Time to hire some extra teachers

by Light Heart101


Flash Truth, ShyStone, FastFox.

The sun rose as the train pulled into the station. There were your usual group of tourists, sales ponies, and other travelers, but today three of them stood out. One was a male crystal pony with a white coat and brown hair. He wore a orange jacket and a brown hat. There was also a female zebra. She was light gray with grayish blue stripes. She also wore these green glasses which were pretty large. She was a little chubby and looked rather cautious. The last one didn't act like her at all. This buffalo had a lot of energy and was darting all over the place. She was rather skinny and had a light brownish red coat with darker hair that matched it. In her hair she had three feathers that were red, orange, and a black and white one. She also wore a necklace with all of her baby teeth on it. The only thing making these three even stranger than they were was the fact that they were traveling together. It was fairly clear that the crystal pony was the only adult out of the three of them.

As the buffalo ran around looking at all of the sights the crystal pony tried waving to her. "Hey FastFox, let's try to stay together. This town may be small, but it's still easy to get lost here."

Fox turned over to him excitedly. "But Flash Truth, there's so many cool things here. Giant castles, ice cream shops, and dozens of cool ponies; how can somepony come here and not get exited? Am I right ShyStone?"

The zebra blushed as Fox turned to her. "Um, maybe? It's a little big for me."

Flash chuckled softly as he wrapped a hoof around her. "It's smaller than MoonRacer. I'm glad you guys came along, but we need to be on our best behavior. I'm still surprised that she was interested in hiring you two as well. Frankly I thought you'd make better students than teachers."

As Shy lowered her head a bit Fox ran over to him. "Come on, Shy here would make a great librarian, and where wouldn't you need me. You can't break us apart!"

Flash smiled as he wrapped them both in a hug. "Thanks guys. Well, lets show Princess Twilight what we are made of!"

They didn't have too hard of a time finding the school, whenever Fox wasn't running around. Eventually, they made their way into the school. Shy looked like she was trying to walk trough a mine field trying to keep a safe distance from all of the kids. Flash had a hard time trying to keep track of both of them. Soon they made their way to Twilight's office.

As they walked inside they saw a human placing a few files in Twilight's desk as he talked to her. "I don't like it when you keep secrets from me; especially about the other teachers!"

Twilight sighed as she went through the files he gave her. "Currently you are only allowed access to the NON classified files. Would you like it if I told the others about your secrets?"

Light Sparker cringed as she said that. "I hate it when you get a step ahead of me. Who do we have here?"

Both of their attentions turned to the three guests. Flash stepped forward. "I'm Flash Truth, and these are my... well, I guess you can call them my daughters, ShyStone and FastFox. We are here for some openings you had for your school."

Fox's eyes widened as she jumped onto Light. "Wow! You are the coolest thing I've ever seen!"

Light's expression didn't change, even with a young buffalo on top of him. "Do you even know what I am?"

Fox chuckled. "Of course! I don't just go guessing while jumping on everybody. You're a featherless harpy!"

Light bit his lip after hearing that new guess about his race. "I'm sorry I asked."

Flash's hooves glowed as Fast was slowly lifted off of him. "You have to excuse her. She gets a little exited around new... people?"

Light's eyes widened just slightly as he saw an earth pony using magic. "Um, I hope you don't mind my asking, but how did you do that?"

Flash acted rather nonchalant about it. "Oh, that's just my horseshoes. They allow me to conduct magic without having a horn. It's a long story."

Light found his calm attitude about the artifact rather disturbing. "Well, I am familiar with artifacts that work as magic conductors, but how did you find those?"

Flash shrugged. "My teacher gave them to me."

Light found the idea of magical objects being freely given away rather far fetched. "Are you puling my leg?"

Flash chuckled a bit. "I don't lie, and don't expect me to be lied to."

Light didn't know why, but he knew that Flash was telling the truth.

