Spike was panting as he ran behind the schoolhouse, a notepad and pencil in one claw. The field behind it was already full of ponies, family groups sitting on picnic blankets or sitting in the grass on the sunny autumn day as the teachers stood upfront and used the back of the building as a makeshift stage for the event.

"Spike, over here!" Sweetie Belle waved him over from where she sat on a picnic blanket with Rarity, Applebloom and another filly, a pegasus with smaller than average wings, dark orange fur and a purple colored mane.

"Hey, what did I miss?" the young dragon huffed as he waddled over and plopped down on a vacant spot on the blanket. "Has Lorraine been up yet?"

"Nah, ya just missed Miss Cheerilee's talk about cutie marks." Applebloom replied.

"Shoot! Really? Twilight asked me to take notes about it!" Spike complained.

"We can tell you." The pegasus offered and offered the dragon a hoof. "I'm Scootaloo by the way."

"Why does Twilight want you to take notes anyway? she's a grownup, she should know all this already." Applebloom commented as Spike and Scootaloo shook hands... er hoof.

Spike shrugged. "She wanted to compare what she learned growing up in Canterlot to what the locals learn here."

"Well girls, care to share what we all just learned?" Rarity prompted.

"Well, everypony is born with the ability to do a whole bunch of stuff and as they get older, they figure out what stuff they like doing the most and that's what their cutie mark is?" Scootaloo offered and Spike began taking notes.

"An' it's not something you learn overnight, it takes time and lots of hard work." Applebloom stated.

"And a lot of mistakes," Sweetie added. "But ponies usually figure out what their passion in life is at around our age."

"And don't forget, a cutie mark doesn't define you," Rarity explained warmly. "It is just one facet of who you are as a person."

"Is any of that different from what Twilight learnt?" Applebloom asked curiously as Spike finished writing and read over his work.

"Looks like all the major points are there, then again I never really paid attention to this stuff outside of exams." Spike admitted.

"Hey squirt, here for the show too?" A voice asked and the group looked up to find Gilda and Rainbow Dash walking up to the group.

"Oh Rainbow! I wasn't sure if you were going to make it!" Rarity cooed. "It's good to see you again as well Gilda, would either of you care for a drink?" the unicorn levitated a cooler up from where it was sitting just behind her.

"Thanks." Rainbow replied and accepted a bottle of water from the cooler. "Weather duty was a bit of a rush trying to get the skies clear for today, in the middle of fall..."

Gilda took a seat near the fillies and pointed a talon at Rainbow. "Yeah, you should have seen this dweeb, nearly crashed into me on her way here."

"I almost crashed, there's a difference!" Rainbow replied and puffed out her chest. "I'm just awesome like that."

"Hey, I think Lorraine's about to start her speech!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly and pointed over at the front of the "stage".

The group watched as the noodle dragon herself plodded out of the back door and stood before the crowd of teenaged ponies and their families. She looked nervous but smiled anyway as everyone focused their attention on her.

"Hi everyone, I'm Lorraine, the resident luck dragon," she began nervously. "The teachers that work here in Ponyville asked me to help shed some light on herds, relationships and stuff to hopefully help everyone learn to, I dunno, get along better or something." she said which earned a few chuckles from the crowd.

"Yesterday, a pony asked me a few questions I never would have thought needed to be asked so I'll tell all of you what I told them and hopefully, I can clear up any confusion anyone else may have about a few things..." Lorraine said and began to relay the same information she'd told Applebloom a day prior, though with slightly more professional wording.

“Oh, so they’ll listen to her when she says it’s ok to like other girls but when I say it, everypony thinks I’m going through a phase!” Sweetie Belle grouched.

Rarity leaned over and patted the younger unicorn’s back in sympathy. “Sometimes it takes a grownup to make other grownups understand that there are sometimes children should be seen and heard.”

The group continued to listen to Lorraine as she talked, Spike dutifully taking notes and the fillies quietly mulling over the topics and ideas discussed.

