"Are you sure? I can stay and protect-"
Twilight put her hoof on Tempest's shoulder. "It's alright. We can handle ourselves. Go on your way. I'm sure there are plenty of things you'd love to see."
Tempest gave Twilight a soft smile. "Alright. But if you need my help, don't be afraid to ask. I can put things off if I need to."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Tempest stepped on the train with her few belongings. When she turned around, she gave Twilight a slightly wicked smile. "And you better have gone on a date with them by the time I get back!"
"FIZZLEPOP!"
Fizzlepop Berrytwist managed to catch a glimpse of Twilight's beet red face as the doors closed.
"What was that I heard?"
As if Twilight couldn't feel more humiliated, Rarity had arrived at just the right time.
"Nothing! You heard nothing!"
Rarity squshed her cheeks. "Is our little Twilight learning about love? How adorable!"
Twilight started waving her hooves around defensively. "No! No! I don't know where she got that idea from!"
"Perhaps... is it..." Rarity whispered a word into Twilight's ear.
"Do not tell anyone!" Twilight went from embarrassed to angry at breakneck speeds. "Don't you dare tell anyone."
Rarity was quickly regretting her decisions. "Does that mean I was right? I think I would have been better off wrong."
"If you tell anyone, I'll... I'll douse you with Zecora's shampoo!"
That got to Rarity, who made a quick decision. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my- AAGH!"
Twilight watched Rarity rub her eye in pain. "Yeah, I've done that before. Not pleasant. Anyway, what are you doing here? We need to be back at the school fast."
"So you didn't forget."
"How could I?" Twilight was starting to shake. "With the old members wiped out entirely, who knows what the new E.E.A. Chancellor is like? He could be worse than Neighsay! He could try to destroy the school!"
"Twilight."
Twilight started nibbling at her hooves. "He could try to off the students! Who knows what will happen then? How would I report that to Celestia?"
"Twilight!"
"What if he tried to kidnap them? How would we even-"
Rarity yanked Twilight's mane. "TWILIGHT! Now you're just going completely absurd! Calm down! There's no way he'll be worse than Neighsay!"
Twilight took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. "You're right. I'm overreacting. Again. I just need to calm down and-" The princess suddenly slammed her nose into the nose of a nearby stallion. "WHAT IF HE IS WORSE!"
Rarity lifted Twilight's whole body. "TWILIGHT! LEAVE THAT POOR STALLION ALONE!" Rarity lowered her friend to the ground slowly. "I share your concern, really, but all we can do is play things by ear. Besides, they said they were going to try avoiding anyone like Neighsay, right?"
"... Yeah. I guess there's just been a lot on my mind lately." Twilight shared a smile with Rarity, then noticed something. "Oh, hehe. Did you need something, sir?"
Rarity turned to look at who Twilight was talking to. For some reason, the stallion Twilight had scared was following them.
"Um, yes. See, I-"
"Are you looking to help with my school? I hope I don't disappoint you, but I'm not looking for any new faculty members."
"Uh, Ma'am?"
Twilight stepped towards him. "Oh! Are you looking to enroll someone? We'll always take a new enrollment."
"Er..."
Twilight's face was uncomfortably close to his. "Who is it? Oh, unless it's you. Though you're a bit old to attend."
"Eep!"
Twilight's nose was pressed against his. "I mean, we'll still take you, but-"
Rarity yanked Twilight away. "TWILIGHT! Control yourself!"
"Right. Sorry." Twilight cleared her throat. "So, what do you need, sir?"
The stallion shakily lifted up a golden badge. "I'm the acting E.E.A. Chancellor, Thunder Lock."
Twilight felt her heart shatter into a million pieces.
Ocellus fell halfway onto Sandbar's back, and rolled off onto the ground, to the amusement of her friends.
"Well," Gallus said between laughs, "We know who's worst off after last night's studies."
Silver lifted Ocellus onto Sandbar's back. "Does the ladybug need a nap?"
Even Ocellus had to giggle a bit at her fumble. "Why did you guys start calling me ladybug?"
Yona gave Sandbar a cocky smirk. "Ask Sandbar. He start it."
Sandbar blushed a bit. "Well, it fits."
In truth, Sandbar was trying to think of an eventual pet name for Ocellus if he managed to get with her. He slipped, said it out loud, and the others (aside from Ocellus) wouldn't stop saying it themselves. He knew darn well they were taunting him over it.