While Light tried to figure out how to react to that Twilight pulled a few files out of her desk. "Alright, everypony please take a seat. Light, you can go now."

Light had a curious grin appear on his face. "Actually, would you mind if I stayed? I doubt they have any classified information about them. They seem innocent enough, unless the zebra there is a changeling in disguise." Shy gave a small nervous squeak as she shrunk into her seat. Light rolled his eyes. "That was just a joke. Changelings are welcome here and if you were just a spy I would have known by the dirt on your hooves. Trust me."

Twilight slowly went through the file as she tried to process his request. "Um... I guess. As long as you behave." Light gave a nod as he took a seat in the corner of the room. Twilight took a deep breath as she laid the files on the desk. "So, you all know each other pretty well, right?"

Everyone paused as Light gave a small groan. FastFox quickly spoke before Flash could open his mouth. "Uh, yes. We have know each other for a few years now and we are pretty close friends."

Twilight smiled. "Good. If you don't mind Fox my first questions are for Flash. I'll get to you next. It says here that you have experience as a teaching assistant. Why did you want to move down here?"

"I thought we could use a slower pace in a smaller town. MoonRacer is between the badlands and Equestria and after the whole "storm king" thing I thought this would be a nice town. I should tell you that you will find every race under the sun over there, except for alicorns. We do have a pegecorn, but from what I've heard they are two different things." Flash said as he looked around the room, wishing he had his camera.

Twilight took another quick look at his file. "It also says here that you tried to get a medical degree and failed."

Flash bit his lip a little. "Yeah, I wasn't too happy about that, but I do have a first aid licence. If anybody gets hurt I can help them a bit."

Twilight looked content with her questions and opened a second file. "Alright. FastFox, I'll admit that it's unusual for a kid to work in a school, but I think you can help in some areas. You claim to have a good grasp on friendship and have quite a few friends."

Fox gave a big smile. "Yeah, I'm great at this stuff."

Light leaned forward. "Name a few friends that aren't in this room."

Everyone gave a shocked look to Light. Fox looked completely off guard. "Well, there's a couple of kids I'd race back in MoonRacer. Speed, Sleipnir, and Fenrir. Uh... I... Eh..."

Light raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about the Norse..." Twilight shook her head. Light shrugged as he continued. "I don't know which one is the dog, but he doesn't count. I can tell you had a race with them before you left MoonRacer and I'm finding three bits of hair on you that were probably from a hug. I can't place a sheer bet on two of them, but I can easily pick out the dog hair. Don't go trying to say it's a diamond dog, their hair isn't that short. So you have two on the list, tell me more. While you're at it name some of Shy's friends."

FastFox just started stumbling over her words as she tried to string a sentence together. She looked to Shy for help only to she her skin starting to turn pale.

Light walked back to the desk. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I started to notice a few problems here. I decided to get an idea of Flash's body language while he was talking and got a baseline for him. When Twilight brought up your list of friends his eyes widened and his head tilted to one side. Even through his shades on I could see the crease on his forehead. My bet is that most of your friends are the ones in this room. Of course, that's not the main problem I found. I was looking over Twilight's shoulder and I saw the applications you turned in. The writing on two of them matched. Fox and Shy. My guess is that Fox filled out Shy's application, and the look on her face just gave it away." Everybody turned to see Shy Stone with her head lowered. Light didn't let up. "I do believe that Flash thought you were being truthful till now, but I believe half-truths can fly under the radar. Here's my question for you. Who would you fill out an application for a kid who's an obvious introvert who most likely didn't want the job and lie on your own application? At this point, you'd make a better student than a teacher."

As everybody stood in silence a few tears ran down Fox's cheek. Her playful nature seemed to be disintegrated by Light's relentless onslaught. As she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes she started to speak softly. "I didn't want to lose my family. When Flash said that he wanted to apply here I didn't want to think about what would happen if he left us. I didn't want to lose him, but I couldn't leave Shy behind. So I decided to apply both of us for the job. I didn't want to hurt anypony. I'm sorry!"

