Sugarzappies!by DarkHoovesChaptersThey Meet!Ice Cream in the Park!Don't Play With Knives!They Meet!Sugarcoat was a young girl in the tender age of 12. She didn’t have any friends. None of the girls in her class shared her interests. None of the boys either for that matter... The few times she had tried – always after being goaded by one of her teachers – they would quickly declare her to be “weird” or “strange” or “a girl” and start ignoring her. It didn’t particularly bother her, though. She was perfectly fine spending time on her own while her classmates played. Today she was at home. Normally that was a time for her to spend time in her room reading, doing her homework, or her dance exercises. But her mother had other plans as of late. “Sugarcoat! Could you go play outside for a bit?” “Do I have to?” she replied. “Only for a little while. I need to talk with your dad.” She didn’t particularly want to play outside today, but she couldn’t see any reason for why she couldn’t. As such, she donned one of her father’s white coats (making sure to roll up the sleeves all the way up to her elbows), took the Big Book on Cats her mother had gotten her last Christmas and a notepad, and headed outside. Her cat was already out there, basking in the afternoon sunlight on top of the garden table as he usually did. For the last couple of weeks, the cat hadn’t used its litterbox for his business, instead opting for the sofa or the carpets. Obviously, that wasn’t good. So now she was looking for a solution. She sat down on at the table and began reading. “The book says that going outside the litterbox could be a sign of distress,” she narrated. “Distress is commonly caused by sudden changes in the home.” She tried to think of anything that had happened that could upset the cat, but nothing had changed as far as she knew. The only thing she could think of was how her mother wanted her to play outside more after school. She put down the book, picked up the notepad and looked the cat in the eye. “What is upsetting you? Would you please share it with me?” she asked and waited for some sort of response. She did receive one, but not one she had expected. “Are you talking to a cat…?” Sugarcoat looked up to see another girl with short, electric blue hair and light peach skin leaning above the fence dividing both of their backyards. Quite the feat, considering the fence stood almost twice as high as herself. “I am,” she replied. “Why…?” the girl asked. “I am being a psychologist.” The girl frowned. “Mom says those are limp-deers who brainwash you and take all your money.” “You’re thinking of Scientologist,“ Sugarcoat replied. “Oh...” The girl scratched her head. “So, what’s a Saigomist?” “Psy-cho-log-ist,” Sugarcoat clarified. “It means ‘Person who Studies the Psyche’.” The girl looked at her with a blank expression. “It’s a head doctor.” “Oh, cool! And you even got a doctor coat on! Sweet!” “It is my dad’s,” Sugarcoat replied. “Is he a doctor too?” “No, he’s a chief.” The girl giggled. “That’s cool too.” She swung over the fence and walked up to the table. “So who’s this little fellow?” she asked and petted the happily purring cat. “His name is Mr Meow.” The girl laughed. “Seriously? What kind of name is that?” “My mom named him…” “You’re lucky to have a pet,” the girl said. “I’ve always wanted one, but my mom hates animals.” Sugarcoat was about to reply when she realised something. She didn’t know this girl! Her mom had always told her to never talk to strangers. ‘Never, ever talk to them!’ she had said. Was this girl a stranger, though? When she thought of strangers, she thought of that creepy guy in the park. Not girls her own age. Her teacher always said she should try and meet new people… If she introduced herself to this girl, would that mean they weren’t strangers anymore? Finally, she decided that was the case and introduced herself. “My name is Sugarcoat. What is your name?” “I’m Indigo Zap!” The girls replied with a big, proud smile and struck a pose. “You’re missing a tooth,” Sugarcoat noted. “You don’t think I know that?” Indigo giggled. “I was playing football in the park and this more-weirdo kicked the ball right in my face and knocked one of my teeth out! I had to go to the emergency room and everything!” She leaned forward. “Do you play any sports?” “I practice ballet and ice dancing,” Sugarcoat replied. Indigo scoffed. “Those are not sports! Mom says it can’t be a sport without a ball!” “I don’t see how whether you have balls or not determine what a sport is or isn’t.” Indigo had to cover her mouth to avoid bursting into laughter, with limited success. Sugarcoat was very confused by this. “I don’t see what so funny,” she said. “You don’t use balls when you practice ballet or ice dancing.” That only made Indigo laugh even more. Sugarcoat folded her arms and waited. She may have been used to people laughing at her for no reason, but she still didn’t like it. “You said balls…!” Indigo wheezed in between laughs. Again, Sugarcoat didn’t understand what was funny about that. Indigo threw her arm around her and pulled her into a side hug. “I like you. You’re really funny!” “Indigo!” yelled a voice from Indigo’s house. “Where are you? Your dinner is done!” “Coming, mom!” Indigo yelled back and turned back to Sugarcoat. “Sorry, I gotta go. We should hang out more sometime!” When she looked at the fence, an idea came to her. “Watch this!” She took off sprinting towards it, leaped and went into a handstand on top of it. Until the momentum made her fall over onto her own yard with a loud crash… “Are you hurt?” Sugarcoat called over the fence. “It wasn’t so bad,” Indigo replied. “I’m used to it.” She groaned as she stood up from the pile of stuff she had landed on. “Okay, maybe a little… Mom! I need more band aids!” After Indigo had shambled her way inside, Sugarcoat realised how hungry she was. She went to check the time and found it was right about time to start eating. Her mother was in the kitchen, sitting at the table at her dad’s spot. Her dad was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s dad?” she asked. Her mother sat up in surprise. “Oh, he had to go to back to work,” she replied. “What are we having for dinner? I’m hungry.” Her mother looked around the kitchen for a moment before deciding there wasn’t anything easy to cook. “How would you feel about takeout?” Sugarcoat shrugged and sat down in her seat. Once the food had been delivered and they began to eat, her mother began asking about her day. “Did you have fun outside?” “I think so,” Sugarcoat replied. “I met a strange girl from the house next door.” Author's Note Hello and welcome! I hope you'll enjoy this surprisingly saccharine adventure! This, and more to come, soon! Ice Cream in the Park!Today, Sugarcoat were heading outside once again, fully determined to complete the task her mother had given her. It wasn’t unusually for her to run errands for her parents. At least not since a few weeks ago. But this was not another run to buy milk from the nearby convenience store. Her destination was her neighbours’ house. She stopped and pondered for a minute when she got to the door. Her mom always said to knock at a door. ‘Always, always knock!’ she had said. She hadn’t specified how many, though. After some more pondering, she settled on three knocks. Three was a good number. She extended her arm towards the door when she noticed the doorbell and stopped. Should she ring the doorbell instead? Doorbells were better than knocks, weren’t they? If you have a doorbell you’d wish for people to ring it, wouldn’t you? But her mother had insisted that she knock… Why would she do that when there was a doorbell, though? Surely the doorbell was the superior way to announce your presence at the door. Could you knock and ring the doorbell…? After a final ponder, she decided you could. Knock! Knock! Knock! Pling-plong! Knock! Knock! Knock! Pling-plong! Knock! Knock! Knock! Pling-plong! The door swung open just as she pressed the bell for the final time. Inside was an older woman, about her mother’s age, with turquoise skin and a blonde mane of a hairdo. “What the hell do you think you’re doing you stupid id…” she trailed off when she noticed the little girl in front of her. “Oh… Sorry, kiddo. I thought it was some mor- I mean - weirdo at the door.” “Hello,” Sugarcoat greeted. “Are you Indigo Zap’s mother?” “Indeed I am!” she said and struck a pose eerily similar to the one Indigo had made before. “The one and only Lightning Dust! Who are you?” “My name is Sugarcoat. I am your neighbour. I live in that house.” She pointed towards it. “My mother gave me money for ice cream, but she gave me much more than I needed and when I pointed it out she said to ‘invite the girl next door’. Since I only know of Indigo Zap, I would like to invite her. Is she home?” Lightning Dust stared at her with an incredulous expression before giving her a strained smile. “Oh, you’re the girl my little Zappy talked about yesterday! Yeah, come on in!” She opened the door to let the girl in. “Indigo is in her room. It’s up the stairs, first room to the right.” Sugarcoat thanked her and made her way up the stairs. “Well what do you know?” Lightning Dust mumbled. “There really was a weirdo at the door…” ... Indigo’s door was wide open, allowing Sugarcoat to enter without thinking about knocking. Indigo laid on the floor in front of her TV, playing some videogame Sugarcoat didn’t recognise. She paused the game and smiled at her. “Hey, Sugarcoat! What’s up?” “My mother gave me money for ice cream, but she gave me much more than I needed and when I pointed it out she said to ‘invite the girl next door’. So, given my options, I would like to invite you.” “Wow, cool!” She bounced up and put on a cap with a pair of goggles on them. “Let’s go then!” Sugarcoat looked at the goggles. “Those are swimming goggles,” she noted. “Yea, but then I’m wearing them, they’re running goggles! That way I can run as fast as I can without having my eyes watering.” “Why would you need them if we’re going to get ice cream?” “Because I’ll race ya!” And with that she took off running, leaving a stunned Sugarcoat. When she finally got down the stairs, Indigo was already far down the street. As she was struggling to put her shoes back on, Sugarcoat noticed that Indigo had left hers behind. The closest place to buy ice cream was a kiosk in the nearby park. So that’s where they headed. Thankfully, Indigo had lost interest in the race after a few hundred meters, allowing a winded Sugarcoat to catch up with her and give her the shoes. “Which flavours are you getting?” Indigo asked as they walked. “I like vanilla,” Sugarcoat replied. “I like that flavour too!” Indigo beamed. “What else?” “Just vanilla.” Indigo frowned. “But we got enough money to get two scoops each.” “I’ll get two scoops of vanilla.” “Boooring!” Indigo exclaimed. “I think I’m going to take raspberry ripple and rocky road! Or maybe rum raisin. But I haven’t had chocolate in a while…” “I don’t like mixing flavours,” Sugarcoat stated. “But that’s the best part! Especially when you’ve eaten half of it and it has melted and you just mix it up into a new flavour! It’s like getting an extra scoop!” “I think that spoils the ice cream.” They kept on the conversation up until they entered the park. Poulenet Park sat at the very outskirts of Canterlot City. It was a huge, open area covered with emerald green grass and outlined by a sparse forest. It had a large playground for children to play in, a currently empty football court and an outdoor cafeteria with an ice cream stand right beside it. They quickly veered off the pathway and onto the grass, heading straight for their goal. They got about halfway there when Indigo spotted two other girls sitting next to a nearby tree and pointed towards the one with rainbow coloured hair. “Hey! That’s the girl that knocked my tooth out!” she exclaimed and ran towards her. The girl also spotted Indigo and within seconds they were at each other’s throats. “I had to go to the emergency room thanks to you!” Indigo growled. “Hey, I couldn’t help that your stupid face was in the way!” the girl sneered back “You did it on purpose because I scored a goal and you didn’t!” “I would have scored if you hadn’t swiped the ball from me!” The girl gave Indigo a shove. Indigo shoved her back. “Because you were being a total ball hog!” “Snot brain!” “Frog face!” “Skid mark!” “Grid iron!” “I think you should apologise,” Sugarcoat said, causing both of them to look at her. “Nobody asked you, four eyes!” the rainbow-haired girl glared. Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow at that. “That doesn’t even make any sense. I obviously only have two eyes.” … For some reason, both of them stared at her like she’d said something really stupid. “I-I think you should apologise too, Rainbow…” the pink-haired one piped up. “But Fluttershy! I--” “Even if you didn’t mean to, she still had to go to the doctor to make sure she was alright. You should apologise…” Rainbow frowned and folded her arms. Eventually, she mumbled something unintelligible and moved to leave, but was stopped by the pink-haired girl. “Rainbow…!” “Okay, fine!” Rainbow sighed. “I’m sorry I knocked your tooth out.” “I forgive you,” Indigo replied with a satisfied smirk. For a second, it looked like Rainbow was about to start arguing again, but Fluttershy grabbed her hand and lead her away. After all that, they finally reached the stand. Sugarcoat ordered two scoops of vanilla while Indigo settled on raspberry ripple and pistachio after brooding at the list of flavours for several minutes. On the way back, they opted to take the scenic route, following the path that snaked through the forest. “Hey, Sugarcoat,” Indigo said as they walked. “You really don’t know what four eyes mean?” “It means person with four eyes,” Sugarcoat replied. “But I only have two eyes. All humans only have two eyes. Unless they lose one, but they still won’t have--” “Y’know, let’s just forget about it…” Sugarcoat frowned. She really didn’t like it when other people knew something and refused to tell her. She was about to protest when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A pinecone flying towards her head! She brought up her hand to block it by reflex. The rim of the ice cream cup in her hand caught her glasses and it slipped out of her hand. It landed in the grass with a wet splat. Indigo turned her head just in time to see a streak of rainbow disappearing through the trees. “That little…!” She was about to run after her when she saw Sugarcoat’s expression. The poor girl's thoughts were stuck in an endless loop. Should she ask the ice cream woman for a replacement? But she doubted she would give her one. It wasn’t her