"How ya doing everybody?" Lemon Zest said energetically through a mic in front of her as she sat in a small room full of broadcast equipment. Just behind her, Twilight Sparkle watched in a quite curiosity as the other girl did her thing. She'd agreed to accompany each of the Shadowbolts for a week of activities as their way of making amends for not really being very good friends to her before. "You're kickin' it Blaster Radio, which is in my opinion, which I respect, the greatest radio station in our beautiful little pocket of the world. Next up we've got Sapphire Shores with "Serves Her Right". Enjoy."
Lemon swiveled around in her chair after she switched the track on and removed her headphones. "So what do you think? Pretty cool, huh?"
"I have to admit, it is pretty impressive. But how did you manage to get a radio station?"
"Well my dad nixed the tank idea." Twilight chuckled only to find that Lemon wasn't joking.
"Oh." Still a bit nervous, Twilight decided to change the subject. "By the way thanks for treating me to lunch."
"Don't mention it." Lemon gave the other girl a light smile. "You know we're not trying to trick you or anything, right? We all feel really bad about the way we treated you before, making you use that device that made you go all wonky and what not. I know Sugarcoat will probably tell you the same thing but I just wanted to get that out in the open and hope you'll give us the benefit of the doubt."
"I will. And I really do appreciate what you're doing." Just then, the two heard a low rumbling sound. "What was that?"
Lemon held her stomach as a look of distress flashed across her face. "That would be my lunch. Why did you let me order that spicy chorizo super burrito?" She jumped up from her seat in a panic.
"Because you wanted it."
"You should know I don't know what I want! Oh jeez, here!" She placed Twilight in the swivel chair and put the headphones around her neck. "Cover for me!" Lemon raced out of the room with speed that would've made even Rainbow Dash green with envy.
"Um, Lemon?" Twilight attempted to call as she noticed the song come to an end, which created dead air on the station. She took a deep breath and placed the headphones over her ears. "You can do this." It wasn't hard for her to memorize the series of buttons and switches she'd seen Lemon use to operate the station. The girl reached over and pressed a single button as the flashing red light on the council turned a solid red.
About a half-an-hour later, Lemon Zest returned to the broadcast room. "There's no way I'm ever eating one of those again until next time. Sorry for bailing on you Twi..." She stopped mid-sentence as she couldn't believe her eyes. Not only was Twilight handling the station, but she was doing it with an energy Zest couldn't even describe.
"Okay ladies and gentlemen, this next one goes out to all you who've had you're hearts broken by that one you thought was 'the one'. Here's Countess Coloratura with "I Thought it Was You". Take it away Countess." Twilight switched off the mic and lowered the headphones for a moment before taking notice of the neon haired girl behind her. "Oh, hey Lemon."
Zest stood silent for a moment before getting her senses about her and replied. "Dude, you are super crazy good! Never knew you were DJ material."
"Thanks, but honestly I don't think I was that good."
"Are you kidding me? You were awesome. Maybe you could be my special guest DJ sometimes."
"Really?"
"Yeah dude. What do you say?"
Twilight thought for a second before looking up to Lemon with a bright smile. "Sounds like fun." Lemon excitedly hugged her, nearly squeezing the life from her former classmate. "Lemon...dead...air." she managed to squeak out as the other girl put two and two together.
"Oh jeez!" Twi promptly handed Zest the headphones as she hustled to get back to the now silent station. "And we're back folks. I hope you enjoyed our special guest DJ T. Sparks, because she'll be joining us again real soon."
A Few Days Later
"Are you sure the blindfold is necessary?" Twilight asked as she was led by the hand, her vision obscured by the cloth on her eyes.
"No, that would obviously ruin the surprise," the monotone voice said as they continued to lead the way. "Besides, we're here."
