> Time to hire some extra teachers
>  by Light Heart101
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Overworked
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a long day at class today. Twilight slowly walked to the map room and plopped down into her seat. She had to write dozens of letters that morning. Then she had to teleport to Canterlot to have a chat over lunch with Celestia and Luna. Then she spent most of the day managing her school. Ever since she opened her school she didn't seem to have any free time anymore.

Twilight gave the map a stern look. "You had better not light up!"

"I second that." Twilight looked up to see Applejack walking in. "Between chores and the school I'd hate to add a friendship mission to my load."

Rainbow dash walked in with the rest of the main 6 behind her. She had dark bags under her eyes. "I can't get a decent nap anymore. It's always practice, school, repeat."

Rarity was struggling with drawing on a sketchbook. "Shhhh! I need to finish my winter line!"

Fluttershy turned to Pinky Pie as she plopped down into her seat. "How long did class go?"

Pinky jumped onto her seat and pulled out an over-sized clock. "Well, Twilight started the school a little over a year ago."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow as she turned to her. "I meant this last class."

Pinky threw the clock away. "So am I."

Everyone laid down on their seats as they looked at the map with a sense of impending doom.

Spike looked in to see them all staring at the map. Spike sighed as he sat down. "You girls look like Chrysalis is going to jump out of that map."

Twilight lowered her head. "If that thing lights up then we don't have any chance for free time and we all will have to rearrange our schedules."

Spike looked around at the others. "It doesn't seem like you even use your free time. Either that or Fluttershy is starting a nest in her hair."

The main 6 started to look at each other. Rainbow Dash looked like she hadn't slept in days. Rarity had ten sheets of paper in her saddle bags. Fluttershy had enough branches in her hair to make a tree. Applejack's hooves were bruised and had splinters in them. Twilight looked like she was a hair away from going 'Twily-nanas'. Pinky Pie had an oven out and was making three cakes at once.

Pinky looked at what she was doing and back to her friends. "Just catching up on lost business."

They all paused for a moment. They slowly started to realize how ridiculous they looked and started laughing. As much as they all looked like a mess it was a funny sight.

Twilight sighed and started thinking as their laughter finished. "I guess we are stretching ourselves pretty thin. I guess I didn't give enough thought about our jobs before starting the school. After everything we've been doing we are pretty busy."

Applejack turned to Twilight. "It's great to be teaching, but we are running into problems. We can't be at the school and at our jobs at the same time. We did nearly lose the school when we all went to Tartarus."

Rarity placed her papers on the table. "Indeed. We already have problems managing a school and our personal lives. What are we supposed to do when Equestria has another crisis?"

Spike shrugged. "Maybe you all could get some assistants?" Everyone's eyes turned to Spike. Spike placed his elbows on the table. "It was how I helped her when she was young. As Twilight was growing up she started to take on more responsibilities. It got to the point where she even started neglecting her own health. So I decided to help her with her lists. I learned how to find the books she needed, how to organize the library, and how to help in other ways. Trust me when I say this castle isn't clean for no reason."

Every one looked at each other. A bright look came on her face. "Spike, that's a great idea! We can hire more teachers and assistants for the school. It can allow us to have more free time and possibly expand our school."

Fluttershy smiled. "It could allow us to have more classes. The students would be exited to learn some new subjects."

Dash grinned. "And we get to meet new ponies."

Twilight was instantly planning it out. "I think we could hire teachers from other cultures and races. It would allow our students to learn more about them. The most important thing is to remember what the school is founded on. Friendship. Practical stuff is good, but we need to remember what we are trying to teach. Spike..."

Everyone turned to Spike who already had a scroll out. They spent the next hour talking about what they wanted to place in the application. Pinky Pie came up with a few interesting ideas for it, but Rarity didn’t think that skills like the conga line, the macarena, or the rick roll dances were necessary. Applejack was starting to question Rarity’s motives when she wanted to ask for a description of their appearance or a photo with the application, but everybody thought it would be nice to know what these ponies would look like. At first Twilight wasn’t up for Dash’s idea of adding combat experience to the application, but after bringing up how many times they were attacked everybody agreed that it couldn’t hurt. The final main thing that they debated over was availability. They knew that it would be taxing to have to get from the school to another city, so they decided that they should be comfortable with moving to Ponyville, but they would be open to compromise. 

After several hours of debating and writing they all agreed on the final product. After a good night's rest Twilight took the paper to the post office. She asked Derpy to send copies to all of Equestria. Twilight was surprised about how much it costed, but she was still within the school budget. As Twilight walked away Derpy opened the scroll and read it. It was all written with purple ink... except for one point at the end.

Any antics that you might get into, just between you and me?- Discord

Derpy shrugged and added it to the pile. After all, it wasn't her place to question her client.

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After a couple of days Twilight was still waiting for the first applications to hit her desk. She knew that it would take a little time for things to get going, but she started to wonder if this was what the kids feel like when they are waiting to open their gifts on Heartswarming. As she worked on her weekly report she heard a knock on the door. 

Twilight was excited to see Derpy on the other side of the door with her mailbag. “Hi Derpy! Anything for the school?”

Derpy nodded as she placed the mail bag on the desk. “Yep, I’m sorry for the wait, but there was a lot of mail to go through today. I think that you are about to be pretty busy soon.”

As Derpy started walking out Twilight realized that she left the entire bag on her desk. “Um, I think you forgot something.”

Derpy chuckled. “Nope, I’m going back for your second bag now. I’m not that goofy.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she proceeded to dump the contents of the bag onto her desk. There had to be at least 100 applications on her desk now. 

As she looked at the small tower of papers on her desk she nervously called out to Spike. “Hey Spike! Can you please ask Starlight to cover my class for today. I’m going to be busy today.”

Spike walked inside. “Why? Do you have a…” Spike didn’t finish the sentence before seeing the pile on her desk. He quickly turned to the door with a scared look on his face. “I’ll go tell her.”

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Twilight spent the whole day trying to go through all of these files. She had already dumped several files to the side, and didn’t have any files that she was willing to accept. She kept having to figure out how well these ponies would work in her school, but none of them seemed experienced enough. They all seemed to lack the skills and bonds that Twilight and her friends had. As she kept going through the mountain of papers she heard the door open.

Twilight quickly yelled at whoever came in. “I’m too busy right now! Come back later.”

“I think you can spare a few minutes for me.” Twilight instantly recognized that voice as her mentor, Princess Celestia.

She quickly lowered her head. “I’m so sorry princess Celestia! I didn’t mean to…”

Celestia cut her off and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s alright Twilight. I heard you were having problems with this and that your stress was getting the best of you.”

“Spike told you, didn’t he?”

Celestia gave her a soft smile as she remembered the last time that Spike had to mail her because Twilight was too  stressed. At least this time Twilight had better control and wasn't tearing the town apart. “He’s a good friend. He noticed how many problems you were having and thought I could help. So, how are the new additions to the school going?”

Twilight sighed. “Terrible. I thought this would be easy, but the more I keep looking at these, the more they don’t seem to fit in. They have so little experience with friendship. How can I expect them to live up to what my friends and I have started?”

Celestia chuckled. “I could have said the same thing about you when you first came here. Listen, to your eyes all of these ponies are inexperienced, but you’re looking through experienced eyes. You have come from being a mere student to the princess of friendship. You need to accept something that I had to accept a long time ago, nopony is perfect. No matter how hard you look you will not find the perfect teacher. They will all fall short of what you want.”

“But what am I supposed to look for?”

Celestia gave her a gentle smile as she placed a hoof around her. “Look for ponies who can help lead this school, but also look for ponies who can learn from this school. Look for the lonely, and the broken ones, and find ponies who can help them. Who knows? You might see a bit of your past in them.”

Twilight wiped a few tears from her eyes as she hugged Celestia. “Thank you Celestia. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

As Celestia hugged her back she noticed a photo in one of the files that had two familiar con artists on them in a poor disguise. Celestia knew that Twilight would be smart enough to pick them out, but she figured that she would take a bit of her own initiative. “Tell you what Twilight, Luna and I will go over these once for you and have some background checks ran on them for you.”

“That would be a big help. Tell me, do you have anybody who you want to send here?” 

Celestia raised an eyebrow as an idea came to her. “Maybe, he’d be able to help with the protection of your school, but he’s a little anti-social. I would have to talk to my sister about this before I try anything. Just remember one thing, trust your friends, and be willing to help whoever comes into this school.”

Twilight watched as Celestia took the files and teleported away. Twilight felt a small weight being lifted from her shoulders. As she got ready to leave for the day she started thinking about some of the files that she went through. She knew that she would not find any normal ponies, but when you think about her friends, what is normal?
> Light Sparker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bell rang, class started again and Twilight was in her office. She was going through several applications that were turned in. Even with the royal sisters filtering through them it was still a large pile. While she was now spending her whole morning going these applications she started to think to herself. "I didn't think that so many ponies were interested, and so many other species."

While she was going through the files she found a scroll with Celestia's seal on it. It read:

To my faithful student Twilight Sparkle

In this scroll I have had a person (though unwilling) fill out one of your applications. I know you would prefer to have a more experienced pony be your first new teacher, but I believe that working at this school will help him open back up with the world. I should also warn you that he might be the most dangerous teacher you will acquire. I told him that even though he is of high ranking here because of his combative skills, he does have to take orders from you at the school. I will be sending you a special safe for the classified files. You will probably need it. I trust you can help this person. I wish you the best of luck.

Princess Celestia

P.S. Be sure to read the classified file which I sent you, he'll be there shortly.

As Twilight was trying to understand who Celestia was talking about she heard somebody knock on the door. Twilight sighed. "Come in."

A human walked through the door. He had dirty blond hair with streaks of gold going through it. He had sea green eyes and wore a duster/trench-coat combo with a green long sleeve polo shirt and blue jeans. He wore white gloves with strange markings on them. Twilight recognized them as an ancient yin and yang symbol. The yin symbol was on the left side and was blue. The yang symbol was on the right side and was gold. He also had a eloquent sword attached to his belt. The hilt had a u shape to it and the but of the handle had a gold diamond on it. Twilight could only assume that this was who Celestia talking about.

He was looking around the room while he was talking to Twilight. "Princess Sparkle. My name is Light Sparker. I've heard you had some openings. You've already seen my credentials so we can skip that. I see that you've seen humans before."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I have. How did you know?"

Sparker rolled his eyes. "When ponies see me they give me a double take. I knew it wasn't going off of my file because seeing is believing. If you want to know how I knew you have my file, Luna told me that she was sending it to you. By the way, you should really stop having the triple caramel espresso at Golden trot and try a sunrise tea at the Blue star cafe."

Twilight wasn't surprised about him finding out about her knowing what humans were, or that Luna was doing background checks, but she jumped when he listed what she drinks in the morning and where she goes. "Okay! How did you find that out?"

Sparker stuck his hands in his pockets. "Listen, you can listen to me rant for two minutes about how I know, or you can accept the fact that I'm a genius and we get back to the interview."

Twilight leaned forward and grinned. "Enlighten me!"

Sparker sighed. "I wasn't certain until I got close enough. Before then I went off of your eyes and hooves. Photos show your eyes 10% less open. The light in the room didn't require a flash for the camera. Your hooves have crimson red dirt on it showing that you went down Colt Avenue. There are two cafes at Colt Avenue. I started trying to think about which one you'd pick on your budget, but by that point your breath gave it away. I smelled concentrated coffee beans, cream, caramel, cinnamon, and cumin. The only cafe in on Colt Avenue that uses that combination is Golden trot. Tea causes less stress and decreases blood pressure. My doctor told me when I started having blood pressure problems and I decided to see if he was right. So, do you want me to keep telling you stuff that is obvious or do you want to get back on topic?"

Twilight stood in silence for a moment trying to figure out how he noticed all of these facts and laid them out as if it was child's play. She slowly sat down and looked through the file that Celestia sent her. "Well, you have a impressive resume. You have extensive magic knowledge, however it looks like you have some personal issues."

Sparker watched in disbelief as Twilight pulled out a file labeled 'classified' from his file. Light slowly sat down. "Luna just had to gave that to you too, didn't she?"

Twilight didn't bother asking how he knew. Her eyes widened a bit as she realized all that this human can really do. After a minute of going through the file Twilight sat it down. "Lets talk about what exactly I just read. The first thing I noticed is that you have something known as vampirism. Is that right?"

Sparker motioned to his gloves. "I have it under control. These gloves act like retains to my vampire side. I won't bite anybody."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You also seem to have a few enemies. You abandoned everyone you knew and faked your death to hide away. It seems like you used a spell that overwrites the temporal shifting affect that changes your physical body to that of a pony. I'm now starting to understand why Celestia described you as dangerous. You have a strong understanding of magic that is different then what any pony has ever used. I'm not trying to be rude, but why my school? There are other schools that focus on magic training and combat, why join a school based on friendship?"

Sparker gave her a serious look. He waited for a moment before speaking. "I was a warrior; a young one at that fact. Reading that file shows you that this great power came with a curse, one which I'm still fighting and don't know how to cure. The vampire blood. I majored in magic, not medicine. I had to disappear in order to protect the ones I loved. They don't even know I'm here and alive. I'm alone. Celestia and Luna found out about my transportation to this dimension and offered me protection. Luna was the one who told me about your school inviting teachers and thought it would help. To be perfectly honest I'm here for the money, but I don't want to be alone. I can teach your students how to defend themselves. You won't have to worry about protecting them because I will! I want to help and you need it. So! Do you want me to keep going on how sorry my life is, or do you want to hire me?"

Sparker noticed a tear going Twilight's face. He couldn't tell if she was trying to imagine what he went through or if she was trying to find out how to tell him that he wasn't wanted. 

Twilight opened his file again. She looked at him for a minute before speaking. "Well, some basic self defense could be useful; we have had a few attacks recently. I also have an idea about how you can help out with teaching them about friendship."

Sparker raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

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

Class was starting to assemble in the main lecture room. Smolder leaned over to Sandbar. "Do you have any idea of what Twilight's surprise is?"

Sandbar shrugged. "There's only one way to find out."

A silence fell across the room as Twilight entered the room. "Hello everybody. I know you have all have heard about a surprise that I've planned for you. We are expanding our staff. So you will be receiving more lessons from new teachers. So it is my pleasure to introduce our first of many new teachers to join us, Light Sparker." 

Everyone watched in amazement as a human walked on stage. He had a gold pen in his fingertips. Twilight whispered into his ear as she walked by. "Couldn't you have left your sword outside instead of turning it into a pen?"

Sparker whispered back. "This is the closest I'll ever get to losing it. I know you are in charge, but there are a few things you won't be able to talk me out of."

"What if somebody finds out about it?" Twilight whispered as she clenched her teeth.

Sparker shrugged with a bit of a grin on his face. "It will make ponies think twice before attacking."

