At the School of Friendship, a horde of students had just been summoned to Head-mare Twilight's classroom. The group were now sitting around in the circular lecture hall, staring down at the stage.
"What do you think Twilight wanted us here for?" Heart asked Cozy, the filly shrugging back.
"I'm sure it's something interesting," Soul chimed in, "Or at least...interesting to Twilight." Those that heard this didn't feel very excited, considering Twilight's definition of interesting could range from the hundred-year war between the dragons and the sea-serpents, to everything you would want to know about arthropods.
It was here that the doors opened and Twilight came in with Spike and Flash. Flash and Spike were both carrying a large chest, the pair placing it down on the stage in front of Twilight's podium. As soon as it was down, Spike opened the top, revealing a bunch of items that Twilight lifted into the air. "Who can tell me what these are?"
The students all went wide-eyed, many being drawn to a particular item. One was a silver necklace with a blue gem, another being a short staff with a stag-beetle theme and orange gem. A third was a large helmet with horns on the side, and another one was a golden grown with a red gem. The final three was a conch shell with two different swirling blue patterns, a teal blue cloak, and a bronze gauntlet with a blue gem embedded in the back. Each student gave their own guesses, Smolder yelling out that they had to be treasure.
"Nope!" Ocellus exclaimed, "They're all legendary magical artifacts!" This statement caused everybody else to look at her, the changeling letting out a giggle as she patted the large book she was carrying. "I've read ahead in Equestrian Cultures and Camaraderie: Volume Seven."
"You're right, Ocellus." Twilight nodded as she pointed to each of the items. "This is the Amulet of Aurora, the Talisman of Mirage, the Helm of Yksler, the Crown of Grover, Knuckerbocker's Shell, Clover the Clever's Cloak and the Gauntlet of Salirain."
"And the gems are real!" Spike exclaimed, Twilight turning to glare at him. "Eh, not that I...tasted them."
"Sure you didn't," Flash chuckled as Twilight returned her attention to the students.
"Princess Celestia gifted these to our school since they each represent one of the cultures our students come from. And we'll learn all about them in a Spell-venger Hunt!"
As she said that, Smolder turned to Sandbar and Heart, "Is that a pony thing?"
"No," Heart shook his head, "That's a Twilight thing."
Twilight then began to fly up, "It's a magical scavenger hunt. Each of you will work in pairs to try to find where in the school these artifacts are hidden." She grinned as Spike spoke up next.
"The team that finds the most wins a private tour of the Canterlot Archives with Princess Celestia." Twilight's grin grew larger, the alicorn clearly thinking that kind of prize was something any creature would kill for.
And as this happened, Silverstream let out an excited squeal as she flew out of her seat, "Learning and fun?! Does it get any better than that?!"
Gallus grabbed her by the tail and pulled her back into her seat, "You've been underwater a long time, haven't you?"
Twilight giggled as she returned the items to the chest, "Gallus and Silverstream, sounds like you're our first pair!" But as she said that, the entire class gasped, "What? They'll make a great team."
"Twilight?" Heart pointed at his flank as Yona held up a hoof.
"Um...why ponies glowing?" Twilight and Flash looked down at their flanks and went wide-eyed as they saw their cutie marks were pulsing with light. The two then turned to each other before nodding.
"Class dismissed!" Twilight exclaimed, the alicorn along with Flash and Spike running out of the room.
"What just happened?" Smolder asked, "Since when do your flank stickers glow?"
"They don't," Heart replied. "Well...they don't usually."
"They're being called by the cutie map," Soul added, "It's mystical relic that was gifted to them by the Tree of Harmony."
Mira nodded and continued, "Whenever it finds a friendship problem somewhere in Equestria, it calls the ponies most suitable to solving that problem by making their marks glow. Then it shows them where they need to go to fix the problem."
"It's super cool," Ace finished, "Soul actually got to go on one once." They all turned to the alicorn, who blushed and rubbed the back of her leg.
"I didn't really do anything special...but this could be a problem."
"What kind of problem?" Smolder asked.
"If Flash and Twilight are being called away, that means they won't be around to help with the Spell-venger Hunt."
The students all shared a glance, only for Heart to wave his hoof, "Relax. So what if Flash and Twilight are going? There are still five other teachers who'll be running the school. Knowing Twilight, she planned for just this eventuality."
"He has a point," Mira nodded, "She's probably written instructions for the hunt down so the other teachers can do it."
The students all sighed in relief, the group getting up and heading out to enjoy their freetime now that they had a dismissed class.
"I wonder where Flash and Twilight are going?" Cozy asked.
"Who knows," Ace shrugged. "I think the last quest the table sent somepony on was at Mount Eris. Maybe this time it'll be in Yakyakistan."
"Well, I hope they don't take too long," Soul added, "Twilight looked really excited about this Spell-venger Hunt. I hate for her to have to miss it."
"I'm sure the other teachers will tell her all about it," Heart chuckled, "Like I said, we've still got five other teachers plus a guidance counselor."
The Next Day...
"What do you mean you're all going!?" Heart yelped after he had headed to Fluttershy's class and found a note explaining it was cancelled for the day. When they looked for the other teachers to ask where she was, they found none, only to check the castle and found Flash getting ready. As it turned out, all seven members of the Friendship Council had been called on a mission to one of the furthest points on the map.
"How can you all be summoned to one place?" Soul asked, "I thought it only called two at the most."
"It's called this many of us before," Flash replied as he checked everything in his saddlebag, "Remember when it called us to face off against the Pony of Shadows? Heck, our very first map mission had all of us going to take down Starlight."
"Speaking of Starlight," Heart stared at the map. "I don't see her cutie mark. Is she staying here?" Flash nodded, making Heart and Soul sigh in relief.
"That's good," Soul added, "What would you have done if the school didn't have any staff?"
