Blue Sunny Days and Pink Lemonade

Chapters

...and one of those meet-ups is at a restaurant or something...
...and at that point, you start meeting regularly...
...so at one point you meet up for no reason at all...
...which means it's become a habit...
...and habits are hard to break...
...so you try to make sure she's comfortable...
...and she gets annoyed at how much you're hovering...
...but secretly she's smiling...
...then other people say you're dating...
...which of course you're not, you both agree...
...except you kind of are. But not, like, romantically.
It starts with a casual chat...
...then you're meeting up for 'practical' reasons...

...and one of those meet-ups is at a restaurant or something...

"Trust me, if my mom hates it, it's got to be awesome."

"Isn't your mother a renowned food critic?"

"Yeeeeah, she used to be, but she's gotten kinda set in her ways. Subtle tastes over substance. Artistic flatness over atmosphere... I think getting old has done things to her head and her tongue."

Sunny Flare flinched. "And now I'm picturing an old woman's tongue. Why do you do this to me?"

"Ah-ah-ah! I was not the least bit saucy!" Lemon poked her in the shoulder. "YOU, my blue friend, went there on your own."

"You've spent a good half of our meetings talking about sex and sexuality. Forgive me for associating the concept with your incessant repertoire of linguistic mangling."

Lemon laughed as she held the door open for the other girl. "Well, I do have a reputation to maintain."

"Yes, yes, you're Crystal Prep's resident gadfly." Sunny gave her a pointed glare. "You should at least vary up your material."

"But the societal taboo on discussing sex always provokes hilarious reactions!"

"Not if the listener is expecting it."

"Oh, so you're saying that since you expect--hold on." Lemon turned to the register. "I'll have the beef burrito with extra lettuce and what do you want, Sunny?"

"I think the chicken salad sounds good. Oh, but hold the dressing."

"Yeah okay, and a pair of waters to drink."

The brown girl behind the register absently pulled a lock of blond hair over her short, dark horns. "That'll be eighteen ninety seven."

"You got it, Strongheart." Lemon swiped her card into the register and plucking a number token off the counter. "We'll be in the corner. Anyway, where was I?"

"I believe you were about to attempt to refute my assertion that since I expect you to discuss sex, you discussing sex earns a non-funny dismissal from myself."

"Ah, yes." Lemon slid into the small booth, putting the token in front of her. "Be tee dubs your parents had sex."

"Oh don't I know it." A faint smile passed over Sunny Flare's face as she sat across from her research partner. "I remember walking in and finding them half naked on the coffee table--very awkward all around, but after the fifth time I stumbled on the two of them making love I sort of figured out how to roll with it."

Her eyes drifted out the window. "I miss them sometimes..."

Lemon blinked, her mouth opening and closing for a moment or two.

"Um. Wow. Okay, that... was a reaction... just not the one I was expecting..."

Sunny Flare turned to face her with a wry smirk. "What can I say. I'm chock full of surprises."

"Well... hmm. Now I don't actually know what to say." Lemon shrugged. "Congrats, you have successfully rendered me speechless."

"An accomplishment worthy of the history books, I have no doubt."

Another number dropped onto the table, a pair of sharp-nailed hands slamming down. "Nice try, but dressing in my colors isn't going to convince me to go easy on you."

Sunny Flare and Lemon Zest shared a confused look, before turning to look at the blue-haired girl leaning menacingly over them.

"...do we know you?" Sunny asked coldly.

"Do you--? Okay, look." The girl crossed her arms. "I don't want to cause a scene, but this is my table, and if you Canterlot High shepeyrri aren't going to clear out--"

"Actually, we're from Crystal Prep."

The girl blinked. "...what?"

"Crystal Prep," Lemon Zest repeated. "Not Canterlot High. No clue what your issue with them is. We're a rival school."

"...Oh." The girl's blue fingers rapped against her spiked bracelets. "Well... you're still at my table."

"The tables are unclaimed," Sunny Flare deadpanned.

"But this is the best table for people-scanning!"

"Kind of why we took it," Lemon acknowledged.

"...Tliirupeyvri mmriv bli roiish shieeiimm blr siichiiri..." The girl took a breath. "If you're not from Canterlot High, you won't mind if I sit here, right?"

Sunny glanced at Lemon, who shrugged, before turning back to the other girl. "I suppose we can endure your presence."

The girl slid in next to her. "Great! So, what's up with you two?"

"Well, at the moment, I'm wondering what your name even is," Lemon replied.

"Oh, right. I'm Sonata Dusk."

"Sonata... wait. Are you working with uncle Discord?"

Sonata blinked. "Wait... you're Discord's niece? I thought he only had two!"

"I'm his ex-wife's niece, technically, not his sister's daughters. He's talked about you--you're that fish girl that came from Equestria way back when, right?"

"One of three, yeah. And honestly we were more... tossed through then let in." Sonata shook her head. "I guess we're kind of responsible for all the magic happening in the first place--the portal wouldn't have been made if that weird unicorn hadn't opened the way first, and he wouldn't have tossed us through if we hadn't been feeding off of that pony town."

Sunny inched slightly away from her. "Feeding off a town... what, ah, what do you mean by that?"

"You know how magic is affected by emotions? How being angry gives it a dangerous vibe, being happy makes it brighter, that sort of thing? That's what we Sirens evolved to incorporate--the impact of emotions on magic, stored and enhanced tenfold." Her earfins drooped slightly as her fingers rubbed a small space on her sternum. "It's the only reason we survived in this world for so long..."

"I... see. So you fed off their emotions?"

"Heh. Fed. We absorbed them, used the power to truly consume... before Adagio came along, we would be lucky to land a sunfish, but with her leadership we became... more. We started taking down whales... great singers... and then that unicorn." She shook her head. "It was so much easier to sing on the other side of the portal. Here... the song was loud, and then it was quiet for so long, and now it is louder again, but with the old song supporting it, and it's still not..."

Sonata gestured vaguely. "There are... words, in Wavetongue. Words for what I'm saying, that Wranglish does not have. You're only just beginning to understand the concepts. The... feel, of magic. The flow. The waves..."

Sunny Flare cleared her throat. "As it just so happens, Lemon and I are working on a paper describing the sensations magic has when in use by a transformed individual. Maybe if you assist us, we could... expand our vocabulary to describe what you are saying."

Sonata looked at her. "What are you saying?"

"We're saying we want to learn wavetongue." Lemon shrugged. "Or at least enough to understand the concepts you're attempting to communicate so we can communicate it clearer."

"...Really?" Sonata tilted her head. "That's... wow. Discord usually just asks for assistance, not for knowledge."

"Have you ever offered knowledge?"

"No."

"There you go then."

"...huh." The girl tapped her fingers on the table. "You know what... sure. Why not."

Sunny cleared her throat. "So... we arrange a get-together every friday at five?"

"Oh, sure. But you'd better be super smart," Sonata added, "I'm not sure I know how to teach this sort of thing."

"Probably start us off with basic grammar and then we work from there," Lemon suggested. "And--oh! Hey there Strongheart! What's up?"

Strongheart rolled her eyes. "Here's your food. Burrito, salad, taco." She gave Sonata a wary look. "You're not going to do anything... off, are you?"

"Not like I can anymore."

"Well... good." Strongheart looked at her for another few moments, before walking briskly behind the counter.

"...what's her beef?" Lemon asked.

"Heh. Beef." Sonata shook her head. "She was one of the few that could resist... ah, well, days long gone."

She brought her fingers together and began to chant. "Shoo be doo, leyblu shuroo vhi leyku woo. Leyku shuplii mmriie blu."

Lemon and Sunny stared in shock.

"...what?" Sonata gave them a look. "You never see anybody thank their god for food in public?"

...and at that point, you start meeting regularly...

"You know, wavetongue seems to be pretty accurately named." Sunny Flare looked over her sheet, sipping her cappuccino. "There's an... ebb and flow to even the most basic sentences, and the words themselves seem to organize neatly into spelling formats by category."

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Lemon Zest tapped her pencil against the sheet. "Siiri, sirii, and siirii all sound alike, and their meanings are alike--travel, discover, explore. I wouldn't be surprised if siri meant something like 'find' or something."

"Actually, that would be 'serii,'" Sonata corrected. "'Siri' means define, or map--to set outlines, basically."

"You know, four weeks ago I wouldn't have heard the difference in that," Sunny Flare mused. "But that's not my point--I'm more amazed that this language has such patterns. If I looked at five adjacent words in a dictionary, I'd have five different meanings. But with this language, it's... it's almost radiating from a primal source, with more complex meanings being combinations or derivatives of simpler meanings closer to whatever the core is."

"Nn."

Lemon and Sunny looked at Sonata. The pink girl cleared her throat. "...Um, what?"

"Nn," she repeated. "It's not a defined word in wavetongue. It's a rare sound, actually, because it's so important to us as a concept. In fact, the only words I can think of with the sound are all derived from Renn--a defined song, a singer, a cohesive core, because--well, because nn is sacred, or thereabouts."

"Or therabouts?" Lemon tilted her head. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, for something to be sacred, everyone has to agree it's sacred," Sonata explained. "But Sirens wouldn't talk to each other--Adagio was an exception to the rule, before her we were solo predators, we'd eat each other if we were hungry... Heck, even mating was predatation--usually I had to bite into a male's neck before he slowed down enough for me to claim him." She smiled faintly. "Always a good meal after that, though..."

"Wait, you're a mother?"

The girl waved her hand dismissively. "I've laid eggs, if that's what you mean. Always found the best coral, but beyond that... for all I know, Aria's one of my daughters. Like I said, we weren't a social species. Figuring out what humans mean by family, that took us the better part of a hundred years."

Sunny paled for a moment, before her face wrenched up in confusion. "Wait. If you were solo predators, how did you even start talking? Language is communication, and communication is fostered by interaction, you couldn't... how do you have a language, if you couldn't even stand each other?"

"We weren't talking to other sirens. We were talking to magic." She looked at their nonplussed faces and sighed. "Alright. How do I explain... What's my name?"

Lemon frowned. "...You said it was Sonata Dusk, but that's wranglish, not wavetongue."

"That's correct. In wavetongue I'm Shupliipirei bo Tliirupiglipikiizh."

"Wait, I think..." Sunny looked at her notes. "I think... 'Wave Song of'... um... I heard gli in there, that means light, right?"

"Wave-song of Time-light-death, yes." Sonata sat down. "Now, this is important--I named myself. We all did, before we even said anything else--Sirens name themselves."

Sunny Flare looked to her notes, then back to Sonata. "That... seems impossible, honestly."

"When we hatch, we start eating each other," Sonata explained. "Well, and any fish that are unlucky enough to be around, but we go for each other first. It's... instinctive. There's meat, and there's emotion, and we sense both. No adult sirens, just newborns gobbling down on their brothers and sisters."

"You know, if I didn't read so much sci-fi I might be seriously disturbed." Lemon shifted in her seat. "But I can sort of see the logic--r-type breeding put through a high initial filter, plus the inevitable dangers of aquatic life, leads to rapid evolution and high breeding of those with the highest survival opportunity. Bringing this back around to wavetongue, though...?"

"I consumed all my siblings, finishing just as the sun was setting. My song was the only one in the waves, and marked by the time that light dies. And I knew this--I was less then a day old, and I knew this, I understood these concepts, and I took my name. Wave-song of Time-light-death. Shupliipirei bo Tliirupiglipikiizh. They were words, given to me by nn."

