//------------------------------//
// S8 E14: A Matter of Principals (What If?) 
// Story: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 8 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

In the classroom she often used for her lectures, Twilight had called all the students together for an important announcement as she opened up a treasure chest. "Alright, students. Can anyone tell me what these are?" She asked, as she floated out six objects that no one had ever seen before.

"Shiny!" Yona commented. "Yak love shiny things!"

"They must be valuable treasures!" Smolder declared. "How much do you think they're worth, Sandbar?"

Sandbar shot back a confused look. "Don't look at me, I've never seen them before in my life. Have any of you?"

Ocellus shot up a leg as she answered. "I have!" When Twilight looked at her she answered. "They're all legendary magical artifacts!"

Gallus turned to the changeling. "Hey, how did you know that? I mean... I was gonna say the same thing but I just wanted to see if anyone else knew what they were."

Ocellus blushed and gave a nervous laugh. "W-well, let's just say I read ahead in Equestrian Cultures and Camaraderie: Volume Seven. Couldn't help myself, it was a real page turner."

Twilight smiled. "You're right about these objects, Ocellus. They are indeed magical artifacts! Not just any artifacts though, these artifacts are some of the rarest in all the world," She floated each object in front of the students one by one. "This is the Amulet of Aurora, the Talisman of Mirage, the Helm of Yksler, the Crown of Grover, Knuckerbocker's Shell, and Clover the Clever's Cloak."

Spike declared. "And the amulet's made of real gems from old times. Even dragon teeth won't put a dent in them. I should know, I've got the dental bill to prove it. So no, Smolder, it's not your next meal."

Smolder snorted and breathed smoke. "I only took a bite of Twilight's castle one time. I said I was sorry."

Twilight coughed into a hoof, eager to change the subject. "If I could get back to where I left off: Princess Celestia gifted these to our school from the Canterlot Archives, since they each represent one of the cultures our students come from. And we'll all learn more about the individual artifacts during our upcoming scavenger hunt! Or as I like to call it 'The Great Spellvenger Hunt'!"

"Is that a pony thing?" Smolder asked Sandbar. "Adding pony prefixes to stuff?"

Sandbar shrugged his hooves. "Search me. Just because I'm a pony doesn't mean I know everything about our customs. I still have trouble finding my way around Ponyville."

"To answer your question, Smolder," Twilight spoke up. "'Spellvenger Hunt' is a term I made up to describe the nature of your scavenger hunt. It's not an ordinary scavenger hunt, it's a magical scavenger hunt. Spike and I will hide these artifacts somewhere within the school. Each of you will then work in pairs to try to find where in the school said artifacts are hidden. Fair warning, it will be difficult."

"To help you out, each group will get clues. But you'll have to figure out what they mean on your own," Spike added. "And the team that finds the most artifacts wins a private tour of the Canterlot Archives with Princess Celestia, as well as five extra credit points for each member. So do your best!"

Silverstream could hardly contain her excitement! "Oh goody! My very first scavenger hunt on land! Terramar and I used to do scavenger hunts underwater, but all we ever found was shells and the occasional starfish," Then she let out an excited squeal! "Learning and fun?! Does it get any better than that?!"

Gallus ribbed the hippogriff as he teased. "Easy there, Silverstream. You've been underwater a long time, haven't you?"

"Congratulations, Gallus!" Twilight declared as she eyed the griffon. "It sounds like you and Silverstream will be our first pair!"

"What?! You've gotta be kidding me! I get stuck with her?!" Gallus protested.

Silverstream only squealed again and nuzzled close to the griffon. "Oh come on, you big silly goose. You were hoping we'd get paired up, because you like me."

"I do not!" Gallus protested as he waved a claw. "I mean, I do as a friend. But I like all my friends equally."

"Hey, as long as I'm not paired up with her, I'm not complaining," Smolder commented. "Honestly, I'll probably carry whoever my partner is. I'm cool like that."

Spike grinned. "Then you won't object to Ocellus being your partner. Between her book smarts and your field smarts, the two of you will make quite a pair," Then he added. "And Yona and Sandbar, the two of you will be Team Number Three."

Yona rushed over and hugged Sandbar tightly! "Yona thrilled to be working with pony! Sandbar so nice to her."

"Yona! Can't breath!" Sandbar squeaked out. Yona blushed as she ended the hug, the yak still didn't quite know her own strength.

"I've got a full list of all the pairs for the hunt in my office," Twilight spoke up as she drew attention back to herself. "If you have any questions or concerns, come and see me after class," Just then, everyone in the room gasped! "What?" The young alicorn asked as the students all seemed to stare at her.

"Um, why headmare glowing?" Yona innocently inquired.

Smolder gasped! "It must be the call of the dragon lord! Dragon Lord Ember and Headmare Twilight are best buds!"