"I get the feeling Twilight prepared for that contingency. She already had a plan for the seven of us needing to leave the school on a mission." Flash threw his saddlebag onto his back and turned to the pair. "Do me a favor and try to help Starlight however you can. She's probably gonna be really nervous and desperate to make everything go perfect so she doesn't let Twilight down. Try to make sure she doesn't start twilighting herself towards a stroke."
"Yes sir!" The twins saluted as Flash headed for the exit. "Where are you going?" Heart asked as he saw him make his way to the door. "If it's really far, why not use the Rune Gate?"
"Twilight already tried sending a Rune Gate to that place, but for some reason it just teleported back as soon as she did. She's gonna look into it if she has time, but she thinks the place might have some kind of anti-teleporting barrier up around it or something."
And as they left the place, they found the rest of the Mane Seven were waiting for them. Heart and Soul spotted Starlight and Spike on the bridge outside the school, the pair moving over as the Mane Seven rushed off to the train station.
"See you!" Spike waved.
"Don't forget any details!" Heart yelled, "I wanna hear all about it when you get back."
"Come back soon!" Starlight added, "Please!" As she said that, the sound of a blowing nose made them jump as they spun around. "Huh?" The four were met with the sight of the Spirit of Chaos, Discord wiping his nose into a hanky as he cried.
"I hate goodbyes, don't you?" He wiped his eyes, "I just go to pieces." With that, he literally fell apart like he was made of Lego bricks.
"Discord?!" Starlight yelped, "What a...heh...nice surprise!" She gave him a shaky smile, "This is your first time at our new school, isn't it?" She looked at the others for clarification, the three nodding as they hadn't seen him at the school even once.
"Oh," they glanced back as saw a whole Discord dressed in a suit, "Was I not invited to the grand opening?"
"Friends and Family Day?" Another Discord, dressed in a schoolboy sailor's uniform, appeared and continued.
"Baccalaureate?" Discord number three finished while dressed in a graduation gown. "I hadn't noticed," the three all said in unison before he blinked back into a single standard version of himself.
"Well...at least you're here now. Um, why are you here now?"
"To fill in for Twilight, of course, as head-draconequus." He teleported up to the front door at this, "I seem to recall a whole song about how this school is where you make your own rules. Now, who better at that than me?"
Hearing this, Spike quickly flew up to him, "Now hang on there! If you heard that, then you also must've heard Starlight is in charge now."
"Really?" Discord asked, "I thought there must be some mistake." He flicked Spike and sent him flying back, Soul catching him in her magic before he could crash into the water.
"Nope," Starlight shook her head, "Twilight picked me for the job." She then took out a rolled up scroll that was as thick as Heart's stomach, "And she left pretty detailed instructions for me to follow."
Discord grabbed the scroll and rolled it open. "Well, I'm sure that she wouldn't mind a few tiny suggestions." He snapped his fingers, a quill and glasses appearing as he started writing. "Item one: Gravity is optional." As soon as he said that, the group began floating.
"Whoa-oa!" Starlight yelped as some of the rocks inside the pond began to float upward.
"What's happening?" Heart tried to fly, but he couldn't feel anything beneath his wings.
"Item two: The school's new mascot is an ambidextrous marmoset." As Discord said that, a creature appeared behind him that looked like a pony with fur around their flank, claws on their hooves, a purple shirt and a giant rodent novelty head. It floated up like a balloon and Discord quickly tied it down with string before continuing to write. "Item three-"
"Not gonna happen!" Starlight's horn flared, quickly covering her body in magic before flying over and pulling the scroll from his claws. "I promised Twilight I'd handle this her way. So thanks, but no thanks." She flew away at this, Discord's eyes slowly turning narrow as he released the mascot and let it fly up and up and up and...up.
"Reeeeeeally? Well, we'll see if you change your mind." He snapped his fingers and vanished, gravity returning to normal.
"Gyah!" Heart fell face first into the pond as everything else returned to normal, Spike flying over to Starlight.
"Uh-oh. When we play Ogres & Oubliettes and he puts that many E's in really, then things don't usually end well."
"Don't worry, Spike. Discord and I are old save Equestria buddies. He'll be fine. Now, what's next on Twilight's list?" The two headed inside while Soul pulled Heart out of the water. "You two better get to class," they then heard Starlight say from inside. "Don't wanna be late."
"But there aren't any teachers to run that class," Heart pointed out.
"Right..." Starlight responded, "Well...go have study hall. I'm sure I'll figure out what to do about the teachers when that's done. Maybe spend this time deciding who you're gonna partner up with for the Spell-venger Hunt."
And as she left, the two shared a glance, "You think Discord's gonna back off and not cause any problems?" Soul asked while Heart rung out his tail.
"It's Discord," Heart deadpanned, "When does he ever pass up the chance to cause problems?" Soul gulped at this, only for her brother to add, "So...wanna partner up for the hunt?"
Soul narrowed her eyes at this, "Are you asking because you want me as a partner, or because you want somepony smart enough to figure out the clues?"
Heart growled back at her, "What, you think I'm smart enough on my own?"
"I didn't say that."
"Yes, you did!" Heart glared at her, "just because you're smarter than me doesn't mean I'm not smart."
"I know that."
"Forget it, I'm gonna ask somepony else and we're gonna complete this spell-venger hunt before you even find the first item."
"Wait a minute!" Soul cried as Heart headed into the school, "Heart, I do wanna be on your team!"
"Too late, I'm asking somepony else."
"Heart!"
Later...
Mira and Ace were heading for Fluttershy's class, wondering who would be covering for her. And as they did this, they saw several ponies talking about the Spell-venger hunt.
"Looks like ponies are already teaming up," Mira commented.
"Who are you gonna partner with?" Ace asked, Mira shrugging.
"I guess Soul, if she hasn't already got a partner."
