Leon grabbed his amulet and goggles and headed down the steps, where his parents were eating just before leaving to work. "I'm heading to Cloud Runner's house. I may be back late." His parents looked at him, noting the word "late" in his sentence.
"Why would you be late here?" his mother asked. "Where are you going with Cloud Runner?" She thought they might be into each other, causing Leon to blush a bit.
"It's... it's not like that!" he denied, his face still red. "We're going to go down to Clover Ranch to find someone."
"Clover Ranch? Why would you go down there?" she asked.
"We're going to go help some of her friends."
She sighed at hearing this. She knew that Leon could fly perfectly now, and wanted to spend time with his friends, but her protector instinct told her not to let him. Finally, she agreed that he could go down there, as long as they weren't doing anything dangerous.
Leon, excited at hearing his mother's approval, thanked her and rushed out the door. He flew straight to Cloud's house, which was further in the city. He landed on her front doorstep, and knocked. A few seconds later, Cloud Runner opened the door. "Hey, Leon! So what's the deal with the Spirits?" she asked.
"We're going to have to head back down to Clover Ranch. The place we need to check is the Clover Field School for Foals," he explained.
"Near Annabelle's Clover Plantation? Got it. But which spirit are we looking for there?"
"The Spirit of Wisdom. He runs the place, but I don't know his name."
"I don't know either, but maybe some pony in Clover Ranch will." Cloud Runner grabbed her goggles and followed Leon towards the edge of the city. They each placed on their goggles, stood on their hind legs, and fell down the edge. It was always a good feeling, freefalling at top speeds through the sky with the wind blowing. They both knew when to pull up, and enjoyed the freefalling sensation. When they saw Clover Ranch in view, they opened their wings and let the wind carry them. They landed daintily on the same pasture they did the last time. They removed their goggles, then headed to Doc's house, where all the other ponies were waiting.
Cloud Runner knocked on his door, and he led them inside to a room with many maps. Every pony was seated around a circular table, looking at maps from both Clover Ranch and Caelum Lux. They all discussed the most possible for each Spirit to reside at.
"Ah, Leon. Any thoughts on which Spirit we should find first?" Doc asked.
"Yes. We... we need to head to the Clover Field School for Foals to find the Spirit of Wisdom."
"How do you know that he's exactly there?" Doc questioned.
Leon didn't know how to explain without sounding ridiculous. "I… um… found out from a good source."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to this school and start a riot!" exclaimed Cloud Runner excitedly.
They all looked at her in surprise, their expressions clearly denying her idea.
"I was just joking. But we should head over there now, and save ourselves some time," she said.
They all walked out of the house, and headed toward the school. Everything seemed peaceful and relaxed, considering what they had gone through yesterday. They all seemed to be having a great time, laughing and conversing with each other. They came to the school, which somewhat resembled an observatory like Doc's, but instead had a bell where the chimney should have been. The building was filled with foals talking, laughing, and singing. They walked into the building, and no pony seemed to notice the group. The teacher was busy using her horn to write something on the chalkboard. The group slowly walked down the middle, and every foal had now taken notice of these older ponies amongst them. They looked curiously at the new visitors.
"Ms. Sugar Cube! You have some visitors!" a foal yelled from the back.
The teacher, Sugar Cube, turned from her attention at the board to meet the group. She smiled at them, recognizing Annabelle, Percy, Chloe, and Doc. She didn't know who the Pegasi were, but she thought it was nice to see familiar faces.
"Why hello, my little ponies. What brings you here to see me?" she asked.
"Hello, Ms. Sugar Cube. Pardon us for interrupting, but we were searching for the stallion that owns the schoolhouse. Is he here right now?" Doc questioned.
"Why yes, I believe he is. Is this an important matter?" she asked.
"Yes, it is. Thank you very much," replied Doc.
They said goodbye, and walked into the hall through the side of the classroom. They walked down all the way until they reached the headmaster's office. "So who was that mare? I mean, she's a teacher, but were you her students?" Leon asked.
"She was probably the best teacher we've ever had. We went hog wild when she was our teacher. She even helped me earn my cutie mark," responded Annabelle. She then showed them all her flank. Leon had noticed something he had not seen at first. Her cutie mark was a four-leaf clover, but because of her coat and the color of the mark, it was a bit difficult to see. They then knocked on the office door. They heard someone coming from inside. The door opened to reveal an earth pony with a box on him.
"Hello. May I help you ponies?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. We were wondering if you ran this schoolhouse," responded Leon.
"Yes, I do. Anything you need?" he questioned.
"Yes, sir. This may sound ridiculous to you, but we are looking for the Spirit of Wisdom. He was to give us an amulet when we found him."
"Spirit of Wisdom? I don't know any Spirits. Are you sure you're at the right place?" asked the headmaster.
"Maybe not. Sorry to waste your time," Leon said. They turned to leave, but the headmaster had called them.
"Hey! Did you say you were looking for an amulet?" he asked.
"Yes. Do you know where it's at?" Doc asked.
"Yes I do. But if you would be kind enough to help me out with something, I will give it to you." The headmaster looked at them expectedly now.
"Depending on what it is," replied Cloud Runner.
"I need your help teaching the foals in Ms. Sugar Cube's class. And I need someone to figure out the answer to this complicated problem I have," he asked humbly.
"Doc and I can help you with your problem. Cloud Runner, Chloe, Annabelle, and Leon can help teach the class," answered Percy.
"Yeah! We're great with children! Especially considering we were in this class," stated Chloe.
