"Come on guys, hurry up!" Rainbow called as they flew through the sky.
"Why are we doing this again? Remind me." Rapidfire commented, flying upside down near Spitfire and Fleetfoot.
"Because Rainbow wants us to meet her other friends."
"Well, yeah, but why do all of us have to come?" Rapid asked
"Because you can't be trusted alone at HQ, you're as bad as foals-"
"Spitfire, I see it!" Sparkfire had been brought along after Rainbow suggested she could come play with Rumble and Scootaloo.
"Yeah, that's Ponyville!" Rainbow called back, spreading her wings out a little to come to a soft landing on a nearby cloud.
"Why are we stopping?" High Winds asked.
"I need to tell you all a bit about my friends so you know what to expect."
"Okay, go ahead." Spitfire consented.
"Well, first is Rarity. She owns three boutiques and is obsessed with fashion and designing clothes for her friends. She also talks like a Canterlot pony and acts really sophisticated even though she was born and raised in Ponyville. Second is Applejack, or AJ for short. She works at her family's farm, Sweet Apple Acres, and regularly competes in Rodeos, so she's got her fair share of blue ribbons. Third is Pinkie Pie. For her, just think of Surprise with a higher tolerance for food and on a constant sugar rush."
"Oh boy." Silver Zoom gulped.
"Pinkie's usually just over-the-top excited when she meets new ponies, once you get to know her she calms down. Fourth, is Fluttershy."
"She was the mare who competed with you during the Equestria Games, right?" Sun Chaser asked.
"Yep. Fluttershy is a little timid, but she can be assertive when she wants to be, and runs the animal sanctuary outside town. She usually has her pet bunny, Angel, with her, though the guy is anything but an angel. Fifth, Starlight Glimmer. She's a little different, I mean, she used to be a villain, and she's still a little sensitive about it. Starlight's favorite things to do are hang out with her other friends or practice magic. Last is Twilight-"
"Pretty sure we know what a Princess is like." Fire Streak cut her off.
"Trust me, you don't. Twilight is a complete egghead and dork. I've lost track of the number of times she used magic to solve problems and ended up just making the problem worse. Twi is also really nerdy and whatever you do, don't bring up Starswirl the Bearded or time travel."
"Well, in that case-" Rapid began
"Try it and she'll make you regret it." Rainbow replied, then extended her wings. "Okay, let's go find them."
They landed in town and Rainbow led them towards the giant crystal palace.
"What's that place?" Sparkfire asked, staring to the right of the castle, where another building stood.
"The Friendship School." Rainbow responded.
"Where are Scootaloo and Rumble?"
"Scootaloo's probably either at Sweet Apple Acres or the park." Rainbow replied.
"Spitfire, can I go find her?"
"Well..." Spitfire looked up at Rainbow.
"This is Ponyville, Spitfire. It's the kind of place where everypony's welcoming and they all look out for each other. She'll be fine on her own, and the place is so small it won't take long to find them anyway. By the way Spark, Scoot will probably be with a Unicorn and an Earth Pony foal. The Earth Pony's an Apple, the Unicorn has a purple-pink mane. Just look for them if you can't find Scootaloo, and no doubt she won't be far behind." Rainbow advised.
"Go ahead Spark." Spitfire smiled, and Spark zoomed off. "But stay in town! Don't go past the Apple Farm!" Spitfire raised her voice to reach the young filly's ears.
"Got it!" Spark called back, before disappearing.
"Come on guys." Rainbow headed up to the castle. They heard laughter, and a few of the Wonderbolts stopped, the rest glancing over to see what was going on.
"Get back here Smolder!"
An orange and purple young dragoness, apparently named Smolder, flew out of the building, laughing hard. She was followed by a griffon with blue feathers and fur, that had yellow tints to it. He reached his front talons towards her, and she quickly flew up and out of the way of his grasp.
"You'll have to be faster than that to catch me...Gally!"
"Stop it! You weren't supposed to know that!" the griffon squawked, they could see his cheeks heating up.
"Well, I do now, Gally! Whatcha gonna do about it?" Smolder teased as the griffon flew up to her to look her in the eye.
"I'm going to kill you!" his eyes narrowed, and Smolder huffed.
"Please, griffons are way worse at fighting than dragons, what could you possibly-gah!" Smolder dove back down as he nearly grabbed her.
"Gallus! Smolder!" Rainbow yelled, and the two creatures froze, skidding to a halt. "What are you two doing?"
"Uh...would you believe playing?" the griffon, who Rainbow had addressed as Gallus, asked.
"No." Rainbow deadpanned.
"Smolder started it!" Gallus exclaimed, and Smolder growled.
"Don't try to pin the blame on me!" Smolder snarled.
"Well, you did!" Gallus retorted.
"Both of you go back inside and join the rest of your friends. Why are you even fighting?" Rainbow asked.
