I'm New Here

“That class was the worst,” Lyra grumbled as we all crowded around our favorite milkshake table at Sugarcube Corner. Only with four added girls. Octavia, Roseluck, Blueberry Pie and Raspberry Fluff sat with us. The last three were some of Derpy’s other friends. Apparently they all had the same interests in gardening.

“Well Cranky would have left you alone if you weren’t snoring in his class and talking about Beethoven in your sleep,” Derpy scoffed. I gave a chuckle. Lyra did have a tendency to sleep in class. How she manages to pass most of her classes, I’ll never know.

“His class sucks,” Lyra retorted. I was waiting for Vinyl to make some sort of comment but nothing came. I glanced over at her and quickly realized why she wasn’t talking. Roseluck, Blueberry and Raspberry were here. She had no clue who they were and couldn’t trust them.

“Hey Derpy. Could we talk over here?” I quickly jerked my head to a table a few tables away.

“Sure,” she nodded as we stood up and walked to over the table. “What’s up?”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea having Roseluck, Blueberry Pie and Raspberry Fluff here meeting Vinyl all at the same time?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” Her eyes followed mine. “Oh. It’s probably a bit much for her, isn’t it?”

“I think so. It’s not bad to have her meet new people. It might even be good for her,” I answered.

“But not all at once?” Derpy sighed. “It’s okay if you don’t like my friends. They are kinda weird, especially Blueberry. I just want both groups to like each other.” My eyes slightly widened. I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings.

“I’m sorry. I like your friends, it’s just a lot for Vinyl. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” I apologized.

“It takes a lot to hurt my feelings Bons,” Derpy chuckled. “I’m cool.” Roseluck tapped her on the shoulder hesitantly.

“Hey uh Derpy? I think I’m gonna head out. Lily is blowing up my phone freaking out about her garden and Daisy is being annoying about dinner plans tonight,” Roseluck said with annoyance in her voice.

“Alright,” the two hugged. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the community garden? Dinky wanted to go pick some flowers for her gecko.”

“Of course! Her gecko likes flowers?” Roseluck asked curiously. Derpy chuckled and rolled her eyes.

“She thinks he does. It does brighten up the habitat at least.” Roseluck nodded as she stepped outside, smoothing down her cream dress with a rose on the side. She gave Derpy a wave as she stepped into a car.

“So back to our table I guess?” I asked. Derpy shrugged as we quickly went back.

“I can’t believe Dinky called Amethyst a bitch,” Lyra laughed. “That’s amazing.”

“Where did she even learn that word?” Raspberry asked.

“Apparently she heard it in school and thought it was normal to say,” Derpy gave a frustrated sigh. “We had a long talk after Bon Bon left about why it wasn’t okay and to not say it again.”

“School is a place of learning as they say,” Lyra chuckled.

“Everyone except you. Chemistry,” Derpy gave her a smug grin.

“Shush. I really tried. At least I had help passing the last few assignments,” Lyra announced.

“Almost made me kill myself from it,” I grumbled. “We spent three hours on one question.”

“Hey we got it done, didn’t we?” Lyra asked. “That’s all that really matters.”

“Does nothing bring you down?” I asked curiously. I’ve never seen Lyra sad or ever upset. One of the many things I like about her.

“Not really, no.” Vinyl leaned to Octavia and whispered in her ear.

“Um excuse me,” Octavia said softly in her British accent. “Vinyl would like to take us all to a place called a ice ring?”

“A what?” I asked.

“One of those establishments where people ride around on skates,” Octavia added.

“A roller rink?” Derpy suggested.

“Yes.”

“How did you get ice ring from roller rink?” Lyra chuckled as Vinyl shot her a glare.

“I do not know. My apologies for being misleading,” Octavia bowed her head apologetically.

“Easy girl. I was messing around with ya,” Lyra grinned. Octavia tilted her head in confusion.

“Messing around with me?” Lyra nodded as she leaned in close to my ear.

“She’s more shy than you were,” Lyra whispered.

“I wasn’t that shy!” I defended myself. Derpy, Lyra and Vinyl all smirked at me.

