“Diary I… I don’t know what to think. We got into combat, and I got separated from my squad. Then while separated I ended up encountering a Royal calling herself The Faerie Queen. She talked with me, didn’t even try to purify me or hurt me. And she told me things. Impossible things, things I can’t believe. If what she said is true then, then, I don’t know. I’m sorry, I can’t write anymore today. I need to visit Raftilia, I need to figure out if what she said was true.”

Cherry awoke with a smile on her face, today was her birthday. She got up out of bed and moved to the shower. She found herself singing a small tune, similar to the one she heard in J.J.’s restaurant as she showered. Soon it was over and she walked into her closet. A pair of sparkling pink low heels with a sparkling cherry on the toes adorned her feet. White knee highs, and a sparkly pink party dress with sparkling cherries on the ends. Her hair was braided into twin tails with two sparkling cherries holding the ends together. It screamed Cherry Sparkles and she loved it.

Cherry patted her closet, and whispered a thank you. She felt a rush of warmth from that. Sometimes she wondered if her room was alive, if the entire base was alive. It definitely seemed to be able to give good feelings and accept gratitude and honestly that wouldn’t be all that weird considering some of the things in this place. She decided to table those thoughts, though, because she was excited for her outing with Bunberry. She just hoped that Bunberry liked her outfit.

Cherry walked out of her room with confidence, and headed to Bunberry’s room. Bunberry had previously given her permission to go into her room without knocking. So she opened the door and went inside.

Bunberry’s room was definitely starting to improve. It started to look more upright, instead of the bizarre slanted mess it had been the first time she went in. She noticed a picture on the dresser and looked it over. It was when she held Bunberry after they met that horrid man, Lucid. That warmed her heart. She also noticed a door in the back she hadn’t seen before. Curiosity overtook her and so she went over to it. Once she got closer she heard the muted sounds of Bunberry and Dragon talking. She knew she shouldn’t, but the temptation was too good to pass up, so she put her ear to the door and listened.

“Okay, now that we’re done with the preparations, Dragon, we need to address something else.” Preparations? What was Bunberry talking about? Cherry was confused, was Bunberry planning something special for their outing? Well good thing she missed it, she didn’t want to ruin the surprise!

“Address what? Is this about Crushed Tourmaline? Look, she’s fine.” Dragon stated. Crushed Tourmaline? Was that another Umbra Girl she hadn’t met yet? She surmised that she really should get to know as many as possible. While the ones she knew were pretty good, maybe she could make more friends, too? She always wanted more friends, especially now that she’d met so many people who were kind and supportive.”

“Is she, though? You understand she’s an actual child, right? She was recruited a bit before Cherry. She’s about her age, too. Even if her Trait is a shield which was able to block your attack, you never should have tried to hit her in the first place!” Bunberry’s scolding was definitely warranted. Cherry remembered how scared she was when he was gonna hit Amethyst. He was so strong. He shouldn’t be hitting anyone. He could seriously hurt someone… or worse.

“Look, maybe I overreacted. But I didn’t know she was a kid, I honestly never even saw her around. She’s just… I…” Dragon was stammering over himself.

“Dragon, I’m your best friend. I care about you. I’ve seen you spiraling lately and I’m concerned. Have you considered going to Fluffy Ruby?”

“Her?! You mean for her to tell me to look inside myself or some other stupid shit? She helped me before, and I can’t recommend her enough, but ever since then she keeps giving me bad advice.” Dragon’s voice dripped with disdain. Wasn’t Fluffy Ruby the one he told her to go to? If he wouldn’t go himself, why would he recommend her?

After that Bunberry’s sigh could be heard even through the door. “Fine, have you at least decided to finally say something to Kittenberry? You’ve been avoiding her for forever. I know you used to be friends, you told me. Why did you stop?”

“You really want to know? It’s because of how she—” Dragon gave pause.

“Not being able to swear bothers you that much? Or is it the emotional empathy thing she does? Yeah, that can be a bit annoying, but not enough to make you hate her, right?” Cherry agreed, it was really minor. Cherry never swore, but the emotional thing could be hard at times. Still, it wasn’t enough to make her never want to see Kibby or be kind to her.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that she’s so. Damn. Girly. Like, why is she fucking femininity personified? Just being around her makes you feel more fucking feminine. It’s fucking weird. Like her trait just brings out your feminine side or some shit.” Cherry wasn’t sure if this was true. She never really felt more girly around Kibby at all. Strange.

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Dragon. Air Dust, rest his soul, never seemed to get less masculine despite being a trans guy like you as well. And he didn’t have any issues with her.” Cherry had never heard of Air Dust, but it sounded like he might not be alive anymore, and that made her a little sad.

“Well, it definitely messes with my fucking head. Not all the time, but sometimes, okay? I know that doesn’t make sense but sometimes it’s like… I almost want to… nevermind.”

“Is this seriously the reason why you’ve been treating her like shit?” Even Cherry agreed he was overreacting. It wasn’t clear what  he was trying to say, but outright alienating Kibby felt wrong. She was such a ray of sunshine, and Cherry really liked her.

“I… well… umm—” There was a pause, and then. “—yes.”

“Dragon, you promised to make up with her the last time we talked. What happened to that?”

“Look, I’ll just wait till her birthday, then I’ll try.” Cherry felt a pit in her stomach. Had he really not realized?

“Her birthday has already passed, according to Coffin Flower. She and Cherry apparently had a small party for her. It was quite adorable, I heard.” Cherry smiled at that, she recalled the party and Kibby’s smile. It was a blast.

“I missed it? Fuck, really? Damn it!”