Sunny Flare managed to fight back the bile rising up. "And... what is nn, exactly?"

"It is... the echo, the core, the song behind the song. The will of magic, but... will isn't the right word, will implies direction, it's more instinctual. It's not the deep heart, it's not some god, it's... the pattern of existence."

"Forty two," Lemon quipped.

Sonata snorted. "No no no, it's not the why, it's.... The sun is a star, right?"

"Yeeeeees...?"

"Then why do you not call it that?"

"Because it looked different to primitive cultures," Sunny deadpanned, "and therefore was assigned a different name."

"Words, important to humans. Not the raw concept, but abstract labels thrown on after the fact." Sonata took a breath. "Wavetongue is closer to nn, much closer--our words are all nearer the core of their meaning--but even wavetongue isn't pure nn. I think you'd be good at feeling small nn, actually."

Sunny blinked. "Me?"

"Or your personal nn." She rapped Sunny's forhead gem with a finger, earning a flinch. "This lets you translate concepts through magic to reality, with no need for words--words help, they can guide and show what you can do, but they're also... limitations, impure."

"...You're talking about the concept of essential identity," Lemon mused. "The archetypes of existence."

"YES! That's the word! That's... as close as I think wranglish gets?" Sonata clapped her hands together. "You get what I mean, right? There's an imprint of everything in magic, and we hear the echo... or something... I'm sorry, I was always closer to nn then the others, and it makes it harder to communicate with words."

"And that's why you want us to learn wavetongue," Sunny realized. "Because it's... closer to magic. So you can communicate what you are trying to say about magic easier with it then with wranglish, since there's... the background pattern."

"I thought that was clear from the beginning," Sonata pouted.

"No, you said we didn't have words for the concepts," Lemon explained, slowly. "Not that our words were more distant from the concept."

"Isn't that the same thing, though? Words are constructed concepts, abstractions for interaction. You need them to communicate, if you can't directly translate your mind to another..."

"Agreed upon patterns for exchange of ideas, yes, that's what a language is." Sunny rapped her fingers against the table. "But if you don't have the words.... We're thinking of not having words and having imprecise words as separate concepts, but you see them as the same."

"Because they are the same!" Sonata exploded. "Words aren't the core, they're the reflection! When I say table, you think of a generic table, but if I say that table, you think of that table, unless I'm not indicating a table, in which case you're confused, and it's all so--"

"Easy. Easy there Sonata." Lemon put a hand on her shoulder. "Remember, we're discussing how magic feels for the individual, and we're learning wavetongue so you can communicate those concepts. Alright?"

With a deep breath, Sonata forced herself to calm down. "Words are so... frustrating. So useful, but useless when they don't go where you need them to. There are better ways to communicate, if you're closer to nn. Rawer ways, so some things can't be... made, but..."

She sighed. "Maybe we should go back to names. The way they bonded to the individual."

Sunny nodded. "Alright. Your... compatriots, the other two sirens?"

"My sisters. Adagio Dazzle and Aria Blaze. Maybe not by blood, but by bond." Sonata sighed. "We told each other our name stories. Aria Blaze... Reipirenn bo Hizheerrpigli, Song-sung of Burning-light. She was the one in her clutch with the most intimidating personality, she would lash out quick and kill in one bite before resting. In the end, what brothers and sisters had bowed before her, gave what she demanded to appease her. She was worshiped for fear of her strikes. Her song was sung, because her light burned others."

Lemon grinned. "Sounds like we found you a friend, Sunny." She leaned left, dodging the pen thrown at her.

"And Adagio Dazzle. Mmoopirei bo Shupliipigli, Slow-song of Wave-light." Sonata chuckled. "She was the furthest of us from nn, and so the least... primal. In her hatching frenzy, she would watch the others, and twist to let them attack each other... she went after the damaged and the weak, she manipulated the strongest into biting each other, she emerged unscarred. Her song was slower then others, but the way she lit the world was as subtle and powerful as the waves."

Her eyes fell to her hands. "If any siren could have started our species down civilization, it would have been her. Maybe her eggs have been fortunate enough to found something like it. Maybe not."

The room was silent.

"...You miss them," Lemon said.

"Of course I miss them. We survived together for a thousand years. I mean, Adagio had to constantly manipulate us to keep us together, because we were sirens--we were so used to being independent, even in the human bodies..." She frowned, rubbing at her collarbone. "But we weren't human, not entirely. Even then, with our heartstones... we forced ourselves to be us, as much as we could. Humans are social. We weren't... we didn't need to communicate any more then we did. We learned human song, because they were the singers, but until that thing with Sunset I wasn't a singer of your song."

She looked up. "I sang the song of siren. And there were two others in this whole world that could. Now, even if I remember the words, I can't sing properly--I can echo what others sing, but I can't sing my own song. And I don't know where the other two are..."

Lemon and Sunny shared a look.

"...maybe you should try to find them," Sunny Flare suggested. "Even if you were solo hunters before... you're mostly human now. You need friends, and... they're as close to family as you can get."

"I don't like them," Sonata grumbled.

"There's a difference between liking somebody and loving them," Lemon said quietly. "As in... caring for them."

"Or about them," Sunny murmured, almost to herself.

Lemon shot her an odd look.

She cleared her throat. "Our point is, you and these two had something special. Sisters by bond. Even if you fell apart, it... might be worth your effort to work to rebuild it."

"I... I don't know," Sonata murmured. "I was always fascinated by Adagio, even when I was trying to eat her... and Aria knew how to hunt... but we said such terrible things to each other, when we split..."

"...Family is the nn of humans," Lemon pointed out. "Well, social grouping for emotional support anyway. Like you said, humans are social and you're one of us now." She clicked her fingers together. "Aside from the accouterments."

Sonata grinned dryly. "I know so much more then the two of you combined. How come you're each smarter then me?"

"We've been developing our minds since childhood," Sunny replied. "And we've had to learn how to dig through knowledge and apply the right kind to the right situation."

"Also, Sunny and I are among the smartest humans of our age group. Kind of an unfair advantage."

"...If I go searching," Sonata warned, "you won't learn more wavetongue until I get back."

"What if we came with you?" Lemon asked.

Sunny blinked. "Wait what?"

"Oh come on. We're smart enough to finish our thing on the way--we can type it up on a laptop. And besides--"

"No."

Lemon blinked, turning to Sonata. "What?"

"You're thinking like a human. They'd be thinking like sirens. Solo hunters, taking what is around and bending it to their will. And..." She sighed. "And even though they can survive like this, they won't be... they'll be wary. Adagio would slip away if she heard a human was after her, and she will be listening. Aria would likely kill you--or at least cut you, corpses aren't useful these days. No, you shouldn't come with me."

"...we have the internet," Lemon suggested, hesitantly. "We could... look through articles from a distance."

Sonata tilted her head. "That... might work," she allowed. "But... not unless I ask."

"We wouldn't get hurt!"

"But you would be dead weight."

"You haven't seen crystal prep phys-ed," Sunny pointed out.

Sonata laughed. "I've killed people."

She looked at the two of them.

"Yeah. I've killed people. As a human. You thought those thousand years were all sunshine and rainbows?"

"Well, obviously not--"

"Oh, no no. Your little friendship games fiasco had injuries, one missing student, and no deaths. You can fight, but you can't hunt." Sonata stood up. "And you don't know what it's like to be hunted. Make no mistake, if you provoke them, Aria and Adagio will make sure you can't provoke any more. Maybe that'll mean ruining your social capital. Maybe it'll be stealing something irreplacable. Maybe it'll be sneaking in in the dead of night and slitting your throats. They're dangerous, and probably scared, and most likely pissed at me. I'll need to be at my best to find them, and that means I can't be looking after a couple of kids."

She paused, looking over their terrified faces.

"Or," she suggested brightly, "I could leave them to their fates, and this whole conversation could never have happened."

Lemon gulped. "Aheh..."

"Or," Sunny said firmly, "you could go looking for them, and ask us for very specific help. Like research. Stuff that can't be traced to us."

Sonata nodded. "That's also a possibility."

"Wow. This... got intense..." Lemon took a breath. "I mean... wow. You're actually... and I... wow."

"You thought I was just a ditz, didn't you."

"Not... no, I just... thought you were... casual."

"I'm primal. I follow my whims. And yes, that means I don't think that often." Sonata shrugged. "But when I do... well."

Sunny cleared her throat. "I think that's... enough for today. How about I take Lemon home and... you can contact us if we're meeting up next week."

And instantly Sonata was all smiles. "Sure thing! Ooo, homework: try to come up with your wavetongue name. Bye-bye now!"

The girl nodded. "Thank you for your time." She gathered up all her notes in her telekinetic grip, shunting them into her backpack as she walked over to Lemon and slowly led her out of the coffee shop.

"That just happened, Sunny."

"Yes it did, Lemon."

"I mean, I can get her being bad in the past, but..." Lemon glanced back through the window, where Sonata was cheerfully chewing down on a cookie. "For a moment there, she was... deadly."

"I saw, Lemon." Sunny paused. "...do you... want to drop it?"

After a moment, the pink girl shook her head. "No. No, this is helping our paper, and our paper will help the world. I'll just... tread carefully when it comes to the siren part of Sonata."

Sunny quirked a brow. "You're awfully accepting of her."

Lemon managed a smile. "Well, I'm friends with you, aren't I?" It was a weak smile, but it was there.

"Hmm. Perhaps." Sunny tapped her cheek. "Although, I don't envy you."

"Really?"

"Yes. My homework assignment is easy. But you...?"

Lemon Zest blinked for a moment or two. Then she let out a groan.

"Yes, the likelyhood that wavetongue has a word for lemon is rather low."

"And Sonata's still a better teacher then my fifth-grade neighponese professor," Lemon groused.

...so at one point you meet up for no reason at all...

"...Oh." Lemon looked around. "Right. Sonata's looking for her sisters."

"Mmmhmm."

"...well crud. I was hoping to ask if wavetongue had a word for fruit."

"Doubt it. Kelp and all that. Your best bet is yellow-sour-land-plant-egg of lively-taste or something on those lines."

"I'll check the notes and see if I can make something like that."

Sunny sipped her coffee. "Why are you still worried about that? We've already finished our paper."

"I don't know, why are we even here if we're not going to be working on wavetongue?"

"Do you have anything better to do?"

Lemon shrugged. "I mean, I could go visit my cousin, but the sanatorium doesn't like it when I drop in without warning."

Sunny quirked an eyebrow. "Principal Cinch is a mother?"

"And a grandmother, technically. Dean Cadence is..." Lemon trailed off for a moment. "...Let's just say her situation is complex."

"It's very unusual for you to show restraint," Sunny mused. "You generally only do that if you feel serious mental imbalance is involved. I suppose I can understand in this instance--Dean Cadence is quirky, but not imbalanced in any significant way."

“Yeah.”

The two of them sat quietly at the table, not really looking at anything for a moment or two.

“...You know what bugs me?” Lemon finally managed.

“Any semblance of order?”

“Why do pirates bury their treasure?”

Sunny Flare blinked. “I’m... sorry?”

“I mean, you go out, raid a merchant ship, get this great haul, and then... instead of spending it off in some way, you just stick it in a beach somewhere. What’s up with that?” Lemon asked. “What’s the point?”

“Money laundering.”

Lemon blinked. “Wait, what?”