fault she had dropped it, after all. Should she try and salvage what was left of it? But she didn’t want to eat something that had been on the ground. She grew more and more frustrated until tears threatened to bubble out of her eyes. Caught between chasing after the girl and comforting her friend, Indigo chose the latter. “Here,” she said and held out her ice cream. “Have some of mine.” “That’s your ice cream,” Sugarcoat said. “And I’m sharing it with you,” Indigo replied. ”It was your mom’s money so it’s not fair if I’m the only one who gets some.” Tentatively, she reached out and took a spoonful of the raspberry ripple. Some pistachio had already mixed with it, but she didn’t mind it so much. In fact, it tasted better than any ice cream she’d ever had! Author's Note How do you like your ice cream scoops? Are you an Indigo who mixes flavours, or a Sugarcoat who never does? Don't Play With Knives!Today, Indigo was in her room playing her favourite football game while Sugarcoat watched. Indigo had tried coaxing her into playing it with her a few times, but she always declined saying that she didn’t know the rules to football, which she thought was really weird. That didn’t bother her too much, though. She liked Sugarcoat despite her being weird. She didn’t really know how to describe it, but she was weird in a good way! But there was something about how she acted that made a thought appear in her head. She paused the game and turned around. “Hey, Sugarcoat,” she said. The girl didn’t respond. Just shift her gaze towards her to show that she was listening. Another weird thing about her. “Are you a robot?” Sugarcoat frowned. “Why would you ask that?” “Well, you kind off act like a robot. I’ve never seen you smile or laugh and you talk in the same tone all the time.” Sugarcoat went silent. She would do that sometimes when she was thinking about something. Yet another weird thing. “I’m not a robot,” she eventually replied. “But how can you know?” Indigo retorted. “Like, what if you only think you’re human?” Sugarcoat thought really hard for a response until she rose up. “I can prove I’m not a robot,” she said and walked out of the room. “My mom has two full albums of baby pictures of me,” she explained as they walked over to Sugarcoat’s house. Sugarcoat’s cat greeted them on the porch railing outside. “Hey, Mr Meow! Remember me?” The cat gave no response to Indigo beyond a tired glance, but he did start purring when she started petting him. “How come he’s sitting out here all alone?” Indigo asked as she scratched his chin. “He usually waits here whenever I go out,” Sugarcoat replied and gave him a pet. She opened the front door and held it opened for Indigo to enter. The cat didn’t follow them in. When they got inside, Indigo couldn't help but be surprised at how absolutely filled with stuff Sugarcoat's house was! The contrasts to her own home – where most of their belongings still laid in moving boxes all around the house – was astounding. The bookcases were filled with books, CDs and movies. Flowerpots in full bloom sat in every windowsill. The walls were adorned by family photos interspersed with paintings. One painting in particular featured a warship in the middle of firing its cannons. It hung right behind the sofa and was almost as wide. Indigo looked at it with awe. “This is so cool!” “It’s my father’s,” Sugarcoat said. “His great grandfather painted it.” “Awesome,” Indigo replied. “We don’t have any paintings at my house. Mom says they’re only for dumb-forks and limp-deers who think they’re special... But this one’s really cool! I wish we had something like this.” Sugarcoat didn’t know how to respond to that so she didn’t. “What did you forget this time…?” came an annoyed voice from the kitchen. Out stepped a woman with cornflower blue skin and her sea green hair done into a braid. She wore a faded pink apron and yellow dishwasher gloves. She must have expected someone else, because her expression changed from an annoyed frown to a warm smile. “Oh! I didn’t expect you back so soon, Sugarcoat - And who’s this?” She asked when she noted the visitor. “I’m Indigo Zap!” she declared and made a pose just like her mother would have! “Oh, you’re the girl next door! It’s so nice to meet you! My name is Warm Updraft,” she said and knelt down in front of her. “You recently moved in, didn’t you? Where did you move from?” “An apartment in Cloudsdale,” Indigo replied. “How was that? Did you like it there?” “It was okay, I guess. It was just really small. Our new house is much bigger!” “That’s nice to hear! My cousin lives in Cloudsdale, so I know what you mean about the apartments. I’ve been telling him to move here for years, but he claims it’s enough for him and his family.” Suddenly, Indigo remembered she had to thank Updraft for the ice cream. “Thank you for the ice cream, ma’am!” She yelped out and gave a hasty bow. Luckily her mom wasn’t here to see it all, or she would have gotten some harsh discipline. “Oh, it’s nothing, dear. I’m just happy to hear my little Sugarcoat finally have a friend to play with!” Sugarcoat, in the meanwhile had already taken out the photo albums from a cabinet and sat down in the sofa. “So what are you two playing now?” Updraft asked. “I’m showing Indigo my baby pictures to prove that I’m not a robot,” Sugarcoat replied. “Oh…Eh… Have fun…?” Updraft said with a concerned smile. She looked as if she wanted to say something else, but the phone started ringing and she moved into the dining room to answer. Indigo sat down as Sugarcoat flipped through the pages. “That’s the doctor that took care of the delivery.” She pointed to a picture of a doctor giving the thumbs up in full gear. Then to a picture of a heavily pregnant Warm Updraft looking strained for the camera. “That’s my mom before entering the second phase of labour.” “What’s that?” Indigo asked and pointed at a picture so blurry you couldn’t tell what it was. “That’s the last picture my dad took before he passed out,” Sugarcoat explained and flipped the page to a picture of a man lying on the floor. “One of the nurses took over the camera after that.” “Hey, where’s your dad anyway?” Indigo asked. “Are your parents divorced too?” “They are not,” Sugarcoat replied. “He’s working.” They kept looking some more until Updraft came back into the room. “Sugarcoat,” she started. “Could you and Indigo go play at her house for a while? I need to… Clean the house.” “I was going to show Indigo the basement to prove you and dad didn’t built me in there,” Sugarcoat replied. … “Some other time. Now go on.” “What a bummer!” Indigo said as they walked out. “Just when we were gonna find out the truth!” “Didn’t the photos prove I’m not a robot?” Sugarcoat replied. “I still feel completely human.” “But like…! What if your parents faked all the photos!” “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to fake that many photos?” “No,” she admitted. “Do you?” “I guess not…” Sugarcoat replied after a moment of silence. The silence continued all the way into Indigo’s hall. When she bent down to take her shoes off, Indigo caught sight of something in the kitchen. An idea came to her. “I know what we could do!” she exclaimed, ran up to the kitchen counter and pulled out a knife from the knife rack. Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow as she looked from the knife to Indigo. “I’m not sure I want to know now.” “Look, I snuck out of bed one night and saw my mom watching this movie about a robot that looked exactly like a human! And then the robot had to cut off the skin on their arm to show it had this metal skeleton under it! I couldn’t sleep for weeks after that…” “I’m not cutting the skin off my arm.” Indigo had to agree that was a stupid idea, but she wasn’t quite ready to let the whole thing go yet. There had to be some other way to get a definitive answer… But as always, she couldn’t get her brain to work when it counted. “What if… What if you just had a small cut?” “What would that prove?” “Well, the robot in the movie couldn’t bleed. I think…”She definitely remembered something about bleeding, but not exactly what it was. “So if you get a cut and you bleed, then you’re not a robot!” Sugarcoat folded her arms. She didn’t want to do this. Her brain kept screaming at her what a bad idea this was. Logically, she must have bled at some point in her life. Even if she couldn’t remember it. Maybe she could check her baby pictures again? She glanced at Indigo only to find her looking expectantly at her. … Then again… What harm could one cut do? She took the knife from Indigo and brought it towards her other hand. She took a few calming breaths, trying to psych herself up as the blade slowly got closer and closer to her skin. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Her mother always used to say she kept dithering at everything. 'You need to stop overthinking things', she always said. 'Just do it quick and get it over with, like a band aid!' So she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and did it! She felt a sting as the knife grazed her left index finger. A small but noticeable cut remained, which slowly turned red as blood began to pour out. “Looks like you weren’t a robot after all!” Indigo walked up and bumped her hip. Sugarcoat didn’t respond. She just kept staring at the red liquid running down her finger. Just looking at it made her feel weird. All of a sudden, her heart was beating faster and she felt nauseous. She heard Indigo tell her something, but she couldn’t comprehend what it was. Everything sounded like it was echoing through a tunnel. It sounded very distant, and yet there was a strange screeching sound coming from behind her ears. Everything was coated in green and magenta… … PLONK! “Sugarcoat…” Indigo knelt down beside her and nudged her. “Sugarcoat, are you dead…?” Nothing she did produced a reaction from the other girl. The pit in her stomach grew larger for each passing second. “Sugarcoat! Please say if you’re dead!” Still no answer. ... “Mom!” She ran as fast as she could, up the stair and into her mom’s bedroom. Normally she wouldn’t be caught dead barging in there – least of all while her mom was sleeping – but the fear of Sugarcoat’s life was far greater than her own. “M-Mom, wake up!” A tired and very cranky Lightning Dust groaned from under the blankets. “Sugarco-coat is dead…!” Indigo wailed. Lighting’s sleepiness was gone in an instant. “What!?” “She-she… In the kitchen… And then the b-blood… A-And she…!” Her adrenaline kicked into overdrive, Lightning flew out of the bed and down the stairs. When she got to the kitchen, her body acted purely from muscle memory. First: Assess the situation. Girl collapsed on the floor, kitchen knife beside her, blood on her left hand. No immediate danger. Second: Physical examination. She quickly flipped her onto her back and checked her pulse, as well as her hand. Breathing is normal. No sign of physical trauma. Small incision on her finger. Looks to be shallow. “Sugarcoat, I’m so sorry…!” Indigo cried out from the doorway. Satisfied that the collapsed girl wasn’t dead or dying, Lightning moved to console her daughter. She knelt down in front of her and put her hands on both of her shoulders. “Indigo, listen to me. Your friend is fine. It’s just a shallow cut and she’s passed out. She’s fine.” She paused for a second to let it sink in. “Now, I need you to go up to my bedroom, open the right-most closet and get the first aid bag in there. It’s a large, green bag with white crosses on it. Think you can do that?” Indigo nodded. “Good. I’ll carry Sugarcoat to the living room couch and make sure she’s safe.” She let go of Indigo, who immediately started running. Rising up, Lighting noticed her state of undress. “And get mommy’s robe!” she called. And with that, she finally gave herself permission to calm down. She also gave herself permission to take a quick swig from the liquor bottle on the top shelf of the cabinet. Something sharp got in Sugarcoat’s nose. A horrible smell that made her want to gag. She jerked her head away from it. She felt a rhythmic beating on her forehead as she opened her eyes and sat up. She found herself on a couch with a large pillow propping up her legs. “How are you, kid?” said a turquoise blob right beside her. “Everything is blurry,” she replied and moved her hand to her face to find her glasses missing. “Don’t worry. I got your glasses right here.” The world returned to normal and the turquoise blob became Lightning Dust’s concerned face. “You may have hit your head when you passed out. Let me know if any of this hurt.” Lightning methodically pressed down on various points of her head with her fingers until she winced. “Looks to be just a bump.” She held onto her chin with one hand and put her other front of her face. “Follow my finger with just your eyes,” she said and began moving it around. “I think you’ll be fine,” she concluded and rose up. “I patched up your cut so it shouldn’t get infected. Just remember to have your mom or dad look at it next time you wash.” Sugarcoat nodded. “Good. I’m going back to sleep. Don’t do anything strenuous for a while, ‘kay?” she said and walked to the doorway, where she turned back “And I better not catch you two playing with knifes again or I’ll whoop your asses!” She gave both of the girls a death glare. “I’m not kidding around here. You could have hurt yourselves a lot worse than this, got it? Say, yes Furir!” “Yes, Furir!” Both girls said. Satisfied with that, she left to get some double well-earned sleep. Several minutes of silence followed where all Indigo and Sugarcoat did was glance at each other in shame. “I’m sorry I made you cut your finger…” “It’s not all your fault. I still did it, despite not wanting to…” … “I guess now I know how my dad felt,” Sugarcoat said after another minute of silence. That made Indigo smile. “Did you just make a joke?” “I guess I did,” Sugarcoat replied and smiled back. Truth to be told, she hadn’t really meant to make it a joke, but she didn’t want to spoil the moment. Indigo started giggling which quickly spread to Sugarcoat and soon enough, they were both laughing in earnest. When they’d finally stopped, Indigo went and got more pillows and blankets, and then ran up to her room and got a movie for them to watch in the living room. During a slow part, Indigo turned to Sugarcoat. “Just so you know; I wouldn’t have cared if you were a robot.” Again, Sugarcoat didn't really know how to respond. She just smiled, but that seemed enough. All in all, it was a pretty good day! Author's Note Have you ever fainted? I haven't, but I was really close to once when I got my thumb stabbed by a chisel and I experianced everything Sugarcoat did. Luckily, I was told to sit down and put my head between my knees before I did.