As Fox started to brake down into a crying fit Flash walked over and placed his hooves around her. As Light and Twilight watched this they heard a soft voice come from Shy Stone. "That's why I came. I didn't want to hurt Fox's feelings."

She proceeded to join Flash in trying to comfort Fox. As Twilight watched this unfold Light silently stood up from his seat with a somber look. "I think I've overstayed my welcome. Excuse me."

Light silently made his way out of the room. Twilight went through the files again as the others turned to face her. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize how close you three are to each other. I wish you could have been more honest to me sooner. I might have been able to work with you sooner on this. I am sad to say that I don't think you two are ready for a teaching position, but I would like to make an offer to you two."

As Fox finished wiping the tears from her eyes Flash slowly pulled away from the hug. "I'd do anything to help them."

Twilight gave a gentle smile. "I'd still like if you'd join us as an assistant teacher. As for you two, I'd like to ask you to join the school as students. I see a lot of potential for you two and I'd hate to see this torn apart by a bad decision. I'd also like to hire you two as librarians for the school. It's a big task and I think you two would work great together. Would you be willing to help me?"

Flash turned to the others. Fox looked like a bit of hope and excitement returned to her. Shy gave a small smile as she nodded. Flash smiled as he turned back to Twilight. "I think we can work with that."

======================================================================

Flash made his way to his assigned classroom. He was a little upset that Fox and Shy wouldn't be able to make it to the first class. They were busy getting a tour of the school. Flash was hoping that they would be okay without him for the day. He knew that Fast is usually gets exited around new people, but Shy has always had a problem with talking to people. All he could do is hope that they could help each other out through this.

As he joined the students in the classroom he heard a familiar voice. "Alright, get seated. We have a lot of stuff to go over..."

Flash realized that the first class he was assigned to was Light Sparker's. Flash just shrugged as he walked in.

As everyone took their seats Light took a deep breath. "Alright, today's topic is about..." Everybody watched as he gave an awkward pause. "Knowing where to draw the line."

Flash was instantly interested in why he chose that topic.

Light slowly pulled out his papers. He looked awkward as he cleared his throat. "Every pony has a line. Weather how much you joke with them, sensitive history, or just something they're not ready to talk about. There are times when it's wise to try to help your friends, but sometimes you can push past their breaking point. Doing so can end in arguments, mistrust, or... tears. No matter how good your intentions are you can always find a way to hurt somepony."

"Like with the new ponies?"

Everyone turned to see who spoke. An earth pony with a light read coat and a dark red mane had his hoof raised. His cutie mark was a question mark and an exclamation point crossed over each other. He had a monocle due to poor vision in his left eye. Light recognized him as Seeking Fact. Light took a deep breath. "What are you talking about Fact?"

"Well, as I was walking through the hallway I heard what sounded like your voice raised in excitement. After that I couldn't make anything out, but I saw you storm out with a look I could only describe as one of regret. It was the first time I saw your face like that so that assumption could be wrong, but when I saw a few ponies that have yet to join us walk out later. Two of them were crying before they left. They most likely stopped before they left. I asked Twilight about it and she said that it was a argument that would be settled. It also involved your new assistant. So what happened?"

Light would have been impressed by his observant skills if he wasn't shocked by his sudden exposure. He desperately tried to think about what to say, but he knew that his actions were inexcusable.

As all of the students started to murmur to each other Flash stepped forward. "You are right. Mr Light delved into some information which we will be keeping private. He went too far with talking to my friends and should have probably have brought up the topic differently. So I want to help Light explain something to you, sooner or later your friends will cross the line and you will be hurt by them, but that shouldn't define your life. Holding on to anger against them will destroy your friendship and will make you bitter in the long run. Even if they don't apologize right away forgive them. It's the only thing that will end the pain in your heart. I have already settled our argument and it is behind us." Light turned to see Flash give him a gentle smile. Flash cleared his throat. "Now, it's still a good thing to understand how to find the lines that shouldn't be crossed. I think Light would be able to explain it best."

