What can I say? Half of these idiots don't even read the contract! Anyway, job-wise, it was just one bit of bad luck after another. I finally managed to land a job as a 'fulfillment specialist' at a retail distribution center during the holiday season."

Lemon's gaze drifted across the framed photographs of go-go dancers lining the walls. "So how did you end up getting this gig?"

"I was looking for a side hustle to earn some extra cash. One day, I reached out to Pinkie Pie and learned that she was looking for go-go dancers to perform at clubs and private events. I figured, 'Why not?' I mean, how long am I going to look this good?" Sour gestured to her midriff, still as lean and toned as ever.

Lemon blinked. "Wait...you work for Pinkie?" 

"I'm my own boss. Pinkie is like my agent. She gets a small cut from the gigs she lands me. And believe me, she is well worth it!"

"Do Sunny and the others know?"

Sour chuckled. "Funny you should ask that. I actually told Sunny during a vid call last night. I'll admit, I was bracing for her to go full Cinch on me! She was definitely surprised, but much to my surprise, she was actually supportive!"

Lemon raised an eyebrow. "Really? Sunny stick-up-her-ass Flare?"

"Believe me, I know her tells."

"How about Indigo and Sugarcoat?"

"I was actually going to call each of them. And you tomorrow morning. But as luck would have it, here you are!" 

"The stars doth align!" Lemon said in her best Shakespearean voice.

Sour now bit her lip. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you just now. I...guess I wasn't as ready as I thought I was."

Lemon waved her hand. "Hey, don't worry about it! I am now curious about one thing: Midori?"

"As in Midori Sour," Sour said as she retrieved the green wig and placed it back on her head.  "It's got a nice ring to it. And it goes perfectly with this color."

There was a knock at the door. Lemon and Sour glanced up as a grinning Pinkie Pie breezed into the dressing room. "Fifteen minutes to your next set, Midori!" Her smile deepened as her eyes fell on Lemon. "Oh, Lemon! What a coinkydink!"

Just then, the other two dancers entered the dressing room.

"Hey," the lavender-haired girl hastily greeted as she strode by. "I just need to change this top - the strap looks like it's about to give!"

Lemon eyed the first dancer as she sifted through the array of bikini and halter tops. When Lemon glanced back at the second dancer, recognition dawned once again.  "I thought you gals looked familiar," Lemon exclaimed. "You both used to work with Pinkie at the Sweet Snacks Cafe!"

The dancer standing at the door - the girl with bluish-white hair - laughed as she threw up her hands in mock surrender. "Guilty as charged!"

"Sunny Sugarsocks and Doo Wop, right?" asked Lemon.

Facing the wall, Doo Wop hastily doffed her black bikini top and fastened on a navy blue one. "Out there, yes." She then turned around with a sultry look. "Here, I am 'Quiet Storm.'"

"And I am 'Sweet Lace,'" Sugarsocks said, giving a toss of her shoulder-length hair.

Sour giggled. "I don't think Lemon ever saw either of you gals with your hair down. Or without roller skates!" Looking back at the Friendship Games tri-cross relay, it was no wonder Pinkie held her own speed skating against Lemon and Sunny Flare.

At that moment, Lemon's eyes drifted to the neon blond wig mounted on its mannequin head. Below the shelf holding the heads was a bin filled with several pairs of boots. Her sight then fell on a fluorescent green bikini hanging on the clothes rack. Lemon turned back toward the others, her eyes alight with a fire that had not blazed in a long time.

"I know this is super last minute," Lemon said. "But is there room for one more out there?"





Minutes later, Lemon Zest - clad in the blond wig, the green bikini, and a pair of white high-heeled boots - accompanied "Quiet Storm," "Sweet Lace," and "Midori Sour" back onto the club floor. Lemon had gained one centimeter around her waist over the past year, but that did not deter her in the least. She was still in Friendship Games form! With renewed confidence, she strode up the stairs. The last time she wore such boots was when she and Sour collaborated with Pinkie (and their respective classmates) to make their Chance To Prance music video. It was all too befitting!

As the dancers assembled on the walkway, DJ glanced up from her booth and spotted Lemon. DJ raised her sunglasses in disbelief and gawked for a moment before a huge smile split across her face. Throwing an enthusiastic thumbs up to her roommate, DJ queued up the songs comprising the go-go dancers' second set of the evening.

The crowd cheered as a lively electronic beat began pulsing throughout the club. Lemon threw herself back into her familiar groove. She did not worry about what move she did next. She did not need to be synchronized with the others - none of them did. They just kept moving. Lemon circled her hips and rolled her head to the thumping bass line. She could not remember the last time she danced as energetically as she did now.

