The party went well throughout the morning, with everyone having a great time. Pinkie sure did put on the best welcome party for Troy and his allies, who’ve been having a blast. Noah and Fluttershy had joined back with the group when they finished their cakes, playing some games, like Pin the Tail on the Pony.
Gia was the first to go, her eyes being darkened by the blindfold the pink pony put on her.
Spinning her around, Twilight and the rest of the ponies, minus the newbies stated a phrase prior to the game. “Round and round and round you go, where you stop nopony knows!”
When Gia was done being spun, the pink pony let her go. “Walk straight ahead and pin the tail on the pony.” She gave her a push, with the earth pony stepping forward to the picture of a pony, holding the tail. It may seem to be a childish game for a children’s birthday party, but it seems like these ponies enjoy it.
When she pinned the tail, they all clapped for her. “Way to go, Gia,” her best friend praised.
Taking off the blindfold, she saw how close she was, the tail on the pony’s flank. “I was almost there.” She took the tail off, the tape peeling off the picture, going up to her winged pal. “Your turn, Em.”
Getting a hold of the tail, Pinkie put the blindfold on Emma’s eyes this time like she did with Gia. Then she spun her around.
“Round and round and round you go, where you stop nopony knows!” the guests repeated the phrase, this time Troy and his friends doing the same, catching on.
When she was stopped, the pegasus began to walk forward, more like hovering in the air, using her hoof to guide her to the pictured pony.
Feeling something, she placed the tail on the picture. Or, at least she thought it was a picture when full blown laughter filled her ears from the party guests, the pink pony being the loudest, laying on her back, laughing her head off, kicking all four of her legs.
“Emma…” Taking a deep breath, she managed to control her laughs long enough to speak. “You pin the tail on the wrong pony.”
“Huh?” Removing the blindfold, Emma saw what she meant. Troy was standing there with the tail stuck to his nose, between his nostrils. Blinking, she put herself on the ground, her face turning a light pink. “Oops,” she slipped out, giggling, noticing how silly it looks.
Shifting an eyebrow up, he took the tail off his muzzle. “You have a great sense of direction,” he joked, his lips turning upwards. He can still feel the tape on him.
“Troy’s turn!” Jumping back up on her hooves, Pinkie had Emma hand over the blindfold in which she did.
Once the blindfold is on him, Pinkie Pie spun him around quickly.
“Round and round and round you go, where you stop nopony knows!”
It seems like this phrase will be said every time someone gets a turn. Also, he thought it’s pretty catchy when they say it. Even his friends thought it’s catchy since the phrase is similar to Pin the Tail on the Donkey.
By the time he stopped, he heard Jake say something from behind him. “Be sure not to pin the tail on the wrong pony, dude.”
“Haha, very funny, Jake,” Troy responded, walking up to the picture. “Hmm… There!” He stuck the fake tail on the pony.
Everyone clapped their hooves. “You won, Troy,” Noah said.
Troy removed the blindfold to see Pinkie giving him a prize. “Here you go, buddy.” She handed it to him. She giggled. “Go ahead, open it.”
Grabbing the ribbon, he slipped it off the presence - when something popped out. “Ahh!” Dropping the present, he skittered back. “What is that!?” he cried, unaware of what it is.
Giggling, the Element of Laughter picked it up. “Spitting snakes!” Pinkie declared.
“Pinkie, that wasn’t very nice,” Twilight scolded, while Troy calmed down.
“Aww, I wanted to give him the special prize,” she pouted. “I bet he thought it was funny, right Troy?”
“It...gave me a surprise alright,” he managed to say. Pinkie giggled.
“So what’s his prize anyway?” Orion asked. “Another snake popping out of a present?”
“Nope. He gets a ribbon.” Troy felt something stick to his chest. “A nice, blue ribbon with the word Winner on it,” the party pony stated. “You did great, bud.” He felt her pat his head. “I got other ribbons, but you can only get them if you pin the tail correctly on the pony,” she explained, going up to Jake, placing the blindfold on him.
The game went on. Even the guests played. A few of them won like Troy did, but all in all, it was a great game to play.
By the time the party was over, everyone said goodbye, leaving the place to get back home or to catch up on some things.
“Do you, Rangers, want the tour of the school?” Twilight offered, picking up some trash, stuffing it into the trash bags that she brought with her magic. “I did say I can give you the tour after the party.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Gia smiled, helping Emma. “I wanna know what it looks like.”
They finished picking everything up. Pinkie managed to fit all the necessities back into her party cannon, and they all headed to the School of Friendship.