Twilight rolled her eyes as she walked off stage. As Sparker adjusted his coat he heard Gallus yell to him. "Are you one of those humans that I read about?"

Sparker gave a sarcastic grin. "Nope, I'm a dragon that lost its scales. Now if we are done with the stupid questions lets get started. Today we are learning about studying your friends. Before anybody asks, I'm not encouraging stalking. Let me ask you a question, how many of you walked up the stairs over 100 times in this school?" 

Most of the class raised their hands. "Okay, 20 bits to the pony who can tell me how many stairs there are from the first floor to the second floor." 

Everyone was silent. Sparker grinned a bit as he started writing on the chalkboard. "Well, I've climbed the stairs 12 times and I can tell you that there are 14 stairs leading to the second floor. That was a simple trick compared to what a mind can do when you truly use it. When ponies start to become friend with someone they study them; learn their likes and dislikes. Eventually they get to the point to where they stop studying. When you think you know everything you stop learning. Everyone changes, so you will always need to update your knowledge. I'm going to show you how to study your friends, how to read their emotions, and how to be more open so one doesn't have to play Sherlock Hooves. Pay attention! Lets begin."

Twilight smiled as she watched Sparker take charge of the class. She wasn't certain if his identity would remain secret forever, but she knew that she could trust him to take the lead if trouble arises. As she walked back to the office she grabbed a quill and paper to write a thank you letter to Celestia and Luna. As she started writing she heard a scream down the hallway. "There's a timber wolf outside the school!"

As Twilight ran outside she saw the timber wolf bearing its teeth for a split second before she saw a blinding beam of light incinerate it. Twilight turned to the window to see Light Sparker brushing his coat off and closing the window. Twilight took a deep breath and started the letter. As she wrote it she started to think to herself. "I hope that this isn't the start of a small army."
> Emile Core
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun started to set as Twilight was rapping up for the day. Twilight spent the day working with Light and critiquing his teaching technique. He did have his sarcastic moments. As she was gathering her paperwork she heard a knock on the door. "Come in."

Twilight watched as a bat-pony walked through the door. He had a rad coat and an orange mane. He also wore a pair of tinted goggles around his neck. He spoke softly as handed Twilight a paper. "Uh, I'm here for the teaching position."

Twilight quickly pulled out a few files. "Yes! You're... Emile Core right? It's nice to meet you. Please take a seat." Emile took a seat in front of the desk. Twilight started going over his file. "Well, according to this you are a researcher for vampire fruit bats."

Emile raised his hoof. "And normal fruit bats. They're both pretty cool."

Twilight continued. "You have plenty of experience in your field, so what made you interested in joining my school?"

"Well I am one of the few ponies who researched these creatures and I want to tell you that in many cultures they are misunderstood. They actually help in the development of trees that they plant. There's an average increase of apples on trees planted by vampire fruit bats by 13%. Those same trees have a 12% increase in natural vitamins. They also can..." At this point Emile went from a shy, soft voice to a loud and excited voice.

Twilight knew that this could take a while so she decided to stop her there. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but how does this relate to friendship? I am interested in your animal expertise, but how can we use it for an example?"

Emile realized that he got carried away. "Sorry, I get excited when I talk about this. The point is they are misunderstood, but they help so much when ponies give them a chance. You have opened the school to many other races and there are still many ponies who think that they are nothing but trouble. If I can show these ponies that vampire fruit bats are doing good then maybe we can spread that mindset to accepting other races. From what I've heard your students have already started spreading this mindset. This is our chance to give more examples of how much other races can help everybody."

Twilight placed a hoof on her chin. "Using vampire fruit bats to teach others how other races can help ponies is a pretty good idea. Alright. Welcome to our staff. Would you be able to start teaching tomorrow?"

Emile smiled. "Of course! Thank you for having me. I'll see you first thing in the morning."

Twilight gave a confused look. "I thought Bat ponies were nocturnal."

Emile grinned. "I'm the exception."

As Emile started walking to the door Applejack walked in. "Hey Twilight I was... Oh." Applejack and Emile both stopped in their tracks and stared at each other for a moment. Applejack was the first to try and speak. "Um, hey. I know that..."

Before she could finish Emile walked around her without saying a word. Twilight noticed Applejack lowering her head as the door closed. "Applejack, is there something wrong?"

Applejack sighed. "Emile came to me a year before we had the 'Flutter-bat' incident. He wanted to study them and tried telling me and my family that they weren't the monsters we thought they were. We got into a fight and I won. I threw him off of the farm and told him that I never wanted to see him in Ponyville again. I haven't seen him since."

Twilight looked at Emiles file again. "That explains why he traveled so much. Not a lot of ponies accepted that new mindset until a few years ago."

Applejack sat down. "I didn't want to accept what he had to say. One year later it took us hurting Fluttershy to get it past my thick skull. After that I started seeing more trees with more fruit. One year after the Flutter-bat incident I tried finding Emile to talk with him but he already left Ponyville. I didn't think about the idea that I'd see him again."

Twilight got out of her seat and walked up to Applejack. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you two had this rough history. Do you think this will be a problem?"

Applejack straightened her hat. "I think he still holds it against me, but I'm not certain."

Twilight place a hoof on her shoulder. "I don't know how I can help. I can talk with him if you want."

Applejack slowly stood up. "No. I have an idea, but I'll need a favor. Can you save his class for last tomorrow?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Okay? What are you planning."

Applejack looked determined as she walked out. "I'm going to give a visual aid."

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

As the students gathered main lecture hall Emile was getting his notes together. Twilight walked over to him. "Hey. How are you doing?"

Emile finished going through his notes. "I'm ready to start my lecture. Why do you ask?"

Twilight took a deep breath. "That wasn't what I was talking about. I heard about what happened between you and Applejack. I'm hoping that you two can work out your history."

Emile bit his lip. "I don't think that I have much to talk about with her. Not many ponies get hog tied and tossed out of a barn. It wouldn't be as bad if she untied me afterwards."

Twilight cringed. "I'm sorry. I promise you that she has changed." Twilight looked at the clock. "It's time for me to introduce you. Good luck." As they both walked on stage the students quieted down. Twilight cleared her throat as she readied her papers. "Thank you. Tonight we have a new teacher joining us. Please welcome Emile Core." Everyone applauded as he gave a nervous smile and wave. Twilight continued. "He is going to be teaching us about a few interesting animals, and I think the best way to give you all a good idea about what you'll be studying we'll have to see them in person. Everybody get ready for a field trip."

As a room full of excited students got their stuff together Emile grabbed Twilight. "What's going on?"

Twilight smiled. "I thought you'd like giving the kids a better idea of what they're learning about, so I thought we'd take them to a vampire fruit bat sanctuary."

A look of pure excitement came over Emile’s face. "Ponyville has one of those now? Lets go!"

As Emile took off Twilight bit her lip. "I hope you know what you're doing."

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

Everyone was following Twilight down a dirt road. While all of the students were chatting among themselves Emile moved up to Twilight. "Hey, I know you've lived here for a while, but are you sure that this is the right way? This is heading pretty close to somewhere I don't want to go."

Twilight smiled. "I know exactly where I'm going. Here we are."

Twilight motioned to an area that Emile recognized as a part of Sweet Apple Acres, but this entrance had a sign on it that said 'Vampire fruit bat sanctuary'.

As Emile was trying to process that he heard a familiar voice. "Howdy everybody. I hear that you have somebody who is going to teach you about vampire fruit bats."

As Emile's jaw dropped to the floor and the other students were murmuring to themselves a frightened Ocellus spoke up. "Vampire fruit bats? I'm not going to get bit am I?"

Applejack chuckled. "I said the exact same thing when I heard about them, but I think that Emile can clear things up about them."

Emile gave a curious glance at Applejack before stepping in front of the class. "Thank you? Well, let's see if we can find a few fruit bats."

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

Twilight called the class a success. At first the students were either scared or bored, but when Emile started getting excited during his lesson the others joined him in his excitement. There was one incident when a bat landed on Gallus which sent him screaming for a few moments, but they all got a good laugh out of it.

As Twilight started leading the others home Emile tapped her shoulder. "Um, is it alright if I hang back. I need to talk to someone."

Twilight smiled and nodded. Emile noticed Applejack was heading back to the barn. "Hey Applejack. Hold on!" Applejack turned to face him. She looked like she was going to face a storm head on. Emile was silent for a moment before he could think of the question to ask her. "When did this happen?"

"About a year after you left. At first I tried a spell to change them, but it resulted in a close friend of mine getting hurt. It took a vampire pony to open my mind. Listen, I know the last time we talked I didn't listen to you, and hogtied you, but I'm sorry. If I wasn't so thick headed back then I could have saved both of us a lot of trouble, but I ran you out of town. I can't tell you how sorry I am. Can you forgive me for what I've done to you?"

Emile watched as a single tear went down her face. Emile took a deep breath before speaking. "You know something, it takes a big pony to admit she was wrong. If I heard about this before I wouldn't believe it, but you have changed. I forgive you." Applejack gave a weak smile. As Emile started to rejoin the group he quickly turned to Applejack one more time. "Hey, do you mind if I come over here to do some research every now and then?"

Applejack grinned. "The gate is always open."

Emile smiled as he rejoined the group. As Twilight watched this she took out a quill and scroll to write to Celestia. As she started writing her letter she started thinking to herself. "Great job Applejack. I'm glad you've shown us how we can always change."
> Needles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike watched as the students were making their way into the school. All of the students had a sense of excitement with all of the new teachers joining. Spike did enjoy watching the smiling faces of the students as they walked in. It almost made him wish that he was working that day, but Twilight insisted that he took a break. He did spend the last two days managing the schedule, sifting through the applications, finding all of the new study material, and rearranging the library for Twilight again.  As much as Spike knew how much he needed some form of rest, he really hoped that Twilight could handle a day on her own. 

As Spike started to think about what to do that day he heard a familiar voice from behind some nearby bushes. "What are you thinking? You can't do this! How are you supposed to teach ponies about friendship?"

Spike looked for the source of the sound. As he looked behind the bushes he saw a yellow dragon that was about his size with a mole on her cheek. She had a parasol in her lap. She had a small wingspan that matched her scales. 

Spike recognized her immediately. "Hey Needles. I haven't seen you in a long time. What are you doing here?"

Needles jumped at the sudden intrusion. She quickly turned to see who was watching her. "Oh! It's you Spike. I'm just... thinking."

Spike had a thought cross his mind. "Are you here for a teaching position? That's awesome, but I thought you were busy with the Dragoons?"

Needles chuckled. "I left Toro in charge of the team. I thought it would be a good idea to have a change in scenery. That and some my friends are not handling my, eh, smell well."

Spike laughed. "Yeah, I had to deal with molting myself. There's a brew that Zecora makes that can help with the smell. It's great to see you here. So... why are you hiding here instead of going inside?"

Needles blushed a bit. "I-I don't want to talk about it."

Spike sat down next to her. "I thought you were past this. From what I've heard from Ember you've helped her a lot, you're even her on call adviser."

Needles lowered her head. "I know, I'm getting along pretty well with my family now, my team is closer than ever, but this seems to be a major step for me. I've only had to deal with my team and others one on one. I thought about making this a part time thing, but how can I teach what little I know to so many others at once?"

Spike sighed. "I don't know how the others can do this, but I feel like you are selling yourself short. You're about my age and we both seem ten years older than what we are. The difference between us is that you had experience from living in the middle of nowhere to build your maturity on and I just learned from Twilight's example. You have learned about friendship the hard way, but here we are. You know so much about this now, so spread what you've learned to other students who don't know about it."

Needles sat for a moment thinking for a second. Eventually she stood up and brushed her legs off. "Thank you Spike. You have a habit of encouraging all races. But what if they think I'm under-qualified?"

Spike smiled. "Don't worry. I'm an assistant and I'm younger than some of the students. This school helps others with friendship. And don't worry! I've known Twilight my whole life and she'd be exited to have you join her."

Needles nervously gripped her parasol. "Are you sure?"

Spike gave her a pat on the back. "You should have seen her when I told her what a dragon magi was. Trust me, you'll be fine. I'm not working today but I know you'll have no trouble. Just believe in yourself. I'm confident that you'll be great."

Needles took a deep breath before giving a weak smile. "Here I go." She turned to the door and slowly walked inside.

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

Needles was a little embarrassed after she got lost for the third time. She was impressed by all of the races that were attending the school. She didn't feel like she stood out as much anymore. Eventually she made her way to an office that had a sign that read "Headmare Twilight Sparkle". 

Needles took a few deep breaths and started whispering to herself. "You can do this. You've had bigger challenges than this. Oh boy! Where's my guide when I need him?" Finally she worked up the courage to open the door. As she walked in she saw a pink unicorn sitting at the desk going through papers. Needles bowed to her. "Princess Twilight Sparkle I presume?"

The pony bit her lip a little. "Actually, my name is Starlight Glimmer. I should let you know that Twilight doesn't like being bowed to, or being called princess. Just call her Twilight."

Needles face turned beet red. "Sorry. My name is Needles. I'm here for a part-time teaching position. Where is Princess... er, I mean Twilight?"

Starlight started going through a few files until she opened one on her desk. "She is busy with a class at the moment. She asked me to do the interview for her."

A ball of sweat ran down Needles head. "Great"

Starlight started going through the file. "Okay. I guess I should ask a few questions. Um, for starters what is a dragon magi?"

Needles sat down and took a deep breath."I'll try to make this as simple as I can. In the time under Discord's rule, the eastern dragon Zheng Long mated with the western dragon Plume because there was no distinction between east and west. Once order returned, Zheng Long stayed in the west to teach dragons his eastern ways. Those lessons, traditions, and powers were passed down through the dragon magi. Legend says that we bestow our knowledge on all who seek it."

Starlight looked confused as was flipping through the file. "So... How does that separate you from other dragons who aren't magi?"

Needles got more nervous as Starlight dug through the file. "Basically I know how to use a unique type of magic. I can enhance the power and durability of an object, I can heal people, I can fire magical stars at targets, and I have a fire spirit living inside me... sort of. It's hard to explain. A part of it revolves around my emotions. If I loss control of my temper I can end up releasing a fiery dragon, but I have it under control now."

Starlight had an impressed look on her face. "Wow! Twilight's going to want to have a chat with you later. Now for something a bit more serious. It says here that you ran away from home when you were young. Can you elaborate on that?"

