The cruise ship docked at the port, with the ponies on land securing it tightly to the solid stone posts. After a wave from the crew on land, the ship opened up the disembarkation doors and ponies began to file out of the ship, taking all of their personal belongings with them.
The Main Six stepped off of the cruise ship last, with the guards restoring Starlight and Rarity's magic once they had all passed through security. Carrying their suitcases, and saddlebags, the group all left the ship behind and walked into the village of White Wings.
"This is a whole new level of elegance!" Rarity looked around at all of the tall buildings. Each and every one of them were hoof-crafted from pure cobblestone with plain wooden doors and knockers. There were windows on each and every one of the towering houses with golden frames surrounding the small rectangles of glass. "Why, if the place looks this fabulous, I simply tingle with the thought of how the ponies dress up here!"
"Focus, Rarity." Twilight gave Rarity a simple wave and pushed down gently on her friend's shoulders. "We're trying to find the five strongest ponies here and forge an alliance with them—not gawk about some clothes."
"Yeah, Rarity." Spike reclined on Twilight's back and crossed his legs. "This is an important mission from Princess Celestia, for crying out loud. I'm sure that you can stop thinking about dresses for just one day."
"I'm sorry, Spike. But I simply can't deny the chance to pass up some new ideas for my boutique. This White Wings place is already giving me tons of inspiration!" She lit up her horn and pulled a notebook from her saddlebags, jotting down whatever she could see and what properties it had in her line of business. "I just wish I had this on me for when we went to the Breezie Homeworld. Creativity strikes when you least expect it, after all."
Twilight rolled her eyes and turned towards Starlight. "Well, Starlight? What do you think of White Wings? Is it as good as you remember it being?"
"All that and more, Twilight." Starlight ran over towards a nearby food cart with a red and white roof. A warm cinnamon scent wafted from the food on display and right up her nostrils as she eyed up all of the products on sale. "Fried Gold Buns, Sensational-Scented Sweets, Marigold Magic! The food hasn't changed a bit!"
"And it's all yours, miss." The pony behind the counter flashed Starlight and her friends a toothy grin as he showcased all of his wares. "Provided that you and your friends can offer me some shekulas in return."
"Shekulas?" The Main Six all spoke in perfect harmony and tilted their heads at the cart pony. "What are those?"
"I take it you're tourists, so I'll make this a bit easier for you." The pony opened up his cash register and pulled out some coins of varying shapes and colours with numbers on the centre of each. "Shekulas are the currency of White Wings. If you want to trade in the money you've got for some, I can even point you in the direction of the bank."
"I take it that you don't take bits?" Twilight opened up her bags and pulled out some small gold coins. "That's the currency we have back home in Equestria."
"Nope. Sorry." The pony shook his head and gently pushed Twilight's hoof away. "As much as they do look similar to some of our shekulas, if they ain't got the numbers on 'em, they ain't welcome here."
"Oh. Alright." Twilight slipped her bits back into the bag and closed it up tight with her jaws. "Well, can you tell us where we can get them exchanged for some shekulas then?"
"Sure." He nodded and pointed down behind them towards a fountain and some steps. "That road'll lead you up to the high street. In amongst all of them shops and markets, you'll find the bank. They'll change those bits of yours into official White Wings Shekulas. Just look for a place that looks like a giant safe. You can't miss it."
"Thank you, sir." Twilight walked away from the stall with the rest of her friends. "We'll be sure to get that sorted out right away."
"Once you do, come on back. I'm always here." The stallion waved the Main Six off and watched the begin to climb the steps up towards the high street. "Yep. Always here..." Once he saw them disappear, he began to put out some new goods.
The ponies' trip through the high streets of White Wings took them through a wide street with shops of all different themes laden alongside the paved road. There were bakeries, clothing stores, haberdasheries, antique stores, and even the occasional health store. All of which had window displays and signs showcasing off the various discounts that they all offered.
"There's so much variety here." Applejack tipped her hat at all of the shops and businesses on the high street. "Why, it's almost enough to make Canterlot's shopping districts seem plain and boring."
