> Shadowbolts Adventures: Choices
>  by DragonShadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: A Friend of a Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 1: A Friend of a Friend








Sugarcoat sat back in her office chair in the warm glow of the monitor. Swords N Bullets swiftly left the screen, leaving her sitting back with a wry snarl on her lips. Why did it always seem like everyone else paired off whenever something happened except for her? Sunny Flare spent a large chunk of her time placating Twilight Sparkle's social neurosis, while Lemon Zest and Sour Sweet were spending more time together than ever before... which left herself and Indigo Zap, who usually disappeared to do her own thing.

Sugarcoat was usually fine with that. She liked doing her own thing... but maybe she could stand to spend a little more time with her friends. The computer was starting to give her a headache anyway, and her blog was currently exploding with idiots asking her the dumbest questions she had ever seen in her life. She wasn't sure what else she would have expected from the internet, but she didn't really want to deal with it right now.

So she slid from her computer chair, gathered up her things, put on her shoes and made her way outside towards Indigo Zap's house. It was only two blocks away, so it wasn't long before she reached her destination, and it was a pretty nice evening anyway. The weather was warm and there was just enough of a breeze to keep what heat there was from becoming uncomfortable.

She was just approaching the lawn when Indigo Zap slipped out the front door and locked it behind her. She turned around to spot Sugarcoat just coming up towards the house. "Sugarcoat? Hey, what's up?"

Sugarcoat smiled as she approached her friend. "Just thought I'd come see what's going on."

"Um..." Indigo Zap looked around as if expecting to find a camera crew. "Really?"

Sugarcoat nodded. "Yes." Indigo rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "What?"

Indigo Zap shrugged. "I dunno, you've never wanted to hang out with me one-on-one before. I didn't think you liked me all that much."

Sugarcoat looked her up and down, as if appraising her worthiness. "Eh, you'll do when everyone else is busy."

"Gee, thanks, that makes a girl feel special." Indigo smirked.

"Unless you're busy this evening?"

"I was just heading out to do some unwinding. You can come clubbing with me if you want." Indigo moved around to the driver's seat of her car. "Who knows? You may even find a boy who can make you less lonely."

"I don't know..." Sugarcoat rubbed her chin. "Where are we going to find baby seals in this town?"

"Excuse me?"

"Nevermind." Sugarcoat accepted the offer by sliding into the passenger's seat of Indigo's convertible. The top slid down to let the beautiful evening air into the vehicle before it pulled back and began its trek down the road. "I didn't know you frequented clubs. Do you go often?"

"I try to get out and meet people every so often, yeah." Indigo's left arm rested on the car door while she steered calmly with her right. "You'd be surprised how many people you can run into there, from school and otherwise."

"Are they worth running into?"

Indigo snickered. "With my car or as friends?"

"I like you more than I thought I did."

They fell into companionable silence for the rest of the short ride to a youth club in the center of the city called The Youth Club, with a giant wooden club sitting over the front door in bright neon lights.

"That pun makes me want to just go home." Sugarcoat grimaced.

"Well I've got the car, so you can either deal with it or walk home." Indigo snickered as she made a show of dropping her keys into her pocket and patting them through the denim.

"If this were an after school special I would be walking already." Sugarcoat closed the door behind her with a sigh.

"Come on, cheer up! We're here to meet hot guys and get our dance on!" Indigo pumped her arm energetically in front of her. "And that's exactly what we're gonna do! Right!?"

Sugarcoat considered for a moment. "Probably not."

"Well I'm dancing, no matter what!" Indigo Zap took her arm and yanked her inside. "And you're coming with me!"

The inside of the club was pleasantly subdued. The driving music beat was at a tolerable level, and there were many booths and chairs set up around the spacious dance floor. There was even a bar that gave the illusion of being an actual club, though the menu behind the bartender was packed with non-alcoholic drinks. The club wasn't very packed with people, either. It was actually rather nice, Sugarcoat had to admit to herself.

"Come on!" Indigo tried to pull Sugarcoat to the dance floor, but Sugarcoat yanked back.

"I've come with you this far. Try to drag me further and things might turn less cordial."

Indigo Zap rolled her eyes. "Right, you go do your snarky wallflower thing and I'll catch up with you after my groove's been satisfied."

"I'll see you when you're out of groove." Sugarcoat waved her friend off towards the dance floor and made her way to the bar, where she slipped onto one of the stools to relax and order herself a nice glass of tea.

Her eyes swept around the other student-age folk gathered around the small club. They were mostly split off into groups, aside from those who were dancing and looking for dance partners. In fact one such boy slipped up behind her while she wasn't looking and gently tapped her shoulder with one finger. She looked back to see a boy with short blue hair leaning against the counter and giving her a smooth smile.

"Hey, you look familiar..." The boy mused for a moment.

"Wait, let me guess, did you see me in your dream last night?"

"Nah, you go to Crystal Prep, right?" The boy snapped his fingers. "Yeah, from the Friendship Games."

"Oh, you must be a Canterlot High student." Sugarcoat nodded as she turned towards him more fully. "Yeah, I was there. Though I don't recognize you."

"No? I was on the Canterlot High team..."

Sugarcoat narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "No, sorry, not coming to me. You must not have left much of an impression."

"I'm Flash Sentry."

"I'm Sugarcoat." Sugarcoat took a long sip of her drink before continuing. "And I still don't remember you."

"I was knocked out kind of early I guess..." Flash Sentry rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, once you're finished with your drink, would you wanna maybe get a dance or two?"

"Nah, I don't see anybody I would like to dance with."

"I... uh... I mean with me..."

"Yeah, I know." Sugarcoat took another sip of her drink. When Flash just looked confused for a moment she sighed. "Look, maybe you're nice and all, I really don't know and don't really care, but I'm just not interested in dancing. Don't take it personally."

"Yeah, right..." Flash shrugged a bit bitterly. "Nothing personal about it at all..." He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the counter. "Did I mention I play the guitar?"

Sugarcoat raised one eyebrow, then broke out laughing and slapped her empty tea glass down on the wooden bar. "Wow, you are seriously desperate. I'm guessing you have a girl back home you're pining for but can't get so you're rebounding here."

"I..." Flash blushed. "I-uh..."

Sugarcoat finally managed to stop laughing enough to speak as she slid off of her bar stool. "No, I'm not dancing with you Flash Sentry, but I do wish you luck. Maybe you'll find a cute little bunny who's fine being some guitarist's rebound, but that's just not what I'm looking for. And I never will. So you can never talk to me again."

"R-right..."

"Good." Sugarcoat patted his head, then turned to head towards the rest of the room, more to stretch her legs than to join the throng of students in the center, which had grown more dense as the hour grew later.

As she circled the dance floor she spotted a hallway in the rear of the club, which led to another series of rooms. The word 'enter' blinked in a bright blue neon sign above the door. Curious, Sugarcoat made her way into the hallway, which was much more dimly lit with a series of wall-sconces, which were also accompanied by more neon lights above a series of doors. On further inspection, each seemed to house an activity that could also interest high school students. There were rooms for arcade machines, card games, board games, karaoke (which thankfully seemed to be soundproofed, from the silence), and two rooms for bathrooms, which likely saw as much use as privacy chambers as they did bodily functions, judging from some of the sounds coming from inside one of them.

The last room further down the hallway had a pink neon sign reading 'the future', and she could smell the strong scent of lilac through the door made of silk curtains rather than wood. It looked suspicious, but her curiosity got the better of her good sense and Sugarcoat pushed the curtains aside to make her way into the final room. The scent grew stronger as she made her way further in through another small hallway.

She rounded the final turn to see a woman seated behind a table wearing silk and gold, with a look of mischief in her eye and a deck of cards flipping with practiced ease between long, slender fingers. "What is this I see?" The woman asked with a twinkle in her eye. "Is there a girl here to see me?"

Sugarcoat smirked. "Not really, I don't believe in fortune tellers, especially ones who lay it on so thick. You look like you stepped out of a cartoon."

The woman just chuckled in acceptance. "Your mind is as sharp as your tongue is quick, but I assure you that while most of this is fashion quite slick, what I have to say will change the world for you, so have a seat for a minute or two."

"I'm not paying you to read my fortune, that's stupid."

"The club pays me to entertain their guest, your money is not my primary quest." The woman flipped the cards back and forth nimbly across both hands, letting them spin through her fingers from her right thumb to her left thumb. "But do not think that means my words won't ring true, you've got nothing to lose to learn about you." The deck completed once more, she let it slap down onto the velvet tablecloth in front of her. "So what do you say? Shall you stay with me and play?" Her eyes lit up with mischief again as her eyebrow lifted questioningly.

If nothing else, Sugarcoat had to admire the performance and the confidence. And if it wasn't going to cost her anything, she had no reason not to take a seat across from the strange, but friendly-seeming woman. So she did. "Alright, you've got my attention for a while. There's nobody else here who can hold my interest anyway. I'm Sugarcoat."

"Zecora is what they call me here, it's a pleasure to meet you my dear." Zecora gestured to the deck of cards between them. "Now cut the cards into stacks of three, and your heart's future we will begin to see."

Sugarcoat sighed internally. She was just going to ramble about Sugarcoat's love life, wasn't she? What else would a twenty-something woman assume a teenage high school girl would want to hear about? Oh well, she was here, might as well play along. Sugarcoat reached out with both hands, plucking two piles of cards off of the main pile to rest them on the table.

Zecora plucked the first card off of the left stack and set it face up. It had a picture of a woman on it with no face. "You will meet a stranger soon."

"No more rhymes?"

"The heart doesn't speak in rhymes, but riddles."

"Touché." Sugarcoat smirked. "Let me guess, it'll be a tall handsome stranger who sweeps me off my feet."

Zecora flipped a card from the center stack. This time it had a picture of a chest filled with gold and jewelry. "You will see opportunity in this encounter."

