Before the Friendship Games: Sugarcoat

Fourth period ended and Sugarcoat left her class. She took out her phone and sent a couple of texts.

I know you're not comfortable seeing me face-to-face right now, but would you mind texting back and forth?

I missed talking to you, even if it hasn't been twenty-four hours.

Fourth period ended, and Neon's phone buzzed. He read Sugarcoat's messages and smiled.

No, I don't mind at all, Sugar.

I missed talking to you, too.

Must've been weird not having me in a bed with you last night.

I know I didn't like it.

Sugarcoat smiled.

Not only did I not have anyone in my bed last night, I couldn't even masturbate!

It just wouldn't have been the same without you, hot stuff.

You mean far too much to me for me to ever even consider sleeping with someone else.

And coming from a former shameless slut, that says a lot!

Neon laughed.

I don't know whether or not that was intended to be funny, but I needed the laugh.

Please don't take offense to that.

Sugarcoat smiled.

Don't worry about it, hot stuff.

As long as I made you happy, that's all that matters to me.

The warning bell for fifth period rang, and Sugarcoat and Neon Lights ran to their respective classes.

Sugarcoat left her fifth period class, and found herself behind Indigo Zap. She darted forward toward an unsuspecting Sunny Flare. "Incoming," Indigo shouted as Sunny leaped out of the way. Sunny remained still, as if deep in thought. Smiling, Sugarcoat walked over to Sunny. "She can be so annoying sometimes," she said, causing latter to jump in fright.

"Don't you have any respect for personal space," Sunny yelled. "How do you keep doing that anyway?"

Sugarcoat smiled. "It's easy to sneak up on people when they're lost in thought."

Sunny sighed. "Okay, you've got a point," she begrudgingly admitted. "Do you have any ideas on how to kill boredom?" Sugarcoat opened her mouth. "Besides masturbation?" Sunny said, unfortunately loud enough for any nearby people to hear. Several students stopped and gawked at her as she buried her head in her hands.

"You don't seem to be bored anymore." said Sugarcoat, smiling.

"Go to hell, Sugarcoat...go to hell." Sunny said, her face still buried in her hands.

"You're welcome!" said Sugarcoat as she walked away. She needed to be brought down a peg anyway, she thought. She took out her phone and sent Neon some texts.

From what my mom told me, she was more pissed than she'd ever been.

I'm going to talk with her later about what she did.

Don't have enough time for a full conversation with her right now.

Did she rough you up?

Neon smiled.

She just shook me a little.

I don't even think I've seen my own mom that angry at me.

But I can't blame your mom for acting the way she did.

Sugarcoat sighed as she made her way to the cafeteria.

Neon. You have got to stop beating yourself up over this!

You aren't doing yourself any favors by fixating on the mistake you made.

You have to move on.

For both of our sakes.

Sugarcoat stopped texting as she noticed Twilight Sparkle, Lemon Zest and Sour Sweet sitting at the table and talking to each other. Hello... she thought. Never seen the three of them together before.

"Before we go any further..." said Lemon, becoming visibly tense.

Sour looked at Lemon. "Is something wrong?"

Lemon took a deep breath and exhaled. "Sour. I told Twilight everything."

Sour's expression became blank. "You told her...everything." she repeated. "What do you mean by 'everything'?"

"I mean everything. Even..." Lemon said.

Sour slowly got up from her seat. "Even...even what?"

"Even what happened at the session with Radiant Hope." Lemon said. "I'm sorry I haven't told you everything, but I was just so excited about what happened that I didn't think of how it would affect you and our new friendship."

"You told...Twilight." Sour said, her tone surprisingly neutral. Twilight looked at Sour, then at Lemon. She began pulling her hair slowly. Lemon and Sour stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, until the latter broke the silence.

"You told Twilight. That I had no friends. That I was lonely." Sour said. "That I have no family."

Sugarcoat's eyes widened.

"Sour..." said Lemon.

"You told Twilight about my self-loathing...that I cried out my tears while fighting with you." continued Sour.

"Sour, I-" Lemon said, sniffling.

"You told Twilight fucking Sparkle that I tried to kill myself?!" said Sour, shedding tears of her own. "Lemon Zest...I told you those things in front of Radiant Hope because I trusted you. That it would just be between the three of us. You, me, and Radiant Hope."

"Sour Sweet...I'm sorry." said Lemon, who immediately put her hands to her mouth.

"You're...sorry." said Sour. "Given what happened between you, me, and Radiant Hope..." she said, narrowing her eyes. "That was a very, very poor choice of words.", Sour Sweet's voice cracked. "As you said that session; 'That's not going to cut it, and you fucking know that.'" Twilight stopped pulling her hair and simply stayed still, afraid that any sudden movement would incur Sour Sweet's wrath.

"I trusted you, Lemon. I told you my deepest and darkest secrets that day, and you told someone else. I don't care if she's your friend, you should have at least asked me first." said Sour, now shaking.

"Sour..." said Lemon, her voice quavering.

"No." said Sour. "Not another word. I...I need some time alone right now." Sour said and walked away, leaving her tray of food half-eaten. She stopped after a few steps. "Oh, and Twilight?"

Twilight tensed up. "Y-y-y-y-yes, Sour?" she stammered.

"Don't you dare tell anyone about this. If you do and I find out..." she turned around and walked back to Twilight, mere inches away from her face."I will bite. And I will bite hard, Twilight Sparkle. Do we have an understanding?"

Twilight shrank, trembling with fear. "Y...y...."

"That's all I needed to hear." said Sour as she walked away with what little composure she had remaining.

"Sour..." said Lemon, reaching out a hand.

"DON'T." said Sour, her voice quavering. "Don't make this any harder than it already is for the both of us." she walked away from Lemon Zest and Twilight Sparkle.

"Lemon..." said Twilight. "Are...are you okay?" Lemon shot towards Twilight and hugged her tightly, sobbing into her friend's chest.

Sugarcoat stood still for several moments as she processed what just happened. She walked away slowly, as though she was afraid of getting caught. What the hell just happened there, she thought in confusion. She shook her head quickly. It doesn't affect me, so I shouldn't worry about it.

Neon checked his phone as he went into the cafeteria. He smiled faintly.

I know I do, Sugar.

But for me, that's easier said than done.

Neon sighed. I'm starting to think I might have a guilt complex or something.

"Hello, Neon," said a friendly voice. Neon turned around to see his good friend.

"Hey, Royal. How's the day been treating you," Neon asked.

"Not too badly, not too badly. How about yourself?"

Neon took a deep breath, then exhaled. He told his old friend everything. From his rough night, to his encounter with Crystal Clarity, to this very moment.

"Goodness," Royal exclaimed. "You've certainly been having an eventful week, haven't you?"

Neon sighed. "That's putting it lightly."

"Remind me never to cross Crystal on a regular basis, would you," Royal said. Neon gave his friend a dirty look. "Sorry. Not helping."

Neon sighed again. "That's okay. At least I know Sugarcoat still loves me," he said with a smile.

"Have you worked up the courage to talk to her yet," Royal asked.

"I'm getting there, Royal...I'm getting there," Neon responded. "I don't want to make her wait too long."

"You may not have to," Royal said, his eyes wide with surprise. Neon looked in the same direction as his friend and gasped.

"Hey, hot stuff," Sugarcoat said with a smile.