Light looked shocked and humbled at what Flash said. He slowly turned back to his notes. "Alright... Let get going."

======================================================================

Shy and Fox made their way into the classroom. Shy quickly tried to find a couple of seats next to each other, but she was discouraged when all of the seats at the ends of the rows were already taken taken. They either had somepony in them, or had books or bags saving the spots. Shy eventually picked out two seats that were next to each other in the center of a row. She quickly made her way to one and motioned Fox to join her. She was a bit worried to see Fox running all over the place and talking to each kid for five seconds and then running to another one. Shy knew that Flash did want them to meet the other kids, but she didn't feel comfortable with talking to a room full of strangers. Shy gave a sigh of relief as Fox eventually decided to sit down next to her. Fox was one of the few people who she felt comfortable talking to. If Fox never tried talking to her she never would have the courage to join her. As she started getting out her books she heard someone else sit next to her.

As Shy tried to block the other pony out of her mind the other pony spoke up. "Hey, are you new here? I haven't seen you before."

Shy turned to see that she wasn't sitting next to a pony, but a dragon. Regardless of race, Shy slowly sank into her seat. "Um, yeah?"

The dragon gave her a strange look before finally giving her a bit of a ticked look. "This is because I'm a dragon isn't it?"

As Shy started to roll up into a ball she heard Fox speak up. "Oh, it's not that! She's just shy around people she hasn't met before. Her name is ShyStone and I'm FastFox. I have to say that I've never met a pure-blood dragon before and you look so cool! What's your name?"

The dragon's expression changed from ticked to embarrassed. "Oh! I didn't know that. I'm Smolder. I've never met a buffalo before, well, I don't think Mr Desert counts. I'm sorry for judging you Shy."

Shy didn't say anything. Before Smolder could try talking to her again Applejack walked into the room. "Howdy everybody! It's time to get started! Before we begin I'd like to introduce some new students that are joining us. Everybody give a big welcome to ShyStone and FastFox."

Shy sank in her seat again as everybody gave a round of applause.

Fox leaned over to Shy. "Look, she has an orange coat and a hat. She's just like Flash, except his is a jacket and hers is her fur."

Applejack didn't seem to notice the whispering and continued. "Alright. It is time for our weekly roundup. Just to update the new kids we all pick somepony we haven't met before and have a chat with them. We do this so we can welcome newer students and also so we can learn more about each other. Because you two are new and everypony else here has already made their way around to everypony here you two can just talk to the pony opposite from you. Alright, have fun!"

Shy's heart dropped. She was counting on Fox to be with her, but now they were separated. Shy could feel her heart tremble as she turned to face Smolder. "Um, hi."

Smolder nervously scratched her head. "Well, um, I already know your name. Where are you from?"

Shy lowered her head. "MoonRacer."

Smolder had to lean forward to hear her. "Okay, I'm from the dragon lands. What's your home like?"

Shy just shrugged. Smolder realized that she wasn't getting anywhere. As she started to look around the room for Applejack she noticed Fox holding a paper behind her back that read "Talk about books". Smolder looked at it for a second before turning back to Shy. "So, have you read any good books recently?"

Shy's eyes lightened up. "Well, I actually finished Daring Do and the magic compass. The title seemed boring, but it has a solid story."

Smolder grinned. "Hey, I've actually read that. Daring Do's books are pretty cool. Although this alicorn guy seemed pretty random."

Shy now looked interested. "I actually found him pretty relatable. I'd be scared and confused to if I was caught up in any of her adventures. He brought to story to a more down to earth setting."

Smolder chuckled. "I think it'd be awesome to team up with her. What is you favorite book in the series?"

Shy fulled out a folder out of her bag. "Well, I think it would have to be Daring Do and the infernal prism. It delves back into the mystery and puzzle genera while keeping the action and adventuring elements. It also delves into her personal life. I loved the fact that it made her more relatable. Speaking of which, what do you know about Shadow Spade?"