"An opportunity for looooove?" Sugarcoat batted her eyelashes mockingly.

Curiously, Zecora flipped the next card. This one had a picture of an angel holding a pitchfork. "You will be faced with a choice that will shape your heart for the rest of your life."

Sugarcoat cocked her head at that one. "What does that mean? How could one choice change a person's heart entirely?"

"We are all the end of what we were yesterday, tomorrow we will be the end of what we are today." Zecora took another card from the center stack to plop it down beneath the other three cards. This one had a picture of a shadow holding a dagger, coming up behind an innocent-looking girl. "There will be great danger in this time..." Zecora's eyes flicked up towards her from the cards. "Though whether for you, or from you, I cannot divine."

"I'm not dangerous to anybody, your deck is just silly superstition."

Zecora swept the cards back into her deck with a flick of her wrist across the table as she gave Sugarcoat a warmer smile once again. "Then I suppose you have nothing to fear. It's just a game after all, my dear."

"A fascinating one though, I suppose." Sugarcoat blinked as she stood up from her chair. "It's been fun, and thanks for not feeding me sappy junk about finding my true love or whatever."

"The cards reveal the future of the heart, though their warnings are nothing but a start." Zecora placed her deck in front of her as she fixed one more steady gaze on her customer. "Approach strangers with great care."

Sugacoat couldn't help but shiver slightly at the serious tone in her voice. She hadn't even rhymed that one. She gave the fortune teller a quick, stiff smile, then made her way back down the long hallway to the dance club proper. Indigo Zap was still out on the floor dancing with some boy she didn't recognize, while more and more kids were gathering to waste the evening away. Some girl brushed past Sugarcoat on her way into the back, where she vanished into the silk doors that led to Zecora's room.

Sugarcoat forced herself to chuckle and shook her head. She was actually feeling tense after that. But perhaps in a fun way... she certainly didn't feel bored, at least. Which was why she had come here in the first place, so Zecora had accomplished her mission, just not in the way she intended.

She started to make her way back to the bar, but her steps slowed when she spotted a girl sitting on one of the stools in front of the bartender. She had dark skin and snow white hair cut into a bowl... but most importantly, Sugarcoat recognized her. She had seen her with the human world's Sunset Shimmer several times during her reconnaissance, but she had never found the girl alone. This was her chance... her chance to finally crack the mystery of Sunset Shimmer and resolve this annoying, dangerous conflict.

One could almost call it an opportunity...

Sugarcoat shook the brief thought out of her mind and approached the counter to slide smoothly onto the vacant barstool on the girl's right. "Two iced teas, please." Sugarcoat gave the girl a sidelong smile. "You look like you could use one." The girl's eye swiveled toward her, but her head didn't move. "Forgive me for being forward, but you seem like you could use some company."

"I shouldn't talk to others," the girl noted tensely.

"Then why are you here?" Sugarcoat raised her eyebrow. The girl's eye lingered on her for a moment as Sugarcoat pushed one of the glasses of tea in front of her with her fingers. Her eye flitted back to the wooden bar as her fingers wrapped around the glass and she lifted it to her lips for a slow sip.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm Sugarcoat."

"Night Glider." The girl finally turned her head to look into her eyes curiously.

"Oooh, I approve." Sugarcoat smiled. The girl's dark cheeks glowed a soft crimson color. "So what are you doing here if not to talk with others?"

"I enjoy the atmosphere." Night Glider looked down at the bar again, turning her drink idly back and forth between her fingers. "It's a guilty pleasure of mine..."

"I'd hardly call socialization a guilty pleasure." Sugarcoat cleared her throat. "Well, not anymore, at least. There was a time in the past when I preferred to keep to myself. Focus on my studies, get ahead in life, nothing was more important than that."

"So why are you here?"

"Because I learned better." Sugarcoat took a sip of her tea with a satisfied sigh. "Plus the tea here is actually pretty great."

"I've had better." Night Glider took another tiny sip. "Just please don't tell anyone I'm here, okay? I should be at home right now."

"I don't even know who I would tell, so relax." Sugarcoat smiled and companionably punched her fist against Night Glider's shoulder. A slight smile told her she was on the right track. Instead of pushing her luck, Sugarcoat decided to let the companionable silence settle over them until their tea had begun to run out. A girl like this could easily be frightened off by someone too forward, especially someone who started asking about her friend out of nowhere.

Indigo Zap came toward the bar stumbling slightly in exhaustion, though she had a broad grin on her face as she plopped down on the stool to Sugarcoat's right. "How could you resist going out there? The music and atmosphere are perfect!"

Sugarcoat looked down at her friend's exhausted and sweaty form. "I've been trying to resist. It's been a struggle, but somehow I'm holding on." She heard a soft giggle of approval behind her.

"Well get out there already. I'll hold down the fort here." Indigo playfully pushed Sugarcoat from her stool. "And I'm not taking no for an answer this time."

"And who exactly am I going to dance with?" Sugarcoat demanded.

"There's people out there, go find someone!" Indigo Zap demanded.

Sugarcoat huffed in irritation. Indigo wasn't going to let her avoid this, was she? Well, she didn't hate dancing, but she refused to do it with some energetic stranger who was going to try to grope her when he thought she wouldn't notice.

"I'll dance with you..." Night Glider cut in. "For one dance... if you want."

"Oh, uh..." Indigo Zap stammered for a moment. "Heh, sorry girl, but she's not really-"

"I'd love to." Sugarcoat cut off her friend quickly. Indigo gave her a strange look as she took Night Glider's hand and helped her stand up from the stool. "We'll be back in a minute, Indigo Zap."

"Yeah... sure." Indigo just watched as Sugarcoat led her new friend out onto the dance floor.

It was doubtful if this club had any slow songs in their library, but the two of them found a nice empty corner where they could sway together away from the seething, throbbing mob of teenagers that occupied the rest of the dance floor. They held hands and slowly drifted back and forth in place to a slower rhythm that only they shared.

"Do you dance often?" Sugarcoat opened up the conversation in a low, private tone.

"A couple times with my best friend." Night Glider nodded. "Never with a stranger I met here..."

"I'll consider it an honor."

"You shouldn't." Night Glider shook her head. "There's nothing special about me."

Sugarcoat cocked her head to one side. "Why would you say that?"

"Because it's the truth. We're all equal, so there's no reason to feel honored or pressured by another person." She smiled. "There's no conflict without inequality."

"That's certainly an interesting perspective." Sugercoat gently nudged her partner away from her, spinning her out to the tips of her fingers before spinning her back again, a bit closer to her this time. "Me? I've always thought conflict was pretty important. It pushes us to be better."

"Better than what?"

"Than others. Than ourselves." Sugarcoat shrugged. "Whatever helps you get up in the morning."

"That sounds like a stressful life."

"As opposed to your own life?"

"I don't have any stress in my life, no."

"If that's true, why would you run away to be here when you're supposed to be home?" Sugarcoat asked. Night Glider's steps faltered slightly, and she quickly fell still on the dance floor, staring up into Sugarcoat's eyes. "I apologize if I spoke out of turn. I often tend to say whatever pops into my mind. It's a flaw I've been dealing with for a while."

"I... I should go home. You're right, I don't belong here." Night Glider whirled to rush away from her, but Sugarcoat grabbed her wrist gently to bring her to a stop.

"Can I see you again?"

"I shouldn't... I can't..."

Sugarcoat reached into one of her pockets taking out a small piece of paper and quickly jotting down her phone number while the shorter girl waited. After a moment she slipped the paper into the girl's palm.

"For if you change your mind," Sugarcoat told her.

Night Glider hesitated for several seconds before rushing towards the exit, though her fist closed tightly around the phone number.

Sugarcoat made her way more slowly back towards the bar, where Indigo Zap was giving her a long, piercing stare. "I'm ready to go if you are," Sugarcoat told her.

"You're not planning to explain any of that, are you?"

"Not really."

Indigo rubbed her forehead with the fingers of her right hand. "Look, I don't care if you're into chicks, it's just... since when?"

"I'm not into chicks. We're friends."

"That sure doesn't explain the looks she was giving you."

Sugarcoat shrugged. "I didn't say anything more than that. If she's getting the wrong impression, that's not my fault."

"It is if you know it and don't tell her!"

"There may be a grey area there."

Indigo threw up her hands and pushed off of her barstool. "Yeah, maybe we should just get out of here before you go setting up more people for future soul-crushing humiliation." She led the way outside, where her car was still parked in the much more tightly packed parking lot.

Sugarcoat stayed silent for a short while. Indigo was right, she knew it... but it wasn't as if she was doing this for no reason...

"She's Sunset Shimmer's friend... the evil Sunset Shimmer," Sugarcoat explained. Indigo remained silent while she spoke. "This is the first time I've managed to get close to her without Sunset Shimmer around. If I can get close enough, maybe I can get some dirt on Sunset to get her off our backs permanently."

"So you're using her."

"Yes." Sugarcoat nodded. "Basically."

Indigo leaned her left elbow against the door of her rolled-down window, picking at her lip with two fingers. She spoke again next as they pulled up to a red light. "I get it, I guess... but doesn't that still seem kind of crappy? Getting her hopes up just to use her to get to Sunset Shimmer?"

"Compared to what Sunset Shimmer has done to us? What she did to Fleur De Lis and Sour Sweet?"

"But that isn't this girl's fault, that was Sunset."

"And I'll do anything to stop Sunset from tormenting my friends further, even if it means a little... obfuscation. Besides, it's not like I plan to lie to her. If she asks me to tell her outright, I'll tell her the truth. It can be a funny misunderstanding, in the end."

Indigo Zap took a deep breath as she eased the car forward again through the green light. "Sometimes I wonder how you and I are friends."

"Mutual association, mostly." Sugarcoat smirked. "Does this mean you don't want to go out with me again?"

"Guh..." Indigo shielded her eyes from Sugarcoat's smile. "Where did you get those big puppy dog eyes?"

