Starlight Glimmer blew the springy curl of hair out of her face, the thirtieth time she'd done so since leaving the stylist. "I'm never going to get used to this," she proclaimed. Twilight, ahead of her, paused at the entrance to Sugarcube Corner. "It's a brand new haircut, Starlight. Give it time – it'll grow on you." She held the door open for Starlight with a flourish of magic, and Starlight stepped inside, scowling at her teacher. [i]Puns aren't funny, Twilight.[/i] Pinkie was minding the store that morning, and was mixing the iridescent contents of a glass punch bowl perched on the store counter. Her ears perked as Twilight and Starlight approached, and she turned a pearly white grin on them. "Well, if it isn't my favorite 'corny twosome! What brings you in, girls? Come to try my spankin' new punch recipe?" Twilight stopped at the counter and bumped Pinkie's forehead softly with her nose. "Actually, we're just having a girl's day out. I thought I'd treat Starlight to a milkshake, to go along with her new haircut." She beckoned at her student, who waved at Pinkie, a nervous smile on her face. Pinkie waved back and wolf-whistled. "Nice boinger, Starlight." Starlight tilted her head, confused. The motion made the coil of hair fall over her face again, and immediately, she understood. "Ah. '[i]Boinger.[/i]' Cuz it boings. Thanks." She blew her 'boinger' again, miffed. Twilight chuckled. "But that punch actually does sound pretty inviting, now that you mention it. You don't mind if we—?" Pinkie had two glasses of punch on the counter before Twilight had finished asking. "On the house, ladies!" Starlight joined Twilight at the counter; the two exchanged a shrug, floated their glasses up, clinked them together, and downed them in a gulp. Immediately, Starlight's mouth was on [i]fire.[/i] Her tongue felt like she'd dipped it in molten lead, and a cloying, piquant taste flooded her sinuses, making her sputter and cough as her taste buds dissolved. Twilight fared identically. Pinkie slid them a pair of water glasses, just as quickly as she'd served the punch. Starlight quaffed hers, and the burning sensation ebbed. Starlight sighed in relief, and glared at Pinkie, ready to raise hell. The sound of Twilight's laughter stopped her from doing so. "Is there," Twilight gasped out. "Is there [i]hot sauce[/i] in this?!" Pinkie broke into laughter too. "Sure is!" "Because of the time—" "With the hot sauce bottle that you thought was—" "I [i]remember[/i]!" Twilight laughed, even heartier this time. "And the color— don't tell me you added [i]unprocessed rainbow[/i] to the mix!" "Just a [i]dash[/i] of the stuff – gives the whole thing a nice [i]boom[/i]!" "More like a [i]rain[/i]boom!" They leaned against the counter, on opposite sides, laughing. Starlight stood apart from them, utterly lost. She always felt like an intruder in Ponyville, but she didn't generally mind. Just then, though, the feeling was intolerable. "Guess you had to be there," Starlight muttered, squinting at the bottom of her glass. Eventually, the ponies' laughter simmered to breathless giggles, and Twilight wiped a tear from her eye. "It actually is pretty good, Pinkie. You might've warned me to drink it slowly, though." "I'll put a warning label on the bowl before I serve it to anypony else." Pinkie refilled Twilight's empty glass. "Seconds?" Twilight beamed. But when Pinkie turned to ask Starlight the same, she cut her off with a boingy shake of her head. "I'm not that thirsty, actually." She looked awkwardly between Pinkie and Twilight. "Y'know, it's been a long morning. I'm gonna head back to the castle. But thanks for the drinks, Pinkie." She left without another word. But Twilight galloped after Starlight, rounding on her outside Sugarcube Corner. "Hey. Starlight. What's the matter?" "Nothing. Everything's fine. Don't worry about me. You should go back, have a good time with your friend." Starlight forced herself to smile, and thumped Twilight's shoulder affectionately Twilight caught her hoof with her wing and held it, smiling back genuinely. "She's [i]your[/i] friend too, Starlight. You know that." There was an invitation in her voice, which tempted Starlight for a heartbeat, but she pulled her hoof from Twilight's grasp anyway, and nudged past her. "I'll see you at the castle, Twilight." Alone, Starlight made her way back to her cold, sterile crystal cage. The boinger fell over her nose as she walked, and she blew it away yet again. [i]I'm never going to get used to this.[/i]