Spike shook his head. "It's not that, Smolder. Twilight, would you care to explain?" But when the dragon turned back to look, he noticed that Twilight had already left the room. "Twilight?" He called in concern even though he knew where she was going.

Twilight teleported right to the throne room and was surprised to see Rarity already there, her cutie mark glowing as well.

"Oh, Twilight, thank goodness you're here!" Rarity exclaimed! "I was starting to worry that I might have to go on the friendship mission without you!"

"Rarity, don't be silly, you know how these things work! It's like I told Fluttershy 'Flanks don't lie.'," Twilight scolded with a shake of her head. "So where are we going?"

Rarity smiled. "Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, the map is calling us to Canterlot!"

"And the bad news?" Twilight pondered.

Rarity held up a flyer depicting a building Twilight didn't recognize. "It's to a recently established rival to your school," The fashionista explained. "Hope you've got someone to take your place, we're probably going to be gone for quite a while."



As it turned out, Twilight did indeed have a plan in place for if she was ever to be called away by the map. She immediately teleported into Starlight's office, catching her former student by surprise as the unicorn was in the middle of reorganizing her shelf!

"Twilight, don't scare me like that!" Starlight protested, before her wandering moderate persian blue eyes noticed the glowing cutie mark of her former mentor. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant. "The map's calling, huh? Sure picked a heck of a time to do it."

"Well I can't control how the map works," Twilight gave a nervous laugh. "But I can control who I leave in charge of the school. I know we never really finalized it, but you said you were looking for something to do since there didn't seem to be much of a need for a guidance counselor."

Starlight gulped and seemed to sweat a little bit. "Y-yeah, when I said I wanted something to do, I obviously didn't mean being put in charge of an entire school while you were away. Remember what happened the last time you left me to my own devices?"

Twilight nodded. "I remember that. And I also seem to remember you leading a rescue operation into the changeling hive, without the aid of your magic I might add. If you still doubt yourself, you really shouldn't," And she then pleaded. "Please, Starlight! I'm desperate! I can't leave just anyone in charge, I don't need Chancellor Neighsay gaining another 'excuse' to go after my school! You're a good leader and an expert in friendship. I trust you to run this school exactly as I would. So that makes you the perfect choice!"

"Not sure if I'd say 'perfect'." Starlight nervously answered.

"Relax, all the files you'll need are in my office," Twilight explained to Starlight. "I've even planned out things 'til the end of this semester, and the end of next semester."

The unicorn became alarmed! "You're not gonna be gone that long, are you?! The school won't be the same without you!"

The alicorn replied with a smile. "I'm sure I won't be gone anywhere close to a month, probably won't even take a day. But I'm not taking any chances. Something else could come up," She whispered under her breath. "Don't tell any of the students about this, but apparently there's a new school that just opened up. It claims it can teach friendship in the half time as 'unspecified competitors'. It'll probably require a thorough investigation on top of whatever the friendship problem is," And then in a normal tone of voice she concluded. "Besides, I always like to be prepared."

"I don't know about this, Twilight. Seems like an awfully big responsibility you're entrusting to me." Starlight gulped again.

"Good thing you won't have to do it alone," Twilight added. "I almost forgot to mention Spike! Anything that isn't covered in my files, he'll be able to help you with. Just try not to get into your usual 'sibling squabbles'."

Starlight groaned. "Spike knows you better than I do, why not put him in charge? I'm sure he'd love it!"

"I offered the post first, he said he didn't want it," Twilight explained. "I think he got his fill of leadership filling in for me at the royal summit a few years back. It was before you became my student."

Starlight remarked. "As I was about to say 'I'm gonna pretend that made sense.'," Then she replied to Twilight. "Well, I guess if you're sure it's what you really want, I promise I won't let you down."

"Excellent! I knew I could count on you." Twilight told Starlight and then departed from the office with another flick of her horn.

It didn't take long for Starlight to regret her decision. "What have I gotten myself into?" She thought out loud, before she sighed. "I just can't say no to Twilight, can I? Well, might as well find Spike and pick up where Twilight left off." All the while she was thinking in her mind. "I hope Twilight solves that friendship problem and comes back soon. I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle the students and do the scavenger hunt the way you want it."





Starlight found Spike in the classroom Twilight usually occupied, it had long since become void of students. The dragon rushed up to Starlight with a smile. "I knew Twilight would have everything covered," He eagerly commented. "Don't worry, I promise I'll keep the jokes to a minimum. I know you'll be needing my help."

"Last chance to change your mind. The job's all yours if you want it," Starlight offered. "You're a big boy now."

"Yeah, but you're an adult and I'm still a child," Spike replied with a grin. "Besides, I always work best when I'm playing the assistant. Who do you think kept Twilight from going off the deep end every time she had one of her freak outs?"

Starlight simply sighed. "Figured you'd say no. Still, can't blame a mare for trying."

Spike smiled as he put a claw around Starlight. "Hey, cheer up. Between the two of us we've got everything covered. And when's the last time we got to do something together without Twilight around?"