They Meet!Sugarcoat was a young girl in the tender age of 12. She didn’t have any friends. None of the girls in her class shared her interests. None of the boys either for that matter... The few times she had tried – always after being goaded by one of her teachers – they would quickly declare her to be “weird” or “strange” or “a girl” and start ignoring her. It didn’t particularly bother her, though. She was perfectly fine spending time on her own while her classmates played. Today she was at home. Normally that was a time for her to spend time in her room reading, doing her homework, or her dance exercises. But her mother had other plans as of late. “Sugarcoat! Could you go play outside for a bit?” “Do I have to?” she replied. “Only for a little while. I need to talk with your dad.” She didn’t particularly want to play outside today, but she couldn’t see any reason for why she couldn’t. As such, she donned one of her father’s white coats (making sure to roll up the sleeves all the way up to her elbows), took the Big Book on Cats her mother had gotten her last Christmas and a notepad, and headed outside. Her cat was already out there, basking in the afternoon sunlight on top of the garden table as he usually did. For the last couple of weeks, the cat hadn’t used its litterbox for his business, instead opting for the sofa or the carpets. Obviously, that wasn’t good. So now she was looking for a solution. She sat down on at the table and began reading. “The book says that going outside the litterbox could be a sign of distress,” she narrated. “Distress is commonly caused by sudden changes in the home.” She tried to think of anything that had happened that could upset the cat, but nothing had changed as far as she knew. The only thing she could think of was how her mother wanted her to play outside more after school. She put down the book, picked up the notepad and looked the cat in the eye. “What is upsetting you? Would you please share it with me?” she asked and waited for some sort of response. She did receive one, but not one she had expected. “Are you talking to a cat…?” Sugarcoat looked up to see another girl with short, electric blue hair and light peach skin leaning above the fence dividing both of their backyards. Quite the feat, considering the fence stood almost twice as high as herself. “I am,” she replied. “Why…?” the girl asked. “I am being a psychologist.” The girl frowned. “Mom says those are limp-deers who brainwash you and take all your money.” “You’re thinking of Scientologist,“ Sugarcoat replied. “Oh...” The girl scratched her head. “So, what’s a Saigomist?” “Psy-cho-log-ist,” Sugarcoat clarified. “It means ‘Person who Studies the Psyche’.” The girl looked at her with a blank expression. “It’s a head doctor.” “Oh, cool! And you even got a doctor coat on! Sweet!” “It is my dad’s,” Sugarcoat replied. “Is he a doctor too?” “No, he’s a chief.” The girl giggled. “That’s cool too.” She swung over the fence and walked up to the table. “So who’s this little fellow?” she asked and petted the happily purring cat. “His name is Mr Meow.” The girl laughed. “Seriously? What kind of name is that?” “My mom named him…” “You’re lucky to have a pet,” the girl said. “I’ve always wanted one, but my mom hates animals.” Sugarcoat was about to reply when she realised something. She didn’t know this girl! Her mom had always told her to never talk to strangers. ‘Never, ever talk to them!’ she had said. Was this girl a stranger, though? When she thought of strangers, she thought of that creepy guy in the park. Not girls her own age. Her teacher always said she should try and meet new people… If she introduced herself to this girl, would that mean they weren’t strangers anymore? Finally, she decided that was the case and introduced herself. “My name is Sugarcoat. What is your name?” “I’m Indigo Zap!” The girls replied with a big, proud smile and struck a pose. “You’re missing a tooth,” Sugarcoat noted. “You don’t think I know that?” Indigo giggled. “I was playing football in the park and this more-weirdo kicked the ball right in my face and knocked one of my teeth out! I had to go to the emergency room and everything!” She leaned forward. “Do you play any sports?” “I practice ballet and ice dancing,” Sugarcoat replied. Indigo scoffed. “Those are not sports! Mom says it can’t be a sport without a ball!” “I don’t see how whether you have balls or not determine what a sport is or isn’t.” Indigo had to cover her mouth to avoid bursting into laughter, with limited success. Sugarcoat was very confused by this. “I don’t see what so funny,” she said. “You don’t use balls when you practice ballet or ice dancing.” That only made Indigo laugh even more. Sugarcoat folded her arms and waited. She may have been used to people laughing at her for no reason, but she still didn’t like it. “You said balls…!” Indigo wheezed in between laughs. Again, Sugarcoat didn’t understand what was funny about that. Indigo threw her arm around her and pulled her into a side hug. “I like you. You’re really funny!” “Indigo!” yelled a voice from Indigo’s house. “Where are you? Your dinner is done!” “Coming, mom!” Indigo yelled back and turned back to Sugarcoat. “Sorry, I gotta go. We should hang out more sometime!” When she looked at the fence, an idea came to her. “Watch this!” She took off sprinting towards it, leaped and went into a handstand on top of it. Until the momentum made her fall over onto her own yard with a loud crash… “Are you hurt?” Sugarcoat called over the fence. “It wasn’t so bad,” Indigo replied. “I’m used to it.” She groaned as she stood up from the pile of stuff she had landed on. “Okay, maybe a little… Mom! I need more band aids!” After Indigo had shambled her way inside, Sugarcoat realised how hungry she was. She went to check the time and found it was right about time to start eating. Her mother was in the kitchen, sitting at the table at her dad’s spot. Her dad was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s dad?” she asked. Her mother sat up in surprise. “Oh, he had to go to back to work,” she replied. “What are we having for dinner? I’m hungry.” Her mother looked around the kitchen for a moment before deciding there wasn’t anything easy to cook. “How would you feel about takeout?” Sugarcoat shrugged and sat down in her seat. Once the food had been delivered and they began to eat, her mother began asking about her day. “Did you have fun outside?” “I think so,” Sugarcoat replied. “I met a strange girl from the house next door.” Author's Note Hello and welcome! I hope you'll enjoy this surprisingly saccharine adventure! This, and more to come, soon!
