Unfortunately, Star Chaser had to fly to school in the rain the next day. The small drops stung her coat, but she would rather fly than walk on the ground.

She dashed into school as quickly as she could when she spotted it. She landed right in a seat and started unpacking her wet saddlebag.

Star felt a poke on her shoulder. She turned to find Flora standing next to her.

"Hey, Star! Mind if I sit next to you?" Flora asked, about to put her stuff on the desk.

Star smiled. "Sure! Why not?"

"Thanks!" Flora responded while starting to unpack her saddlebag. "Do you know if Rain Kicker's here yet?"

Star looked around the room. "I haven't seen her. She'll probably be coming in the next few minutes."

Flora nodded her head. "She flew in at the last minute yesterday, didn't she?"

"Yep!" Star responded.

Flora gave a small giggle. She then got a bigger smile than before. "Where did you put the flowers I gave you yesterday?"

Star smiled brightly back in return. "Oh, I put them-"

"I'm here! No need to wait any longer!" Rain announced, flying into her seat next to Star.

"Rain!" Flora greeted as Rain held out a hoof for her friends to bump.

"Hey, guys!"

Star Chaser rolled her eyes. "As I was saying-"

"Did you guys get as wet as I did while coming over here? Wow, it's starting to rain hard! But I love rain, so it's all good."

"May I continue?" Star questioned, getting silence from her two friends.

"Okay. Well, I put the flowers by the window in my room."

"Ooh! They'll get a lot of light there! How about you, Rain?"

Rain Kicker raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Where did you put the flowers I gave you?"

Rain thought for a moment. "I... uh... oh, yeah! My mom put them in her room!"

Flora raised an eyebrow. "Why did you give them to your mom? Do you not like flowers or something?"

Rain nodded. "Well, let's just say that flowers wouldn't be fitting in my room. My walls are painted like dark rain clouds, so flowers on the window wouldn't really be fitting."

Flora nodded her head in agreement. "I see."

Star chuckled. "Can you imagine, though? A very pretty flower, standing up straight and tall, during a horrible rainstorm?" Flora also giggled at the thought.

"I just started thinking of a flower holding an umbrella." Flora laughed harder at her comment, which stirred a laugh out of Star and Rain as well.

"Alright, class! Today we're going to learn about the annual Running of the Leaves!" The teacher announced, causing the three to stop their laughing.

"I'm gonna ask my parents if I could participate in the Running of the Leaves!" Star said, getting a determined look on her face.

"Uh, you know it's just for adults, right?" Flora questioned as Star's smile deflated.

"Oh..."

"Yeah. I want to do it, too, but we're going to have to wait until we get older."

"Yeah." Rain said, taking her food out of her lunch box. "Oh well. We could still race anytime!"

"Of course!" Star then drifted her gaze outside, where the rain had stopped. "What do you want to do at recess?"

"We could fly!" Rain suggested. She then looked at Flora. "Uh... never-mind."

"Oh!" Flora remarked, waving a hoof in the air. "We could play tag!"

"Yeah!" Star and Rain agreed.

Flora got a more mischievous grin on her face. "But with one condition: no flying."

Rain sighed. "Fine."

"Alright... you're it!" Flora remarked, poking Star Chaser.

At that moment, recess was called, and Flora and Rain ran away from Star as fast as they could. Star started to chase after them.

"Let's make it hard on her, shall we?" Flora said as she started making sharp turns, with Rain following right behind.

"You'll never catch us, Starry!" Rain remarked as she playfully giggled.

As Rain was running, she felt something hit her side. It felt like a beam of magic, or something like that. The impact caused her to fall over, leaving Flora running ahead.

"Rain!" Star called, running up to her friend.

"What happened?" Flora asked, unaware of the thing that hit Rain.

"I-I don't know..." Rain Kicker responded, trying to sit up. There was some sort of mark on her side that looked like a magic singe.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" A voice called. Flora and Star Chaser looked behind them to find a unicorn filly. She had a violet coat with a blue mane and green eyes. She walked up to Rain and offered a helping hoof.

"Thanks..." Rain grunted, trying to stand so she wouldn't feel the now fading pain at her side.

"Why are you thanking me? I'm the one who hurt you!" The filly responded.

"You're fine. What happened, anyway?" Rain responded, looking the other filly right in the eye.

The unicorn slightly blushed. "Sorry. I was trying to practice magic, and it fired at you. I didn't mean it, I swear!"

Rain waved a hoof. "You're fine! Don't worry about it! Accidents happen!"

The filly smiled. "Thanks for forgiving me."

"No problem!" Rain smiled. "What's your name?"

"Aqua Flash."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Rain Kicker." Rain then gestured to her friends.

"I'm Star Chaser."

"And I'm Flora!"

"It's nice to meet you!" Aqua responded, smiling.

Flora thought for a moment. "Do you have anypony to hang with?"

Aqua shook her head. "I moved here from Manehatten, so I haven't met any new friends yet."

Rain put a hoof on her shoulder. "Well, now you have us."

Aqua's eyes widened. "Really?!"

Star smiled. "Of course!"

"Thanks. It means a lot to me that you would accept me, even though I just injured you, Rain."

"For the last time, it's fine! If you think I haven't injured anypony while flying, you're mistaken." Rain responded, flipping her mane back.

"Alright. Just making sure."

Star then grew a bigger smile. "Hey, how about I invite you three over for a sleepover at my place tomorrow?"

Aqua got a smile. "Really? But you just met me!"

Star nodded. "Well, sleepover parties are one of the best ways to get to know new friends!"

"That sounds awesome!" Rain remarked.

"I'm in!" Flora added on as Star Chaser got a bigger smile.

"Great! You all could come home with me tomorrow!"

"Yay!" The four chorused as they bumped hooves.

Author's Note

Aqua Flash as a filly.