“A boat comes in and says ‘Captain Knotbeard stole treasure from us! Look, here’s what’s missing from our manifest!’ Then two days later, a man with a tangled goatee comes in with exactly the stuff that was lost. Instant noose.” Sunny sipped her coffee again. “By hiding the wealth for a bit, say two to three months, our pirate captain lets his crime fade from the public memory while still preserving the wealth. Or so the theory goes, anyway.”

“Oh. Huh. That makes a lot of sense, actually.”

“You do realize real pirates mostly stole things like food and sailcloth and other practical materials, right? The whole treasure-burying thing is made up whole cloth.”

Lemon Zest gave her a flat look. “Yes, I know that. I’m not stupid. I’m asking why a theoretical pirate with treasure would bury his chest of gold, not suggesting that the pirate in question is anything more then theoretical.”

“Why are we even talking about this?” Sunny asked. “It’s... what is the point?”

“The point is just two friends talking about stuff, you know.” Lemon shrugged. "Not every meeting has to have some large dramatic impact. We can just chat about nothing in particular."

"Like the weather."

"Yeah, that's a conversation starter."

"I've never really liked weather conversations. It feels like..." Sunny Flare gestured vaguely. "Like, I don't know... it's sort of vapid. Why talk about something that's not really that important."

"Hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes--"

"Okay, that is reducto ad absurdium and, as a matter of fact, not really weather in the sense of casual talking about weather. They're weather events, tragedies--it's not like you'd just open up a conversation with 'so how bout that twister we had last week, eh?'"

Lemon Zest smirked. "I'm pretty sure they do in the south."

"Oh, there's a stereotype. Next you'll be saying that the apple girl drives a truck."

"No, she does, she actually does." The pink girl leaned forward. "I honestly think she's trying to act as stereotypical as possible because she feels it connects her to her parents."

"She can't just talk to them?"

"They're dead."

Sunny Flare took a slow breath. "I... see."

"Nah, it's cool. I think it is. It's not like it happened recently, it's one of those things that she's incorperated into her worldview." Lemon shrugged. "Like my brother. I miss him sometimes, but--"

She noticed the way the other girl was gripping her cup.

"Oh. Right. Your parents are dead too, aren't they..."

"Yes." Sunny Flare gave her a flat look. "And if you know what's good for you, you will drop the subject right now."

"Ooookay, no-tread-zone." Lemon fiddled with her hair awkwardly. "So, um... if you ever need to talk to somebody--"

"I have a therapist, thank you."

"If you ever need to talk to somebody as a friend--"

Sunny Flare leveled a tight expression on Lemon Zest.

"...I'll... trust you to find somebody to talk to."

"Good."

Lemon Zest let out a slow breath. "Um. Just... I know you want me to drop this, and I will, but... you know, you kind of seemed okay to talk about them before--with the, uh, walking in on them memories."

Sunny Flare sighed. "Lemon, look, I... There's a time and a place for that. And while I'll admit you aren't necessarily the worst person to be pouring my heart out to, you certainly aren't the best, and frankly I don't want to be unloading my issues at the moment. I just want to..."

She trailed off.

"...just hang out?" Lemon suggested.

"Yes. That."

"Mmm." Lemon nodded. "You know, it's been a while since the Shadowbolts hung out. I mean, as a group."

"Yes, well, after the friendship games--"

"No, I mean I get that. I do. But... I don't know. Maybe there's something we can do, some big gettogether we can have."

"You mean like a convention?"

"No no no," Lemon held her hands out, "conventions are all... themed, and for everyone? I mean something more like a party. Yeah, a party, for the bolts. I don't know."

"Summer vacation's starting soon," Sunny Flare pointed out. "Maybe... maybe we could do something then."

"Probably not right off the bat, I... I kind of want to help Auntie Abby finish with her packing." She sighed. "I mean, you know, she's not the best, but she is..."

"She's family." Sunny Flare nodded. "I understand. I certainly put up with a lot from my own aunt."

"Yeah?"

"Crescent is..." Sunny sighed. "Auntie Crescent is basically every 'Girls Gone Wild' story rolled into one very loving fool."

"You're kidding. You've got to be kidding."

"One time I came home to find my bed broken. She told me she'd filmed porn on it."

"Oh my fucking god, are you serious?!" Lemon tried, and failed, to keep a grin off her face. "That's horrible!"

"Mmm. Granted, she did buy me a new bed. And sheets. And used the money she made from the porn vid to pay for a computer upgrade I wanted. Apparently that was the whole reason she decided to do the video--she didn't just want to use her inheritance to buy it, she wanted to earn the money to show she loved me."

"That... is... actually very sweet, in a very twisted way."

"Yeah, there are worse people to have as your legal guardian." Sunny Flare rolled her eyes. "Let me tell you about the time I found her naked in the park with five other people..."

...which means it's become a habit...

"So... hey. Question."

"What is it, Lemon?"

"Like... seriously, I know I asked before, but it's sort of seriously bugging me." Lemon gestured at Sunny's arms. "See, cause, earth aspect thing, I can sort of hear technology--"

Sunny rolled her eyes. "Yes, we've established this."

"No no, really, look. The thing is, with those things... I get nothing. I mean they're clearly tech, but..." Lemon shrugged. "Somebody wears headphones, and I can't feel the phones unless I'm, like, a foot away. Even then it's small, because it's sort of a part of them. But I can feel something. An echo, okay? Same with smartphones and other personal gadgets."

Sunny Flare frowned. "Where are you going with this?"

"There's this one girl. Vinyl Scratch. Think she's a transhumanist. She's got quite a bit of herself upgraded... don't know all the details, but her dad's apparently a big robotics name or something. Anyway, like I said, not full on cyborg, but she's done stuff to herself. Throat for the singing, L.E.D. network on her boobs--"

"What?"

"Yeah, she can literally flash her tits." Lemon smirked. "Think her girlfriend likes it."

Sunny Flare blinked in surprise. "Wow. Some people. I mean, I can understand the urge to modify your image, to a degree, but... altering your body so fundamentally?"

"Hey, she chose that life."

"...yes, well." Sunny rubbed her wrists. "Not everybody gets to choose. Still, I suppose I can't begrudge her decisions. She's not forcing them on anyone, is she?"

Lemon Zest shook her head. "Like I said, she makes her choices by herself. Kinda interacted with magic in a weird way, though."

"Really now? How so?"

"Well, you see, like I said--I get tech, and tech gets me. Earth pony aspect. I also get music, and music gets me. And this is a teched up girl with a thing for remixing." The pink girl smirked. "First time we met, she went high as a kite. Lucky thing her galpal and godhorse were there to clear things up. I mean I could dig it, but I'd like some forewarning."

"...What?" Sunny Flare frowned. "Are you saying she.... what, flirted with you?"

"Well, in the same way a cat flirts with catnip, sure." Lemon sniffed her hair. "Hey, seriously though, what's with the idea that people like talking about how people's hair smells?"

"I... would assume it had something to do with intimacy," Sunny replied hesitantly. "The closeness of... olfactory sensors to the scalp during... intimate engagements with, ah... you know..."

"Sweat?"

"...yes. Let's say sweat. Sweat is a good term."

"Riiiight." Lemon shook her head. "Anyway, so while she was close to me, I couldn't feel her tech. It was a part of her, in a way that phones and headphones just aren't when they're being used. Didn't realize she had tech until after her galpal cleared that up."

"Well, if it's subdermal that would make sense."

"Yes, it would." Lemon crossed her arms. "Thought it was like that for a while myself, but..."

She frowned.

"...so I visited my cousin the other day."

"Ah, the one in the sanitorium? She was doing well, I take it?"

"Well enough. She's... gotten a bit of unique magic, so Sunset had to come in and talk with her, but... she's good." Lemon cleared her throat. "Anyway, not going to talk about that, that's personal, you see."

"Of course."

"Thing is, sanitorium is near a hospital, right? For practical purposes."

Sunny Flare sipped her coffee, quirking an eyebrow.

"And since I was sort of there with the godhorse, some people said 'oh can you bring healing,' and Sunset was sort of forced to give a whole sermon on the spot--I called her pals and stuck around until she could get out, but I got sight of a lot of people there." Lemon tapped her arm. "Not just the faithful or the desperate. People who would come to see what was happening and then walk away, or people like, just, passing through. And this was at a hospital."

"So you said."

"So... I saw a few people with prosthetic limbs."

Sunny Flare, very slowly, lowered her coffee cup.

"And, you know, they felt like Vinyl. Like, I could see the tech, but to my magic the tech was part of them--"

"I think," Sunny Flare said firmly, "you should stop talking right now."

Lemon Zest took a deep breath. "...I'm not going to ask how. Okay? I want to, but I know that you... that whatever it was had to be seriously traumatic. But... the thing is, I'm your friend, right? Which means, you know, even if my mind knows you have it all under control and you can handle it, part of me is going to worry."

"Part of you is always going to worry." Sunny Flare looked out the window. "That's the thing, there's always going to be part of you that wonders where those you knew ended up, if they're okay. You let that overwhelm you, you can...you can go mad. You can..."

She trailed off.

"...Sunny--"

"Sonata."

Lemon blinked. "What?"

"What do you think Sonata is up to now?"

"I... uh..." Lemon shrugged helplessly. "Still looking for her sisters?"

"Do you think she's found them?"

"Maybe one. Or both. I don't know, but what can I do about it?"

"Absolutely nothing."

Lemon blinked as Sunny Flare stood up. "That's kind of cold, don't you think--?"

"You can do nothing for Sonata," Sunny Flare declared, "and you can do nothing for me. Not in this. So just drop it and move on. We will all be much, much more comfortable that way."

Lemon shook her head, standing up herself. "Look, I can't just ignore this, alright? I can't just not care. I can keep quiet, sure, but that's not the same as--"

The blue girl narrowed her eyes. "If you keep pressing on this, I cannot guarantee my civility will be maintained."

"I just want to know that you're alright, Sunny!" Lemon insisted. "Just tell me you're alright!"

"I have not been alright for FIVE FUCKING YEARS!"

Every eye in the coffee shop turned toward them.

"...Sunny, look--"

"Shut up. I'm out."

"Sunny, wait--!"

The blue-skinned girl spun around, spiking her cup into the trashcan and storming out the door.

Lemon stared after her for a moment.

Then she turned to the crowd. "...Look, I... it..."

After a moment, her shoulders sagged. "Sorry to cause so much trouble. Just... go back to your drinks, I guess. I'll... figure this out."

Her fists clenched. "I will figure this out."

...and habits are hard to break...

Lemon Zest sat in the coffee shop, hand fidgeting around the warm paper cup on the table. Her eyes drifted over the various other patrons, observing them as they chatted, as they looked over their smartphones, as they simply wandered in for a snack before heading out.

For a moment, she looked toward the door.

Then, slowly, she let out a sigh, turning back to her still untouched coffee.

"Lemon. Lemon. It's a fruit, so egg of plant... yellow, I think. Sour yellow egg of plant. Yeah, that could work..." She tapped her pencil against the table. "That's progress. Sure."

She heard the front door swing open and looked up. For a moment--a brief, wonderful, terrible moment--she thought she saw Sunny Flare walking toward her.

Then she remembered that Sunny didn't have blue hair in a ponytail, and that the finned ears belonged to another aspect anyway.

"Oh, hey Sonata! You're... back. Did you find your sisters?"