"Years of practice on my mother."

Indigo waved at her. "Alright, alright, we can hang out some time, just turn them off." Sugarcoat settled back in her seat with a satisfied smile. A smile spread across Indigo's lips as well. "As long as you promise not to drag it out any further than you have to. What you're doing doesn't exactly seem 'friendly'. What would Twilight think?"

"I counter that question by refusing to come up with an answer."

Indigo Zap pulled up to Sugarcoat's house not long after, where they bid their amicable farewells and went their separate ways. Sugarcoat made her way inside to her bedroom, where she took her shower in preparation for bed, and was on her way there in her nightgown when the phone on her nightstand began to vibrate.

Sugarcoat plucked her cell phone from the nightstand quickly. "Hello?"

"Hello, Sugarcoat." Night Glider cleared her throat. "Is it too soon?"

"Not at all." Sugarcoat plopped down on her bed with the phone against her ear. "Did you want to schedule another meet-up?"

"That sounds like fun. We can meet at The Youth Club..."

So the date was set, and the two girls had a good time a few days later. Then again a few days after that. Then again a few days after that. It became clear pretty quickly that Night Glider wasn't the most educated girl out there, but she had a sharpness in her eyes and tongue that betrayed the strong mind inside. It wasn't impossible for Sugarcoat to imagine a world in which they could be great friends, and indeed it started to feel that way before long.

Indigo Zap maintained her job as chauffeur, and even occasionally drove the two of them to other locations around the city. It got to the point where Sugarcoat offered to pay her, but Indigo waved off the suggestion. She really was a pretty good friend, despite her disapproving glare every time she saw Sugarcoat holding Night Glider's hand. It wasn't like handholding wasn't something friends did, Sugarcoat reasoned. She didn't do it with the others, but she could.

They had a great time together every time they met, but every attempt Sugarcoat made to prod Night Glider about her home life or her other friends was for naught. The girl was tight-lipped about her social life and her home life, brushing off her prodding questions with "I'm here right now." It was a sweet sentiment, but it didn't do Sugarcoat any good. If she wanted to know about Sunset Shimmer, she needed Night Glider to trust her completely.

Time, as it often did, slipped away from them. Indigo Zap was busy this evening with a project for her shop class, so Sugarcoat and Night Glider had opted to take a long walk around the park as the sun drifted into the horizon. Night Glider was more and more relaxed every time they met up, which was nice to see, though it made Sugarcoat wonder just what her home life was like. Whatever it was like, was it similar to Sunset Shimmer's...?

"I can't name the last time I've just wandered the city like this." Night Glider's smile was so serene she might as well have been walking on a cloud. "Actually... I don't think I ever have."

"It really helps you think, doesn't it?" Sugarcoat replied. "Sometimes I like to come out here, sit down under a tree, and just write."

"Really? You're an author?"

"I wouldn't say that." Sugarcoat shrugged. "I like to dabble a bit."

"Perhaps I could read something you've written some time."

"I really don't think that's necessary." Sugarcoat rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "It's just rambling nonsense, for the most part."

"That seems odd, coming from you. You're so intelligent, pretty, kind, wonderful..."

Sugarcoat tried to fight back her blush. "I've never been described with several of those words before..."

"But it's true... in my eyes at least." Night Glider turned toward her, gently taking Sugarcoat's hands in her own. Sugarcoat turned to face her, hesitating at the look in her eye. She had never seen it in her own nonexistent partner before, but she had seen it in Sunny Flare. That was the look of a girl who wanted or needed something very badly.

Something that she couldn't justify as an act of friendship.

"Are you okay?" Night Glider cocked her head. "You look worried."

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Sugarcoat nodded a little too vigorously.

Night Glider looked into her eyes a bit suspiciously, then squeezed both of her hands. "Then... kiss me. Please."

Sugarcoat looked away for a moment, at the fading sunlight reflecting off the surface of the lake in the park's center. "It's a little fast, isn't it?"

"I don't think so... do you?"

Not really, Sugarcoat thought to herself. They had known each other for several weeks now, a simple kiss probably should have happened long ago if they were in a real relationship of any kind. She raised her hands to Night Glider's shoulders, letting them rest against her gently. Night Glider's eyes closed and her lips puckered expectantly.

What was she supposed to do here? If she kissed Night Glider she would officially be passing the point where she could claim to be ignorant of her feelings. She would be officially using her, toying with her for information, like a cold and heartless liar. Maybe she would have been okay with that once, back before the Friendship Games... but not here, not now.

If she was going to come clean, she had to do it now... but if she did, she might lose her chance to learn more about Sunset Shimmer. Night Glider might get mad at her, or even hate her... and they could be at Sunset and Cinch's mercy for the rest of their school life. Sunset's last move had almost killed someone... what if the next one actually did?

This was too important to throw away, but what was Sugarcoat willing to become to protect her friends...?


To Be Continued

> Chapter 2: Starlight in my Eyes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2: Starlight in my Eyes








Sugarcoat's fingers tightened on her companion's shoulders, clutching at her as if she was bobbing in the middle of a raging ocean holding a life preserver. For just the briefest moment she began to pull the girl closer, but then she released Night Glider's shoulders and let her arms dangle at her sides. The shorter girl's eyes opened slowly, peering up at her through the final fiery rays of sunlight that draped across the grassy park around them.

"I can't do it, Night Glider," Sugarcoat confessed. "I just... I don't swing that way."

"Oh." Night Glider blinked blankly. "I-I thought..."

"I know..." Sugarcoat shook her head. "And I'm sorry. I just... didn't want to upset you. I've had a really good time lately." It wasn't untruth... it simply wasn't the whole truth.

"I see..." Night Glider took a step back with a wry smile on her lips. "I suppose it's for the best. It didn't work with my first crush... why would it work with you?" She turned away with a blush.

"Your first crush?" Sugarcoat asked curiously. "Things didn't go well, I suppose?"

"No... not at all." Night Glider approached the small pond by the walking trail and plopped down on the grass. Sugarcoat sat beside her more gingerly, smoothing down her skirt and sitting with her legs crossed beside the still waters. "She was like you. Full of ambition to compete and be something better. And nothing anybody did could take that away from her."

"Is being ambitious really so bad?" Sugarcoat asked.

"When it leads you down a path of self-destruction? When you keep disrupting the house and eventually start bringing the cops around? Yeah, it's pretty bad..." She shook her head. "I don't think I'll ever understand why she couldn't just stop. I saw in her the truth of what Miss Glimmer has always told us. That ambition and competition are corrupting forces..."

"Miss Glimmer?"

Night Glider blushed. "Gah, I'm sorry... I'm just blurting out whatever's on my mind now... you don't want to hear about my home life."

"On the contrary, I find myself intrigued." Sugarcoat's smile was genuine when Night Glider glanced her way out of the corner of her eye. "Miss Glimmer raised you?"

Night Glider nodded. "And a lot of others. She runs an orphanage in the city. Well, kind of an orphanage. It's an orphanage, a school, a shelter... basically a place someone who doesn't have another place to be can go."

"That's a very noble calling."

"She's a noble person." Night Glider's chest straightened just slightly in pride as she spoke. "Miss Glimmer is like a jewel of this city. She fights the corruption for the sake of peace, and teaches us all to do the same."

"That corruption being... ambition?"

Night Glider nodded. "There are few conflicts in this world that weren't caused by ambition or desire. People who want to do more, people who want to do better..." She sighed. "Now I'm thinking about her again and it just... it just makes me so mad that I couldn't do anything." Her fists were clenched into white-knuckled balls as she held her kneed against her chest. "Mad at her... mad at myself..."

"She must have been really important to you."

"We were best friends for years." Her hands relaxed as Night Glider's eyes softened, peering down into the glassy surface of the lake. "Me and Sunset Shimmer. Miss Glimmer couldn't get us apart if she tried. And she did try, a few times." She giggled, completely oblivious to Sugarcoat's sudden rapt attention. "We always had a good time together... even if we were pretty naughty. I guess getting out of the house like this is a habit I kept from my time with her."

"Sunset Shimmer lived with you?"

Night Glider nodded. "We grew up together in that house, for as long as I can remember." A wistful smile spread across her lips. "She was an absolute monster a lot of the time. She was always trying to show off the things she could do. No matter how many times Miss Glimmer punished her it never did any good. A few days, maybe a week later she would challenge someone else to some competition, just to prove she could win." She shook her head. "I don't think I ever saw her lose either. She was always super smart."

"She doesn't still live there?"

Night Glider shook her head. "She got really wild as she got older... Miss Glimmer asked her to leave the day she turned eighteen. Had to, to get the police to stop coming around."

Sugarcoat winced. "That's pretty harsh... do you know by any chance where she's staying now?"

"I wish I did. I still worry about her... I mean, we're still friends, and occasionally we hang out, but she won't tell me where she's staying. She just tells me she's fine and not to worry about it..."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Sugarcoat looked up at the darkening sky as the first stars began to peer out of the growing night. She pushed herself up from the grass and brushed some stray blades from her skirt before holding her hand out to her friend. "Would you like me to walk you home?"

Night Glider glanced up at her in surprise. "Really? Even after all this awkwardness...?"

"You can tell me to leave if you really want to, but I'm not doing it on my own." Sugarcoat winked. "You're stuck with me until you have the guts to tell me to go away. As a friend."

A gentle smile spread across Night Glider's lips as she took herself and let herself be pulled up from the grass. "Okay, thank you."

Sugarcoat followed her friend in a comfortable silence. She was torn between feeling relieved that she wasn't about to lose her friend and being really happy that she was finally making progress on her investigation. She still felt a bit like a slimeball for that, but at least she was acting like less of one than she once would have. She considered that progress, though progress towards what she wasn't entirely sure.

