Twilight Sparkle, alumni of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns under Her Majesty‘s own tutelage, three-time savior of Equestria, bare minimum, bearer of the Element of Magic, Princess of Friendship, and Headmare of the School of Friendship, would describe herself as a perfectly simple mare. Never one for frills or pomp and ceremony, she found herself happier in the countrysides of Ponyville than she ever did in the bustling streets and dignified gatherings of her hometown Canterlot. Her preferred means of traveling over long distances were the steamed locomotives rather than golden chariots drawn by legions of armored guards. Of all of the outfits gifted to her, from bridesmaid dresses and gala gowns to the piece she wore for her coronation, her favorite remained the simplest ensemble Rarity had provided (which was her utter most absolute intention, thank you very much) for her birthday, just a standard yellow dress with a pink ribbon as its sole decoration. Her favorite meals were those that could forgo the use of silverware, like sandwiches or tortilla chips doused in melted cheese that left evidence of their presence on her lips and cheeks whenever napkins were unavailable.
What wasn’t simple were her various interests and hobbies that could be summed up vaguely as knowledge gathering, which her office reflected. Shelves adorned every wall, carrying books of every major subject and every other minor subject. A large coffee table held a collection of beakers and flasks and other glassware, each labeled with its name and purpose. Maps of Equestria and its surround kingdoms hung on what empty space was present, and artifacts and baubles from days long gone, some undeniably priceless and others arguably worthless, occupied the shelves where books did not. At the window stood a large, gold-plated telescope with an astronomy guide beside it, and on her desk were several scrolls, some marked with seals that screamed of importance, and various inkwells and quills of differing qualities, from those carefully crafted from pinion feathers of a phoenix to some generously donated during times of emergency by her owl Owlicious.
And then there was the current ring of chairs and those sitting of said chairs that made Twilight Sparkle’s circle of closest confidants and the School of Friendship’s staff of teachers, consisting of a soft-spoken retired model and friend to a somewhat reformed, nigh omnipotent spirit of chaos, a precognitive rock farmer turned fanatic party planner whose antics consistently broke the conventions of currently understood physics and nearly started two wars, a former despot with magical abilities and talents that included, but weren’t limited to, stealing the destinies of others and completely unraveling fate’s design, the only dragon in known existence to have been hatched by pony means and could claim partial responsibility to three interspecies alliances, and a overly confident speedster with a uniquely colored mane even for Equestria along with a penchant for breaking both Wonderbolt records and sound barriers with equal ease currently returning to her seat. A descendant of Ponyville’s founders and owner of nearly every blue ribbon that could be awarded at a rodeo and a fashion-forward designer of dresses, suits, and dragon-stumping disguises with three thriving store locations who was currently panicking internally over the fate of her romantic endeavors with the previously mentioned dragon took their places in the circle, Applejack taking a seat between the speedster with the rainbow mane and the party planner and Rarity sitting besides the former model and the ex-despot. Spike, Rarity noted, sat almost directly across from her, with a feather pen in one claw and a piece of parchment in the other. Catching the unicorn’s eye, Spike smiled and gave her a little wave before turning back to Twilight for instructions.
The headmare nodded and turned to those around her. “Now that everypony’s here, we can begin this weeks staff meeting. Spike, please record the current date and time and mark all as present. First item on the agenda is...”
Rarity tried to peek past the parchment. From what she could see, Spike’s features revealed nothing, no worries or concerns or any other emotion he’d likely harbor had his guardian and occupational superior had told him that the current circumstances would prevent him from acting on his feelings toward a certain fashionista. And Twilight would have most certainly had sat Spike down and explain such already if his and Rarity’s potential relationship broke any regulations, wouldn’t she?
“Next item, I know we’ve received several complaints about the Buckball team tryouts. Rainbow, Applejack, have those been cleared up?”
“Yeah, they’ve been dealt with. Don’t worry about it. Right, Applejack?”
But that would be under the assumption that Twilight would have known about Spike and her in the first place. Twilight wasn’t exactly the most attentive when it came to circulating rumors, but there was always an open ear to her students. Who else had Gallus told, and would any of them have told Twilight? Would Spike have told her? He was with Rarity when she asked Pinkie Pie to delay that congratulatory party she had planned and to keep everything under wraps so he knew there was a need for secrecy.
“So, Twilight, about that cider making club.”
“Well, I’ve done some research, and there’s nothing that says you can’t start one. You’ve got enough interested members, and I like the mission statement.”
“Thanks. Apple Bloom and Rainbow Dash came up with it.”