"Mmmyep. We talked, we fought, we fucked, we fought again, then we talked for real, and we're back together." The siren grinned as she sat down. "Discord's even starting up some sort of talk news show for us, so we can earn money like real people!"

"...Sorry, did you just say you... uh..." Lemon motioned with a hand and a finger.

"Well, like you said, we're social mammals now. We should enjoy the perks that come with that."

"Um... I mean, sure, but... you call each other sisters."

Sonata rolled her eyes. "You do know that whole incest taboo thing didn't really take off until four or five centuries ago, right? Plus we're all girls, so it's not like we can get each other preggers."

"Uh... huh." Lemon Zest shook her head. "Right. Well. So... how are they doing?"

"Oh, Aria got a few new battlescars and is going to court to overturn the prison system for being too forgiving. Adagio's sort of grumpy and all, she got married twice and divorced three times while we were apart."

"Married twice and divorced three times."

"One of those was posthumous."

Lemon looked at Sonata's innocent smile for a moment or two.

"...You're making all this up to fuck with me."

Sonata gave her a sly smirk. "Would I tell you if I ~waaa~aaaas~?"

"I'll just ask uncle Dissy to give me the truth later."

"Oh, sure, if you want to take the fun out of it. I thought Sunny was supposed to be the boring one." Sonata looked around. "Oh, by the way, where is she?"

Lemon's face fell. "Probably back at her apartment."

"Really, she left already?"

"...more like she never came. I, uh..." Lemon bit her lip. "I might have pressed a button I shouldn't have pressed."

Sonata gave a low whistle. "I mean, I knew you had that casual antagonism thing going, but I didn't think you'd break off your friendship over it. Not after that whole 'family is who you care about' thing you gave me."

"Look, I screwed the pooch. And the pooch's mother. Hell, just call me a fucking furry because I've got a whole clan of half-human mongrels on the way."

"Oooo! Can I have one as a pet?"

"It's a metaphor, Sonata."

"Even better! I suck at keeping real pets alive."

"What even is a furry these days anyway?" Lemon grumbled. "I mean we're all part horse now. Or, uh, other."

"Don't worry, there are still plenty of furry fandom people out there. Oh hey, did I ever tell you about the time Aria ripped a new one into some fursuiter?"

"...What?"

"Yeah, the guy was dressed as a dolphin cause 'dolphins are friendly' and, I don't know if I ever told you this, but back in Equestria Aria used to hate dolphins. Like seriously, I mean, fuck them anyway they had their own song and they would always just steal our fish and all but Aria took it to a whole 'nother level. I think something happened between her and one of those shupliipegli sheperenn... I don't know, it was before she met us, she never talks about it. So anyway, this idiot says dolphins are innocent creatures who believe in love and peace and that just sets Aria off and... long story short, we were banned from furry conventions for two decades. Well, the bigger ones, anyway." Sonata chuckled. "I paid for the reconstructive surgery, cause you know, he was actually a pretty funny guy."

Lemon stared at her, mouth agape.

"So anyway, we were talking about what happened with you and Sunny?"

"Uh... yeah. We... right." Lemon Zest took a breath. "Right, so... I kind of, in a roundabout way, sort of built up to confronting her about... something. Something I was worried about. And apparently, I hit a trigger and... I don't know..."

"Trigger?"

"Like a trauma trigger. Not like one of those cheapo internet 'I don't like this' things but an actual trigger."

"Oh, did you ask her about her hands?"

The pink girl blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, they're well crafted, don't get me wrong," Sonata assured her. "Like, the only reason I spotted they weren't her original? I'm super old, and super good at spotting fake stuff, and I studied how hands worked like a lot after we came through the mirror. Freaky crab-fins, you know?"

"...okay, I guess I can get that." Lemon shook her head. "Yeah, I... didn't ask about her hands, directly. I asked about her wrist-dealies, which... if she really does have prosthetic hands, now they make a lot more sense."

"You can tell a lot about a girl by her wrist-dealies." Sonata fiddled with her own bracelets. "I had these forged back in the twelfth century, and I've been keeping them maintained ever since."

"I... wait, you had those... forged?"

"Mmmhmm. Purple aluminium with sapphire spikes." She shrugged. "Expensive, but we were harmony-damned queens at the point, and I needed a way to lethally backhand any suitors that weren't to my taste."

Lemon Zest rubbed her eyebrows. "See, you say things like that and I know you're this ancient predator and all, but part of me is wondering how much of this you're making up to unbalance me."

"My point is, my wrist-dealies are pretty and dangerous, like me. Sunny's wrist-dealies are technological and very complicated and can do a lot of things and hide a pretty deep and painful secret." She paused. "Also, I think they require like a lot of maintenance? They're not like the smartphone things everyone has these days."

"...That's very nice and metaphorical," Lemon allowed, "but I'm sort of at the point where I'm more asking 'what can I do to make things right?'"

"Well, what exactly is wrong in the first place?"

"...I don't know. I mean, I know I pressured her, but I don't know what trigger I hit, and I don't know... I don't know if it's something I can fix. More like... I want our friendship back."

"So... go be her friend."

"What?"

"Like, okay, I know it's super cheesy and you hear it a lot, but you would not believe how many times I saw people split apart and then get back together because somebody said 'I'm sorry, let's try again.' And I think that's... sort of like inevitable in a way?"

"The hedgehog problem."

Sonata blinked. "The..."

"Hedgehogs have spines, so if they cuddle together for warmth, they'll poke each other."

"But we're talking about humans--oh my gosh! Is that why that video game hedgehog is blue?"

Lemon blinked. "What?"

"Cause, you know, he got so cold his spines got frostbite! Maybe because he's running so fast all the time!"

Lemon Zest opened her mouth, paused, and stood up. "You know what, you've got a point. I should go be Sunny's friend. And that means apologizing." She took a long swig of her coffee. "But I'm going to do it in my own zany way."

"...What does this have to do with hedgehogs?"

"Absolutely nothing, but hedgehogs are fucking awesome. Thanks for the chat, Sonata, it was disturbing but surprisingly helpful."

Sonata beamed. "I try to be consistent."

...so you try to make sure she's comfortable...

Sunny Flare's glare made Lemon Zest swelter almost as much as if she had been caught in her friend's namesake. Maybe even a little bit more.

"...apology assortment?" she offered, holding out the cardboard tray.

The glare did not cease its relentless assault.

"I mean, I was going to go for pizza," Lemon explained, "but I thought that was cheap, and then I thought you might like donuts or something so I went down to the bakery and it turns out Pinkie works there and, uh, you know Pinkie, she thought you might like custom cupcakes and I went along with it but then I remembered that you're kind of a perfectionist and I didn't know if that meant you were a health nut so I got the veggie tray but then I thought you might be annoyed at being stereotyped so I decided to get the pizza too and then I realized I had the pizza and the veggies and the cupcakes so I kind of spent a good ten minutes arranging them all into one big thing and I realize the pizza's gone cold but you have a microwave right cause I can just jam it in for a minute or two--"

"You're not going to go away until I say something, are you."

"...Or until you slam the door in my face. Could you tell me if you're going to? I don't want all this food to go flying."

Sunny Flare let out a long, aggravated sigh, stepping aside. "Put it on the coffee table."

Lemon carefully walked in, setting down the assemblage and pulling her arms out from under it. "So, yeah, look. I don't know what trigger I hit, cause... I'm not that sort of genius. But I clearly hit some sort of trigger and... I like to think we're friends now, after everything. And... I'd like to think that we can stay friends. So... whatever I did wrong, first of all I'm sorry and second of all, I still don't know what's going on and I'm asking if you can tell me."

"Just laying it all on the table, huh?"

"It's a lot of food--"

"I meant your intentions," Sunny clarified, deadpan.

"Well... we could do the stupid sitcom thing where we dance around what we want and unintentionally make things even worse and awkward until fate itself forces us together in a situation where we have to admit our problems to each other before dramatically saving the world." Lemon shrugged. "Or we could be mature adults and recognize that our emotions, while intense and valid, should be address and worked through with care and effort."

"...you do realize in a world of magic, the first option is actually viable."

"Yeah, but it would probably mean missing classes or something, and you'd have a nerd-freakout if that happened."

Sunny rolled her eyes, sitting down on the couch. "Right. Give... me a moment to think about how I want to start this."

"I'd like to start with the 'I haven't been okay for five fucking years' thing--"

"I," Sunny said firmly, "would very much not."

Lemon opened her mouth, paused, and sat down next to her. "Okay, sure. Your apartment, your rules."

"...It's not that I haven't addressed the issues," Sunny finally managed. "I have. Repeatedly. I've gone to therapists, I've mostly moved on, but... something that big, it doesn't just leave. You have to live with it. The scars..."

She trailed off.

Lemon nodded. "Yeah. Thought it was... something like that."

"...It comes and goes, the... pain. Not just the physical, that's... mostly twinges, these days, but..." Sunny bit her lip. "...do you even know what happened? Did you ask Cinch?"

"No. Besides, Auntie Abby doesn't have access to your records anymore--"

"But she would still remember."

"Still. Wouldn't have been right of me, I don't think. I mean it's a bit of a gray area, because obviously I care, but this is also something personal and they're called personal issues for a reason so..."

Sunny chuckled dryly. "Never know where that line is, huh?"

"Not until you find it."

For a moment, the two were silent.

"...Five years ago. Mom and Dad were driving me home from a party. They were both drunk--not too drunk, I don't think, from a legal perspective." Sunny's eyes lingered on her hands. "You have to understand, they were loving parents but not exactly... responsible. They weren't neglectful or abusive, just.... they liked parties, they liked to live. Rich and stupid. Not evil, not arrogant, but... they were drunk, and they were driving home, and they went a little too fast at one intersection."

She took a breath. "So I hear this screech and a crunch. Not like in the movies with one large crumple and a thousand little shatterings, no, this is... a multilayered crunch, there's something meaty about it, and something like paper and I see--something, it's all mushy and rushing at me and I hold up my hands to protect myself and they... get... caught. Between two panels of metal.. I'm still not sure which."

Quietly, she grabbed one of her wrists and twisted. The entire metal bracer came off... the hand still attached.

"...They're pretty high quality," Sunny admitted. "Can't tell they're fake unless you know what to look for."

"Both of them?" Lemon asked quietly.

"Yep. The bracers are battery packs... mostly, I've done my own tweaking, but yeah. I can go a full two weeks without needing to recharge these."

"...neat."

Sunny nodded, sliding her hand back on.

"I mean the technology," Lemon clarified. "Not that you need it. Because that was pretty horrible and--"

"No, I got it." Sunny Flare shrugged. "So... when that happened, I blacked out. I woke up three days later, got told that my hands were missing, and my parents were both dead. All because they were a little too liberal with the spirits they drank."

"...wow. Five years, huh?"

"...Little over, honestly. It was... April 17th."

Lemon Zest blinked. "April 17th."

"Yeah."

"...That... uh..." Lemon swallowed. "Were you riding in a black car?"

"...yes...?"

"And you crashed into a green pickup."

"...how did you--?"

"On the corner of Handler and Broadstroke?"

Sunny Flare crossed her arms. "I thought you didn't go looking into this."

Lemon stared at her for a few seconds.

"...Of course! The hair. You had longer hair then!"

Sunny blinked. "Uh... I... did. What?"

"I--um." Lemon swallowed. "Wow, this is freaky, but... I was in the truck."