The sun had already disappeared when they approached the house illuminated only by the glowing streetlamps and the final gasps of sunlight from beyond the horizon. The house was much bigger than Sugarcoat had expected. There were three stories of windows on a building that took up an entire block by itself. Though given what Night Glider had said about it being a school and an orphanage, she supposed it shouldn't be such a big shock. It looked clean and well-kept, at least.

"This is it. Home sweet home." Night Glider approached the front door with a wistful sigh. "Hopefully Miss Glimmer is asleep already..."

Sugarcoat hung out by the sidewalk. "I'm not going to get you in trouble keeping you out so late, am I?"

"In trouble? Nah, she just worries when she doesn't know where we are, is all." Night Glider turned back to her from the front porch. "And I do hate to make her worry. We all owe her so much."

"Understandable..." Sugarcoat smirked wryly. "Does that mean you won't come out to meet me again?"

"I'll see you this weekend, probably. Goodnight." Night Glider gave a friendly wave, which Sugarcoat returned before she opened the door and slipped inside. There was no light from within, so it looked like the building had already gone to sleep.

Her eyes swept up the front of the building curiously. She had never been down this way before, and had never seen the large sign out front proclaiming 'Starlight Glimmer's Beacon Of Hope'. She wondered for a minute how a place like this flew under her radar... but it wasn't as if she would have even cared to notice, not all that long ago. Emerging from the Friendship Games had been a bit like coming up from for air after being trapped in the ocean for eighteen years. It wasn't unbelievable that she hadn't noticed it... or even cared enough to remember it if she did.

Her eyes stopped on the center window on the third floor, through which she saw a woman holding a mug between both hands sitting against the windowsill in an ornate silk nightgown. The woman was peering down at her with a curious, but harmless expression. When she saw that Sugarcoat had noticed her she waved with one hand before returning it to her mug.

She seemed like a calm woman, at least. Sugarcoat waved back so as not to seem any creepier than she already did, then turned to make her way down the sidewalk in the direction of home. It was getting dark now, so she felt reflexively for the tazer she kept in her concealed pocket. Nothing had happened before, but being prepared was never a bad idea. Even so, she tried to keep conscious of her surroundings even as her mind reconciled this new information Night Glider had given her.

For instance, Sunset Shimmer sure had a nice motorcycle for a homeless teenage girl...

***

Sugarcoat's mind was still spinning the next day.  When her investigation began, she had tried to look up Sunset Shimmer in the library to see if she could find an address. She supposed now she knew why she couldn't come up with one. But even that raised so many questions it sent her mind into a tizzy, and despite knowing more now than before, she wasn't sure what to do with this knowledge. Perhaps it was time to be more direct and proactive. Though what that would entail also eluded her.

She gasped when a surprisingly string grip took hold of her shoulders and shoved her roughly into the Crystal Prep lockers. The loud metallic clang echoed through the mostly-empty hallways, and Sugarcoat clenched her teeth when she felt a pair of elbows near her spine join the hands, shoving her harshly up against the unyielding metal.

"Get offa me..." Sugarcoat grunted.

Sunset Shimmer's voice was unusually cold and disconnected. "Stay away from Night Glider. I'm warning you."

"Clearly." Sugarcoat tried to push away from the locker, but Sunset was holding her with a strength born of anger. "I'm not going to hurt her."

"I don't care what you plan to do. Just stay away from her."

"I won't do that." Sugarcoat responded in a calm voice. "If we could just have a civil talk about this-"

"You're not listening to me!" Sunset Shimmer's elbow pressed painfully into the small of Sugarcoat's back. Sugarcoat's teeth gritted against the pain. "Stay. Away. From Night Glider."

Suddenly Sugarcoat felt the girl ripped away from her back to slam into the opposite wall of lockers. She spun on her heel to see Indigo Zap pinning Sunset Shimmer back against the locker with both fists clenching her jacket.

"Don't. Touch. My. Friends." Indigo Zap growled dangerously.

Sunset sneered, though her voice was shivering slightly. "You wanna get expelled?"

"Sure." Indigo moved her face closer to Sunset's. "Then I won't have any reason to hold back." Indigo Zap was shorter than Sunset Shimmer, but her much larger biceps drove the point home loud and clear. Sunset Shimmer growled, but didn't respond for several seconds before Indigo yanked her away from the locker and shoved her down the hallway. "If I see that again I'll get myself expelled dealing with you! You hear me?"

Sunset Shimmer didn't respond as she rushed away from them down the hallway. The few students that were around watched her go, then quickly turned back to their business, actively trying not to look at Indigo Zap.

Indigo rubbed her hands together with a toothy grin. "Holy crap that felt so good."

Sugarcoat fixed her glasses with one hand. "She wouldn't have really hurt me, she knows if she did she would get expelled, friends with the principal or not. That was a needless risk on your part."

Indigo smirked. "Oh just shut up and say thank you."

"... Thank you."

"No problem. So what was that all about anyway? She's a jerk but it's not like her to get physical."

"It seems my relationship with Night Glider is getting on her nerves."

"Oh yeah? You actually find out anything useful from her?"

"Yes and no..." Sugarcoat told Indigo Zap everything Night Glider had told her the night before. "It seems the mystery surrounding Sunset Shimmer is only deepening."

"Yeah, no kidding." Indigo shook her head. "She seems really well-off for a homeless girl."

"Which means she's staying somewhere off the record. We just need to find out where... and I have an idea how. We can tail her after school."

"I don't think that'll work." Indigo shrugged. "She knows my car, she'll spot us right away."

"Maybe not if we put fake plates on it."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Extremely."

"Didn't you just lecture me about taking needless risks?"

"Yes."

Indigo Zap put her hands hips with a thoughtful gaze for a few moments before finally smiling. "Fine, I'm in. If it puts us one step closer to dealing with her permanently, I'll do what I have to."

So their plans were made. Indigo Zap created the plates with her shop class equipment and mechanical expertise, and to her credit they certainly looked legitimate enough to get them arrested, despite reading phucksun.

"Do you think she'll be able to read it backwards?" Indigo smirked.

"Let's hope not, we're supposed to be incognito."

They were waiting outside the school with the fake plates already attached, staking out Sunset Shimmer's bike from what they hoped was a safe distance. Sunset Shimmer was often the last to leave the school, which was also suspicious in its own way. But she did eventually emerge and approach her bike in the parking lot, as she always did. She didn't seem to notice them as she climbed onto her bike and squeezed her hair into the thick motorcycle helmet.

"Looks like we're up," Indigo quipped as she and Sugarcoat slipped into the car. Indigo pulled them out of the parking space moments after Sunset Shimmer had reached the parking lot exit, hoping to keep enough distance to not draw attention to them.

Indigo was a good driver, and had obviously watched enough movies to know how this was done. She kept her speed even, about a block behind Sunset Shimmer, careful not to make any sudden changes in speed or more lane changes than absolutely necessary. Sugarcoat kept her eyes on their target, but Sunset Shimmer didn't glance over her shoulder once. More strangely, Sunset Shimmer seemed to be making a circle. She left the school heading north, then circled back around across several streets and made her way back south of the school.

"Definitely something weird going on," Indigo mumbled under her breath.

The silence reigned again until they pulled into the more expensive part of town, where large three story buildings framed the winding street. There weren't any other cars on this road, so tailing her down there would definitely be suspicious. Indigo brought her car to a stop beside the turn-off, where they watched Sunset Shimmer wind her way down the street. Thankfully, however, she turned into the driveway of the fifth house on her left, disappearing behind a tall iron gate.

"Yes!" Indigo grinned. "We got her."

"I'll go see whose house that is while you fix the plates." Sugarcoat climbed out of the car.

"Wait, you're going in alone?" Indigo exclaimed. "I don't know about that."

"I'm not going in anywhere, I'm just getting the address so we can look it up. You make sure we don't get arrested on the way home." Sugarcoat gave her friend a stern glare and turned to head toward the house. Her eyes locked on the front gate as she approached, searching the front for any sign of the address number. She soon found it posted on a plaque bolted to the fence beside the main gate, and through the bars she could see Sunset's motorcycle sitting silent and empty in the driveway in front of the rather large front door.

Sugarcoat fumbled in her pocket for her phone and quickly did a search on the address. Moments later her eyebrows lifted at the name that glowed on the bright screen clutched comfortably in her palm. Her eyes darted up toward the house again, where she this time spotted Sunset Shimmer glaring at her through the front window. Sugarcoat quickly slammed her phone into her pocket and broke into a jog back towards where Indigo was just finishing bolting her real license plates into place.

"Get in the car, we're going." Sugarcoat rushed to the passenger's seat. Without protesting Indigo chucked her tools into the back of the car, climbed in, and started on down the road away from Sunset Shimmer's street.

"So? what did you find?" Indigo demanded. "What's going on?"

"Strangely the picture is getting more clouded as it clears."

"What does that mean? Whose house was it?"

Sugarcoat glanced over at her friend. "The house belongs to Abacus Cinch."

***

Sugarcoat wasn't sure what she expected from Sunset Shimmer the next day, but the girl didn't seem to acknowledge what happened the day before, nor did she even bother to acknowledge her presence. Sugarcoat wanted to be relieved about this, but part of her was sure Sunset was plotting to ambush her when she left school. She even asked Indigo Zap to drive her home, which her friend naturally agreed to.

"So not only is Cinch in cahoots with Sunset Shimmer to ruin our lives, but Sunset Shimmer is living with her too..." Indigo pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Secretly."

"That about sums it up." Sugarcoat nodded. "It would explain a lot about why Sunset Shimmer acts so unrepentant. Her livelihood is literally riding on her doing whatever Cinch tells her to."

"Man, to be that much at Cinch's mercy. I mean us being forced to leave Crystal Prep would blow, but could you imagine if you were relying on Cinch to put a roof over your head?"

"Of course, according to Night Glider, she was always wild and arrogant." Sugarcoat took a deep breath. "The question that remains is... how much of what she does is Cinch, and how much is actually something Sunset Shimmer would do anyway?"

