The car ride was silent as Quill was listening to music to calm his nerves after the events at Canterlot High. Lemon Zest glanced at Quill from time to time trying to think of something to say. She sighed before reaching over and taking the headphones off his head. “Can we talk for a sec Quill?”
Quill looked to Lemon Zest with his blue, iris-less eyes. They were still wet from his crying. When he spoke it came out in a nervous stutter. “ O … of c … course L-Lemon Zest.”
“Ok, first, stop using my whole name. We’re friends now, so you can just use my last name like everyone else. Second … g-good job with the initiation. You got it down quicker than I thought you would.” She gave him a small smile.
“B-but I messed it up, Rainbow caught me … and I hurt her … then Zero shoved me against the statue. It scared me, so i don’t feel like I passed at all,” he said while looked down with his head hung in shame.
Lemon Zest shook her head and he laughed. “Jeez Quill, you're beating yourself up for nothing. The main point of the initiation was to plant the stickers and tag the statue, which you did! No one got seriously hurt, and you were pretty clever with the way you distracted the Wonderdolts. So Quill, listen when I say this: you passed the test. Welcome to the Shadowbolts!”
Quill looked to Zest and he slowly smiled. “T … thank you Zest. T…-that means a lot.”
“We have to work on your confidence; that stutter is starting to get annoying.”
“Sor—”
“No more sorrys either! Don’t apologize for every little thing. You don’t need to and it gets annoying. The last thing you want to do is be annoying at Crystal Prep. It’s not a good feeling,” she said as they pulled into the parking lot of Crystal Prep. Once parked, Zest opened her glove compartment and took out a pair of purple framed sunglasses. The lenses were tinted blue, the same shade of blue as the spires in front of the school. “Here, to replace the ones you lost.”
Quill looked to the sunglasses and slowly took them. He held them in his hands for a moment before smiling softly. “ Thanks Lem … Thanks Zest. They’re perfect!” He slid them on and smiled as he looked around at his surroundings through new blue tinting.
Lemon Zest found herself smiling at Quill’s joy of the glasses. Before she could say anything though, she heard the bell go off and she sighed. “Damn it, too late for lunch. Sorry Quill, I guess we were gone longer than I thought.”
Quill shook his head. “It's my fault for taking so long Zest, so let me make it up to you later. I know there’s a little cafe in town. As a thank you for letting me into the group, how about I treat us to a late lunch after school?””
Zest thought about the offer for a moment. “The others got to eat lunch, so how about you treat me and we’ll call it even? Sound good?”
“Well, that does make more sense. Are you sure the others would be okay with it?”
Zest smirked. “They won’t care in the slightest. I’ll meet you here after school, alright?”
Quill nodded and smiled. “Sounds like a plan. See you then, Zest!” Quill got out and hurried to his next class.
Zest sat in her car for a few moments as she just realized something. “I … I’ve never apologized to anyone before….”
Zest entered the school and headed straight to Principal Cinch’s office. “E … excuse me Principal. Quill just finished with our test and he passed. The itiation went off … without a hitch.”
Cinch looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “So you’re telling me you believe that Heavenly Quill is a useful asset to the school?”
Zest nodded nervously. “Y-yes ma’am, I’m sure that Quill will be useful to us … especially in the games.”
“I’m going to believe you Lemon Zest, but if he slips up, if he proves to be a liability to my reputation, you and your friends will be severely punished. Is that understood?”
Zest gave another nervous nod. “Y-yes ma’am, I understand.”
“Good, now head to class Ms. Zest. I have other matters to attend to.” She dismissed Zest with a wave of her hand.
Zest nodded and headed out of the room. Once she was sure she was out of earshot she sighed and shook her head. “What is wrong with me? I lied to Principle Cinch for a guy I just met. W-what are the others going to think if they find out?” She shook her head and headed to class. “They won’t find out. I’ll see them after school and tell them what happened before I head off with Quill.”
It was the end of the school day and Zest was waiting outside for her friends. Sour Sweet was the first to see her. “Hey Lemon Zest! How did the idiot’s initiation go?”
Lemon Zest rolled her eyes. “He’s not an idiot, and it went fine. I already reported to Cinch that he’ll be an asset to us.”
Another voice spoke up from behind Zest. “Asset? That’s a fancy word for you, Lemon Zest.”
Zest turned and saw Sunny Flare smirking behind her. She rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Flare, I did my part of the initiation. I got him there and I got him back. Now it's up to you all to get him up to Shadow 5 standards.”
“If he's worth anything then we’d be the Shadow 6. You should know that Lemon Zest. It’s simple counting,” Sugarcoat said as she walked up to the group.
