//------------------------------// // Recruiting in Yakyakistan // Story: School Recruitment // by Calliope Pony //------------------------------// Pinkie Pie bounced into Yakyakistan wearing her official honorary yak horns on her head and her official ambassador ribbon over her heart. She didn't have to search for Prince Rutherford. He was standing in the town square, and she sped over to greet him. "Prince Rutherford!" "AH! YAK HAPPY TO SEE PINK PONY! HORN BUMP!" They bumped horns. The force knocked Pinkie to the ground. "Eh heh heh. Maybe I'll leave the horns in the balloon for a while. They are really heavy." "Pony head is very small," Prince Rutherford remarked gravely. "Not big and strong like yak head." "Right." Pinkie dashed out to her balloon, stowed the horns away, and zipped back. "There we go. I'll just wear the horns for special occasions." "That is smart decision. Now tell Yak, why Pink Pony visit?" "Pink Pony has exciting news for Yak! Pony Princess wants to invite yak students to attend a new school in Equestria! It'll teach all about the Magic of Friendship!" Pinkie pulled a brochure from her mane and held it out for Prince Rutherford to see. The prince didn't seem very interested as he gave the brochure a cursory glance. "Feh! That is pony school. Yaks have best school. Yak school teaches all sorts of important lessons: yak history, cooking yak recipes, yak music, special stomping techniques. Yaks not need pony school." "That does all sound super interesting, Prince Rutherford! I would love to see a yak school!" "Pink Pony come. Yak will show why yak school is best." Prince Rutherford led the way through the winding streets of Yakyakistan. He stopped in front of a large building. "This is yak school! All yak calves come here to learn everything they need to know to grow up as strong, proud yaks!" Stepping inside, Pinkie saw that the building was divided into smaller areas inside. At the first room they looked in to see a group of very young yaks practicing their smashing techniques on small sticks. "Yak must use whole body, not just leg," the yak teacher corrected one of the calves. "Throw weight into it!" The little yak reared back and brought its whole weight down on the middle of the stick. The dry wood split apart with  a sharp snap. "Very good! Yak shows much improvement!" The teacher patted the little yak on the head. The calf beamed with pride. Further along they passed a room where slightly older calves were taking turns reciting a story. They stopped to listen. Yeti swiped its long, sharp claws Through the cape Yak's wife had made Yeti opened slobbering jaws But brave yak fighter was not afraid Yak dodged fangs in his torn cape Yeti fell with thunderous crash Now yeti foe could not escape From yak fighter's mighty smash! A tear rolled down Prince Rutherford's cheek. "Yak loves this story. Was favorite bedtime story when Yak was a calf." "It's very exciting!" Pinkie pulled a box of popcorn out of her mane and munched on it as she heard how the yak warrior vanquished the yeti and was celebrated by his village. Next they visited a kitchen where calves were baking cakes. A yak teacher carefully supervised them as they measured out the ingredients. When they saw Prince Rutherford and Pinkie Pie the calves offered them samples of their work. Pinkie gulped down a small cake with gusto. "Mmmm! It's delicious!" Prince Rutherford chewed his deliberately before making a solemn pronouncement. "Is very good, but Yak must learn not to be so heavy with the vanilla extract. Proper flavor balance is very important." "Yak will do better next time!" The calf promised Prince Rutherford cheerfully. "Good! Yak will make us proud!" The prince nodded approvingly at the calf. After the baking class they came to a room with tables full of yarn, cord, and ribbons. Here adolescent yaks were divided into pairs and were practicing braiding different patterns in each other's hair. They entered the room, and Prince Rutherford led Pinkie over to meet a young female yak who was weaving colored ribbons into her partner's hair. "Pink Pony, this is Yona: top yak student! She is top of her class in smashing, music, and hair braiding. See five-strand braid with ribbons. Is perfectly even! Well done, Yona!" "Thank you! Yak proud of braiding!" Yona gave them a broad smile. "Wow!" Pinkie examined the braid in Yona's partner's hair. "That's amazing! We don't have anything like this at our school!" "Your school?" asked Yona. "Pink Pony has come to ask for yak students to go to pony school," Prince Rutherford explained. "We show her why yak school is better than pony school." "Yak school is best!" Yona asserted confidently. Then she thought for a moment before asking, "What is pony school like?" "Pony school is awesome!" cried Pinkie. "This is a school of friendship. It's a place for ponies and yaks and lots of other creatures to come together and learn about friendship and have fun and throw parties and eat cake and teach each other about different cultures!" "Teach about cultures? Ponies want to learn from Yona?" Yona seemed surprised. "Yup! Other creatures will learn from you, and you'll learn about their cultures from them. That way everycreature will learn a whole lot of things they didn't know before! And then we'll all be best friends!" Yona thought carefully before replying. "Yona would like to teach other creatures about all wonderful things in yak culture. And would be interesting to see how ponies are different." She turned to look inquisitively at Prince Rutherford. "What Prince think?" Prince Rutherford made a great show of giving weighty consideration to the matter. "Yak say… is good idea. Yona teach other creatures about yak culture. Yona be yak representative at pony school." Yona bowed respectfully to him. "Yak proud to represent yaks in foreign country." Pinkie gasped and grabbed a hooful of ribbons from the table. Before they could ask what she was doing she tied them into a decorative bow similar to the one she wore. "Here!" she exclaimed. "When Twilight appointed me official friendship ambassador to the yaks she gave me this ribbon. Now that you're the official yak representative to the ponies you can have one just like it!" She fastened it on Yona's chest. "We can be ribbon buddies!" Prince Rutherford nodded. "Yak will wear pony ribbon for special occasions, when Pink Pony wear yak horns." "Okie-dokie-lokie! You're going to have so much fun at school!"