//------------------------------//
// 1. Departure 
// Story: Okay, Class 
// by goodmode 
//------------------------------//

Midnight. A stallion sat in his study, forehooves steepled in front of his nose as he focused intently on a scroll held up in front of him by a pinch of magic.

The numbers didn't add up, and no matter which way he looked at it, they'd refused to make sense in the past ten minutes. He sighed and laid the scroll flat on his desk, excess paper spilling down over the back edge. He put his hooves to his temples, frowning down at the scroll and re-reading it for what must have been the tenth time. This time, his magic plucked a pencil from a holder on his desk and tugged a spare sheet of clean paper from a drawer. He did the math, mouth moving occasionally as he ran one hoof down the scroll to keep himself on track.

There was no denying it. Sitting back, he reluctantly came to the conclusion that somepony had been fudging the numbers.

Chancellor Neighsay heaved a deep sigh and leaned back in his chair, folding his front hooves over each other and staring up at the ceiling as if the detailed cornices of his EEA office might offer up a more convenient answer.

He was going to have to write a letter. It would not be a positive one.

Neighsay caught himself, quite suddenly, wondering what the Princesses would think. His brows scrunched together in irritation and he tried to dismiss the thought - he had the authority in this situation and all of the EEA behind him, and for all intents and purposes it didn't matter what they thought of him. It only mattered that the paperwork was in order.

Except, no, that wasn’t really true, was it?

His eyes traced the math on the page again, double- and triple-checking. If he was right (he knew he was right) then this Appleloosian school was down fifty bits on their budget report. A little here, a little there… He’d highlighted all of the relevant data in yellow. Somepony was skimming. An investigation had to be called.

...Fifty, though. It would be easier to make a decision if it were a thousand. Fifty, within that particular budget, was peanuts. What would Princess Celestia think of him picking up on this? Would she agree that he should call the school to a temporary close over fifty bits? (Of course he should, this was what the EEA was for.)

He flipped back to the cover sheet for the documents he’d been looking at. He’d been avoiding looking at it for almost an hour, but now he stared blankly at the title.

First Appleloosian School Of Agriculture: Proposal for NPSP (Non-Pony Student Placements, 7051).

A hoof found its way to his temple and rested there as he intently studied the page. Non-Pony Student Placements had been proposed to the EEA several times since the re-opening of Princess Twilight’s school, and Neighsay had no doubt there would be many more to come. Equestria was a changing place.

Equestria also heard his speeches before Princess Twilight’s school re-opened. Would they think he was acting with prejudice now?

He inked out a note, rolled it up, and tapped his medallion to send it straight to the desk of his second in command.

Within minutes, the medallion flashed, and a new note teleported itself onto his desk.

Chancellor,
With all the respect due to you as Head of the Equestrian Education Association and with no ill will, intended or otherwise:
I was sleeping. Now I am going home. Please continue to manage issues posited to you as you did before. I am quite certain you do not need my help to fill out an investigative closure notice.

The line of his mouth thinned, a grim expression shadowing his face as he realised that even his colleagues were unimpressed with his lack of initiative. Was his work really suffering so badly just because of one crisis?

Perhaps he ought to step back from this little issue, and return to it later with a clear head…

Yes. What he needed was distance.

Neighsay’s eyes fixed on an envelope sitting in a gold noteholder at the corner of his desk. A letter-opener had been run along the top edge of the envelope already, and its corners were slightly worn where he'd read, re-read, and re-re-read the letter inside. It had sat on his desk for two days now, and still the Chancellor could not bring himself to file it away nor dispose of it. His magic slipped the offending letter out of the envelope and flicked it open irritably.

Dear Chansalor Naysay, written in loopy, glittery, pink novelty ink, had been hastily scribbled out. The rest of the letter was messily chicken-scratched in standard black, but the writing was inconsistent.

To Chancellor Neighsay,
We are sorry we made you mad before. We hope you understand now why it is so important for all creatures that we have to stick together like friends do because it is important to us as well as ponies but we are not all ponies. We are learning a lot about Friendship from Headmare Twilight and the other teachers Friendship means standing by each other we wanted to say we arnt angry but we want to tell you Headmare Sparkle left her door open and I saw she was reading your big book thing yesterday and she looked like Ocellus when she forgot her homework one time

Briefly, the writing changed to a neat but hasty fine print.

but please don't think all Changelings forget their homework because it was only one time and she said sorry a lot and she did extra credit to make up for it and Rarity said it was okay! :)

The writing changed back. There was a nick in the page where somecreature's claws had pulled at it.

please think of coming to visit our school again and we will be on our BEST BEHAVIOUR! and maybe you will want to a credit the School of Friendship again? If you dont reply its rude dragons always reply to letters so really youre just being a pony about it.

signed
ITS A MYSTERY!!!