Starlight shuddered with fright. "If memory serves, last time that happened I was this 'Princess Shamarity' character and was all tied up by some paper squid wizard."

"Squizard," The dragon corrected. "And I was referring to Flurry Heart's crystalling. I thought we made a pretty good team back there, you and I."

"All thanks to you. I kept trying to back out," The unicorn mare with a light grayish-purple coat admitted. "This time though, I couldn't even if I wanted to. Someone's got to do the job while Twilight's away, and if no one else qualified is willing to take it then it might as well be me."

But just then a rather wacky yet serious tone of voice commented. "Really? Twilight put you in charge? Surely she jests. I'm the one who makes jokes around here."

Suddenly, who should appear in the classroom (and in front of the eyes of both Starlight and Spike) but a creature with all sorts of mismatched limbs?

"Discord?!" Spike and Starlight both exclaimed at the same time.

Discord grinned, bowing his head. "Speak and I shall appear." He appeared to "accidentally" bow his head too low and cause it to pop off. Then he quickly put it back on as if nothing had happened.

Starlight tried to keep her composure. Even though she'd met Discord before his antics and unpredictable nature made her uneasy. "Hello, Discord! What a... heh... nice surprise! This is your first time at our new school, isn't it?"

Discord split into three different versions of himself, all of which spoke separately. "Oh really? Was I not invited to the grand opening?" The first Discord spoke.

"Or to Friends and Family Day?" The second Discord added.

"Or Baccalaureate?" The third Discord finished.

All three Discords then said at the same time. "Gee, I hadn't noticed. Guess my invitations got lost in the mail or something."

"It's not like we meant to exclude you from anything, Discord," Starlight apologized. "We were just really busy getting the school up and running, and then finding students, and then having to rescue them when they went missing, and a whole bunch of other things."

"Did I mention I've got wings now?!" Spike boasted as he showed them off. "Long story."

Discord appeared to be amazed. "Ah yes, the little hatchling's finally decided to put on his big boy pants. Definitely impressive, though I don't see why you couldn't have saved it for the next Guys' Night. We're still on for that next weekend, right?"

"If Twilight gets back from her friendship quest before then, yes," Spike nodded. "Otherwise, I'm gonna be busy helping Starlight run the school. She's acting headmare while Twilight's away."

But the spirit seemed to stumble back in surprise. "I'm sorry, Spike. I must still have wax in my ears or something," He shook his head as giant balls of ear wax tumbled out. "Now would you care repeating that? Because I could've sworn you said Starlight's acting headmare, but that can't be right."

The dragon narrowed his eyes. "That old 'Hard of hearing' joke isn't fooling me, Discord. You heard what I said, Starlight's acting headmare while Twilight's away."

The spirit's eyes narrowed in response. "Funny, I was under the impression that I would be in charge when Twilight was away."

"And what makes you say that?" Spike questioned Discord. "If this is another one of your games, Discord, we're not interested! This is serious!"

Discord made a gag face. "Honestly, Spike, you always have to spoil the fun," Then he explained. "But if you want an actual reason then's how 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, the master of chaos?"

"Pretty sure that's not what Twilight meant," Starlight nervously answered. "In fact, I'm pretty sure this is all just a misunderstanding. Knowing Twilight, she has a document stored somewhere that will clearly indicate she meant to put me in charge and not you."

"Hold on, I think I have the scroll you're looking for right here. Mom always says 'Save the document!', and now I can see why," Spike declared as he dug into a pile of scrolls and pulled one out. He unfurled it and examined it carefully, his moderate green eyes scanning every inch of it from top to bottom. But when he had scrolled all the way down the dragon felt a knot form in his stomach. "Uh-oh! Seems like Twilight actually didn't specify who she wanted to put in charge."

Starlight and Discord both turned toward Spike! "What do you mean?!"

With a gulp, the dragon nervously explained. "See for yourselves, there's nothing anywhere on this scroll about who takes over when the headmare is absent."

Starlight and Discord both read the scroll for themselves, checking for anything that Spike might have missed. But even they could find nothing that outright stated or even implied what was to be done if Twilight had to leave the school. That part hadn't been written down.

"Well, what do you know about that?" Discord commented. "When Twilight sang that song about making your own rules, I didn't think she meant it quite like this."

Meanwhile, Starlight was starting to grow anxious! "But that can't be! There's got to be some sort of mistake! I know Twilight well enough to know she plans for any emergency! How could she have forgotten to write something down about the headmare being absent?!"

Discord grinned, sensing an opportunity. "Well, seeing as there's nothing that says I can't be acting headmare or in this case head-draconequus, I officially nominate myself to that post!" He declared and with a snap of his talons he made himself appear on the podium, his paw placed over the school's yearbook as another version of himself held the yearbook. "I promise to serve with honor and uphold all the teachings of friendship as Twilight would see fit! It is my duty to serve for as long as need be," Then the original Discord raised his paws into the air as he declared. "Now that I'm in charge, I'm sure Twilight won't mind if I make a few teensy-weensy adjustments."

