Finally found the place.

"Oh goodness, of course we can!" Carpe giggled and threw a hoof around Metal's shoulder in a friendly sort of way. "What have you heard about me? I hope they're good things!" She laughed again, dropping back down to walking on all four hooves as she grinned at him.

Star smiled. She was happy to see them get along so well, so fast. She almost pulled down her hood. But she found herself still feeling a small ping of guilt for causing the sudden sadness in the new ponies. And that wouldn't stop for the entirety of the thirty some-odd minute wait.

---------------------------------------

As the group settled into a corner of the Sweets shop, Starflower let her hood fall off her head. This guilty feeling is only worse now..., she thought.

Metal sat down next to Starflower
"Well then .. here we are!"
He noticed she was thinking about something.
"Is everything alright Star? You look worried."
"Is it still those two ponies you are worrying about?"

Carpe gave Starflower a sidelong look, frowning slightly as she examined her new friend's upset expression. After a moment she leaned forward across the table that they were sitting at and made a silly face, squishing her own cheeks up with her hooves. "Aw, turn that frown upside-down, sweetheart! There's no use being sad when it's so much easier to smile!"

Star hadn't realized her expression was so gloomy. She put a smile on, though probably too quickly. "I'm fine" she reassured her friends. She just hoped she wouldn't feel guilty still.

The earth pony highly doubted that the blue pegasus was as fine as she claimed to be, but let it slide this time. It didn't do any good to pressure ponies if they didn't want to talk. Instead, she pulled her hat down over her eyes and continued the clown act, in an attempt to make Star feel better. She leaned back in the chair she was sitting in and ended up toppling over backwards with a small startled scream, legs flailing. "Oops!...I'm alright!" She hadn't actually meant to do that, but of course she played it off like she had. Carpe rolled to her hooves and dusted herself off, grinning. "I totally meant to do that!"

Metal tried to hide a giggle, when he saw Carpe falling,
"Oh my!" "I hope you are ok"

He looked at Star and smiled:
"Well I think after we asked them about this.. we will know why they were acting so strange.."
Metal said while placing his hoof around her

Star looked at the sunset orange mare. She wasn't in the mood for the jokes she pulled, yet she made herself laugh to be nice. She looked at Metal. His bright golden eyes reminded her of the sun. She really had only come along for Carpe. The happy mare would have been so very sad if Star rejected her request. Then, once Metal said he'd go, she couldn't pull out. She was just about to find a way to sneak out, when the bell for the door went off. The mare from before- Flutter Shot, if she remembered correctly- walked in. She had her mane and tail braided by three braids. She had her pink stripe out of the braid, but put up in a fancy way. She saw the bunch and trotted over and sat down near Carpe. The mare smiled.


~~~~~

"Hi, everypony! Arrow was gonna set up the house, so she might join us." she said. She smiled more, because she actually convinced her sister to at least consider coming to the meeting.

One of the unicorns from earlier finally arrived and took a seat next to her. Carpe flashed her one of her signature grins and climbed back into her seat. "Hello! It's nice to see you again!" The mare paused and reached for one of Flutter's braids, gently touching it with her hoof before pulling away. "Ooh, I love your mane! Looks much better than mine..." She flicked at her own yellow mane, tossing her bangs out of her face with a crooked smile. Then she turned back to Metal and Star and stood up, slapping her front hooves onto the table with a loud clap. "We are gonna get some grub, right? Jeez, I'm starving!"

Metal saw Flutter coming in and taking a seat.. he didnt really know her name but when he saw her cutie mark, he remembered quickly...
"Hello Flutter Shot!"Metal sayed with a big smile on his face,
He looked at Carpe.. "Yes! good idea, I'm so hungry"
Metal looked over to Starflower and smiled: "What do you think Star? Wanna eat something?"

Starflower nodded. She couldn't pull out now. "Yeah, I guess we should." She smiled kindly and tried to stay calm. Flutter Shot was happy. She should have been, too.

~~~~~

"I sure am hungry. Say, could I ask where you all come from?"

"I was born and raised in Manehattan!" Carpe replied as she skipped over to the counter to order some food. She considered buying something for each of them, since it was her idea to go to Sugarcube Corner anyway, then figured that it would be better to let everypony get what they wanted instead of her choosing for them.

Metal tried to hold back tears while thinking about his past..
"I was born in Manehattan too, but i moved after ... uhm nothing..."
He looked over to Carpe..
"I'll just take some Cheesecake.. and a coffee, nothing special"

"Mane...Hatten... I'll take plain cheesecake." Starflower said.

~~~~~

"Odd one out. I come from Canterlot." Flutter giggled. "And ice cream. Yummy!"

"Three slices of cheesecake, one ice cream, and two cups of coffee, please!" She instructed the pony behind the counter, tapping her hooves on the ground as she waited. "So almost all of us come from Manehattan, huh? Small world!"

Thr orange mare flashed a smile over her shoulder at them then took the plates, bowl, and cups precariously over to the table once they arrived. Then she played waitress and passed the the requested plates to each pony, claiming a cheesecake and cup of coffee for herself before sitting back down in her seat.

"Thanks Im starving! Metal took a few bites of the cake
"So youre from Canterlot huh? How'd you became archers?"

Flutter shot looked down, and eat her ice cream. She hated this topic, but she answer the question. "My mother and father were archers in the Royal Guard." she told them.

"That's cool!" Carpe smiled at the unicorn encouragingly before shoving a big bite of cheesecake into her mouth, looking a bit comical with her cheeks puffed out. She put her hoof in front of her mouth to be a bit more polite while she talked with food in her mouth, letting out a muffled, "My parents were, er...oh, I'm being rude. You keep going, dear!"

The mare shut her mouth and smiled while she chewed, hoping that it wasn't too obvious that she didn't actually want to talk about her parents.

Metal tried to hold back tears, he didn't really want to talk about his past. Even Star didn't know much about it. He took a big gasp,
"Well... when i was a young colt, back in Manehattan.. My parents worked at a factory, they discovered some sort of a new chemical, which caused a huge explosion.. I lost my parents in this accident. After that sad day I moved to Ponyville, where i met Starflower.. she was always there for me."

A tear streamed down Starflower's cheek. Her past was tragic compared to theirs. She didn't want to ruin their time.

~~~~~

"I lost them both... My father to the Everfree, my mom to sickness. But I always'll remember them. They left their quivers and bows." She told them. "What about you Starflower?"

~~~~~

"I never liked my mother and father. They were always fighting about they wanted me to do when I got old enough. I never really spent time with them because of it. My sisters helped me out. she told them all.