Twilight stepped off the bus and turned back to look at the girl on the bus behind her. “Are you coming?”

Sugarcoat sat still in her seat and crossed her arm, not quite pouting but coming very close. “No,” she said. “I’m going back.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and adjusted the straps on her backpack. “NOW you decide to get cold feet? You couldn’t have done this while we were at school?”

Sugarcoat refused to move, just looked down at the ground and kicked anxiously. “I’m not going,” she mumbled.

The bus driver gave Twilight a questioning look, and Twilight returned an apologetic, awkward smile. “You’re holding up the bus, Sugarcoat. Come on, what do you want to do? Come all the way out here, then chicken out and go home?” Sugarcoat shot Twilight a glare, and Twilight instinctively raised her hands to her chest anxiously, but Sugarcoat slowly got up and walked off the bus.

After mouthing a silent, ‘sorry’ to the bus driver, Twilight walked Sugarcoat down the suburban sidewalks. “What are you even nervous about?” she asked, after noticing that Sugarcoat was pointedly avoiding eye contact. Twilight was not sure she had ever seen Sugarcoat anxious before, this was the girl who was willing to stare even Principal Cinch down and tell her honestly what she was thinking. Asking a girl out on a date should be comparatively easy.

“Obviously, I’m scared of rejection,” Sugarcoat said, still showing no hesitation in her answer despite her clear discomfort. Say whatever else you wanted about her, Twilight thought, Sugarcoat didn’t sugarcoat anything, not even with herself.

“You called her up and told her you liked her...though, you did hang up without telling her who you were.”

“I didn’t think about that at the time,” Sugarcoat answered. “But that’s not the point. I don’t care if she knows that I like her. But I still don’t want her to reject me.”

Twilight pursed her lips in sympathy. Part of her wanted to just tell Sugarcoat that it was okay, she could just go home and forget all about it. But Twilight shook off those thoughts. This was something Sugarcoat really did want to do...okay, maybe she didn’t know that she wanted to do it, but she’d regret not doing it, that was for sure. And that’s what friends did, they kept you from doing, or in this case, not doing, something that you’d regret later...at least, that’s what Twilight had read. Honestly, she was still a little new to this whole ‘friendship’ thing, but helping out with a crush seemed like the sort of thing a friend did. All the books said so.

The pair came to a stop outside of a very humbly designed, yet decently large, house. Sugarcoat looked from it, to the neighbors’ house, back to the house she was standing in front of, then to the neighbors’ on the other side. It stood in stark contrast to the surrounding homes in its traditional architecture and decor.

“Are you sure this is where she lives?” Sugarcoat asked. Twilight nodded. “It doesn’t seem very...Pinkie Pie-ish.”

“Yeah, I guess Pinkie’s kind of different from the rest of her family? I don’t know.” There was a moment of pure, awkward silence as Sugarcoat just stared at the door, arms crossed, unmoving. “Uh...are you going to knock on the door? Or ring the doorbell, or something?”

Sugarcoat stood, completely quiet. For a moment, Twilight thought she was refusing to answer, until she saw that her eyes were darting back and forth, deep in thought. She wasn’t refusing to answer, she was trying to figure out for herself what the truth was.

“I don’t know,” Sugarcoat said. “I want to...but I don’t want to.”

Twilight gave a small, understanding smile at her friend’s vulnerability, looking up at the sky slightly. “Come on, Sugarcoat. Do it like a bandaid. Rip it off in one go.”

Sugarcoat turned to look at Twilight, arms still crossed, her judgemental gaze staring down at the purple-haired girl. “So have you asked out Sunse-”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she almost visibly jumped out of her own, Crystal Prep Academy-uniform shoes. Quickly, in a moment of pure panic, she rang the doorbell and bolted, leaving a very frenzied Sugarcoat standing on the doorstep. “You’ll thank me later!” Twilight yelled back as she ran down the street, kicking up a cloud of dust as she ran.

“No I won’t!” Sugarcoat yelled back and, before she could decide whether or not to run herself, the door opened up. Sugarcoat found herself staring in at a grey, purple-haired girl, a little shorter than Pinkie Pie, wearing the absolute greyest, most plain shirt and skirt she had ever seen.

“You look like a rock,” Sugarcoat said. The girl nodded.

“Thank you. Why are you here?”

Sugarcoat answered automatically, rattling off her answer quickly and honestly. “I’m here because Twilight Sparkle pressured me to come here and ask out Pinkie Pie on a date, but I’m starting to really regret the decision to come, so I think I’ll go-”

“A DATE?!” Pinkie Pie’s head popped up from around the other side of the door, and Sugarcoat’s eyes widened in horror. “Ohmygosh, yes! That sounds like fun! MAUD! Did you hear that? I’m going on a date! Hold on, I need to get changed real quick! Don’t go anywhere!” With that, Pinkie Pie sprung up the stairs, bouncing along audibly as she went.

“Um…” Sugarcoat said, pointing to where Pinkie Pie had emerged from. “Was she standing behind there that whole time?” Maud shrugged.

“I don’t think so.”

“Then...where did she come from?”