Zest’s eye began to twitch from annoyance. “I meant that he's not technically one of us yet, Sugarcoat. I know how to count!”
Indigo walked over smirking. “Well looks like we’re all here! Are we talking about the new guy? Did he fail like I thought he would?”
“Nope. According to Lemon Zest here, he passed the initiation perfectly!” Sunny Flare said with a smirk.
“Really? Well damn, I might have to give the guy some credit. I didn’t think he’d be able to do it,” she said with a smile. “I think I might be impressed.”
Lemon Zest looked at Indigo for a moment. “Really?” she asked.
“Yeah, I can give credit when it's due. I’ll have to take him under my wing first, see how athletic I can get him before the games. If he could slip in and out of Canterlot High without Rainbow or Zero catching him, he might be worth something.”
Zest felt nervous and gave a shaky nod. “Y… yeah, he's definitely worth something. I watched him tag the statue. Zero and Rainbow did see him … but he got away no problem!”
“So he escaped them!? Damn! I gotta go meet this kid. That's impressive!” Indigo said with a happy smile.
“Indigo, you think anyone who can run quickly is impressive, calm down,” Sunny Flare said with a roll of her eyes.
“If Lemon Zest said he's good, I believe her, because she knows better than to lie to me again,” Sour Sweet said with a slight glare to Lemon Zest.
“Thank you Sweet, you know I don’t lie to you,” she said, feeling a guilty pain in her gut.
Sour Sweet smiled and hugged Lemon Zest. “I know, and that's why we're friends. Now I need to head home and practice up on my archery; I will not let the newbie show me up!” She hurried off to her dad’s car that had just pulled up.
Sunny Flare looked at Lemon Zest for a moment before heading off as well. “I need to work on a few designs I have in mind for the Friendship Games.”
“I have homework I need to do. Later,” Sugarcoat said simply before walking off to her car.
Indigo looked at Lemon Zest. “I got nothing better to do. Wanna hang out?”
“W-well, I already made plans with someone else. Sorry Indigo. Maybe next time.”
“Oh come on, Zest! We never hang out and I’m bored! What plans do you have anyway?”
As if on cue, Quill walked over, smiling. “ Z-Zest, are you ready to go?”
Indigo looked from Quill to Zest and her eyes widened. “A … are you two dat—”
“NO WE ARE NOT!” Zest yelled before blinking and blushing. “W … we’re just friends.”
Quill, with a blush of his own, nodded. “I … I felt bad that she missed lunch while she was waiting for me to finish the initiation. So I invited her to a late lunch after school.”
Indigo looked to the two of them again before smiling. “Sure, I get it. I hope you two have fun. Before you go, Zest, I wanna talk to you.” She pulled Zest away and smirked. “You're a genius! Letting him treat you to a free meal. You get food and a chance to see what makes him tick! I didn't think you had it in you! Nice job, girl!”
Zest blinked and she nodded slowly. “Y-yeah, that was the plan! J … just keep it between us, though. You know how the others can be, they'll jump to stupid conclusions.”
“I hear loud and clear, Zest. I won't say a word. Now go on and go with him,” Indigo said with a smile.
Zest nodded and went back over to Quill. “Let's head out, Quill.”
Quill nodded. “Oh, I remembered something too. Could we stop by my house? I need to pick up my wallet. I kinda forgot it this morning. Is that ok?”
Zest nodded as they got into her car. “Sure, don’t see why not. You just gotta tell me where to go.”
Quill nodded and gave her the directions as they pulled out of the parking lot and got on the road. Quill and Zest sat in silence for a while before Quill spoke up. “You know, Zest, I was scared that today was going to be a terrible first day. B … but I liked it. I liked it a lot. Coach Aspen asked me to join the archery team this morning. I plan on talking to him about it tomorrow … a-and I got to meet you and the others. T-the initiation was a bad moment, but I'm glad I did it. I got to prove myself to you and the others. A-and I got to see what the Wondercolts were like. I believe what you told me…. They’re mean people. Though I do feel bad for what I did to Rainbow. I … I need to apologize for that eventually.
Zest glanced at Quill and smiled a little. “Well, I’m glad your first day here was a good one. I'm sure they’ll keep being good now that you’re a Shadowbolt,” she said, adding another lie to the growing list. She felt horrible inside lying to her old friends and now to this new, genuinely kind person. “D … don’t worry about Rainbow, she's built like a tank and hits like one too. You don't need to apologize to her. Right now, all you have to do is worry about me eating you broke.”
