Capitulo Cuatro
Social Adaptation
When they made it back, the two unicorn fillies sat themselves down as Dinky smiled while Lilynette beared a neutral expression. Lilynette looked over her sister's notes as she kept quiet.
Cheerilee noticed them and nodded to Dinky as she went back to her exercises "Now, can anypony tell me what 1337 divided by 7 is?" She noticed Lilynette hold up a hoof and frowned deeply "Do you have to go to the bathroom again, Lilynette?"
Lilynette scowled "No, I was gonna say the answer! It's 191!" Most of the class chorused an 'ooooh' in amazement.
Cheerilee stared at Lilynette in surprise, then smiled "That's correct, Lilynette! I see you've went through your sister's notes rather well! Can you tell the class what 7983 divided by 9 is?"
Lilynette shifted her gaze between Dinky's notes and the problem on the blackboard before she answered "887?"
Cheerilee beamed at the red filly "Very good! I see you have a head for numbers!"
Lilynette shook her head "No I don't." She turned to Dinky with a small smile "I had help from my sister..." She answered softly. Dinky smiled back at her while the two fillies behind her gagged secretly.
Cheerilee smiled and turned to the class "Well, I see that you're all doing well so far, which is why you'll be doing your own exercise worksheets covering division! You can come to me or call me over for help if you're having trouble! Now will the students in the front row please come up and grab the papers so they can pass them back to the rest of the class?" The students did as they were told and the students began writing down their papers.
Dinky was doing her work well, but when she heard growling, she turned to see Lilynette having trouble with her pencil as she tried gripping it in her hooves with an annoyed look on her face. She frowned "Do you need any help, sis?" Dinky asked sympathetically.
Lilynette slammed the pencil on the desk and scowled at her hooves "Why don't I have any hands!?" She growled to herself. In her anger, she was oblivious to the taunting laughter behind her.
Dinky looked back for a moment with a frown before smiling at Lilynette "There's no need to sound like Ms. Heartstrings! Why don't you use your mouth? Or your horn?"
Lilynette stared up at her horn "I don't know how I can write with this..." She then sighed as she gripped her pencil in her teeth and tried to write. She wrote down unintelligible scribbles and dropped her pencil the moment she noticed her less-than-impressive penmanship. Angered over her failure to write, Lilynette crossed her forelegs in a pout. When she heard giggling, she looked at the two fillies behind her as they instantly stopped and innocently continued their work.
Cheerilee noticed Lilynette's fuss and tilted her head "Lilynette, are you having trouble with your work?" Lilynette only huffed and looked away with a sour expression, allowing Cheerilee to press on "You can tell me what's wrong, don't worry." She spoke in a comforting tone.
Lilynette shifted her eyes to Cheerilee for a moment before mumbling something inaudible while she pouted.
Cheerilee blinked "What was that?" Another mumble. The teacher frowned and trotted over to Lilynette and looked down at her "Come on, Lilynette, you have to be-" She looked over at the red filly's work and noticed her writing "Oh..." Cheerilee turned to Lilynette with a smile "You shouldn't be discouraged about this sort of thing. Practice makes perfect!"
Dinky smiled at Lilynette "Don't worry, sis! I can teach you how to write!"
Lilynette remained in her position for a moment before she turned to Dinky with a frown "Thanks..." She said.
Cheerilee smiled at Dinky's compassion and nodded as she went back to her teacher's desk. Lilynette was then coached by her sister with how to write using her teeth, though it took it most of the class for her to get it down with ease.
When Lilynette was able to write, she chose to erase her former attempts on her exercise sheet and revise her answers with more readable writing. The bell rang, and Lilynette looked up to it while Cheerilee spoke "Alright, everypony! Give me your exercise sheets and enjoy yourselves at recess! When you come back inside, we'll go over our history session and pick up where we left off in your books!" The students made their way outside, Dinky and Lilynette traveling casually out to the playground.