He turned the letter over. He'd lost track of the number of times he'd read it since he received it, and he knew the messages on the back practically by heart, but each time he felt compelled to read them again like they might reveal some hidden meaning.

P.S. It Ok If Chansler Neigh Say Not Come YONA And Friends Not Mad But Nice To See Chansler Again Thank You ! ! !

P.P.S. Well Yona just gave us away, so yeah, it's from us. Nocreature made us do it, it was our idea, blah blah. -Gallus

Below was a collection of five more signatures, badly planned for the space, with some names trailing off on a diagonal and some squashed up against the edge of the page. Yona, Sandbar, Smoulder, Ocellus, and Silverstream.

Of course, he'd known the authors from the moment he'd opened the envelope and glimpsed the glittery, crossed-out letters. That didn't make things any clearer.

Was this a prank? One of those trip-wire, bucket-of-water practical jokes the students of Magic School enjoyed so much? If so, why in Equestria would they tag the letter with their names?

The envelope had been sitting in plain view on his desk for months. Waiting and thinking about it wasn't going to force a decision out of him.

With a soft hm of indignation, Neighsay flattened the letter against the surface of his desk. Tilting his head, he aimed his magic towards a filing cabinet and rifled through one of the drawers. He retrieved another envelope and floated it through the air towards himself.

This one had been stamped with a familiar wax seal - a six-pointed star - and arrived months earlier than the children's. He'd only read it once, and decided once was enough.

Right now Neighsay was reconsidering, and frustratingly he could come up with no real excuse as to why. He unfolded the letter.

EEA Chancellor Neighsay,

I hope this letter finds you well. After our previous meetings went so poorly, I was hoping you might see fit to pay the School of Friendship another visit.

Please understand I am no longer looking for approval from the Equestrian Education Association, and I write this letter with the full understanding that you have no wish to accredit my School, provisionally or otherwise. The School of Friendship has its own rulebook, which I know you’re aware of.

However, I do have a proposal.

Perhaps you might feel more comfortable with our inclusive policies if you had a chance to get to know the students properly. As such, I’d like to invite you as an education official to lead a field trip for six of our pupils.

Infuriating. But not half as infuriating as what she'd written next.

Chancellor, I reach out to you not as Princess of Friendship, but as Friendship Headmare. Clause 53b of the Canterlot Royal Etiquette Enchiridion need not apply.

Thank you for your attention, and I hope you consider leading the trip. Despite our differences, I hope you realise how much I and the ponies and diverse creatures of Equestria appreciate your hard work.

In friendship,
Headmare Twilight Sparkle 

Clause 53b. He'd looked it up. "An invitation from a Royal Figure is to be treated as an imperative, and requires a timely response."

By dismissing that clause she had, in one casual hoof-wave, put the ball squarely in his court, leaving no room for this to look like a demand or a threat. It was simply up to him.

And in his court the ball had remained for several months, because Chancellor Neighsay had no intention whatsoever of playing this game with the Princess of Friendship. He had, of course, drafted a few letters. All of them had made it only as far as the wastepaper basket beside his desk. If the Princess didn't require a "timely response", he’d decided, then it was entirely within his purview to simply give no response at all.

Not for the first time in his long career, Neighsay felt positively tangled in red tape. Hooves kneaded at his temples.

His eyes drifted down to the smudged, glitter-dusted letter lying on his desk, and Chancellor Neighsay found himself zeroing in on one line in particular.

dragons always reply to letters so really youre just being a pony about it

All the red tape Princess Twilight Sparkle could invoke or wave away apparently had nothing on a scathing little aside from a teenager.

Chancellor Neighsay sighed deeply and rested his chin on his steepled forehooves. He lifted an absence request form from a previously-untouched stack of blanks, and resignedly took up a quill.





"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! A mystery field trip! I'm so excited I'm gonna explode!"

"Explode later," Gallus suggested dryly. "We don't even know what it is. It could be another surprise outdoor math class with Headmare Twilight."

"But it could be something really fun," insisted the hippogriff, flapping her wings animatedly and stirring up book pages and sheets of paper. "What if it's a geology field trip into the Crystal Mine like last time?"

Ocellus scrambled to pin down the errant papers. "Not so loud! The library pony keeps looking at us…"

They had retreated into the school library to finish their latest assignment together, but keeping Silverstream focused was a task in and of itself. The excitable hippogriff had managed to get them kicked out before, and Ocellus was not about to lose her chance now that she'd found the perfect reference books for Fluttershy's quiz on Monstrous Creatures And How To Befriend Them.