"It's almost like we've entered a whole new world." Fluttershy walked towards the stores, reaching out for some of the products inside. "I know that I'm shy and worried about a lot of things, but you have to give these ponies credit where it's due." She smiled and pulled some hair out of her face.
"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Do you think they have a party store? That would be super-duper amazing!" Pinkie's tail wiggled vibrantly as she ran towards the shops further down the street. "I'd be able to throw ourselves a 'Welcome-to-White-Wings' party to celebrate!"
"We'll find some time to explore this place later, Pinkie Pie. But right now, we should just get our bits converted into shekulas, get some grub, and book into our hotel for week." Twilight overtook Pinkie and led the group once again. "Speaking of which, I see the bank right there."
Twilight pointed her hoof towards a large steel building that was the spitting image of a colossal safe with a giant steel wheel on the top. There were large golden bolts forming a square around the front side of the building and a pair of solid glass doors with silver handles on them. The rest of the building was barely as tall as the other buildings but was still fairly sizeable.
The group all walked into the bank and walked across a red velvet carpet before standing behind a couple of ponies that were about to be served. Their eyes were drawn towards the spotless white walls that had special custom lights welded onto them that shone both up and down. There were a few couches for ponies that weren't standing in the queue and a few magazines dotted around on the tables around them.
"I wonder what the conversion rate for bits to shekulas is." Rarity's eyes veered around the room. She wasn't especially taken with anything as she patiently stood in line with the rest of her friends.
"Ah just hope we're gonna get enough to last us the whole week." Applejack crossed her forehooves and looked towards the desk in front of the pair of ponies picking up a pen to write their names on the paperwork. "Ah don't want our bits to be made into some small money that'll barely get us anything."
"Don't worry, Applejack. I highly doubt that such a wonderful place like White Wings would give us some short change." Rarity bounced the curl on her hair with her hoof as the ponies in front left the line and walked out. "With how nice it looks, I'm sure that they'll be kind to us and give us a fair amount of cash."
"Hello, there! Welcome to White Wings Bank!" The mare behind the counter said, waving her hoof at the Main Six. She was pink and had dark blue hair twirled up into a small swirl. "How may I help you all today? Wanna open an account? Deposit some valuables or shekulas?"
"It's very nice to offer, but we're just here to exchange our Equestrian Bits into White Wings Shekulas if that's possible." Twilight retrieved the coins from her bags and set them down on the counter. "I trust that it won't be too much of a hassle?"
"Oh, it's no problem at all, miss." The mare scooped up all of the gold coins with her hoof and slid them into a bag before using her magic to toss it into a massive vault behind her. "Now, if you'd be so kind as to tell me how many bits you had, I can work out the exchange rate for the shekulas."
"Well... at my last count, there were at least two-hundred bits in there. Enough for all of us to get ourselves a hotel room and get some food before we started on our business tomorrow." Twilight pointed over to the sack in the vault before the mare turned towards it. "How many shekulas can we get for that many bits?"
"Well, ladies, I think you're in luck. We barely get any ponies from Equestria anymore, so these bits are hard to come by these days." The mare took some of the other coins from the giant cache behind her and put them all into another sack. "So, I'd say that—given the conversion rate and all—you girls have got a thousand shekulas! Lucky you, right?"
"A thousand shekulas?!" Applejack looked inside the sack and saw the dozens of coins inside. All of them glistened off of the lights and twinkled in the eyes of Twilight and her friends. "Why, ah feel spoilt!"
"My advice though, don't spend it all on sweets." The mare began to tap away at a device with varying different keys before a small slip of paper was printed out before the girls. "Here you are. A receipt to confirm that your transaction was valid. If there's nothing else I can do, I wish you all a swell day in White Wings!"
"Thank you so much, miss." Twilight took the sack and walked out of the building with her friends. "You have a nice day yourself."
The ponies took their sack of shekulas out of the bank and walked out onto the high street. Already their minds were buzzing with the things that they could purchase with the money that they had accrued. Each of them chattered among each other with a smile on their face as they looked at the displays in the shops.
