//------------------------------//
// Chapter 173: First Day of Class 
// Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Weeks and then months passed in the blink of an eye. The school was built a short ways away from the castle in Ponyville. In fact it was built into a mountain side with a beautiful waterfall cascading down it. And the path to the school was lined by small stones and tiles.

The school itself was a massive two story structure, complete with an observatory from which one could watch any approaching visitors if they so chose to do so.

"Isn't it wonderful, Shining?" Twilight smiled one morning. "At long last my dream is a reality! This school of friendship is going to help so many creatures from all walks of life."

"I'm sure it will, Twilight, I'm sure it," Shining nodded before he let out a sigh. "I wish I could be here to help the first day run smoothly, especially with Chancellor Neighsay planning to visit. If I didn't know better I'd swear he knew the first day would fall on Friends and Family Day."

Twilight turned to her big brother. "Are you sure you can't stay? Even just for a little bit?"

"Sadly I can't. Just last night there was an anonymous tip brought to Princess Celestia's attention. Apparently Chrysalis has been sighted somewhere near the border between Southern Equestria and the bad lands. With all the other nations leaders arriving with their students, none of them can drop what they're doing to come help," The prince remarked. "And until a location has been determined they're not going to commit troops to what could be a wild goose chase. So as usual it falls to me to determine if Chrysalis is indeed out there, and if so I have to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone until reinforcements can arrive to subdue her."

"Please promise you'll keep in touch," Twilight pleaded. "You came close to death once before at the paws of the Storm King. I don't think I could take another scare."

Shining just laughed. "Twily, relax. I'll be careful. And if all goes well I should be back by the end of the week, hopefully with Chrysalis in tow. You can manage the school without me. After all, you've already got all the positions filled."

"Most of our friends needed no convincing, they were eager to help," Twilight replied with a nod. "Cheerilee sadly couldn't serve as a teacher here, she has her own students to take care of. But she agreed to be at the top of the substitutes list, same goes for Mayor Mare. The only real snag was the vice principal or vice headmare in this case. I was gonna offer it to Starlight but she refused, said she wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility. Spike didn't want it either but he agreed to be acting vice headmare until we get that position filled full time. I was thinking maybe Tempest but I haven't heard from her at all. Have you?"

Shining shook his head. "Not a word. I just hope that wherever she is she's doing alright for herself," Then after sharing a hug with his sister he told her. "Well, I'd better get going. Best of luck on the first day of school, Twily!"

"Am I going to need it. This school's about to be up to its neck in students." Twilight thought to herself and trotted inside.





In the main hallway of the school, all the teachers were gathered: Big Macintosh, Thunderlane, Fluttershy, Fancy Pants, Pinkie Pie, Granny Smith, Mrs. Cake, Cranky Doodle Donkey, and Trixie. Spike and Starlight were there too.

"Good, everyone's here!" Twilight beamed. "Before the students arrive, I just want to thank you all again for agreeing to be teachers here. I know some of you had your concerns, but I think for right now we should be able to handle everything. Just remember that if we want EEA accreditation, we need to ensure that this school is in compliance with EEA guidelines."

Pinkie raised a hoof. "Does this mean no party cannons in class?"

"And no magic fireworks? Not that Trixie would bring them to a school mind you. In fact, forget the magic fireworks part, you heard nothing." Trixie not so innocently insisted.

Mrs. Cake couldn't help but be alarmed a little. "Goodness, I certainly hope you two didn't even think of bringing those things here. You could cause an accident, and with all these students the last thing we need is to start a panic."

"Exactly," Twilight firmly declared. "So exny on the cannons and fireworks, at least within the classrooms. Save them for the celebration we'll throw once the school is EEA accredited."

"Hey, don't forget about us!" A chorus of familiar young voices cried out. And in the blink of an eye four easily recognizable young ponies with matching cutie marks came rushing up! Accompanying them was an equally familiar filly with a pink (magenta if you wanted to be precise) coat, not to mention a distinctive headgear. It was the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Rumble, and their new honorary member Diamond Tiara.

"Well well, what are you little ponies doing here?" Fancy Pants commented with a light chuckle. "Shouldn't you all be in school?"

