//------------------------------// // 20. A Day Off. Part 3 // Story: Orchestrated Chaos // by ReFro //------------------------------// The main access way into the park was nothing more than a loose cobblestone walkway that gentle inclined up to the top of a small hill. Either side was dotted with various clumps of flowers, grouped in colors along the way. Most were surprisingly still in bloom, filling the air with a pleasant, refreshing smell that got stronger the deeper they went. Melody stopped for a moment, deeply inhaling, enjoying the lovely fragrance and beauty, ending with a satisfied smile as they continued on. Several large trees were scattered randomly on either side of the walkway, providing a nice shaded corridor for the visitors as they passed. A gentle wind rustled through the leaves casting rays of light that shone down upon them as they ventured deeper into the park. Up ahead, the pathway and surrounding land leveled out revealing a grass clearing with a large, white gazebo and benches spread out here and there along the path. Past that, the landscape declined rather quickly. Melody could see the glistening late-morning sun reflecting off the small waves in the large lake that slowly came into view. As they got closer to the gazebo, she noticed, what she assumed was, a young Earth pony family; a stallion, a mare, and a filly about her size. They had the table in the middle covered with a red and white checkered tablecloth. On top of that was several dishes of food, some of which she could easily smell from this distance. She smiled, noting how happy and content they looked, idly chatting to one another while eating an early lunch. Her eyes momentarily locked with the filly’s, but instead of being an awkward moment like she expected, the young one quickly swallowed her food before smiling and waving to her. Melody grinned and quickly waved back, not wanting to be rude. “This is pretty nice,” Melody mused to no one, or pony, in particular, a smile on her face as the three of them came to a stop at the end of the path. Ahead of them was the sharp decline that led down to a sandy, but pristine shoreline. There were a few ponies out swimming and playing in the crystal clear water, something that she wouldn’t mind doing but only if the water wasn’t ice cold. That thought quickly turned sour though. A frown showed itself for a brief moment she remembered her last, very unsuccessful, attempt as trying to swim in her current form. Yeah...pass. “It does seem rather invitin’, doesn’t it?” Granita warmly replied, gently humming, thinking about what they could do first. Looking around from this vantage point, one could see almost the entirety of the park. There were a few adults sitting on wooden benches along the cobblestone path that snaked around the lake, some could been seen chatting with each other, while others looked to be just enjoying the lovely day in solitude. A ways to the left of the gazebo, there was a small group of fillies and a single colt playing with a ball in a flat, grassy area. They had it marked off with small flags, playing some kind of game, hooting and hollering to each other. The group seemed to pique Silver’s interest, as he had a twinkle in his eye and a grin on his face. “Hey Granita. A few of my friends are over there. Can I go join them?” Silver asked over his shoulder, already starting to head towards the older foals as his wings twitched with excitement. “Ah don’t see whys not. Just take Melody here with ya. She needs ta make some friends anyways,” Granita stated, eyeing up an empty and very comfy looking bench that overlooked the lake. The thought of relaxing for a while was sounding very pleasing to her, and Silver was old enough to be responsible, so she wasn’t worried. “I’ll be over on this here bench.” “Awesome! You’re the best, Granita!” “But!” Melody started to object but found herself being hastily pulled along on three legs, Silver’s hoof tightly latched onto the other one as he quickly pulled her away towards his group of friends before she could get another word of protest in at Granita. “Stay in the park!” Granita called out with a wave of her hoof as the pair ran off to the small field. She trotted over to the bench and sat down. A content sigh left her lips as she closed her eyes, basking in the warm sunlight. “What a great day to relax…” After a quick three-legged jaunt over to the flat grassy area where the group of four foals were playing, Silver finally let go of Melody’s hoof, leaving her standing by herself on the side of the small, rectangular field that was marked off with little blue flags in the corners with two red flags spread out evenly in the middle of both the shorter sides. Silver ran out to greet his friends, causing the game to come to a halt, much to the annoyance of the formerly sole pegasus of the group. Melody watched from the sidelines as the foals either hugged Silver or gave him the pony equivalent of a high five, a high hoof? All except for the pale pink flyer that swatted him on the shoulder, grumbling something that Melody couldn’t quite pick up. After they finished their greetings, the group started asking questions, glancing over towards the filly he had left on the sidelines. Their questioning voices pulled Melody’s attention away from absentmindedly staring at the filly pegasus, quickly looking away from the prying sets of eyes that were all locked on her. Melody prayed that they would leave her alone. Anxiety and a hint of trepidation start to build inside her gut, bubbling upwards, making her