Ideas Entwined

by FanOfMostEverything

Consequences? For MY Actions?

On paper, the locker rooms of Crystal Prep were as top-of-the-line as the rest of the building, but there was still only so far one could push the concept of "room full of lockers and benches." When it came to balancing a budget that had to pay for the best of the best in every area imaginable, that usually just meant a fresh coat of high-gloss paint every few years.

Lemon Zest looked over the alternating rows of maroon and indigo lockers, stroking her chin with fingers whose nails wrapped around most of each digit like miniature hooves. "You ever really think about our school colors?"

“This is humiliating,” said Sunny Flare, the ovoid, fuchsia gem embedded in her forehead throwing off sparks of magic in her frustration as she stared at the... the abomination in front of her. “This is beneath me in every way, shape, and form."

Lemon waved a hand in front of the other girl's face to no visible reaction. "Sunny Bunny? You there?"

"Atrocious," Sunny hissed. "In form, function, color—"

"Cool, you were paying attention." Lemon patted her on the shoulder. "Good to know."

The contact got Sunny to tear her gaze away from the object of her loathing. "What?"

"Or not. But still, you're the one who's all about drama and costume design and all that stuff in geostationary orbit over my poor pink head." Lemon swept a hand across the room. "Do these look like hero colors to you?"

Sunny gave her a flat look, one eyebrow raised. “Really?”

“Look, I’ve seen enough teen dramas to recognize a prep school of antagonists when I attend one.” Lemon blinked. "Huh. Kind of obvious when I say it out loud like that."

"Crystal Prep's color scheme has always had elements of hostility, it's true." Sunny scowled. "And I can't believe you're actually perpetuating negative chromist stereotypes about yourself."

Lemon smirked and stuck out her tongue. "Dude, I am the pinkest pinko to ever sympathize with the proletariat and you know it."

"You're intelligent, considerate, and very respectful of emotional boundaries once you actually recognize they're there." Neither of them acknowledged Lemon's gaze flitting to the devices still on Sunny's wrists. "Pink skin's association with bacchanalian tendencies is as baseless as any part of chromism."

Lemon waved it off. "Eh, you're just saying that because you're a weird off-teal that no one knows what to call."

"Aqua," Sunny said with the resigned air of someone who knew she'd be putting up with a running gag for the rest of her life.

"Gesundheit." Lemon held the smile until it became clear that Sunny wouldn't pick it up. She shifted her focus to what the other girl had been glaring daggers at. "So, not happy with the uniform?" Lemon shimmied her hips, letting her own skirt flutter. "Maroon or not, I make this look good."

Sunny returned her attention to her own cheerleading outfit. Despite the name, the top was a different design than Lemon's, opting for cutout shoulders and straight sections of color rather than an asymmetrical swirl like a long-sleeved barber pole. "This is institutionalized objectification and I cannot believe Principal Cadence allows it in what is supposed to be an elite institution.” That said, she started to unbutton her blouse.

Lemon turned away. Yes, PE meant seeing plenty of skin in here, but when it was just the two of them, she could do that much for Sunny. “Can’t help but notice you’re goin’ along with it anyway, Flare Bear.”

“A bet is a bet, and we lost fair and square. No matter how much I may hate it." After a beat, Sunny added, "Which is a lot.”

“I’m still kinda surprised you went along with it in the first place, you know?" Lemon thought back to that fateful day at lunch and the sheer shock of Sunny agreeing to the wager, especially given the terms. "Good to see you take a walk on the wild side, but that is not your usual route.”

“It seemed like a sure bet." Sunny sighed. "Clearly, I underestimated just what is possible in this new, magical world.”

“Yeah, but this was, like, ‘me and Indy back in third grade’-tier doofusing around. You ever hear about the time she broke her collarbone because we thought we could get her into orbit?” Lemon brought a finger to her lips. "You know, there are days when I think Mom only let me play with Indigo because one of us might have killed the other."

A hand on her shoulder got her to turn around. The two of them were emphatically not dating, their friends' frequent jibes aside, but seeing Sunny in the cheerleading outfit made Lemon kind-of sort-of consider unironically—

Sunny's voice broke Lemon out of what was surely madness. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do.”

That got a smirk. “Bold of you to assume I know what I’m doing.”

“It’s what you always do. Sacrifice your dignity for the sake of making someone else smile. Make them forget about what’s bothering them for a while." Sunny tugged at the lycra with clear distaste. "Maybe even help them see it’s not as important as they think.”

Lemon sighed. "You know, you ruin the magic of it when you spell it out like that."

"I'm trying to thank you, you dingus." Sunny would deny any hint of a grin developing as she said that.

"Dingus, were we?" Lemon would testify that Sunny did not laugh at that. One couldn't go to Crystal Prep without knowing the importance of maintaining a reputation, even in this brave new era. “It’s like Principal Cadence says in just about every one-on-one session: Right now, our brains are convinced that, good or bad, everything is the most important thing in the history of ever." Lemon beamed. "But if there’s one thing I know, it’s that nothing is ever as important as it seems. We’re the self-aware skin infection of a mote of dust circling a spark, and if that isn’t hilarious, I don’t know what is.”

Sunny quirked an eyebrow. “Nihilism? Really? Aren’t you an ardent Shimmerist?”

“Dude. Some rando edgy teen horse ran away from her sun god philosopher-queen-teacher-mom, landed here, nearly broke the universe, and became our sun god philosopher-queen-teacher-mom." Lemon threw up her arms, still smiling wide enough to hurt. "How is that not more hilarious and proof that life is intrinsically absurd and has no meaning beyond that which we assign it?”

