Lunarstar ran out of the house with her school bag around her neck and raced down the street.
By the time she got to the park, her legs were worn out and was out of breath but she had to keep going.
"I'm going to be so late," Lunarstar groaned, trying to run even faster.
Running through the park, she thought about her homework which she spent most the night doing.
She was so into her thoughts and so tired that she hadn't noticed the two male ponies entering the park. By the time Lunarstar saw them, it was too late. She ran into one of the ponies knocking him to the ground.
Lunarstar gasped at what she had done and quick jumped off of him.
The Pony was a light blue with light green hair and a streak of light purple. His eyes were purple and he had a symbol of three balloons.
The other pony was a light mint green with light purple and pink hair, his eyes were blue and he had a symbol of two party hats.
"I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry," Lunarstar exclaimed as she began to pack her books back in her bag.
Just then Melody ran by, "You better hurry. School starts in five minutes!"
Lunarstar quickly grabbed her books and papers which were scattered all over the sidewalk, the two male ponies helped too.
"Thank you and I'm sorry about running into you. Are you ok?"
The blue pony stood up, he was strange looking but she could figure out why.
"I'm fine." he answered.
"good . . . well, I got to go"
"Wait," The Green mint pony handed a piece of paper to her, "You forgot this."
"My homework. Thank you so much. I really got to go." Lunarstar ran to catch up with Melody who was worn out from running.
"Lunarstar, did you notice something about those two ponies?"
"Notice what?"
"Their feet were larger than the average pony and they had the hairiest feet I've ever seen."
Lunarstar turned around to see if the two ponies were still there. Melody was right. They had hairy feet. Maybe that's what was so strange looking about them. She was in such a hurry to leave that she hadn't notice their large hairy feet.
"Your right, I wonder where they're from," Lunarstar wondered.
"I don't know. Right now I am more worried about not making it to school."
Lunarstar and Melody ran into school and had just walked into class when the bell range.

Meanwhile the two ponies continued into the park, while the Mint-Green pony talked, blue pony couldn't stop thinking about the incident that he just had.
"Buster, are you listening?" The Mint-Green pony asked.
"No, Charades. I wasn't. I can't help but think of that pony we ran into"
"What about the pony?"
Buster stopped and looked at Charades, "I . . . well . . . maybe it was my imagination but I could have sworn I was poked with something long and pointy when she ran into me."
"Like a horn?" Charades Laughed, "Don't be ridiculous, It's obvious she's a normal earth pony who happens to be in a hurry."
Buster knew Charades was right but he could still feel it on his shoulder, "I know that. I can see she was an earth pony."
The two ponies continued walking though the park while ponies nearby gave them strange looks, they have never seen ponies with feet like theirs.
"What are we going to do?" Buster asked.
"Find a job I guess but lets not forget why we are here."
"How can I not forget? We've been in five towns and you remind me every time. She wasn't in the last five towns, and I don't think you'll find her here."
"You never know until you look."
Buster and Charades spent most of the morning walking around town looking for jobs.

Later in the evening, School let out and Lunarstar headed home by taking the shortcut through the park. She remembered the two ponies from this morning. She looked around the area but didn't see them.
When she finally got home, she saw a sign on the fence "Assistant Carpenter Wanted."

"I know that sign wasn't there this morning." she muttered.
She hurried inside, dropping her school bag on her and hurried to the kitchen.
"I see your home from School" Rosebud remarked, while poring lemonade in a glass.
"What's the sign on the fence for?" Lunarstar asked.
"Oh, he put that up shortly after you left. He had gotten orders for Christmas and realized he can't get them all done in time. As you know, Christmas is only two months away."
"Oh," which was all Lunarstar could say. She knew her mother was right, her father gets a lot of orders for Christmas and he'll get more in two months.
Lunarstar left her other and went through the back door to see what her father was doing. She walked over to the shed and peeked inside. She saw pieces of wood fall to the floor as he used the electric saw. It was too noisy to shout so she waited for him to notice her.