Needles lowered her head a bit. She never liked talking about it. "I thought we were supposed to be these all knowing beings. I was scared about having to live up to that responsibility. So I became a drifter and a bandit. All I cared about for a while was just myself, but one day I met three fillies who showed me that they didn't expect us to know everything. I helped them and I learned how good it felt to do good and help ponies. I managed to get most of my crew on the same mind set. Of course we had a lot of help from Spike and a couple of other ponies. I'll admit that I wasn't comfortable with the idea of seeing my family again until some ancient dragon tried to overthrow Ember. We managed to patch things up between us. I know I'm the last choice you'd want for a teacher, but I want to help others find their way; to keep them from making the same assumptions and choices I made"

Starlight rubbed her chin a bit as she stared at Needles. "Um, so, what do you plan to teach?"

Needles raised her head. "The lessons of the dragon magi. Not the whole magic thing; I think that's unique to us, but the knowledge that we learned. Life isn't about knowing all the answers or knowing the right path. It's about understanding that there are many ways to handle your problems. It's about trying to do your best. It's about... learning from your failures. Ahem, I could also teach about my travels in the desert if that'd be more useful."

Needles watched nervously as Starlight gave a small smile and looked through her file again. The few minuets felt like hours to her. Finally Sunset set the file down. "Well, according to Spike, Ember, and Lightfoot you have learned a lot about friendship. We can schedule you to work every other week so you can still spend time with your team. Can you teach a class today?"

Needles looked shocked about how well she took her past. It took her a second to answer. "Oh! Uh, I could teach one today if I can have some help setting things up."

Starlight stood up and offered a hoof to her. "Alright! I'll help you as much as I can. Welcome to Twilight's school. By the way, if you were worried about your past, don't. I've been in the same boat as you, only I stole the cutie marks from an entire village. So, what do you need?"

Needles slowly shook her hoof as a feeling of relief came over her. "Well, it's going to be like a game..."

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

A few hours later all of the students gathered at the field outside with Twilight. 

Sandbar raised his hoof. "Um, Ms Twilight, why are we all out here? We already had Ms Dash's class. I thought we were done with exercising for the day."

Twilight ran a hoof through her hair nervously. "Um, I was told by Starlight that we have a new teacher joining us..."

"And we do." Twilight and the students turned to see Starlight and Needles walking towards them. "Everybody, I'd like to introduce Needles. Good luck Needles."

Needles had her parasol open as she took a seat on the grass in front of the students. "Hello everyone. Before we get into the topic for today I'd like to play a little game. While we are talking Starlight is handing out bandannas and maps. This is a version of capture the flag. The color of your bandanna marks which flag you are going for. Your map shows where the flag is. Please read it now because I'm starting this when we are done explain it. The goal is to get your flag and bring it back to me. When you bring your flag back I want you to explain to me what your strategy was to win. No fighting! Don't do anything that can hurt another player. You can try to grab the flag from someone else and teams are allowed. Besides that, do what you want. Everybody has to be back here in one hour. Ready? On you mark. Get set! GO!"

All of the students scattered when she gave the go ahead. As Needles started munching on a ruby Twilight walked over. "So, is the idea to show them that teaming up is the best option."

Needles grinned. "Not exactly. You'll see soon enough."

After a hour everyone returned to the field. As they all took their seats Needles pulled out a notebook that she was writing in. "Alright, I have the reports from the winners and I want to compare facts. How many of you relied on pure speed." A lot of students raised their hooves. 

"Alright, how many of you found a short cut and used it?" More students raised their hooves. 

"Good, how many of you snagged the flag from someone else?" Only a handful raised their hooves as a few ponies chuckled. 

"How many teamed up?" A few ponies raised their hooves as everyone started looking around at each other. 

"Alright, who all came up with something unique?" The remaining students raised their hooves. 

Needles grinned. "Well, some of you are probably thinking that I'm going to talk about the category that won, but at least one pony using each tactic that I listed won in their group. Many ponies think that there's only one way of doing things, their way, but there is no one right way of doing things. Some creatures win by strength, some by speed, some by wits, but there is always another way. When you think that there's only one way to do something you can miss the better solution, but sometimes one idea can work better than another in certain situations. Always keep your mind open to all of the possibilities. Alright, I think that's all of my time for today. We will continue this tomorrow."

Twilight watched from the bench as the students walked back to the school. She gave a small smile as she watched Needles walk back with them. As she pulled out a scroll to write to Princess Celestia she started thinking to herself. "I'll have to thank Starlight and Spike for helping her today... After I ask her my 1472 questions about dragon magi."
> Blaze
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy woke up that morning to the birds singing her a soft song. She usually hummed along as she did her morning routine, but this time she remained silent. She proceeded to feed the animals, and clean up her house. When she looked outside she realized that the weather managers scheduled rain for that day. She sighed as she got her coat. She listened to Angel for a moment before she could leave. "I know Angel, but I have to try to help him and this is the only way they'll let me. I just hope he understands."

Fluttershy made her way outside towards the forest. She didn't like the idea having to explain the current situation to someone that she is trying to help. She slowly made her way to a small cave. She had to lower her head to make it inside. As she made her way into the cave she saw a fox sleeping inside. It wasn't like any normal fox. His coat was orange, black, and white. He was about half the size of a normal pony, which was smaller than most foxes. The most unique thing about him was his wings. This was the only fox she knew about who could fly.

Fluttershy watched as he slowly started to wake up. When he saw her in his "bedroom" he jumped and nearly hit his head on the roof of the cave. "HEY! Oh! It's you Fluttershy. I thought you'd knock or something."

Now most ponies would have been shocked to see a talking fox, but Fluttershy learned about his unique abilities a long time ago. "I'm so sorry Blaze. I didn't mean to scare you. Are you alright?"

Blaze started stretching while listening to her. "I'm fine. So, What are you doing here so early?"

Fluttershy felt her heart drop a bit. "Um, I thought I'd check up on you. How's your home coming along?"

She watched as Blaze looked around his empty cave. "Alright. It's what I can afford right now; which is nothing. Now enough of these dodging games; what's wrong?"

Fluttershy was still nervous. She remembered when she first found Blaze. He was being beaten up by some other foxes. It was one of the few times when she used her stare. She remembered taking him to the vet. She watched as this helpless little creature who didn't fit in had surgery for several broken bones. To this day she could still see the faint scars on his body from the animals attacking him and from the surgery. She was the one took care of him while he was recovering. She enjoyed having another friend to talk to, until he started talking back. She ended up screaming in fear at him. She remembered how ashamed she felt when he ran out of her cottage scared of her. It was only because of Twilight that he came back. Ever since then she always did her best to help him. Now she was asked to give this hard choice to him. She knew that this issue could break this friendship that she tried so hard to rebuild. She couldn't take it anymore.

Fluttershy started crying in front of him. "I can't... I don't want to hurt you again. I just wanted to help you."

Tears rolled down her face as she covered them in shame. As Fluttershy started drifting into a sea of regret and fear she felt a couple of paws wrap around her waist.

She looked down to see Blaze hugging her. "Fluttershy, you've helped me so much. You were the pony who saved my life, but I can't expect you to do everything for me. I know you want to help me get on my paws, but you can't beat yourself up when you can't help me. So what's wrong?"

Fluttershy wiped the tears from her face. "Twilight wanted me to talk to you about your application. You don't have a lot of experience with making friends and you don't have many things you can teach them. She doesn't believe you are ready for a teaching position."

Blaze lowered his head. "Well, it was a long shot. I guess I still have a lot to learn."

Fluttershy lifted his head with her hoof. "Which is why I want to help you. I've talked to Twilight and I found another position for you. I want you to be my assistant in class."

Blaze looked confused. "What?"

Fluttershy sat down next to him. "I want to help you learn more about friendship and help you with your financial situation. Doing this can help you with both of those things. I can teach you how to teach ponies about friendship and maybe make a few friends yourself. I know you wanted to be a teacher, but I want to help you so you can reach that point."

She watched as Blaze sat down in deep thought. She knew he always tried to be self sufficient. She didn't know how well he'd accept the idea of being an assistant.

Finally Blaze stood up. "Alright. I don't have many choices at this point. I think I can give it a shot."

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

Blaze followed Fluttershy to the school. He was glad to be in a large warm building instead of his small, empty, and cold cave. He felt excited watching all of these kids running around. Admittedly they were older than some of the kids he met, but it was still exiting. After a short tour of the school they made their way to Fluttershy's classroom.

While Blaze took off the raincoat that Fluttershy gave him she started to explain the class to him. "Okay, it's my job to teach this class. Is it alright if you can keep an eye on the students and try to help them if they start having any trouble?"

Blaze gave her a smile. "Alright. Do I need to know the lesson?"

Fluttershy started pulling out some papers. "Actually we are having a test today. It's a review of what we have been learning this month. If someone does need help you can give them advice but don't give them the answer. Um, if that's alright with you."

Blaze bit his lip. "Uh, I guess..."

Fluttershy placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I know you'll be fine."

Before they could talk more about it the students started walking in. Blaze took a seat next to Fluttershy's desk. He listened to the students as they all whispered about how cool and cute he was. He blushed a bit from all the comments he was getting.

Once everyone was seated Fluttershy spoke up. "Ahem, good morning everybody. Today I'd like to introduce a friend of mine who will be my assistant from now on. So, may you all give a warm welcome to Blaze."

Blaze could feel a knot in his stomach as everyone gave him an applause. "Thank you everybody."

As soon as he said that he heard Silverstream scream from the back of the class. "He can talk? That's so awesome!"

Blaze blushed as Fluttershy gave a small giggle. Fluttershy proceeded to hand Blaze some papers. "Today we are having a pop quiz on some of the topic we have been going over this month. All you need to do is write a short paper on when you need to say no to a friend. Blaze and I will help you if you have any trouble."

Blaze didn't notice anybody grumbling about the quiz. He wondered if it was because the tests weren't so hard, or if they were afraid of Fluttershy's stare. After he thought about it for a moment he concluded that it was most likely the former. After a few minutes he noticed a strange looking colt in the back crying silently. He was most likely 6 or 7. He had wings like a Pegasus, but his coat was like that of a reindeer. His coat had a yellow tint to it. His hair was also yellow and was cut short. Blaze turned to Fluttershy only to see her busy with Gallus.

He took a deep breath and made his way over to the colt. "Hey, how are you doing?"

The colt nearly jumped out of his seat. "Oh, um, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

Blaze sat down next to him. "It's alright. You can talk to me. I don't bite. Tell me, what's your name?"

The colt lowered his head. "G-G-Golden Dash. I'm sorry, I'm not normal."

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "And I am? At least you know what you are and were you came from. I could be part alicorn for all I know. Normal is a matter of perspective. Where are you from Golden?"

Golden kept his head lowered. "Bluestone bluff. My parents moved here a few months ago."

Blaze tried looking at his face. "Oh! It sounds like a nice place. I used to live in the Everfree forest. What's wrong? Are you missing your old friends?"

Blaze noticed more tears going down his face. "What friends? There's something wrong with my mind. I-I don't talk well with others. I can't even take a stupid quiz. I don't know why my dad thought it was a good idea for me to join this school. I'm just an idiot."

Blaze watched as Golden started weeping in his arms again. Blaze slowly wrapped his paws around him. "You're not a mistake Golden. You are unique. You are so special and you've yet to see it. I thought I was a freak for a while until I realized that we all have problems, but we all also have something special inside of us. Please don't give up on yourself yet. You have so much that you are able to do."

Golden's breathing slowed down a little as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "But how am I supposed to do this. If it was multiple choice or true and false I'd have no problem. I just have problems translating my thoughts onto paper."

Blaze gave him a gentle smile. "Well then, the first thing we need to do is calm down and take a deep breath. The second thing we need to do is realize that this project has no perfect answer. The last thing I need to do is have a short talk with Fluttershy. I'll be right back. I promise."

Blaze quickly made his way over to Fluttershy who was finishing answering a question from Ocellus. Fluttershy noticed Blaze and leaned down towards him so she wouldn't disturb the others. "Hi Blaze, how are you doing?"

Blaze motioned to Golden Dash. "I think Golden Dash is having problems with writing his paper. He was really upset."

Fluttershy looked like she knew what he was struggling with. "According to Twilight he was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. He has issues with communicating and learning. He's amazing when it comes with music and chemistry, but he's struggling with public school. I've tried helping him, but he isn't ready to open up to me yet."

Blaze looked back at Golden. He was hurt about the idea of not knowing how to communicate or even how his mind worked. Suddenly he realized something. "I think he opened up to me. He told me about his problems. Why did he do that?"

Slowly a small smile formed on her face. "Maybe it's because you're a fox. I'm sorry if I offended you, but maybe he doesn't see you like another pony and more like a pet. A friend of mine named Dr Wolf said he might have the same effect on other ponies. He described it like a therapy pet. They help provide comfort when ponies are recovering or when they are depressed. I know you aren't a psychologist, but maybe you can help him him during class. I'm planning on having the Cutie mark crusaders tutor him after classes, but is it alright you help him with this test?"

Blaze looked at Golden again and saw that he was still struggling with getting the first words on his paper. "Of course!"

Blaze made his way back to Golden Dash. Golden looked confused when Blaze grabbed his paper and quill. Golden stumbled over his words a bit. "Uh, wait, what are you doing?"

Blaze gave him a smile. "I'm going to help you out. You said you have a hard time placing your thoughts on paper, so you can just give me your thoughts and I'll write them down."

Golden gave him a confused look. "Really? You're going to help me?"

Blaze gave him a pat on the back. "Of course. I'd be my pleasure buddy. Whenever you need my help just ask me."

As Blaze dipped his quill into the ink he felt two hooves wrap around him. He turned to see Golden hugging him with tears going down his face again. Blaze listened as Golden just whispered into his ear. "Thank you!"

A few tears rolled down Blaze's cheek. When he first applied he mainly did it for the money, but hearing those two words gave this job a whole new meaning. This became something more than a simple job to him. Blaze returned Golden's hug. After a few seconds Blaze spoke. "Alright. Let's show everybody how smart you are."

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

Blaze spent that whole day helping in Fluttershy's class. There were the few times when he was called into another class to help a bit. Blaze proved himself highly helpful with helping the introverts. Somehow he had this special ability to get ponies to relax around him. Soon the final classes were over and he was walking down the hall towards the door.

"Blaze! Wait a second!" Blaze turned to see Twilight running to catch up with him.

Blaze turned around and headed to her. "Hi Twilight. Thanks for giving me this job. You don't know how amazing it felt for me."

Twilight caught her breath before speaking. "I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. May you follow me please?"

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "Alright."

Twilight led him down a hallway. "I hear you've made quite the impression on some of our students."

Blaze chuckled. "Well, I guess kids love the cute fox."

"I'm impressed how well you were able to get along with them, especially the introverts."

"I'll admit that I'm not certain why they take such a liking to me."

"The only reason I can think of is that you have a gift for this. I think once you have enough training you might become a great teacher. I hope I can trust you to continue to help us."

Blaze gave a small smile. "I think I can handle being an assistant for a while."

Twilight smiled. "Thank you. Alright here we are."