The school was massive when they arrived. It was in the color of different shades of purple, with tall hills behind it, along with several waterfalls rushing down in a lake that has a path over top of the clear liquid with rocks in the water.
The Rangers followed their new friends across the path, amazed at how huge the building is. They’d never seen schools like this before in their life. It was a fantastic sight, and the lake went down like a river across the castle.
At the doors, Twilight lit up her horn, opening them up, walking inside with the others right behind her.
Troy saw how big it was when they entered the lobby of the building. There were statues on the tables and huge windows to look outside.
“Wow…” Emma breathed in. “This place looks amazing.”
Gia agreed. “Yes, our school back at home is nothing compared to this.”
“I would sure like to go to a school like this.” Jake trotted over to the trophy case. “I would repeat what Gia said, our school back at home is nothing compared to this.” Placing his hoof on the glass, he eyed at one of the medals. “Maybe I can try out for buckball.”
The Yellow Ranger arched a brow. “Buckball?”
“What’s that?” Emma added.
“I have no idea since Pinkie mentioned it on the train,” he replied, removing his hoof, placing it on the floor.
“I never heard of buckball before,” Troy spoke, unaware of the game.
“Oh, it’s a great game to play,” Pinkie said. “Applejack and Rainbow can teach you guys someday.”
“I’m not sure…” The Pink Ranger hesitated. “I’m not the sporty type.”
“Aww, you don’t have to be an athlete to play sports,” she smiled. “Look at Fluttershy. She isn’t into sports, but she plays buckball anyway. In fact, her and I played our first game against Appleloosa, and we went on from there.”
“Mhm.” The yellow pegasus nodded. “I always have a great time. I would play, except for when I have an injured wing. By the way, when is the next buckball game and who are we against?”
“We’re up against Califoalnia in December,” Rainbow told her.
“December?” Orion scratched the back of his head. “Wouldn’t it be too cold to play?”
“No, because it never snows there,” she explained, bumping her hoof on his shoulder.
“You know,” Noah piped up, “when you said ‘Califoalnia’, the name sounds like California.”
“You’re right. Rarity said something to Gia and I about one of her Pony Tones going to Delamare to visit her family,” Emma mentioned, remembering the conversation on the train.
Troy tilted his head, his eyes looking towards the ceiling. “I guess Equestria is similar to earth.” It was then Jake let out a laugh. “What?”
“I think it’s funny how the places here in this world sound similar to the ones on earth,” he chortled. “Does Equestria have like, I don’t know, Manehattan?”
“Yes, it does,” Pinkie Pie spoke, her face all serious. “Our world is basically like your world, Jake. It may sound strange to you, but it’s not strange to the other ponies.”
Once Jake quit his laughing, this got Noah the opportunity to ask Twilight something. “Does your school have a library?”
“Why, yes, Noah, it’s the first place we’ll go to,” she responded, leading the group down the halls. “You ponies are new in this world, so I believe you want to learn everything about Equestria.”
“Ugh…” The Green Ranger swept his hoof down his face. “I’m not in the mood for studying. I'm in the mood to learn about buckball.”
“What about soccer?” Hearing this from his teammate, Troy would never have thought his friend would try out for a different sport for he’s a great soccer player of all time at their high school. Jake had always done neat tricks with the soccer ball. He also used it against the loogies he and the others encountered for the first time when they first became Power Rangers. “Are you sure you wanna try to get your hands - I mean, hooves - on a game you hadn’t heard of?”
His pal moved his head up and down. “I would like to try it. Plus, Pinkie said that Rainbow and Applejack can teach us someday. Maybe we can play against Califoalnia.”
“Maybe…” Troy isn’t an athlete - unless martial arts counts as a sport. It’s the one and only thing he likes to do when he’s by himself when his friends are off doing something else. Not that he doesn’t want to hang out with them, but it’s nice for him to take some time off on his own.
During his thinking, his eyes caught on the pictures hanging on the walls with different ponies. There was one picture that has a pony with five creatures with him, each looking different from the other.
He’s still amazed at how excellent the school looks, nothing compared to Harwood High. This type of school teaches about friendship, while the other school he and his friends, minus Orion, teaches them actual subjects.
Something popped into his head. “Orion, are you going to live in this school?”
“Unless there are lockers here.” Orion looked around. “I haven’t seen any so far.”
Rainbow bumped him on the chest with her elbow. “You don’t have to live in the school, you’re staying with me, remember? Pinkie and I did a switch up on you and Jake since you can live with me at my Cloudominium.”
“Cloud-what?” he questioned, unable to say it.