They then walked into the room, only for a loud voice to scream out, "HEY!" Ace jumped at the noise and accidently leapt into Mira's arms, the pair seeing a giant minotaur glaring at them. "Students of my class do not turn up late!" The minotaur flexed, "They turn up on time...OR NOT AT ALL!"
Ace and Mira stared at him, only for Mira to let go of her fellow jakhowl, "Ow!" Ace yelping.
"But...we're on time." Mira added as Ace slowly got up.
"Class starts the second that big hand points to the twelve! Every second after that is when the class is going on, so that means you're late!" He flexed again, Mira blinked at this as they turned to the clock and saw they had arrived five seconds after the allotted time. "Whatever! You can make it up after class!"
"Five seconds?" Ace asked as he and Mira went to sit next to Yona, Sandbar and Ocellus.
Once they were all sat in place, Iron Will began his class. As he did, the jakhowls noticed three auras approaching that they recognized, both turning to see Starlight, Spike and Discord.
"They call it making friends..." Iron Will roared as he flexed some more, "Because you have to MAKE creatures be your friends!" He then pointed at Yona, "Show me what you've got, yak!"
Yona grimaced before getting up, moving to the front of the class. She cleared her throat and spoke rather quietly. "be my friend."
Iron Will glared at her, "If you're quiet, I don't buy it!"
Yona took a deep breath, "Be my friend!"
"I've heard pudding that's more convincing!" He told her, getting right up into her face.
Yona huffed and took a deep breath. "BE MY FRIEND!" The students all shrunk back at this, Ace and Mira suddenly hopping out of their seats and into the nearest cupboard and shut the door.
"Wait...why are we hiding in a cupboard?" Mira whispered.
"Um...do you want to become the focus of an Iron Will pumped yak?" Ace replied.
"Good point. Let's stay in here until she calms down. But could you get your foot off my tail?!"
"After you get your claws out of my back!" The pair kept squirming at this, only to fall out of the cupboard. "WHOA!" They both cried, only to hit the floor with many bags of animal feed. A few seconds later, Yona stomped on the ground in front of them and they looked up into a glaring face.
"BE MY FRIEND!" She screamed, making the jakhowls quiver.
"I hope Heart's having a better time than us," Ace gulped.
Meanwhile...
"Some field trip!" Cranky Doodle growled as he lay on a sun lounger, one student holding an umbrella up to shade him, another giving his hooves a massage and another fanning him. Cozy was currently giving him a hooficure while Heart was pushing his hooves into the back of the lounger, using his fire powers to heat it up enough to make Cranky's old muscles feel some relief. "Where's my iced tea?!"
"There is no way this is a proper friendship lesson," Heart hissed as Gallus arrived with the drink.
"This is too cold!" Cranky cried as he spat the drink out. Gallus frowned and transferred the drink to a wooden mug, Cranky sipping it before spitting it out again. "Now it's too hot!" Gallus glared at him and poured another drink into the glass, then gave it to Heart so he could heat it up for a second. Cranky took a sip...and spit it right back out. "Now it's too tea-flavored!" Gallus glared at him, "You call yourselves friends?!"
"I'm pretty sure this would count as slave labour!" Heart yelped, then spotted Starlight, Spike and Discord. "Help us!" he mouthed to them. Discord smiled as he snapped his fingers and the three vanished, leaving the students to suffer under Cranky. And eventually, the old one began to fall asleep and the students used this chance to run away before he could make any of them massage his scalp.
"I never thought I'd come to this school and have to file somepony's hooves," Cozy shuddered.
"Tell me about it," Heart nodded, "I hope Flash and the others come back soon before something worse happens." As he said that, a bunch of ponies suddenly rushed down the corridor. Heart grabbed Cozy and pushed her up against the wall, the ponies running past them with incredible speed.
"What's going on?" Cozy asked, only to get her answer when Smolder flew into view constantly sneezing fire. "WHOA!" She yelped as a flamethrower flew toward them, Heart shielding her from the flames.
As he did this, they heard Yona's voice cry out, "BE MY FRIEND!"
"What the heck is going on?!" Cozy asked, only to hear Starlight's voice call out.
"Discord!" They turned around and saw the unicorn glaring at the spirit of chaos, Cozy gasping at the sight, "This is all your fault!"
"Mine?" Discord asked as he crumpled up the popcorn bag he was eating from. "I thought you were in charge here!" He then summoned a baseball glove that he put the balled-up bag into. "But I'm happy to pitch in if you need me." He swung his arm around...then stopped and flicked the ball out of the glove.
"What is that horrible thing?" Cozy shivered.
"Relax..." Heart replied, "He's on our side...I think."
"What I need is for you to leave!" Starlight cried out, Discord snapping his fingers and transforming into a giant leaf with eyes.
"Happy now?" He asked as Spike picked up the rubbish he had thrown away and put it in a trashcan.
"Come on, Discord," he sighed, "You know that's not what she means."
"Fine!" Discord's leaf fluttered over to a window. "From now on, I won't try to help." With that, the window opened and he blew away like...well, like a leaf in the wind. "At! All!"
Once he was gone, Starlight let out an exhausted groan. "Thanks, Spike. Let's just hope he stays gone."
Spike shook his head, "I wouldn't count on it. I think Discord's trying to test you."
"But why?" Starlight started walking to her office. "I thought we were friends."
"Well, it's kinda what he does. Even to ponies or dragons he cares about."
"I guess I should be glad he doesn't seem to care about me that much," Starlight sighed as the two moved past Heart and Cozy.
"Oh, well, I'm ready for him. I told Twilight I'd run her school right, and I'm gonna keep that promise. No matter what."
With that, she and Spike turned a corner as Heart and Cozy shared a glance. "That was really weird," Cozy told him.
