Author's Notes:

Author’s Note: This was done on the request of one of my favorite people on this Earth, the lovely Ana. No, not “of Arendale”. I dedicate this story to you, Woman. Love you always.

Arabesque, though she despised that name and never let anyone call her that, stood outside of Canterlot High School with a sort of nervous grimace. She wished right then, more than almost anything, that she didn’t have to move who-knows-how-many miles because of Daddy’s work. Sometimes, Arabesque wished that her mother had won full custody. Not that she didn’t love her Daddy, but Mom had a much more stationary life. Calm. Tranquill. Normal.

Then Arabesque thought about being a normal girl with a normal parent who had a normal job and she wanted to rip her hair out.
Arabesque pulled out her phone to glance at the time. She knew she would be late. Classes started at 8:00 A.M., and Arabesque had to change her entire sleep schedule (they were coming from halfway around the globe). Of course she was late. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes, twenty at the latest.

10:34 A.M.

“Son of a…” said Arabesque under her breath. She pulled on the neck of her white t-shirt nervously, then half-jogged up to the front of the school. She grabbed the door handle and pulled. She pulled again, and again, but the door remained firmly locked in place.

“No!” shrieked Arabesque. She kicked at the door angrily, doing nothing more than scuffing her knee-high Converse sneakers.

“You locked out too?” asked a dreamy voice from behind Arabesque. Arabesque spun on her heel, and found herself nose to nose with a thin, blue-skinned, large eyed girl. Her hair, light blue with navy stripes, was tied up in a massive ponytail.

“Hello…” said Arabesque.

“Hi! Don’t worry. My brother is coming to open the door for me!” said the girl with a smile. “My name is Sonata, by the way. Who are you?”

“My friends call me Q.” said Arabesque. She silently cursed herself for forgetting her Dad’s tips for meeting new people. “Uh… You been here a while?”

“Only a few months. Me and my sisters know everybody here, though.” said Sonata. “We met everybody when we tried to take over the school by mind-controlling the student body.”

And this is why she never talked to other people. Arabesque pressed her lips together into a thin line, then turned back to face the door. On the other side of the glass was a tall, thin boy with dark amber eyes. His skin was a soft golden color, a shade lighter than the color of his bob of hair, which was almost honey-colored and it covered most of his right eye. He pushed open the door and shone them a bright smile.

“Hey, Nata. What had you held up all this time?” asked the boy.

“Ari tied me to the bed cause she’s a meanie.” said Sonata, rather unbothered. “Oh! Meet my new friend! Brio, this is Q! Q, this is my brother, Brio.”

“Hey. How’re you doing?” asked Brio. He noticed Arabesque’s breathing was slightly ragged, and she seemed very stiff and uncomfortable. “She told you about the whole ‘brainwashing the student body’ thing, huh?”
That’s not why Arabesque was nervous.

“Uh… Yeah.” said Arabesque. “That’s not serious, is it?” The look on both of their faces told Q that yes, they were indeed serious. “R-right. Thanks for letting us in.”

“Okay, New Girl. Where do you have to be?” asked Brio, flashing a bright smile. Arabesque dug into her pockets and fumbled with a piece of paper.

“Um… Ms. Cheerilee’s English III, according to this.”

“Really? Cool. I’m there right now, too. Lucky for you, Q the New Girl.” Brio flashed another one of his trademark smiles. “You have yourself a friend to get through the most boring of classes.”

Q blushed slightly, but smiled nonetheless. The three of them slid through the doors and into the school. Sonata waved goodbye and went down the left hallway while Q and Brio went down the right to English.

Arabesque didn’t hear a single word of Ms. Cheerilee’s lesson. She was far too invested with the back of Brio’s head. Q couldn’t stop staring at her new friend, if she was even brave enough to call him a friend. At some point, Brio turned around and flashed her a smile.

“Would you care to tell me what is so fascinating in the back of my classroom, Brio.” said Ms. Cheerilee, hand on her hip.

“I was just explaining to Q the subtle nuances of The Crucible.” said Brio with a smile. Ms. Cheerilee let out an exasperated sigh.

“We’re reading The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin today, Brio.” said Cheerilee. “Please try not to talk in the middle of my class. And I would suggest that Ms. Arabesque pay attention in my class, considering how far behind you are.”

Arabesque slid down in her seat, blush rising in her pale white cheeks. She combed a hand through her tangly long brown hair. Brio noticed and smiled apologetically once Cheerilee turned away.

I’ll make it up to you, mouthed Brio. Arabesque shrugged her shoulders and tried her best to focus on the lesson. She did a terrible job, as her mind seemed plagued by Brio’s bright smile.

What seemed like an eternity later, the bell rang and all of the students, save for Q and Brio, rose from their seats and bolted out the door. Arabesque bit down on her tongue and went to follow, when a hand grasped hers.

“Hey, wait!” said Brio. “Running off, are we?”

“I g-gotta go to class…” said Q nervously.