“I think that covers everything, so, does anyone have any questions?” Lorraine asked.

“Are you Spike’s Mom?” Snails called out from the front.

There were hushed whispers from the audience, Spike smiled nervously as a few family groups seated nearby looked over at him.

“Is she?” Applebloom asked the young dragon curiously.

“No! She’s not… everyone just thinks she is because we hang out a lot!” Spike hastily replied.

“Alright, alright! Calm down, no I’m not Spike’s mum.” Lorraine stated with an eye roll.

"So what's sex with a changeling like?" Pinkie called out from just in front of Spike and the girls. The pink mare was sitting with Fluttershy, who elbowed her in the side. “What? I was kidding! Somepony was gonna ask!”

“Not funny Pinkie!” Lorraine chided from onstage.

“Not for lack of trying!” A voice called out from the schoolhouse.

“John’s up there?” Spike asked. “I figured he’d be out here in the crowd.”

“I believe both he and Lorraine are happier with him backstage, as it were, people are probably curious about him after all.” Rarity replied.

“Hey so, speaking of questions!” Lyra spoke up from where she adn the other teachers sat off to the side near the noodle dragon. The rest of the teaching staff groaned as she smirked. “Are you dating the new buck in town?”

“Lyra!” Lorraine huffed. “He’s only been here for a couple of weeks and-”

Said buck poked his head out of the back door. “No, we’re not dating, as you call it.” His ever present smirk turned mischievous. “Not yet anyway!”

“Alastor! This is supposed to be a serious discussion! We are not dating!” Lorraine venonmately replied as the red buck cackled and ducked back into the building. The luck dragon shook her head “The things I let him get away with… Alrighty! Any other questions?”

Spoiled Rich stood up and obnoxiously cleared her throat. A few of the other parents looked at her with interest while others rolled their eyes.

“Oh no…” Scootaloo groaned. “Here we go.”

“It is my understanding that you are in a relationship with the changeling?” the haughty mare asked.

The noodle dragon blinked. “Yeah.”

“So, when do you two plan on starting a herd?” Spoiled asked.

Another blink from the noodle dragon. She looked over to the back entrance. “John! I think we better answer this one together.”

John poked his head out of the school. “To be perfectly frank, I do not know if we will at all. If we do, we will be very selective.”

“I didn’t ask you.” Spoiled sniffed.

“Too bad, that’s your answer.” Lorraine deadpanned.

“Well I never- Have you at least selected potential herdmates?” Spoiled asked.

“Potential what now?’ the noodle dragon asked flatly.

Spoiled rolled her eyes. “Herdmates. Have you considered just who will join your herd?”

John snorted and trotted out, looking a little irritated. His slightly shiny wings buzzed in irritation. He got to the “stage” and stood next to the noodle dragon. He scanned the crowd for a moment. Until. “Hey Gilda, wanna fuck?”

That got a few gasps.

Gilda blinked, raising a brow. “Ya know, fuck it. Why not? Though, a thing first. I’m the bottom. Because I’m a power bottom.”

“And I never actually found out what that means.” John replied with a blink.

“Oh you will, you tiny stud.” Gilda said with a laugh. “Honestly though, maybe when we get to know each other better.”

Lorraine laughed, her tone playful. "Hey Rarity! Wanna be my unofficial sister?"

Rarity giggled, a smirk on her face. "On one condition, you have to ask out the buck."

“Fuck,”Lorraine muttered, much to the amusement of many in the audience. She looked back over to the back door. “So, Al-”

Alastor gleefully trotted out onto the “stage”, a wide smile on his face. "Why of course I'll partake in this tomfoolery!"

There was laughter all around as Spoiled fumed. “How dare you- you cretins make fun of such a serious issue! What sort of example are you setting for the foals?”

“A good one, I hope,” Lorraine said calmly, still smiling. “A herd isn’t the only way for people to find love or start a family, just like how cutie marks aren't the be all, end all of a pony’s personality.”