"Discord, you can't just-" Starlight began, only to be silenced by a paw from the other Discord.

With a snap of his talons, Discord started writing down his own rules on a piece of parchment. "Item one – Gravity is now optional." Another snap of his talons caused Starlight, Spike, and all the scrolls in the classroom to start floating up towards the ceiling.

"I don't need flying lessons, Discord!" Spike growled.

Discord didn't reply, he just continued writing. "Item two – The school's mascot is now an ambidextrous marmoset," Another snap of his talons brought the fury creature he'd just mentioned into the classroom. "And finally, item three-"

"Isn't happening, Discord!" Starlight firmly protested as she hovered close to the spirit's snout and snatched the parchment from his paws. "As your friend and guidance counselor, as well as the rightful acting headmare, I'm telling you to stop of all this right now. I promised Twilight I'd handle this her way. So thanks, but no thanks. I can manage just fine on my own. And if I need help, I can ask Spike."

The spirit sighed. "Fine, have it your way I guess. But if you should change your mind, well... I like the sound of calling my name three times." Snapping his talons, he returned everything to normal and disappeared.

"You know, that was actually kind of rude the way you handled things with Discord back there," Spike commented to Starlight. "I'm fine with setting boundaries but you didn't have to tell him you didn't want his help. It might not be a bad idea to have him onboard, especially since he doesn't tend to take being told off very well."

Starlight waved a hoof and brushed aside Spike's concerns. "Relax, Spike. Everything's under control. Discord and I are old 'saving Equestria' buddies, like Trixie and Thorax. He'll be just fine. It's probably for the best he's not in charge anyway, he might not give up his position if Twilight comes back soon," Then she started to walk out of the room. "Now, what's up first on Twilight's list? Besides the scavenger hunt, obviously."





A short time later, Starlight and Spike were preparing to enter the headmare's office. All the while Spike was talking to Starlight. "Okay, I made sure to hide the artifacts for the scavenger hunt and I've ordered school supplies for the whole week. All you have to worry about is teaching class, oh and finding a substitute for Rarity's class. But I can help with that."

"Thanks for the help, Spike," Starlight sighed in relief. "Don't know what I'd do without you."

Spike grinned. "Like I said, I'm good at playing the assistant."

But when the two stepped through the door a moment later, they were surprised to find Discord seated at the headmare's desk while furiously typing away on a typewriter. "Well well well, if it isn't my old pals Starlight and Spike. Come in, come in. And be quick about it, you'll let the twittermites out."

"Twittermites?" Spike questioned, before the aforementioned bugs flew past and zapped him! "Yow!"

Discord wasn't worried though, he merely snapped his talons and produced a vacuum and a pest pony mask. He sucked the twittermites in and stored them in a jar. "There we go, instant lava lamp. Or in this case, a twittermite lamp. I should totally market this!"

Starlight growled, looking at the spirit. "Discord, just what do you think you're doing here?! I told you I had everything under control!"

"And yet you left the headmare's desk completely unattended," Discord scolded with a shake of his paw. "How very irresponsible of you, Starlight. What would Twilight say if she were here right now?"

"Discord, look, I'm not in the mood for your games," Starlight retorted. "I'm just trying to do my job, and I can do that just fine without you constantly lingering over me. I promise you, once this is over we can hang out to your heart's content. I'll just hang a 'Out to lunch' sign on my office or something. Until then, Twilight's entrusted me with this job and I have no intention of failing her."

The spirit simply smiled. "This isn't a game, Starlight. I can be professional too you know," He snapped his talons and reappeared in a business suit and tie. "See? I'm already dressed for the part. And as Rarity would say 'The best way to feel the part, is to dress the part'," Then he put his claws behind his back, producing a small card. "I've even made business cards, though there's only one at the moment. We got off on the wrong hoof earlier, but I was thinking maybe we could work something out. You take care of all the important headmare stuff, and I'll keep the desk nice and warm till Twilight gets back. Or if you like, I could take full charge and you can just go back to being your old guidance counselor self."

"So this is just your attempt to get me to give up the position I'm rightfully entitled to?!" Starlight realized and glared at Discord. "Well I'm not falling for it! Spike and I will take it from here, Discord. So thanks for your 'help' but we've got everything covered. Go relax. Have a cup of tea. At home. Or something."

"Is this the thanks I get for trying to do you a favor?" The spirit bitterly remarked as he slumped forward on the desk. "Here am I trying to be a team player, and you just tell me 'This job ain't big enough for the two of us!'. Well if that's how you wanna play, so be it. Two can play at this solo game."