Down below, Pinkie Pie sauntered over to DJ and cheerfully bumped fists with her former CHS classmate. Pinkie had been saddened when DJ told her the previous week that Lemon Zest was not feeling her usual self. Knowing that Lemon still regularly showed up to DJ's club gigs, Pinkie worked to book Sour Sweet at the same venue at the same time. Perhaps a "chance reunion" with a CPA classmate would revive some of Lemon's verve.

Sure enough, reconnecting with Sour face-to-face raised Lemon's spirits. However, Pinkie had not expected Lemon to join Sour and the others in their performance. Thankfully, Sour, Doo Wop, and Sugarsocks welcomed the idea. The girl dancing alongside them now was the same vivacious Lemon Zest whom Pinkie and Sour had always known. Most importantly, Lemon was having fun. Mission accomplished!

The dancers danced through a total of three songs, the crowd cheering and grooving along with them all the while. By the end of the third song, Lemon was tired, but in a good way. The fatigue brought on by passionate exertion was far, far different from that born from despondency. She held her head high as she and her new colleagues returned to the dressing room.

Lemon cheered with a hop. "Oh man, that was so much fun!"

Sour clasped Lemon on the shoulder. "You've still got it!"

Pinkie came up behind them clapping her hands. "Congratulations, Lemon Tart! You have officially passed your audition!"

Doo Wop and Sugarsocks likewise cheered and applauded Lemon.

Tears of joy welled up in Lemon's eyes. "Thank you, gals. You don't know how much I needed this!"

They gathered for a group hug.

"Before we forget," Sugarsocks piped up. "We are booked at this club again next Friday and Saturday."

"Are you free those nights, Lemon?" Doo Wop asked.

Lemon grinned. "I sure am!"

Sour hugged her old friend even tighter.

Pinkie pumped her fist. "Awesome! Glad to have you on board, Lemon! Group photo!"

Pinkie mounted her smartphone onto a selfie stick and snapped a photo of the five of them. Afterward, the dancers proceeded to change back into their "civilian" clothes. Lemon smiled at herself in the mirror as she removed the blond wig. For the first time in a long, long time, she truly felt alive. 





The following day, Lemon met Sour at Canterlot City's central park. They sat on a bench under the shade of a large tree sipping cups of iced tea as Sour called Sugarcoat on her smartphone. Lemon held her tongue as Sour spent several minutes making small talk before revealing her go-go side hustle. It had always been difficult to read Sugarcoat's mood face-to-face, and doing so over the phone was nigh impossible. Their former classmate seemed intrigued more than anything, matter-of-factly asking Sour about her personal safety measures like an older sibling. When Sugarcoat remarked that she expected Lemon to have taken up go-going first, Lemon seized the moment to cheerfully surprise her on the line. 

They used the same approach when they called Indigo, who was just as dumbfounded as Lemon had been the night before.  Apparently, Indigo never thought an "Amazon" like Sour would ever take up go-going. When Indigo demanded a photo as proof, Sour and Lemon were more than happy to forward the one Pinkie had snapped the night before in the group text chain they shared with her, Sunny, and Sugarcoat. After giving the photo a "thumbs up," Indigo promised to come see Sour and Lemon at one of their gigs the next time she came for a visit - a sentiment which Sunny and Sugarcoat both echoed.

After nearly two hours of chatting on the phone, Sour and Lemon leaned back to gaze up at the azure sky. They watched the pearly clouds float by for several minutes before Lemon broke the silence.

"So, what other venues do we normally hit?"

"Pinkie knows a few other club owners in town. She is also working on getting us a gig at Starswirl Music Festival."

"That'll be fun!" Lemon finished the last of her tea. "You ever think of going back to school?"

Sour considered for a moment. "I have. A degree in Business, Communications, or Marketing is always versatile. These days, no matter what you do, it helps to know how to be an entrepreneur." She finished her own tea and crushed the paper cup. "Just as long as the school isn't some damn diploma mill!"

"Yeah, no kidding!" Lemon snorted.

They both crumpled up their empty cups into palm-sized basketballs and sent them sailing into a trashcan twenty-two feet away. Free of appointments to keep and obligations to meet, they continued watching the clouds.

Lemon reflected on the events of the last (not-quite) twenty-four hours. She had been so paralyzed by her own indecision, her own fear of wasting her time, energy, and resources, that she had forgotten to look at the big picture. Her reunion with Sour the previous night served to remind her that there were many paths to success (or at least financial independence), even if they included a few detours along the way.

Who would have ever thought the impetuous Pinkie Pie was such a schemer?

Lemon still had no clue what path she herself wanted to pursue, but for now, that did not matter. She was going to enjoy - and learn from - every step of her journey. And if she can make a few extra bucks doing something she truly enjoyed, alongside a friend, all the better!