Smolder laughed when she saw her bring that up. "I had to start reading both of those series after watching Ms Dash and Ms Rarity got at it over which of their books were better. I haven't gotten really far into it yet, but it has some cool characters in it. What's your opinion on it?"

Applejack turned to see that both Shy Stone and Fast Fox were starting to get along with the other kids. She smiled as she whispered to herself. "And Twi thought I'd have problems with them."

===================================================================

At recces the students were all playing buckball. Even though she never heard of the sport before, Fox was holding her own. She had already scored 9 points in the first match. After the first game Fox ran over to the fountain to grab a drink.

As she sat down she heard a voice next to her. "You're pretty good at this game for someone who doesn't live here."

She turned to see a winged fox next to her. She was instantly exited to see him. "WOW! A talking fox! I've never seen one in person before, and you have wings too! That's the coolest seen I've ever seen. Do you know that I have a spirit animal and it's a fox? What are the odds?"

Blaze chuckled. "I've been the center of attention recently. Not many foxes talk. My name is Blaze. I already know your name, but I'm a assistant teacher here. I thought we could get to know each other. You seem pretty athletic."

Fox grinned. "Well, I was the third fastest in my old school. That puts me pretty high."

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "Well then, why don't the two of us have a quick race? See who's faster?"

Fox smiled. She would never turn down a challenge like this. Who can say that they raced a winged fox? Both of them took their place at the starting line of the track. Rainbow Dash was the one who had the flag. Fox and Blaze could feel the tension in the track. Neither one of them were planning on losing. The second Dash waved the flag they both took off. They were both fairly fast for a ponies standard.

As Fox pulled ahead of Blaze she chuckled. "I think I've got this one!"

She could hear Blaze behind her. "Not by a long shot."

Suddenly Fox saw an orange blur dart past her several times. The only pony she had heard of that was that fast was Rainbow Dash. After a second the blurs stopped and she saw Blaze at the finish line panting.

Fox ran up to him. "WOW! I've never seen anyone go that fast before!"

Blaze raised a paw as he continued to catch his breath. "Well... I can only go that fast for a short time, and I'm pretty sure that Dash could match me."

"We are going to need to have another match, but maybe without the super speed next time. I'm going to find Shy and tell her about you." Fox said as she started to walk back to the other students.

Blaze grabbed her before she could leave. "Wait! I was wondering if you could help me with something."

Fox shrugged as she sat down next to him. "Sure thing. What do you need."

Blaze's deep, heavy breaths slowed down. "There's a few kids who I'm trying to help. My idea is to find ponies who have better social skills and help them make friends who are struggling with meeting new people. I noticed that Shy Stone is one of these kids who could use this help, but I was hoping that you could help me with her and a few others."

Fox looked a little more serious. "Me and Shy are already good friends, who else do you want me to help?"

Blaze smiled to see her initiative. "You won't face this alone. Trail Dancer is pretty open to learning about others, but she is considered a little weird because of her speech. Golden Dash is the one that needs this the most right now. He is autistic and has a hard time talking to others. I might be able to introduce some more kids to this group and I hope that you all make friends beyond this group, but I hope that you four can help each other. Can you help me with this?"

The carefree look on Fox's face disappeared into one of deep thought. She knew that Shy and her were both autistic as well. Even though Fox learned how to communicate fairly well she remembered how much Shy struggled with it. It took her months of Fox's persistence to get her away from her isolation. She knew that getting past a mental handicap isn't easy.

Fox slowly formed a confident smile on her face. "Alright. I'll give it a shot. Just one question. Who's Golden Dash?"

Blaze pointed at the strange reindeer/Pegasus colt who was sitting by himself by the school. Before Fox could make her way that way Blaze motioned over to Shy who was talking to a zebra. "I figured that you'd also meet up later in the library. If anything just meet Golden."