Spike moved to try and defuse the tensions. He could remember from experience that things didn't tend to go well when Discord felt like he was being provoked. "Hold it, hold it!" He protested as the dragon flew between the two of them. "You're both acting a bunch of kids. I shouldn't have to be playing babysitter here, I'm younger than the both of you for crying out loud. This doesn't have to be a contest, you could work together you know."

"Sorry, Spike, but I'm afraid that ship has sailed!" Discord retorted. Snapping his talons, a model ocean liner appeared and started to sail along despite there being no water anywhere. "But if Starlight really thinks she's so cut out for the job, I should like to see her try. And if she decides she doesn't want it after all, then I'll be glad to take over."

The unicorn flicked her mane and laughed. "Then you'd better be ready to be disappointed, Discord. Because I'm going to be acting headmare whether you like it or not. And I don't back down easily."

"Suit yourself!" The witty spirit remarked. "But don't act surprised if I decide to stick around in case something happens," Then he rose from the desk. "No need for goodbyes, I'll see myself out, thank you very much." And he departed without another word, slamming the door on his way out.

Spike turned back to Starlight. "You're going to regret this, you know. Discord can really hold onto a grudge."

Starlight simply lit up her horn, dispelling all the chaos Discord had created and then blowing the smoke from the tip of her horn when she was done. "He doesn't seem to get how serious this is, Spike. Can you imagine how freaked out everyone would be if they learned he in charge?"

"Even so, you had a chance to work with him," The dragon replied as he adjusted his wings. "Maybe I should have taken the position of acting headmare after all."

"No, Spike, I need your help as you are now," Starlight commented while sitting down in the headmare's desk chair. "The scavenger hunt isn't until this afternoon. So in the mean time we need to determine who's covering Rarity's generosity classes."

"Don't suppose I could fill that role?" Spike suggested.

Starlight shook her head. "Not a chance, Spike. Fortunately, I have just the pony in mind. Be back soon!" And with the soft glow of her horn she disappeared.





Returning shortly, Starlight was accompanied by a very familiar persian bluish gray coated earth pony, a grayish-green tunic with a dark brown strap over the side, a grayish blue violet mane and tail that hung flat, and light turquoise eyes. Spike recognized the mare at once. "Maud!"

"Hello, Spike," Maud commented in her usual dry tone. "It's good to see you again. Have you gotten taller?"

Spike nodded. "Yup, and I've got a sweet new pair of wings too!"

"I can see. They look good on you," Maud seemed to smile ever so faintly, before turning to Starlight. "You want me to teach generosity?"

"Just until Rarity comes back, which shouldn't be very long," Starlight nervously replied. "You went to college and have a degree, so you're the most qualified pony I could think of who'd be available on short notice. I would ask Cheerilee, but she's got her hooves full as it is."

"No problem. I can teach." Maud dryly answered.

A sigh of relief left Starlight's lips. "Good," Just then there came the familiar sound of the ringing bell. "Class is about to start, Maud! Better get on in there."

"And keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious." Spike warned.

But Maud didn't hear Spike's warning. Or if she did she didn't acknowledge it. She simply trotted through the school until she found the classroom she was certain belonged to Rarity. She was just in time, the students filed in mere seconds later.

"Another substitute teacher, huh?" A blue feathered griffon commented. "Why does this one like Professor Pinkie Pie on a bad mane day?"

"Think she mentioned something about a sister." An earth pony colt with a coat the same color as sand replied with a shrug.

Maud was about to introduce herself and ask for the names of the students, when a very familiar mismatched creature came into the dress. He sported sunglasses, a blue beach hat, and was carrying a surfboard. "Yo! Greetings, fellow creatures!" He proudly declared, before with a snap of his talons the surfing gear disappeared. "Hey, is this seat taken?" He asked, sitting down next to a changeling.

Maud eyed the spirit and dryly commented. "Discord, what are you doing here?"

"What's it look like I'm doing here? I'm a student." Discord replied as he stuck out his tongue.

Maud didn't say anything, but she did seem to keep one eye on Discord for quite a while. Then she cleared her throat. "Welcome, students. I am Maud Pie. I will be filling in for Professor Rarity today. Now, let us begin the lesson," She began to draw a few shapes on a nearby chalkboard. "Now, rocks come in every size and color imaginable, just like ponies. And like diamonds they can-"

But just then a loud ringing sound broke out and it seemed to be coming from Discord (more specifically the lunchbox he'd brought as part of his "student" disguise). "Oh, I should probably take this," He apologized. "Forgot to turn it off."

"No fruit calls in class, Discord." Maud appeared to scold. But Discord was too engrossed in what appeared to be some kind of banana shaped listening device to notice.

"Hello?" Discord called into the banana. All the other students could hear was muffled gibberish. "Oh, he did not! And what did you say?" More muffled gibberish followed and Discord seemed to gasp! "You did not!"

Seconds later, the banana object was snatched out of Discord's paws by Maud. "I said no fruit calls in class, Discord. If you're not here to learn, then at least don't disrupt the students who are here to learn," And then she marched back to the center of the room, her expression appearing to change ever so slightly to one of annoyance. "One more disruption, Discord, and you will stay after class."

