Lyra stifled a yawn as she held her head up with a hoof, idly listening to her teacher talk. She never really cared much about school, she more so liked recess than anything else really. Typical for a filly her age.
“You should be focusing on writing. There’s gonna be a test,” Twilight muttered as the unicorn continued writing without looking up. “Education is important.”
“I know the basics. I’m more so looking forward to playing with Minnie, Lemon and Twinkle on the play ground!” Lyra answered and nudged her quill across the table. “Not like you know what fun is, you never leave your house. Are all of Princess Celestia’s students this uptight?”
“I am not uptight!”
“Are too!”
“Am not!”
Twinkleshine, Minuette, Lemon Hearts and Moondancer paused their own writing as they watched the two argue with bored expressions.
“Are we placing bits on who started that?” Minuette asked with a raised eyebrow as Moondancer shook her head.
“I spent my allowance already. I got some pieces of candy left over from Nightmare Night though,” Moondancer answered and she got three surprised looks.
“Moondancer, Nightmare Night was almost a year ago. And besides, I don’t eat candy. Bad for your teeth and I have braces,” Minuette reminded her and covered her mouth with a hoof after noticing some colts snickering at her. They fell silent when Moondancer shot them a cold look.
“Fair enough,” Moondancer conceded after a moment and she pushed some candy around absentmindedly with a hoof.
“Class is dismissed. Sleep in fear tonight. There might be a pop quiz tomorrow, might not be!” Cinnamon Swirl called out and he turned to clean off the chalk board as the fillies and colts started packing, Lyra seemingly forgetting the argument she was in.
Twinkleshine jumped off her seat as Lyra approached with her trademark wide smile.
“Heyo,” Lyra jumped from hoof to hoof excitedly. “Are you guys still down to play tag? I’m the best!”
“You bet!” Minuette giggled and the two bumped flanks. “Moondancer wants to play hide and seek after.”
“Alright, but no teleporting!” Lyra shot Moondancer a look. “None of us can teleport except you so it’s not really fair to us.”
“Fine, fine. Will Twilight be joining us?” Moondancer asked hopefully and the other two looked at Lyra who shrugged with a frown.
“She doesn’t know fun. She only knows books,” Lyra scoffed and rolled her eyes. “We’ve invited her to dozen activities after school and she’s turned down every single one to go study. Time to cut our losses, as mom and dad would say.”
“I guess,” Lemon Hearts muttered and slid her saddlebags on. “Still feels kinda wrong. Like we’re excluding her.”
“If she really wanted to join us, she would Lemon. She’s a big girl,” Twinkleshine added with a frown. “Remember, we tried inviting her to my birthday party and she refused to go last week? Hurt my feelings.”
“Swear, it’s like students of the Princess don’t have any idea of how to have a good time,” Lyra rolled her eyes as the group headed to the door.
“The other one is fairly fun to be around I heard. I don’t know her name but she’s pretty cool and well liked by most. She’s only a year older than us,” Moondancer chimed in from the back. “She was chosen before Twilight even.”
The group continued out the classroom, missing Twilight watching from outside where she had been listening as she blinked back a few tears.
Twilight wiped away at her eyes and galloped away to go to her favorite spot in the library.
Lyra jumped back to avoid Lemon Hearts hoof with a laugh as Lemon Hearts scowled at her.
“You’re fast but not too bright Lyra,” Lemon teased with a grin as Lyra backed into a tree and gulped as Lemon tapped her with a hoof. “Lyra’s it!”
“Oh sweet Celestia,” Lyra muttered as she cursed internally. “Come back here!”
Lyra chased after Lemon Hearts as Twinkleshine, Minuette and Moondancer watched with smirks as the other two continued to run around a tree.
“You think Lyra will notice us just standing here?” Minuette asked with a grin as Moondancer shook her head slowly.
“Probably not. She’s after Lemon Hearts right now. And we all know Lyra will catch her eventually. Eventually.”
Lyra glanced behind her briefly before slamming into a colt as Lyra tumbled to the ground as Lemon Hearts skidded to a stop and the others ran up.
“Are you alright?” Twinkleshine asked as she helped Lyra up. “We’re sorry about her, she wasn’t looking.”
“I can see that,” the tan colt scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Isn’t that the idiot who’s obsessed with those weird monkeys?”
“That’s not nice to say,” Lemon Hearts frowned at him and kicked some dirt.
“You, stay out of this blank flank. It is, isn’t? What was your name again, Minty Green?”