“Cloudominium,” she explained. “It’s a house made out of clouds.” She gave him a challenging smirk. “Though, I can still beat you in a race. You seem too slow even though you have to idea what a race is.”
“Heh, well I do have silver speed.”
“Is it part of your Ranger powers?”
“I believe so. I did use it once. It did surprise my new friends since they never expected someone like me to run past them so quick like a blur, so I would use it again.”
“Great! I would love to see your speed. You're a pegasus, for crying out loud, and most pegasi have speed while others are graceful. I don’t do gracefulness since I’m the best flier of all of Equestria.”
“Dash, quit bragging,” Applejack spoke, breaking into the conversation. “No one wants to hear your boasting.”
“No, it’s fine,” Orion assured her. “I think she’s cool.”
The farm pony rolled her eyes, but smiled with a shake of her head.
“Here we are.” They all stopped when Twilight halted in front of the doors. “The Friendship School Library,” she announced, her horn igniting, opening the double doors.
The Rangers stepped inside, their mouths dropping open. “This library is a lot bigger than the one at our school!” Noah was the first one to exclaim, going over to one of the shelves, with his best friend next to him.
Reaching out his hoof, Jake pulled out a book. Or the better term, dropped the book on the floor. “We better hold our weapons when we fight the civilians,” he hoped, examining his pony form.
“I shot the changelings with my Blaster,” Troy said. “Don’t ask how I held my Blaster because I don’t even know how I did it.”
With the book on the floor, the light brown unicorn lowered his head at it. “History Of Equestria,” he read out loud. He did his best to pick it up, only for it to slip out of his hoof. He tried again, this time sitting down, managing to get a hold of the novel, flipping it open. “Wow, Troy’s right, Equestria is similar to our home. For example, Baltimare is the same name for Baltimore.”
Jake laughed. Pinkie gave him a look of seriousness. “It’s funny,” he said, “how you ponies’ places sounded similar to ours.” He then went down the shelves, tipping a random book over, letting it fall. “Equestrian Sports.” Flipping the book open with the tip of his hoof, he looked into it. “Cool, they have the same sports we do, as well as the ones we never heard of. There’s a thing called Running of the Leaves.”
“Is it a sport?” Orion asked as Troy went over to Jake, who slid the book in front of him, so the Rangers' leader can read the information out loud.
“The Running of the Leaves is a competition in which ponies run through White Tail Woods to shake the leaves off the branches by their thundering hooves. Once the leaves have been shakin’ off, the pegasi from Cloudsdale, a mobile city in which they live, will bring in winter from the weather factory, the clouds filled with snowflakes to bring in the snow.”
“Wow,” Emma said after he finished. “Cloudsdale is a city that moves? How amazing. And it has a weather factory?”
Rainbow smiled. “It sure does. The weather factory has all sorts of weather. We had rain before yesterday and all the pegasi from Cloudsdale brought the city over, brought out the dark clouds full of water so our village can have rain since we had to make up the rain we missed the other week.”
“It was also me and Dash’s first home,” Fluttershy added. “If you want, we can take you there someday,” she offered.
“Nice,” the Pink Ranger beamed before giving a soft frown. “Too bad the rest of you cannot go,” she said to the others, looking at all of them, mainly at Troy. “Gosei did say that pegasi and alicorns can walk on clouds.”
“Twilight knows a spell where we can all walk on clouds,” Pinkie told the Rangers. “Though she did give Rarity butterfly wings until they evaporated into thin air from her being too close to the sun, and Rainbow saved her. She even made the Sonic Rainboom while she did it.”
“Sonic Rainboom?” Gia questioned. “Rainbow, what is a Sonic Rainboom? You told us you can create it, but you never went into any detail.”
“I can show you some time,” the rainbow maned pony offered. “I may even use it against your villains when they really need it.”
Jake rolled his eyes in disbelief. “Yeah, like a rainbow will destroy the villains we’re dealing with.”
Rainbow got close to him, looking him into his eyes. “Are you saying my Sonic Rainboom is lame?”
Stepping back, he began stuttering. “N-No, I-I wasn’t saying it’s lame...I mean… I’m just-”
Unable to keep a straight face, she let out a chortle, slapping him on his back. “I’m joking, dude. Can you ever take a joke? I was messin’ with ya. And don’t doubt my legendary move wouldn’t work on the bad guys. Got that?”
“Heh, heh, heh,” he chuckled nervously. “You’re right, I shouldn’t doubt it. We do wanna see it, though.”
Emma went over to one of the other bookcases. Rather than using her hoof, she used one of her wings to grab a book off the shelf. “Mythical Creatures Of Equestria.”