_____
Derpy casually left another envelope in the mailbox belonging to Roseluck's home "There's another one! You know, Starrky, I kinda wished I was as fast as you! Nopony could deliver mail THAT fast other than Rainbow Dash!"
The mentioned pegasus stood next to Derpy as he scratched his head with a hoof "You'd be surprised at how much I'd want the opposite...But I don't know why I have to follow you around to know my way around Ponyville when I could just read a map of it..." He spoke in a bothered tone. Starrk wanted to simply find a good spot to nap since he had nothing better to do at the moment.
Derpy smiled "Well, I need somepony to talk to! Raindrops is on a separate route, Sparkler's busy babysitting foals for other parents, and I don't want you to be home alone!" Derpy then flinched as her eyes straightened for the first time.
This intrigued Starrk as he raised an eyebrow "What's wrong?"
Derpy looked worried "Oh no! Dinky! I forgot to give her lunch when I had Sparkler send her and Lily to school!! The poor fillies must be hungry!!" She then perked up and cast a pleading look in her mismatched eyes towards Starrk "Starrky, you're the fastest pegasus I know! Can you please head to my house and pack a lunch for both our kids? You'll find what you need to bring them in the fridge, but just be sure to give it to them in a bag!"
Starrk frowned 'Well, I suppose Lilynette needs to eat...' He felt his stomach growl and looked down at it with a deepened frown 'Oh yeah, and me, too...I forgot we haven't eaten anything since we've got here...' Starrk nodded to Derpy "Sure, I got this. I need to get something myself, while I'm at it."
Derpy smiled "Oh, that's right! Don't worry, Starrky! Help yourself to the fridge, but be sure that the fillies get their lunches! Afterwards, you can come back to me!"
Starrk waved a hoof as he trotted away a few steps "I got it..." He activated his Sonido and found himself at the Hooves' household in a matter of a second. He stepped inside and looked around before he reached the kitchen. Starrk reached the fridge and looked inside to see Derpy's stock of food, mostly containing muffins. This left the former Espada confused for a moment before getting back to his task.
He looked around and managed to find some paper bags after looking through the cupboards. Most of them contained more muffins, much to the former Espada's confusion. He deduced that Derpy must have some unhealthy obssession with the baked good.
He packed a lunch for both Dinky and Lilynette and carried both bags in his teeth as he made his way outside and flew into the air. He hovered his wings and got a bird's eye view of Ponyville once more as he looked around 'Now where's the school??' He noticed a distant red schoolhouse with children playing and spotted Lilynette and Dinky 'There they are...' He blurred out of existence with his Sonido.
_____
Lilynette looked around at the playing children and frowned to herself 'This is very different from Hueco Mundo. Am I honestly supposed to enjoy this?'
Dinky grinned "Hey, sis! Let's play a game!" She then tapped Lilynette on the shoulder and jumped away from her "Tag! You're it!" The red filly only stared at Dinky in confusion as she beamed back. Dinky's grin wavered for a moment before she approached Lilynette and tapped her again, jumping away once more "Tag! You're it!" Lilynette did not move as she continued staring. Dinky frowned and tilted her head "Don't you ever play tag at all, Lily?"
Lilynette held a deapan stare at her sister "I think you have me confused with someone else..."
"Hey! Dinky!"
The two unicorns turned to see Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle approach them with friendly looks on their faces. Dinky smiled "Hi, crusaders! How's it going?"
Scootaloo waved "Doing alright! Ms. Cheerilee's math class can be so boring sometimes!" She turned to see Lilynette with an apprehensive stare and turned back to Dinky "Oh, hey! Lilynette, right? Way to go on those exercises earlier!"
Applebloom nodded "Yeah! Here we thought it was jus' Twist that was good with numbers! Me an' Sweetie Belle 're gettin' up there, but we can only do so much!"
Lilynette huffed "I told you I'm not good at that stuff! I just had help from my sister is all!"