“Just as long as you know that all club event proceeds have to go back to the club. You can sell the cider they make, but you can’t use the bits for the farm. And their cider has to be sold separate from the cider your family makes.”
Had Spike understood? He had been a tad distracted from the experience, his elation could have clouded his judgment. But had that been the case, wouldn’t he have told everyone and anyone? At the very least, he’d have told the ponies currently present, and Applejack was evidence that he hadn’t. Perhaps Rarity should have pulled him to the side and explained her own thoughts and feelings on the situation to him like she had with Applejack.
“Oh, on a related note, Fluttershy, has Discord mentioned when he wants to schedule Chaos Day this year?”
Spike had just smiled at her, that had to have been a good sign, right? He wouldn’t have smiled if the next step in their relationship was in jeopardy. Or had that smile just been for her benefit, to put her at ease before the bad news? Had her anxiety been visible despite her efforts? Dozens of scenarios and possible explanations, each one less reasonable than the previous, ran through Rarity’s mind as she reviewed what few clues she had. Spike‘s eyes were back on her now. Much of his face was still blocked by that parchment, but it was clear that he was staring at her. Was he trying to tell her something? The staring continued, that had to be a sign, but a sign for what?
And why had the office gone silent?
Rarity tore her eyes off Spike and gave the room a quick glance before coming to the swift realization that Spike wasn’t the only one staring at her. Six additional sets of eyes were upon her, waiting with varying degrees of patience. Embarrassment was slowly replacing her anxiety. She cleared her throat.
“My apologies, my head was elsewhere. What were we discussing just now?”
“Just making sure everypony’s on board with extending office hours as we approach the end of the semester,” Twilight explained. “I know we’ve all got a lot of other responsibilities, but with both the final exam coming up and final papers being due, I’m sure our students would appreciate any additional help from us.”
“Oh, and let Sweetie Belle know too,” Starlight Glimmer added from Rarity’s side. “Sounds like we’ll be needing our best tutors on call.”
Twilight nodded. “Good idea. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, could you do the same with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?”
“Yeah, if you think we need them,” Rainbow Dash answered. She looked to Applejack who nodded in agreement.
“Honestly, it’d be good for Apple Bloom. Can’t quite believe it myself, but the farm ain’t enough to keep her busy for too long.”
Again, everyone turned to Rarity. She nodded as well. “Of course. I’ll be sure to let Sweetie Belle know, and I’m certain I can spare a few hours.”
“Okay, good to hear. Then we can continue to a in-depth review of the lunch menu rotation for the week and analysis of the monthly cafeteria budget. Spike, if you could?”
On Twilight’s cue, Spike removed himself from his seat and made his way behind the large desk just outside of the ring of chairs. He returned with a stand and several rolled up posters. Before long, a massive collage of charts and graphs stood between the dragon and the alicorn, positioned so that all could see. Twilight began to speak, and for a short while, Rarity tried to follow the stream of numbers, technical terms, and a brief summary of Equestria’s federal agriculture department’s stance on the categorization of tomatoes as fruits but only when served unprepared. Soon, however, Rarity’s thoughts returned to the fate of Spike and her relationship, and she would have once again spiraled into a vortex of possibilities, probable and imagined, if it weren’t for a soft jab in her side.
Rarity turned just in time to watch Starlight Glimmer’s foreleg retreat. The reformed dictator and Cutie Mark thief raised an eye brow and gave her fellow unicorn a knowing smirk. “Geez, and I thought Spike was distracted by this development,” she whispered.
“D-Development?” Rarity swallowed and tried to smile back. “I, I’m afraid I don’t follow,” she said, just as quietly.
“Oh, so the two of you aren’t dating?”
“Why does everypony keep using that tense? We haven’t started ye—“ Ever the lady, Rarity swore only in safe confines of her head. The temptation to use coarser language out loud grew at the sight of Starlight growing smugger. “Who told you?”
“No one. Well, not really. See, turns out I’m not just the guidance counselor for students, and recently Spike’s been coming to me with these romantic hypotheticals. You know, bouncing ideas off me for dates and gifts, practicing date proposals, going over proper date etiquette, school rules on workplace relations, that sort of stuff,” Starlight said with a wave. She quickly glanced back at Twilight and the presentation. Twilight had produced a baton and had been pointing at specific points on a scatter line graph. “Anyways, it wasn’t hard putting two and two together, and I figured he finally asked you out by how he was acting a few days ago. He was so distracted, with the stupidest happy look on his face, I think Twilight buried him in dusty books twice without him even noticing.”
“So he didn’t tell you?”