“I have the same book at my library in my castle,” Twilight told her. “In fact, every book here are the same books that I have.”
Opening up the book with her other wing, she went to a random page. “Aww,” she gawked. “Look at this, Gia.” She showed her the picture. “They’re called parasprites.”
“And they look cute,” Gia added, looking at the picture.
“Blah!” Snapping their eyes off the picture, Gia and Emma, including the rest of the Rangers, looked at Pinkie Pie who had her tongue out. “Those things are pests. And they’ll eat the food in seconds, causing them to multiple. Twilight put a spell on them to make them stop eating the food.”
“Yeah, and they ate different objects instead,” Rainbow remembered, glaring at her alicorn friend.
“I thought the spell would work. I didn’t know they'll end up eating objects like apple baskets and so on,” Twilight defended. “When I had the Golden Oaks Library, they ate the words off the pages of my books. Guess how many books got to be replaced? A lot. A lot of my books have to be replaced since they slurped up all the words like they were noodles.”
Now the Rangers are looking at each other. “They...ate the words off your books?” Troy faced her, an eyebrow in the air. “How did they…?”
“I have no idea,” she shrugged. “I’m still irritated to this day. If you see one, stay away from it. They’re harmless but they’re destructived.”
Slowly, Emma closed the book. “You don’t really think they’re pests, right?”
“Yeah,” Rarity scoffed, sitting down and crossing her arms. “They ruined my dresses I made, eating them up into rags.”
“They ate my barn,” Applejack spoke, shuddering at the memories. “My family and I had to rebuild it and replace our things.”
“They wouldn’t stop bothering me,” Rainbow proclaimed. “They kept touching me and they wouldn’t stop.”
“I tried to get them to stop what they’re doing…” Fluttershy rubbed the floor. “But they wouldn’t listen to my pleas. I know I love animals of all kinds, but Pinkie Pie’s right, they’re pests, and like Twilight stated, if you see one stay away from it.”
“I saved a flute,” Pinkie randomly jumped in. “It was in Rarity’s Boutique Shop. She was there to witness my rescue.”
“And you left me behind!” the fashionable pony cried.
“How did you get rid of them?” Starlight asked as Rarity looked at the pink pony with an annoyed look. “I was living in Our Town so we never had parasprites there.”
“Easy. I created a one pony band,” Pinkie told her. “Music helps get rid of them since they’re drawn to it.”
Placing the book back, Emma cannot believe such cute little bugs can be destructive. But if the princess says they’re pests, then she and her friends should stay away from those round insects.
Flipping the page after page, Noah stopped at one. “Did you know ponies can pay for the food and stuff they buy with bits?”
Orion blinked. “Bits? Are they those metal things you put in the horses’ mouths?”
He shook his head. “Not a horse bit you use for a bridle. These bits are gold coins in which ponies use to pay for the things they buy. They use them for currency. It’s like how we pay for the stuff we buy with money.” He flipped more pages over. “This book has so much information about this world.”
“Do you want it?” Twilight asked him. “I have lots of spare ones, so you can have that one.”
“Really? Thanks.”
Jake elbowed Gia. “Nerd,” he whispered, and she elbowed him back, harder than him.
“Okay, everyone, let me show you the rest of the school,” the alicorn led with a wave of her hoof.
As everyone was leaving, Noah stood up, dropping the book in the process. He was about to pick it up when Fluttershy picked it up for him with her mouth.
“I’ll carry it,” she said, her voice muffled. She even had her saddlebags on her back this time. Like she said, they aren’t heavy so it didn’t hurt her injured wing even though he did carry them for her to the train station. “And I insist,” she added. “You carried my stuff, and I’ll carry your new book in return.”
“No, no, I should be the one carrying it,” Noah told her, reaching for the book.
Fluttershy leaned her head back. “Noah, I can carry it, really. Besides, unicorns and alicorns use their magic to pick things up, and you, including Troy, as well, are new at being unicorns. You two don’t know any spells.”
She’s right. Both he and his friend are new at being unicorns, and their mentor did say they’ll get used to their horns, even though they don’t know any types of magic unicorns and alicorns use. He did learn that they can also pick up other ponies from what he and his friends saw Troy being levitated and being thrown back towards them by the snobby ponies in Canterlot.
Emma and Orion have wings, and when he saw Emma grab a book with her wing, opening it up with the other one, he knew those two won’t have a problem with picking stuff up.
For Jake and Gia, he had no idea how they’re going to hold things, but when he saw Fluttershy use her mouth to pick up the novel, he guessed they’ll have to do the same.