"...what?"

"I was in the truck," she repeated. "Me, my brother, and my mom. This black car came zooming out of nowhere and..." Lemon swallowed. "Well, you know. My brother didn't make it."

"You're shitting me."

"No, no, I'm serious! Mom of course... well, she did call 911, made sure I was okay, and..." Lemon swallowed. "I was the one who actually pulled you out. It's no wonder I didn't recognize you, you had longer hair and your face was covered in--"

She cut herself off.

"...covered in my father's brain matter."

"...yeah."

"So... what, you never checked up on me?"

Lemon held up her hands. "Look, my mom had just lost her son and she thought, and I know this is horrible, but she thought anybody associated with the drunk who had taken him had to be a bad influence. I tried to figure out how to find you, but I didn't know what you looked like, I didn't know your name, I was... super freaking out about my twin brother being dead and there were dead guys and I was a kid, okay? Nobody should have to go through that. Not what you went through... or what I went through."

Sunny shook her head. "I'm sorry. I just... suddenly you were always there. And I didn't know that before today. That's... that's one freaky coincidence."

"No arguments here."

They stared at the food on the table for a few minutes in silent contemplation.

"So..." Lemon swallowed. "Given... what we know now... what do we do?"

"...I think that I overreacted and that I should apologize for making a scene. Even if you were pressing hard, you... had good reason. Just..." Sunny Flare took a breath. "Learn to be a bit more subtle."

Lemon Zest gave her a look. "Me. Subtle."

"You're not Pinkie Pie."

"Enh, fair point." Lemon nodded. "Fine. I'll try to be gentler."

"Okay."

"...so there's food here," Lemon pointed out. "And we just shared some very traumatic personal tragedy. So..."

"We are not going to fall into each other's arms weeping dramatically."

"Nah, that would be stupid. Just thinking, you have any video games?"

...and she gets annoyed at how much you're hovering...

"...Lemon."

"Yeah?"

"You're doing that thing again."

"What thing?"

Sunny folded her hands. "That thing. Where you click your fingernails together when you're trying to think of a way to say something that you know isn't going to come across well in any event."

Lemon Zest looked at her hand. "...That's a thing?"

"Yes."

"That's a thing you noticed?"

"It's a very distinctive clicking pattern, Lemon." The blue-skinned girl quirked an eyebrow. "Frankly, it's more irritating than your usual method of just blurting things out."

"I thought you hated me just blurting things out."

"I would say it's more annoyance than actual hate. But with your fingers, I'm constantly anticipating something world-shaking."

Lemon smirked. "Oh really?"

"Yes."

"My fingers arouse your attention, you say."

Sunny Flare gave her a flat look. "Do not get in an innuendo duel with me, young lady. Not only is it rude, you are thoroughly outclassed."

Lemon quirked a brow. "Really."

"Yes."

"Yeah, I can't buy that. You're too straight-laced."

"The straightest of laces are on the tightest of corsets. Or so the saying goes."

Lemon Zest crossed her arms. "Yeah, never heard that one before."

"I'm sure there are many things that your innocent ears have never heard."

"I wouldn't call my ears innocent. I have a broad and coarse vocabulary."

Sunny Flare sipped her coffee, quirking a brow. "If words are the only sounds you consider depraved, then your ears are truly innocent indeed."

"Oh, haha." Lemon put her hands on the table. "Cute, Flarebear, really cute. You think I don't know what sex sounds like?"

"Yes."

"...well I do."

"Only that which you've heard through actors."

Lemon blinked. "Wait, are you saying I never get any?"

"The fact you need to ask clearly shows the answer." Sunny Flare put her coffee down. "In all honesty, the reason I have not reduced you to a flustering mess is because you are my friend. If it were anyone else trying to get under my skin so very blatantly, I would already have them writhing on the floor and begging me to still my tongue."

The conversation fell dead for a moment or two, as the pink girl stared at the blue.

"...Okay, wow. Wow, that is... wow." Lemon slowly sat down. "Yeah, okay. You win. You have the more perverse mind. I concede defeat."

"It's a family trait," Sunny Flare replied with a small smirk. "Now then, back to the original issue... what are you trying to dance around and not say?"

"Oh, you know, just... stuff."

"Stuff."

"About... things." Lemon wrung her wrists.

"Is this about my hands?"

"...y'sm'm."

"You were going to ask about what cool upgrades I put in my hands."

"Yes, yes, let's go with that, that's totally what I was going to ask."

Sunny cocked an eyebrow at Lemon's broad grin.

"...alright." Lemon sighed, sitting down. "I just, um."

"Just....?"

"...I just, you know... it's foggy out today."

"Yes."

"And fog is made of water vapor, and..."

"And you wanted to know if that affected the use of my cybernetic hands adversely," Sunny finished.

"But, you know, not in like, a pestering sort of way," Lemon clarified. "Like, you probably get that a lot, I know, so I was just going to, uh... is there a problem? With them, in different weather?"

"Not usually. The delicate parts are pretty well protected by the outer mesh. Rain, snow, heat, cold, day or night, they're usually good." Sunny paused. "But I do supplement their batteries with miniature solar panels, and they kind of... wriggle if things get windy."

"Wriggle?"

"They're attached to my wrists pretty firmly, but there has to be some give for them to turn. They haven't ever popped off, mind, but sometimes I can't use them properly until I'm inside."

"Ooooooh. Is that why you always want people to open doors for you on windy days? Cause I thought it was just your hands going stiff from the cold."

"Well, you know, it's an excuse that people will believe that doesn't have them asking annoying questions like 'are your hands okay, did the weather do something to them,' stuff like that."

"Yeah, it must be so completely terrible to have actual friends that care about your issues and want to make sure you're doing alright."

Sunny leveled a flat look on Lemon, who crossed her arms and returned the look just as sternly.

"...I need some accommodations," she pointed out. "I get that. But that doesn't mean I'm an invalid."

"I'm not saying you are. Hell, you're intelligent by effort, which is a lot more impressive than 'genius by instinct'. But..." Lemon sighed. "Look, I just want to know when I should help, alright? So I'm going to ask questions, but I don't want to be a pest about it."

"Really. Not a pest. You."

"I prefer to be annoying in an amusing way. Like singing a song that you secretly like but don't want anyone to know you like so you have to say 'stop it' every once in a while to keep up the illusion. Or debating ridiculous things like the proper... styling of hair..."

She paused.

"...So, um. You had your hair long, before... you know. Have you... ever considered growing it out again?"

Sunny sighed. "No. Too many memories, mom braiding my hair, dad.... getting me stupidly fancy ribbons for it... aaaaand if I'm totally honest there's a paranoid traumatized part of me that doesn't want it getting caught in car doors."

"Fair enough. And the short-hair look does work on you, I admit." Lemon smirked. "See, now this is the part where I say 'but anything would work on you,' and then continually compliment your appearance while denying any romantic overtones to get you flustered. That's the kind of annoying I want to be."

"Well, by explaining that, you just shot yourself in the foot didn't you?"

"Did I? Or perhaps my explanation has left you anticipatory for blatant platonic flirting and by denying you that reward I frustrate you consistently."

Sunny Flare rolled her eyes. "I think you're trying to play mind games with me, but the thing is, you're the only one caught up in your own mind games."

"Or aaaaaaaam I?"

"Yes."

Lemon shrugged. "Yeah, I probably am. So when do I get to meet your crazy aunt?"

"Absolutely never," Sunny stated with a serious expression. "Either she'll corrupt you, or you'll corrupt her, and I don't know which would be worse."

...but secretly she's smiling...

"Oh you are so going down!" Lemon crowed into her mike.

"Mmm, don't get your hopes up," Sunny countered.

"Get my hopes up? Girl, I've got an army in your base." Pink fingers danced across the glowing purple keyboard. "You are talking to the mistress of micromanagement here."

"Pride cometh before the fall." Sunny tapped a few keys. "Need I remind you this game is played... in four dimensions?"

"Wh--Oh fuck!" A panicked laugh escaped Lemon's lips as she started clicking rapidly. "Metawhen did you HIDE these guys?"

"Now that would be telling."

"You shunted them through the beach, didn't you? Crafty little..."

"Always remember, Lemon, there's more than one front and more than three battles." Sunny whisked her fingers over the green-lit keyboard in front of her and smirked. "Oh, is this your primary mining facility?"

"I'm not down yet, girl, it ain't over til you've killed my last soldier."

"You really shouldn't have gone with the Vecgir, they're so inflexible."

"Oh, yes, this from the Grekim girl! I'll show you inflexi--what the hell?!"

"And that's your primary soldier outpost, isn't it."

"How did you get units across the map so quickly?!"

"Pure, unadulterated skill."

"Well, I've always wanted to pull the DELOREAN CONTINGENCY!"

"Wha--oh, that's clever, that's clever. Of course, as soon as that time wave hits the end--"

"Squeddledeuboopbob!"

"...you managed to outmanuver a total base runover through chronomanipulation. I... well, you might actually be a challenge--wait, what? What?!"

"And this is why you keep an eye on your workers."

"Oh, you sly devil."

"You know you love it."

"Oh I do, it lets me track you down HERE!"

"The--OH FUCK! That, how?! HOW?!"

"And you're running low on chronoenergy, aren't you?"

"Curse you, Flarebear! Grrrr--"

"Oh, and here, if I'm right, is your temporally boosted army--oh, whoops, look at that, the timewave passed and they're only half their size again. That's a rout, no more units, and no buildings to train new ones."

"...Fine. You win. This time." Lemon leaned back into her chair with a resigned grin. "Geeze. Well... that was crazy, wasn't it? Fun, but... crazy."

"The time travel mechanic does open up interesting possibilities."

"Yeah, if this ever gets into the real world, we're probably all boned. So, anyway..." Lemon adjusted her mike. "That took, what, forty minutes?"

"Mmmhmm."

"And I've got... a good two hours before my self-appointed beddy bye. You want to pick another game or check out a stream...?"

"I dunno. I'm up for something lowkey after that. Web-based board game, maybe."

"Go or Shōgi?"

"...Shōgi sounds better, smaller board. Also, you have shōgi on your computer?"

"More like I know a shōgi site," Lemon admitted, quickly typing out the link and sending it off. "Wasn't easy to track down, and it's all in neighponese--of course--so I'm pretty sure most of the people who play against me think I'm just some idiot amareican otaku or something? My username is Whoopseedaisy108."

"Oh, they must get a kick out of that," Sunny chuckled. "Hmmm. I'll register as... Grippingdrama404."

"Going for the gallows humor, are we?" Lemon watched the screen casually. "So, hey, question. If you had to design a video game--"

"Three-dimensional metroidvania platformer based around symbionts."

"...Wow, okay. First of all, lot of thought put into that--"

"Thank you."

"Secondly, I didn't think you'd go for something so... hokey."

"I grew up mostly on the classic populars," Sunny explained casually. "Heck, I still have really bad drawings of some of my video game OCs."

"Let me guess, they saved the princess?"

"Oh they saved all the princesses. Then they taught them martial arts and led the princesses in a badass and terribly written adventure to conquer the bad guys' lands so they could reform them into a benevolent dictatorship."

"Shit, what? Really?"

"I was six, Lemon."

"No, I mean, that's totally awesome! You know, you should actually write that down some time. Like make it into a full blown fanfic."