"Gallus is embarrassed that I caught Sandbar calling him-"
"If you say it then I'll start calling you what Ocellus does!" Gallus cut her off.
"How do you-"
"You two's room is right next to Sandbar's and mine, how do you think?" Gallus replied, raising an eyebrow.
"You wouldn't dare tick me off right now."
"Oh yeah? Smoldie?"
"Grr...Raaaaahhh!" Smolder flew at Gallus in a rage, eyes cut thin like sapphires, about ready to kill the griffon.
"That's it!" Rainbow took off and grabbed Smolder, hauling her backwards. "Gallus, why would you do that?"
"Because she made fun of me so I made fun of her." Gallus shrugged.
"I'm only going to say this one more time: go inside and find the rest of your friends." Rainbow ordered.
"Fine." Gallus landed and walked off.
"Let me at him!" Smolder was still struggling.
"Smolder, drop it, it's done." Rainbow ordered, and the dragon went limp.
"Fine. But if he even so much as mutters it again..."
"Then you should consider it punishment for doing the same to him. He was right about that part, at least." Rainbow said, letting go of Smolder.
"Yeah, okay." Smolder landed too and followed Gallus inside.
"Sorry about that." Rainbow landed by them.
"Who...?" Lightning Streak started to ask.
"The dragon and griffon students of the school, Smolder and Gallus. Since their species aren't really used to friendship, they can have...those kinds of reactions to problems like this. Nevermind, their friends will deal with it."
"Aren't there other species in the school too?" Wave Chill asked.
"Yeah, a changeling named Ocellus, a yak named Yona and a hippogriff named Silverstream. They're actually friends with Smolder and Gallus, as well as an Earth Pony named Sandbar."
"So, if Gallus was mad because Smolder found out about a nickname Sandbar had for him, that begs the question: why does he have a special nickname for him in the first place?" Misty Fly asked.
"No idea. And judging from what Gallus said Ocellus has one for Smolder."
"Did you ever consider the fact that they may be more than friends?" Spitfire asked, emphasizing the last part as she wrapped a wing over Fleetfoot.
"That would explain a lot, actually." A voice behind Rainbow said.
"Hey Twi." Rainbow said without turning. The others all bowed as the purple alicorn made her way towards the group.
"You don't have to bow, it's alright. If you're Rainbow's friends then you're my friends too." Princess Twilight said.
"Yes Princess." Spitfire rose. "Sorry, we didn't see you there."
"It's quite alright. And please, in Ponyville everyone just calls me Twilight. You can too, if you want. Now, what were you saying Spitfire?"
"Oh, well..." Spitfire was a little startled at being put on the spot suddenly. "Well, I was just suggesting that certain creatures among their friend group may just have nicknames for others if they care about them in a way that is more than friendship."
"I suppose that's true, but...what reason would they have for..."
"I mean, they do share dorms Twi." Rainbow said, glancing at her friend.
"By that logic, Silverstream and Yona would be-"
"Just because you share a room with someone doesn't mean you have to start making out with them." Spitfire snarled, bristling.
"Well, you're not the best example Spit, now are you?" Rapid asked, and Spitfire rounded on him. He scrambled backwards. "Itwasajokeitwasajokeitwasajoke!"
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"Well, Spitfire and Fleetfoot were best friends as kids, and still were when they grew up. And now they're kind of...dating." Blaze explained, glancing at Spitfire, who relaxed and gave her a small nod. It didn't matter to her if the Princess found out.
"Oh. Well, that makes sense as to why you'd be the only one to figure it out. Well, I should probably go make sure those two are actually getting along after that incident."
"If you heard it why'd you let me deal with it?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, I only heard a little bit of it and by then you'd already stepped in. Thanks for that, Rainbow."
"Yeah, no problem. I was just showing the Wonderbolts around town. You want to help? You could just send Smolder and Gallus to Starlight."
"Well, it is true she'd probably like to be included in the problem solving, so I suppose I can." Twilight turned and trotted off quickly.
"She'll be back soon." Rainbow told them.
The group waited only a few minutes before Twilight returned.
"Ocellus actually suggested they go hang out in town, to cool Smolder and Gallus down a bit." Twilight told Rainbow, who shrugged.
"That works too."
Twilight walked beside Rainbow as they headed back towards town. Twilight began pointing out certain places and commenting on them.
"Is she always like this?" Rapidfire asked.
"Usually." Rainbow responded, rolling her eyes. "Um, Twi, can I finish this tour by myself? Don't you have...stuff to do?"
"No, and anyway, I want to help-"
"I've got it from here Twi." Rainbow pushed Twilight aside and smiled at the others. "Come on guys, I'll give you the good tour."
Spitfire chuckled and Fleetfoot nuzzled her before the group followed Rainbow.