"It's okay, Twilight specifically sent for us!" Apple Bloom eagerly explained.

Twilight nodded and turned to the others. "They came to me a while back asking if they could enroll here at this school. Unfortunately, I told them they're already pretty much masters of friendship and there's not much I can teach them here that they don't already know," She explained. "So after they begged and pleaded with me, I decided to hire them on as friendship counselors. I figured that as guidance counselor Starlight would appreciate the extra hooves."

"And when the Crusaders told me about their plans, they also revealed that they'd gotten me hired as well!" Diamond happily explained. "Finally I have an excuse... I mean reason to get out of the house and do something without Mother getting suspicious."

"We already made friends with one of the new students too!" Scootaloo eagerly replied as she buzzed her wings. "His name's Sandbar and we were just showing him around."

Sweetie Belle massaged the back of her neck with a hoof. "This school looked a lot smaller on the outside. So we might have gotten him a teensy bit lost."

"What are you talking about, girls? I've been following you the whole time. I'm just not as fast a trotter." Came a reply. And then who should come trotting up to the group but an earth pony colt who seemed to be roughly the CMC's age (or maybe a bit younger)? He had a pale grayish-yellow coat that looked like sand on the beach, light sea green eyes, a shaggy mane and tail that was a two shaded blueish-green in color, and a cutie mark depicting three turtles.

Twilight smiled, extending a hoof. "You must be Sandbar, it's a pleasure to meet you. Glad to see you're already making friends."

"Making friends with ponies is easy, it's what we ponies do best," Sandbar admitted with a smile. "But is true what I'm hearing? Is this school really gonna have other creatures in it too? Because that's gonna be so awesome if it is! Though I'm not sure if I'll get along with them, I don't know the first thing about changelings or dragons or any creatures that aren't ponies."

"Well you needn't worry," Mrs. Cake reassured the colt. "A lot of these other creatures have never seen ponies before. That's what the whole purpose of this school is, for you to all get to know each other and become friends."

Sandbar simply replied. "Sounds cool I guess. It'll be nice to meet new friends. And uh... don't tell anyone but my cousin Feather Bangs is kind of hoping I'll hit it off with one of the ladies if you know what I mean."

"Easy, casanova. Don't get ahead of yourself," Big Macintosh cautioned. "There'll be plenty of time for romance once you're all settled in. But you shouldn't be in a rush to get into a relationship, you're only young once."

Twilight then clapped her hooves. "Alright, that's enough of that. Sandbar, you and the CMC can wait at the front door for the other students. Be on your best behavior. And remember, some of these creatures might be a little shy, so don't try to put them on the spot."





Soon, everyone in the school had gathered at the front door. When the bell rang, the doors swung open and a whole host of creatures came flooding in! The hallway was soon full of young ponies, changelings, yaks, dragons, griffons, and hippogriffs.

It wasn't long before some of the students began to make themselves known. The first of them was a female yak with moderate olive eyes and pink bows in her long, flowing hair. "Oh boy! Yak can't wait to meet ponies, and tell all about Yakyakistan! Come to yak, ponies!" She shouted as she ran about the place. Unfortunately, her long hair proved to be a hazard to her as it caused her to trip and tumble. She wasn't hurt though (and thanks to some quick reacting from Pinkie Pie, nothing had been broken or knocked over).

Pinkie Pie greeted the cheerful young yak. "Hello stranger! Are you Yona, the yak Prince Rutherford said he was bringing to the school?"

The yak nodded. "Yes, I am Yona Yak! Finest young yak of my kind! Prince Rutherford say so! Yona honored to represent Yakyakistan here in Ponyville."

"And we're honored to have you here, Yona," Pinkie Pie smiled. "I can't wait until you're in my class. We can share stories about Yakyakistan."

"Pony been to Yakyakistan before?" Yona questioned. "But Yona thought ponies never travel to Yakyakistan."

Pinkie giggled. "How else do you think yours truly became pen pals with Prince Rutherford? I'd love to tell you all about it but time is short. Lots of students to greet and barely any time to greet 'em! Gotta go!"

Yona (with a confused look on her face) walked away. Meanwhile, Ember was dragging a dragon only slightly smaller than herself into the school. Said dragon had orange scales and wings, moderate orchid spines, and moderate cyan eyes.