Ice Cream in the Park!Today, Sugarcoat were heading outside once again, fully determined to complete the task her mother had given her. It wasn’t unusually for her to run errands for her parents. At least not since a few weeks ago. But this was not another run to buy milk from the nearby convenience store. Her destination was her neighbours’ house. She stopped and pondered for a minute when she got to the door. Her mom always said to knock at a door. ‘Always, always knock!’ she had said. She hadn’t specified how many, though. After some more pondering, she settled on three knocks. Three was a good number. She extended her arm towards the door when she noticed the doorbell and stopped. Should she ring the doorbell instead? Doorbells were better than knocks, weren’t they? If you have a doorbell you’d wish for people to ring it, wouldn’t you? But her mother had insisted that she knock… Why would she do that when there was a doorbell, though? Surely the doorbell was the superior way to announce your presence at the door. Could you knock and ring the doorbell…? After a final ponder, she decided you could. Knock! Knock! Knock! Pling-plong! Knock! Knock! Knock! Pling-plong! Knock! Knock! Knock! Pling-plong! The door swung open just as she pressed the bell for the final time. Inside was an older woman, about her mother’s age, with turquoise skin and a blonde mane of a hairdo. “What the hell do you think you’re doing you stupid id…” she trailed off when she noticed the little girl in front of her. “Oh… Sorry, kiddo. I thought it was some mor- I mean - weirdo at the door.” “Hello,” Sugarcoat greeted. “Are you Indigo Zap’s mother?” “Indeed I am!” she said and struck a pose eerily similar to the one Indigo had made before. “The one and only Lightning Dust! Who are you?” “My name is Sugarcoat. I am your neighbour. I live in that house.” She pointed towards it. “My mother gave me money for ice cream, but she gave me much more than I needed and when I pointed it out she said to ‘invite the girl next door’. Since I only know of Indigo Zap, I would like to invite her. Is she home?” Lightning Dust stared at her with an incredulous expression before giving her a strained smile. “Oh, you’re the girl my little Zappy talked about yesterday! Yeah, come on in!” She opened the door to let the girl in. “Indigo is in her room. It’s up the stairs, first room to the right.” Sugarcoat thanked her and made her way up the stairs. “Well what do you know?” Lightning Dust mumbled. “There really was a weirdo at the door…” ... Indigo’s door was wide open, allowing Sugarcoat to enter without thinking about knocking. Indigo laid on the floor in front of her TV, playing some videogame Sugarcoat didn’t recognise. She paused the game and smiled at her. “Hey, Sugarcoat! What’s up?” “My mother gave me money for ice cream, but she gave me much more than I needed and when I pointed it out she said to ‘invite the girl next door’. So, given my options, I would like to invite you.” “Wow, cool!” She bounced up and put on a cap with a pair of goggles on them. “Let’s go then!” Sugarcoat looked at the goggles. “Those are swimming goggles,” she noted. “Yea, but then I’m wearing them, they’re running goggles! That way I can run as fast as I can without having my eyes watering.” “Why would you need them if we’re going to get ice cream?” “Because I’ll race ya!” And with that she took off running, leaving a stunned Sugarcoat. When she finally got down the stairs, Indigo was already far down the street. As she was struggling to put her shoes back on, Sugarcoat noticed that Indigo had left hers behind. The closest place to buy ice cream was a kiosk in the nearby park. So that’s where they headed. Thankfully, Indigo had lost interest in the race after a few hundred meters, allowing a winded Sugarcoat to catch up with her and give her the shoes. “Which flavours are you getting?” Indigo asked as they walked. “I like vanilla,” Sugarcoat replied. “I like that flavour too!” Indigo beamed. “What else?” “Just vanilla.” Indigo frowned. “But we got enough money to get two scoops each.” “I’ll get two scoops of vanilla.” “Boooring!” Indigo exclaimed. “I think I’m going to take raspberry ripple and rocky road! Or maybe rum raisin. But I haven’t had chocolate in a while…” “I don’t like mixing flavours,” Sugarcoat stated. “But that’s the best part! Especially when you’ve eaten half of it and it has melted and you just mix it up into a new flavour! It’s like getting an extra scoop!” “I think that spoils the ice cream.” They kept on the conversation up until they entered the park. Poulenet Park sat at the very outskirts of Canterlot City. It was a huge, open area covered with emerald green grass and outlined by a sparse forest. It had a large playground for children to play in, a currently empty football court and an outdoor cafeteria with an ice cream stand right beside it. They quickly veered off the pathway and onto the grass, heading straight for their goal. They got about halfway there when Indigo spotted two other girls sitting next to a nearby tree and pointed towards the one with rainbow coloured hair. “Hey! That’s the girl that knocked my tooth out!” she exclaimed and ran towards her. The girl also spotted Indigo and within seconds they were at each other’s throats. “I had to go to the emergency room thanks to you!” Indigo growled. “Hey, I couldn’t help that your stupid face was in the way!” the girl sneered back “You did it on purpose because I scored a goal and you didn’t!” “I would have scored if you hadn’t swiped the ball from me!” The girl gave Indigo a shove. Indigo shoved her back. “Because you were being a total ball hog!” “Snot brain!” “Frog face!” “Skid mark!” “Grid iron!” “I think you should apologise,” Sugarcoat said, causing both of them to look at her. “Nobody asked you, four eyes!” the rainbow-haired girl glared. Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow at that. “That doesn’t even make any sense. I obviously only have two eyes.” … For some reason, both of them stared at her like she’d said something really stupid. “I-I think you should apologise too, Rainbow…” the pink-haired one piped up. “But Fluttershy! I--” “Even if you didn’t mean to, she still had to go to the doctor to make sure she was alright. You should apologise…” Rainbow frowned and folded her arms. Eventually, she mumbled something unintelligible and moved to leave, but was stopped by the pink-haired girl. “Rainbow…!” “Okay, fine!” Rainbow sighed. “I’m sorry I knocked your tooth out.” “I forgive you,” Indigo replied with a satisfied smirk. For a second, it looked like Rainbow was about to start arguing again, but Fluttershy grabbed her hand and lead her away. After all that, they finally reached the stand. Sugarcoat ordered two scoops of vanilla while Indigo settled on raspberry ripple and pistachio after brooding at the list of flavours for several minutes. On the way back, they opted to take the scenic route, following the path that snaked through the forest. “Hey, Sugarcoat,” Indigo said as they walked. “You really don’t know what four eyes mean?” “It means person with four eyes,” Sugarcoat replied. “But I only have two eyes. All humans only have two eyes. Unless they lose one, but they still won’t have--” “Y’know, let’s just forget about it…” Sugarcoat frowned. She really didn’t like it when other people knew something and refused to tell her. She was about to protest when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A pinecone flying towards her head! She brought up her hand to block it by reflex. The rim of the ice cream cup in her hand caught her glasses and it slipped out of her hand. It landed in the grass with a wet splat. Indigo turned her head just in time to see a streak of rainbow disappearing through the trees. “That little…!” She was about to run after her when she saw Sugarcoat’s expression. The poor girl's thoughts were stuck in an endless loop. Should she ask the ice cream woman for a replacement? But she doubted she would give her one. It wasn’t her fault she had dropped it, after all. Should she try and salvage what was left of it? But she didn’t want to eat something that had been on the ground. She grew more and more frustrated until tears threatened to bubble out of her eyes. Caught between chasing after the girl and comforting her friend, Indigo chose the latter. “Here,” she said and held out her ice cream. “Have some of mine.” “That’s your ice cream,” Sugarcoat said. “And I’m sharing it with you,” Indigo replied. ”It was your mom’s money so it’s not fair if I’m the only one who gets some.” Tentatively, she reached out and took a spoonful of the raspberry ripple. Some pistachio had already mixed with it, but she didn’t mind it so much. In fact, it tasted better than any ice cream she’d ever had! Author's Note How do you like your ice cream scoops? Are you an Indigo who mixes flavours, or a Sugarcoat who never does?