“If you ask our mother a stork left her on our doorstep, but I have my doubts. You may as well come in, Pinkie may be a while.” Maud stepped aside and Sugarcoat looked down at the floor, at the wooden divider separating the landing area from the lobby. Sugarcoat sighed. It wasn’t too late. She could run back to the bus stop, catch the next ride home, turn off her phone, log out of every chat application, get a gallon of ice cream and spend the evening watching cat videos and AMVs from the comfort of her room.

Sugarcoat breathed out a sigh of resignation. She was here, and the hard part, asking for the date, was already done...even if she hadn’t meant to do it. Might as well go through with it. With that thought, Sugarcoat stepped over the divider and into the house.

Maud held up a small rock. “Boulder’s hungry. I’m going to get him something to eat.”

Sugarcoat stared at Maud, and at the stone in her hand. “That’s a rock,” she said. Maud nodded.

“Yes, he is.”

“Rocks can’t get hungry.”

“Ponies can’t turn into humans and travel to alternate worlds either. That doesn’t stop it from happening.”

Deciding that that was about as acceptable an answer as was forthcoming, Sugarcoat followed Maud through the house, noting a surprising number of pictures of rocks hanging up on the wall. Did Pinkie Pie really live here? It didn’t seem like her at all.

Suddenly, Sugarcoat felt herself being grabbed by the arm and tugged into another room, nearly knocking her glasses off as she was pulled. A light turned on, and Sugarcoat found another, very thin, purplish-grey girl with grey hair and a very angry expression on her face staring her down. Behind her was another, pale-green girl with hair only slightly darker than her skin covering one eye. The green girl seemed much more uncomfortable, and was doing her absolute best to hide behind her much more confrontational counterpart.

“Alright, listen up!” the purple girl said, gritting her teeth as she spoke. Her voice was gravely and abrasive, and almost joyful at its own, refined and practiced grouchiness. “The name’s Limestone Pie, and this is Marble Pie.”

“Mmmhmm,” Marble Pie hummed in a tiny, shy tone.

Sugarcoat nodded. “Pinkie’s sisters.”

“That’s right. Her older sister, in my case,” Limestone said. “And if you’re going to be taking my little sister out on a date, you’d better know who you’re dealing with.”

Sugarcoat looked Limestone up and down, then to Marble, then back to Limestone. “That happened maybe two minutes ago. How did you two know about it?”

“Lime Sense,” Limestone said.

“Mmmhmm,” Marble Pie said, nodding.

“I’ve heard of that,” Sugarcoat said. “Pinkie Sense lets her detect immediate danger...Maud’s lets her find whoever she’s looking for. And yours…”

“Lets me know if anyone’s touching, or thinking about touching, something important to me,” Limestone said, shooting Sugarcoat a very pointed glare. “You’re thinking about it.”

For one of the very few times in her life, Sugarcoat blushed.

“So, I’m just here to tell you, don’t you dare hurt her.”

“Mmmhmm.”

“You’re very quiet,” Sugarcoat said to Marble Pie.

“Mmmhmm.”

“And you’re very abrasive,” Sugarcoat said, looking at Limestone. “But...I understand. Don’t worry. I won’t hurt her.”

Limestone growled and grabbed Sugarcoat’s collar. “You’d better be telling me the truth.”

Sugarcoat’s eyes narrowed. “I ALWAYS tell the truth.”

“Alright, alright, girls,” Pinkie Pie said, popping up between Limestone and Sugarcoat and pushing them apart. “That’s enough of that. Limestone, I’m a big girl and can decide for myself who I date, so don’t be such a grumpy-pants.”

Limestone grumbled something that Sugarcoat could almost make out as, “Still my little sister.”

“Okay, we’re going out!” Pinkie Pie said, linking her arm with Sugarcoat’s and moving for the door.

“Be back by ten!” Limestone yelled after them as they left, and pointed at Sugarcoat with two fingers in a, ‘I’m watching you’ gesture. Pinkie Pie gave a small salute and walked Sugarcoat down the street.

“So, where do you want to go?” Pinkie Pie asked. “The Sweet Shoppe? A roller derby? A murder mystery dinner party where you have to figure out who killed the chef by the end of the night, but secretly one of the guests is THE KILLER?!...Maybe even...ME!”

“Uh…” Sugarcoat said, “that was...oddly specific. I hadn’t actually thought about what we’d do, I was a little too focused on actually asking you out to really think past that step.” Sugarcoat glanced around the neighborhood. She was not familiar with the area, but everything Pinkie Pie had just listed was very public, and the thought of that made Sugarcoat feel uncomfortable. She wanted a more...private environment.

A park just a little while down the road caught Sugarcoat’s eye. That would work. It might not be exactly private, but at least it wouldn’t be crowded. She pointed towards it. “How about a walk in the park?” Pinkie Pie smiled and nodded.

“That sounds nice,” she said, taking Sugarcoat by the arm again. Sugarcoat tensed, and looked down at Pinkie Pie’s hand, almost stuttering but unable to get out a sound. “Well...it IS a date, right?” Sugarcoat nodded, still speechless. “You okay? Want me to let you go?”