Her father saw her at the door and turned off the electric saw.
"Did you just get back from school?"
"I had Track meet but I came here afterwards."
"The Track Meet?" Her father had completely forgot about the Track N Field team.
"Don't you remember? I joined the Track N Field a few days after I started school."
"That's right. You don't talk about it much."
"There's nothing really to talk about other than Raspberry. She's still trying to be the fastest."
Her father smiled, it was good for her to interact with other ponies and he was glad that they had signed her up for the Track team.
"Dad, I hear your hiring for an assistant?"
"Yes, I am. See those papers?" The father pointed at the stack on 10 papers on the table, "Those are my weekly orders."
The father took out a folder that was completely over flowed and added, "These are my Christmas orders."
"Wow," Lunarstar gasped. She hadn't seen so many orders in her life.
"That's why I need help." Her father filed the papers away and put the folder away, "I got a lot to do so I'll see you later."
"Will you be having dinner?"
"Sure, I can't miss your mother's good cooking," the father answered, with a smile on his face.
Lunarstar left the shed and headed back into the house. Before she could step out of the kitchen, her mother asked, "Could you go into town and get some seeds?"
"Sure,"
"Thank you. I would do it myself but I have to clean the house in case someone shows up for the job."
Rosebud gave her a small piece of paper and added, "Here is a list of flowers I need. I plan on planting them tomorrow so I need them today."
Lunarstar took the paper and rushed out the door. Once she got to town, she searched for the flower shop and quickly found it on the corner.
She went in and bought five packs of seeds that was on the list and left the store, caring the bag in her mouth.
While Lunarstar stood on the sidewalk, double checking the list, two ponies came around the corner and knocked her to the ground.
The seeds fell out of the bag and scattered all over.
"I'm really sorry," remarked the familiar voice.
"This just isn't my day," thought Lunarstar.
"Let us help you,"
The two ponies gathered the seed and handed them to Lunarstar. She looked up at the two ponies. They were the same ones she bumped into this morning.
Lunarstar stood up, dusting herself and looked at them. They certainly were odd looking.
"It looks like we keep bumping into each other," Charades commented.
"Let me introduce ourselves, My name is Buster and this is my Cousin Charades."
"I'm Lunarstar."
"We just arrived into town this morning,"
"Are you staying long?"
"For a while," Buster looked at Charades. "right now, we're looking for a job."
"We spent all morning looking but haven't found any," added Charades.
"Have you tried the newspaper?"
"We would have if we had the money to buy one," answered Buster.
"Well . . . Um . . . Are you any good at making things out of wood?"
"A little. Why do you ask?" Charades asked.
"My dad is looking for Assistant Carpenters. He just got a lot of orders for Christmas and needs help finishing them."
"Sure, it's better than nothing," Charades answered.
"Great, I'll take you to my house."
Lunarstar led them through the park to a community of houses. Her house was several blocks away close to the forest.
When they arrived at her house, she led them inside, to the kitchen looking for her mother but she wasn't there. She set the seeds on the counter, "Mom is usually in the Kitchen. She must be upstairs cleaning. Dad might be in his work shed though."
She walked them through the back door and across the big yard. Her father wasn't using the saw so it was easy to get his attention.
"Dad?"
Lunarstar's father came out of the shed and saw two unusual male ponies standing next to Lunarstar.
"They're looking for a job,"
"Thank you Lunarstar. Why don't you go and play while I talk to them?"
Lunarstar left, she hoped they would get the job. They gave her a comforting feeling like she wasn't the only odd looking pony when they were around.
Later in the evening, when the sun began to set, Lunarstar in her winged unicorn form, was in her room reading a book on the bed when her Mother came in the room.
"Lunarstar would you come downstairs. We would like to talk to you."
Lunarstar couldn't imagine what would be so important that they both had to talk to her.
She put the book down and her dresser and went downstairs where her mother and Father were waiting in the living room.
"I hired Buster and Charades for the job," Her father walked up to her and added, "They have excellent skills working with wood."