"You get used to it," Heart sighed, "Discord's fun to have around sometimes, but when he doesn't get his way, things have a tendency to go...a little chaotic." As he said that, Soul came around the corner, showing her mane tips were a little singed.
"What happened to you?" Cozy asked as Heart grimaced.
"Our teacher turned out to be a dragon sneeze tree," she sighed, "Smolder was not a fan of his teaching style."
"Fascinating," Heart replied before walking off with Cozy behind him. "Now if you excuse me, I've got a spell-venger hunt to prepare for."
Soul let out a sigh, "Heart, I said I'm sorry. What more do you want me to say?"
"You already said enough," Heart crossed his hooves, "I'm gonna win the spell-venger hunt and do it with...Cozy!" He grabbed the pegasus and pulled her close, "Together, we're gonna whoop your flank."
"I don't think Twilight designed this event to be a contest."
"Well now it is!" He yelled, "Come on Cozy. Let's go strategize."
He walked off in a huff, Cozy just showing a blank face as Heart dragged her off. Seeing this, Soul growled at them, "Fine! If that's how you wanna play it, bring it on then, little brother!"
"I'm the older brother!" Heart yelled back.
"Prove it!" Soul screamed before turning to stomp off in the other direction.
And as the day went on, whenever Heart and Soul spotted one another, they glared at each other with all of their friends noticing. But despite this, no one did anything, especially since the teachers and Starlight were more occupied with...other things.
The next day...
After breakfast, the entire student body was called to assembly in the hallway. There, they found Starlight and Spike along with four others: Springer, Soarin, Trixie and Maud Pie.
"Good morning, students!" Starlight exclaimed, "I know there's been a little bit of adjustment since the professors left for their trip, but I've brought in new new teachers, and now everything should run smoothly. Now, it's time for class. And don't forget, this afternoon is the spell-venger Hunt!" The students all smiled at this as they left for class, Starlight turning to the others, "Thanks for doing this."
"No problem," Springer replied, "Always happy to help."
"Same here," Soarin nodded, "Good thing Rainbow's always telling me about how her classes go. I can run it no problem." Trixie and Maud nodded as well while Springer watched the students leave, only to feel an aura of anger.
"What's up with Heart and Soul?" He asked, the others turning to him, "Those two seem annoyed at something."
"Really?" Starlight replied, "Hmm...well, with everything that's been going on, I haven't had a chance to talk to anypony counselor style."
"And I doubt you're gonna get the chance to with Discord likely hanging about," Spike added, the others frowning at hearing this, but Starlight took a deep breath.
"I can handle this. Let's just focus on getting through the day and making sure the spell-venger hunt goes off without a hitch. And if Discord tries anything, we'll deal with him. After that, I'll have a talk with Heart and Soul."
They all nodded and split up to get to their classes.
At the same time...
Soul and Mira were heading for class, Mira turning to the alicorn, "What's with you and Heart? You've been at each other's throats all day."
Soul let out a huff at this, the alicorn glancing away, "It's his fault. He couldn't take one little joke I made."
"What was the joke?"
"He asked if I wanted to partner with him for the spell-venger hunt and I asked if he only wanted me so I could figure out the clues for him. Then he gets all offended, saying I was calling him dumb!"
Mira tilted her head at this, "Weren't you?"
"Of course not!"
"It sounds like you were," she added as they arrived at the magic class.
"Well even if I did, it was a joke! I've made them before!"
"Well, maybe Heart doesn't wanna hear them anymore." Soul sighed at this as they sat down, "I know I wouldn't want to be called dumb, even if it's for a joke."
"Well, I tried to say sorry, but he wouldn't accept the apology."
"Sometimes it's not enough to say sorry. I know plenty about that with Ace and Springer." Mira responded, "And I don't think it's just the joke he's upset about. Maybe-"
Mira's words came to a stop as the class doors burst open. "Yo!" Discord exclaimed as he walked in with in a terrible getup. "Greetings, fellow creatures!" Before anypony could say anything, he warped over to a seat between Ocellus and Smolder. "Is this seat taken?" Ocellus gave a nervous laugh as she moved away from him, Soul rolling her eyes.
"Discord-" She didn't get to finish as a puff of smoke appeared on the stage.
"Welcome, class!" Trixie appeared from out of the mist, wearing her entertainer getup. "I am your substitute. Professor Trix-"
Riiiiing!
She stopped and turned to the ringing sound, which appeared to be coming from Discord. "Shhh!" He told those around him. "Really, that's so inconsiderate!" But then there was another ringing and he reached into a paper bag that was sat next to him, pulling out a banana that was ringing. "Oh, I better take this." He laid out on the curved bench and answered, "Hello?" Before he could actually start talking, Trixie grabbed the banana, "Hey! Don't you know not to interrupt someone when they're on their phone?!"
"Discord!" Trixie growled, "Why are you here?!"
"Why, I'm a student of friendship, of course." He shot her a challenging smile, "Unless you don't think you're good enough to teach me."
Trixie leaned back before growling, "Of course I am!" She turned back to the stage, but then pointed at him. "No fruit calls in my class!" She threw the banana back at him and he shrugged, peeling it to reveal an actual telephone that he swallowed whole, the sight making the class grimace.
"This isn't gonna end well, is it?" Mira asked Soul.
"Probably not."
Once Trixie was back on the stage, she turned to the class. "Magic is the most important element of friendship. And even though I'm an accomplished magic user, you probably get enough lectures on this subject from Twilight." They all nodded at this. "Instead, we'll be learning about a different kind of magic. Stage magic!" She did some jazz hooves as she said that, making the students all get excited. "First, a few demonstrations."
She pulled her hat off her head and reached inside right as Discord subtly snapped his fingers, only to pull out...a flying pig. "Huh?" She yelped before pushing it back in and reached inside further. She felt something else in the hat and pulled it out, only to reveal Derpy Hooves. The mare waved at the class as Trixie pushed her back inside and continued feeling around, eventually feeling something big and heavy at the bottom.