“It’s Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings,” Lyra glared before stomping her tiny hoof on the ground angrily. “And humans do exist! You’re the real idiot.”
“Sure and I’m the star pupil of Celestia. You’d probably get somewhere in life if you quit focusing on those made up creatures and get your cutie mark in something actually useful for the crown. What would Princess Celestia think if a student of hers was wasting her time looking up random shit that doesn’t matter?” The colt asked and the others gave him angry looks as Twinkleshine patted Lyra on the back.
“If she’s into it, who are you to stop her?” Twinkleshine pointed out flatly as the colt opened his mouth to speak.
“Hey!”
They jumped and looked back at an angry looking amber unicorn with a fiery mane trot up slowly with a scowl before she jammed her hoof against his chest, watching in slight satisfaction as he stumbled backwards.
“What exactly do you think you get by harassing a couple kids in a grade below you, Spring?” The mare glared and Lyra noted she was about a few inches taller.
“Im just having a bit of fun with them is all,” Spring huffed and looked away nervously. “Chill Sunset.”
“They don’t look like they’re having much fun, especially not her,” Sunset pointed at Lyra and gave her a quick smile. “You obviously know who I am. I’m sure Princess Celestia would love to hear about how you’re being a dick. I am her favorite student, after all. And it’s funny you should be talking about grades when you’re barely passing yourself.”
“Oh my heavens,” Lyra whispered as she watched with wide eyes. “This is amazing.”
“So I suggest you run along back on home before this goes even worse for you,” Sunset suggested with a scowl as her horn glowed red. “Fun Celestia doesn’t necessarily tolerate bullying and quite frankly, nor do I. Especially when it’s ponies that I have classes with.”
“We have classes with her?” Minuette whispered to Twinkleshine as they all wore the same stunned expression as Lyra.
Sunset’s aura enveloped the colt and spun him around before prodding him forward, snickering slightly as he faceplanted into a mud puddle.
“Idiot,” Sunset muttered as she and the other fillies watched as he pushed himself up and galloped away with his tail between his legs. “So, what did you guys do to annoy him?”
Sunset turned to face them as Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, Minuette and Moondancer took off running in fear. They didn’t necessarily want to invoke the wrath of the mare. They all had a feeling that was just a small taste of her anger. Sunset sadly watched them disappear and sighed before turning around to leave.
“You’re so cool.” Sunset glanced back at a grinning Lyra as the filly ran next to her. “Like, so cool! I’m Lyra!”
“Shouldn’t you be running away with your friends?” Sunset asked bitterly and gestured behind them. “I wouldn’t judge you. I got a bit of a reputation for having anger issues around here.”
“Nah. You’re awesome!” Lyra exclaimed and reared back on her hind legs to kick her forelegs out. “Are you really Princess Celestia’s student?”
“Mhm. It’s not something I broadcast often to my fellow students,” Sunset answered and Lyra gave her a confused look.
“Why? Isn’t that like, super rare to get? I’d tell everyone I meet that I was her student. It’s something to be proud of,” Lyra commented and Sunset laughed dryly.
“It is but I don’t have many friends because of it. It’s a bit of a lonely thing to be her student. Most of the fillies and colts here only come up to me because they want to get close to the Princess. I don’t trust others well.”
Lyra watched Sunset look away with a sigh as Lyra nuzzled her cheek.
“W-what are you doing?” Sunset blushed faintly as Lyra shrugged.
“Nuzzling you. I see mom and dad doing it all the time. I’ll be your friend,” Lyra offered and held out her forelegs. “You seem like a nice pony. And you helped me out. How old are you? I’m nine.”
“I’m ten,” Sunset answered and cracked her back. “Ah, that feels good. Are you sure I can trust you? I’ve heard this before.”
Lyra nodded as she placed her hoof on Sunset’s and nuzzled her again with a smile.
“Well, duh! I’m not the type of pony to use others for my gain. You should totally come hang out with me and my sister. Octavia is a bit uptight but she can have fun,” Lyra shifted her weight and winked. “Or we can get ice cream?”
Sunset examined the filly for a few more moments. She didn’t detect any form of lying and nodded finally.
“We have to go home first and tell my mom where we are going. We should do the same with yours. Don’t want ponies to get worried about us,” Sunset chuckled and Lyra held out her forelegs again.
Sunset hesitated for a moment before she hugged Lyra as the filly gave an excited squeal.
This isn’t so bad Sunset decided as she smiled.