Chapter 16
True Friends Are Best Friends

It has now been four years. Even though Alexei hasn't sent any shadow dragons to attack Ponyville in that time, they have had to put up with Discord on occasion. Solana is now 5 years old and has become a fine, young filly. Her birthday was a couple of days ago and Flareon and Rainbow Dash preformed their Sonic Supernova Rainbow Cannon at Solana's birthday party as they usually have for the last 5 years. Solana was now ready to go to school for the first time. During a sunny morning in Ponyville, Twilight was eagerly getting Solana ready for her first day of school.

"Do you have everything in your bag? Your quills, paper, books, journal, folders?" Twilight asked, "Let me check your bag again."

"You already checked five time already!" Solana exclaimed as she turned to Flareon, "Dad! Please tell mom if I don't hurry, I'm going to be late!" Flareon then walked over to Twilight and put his right hoof softly on her shoulder.

"Twilight...it's ok," Flareon said as he smiled, "She'll be fine."

"I know...I know," an anxious Twilight replied, "It's just that it's Solana's first day and I want to make sure it goes well for her." Solana walked up to Twilight and gave her a hug. She then put on her bag and walked towards the stairs. Solana turned around to see Flareon, Twilight, and Spike smiling at her.

"Bye mom, dad, Spike!" Solana said, "I'll be back later! Bye!" As she ran downstairs, Flareon turned his head to see Twilight tearing up.

"You think she'll be able to make friends?" she asked.

"Don't worry about that, I'm sure Solana will make friends very quickly," Flareon replied, "Besides...Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are going to be there too." As a teary Twilight gave him a weak smile, they soon split-up and went to do their own things. Meanwhile, Solana was running as fast as she could to the Ponyville Schoolhouse.

"I wish my wings were fully grown! That way I could just fly over there!" Solana panted as she continued to run, "Hopefully I'll make it to school in time!" Luckily for Solana, she happened to make it just in time as the bell rang signaling the start of another school day. Later on, an ecstatic Cheerilee began to address her students.

"Class...I have a very special announcement," Cheerilee said, "We have a new student joining us today!" She then signaled to Solana. "Would you like to come introduce yourself?" Soon after, Solana walked to the front of the class and stood before the other students, who were all watching her with anticipation. Amazingly, Solana felt no fear or anxiety, even though everyone had their eyes on her. She then took a deep breath and began to address her fellow students.

"Hello, my name is Solana. I'm the daughter of Flareon and Twilight. Princess Celestia told me that I'm going to be the next Princess of Equestria. I even have my cutie mark already." Solana then turned to her side and showed every her star cutie mark. "My dad told me I was born with it. I My favorite hobby is reading books, just like my mom! I hope that you will all be my friends...thank you." After she was done speaking, everyone gave her a round of applause. As Solana walked back to her seat, a smirk appeared on Diamond Tiara's face.

"A princess you say?" she whispered under her breath, "This could work out well for me." However, Apple Bloom could already tell what Diamond Tiara was thinking. She then leaned toward her friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Together they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, a group of ponies dedicated to getting their cutie marks.

"We can't let Diamond Tiara get to Solana first," she whispered to the others, "She just wants to use Solana to boost her popularity. Let's meet up with Solana after school ok?" They quickly nodded their heads in agreement. Diamond Tiara, the daughter of the business tycoon Filthy Rich, was none other than a spoiled brat. She only cared about her about herself and absolutely despised Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. No matter what, they couldn't let her get to Solana before they did. There was no telling how badly Diamond Tiara would corrupt her. Later on, after school ended, Apple Bloom and the others quickly spotted Solana outside and ran towards her as fast as they could. However, Diamond Tiara got to Solana first.

"Hey there Solana," Diamond Tiara said as she approached her.

"Oh hi," Solana replied, "My names Solana. What's your name?"

"My name is Diamond Tiara," she said, "This here is my best friend Silver Spoon." Diamond Tiara then pointed to an earth pony that was wearing glasses on her left.