But Troy was holding his Blaster, and he doesn’t know how he did it, so Noah guessed that earth ponies can pick stuff up with their hooves. After all, hooves are basically hands. The difference is that they lack fingers and thumbs.
He had to admit, it was pretty funny to see his best friend try to walk on two legs, resulting in him landing on Gia.
There’s another thing he also noticed. The names. He and other Rangers, excluding Orion since he can get away with his name since he’s from another planet, have human names. No one in this world has human names like Jake for example. Like, what pony out there has a human name?
Forcing the question out of his head, he followed Fluttershy, who had turned away and began to catch up with the others, merely stepping in her own hair, falling down, dropping the book in the process.
“Looks like you need a haircut,” Noah said, helping her up.
“Nah, I like it when it’s long,” Fluttershy declined his suggestion, reaching down to grab the book, this time using her good wing to hold on to it.
Noah smiled. “So do I, it makes you look pretty.” This got her cheeks to bloom. “I was joking when I said you needed a haircut.”
“I knew that. Come on, let’s catch up with the rest.”
They walked down the halls, with Noah unable to keep his eyes off of her, his heart telling him to let out his feelings for her, but he knows it’s too early to do so, and maybe Fluttershy has the same thought in her head.
To him, it’s best to wait for the right time and for the right moment.
The tour of the school went well. The Rangers saw everything from the school library all the way down to where Twilight’s office is at. Now they were outside where there’s a fountain in the middle of the pond which created a river with four bridges going over it.
When they all got back to the front of the school, they walked back across it, going in front of the castle.
“Okay, everyone knows where they’ll be staying, right?” Twilight asked, getting on one of the steps. “Troy is staying with me, Spike, and Starlight here in my castle. I know Fluttershy has Noah, so I’m not sure about the rest of you.”
“Gia is going to be at my place,” Applejack told her. “Let’s go, Gia.”
“I’m right behind ya.” She followed her to her home place.
“Emma will be staying with me,” Rarity said. “Come along, darling,” she gestured to the pegasus.
“Lead the way,” Emma said, going with the unicorn.
“Jake’s coming to stay at Sugarcube Corner. Oh, we’re gonna have the best time. Come on, Jake, I wanna show you where I live in that building.” Bouncing right behind him, she took his tail with her teeth - and sped off, running backwards quickly, dragging the Green Ranger.
Twilight blinked when she was gone. “Okay then…” She looked at Rainbow Dash. “I’m guessing Orion is staying with you.”
“Yep.” Lifting herself off the ground, Rainbow smiled at him. “Wanna know what a race is, huh?” she said to the stallion.
“Yes, show me what a race is,” Orion replied.
Smirking, she flew a few inches higher. “Alright… Three, two, one, GO!” Counting backwards quickly, she sped off, leaving a rainbow streak behind her as well as some dust in the air.
“Uhh…” He was stunned on how fast she moved.
“You better go, or else she’ll win, dude,” Noah told him. “You want to know what a race is and she’s showing it to you.”
Opening up his wings, he, too, bolted off, leaving a trail of his own color - silver. His speed caused Fluttershy’s mane to get messy.
“Bye, see you later!” Troy called up to the blue sky. He looked at the others. “He’s long gone.”
Twilight chuckle. “Maybe he’ll win his first race.” She looked over at the yellow pegasus and Noah. “And I know you two will stay together at your place since I was at the same table you were at on the dining car on the way here.”
“He sure is,” she beamed, hugging him before blushing and getting off of him. “Taxi!” she then hollered, and a stallion came with an old fashioned taxi, with both of them getting on it. “To my cottage, please,” she requested, placing the book next to her, with Noah on the other side, so she can speak clearly.
When they were gone, Twilight opened the doors of her palace. “Alright, Troy, let me show you around my castle.”
“Okay,” he responded, and he followed her inside, with Starlight and Spike going inside, too. He has never been inside a castle, so it’ll be a nice experience to have.
And it was. Twilight showed him every room, even the one where he’ll be sleeping at, which is her bedroom.
“I’ll bring a cot in here,” she offered. “Unless you're willing to sleep in one of the guest rooms instead of you and I sharing my bedroom..."
“It’s fine. I can manage a cot,” he said.
“Are you sure?” Starlight asked.
“Starlight, I’m okay with sleeping on a cot,” he assured her.
She nodded. “I’ll be in my room doing some reading.” Turning away, she walked off, her hooves clicking on the floor with each step she made.
With just him, Twilight, and Spike, he wondered how the rest of his friends are doing.