"For the last time, you have to be here!" Ember groaned. "Quit being so stubborn!"

"But Ember, I don't wanna go to this lame pony school!" The other dragon protested. "I'm tired of you always making decisions for me. I don't need friends."

Ember snorted. "I don't care what you say. You're gonna go to this school, make some friends, learn about friendship, and you're going to like it. You were the only dragon available who could attend this school."

"'Cause all the other dragons backed out." The orange scaled dragon whined.

Spike walked up, eyeing the newcomer. "Hey, you look like Scootaloo if she was a dragon."

"I don't know who this Scootaloo is you speak of, but I doubt she's at all like me," The other dragon retorted. "And not that it's any of your business but I have a name. Just call me Smolder."

Spike offered a claw. "Well it's nice to meet you, Smolder. But take my advice, lose that attitude of yours. It's a lot easier to make friends when you're not acting all tough and distant."

Smolder just shrugged her claws. "Gotta be tough to be a dragon, especially once you get your wings and your parents tell you you're on your own," She yawned a bit. "Honestly, I'm only doing this because Dragon Lord Ember's been so nice to me. I don't see what a dragon like me needs friends for."

Spike just rolled his eyes. "I guess you haven't been told how Ember became dragon lord in the first place."

Meanwhile, Scootaloo came rushing by and happened to glance upon Smolder. "Whoa, so cool! You could practically pass for my twin sister! Well, you know, aside from being a dragon and all," She offered a hoof. "Name's Scootaloo. Hi."

Smolder responded simply by breathing fire.

"Smolder! That wasn't nice! You don't torch ponies!" Ember scolded.

But Scootaloo (who had ducked the blast) simply replied with her eyes widened. "That was so awesome! I wish I could breath fire like that."

Smolder groaned. "I don't need you getting attached to me, kid. A dragon like me is too cool to be seen around a pony pipsqueak like you."

"Hey! I'm not a pipsqueak! I'm actually taller than most fillies my age." Scootaloo lied (in truth she was no taller than any of her classmates, except for Pipsqueak of course).

"Whatever. I'm out of here." Smolder retorted and walked away.

As Smolder walked off, a white feathered griffon with brown wings was escorting a blue feathered griffon with a light yellow underbelly, hints of green on the top of its head, moderate cerulean wings, and moderate azure eyes. "Now Gallus," The white feathered griffon told the blue feathered one. "I know you don't really want to be here. But take it from a griffon who used to think the same way you did, ponies are totally radical and worth your time. Same goes for other creatures. So you be nice and stay out of trouble. I ain't running a babysitting service you know."

Gallus just sighed. "I know, Gilda. You've told me like a dozen times already."

Diamond Tiara approached Gallus. "Hello there. Gallus, is it? I'm Diamond Tiara, and on behalf of Headmare Twilight I want to welcome you to the School of Friendship!"

"You ponies have weird names," Gallus retorted. "Why do they always seem to be two word names? All us griffons just have one word names and we're fine with it," Then he sighed. "But I'm here anyways, so what do you care?"

Diamond paused. "Hey, what's with the mood change all of a sudden? I don't like it. It reminds me of the way I used to be, and I don't ever want to be reminded of that." She shivered and shuddered at the mental image she conjured up.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Gallus apologized. "I'm just not really sure a guy like me is capable of learning about friendship. Alongside Gabby, Gilda here's the only one who'll even notice me. But hey, I'm used to it."

Tiara offered a hoof. "You don't have to be like that all the time, Gallus. Seems like this school could be just the thing for you to snap out of your funk."

Gallus seemed to smile. "I guess it can't hurt to mingle a little. Beats being back home in Griffonstone, helping Gabby deliver mail or helping Gilda bake scones all day long."

Just then, a sharp cry of joy split the air! "Oh my gosh! Everything here is so cool! So this is what it's like to be on land all day long!" Everyone's attention turned to a light grayish-pink coated bird/pony hybrid creature with a light blue and light grayish-blue mane and tail, and moderate blue violet eyes. Accompanying the creature were two creatures of similar appearance. One was about the same size, but had an apple greenish white coat, a moderate cyan and pale turqouise mane and tail, and moderate cyan eyes. While the other was a taller creature with a pale, light grayish-indigo coat, a light and pale opal mane and tail, and light aquamarine eyes.