Ocellus nuzzled Sandbar's mane. "Well, I think it's cute." She was the only one that couldn't see Sandbar's face go completely red.
"I hope you six aren't headed to the school."
They all turned around.
"Lily?" Smolder landed next to the filly. "What do you mean by that?"
Gilded Lily sighed. "The acting E.E.A. Chancellor is at the school now. I don't know if he'll be as spiteful as the old one, but I'd steer clear of him if I were you."
The creatures shared a look. Gallus spoke up first. "Do you know what happened to the old one?"
Lily shook her head. "I asked the Headmare, but she dodged the question, even when I said my uncle wanted to know."
Smolder put her hand to her chin. "Is your uncle a big deal?"
"Well, he's-" Lily's eyes suddenly went wide. "I mean, no! No one important! Just my uncle!"
Silver whispered into Sandbar's ear. "It's Fancy Pants. That guy Smolder can go on about."
With that, Sandbar suddenly understood why Lily would keep that a secret. Smolder had a very odd obsession with the stallion.
Lily stepped away from the suspicious dragon. "Anyway, I should get going."
"Back to your friendship lesson with Cozy Glow, right?"
Lily shot the smirking griffon a dirty look before rushing off.
Sandbar looked at Ocellus. "Well, I don't know how much longer Ocellus can stay up. Let's just try to avoid him and make our way back to the dorms."
They all headed back to the school, though a few with bated breath. Would they be able to dodge him? Was he really that bad? Was he even still there? Gallus was the first to get to the door to the school...
*Whoosh!*
"BWAK!" The door nearly smacked him in the face.
"Oh! S-Sorry, Gallus!" A yellow stallion rushed past the students. "I'm so late. I have so much to do."
Gallus glared at the stallion as he ran off. "Who was that?"
"That was Thunder Lock," Twilight responded. "He's the acting E.E.A. Chancellor, and I'm a little sad you didn't get to really meet him."
Silver smiled at the Alicorn. "Is he nice?"
"So much better than Neighsay." Twilight giggled. "Pinkie even slipped that we had non-pony students, and he said he wanted more schools to do that."
Sandbar looked over his shoulder. "He sounds like a chill guy."
Smolder smirked. "Thunder Lock, eh? And he was shockingly nice?"
Twilight was unamused. "You may face some extra homework in your future." She looked at Sandbar's back. "Uh, is Ocellus alright?"
Gallus patted the Changeling on the head. "We stayed up late last night to study. She said she went to sleep right after we finished, but it's pretty clear she didn't."
Ocellus giggled. "Sorry."
Sandbar sighed. "Let's get you to your room, bedbug. You really need to stop doing this."
Most of the students walked off to the dorms, leaving Twilight and Smolder behind.
"Bedbug?"
Smolder chuckled. "Sandbar has a crush on Ocellus. Ever since the rest of us put that together, we've been teasing him about the nicknames he thought up for her. It's usually Ladybug, but he changes it from time to time."
"And when did you find out?"
"After the Everfree Forest incident. He was giving her a massage, and we tried to tease him while he did."
"Smolder!" Gallus called back. "You coming or what?"
"Be there in a second!" Smolder waved at Twilight. "Sorry. I should get going."
Once Smolder flew off, something clicked in Twilight's head. "Wait. Does he... No. He couldn't possibly remember. I wiped his memories of that. And there's no way it was Ocellus. That would be too much of a coincidence to be true... Though... it's not impossible. Maybe Thorax set it up that way?" Twilight shook her head. "And it's not like they have to be connected. He may just have a crush on her."
"Are you monologing again?"
Twilight yelped. "Spike! Don't sneak up on me!"
"It's easy to do when you aren't paying any attention. What's connected to what?"
"Sandbar has a crush on Ocellus, and I think it has to do with then."
Spike scratched his head. "Then? When was then?"
"I mean... the time we met Sandbar before we made the school."
"Did we meet him before-" Spike gasped. "You mean then? Do you really think he remembers?"
"I don't know. He's not acting like he remembers. At least, he certainly doesn't seem traumatized by it."
"Do you think it was Ocellus?"
"No idea, but I can see if Thorax knows at the festival."
"Oh yeah! The festival! When is that again?"
"It's two weeks from now. I lined it up that way so that the students can relax right after the big tests."
"There's a reason the students love it here."
"There's a reason the Crusaders wanted to go here instead of their normal school."
Twilight and Spike laughed and headed off to handle their duties.