Twilight opened the door to show a one person bedroom. The furniture seemed different to what normal ponies would use. Everything was made smaller and more accessible to a shorter creature. The bed was smaller and round. It felt warm and inviting.

Blaze's eyes scanned the room as he was trying to figure this out. "I don't understand. Whose room is this?"

Twilight gave a gentle smile. "Yours. Fluttershy told me that you were having issues with housing and income so I thought I'd help with that."

Blaze looked around the room for a second. "No, I can't take all of this. I haven't done anything for it."

Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Trust me, you have more than earned this."

Blaze watched a Twilight walked out of the room. He looked around at all of these things that he didn't pay for. He found a small flower arrangement with a card in it. He opened the card to find this written on it.

Hi Blaze.

I knew how much you wanted to make a living on your own, but I couldn't stand to think about you sleeping in that cold damp cave. I know some creatures can live in that kind of environment, but I also know that it isn't for you. I hope you can forgive me, but I know you need help. Weather you want it or not I'm going to help you.

Your friend. Fluttershy.

Blaze took a deep breath as he placed the envelope back. "Oh Fluttershy. I think I see why you do this now."

Twilight watched from outside as Blaze snuggled into his bed. As Twilight walked away she smiled and got out her quill and paper. As she wrote she started thinking to herself. "I'm glad you found a place to call your own Blaze. I just wish there were more foxes like you."
> Desert Rat.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was busy mopping up a mess that was left in the hallway. Apparently a food fight ended up spreading out to the hallway. Twilight really wished that they didn't serve carrot sandwiches and grape juice that day. There were small, cut up bits of carrots and purple stains all over the floor. Even though the students had a lot of fun Twilight had to make them clean up the food court. She should have specified that she meant the whole mess

As Twilight finished cleaning the last stain she saw a strange pony walking down the hallway. He wore an old Calvary hat over his brownish blonde mane which had a couple of griffin feathers tied to it. He had a brown coat and had several faded scars all over his body. The most unique things about him were these marking under his eyes and the buffalo horns sticking out of his head, not to mention the strange devices strapped to his back and his chest. He was also a bit taller and bulkier than most ponies.

Twilight recognized him from one of the applications. "Excuse me, are you Desert Rat?"

The pony turned to face her. "The one and only. I'm guessing you're Twilight Sparkle?"

"Yes. It's nice to meet you sir. May you please follow me?" Twilight said as she shook his hoof.

He nodded and proceeded to follow her to the office. There was a tall stack of paperwork on top of her desk. Twilight sighed as she thought about spending another late night going through all of those papers. As she took a seat at her desk she noticed Desert leaning back in his chair. 

Twilight took a deep breath as she started going through the files. "Alright. According to your file you are the half breed of an earth pony and a buffalo."

"Actually I'm from Las Pegasus. We all have these horns there." Desert said sarcastically. When Twilight rolled her eyes he decided to get somewhat serious. 

Twilight focused on his file. "According to your file you're an explorer. You also say that you have some combat skills. You mentioned a couple of "Guns"?"

Desert Rat's eye markings glowed as he magically unholstered his guns. "This is my basic sawed off shotgun for group situations and this six shooter here is my personal favorite." He looked up to see a concerned look on Twilight's face. "Um, I don't really use them anymore."

Twilight sighed. "I see."

Desert's eyes widened as he saw a file marked "Classified" appear from under her desk. "And here we go. Most ponies don't have that file."

Twilight's eyes didn't shift from the file. "You can thank Luna for that. Also as a princess I'm allowed to have access to this information. You aren't the first pony who has a file on them. The whole "Buffalo magic" thing is easier to understand than some of the other forms of magic I've learned about recently, even though there's almost nothing written about it. You fought in the Equestrian civil war about a thousand years ago. After that you were a famous bounty hunter. You disappeared one day without a trace. Unfortunately Luna decided to black out the part about how you leaped ahead in time. Now I understand that Equestria and the surrounding lands were not as civil as they are today. With this file I'd expect you to want a more "military" job. So, why would you want to join my school?"

Desert slowly went from leaning back to slouching forward. "Things have changed after a thousand years, but I can still remember the war vividly. My life has been defined by violence and vengeance. After years of fighting you start to wonder if that's all there is to you. I'm tired of it. I've seen more violence than most ponies see in a lifetime. I want to find a bit of peace. I don't want to keep fighting for the rest of my life. This is a world of peace and friendship and I want to be a part of it. I want to leave my old world behind. I don't want to keep fighting this war that isn't here anymore. Maybe I'd make a better student than a teacher, but I don't want to see this next generation end up in the same place I did. I want them to have lives ten times better than mine was."

Twilight noticed the few tears going down his cheek. She looked into his eyes and saw more pain and heartache than she's ever seen from anybody. Twilight slowly looked through his file again. "Well, this wouldn't be the first time I helped a pony adjust to a new time era. So, how do you plan to teach friendship to the next generation."

Desert Rat pulled out a worn out scroll from his bag. "I've been thinking about it for a while now. While wondering around the world I ended up becoming a bit of a pioneer. With all of the settlements I've met I learned about what makes these newborn towns grow into thriving cities. Teamwork and community. I know I'm not exactly the best when it comes to friendship, but maybe this could help open the doors."

Twilight placed both of the files back into her desk. "Alright. I guess this could be an interesting topic. I'll give you a try, on one condition."

Desert raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

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

All of the students made their way into the new classroom. It seemed to be filled with old antiques and blueprints for some rather basic buildings. There were all forms of old building and farming equipment set up inside. As the students found their seats Desert walked in. This time he wasn't wearing his signature guns.

Gallus gave him a weird look. "Is there a race of you ponies with horns like those now?"

Desert sat down in his seat. "Yes, we're known as Sitcha."

Gallus eyes widened. "Really? What does it come from."

Desert gave a snarky grin. "It means Sitcha flank down and pay attention!"

While the other ponies there chuckled at the joke Gallus blushed and lowered his head. "I think I'll stop trying to be a smart alec to the teachers."

Desert kept his grin. "Good idea. Now how many of you know about the old pioneers?"

A handful of students raised their hooves. Smolder was confused at the idea of learning about this outdated knowledge. "Excuse me, but what does that have to do about anything today?"

Desert rolled his eyes at her. "One who doesn't learn from history is doomed to repeat it. Please, don't interrupt; that's my job. Now these brave ponies who wondered across the world never worked alone. Even when planning such expeditions they needed to have dozens of like-minded ponies to go with them with the right skills. A good party would need scouts, navigators, farmers, builders, and that's just the start of it. They all had to pull their weight and help each other as much as possible. If only a few ponies refused to help the whole colony would collapse. Trust, hard work, and teamwork were the foundations of many of the major cities you see today. Lets get into some of the details of what went into such places."

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

Desert spent the rest of the day talking about the early pioneers. He told stories about the early years of several cities. No one believed him when he talked about how humble and generous the people of Las Pegasus once were. After the class Desert was busy cleaning up the room.

He turned around when he heard Twilight walk in. "Hey Twi, you could have just watched inside."

Twilight raised her eyebrow when she found out about about his knowledge. She still was trying to understand Light Sparker's methods. "Alright, how did you know."

Desert finished filling the waste basket. "I saw you when you peaked inside. I have a pretty good sense of my surroundings. So, how did I do?"

Twilight smiled at a simple answer. "Pretty good. You had them at the edge of their seats." 

Desert grinned. "Good, I have plans to take them out to my style of camping. Nothing but knives and rope."

Twilight quickly tried to block such an idea out of her head. "I shudder at the thought. Do you mind if I ask you about any alternative motives for joining my school?"

Desert nearly dropped the waste basket. "Uh, what do you mean?"

Twilight sighed as she pulled out a new file. "I was curious if you'd have any descendants. Apparently your wife ended up taking your children to what was Zebra territory. After a thousand years it seems that your descendants are mostly Zebras. The only ones that I found out about in Ponyville are Zecora and her cousin Trail Dancer. It just so happens that Trail Dancer is a student in my school. Would you mind telling me more about this?"

Desert sat back down in his seat. A part of him wanted to keep this heritage secret. "When I was cast into the future I knew that I would never see my family again. I wanted to know about what happened to them so I asked Celestia about my lineage. She found a couple of them here. She said that it wouldn't be a good idea to confront them with this knowledge, so I decided to take a hidden part in their lives. I just want to make sure that they are safe. In a way they are the last bit of family I have left. Is there a problem with that?"

Twilight watched as he placed the rest of his notes into the closet. Twilight took a deep breath. "Alright. You can stay here. I hope you can figure out how to deal with this new world. By the way, at least talk to me if you plan on making a hidden safe in my school."

Desert nearly knocked over a mop when she said that. "What made you think I did that?"

Twilight walked up to the closet. "I'm not perfect, but I do know that I had all of the closets made the same way. Now about what's in the safe..."

"My guns." Twilight was shocked by his quick admittance. "I know you said you were uncomfortable with me carrying them around the school, but frankly I've heard about the treats that have attacked the school. I do know that I'll have to find a less violent approach, but you also hired me to protect these kids."

Twilight had to think about it for a moment. Finally she spoke up. "Fine, but remember that this is a school of friendship. Talking should always be the first option. If you can find something less deadly that can stop an attacker I'd like you to use it. Whatever you do DON'T let the students find it!"

Desert gave her a slow nod. As Twilight started walking out she noticed a somber look on his face. It was almost like he was hoping that he'd never have to use those weapons again. Twilight sighed as she started writing to Luna. She started to think about this fallen warrior. "I hope you find some form of peace Desert."
> Friendly Advice, M.D.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was busy at her desk again. She seemed to have twice as many problems than yesterday. Starlight Glimmer was down with a cold. The good news is that Twilight was able to ask the other teachers to take over her class. The bad news was that she had already planned the others taking over because she had one hundred and twenty six forms to fill out for next months supplies. To make matters worse she kept getting interrupted by students every ten to fifteen minuets. Twilight was ten seconds away from pulling her mane out. Just as she was ready go Twily-nanas she heard the door open up.

Twilight instantly screamed. "I'm busy! Come back in ten minutes!"

She looked up to see a yellow earth pony with a lavender mane. His cutie mark was a pink heart with a crack in it. He looked nervous after witnessing her outburst. "Uh... Well, I'll come back later."

Twilight instantly regretted her outburst. Before the pony could walk off she used her magic to drag him back over to her. "Wait! I'm sorry Friendly. I'm just overloaded with paperwork and other problems right now."

Friendly Advice adjusted his glasses after he got tossed into the chair. "Well, maybe I can help with that. I'm here for your teaching position. As you already know I am a psychiatrist and a neurosurgeon, and I know your students are not interested in medicine. I can teach them some good mental health techniques like meditation. I can also teach them a bit about opera. It's one of my passions in life. Through my love of it I've also learned a few languages. You have my references and are one of them. So, where do you want me?"

Twilight could see the pure confidence on his face. She turned her attention back to his file. "So... why are you looking for another job?"

Friendly didn't seemed fazed by the question. "Well, I'm not the only psychiatrist in town. Well, technically he's a psychologist. He has his part time gig and I figured I'd get one. I need something to keep me busy. You know what they say about idle hooves."

Twilight looked at the file for the moment before a small grin appeared on her face. "Actually I think I have the right position for you. How would you feel about becoming a counselor?"

Friendly blinked a couple of times in shock. "Uh... excuse me?"

Twilight leaned forward. "Right now Starlight is fighting the bug that's running around. I need more than one counselor here to help around. You are the perfect fit for the position. You already have degrees in this."

Friendly raised a hoof. His confidence slowly faded away. "I-I thought you were hiring teachers. I didn't know you needed another counselor. "

Twilight took a deep breath. "Listen, I know this isn't the position that you wanted, but you are the best at it. Starlight Glimmer is sick and I'm struggling right now to keep up with everything. Can you please help me with this?"

Friendly placed a hoof on his chin. He looked like he was trying to figure out how his perfect plan fell apart. After a minuet he finally sat back down. "Alright. You need me to play another roll? I'll be happy to do it."

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

Friendly was busy going through some of the files in Starlight's office. He was still upset about his whole plan falling apart. He was so exited about teaching a whole class, not doing the same thing he was doing before. As he sorted through the mess of files he started muttering to himself. "This was not how I planned this. I wanted to teach the next generation, not sit in an office all day and have coffee and doughnuts!"

As he finished putting away the files from the desk he heard the door open up. "Um, are you the new counselor?"

He turned to see a young colt with a reindeer like coat. Friendly recognized him from one of the files he cleared from the desk. "Yes. You must be Golden Dash. Well, sit down and make yourself comfortable."

Golden slowly made his way to a couch at the side of the room. "Um, am I supposed to lie down or sit up straight?"

Friendly sat down in a nearby chair. "Either way works. Just make yourself as comfortable as possible. So, what can I help you with? Trying to learn about the meaning of life?"

Friendly noticed Golden nervously rubbing hid hooves together. "Um, Blaze said it might be a good idea to talk to you about this. You are a psychiatrist, right?"

Friendly raised an eyebrow. "Yes. I guess word gets around here. Don't worry, nothing leaves this room. What's your problem?"

Golden leaned forward in the seat. "I-I don't feel normal. I want to understand why I'm so weird. Blaze wanted me to talk with you about this. Why am I so strange?"

Friendly could see how personal this was to him. Friendly leaned forward. "Well, that depends on your definition of strange. What gives you this sense of "strangeness"?"

"Well, I guess the first thing is the fact that I'm part pony and part reindeer. It makes flying weird for me. It's like I can fly with my wings, but I can also use my magic to walk on thin air. I have doctors that are trying to figure out if I can have a cutie mark. I've had kids call me names like "Half breed", "circus clown", and many other things. It was like that until my family moved here. The ponies here still stare at me."

"I see, let me ask you a question. I'm guessing one of your parents are a pegasus and the other one is a reindeer?"

"Yes, my dad was from Cloudsdale and my mom was from Bluestone bluff."

"Really, how did they meet?"

"My dad said he was carried by the wind after he saved his team. He's a hero to everybody in Bluestone. He met my mom after the civil war, but what does this have to do with me?" Golden said as he gave Friendly a confused look.

"Do they love each other?"

"Of course!"

"And do they love you?"

"Yes, well, they tell me every day that they do."

Friendly gave him a soft smile. "You are not the first "half breed" that I've met. If your parents truly love each other than this is nothing to be afraid of. Your unique heritage is something to be proud of. Frankly I find this unique flying ability fascinating. You should be glad to have such a good family. If anything I think those kids who pick on you are just jealous. All ponies end up trying to put something down to a lower level when they feel inferior to it. Don't tell them that! Say, is there anything you're good at?"

Golden brushed a hoof against his saddlebag which had a guitar stitched on it. "Well, I'm pretty good at music."