The first of the creatures was staring at a grayish-green coated changeling with moderate cyan eyes, a glossy light pink mane, and wings a beautiful two shaded red that were currently tucked to the sides. "Is that a changeling?! I always though they were just urban legends, and I thought they were black!"

"Sis, will you stop staring at the changeling?" The greenish white coated creature protested. "I think you're scaring it."

Twilight approached the small group, offering a greeting. "Ah, you must be Silverstream and Terramar, Queen Novo's niece and nephew. And I see you've already met Ocellus."

The remaining unidentified creature stepped forward, speaking in a posh tone. "Princess Twilight, I presume. I am General Seaspray of her majesty Queen Novo's royal navy. I have taken the liberty of escorting her niece and nephew here to your school today. Queen Novo sends her sincerest apologies at not being able to come herself, but she is currently stricken with flu and cannot attend."

"I'm Silverstream by the way!" The pink feathered hippogriff spoke up. "And the greenish-white hippogriff you see here is my brother, Terramar! He's loads of fun!"

Terramar waved a claw. "Um, hello. Sorry about my sister, she's pretty excited if you couldn't tell. Doesn't take much to get her wound up."

"Oh that's okay. Her enthusiasm is definitely welcome," Twilight smiled. "Though Ocellus probably isn't in the mood for making friends right now."

"She really isn't. It's her first time outside the hive," Thorax spoke up. "Just give her time though, she'll come round."

Ocellus nodded and briefly commented. "It's... nice to see you all, I think. Just so you know, any rumors you may have heard about me are totally exaggerated, or whatever."





Twilight then trotted to the front of the crowd, drawing everyone's attention. "Thank you all for coming, everyone. This really means a lot to me. But I've always said from the beginning that the goal is to make a difference in the lives of young creatures," Then with a smile she declared. "Now, if you'll all get in line, you'll receive your schedule. For the first day of class you'll have our very talented friendship counselors to help show you the way. Just remember, if you have any problems or questions, your professors are here to help. And so am I."

The students began to line up, Twilight smiling at how well everything was going. "Now to deal with Chancellor Neighsay. Gonna have to break the news to him gently about the true nature of this school." She thought.

Fortunately, the chancellor hadn't arrived yet and it had said he would show up in a place with as few students as possible to ensure he wouldn't cause a scene. So Twilight rushed to the designated meeting spot, hoping to be there before him and greet him whenever he chose to arrive.

In the center of the school was a small courtyard that connected the classrooms to the dorms. And just after Twilight arrived there, a huge portal surrounded by a blue flame appeared. Emerging from it was a tall, lanky unicorn stallion clad in a dark red robe. He had a very light grayish-white coat, a dark gray mane and tail, and stern moderate turquoise eyes. In the light tangelo glow of his magic, he held a clipboard. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight Sparkle to be precise," He spoke in that almost unnerving tone of his. "As head of the EEA, it is my duty to observe any such schools that apply for EEA accreditation."

Twilight nodded. "Of course, Chancellor Neighsay. I am honored to have you here, and I hope everything will be to your expectations."

"Indeed let us hope so, for your sake," Neighsay commented as he wrote down some notes. "You may be the sister of a prince, and the sister-in-law of another, but even you are not above the EEA's jurisdiction or authority. If I find your school to be lacking in the proper ways, I will not hesitate to render my verdict and shudder this school. So far I can safely say that the school is visually pleasing, but in my line of work looks can and often are deceiving."

Twilight bowed her head. "Don't worry, Chancellor, I'm very certain you won't be disappointed. Please follow me."

The chancellor nodded even as he replied. "You'd better not waste my time, princess. I have little patience for those who think they can outsmart me. And in this line of work, I can be either your greatest ally or your worst enemy. And suffice it when i say, you don't want me as your enemy."

"Duly noted." Twilight gulped and started to think to herself. "How am I gonna break the news to him that this school isn't for defense but for friendship? I just hope my friends can keep everything running smoothly, and that none of the students decide now would be a good time to play pranks."