"And what can we actually do about it either way?"

Sugarcoat raised her finger. "Know thy enemy, Indigo Zap. Only then can you see the path to victory."

"Okay, so how do we find out more about her?"

"By going back again, I think..." Sugarcoat rubbed her hands together in front of her as she suddenly lost herself in her thoughts once more. It took her only a few moments to make up her mind and look up from her lap. "Do you think you could drop me off somewhere else instead?"

"Sure, name the place. I have nowhere to be."

"I'll lead you there." Sugarcoat led the way through the city streets until they pulled up outside of Starlight Glimmer's Beacon of Hope. "Thank you, I'll call you when I'm finished."

"Uh, no." Indigo Zap climbed out of the car with her. "I'm not leaving you here. What even is this place?"

"It's the orphanage Sunset Shimmer was raised in. I think they can give me some deeper insights into her."

"Don't you mean give us insights?" Indigo demanded. When Sugarcoat didn't respond Indigo huffed. "This isn't your mission, Sugarcoat. I want to do this just as much as you do. Besides, something about this place... just gives me the creeps. It's so big and drab. I'm not leaving you here alone."

Sugarcoat's glare lasted only a few more moments before she sighed and lowered her head. "Okay, Indigo. Let's go. Just try not to call the place creepy in front of those who live there."

"I'll do my best."

Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap approached the door, where Indigo hit the doorbell and they stood back to wait. It wasn't long before the door swung open, and Night Glider was peering out at them. She was wearing even more simple clothing than usual, a plain white t-shirt and a pair of gray slacks that hung loose around her ankles.

"Sugarcoat?" Night Glider gasped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Sugarcoat blinked and adjusted her glasses in genuine surprise at the shock. "I'm sorry, should we not drop by...?"

"N-no, it's alright, I don't mind, it's just we need to ask-"

Night Glider was cut off by a more commanding voice behind her. "It's okay, Night Glider. Your friends can come in." Night Glider looked quickly over her shoulder, then gave the two Shadowbolts a curious, but hopeful look as she opened the door the rest of the way and stepped aside. Standing in the large front hallway was the woman Sugarcoat had seen in the window several nights ago. She was dressed just as plainly as Night Glider was, though her hair was curled pleasantly around her shoulders. She had a warm smile on her lips as she beckoned the two girls in. "Refuge is open to all who need it."

Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap exchanged a glance before walking inside, though Indigo spoke as they went. "We're not here for 'refuge'."

"I didn't say it's what you seek, I said it's what you need." The woman smiled. "I am Starlight Glimmer. Welcome to my little refuge."

"I'm Sugarcoat. This is one of my best friends, Indigo Zap. Night Glider told me a lot about this place, so we got curious."

"Naturally." Starlight's smile was a self-assured mask. "You may ask me any questions you see fit, in my office. I don't keep secrets from my students, but sitting here in the middle of the hallway having extended conversations would be quite rude."

"Agreed." Sugarcoat nodded. "Indigo, why don't you go hang out with Night Glider?"

"Excuse me?" Indigo glared.

Sugercoat mouthed the words 'divide and conquer'. Indigo still looked upset, but straightened her jacket tersely as she turned to Night Glider. "Y-yeah, I could use a look around this place, if that's okay."

"Um..." Night Glider cast a quick look at Starlight Glimmer, who nodded almost imperceptibly in response. Night Glider looked thrilled. "Of course! Come with me, we have everything you could ask for!"

As Indigo was ushered deeper into the building by an excitedly jabbering Night Glider, Sugarcoat followed Starlight Glimmer more calmly down a shorter hallway into a large, but plainly decorated office. It was mostly full of science and informational books, with a couple of filing cabinets against the wall and a computer on a wooden desk directly in front of the door. Only a couple of pictures could be seen in the room. Pictures of a younger Starlight Glimmer, some with adults, some with a boy her own age.

"So how is Principal Cinch these days?" Starlight Glimmer quipped more casually as she strode across the office to her desk. When Sugarcoat didn't respond immediately she clarified. "I recognize that uniform anywhere, and even if you didn't have it on, I could see it in the way you carry yourself." She sat down heavily in the seat with a loud creak. "Crystal Preparatory Academy. The school that made me who I am today."

"You were a Crystal Prep student?" Sugarcoat approached the desk curiously.

"I graduated from there." Starlight was giving her an appraising, curious gaze now. "I know how they think, and while I don't know what all Night Glider has told you about us, I can imagine what you think of us right now."

"I'm not here to judge."

"And yet you are anyway. You've been taught to." Starlight's smile was understanding. "Look down on others, nobody's as good as you. Prove yourself, take the world by storm, and crush under your heel anybody who thinks they can stop you from being the best. That was always the spirit of Crystal Prep. I can see in your demeanor that that hasn't changed."

"No... it hasn't."

"Of course not. Not as long as Cinch is still in charge." Starlight Glimmer sneered. "Sometimes I think that old bat is going to live forever just to mock all the good people of the world who die young." Starlight leaned forward in her seat with her elbows on the desk in front of her. "My advice to you? You don't need to come here, but get out of that school as quickly as you can."

"It's the best school in the state. I have a future to think about."

"There are things more important than your education." Starlight stood up and took a deep breath. "I learned that the hard way... you don't need to as well."

"Did you?"

Starlight Glimmer moved around the desk to the shelf beside Sugarcoat on which the picture of a younger Starlight Glimmer and a young boy sitting side-by-side in what Sugarcoat now realized was the front lawn of Crystal Prep. "I believed in Cinch's rhetoric too. I thought it couldn't get in the way of the rest of my life... competition is good, it sharpens us, makes us strong. Sunburst and I both believed it..."

Starlight Glimmer smirked. "He believed it so much that when he got the chance to shove me to the dirt in order to get himself a head start on a better education and a better job, he didn't even hesitate. Fifteen years of friendship tossed aside like a rotting piece of meat." Her head hung against her chest for a few moments before she turned to Sugarcoat, speaking in a soft tone. "I don't expect you to understand, but that is what ambition does to people. I know, being a student of Crystal Prep, you've seen this in action."

"More times than I can count. I've been on both ends of it in the past..."

"But you accept it, because that's how the world is." Starlight Glimmer turned to march back to her desk with her hands thrown carelessly to her sides. "You accept it because ambition is what this culture is about, it's what we have decided is the most important thing in the world. Well I reject that notion..." Starlight sat down in her seat and took a heavy breath, wiping her slightly reddened eyes with one hand. "Do you know what I think? What I try to pass on to my students? That the most important thing in this world... is each other, is being with each other. I believe that the most important thing we can live for is peace and teamwork, and those things don't come from trying to be better than others. They come from understanding others, and you can't understand people you look down on."

Sugarcoat met her slightly moist eyes. Indigo Zap's assessment of this place as slightly creepy rang true, and yet at the same time she was having trouble finding fault in Starlight Glimmer's arguments. Crystal Prep was a hive of backstabbing and mudslinging. The student body there would sooner shove you in front of a bus before they stood side-by-side with you. Sugarcoat had seen it. Sugarcoat had done it many times before the Friendship Games. She had crushed as many dreams as it took to even win her spot at the Friendship Games...

It had been a while since she really thought about who she had been. The thought made her shudder.

Starlight Glimmer seemed satisfied by something as she sat back in her seat. "Does that sate your curiosity, Sugarcoat?"

Sugarcoat cleared her throat. She had completely lost focus on what she had come here to learn, and she found it difficult to focus on it. She felt like she had just had her eyes ripped open and forced to see the truth behind her school, herself, and the world. What Starlight Glimmer was saying made sense, and this little building of hers was a nest of peace and equality.

And if she wanted, Sugarcoat could join them.

"Sugarcoat?" Starlight Glimmer leaned forward with concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I..."


To Be Continued

> Chapter 3: All We Are
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3: All We Are










"This seems like a nice place," Indigo Zap's voice was sincere as she followed Sugarcoat's new friend through the hallways of Starlight Glimmer's Beacon Of Hope.  The hallways were nicely decorated, though the colors were somewhat muted all around. As she passed various doors in the hallways, she saw recreational rooms of various kinds. One had an indoor pool, where several girls in one-piece swimsuits were lounging by the poolside chatting in low tones. In the next room was a small group of boys lounging on a sofa taking turns passing a video game controller back and forth.

"I can't think of a better place." Night Glider had a wistful smile on her lips as she led the way. "We have everything a person could want. Good food, good games, good friends."

"Sounds good." Indigo smirked. "So what do you like to do?"

"Me? I like to swim, personally." Night Glider stretched her arms out over her head. "I have an extra swim suit, if you'd like to try the pool."

"Do you think that would be okay?" Indigo asked worriedly. "I'm just a guest here..."

"Of course it is. Our home is everybody's home, they simply need to ask." Night Glider winked. "Come on, my room is this way!"

"Uh..." Indigo cleared her throat as she followed Night Glider into a wing of the building marked with a 'female' symbol on the door that opened into the hallway. "Just so we're clear, I'm not into girls... you know, just in case."

Night Glider smirked back over her shoulder. "That's okay, I don't think you're my type anyway. No offense."

"Oh, no, no of course not..." Indigo followed her into the bedroom, standing by the door while Night Glider dug through her drawers. "Why aren't I your type?"

"Here, I think we're close to the same size." Night Glider held out a plain blue one piece.

"Thanks." Indigo took it. "Why wouldn't you go out with me?" When Night Glider turned back to the bed behind her to begin undressing Indigo continued. "Seriously, you'll go out with Sugarcoat and not me? What the heck?"

Answers weren't forthcoming however, so Indigo Zap gave up the fight and changed into the proffered swimsuit. It seemed a little strange, but they were here to learn about this place, and while Sugarcoat was grilling the headmaster, she had might as well run with it and see where the day took her. What was the worst that could happen?