Sweetie Belle grinned "Isn't it great to have a sister your own age, Lilynette? Me and Applebloom have older sisters, but you have Dinky!"
Lilynette huffed and turned to Dinky "Well, at least I'm not alone anymore..." She then looked at the three fillies and examined that they had no cutie marks of their own "Who are you anyways? You're just like Dinky!"
Dinky giggled "These were the friends I was telling you about, Lily!" She directed a hoof to each filly "This is Applebloom!"
The yellow filly waved "Howdy!" She greeted warmly.
"Sweetie Belle!"
The white unicorn filly bowed politely "Hello there!"
"And you already know Scootaloo!"
Scootaloo smirked "I gotta say, Lily! You talk pretty tough for somepony that doesn't know how to write!"
Lilynette growled "What was that?"
Dinky quickly got in front of Lilynette with an anxious expression "She didn't mean it like that, Lily! Please don't get mad at her!"
Lilynette glared at Scootaloo and huffed "Fine..."
Scootaloo craned her head back and frowned "Sorry if I did set you off somehow. We never seen anypony like you before is all!"
Sweetie Belle trotted near Lilynette and examined her cutie mark "Especially since you don't know how you got your cutie mark! Did you forget how?"
Lilynette turned to Sweetie Belle "I don't know, okay? Me and Starrk just got here with this!"
Sweetie Belle blinked at Lilynette "Who's Starrk?" On cue, the sound of booming static was heard, and the group of fillies looked to see the mentioned pegasus behind Lilynette and gasp at his sudden appearance.
Starrk shifted his eyes between the fillies until he saw Dinky and Lilynette, dropping the two bags out of his mouth and turning his back on the them "Eat up, you two." He spoke in a laidback tone. Starrk then looked back at Lilynette with a small glare "And you behave, okay?"
Lilynette glared back "Hmph! Don't tell me what to do!" Starrk scoffed and blurred out of existence with his Sonido, and Lilynette glared where he stood while the fillies behind her had their jaws dropped.
Scootaloo was the first to break the silence in an awed tone "Who WAS that stallion!? Did he just teleport without using a horn!?"
Applebloom blinked "Looks like Rainbow Dash got herself some competition with how fast he is!!" She finally spoke with the same tone as her orange friend.
Dinky shook off her shock and smiled at the crusaders "That's Lily's dad, Mr. Starrk!" She noticed the paper bags and perked up "Oh right! Mommy forgot to pack our lunch! Mr. Starrk must've brought it to us!" Dinky grabbed her bag and opened it up.
Lilynette blinked at the bag "Lunch?" She trotted over and peeked into the bag after opening it with her muzzle, fishing out the first of her contents with her teeth. She managed to grasp it with her hooves as she bit into it and chewed. While it tasted pleasant, she stared down at her meal after swallowing her first bite "What is this?"
Dinky turned to Lilynette while her own muffin rested in her left hoof "You mean you never had a muffin before, Lily?"
Scootaoo craned her head back with an arched eyebrow "Seriously? Where did you live before to not know what a muffin is?"
Lilynette looked away and answered harshly "A place you don't even know about." She took another bite of her muffin.
Applebloom frowned "Well that's cuz y'all haven't told us yet! Maybe we do know about it!"
Dinky turned to her friends "Lily said that she used to live in this place called..." She looked down in thought "Um..." Dinky then looked up "Oh yeah! Hueco Mundo, right?"
Sweetie Belle blinked in confusion "Hueco Mundo? That's nowhere around Equestria at all!"
Lilynette shifted a glare at the crusaders "I told you..." She took a bite of her muffin as she looked around at the other students on the playground, then noticed two smiling fillies - the same ones that sat behind Lilynette and Dinky - approach her and the group.
Dinky noticed and frowned "Oh no..."
Lilynette turned to Dinky "What's the matter, Dinky?"
Dinky looked at her sister "It's those two coming over! Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon!"
Applebloom glared "They're th' meanest fillies in th' school, always pickin' on us jus' cuz we don't have no cutie marks!"