Twilight felt a pair of hands remove the blindfold from her eyes, exposing her to light once again as her eyes attempted to adjust. This was still a difficult task without her glasses, as everything still was nothing but blurs without them. A quick remedy to the vision problem was promptly solved as the aforementioned item was placed on her face and she could once again see clearly, Sugarcoat's face being the first thing that came into focus.
"Better?" the white haired girl asked to which Twilight gave a silent nod. "Then allow me to welcome you to my little home away from home." The violet skinned girl spun in amazement as she beheld a large room filled to the brim with books on every shelf. "It's my grandfather's old personal study. He collected books from all over in his youth and when he passed away he left them all to me and now I'm sharing them with you."
Sugarcoat watched as Twilight, albeit stunned at first, began to scan the shelves. "I've never seen so many rare books in one place. Oh my gosh! This went out of print years ago!" The two unknowingly spent hours inside the personal library as Sugarcoat showed and then explained the particular history of each and every book Twilight inquired about. "Thank you so much for sharing this with me." Twi said as she looked up from the book she had in front of her
"Thank you for letting me do this. I know this hardly makes up for all the unpleasantness that occurred between us."
"Everything at the Friendship Games was crazy. With all the pressure Cinch put on us I can understand why you did what you did."
Sugarcoat's gaze shifted down to her left as her usual monotone voice turned to one of embarrassment. "I-I was actually talking about the times before that."
"Oh," was all Twilight could say with the realization. "Sugarcoat, it's alright."
"No it's not. Things were different then, they were good." The white haired girl turned away from Twilight as she placed a hand on one of the books on the shelf in front of her. "But I let Crystal Prep change me like it did everyone else. I abandoned you to sharks like Cinch. What happened at the Friendship Games, that was just a culmination of all we put you through, all that I started."
Twilight's put on a stern and determined expression as she walked over to her. "Things may have changed a lot since then, it's true. But the fact that we're here now, doing this, it just proves that the good person that I remember isn't all gone."
"Thank you, Twilight." The two shared a rather long hug before Sugarcoat opened her eyes returned to her monotone expression. "I hope the fact that I've opened up like this will help you realize this isn't some sort of trap to humiliate you."
"It does," Twilight said as the two took a step back. "You know, Lemon Zest told me something similar."
"Figures she would undermine my personal heartfelt moment. I'll be sure to reward her justly for that. But that bridge will be crossed later. How about we get some ice cream, my treat. You do still like pecan, right?"
"Does Cinch's vein bulge when Indigo skates in the halls?" Twilight asked as she and Sugarcoat shared a mischievous smirk before they headed out.
A Few Days Later
Twilight was seated in the passenger's side of Sour Sweet's small car as the two we're on their way to a movie. "Thanks for driving Sour Sweet. I really should get my license, but I tend to...choke whenever I get on the open road."
"Don't mention it, Twilight. It's my pleasure, especially since you parallel park like my grandma." Sour realized her offhanded comment and turned slightly to Twilight. "Sorry, I do that sometimes."
Twilight chuckled lightly. "I know, it's alright. So, where are we headed first."
"I thought we might catch a movie or..." Sour paused as she looked out the right side of the car to the sidewalk. "Oh no." She said with a concerned look on her face as she turned the car into the lane closest the sidewalk on the passenger's side.
"What is it?" Twilight looked out her window only to see a lone elderly man walking aimlessly down the street. Sour pulled her car over and kept it going at a slow pace as the man continued to walk and rolled the passenger side window down.
"Mr. Cloud," Sour called out, which caused the man to stop and turn to her.
"Sour Sweet? Hey, how's my favorite girl?"
"Good, Mr. Cloud," She got out of the car and walked to him. "Where are you going?" she asked with a voice of concern.
"I'm going home." he said as he stared down the road.
"Mr. Cloud, you live two miles in the other direction."
"I moved."
"When did you move?"
"A while ago."