"Oh, please," Sunny scoffed. "There are plenty of talented fanfic writers out there already. Would one bad self insert fic really be something anybody paid attention to?"

"Well, everyone remembers My Immortal, even if they haven't read it."

"Truly, a universal constant."

"Yeah, but seriously. You're in the top five GPA, so you and I both know your fic wouldn't be bad unless you put deliberate effort to sabotage yourself. And anyway, you've got to impress those aspiring young writers, right? Show them that it's possible to be awesome even with the silliest of premises."

"It'd get buried under the slew of other fics that are already famous."

"Mmm, maybe for a month or two. I guarantee you'd have at least one devoted reader."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Sugarcoat is totally a secret fanfic reader. Like I don't think she ever doesn't have a page open on her phone's browser, just for when she needs to pass the time."

"Mmmhmm."

"Course, I'd probably give it a pass or two," Lemon admitted, clicking and dragging a piece across the virtual board. "I mean it'd probably be worth a look. Especially with that sort of premise."

"Sure. You write any fanfiction?"

"Hahaha, you have no idea. Like, you know how some games will have uniquely designed but unnamed NPCs around various towns just to be there? I'm the girl that gives each and every one a name and a little backstory."

"Really?"

"I mean, it's mostly indie games. Small ones. You want me to do that for, like, a big triple-A game? I ain't crazy. But I can expand on a small base."

"Anything I might of read?"

"I'll link you my writer site. Seriously though, it's not really that great. Very disjointed. Mostly just scraps and shit."

"Everybody starts somewhere," Sunny pointed out. "And maybe one of these scraps could be the basis for something more developed. I mean that's what you're encouraging me to do, right?"

"Yeah. Except you have an awesome idea, I just have a bunch of random ideas."

"Crackfic is always an option."

"Oh, yeah, of course, crack. Everybody loves crackfic. It's the shipping you've got to avoid."

"Oh my god yes. The shipping wars... not going to lie, they pushed me out of a couple fandoms."

"I know, right? Who does that? Sure, support your OTP but don't be a dick about it."

"I think people in general have gotten smarter about that. I mean, not like I have data--"

"--but it feels cleaner. Yeah. Oh, hey, that's game!"

"Mmmmyep. Good match. So... you've got what, an hour thirty?"

"Yeah. Anything you want to do?"

"...Want to team up on some MOBA or something?"

"Sure. What've you got over there?"

...then other people say you're dating...

"Hey there, gal-pals!" Sonata walked over with a jaunty wave.

"Oh hey, it's our favorite sociopath!" Lemon chuckled and gestured toward a spare seat. "We saw you on TV saturday. Siren Spell Stories, huh?"

"Well, you apes need somebody reporting on magical developments that isn't a damn deity." Sonata took the chair with a grin. "Why not the fishies that were there from day one, huh?"

Sunny quirked an eyebrow. "Your yellow friend certainly doesn't seem all that enthusiastic about the endeavor."

"Adagio? Yeah, she... she was in kind of a bad spot until recently? Still is, really, but she's getting better. I think whining about how stupid people are is actually good for her, it lets her feel superior without provoking others into a fight."

"Fights she can't win?"

"Oh she can totally win fights," Sonata assured Lemon. "Just, you know, these days fights cause more paperwork. Assault trials, restraining orders, you have to hide the body if they die otherwise people come down hard on you... I mean don't get me wrong, the modern era is amazing even without the return of magic, but there's just so little room for rage and bloodlust these days."

"You know," Sunny mused, "I think it says something that I am not disturbed by statements like that when they come out of your mouth."

Lemon nodded, leaning back into her chair. "Have you guys considered wrestling?"

"Oh we did," Sonata replied, grimacing. "We looked into it. Got a hold of a contract. There is a No Major Injuries clause. Ruins everything!" She sighed. "At least Discord gives us philosophical zombies and there are still assassination requests and unregulated third world countries."

"And that," Lemon Zest declared, "was such a total Sonata line. Or maybe just a siren line? I don't know your sisters, so I'm not sure how much of this blatant sociopathy is you, and how much is just being a magic fish horse thing from another dimension."

"From our discussions, I would assume it's more the latter," Sunny mused, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Hey, by the way, when did you two start dating?"

Sunny Flare choked on her drink.

"Da--what?" Lemon Zest shook her head. "Us? Dating? I... Wait, I get it, this is just another way you can screw with our minds isn't it?"

"Actually I was going to ask if I could screw with your bodies," Sonata replied. "In a carnal sense. Been a while since I got some, like a good, oh... two, three weeks?"

"O-okay. Okay." Sunny cleared her throat, putting down her cup. "Let me just go down the list of why what you just said is so completely wrong. First, me and Lemon are technically underage."

"Well by modern laws, sure, but only just. You've already gone through puberty, you're educated enough to know what you're getting into, and it's not like I don't practice safe sane and consensual anyway--so much less hassle that way--"

"I think you're missing my point, the point being that it's illegal for good reason."

"It's only illegal if cops find out and you can't bribe the system."

"Flarebear, you know she's completely apathetic to the concept of morality," Lemon reminded the other girl. "What Sunny is trying to say, Sonata, is that while we are incredibly interested in your twisted psyche and dark wisdom from ages past, we are not interested in spending the night in a dark hotel room with you."

"It doesn't have to be a dark hotel room."

"You are being deliberately obtuse."

"Yep!"

"Also," Sunny added, "we aren't dating. Lemon and I. We are not dating."

"Riiiiight, because coming to a coffee shop at regular intervals to talk about nothing is just something friends do."

"See, it's statements like that?" Lemon gestured. "Statements like that which make me wonder, how much of your whole 'murdercrazy happyfish' is real and how much of it is an act to screw with us?"

"I could screw with you for months, and just screw you for weeks."

"Case in point."

"You two are so much fun!" Sonata giggled. "Alright, alright. Seriously, though. You two have regular meet-ups to get to know each other. That kind of fits the textbook definition of dating--or did the lingo change again?" she mused. "It happens randomly sometimes, slang just shifting, and it always takes me a while to pick up on it."

"No, it's still called dating," Sunny confirmed. "Well, sort of. 'Dating' implies a romantic relationship, which Lemon and I do not have. Ergo our meet-ups are simply... hanging out."

"Yep. Just two gals being pals and drinking caffeinated beverages." Lemon took a dramatic sip of her drink. "Absolutely no romantic undertones here."

Sonata nodded sagely. "Oh, of course, absolutely. I have seen this situation literally thousands of times before, both in real life and works of fiction. I have no idea how I could have so radically misinterpreted the situation, but you have totally convinced me. On an entirely unrelated note, who's on top?"

Sunny groaned.

"Purely theoretically, of course," Sonata clarified. "Because you are not engaged in a romantic or sexual relationship in any way whatsoever."

Lemon rubbed her forehead. "...Damn it, now I'm thinking about it!"

"Why do we hang around you?" Sunny asked in exasperation. "You're such a corrupting influence!"

"Hey, I'm only corrupting if I actually convince you to do any of the wild stuff I'm throwing out there. Until then, I am merely a constant source of temptation."

"I'm tempted to throw this hot coffee in your face," Lemon grumbled.

"Do it." Sonata leaned forward with a serrated smirk. "Scald my perfect visage. See what happens next. I dare you."

Lemon looked at her for a moment or two.

"...Yeah, I actually like living? So, no, I'm going to just keep drinking this instead of wasting it."

"Hah!" Sonata leaned back, clapping her hands with an innocent smile. "I've still got it."

"...This." Sunny Flare gestured at her. "This is the magical expert that tutored us, and who we rightly consider a friend. This is our life now. Where the hell did we go so wrong?"

...which of course you're not, you both agree...

"We're not dating," Lemon said firmly.

"Yes, that's what I told Indigo--"

"No, you said that me and Sunny are 'definitely not dating,' which is of course sarcasm for 'they're totally dating and pretending that they aren't,' but I want to make it clear: Me and Sunny Flare do not have a romantic relationship in any way, shape, or form, and it was inappropriate of you to put forth that implication upon our reunion with Indigo Zap, and I am very severely disappointed in your behavior."

Sour Sweet's expression was midway between incredulous and bemused.

"I can be serious," Lemon said flatly. "I don't like doing it, but I can be serious when I need to be."

"It is one of her more rarely demonstrated talents," Sunny Flare mused. "But I find myself in complete agreement: the situation with Indigo is certainly not one where our presumed dalliance should have been aired, no matter whether you choose to believe the completely accurate assertion that said dalliance is in fact nonexistent."

"Alright, alright, I get it. Not the time or place. Just..." Sour Sweet shrugged. "The rumor mill being what it is, Indigo would have heard eventually, right? Best to let her know up front instead of getting the message from some outside source."

"Maybe so, but that should be our decision," Sunny replied. "By which I mean myself and Lemon."

"Yeah, Flarebear and I shoulda been the ones to break it to her on our own level. Seriously: Not. Cool."

"...Flarebear."

Lemon threw up her hands. "I give people nicknames! It's not something to read into!"

"Really?" Sour Sweet smirked evilly. "What's my nickname?"

"Sweetbeat," Lemon replied without hesitation.

"Never heard that before."

"Sure you have."

"Nope. Never have."

"She usually only uses the nicknames to pester people," Sunny Flare pointed out. "And... your condition being what it is... pestering you is sort of a touchy thing to do."

Sour shrugged. "While that is a fair point, I feel I must point out that you don't seem that irritated by the Flarebear nickname."

"I've learned that reacting only encourages her."

"And how did you learn that?"

Lemon groaned. "Stop that. Stop implying we're falling in love and ignorant about it. Look, we're getting away from the main point, which is that Indigo is in a delicate position and throwing out deliberately misleading statements at this time could be very bad for her in the long run!"

Sour Sweet nodded thoughtfully. "I think... that you two are overreacting a little."

Sunny snorted. "We are not."

"You're right. You're overreacting a lot." Sour Sweet held up a hand. "Look, I understand that Indigo is in a bad place mentally. And I agree that there should be some watching of words around her. But whether or not you two are dating, and whether or not I implied it sarcastically, is not something that I think will affect the specific problems that she has at the moment. It was clearly framed as a joke, a natural way for friends to interact, and as such will not have such a large impact as the two of you seem to be fearing."

"That still doesn't--"

"I live with schizophrenia, girls. I know a lot about mental imbalance, and how it can be affected by statements and words. There was no judgement in my proclamation of you 'definitely not dating,' against you or Indigo herself. I was just filling her in on what she missed--something she explicitly requested. After, might I add, we pressured her about what she thought of..." She trailed off for a moment. "My point is, nothing about what I said is objectionable in a way that will harm Indigo's recovery. Which means for you to react that way suggests it is objectionable in some other manner."

"As I have stated," Sunny Flare pointed out calmly, "the description and communication of our romantic status should be our decision. Not yours."

Sour Sweet smirked. "You're absolutely right, of course, I apologize. Lemon should have been the one to say that."

"You're damn right I should have been," Lemon growled. "In fact, you know what? You know what I'm going to, what I'm going to do?"

"What are you going to do?"

"I--I'm going to do... something!" Lemon pointed at her. "Something that proves, right, that proves me and Sunny Flare are just friends and not romantically interested in each other at all!"

Sunny Flare facepalmed. "Or, you know... you could just be the bigger person, and let this whole thing go before it drags out into a foolhardy comedy sketch that inevitably ends with your every gesture being interpreted through a romantic filter."