Friendly handed him a quill and paper. "I bet you can come up with a hundred more things. Take these home and have your parents help you. What you need to do is come up with a list of good things about yourself, and whenever you start to feel like you're weird or worthless you go through it and remember how cool you are and all the good thing you have in your life. whenever you start to count your blessings your problems start looking pretty small. So, is there anything else you need help with."

Golden looked intimidated at the size of the scroll. "Well, I guess Mom and Dad can help me out with this, but that kind of goes to the other thing weird about me. I have Asperger Syndrome. I'm struggling with studying lessons for quizzes and writing papers. I'm getting help for my writing, but I'm still struggling with some of these lessons. How can I remember all of this stuff?"

Friendly realized what kind of pain that Golden was feeling. He remembered the day he was diagnosed with the exact same thing. The thing that helped him the most was his family. They helped him surpass the expectations that were laid out for him. As he looked at Golden and his bag he stared to think about his love for opera. He enjoyed getting lost in those musical worlds of wonder and adventure. These stories introduced him to the world of culture and amazement. All honesty if he didn't get his talent in helping ponies with personal problems he would have made opera his entire living. He started to wonder if Golden felt the same way about music.

After a moment of silence Friendly finally snapped out of his trance. "Um, sorry about that. Listen, I've been right were you have been. I also have Asperger Syndrome and I can give you the papers to prove it. I know it's hard to learn right now, but maybe you have a gift that can help you get through it. I love opera. It was through that that I learned about history, other languages, and so much more. You don't know how much I envy your musical gift. I've learned how to sing many of my favorite masterpieces, but I never could play an instrument for my lives sake. Maybe Music can help you the same way opera helped me. Something I want to suggest to you is trying to turn your lessons into songs and play them over in your head. Try to make the lesson play to your tune when you need to remember it. I don't recommend you singing in class, but maybe you can use that gift in a way you never considered before."

Golden looked at Friendly with a look of confusion. "Are you sure? I have written a few songs, but do you think it could help me?"

"Do you have problems remembering songs?"

"No, I could sing and play most of the songs I've heard by memory."

Friendly gave him a big smile. "Then I'm confident in you. If that doesn't work then I'll try to help you find another way. Is there anything else you need help with?"

"I don't thing so. I'll give those thing you said a try. Thank you sir."

Friendly gave a smile as he watched Golden leave the room. He took a few slow deep breaths when he was out of hearing range. "He'll be fine. Don't worry!" Before he could say anything else he heard a knock at the door. "Well, I guess this won't be as slow as I thought. Come in!"

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

That night after school Twilight went to find Friendly. She caught him as he was locking up the office. "Hey Friendly, how did it go?"

He gave her a grin as he finished locking up. "Well, I had four future seekers, three homesicks, two pusseled quizers, and a pony making school medleys. So an average work day."

Twilight raised an eyebrow in pure confusion. "What?"

"It's a joke I came up with. Don't worry about it. During what free time I had I went over the files of 23% of the students. I mean no offence, but Starlight's filing cabinet looks like something Pinky Pie shot out of a cannon. I'll keep going through them and making them more efficient."

Twilight smiled at the thought of him taking initiative. "Great. So, are you okay with doing this for a while?"

Friendly cleaned his thin reading glasses. "Well, it's not what I wanted and I would eventually like to have a classroom, but you need me here. I'm happy doing this for the time being. It is what I'm good at. Well, I'll see you tomorrow Twilight. Have a good day."

As Friendly started to walk off he heard a guitar in the distance. He smiled when outside he saw Golden playing a guitar and humming to himself while writing sheet music on a paper.

As Twilight watched him walk off she started thinking to herself. "Thank you Friendly. I know I can always rely on you to help with the hurting ones."
> Lone Wolf
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was busy cleaning off her desk. She had no clue how hard it was to train a new staff. From teaching Light to be more patient to teaching Blaze about the same lessons he was helping to teach her students. She knew it was taking a lot of time but the payoff will be worth it in the long run. 

As Twilight took a long sip of tea she could hear someone knocking at the door. "Come in."

A bat pony walked in. He had bark blue fur, raven hair, and a white tail. His cutie mark was a moon with the shadow of a wolf on it. When he approached the desk he proceeded to salute her. "Corporal Lone Wolf reporting you highness!"

Twilight blushed at the formality. "Please call me Twilight. I never did like the formalities. Um, at ease."

Somehow his form of "at ease" didn't look different from his "at attention" stance. "I'm here to operate as a teacher and a security officer. I'm currently a part of the lunar guard. If you wish to hire me then I promise to increase security and help lead the next generation to a brighter future."

Twilight pulled his file out of her desk. She whispered to herself as she started to read it. "I haven't heard a lot of good things about the royal guard recently."

Wolf gave a snarky grin. "The inefficiency and general stupidity of the day shift is not my fault."

When Twilight looked back up to him the grin quickly disappeared. She took a deep breath as she looked back to the file. "Let's see what we have here. You specialize in outdoor survival. You were recruited as a night patrol in Canterlot in the Lunar guard. You were 47th out of 278 in your class. You have some combat skills from fighting trouble makers and thieves. You also fought during the changeling invasion. You are currently trying to get promoted to lieutenant. I'm impressed by your military career. I have a brother who is the head of royal guard in the Crystal empire and I know it isn't easy. Why are you interested in joining my school? You have no family in the area. It doesn't seem like something you'd try."

Wolf took a deep breath as he slowly leaned forward. "How many times has Ponyville been under attack from monsters, or anything else for that matter?"

Twilight never thought to keep track of that. As she started to list them in her head she could feel a small headache coming over her from remembering how many of those threats she and her friends had to face themselves. "More than I'd like to think about."

Wolf pulled out a list. "This is a list of all of the currant threats in the area. Equestria and the surrounding nations have been at peace for a long time. This ended up allowing us to grow soft and lower our guard. Equesstria and it's surrounding allies have been attacked several times in the last few years. This school itself has been attacked several times already and it isn't even old enough to produce any graduates yet. Equestria has always tried to make peace with the other nations and it's worked so far, but what happens when a certain ex-queen comes along looking for a fight? I want to help you protect these kids and our nation as a whole. I can teach them how to keep calm when these threats come along. I can show them basic skills and strategies so they don't hurt themselves. As a teacher I'll show them survival skills so they are able to protect themselves. I know you don't like the idea of turning a school of friendship into a boot camp, but they need protection, and I can give it to them."

Twilight leaned forward in deep thought. She thought about the dangers that they have already faced, not only from wild creatures and evil ponies, but from smaller things like drowning and falling. Some students have already shown some cleverness in situations like this, but not all of them could think on the fly. Many of them could end up freezing in place. 

Twilight finally made her choice. "You're right. You aren't the first one who brought this to my attention. As much as our primary focus is on friendship we need to help them make quick decisions when they do face danger. If you can give them some plans for when trouble comes it can be a great help. I'll be happy to make you the head of security here, on one condition."

Wolf raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

Twilight pulled out some of her books. "According to your file you don't have much of a life outside of work. I don't want your teaching to completely revolve around survival skills. I expect you to study these books and try to make some new friends here."

Wolf took a deep breath. "Yes ma'm!"

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

The next day Wolf watched from the rafters as the students made their way into the lecture hall. He knew that Twilight was planning on just introducing him, but he didn't feel like a normal introduction would do justice to what he needed to teach those kids. They needed to learn how to act on the fly without warning. Earlier when Twilight was getting ready for him to introduce him he told her that he was going to have a surprise for the kids. He wanted to make a baseline to see how the students will currently react in a emergency.

Twilight made her way onto the podium. "Good morning everybody. For the last few weeks I've been thinking about some of the recent emergencies we've had. It has come to my attention that you all should know how..."

Wolf knew that she was giving a lot of his plan away before he could enact it. Before she could say anything else he dropped a firecracker and a smoke bomb behind the rest of the class. As the sudden pop went off and smoke started to spread across the room everybody jumped out of their seats. 

After a few moments of chaos a voice called out from the back of the room. "Peace everyone! The strife is over! It was a smoke screen and a light jumper!"

Everybody was confused by the words used, but they looked to see a Zebra with a smoke bomb still burning in her hooves. They watched as she proceeded to stomp it out. As everybody made their way back to their seats Twilight spoke up. "Excuse me Trail Dancer, but how did you figure it out so fast."

Trail made her way back to the front as she was explaining it. "Teacher had no fear. There was smoke without a glow. The smell had no burn to it. Kids in tribe used same tricks for laughs."

"She looked at the problem and found a solution." Everybody turned to see Lone Wolf landing on the ground behind them. "Sorry for the scare, but this was necessary to give me an idea of what I'm working with. I'm Lone Wolf. I'm a corporal in the lunar guard and I specialize in survival tactics. My job is to teach you how to handle yourself in an emergency. Consider this a test. Only thing is we took the test first and now we move to the lesson. I have to say I wasn't expecting you all to handle this so quickly, but it was mostly Trail Dancer who found the problem.

There are four groups of people in a crisis. The first one is the leaders. The people who can keep their cool, find the problem, and know how to deal with it. From watching you all I found six leaders. Even though only one of you found the source the rest were trying to calm everybody down and were following some form of improvised fire plan. The second group is the fighters. After the explosion some of you thought we were under attack and were darting around looking for a threat. You wanted to protect your friends and yourself by any means necessary. The third group was the flighters. You saw danger and ran for the doors. Your plan was to get away as quickly a possible. There were quite a few of you in that category and in a situation like this it really wasn't a bad thing. The last group which is also the group that I'll be working the most with is the freezers. You couldn't act, you didn't know what to do, so you froze like a pony in the winter time who fell in a pond. There are quite a few of you who fit into that category and that is the one you never want to be in. Don't worry! I will give you the tools to know what to do in a crisis. When you have the tools at your disposal your odds of freezing go down drastically. Weather in a team one on your own I'll give you the knowledge on how to survive almost anything."

Ocellus raised a hoof. "Did you say by yourself?"

"Yes. You never know when you'll be caught off guard."

Ocellus had a scared look on her face. "We always have each other when something happens, but being alone? I don't know if I'm brave enough to do that."

Wolf grinned. "Which is why today I'll give you one of the most important tools you'll ever need. A mental trigger. There is only one thing worse than freezing in a crisis, and that is giving up. When you give up then you have lost all chances of survival. That is why you always need a reason to fight. You need something in your head that will tell you that you can't give up, and you need to keep living."

Ocellus raised her hoof again. "So what's your mental trigger?"

Wolf was taken back by that question. He never had to explain it before. "Uh, well... I guess it would have to be my family. They have always supported and encouraged me. They taught me a lot of what I know, and I never can imagine what would happen to them if I..." Everybody watched as a few tears rolled down his face. It was the only time he showed any sign of fear as he thought about what would happen if he ever gave up. 

Slowly his look of fear changed to a look of determination. "I fight for them. That's why I joined the lunar guard. I thew myself at danger so no one else had to. They are my reason to fight and live. I know nothing I've ever faced has probably faced up against what Twilight and her friends have faced, but I know that they have their reasons to never give up. Friends and family are some of the greatest motivators. Always keep them in mind when you face the darkness." 

Everybody looked like they were taking it into thought. Some of them were looking at each other. After a few moments Wolf got back on topic. "Alright. I hope that gave you something to think about. I have some papers here for you all to go through. Twilight helped me come up with a few plans for if something happens in the school. This list ranges from fires, getting hurt, attacks, and other scenarios. Pay attention and keep those papers. We will have drills in the future, but for now let's get into some reading and get this stuff memorized."

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

The class was pretty successful. Everyone found the new class pretty interesting. The only hard part for Wolf was the fact that he had to adjust his sleeping schedule. Going from a night job to a day job was a tall order.

As Wolf was making his way to the door he heard a voice from behind him. "You did a pretty good today. I didn't think you could mix survival and friendship together, and somehow you taught about both of them."

Wolf turned to see Desert Rat behind him. Wolf chuckled. "I usually go alone whenever I go out on one of my "trips". I'll go for 48 hours with only a handful of supplies. I had to start changing my mindset from being solo to working with a team when I joined this school. I'm utilizing so much more of my knowledge than I'd ever thought I'd use."

Desert grinned and gave Wolf a pat on the back. "You know something, you know how to camp right. I didn't think I'd find another guy around here who goes into the wild with only minor tools to cover his needs in the wild."

Wolf felt like he received his respect, and he also felt like it wasn't an easy feat. Desert had a aura of experience around him, but he could also tell that they use two different styles of survival. Wolf decided to thank him. "Well, I take that as a compliment. It's not often I meet an experienced survivalist."

Desert smiled. "Well I guess that's one way to describe me. Tell you what, I'll treat you to dinner and we'll trade notes. I'm interested in how the young ones play the survival game."

Wolf felt puzzled. "Wait, you want to trade notes with me? I would guess you'd know more."

"Maybe, but I think it'd be worthwhile to look at things from another perspective. The second you stop learning is the second you become an idiot. Come on kid. Show this old war horse what you know."

While the two of them started to walk off Twilight watched from a distance. As she got started making her way to her house she started thinking to herself. "Well Wolf, I'm glad to see you won't go at this alone. Just don't turn my school into an army."
> 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."
> Brave Spirit, Heat Wave.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lone Wolf was just finishing moving into his new apartment. It wasn't very big, but he never had a need for a train full of stuff. He had the habit of only owning the bare necessities. He soon had everything set up, but the rooms still felt empty. He shrugged and decided to grab some breakfast before he went to the school. As he looked into the empty fridge he remembered that he had no time for buying groceries since he arrived. He groaned as he started to think about where to eat. He still wasn't familiar with Ponyville so it only made things harder. As he started thinking about what to do, he heard a knock on the door. 

Wolf opened it to reveal a pony with a large box. "I have a package for Lone Wolf."

Wolf knew that it was most likely his armor and the supplies from his locker in Canterlot. He sighed as he held the door open. "Just set it anywhere. If you have a second I'd like to ask you if you know any good places to eat."

As the pony set the crate down Wolf could see that he was a tall earth pony with a smokey grey coat and a brown mane and tail. His cutie mark was a shield with angelic wings on it and he had red scar across his chest. Wolf could instantly recognize him from his military experience. 

Wolf quickly stood at attention. "Corporal Lone Wolf reporting sir!"

The pony gave him a strange look. "You are a lunar guard, aren't you? How do you know who I am?"

Wolf stood still while he was still saluting. "You are First Lieutenant Brave Spirit. You finished 3rd out of 313 in your class. Your nickname is the iron wall. You are one of the fiercest warriors who strive to protect Equestria."

Brave sighed as he pulled out a clipboard. "The time for saluting me is over. At ease soldier."

Wolf lowered his salute, but he still stood up straight. "Yes sir!"

Brave rolled his eyes as he pulled out his clipboard. "And cut it out with the sirs. Call me Brave. Can you sign for this?"