“Spoiled, the point is that this isn’t a huge issue.” John sighed then looked at the mare. “At least, it shouldn’t be. We’re trying to teach children and adults that it doesn’t matter if you want to be in a herd or not, or if you want to be monogamous or not. Hell, stallions are treated kinda terribly to be honest. That might need to be worked on too.”

“An excellent point my good fellow!” Alastor said, an air of false cheer around him as he stared down at Spoiled Rich. “We’re all friends here, or at least I hope so!” there was a hint of something feral in the bucks gaze. “It would be a shame to have such a pleasant day ruined now, wouldn’t it?”

A faint hum of static was in the air.

Spoiled sat back down with a huff.

“Since we’re all out here and we’ve covered all the important bits, why don’t we answer some less formal questions?” Lorraine suggested with a smile as the static-y hum died down. “Open forum, anything goes! Raise a hoof if you have a question.”

Several of the ponies in attendance, young and old, raised their hooves.

Lorraine pointed at a young unicorn filly with a blue-grey coat and a blonde mane. The filly looked at the dragon and changeling curiously. “Can you two do magic?”

“Uh, well I’m still learning actually,” Lorraine replied. “I can’t really do anything yet but Princess Luna’s helping me so, who knows?”

“Probably?” John said. “Haven’t actively tried yet. Maybe eventually?”

“Hey John, how about you pick someone?”Lorraine suggested. “We’ll take turns.”

“Yes? Lyra.” John asked the mint mare who was waving a hoof.

“Thank you! Ahem. I have one, can love bloom on the battlefield?~ ok, ok, real one this time... and it's to the dear smug bug as I wanna call him, what do you love MOST about your noodle dragon?” Lyra asked almost smugly.

“Shit.” John said bluntly. “To be honest, there’s too many things to list. In short, she’s sweet, she’s kind, and she loves me. Also, we get along really well, and we like a ton of the same things. So, not exactly short.” He said with a chuckle.

“I-uh...I dunno how to handle compliments..” Lorraine admitted meekly and looked over at the smol bug. “I love you too.”

Quite a few ponies “D’awwed” at the flustered noodle dragon before she smiled nervously and recollected herself.

“Right! Uh, Snails, was it? What’s up?” She asked.

“Do you like penguins?” the colt asked.

Lorraine blinked slowly. “Yeah? I mean, who doesn’t?”

“Ya know, sure? I mean, they’re friendly.” John shrugged.

A unicorn mare with a green coat and an orange mane, also holding a pad of paper and a pen in her green magic, raised her hoof and John pointed at her. “You.”

“Thank you, however this is for Lorraine. What is the best, and worst thing about being a luck dragon?” The mare asked.

“Well, the best thing is, I have a tail. I’ve always wanted a tail. Also I’m healthy.” Lorraine replied after a moment of thought. “The worst thing would be, the expectations associated with being a luck dragon. Oh, and the blatant racism of course.”

The mare sat back down as she scribbled away at her pad of paper.

“You?” The noodle dragon pointed at a mare that could give Spoiled a run for haughtiness.

“When are you two going to have foals?” The mare asked. She appeared to be finished, but a younger mare next to her nudged her, causing her to sigh and continue. “If you’d even consider not having foals, what… ugh, birth control do you plan on using?”

“Well, to be honest, kids are a bit of a ways off, if at all.” John began. “Secondly, she might not be healthy enough to have kids. And thirdly, according to the Bestiary, luck dragons have to choose whether they have kids or not.”

“We know ponies have plenty of options, but we kinda don’t.” Lorraine added.

“Can you shapeshift into something infertile?” The young mare asked aloud.

“Ummm, I haven’t even tried to shapeshift yet, sooo…. I don’t know?” John shrugged, smiling weakly. “So, if you have a question about shapeshifting, the answer is no. Anyway, who’s next?” He asked quickly, then he blinked and sighed. He pointed at a quite bouncy Pinkie Pie. “Yes, Pinkie?”