want to run back to the safety of Granita. She had no desire be among a bunch of noisy, rowdy, personal boundary pushing kids; Silver was more than enough on his own for her liking at times. “Melody! Come meet my friends!” Dammit... Slowly glancing back over to the group of awaiting foals, she saw that Silver was in the middle of them. He had a big, goofy grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye that she didn’t like the look of one bit. It almost seemed like he knew she didn’t want to meet them and was enjoying every second of this. “I’m fine right here, thank you.” She dismissively waved a hoof, quickly setting her eyes on a nearby alcove of trees, finding them much more interesting to look at for the moment. “Uh-uh,” Silver quickly replied, shaking his head as he trotted over to her while the others curiously looked on. It wasn’t often that another pony would flat out refuse to simple meet somepony new. “Granita said you needed to make more friends,” he softly whispered in her ear as she shrunk back a little, making him frown momentarily as he switched tactics. “Plus, you’re making this awkward. Also, you’re making me look bad in front of my friends. Just let me introduce them to you. They’re all really nice, and if you still don’t want anything to do with them, then you can sit on the sidelines like a baby while we play.” “I am not a baby,” Melody quietly hissed back, wrinkling her snout as she glared at him, crossing her forelegs over her chest. “Good, then don’t be a baby and let me introduce you to them,” he quickly retorted with a smirk. Knowing that he had won this little squabble, he moved to her side, wrapping a leg around her withers. Before she could muster up any form of protest, Silver started walking, almost dragging, her up to introduce his friends who were all waiting patiently with mixed looks on their faces that didn't help quell Melody’s anxiety. “This here is Autumn, Rose, Cherry, and Henna,” Silver stated, pointing out each one of his friends with a grin as he spoke. “Everypony, this is Melody. She is staying with Granita and her family at Sweet Apple Acres and, best of all, she isn’t from Equestria!” Melody grimaced when Silver stated that she wasn’t a local. It was bad enough when she found out that she had an accent earlier this morning, and now it was going to get out that she was a foreigner as well... It was just going to draw more attention. Attention that she was trying her best to avoid. A few seconds later, a sudden nudge to her ribs brought her out from her thoughts. “Well? Aren’t you going to say hello back?” Silver asked in an annoyed tone, slightly scowling at her. “What? Sorry, I kinda spaced out...” She glanced over at the other fillies and colt who were still looking at her. They all had varying expressions on their faces ranging from confused to uninterested. “Umm, nice to meet you all. I’m Melody,” she softly said, a warmness in her cheeks. “Ha! You weren’t kidding, Silver. She does have a funny accent,” the golden-brown Earth pony rudely stated in a teasing tone with a smirk on his face. His voice was much deeper and gruffer than Melody would have expected to come from a colt. “Autumn!” The light green Earth pony standing next to him chided, clocking him in the back of the head with a hoof. She looked almost like a younger version of Granita except with orange hair instead of a light blonde. “That’s not a nice thing to say,” she said, scolded him like a mother would a misbehaving child, in an accent of her own. It sounded almost like French to Melody. Silver and the other two to snickered at Autumn’s misfortune, while Melody was staring at the pair, not knowing if a fight was about to break out or not. “Jeez! Sorry…” Autumn said with a frown, glancing at her while rubbing the back of his head. “You didn’t have to hit me so hard, Henna.” “It’s the only way to get things into that thick skull of yours,” Henna replied with a quick nod before turning her attention back to Melody who was now giggling at the exchange. “Don’t mind Autumn. He’s nice once you get to know him,” she said with a smile, holding out a hoof to her. “Name’s Henna, if ya didn't catch it. Pleasure to meet you.” “Nice to meet you too, Henna,” Melody replied, giving her hoof a quick bump with her own as she giggles died down. It was an odd greeting, hoof bumps, but for creatures who lacked hands, it was quite effective to say the least. “As Silver said, I’m Cherry,” the deep red filly eagerly replied in a bubbly voice, a large smile on her face as she enthusiastically held out a hoof. “Hello, Cherry,” Melody replied, once again going to bump hooves, but was instead pulled into a hug that just about pulled her off her hooves. “What the?!” She tensed up for a moment, having her space invaded like that, but just as suddenly as it happened, it was over, and she was back on all four hooves and left with a bewildered look on her face. Cherry just giggled and smiled to her like it was the most normal thing in the world to do. A snort broke the odd tension Melody was feeling. It came from the last filly who was currently hovering in the air, holding the white ball they were using in their game. “Yeah, yeah... Silver already introduced me,” the pale pink filly huffed, clearly annoyed that the game was interrupted as she did a small loop in the air, tossing the ball back into the middle of the field. Melody couldn’t help but watch in awe at the agility Rose displayed in the air. “Are we going to continue or what?” “What are you guys playing?” Melody curiously asked as