"I don't think they're gonna give us the same field trip twice in a row." Smoulder caught a warning tap on the shoulder from the librarian, and reluctantly swung her feet down off the table. "That wouldn't be much of a mystery."

"Does anycreature know who's running the trip?"

"That's what's bugging me, Sandbar. Normally they tell us, like, a week beforehand. Did anyone else find it weird Headmare Twilight already had our permission slips signed for us? I didn't even get to see mine."

In quick succession, everyone nodded. Gallus folded his arms, frowning.

"Well I think it's going to be a really, really good one!" Silverstream lilted, thankfully remembering to lower her voice this time. "What if Miss Pie is running it? She's a surprise expert!" A beat. "...I've seen her license. It has edible sprinkles on it."

“Yona not think there a long wait to find out about field trip.”

The yak gestured pointedly. Over on the far side of the library, a door swung shut behind the Headmare herself. Wings folded neatly at her sides, Twilight Sparkle muttered a few words to the librarian and then paced calmly through the centre of the library - headed, it seemed, directly for their table.

Gallus sank low in his seat, cupping his claws around his face and pretending to be closely invested in the book that rested upside-down in front of him. “Great. Somecreature keep her talking ‘til she goes away…? I still owe her that essay from when I switched out Miss Rarity’s office mirror with a funhouse one.”

The soft hoofbeats against the long centre-aisle carpet came to a halt behind the griffon, and his eyes slid up to meet pleadingly with Ocellus’.

“Good afternoon, you six!”

“Afternoon, Headmare Sparkle.” Smoulder rocked back on her chair casually, swizzling a pencil between her claws. “Got some news for us?”

A flicker of purplish magic took hold of Smoulder’s chair and steadily tilted it forward so that all four legs were on the floor. The young dragon rolled her eyes.

“Actually, I do!” Twilight replied cheerfully. “I’d like to re-introduce somepony to all of you. But I’d like to talk to you first, and there’s something I have to ask you to do.”

After a series of glances to one another, the unlikely group gave some vague noises of agreement.

“Of course you remember the problems we had with Cozy Glow,” Twilight continued, holding up a hoof. “It was a tough time, and all of you pulled through. I’m so, so proud of you all for trying so hard.” She leaned forward candidly. “You six have proven that you’re bright, quick-thinking, and most importantly… your bonds of friendship are as strong as all of you are. That’s why I decided you were the perfect group to send on this trip. There’s a pony I’d like to reintroduce you to, and I have to ask you all something very important before I do.”

Yona, Silverstream, and Sandbar cheerfully nodded.

Ocellus, Gallus, and Smoulder glanced at each other. Then they nodded as well.

Headmare Twilight smiled approvingly, and she stepped closer to the table, putting herself among them as comfortably as she could. She rested one forehoof on the table’s surface, the soft clik of her hoof drawing their attention, and spoke softly. “Can you treat this pony with kindness? Can you show them how loyal you are? Your generosity? Can you try to laugh with them?” She pressed a hoof to her chest. “Can you be honest with them, and with yourselves?”

The mood shifted. The students looked at each other, uncertain. Oblivious, Yona nodded and crossed her heart.

“Yona promise!”

Sandbar rallied next, encouraged by his friend. “Whoever it is, if they’re important to you, Headmare, we’ll back ‘em all the way.”

“Sounds like you’re giving us a challenge. And hey, if it keeps me out of Griffonstone for a few more days, count me in.”

Ocellus smiled meekly at her Headmare, and fought down the instinct to shapeshift into her chosen pony-template. “...If we can change, ponies can too. I think I already know who you’re talking about.”

“Oh yeah!” Silverstream exclaimed, her feathered tail snapping back and forth. “Tell Mr. Neighsay we’re totally on board!”

A silence fell across the six trip-bound students of the School of Friendship.

“Wait,” said Gallus, his head pressing indignantly down into the fluff of his neck-feathers, giving him a comical ruff. “You two knew the field trip leader this whole time?”

Ocellus gave her best meek smile, trying to come up with a good excuse. Luckily for her, Silverstream was more than ready to take the fall.

“Of course!” the hippogriff cheered, slinging her forelimbs around Gallus and Smoulder and tugging them affectionately close. “Didn’t you pay attention in Miss Dash’s Apologies and Reconciliation class? When somecreature re-introduces you without giving their name and asks you to play nice, it’s always somecreature you fell out with big time!” She patted them both exuberantly on the cheek without letting go, much to their dismay. "Who else do we know who hates us that much?"