And when she pulled it out, she and the rest of the class screamed as they now saw a giant ursa major. The beast roared and the students ran for it, all the while Discord chuckled.
"I'm learning so much," he joked, "Aren't you?"
"DISCORD!" Trixie screamed, only for the draconequus to run out of the room as the ursa major vanished. She sighed and put her hat back on, only to hear a ringing come from it. She reached inside and pulled out the banana phone, the mare answering it. "Uh...hello? Um, what exactly is a long-distance plan?"
Springer was in Flash's class with Heart and Ace sitting on the sides as the jakhowl explained what the class was about. Ace turned to Heart and noticed he still looking ticked off. "What's got your tail in a twist?" He whispered.
"Soul," Heart growled, "She thinks I'm an idiot."
"Since when?"
"Probably always," he crossed his hooves and looked away. "I get I'm not the smartest pony in the world, but does she have to insult me like that?"
"What did she even say?"
"She asked if I wanted her as my partner so she could figure out all the clues for me. Totally not true. I just wanted us to work together because we barely get to anymore. And instead of saying yes or no, she calls me an idiot."
"Well, to be fair, you have done some pretty idiotic things. The whole Malafear situation comes to mind."
"Still, doesn't give her the right to call me an idiot." Before Ace could say anything else, Springer called the pair over to try and do the task. It was to carry a bucket of water over a pair of balance beams without spilling any. Heart grabbed one end of a pole while Ace grabbed the other, the pole being what had the water hanging from it. They carefully lifted it up, Heart not allowed to use his wings, and began to carry it up the stairs onto the two balance beams.
They then spilled a few drops, but eventually got over the balance beams, the two slowly making their way. "Remember," Springer commented, "You get a second added to your time for every inch below the line the water is."
"Got it," they both nodded as they slowly inched their way over the beam and dropped a few more drops of water. They tried to be as steady as possible, but when they were halfway over the beams...
"Oh, this is no fun." Discord appeared next to Springer, "Where's the point of this challenge if there's no added danger?"
"Discord," Springer growled, "What are you-" Discord snapped his fingers and in a flash, the mat beneath the balance beam was suddenly replaced by lava. "DISCORD!" Heart and Ace both went wide-eyed, gulping at the sight as the pair continued to inch their way across. But as they did this, the heat made them sweat, causing them to lose their grip on the bucket.
"Whoa!" Ace cried, the pole almost slipping and causing most of the water to splash out and hit the lava. This caused steam to fly up into Heart's face, the pegasus shaking his head. "Careful!" Ace cried, Heart's shaking causing him to accidently pull on the pole.
"DISCORD!" Springer yelled, "Turn things back the way they were or else!"
"Hey now," Discord replied while waving his claw, "I thought you were supposed to trust in your friends. Don't you trust Heart and Ace to finish this task without needing to be bailed out?"
"Springer!" Ace screamed as he started losing his balance, "Get us off of this thing!" He then dropped the pole, Heart doing the same as he fell over the edge and barely managed to grab onto the side of the beam. "HELP!"
As the pole and bucket dropped into the lava, Heart leapt into the air and flew over to the other beam. He managed to reach Ace the second he lost his grip, grabbing him by the tail. "You okay?"
"I think so," Ace whimpered as he looked down at the lava pool. "But I'm starting to get an unwanted tan." Heart groaned as he pulled Ace away from the lava while Springer breathed a sigh of relief. He then shot a glare at Discord, but the draconequus was gone and the lava returned to normal. "Something needs to be done about that psycho."
A little later...
Soarin smiled as he watched the students who were part of his class finish the last lap. "Great work every creature. Rainbow said you all had guts, and it's clear she wasn't exaggerating." The students all smiled at this as Soarin spread his wings. "There's still a little time left before the end of the class, but I know you wanna be well rested for the spell-venger thingy. So, take the rest of the class to relax and get your breath back."
The students all cheered as Soarin took to the air and flew off, happy with how well his class had gone. Maybe he would one day choose to teach full time at the Wonderbolts Academy.
"Soarin!" He glanced down and saw Starlight and Spike walking out of the school building, "How'd your class go? Discord didn't do anything to disrupt it, did he?"
"No," Soarin flew down, "I haven't seen him all day. My class went pretty much perfectly." But in that moment, he heard a bunch of screams and spun around, "Until now!" They ran back to the field and saw the students now being chased by a Bugbear, and off to the side, Discord was watching while wearing a coach's uniform.
Yona tripped and was about to be stung by the creature, Sandbar and Silverstream trying to save her, only for Starlight to fire a magical blast, sending it flying away. "Discord...that's enough! Endangering students crosses the line! I don't know why you're trying to ruin this school, but it stops now!"
Discord smirked as he threw his clipboard and pen away, flashed out of his uniform, and crossed his arms. "I wouldn't be so sure." He winked, and as he did, Starlight's horn began to glow.
"This is your last warning."
"Hey-hey-hey!" Spike ran between them, waving his claws, "Take it easy, Starlight! Discord's your friend, remember?"
"Well, he's not acting like it!" She yelled as Soarin and the rest of the students stepped up behind her.
Spike huffed and turned to the jigsaw creature. "She's right, Discord. What's your problem?"
"My problem?" He asked, looking insulted. "How is the fact that Twilight decided to put an incompetent, power-hungry unicorn in charge of her school MY PROBLEM!"
Starlight gasped at this, only to let out a roar as she fired the most powerful magical blast she could conjure. Everyone behind her gasped as Discord was consumed by the light and cried out, his body appearing to burn away as he vanished. And when the spell ended, a large trench could be seen while one of the buckball baskets fell to the ground.