she watched Rose hovering above the ground. “Duh!” Rose rolled her eyes. “Hoofball of course!” “Hoofball?” “Yeah, ever played before?” Cherry asked Melody, shooting Rose a quick, annoyed glance. “It’s a really fun game. You should join us! Rose and I need another player anyways since Silver is on Autumn and Henna’s team. That way each team gets a Pegasus. And, since Rose here is a super duper awesome flyer, you can be on our team so it will be pretty even,” she exclaimed with a giggle. Silver rolled his eyes at that jab while Rose grinned at him. “Join you? I-I don’t think I should. I have never played hoofball before. Besides, I don’t even know the rules...” Melody said, trailing off, glancing back in Granita’s direction as she thought about running back to her again. “What are you? A chicken?!” Rose scoffed out, throwing her hooves up in the air dramatically. “Come on, filly! We need another player if Silver is going to join their team.” “The rules are simple, Melody,” Silver said, clearing his throat. “You have to kick the ball into the opponent's goal on the opposite sides of the field. There and there.” He pointed to the space between the red flags before continuing. “You can’t pick up the ball at all, but you can use any part of your body to hit it. If you hit it out of bounds, the other team gets to kick the ball back in where it went out at. Also, no hitting, tacking, or trying to hurt other players. Got it?” While Silver was explaining things, Melody’s eyes lit up when she realized what hoofball actually was. “Got it.” This is exactly like soccer! She mentally squeed as a grin made its way across her face. I haven’t played since being on the varsity soccer team in high school though… “You okay there?” Henna asked, noticing the sudden change in Melody’s demeanor. “Oh, I’m perfect! We play this game back home, but it’s called Soccer instead of hoofball, and I love playing,” she excitedly said as the words rushed out of her mouth. “Heh, well glad you like the game,” Silver said with a chuckle. “I take it you want to play now instead of sitting on the sidelines?” Melody nodded, a smile on her face. “Yeah! Like Rose said, what are we waiting for?” She let out a small giggle, so did Henna and Cherry at their new friend’s sudden enthusiasm for the game. “That’s the spirit!” Rose did another small loop in the air, before darting off to the center of the field. Autumn was already trotting back on the field and getting into position near the center with Rose on the opposite side. Silver and Henna followed suit as well, taking positions a little ways back from Autumn. That left Cherry and Melody still standing on the sidelines. Cherry gave her a quick smile as she started to head off to the field but stopped. Melody suddenly didn’t look as enthused as she did moments ago for some reason. “What’s the matter? I thought you wanted to play?” Cherry asked, giving her a confused, but concerned look. “I…” Melody shook her head for a moment, pushing a few negative thoughts that decided to surface out of the way as she put on a small smile. “Nothing, let’s go!” Melody trotted out to the field, mirroring the position that Silver had taken up as a slightly confused Cherry followed behind her, getting into her position that mirroring Henna. Rose gave them both a quick glance, making sure they were ready before setting the ball down in between her and Autumn. “You ready to get your flank kicked again?” “Humph,” the colt snorted back to Rose. “We’ll see about that. Kickoff on three.” “Bring it on big guy.” <><><><><> “... and then, I darted around Henna and kicked in the winning goal!” Melody happily chirped, almost bouncing around Granita as she finished recalling her team’s victory. “Yeah, well…” Silver started to say something but decided against it. “You were pretty good out there, I’ll give you that.” he said, finishing with a smile as her gave her a small shoulder to shoulder nudge. Granita had been quiet the entire time, patiently listening to the whole story of how Melody and the others on her team came back from losing two to one as they walked down the main street. “Sounds like you two had a wonderful time, and ya made some friends to boot, eh?” “Yeah! I’m glad that I got to meet them all,” she replied, a small smile on her face as she glanced to Silver. “Thanks for…” She scrunched up her nose as she tried to think the right word in Equestrian. “Thanks for showing me your friends,” she finally said, her ears flicking at how odd that sounded. Silver gave her an odd look. “You’re welcome, I think… So, what country are you from? You never did mention it when Henna asked earlier.” Melody about tripped when he asked her that, but miraculously caught herself before falling. She let out a few fake coughs, trying to buy herself a little time and to fight back the embarrassment of almost falling flat on her face in the middle of the street. Back at the farmhouse, she had read about a few other countries here in Equestria but didn’t know enough about any of them to pick one without the possibility of raising suspicion, so she decided to try and stall some more. “I, umm…” “Hey, Melody!” A familiar voice called out to her from above the trio causing them all to look skywards towards as a pale pink pegasus came into view, landing gracefully as a cat in front of them a split second later. “R-Rose! Hey. What’s up?” Melody replied with a smile on her face. She was extremely glad for the distraction but also curious as to what this filly wanted from her. “Did, did I forget something or...?” “Nah, nothing