“Yeah, but you don’t know where.”

“It says History in room 185.” said Q, looking at her schedule again.

“Ah, yes. You have Harshwhinny. They’re painting her room, so you’re actually looking for 194.” said Brio. He took out a pen and marked it on Q’s schedule. “There ya go. Sony’s in that class. Try not to sit next to her.”

“Why not?” asked Q curiously.

“She’s probably going to get you in trouble, and Harshwhinny isn’t as nice as Cheerilee.” said Brio. “After this period is lunch, so make sure you find me in the cafeteria, kay?”

“S-sure.” If she stuttered one more time, Arabesque might’ve screamed. Brio smiled his smile again and strolled out of the door with his hands in his pocket. Arabesque sighed wistfully for a moment, then remembered that she had only a few minutes before class. Her eyes widened and she shot from the room.

Q barely made it into class before the tardy bell rang. She walked past Sonata (who smiled at her from the front of the room) found an empty seat in the room near the back (Q thanked all the conceivable gods) and buckled down. Mrs. Harshwhinny, a very intimidating stickler of a woman, gave Arabesque a look once and never addressed her again. Fine by her.

Time moved like lightning and, before Arabesque knew it, the bell was ringing to release them from lunch. Just like before, everyone was out of the room before Arabesque. She sighed slightly. The day was about halfway over, and Q was still alive (barely, if she were to guess).

Q shuffled slowly out of the room, preparing for the flood of students that awaited. She cleared the doorframe and jumped at the twin “Hi!”s that came from behind her.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” said Brio.

“Are we gonna go get you some friends?” asked Sonata.

“No. I’d rather be alone for lunch.” said Q. She had lunch down to a science; All she had to do was pretend to want to be alone, and nobody would bother her. She just had to keep her head up and stroll in as if she knew what she was doing.

“That won’t do. Come on, New Girl. CHS kids aren’t that terrible.” said Brio. “Just look at me.”

“And me!” chimed Sonata. Arabesque managed to refrain from referring to the brainwashing thing and instead just gave a little shrug of the shoulders.

“Come on. I know some girls that’ll be friends with you.” said Brio. He grabbed Q’s sweating, clammy hand and dragged her behind slightly. Q hid her blush as best as she could and followed behind the brother and sister.

“Are we having tacos today?” asked Brio.

“Don’t think so. I can have Dagi bring us some, though.” said Sonata. “Sound good? I can call her now!”

The three stopped outside a set of double doors. Sonata moved to the side and pulled out her phone to dial for the cavalry. Brio gestured outward for Arabesque to open the door, to which she simply shook her head.

“Come on, New Girl.” said Brio.

“I have a name, you know.” pointed out Arabesque.

“Yeah, well tell me what it is and I might start using it.”

“I told you already.” Q rolled her eyes. “You just don’t listen.”

“I listen fine, but there’s no way ‘Q’ is on your birth certificate.” said Brio, raising an eyebrow. “Whenever you’re ready to give me your name, I’ll listen. Til then, better get used to being New Girl.”

“Open the door, you jerk.” said Q jokingly. Brio pushed open the door, and they stepped into the chaos of high school lunch together. Two pillars stood in the center of the room, splitting it down the middle. The walls were adorned with sports promotions and posters. There had to be at least 20 tables, each lined up in neat rows. Each table could seat eight students, ten if they brought their chairs to the head of the table. Just as Q expected, each table seemed to be segregated by cliques, with the jocks sitting with the jocks, the nerds with the nerds, the hipsters with the hipsters. Arabesque looked to each group uneasily. Where would she fit in? If CHS was anything like her last school, the answer was nowhere.

“Okay. A lot to take in, I know.” said Brio. “Especially since I’m gathering a bit of a lone wolf vibe.”

“S-something like that.” whispered Q.

“Alright. You’re afraid of rejection, right?” asked Brio. Arabesque could do nothing more than nod. “Well, I know a group of girls that would never reject you. These are the nicest and most popular girls in school.”

“Didn’t know you could be both.” said Q cynically. Brio raised an eyebrow.

“I’m both.” he said. Q snorted dubiously, but Brio carried on anyway. “Whatever. Look around. Tell me what you see?”

“I see sheep.” said Q darkly. “I see a bunch of sheep who’ve been shepherded into their pens. Everyone has their labels and sit comfortably in their box.”

“Right. Now look to that table over there.” Brio pointed to a table in the corner. “Tell me what box they belong in. Label those girls over there.”

Q looked closely at the girls, the six girls sitting and enjoying their lunch. A look at the first girl she saw, an alabaster girl with beautiful purple hair, gave Arabesque the impression that it was a group of preppy Perfs, as Q called them. Perfect grades, perfect look, perfect life.

Then she noticed the rainbow haired girl to her left, who was clearly an athlete. Thin, but not scrawny. Toned but not hulking.She obviously ran track, maybe some soccer and football. So maybe it was a group of athletes?