Wolf looked shocked by his informality. He quickly signed the papers. "Yes sir... I mean Brave. If you don't mind my asking, why are you delivering packages?"

"I'm a delivery pony. It's my job."

"But you were a great officer. You lead the charge against several threats. Why are you here?"

"Because I resigned. I'm a civilian now and comfortable with it."

Wolf was shocked. "Wait, what! You were a legend. Why would you give that up?"

Brave stopped in his tracks. He took a deep breath as he tried to explain it. "How many friends did you make in the military? I'm pretty positive it's a few, but how many of those lasted? How many of those ponies were reassigned, retired, or worse? Maybe I just got tired of being alone, or that's just how the world wants me to be. I was good at what I did, but I was tired of being alone. Being an officer didn't help. It felt like I was distanced from everypony else. It was like all they could see was an officer and not a pony. As a civilian I'm not as distanced anymore. I'm just a stallion who delivers packages."

Wolf was startled about what he said, but he started to think about his career. Wolf didn't make any friends until he joined the school. He didn't think about how alone he really was. Wolf had only seen this look on a few other ponies.

As Brave was walking out the door Wolf grabbed him. "Um, before you go I'd like to ask you something. Would you like another job? I know you have always felt alone, but maybe I can help you find those friends you've always wanted."

Brave raised an eyebrow. "One, are you talking about Twilight's school?"

Wolf nodded. "Yeah."

Brave bit his lip. "Two, I don't think I'd make a good teacher."

Wolf chuckled. "It's alright. You can be a security guard. If that doesn't work you can be a assistant like Blaze or Flash. You'll be great."

Brave still looked skeptical. "Three, would the princess be okay with this?"

Wolf smiled. "It's fine. She'll love the idea."

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

Wolf led Brave into the school after they stopped by Brave's house to grab some stuff. Because it was still early there weren't many students moving around yet. They soon made their way to Twilight's office.

Before they could walk in Brave stopped in his tracks. "Uh, I'm not sure if this is a good idea. Even if this isn't the military I still know that you are supposed to have an appointment."

Wolf didn't looked worried. "It's alright. I know her pretty well now." Blaze was instantly suspicious. Wolf rolled his eyes. "Alright, I've only been here a couple of weeks, but she's not busy right now."

As soon as he said that a pony opened the door. He was a pegasus with a yellow coat and a dark yellow mane. His cutie mark was a pen. 

The face of the pony lit up when he saw them. "Hey cousin! How are you doing?"

Brave's face lit up as he saw him walking out. "Doing good Heat Wave. It's great to see you. What are you doing here?"

Wave grinned. "I just got a job here. I am now a teacher. I'm going to be teaching kids about simple principles for writing. Are you here for a teaching position too?"

Before Brave could answer Twilight walked forward. "I didn't schedule any more appointments today. What's going on?"

Wolf stepped forward. "Good morning. I know that this is a little short notice, but I thought you'd be interested in hiring another pony. This is lieutenant Brave Spirit. I think his experience could be highly valuable to the school."

Twilight looked interested. "Well, I haven't gotten an application from him yet, so it could be a while before I can schedule an interview."

Wolf pulled a couple of files out of Brave's saddlebag. "He filled it out on the way. He also has his military record here."

Twilight was curious about Wolf taking the reins of this conversation. "Well... I do have some time before school starts. Come inside Brave. I have a few questions that I'd like to ask you in private."

Brave nodded as he walked in. As he sat down Twilight went through the files that were handed to her. 

He waited for a few minutes before she spoke up. "So Brave. You have had a pretty good career, but it seems like you have had some rough history. You placed the royal guard as a reference, but nopony by name. "

Brave shrugged. "All I knew was rank, nothing more."

Twilight frowned as she continued going through the file. "You have combat skills, but we are doing fairly good for having ponies who already have combat experience. So why did you apply here?"

Brave sighed as he sat forward. "To be honest it wasn't my idea. Wolf thought I could make some friends here, but we both know that's not how this is going to go down. I've tried having friends and fate took them away from me. I don't know why Wolf thought this would be a good idea, but this isn't going to work out. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

As Brave started to walk out Twilight called out to him. "Wait! You said that Wolf was trying to help you make friends? Why?"

He lowered his head a bit as he looked like he was reflecting. "I've tried making friends before. Fate didn't like the idea so things would always fall apart. If I was twelve years younger I'd be a student here. Just forget it. You already said you had enough security here. You don't have any need for me."

Twilight could feel like there was something more to this if he had truly given up on friendship as a whole.

She quickly called out to him again. "Hold on! Maybe we can use you here. Um... Maybe you could help your cousin in his class. We are trying to incorporate more assistants and we could use your help in overseeing the students."

Brave looked a little confused at her sudden change of mind. "Are you serious? I have my own problems that would make anybody else's issues look like paradise."

Twilight walked over to him. "You'd be surprised how many ponies here have said that. I just want to help you out and I think Wolf was trying to do the same thing. Just give it a shot."

Brave paused for a moment considering it. "Alright. I'll give it a shot for today. It would be good to work with Heat Wave."

As he walked out Twilight started to write a letter. 

After a while Spike walked in. "Hey Twi. How did the interview with Heat Wave go?"

Twilight nodded as she sealed the letter. "It went well, but we also have another pony who is going to help him. Can you send this to princess Luna?"

Spike looked a little curious. "Alright, but what is it about?"

Twilight looked deep in thought. "I don't know, but I found a few parts of his file that were blacked out. It tells me that the is something classified about him, and I hope to find out what."

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

Brave slowly made his way to Heat's new classroom. He didn't mind the idea of helping Heat, but he didn't feel good with the idea of trying to open up again. He was still stuck with the memories of his last failure. As he walked up to the door he heard a bunch of talking and laughing inside. He walked in to see all of the students chatting with each other. It wouldn't be much of a problem if Heat Wave wasn't busy trying to get the class started.

Heat's voice was being drowned out by all of the students. "Uh, guys? We need to get started. Can we quiet down in here? Please?"

Brave watch this play out for a moment before stepping in. "Attend hut!!!"

All of the students quickly quieted down. Brave made his way past Heat as he made his way to a chair behind him. "Now I expect you all to pay attention. You can have fun talking when the time calls for it, but right now it's time to listen to Heat wave."

Gallus raised a hand. "Um, Twilight already introduced Heat Wave, but who are you."

Brave took a second to remember that he wasn't dealing with soldiers. "My name is Brave Spirit. I will be your assistant teacher. My job is to make sure that you all listen and get good grades. Now if you all have a question then you can wait until you are called on or until the end of class."

As Brave sat down Heat leaned over to him. "Hey, thank you for calming them down, but you my want to find a new method. I don't think the drill Sargent style will work here."

Brave gave him a small nod. He knew that in a school of friendship he was outranked in every way.

Heat turned his attention to the class. "Alright. Today we are talking about writing stories. Now there are many things that you can write about. Cooking, nature, technology, or even fantasy books. I could spend all day on what all you could write, but there is one rule about writing. Make it about what you love. Not everybody can write about daring adventures or how to make a toy bear, but you can write about what you know. Many of you have probably read Twilight's journal. That was something that she was passionate about. Think about what you know about and start running with it. Right now I want you all to write down what you enjoy. There are no wrong answers here."

Brave watched as all of the students started thinking and writing notes. 

While they did that Heat walked over to Brave. "Hey, it's great to see you here."

Brave didn't want to look him in the eye. "Yeah, it's good to be here."

Heat could sense that Brave was just going through the motions with talking to him. "I'm getting the sense that you didn't want to be here. Is this about your last mission?"

Brave scowled a bit. "You know that I don't want to talk about what happened."

Heat never could find out what exactly lead him to become so distanced. All he knew was it had to do with the long scar on his chest. After the incident Brave ended up resigning. Heat always wanted to help him, but he couldn't figure out what the problem was.

Heat sighed as he placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Listen, I know you'll never explain what happened, but you can't give up on making friends. You have had a rough track with friends in the past, but maybe things can change."

Brave just shook his head. "How are things supposed to change? I've had a life full of being alone. How is a school supposed to change that?"

Heat shrugged. "I have had one guy who is planning to teach my more about helping with counseling. I don't want to force you to do something you don't want, but maybe you can find somebody who can relate to you."

Brave bit his lip. After a few minutes of thinking he finally spoke. "Alright. I'll give it a shot, but I don't think anybody would be interested."

Heat could tell that he was half hearted with his response. He always said that he would open up, but it never seemed to happen. It burned his heart as he nodded and turned back to the class.

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

Brave was walking out of the door. He didn't feel any different than when he walked in. All he really cared about at the moment was getting home. 

As he made his way down the path he heard a voice call out to him. "Hey, do you mind stopping for a chat?"

He turned to see Desert Rat sitting on a bench. Brave didn't pay him much mind. "If you are here to talk to me about staying then you are wasting your time."

"I know soldiers can be stubborn, but you take the cake. My name is Desert Rat, and I think we need to hash this out."

Brave felt like somebody just tried to a weak jab at him. "Tell me, what makes you think that you can change my mind."

Desert leaned forward with a look of authority. "Because I'm not some young kid or a princess. I'm a warrior who has probably seen more war and pain then you ever had. So why don't you talk to someone who has been where you have."

Brave wanted to walk away, but he could feel the aura of experience around him. Brave slowly sat down next to him. "So, you said you have experience, but I've never heard about you. What's your rank and outfit?"

"That's classified, and even if I did say what it was you wouldn't believe me. Tell me, what makes you believe that you can take on life alone."

Brave didn't like being kept in the dark, but if anyone had to respect what classified meant it was him. He sighed as he tried to figure out how to phrase it. "I've lost a lot of friends. I am always kept distant from everybody. It seems like every time I get close to somebody they are taken away."

Desert raised an eyebrow. "And the solution is to hide away? Listen, I've lost more friends then I like to admit. I only have two members of my family left and they don't even know we're related. I have also had made more mistakes and bad decisions then you could ever imagine. I spent a long part of my life as a drifter. If I could go back and change one thing it would be living alone. I don't like what I became. I spent a long time my own and the best moments of my life were the ones with what friends I still had. I know what it is like to feel like life is trying to tear you down, but that's no reason to give up. You aren't even trying right now. I know I'm not the first pony who said this, but give us a shot."

Brave lowered his head. "I know, but it seems hopeless. The only pony who I can consider a friend is Heat Wave, and he's family. How am I supposed to try something which already fell apart on me before?"

Desert thought for a minute until a grin formed on his face. "Tell you what. Saturday you can bring Heat and I'll bring Wolf. We'll go out to the forest and spend the weekend living on the land. We'll show you two how to live."

Brave chuckled at the idea of his cousin going camping. "I don't think Heat would thrive in that type of environment."

Desert just smiled. "Is he the type of friend who would give it a shot just to help you?"

Brave thought about it for a while. He knew that Heat always wanted to help him open up, so it could be an option. "Alright, I'll ask him if he's interested."

Desert smiled. "Great. Only bring the essentials and expect us to reduce it even more. Don't bring a tent, but we might allow you to bring some freeze dried food. You will either love us or hate us, but you'll learn to trust us."

As Desert started walking away Brave called out to him. "Hey! How do you live with your bad choices?"

Desert gave him a sympathetic look. "You move forward and don't look back. Just think about what your life will be like now."

As Desert and Brave started walking home Twilight was watching from a window. She smiled as she held a file marked classified. She started writing a letter to Celestia she started to think about them. "Thank you Desert. You might have been the only one who could have related to him. I just hope that Brave and Heat can work together. They can be a great team for our kids to look up to."
> Astral Mythos
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was going over some paperwork in her office. She was trying to adjust the new budget for the new teachers. Desert and Wolf wanted to take the kids out for a "survival night", whatever that is. Shy had a request to replace a few books that were damaged. Wolf, Brave, and Light were all coming up with new security ideas. Fox wanted a candy store in the cafeteria. Okay, they weren't all good ideas. Twilight was busy trying to balance the budget and make new plans for the future of the school. As she tried to think about expanding the building to allow more students to come to the school, a male unicorn walked through the door. He had a blue coat and blue, red, and yellow. He wore a white collared shirt and a blue vest. His cutie mark was a book with three glowing orbs surrounding it. He wore blue glasses which was as dark as his hair.

Twilight recognized him as Astral Mythos. He was a struggling writer trying to find someone who would help him get his stories published. Twilight loved his unusual ideas and decided to give him a shot. His books started to be a pretty big hit. After that, he usually turned to her for proofreading and publishing his stories. She soon realized that she hasn't touched base with him for a couple of weeks now.

Twilight sighed as she pushed some of the paperwork aside. "Hi Astral. I'm sorry I haven't been able to go over your latest story, but I've been a little swamped here. Until I am able to get the new teachers settled in with their jobs I won't be able to get away to help you for a while."

Astral shrugged as he walked in. "I figured that you had a good reason. I just wanted to check up on you and see where you were at. I do have a story about a princess trying to comfort a filly during a storm, but I can wait until you are able to look over it."

As Astral started to turn around the door opened again. Heat Wave was holding a file in his mouth and placed it on Twilight's desk. "Can you explain why we are cycling the assistant teachers?"

Twilight sighed as she realized she wouldn't be able to go through half of the files before the end of the day. "I thought it would be a good idea to allow the assistant teachers to meet some of the other teachers. I'm not only trying to promote friendship between students but between the teachers too. We need to lead by example. I thought you would all appreciate it." 

Astral could tell from the look on Heat's face that he was very upset about this. Heat lowered his head as he started to walk away. "Alright, never-mind."

Twilight grabbed him with her magic before he could leave. She also noticed Heat's attitude and looked concerned. "Wait! What's wrong? I thought you of all ponies here would enjoy this."

Heat sat down in a seat in front of her as he kept a somber look on his face. "I know, but I was hoping that I'd be able to spend more time with Brave and help him with his problems. It seems like some of the other teachers are helping him more then I can. I've even seen him getting along with an edgy bald monkey."

Twilight almost had to muffle a chuckle at Light Sparker's new comparison of Light Sparker, but she knew what he was dealing with. "Listen, I know what it's like to feel like to see someone you love to get pulled away from you at times. When I first found out that my brother was getting married I thought he was being taken away from me, and that did lead to a whole changeling invasion... but that's a long story. Even after that whole mess I still felt like he was being taken away from me. I had to accept that his wife wasn't going to be less for me, but more for him. I had to allow him to make his own choices and make new friends. You shouldn't be sad about seeing less of him, but encourage him to make new friends. Maybe you can make some new friends yourself."

Heat nodded, but Twilight could tell something was still bugging him. "Yeah, you're right, but I'm not scheduled with any assistant teachers for a while."

Twilight started to think about it a bit. She knew that even with certain teachers only working part time it would still take a while for him to have a turn with an assistant teacher. 