like that,” Rose nonchalantly replied, running a hoof through her windswept mane to get it out of her eyes. “I wanted to invite you to our weekly game, seeing how well you handled yourself out there and all,” she said with a grin. “You want me to join you guys again? R-really?” A small pit of uneasiness balled up in her stomach. Sure she had a great time today, but did she really want to join them all every week? “Duh.” She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, really. Would be awesome to have somepony like you out there. Besides, I need a little competition, otherwise it gets boring,” Rose remarked, flashing a smirk Silver’s way. “What the hay is that supposed to mean?!” Silver huffed, glaring at Rose. “What I mean is... You need to step up your game, Silvy, or you’re gonna have two mares that will be running circles around you out on that field!” she stated with a grin, glancing to Melody as Silver scoffed at the notion. “So, what do ya say? You wanna join us and run circles around Silver here every week?” “I, umm…” She stalled for a moment. That pit in her stomach grew slightly larger, but having a chance every week to show Silver up would be fun, plus it would give her a chance to get out and see more of the town than just their farm… The feeling of earlier uneasiness started to fade as the prospect of having some freedom overrode any doubt or worries she had. “What day do you guys meet?” Melody asked before glancing over to Granita, giving her a questioning look. “Saturdays about ten in the morning. We all meet at Silver’s house. Most of the time, Minty gives up treats,” she replied with a grin. “Hmm… As long as yer chores are done, and we don’t need ya in the fields, well... I don’t see why not,” Granita replied. “But, Pa will have the final say on that, and we can talk to him more about it more over supper.” Melody’s eyes lit up for a brief second, a wide smile on her face. That pit in her stomach now completely squashed, replaced with exuberance and overflowing excitement. “Thank you!” She gave the older mare a quick nuzzle before turning to Rose. “I would love to join you guys!” “Awesome. I’ll see ya next week. Later!” “See ya then!” Melody eagerly called back, a large grin on her face as Rose took off into the sky. Damn I wish I could fly… “Sounds like ya really made a good impression on that there filly,” Granita mentioned as they started walking down the road towards downtown again. “Hehe, I must have…” “Hey, I guess that means I’ll be seeing you every week then, huh?” Silver asked with a grin. “Come over early enough and you can help me with chores!” “Only if Pa says it’s okay, then yeah I’ll be over, but I’m not helping you with your chores. I have enough of my own, thank you.” Melody grinned back at him, returning the shoulder bump from earlier. It was nice to have friends, even if they were not human, to look forward to hang out with. She loved Granita, Ma, and Pa for everything they had done, and still are, doing for her, but what Granita said at the park was right, she needed friends as well as family. “Can’t blame me from trying, huh?” Silver chuckled as he glanced to Melody. This morning when they had first met, Silver had thought this little filly was going to be a drag to hang around with all day. At first she was so boring and timid. The fact that she had even hid from him behind Granita’s legs when he greeted her was a testament to that. Even when they were walking to the park and they finally got to talking a bit, it only ended up with them bickering, and that was why he was so excited to see his friends in the park. He wasn’t sure they would still be there after he told them he couldn’t make it today due to having to help around the bakery. But now, he was glad to have met Melody and introduced her to his small group of friends. It turned out that she was a great hoofball player despite her age and size difference. And, she seemed to hit it off with everypony as well. Heck, even Rose liked her enough to invite her back. If that wasn’t saying something, then nothing was. “Hey, Earth to Silver…” “Huh? What?” he asked, quickly shaking his head as he glanced at a slightly annoyed looking Melody. “I was asking you about your, umm, what did you call it again?” Silver gave her a blank stare having no idea what she was referring to since he had missed the first part of this one-sided conversation. “I don’t even know what we are talking about…” With a small huff, Melody started over. “Your instrument. I can’t remember what you called it, but I was asking you how long you have been playing.” “Oh. Oh! You mean my guitar. Well, I started when I was six and I’m about to turn nine, so like two and a half years give or take a few months. How about you? How long have you been playing your bass or whatever mystery instrument it is?” “My what instrument?” She asked, a look of slight confusion on her face. Silver waved his hoof dismissively. “Was a joke. I take it you don’t know what mystery means?” “N-not exactly, no.” “We need to get you a dictionary, you silly filly,” he said with a laugh. “Though, it is kinda cute with your accent and all. Makes you seems all mysterious.” He grinned, teasing her a bit. She stuck her tongue out at him, not knowing what the last word was they he said, but she could tell it was a joke at her expense. “I thought you didn’t like the way I talked? Thought my accent was silly,” Melody suspiciously asked, giving him a glance. “And what’s a dict-i-on-ary?” “What's a dictionary?“ Silver facehoofed with a groan. “Celestia help me…”