"All right! Let's do this!" cried out Leon.
Chloe, Leon, Cloud Runner, and Annabelle headed back into the classroom. They walked in on one of Ms. Sugar Cube's lectures.
"Sorry to interrupt again Ms. Sugar Cube, but we want to help run your class today, if that's all right with you," Chloe asked.
"Of course! They are learning about the Summer Sun Celebration, which will be coming in three months. We're also discussing about some of the cities away from here, like Canterlot," she explained.
"No problem! Annabelle and I can teach Canterlot and the Summer Sun Celebration. Leon could tell them about Cloudsdale, and Cloud Runner could tell them about Caelum. If you'd like, Ms. Sugar Cube, let us handle this class while you take a break from all this," Chloe advised.
"Well, as long as you know what the lessons are, I'll allow it. If you need any help, I'll be in the lounge area." Ms. Sugar Cube then left, leaving the class of foals to the four ponies.
"So, young fillies and colts, what would you like to know about first?" Chloe asked.
The classroom remained silent. None of the foals had spoken up, and it caused a moment of awkwardness for the four ponies. One of the fillies started hiding behind her hooves, waiting to get this over with.
"OK, how about we tell them about something first? Annabelle, would you like to go first?" asked Cloud Runner.
"All right, every pony. I'm gonna lay the bitty bit that I know about the shindig on all y'all." Annabelle cleared her throat. "It's a mighty fine day, in fact the longest day of the year, and on that day every year, Princess Celestia raises the sun, and every pony watches and cheers. They even celebrate with a big, fancy party and stay up till the roosters sing! That's about all I got. How about you go next, Leon? Tell them about Cloudsdale."
"Um… OK." Leon took a deep breath. "Cloudsdale is the city in the sky that I originally came from. It's not very big, but it has a weather factory that makes lightning, thunder, and rainbows. It also has a big stadium where Pegasi like me race against each other or compete in other flying competitions. The city has a flight camp where young Pegasi earn their right to fly. Cloudsdale is the sole provider of weather around central Equestria. That's about it for me. OK, now how about you, Cloud Runner? Tell them about Caelum Lux."
"What…? Oh, Ok. Well, if you don't know about my hometown by now, you will. C.L. is the biggest cloud city in Equestria. It was once ruled by kings and queens, but after a war, was left in the hands of the citizens left there. Like Cloudsdale, C.L. has a weather factory, a flight camp, and has the most Pegasi citizens in all of Equestria. All right, that's it from me. Take it home, Chloe!"
"Glad to. Canterlot, as you may already know, houses the royalty of Equestria. The city is known for its sophistication, glamor, and large unicorn population. In fact, I went to Canterlot to study the arts of healing at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. That's the reason I am a veterinary and sometimes a nurse at the family hospital. In fact, I even met the Princess on one occasion, when I healed many of the ill unicorns at Canterlot. She thanked me for the help, and that's when I realized that I should help ponies and creatures in need. Any questions about what you learned?"
The class stayed silent. They looked at all four ponies with wide eyes. The filly that hid behind her hooves was now keeping her head down in shame.
"Did we do something wrong?" Leon whispered, gesturing at the filly.
"I'm pretty sure we were supposed to keep them occupied for the rest of the day," responded Cloud Runner.
"What do we do now?" asked Leon.
"Hmm… I got nothing," responded Annabelle.
"Me neither," answered Chloe.
One of the foals up front picked his head up, and he raised his hoof. Leon cocked an eyebrow, and responded. "Um... yes? What did you need?"
The foal lowered his hoof, and asked, "What's your mark supposed to be?" Leon looked at the Phoenix on his flank, and turned back to the class.
"This one?" They nodded, and it gave Leon an idea. "So... would you like to hear about it?" Leon asked nervously.
The foals now picked their ears up; curious to find out what the mark meant. The Searchers saw how interested the class had suddenly become. The filly that had been hiding the whole time now picked her head up, with more easiness in her now.
"I guess that's a yes," Leon said. He continued. "Well... we were all doing our usual routines. I... I was staying at home, and noticed that my dragon at home was hungry and needed food. So, uh, me... and Cloud Runner had readied our wings and skydived all the way down Clover Ranch, where I met the most amazing ponies. They told me my cutie mark here," he showed them his flank, "was a Phoenix, and that it was extremely rare. So we went back up to drop the food off, and headed to Trotter Tower, where we found out that we have to find the Spirits of Peace and the Spirits of Harmony. That's why we came back down here! We came back to find the first Spirit; the Spirit of Wisdom. True story."
Every pony, including Leon's friends, had all stared at him in admiration and amazement. The filly in the back of her class raised her hoof. Leon looked at her in surprise, and smiled. "OK. You had a question? What's your name?"
"Chloe! You haven't introduced me to your friends, yet? Well, my name is Claudia, and I'm Chloe's sister. So you said you ponies were looking for some Spirits. Sounds very suspicious… are you all thieves?" asked the filly. She had a light red coat, with a blue mane with streaks of black styled similarly to Chloe's, but shorter in length. Her tail was the same color as her mane. Since she was just a filly, she did not have her cutie mark yet.
"Claudia, you know for a fact that I wouldn't be with thieves. And yes, we are looking for these Spirits. Fortunately, we know that one of them is here somewhere." At that moment, Doc and Percy came running inside the classroom.
"Every pony head outside now! Hurry!" Doc yelled out. Every pony fled the schoolhouse, and wondered what was going on that they had to flee. There was frantic yelling and screaming coming from them and they feared the worst would happen.