"Hey Diamond Tiara!" Scootaloo yelled, "Get your greedy hooves away from her!" As Diamond Tiara turned around to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders, a smirk appeared on her face.

"Well look what we have here...it's the blank-blank brigade!" Diamond Tiara said.

"Don't you three have your hoof-washing cutie marks to get?" Silver Spoon replied. As they laughed at them, Diamond Tiara turned to Solana, who was confused at what Silver Spoon was laughing at.

"Pay no attention to those losers," Diamond Tiara said, "They don't even have their cutie marks yet. Be friends with me and Silver Spoon instead of...them."

"Don't listen to her Solana!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, "Diamond Tiara just wants to use you for her own selfish desires!" Unfortunately, Solana wasn't quite sure what to do. She was stuck in the worst type of situation possible. However, Diamond Tiara noticed the look on Solana's face and decided to play her trump card.

"It's very simple Solana," Diamond Tiara said, " Either you be friends with us, the most popular kids in school, and get more friends in return, or you can be friends with the blank-blanks, and be laughed at by everyone. You want to have friends...right?"

"Oh yes, I really do!" Solana exclaimed, "I want to have friends more than anything!" Diamond Tiara fake smiled as she put her right hoof on Solana's shoulder.

"That's what I thought you would say. Come with us Solana, I guarantee you won't be disappointed," Diamond Tiara replied. In the end, Solana decided to side with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon over Apple Bloom and her friends. Unfortunately, Solana didn't realize she had made the wrong choice.

Um...ok," an unsure Solana said, "I'll be your friend." As Solana walked away with her and Silver Spoon, a smug Diamond Tiara turned her head to see the completely baffled Cutie Mark Crusaders, and gave them a mischievous smile. In response, Scootaloo blew raspberries at her. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had no choice but to accept their defeat and left the schoolyard. As the days went by, Diamond Tiara's rotten attitude started to rub off on Solana. it didn't take long before Solana started to becomes like Diamond Tiara. You could almost say Solana was Diamond Tiara's exact twin. Solana even stared to join Diamond Tiara on making fun of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Flareon and Twilight were beginning to realize Solana's change in her attitude. During another night at Golden Oak Library, Flareon was sitting on the couch reading a book he was levitating above his head and Twilight was sitting near a desk jotting down notes from a book for Princess Celestia. Meanwhile, Solana was on the floor, coloring on a piece of paper. Twilight looked up from her book and noticed it was now 8pm.

"Solana," Twilight said as she turned around in her chair, "It's getting late. How about you get started on your homework now?"

"Homework? Meh...pass," Solana replied as she paid no attention to her mother, "Homework is for losers anyway." Flareon and Twilight could barely believe what she was saying. Why was Solana acting so differently compared to almost a week ago? He needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Solana...who have you been hanging out with this past week?" Flareon asked.

"My totally new cool friends Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon!" Solana replied. Right away, Flareon knew the reason behind their daughter's bad attitude.

"I should have figured...look Solana, I don't want you being around those two anymore. They are a bad influence," Flareon said, "Why don't you play with Apple Bloom and her friends instead?" Unfortunately, Solana wasn't quite happy with what her dad just told her.

"Like oh my god dad!" Solana exclaimed, "I don't want to hang out with those uncool and totally lame blank-blanks! Quit butting into my life!" Twilight had just about enough.

"Solana! Don't talk to your father that way!" Twilight replied, "That's it! Go upstairs this instance! You're grounded for the night." Solana then slammed down the crayon she was using onto the ground as she quickly stood up.

"Like whatever mom!" Solana yelled as she angrily stomped up the stairs. Soon after, a worried Twilight walked over to Flareon, who was also concerned about their daughter.

"Oh Flareon," Twilight said as she let out an exhausting sigh, "What are we going to do with her?"

"I don't know," Flareon replied, "We just have to hope that Solana eventually realizes what true friends are. This is something that she has to learn on her own." Later on, they went to sleep, ending a long stressful day. The next day after school ended, Solana, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon decided to go to the Everfree Forest to pick some flowers. As they got there, Solana was hesitant about going into the Everfree Forest.