As she kept trying to think about how to help him she heard Astral speak up. "Uh, I think I've heard more then I should have. I'll just go now."

Twilight's head instantly jerked up. "Hold on Astral, would you like a job?"

Astral turned around with a confused look on his face. "Why? You already have a writer here. I might only write kids stories, but I don't think that I'm inexperienced in this field. I doubt you need more than one teacher on this topic."

Twilight's mind started racing as she tried to figure out what to do. She really wanted to try and fix this problem quickly, and Astral seemed like the best response. "Well... Maybe you both could be teachers for the class? You are both great writers with two different styles, and Heat is already working part-time. Maybe you two can work together on it, and one of you can cover the class when the other one isn't here. You both can make great teachers in my opinion. Maybe you two will be stronger together?"

Astral placed a hoof to his forehead as he tried to think about it. He never wanted to place his focus on teaching a class. He spent most of his time just studying. He didn't like the idea of adding another project onto his plate, but he could see the pleading look on Twilight's face.

He slowly sighed as he started cleaning his glasses. "One condition, I also help with your paperwork. You need a few assistants to help iron out this mess of an office."

Twilight smiled. "Thank you so much! I know you two will get along great! Heat will show you around the school, and I will let you two work out how you want to manage the class."

Astral shrugged as he walked out. Heat looked confused, but he didn't argue with him. As he walked out he tried to think about what to say to Heat Wave. "So, I'm guessing you're a writer too?"

"Oh, yes. I mainly write about the members of the royal guard and the stories about them. I also write a few adventure stories. How about you?"

"I write kid stories. It's not as impressive as the stuff you have written."

"Well, we have two different audiences, I'm pretty sure that my kid would like your stories better than mine."

Astral raised an eyebrow. "You have a kid?"

"I adopted him. He's only eight years old, but he's a sweet kid. He's actually the reason why I'm working here. I thought he would be able to adjust to meeting new ponies so I made a deal with Twilight. He got into the school and I get to be a teacher. It was a win-win scenario in my mind. Why did you join the school?"

"Twilight asked me to. Frankly, I didn't plan on making this a use of my free time."

"What do you do in your free time?"

"Reading, I keep trying to extend my knowledge to be a better writer."

"Hey, didn't Twilight spend all of her time reading before she made friends?"

Astral suddenly felt like he was being put on trial. "Hold on! I have a social life. Don't compare me with what Twilight used to be."

Heat quickly backed off. "Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I just made a bad comparison."

"It's alright. I'm just a busy guy." Astral said as he started thinking about it. He did put a lot of time writing, reading, and all his studies. He has a few friends, but how much time did he spend with them recently? When was the last time he took a break and had some fun? 

Astral's thoughts were soon interrupted by Heat. "Well, here's the class. Are you ready?"

"What? Oh, yeah, sure."

They both walked inside to see all of the students making their way to their seats. They all weren't causing any trouble that day, so Astral just walked in while trying to think about his recent pursuits.

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

Grass Valley was busy heading to another class. He was an earth pony with a yellow coat and a green mane with bluish-green tints to it. He didn't have his cutie mark yet. He was a bit scared being one of the youngest kids there. Everybody else seemed to tower over him. It was cool seeing other ponies, but nobody seemed to notice. He really wanted to make some friends, but it seemed to be impossible to talk to someone else. As he made his way into Emile Core's class everybody seemed to have already had their own groups. It started to feel hard to be the young kid in school. As he made his way to his seat he noticed that there was a group talking right next to where he was. 

As he started getting his books out he turned to see a young buffalo two inches from his face. "Hey, aren't you a little young to be in this school?"

At first, he jerked back from seeing someone so close to him, but this was the first pony who talked to him. "Um, my dad became a teacher here and wanted to say close to me, so he talked to Twilight to let me study here. I'm officially the youngest kid here."

FastFox smiled. "That's so cool! My dad is a teacher here too, well, assistant teacher. You have to be pretty smart to be able to take these classes! Did your dad teach you how to be super smart, or did your mom teach you?"

Grass winced as he rubbed his stomach. Before FastFox could press him Trail Dancer grabbed her. "You would be wise not to pry. He has scars on his chest and pain in his eyes."

Fox looked at Grass's chest to see a few scars. They were curved and faded. They seemed to be over a year old.

Fox shrugged as she turned to her friend. "I'll admit I don't have any scars like that, but it's not unusual for kids to get a few scars while playing. By the way, did you know that you rhymed? I heard about another Zebra who does that."

Trail pulled her away from where Grass was. "Ignore my aunts choice of words for a moment. Those hoof print scars on his chest and the look on his eyes when you brought up his mother leads to the belief that his mother was unkind to him."

Fox thought for a moment until it suddenly hit her. She quickly turned to Grass with a shocked look on her face. "I'm so sorry! I had no idea!"

Grass had to take a few deep breaths before speaking. "It's alright, not many ponies notice. These were actually from my first dad. I never understood why he and mom hated me, but I have a new dad. His name is Heat Wave."

Trail placed a hoof on his shoulder. "I offer you my sympathy. From what I understand we are without parents too. I have never met mine, and I have yet to understand Fox's and Shy's origins, but I understand that their current father isn't their first. My name is Trail Dancer, and this is FastFox. What is your name?"

Grass extended his hoof. "Grass Valley. It's nice to meet you. I haven't met many kids outside of the foster home."

Fox looked happy that her mess was somewhat fixed, but she thought she could try something else to help iron things over between them. "Well, I noticed you looked new here and a little lonely. Would you like to meet some of our other friends? I'm certain that they'd love to meet you."

Before he could answer Emile walked in with Light Sparker behind him. As everybody quickly made their way to their seats Fox quickly wrote a note and handed it to Grass. Grass opened the note to see the words "Talk to you soon!"

As everybody sat down Emile started talking. "Alright, before we get started today Light Sparker wanted to bring something to everybody's attention."

Light Sparker stepped forward with a letter in his hands. "Listen, I'm okay with the occasional prank, but I think sending a letter to me, addressed to the waxed diamond dog is rude."

"Um, Sparker?"

"Now I understand that at least most of you already know that I am what is know as a human. I know that I am probably the only one you have ever seen, but it's getting annoying."

"Uh, Sparker?"

"Now I want the pony responsible to step forward. I've already judged what ink was used and how long it took to dry. I know it came from this class. Now you are not in trouble, but I would like to ask you to step forward now and explain yourself."

Emile finally walked up to Sparker and tugged his coat. "Sparker, I sent the letter! I just wanted to ask about what you were."

Sparker was silent for a moment before he opened the letter and read through its contents. He bit his lip as he tucked the letter back into his pocket. "Carry on."

Everybody was trying to hide their snickers as Light Sparker made his way outside with a rather embarrassed look on his face.

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

At recces, Heat was watching the kids playing around. The class went rather smoothly, but he could feel like Astral was distracted with something. When the class was dismissed Astral took off without saying anything. 

As Heat tried to figure out what he could to better the situation he heard someone speak behind him. "How good of an umpire are you?"

Heat turned around to see Astral who was carrying a truckload of baseball gear with his magic. Heat's eyes widened as he looked at this site. "Wait! You play baseball?"

"Yeah, I was the pitcher in middle school. If I didn't get my cutie mark in writing I might have stuck with that. I had a mean curve-ball."

Heat chuckled as he pulled out an umpires mask. "Alright, what brought this on, because I don't think you were planning something like this when you got here."

Astral took a deep breath as he set everything down. "You made me think about how much time I put into my writing. I know it's my job, and it isn't a bad thing to do, but I'm realizing how much of the world around me I am missing. I'm still writing stories, but I need to make time for me to live. Maybe it'll help my stories in the long run, but maybe it will help me more. I only have one life, and I need to make the most of it."

Heat could see a certain light in Astral's eyes that seemed a little childish. Heat grinned as he pulled on the umpire hat. "Play ball."

They both got the kids together and started the game. The teams were randomly divided into catchers and batters. Astral stuck with pitching and Heat stayed as the umpire. Astral wasn't as good as a pitcher as he once was, but he didn't need to play like a pro, he was just happy having a bit of fun.

As the game went on Twilight watched from her office smiling. As she got out her quill and paper she heard a loud crash as a baseball smashed through the window. She sighed as she threw it back out. "Well, this doesn't fix all of my problems, but I'm good with this."
> John Darkblaze
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was placing the last few files on her desk into her filing cabinet. She was actually surprised how much Astral was able to help her with organizing the office. It did allow her to make some more free time for herself and it no longer felt like she had to allow everything to fall apart in order to keep up with everything. With her OCD now settled she was actually ready to take a break. As she got out a cup of tea and the morning newspaper she heard her short moment of free time go out the window. A male pegasus walked in. He had a reddish-brown mane and tail with a blue coat. His cutie mark was a hammer and nail, but the strangest thing about him was his wings. While the rest of his body was fuzzy, his wings were smooth and seemed to be metallic.

He gave her a small bow and quickly introduced himself. "Good morning. My name is John Darkblaze. I'm here for two reasons. The first one is because I received a royal request to make a prosthetic leg for a griffon in one of your classes. The letter said something about helping strengthen international relations and it being covered by his scholarship by order of Celestia. The second thing I'm here for is an interview with you."

Twilight soon recognized his name from one of the applications. "Oh, now I remember you. You are the resident blacksmith."

John nodded. "Yes, although I mainly specialize in prosthetic's."

Twilight motioned over to a chair. "Well, please take a seat." John sat down into the chair while Twilight got out his file. "You already seem to have a good list of friends here."

John grinned. "I do have a few good buddies who have stuck by me."

"So, how exactly did you get into this field?"

John rubbed one of his wings a bit. "Well, I got into an accident when I was just a colt. It ended up costing me my wings. I won't lie when I say that I was ready to give up on life, but I found a three legged cat that inspired me to make a difference. So after a few cheap prototypes of some missing limbs I got my talent in this. I got a degree in engineering and made Ponyville my home."

Twilight was rather impressed by what all he went through and where he was at now. Twilight soon turned her attention back to the file. "So, why do you want to work here?"

"The first goal of mine is to encourage kids with handicaps to not give up on themselves. My second, which is what most of my class will revolve around, is designing. I want to teach these kids how to work together to come up with inventive ideas for problems."

Twilight looked through the folder one more time before setting it down. "Well, you have a strong resume and a lot of experience with friendship. I do love the idea of having somebody who can encourage them to overcome their handicaps. I invited one pony, but I don't think he's comfortable with it yet. I think you'll be a great addition here. Welcome to the school."

Twilight got up and shook his hoof. John smiled because he was happy that this interview was easy. "Well, thank you. By the way, do you have a workshop here that I can use as a classroom?"

Twilight bit her lip as she started thinking about the budget. "Um, can you bring your own tools?"

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

Soon a group of students were making their way into a room that was an empty storage room until now. Now there were workbenches set up and tools all over the wall. There were also some tools that were locked in a chest in the corner. Underneath the tools was a pile of construction supplies, like wood, metal, and other items. While everybody made their way to the benches John walked in with a saddlebag full of canvases.

He looked a little shocked when he saw that everybody was already seated. "You're here early! Oh well! Let's get started."

He made his way to all of the tables and placed a canvas and a few pencils on every desk. "Alright, my name is John Darkblaze and today we are talking about problem solving. Now, sometimes you will run into problems that can't be solved by a musical number. It's at times like these when you need to pull your friends together and work on an idea of how to fix it. Now this can be broken into three steps. One, identify the problem, two, come up with a plan, three, execute it. It sounds easy, but you need to be willing to listen to all of your friends ideas, and you need to consider what's the best option."

Smolder raised her claw. "Does this have anything to do with the over sized bookshelf with only one book on top?"

John nodded. "Yep, now the goal is to get to the book off of the shelf using whatever resources you have in here."

Gallus chuckled a bit. "Excuse me, but most of us have wings or magic."

"Well, how about you try to make it with a crippled pegasus in mind." John said as he took off his wingspan. Several of the kids cringed or jumped as they saw the two scars on his back. John was used to the looks that ponies gave them when they saw his back. He didn't want to explain what happened, so he got back to the topic. "Try to make the idea with the goal for me being able to use it without help. Once we are done I'll show you a gadget I made and perfected for this task. Each table is officially a team, but take not this isn't a competition. Try to sketch it out before doing anything and I will help as much as can. Now before you all can get building I need to teach you all about basic construction safety. We'll be working on this project all week, so let's get started."

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

Class was pretty fun that day. John was able to keep track of everybody so he could keep injuries to a minimum, but there were the few small bruises from the few kids who used a hammer for the first time. John decided to keep the kids away from the saws for a while until he and Twilight believe they're ready.

As he made his way to Twilight's office he heard a pony call out to him. "Hey, do you mind talking for a moment?"

John lived in Ponyville long enough to recognize Friendly Advice. "Sure."

They both sat down at a bench. John never met Friendly in person, but there's a first time for everything. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, I've had to help some disabled kids who were struggling with the changes in their lives, and I thought if I could listen to how you've dealt with it then I'd be able to help them better. Is that alright."

John thought about it for a moment. He never liked reliving that day, but maybe the suffering he had could help make the road easier for others. "Alright, ask away."

Friendly quickly got out a quill and scroll. "Alright, what was is like losing your wings."

John took a deep breath as he got ready to relive that day again. "I don't remember much about the accident. I remember a sharp pain in my back, but I blacked out shortly after I crashed onto the ground. As for when I found out that I lost my wings, it crushed me. I was an amazing flyer and all the possibilities from that disappeared in a second.  I was so young when it happened, and I thought that it would last my whole life. It even had an effect on the people around me. My friends blamed themselves for letting it happen, even my parents started fighting with each other. I was so upset with myself and the pain I was causing others. I believe that while I was in that hospital, I gave up on my future."

John noticed that Friendly's face turned from one of curiosity to one of sympathy. It was almost like Friendly was trying to envision himself in that same scenario. After Friendly cleaned his glasses he got back on track. "So what changed?"

John smiled a bit. "I found a three legged cat outside of my window. I took him inside and found him somewhat relatable, but he kept trying to move forward. I felt burdened to help the poor thing, so I took some rubber bands, pencils, and string and made him a new leg. After that I started thinking about my own situation. I was so busy thinking my life was over when I could make something new. So I made a pair of wings out of the curtains. That was when I got my cutie mark. I learned that no matter what life throws at you, you can always find a way to move forward. That's what I try to teach."

Friendly looked rather impressed. This broken pony took his problem and  turned it into something amazing. As he sat up he placed a hoof on his shoulder. "I really with there were more ponies like you around. I think if we had more visionaries and less quitters the world would be a brighter place. I'll see you around, and thank you."

