Finding Your Family

As they came up over the ridge, Ponyville came into view. Dash had seen it from this angle countless times, depending on the location of Cloudsdale, but Scootaloo only once, when she looked back on her way out. "Welcome home, Squirt," Dash smiled, looking over at Scootaloo. "There's a quick customs inspection, but once you pass, Twilight will have you listed as Equestrian citizens."

Slash swallowed. "What if we don't pass?"

"You will," answered Scootaloo. "Don't worry."

They began their descent, landing near the edge of town as one of the Wonderbolts moved to intercept them with four guards in tow.

"Hey, Rainbow," smiled the Wonderbolt, approaching Dash first. "These are the ones moving in?"

"The very same," smiled Dash. "This is my goddaughter, Rainbow Slash, behind us are her siblings, Cudgel and Barb, and this is their mother, Scootaloo."

The Wonderbolt turned to Scootaloo and offered his hoof to shake. "A pleasure to meet you. My name's--"

"Soarin," answered Scootaloo, shaking it. "We have met before, briefly. You were my second favourite Wonderbolt ever!"

"Second favourite?"

"I was the head of the Rainbow Dash fan club when I was younger."

Soarin nodded. "I can respect that. If there was a pony that I would be okay coming second to, Rainbow's a good candidate from that list." He looked at the cart full of stuff. "Now, I know you've been planning to come to Ponyville for quite awhile at this point, and you already have permission from Princess Twilight, but we will have to inspect your wagon. Legally, we can't let you in, otherwise. It's a safety matter. Follow me, please?"

As they all followed Soarin to the guard station, Slash leaned down and whispered in Dash's ear, "What if he takes all of our stuff away?"

"He won't," answered Dash. "I inspected all of your stuff as it was being loaded up. You're safe."

"But what if we're not?"

"Then I will personally ensure that you receive a pardon. Trust me, you're going to be fine."

Slash still clung to Dash's shoulders, shaking.

Cudgel approached his mother. "Hey, my figurines are all carrying weapons. Is that going to cause a problem?"

"Probably not," answered Scootaloo. "But yours are made of metal, so make sure you're careful with the ones your new friends have, and make sure not to melt them on accident. They're more fragile here, so be on your best behaviour."

As they approached the building, two of the guards took hold of the carriage and undid the bindings that held Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo to it. One by one, every dragon and Rainbow Dash filed into the building and into different rooms, as directed by Soarin. He and the other two guards rotated through the rooms, asking very basic questions that were only necessary for the paperwork. The whole thing was over in half an hour.

When they were done, Soarin brought them all back out. "Starting with the youngest, Barb, female, age nine. Scales purple, spines fibrous and green. Green and pink eyes." He flipped to the next page. "Next is Rainbow Slash. Excellent name, by the way. Age is nine, female, red in colouration. Hard, rainbow-coloured spines, and heterochromic eyes, light blue left and dark brown right. Cudgel, male, also nine, but hatched one day earlier." He looked up at Scootaloo. "Hatched, right?"

"Yes, all hatched."

"Right. Orange with hard purple spines, eyes yellow-green. Scootaloo, female, age twenty-three, orange scales, purple hard spines, purple eyes. You had to apply for a new ID solely because we can't change your race in the database. It's a rare occurrence, but it's happened before." He gave her all four pieces of printed out paper. "Finally, Smolder. Female, orange scales, purple fibrous spines, light blue eyes." He gave her her own slip of paper. "Welcome to Equestia, and welcome to Ponyville."

"What about us?" asked Garble, pointing his thumb at Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, right." Soarin tossed a small clip-on badge to Garble. "Here's your visitor's badge."

"And I live here," answered Dash. "I'm not moving in; I did that decades ago."

Scootaloo turned to Smolder. "You're moving in?"

Smolder nodded. "Princess Twilight needed another research assistant, Dragon Lord Ember wanted a dragon in Ponyville in case you needed any immediate assistance, and I needed something to do. Win-win-win."

They moved through the opposite door from where they entered, where the two guards that had taken their luggage were waiting. "Sir, we've concluded that all items are safely packed and pose no risk to the town," one saluted to Soarin.

"Excellent work," nodded Soarin. "I'll take it from here."

As he and Dash fit themselves into the cart, Scootaloo noticed the way they operated. The way they touched, smiled and talked, there was more there than a simple respect or work-related relationship. These two were seeing each other.

"This place has changed since I was last here," noted Scootaloo. "Lots of ponies coming in."

"More than ponies," huffed Soarin. "Yaks, changedlings, hippogriffs, and countless others. Ponyville has quickly become the seat of harmony in Equestria. Sure, there's some dissonance, but even then, we end up sending out harmony to stop disagreements all over Equestria from this very point. It's kind of great, actually, but has forced a lot of growth. In fact, there's now a Wonderbolts base located right here in town. That's three total cities that have them now: Cloudsdale, where they were founded, Canterlot, which has the best training ground, and now right here in Ponyville because of how much busier the place is."

"I had heard about some dragons moving in," answered Scootaloo.

"Yeah, but not as common. They're still being a bit distant, but you would know more than I do when it comes to dragon culture."

"So, where are we located?"

Dash pointed the direction they were heading. "You're out on the west end, near where Fluttershy used to live."

"Used to?" gasped Scootaloo. "What happened?"

"Land development," shrugged Soarin. "As more citizens moved to Ponyville, the population became more and more dense, and more houses had to be built to spread out a bit further."

"She lives near Sweet Apple Acres on the east side, now," assured Rainbow Dash. "She's fine, and Applejack's been keeping things nice and easy for her. But what was once the area with the nicest gardens and large open fields now has public parks and duplexes. She decided she was going somewhere with a bit more green. Now that spot is less good for raising animals, but better for raising kids."