"Are you sure we can go in there?" Solana asked, "My parents told me I can't go in the Everfree Forest.

"Oh please," Diamond Tiara replied, "There's nothing scary in there. Quit being a baby." Soon after, a reluctant Solana followed them into the forest. A couple of minutes later, as they were picking flowers and putting them into their baskets, a bear suddenly appeared from behind some nearby bushes. The bear roared angrily as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon quickly ran away. Solana tried to escape too, but she accidently tripped over a stump, and fell to the ground. Solana then turned around to see the bear began to slowly approach her. Meanwhile, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon managed to escape the Everfree Forest, and happened to run into the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Whoa! What's the rush you two?" Apple Bloom asked, "Wait...where's Solana at?" Diamond Tiara was still too shaken to speak, but luckily Silver Spoon was able to talk about just happened.

"We were in the Everfree Forest picking flowers when this huge bear appeared out of nowhere. We managed to escape, but I think Solana is still in there!" Silver Spoon exclaimed.

"You left without her?!" Scootaloo yelled angrily, "How could you?!" Unfortunately, the Cutie Mark Crusaders didn't have time to worry about that, they had go into the Everfree Forest and rescue Solana before it was too late. Almost immediately, Apple Bloom and her friends rushed into the forest to save Solana. Meanwhile, Solana had backed into a log as the bear was getting closer.

"Please! Someone help me!" Solana yelled as she put her hooves over her face. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Scootaloo appeared from the cliff above. She used the back of her scooter to hit the bear in the face. Scootaloo then landed near the ground where Solana was.

"Don't worry Solana," Scootaloo said as she smiled, "We got your back!" Suddenly, Solana's eyes began to tear up.

"Thank you!" Solana replied. Soon after, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle appeared. As Apple Bloom distracted the bear, Sweetie Belle ran over to Solana and helped her stand back up.

"Come on Solana!" Sweet Belle exclaimed, "We have to get out of here!" She then turned to her right. "Let's go Apple Bloom!" As she quickly joined them, together they ran away from the bear. Luckily, they managed to successfully escape the forest. Soon after, Diamond Tiara approached them.

"Oh good Solana...your ok," Diamond Tiara said, "Come on let's go and leave those losers behind." Sadly for her, Solana wasn't moving from her spot near Apple Bloom and the others.

"No," Solana replied firmly.

"What did you just say?" Diamond Tiara said angrily.

"My mom and dad were right!" Solana exclaimed, "Your not my friend. You don't even care about me!" She then turned to face the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are real friends. They even risked their lives just to come save me. I want to be their friends instead." Apple Bloom and the others crowded around Solana congratulating her on finally standing up to Diamond Tiara and telling her what for. However, Diamond Tiara simply lifted up her chin high in disgust.

"I guess I was wrong about you Solana," she replied, "Your nothing more than a loser! Just like those three! If you want to hang around with a bunch of uncool blank-blanks...that's your problem, not mine." Diamond Tiara then turned to her left. "Let's go Silver Spoon." As they were walking away, Solana used her magic to turn a water puddle in front of them into a mud puddle. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon then fell into the mud puddle, which was at least 2 feet deep. As they climbed out of it, Solana and the Cutie Mark Crusaders began to laugh.

"That was a good one Solana!" Apple Bloom said, "I'd definitely give it a 10/10." Soon after, they happily walked past a dumbfounded Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon who were completely covered in mud. Later on, Apple Bloom, in agreement with her friends, agreed to take Solana to their special headquarters, the CMC tree house, where they introduced Solana as the 4th member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She even got a red and blue cape with the CMC logo on it. Even though Solana already had her cutie mark, Apple Bloom told her that the Cutie Mark Crusaders weren't just a group of ponies trying to get their cutie marks, it was a group of best friends. As an overjoyed Solana began to cry, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo quickly hugged her. Solana had finally received the friends she had wished for and in return, realized that true friends make the best kind of friends.