When the early rays of sunshine came in through the window of a little house near a barn on the far edge of Ponyville, a knock rattled the door. It was a young Earth Pony named Green Apple. He was named after his grandfather. He didn’t have his cutie mark yet. His mane was a fine dark green and his coat was a bright lime green.

“Hey, Uncle Brawns, are you home?” Green asked.

A loud noise came from inside the house, it sounded like he had tripped over something. This was normal for Uncle Brawns since he was very accident prone. Some more noises came from the house, but he was finally able to make it to the door.

“Yeah, what do you want?” Uncle Brawns asked.

“Dad sent me to give you these zap apples.”

“Well, is there anything else then?” Uncle Brawns said grumpily.

“No, sir.”

“Well, then go home and give my brother these bits I owe him.”

“Yes, sir, I will.”

“Good! Now go.”

Green gave the apples to his uncle and then set off on his trip home. His house wasn’t       far from his uncle’s, but he tended to make detours so that he could see his friends on his way home. He walked through the park where most of his friends normally were, but he didn’t see any of them.

Where is everypony? It’s a nice sunny Tuesday mor… Crap! I forgot about school! He ran as fast as he could to the schoolhouse. When he got there, he was happy to see that class hadn’t started yet.  He went to his desk and looked forward at the teacher Miss Cheerilee.

“Hello, kids, are we all ready to learn today?” Cheerilee asked.

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee.”

“Okay. Well, today we are going to learn about the Everfree Forest and what animals live inside of it today.”

Cheerilee then went on saying how it’s a dangerous place and that we should never go in it alone. The kids already knew that much from their parents. But she also talked about manticores and how that, if they ever saw one, to run away because of its powerful hands and jaw.

After she was done explaining everything about the Everfree that she knew, it was time for recess. Green looked around for his friend and spotted him near the new filly in town. I wonder why he’s over there with the new girl. Could Blaze like that filly? No, no, no! There’s no way he would like her. Blaze was a tall colt for his age but still smaller than most other unicorns. He had a fiery red mane which is why we call him Blaze. No one knows what his real name except for him and his older sister.

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While Green was off with the other kids, Blaze was with the new filly in town. She had a sky blue mane and a dark blue coat. She also had emerald eyes. She also didn’t have her cutie mark yet, and was also a Unicorn just like Blaze.

“Hey, you’re new to town right?” Blaze asked.

“Yeah, my family just moved here from Canterlot.” She replied with a smile.

“Wow! Canterlot. Does that mean you’re one of those fancy ponies that I hear about?” Blaze asked.

“No, we aren’t that fancy. But this sure is different from my other school.” She said smirking.

“Really?” he asked surprised.

“Yeah In Canterlot we have this huge school. There’s also a lot more ponies there. Just, Unicorns though.”

“Why are there just Unicorns? I’ve never heard of a school like that before.”

“Well, it’s Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“So, does that mean you have actually met the princess?”

“Well, yes, I have. By the way I don’t think I got your name, what is it?”

“You can just call me Blaze.”

“Blaze, well that’s a weird name.”

“It’s just a nickname that I came up with.”

“Well, then what’s your real name?”

“How about you tell me your name instead.”

“Well, Blaze,  Since you won’t tell me your name, I won’t tell you mine.”

“Well, then what should I call you?”

“Call me Emerald.”

“Well, that’s a fancy nickname.”

“Yeah, fancy ponies need fancy names.”

“I thought you said you weren’t fancy.”

“Yeah, so? I never said we weren’t fancy. I said we aren’t too fancy.”

“Well, then, Emerald, it looks like recess is over. Let’s head back inside.”

“Okay, right behind then.”

They both walked side by side as they went back to the schoolhouse. The day went on like any other day in Ponyville, and soon Blaze left the school and started walking towards the park. As he was walking towards the park Green was able to catch up to him.

“Hey, Blaze,” Green said.