That seemed to get the spirit to clam up, at least for the duration of Maud's class.





But Maud wasn't the only substitute at the school that day. When the students filed out onto the field for gym class, they were surprised to be met by a pegasus mare with a brilliant gold coat, a firey orange mane and tail that were styled to look like flames, strong orange eyes, and a cutie mark that depicted what could best be described as a phoenix. She was wearing dark purple sunglasses and a navy blue jacket with a whistle hanging around her neck.

The mare blew the whistle. "All right, students! I'm here to whip you into shape!"

"Hey, I know you!" Sandbar fondly exclaimed as his eyes filled with wonder. "You're Captain Spitfire, head of the Wonderbolts! I've always wanted to go to your shows!"

Spitfire smiled. "Always nice to meet a fan, kid. Even so, I can't go easy on you. That's not how I roll."

"But where's Professor Egghead?" Smolder questioned. "I thought she was gonna be coaching us today."

"Figured Dash could use a break, especially since her flying routine's getting kind of sloppy," Spitfire explained and blew her whistle again. "Now come on! I wanna see you all do at least ten laps around this track! Run or fly like your life depends on it!"

The students reluctantly did so even though most of them were not used to such high amounts of physical exercise. Even those who could fly found ten laps to be rather taxing. By the time it was over, every student had collapsed on the track or was panting heavily.

Spitfire seemed to laugh. "Nothing like a good workout. You all did well for first timers, I've had recruits give up on the first lap," In a slightly gentler tone of voice she added. "But you all need to work on your pacing, you're running too far too fast and burning yourselves out."

"I'll say. My wings are killing me!" Smolder groaned. Then suddenly, she felt an ever so faint twitch on the tip of her nose. She reached up a claw to pinch her nose shut, realizing what was about to happen.

"Something wrong, Smolder?" Gallus asked the dragon.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know! I know!" Silverstream shouted. "You're making funny faces! I can do them too! See?!" She tried to mimic Smolder's current expression, putting her claws to her beak.

The twitching continued, and poor Smolder could hold it back no longer. "Achoo!" She sneezed! A shower of smoke and flames shot out from her nostrils, terrifying the students immediately surrounding her who all ran for cover!

"Smolder, watch it! You almost singed my tail feathers!" Gallus shouted at the dragon. "Why would you do that?!"

Smolder appeared to sniffle and her eyes seemed to become runny. "Sorry, I think it's something in the air. My nose feels all itchy and twitchy. I'm gonna go get some fresh air or something." She ran off, still pinching her nose shut with her claws to try and keep from sneezing again.

Starlight arrived on the scene a moment later, having heard the whole commotion. "What's going on here? I heard screaming."

Everyone pointed to a noticeable singe mark in the ground. Details also starting pouring out about Smolder's sneezing, including the twitching and the runny eyes.

Starlight started to scan the surroundings, and saw out of the corner of her eye what looked like some kind of tree. She never remembered seeing such a tree there before. Her eyebrows narrowed. Any other day such a thing might have been a mild annoyance, but this was not any other day. The acting headmare trotted up to the tree and gave a whistle. "I know it's you, Discord. Your little sneezing prank has gone too far!"

Discord emerged from the tree, a bottle of sneezing powder held in his paws. "Well if I can't have a little fun, I might as well leave. This way I'm not disrupting class or interfering with your job as acting headmare. But if bothers you so much I won't do it again."

"It's not that you sprayed sneezing powder towards Smolder that bothers me. It's the fact that you're doing this just because I'm acting headmare and you're not." Starlight remarked with a shake of her head.

"I figured if you wouldn't welcome me as a staff member, you'd treat me better as one of the students," Discord replied to Starlight. "I'm simply buzzing with ideas. ideas that could really spruce things up around this school! But you won't let me do any of them!"

Starlight growled. "Because the school isn't your playground, Discord. I'm just trying to do my job and yet here you are, causing all this chaos!"

Discord snapped back. "What did you expect? I'm the master of chaos!"

"Then go take your chaos somewhere where it's wanted, and leave me alone!" Starlight demanded. "I was managing just fine before you showed up, and I'll continue to manage just fine after you leave! Got that?!"

"Are you looking to start something here, Miss. Glimmer?" Discord not so subtly taunted. "Because you know I'll finish it."

Spike quickly stepped between the two, hoping to once again break up the tensions. "Stop this, both of you! You're not supposed to fight in front of the students! You're both friends for crying out loud!"

Spike's words appeared to resonate with Starlight, who blinked for a moment but said nothing. Then she let out a deep breath and told the dragon. "You're right, Spike. This isn't the time to be fighting."

"Ah yes, listen to Spike," The spirit commented as Starlight began to walk away. "Besides, we both who would win if we went head to head so to speak. Spoiler alert: It'd be me!"