She nodded and started making her way to Golden. He was going over some sheet music.

Fox sat down beside him and leaned over to him. "Hi Golden. It's nice to meet you. What are you reading?"

Golden was a bit startled from Fox's sudden appearance. "Um, nothing? Who are you?"

Fox shrugged. "My name is FastFox. I'm new here. You seemed lonely so I thought that I'd talk to you."

Golden kept going through his papers trying to avoid the buffalo ten inches away from his face.. "I'm just looking at some songs."

Fox looked intrigued. "Really? I like music. You'd be surprised about how many cool instruments you can find in MoonRacer. Can you play something?"

Golden chuckled. "You wouldn't be interested."

Fox was now resting on her hooves. "If I wasn't I would have already walked away. I don't get bored easily."

Golden looked confused, he proceeded to pull a violin out of his bag. "Well, this song was rumored to have been played to Princess Luna before she was turned into Nightmare Moon, but Princess Celestia has proven it false."

Fox watched as Golden tuned his violin and proceeded to play his song. He delicately ran the bow across the strings as he played this song. Fox noticed a look of confidence and wonder come across his face as he played this song. It was almost like he was looking into another world. As he reached the half way point a golden glow started emanating from the violin. Fox could feel what could only be described as emotions emanating from his music. After a minute he finished his song and placed his violin back into his case.

All Fox could do was applaud. "Wow! That was amazing!"

Golden blushed a bit. "I'm just an amateur."

Fox just smiled. "You're great at this! Hey, I want to introduce you to my friend ShyStone. She'd love to meet you."

Before he could react Golden was being dragged away by Fox. Blaze watched from a distance as they met up with the other two kids. He smiled as he finished his rest. "Thank you Fastfox. Golden shouldn't be alone."

===================================================================

That afternoon Shy and Fox were both busy working in the library. FastFox was using her speed to quickly re-shelf the books while Shy was busy with the other tasks. When they weren't busy with their jobs they were bust talking with their new friends. As those two were hard at work Flash watched from a distance.

As Flash smiled watching those kids working together he heard a voice from behind him. "I took a better look at your files. From what I gather you are the closest thing they have to a father, let alone a parent."

Flash turned to see Light standing next to him. Light had a somber look on his face as he was watching the kids play.

Light didn't try facing him. "Why did you help me? I nearly broke up your friendship over my accusations."

"I like to believe that life is too short to hold a grudge. I don't have anything to gain by going to war with you."

Light scoffed a bit. "Most people don't hold to that belief."

Flash looked curious. "That's a rather grim perspective. Haven't you had a few good friends?"

Light lowered his head more with a look of reflection. "I did once, but I had to leave them."

Flash could tell that there was a lot more to what he meant by that. "Do you get to see them anymore, or at least write to them."

Light brushed the hoof off of him. "I'm not allowed to talk about it. What I've learned is that it's easier to go at life alone. Don't get attached. You don't have to pick up the broken pieces when it all falls apart."

Flash could see the pain in Light's eyes. Even though Light's body looked like one of a young person, there was something that suggested that he's seen more friends gone than anybody he's ever met. Flash took a deep breath as he tried to find the right words to say. "I guess it's true to a point. It's hard to lose a good friend, but I also believe in an old saying. It's better to have love and lost than to never love at all. I don't know what happened to your friends, but I doubt they would want to see you give up on friendship altogether. This is a school of friendship, maybe you can find a few friends too."

Light gave a small smile. Flash couldn't tell if he was accepting the idea or if he just thought that he was just naive. "I'll think about it. Thank you for caring."

Light walked off silently. Flash couldn't tell if he made much of a difference, but he hoped that he at least opened the idea of making friends again to him.

As Flash turned his attention back to the kids Twilight watched from the doorway. She took a deep breath as she started writing her letter. "Thank you Flash. You three are making a big change here. I just hope you can help Light in the long run."