Sour sighed before putting on a bright smile. "Okay, how about I give you a ride home. Does that sound alright?" Twilight watched as the older man gave a nod and the pink haired girl guided him to her car. About twenty minutes later, Sour and Twilight were at the steps of Mr. Cloud's home as his granddaughter, a young woman with violet skin and black hair helped him back into the house.
"Thank you girls so much for bringing him home," she thanked the two. "I just went into the basement to sort the laundry and when I came back up he was gone."
"It was our pleasure. You take care now." Sour said with a beaming smile as the two bid the woman a farewell before they headed back to the car. "Sorry about the detour, Twilight."
"No, it's perfectly fine."
"Mr. Cloud, he just means a lot to me. When I was growing up I didn't have any friends. All the other kids would make fun of me and tease me so I just did everything by myself. One day Mr. Cloud was nice enough to let me spend the day with him. Soon, he was letting me spend as much time at his house as I wanted. He's wife would teach me how to bake and he'd take me out to get ice cream and to go see performances at the big theater down town."
"That was very generous of him." Twilight said as she noticed the smile fade from Sour Sweet's face.
"Yeah, it was. Then a few years ago Mrs. Cloud passed and his mind started to go a while after that. He has trouble remembering almost anything or anyone. Honestly, it breaks my heart to see such a good man end up this way. I just wish there was something more I could do for him after he did so much for me."
Twilight, though hesitant at first, placed a hand on Sour Sweet's shoulder. "I understand how much he must mean to you and I know you mean quite a lot to him as well. Out of all the things he has trouble recalling, he recognized you immediately. If you ask me, you definitely hold a special place in his heart no matter what."
Sour wiped away a few tears from her eyes as she smiled at the other girl. "Thank you Twilight. But if you tell anyone about this, you'll never be heard from again." She paused for a moment before the two broke into a laugh.
For the next couple of weeks, Twilight spent most of her time with the various Crystal Prep girls, going to movies, going on shopping trips or just hanging out at their homes. Meanwhile, the girls of CHS were missing their friend quite a bit. "So...how do you think Twilight's doing with the Shadowbolts?" Dash asked as she, Pinkie and Applejack sat under a tree on the Apple family farm.
"From what I heard her tell Sunset, things seem to be going super great." Pinkie said as she partook of a tray of snacks she'd set out for the group.
"'Seem' being the objective word." Rainbow Dash spoke out, sounding none to convinced.
"I here you, Dash," AJ added. "From what I could tell from the Friendship Games, them girls didn't care much for Twilight."
"Yeah, I mean what's with them wanting to just be friends all of a sudden. If you ask me something fishy is going on."
"Fishy like trout or fishy like salmon?" quizzed Pinkie as she pulled the respective fish from a basket in front of her. Dash shook her head in annoyance as the pink haired girl continued on. "Halibut, perch, flounder?"
"No, Pinkie. She means that they might be trying to prank her."
Pinkie stopped to ponder the possibility and then answered. "You know what I think? I think you guys might be a teeny weeny bit jealous."
"Jealous?!" the two exclaimed in unison.
"You guys are all upset that Twilight might pick them over us and totally never, ever, ever spend time with any of us ever again."
"That is so not true!" Dash protested.
"You know, Rarity feels the same. Even Fluttershy, even if she doesn't say it out loud, so it's okay to be jealous."
"We're not jealous!" Applejack shouted, reinforcing her point by punching the tree behind her. Unknowingly using her super strength sent a shock wave into the tree, causing a shower of apples to pelt the three. An annoyed Applejack spit out one of the fruits that found itself in her mouth. Seconds later the tree itself crumpled to dust as the farmer looked at the remains in horror. "Bloomberg!"
"Anyway, I don't trust those Crystal Prep girls," Dash said as Applejack wept over the fallen tree, Pinkie placing a headstone where it once stood, reading: Here lies Bloomberg. Yes, he was a tree. "I think we should pay them a visit and let them know not to mess with our friend." She turned to the two other girls and saw the seen that had unfolded, then let out a sigh of grief before face palming.