"Pretty sure it's too late for that."

"Yeah," Sour nodded, "everyone and their dog is shipping you. That's not entirely hyperbole, Twilight's dog is the one running the Canterlot-Crystal Prep Common Considered Couples Compendium website."

"That damned data dog," Lemon Zest hissed. "Why did I ever introduce him to the concept of fanfiction?!"

"I was wondering why he wanted me to teach him coding," Sunny Flare mused. "I mean, I couldn't say no, he's just too cute, but it did strike me as kind of weird." She paused. "Then again, there aren't really that many openings for puppies in the current job market. Having a useful skillset should help him out in the future."

"We've created a monster, Sunny. Soon he'll graduate from shipping high school students to college students. Then coworkers. Before long, he'll see one of his ships work out--he'll study all the psychological studies on love and romance and make a dating website for desperate people. Our next generation will be determined by a canine mastermind! It will be a total reversal of the fancy dog breeding we've had all our history--there will be fancy human breeding shows, with weird mutations like longer fingers and patterned skin and long floppy ears being kept in the gene pool just to show the skill and prowess of those devoted to making the craziest-looking bloodlines!"

"Don't worry, Lemon, it won't be that bad. The dolphins are sure to get in on it too, they'll probably keep the dogs from going too out of control."

Sour Sweet pinched her brow. "And they call me crazy."

...except you kind of are. But not, like, romantically.

"Oh sweet Sunset, what a day." Lemon collapsed onto Sunny's couch with a groan. "Man, I could go for some fucking... I dunno, I wanna say burgers? But not like, burger burgers. Like burgers without the patties, but there's, you know, pancakes instead? Keep the lettuce and tomatoes, hold the mayonnaise because fuck mayo. Mustard... mustard's a maybe. Onions would work, but not pickles. Pineapple maybe. Yeah, pineapple whipped cream pancake burger with a side of fries and one of those ice cream flurry things. Maybe some chicken wings on the side. I dunno, that's what I'm craving, because today was just... fucking crazy."

Sunny leaned on the doorframe to the kitchen. "Why are you in my apartment."

"Don't want to deal with my mom right now, told her I was heading over to a friend's."

"And how did you get in? The door was locked!"

Lemon Zest casually produced a few bent pieces of metal. "You should upgrade to a six-pin lock, five is too easy these days. Or swap out for something that isn't a tumbler lock, actually, telekinesis... yeah, make a unicorn aspect lock, huh?"

The blue-skinned girl sighed. "Okay, next time, call me instead of playing a rogue. Honestly, I could have you arrested for that, you know?"

"You've got a phone on your wrist-dealies, go ahead and call 'em if you want."

Sunny Flare threw up her hands, turning around and walking into the kitchen. "Look, just because we've had this whole bonding thing doesn't mean you can just drop by unannounced." She popped the freezer open for a minute, taking a large plastic bag and reaching for a plate from the cabinet. "I could have been in the shower or working on some experiment or, you know... with somebody."

"Well I'd get a show in any of those cases. Not exactly convincing me to stop."

Sunny snorted, pouring the bag out onto the plate. "You are insufferable, honestly. Ten, eleven.... You know what? If you don't want me to kick you out, you're going to have to give me a damn good reason."

"Fine, fine. What if I told you I was trying to figure out how to apply my newfound magical prowess to the nature of technological development?"

"I'm already coding a Paradiamond app that lets smartphones detect and identify shifts in the thaumatic register." Sunny stuffed the plate into the microwave with a smirk. "Get on my level, scrub."

Lemon sat up with a genuinely impressed whistle. "Wow, that'll be a game changer. How're the smartphones going to detect that sort of thing, though?"

"Well there's already a geiger counter app, and all you need for that is to cover the camera... granted, that one's only available on one brand of smart phone, could be a technical thing. I'm working closely with Gillion."

"Like, the company, or the actual search engine that happens to be sapient?"

"The latter, I... think. It's a little hard to tell, you know."

"Oh, yeah, don't I know it." Lemon chuckled. "Hey, did you see that thing in the news about the girl that tried to marry her phone's voice recognition program?"

"I caught wind of the sordid affair through social media, yes."

"Man. Crazy world we live in." She put a thoughtful finger to her cheek. "I mean, I guess I could go for a digital dude? I mean the physical side of things there would have to be some concessions, cause you know, the whole not having a body thing. Or maybe they could have multiple bodies--'Hey babe, I'm in the mood, hop over to the vibrator wouldya?'"

Sunny snorted despite herself. "Why not just go for a fully functional android body?"

"That kind of feels like an imposition, you know? Like forcing my standards on a being with no natural physical form is sorta... it's like saying 'you aren't good enough for me unless you act this specific way.' Or something. Which I don't think is what love is about."

"Mmm, fair, fair." Sunny glanced at the microwave as it beeped, opening it up and reaching in. "Of course this assuming that said theoretical paramour either would not be willing to use an android body himself, or that he could not exist over multiple devices."

"Oh, yeah, that's actually a good point!" Lemon scooted over as Sunny approached, glancing around the room. "I mean, you've gotcher console, your phone, your computer, and maybe a digital heating system or fridge if you're really fancy... like the only place you could still have privacy is your bathroom, I think. Maybe your bedroom, which sort of means you'd miss out on some of the perks, but then again I don't know if I could spend every moment at home knowing that the person I love could hear me at any time."

"Yes, it would be quite the violation of privacy. Like, say, somebody picking your apartment lock and dropping by to eat your food without warning."

"Hny." Lemon held up a finger, swallowing the pizza-based fingerfood in her mouth. "Look. This is completely different."

"Really."

"For one, this isn't some romantic move, kay? I'm not going to suddenly kiss you or take off your skirt or whatever."

"What a disappointment," Sunny quipped with a grin.

"Also, I'm sort of not everywhere at once, you know?" She gestured at herself. "This is me. Pink girl, green and yellow hair, just sittin' on your couch cause I like hanging out at your place."

"So would you drop by if I wasn't here?"

"Heck no, that would be creepy."

"And how do you know if I'm here at all?" Sunny Flare countered.

"Can I say 'the magic of friendship?' Cause that's actually a thing, you know, that exists these days."

Sunny Flare quirked an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine, so..." Lemon Zest sighed. "I maaaaaaay possibly have picked up on the particular feel of your... nn."

"You mean the abstract concept Sonata was talking about. The essence of the self."

"I know it sounds weird, but--you just... I can sort of sense you, now. Not in a creepy way, but there's this..." Lemon gestured vaguely. "There's this... like, you know how sometimes a crystal chime and a synthboard can sound exactly the same, it doesn't happen often but they hit the same notes and synchronize?"

"Not really."

"Well, it's a thing. Anyway, just... picture that, but instead of a sound it's... this... like not wind chill, exactly, it's not cold, but it touches the same places a wind chill would, but it's a crystal chime synthboard thing that's more of a feeling then a sound, if that makes any sense at all, which it doesn't--damn, never mind, I have no idea what I'm saying."

"Do you get these sorts of feelings for other people? When they're present, I mean."

"Not... well, sometimes. With the shadowbolts, when we're all together, but not as individuals. I guess with Sunset's friends, a little, but it's more... I think that's just the magic strengthening around them. Family members..." Lemon shrugged. "Important people. To me, personally. That sounds real cheesy, right?"

"Well, maybe, but... I guess I appreciate that," Sunny Flare admitted. "And... I suppose, I have gotten rather used to your company as well."

Now it was Lemon's turn to quirk a brow at her.

"In a nonromantic way, of course," Sunny quickly clarified. "Just how we talk about things."

"Yeah, that... that makes sense."

"Indeed."

They stared into each other's eyes for half a minute.

"...sooooooo, uh..." Lemon coughed. "This... isn't going to get weird, is it?"

"Wha--no. No, of course not, let... let's not just..." Sunny Flare glanced around, before picking up the television remote. "You know, I have some... anime, I guess. We could watch that, if you're up for it."

"Always down for some poorly dubbed neighponese animation."

"Actually you'll find this is well-subbed neigponese animation."

Lemon clutched her chest with a melodramatic gasp. "You blasphemer! Alas, we can no longer be friends!"

"The subs retain more of the cultural context then the dubs--"

"But without the dubs, we would never have gotten Samurai Pizza Cats!"

Sunny Flare conceded the point with a shrug. "I suppose there's something to be said for both sides." She tapped a few buttons, and the television screen flickered to life.

The two girls snuggled into the couch, sharing a plate of microwaved fingerfood as they watched a ludicrously garbed animated cast melodramatically proclaim their actions in a foreign language. And while they definitely enjoyed the time together, they would insist forever after that it was not, like, a romantic date. Just a casual hangout between two gals that were pals.

Their actual first date was eight months later.

It starts with a casual chat...

"Hey there, Flare Bear!"

Sunny Flare did not sigh. The breath that escaped her was not audible, ergo it wasn't a sigh. "Lemon Zest. What bout of insanity are you going to subject me to this time?"

"I figured we'd chit the chat about space travel in the modern era." The green-haired pinkskin plopped herself down next to the blue girl with violet locks. "I mean, you are interested in THE FINAL FRONTIEEEEEEER, right?"

"...Lemon, in the past few months I have grown pointed ears and a gem in my forehead, discovered a student of CHS has become a god, learned that a nation-state of colorful talking ponies live on the other side of a statue, been part of what can only be described as a sorceress's army of evil, watched the news as a mystical tyrant came to power, and read a thousand plus articles on how to handle nonhuman sophant rights."

"Yep, our world's been irrevocably changed, all thanks to blatant misuse of magic." Lemon Zest clicked her thick fingernails together. "Thanks for the expo-dump, I'd totally forgotten about all of that!"

"My point," Sunny continued dryly, "is that talking about space travel seems rather... blase at the moment."

"Ah, you're suffering from wonder-drain."

"Wonder-drain."

"Also goes by the names 'cynicism', 'disillusionment', 'seen-it-all syndrome', 'the doldrums'..." Lemon shrugged. "Basically it's the thing where there are so many amazing things going on that you can't get amazed because you've been too amazed before and now you're too tired to be amazed at anything amazing."

"...information overload, then." Sunny Flare poked at her sandwich. "I suppose I can see how that might be a problem."

"Hence why I'm here, to help you get that sense of wonder back. I mean, you are in the drama club, right?" Lemon grinned. "You need to have some fascination, otherwise how can you fascinate?"

"That argument is circular and nonsensical."

"Like a ferris wheel!"

Sunny tried, and failed, to hide her smirk at that. "Alright, I recognize the importance in having a sense of wonder about the world around us. Why space travel, though? It seems kind of distant."

"Except that magical teleportation is a thing."

The blue-skinned girl froze mid-sandwich-bite.

"Uh-huh, thought that would get your attention." Lemon Zest pulled out her phone, swiping through various articles. "See, some of the big-name scientists are trying to research magical teleportation--it's still not quite understood, but it seems to work on an artificial wormhole principle. In theory, you scale up the power enough and you can hit the moon, Ares, the next star system over."

"Mrm--hm mmnt." Sunny swallowed, clearing her throat. "Really now?"

"Yep! Of course, the math kinda precludes that." She flicked to a wall of text and numbers. "See, what we've got here suggests that the max energy a human can generate isn't enough to pull that off."

"What about what happened with... er... at the friendship games?"