John waved as he felt proud about making his first friend here. As he turned to head to Twilight's office again Twilight was watching from around the corner. She smiled and whispered to herself. "Thank you for overcoming this John, Equestria wouldn't be the same without you."
> Light Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Light Heart was wrapping up his booth for the day. His business was slow that day, but he hoped that things would start picking up next week. The school that Twilight started did bring some more work in for him, but he was still working on building his business. He wanted to move from that small shack and using a booth to having his own store. The only real thing he had going for him to build his reputation was the fact that he was an alicorn. Light Heart never understood why he became one, but he had a goal in mind, to encourage children to see the value in themselves.

As Light got ready to head to his shack again he heard a few familiar voices shout behind him in unison. "Hey Light Heart."

Light smiled as he turned around to see the CMC behind him. "Hey, if it isn't my best customers! What can I do for you three?"

Applebloom pulled out a small sketch board. "We have a new friend in Twilight's school who has a birthday coming up in two weeks. We were trying to think of something to get her. Can you help us? We'll even pay for it."

Light chuckled a bit. "Don't worry about it. If this is a new kid then the first gift is free. So who is this mystery kid?"

Sweetie Bell handed him the sketch board. "Her name is Trail Dancer. She's a zebra, so it's kind of like getting something for Zecora. We can't decide what to get for her. We keep going to the conclusion that she'll either not understand it, or just hate it."

Light looked at the list of suggestions for a moment. "Well, you all have some nice designs here. Let's see what I can add to this." 

Light then proceeded to pull out a file with Trail's name on it.  Scootaloo stared at it with a worried look for a moment. "Where did you get that?"

"Pinkie Pie. She gives me a heads up on all of the birthdays in town a month before they happen. It's how I'm able to stay ahead in the business.  Unfortunately, it sometimes ends up with me making toys that they don't end up buying, but I just sell those on the side. So, Trail likes more practical gifts. She prefers stuff that has a function and looks traditional. I think she would like a nightfinder compass."

Applebloom was instantly curious about Light's idea. "What's a nightfinder compass?"

Light pulled a small blueprint out of his cart. "It is something me and my brothers designed a while ago. It was one of our more calmer inventions. It's like a normal compass, but it has a rock inside of it known as a moonlight radiator. It's able to light up the darker it gets and has a nice blue glow to it. It's not exactly a toy, but I think I have the stuff to make another one. I'll have it for you by next week."

Sweetie Bell was always interested whenever Light made something new, but this one seemed a bit weird. "I thought you either invented new toys or crazy gadgets that tend to be misused and taken away."

Light shrugged. "Well, my brothers and I also made the streamer thrower that week. It took us a while to get those ponies untangled, but Pinkie Pie loved it. I believe that if the princesses didn't make it law for us to have controlled tests with an inventor present we'd show up on the insurance papers as a natural disaster."

Sweetie Bell raised her eyes with a curious look. "Then why do you three make this stuff?"

Light actually had to pause and think about it for a moment. "I think we just do it because we get bored."

Scootaloo joined in as she was busy looking at a music box. "Is that why our sisters keep trying to invite you to the school?"

Light paused when she brought that up. He didn't think that anybody else knew about him getting an application. "I don't know why they would want me to be a teacher, I'm not exactly experienced with stuff like that. Did you say your sisters invited me?"

Applebloom nodded. "Yeah, Twilight sent one first because she thought you could be a big help, then our sisters sent some to you when you never responded because you helped us several times and thought you would be good with the other kids, and we also think that Pinkie Pie sent you a few because she said it would be fun."

Light sighed as he finished hooking his booth to his back. "Well, that explains a lot, especially the ones that shot out confetti."

Sweetie Bell turned back to Light. "So why didn't you want to join?"

Light sighed as he tried making his way to his house. "Listen, I truthfully don't think that they need me there. There are a lot more experienced ponies there than me. I don't think I can live up to the standard that they would expect from me. I just think that the school would be better off without me." 

The CMC looked worried when Light said that. He always tried encouraging other kids to not let their fears prevent them from achieving their goals and making friends. As much as he encouraged other kids to do it, he always seemed the have trouble following suit. He always was open to ponies who'd ask him questions, but he never seemed to open up himself.

Applebloom was the first one who tried to confront this. "I think you would make a good teacher. Our sisters trust you, and so do we. We don't expect you to be perfect, we just want you there."

Light chuckled as these three girls who weren't in the school were now wanting him to join. "I'm sorry, but I don't think the other ponies would accept my lack of experience."

Scootaloo shrugged. "From what Dash has said about some of the teachers you might be better at friendship than some of them, especially the "Monster of the brood lagoon", whatever that is. What's important is that we want you to be able to do what you are good at, helping kids overcome their problems."

Light paused for a moment. He knew that he wouldn't feel comfortable trying to live up to what was already set up, but maybe his fear was trying to keep him doing what he believed was his mission in life, helping the downtrodden and broken. Light never forgot the day that he became an alicorn. He was so far into his depression and thought that he couldn't do anything with his life. When he gave up on himself, the world wouldn't. He gained his wings when he was at the worse moment of his life, and even though he still can't understand why he is an alicorn, he wants to make sure nopony would face the darkness he did alone.

Light didn't want to answer them or give them any promises yet. "I'll look into it. I think you all should head home. It's getting late, and you don't want to keep your sisters waiting all night."

The CMC quickly realized that is was almost sunset. They all quickly said goodbye and ran off. 

Light made his way back to his house. It wasn't much to look at. It was a one bedroom, one bathroom house with only enough extra room for a small workshop. Light locked the cart outside as he got all of his stuff out of it. Light walked in and placed most of his stuff on his workbench. It was littered with several blueprints and prototypes for toys. The room was filled with boxes of toys which he had yet to sale, fabric, and cotton for stuffed animals and other woods and metals for other toys and projects. He also had a small stack of letters on the bench that he had been ignoring until now. Light already knew what was in them, but didn't want to bother with them. 

Light sat down at his desk for a while.  He kept trying to weigh his options. On the one hand, he was afraid of what the peers in the school would think. On the other hand, he didn't know if those kids would need somepony like him. Finally, he decided to go through them just to see what they had, starting with the oldest ones. Almost all of them had the original application in them, but some of them talked about the kids there. Light read about the recent events that had happened. He learned about some of the struggles that the kids have dealt with and the ponies that have helped them.

At the end of the pile, he got to the most recent one. It was written by Twilight and again included an application.

It read: To Light Heart

If you have read the other letters you will have learned about some of the issues that we have run into and the teachers who have helped us all with them. I'll admit that we now have a large staff that is helping us, including a handicapped pony, a psychologist, and many others. I would assume that you didn't want to join because you'd be afraid that you wouldn't be useful, but we sent you the application before we hired most of our staff. It is now my opinion that you are just afraid of failing the school and the kids in it.

I understand what it is like to feel like you are living up to a high standard. (I was Princess Celestia's student, imagine living up to her) I've learned that when we set ourselves too high we often let ourselves down when we can't reach it. I didn't invite you to my school just so you can be a teacher, but so you can learn. I know how much you care about kids and I wanted to help you become better at helping them. I know you are an alicorn for a reason, but I just want to see you become the best you that you can be. I'm not planning on hiring more teachers, but I can squeeze in one more. Just give it a shot.

Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Light looked at it for a moment. They already seemed to be good on teachers, but they still wanted the autistic alicorn there. Light was still baffled at the idea that he could make a difference there. As Light got up from his seat he saw a sign that he made after he got his wings. It was a decorative piece, but the message read "Never forget why you do this". Next to it was a photo of his family. 

Light gave a soft smile as he remembered the vow he made to himself. "Life isn't about me, it's about everypony else."

Light sat back down into his chair and pulled out a quill to fill out something he often dodged. 

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

That morning Light made his way through the school. He recognized most of the kids, but it did get annoying after the tenth time somebody bowed to him. As Light Heart walked up to the door to Twilight's office he could feel a knot forming in his stomach. 

He sighed as he stood at the door. "I wonder how many other ponies have felt like this?"

Light slowly walked in to see Twilight once again working at her desk. She actually looked like things were running smooth that day. Light cleared his throat a bit to try to get her attention.

Twilight looked rather surprised by who she saw walk in. "Light! I didn't think I'd see you here. Please come in."

Light made his way to the desk and set his application in front of Twilight. "Hi. I just thought I'd give this to you in person. I didn't want to waste a few days waiting for the mail. Well, I think I'll let you get back to work."

As Light started to turn around he heard Twilight call out to him. "Wait! If you don't mind I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Okay?" Light said as he slowly sat down.

"I already know that a lot of ponies in this town trust you, along with several of my friends. Do you think you will be comfortable with teaching a class? I don't want to force you into this."

Light sighed. "I don't know, but I'm going to try. Who knows? I might get good at this."

Twilight quickly glanced through his file. "Well, I think the only problem we'd have is finding a class for you. I'd suggest building toys, but we already have somepony on top of that. A lot of our teachers can sub in and out because a lot of them just work part-time. Do you have an idea of what you might be able to bring that nopony else has?"

Light leaned back a bit as he tried to think about something. "Well, I do love history. A lot of ponies think it's boring, but I think it's just as cool as any fantasy book."

Twilight smiled as she pulled out 20 large books. "Alright, these should be able to help with that. Here you have the history of the nearby nations in pretty good detail. Is it alright if I have you give a lecture about Griffonstone today at three? I'll have the lecture hall ready for you."

Light looked a little scared at the large stack of books. "I don't have to have all of these studied by then, right?"

Twilight gave a nervous chuckle. "No, but I did leave a few notes in there highlighting the more important events. Just try to teach it how you feel comfortable and let the kids have fun."

Light gave a nervous chuckle as he picked up the books and started heading to the door. "You know something? I think you are putting a little too much faith in me." 

Twilight shook her head. "I actually think you don't have enough faith in yourself. Don't forget who you are."

Light bit his lip as he walked out the door. "Yep, the autistic alicorn. I might be in trouble."

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

Light spent most of his time in the lecture hall studying for his class. Admittedly some of the books were a little too detailed, but he was able to get a pretty good idea of the settings and history in them. Whenever Light read something he would play it like a movie in his head. He found a rather interesting story that he figured would be interesting. As Light got his book ready and wrote down a few notes the kids started walking in.

As Light got up to the podium he heard Silverstream give an excited yell. "Wow! We get to be taught by a princess!"

Light sighed as she said that. "I think you are mistaken. First of all, I'm male. Second, becoming an alicorn isn't an automatic promotion to royalty. My name is Light Heart and I will be your history teacher. I know the others focus on Equestrian history, so I'll focus on the history of the other nations. I hope that this will give you all a better idea of the world around you and help you understand how universal friendship is."

Gallus yawned as he leaned back in his chair. "I think your whole alicorn story would be more entertaining."

Light gave a nervous chuckle as he picked up his book. "Maybe another time. Let's focus on the lesson for the day. Today we will be talking about the Griffonstone tornado incident that took place about a thousand years ago. This actually involves one of the pillars of Equestria. Now during this time, the relationship between the nations was so tense that ponies were not allowed to cross the border. The time when this takes place was during a bad tornado season. It actually leads to one of the strongest tornadoes you could ever imagine."

When Light looked up from his book he was actually shocked to see that he had quickly lost the students attention. They were either whispering to each other or just daydreaming. Nopony even noticed when he had stopped. He was worried for a moment as he looked at his bored class. 

Light started whispering to himself as he tried to figure out what to do. "Okay, what am I supposed to do? They clearly don't see how cool this really is. How can I show them?"

A glimmer of light flickered in his eye as he remembered a little spell he stumbled upon. Light took his book and dropped it on the floor, sending a loud "THUD" across the room. all of the students jumped when they heard this. 

Light smiled as he stood in front of the class. "I'm sorry, but I figured we should get started. I'll like to ask everybody to remain seated until the end of the show."

Without any warning, Light's horn glowed brightly as the world around them changed. The books and shelves gave away to green fields and a nearby mountainside.  There were several strong storm clouds in the area.

As all of the students started wondering what happened Light spoke up. "Don't be afraid. I didn't teleport us or sent us to the past. I merely changed the perception of reality. I think the best way for you all to understand this is to see it. Take note that nothing you see is real, so you can't be hurt in any way. It's only a mental construction from my mind so I might be off on a few details. Now, who wants to see a tornado without having to worry about getting sucked in?"

Light could tell from the eager faces that it was a definite yes.

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

Light was rather happy with how well his class actually went. The kids said that it was one of the most exciting classes they've had. Light just guessed that sometimes seeing is cooler than just reading about it. As Light was walking outside he noticed a few ponies by themselves. Normally he'd assume that they were just having fun, but he noticed that all of them stood with a somber look on their faces. Light looked concerned as he made his way over to them. He recognized them from some of Pinkie's file. He knew that it was Grass Valley, Golden Dash, and Trail Dancer.

He made himself known to them. "Hey, what's going on over here?"

Grass Lowered his head a bit when he saw Light. "Nothing."

Trail Dancer sighed. "We have had problems with some ponies with fiery tongues. Some of us have been burned by their words."

Light was a little confused by her words, but he assumed that she meant that they were being bullied. He took a deep breath before sitting down next to them. "Hey, you can't let some other ponies words get to you, otherwise a lot of ponies would get ticked by Prince Blueblood whenever he opens his mouth."

As the other two were still looking upset, Trail placed a hoof on Golden. "They brought up our pasts. They wanted us to believe that our broken pasts make us worthless. Fox is busy trying to console her sister, but we all took this pretty hard."

When she finished Golden curled up into a ball. Grass was busy crying into his hooves. Trail was trying to help them, but she really didn't know what to say. Light had seen this scene a few times and had his own mess of a life to deal with. 

Light gave them a soft smile. "You know something, I don't think that there is such a thing as a worthless person. Listen, I remember when I was in the same place you were. Do you want to know who kept telling me that I was worthless?"

Golden looked up to him. "Who?"

"Me. I'm autistic and had a hard time with stuff that's supposed to be easy. I still struggle with magic to this day. Right when I was ready to completely give up on myself I became what you now see. I'm still not certain about what I'm supposed to be, but if there's one thing I know it's that you can never tell yourself that you are worthless. You are all amazing and you haven't seen it yet. Believe in yourself, and I'm certain that you all will do amazing things."

The kids smiled as Light helped them up. Grass looked curious as he asked one last question. "Are you sure that we can be something great?"

Light chuckled. "I recommend being the best you that you can be. As long as you keep growing, that's all you need to be."

The kids gave Light a hug before Trail spoke up. "We should spread this message to the others. Thank you sir. We needed your wisdom to comfort us."

Before Light could say anything they all ran back into the school. Light smiled as he watched them run off. As he started walking off Twilight was watching from a distance. She was proud of what he was able to do, but she knew that he was avoiding the teachers. She sighed as she finished writing her letter. "I'm glad that you have found a place here. If only I can help you open up to the others."