As they were about to go to a shop, they heard the sound of jets get louder and louder. As they craned their necks skyward, they saw a sqaudron of pegasi shooting through the sky, leaving behind trails of clouds behind them. Due to how low the winged ponies were flying, their pass caused a small gust of wind to travel through the streets and blow through Starlight and the Main Six's manes and tails.
"Who in the world were those?" Spike almost jumped due to the roaring noise and put his chin on Twilight's head. He could see the ponies flying clearly now, swooping around the kingdom like hawks.
"Those are the Silver Bullets. The best flying team on the planet." A nearby filly answered Spike's question, attracting the attention of the Main Six. She was a pegasus himself, with a grey coat, orange hair, and a Cutie Mark depicting an 'X' mark in the center of a circle. "And someday, I'm going to join them!"
"The Silver Bullets, eh?" Rainbow Dash flapped over to the pony and leaned in close to his ears. "Tell me, kid; how good are they, exactly?"
"Oh, they're the best pegasi to ever grace this world." The pony nodded and pointed to the airborne group. "In the battle against Dark Lord Kha'rel, the Silver Bullets were able to puncture through his forcefield! The explosion was so super-radical and awesome that it knocked back a large portion of his army in the process!"
"That's... actually incredible." Rainbow's eyes diluted as she dropped her jaw. She had never heard of the Silver Bullets before and they were already outclassing her Wonderbolts back home. "Can you tell us anything else about them?"
"Sure! The team's led by a pony called Indigo Zap." The filly reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a picture showcasing a pegasus with orange skin and a buzzsaw haircut of multiple shades of blue. "As a kid, she always had big ambitions of becoming a Silver Bullet herself, and after some hard work and lots of time at school, she earned her stripes by saving the queen from a landslide, destroying the rock that was about to flatten both of them with a single dash!"
"So, I'm guessing that by that logic, she's one of the five ponies who we've come to meet, right?" Twilight walked up to the filly and knelt down before her. "Thank you for the help, little one. What's your name, exactly?"
"My name's Crosshairs. Soon-to-be Silver Bullet and fastest flier in elementary school." She fluttered her wings and kicked herself off of the ground. "Have a great day, girls!" And without any hesitation, she darted off down another road, passing by some townsponies along the way.
"She seems like a nice kid." Rainbow Dash watched Crosshairs fly off into the distance. "Hope she does well."
"Looks like we have our first of the five ponies." Starlight cantered off down another path. "C'mon, girls. We should get ourselves booked in so we can drop off our luggage. Then, we can focus on finding out where Indigo Zap and the Silver Bullets go."
"Sounds like a plan." Twilight smiled and followed after Starlight. She used her hoof to motion the other girls into following her. "Let's get it done quickly. We've only got a week before we have to go back to Equestria."
As Twilight and her entourage walked through the streets of White Wings, the Silver Bullets that had flown overhead were making another lap around the city. Their leather suits and goggles were unfazed by the wind blasting against their faces as their wings propelled them through the air.
"Hmm..." Indigo Zap looked down on the Main Six and nearly slowed down as she examined each of them. "Hey, Hypersonic? Where did those ponies come from?" She pointed down towards them.
"Huh? Which ones?" A stallion looked where Indigo was pointing and saw Twilight and her friends walking down the streets, talking to each other with big smiles on their faces. "Oh! You mean those ones? Can't say for sure. But I definitely know that they're not from White Wings."
"Do you think they might be important?" Indigo asked.
"Nah. At least, not to my knowledge." A pegasus mare flying on the opposite side shook her head and continued flying forward. "For now, we should report back to the queen. Let her know that the Black Fangs haven't committed any crimes yet."
"Yeah. I guess you're right." Indigo flapped up and turned back towards the castle. As she flipped her body around, she heard the rest of her companions do the same as she charged off towards the castle's front doors. Who are those ponies? And what are they doing here? Don't they know they've gone and gotten themselves into a war? If they don't get themselves outta here soon, they're gonna be in real trouble...