"Since they just got to town and has no place to stay, we decided to let them stay here for a few days until they are able to get a place of their own."
Lunarstar was surprised. They never let anyone stay at the house before.
"What? Are you serious? You never let my friends or anyone else stay before and what about in the morning? I don't change until I'm ready to leave the house." Lunarstar complained.
"Your right, we haven't let your friends spend the night," Her Father answered.
"It's the same reason why we won't let you spend the night at your friend's house," added the Mother.
"But Buster and Charades will be staying in the guest room. We also talked about you getting up in the mornings. Your mother will have to wake you up just like she does every morning but she'll make sure you change forms before you leave your room."
"Are you sure this is all going to work?" Lunarstar asked.
"I hope so. You just be careful when they're around," the father answered.
"Where are they now?"
"They wanted to take a walk in town, get a good look around since they'll be in Ponyland for a while."
"Oh, I almost forgot, They'll be joining us for dinner so hurry up and change before they get here," added the Mother.
Soon after Lunarstar changed into an earth pony, the door bell range.
"Just in time," muttered the mother.
The Father walked to the door and opened it. Sure enough, it was Buster and Charades, "Come on in."
"Thank you. It was nice of you to invite us for dinner," said Charades, thoughtfully.
"You can have a seat across from Lunarstar," the mother remarked, setting the food on the table.
Lunarstar sat in the middle with her parents on the ends. Buster and Charades sat on the other side of the table.
That night when Buster and Charades went to bed, Lunarstar was in her room looking out the window. She was worried about having two new ponies in the house, she began to wonder if they really were Mountain Ponies.
Lunarstar looked up at the night sky through her open window, the moon was only half full, she couldn't wait till the full moon. It'll be her third full moon in Ponyland and the only time where she can stay out til dawn.
"What's the mater?" The Mother asked, noticing Lunarstar staring put the window.
"Can I go outside?" whispered Lunarstar, she didn't want Buster and Charades next door, to hear.
"It's not a full moon yet," the mother whispered back.
"I know but . . . 2 days in this form . . . " Lunarstar whispering trailed off into silent.
Her Mother knew what she was getting at, "Ok, but don't be long and don't make any noises when you come back."
"Thanks Mom," whispered Lunarstar. Her horn started to glow and then she disappeared.
Once she was in the forest, she began running and soon forgot all her worries and enjoyed being herself, a winged unicorn.
She jumped over logs, ran across streams passing bushes and trees. The wind through her pure white mane blew with her long white tail flowing behind her. It all felt so good to her, she just wanted to keep running.
Soon she found herself going up the hill, toward the mountain which wore her out so she had to walk.
As she stopped to catch her breath, she looked back. she could see the top of the forest and a few houses in the distance.
Lunarstar continued walking up hill until she realized there was no grass below her feet. She was walking on a cobble stone trail. It was obviously a very old trail, the stone didn't alone together properly. She stopped and looked up the hill, the trail led all the way to the top. She turned around and saw the trail had started some ways down the hill but it was hardly noticeable, most of the stone were missing.
She heard this part of the forest was unexplored but how can that be? There must have been ponies here before, the trail proved it.
Suddenly she heard a twig snap. Lunarstar swung around towards the sound and began to worry, she was out in the open where she could easily be seen.
She quickly looked around but saw nothing. Figuring it must have been a deer, she decided to continue up the hill but then, she heard leaves crackling on the ground like someone was walking on them.
She knew a deer would never be so careless as to walk on leaves.
Someone was following her but she didn't know who or where they were.
Then she heard it again a little feather up the hill. She looked in the deep dark forest, trying hard to see a figure of some kind. Lunarstar gasped when she saw a figured move among the trees . She could barley make it out but she was certain it was a pony with a very dark coat.
Fearing the Pony might see her, she ran down hill carefully, trying not to slip.
"I'll be back to check it out. I must know where that trail leads to," whispered Lunarstar.

To be coninued...