At that, Starlight felt something inside her snap! She turned around very slowly, eyeing Discord with a look that could cut through glass if such a thing were possible. "Students... please leave. The scavenger hunt will commence shortly," She instructed in a slow sounding tone of voice. When the students obeyed and the field was deserted, Starlight turned back to the chaos maker. Her look hadn't changed and more troubling was the fact that her horn was ominously sparking. "You're just trying to make me angry, aren't you, Discord?"

Suddenly, all the bravado he'd once had vanished. And Discord felt himself experiencing something he'd rarely experienced before: fear. "Um... well, I should... probably say 'No', right?"

"Well you've succeeded!" Starlight bellowed at the top of her lungs! And before anyone could stop her she fired off a tremendous blast of magic from her horn! The blast struck Discord head on, pushing the spirit back a considerable distance as a blinding flash forced Spike to shut his eyes!

When Spike was finally able to open his eyes again, he observed a huge crater that started near the benches and stretched on for a considerable distance. And at the end of it stood Discord who looked quite shocked to say the least.

Discord looked at himself. The words were slow to leave his mouth as he looked at Starlight. "You... you hurt me... You've... actually hurt me."

The mare herself seemed to be quite shocked herself. "Discord... I..." She began.

"-No no, I can take a hint," The chaotic spirit insisted as he raised up a paw. "I know where I'm not wanted. I'll let you get back to your important job as acting headmare now. Sorry to bother you."

"Discord, wait!" Spike pleaded but it was no use, with a snap of his talons Discord had vanished. He turned to Starlight with a clearly visible look of disapproval. "What were you thinking?! That probably made things worse. Why didn't you just talk to Discord?"

Starlight hung her head in shame. "Because he's right about one thing. I've been doing a terrible job as acting headmare. I'm making the same mistakes I made the last time I got put in charge. I keep making these rash decisions and expect everything to just work out. That's probably why Twilight didn't want to put me in charge, why she originally wanted you to do it, Spike."

"Starlight, you can't be thinking like that!" Spike protested as he saw her walk away. "You can't quit the job now! What about the scavenger hunt?!"

"You can host it, Spike," Starlight weakly replied. "You hid the artifacts and you know how Twilight wanted it to be carried out. I know you don't like being in charge because of what happened last time, but better you than me."





Starlight retreated to her guidance counselor's office a short time later and locked the door tight behind her, though not without hanging a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the front.

Spike kept pounding on Starlight's office door over and over again. "Starlight, please, you've gotta come out! I can't manage the entire school by myself! And I can't ask any of our other friends, they're all busy with their own classes."

"Go away, Spike! You know what Twilight would want," Starlight insisted as she called from the other side of the office door. "I imagine she's already on her way back as we speak, completely unaware of everything that's happened. I just hope she can forgive me for making a mess of things again."

With a reluctant sigh, the dragon realized that he lacked the means to get the mare he saw as a big sister to come out. Like it or not, he would have to take over the scavenger hunt and try his best to run the school until Twilight got back. "Hopefully it'll be soon. I could barely handle angry delegates, I'm not sure how well I'll manage with an entire school full of students." He thought to himself.

And so it was that the dragon stood in the main hallway of the school, passing out magical shields to each of the assigned pairs. "Welcome, one and all, to the scavenger hunt. Or as Headmare Twilight would call it 'The Great Spellvenger Hunt'." He spoke in a plain tone of voice.

"Where's acting headmare Starlight?" Sandbar asked as he raised a hoof. "Shouldn't she be in charge of this?"

"Starlight is currently... indisposed," Spike coughed into a claw. "She asked me to take over for her, so I'm acting headmare now. Or I guess you can call me 'Headdragon' if you want."

The students all nervously chattered among themselves. Unknown to all of them, a familiar figure was watching them from above. "I didn't think she'd take it nearly this hard," The figure thought to itself. "There's got to be some way to make it up to her. But how?"

Spike went on, explaining the rules of the hunt. "There are six artifacts hidden throughout the school. You'll work with your partner to find them using the clues provided to you by Headmare Twilight. They're all history related, so I hope you've been paying attention in class. When you find an artifact, mark it with the shield on your wrist. Whoever finds all six artifacts first wins," Then he approached a massive gong. "Ready, set, hunt!" He rang the gong, the vibrations of it echoing through the hallway.

The students fanned out seconds later. They forgot all about Starlight, their minds filled solely with trying to make sense of the clues.

"Good!" The figure thought to itself. "Now's my chance!"





Starlight was still moping around in her office, unaware of anything that might be unfolding elsewhere in the school. She never imagined there would come a time when she would actually look forward to not having anything to do within the school. But now, to her, that meant there was nothing for her to mess up.

However, the peace and quiet of her office was suddenly interrupted by a frantic knock! "Counselor Starlight! Counselor Starlight! You've gotta come see this, it's unbelievable!" The familiar voice of Sandbar called from the other side of the door.