“What do Lorraine’s emotions taste like?!” Pinkie almost yelled.

“Ummm, I don’t know? I haven’t actively fed, I don’t think. So I have no idea. I honestly haven’t been paying attention to it.” John shook his head. “I am a terrible changeling. I couldn’t changeling to save our lives, even if I wanted to.” He chuckled, managing to get a few laughs from the crowd.

“Hey Lorraine? Can you fly?” Scootaloo spoke up.

“Well, according to Luna, nobody knows what sub-type of luck dragon I am yet. So I could fly by self-levitation, or I could grow wings. So, I can’t fly yet, but maybe one day.” Lorraine explained. “God, that’ll be fuckin’ terrifying.”

“Any more questions?” John asked. This was met by silence.

Cheerilee took that moment to walk up on “stage” and join the pair. “Alright, thank you two for coming and answering question-”

“Ahem!” Alastor loudly cleared his throat.

“You three for coming and answering questions.” Cheerilee rolled her eyes. “So, we will take a quick break for lunch then we’ll move on to the next event.”

“Holy shit, I am never doing that again.” Lorraine muttered as she sat in a corner of the schoolhouse, a plastic Tupperware container sat on the desk in front of her, filled with two sandwiches, a brownie and a juice-box. She watched John as he talked animatedly with Lyra nearby as the mint green unicorn unpacked her own food.

“You did very well today.” a voice to her right spoke up and the luck dragon looked over to see Cheerilee trotting towards her with a light brown earth pony stallion in tow.

“Thanks, I spent most of last night writing the speech,” Lorraine admitted. “Public speaking isn’t really my strong suit.”

The stallion, a light brown earth pony with a scruffy looking darker brown mane, brown eyes and wearing a dark blue pinstripe suit smiled warmly as he trotted up to her and shook her claw. “Well I thought you were just brilliant!” he said.

“This is Time Turner, our science and mathematics teacher,” Cheerliee explained sheepishly. “He’s a bit of a fan.”

“Really? I’m nothing special,” Lorraine replied she parted from the enthusiastic pony and sat down. “But ok, if you say so.”

Time Turner’s eyes widened in surprise. “You really don’t know?” he looked flabbergasted. “You’re an inspiration! You’ve single-handedly started a social movement, all just by being you!”

“To be fair, it’s more the princesses movement, I was just the catalyst.” the luck dragon replied with a shrug.

“Oh come on now! You’ve defended your boyfriend how many times exactly?’ Time Turner asked rhetorically. “In fact, if it weren’t for you kicking up a big ol’ fuss about stallions being people, I daresay I wouldn’t have landed this job.”

“He’s right, not many places would hire a married stallion.” Cheerliee commented and looked over at her fellow teacher. “If I remember right, your wife argued with the school board after they tried to deny your application when it was the best they’ve seen in years.”

“I know! Oh Rose was so angry, still it worked out in the end.” he stated and smiled at Lorraine. “She was in the crowd watching you on your first day, you my lucky friend, gave her the push she needed to get us both jobs and a place to stay!”

“I… I didn’t think I had much of an impact,” Lorraine said thoughtfully. “It’s been nothing but name calling, threats, and dumb arguments ever since John and I got here.”

“It might not have changed everyone’s mind overnight but it’s a start,” the stallion replied helpfully. “And the more people start listening, the better things are going to get. You’ve got my support at least, a few of my students agree with you too!”

He frowned. “Mind you, it would probably be easier if Sweetie Belle didn’t keep starting arguments in the classroom. Nearly had to give her detention the other day because she almost started a fight with another student who said some choice words about you.”

“Almost hm?” Cheerilee asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Time Turner shrugged. “Well, Sweetie was defending a friend, nothing wrong with that.”

“I suppose not, hopefully this talk calms down some of the students and their parents.” Cheerliee said.

