As the school bell rang throughout, the doors of Canterlot High flew open. Immediately, there was a torrent of teens and pre-teens making their way out of the school, their smiling faces making it clear that they had just come off yet another pleasant day there. Most went about their business, getting together with their various friends, all in readiness to go to wherever they usually went when the final bell of the day rang. However, one or two of them instead elected to stay behind to do their catching up. Amongst this latter category were none other than Lyra and Sweetie Drops, who walked alongside each other along the front of the school. As they passed by many of their other friends, waving in greeting, it was Lyra who eventually broke the silence between them.
"So, how's that book report coming?"
Sweetie Drops let out a long sigh at that.
"It's coming along fine, but I still need to work on it."
Lyra nodded, looking as if she was ready to speak further. But, just then, she stopped, and looked right past her friend, before regaining her earlier smile. Seeing this, Sweetie turned to see where she was looking, and there, she instantly caught sight of another of their friends; Derpy, who was currently sitting on a bench on one side of the school. The blonde girl hadn't noticed them, but as they began to approach, they called out to her.
"Derpy! Hello!"
The other girl looked up to them at last, smiling back to them.
"Hello to you too."
As the two girls moved closer, they noticed now that Derpy was not alone here. For there, nestled within her arms in a warm and soft-looking blanket, was her newly-born daughter, Dinky. Immediately, both of them let out loud and intentional "awww's", prompting Derpy to roll her eyes somewhat. As Lyra and Sweetie sat next to her, the former inched closer, moving her face closer to the peaceful infant.
"Who's the cutest baby ever? You are!"
Dinky seemed greatly amused by this, gurgling happily as she reached out for Lyra's face. Naturally, the girl herself smiled even wider than before.
"Oh, she is just the most precious thing ever!"
Derpy looked down to her daughter with pride.
"Yeah...she is."
Then, she looked to her two companions with a brief smirk.
"Thankfully, she's got her Dad's eyes."
All three of them giggled at this, and when the laughter died down, it was then Sweetie's turn to speak.
"So...where is Turner, anyway?"
Brushing her finger gently across Dinky's cheek, Derpy kept her gaze on the child as she gave her answer.
"He's working late today. But we'll be meeting up later on."
Sweetie nodded to that, and here, she looked up, for she, along with the other two, started to hear the sound of an approaching voice. As they turned in unison, they saw that, as they'd suspected, it was Octavia, one of the school's more noted musicians, alongside her constant companion, Vinyl. As per usual, the latter girl had her headphones on, and was shaking her head in a manner than made it very obvious that she was listening to her music rather than her friend. Octavia, naturally, seemed irked by this, but thankfully, she hadn't the chance to call Vinyl out on it, as Lyra then called out to her.
"Hey there, Tavi! Care to join us?"
Turning, both Octavia and Vinyl smiled to this, now making their way over. Once there, Octavia, much like the other two, briefly fawned over Dinky, before, finally, managing to speak to everybody.
"I trust you've been keeping well, girls?"
Lyra shrugged her shoulders.
"Sure. You?"
Octavia looked over to Vinyl, who was still focusing on her music, and frowned slightly.
"It would be better if my friend here could stop and talk to me when we're supposed to be spending time together."
To this, Sweetie giggled.
"Oh come on, Tavi! Don't forget, if she hadn't been doing that, we'd all be mind-controlled music zombies by now."
Octavia turned to her with an exasperated sigh.
"Not you too! I swear, Vinyl uses that line every time I try to get her to take those things off. I'm sorry, but helping to save the world can only get you so far."
Naturally, that earned a few laughs from everybody there, including, after a while, Octavia herself. When the laughter stopped, however, Lyra reclined further into the bench, looking to the two musicians beside her.
"So...watcha up to today?"
Taking a seat herself, Octavia answered.
"Well, we were going to practise in one of the music rooms. But, sadly, one of them is being renovated, and the other...well..."
Lyra nodded, already getting the picture.
"Let me guess...Rainbow's group?"
Octavia nodded.
"They always seem to get a hold of it before anyone else. I mean, I wouldn't mind if they used it only for their band practise, but they don't! Most of the time, they just...just..."
"Hang out?" Derpy asked.
Octavia sighed.
"Exactly."
Lyra chuckled.
"Well, it's not like you actually need a music room to practise music, Tavi. You could do it anywhere."
The musician frowned to that.
"It's the principal of the matter, Lyra."
Lyra rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Besides, it probably isn't a good idea getting too close to them when they are doing music. Chances are, something will just blow up."
Sweetie looked to her friend with a disapproving frown.
"That's not nice, Lyra. After all the times they've saved us, not the mention the world, I'd say they've earned a little more respect than that."
Lyra let out a hearty laugh.
"I'm just kidding, Sweets. Those girls are great...even if they are a bit weird."
To this, Sweetie couldn't help but nod.
"Can't argue there. One almost feel sorry for poor Flash at this point."
Octavia nodded.
"Indeed. I mean, just look at his inner circle. Magical teenage girls, a trio of Sirens, a talking dog..."
"Not to mention an ex-unicorn-ex as his girlfriend," Lyra interrupted.
Though annoyed by the interruption, Octavia nodded in agreement once again.
"True. But then, if he could handle Sunset before her change to a better person, then I think it's safe to say he can handle all of this."
All of the girls muttered over that, but, it was here that Octavia spoke up yet again.
"Then again, let's not forget Wiz. He's in the same spot, remember?"
The other girls looked to her with unsure expressions.
"...Who?" Lyra asked.
Octavia raised an eyebrow.
"Wiz? Wiz Kid? You know, Aria's boyfriend?"
Realization struck the others, with Sweetie giving voice to their feelings on the matter.
"Oh yeah! Him! Huh...weird how we keep forgetting about that one."
A feeling of agreement was shared amongst them all with those words, and when it was all done, Lyra soon found herself laughing quite loudly. Naturally, this earned her confused looks by all of her friends.
"Um...Lyra?" Sweetie asked.
Wiping away a laugh-induced tear, Lyra shook her head slightly.
"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking how weird our school has been the last few years."
To this, Sweetie gained a smirk of her own.
"Indeed. There's no denying it's been exciting recently."
Looking to her, Lyra raised an eyebrow.
"Exciting?! Sweetie, I'll be surprised if the year doesn't end with some massive black hole or something"
For a moment, she looked away, seeming ponderous.
"Although...that would be pretty cool."
Sweetie and Octavia rolled their eyes at that. But, before anyone else had the chance to say anything else, the musician felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning, she saw that it was Vinyl, who was currently tapping her wrist-watch. Realising the time, Octavia leapt out of her chair.
"Goodness! Is that the time!"
She turned to her other friends.
"I am sorry to do this, but Vinyl and I really must be off. We promised we would meet up with Sweet Leaf over at Sugar Cube Corner."
Hearing that, Lyra smiled.
"Hey, no problem. Have a nice time."
Smiling in appreciation, Octavia nodded, and together, she and Vinyl began to make their way off. As they saw their other friends go, Sweetie looked to her two remaining companions.
"You know, speaking of which, I hear there's this new café in town that's worth a try. Maud, you know, Pinkie's sister, she went there the other day."
Lyra chuckled.
"Heck, if that place can live up to Maud's coffee standards, then it's good enough for us."
The two girls got up, and after a moment of brushing themselves off, they looked down to Derpy.
"Wanna join, Derpy?"
The blonde girl considered this for a few moments, before finally smiling.
"Sure."
She got up, making sure to hold on especially carefully to her daughter, and as they started to make their way away from the school at last, Lyra spoke one final utterance.
"Just so you know, if we have to change Dinky, I'm calling not-it."