Starlight turned to them and gave a nervous laugh, "Don't worry. I just banished him from school grounds forever. He's fine."
The students just grimaced as Spike and Soarin checked on the trench. "That probably made things worse," Spike commented, "Why didn't you just talk to Discord?"
"Because he's right about one thing," Starlight sighed, "I've been doing a terrible job as headmare."
"No, you haven't." Spike flew up and patted her on the shoulder. "Discord is just bein'...Discord."
"He's clearly trying to prove some kind of point," Soarin added, "It's always something with him."
"Maybe..." Starlight shook her head, "But I wonder why me being in charge bothers him so much." The ringing of the school bell caught their attention next, signaling the day's classes now ending.
"It's time! We can figure that out after the Spell-venger Hunt. C'mon!"
Heart and Ace arrived at the hallway where the spell-venger hunt would be taking place, Heart spotting Cozy and stepping up to her. Starlight, Spike, Soarin, Springer and Trixie soon came in, the temp teachers minus Maud stepping back as Starlight began to explain. "For this afternoon's Spell-venger Hunt, you'll need to use the artifacts' history to find where they're hidden in the castle." As she said that, Trixie cast an illusion spell to show images of the seven treasures. Another image then appeared, that being of a strange disk-like object covered in seven dots. "When you spot one, touch it with a magic shield to keep track of your score." The object touched the Gauntlet of Salirain, causing one of the dots to glow.
Spike then flew up, carrying a large scroll and a bucket full of the metal shields which had purple straps coming off them. "Twilight left the list of your hunt partners before she left." The students moaned at this, not knowing their chosen partners had already been chosen.
Spike pinned the scroll to the wall and it unfurled, everyone seeing who their partner was. "Please, please, please, please," Heart prayed as he looked over the list, only to let out a groan as he saw he was paired off with his sister. "No!" Those around him turned to him as Soul rolled her eyes, Spike flying down and giving him and Soul each a shield that they tied around their legs.
Once everyone had a shield, Starlight held up a gong. "Ready...set...spell-venger hunt!" She banged the gong and everyone rushed off to find the first item. Heart and Soul flew off, both not daring to look one another.
Springer saw this and frowned, only for Spike to fly over to him, "C'mon! We can use Twilight's observatory to watch the teams!" He and Starlight ran off, leaving the other three to stick around and keep an eye on things in case anything needed a teacher's assistance.
Ace and Mira had been teamed up, both soon trying to find the item connected to their race. As they did this, Ace turned to his partner. "So...where did this Gauntlet of...sal...salo...salva...salvador dali..."
"Gauntlet of Salirain," Mira chimed in.
"Right," Ace nodded, "Where did this Gauntlet of Sali-something even come from?" They turned a corner to the mess hall, "I thought there weren't any jakhowl relics."
Mira shook her head, clearly exasperated about his lack of remembering such important details. "Do you remember the castle Luna took us too?"
"The one full of giant spiders that wanted to eat us?"
"Yeah. Well, after we left, Luna went back on her own and wanted to see if there were anything there that was worth saving. That's when she found the gauntlet in the lowest area of the castle."
"Cool. So what's the backstory on that thing?"
"You didn't even look that up?!"
"Less snapping and more backstory."
Mira sighed as they continued through the castle. "According to legend, Salirain was the first jakhowl to learn how to use aura. Or...at least the first one in Springer's tribe that learned to do it. One day, he discovered a magic gem in a cave that seemed to give him amazing powers. Luna thinks the gem was an aura booster. Remember when the others went after Storm Blade and found that pony tribe?"
"The ones with gems that could dampen aura?"
"Exactly. Well, this stone seems to have the opposite effect. Salirain discovered it and began to master all the aura powers he awakened, which allowed him to become the greatest warrior in his tribe. He fashioned the gauntlet to keep the gem on and used it to protect his tribe and eventually he became the leader. Then one day, he was in a battle with a particularly strong opponent and the gem was knocked off the gauntlet without him noticing. His friends saw it and feared he would be defenseless, but were shocked to discover he could still use all his powers."
"So...the gem was like aura training wheels?"
"Yup. If he had known he didn't have the gem, he probably wouldn't have been able to use his attacks through some kind of mental block. But after the fight and he learned about his loss of the gem, he realized he could use his powers even without it. After that, the gauntlet was used to train jakhowls to access their aura. But eventually, jakhowls learned how to do it without the gauntlet so it just became a fancy artifact."
"But it can still boost the power of a jakhowls aura?" Ace asked, Mira nodding back. "Too bad Springer's dad didn't think to use it during their final battle against the tricksters. The boost might have given him what he needed to win against them before they were killed."
Mira grimaced at this, only to shake her head, "Err...we probably shouldn't tell Springer that. Though what Springer told us, it might not have mattered..."
Ace shrugged at this, "Eh, whatever." He put his paw to his chin, "So the gauntlet turned into a training device..." He snapped his fingers, "I think I know where it is!" He ran off next, Mira following him with a questioning glance.
Heart and Soul continued to make their way through the castle while not looking at one another.
"So..." Soul asked, "Which item do you think we should go after first?"
"What, want me to pick so I feel like I contributed when you find the relic?" Heart growled back, Soul shaking her head and groaning.
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?! It was just one joke, and I didn't really mean it. Why are you so hung up about this?" Heart rolled his eyes, "Heart...come on, we've been through way too much for this to get between us."
"Yeah, well maybe I'm sick of everypony thinking I'm an idiot."
"Nopony thinks you're an idiot."
"They do when they compare us." Soul leaned back at this, Heart glancing away, "I've heard what ponies have said, that you're the smart one and I'm the dumb musclehead." He saw in the corner of his eye the grimace on Soul's face, making him sigh, "What? Just because I don't spend every spare moment of the day studying, I'm considered the dumb one! I'm smart!"