The noodle dragon nodded and opened up her Tupperware container and began wolfing down the first sandwich.

“You’re welcome to come back and give more talks if you like.” Cheerliee offered. “Harmony knows we could use all the help we could get.”

Lorraine looked confused as she swallowed her mouthful of food. “But I’m not qualified to teach or anything.”

“We’re not exactly a big school, the school board will happily accept any volunteers it can get, in fact I’m the only one with a teaching license,” Cheerilee explained. “Lyra volunteered to fill the position of music teacher because she couldn’t find a job anywhere else in Ponyville, she had the skill so…” the mare waved a hoof for emphasis.

“That doesn’t sound very legal…” Lorraine pointed out and the mare shrugged.

“Ponyville doesn’t have a high enough birth rate to warrant the government building let alone funding a proper school and staffing it,” Cheerliee explained and sighed. “It’s just another reason why herding is such a big deal here.”

“Maybe they’d get the numbers up if everypony wasn’t so stressed about herding all the time.” Lorraine suggested. “Most of the stallions I see are so skittish it's heartbreaking.”

“There’s not much we can do but try to teach the next generation to be better than their predecessors.” Cheerliee stated.

Lorraine made a sound of agreement as she continued eating. Time Turner grinned and looked excited.

“I know!” he exclaimed. “Why don't you and your boyfriend come over to meet the missus and have tea? We could talk strategy! Brainstorm some ideas to really get the ball rolling!”

Lorraine blinked. “You wanna help? Just like that?”

“Course I do, you’d have to be mad to not see how important this is.” he replied with a nod and another beaming grin. “Rose would love to meet you! She’ll give a tour of the shop!”

“Shop?” Lorraine asked.

“She owns a little shop! We live in a flat just above it.” Time Turner explained. “Bad Wolf Baubles, it has all sorts of things!”

“As nice as that sounds, maybe sometime next week?” the luck dragon offered. “This past week has just taken it out of me and I just want some time to relax.”

Time Turner blinked. “Oh! Right, yes. I heard about that…. Sorry, that must’ve been hard for both of you.”

Lorraine looked down at the last of her first sandwich. “Applejack was supposed to be one of the good guys but eh, shit happens, I guess…”

“I can only imagine what it’s like for Applebloom, her family means the world to her.” Cheerliee said. “I can’t comfort her as much as I’d like if I want to keep teaching.”

“What really? But isn’t it your job to look after the kids?” Lorraine asked polished off the remainder of her sandwich while pulling out the other with her free paw.

“Teaching is a stallion dominated profession, almost anything involving foals is,” Cheerliee explained. “A mare working in those fields has to be careful what they say or do around children, I’ve seen coworkers who simply hugged a crying student lose their jobs because the parents jump to the wrong conclusions or the school can’t risk its reputation over a possible scandal.”

“Wow, that’s dumb.” Lorraine replied flatly.

“Yes it is, why don't we move on to some lighter topics?” Cheerilee suggested. “In fact, I have a few questions some of the students wanted me to ask you before you leave.”

“Let me guess, too embarrassed to ask with their families here?” the noodle dragon said.

“Unfortunately, you don’t mind do you? There’s nothing too personal or offensive, I made sure of that. We were going to have the students ask you about them during the talk but most of them were worried about what their parents might think.” the mare replied. “So, I promised my class I’d ask you when I had the chance.

“I’m a bit curious myself, it’s not everyday you get to interview a local celebrity.” Time Turner said playfully

“Eh sure, go ahead, if it helps the kids then i don’t mind.” Lorraine stated casually with a shrug as the teacher walked over to the teachers desk and pulled out a small pile of papers.

The questions were simple, things like favorite color (“Dark blue”), favorite hobby (“reading and writing”) and favorite food (“Oooh, that’s a tough one, I’d have to say it’s a toss up between meat pies and a good chicken burger, I like a lot of foods”) and it bought a smile to the luck dragon’s face at how curious the children really were.