After a few moments of thoughtful silence, Sunny said, "There are times when you almost frighten me, you know that?"

"I take that as a compliment!"

“Not to break up the symposium,” said Sugarcoat, breaking up the symposium, “but you’re on in five. And you’ll need these.” She held four glittery, yellow pom-poms between her fingers like so many used tissues.

Lemon rolled her eyes and marched over to her. “Yeah, yeah, give ‘em here. You don’t have to be that smug about it.”

“No, I don’t." Sugarcoat made no effort to stop as she moved to Sunny. She looked her over. "No skirt? Really?”

“I can tell myself I’m wearing bike shorts," said Sunny, tearing her pom-poms out of the other girl's grip "It's preserving what dignity I can in all of this.”

That got a shrug. “If that’s what you want to call it. Come on, Sour Sweet strong-armed the film club into recording this game just for you two.”

All three continued down the hallway to Crystal Prep's stadium, no sign of hesitation in any of them. As Sunny had said, a bet was a bet. As Sunny now said, "That would be nice in most other circumstances."

Lemon, meanwhile, had hit the limit of how long she could hold back the question that had been burning in the back of her mind since that fateful day. “Okay, but for real, how did Moondancer fit a dozen full-sized marshmallows in her mouth then recite forty digits of pi?”

And just like all the other times she'd asked, all Sugarcoat said back was, “Science.”

“That’s not an explanation!”

“It’s the explanation you’re getting. Now get out there and cheer on those Shadowbolts. And remember to smile.” Sugarcoat offered her own sadistic grin as an example.

And Lemon and Sunny did just that, because a bet was a bet, and a Shadowbolt always gave it her best effort. Especially when the cameras were rolling.

Author's Note:

Prompt 31: Free Space!

... Yeah, I honestly had no idea what to do for this one. But then Uotapo came in with the save on the very day I needed to think of something.

It's been far too long since I've worked with the Oversaturated World, and this offered the perfect excuse given these two are in a complicated but extant relationship. From there, it was just a matter of determining how they got in this mess.

Chromism continues to be the creation of the dearly departed MythrilMoth.

Thanks for reading.

Comments

[Malandy]

Response to title:

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-more-likely-than-you-think

----

Aww! Their relationship dynamics between the Crystal Preppers are great!

...

I don't think we know what game's being played, but it really doesn't matter. It matters that they're cheering. mhm.

[Daedalus Aegle]

"You see, student of mine? You call it 'using other worlds as a garbage bin'. I say it enriches universes with meaning."
"Keep telling yourself that, Professor. Somepony's going to have to clean it all up someday, you know."
"And their lives will be enriched. With meaning."

A fun conclusion to a month of new ideas and fun stories. It's been a great ride. Thanks.

[Lurks-no-More]

Always nice to see more of the Shadowbolts. Greatly enjoyed Sugarcoat, too, even if she's only a bit player in this. (She's my acerbic, bluntly honest favorite among the Crystal Prep girls!)

[FanOfMostEverything]

11227779
The assumption was football, but I suppose it could be darn near anything.

11227821
"May the life of whoever finds this Stone be enriched with meaning. Pray do not make me regret protecting you from accidentally erasing your entire mind."
—Clover's instructions for the Memory Stone, final excerpt

11228512
I personally enjoy Lemon Zest's exuberance and overall willingness to be not completely horrible even under Cinch's regime, but Sugarcoat is also a lot of fun to work with.

[Thought Prism]

11228633
This kind:

TThe Writing on the Wall

• MLP: FiM
• Adventure
• Horror
• Mystery

Beneath the earth rests something beyond equine understanding.

• OC
• Other
• Daring Do

Horse Voice · 5.7k words  ·  1,747  28 · 59k views

[Speckle]

I loved this whole thing, last chapter included! You manage to make the Crystal Prep squad likeable, and I'd probably read a whole series about them if you were the author

This was a fun adventure through a Prompt List. May consider taking one up myself some time....when I'm not busy. Or distracted. Or busy and distracted Or having another episode.

[Eroraf86]

Lemon, meanwhile, had hit the limit of how long she could hold back the question that had been burning in the back of her mind since that fateful day. “Okay, but for real, how did Moondancer fit a dozen full-sized marshmallows in her mouth then recite forty digits of pi?”

I can't help but note that there is no mention of several important criteria in this wager. Namely, over what duration of time this feat was completed, and to what standard of intelligibility her recitation was compared. The second point in particular requires significant clarification to justify the worthiness of such a feat for a wager.

[hypervelocity]

All of these were great shorts!

I'm surprised you were able to mash up some of the weirder prompts, but dang if you ain't good at it.

[n8dagr8088]

“ Dude. Some rando edgy teen horse ran away from her sun god philosopher-queen-teacher-mom, landed here, nearly broke the universe, and became our sun god philosopher-queen-teacher-mom." Lemon threw up her arms, still smiling wide enough to hurt. "How is that not more hilarious and proof that life is intrinsically absurd and has no meaning beyond that which we assign it?”

the multiverse is a real bitch sometimes

[Revel Montaro]

11292812
LOL! Love it.

[nlinzer]

I mean you could have top of the line locker rooms in the sense that each Individual has their own private room. But considering Crystal Prep supports(ed) bullying, they might want people changing in public in the hopes body shaming and bullying will make out of shape kids exercise and become athletes.