At Bon Bon & Lyra's home
Lyra hummed to herself as she was heating the stove up and placed a sauce pan on top of the burner. She used her magic to levitate a jar of spaghetti sauce from the refrigerator, unscrewed the lid and poured it into the pan. She then added another pot and filled it up with water and started heating that up too, and soon added some spaghetti. Her mouth began to water as she thought of the spaghetti & meatballs & garlic bread that she and her mare-friend, Bon Bon, were making for their friends tonight. She knew it was the earth pony's turn to cook, but she thought she owned it to her as she had been out doing her job (Playing the lyra at the Ponyville orchestra of course) almost 24/7 and not been able to spend much time with her special some-pony.
She heard the sound of the front door closing and was soon gifted a kiss on the cheek by Bon Bon. "How was your day babe?"
"The usual, not many costumers though" Bon Bon said sadly as she sat down "But there was one thing that jumped out at me today"
She told Lyra about the huge bruise on Derpy's hind leg and how she started acting strangely. Lyra was stunned at this "That's a little odd"
"And for some reason, I don't believe her excuse on how she got it"
"I don't believe it either. But I also want to talk about us"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean how long are we going to keep this a secret? Its been 3 months since we started dating and I feel ready to tell the rest of the gang"
"I know you are, but I just don't feel ready yet to tell them, and also, I'm more concerned about Derpy right now. That bruise was huge, almost as if was a punch"
"I guess your right, and don't be silly, I'm sure if somepony hit our friend, we would know about it and we'll kick his/her flack for Derpy"
"Yea, I guess, hey, do you want me to start the meatballs for you?" Bon Bon asked, as she stood up
"Yes, that'll be helpful" Lyra replied as she started chopping bread for the garlic bread
Lyra sat the silverware, plates, drinks and bowl of garlic bread on the table for six. Bon Bon came in the dining room, trying to balance two plates of pasta. She just smiled and blushed when Lyra used her magic to levitate it to the table, along with the rest of the dishes. Lyra just gave her a sexy smirk "You look cute when doing a balancing act" This statement caused her mare-friend to blush even more.
Ding Dong
"I'll get it" Bon Bon said. She went to the door and opened it and saw Vinyl, Octavia, Time Turner & Derpy standing there
"....And then they asked 'how does a clock have a face?'" Time Turner said., telling of a incident that happened at the clock/watch shop he worked at. The other chuckled "Yea that reminds me of this one gut one of the clubs I work at" Vinyl said "I think he might have them drunk, but he asked me 'If your a dj, then your name must be DJ'" Her friends laughed at that.
The four of them sat in the living room while Lyra and Bon Bon was finishing up the last touches of dinner. "Oh that reminds me, Derpy, Dear" Octavia said "How are things between you and Strong Steed going?" She noticed Derpy jump at this question and squirmed a little in her seat "Oh,,,well, It's,,,," Before she can give a answer, Lyra stuck here head in living room "Guys, dinners ready" As Octavia stood up, she heard a sigh of relief come from Derpy strange she thought
Just as Bon Bon placed a last minute idea of a bowl of salad, everyone else entered. She noticed the bruise on Derpy's leg again, just as big as the meatballs in the spaghetti. She continued looking at it until she took a seat. "Well, Everypony, I'm glad we can all make it tonight, how about a toast to another nice little get together?" She announced, everyone raised their glasses and they clinked together. After saying grace, they started eating, a few minutes of the sound of chewing went by before Octavia broke the ice "So Bon Bon, how's your shop coming along?"
"I wish I could say its doing well, but right now, not many customers are coming"
"I'm sorry to hear that, 'I'm sure it'll get better, especially with the young fillies and colts about to be out for school"
"Yea, your right! Young foals love candy!"
"Indeed they do"
Lyra turned to Time Turner "So, Turner, how are things going at the shop?"
"Well, to be honest, there is this one stallion who is a complete snob on the clocks there, I mean, no matter what type of wood their made out of, oak, maple cherry, walnut, pine, you name it, he'll not like it. If he denies one more clock, I'm probably going to break one"
"That does sound like a snob"
"Do you want your good friend Vinyl to give him a bit of sense in his head?" Vinyl asked, joining the conversation
"Oh, that wont be necessary" Turner answered "But I'll let you know" he said with a smile and wink
"Un, Derpy, What are you doing?" Octavia asked as she noticed the Pegasus was trying to balance a meatball on her nose.