“This is fun.” she stated simply.

Cheerliee laughed. “I’ll be sure to tell my class that! Now I’ve just got one more question, from Sweetie Belle actually.”

“Huh, wonder why she didn’t just ask me herself,” the dragon mused. “What is it?”

“She wanted to know if you had any role models growing up?”

The noodle dragon blinked. ‘Well aside from my mum….nothing really- wait, no hold on, I got something.”

She smiled, a nostalgic look on her face. “When I was in high school there was this TV show called Doctor Who, a sci-fi show about an alien and his human friends travelling through space and time.”

“Human?” Cheerliee asked as Time Turner looked at the luck dragon in fascination and a bit of childlike wonder.

“Yeah, that’s what I was before arriving here, a human, same thing with John,” the noodle dragon explained. “Anyway, I loved that show, got every season on box set and everything and the main character, The Doctor, was my role model come to think of it.”

“Really?” Time Turner asked curiously.

“Yeah… sort of weird when I think about it,” Lorraine admitted. “I was sick a lot as a kid so I always wore big long coats, so did The Doctor and I thought it was cool, still do. I love long coats.”

“And you know that thing I’m always saying? People are people, probably got that from him too,” she continued. “See, he met aliens, good, bad, all sorts, and he never saw them as aliens, he saw them as people. That stuck with me, he never got angry with someone unless they did something wrong or were mean to him. Even the people he’d travel with, he’d bring the best out of them, the entire point of the show was that even the most ordinary person can do amazing things.”

“The show doesn’t exist here, I’ve tried looking, a lot of things I like from back home don’t exist here,” Lorraine said sadly. She put on a brave face with a small smile. “Still, I’ve got good friends, good food and at this point, I’ll take what I can get.”

“That’s the spirit, who knows maybe your show just exists in a different form.” Time Turner suggested.

“Yeah, that'd be nice,” Lorraine replied with a laugh. “John pointed out the other day that I can go a mile a minute when I get really excited about something and it can overwhelm him, so I joke that I really do take after The Doctor cause he can talk a lot too.”

“Hell, The Doctor’s been a better father figure than my own dad, that’s for sure.” she said and smiled. “Maybe the show exists as a different type of media or something?”

“Who knows?” Time Turner replied with a shrug. “Won’t know unless you look.”

“Yeah, sorry, I should probably let you two get back to your own lunches, you guys still have a long day ahead of you don’t ya?” Lorraine asked.

“Just a few more presentations and a meet and greet with the families, we’ll live.” Time Turner replied.

“Oh dear, looks like some of the parents are trying to start the meet and greet a little early, excuse me.” Cheerilee stated and excused herself to trot to a small gaggle of mares trying to corner a large, muscular pegasus stallion as he tried to leave the schoolhouse.

“That’s Snowflake, the P.E teacher, I’d better go help out. Swing by the shop sometime!” Time Turner said and followed his fellow teacher.

John wandered on over. “You doing okay? You seem confused.”

The noodle dragon looked down at the smol bug. “Time Turner sounds like the Tenth Doctor, I’d know that voice anywhere.”

“And do you think it’s him?”

“It’s probably just a coincidence, from the sounds of it Time Turner just moved to town with his wife, so unless the TARDIS crapped out or there’s aliens in the school…” Lorraine replied and snorted in amusement. “Nah, I’m just overthinking things ‘cause of the stress.”

“Well, he seems nice.” John commented.

“...I think I just made some new friends.” Lorraine realized after a moment.

“Yay?” John replied.

Lorraine grinned. “It’s been a while since I’ve made new friends.”

“Oh good!” John said happily and nuzzled her. “I’m glad my dragon is happy.”

Said dragon giggled.

Author's Note

Lucid: So Dragon was able to use the computer for the first time in forever. So she's the one who wrote most of the chapter. I'm so happy she could finally get some writing done!