“Hey, Green, what’s up?”

“Not much how about you?”

“I got to meet the new filly today.” Blaze said happily.                                                                                                                            

“Yeah, I know. So is she one of those stuck up Canterlot ponies like everyone else says?”

“No. Emerald is a nice pony from Canterlot.” Blaze said firmly

“Really? But she’s from Canterlot. Everypony from Canterlot is stuck up and rich.” Green said .

“Well, this one isn’t. She’s actually really nice to me.”

“Why would she be nice to you? No offense.” Green said with a smirk.

“I’m not sure, but I think that I might actually like her.” Blaze said with a large smile.

“Come on, man, you can’t get involved with someone like her.”

“Someone like her? What do you mean by that?” Blaze said annoyed.

“She may not admit it, but I think that she is actually just trying to mess with you. You know how Canterlot ponies are.”

“Yeah, but, like I said before, she is different from the others, and I think that she might actually like me too.”

“You can keep saying that, but I know that isn’t true.” Green said firmly.

“Green, can you please just go home now.” Blaze said retorting.

“I’m sorry man I didn’t…”

“I SAID GO HOME!” Blaze yelled.

“Fine… I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Green walked away looking a bit shocked and sad that his best friend had gotten so mad at him. Blaze didn’t want to look at him, due to the fact that he felt bad for getting so angry with him. But Blaze just started on his own way home.

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Emerald was on her way home also, but her home was farther away from everyone else. She made her way to the Everfree Forest and into a cave not to deep in the forest. The Cave was dark but at the end was a tent and a fire pit. When she got there, a ring of green fire formed around her as she transformed into her true self.

She was a small changeling with emerald green eyes. She couldn’t completely control her powers, yet, though since she was so young, so a part of her left hind leg was still the Dark blue Pony. She sighed and fixed her leg, so that now there were holes in her legs where the pony leg once was.

She started to get the fire going when she heard a pony’s voice from outside of the cave.

“Hello? Is anyone in there?” the scared voice said.

“Who are you? And why are you here?” Emerald asked.

“My name is Blossom and I’m lost. Can I please come in?”

She sounded like she was about to cry, and Emerald felt bad. She quickly changed back into her pony self and told the mare to come in. She had a bright orange coat and what looked like orange hair dyed to be blue. She was a Pegasus pony with what looked like an injured wing. Her cutie mark was two clouds with a Pegasus pony kicking them.

“What’s a small filly like you doing out here all alone?”

“Well, I live out here.”

“You do?! But where’s your parents? They must be around here.”

“Well… I don’t have any parents.”

“You’re an orphan?! No wonder you live in such a horrid place like this.”

“It’s not so bad here.  It’s safe and the fire warms me in the dark, cold nights.”

“Still this is no place for a filly of your age to live. I urge you to come live with me if I can ever get out of here.”

“I know how to get to Ponyville I could bring you there right now. But I can’t live with you.”  

“But I insist there is no reason a filly should have to live out here.”

“You’re not going to stop asking unless I say yes. Am I right?”

“Yup.”

“Well, if I’m going to live with you, I have to show you something. But you better promise not to freak out.”

“Okay, I promise.”

A ring of fire formed around emerald again as she transformed into a changeling. Blossom just stared in awe at Emerald her eyes wide with shock.

“You hate me now don’t you… I’d understand if you do.”

“No, I don’t hate you it’s just not what I expected.”

“So you will still let me stay with you?”

“Yes, of course I will. Even if you’re a changeling I can’t just leave you out here.”

“Thanks this means a lot to me.”

“It’s no problem, now let’s got o my house.”

Emerald then turned back into her pony self to not arouse suspicion in town. Then they started to walk back to Ponyville. When they got into town, Emerald was looking around a bit nervously. While she was looking around, she saw Blaze and waved a hoof at him and smiled. He did the same to her. The rest of the way to her new home was quiet and peaceful.