"Didn't you read the sign?" Starlight remarked in a low tone of voice. "Unless Twilight's come back from her trip, I'm not here."

"Counselor Starlight, please!" Sandbar pleaded. "This is something you really must see! It takes a lot for a pony like me to get scared, so the fact that I'm talking to you like this should mean something."

"You need advice? Like actual advice?" Starlight questioned as she got up from her desk. "You're barking up the wrong tree, Sandbar. I'm not even sure I can call myself a good guidance counselor after what I did."

But Sandbar shouted! "But the artifacts have come to life! Someone's even conjured up projections of who they originally belonged to! At first I thought maybe I was just imaging things like I sometimes do, but it's totally real. You're the only one I could think of who might know how to stop this! Please, you have to come and help!"

Those words somehow touched something deep inside Starlight, for the mare at once rushed to the door and opened it with a frantic look on her face! "Why didn't you just say so earlier, Sandbar?! You've gotta lead the way, we've got no time to waste!"

"Follow me!" Sandbar instructed as he motioned a hoof. Then he took off down the hall, running faster and faster! Starlight followed, all the while dreading what sort of disaster she was about to face.

But when Starlight reached the main hallway of the school she was surprised to find that things weren't as bad as she had expected them to be.

None of the students were panicking and running, like Starlight had feared. They were in fact standing at attention, as six different figures in a ghostly white stood before them. Each figure held one of the different artifacts and was talking about each one more in depth.

Most surprising though was the familiar figure of Discord, who stood beside Spike as the dragon spoke. "Congratulations to Gallus and Silverstream, our scavenger hunting champions!"

Silverstream was hugging Gallus tightly. "Ooh, I knew we'd win! You've been paying attention in class and haven't been telling me."

Gallus struggled not to blush. "N-no, don't be ridiculous. I just saw Spike hide one of the artifacts and the rest were all just hunches."

"Well hunch or no hunch, I'm glad I got to work with you!" The hippogriff eagerly replied. "And I can't wait to go on that tour of the Canterlot Archives with you next week."

"Hey, at least that means I can skip a day of class and I don't get any homework. Works for me." Gallus remarked as he tried to play it cool.

Starlight had to blink and rub her eyes just to be sure she wasn't seeing things. It didn't take a genius to figure out who had created the ghostly figures that were currently entertaining the students.

Sandbar tried not to look guilty. "Sorry I lied to you, Counselor Starlight. It was the only way I could think to get you to come out," Then he turned to the spirit as he explained. "Discord has something he wants to say to you."

Discord nodded. "I do," And he looked at Starlight as he adopted the most sincere tone he could muster up. "I haven't been the best friend to you today, Starlight. I tried to take advantage of something just because I thought I deserved it."

"And yet I was the one who treated you as a threat to my temporary title, instead of the old friend you already were," Starlight protested. "I was the one who took things too far when you were having fun. I let you get under my fur."

"Well, from the way I acted, I probably should've seen it coming," Discord continued with his apology. "I too got swept up in the spirit of competition. I thought if that I could make you slip up somehow, you might give up your claim and I could become Twilight's stand-in. I think we both lost sight of what should've been important, what should've been our top priority."

Starlight nodded, extending a hoof. "Well, for however long it may last, I'd be more than happy to let you be Vice Headmare. Those projections you conjured up were really cool!"

The spirit smiled. "Thank you. I figured they'd make a nice apology present. What better way to get students interested in history, than by bringing it to life?"

"See, you two?" Spike couldn't help but tease. "Isn't it better to work together instead of against each other?"

"Okay, okay, you've made your point, Spike," Starlight struggled not to groan. "No need to rub it in."





Mere moments later the school doors flung open, and Twilight and Rarity came trotting back in. "Sorry for leaving on such short notice, everyone." Twilight apologized.

"Oh but look, Twilight. It seems they all managed just fine in your absence," Rarity commented as she pointed a hoof. "They even seem to be right in the middle of a history lesson."

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, that means my Spellvenger Hunt went out without a hitch."

Starlight approached Twilight. "Yup, and we have two very eager winners looking forward to that tour with Celestia. Gallus and Silverstream."

"Good, I always knew they'd work well together," Twilight smiled in reply. "It sure is nice to know that if I ever need to leave the school again for any reason, it'll be in your capeable hooves, Starlight."

Discord just groaned. "Oh poo, you're back. And I was just about to start printing business cards again," He proceeded to dump the unused ones from before on the ground. "Oh well, so much for that."

"So, how were things in Canterlot, Mom?" Spike asked as he flew up to Twilight's location. "I mean, obviously you wouldn't come back without completing the assignment, but I still wanna know."

"All in good time, Spike, all in good time," Twilight declared as she stroked his scales. "For now, I need to start setting up a mail box here at the school. Let's just say I'll be getting a lot more letters from a very important wizard from now on."