Don't Play With Knives!Today, Indigo was in her room playing her favourite football game while Sugarcoat watched. Indigo had tried coaxing her into playing it with her a few times, but she always declined saying that she didn’t know the rules to football, which she thought was really weird. That didn’t bother her too much, though. She liked Sugarcoat despite her being weird. She didn’t really know how to describe it, but she was weird in a good way! But there was something about how she acted that made a thought appear in her head. She paused the game and turned around. “Hey, Sugarcoat,” she said. The girl didn’t respond. Just shift her gaze towards her to show that she was listening. Another weird thing about her. “Are you a robot?” Sugarcoat frowned. “Why would you ask that?” “Well, you kind off act like a robot. I’ve never seen you smile or laugh and you talk in the same tone all the time.” Sugarcoat went silent. She would do that sometimes when she was thinking about something. Yet another weird thing. “I’m not a robot,” she eventually replied. “But how can you know?” Indigo retorted. “Like, what if you only think you’re human?” Sugarcoat thought really hard for a response until she rose up. “I can prove I’m not a robot,” she said and walked out of the room. “My mom has two full albums of baby pictures of me,” she explained as they walked over to Sugarcoat’s house. Sugarcoat’s cat greeted them on the porch railing outside. “Hey, Mr Meow! Remember me?” The cat gave no response to Indigo beyond a tired glance, but he did start purring when she started petting him. “How come he’s sitting out here all alone?” Indigo asked as she scratched his chin. “He usually waits here whenever I go out,” Sugarcoat replied and gave him a pet. She opened the front door and held it opened for Indigo to enter. The cat didn’t follow them in. When they got inside, Indigo couldn't help but be surprised at how absolutely filled with stuff Sugarcoat's house was! The contrasts to her own home – where most of their belongings still laid in moving boxes all around the house – was astounding. The bookcases were filled with books, CDs and movies. Flowerpots in full bloom sat in every windowsill. The walls were adorned by family photos interspersed with paintings. One painting in particular featured a warship in the middle of firing its cannons. It hung right behind the sofa and was almost as wide. Indigo looked at it with awe. “This is so cool!” “It’s my father’s,” Sugarcoat said. “His great grandfather painted it.” “Awesome,” Indigo replied. “We don’t have any paintings at my house. Mom says they’re only for dumb-forks and limp-deers who think they’re special... But this one’s really cool! I wish we had something like this.” Sugarcoat didn’t know how to respond to that so she didn’t. “What did you forget this time…?” came an annoyed voice from the kitchen. Out stepped a woman with cornflower blue skin and her sea green hair done into a braid. She wore a faded pink apron and yellow dishwasher gloves. She must have expected someone else, because her expression changed from an annoyed frown to a warm smile. “Oh! I didn’t expect you back so soon, Sugarcoat - And who’s this?” She asked when she noted the visitor. “I’m Indigo Zap!” she declared and made a pose just like her mother would have! “Oh, you’re the girl next door! It’s so nice to meet you! My name is Warm Updraft,” she said and knelt down in front of her. “You recently moved in, didn’t you? Where did you move from?” “An apartment in Cloudsdale,” Indigo replied. “How was that? Did you like it there?” “It was okay, I guess. It was just really small. Our new house is much bigger!” “That’s nice to hear! My cousin lives in Cloudsdale, so I know what you mean about the apartments. I’ve been telling him to move here for years, but he claims it’s enough for him and his family.” Suddenly, Indigo remembered she had to thank Updraft for the ice cream. “Thank you for the ice cream, ma’am!” She yelped out and gave a hasty bow. Luckily her mom wasn’t here to see it all, or she would have gotten some harsh discipline. “Oh, it’s nothing, dear. I’m just happy to hear my little Sugarcoat finally have a friend to play with!” Sugarcoat, in the meanwhile had already taken out the photo albums from a cabinet and sat down in the sofa. “So what are you two playing now?” Updraft asked. “I’m showing Indigo my baby pictures to prove that I’m not a robot,” Sugarcoat replied. “Oh…Eh… Have fun…?” Updraft said with a concerned smile. She looked as if she wanted to say something else, but the phone started ringing and she moved into the dining room to answer. Indigo sat down as Sugarcoat flipped through the pages. “That’s the doctor that took care of the delivery.” She pointed to a picture of a doctor giving the thumbs up in full gear. Then to a picture of a heavily pregnant Warm Updraft looking strained for the camera. “That’s my mom before entering the second phase of labour.” “What’s that?” Indigo asked and pointed at a picture so blurry you couldn’t tell what it was. “That’s the last picture my dad took before he passed out,” Sugarcoat explained and flipped the page to a picture of a man lying on the floor. “One of the nurses took over the camera after that.” “Hey, where’s your dad anyway?” Indigo asked. “Are your parents divorced too?” “They are not,” Sugarcoat replied. “He’s working.” They kept looking some more until Updraft came back into the room. “Sugarcoat,” she started. “Could you and Indigo go play at her house for a while? I need to… Clean the house.” “I was going to show Indigo the basement to prove you and dad didn’t built me in there,” Sugarcoat replied. … “Some other time. Now go on.” “What a bummer!” Indigo said as they walked out. “Just when we were gonna find out the truth!” “Didn’t the photos prove I’m not a robot?” Sugarcoat replied. “I still feel completely human.” “But like…! What if your parents faked all the photos!” “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to fake that many photos?” “No,” she admitted. “Do you?” “I guess not…” Sugarcoat replied after a moment of silence. The silence continued all the way into Indigo’s hall. When she bent down to take her shoes off, Indigo caught sight of something in the kitchen. An idea came to her. “I know what we could do!” she exclaimed, ran up to the kitchen counter and pulled out a knife from the knife rack. Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow as she looked from the knife to Indigo. “I’m not sure I want to know now.” “Look, I snuck out of bed one night and saw my mom watching this movie about a robot that looked exactly like a human! And then the robot had to cut off the skin on their arm to show it had this metal skeleton under it! I couldn’t sleep for weeks after that…” “I’m not cutting the skin off my arm.” Indigo had to agree that was a stupid idea, but she wasn’t quite ready to let the whole thing go yet. There had to be some other way to get a definitive answer… But as always, she couldn’t get her brain to work when it counted. “What if… What if you just had a small cut?” “What would that prove?” “Well, the robot in the movie couldn’t bleed. I think…”She definitely remembered something about bleeding, but not exactly what it was. “So if you get a cut and you bleed, then you’re not a robot!” Sugarcoat folded her arms. She didn’t want to do this. Her brain kept screaming at her what a bad idea this was. Logically, she must have bled at some point in her life. Even if she couldn’t remember it. Maybe she could check her baby pictures again? She glanced at Indigo only to find her looking expectantly at her. … Then again… What harm could one cut do? She took the knife from Indigo and brought it towards her other hand. She took a few calming breaths, trying to psych herself up as the blade slowly got closer and closer to her skin. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Her mother always used to say she kept dithering at everything. 'You need to stop overthinking things', she always said. 'Just do it quick and get it over with, like a band aid!' So she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and did it! She felt a sting as the knife grazed her left index finger. A small but noticeable cut remained, which slowly turned red as blood began to pour out. “Looks like you weren’t a robot after all!” Indigo walked up and bumped her hip. Sugarcoat didn’t respond. She just kept staring at the red liquid running down her finger. Just looking at it made her feel weird. All of a sudden, her heart was beating faster and she felt nauseous. She heard Indigo tell her something, but she couldn’t comprehend what it was. Everything sounded like it was echoing through a tunnel. It sounded very distant, and yet there was a strange screeching sound coming from behind her ears. Everything was coated in green and magenta… … PLONK! “Sugarcoat…” Indigo knelt down beside her and nudged her. “Sugarcoat, are you dead…?” Nothing she did produced a reaction from the other girl. The pit in her stomach grew larger for each passing second. “Sugarcoat! Please say if you’re dead!” Still no answer. ... “Mom!” She ran as fast as she could, up the stair and into her mom’s bedroom. Normally she wouldn’t be caught dead barging in there – least of all while her mom was sleeping – but the fear of Sugarcoat’s life was far greater than her own. “M-Mom, wake up!” A tired and very cranky Lightning Dust groaned from under the blankets. “Sugarco-coat is dead…!” Indigo wailed. Lighting’s sleepiness was gone in an instant. “What!?” “She-she… In the kitchen… And then the b-blood… A-And she…!” Her adrenaline kicked into overdrive, Lightning flew out of the bed and down the stairs. When she got to the kitchen, her body acted purely from muscle memory. First: Assess the situation. Girl collapsed on the floor, kitchen knife beside her, blood on her left hand. No immediate danger. Second: Physical examination. She quickly flipped her onto her back and checked her pulse, as well as her hand. Breathing is normal. No sign of physical trauma. Small incision on her finger. Looks to be shallow. “Sugarcoat, I’m so sorry…!” Indigo cried out from the doorway. Satisfied that the collapsed girl wasn’t dead or dying, Lightning moved to console her daughter. She knelt down in front of her and put her hands on both of her shoulders. “Indigo, listen to me. Your friend is fine. It’s just a shallow cut and she’s passed out. She’s fine.” She paused for a second to let it sink in. “Now, I need you to go up to my bedroom, open the right-most closet and get the first aid bag in there. It’s a large, green bag with white crosses on it. Think you can do that?” Indigo nodded. “Good. I’ll carry Sugarcoat to the living room couch and make sure she’s safe.” She let go of Indigo, who immediately started running. Rising up, Lighting noticed her state of undress. “And get mommy’s robe!” she called. And with that, she finally gave herself permission to calm down. She also gave herself permission to take a quick swig from the liquor bottle on the top shelf of the cabinet. Something sharp got in Sugarcoat’s nose. A horrible smell that made her want to gag. She jerked her head away from it. She felt a rhythmic beating on her forehead as she opened her eyes and sat up. She found herself on a couch with a large pillow propping up her legs. “How are you, kid?” said a turquoise blob right beside her. “Everything is blurry,” she replied and moved her hand to her face to find her glasses missing. “Don’t worry. I got your glasses right here.” The world returned to normal and the turquoise blob became Lightning Dust’s concerned face. “You may have hit your head when you passed out. Let me know if any of this hurt.” Lightning methodically pressed down on various points of her head with her fingers until she winced. “Looks to be just a bump.” She held onto her chin with one hand and put her other front of her face. “Follow my finger with just your eyes,” she said and began moving it around. “I think you’ll be fine,” she concluded and rose up. “I patched up your cut so it shouldn’t get infected. Just remember to have your mom or dad look at it next time you wash.” Sugarcoat nodded. “Good. I’m going back to sleep. Don’t do anything strenuous for a while, ‘kay?” she said and walked to the doorway, where she turned back “And I better not catch you two playing with knifes again or I’ll whoop your asses!” She gave both of the girls a death glare. “I’m not kidding around here. You could have hurt yourselves a lot worse than this, got it? Say, yes Furir!” “Yes, Furir!” Both girls said. Satisfied with that, she left to get some double well-earned sleep. Several minutes of silence followed where all Indigo and Sugarcoat did was glance at each other in shame. “I’m sorry I made you cut your finger…” “It’s not all your fault. I still did it, despite not wanting to…” … “I guess now I know how my dad felt,” Sugarcoat said after another minute of silence. That made Indigo smile. “Did you just make a joke?” “I guess I did,” Sugarcoat replied and smiled back. Truth to be told, she hadn’t really meant to make it a joke, but she didn’t want to spoil the moment. Indigo started giggling which quickly spread to Sugarcoat and soon enough, they were both laughing in earnest. When they’d finally stopped, Indigo went and got more pillows and blankets, and then ran up to her room and got a movie for them to watch in the living room. During a slow part, Indigo turned to Sugarcoat. “Just so you know; I wouldn’t have cared if you were a robot.” Again, Sugarcoat didn't really know how to respond. She just smiled, but that seemed enough. All in all, it was a pretty good day! Author's Note Have you ever fainted? I haven't, but I was really close to once when I got my thumb stabbed by a chisel and I experianced everything Sugarcoat did. Luckily, I was told to sit down and put my head between my knees before I did.