"Trying to practice a balancing act" Derpy answered in a joking matter as she gently jumped in her seat, causing the meatball to fly in the air and she caught in her mouth, her friends gave her a small round of applause as she chewed it up and started eating a slice of garlic bread. "Speaking of you, Derpy" Lyra said "How are things between you and Strong Steed?"
Derpy nearly chocked on her bread when asked that "Huh? Oh yea.....everything's fine" She quickly answered
"Have you and him ever.....you know...?" Vinyl asked her, also giving a playful nudge. It took Derpy a moment to realize what she meant, which caused her to blush "No! no......we never.....uh...Time Turner! Any new crazy customers?" She quickly asked, easy to tell she was trying to change the subject. Time Turner looked at his friend "Well, other then the snobby clock dude, nobody is really being a pain in the neck"
The room went again except for the sound of food being chewed. This time, Lyra broke the ice "Derpy, how long have you been dating Strong Steed?"
"Um....well..."
"Now that I think about it" Time Turner said "I don't remember you telling us how you two first met"
Everypony stared at Derpy, who set her silverware down, whipped her muzzle with her napkin and then spoke "Ok, I might as well tell you all, we have been dating for 4 months now (heh heh, for 4, that's funny) Anyway, the way we met was when I was on my lunch break from work, eating on a park bench when he walked up to me and said how he can't stop looking at me, claiming I was so beautiful, we then got into a friendly conversation and he asked me out for dinner and before we knew it, we became a couple" "Do you think he's the one?" Vinyl asked in a teasing matter and giving her another playful nudge. The gray pony just blushed "I...I...don't know"
"Well, I could use some salad, Derpy, can you please pass me the salad bowl?" Bon Bon asked. Derpy picked up the bowl and stretched out and handed it to the beige pony when Octavia quickly stood up from her seat and grabbed her right arm "Derpy, what in equestria happened to your arm?" What she was looking at was a huge bruise that was about as round as a hockey puck and as big as a walnut. Derpy quickly pulled her arm free from her friend "Oh....I...I slipped and fell of my....uh..bed! Yea; I fell off my bed and hit it on the dresser" She quickly explained.
Octavia stared for a few moments before she spoke "You sure? that's a pretty big bruise"
"Yes I'm positive!" she shot out. Everyone was startled at their friend's new attitude. Derpy signed and took a deep breah "I'm sorry guys, work has been very stressing and Strong Steed has been angry lately about something, i'v just had a day of stress. And now I have a small headache" she now had her hooves up at her head, rubbing the temples. "There's some aspirin in our cupboard" Lyra offered "Its in the bathroom down the hall on the left" Derpy got up from her seat and disappeared into the bathroom. "Funny" Octavia heard Vinyl say under her breath.
"What's so funny?"
"Well about a week ago, I saw a similar bruise like that on the back of her ear, after asking her what happened, she turned pale and quickly said she fell down her stairs"
Bon Bon and Lyra stared at each other in shock
"Guys" Bon Bon said "There's another bruise"
She told them about the one she saw earlier on her hind leg. When finished, everyone was quiet for two minutes until Time Turner stood up and spoke
"Girls, from what I'm hearing, Derpy's wired, different behavior, bruises to the body, I'm beginning to fear that someponys hurting her"
"I'm beginning to fear its Strong Steed, that's the only one that she doesn't like talking about" Vinyl added
"I agree" Octavia said
"Me too" Lyra said
"Count me in" Bon Bon said
"How do we know for sure though? I want to be sure its not her coltfriend" Turner said.
"We could spy while she's on one of her dates" Octavia said, stunning everyone.
"Tavi, I never saw this side of you, I like it" Vinyl said with a smirk.
"Oh! She's having a date at her place tomorrow night. she told me all about it" Bon Bon added.
"What What!" Lyra cutted in "We are just going to spy on one of our friends while she's dating, that's not nice"
"But this is Derpy's safety were talking about" Vinyl said "You want to know if she's being treated badly so we could do something about it"
(sign) "Your right your right, count me in"
"Excellent!" Time Turner said "Sounds like a plan"
A few seconds later, Derpy returned from the bathroom and returned to her seat. "How ya kid?" Turner asked her
"oh! a lot better"
"Good" Bon Bon said "Now, would anyone like some dessert?"