The pudgy, pink-haired girl debunked that theory. She was yelling loudly about something, and it was obvious that she did not have the discipline for sports. She could hardly sit still. A group of jokers and class clowns?

The more Q analyzed, the less sense it made. They had a cowboy-hat-wearing redneck, and a tiny quiet girl who seemed like she was afraid to talk, and a girl that Q couldn’t get a read on at all. There was some air of intelligence and leadership to her, but Arabesque also sensed a “bad girl” vibe.

“I… I don’t know. What are they?” asked Q. “What’s their box?”

“Friends.” Brio said simply. Q looked at him strangely. “They don’t have a label other than ‘Friends’. They don’t conform to any particular box, because they’re friends with everyone.”

“Everyone but me.” muttered Arabesque.

“Look at her. Ketchup-and-Mustard-Hair.” said Brio. Q stared at the one she couldn’t determine, the bad girl/brainiac/leader. Arabesque noted her hair, which to Brio’s credit, did resemble condiments. If Q were to describe it, she’d likely compare it to fire.

“What about her?” asked Arabesque.

“Sunset Shimmer. She ruled the student body with an iron fist, metaphorically brainwashed the students before literally brainwashing the students, becoming a demon, destroying part of the school and trying to kill the other five girls there. With the help of another of their friends, they all beat Sunset Shimmer. Blasted her with lasers.” Brio’s eyes lit up brightly. “It was pretty awesome.”

“What’s your point?” asked Q dryly. Brio shrugged off her lack of enthusiasm for lasers, but only barely.

“My point is that if they can choose to be friends with a formerly psychotic, destructive, manipulative demon, and I do mean demon, then they can be friends with you.” said Brio. “So, now we go talk to them. When they ask why we were staring, pretend you weren’t.”

“They saw us?” asked Q in terror.

“Probably. Let’s go find out!” Brio grabbed Arabesque’s hand and dragged her down to the table. When they got there, the group didn’t even notice them. They were too busy staring at the pink loudmouth.

“What happened after that?” asked Sunset Shimmer.

“We got kicked out and I smelled like ketchup for three days!” said the pink one brightly.

Q almost wanted to know. Almost.

“Heya, girls.” said Brio, bringing attention to himself. “How’re you all doing?”

“Sup, Brio. We’re doing pretty good.” said the athlete. “Who’s the new girl?”

“H-hello. My name is… Well, people just call me Q.” said Arabesque awkwardly. The entire group chimed in with their own variation of “Nice to meet you”. Sunset Shimmer noticed Q’s awkward, uncomfortable smile and leaned forward in her seat, offering her own warm grin.

“It’s okay. We don’t bite.” said Sunset. “Well, not always.” She mimed some manner of beast pouncing, getting a laugh from her friends.

“So… You’re the one who turned into hellspawn?”

Arabesque would look back on that moment for years to come and ask herself “What was I thinking?”. Even the best case scenario was rather terrible, and it was amazing that Sunset didn’t turn into a demon right then. The entire table looked to Sunset in wait of the response that would float out of her gaping mouth. Brio’s smile intensified, mostly out of nerves.

“I-I… Alright, I guess I kinda deserved that.” said Sunset sheepishly. “Yeah, I sorta went off and broke the school. But I learned my lessons, and now I have my friends. Trust me, I’m not evil or anything anymore.”

“Well, that’s good, cause Q needs some not-evil friends.” said Brio. “You see, she doesn’t really have too many friends. By which I mean she finds the idea of friendship repulsive.” He smiled a little less awkwardly. “So… Any takers?”

“Everyone hates me.” said Arabesque. burying her face in her lap. The last bell of the day had rung, and they were sitting outside of the school without much plan. Q leaned against the statue of the horse out front, despite warnings from the others.

“That’s not true. I don’t hate you.” said Brio.

“Me neither! I think you’re funny!” said Sonata. “And look! You survived your first day at CHS!”

“And I still don’t have any friends.” said Q. “And the girls hate me. You know? The girls you said would never reject me? I just got rejected so hard, and now I’m going home alone.”

“They don’t hate you. They were busy.” said Brio.

“All of them? On the same day? They hate me.” insisted Q. “I’ve never had my head further up my ass. First day here, and I probably will never have any friends ever.”

“You have two friends right here!” said Sonata, hugging Q.

“You’re always welcome to come hang out with us.” said Brio. “If you’re dad is cool with that, I mean.”

“Knowing my dad, he’s probably working right now.” said Q. Then, she shot up straight. “Wait! Seriously?”

“Get up, New Girl. You play video games?” asked Brio.

“Do you?” asked Q, raising an eyebrow. Brio grabbed her around the wrist and helped her to her feet.

“Fiesty, are we? Alright, New Girl. Show me what you got.” challenged Brio.

“Arabesque.” said Q. “That’s my name, since you seem determined to know.” She grinned to her new friends and followed Brio away from the school. For the first time in a while, Q felt something that she assumed was optimism. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.