“I missed it too, so don’t feel too bad.” Another sigh was heard. “Dragon. I’m the anti-social bitch that everyone avoids. You’re supposed to be the hero. What’s happened to you? People used to praise you, because you’d literally dive into a portal to go save someone even when you didn’t know them. You used to really care about other Umbra.”

“There’s a reason, but I don’t feel comfortable talking about it, yet, Bunberry. I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine. Just remember I’m your best friend, okay? I just want you to be okay.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, you should go. Cherry is probably waiting for you.”

“All right, I’ll head on out.” Once Bunberry said that, Cherry started to panic. She heard footsteps approaching but she couldn’t move her body. Her fear had frozen her in place. She wanted to hide, but she ran out of options as the door opened and she was face to face with Bunberry. Bunberry was wearing a light pink floral dress with flip flops, and her hair straightened with a light pink floral headband.

“Uh… hi? I’m here for … yay?” Cherry couldn’t get a coherent sentence out of her mouth.

Bunberry sighed, and led her to her bed, closing the door behind her. “How much did you hear?” Her voice wasn’t judgmental, instead it was concerned, which perhaps had been worse.

“I heard you and Dragon talking about Kibby and someone named Crushed Tourmaline?”

“And?” she asked.

“Honest, that’s all I heard.”

“Okay, good. That conversation was private, but I’m not mad at you, okay?” She reassured her with a head pat. “Just remember it’s not good to snoop on someone’s private talk.”

“O-Okay. I’m sorry.” The head pat felt warm and good but at the same time it might have made it worse.

“It’s fine, anyway, you wanted to go out right? You look cute by the way.” Bunberry’s words instantly lifted her mood to the moon. Any and all doubts or fears melted away.

“Thank you. You look good, too!” Cherry said.

“Yeah, my other side is very good at girly fashions. Anyway, let’s head to the main lobby. We can talk there.”

Cherry followed Bunberry to the main lobby. It was rather empty which made it nice to have a couch all to themselves. Cherry leaned against it, and Bunberry sat next to her.

Cherry bit her lip and was lost in thought. There was something she really wanted to know, but wasn’t sure if it was okay to ask.

“Something on your mind, Cherry?” Bunberry asked, seemingly picking up on her uncertainty.

“Bunberry, can I ask you something? Something private?”

“Yeah, sure. What’s up?”

“Why are there two of you? There’s like… The cool you, and then there’s this really sweet version of you. It always kind of confused me.”

“Ah, it’s the price of my sin, for lack of a better term. I torture Luminescent for power, and it comes at a cost.” She gave a deep heavy sigh. “It’s why my dress has armor plates, and why I’m split into two. My current self, and my past self.”

“W-Why do you torture Luminescent for power? That seems so…cruel.”

“I dunno, anymore. Maybe I’m still angry at them for what they did, maybe I’m just a crazy bitch who's too far gone.” She shrugged. “Either way, until I’m given a reason, I’m not going to stop. I need to be strong enough to kill anyone that gets in my path. And thanks to it I’ve reached record speeds of growth.”

Cherry wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Mostly because sometimes she felt almost kinship with the Luminescent. Which didn’t make sense, as they took away her friends and hurt people, but, the fleetest of feelings made her really wonder. What are the Luminescent, really? Who are they? Is it really as simple as aliens from space?

“Anyway, what do you want to do? It’s your birthday. Want to play a game or just keep talking?” Bunberry asked.

“Umm, I wouldn’t mind more talking. I just want to spend time with you.” As she said that, Dragon walked on by.

“Oh, hey Cherry, I got stuff to do. See you later.” He waved and walked away towards the hallway, presumably towards his own room. She’d have liked him to have wished her happy birthday, but he didn’t say anything and instead went on his way. Wouldn’t Bunberry have told him? Or, did he not want to wish her a happy birthday because of how he felt about his own birthday? She wasn’t sure, but she felt a pang of sadness at that.

“Okay, we can go to the recreational room then. I got a movie I think you’ll like.” That made her spirits immediately rise. A movie Bunberry recommended? She’d want nothing more.

“Yes, yes, let’s go do that!” The excitement in her voice was palpable. Bunberry just smiled, got up out of the chair, and walked towards the recreational room, while Cherry followed.

Inside, things were just like she remembered, and luckily it was free. No one was watching any movies or playing any games. She sat down as Bunberry loaded the movie in. It was a cute movie called Encanto by Disney. It was about a magickal family that went through many hardships. Including reuniting with an estranged uncle, learning to let others shoulder your burdens, accept yourself for who you are, and recognizing past trauma to help work on it.

After the credits rolled Cherry thought about her own family. What would they have been like had she not been put in the orphanage? Would her mother be doting on her? Would she be judgmental? Would she have been cruel? Or kind? And did she have any siblings? If she did, what were they like? Were they older than her? younger? She really hoped she’d find her mother, she had so many questions to ask.

“Did you like it?” Bunberry asked. Cherry nodded her head furiously. “Good. Want to get something to eat?”

Cherry wasn’t sure until she heard her tummy rumble rather loudly. Bunberry gave out a laugh, and shook her head.

“Come on, Cherry. Let’s go eat.” She offered her hand and Cherry stared at it. Was she going to hold her hand? Like a little kid with her big sister? Cherry smiled at that thought. Bunberry would make a great big sister. Cherry took it and she led her to J.J.’s, though something was strange. The lights were all off, and there was no music.

“Bunberry, it’s really dark in here. Did something happen?” Bunberry didn’t answer her. She froze, suddenly unable to feel Bunberry’s hand anymore. Terror crept into her heart, as she thought she saw figures moving in the dark. Was this a nightmare? Was this the end? Had something happened to the Umbra Base? As she suddenly felt something grab her hand, she screamed.