“Nope. I asked him, and the look on his face confirmed everything, but he wouldn’t actually tell me what had happened. Just kept trying to change the subject.” Starlight’s smile wavered. “It’s kind of weird.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. You’d think after dreaming about this moment for so long, yeah apparently he’s dreamt about it, Spike’d be telling everyone and everything, but I don’t think he’s even told Twilight.”
Rarity blinked. “Is that right?”
“Yeah, like I said, weird. And since he wasn’t giving me anything, I thought I’d ask you. So, what’s going on?”
“Now?” Rarity gestured around the room. “In the middle of a meeting?”
“Yes, Rarity? Do you have a question?”
“Oh, oh no,” Rarity quickly assured with a nervous titter. “I was just, stretching. Please continue, Twilight.”
The two waited for Twilight to finish her current point and begin a second before continuing. “It’s complicated,” Rarity whispered. “I’ll tell you later.“
“I’m holding you to it,” Starlight said, though it was apparent she wasn’t entirely satisfied. “But the two of you are dating, right?”
“Later,” Rarity hissed before sighing. Well, at least she learned of the headmare’s ignorance, that was one mystery put to rest, but the crux of the issue remained. Would the School of Friendship allow a romantic relationship between colleagues? Finding no answers within herself, Rarity turned to Starlight, hoping that despite the astronomical odds, the answer could be found written on the unicorn’s face. The answer was obviously absent, but as Rarity considered the unicorn and her words, realization slowly dawned. “Starlight?” she whispered, leaning as close as she could without appearing conspicuous.
“Hmm?”
“You said Spike came to you with questions, correct?”
“Yep.”
“I believe you mentioned something about workplace place relations,” Rarity began. “What did you tell him?”
“Well, we went through Twilight’s book, and there’s nothing that would’ve disallowed any romance among coworkers, just some reminders to keeps things on the level between us and the students,” Starlight explained. “I also went through the EEA regulations, and those kind of relationships are discouraged but not outright banned, as long as you can keep things professional on school grounds. Relationships between faculty members I mean,” she swiftly added. “Romance between students and teachers are definitely a no according to the EEA.”
“You’re sure?”
“Have you been reading smut with school settings? I know how you get with books you like, but if you’re planning on enacting some scene from, I don’t know, Teacher, Please—“
“How do you even know what that, no, of course not. I meant about between coworkers.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, sure, like I told Spike, he’s free to date you all he likes, as long as you say yes,” Starlight Glimmer assured, her eyebrows waggling. “So, does that mean—“
“I said later,” Rarity whispered just as Twilight lowered her baton and turned to the rest of the room with a proud beam.
“So, I know this is all very exciting and quite a lot to take in, so if there are any questions please don’t hesitate to ask,” she said. Her smile faltered as silence answered her, quickly growing uncomfortable as time passed.
At last, the silence was broken as Spike cleared his throat. “I think we should move on to the last item on the agenda.”
Twilight sighed. “I suppose we should. We still need to come up with a way to celebrate our graduates.”
“What, you mean the graduation ceremony? I thought that was all figured out,” Rainbow Dash said.
“It is, but the ceremony is for everyone. Friends, family, representatives, they’re all going to be there, and it’s going to be a pretty serious event,” explained Twilight. “I was talking to Pinkie Pie, and she was right. The graduates could use something that’s just for them, so they can celebrate their accomplishments themselves, in a less formal setting.”
“Wait, does that mean—“
“That still doesn’t mean party cannons will be allowed at the graduation ceremony,” Twilight quickly added. Pinkie Pie sunk back in her seat, somewhat deflated. “Oh, and on a related note, we still haven’t heard from Star Swirl yet, so we might need to find another speaker.”
“So kind of like a reward or something like that for all their hard work,” Applejack said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I can get behind that. Anything in mind?”
“It’s got to be something big,” Rainbow Dash declared. “Like, what about a road trip to Las Pegasus? Now that sounds awesome.”
“It also sounds expensive,” Starlight said. “Maybe it were just a few creatures, but I doubt we have the budget to take the entire graduating class all the way to Las Pegasus.”
“And we’d have to send out new permission slips,” Twilight added. “The current ones on file only cover field trips that are a couple of days long at most, and just getting there would take nearly an entire day.”
“A party’s always nice,” Fluttershy suggested. “We could have one outside in the courtyard where there’s plenty of space.”