***

"I think... you're doing a good job here, Miss Glimmer." Sugarcoat spoke with an honest nod of her head. "If Crystal Prep has shown me anything, it's the worst in people. One person in particular..." Sugarcoat's mind seemed to clear slightly as her eyes met Starlight Glimmer's again. "A student named Sunset Shimmer."

"Ah." Starlight leaned back in her seat with a wistful sigh. "I'm sorry you had to inherit that particular problem."

"She's been a huge problem for me and my friends for a while now. In fact... we kind of came here hoping to learn more about her, or what we can do with her."

"I wish I had an answer for you, but some people just can't be saved or reasoned with." Starlight Glimmer cocked her head with a sad smile. "I did everything I could to show her the error of her ways. But it looks like she's found a place she truly belongs." A slight smirk tugged at her cheek. "Good for her, I suppose."

"Yeah, she does seem to fit right in there..."

"And you don't, if you don't mind my saying so." Starlight gave her a smile. "You seem way too intelligent to waste your time dealing with the rat-race of Crystal Preparatory Academy."

"I admit I had the same thought, just now."

"And our doors are open to you as a school, even if you don't intend to live here."

"Thank you..." Sugarcoat shook her head. "But such a decision shouldn't be made in a day. After all, I still have my education to think about... and how it'll affect my future."

"We may not have Crystal Prep's reputation, but we do all we can to give the best education. Of course, I wouldn't ask you to make such a decision now." Starlight Glimmer stood and approached Sugarcoat. "Would you like to join your friend in her tour of the grounds?"

"I think that would be fine, yes. Thank you for your time." Sugarcoat shook Starlight Glimmer's hand, but paused at the door before opening it. "If I may ask... did you know how intelligent Sunset Shimmer really is?"

"It didn't matter." Starlight Glimmer shook her head. "She dedicated all of that intelligence to pursuing her own ego. That doesn't help anybody, even herself, in the long run."

"Perhaps..." Sugarcoat opened the door and emerged out into the hallway leading to the front entrance.

"She has no doubt taken your friend to one of the rec rooms down the hallway there." Starlight pointed down the hallway leading deeper into the mansion.

"Thanks." Sugarcoat waved back at the school headmistress again before heading the indicated direction. She made her way down the much longer hallway, passing several rooms of lounging boys and girls until she spotted Indigo's head bobbing up and down in a pool surrounding by other girls, who were all chattering excitedly. Sugarcoat watched from the door in amusement for a couple of moments. The girls were drilling Indigo with questions about her experiences outside the school.

"Is it true the boys at other schools don't shower?"

"I've never done a sniff test, but I'm pretty sure that's true for some of them... okay most of them."

Sugarcoat cackled. "I see it took you all of fifteen minutes of being left alone to get your clothes off, Indigo Zap."

"Oh har har." Indigo rolled her eyes. "I was just checking out the place. Turns out it's kind of nice."

"Well I've always thought so." Night Glider smiled up at Sugarcoat. "Would you like to join us, too?"

"I don't have anywhere to be. If you have a spare swimsuit, I could hang around for a while. Besides, you've already coaxed my ride home in there with you."

"Hey, you could always walk home if you're that desperate to leave." Indigo smirked.

"Or I could steal your keys and drive home myself. That's also an option."

"Touch my ride without permission and I will eat your kidneys."

So Sugarcoat joined the girls in the pool, wearing a swimsuit borrowed from one of Night Glider's friends. It was an amicable soak in a well-kept pool, and was pretty good exercise too, Sugarcoat knew. Things only got awkward when Indigo Zap tried to suggest a race, a suggestion that was quickly shut down by Night Glider and her friends. It seemed those who lived here didn't appreciate any sort of competition, no matter how nonexistent the stakes.

"Competing doesn't serve anybody any good," Night Glider admonished her in a soft, but firm voice. "Your ego won't help others, your compassion will."

"That's... uh... deep." Indigo smiled sheepishly.

It wasn't much longer after that when Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap decided it was time to go, and Night Glider showed them to the front doors after gathering up their belongings from her room. She turned towards them with a warm smile. "I hope you can both come back soon. We're always happy to see new friends come in and learn about us."

"Yeah, we just might do that." Sugarcoat pulled her friend into a hug with a friendly smile, which seemed to delight the smaller girl. "I'll see you around."

"Take care!" Night Glider was waving them off until they reached the car and took off down the street. they had spent most of the day hanging out with Night Glider and her companions, until the sun had fallen halfway behind the horizon. Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap were both pretty relaxed, moreso perhaps than they had any right to be for a couple of girls on a mission of the utmost importance. This was for the good of their future, after all.

"So what's your impression of them?" Sugarcoat asked curiously. "Honestly."

"Honestly, they seem a little weird, but not in a bad way." Indigo shrugged. "Sour Sweet and Pinkie Pie are way weirder than them."

"Hm. Yeah, you have a point."

"Did Miss Glimmer have anything to say about Sunset Shimmer?"

"Just that she would never listen to anything she said."

"So, what we probably could've guessed." Indigo smirked. "What now?"

Sugarcoat shrugged as she stared out the window of her car, watching the terrain pass on their way back home. "I am curious about something... but it'll have to wait for tomorrow."

***

The next day Sugarcoat approached Twilight Sparkle's front door with her hands behind her back. Twilight always had a way of making sense of things that made no sense to the rest of them, so perhaps she could give Sugarcoat some perspective on this particular issue as well. Plus the non-evil Sunset Shimmer could usually be found hanging around. With any luck she could provide a little extra insight into what she wanted to know.

Twilight's response was swift. Only moments after Sugarcoat's knock the door swung open and Twilight's eyes sparkled with pleasant recognition behind her thick glasses. "Sugarcoat! This is a pleasant surprise! Come in!"

"Thank you." Sugarcoat stepped inside. As she had expected, Sunset Shimmer was parked on the couch with Spike the talking dog sitting in her lap. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"No way, I was just psyching myself up for our camping trip next week." Twilight blushed. "With Sunset's help, of course. I've never actually gone camping before."

"I told you it'll be fine." Sunset smiled from the couch. "If Principal Celestia says that Camp Everfree is a nice place, I'm sure it's a nice place."

"Just make sure you don't get eaten by any bears while you're there," Sugarcoat scolded her. "If you get eaten it should be by something fun. Like a cougar." She looked back and forth between Sunset and Twilight's blank, but slightly amused stares. Twilight had a soft rosey blush on her cheeks. "I swear I didn't mean it like that before I said it but this is the path I've chosen for myself, evidently."

Twilight giggled and closed the door behind her. "Settle in, I'll get you a drink." Twilight turned to head into the kitchen.

"Thank you." Sugarcoat moved to sit beside Sunset, who had Spike curled up in her lap with a small picture book sitting on her knees. "What are you doing there?"

"I'm helping Spike learn to read." Sunset scratched the little puppy behind the ears.

"I'm gonna be literate!" Spike stuck out his furry chest proudly.

"That's... really decent of you, Sunset Shimmer."

"I try to help out where I can." Sunset waved off the compliment with a soft blush. "Got a lot to make up for."

"Could I ask you kind of a personal question, Sunset?"

"Ask away."

"Why are you a good person?" The awkward silence that followed didn't deter Sugarcoat from her chosen path. "I've been trying to figure out what to do about our Sunset Shimmer, but everything I find out leads me to think she's just naturally selfish to the exclusion of all others. Were you ever like that?"

"Yes, I was."

"So what changed?"

The silence reigned for several more seconds before Twilight walked in, holding a small mug of tea out to Sugarcoat, which she accepted with a murmur. "I've never heard this story either." Twilight sat down on the couch on Sunset's right side. "You don't have to tell the story, if you don't want to."

"It's alright." Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath. "If it'll help in any way, I'll tell you about where I come from and the things I did. It's just the past, after all."

Sunset Shimmer told them about what happened back in her homeworld of Equestria, and the events that led her here, to their world. Of how she demanded more and more power, of her obsession with proving her worth and superiority. The more she spoke, the easier it was for Sugarcoat to see the second Sunset Shimmer in her. The girl Sunset Shimmer described, the braggart loner with few interests beyond her own superiority, slotted so easily into the role of the girl Starlight Glimmer had spoken of. As Sunset Shimmer reached the end of her tale, where she was welcomed with open arms by the girls of Canterlot High, that was where the girl sitting before her suddenly seemed to take shape.

"It was a heck of an experience, I can tell you that." Sunset glanced to her right, where Twilight was holding her hand in a tight, comforting grip. "I guess sometimes you have to see the monster you're becoming the hard way..."

"Do you think you could have changed without that experience?"

"I honestly don't know." Sunset met Sugarcoat's eyes with a helpless shrug. "I can't say what she's been through or what she really thinks. Maybe she already did and it didn't help. Maybe she never will..."

"I see." Sugarcoat put her hand to her chin. "If things had happened differently for you, do you think you would have been hopeless?"

"Sugarcoat!" Twilight protested suddenly. "Come on, that's just mean."

"It's okay, Twi." Sunset squeezed Twilight's hand as she met Sugarcoat's eyes. There was a solemnity in them that Sugarcoat had rarely seen from her before. "If you want me to be completely honest? Yes. If my friends hadn't reached out to me, and pulled me back... I probably would have kept going. Who knows where I would have ended up. That was why, even after the portal opened again, I decided to stay here permanently. I need my friends to remind me why I need to try to be good."

Sugarcoat nodded slowly, then stood up from the couch and shoved her hands in her vest pockets. "Thank you, Sunset. I think that helps me quite a bit."

"Don't mention it. I hope you finally take care of your problem with... well, me." Sunset smirked.

"Yeah, me too." Sugarcoat waved and turned to walk outside, closing the door softly behind her.