Quill smiled a little and laughed. “Oh! Actually, I forgot, after we got to school, I did get the time to talk to another person there. I think we hit it off well enough to call her a new friend.”
“Really now? What’s her name?” Zest asked, looking to Quill. She couldn't think of very many girls at the school who would like someone like Quill. Well, except maybe one, but she was such a loser Zest doubted she would have the nerve to talk to anyone.
Quill smiled. “Her name is Twilight Sparkle.”
Zest looked to Quill with wide eyes. “Really? You got her to talk? I didn't think that lose— that girl had the nerve to talk to anyone.”
“Well, she was shy at first, but we found out we were in the same science class. We started talking about how much we loved the subject and it kinda just went from there. She's not shy at all when she starts talking about school-related things, I think.”
“I … I guess that makes sense. I’ve never really thought about her … at all.” Unless i'm copying off her test, Zest thought to herself with a sigh. “I don’t really talk to anyone outside of the Shadows. I’ve never needed a reason to.”
“Why would you need a reason to talk to them, Zest? B … being friendly is all the reason you need, right?” Quill asked, looking at Zest with confusion.
“Look Quill, talking to people is a little hard for me. Most of the people I know aren't really all that nice,” she said as a clear mental image of Sunny Flare popped into her mind. “I have a few trust issues with people.”
“Well, you’re friends with me, right?”
“Yeah … I am … but you're the exception. The only exception. This is your house up ahead, right?” Zest asked as she pulled up to Quill’s house. It was a bit bigger than she expected from someone who rode the public bus to school.
Quill got out of the car and he looked at Zest. “Y … you could come in with me if you’d like. I’m sure my parents would love to see that I actually made a friend!”
“Isn’t it a little too early to be introducing me to the folks? You know we’re just friends, right?” Zest said with a slight smirk.
Quill’s face turned red and he shook his head. “ N-not like that! I just want them to know t-that you’re real … and that I'm not just making you up so they feel better.”
“Oh come on, I doubt they would think I’m fake. You’ve had other friends before me, right?”
“ N-no … I … I never really talked to anyone before. I always focused on my schooling. I never had time for friends until my parents told me that high school would be the perfect chance to make friends since it was a fresh new start.”
Zest looked shocked for a moment before sighing. “Fine, let's go meet your folks. But I'm warning you now if one of them makes a dating joke, I'm not gonna let you live it down.”
Quill smiled and nodded happily before leading Zest over to his house. He opened the door and smiled happily. “Mom! Dad! I’m home, and I brought a friend!”
Soft Breeze poked her head out from the kitchen and looked down the hall at Quill. “Oh, wonderful! Come on into the kitchen, I'll make some snacks for you and your fri—.” Her eyes widened when she finally registered that Zest was a girl. She couldn't believe that her son had brought home a girl! “Both of you come in! I want to hear all about how you met!”
Quill could see in his mother’s eyes that she already misunderstood the situation. Before he could open his mouth to correct her, Zest had already walked forward. She flashed him a smirk and with a groan he followed behind her.
Soft Breeze pushed them over to the kitchen table and sat them down. She quickly placed a bowl of chips and a soda in front of Quill and Zest before taking a seat and smiling brightly at the two kids. “So how did you two meet?
Zest smiled as she ate a handful of chips. “We met on the bus and he got one look at me before rushing over to my seat.”
Quill shook his head. “ No! It was an empty seat! … And you looked nice, so I thought it would be ok!”
“So you admit you sat next to me because of my looks?”
“T-that's not what I meant at all!”
“Sure it isn’t.”
Soft Breeze smiled happily at the bickering kids. “Ah, young love. I remember being that way with Cold Steel when we first met. I'm happy my Quilly could fine a nice girl to be with!”
Zest smirked at Quill.
“Mom! We’re not dating! And you haven't even stopped to get to know her! As a matter of fact, we’re still getting to know each other!”
Zest nodded. “That's why he's taking me out to dinner tonight.”
Soft Breeze went around the table and hugged Quill tightly. “Oh Quilly, your first date! I wish your father didn't have to work so he could be here for this! I’ll call him right away!”
Soft Breeze hurried away to the phone.
Zest bursted out laughing. “Oh my god, your mom is amazing!”
Quill set his red, blushing face on the table in defeat.
Zest looked to Quill and smiled a bit. The newbie was honestly fun to hang around with. She never expected to have as much fun as she was having just talking to his mother. She reached out and patted his back. She thought to herself, Huh, this … this could actually be worthwhile. If this is how his mother acts, I bet meeting his dad will be amazing. I might actually like being this loser’s friend.