“Eh, I don’t know.” Pinkie Pie’s statement drew everyone’s attention and dropped more than one jaw. “I’ve already got a party planned for once final exams are all over, a party for when the final grades are out, Cranky Doodle and Matilda’s anniversary celebration, Cheerilee’s get-well-soon party, the opening for the refurbished town hall, and maybe a super secret congratulations-you-two-are-finally-dating-hopefully-it-works-out-and-if-not-hopefully-your-friendship-will-survive party for a pony and a dragon we may or may not know,” the party planner listed, tapping her hooves together. “And that’s not even including all of the birthdays or the post-graduation ceremony party I’ve got planned for everyone. It’s going to be a pretty party packed couple of months, and I’m not saying we can’t have another one, just that I’m kind of sort of might not have enough confetti, streamers, and balloons, especially if we want this to be the big celebration our students deserve.”
“Can’t we, I don’t know, have a party without confetti, streamers, and balloons?” Spike asked.
Pinkie Pie gasped. “Are you loco?” The rest of the room was treated to the rare sight of a pony staring down a dragon as they stood inches from each other. “What kind of party doesn’t have a confetti, streamers, and balloons?”
“A gala.”
“Exactly. A no fun, super boring, completely depressing gathering parading in the skin of a party, like a piñata made of mud and briar stuffed with the broken dreams of starry-eyed partygoers. Thank you, Starlight.”
“No, I meant we could have a gala,” Starlight said. “The Grand Galloping Gala is in a few months, and I’m sure some of the students from the graduating class are pretty excited about it. Now obviously we can’t take them to the biggest night of the year, but maybe we can have a little something like that here.”
“Starlight, you know the Grand Galloping Gala is terrible, right?” Rainbow Dash said. “Like, terrible with a capital T.”
“And I thought we were going for a less formal sort of setting,” Applejack added. “Fancy dresses and slow music don’t exactly scream less formal.”
“So we make it less terrible and less formal,” Starlight argued. “I mean, most of why the Grand Galloping Gala is like that is because of the ponies involved. That’s the kind of thing the organizers and the guests want.”
“A gala does carry more of an air of prominence than just another party, regardless of formality.” Rarity considered aloud. “It would satisfy the need for something big.”
“Hold on, don’t it take the Grand Galloping Gala a good part of the year to set up?” Applejack questioned. “We going to have enough time to get this all ready?”
“Of course we—“
“Without some spell that messes with time?” the farmer added.
Starlight rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure if we all pitch in a little, we’ll be able to have a gala ready in time without the need of time manipulation. We’re not dealing with the Grand Galloping Gala, we’re dealing with a school dance, which I’m sure the eight of us can handle.”
Twilight watched as slowly those around her began to nod their agreement. “Are there any other suggestions?” she asked. Seeing none, she continued, turning to Spike who nodded.
“Alright,” the dragon began, “then all in favor of Starlight’s impromptu gala—“
“Ooh, I like that word,” Pinkie Pie interjected. “Let’s call it that.”
“What, gala?” Spike asked.
“No, impromptu. Impromptu. Imp. Prompt. Prom. Ooh, can we call it a prom?”
Spike looked to Twilight and the rest of the ponies around him who could only offer him shrugs. “Okay, all in favor of having a prom for our very first graduating class, say aye.”
He received a loud chorus of affirmation as a reply. “Well, guess that’s everything,” he concluded, rolling up the parchment. “So, I guess we just have work out the details and—“
“Ahem?”
Spike turned and released a sigh once he noticed the look Twilight had given him. “All opposed, say nay.”
Only silence answered him. The scroll unraveled, and he begrudgingly scratched down a few more notes. “We’ll work out the details at a later time,” Twilight informed those before her. “But I think we have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Pinkie, could we talk later? I’m sure you already have some ideas on how to make this gala not horrible.”
“Prom,” Pinkie Pie corrected.
“Right. Fluttershy, could you let Discord know?“
“Discord?” Fluttershy repeated, vocalizing everyone’s surprise. “Of course, if that’s what you want.”
“You sure it’s a good idea to have Discord around for something so important?” Inquired Rainbow.
“He does have a habit of ruining galas,” Applejack agreed.
“Prom,” Pinkie immediately interjected.
“It’d be a bad idea not to include Discord on this,” Twilight asserted. “Imagine the chaos he‘d create if he discovered we left him out of another event and he decided to just show up uninvited the night of the gala, er, prom.”
“Yeah, I’m with Twilight on this one,” Starlight Glimmer said with a nod. “At least this way, if we give him something to do, we can keep an eye on him.”
“Hey, Twilight?” Spike pointed to the clock on the wall. “We need to wrap up.”
Twilight grimaced as she noted how far the clock hands had moved. “Right, right. We’ll talk later. Meeting adjourned.” And with that, all dispersed and headed to their respective classes, leaving behind an empty office, if one were to disregard the chairs and all of the headmare’s various knickknacks.