As her legs carried her down the sidewalk, her mind slowly compiled this new information with what she had learned already. From Sunset Shimmer, from Night Glider, from Starlight Glimmer, and even from Zecora. That reading that night had started all of this, after all... and yet something she said that night wasn't quite fitting with what Sunset Shimmer had told her. She knew taking a fortune teller at her word was probably a mistake, but she liked to keep all of her bases covered, and fake or not, the woman had sounded very wise.

The Youth Club was only a couple of blocks from Twilight Sparkle's place. It was largely empty at this time of day, and she was sad to see that the neon sign above Zecora's door at the end of the back hallway was dark. So Sugarcoat made her way to the bar and leaned against the counter.

"Hey, do you know when the fortune teller gets in?" Sugarcoat jerked her thumb towards the back.

It wasn't the bartender who responded. "I start in about an hour, but I'm always happy to help a child in need." Sugarcoat turned around to see Zecora standing between her and the front door. She was clad in a pair of normal blue jeans and a black t-shirt, a total contrast to the fancy garb she wore when she was in the back.

"If you start in an hour... did you... know I would be looking for you now?"

Zecora smirked. "I can't say I did. Even I need a paycheck." Zecora approached the counter and reached out a hand to pluck a small envelope the bartender held out to her. She opened it, glanced inside, then nodded in satisfaction and slid it into one of her pockets.

"Ah." Sugarcoat shook her head. "I hate to make you work off the clock, but I just felt like I needed to ask you something."

"Ask away, I say." Zecora slid onto the barseat beside her.

Sugarcoat quickly sat down beside her. "When I came to see you the other day... you talked about choices. That choices are what shape our lives..."

"Did I?" Zecora asked curiously. "I don't believe that was what I said."

"You said my choice would shape my heart..."

"Yes, and it would." Zecora nodded. "I didn't say choices were the only things that could shape us."

"What else can?"

"Life." Zecora rapped one of her fingers on the wooden countertop as she flashed Sugarcoat a smile over her shoulder. "From the greatest act of God to the smallest coincidence, anything can change our lives. Other people, holes in the ground, a stapler, a sheet of paper left in the wrong place can change everything forever."

"Then why put so much emphasis on this choice?"

"Because it's up to you what choice to make here... as with everything else." Zecora nodded. "All of your choices shape who you are... but they are rarely the catalysts of change themselves. Very few people can simply choose to change, you choose how to respond to life, and that changes you."

"Life constantly provides choices that create change. Then... what you told me was pointless. If we're constantly running into reasons to make choices that change us, then telling me I'd have to choose how to change was like telling me I'd have to breathe."

Zecora pursed her lips with a nod. "That's one way to look at it." She smiled slyly. "But it made you think about your life and the choices you were making, didn't it?"

Sugarcoat stared at her incredulously, then couldn't help a soft chuckle that crept out of her lips. "I suppose it did. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately."

"That's good. Too few young people think anymore about what their actions might bring upon themselves and others."

"If I may ask one more thing... do you think there's a point of no return?" Sugarcoat glanced over at her companion solemnly. "A point where you've chosen your path and can't choose anything else, no matter what happens? Where changing becomes impossible?"

Zecora took a deep breath and seemed to be seriously considering that for several long minutes. At last she let her breath out in one long rush of air and turned towards her. "If there is, I've never seen it."

***

Sugarcoat's path was decided by the time she marched through the hallways of Crystal Prep towards the lunch room. As she pushed through the large double-doors, she immediately caught sight of her friends occupying the table on the far side of the room. The rest of the table was empty, as per usual. Cinch's hit out on them, combined with their general weirdness compared to the rest of school, had them sitting alone during lunch most days. Of course, they weren't the only ones. Sunset Shimmer had a table almost entirely to herself, and those who were sitting at the table were sitting as far from her as physically possible. Sitting with Cinch's grumpy lapdog was almost as bad as sitting with Cinch's sworn enemies.

Sugarcoat made her way through the cafeteria line, gathered up her food, and made her way towards her friends. She didn't sit, however, instead hovering behind Indigo for a moment.

"I need you to spot for me. I'm about to do something stupid."

Indigo looked back over her shoulder with a look of exasperation. "Oh boy, what is it this time?"

"Be ready to save my life." Sugarcoat marched away from her friends' table to the other empty table, moving across from Sunset Shimmer to plop down her tray and slide into the seat right in front of her. Sunset's eyes snapped up from her food to regard her in incredulous shock, but Sugarcoat didn't respond while she twisted the top off of her milk.

"Have you gone completely stupid?" Sunset Shimmer demanded.

"That's debatable."

"We hate each other."

"That's just not true."

"Oh really?"

"I don't hate you, and you don't know me." Sugarcoat poked her fork at Sunset pointedly before spearing a couple of green beans on the end of it and shoveling them into her mouth. She had swallowed in the stunned silence before continuing. "I've been looking into you since you started preying on us, and I've come across some interesting details."

"Am I supposed to be impressed by what a great spy you are?" Sunset sneered. "Stay out of my personal life, and you can stay away from my friends while you're at it."

"I think I have most of the relevant details I need to put together where you've been and what you've done. Growing up in Starlight Glimmer's Beacon Of Hope, going wild, being kicked out, and being taken in by Cinch in return for being her lackey." Sugarcoat ignored her. She shoveled up a forkful of corn to chew and swallow before continuing. "What I need from you is reasons, and a couple of time gaps filled in."

Sunset was visibly shaking by now, her face beet red. "And why would I tell you anything?"

"That's just it, you have no reason to. Except that I'm asking you to." Sugarcoat met Sunset's eyes for the first time since sitting down. Sunset was glaring death at her, but there was an awkward uncertainty hidden somewhere far underneath. "I always suspected Cinch was controlling you. Now I know she is. What I don't know is how complicit you've been in all the things that you've done. Did you hate it? Or did you like it?"

"You have gone completely stupid." Sunset Shimmer stood up.

"A friend of ours almost died when you took Sour Sweet's medicine, you know."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sunset Shimmer turned to march away from the table.

"I'll be under a tree on the north side of the park until six PM after school." Sugarcoat's parting words went ignored as Sunset Shimmer plopped down at another table, which was quickly vacated by most of the students, who all somehow finished their lunches at once.

With a sigh Sugarcoat lifted her tray and walked back to her friends to sit down beside Sunny Flare. Four pairs of eyes fixed on her in absolute shock as she began to dig into her lunch again.

Sour Sweet was the one who broke the silence. "What. The. F-"

***

Sugarcoat's pencil scribbled across the sheets of the open notebook in front of her, writing almost as fast as her brain could conjure the images. Images of foxes and rabbits going on adventures together, sharing sharp-witted quips and beating all odds. She was always honest about the things she did... aside from this particular passion of hers. There was no reason anybody needed to know, and even she had her limits. Making her life more difficult for no reason simply didn't sound appealing.

"Okay, so you got me curious enough to come." Sugarcoat blinked at the sound of a familiar voice and lifted her gaze from her notebook. At first she thought it was her friend, this world's Sunset Shimmer looked so much like her outside of her school uniform. Aside from the scowl on her lips, anyway. "Stand up."

"Excuse me?"

"Stand up." Sunset Shimmer made an upward gesture with her palm.

Sugarcoat stood up curiously, and soon felt herself being patted down by Sunset's rough hands. Sugarcoat raised her eyebrow as the hands ran up and down her torso and legs, as if searching for signs of a concealed weapon or wire. She even lifted her skirt and the bottom of her shirt. "I never knew you felt this way about me. At least buy me dinner first."

"Shut up." Sunset released her once she was satisfied that she was clean. "If you're not trying to get a recorded confession out of me, what exactly do you want?"

"Exactly what I said." Sugarcoat sat back down and patted the grass beside her. "Answers."

"You get three questions." Sunset Shimmer sat down stiffly with her back against the tree trunk, folding her legs in front of her and smoothing her school skirt down around her knees. "But afterwards you have to answer some of mine."

"It's only fair." Sugarcoat didn't take her eyes off of Sunset Shimmer. "What happened between the time Starlight Glimmer kicked you out of the orphanage to the time you ended up in Cinch's care?"

"No room for Genie-style perversions of your questions, is there?"

"I pride myself on being concise."

"And just so we're clear, nothing said here changes anything. I'm not giving up on my path for the sake of 'friendship' or whatever. I've got stuff I need to do."

"I said nothing of the sort. I just want to understand what turned you into this thing sitting beside me."

"You know, that kind of attitude won't make me more inclined to talk."

"I expect you to tell me the truth. I'm just giving you the same courtesy."

"Touche'." Sunset Shimmer leaned back against the tree, resting the back of her head against her cupped hands and letting one leg cross comfortably over the other. "So, what all have you managed to dig up on me anyway? How good are you at sleuthing?"

"I know Starlight Glimmer kicked you out of her orphanage, and you're staying with Cinch now."

"And you want the whole story, huh? I'm not much of a storyteller, and it's not very long anyway..."

"I lived in Starlight Glimmer's Beacon of Hope for almost as long as I could remember. Dad died when I was young, mom died when I was eight, so I ended up in an orphanage. I freaking hated it there. Everyone was nice to me, and Starlight Glimmer herself was always gentle when I was doing what she told me... but man, something about that place always rubbed me the wrong way. I was a little bookworm dreamer I guess. Always reading, always wondering, always looking forward to the things I knew I could do..."

"But it was like every time I started really getting into something, Miss Glimmer would try to pull me back... to hold me down. If I tried to get hold of anything she didn't approve of, she would take it and yell at me. I wanted to get out, I wanted to see everything, I wanted to learn and do great things, I knew I could do it, but she did everything she could to stop me. She yelled, she took my stuff, she grounded me, she hit me, but man, screw her! I was on a mission to make the most of my potential... and after a while, I guess pissing her off just became part of my mission."