“N...no…” Sugarcoat said. “It feels...nice…”

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Twilight whispered. She stood, completely still, in the large shrubbery that was built out around her like a very naturalist ball gown.

“Oh, don’t be like that, darling,” Rarity’s voice came from the bush next to her. “You can’t tell me you’re not in the least bit curious as to how your friend’s date is going.”

“Well...yes, I am.”

“And I want to see how Pinkie’s doing. So, it only makes sense that we-”

“Stalk them?”

“Investigate, darling,” Rarity said. “We’re not being intrusive. They can go about on their date without a care in the world. Besides, it gives me just the opportunity I’ve been looking for to test my new, ‘Camo-Maud’ line of clothing.”

Twilight sighed in resignation. “I guess you’re right. And this way, I can make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

“Oh, Twilight, darling, I know Pinkie doesn’t always seem like it, but she’s actually quite capable of taking care of herself.”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I meant Sugarcoat.”

“Um…” Rarity said, biting her lip and giving that considering look she gave when she was trying to find a way to say something tactfully. “Sugarcoat...? You’re afraid Sugarcoat will get hurt?”

“Well, yeah. A little,” Twilight said, adjusting her glasses. The bush-suit really did not make it easy to maneuver, and she kept getting branches stuck in her side and leaves in her hair. Really not Rarity’s best work, but that was the risk you ran when you experimented and, forgiving the pun, branched out.

“Twilight, darling, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but Sugarcoat’s isn’t exactly...well, that emotional.”

“She’s not great at expressing her emotions,” Twilight corrected. “Or hiding what she’s thinking. She doesn’t play games, she doesn’t even do little white lies. If she thinks something you said or did is stupid, she’s going to tell you about it. It doesn’t even occur to her to be anything less than completely, one-hundred percent honest.”

“Alright…” Rarity said, clearly trying to follow Twilight, but failing. “Forgive me, but I don’t think I see what you’re getting at.”

“How much experience do you think a girl like her has with dating?”

Rarity paused for a moment, then said, “...oh.”

“She doesn’t mean to be rude,” Twilight said. “I think she just doesn’t get why other people would lie about anything. Or even hold back the truth. To her, something is true, or it isn’t, and if it’s true, there’s no reason for her not to say it. She intimidates people. I know that, because she intimidated me before we were friends.”

“And you’re afraid that your friend’s...shall we say...straightforwardness...will scare Pinkie Pie off?”

“It might,” Twilight said, watching as Sugarcoat and Pinkie Pie walked through the park together. She could not make out what they were saying, but Pinkie Pie had a big grin on her face, and Sugarcoat was smiling, at least. “She can insult people without even knowing it. And, like you said, she’s not exactly in touch with her emotions. People like that feel it a lot worse when they get hurt, because they’re not used to handling their emotions.”

“I see…” Rarity said. Sugarcoat said something that made Pinkie laugh, then bent over, picked up a small, blue flower and placed it in Pinkie Pie’s hair. “She seems to be doing alright, though. And have you met Pinkie’s sister? If anyone’s prepared to deal with someone who’s brutally honest and has trouble expressing her emotions, it’s Pinkie Pie.”

Twilight gave a little chuckle to that. “I suppose you have a point there.”

“I’m not sure if you two think you’re hiding,” Sugarcoat called out, “but a purple school uniform and purple hair stand out in a green bush.”

Twilight and Rarity exchanged worried glances. “Retreat!” they both called, scampering up and running.

“Aww…” Pinkie Pie said, slumping over. “You should’ve let them stay. They seemed like they were having fun.” Sugarcoat crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

“It was difficult to concentrate with the two of them whispering like that. Especially when they’re talking about me.” Pinkie Pie placed a hand on Sugarcoat’s shoulder in a comforting gesture.

“SciTwi just wants to make sure you’re alright, that’s all! She means well.”

“I know,” Sugarcoat said, immediately.

“So…” Pinkie Pie said, zipping around to in front of Sugarcoat. “Twilight said you don’t have a lot of experience dating? Is that true?”

“It is,” Sugarcoat said, no emotion showing on her face.

“Does that make this your first date?”

“It does,” Sugarcoat answered again, still no visible emotion or hesitation.

“You really don’t lie about anything, do you?”

“I don’t.”

“Then...do you like me?”

“I do.”

“Really like me?”

“Yes.”

“Really, really, reeeeaally like me?”

“I’m not sure how to quantify that. But yes.”

A big grin spread across Pinkie Pie’s face, and she gave Sugarcoat a big hug. “I like you too.”

Sugarcoat smiled, and said, with complete honesty, “I’m glad.”

Author's Notes:

Okay, I hadn't really intended to write a shipping story this early, buuuuut...I really liked the idea of Sugar Pie shipping. And the dynamic really reminds me of Pinkie's relationship with Muad, or Gummy, so I decided to go with it I really tried to expand on Sugarcoat's character, while still staying true to her portrayal in the movie...don't know if I succeeded or not, but that's what I was going for! Brutal, unrelenting honesty, but still not a bad person. Just...misunderstood. I hope you enjoy it!