"Hiya, Sugar!"

Pinkie's welcome was, as always, bubbly and energetic, and she leapt forward and tackled her guest in a hug the moment she'd opened the door for her. The guest in question? Sugarcoat, one of the Crystal Prep girls Pinkie and her friends had become acquainted with recently. While once they were rivals, now, they were friends. However, as per usual, the demeanour that Sugarcoat currently displayed was that of her usual neutrality, never cracking the tiniest smile, even as Pinkie's usual exuberance was being wrapped up all around her. Eventually though, the bubbly CHS girl released her guest, and Sugarcoat took a moment to brush herself down, before re-adjusting her glasses and, at last, giving a response to her host.

"Just Sugarcoat, thank you, Pinkie."

Still smiling, Pinkie raised a hand to her mouth and giggled slightly, before then stepping aside and gesturing indoors.

"Come on in! Maud's expecting you!"

Sugarcoat nodded to that, entering the house in earnest, wherein Pinkie closed the door behind her. The two walked together for a moment before arriving in the nearby kitchen, and here, as promised, Pinkie's sister, Maud, was there, sitting beside the central table. The moment she caught sight of Sugarcoat, she looked up from the table, giving a brief nod in greeting. Sugarcoat nodded back and, moments later, joined her at the table. However, it was here that Sugarcoat noted that she was not the only visitor here today, as there was another girl sitting close by. She bore dark hair, which ended in curls at the front of her face, and her clothing was largely a dark blue in colour. Like Maud, she too nodded at Sugarcoat, which was likewise returned.

"Isn't this great!"

All three girls turned to see Pinkie, smiling happily as usual as she took her own seat. But, while she may have been expressing a great deal of joy at this, the three other girls seemed just as quiet and contemplative as the next, simply inclined to look at one another. As time went on, however, Pinkie let out a loud gasp, catching their attention, before then leaping out of her chair.

"Silly me! I forgot everybody's drinks! So...what would you like?"

Maud looked to her sister and spoke first.

"Coffee. Black."

Pinkie nodded to that, turning to Sugarcoat next, who gave her answer.

"Coffee. Black."

Pinkie then turned to the third girl, who, as expected, gave her answer as well.

"Coffee. Black."

Pinkie nodded and smiled to all three, before then turning around and heading over to a nearby kitchen counter, wherein she started preparing the requested drinks. And it was here that Sugarcoat broke the silence between the rest of them, looking straight at the new girl as she did so.

"So...haven't seen you here before."

The girl nodded.

"Moonlight Raven. Nice to meet you."

Sugarcoat, her face still without a smile, nevertheless nodded. But, before she got the chance to say anything else, she turned to see Maud speaking up next.

"Moonlight is an old friend of mine. She's minoring in geology, so we see a lot of each other. We got to talking...and now we're friends."

The matter-of-fact manner of her words was soon reciprocated when Sugarcoat, raising an eyebrow, looked to Moonlight once more.

"What's your major?"

Moonlight looked to her before answering.

"Literature. Poetry mostly."

Sugarcoat considered that for a moment, before allowing her momentary curiosity to get the better of her.

"What kind?"

To this, Moonlight looked right into her eyes, and just for a moment, Sugarcoat could have sword she saw a brief spark of passion in those otherwise stoic orbs.

"Mostly they're about inevitability and hopelessness."

After staring at her in silence for a moment, Sugarcoat nodded.

"Sounds intriguing."

Moonlight nodded back.

"Quite."

Here, at last, Pinkie returned, and, as requested, she brought with her a tray with their drinks. Three of them were the black coffees that had been asked for, and the fourth, obviously Pinkie's, was a milkshake that just about looked like the most sugar-injected thing ever conceived by humankind. The other three girls raised their eyebrows at this, but said nothing to comment on it, instead watching as Pinkie took her own drink and slurped it down in almost a single gulp.

"Ah! Delicious!"

As for the other girls, they each took their respective drinks and, almost simultaneously, took a sip from it. When that was done, they each lifted their cups to Pinkie, a silent thanks on their part, to which she, of course, smiled widely.

"You're welcome!"

Another silence followed, during which the only sound that could be heard was that of Pinkie licking the last vestiges of her drink around the rim of her glass. After another sip of her own coffee, Moonlight spoke once more to Sugarcoat.

"So...I hear you're from Crystal Prep?"

Sugarcoat looked up from her drink before replying.

"Correct."

Moonlight continued.

"I remember going to CHS back in the day. We never really got on with you guys."

Sugarcoat nodded.

"Things have changed. We're friends now, apparently."

Moonlight paused at that, her expression never betraying what she was really feeling about that. But, in time, she turned to Maud, who gave her a silent nod, confirming what Sugarcoat had just said to her, after which the girl turned and looked back at her.

"Oh. That's unexpected."

Sugarcoat nodded.

"Indeed."

Another round of sips from the three girls, at which point, Pinkie stood up and added her voice to the mix.

"I know, right?! It was so weird at first, but then, that just means more friends! Isn't that great?!"

The other three girls all looked to her in that moment.

"Agreed," Maud replied.

"Fortuitous," Moonlight added.

"A pleasant turn of events," Sugarcoat concluded.

The moment after they'd all said that, the girls all took another sip of their coffee, staring at their drinks as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, all while not showing any interest in their expressions of course. As Pinkie once more took to her seat, having long ago finished what remained of her drink, she couldn't help but feel something odd about this situation. She raised a hand to her chin, stroking it slightly as she looked from her sister, to Moonlight, then to Sugarcoat, and all the way around the three girls over and over again. Then, when that was all done, she let out a long "hmmm" sound, after which she cracked a smile.

"You know...has anyone ever told you girls that you have a lot in common?"

Once more, the girls turned in unison, staring at Pinkie in that deceptively-emotionless manner of theirs, after which, as before, Maud was the first to speak up.

"No."

"Not really," Moonlight added.

"Why do you ask?" Sugarcoat asked.

Smiling wider than before, Pinkie stifled another giggle, before simply shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh...no reason."