"I know that," Soul replied, "I didn't...I mean...it's not my fault ponies think that way."
"Well, you making those kinds of jokes doesn't help! I get I'm not as smart as you, but I'm not an idiot. I might only be getting Cs and the occasional B in all my classes, but that doesn't make me a moron!"
"Heart..." Soul sighed, the two coming to a stop as she put a hoof on his shoulder. The colt slowly looked back at her as she continued, "I'm sorry. I promise I'll never make those kind of jokes again. But if you want ponies to start seeing you as smart, you've got to show them that. Nopony knows what grades you're getting. It's not like Twilight makes them public. All they know about you is what they see, and...you do spend a lot of classes messing around with Ace and whoever else will play with you." Heart frowned at this, "And don't forget that joke you made about writing my study guide on your hoof."
"I was kidding."
"I was kidding before, and you took it seriously. Ponies don't always get jokes. Anypony that heard you might have thought you were seriously going to try and write twenty pages worth of notes on your hoof."
"I...I guess..." Heart glanced down, Soul shaking her head before nudging him.
"Don't worry about what ponies you barely know say. The ponies that matter know you can be smart when you need to be. And who cares if you're not the smartest pony in existence? You've got a bunch of other qualities that make up for it. You're brave, you care about ponies, and you can make ponies laugh. Those qualities are just as important as being smart. Heck, they're probably more important. I don't remember there being an Element of Smartness that saved Equestria."
Heart laughed at this and nodded, "Thanks sis. Sorry I took the joke so badly."
"I'm sorry I told it. I was actually really happy you asked. Lately it feels like we've been drifting apart."
"Since when?"
"Well...ever since we came to Equestria, we've started getting pulled in other directions. You were part of the whole Malafear situation and got to go on that quest with Jaden while I went on the Friendship Mission with Flash and helped First and Heather save that town. Then there was that whole situation with the Storm King. I ended up with Twilight while you helped save Flash from Void. It used to be you and me against the world, but I'm starting to worry that that's gonna change."
"Hey," Heart placed a wing over her back, "No way is that ever gonna change. Our lives might be going in different directions, but that doesn't change the fact that you're my baby sister."
"We don't know which is the oldest."
"Well, I'm never gonna stop thinking that. And as long as I'm breathing, my baby sister's the most important thing in the world to me. Even if one of us is up against a weird situation, we'll support one another no matter what. You'll always have me in your corner, and I know you'll support me no matter what happens."
Soul smiled at this and nodded, pulling him into a hug. "Thanks Heart."
"No problem," Heart embraced back, "Now come on. We've got a bunch of relics to find before everypony else. Let's show them why Heart and Soul are the best team around." Soul nodded and the pair charged, two eyes popped out of a picture on the wall.
"Oh, how sweet." From out of the picture, the ghostly form of Discord slithered out. "I do so love a happy ending. Now, to make sure this ending doesn't end on too much of a sappy note."
Ace and Mira walked up to a certain room, Mira raising an eyebrow at the sight, "Flash's classroom? Why would the Gauntlet be in here?" Ace didn't reply as he pushed the door open, the pair looking inside and seeing the place was formatted to look like the entryway of the jakhowl castle. And in the middle of this entryway, just in front of the stairs, was a podium with the gauntlet on it.
"Beanpot!" Ace cheered before they ran up, holding their shields to it as one of the dots began to glow. "You said this thing was used for training purposes, so I thought it had to be somewhere that could feed into that."
"And Flash calls this place the school's training hall," Mira added before holding up a fist. "Nice one." Ace smirked and bumped the fist with his own, the pair laughing as they headed to the door. But before they could, the doors suddenly slammed shut.
"Huh?" Ace raised an eyebrow as Mira tried to open the door, only to find it wouldn't budge. They then heard a noise behind them, both glancing back to see several banners hanging from the ceiling, which were covered in images of jakhowls defeating tricksters. But then, the images on the banners came to life, showing the tricksters starting to get the upper-hand on the jakhowls.
The tricksters blasted the jakhowls away before turning to them, the banners suddenly lifting off the hooks holding them. "What's going on?" Mira gulped as the banners started to slide along the floor.
"Whoa!" Ace and Mira leapt to the side as the banners zipped by before circling around. "Is the training room on the blink?"
"Maybe," Mira tried to slash at the banner with a Steel Paw, but as she did this, the banner simply exploded into the million pieces of string that then flew up at her, "Hey!" She yelped as the string tied her up, "Help!" Ace quickly cut her free with a Steel Paw, Mira sighing in relief, "These things can't hurt us, right? They're just illusions." The ripped up string began to reform the banner, the trickster on it growling.
"I'm not taking the chance!" Ace cried before forming an Aura Blast and firing it, blowing apart the door trapping them inside. "Come on!" He ran out while grabbing Mira, dragging her out as the banners began to follow them. And as they expected the illusions to vanish the moment they left the room, they found they didn't. "What is going on?!"
Heart and Soul smiled as they located the cloak of Clover the Clever, now having three of the seven relics.
"Just four more to go," Soul smirked before the pair heard a loud scream. "Huh?" They looked up and saw Ace and Mira run past the entrance to their hallway, followed by a pair of flying banners. "What the heck?!"
"Come on!" Heart ran after them, Soul right behind him as the siblings rushed down the hallways. But as they turned a corner, they instead found Cozy and another student running away from a flying picture of Starswirl the Bearded. "Hang on!" Heart created a fireball and launched it at the picture, blasting it away, but not burning it.
Soul quickly grabbed the picture and looked it over, frowning at this. "This has Discord written all over it."
"Now hang on," Heart added, "We don't know for sure that it's Discord." But then she turned the picture around and saw the word 'Discord' written all over the back of it in bold multi-colored letters. "Huh." They then heard more screaming and turned to see other students being chased by pictures, suits of armor and large banners. The siblings quickly followed this, only to find Ace, Mira, Sandbar, Yona, Silverstream, Ocellus, Smolder and Gallus huddled up, all looking absolutely terrified.