Twilight smiled gently and reshuffled her wings, setting them more primly at her sides. “I know Chancellor Neighsay hasn’t been entirely kind to you or your families in the past. But that’s why I’m asking you six to do this for me. I know of no other group of students who are as ready as you are to show the Chancellor why he was right to stand with us against Cozy Glow."

"You picked us because he hates us?" Gallus deadpanned, fixing a claw around Silverstream's forelimb and lifting it away from him.

Twilight laughed. "He doesn't hate you. The Chancellor and I have our differences, as well, but I have faith that we can work together to make this school better than ever. I just need your help to show him what we're made of. Can you all promise to put your best hoof, claw, or fin forwards?"

"Headmare Twilight, my best claw is my right, but my best fin is my left. Should I just walk backwards?"

Smoulder gently pinched Silverstream's beak shut. "We're on it, Headmare."

The silence that followed stretched on just a little too long. Smoulder glanced around the table and realised all eyes were on her.

She huffed. "What? Like we're gonna say no to Headmare Sparkle?"

Ocellus was the first to relent. "Maybe a field trip with Neighsay might not be too bad? He probably has a lot to teach us."

"Do you even listen to yourself?" grumbled Gallus, but he sighed and held out a claw palm-down. "Roll call. Who's in?"

"Yona want to show nasty pony why yaks best! Yona in."

"I'm in, too. I've been wanting a chance like this since the old fart apologised," admitted Smoulder, joining Yona in placing her claw over Gallus'. "He thinks dragons are fierce, and he's right, but… The Dragonlord wants me to set a good example. I wanna show him we can be chill, too."

The Headmare smiled. "That's very mature of you, Smoulder."

There was a flicker of magic as Silverstream touched her necklace and switched forms, slapping her left fin on top of Smoulder's claw and grinning.

Ocellus joined with a timid nod.

"Sandbar?" Twilight gave him an expectant look.

He smiled, tossing his mane. "I'm in, too. I was just waiting to see that everycreature else is. Neighsay was way meaner to them than he was to me." His hoof was the last to join the pile.

"Woo! Go, team!"

The librarian shushed Silverstream sharply from across the room.

Twilight smiled proudly. "I had a feeling I could count on all of you." Her horn lit up, and with a spark and the soft whoosh of some displaced air, six scrolls materialised and lay themselves one by one in front of the students. "As you all know, it's going to be a three-day trip, so I've prepared a packing list for each of you. If you have any trouble finding what you need, see me in my office. Chancellor Neighsay will be in charge of the trip, so I hope you'll all show him the same respect you would for any of your regular teachers."

"Where are we going?" Ocellus asked, glancing up from her list.

"The Chancellor asked me to keep that part a secret." She winked candidly. "But I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Trust him to guide you.” She raised her wings a little, keeping their attention. “Remember: meet at eight o'clock outside by the school pond. Don't be late." With that, the alicorn turned to leave, giving one last approving smile over her shoulder at the group. “Oh, and Gallus - I expect that paper on my desk by tonight.”

Gallus gave a petulant groan.

A short silence lingered as the six studied their packing lists. The sound of the library door being opened and shut echoed through the quiet room.

“...Do you think it was our letter?” Sandbar suggested uneasily.

“There’s no telling. Maybe he didn’t even get it. But even if it was, none of us wanted this, right?”

Smoulder rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Gallus, we all thought inviting that jerk to come see the school for Headmare Twilight meant inviting him on a field trip with us.” She sighed and leaned back, letting her claws dangle over the back of her chair. “This is gonna be weird. Is he even… like... a teacher?”

Ocellus spoke from behind her list. “You have to have a degree in education to be in the EEA. I looked it up.”

“Sheesh. Can you imagine that guy teaching in a classroom?”

“Yikes. Don’t even say that. It’d be torture.”

“This trip is gonna be torture.”

Ocellus set down her list, looking cheerful for reasons neither Smoulder nor Gallus could fathom. “Well, I think it might be fun. We just have to show him how nice we are. None of us know him that well… He could be really friendly once you get to know him!”

“Yeah, or not.” Gallus cleared his throat, rolling up his packing list with his pinkie claws stuck daintily out. "Well, my fellow diplomats," he began, "how are we going to welcome the Chancellor to our school? Anycreature thinking what I’m thinking?"

“Maybe.” Sandbar gave a dry smile, tapping his hoof to his chin. "I think there’s a bucket in that storage closet near the dining hall."