"I even got into shoplifting. Not because I couldn't afford the stuff, but because I liked seeing the look on her face when I showed up with the cops. It was worth every punishment. Honestly I always thought her threats about putting me out on the street were hot air... guess the joke was on me. She actually dragged me out of the swimming pool on my eighteenth birthday, gave me an hour to gather up my things, and kicked me out onto the curb."

Sunset Shimmer shrugged carelessly and kicked her foot into the air, though Sugarcoat could see the tension in her face at the fairly recent memory. "No point in lying, I was freaking out of my mind. I had nowhere to go. I was sleeping on the street, begging for food, looking for a job nobody was offering, the whole shebang. For two whole weeks I kept that up, spending my nights in my sleeping bag in the alleys between buildings. I was cold, I was hungry, and... yeah, I was scared."

Sunset Shimmer was staring up at the fiery orange sky as she spoke. "I don't know why Dean Cadence noticed me in particular. I also don't know why Principal Cinch actually seemed to recognize me when Dean Cadence took me to meet her, but it was like she knew right away how smart I was. It was kind of freaky, but no way was I gonna turn down an offer to get off the street and get back on the road to a future that doesn't end in six diseases. Cinch lets me crash at her place, provides for me, and gives me a chance to get my education back on track. In exchange... well, I guess you know what she wants from me."

"Us." Sugarcoat nodded. "She wants you to torment us out of Crystal Prep, along with using your intelligence to boost Crystal Prep's reputation."

"What did you do to piss her off so much?"

"It's a long story. Suffice it to say we didn't uphold Crystal Prep's reputation as well as she would have liked."

"She really, really hates you."

"I suspected as much, ever since the Sour Sweet incident."

Sunset glanced down, then back up at the clouds. "I'm not apologizing, if you're trying to goad it out of me. I'm doing what I have to, here."

"You're not the one who needs to apologize. If anything I think things would have been worse if someone without a conscience had been the one to do it." Sugarcoat glanced over at her. "What are your plans after high school?"

"College. Somewhere far from here." Sunset nodded firmly. "I got the grades for a scholarship, just gotta ride out the rest of the year without ticking off Principal Cinch, and I can get the heck out of this whole situation."

"Yes, that's been our strategy so far as well." Sugarcoat nodded. "Bet it would make your job easier if we did transfer, though."

"Honestly, I don't care if you stay or not." Sunset shrugged. "That's Cinch's grudge. If you stay through the torture, hey, good for you, I guess."

"Would you still be saying that if Indigo Zap got her hands on you?"

Sunset Shimmer just smirked in response. "You know she's not around right now. I could totally take you."

"Yeah, yeah. Do you miss your friends at Starlight Glimmer's Beacon of Hope?"

"Friend. Singular." Sunset sighed. "And yeah, of course I do. Also that's four questions out of you. I get four, now."

"Technically you already asked one earlier."

"Psh, whatever. Why are you still at Crystal Prep? What the heck are you trying to prove?"

"That's two questions."

"Pick one."

Sugarcoat cackled. "One answer? We want to be able to say we graduated from there. On a personal note? I want to know that I didn't run away from this crap. Maybe it's stupid, maybe it's petty, but if I ran away from some underhanded school bully jerk, no matter what kind of dangerous crap she pulls, how could I put up with any kind of professional environment where things will probably be a lot worse? No offense."

Sunset shrugged. "Don't care. What's the deal with you and Night Glider? Are you just messing with her head to get to me or something?"

"That's two questions again."

"Just answer me! If you hurt her I will make this personal!"

Sugarcoat raised her hands defensively. "No, I'm not messing with her head just to get to you. I started talking to her for that reason, but she ended up being a cool girl. I think we could be very good friends, if Starlight Glimmer lets us keep talking."

"Well that would put you one step ahead of me." Sunset huffed. "She has to sneak out to see me."

"Yeah, I gathered that. Starlight Glimmer must hate you too."

"I never did march to her stupid beat." Sunset's teeth were grinding in barely contained rage. "I deserved more, I can be more! There's nothing I can't do if I just have a chance!"

"With your grades? You may be right..." Sugarcoat looked down at the grass thoughtfully. "You're a smart girl, Sunset. You didn't need someone trying to tell you not to be."

"Well... thank you." Sunset almost seemed taken aback by the agreement. "I've... never had anyone say that before."

"I call it as I see it." Sugarcoat was still staring at the grass with the wheels in her head turning."And I think I do see it. Thank you." Sugarcoat stood up from the grass and turned to leave.

"Uh... you're welcome?" Sunset stammered for a moment, then shook her head and jumped to her feet behind Sugarcoat. "You realize this doesn't change anything between us."

"Oh come on." Sugarcoat glanced back over her shoulder. "We were doing so good about being honest with each other, are you going to go and ruin that now?"

"What, you think I'm gonna throw away my livelihood and my future just to go easy on you now?"

"No." Sugarcoat met Sunset's gaze with confidence. "I didn't say you'd stop being a jerk to us. But that doesn't mean things aren't different, and you know it." Sunset just stared at her in silence, for once backing down with her mouth closed into a thin line. "See you around."

Satisfied, Sugarcoat turned to leave her writing tree with her notebook resting in the crook of her arm. Her mind was whirling even as she walked, and by the time she made it home, she knew what she was going to do...

***

Starlight Glimmer's Beacon Of Hope was quiet the following weekend, but looked more friendly than before as Sugarcoat climbed out of Indigo's car to approach the sidewalk. Perhaps being inside and chatting with the occupants had taken away some of the creepiness. Familiarity bred comfort, after all. Especially with Indigo Zap by her side, Sugarcoat wasn't nervous at all about coming to visit her new friends. Indigo had even been eager to come.

"Who can say no to an indoor swimming pool? Seriously." Indigo had exclaimed when asked to accompany her.

Night Glider opened the door to greet them with a wide smile and stepped aside. "Come on in! We've been waiting for you!"

"Thank you." Sugarcoat smiled as she and her friend stepped inside.

"I am so ready for a soak after the week we've had." Indigo Zap stretched with a loud groan and the popping of several joints. "Just point me to the pool!"

"Of course!" Night Glider giggled. "Come on, you can both change in my room."

"Ah, Sugarcoat!" Starlight Glimmer emerged from her office with a bright smile and open arms. "It's wonderful to see you back."

Sugarcoat nodded. "Thank you. It's nice to come spend some time with my new friends."

"And their pool," Indigo added hastily.

"I hope we'll be seeing a lot more of you both in the future." Starlight Glimmer was beaming. "If you wish to transfer here, I've already prepared the necessary paperwork."

Sugarcoat held up one hand. "That won't be necessary. I've already decided against it."

"Really?" Starlight's smile faltered. "I'm sorry to hear that. May I ask why? I can see how unhappy you are at Crystal Prep."

"Because I'm not sure things would actually improve here. You're a lot like Principal Cinch."

"Pardon me?" Starlight frowned. Night Glider and Indigo gave Sugarcoat stunned glares that almost pleaded for silence, but Sugarcoat wasn't one to not speak her mind.

"You're an extremist, just like her. You exist on the other side of the coin but at the end of the day you coddle those who share you view of the world and damn those who don't. And me? Well, Crystal Prep may not be perfect, but at least I won't be scolded for trying my hardest, there."

"Ahehehe..." Indigo gripped Sugarcoat's shoulders from behind tightly, hissing into her ear through clenched teeth. "Indoor pool, Sugarcoat!"

"If we lose access to it, then so be it."

Starlight shook her head with a sigh. "If this is about Sunset Shimmer, I assure you I did everything in my power to help her! She simply wouldn't allow me to, she couldn't get over her obsession with being the best. Principal Cinch would never have cared about her at all."

"No, she wouldn't, on a personal level. But from what Sunset says, you didn't really care about her either." Sugarcoat shrugged. "From what I heard, you cared about making her like you. You tried and tried to beat her into line because you thought it would be best for her, but that's not what she needed from you. You're right that people living in harmony keep the world peaceful, but it's people like her... like me... who change the world. Sunset Shimmer is brilliant, with her mind and her drive to accomplish, she could cure diseases, create new technologies, make the world a safer and better place... she just needed someone to guide her in the right direction, not repress her. Everyone is different, and you didn't like that. You failed her, Starlight Glimmer, not the other way around."

Night Glider was shaking in her plain slacks as her eyes whipped back and forth between Sugarcoat and her headmistress. Starlight Glimmer's face wavered between anger, surprise, and hurt. Sugarcoat's face was as calm as her voice, a statement of simple fact rather than an accusation. 

When the silence reigned for more than five minutes Sugarcoat continued. "I understand if you want us to leave and not come back." Indigo groaned as if stabbed in the gut.

Starlight's eyes were piercing by now, but not in an angry way. She glanced over at her terrified pupil, then met Sugarcoat's gaze once again. "You've made a friend in my student... and I'll let you see her as long as you respect the house and the beliefs of those within it."

"Of course." Sugarcoat casually adjusted her glasses. "I only answered because you asked."

Night Glider nearly fainted in relief as Starlight Glimmer straightened up. "I hope you enjoy your time here." Her motions were stiff as she turned to march back into her office. The door lock clicked behind her.

"Don't do that to me!" Indigo clutched her chest with one hand.

"Why did you say those things?" Night Glider asked. "Do you... really believe them? Sunset Shimmer is my friend but I've always seen her as... believed she was..."

"I believe everything I said." Sugarcoat turned towards Night Glider. "And it's up to you to decide what you believe. No matter what I say, and no matter what Starlight Glimmer says."

Night Glider gulped with a slow nod. "Y-yeah, I understand..."

"Well, since you barely avoided getting us kicked out, it's pool time!" Indigo leapt towards the back ahead of her two companions.

Night Glider giggled. "Be honest. Is she just using us for our pool or something?"

"You'll grow on her." Sugarcoat slipped a comfortable arm around Night Glider's shoulders and walked into the back with her. "The rest of us did, no matter how different we were."