Scootaloo shook her head "But that doesn't mean it's just US she's after..." She spoke in an exasperated tone.
Lilynette frowned "What do you mean? Are they strong?" She watched the two close the distance as both fillies held taunting smiles.
Diamond Tiara took a step forward "Hello there!" She spoke in mock sincerity "So nice to see you blank flanks today! Though, I can't help but think that one of you doesn't belong..."
Silver Spoon giggled "Or does she with how she had trouble writing in class...?" The two fillies laughed.
Lilynette soon caught on and scowled "Are you talking about me? What do you want?" She snapped defensively.
Silver Spoon smiled "No need to get testy. We just want to talk is all."
Applebloom scowled "Th' only thing y'all will do is get us riled up! We don't want no trouble!"
Scootaloo glared "Don't you have anything better to do than pick on a new student, Tiara?"
Diamond Tiara huffed "She should be lucky we're even talking to her! It'd be really horrible for her to be all alone, right?"
Lilynette stood up and glared "And what do you know about being alone, huh!?"
Diamond Tiara shot a condescending stare at Lilynette "Only that those four behind you are a good example, what with their-"
Lilynette's eyes narrowed "Blank flanks?"
Diamond Tiara giggled "Not bad, Lilynette, was it? You're not as dumb as you look!"
Lilynette bared her teeth "What was that!?"
Diamond Tiara sighed "Of course I have to repeat myself to you..." She trotted over to a tree "I said, you're not as dumb as you look! But I suppose I should take that back with that question of yours! Maybe you got lucky with how you were able to divide numbers in class!" She ignored the fact that Lilynette's glare worsened as she growled.
Dinky noticed how angry Lilynette was getting and frowned at her tormentors "Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, can you please stop picking on us? We just want to enjoy the rest of the day!" She asked politely.
Sweetie Belle glared "Yeah, leave us alone for once!"
Silver Spoon looked over at Lilynette and winced at her towering anger "Erm, Tiara, maybe we should leave them be. She looks ready to attack us!"
Diamond Tiara smirked defiantly at Lilynette "Don't worry, Spoon. Judging by what she said in class, she doesn't know anything about Ponyville, or maybe even Equestria with how she says she just got her cutie mark without even knowing! I mean, really? What kind of pony claims to have one just appear unless it's a case of 'Cutie Pox', like what Applebloom pulled a while back! I'm sure she'll realize what would happen if she ever decides to make the wrong move..." She looked back at her tree, an ulterior motive hidden in her mind.
Lilynette took a step forward "Is that a challenge, you jerk!?"
Scootaloo frowned at Lilynette "Lilynette, I don't think it's a good idea to take on Diamond Tiara on school grounds! You could get in a heap of trouble!"
Lilynette jerked her head over to Scootaloo "She doesn't look all that strong to me!"
Diamond Tiara caressed her mane with a huff "And just why would I even want to fight anyway? I'd leave the dirty work to the colts whenever they decide to mess around! Besides, I could say the same for you, little Lily~!" She spoke in a taunting tone as she stuck out her tongue.
Lilynette perked up at Diamond Tiara's action and bellowed with fury as she charged at her in a gallop.
Sweetie Belle noticed the look in Diamond Tiara's eyes and how she looked ready to move. She gasped and called out to Lilynette "Don't do it, Lilynette! It's a trick! She's provoking you!"
Lilynette did not listen as she closed the distance with Diamond Tiara, who moved out of the way to have Lilynette make a direct course with the tree she stood by. While she expected a harsh bump and a fit of crying, Diamond Tiara heard a sickening crack and looked to see the tree she moved away from get knocked away a few feet, earning the attention of the other students. The pink filly stared with an indescribable amount of shock at how Lilynette was able to knock away a tree and still stand as she hyperventilated in anger. The red filly slowly turned to Diamond Tiara with a hate-filled glare.
"Screw Snips and Snails! I'm coming for you!!"
To be continued...