But before either of them could say anything. "Every-creature, stop!!" They turned to see Starlight, Spike, Springer, Soarin and Trixie standing there.
"B-B-B-But the school is haunted!" Silverstream pointed at the flying pictures and banners, the moving suits of armor and a nearby staircase turning into a quicksand slide.
"It's not haunted," Starlight growled, "It's Discord." As soon as she said that, a bright flash of light filled the air and blinded them. And when it died down, the ghostly form of Discord was floating above them with all seven magical relics floating around him.
"Headmare Starlight! Look at me! Look! I won the spell-venger hunt! Well done, me! Now what's my prize?"
"Detention," Spike instantly replied.
Discord frowned at this, "Well, that's disappointing." He dropped the relics, all falling as Spike and the other teachers gasped as they leapt to catch them.
"Discord!" Starlight glared at him, "You can't keep messing up the school!"
"On the contrary," Ghost Discord responded, "I think I rather can. And will."
"Then I have just one thing to say to you."
"Oh, do go on."
The students all flinched at this, ready to hear a long speech from Starlight about putting others before oneself or something like that...only for her to say, "I'm sorry."
"Huh?!" The others all said together as Ghost-cord went wide-eyed.
"What?" Starlight fired a spell at him and in a flash, Discord was restored to his normal state.
"I had to stop thinking like a headmare and start thinking like a guidance counselor to finally understand. You felt left out."
"Uh..." Discord glanced away at this, only to stutter out, "I um...don't know what you're getting at."
"Nopony ever invited you to the school," Starlight continued, "And when you offered to help, I didn't listen. I was so worried about doing things Twilight's way, I didn't stop to think about being a good friend. I'd like to apologize for that and offer you the job of vice headmare."
This offer made everyone go wide-eyed as Discord turned back to her, "I accept!" He cheerfully shook her hoof. "I mean," he pulled away. "I-I-I suppose I can find some time in my busy schedule to help you out. But I will need my own office, expense account, parking space..."
"You're new to the world of education, aren't you?" Spike asked.
Starlight rolled her eyes at this, "Next time you want something, just ask for it, all right?" Discord slowly nodded back, picking Spike up to hug him.
"But then we'd miss out on all those delightful misadventures!"
"Hey!" Spike pulled himself free, "Watch the wings!"
He flew off as Starlight continued to speak, "Now, Vice Headmare Discord, if you'll help me get this spell-venger hunt back in order."
Discord snapped his fingers, causing the relics to vanish. "Everything is re-hidden." As he said that, one of the small pictures flew off the wall and scared Silverstream. "Well, with a few surprises." Starlight giggled at this, knowing that she might not have done everything the way Twilight had wanted it, but Twilight more than anypony would say that the inclusion of a friend was more important than plans that would exclude them. All in all, her first stint as head-mare had been one-
"DISCORD!" Twilight's voice echoed through the air after a loud banging sound, making them turn to see the seven regular teachers, all of them looking like they had been diving through bushes and swimming in mud. "I can't believe you tricked us into going on a friendship quest that wasn't real!"
"Oh," Discord looked away, "Back so soon?"
"A glamour spell on our cutie marks?!" Rarity exclaimed.
"A fake summons from the map?!" Rainbow cried.
"Do you have any idea what your little trick put us through?" Flash added as a muddy Pinkie giggled.
"Hey, at least we got to go spelunking in that really creepy cave with all those eyeless worm creatures chasing us." As she said that, Yona ran over and pulled Applejack into a hug.
"Oh, Yona so glad ponies back!" She held her tightly, Applejack turning to Fluttershy.
"Uh, y'all get the feelin' we missed somethin'?"
"You have no idea," Springer added as the group began to walk off and get cleaned up. As they did this, those that had been there began to explain everything that they had missed.
While this happened, Twilight turned to her first student, "Thanks for taking care of the school, Starlight."
"It was a challenge," Starlight replied, "But I think things turned out just the way you would have handled them." And so, they explained everything else, the Mane Seven getting annoyed at Discord for trying to ruin everything before feeling bad for leaving him out. They apologized and promised that if he ever wanted to be a part of the school, all he had to do was ask.
Later that evening, Flash and Twilight were in her office. Twilight was at her desk, carefully looking over the relics, "Phew," she sighed, "It doesn't look like they were damaged during Discord's little game." Flash nodded at this, "We're gonna need to find a good place to display them all when we get the chance."
"We could put them in the library like what we did with the headband," Flash suggested, only for a knock at the door to ring out, making them turn around.
"Come in," Twilight announced as the door opened to show Cozy Glow. "Is something wrong?"
"No," Cozy shook her head, "I just wanted to hand my homework in. Professor Trixie's lesson was cut...kind of short, so I didn't get to give it to her." She moved over to give a scroll over to Twilight, who smiled and took it.
"Thank you, but you didn't have to worry about that. Today's events were...unusual to say the least." She placed the scroll down and moved over to the Celestia picture, swinging it open to reveal the safe. She entered the code to open it and quickly floated the magical relics inside, not noticing Cozy squinting her eyes as she watched her, "You should go get to bed. Tomorrow's gonna be another busy day."
"Okay," Cozy nodded before heading out, Twilight smiling as she shut the safe.
"Such a nice girl."
"And she's been doing really well in her friendship lesson," Flash added, "Looks like all that tutoring the CMC have been doing helped out a bunch."
Twilight nodded back, the two getting back to work. The place might have had a rough start, but it was clear now that the School of Friendship could handle anything. Compared to Discord and his shenanigans, ponies like Neighsay and the rest of the EEA would not be an issue. The School of Friendship was there to stay.