“If you say so,” Lyra purred.

“You ever been roller skating before?” Lyra asked me as she bit into her pepperoni pizza slice.

“Mhm. My friends back home and I went a few times,” I bit my own slice. Storm surprised us all by being the best at it. Didn’t seem like something she would be good at honestly. I had figured Sprinkle and Beauty would be the best but they spent all night falling on each other. I’m decent but definitely not the best.

“Nice,” Lyra commented as she glanced away from us and smiled. “Ya know, for her somewhat clumsy nature at times, Derpy is a natural at roller skating.” I followed her gaze and smiled. Our grey friend was darting around with a carefree smile with her two other friends next to her with ease. They had a bit more trouble were definitely getting the hang of it.

“That she is,” I agreed.

“Just wait till you see her at ice skating,” Lyra winked at me. Vinyl coughed a bit and we looked at her cautiously as I edged away. I don’t wanna get sick if she was. Sharing is not caring in this case.

“Lyra, I have a great idea. Let’s go get more pop,” Vinyl jerked her head to the side. Lyra gave her a confused look as she ate another part of her pizza.

“Uh I have a full cup right here V,” Lyra replied slowly. Vinyl rolled her eyes.

“Well I want more,” Vinyl answered.

“You literally just sat down with a cup " Lyra pointed out. Vinyl groaned and stood up.

“I want to talk,” she said quietly. Lyra sighed and stood up.

“Just start with that next time. Don’t be so cryptic,” Lyra grumbled as the pair wandered off. An awkward silence fell over the table. It was just me and Octavia. I was slightly nervous. We’ve never really talked one on one before, always when Vinyl or Lyra was there in a group setting. I sighed and decided to break the ice. I slid a plate of pizza to her.

“Please have some pizza before Lyra and Vinyl eat it all,” I smiled weakly. Octavia tilted her head to the side curiously at the pizza before shrugging at picking it up. She took a small bite and her eyes lit up as she took a much bigger one.

“First time having pizza?” I asked with a giggle. She hesitantly nodded as she set the slice down and wiped her mouth with a napkin. Somehow Vinyl had convinced her to borrow her clothes inside of wearing her long grey skirt and white dress shirt and bow tie.

“Yes it is. I apologize for my sloppy behavior,” Octavia said softly. I raised an eyebrow.

“There’s no real clean way to eat pizza,” I chuckled. “Lyra is living walking proof of that.” We both glanced over to our partners. Well my partner. Octavia and Vinyl weren’t dating, Vinyl was just laying the groundworks as she calls it. They curiously weren’t talking, they were just standing side by side watching us. I narrowed my eyes slightly and looked back to Octavia. Those two were up to something.

“She is pretty messy I can see,” Octavia agreed. “How long have you two been dating?”

“Seven months or so,” I said. It didn’t feel that long. Felt like I just met her yesterday. “Wow, I forgot how fast time flies.”

“I cannot relate. It’s just me and mom. Dad is always busy working,” Octavia replied. I didn’t know much about the other girl but I did know her mother was seriously strict about her cello studies and not much else.

“So uh do you like hanging out with us?” I asked in an attempt to change the topic to something lighter.

“Absolutely. You guys are quite the group I’ve noticed. Very friendly and I enjoy your company,” Octavia announced.

“Vinyl was right. You are an absolute doll,” I smirked at her. I suddenly remembered the root beer float incident and chuckled.

“Thank you Bon Bon,” Octavia smiled and I glanced behind her at three men in black suits approaching us.

“Uh Octavia?” I asked nervously as they stopped at our table. Vinyl and Lyra suddenly appeared at my side.

“Miss Melody,” one spoke. “Your mother sent us to collect you and bring you home.” Octavia let out a sigh and stood up.

“Okay. Goodbye everyone,” she said nervously to us and waved slightly as she walked out with the men.

“What was that about?” Derpy asked in confusion as she leaned against the wall, worry evident on her face. Blueberry Pie and Raspberry Fluff stood behind her hesitantly. Lyra was the first to speak up.

“I’m honestly not sure.”