"Auntie Abby's little hissy fit?" Lemon shrugged. "Yeah, I should really look into that, talk to godhorse about it, but it's kinda... personal, you know? Like... have you seen how she acts these days?"

"That she's packing and getting ready to go?" Sunny Flare rolled her eyes. "Forgive my rudeness, but after the Friendship Games that's hardly surprising."

"That's... not it." Lemon sighed. "Maybe I just notice more, since she's been coming and going my whole life, but she's... second-guessing herself. She doesn't act immediately. It's like, I was helping her clear out her office, and she pulled out a file and was about to put it back but... she stopped, and she started reading it instead."

"...Now that you mention it, she... hesitates before greeting me." Sunny glanced around. "I'm not sure it's every student, but those of us with top ten GPA... It used to be 'Hello miss Flare' and now it's 'Hello, half second pause, miss Flare.'"

"Really? For me it's Hello half second pause Lemon."

Sunny's stomach coiled, but she forced herself to calm down. "I think it might be because you're family. You get the first name basis. The rest of us, she's... debating how close she should get. She used to ask me about my studies, and now..."

There was a moment of silence.

"...and now?" Lemon prompted.

"It's... nothing. Really. So, space teleportation."

"Question: is your blatant deflection a result of issues that are seriously affecting you or just something you're embarrassed about? Cause I do want to make sure you're not going to jump off the roof or cut yourself or anything."

"They are called personal issues for a reason, I am seeking therapy, and if you ask your aunt about it I will punch you so hard you'll think your period came early."

Lemon grinned. "Ooooo, I like that threat! Creative, impressive, and tailored to the individual. Alright, I'll drop it for now. Let's get back to the magical space teleportation."

"I'm just thinking, if it's a matter of power, maybe they could build an artificial power source to fuel the spell."

"Yeah, that's been brought up, but you have to remember that everyone's still figuring out what magic actually is. Doesn't help that we have two basic forms of magic."

Sunny blinked. "Two? I would have thought, with the various aspects--"

"No no no. Those are aspects that let us use Equestrian magic, the magic that was leaking in from the other universe." Lemon clicked her fingers together again. "It runs on principles of harmony-based resonance, and it's been studied by our godhorse's civilization since long before they had a recorded civilization. But there's also the magic that, uh, already existed in our universe."

"Already existed?"

"Yeah, uh..." Lemon Zest blushed. "Apparently it's how we figured out icons."

"Oh--Ooooooh." Sunny Flare coughed. "Yeah, I can see how a religious taboo would make research a touch... difficult."

"It's not just that. Thing is, since Equestrian magic is harmony-based it's easy to access. But with Earth magic... it's not nearly so easy." Lemon tapped her phone. "From what I understand, Earth magic is more flexible and powerful then Equestrian magic, but it also pushes back. It's like Equestrian magic asks both caster and spell what they want and makes a decent compromise, while Earth magic is stubborn and won't act without a good enough bribe, and when it does it doesn't give a shit whose feelings are trampled."

"You're acting like magic's alive."

Lemon gave her a look. "Even if you don't worship her, I'd have thought you would follow Sunset's magical safety vlog."

"...Never really found the time."

"Oh. Long story short, yes, magic is alive."

"Huh. Like the Force from Star Wars?"

"You know, funny you should mention that, the first vlog Sunset did had her pull out a laser sword...."

...then you're meeting up for 'practical' reasons...

"'Ello, pardner. What's goin' on in dis here liberairy?"

Sunny Flare rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure that your godhorse's farmer friend would find that majorly offensive, Lemon."

"I'll ask her the next time I meet her. Seriously though." Lemon plonked herself next to the other girl. "Watcha doooooin'?"

"I'm trying to figure out what our project should be about." She turned a page in the encyclopedia. "After all, you're probably going to procrastinate every step of the way."

"Whoa, hold on, that's harsh! I don't procrastinate!"

"You do homework on the bus every day."

"Psssh, that's just calculus and computation. It's a nice early morning warm-up."

"Oh really? And what about that time you turned in your literature assignment late?

"Yeah, I got carried away in the analysis of Darcy's character as it relates to modern masculinity... The teacher did say I was thourough, though, that's a plus."

"And let's not forget the time you, oh I don't know, MELTED THE SCIENCE WING OF THE SCHOOL!"

Lemon cackled. "Hoo hoo, yeah! I went way too far on that one. Aunt Abby was riding my ass for that right up till spring break!"

Sunny Flare shut her encyclopedia. "Simply put, I don't trust you to be anything resembling reasonable when it comes to our psychology project. You'd probably going to spend the whole time throwing lemons at people and recording their reactions for some nonsensical final interpretation of their belief on Sunset Shimmer!"

"Oranges."

"What?"

"We throw oranges," Lemon Zest explained, her face serious. "Fresh ones."

Sunny Flare stared at her, mouth agape, before managing to shake herself. "See, it's things like that which make me incredibly sure you need some sort of supervision. But in order to supervise, I need to know what we're going to be working on." She turned another page. "And so, here I am, going through a list of topics and trying to think of one you couldn't possibly screw up."

"Okay, Flare Bear, three problems with your approach." Lemon reached out and shut the encyclopedia. "Unum: I can screw up anything."

Sunny Flare gave her a glare, opening the book again. "Then I'll just have to find the subject you're least likely to destroy."

"Duo, you're using a general encyclopedia instead of one that specifically covers psychology concepts." Lemon shut the book again. "I'm all for interdisciplinary, don't get me wrong, but miss Laurel probably wants something demonstrably mental."

"You underestimate how quickly I can read." Sunny Flare pointedly slammed the book open.

"Tres." Lemon shut the book gently, leaning over. "You could just ask me not to screw this up."

Sunny inhaled, intent on countering that, but the look on the pink girl's face--the intense seriousness, the worry in her eyes--brought her to pause for a moment.

"...Would you really? If I asked you not to mess this up for me--"

"You know why peeps like me don't like school? It's 'cause the whole system is a set of demands that stress you out. GPA, social networks, tests once a month, all for what?"

"Education is important."

"Not going to deny that. And with a good teacher, anyone can learn. Of course, people make the mistake of thinking that knowing about a thing qualifies them to teach about a thing... my point is, Crystal Prep is enough of a headache that anything I can do to make it less, I'll do it. That could mean causing crazy nonsense, so people have something to gossip about." She took a breath. "Or, it could mean focusing on the project my partner wants to do, so her perfectionist tendencies don't drive her up the wall."

Sunny Flare rubbed the gem in her forehead. "So if I weren't so concerned about my grades, you'd screw it up."

"We~ll, only if it made you lighten up." Lemon shrugged. "Bit o' a hit-or-miss there. But if you ask me to behave for this, I'll do it."

"Fine." The blue girl gave her a look. "Lemon Zest, do you solemnly swear to take our assignment seriously and attempt no action which could subvert it, so long as we both are assigned?"

"I do. Sunny Flare, do you solemnly swear to allow yourself to relax while working on this assignment, and ensure your own need for perfection does not drive you crazy, so long as we both are assigned?"

"I do."

"By the power invested in me as number one GPA student at Crystal Prep," Moondancer intoned, "I pronounce you research partners."

"You may now co-sign the thesis document," Sugarcoat added in deadpan.

Lemon Zest blinked, reviewing the last few minutes, and began to crack up. "Ha--okay, yeah, we deserved that! Heh, good one."

Sunny blinked. "When--when did you two get here?"

"About right after Lemon did," Sugarcoat admitted. "We were trying to ignore your flirting, but then you slammed your encyclopedia--"

"Flirt--we weren't flirting! We aren't even dating!" Sunny gestured at the still giggling Lemon. "Why in the name of chaos would I even want to court this gowpenful-o'-anything?!"

"Because I'm the only one that can deal with a zoilest like you?" Lemon suggested brightly.

Sunny Flare glowered at her. "I've got dozens of more appeasing suitors. I choose not to select from them because they would be unable to follow through on my needs."

"Sure, sure. Anyway, yeah." Lemon turned to the other two. "We're not dating."

Sugarcoat's right eyebrow quirked. "Yet."

"Oh, great, you're shipping us." The pink girl rolled her eyes. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"It is a public library," Moondancer pointed out. "I'm pretty sure there's no explicit rule against watching performance art."

Sunny Flare rolled her eyes. "And what about you two? Are you looking for some private book-nook to snog in?"

"Ours is not a passionate romance, but deep and multifaceted, a starscape on a clear night with a thousand thousand glitt'ring wonders to guide us as we stumble onward upon our path and a great silver orb guarding our most secret of hearts."

Three sets of eyes stared at Sugarcoat in astonishement.

She shrugged. "It seemed appropriate."

Moondancer blushed. "Well. Um. Yes. It was. And I am... going to be spending a few days trying to come up with a way to say how much I'm moved by that."

"You could just say you love me."

"I love you."

"And I love you." Sugarcoat gave Lemon and Sunny a sly smirk. "Not so hard, is it?"

Lemon Zest snorted. "Even if we do have romantic feelings toward each other, we're both so clearly in denial about it that pushing us at this early stage will only sabotage our relationship." She narrowed her eyes. "And if I recall, you really had a hard time confessing to Twilight!"

Sugarcoat winced. "That... was different. I was part of the reason Twilight left... felt comfortable with leaving. And I knew she didn't return my affections. Moondancer and I are more open with each other."

Moondancer nodded. "Even if it does consist of a lot of snark."

Sunny groaned, putting her head in her hands. "Did you come here explicitly to lecture us on our nonexistent love life?"

"Actually, we had intended to find resources for professor Laurel's psychology assignment." Sugarcoat took a seat across from them, giving Moondancer a brief glance.

With only a brief hesitation, her girlfriend sat down across from her. "We... decided to focus on how the mental adaptation of a new societal schema would affect the individual."

"Different reactions to magic, huh? Interesting..." Lemon Zest snapped her fingers. "Hey, Sunny, we could do something like that!"

"What, plagiarize the top two students' work?"

"No no no. They're talking about the societal stuff, we could get more personal."

Sunny Flare blinked. "Define personal."

Lemon clicked her fingers together. "These babies ain't the only thing I've got going for me. I've got a link with technogizmos, and Sugar there does too. Plus, and I'm pretty sure this is just me, I get... vibes."

"Vibes."

"I know it sounds hokey, but when I enter a crowd I can just... know if it's going to be a party or a tense standoff. I kinda think Dean Cadence does too. And come on." She tapped Sunny's gem teasingly, causing the blue girl to lean back. "Holding things with magic has to feel a little different than holding them with hands."

"I have noticed that," Moondancer mused. "It's like... wearing a glove made of water. Except you're not wearing it, it's part of you. I'm not describing this well."

"And that's why we need to do this," Lemon finished. "Terminology for the mental interactions that are caused when one uses magic. A way to describe the abstract! What do you say, Flare Bear, want to run some tests on magic and the mind?"

Sunny Flare sighed, standing up. "Honestly, since it's the big thing these days, it would probably be best if we did it instead of letting clickbait spread. Alright, let's start with some material on synesthesia..."

Moondancer and Sugarcoat watched them walk off into the shelves.

"...I'm not seeing it," the paler girl eventually admitted. "Friends, yes. Lovers...? Not so much."

"Being fair, I don't think it'll happen. Just that it could." Sugarcoat took a breath. "Where do you think we'd find research on the effects of societal upheaval on personal psychology?"

"I think it'd be in the same area they're in."

"Makes sense. Shall we on?"