The bell rang, signalling the end of Twilight's lecture. She smiled as she watched the students pick up their books and head for the next class, which included Heart, Soul, Mira and Ace. The four frowned as they walked out of the classroom, "I can't believe that was only an hour," Ace moaned as he cricked his back. "Twilight's lectures feel like they last a whole day."
"It wasn't that bad," Soul replied, remembering that she had sat through quite a few of Twilight's lectures, the filly used to the alicorn's drawling speeches.
"So what's the next class?" Mira asked, Heart pulling out his schedule.
"Alright...courage with Flash!" The others took out their's and saw they all had different classes, with Ace being in the Honesty class while Mira and Soul were in Laughter. "Guess I'll see you all later," he waved and they all did the same before heading off down different hallways. The colt smirked as he flew, a couple of ponies in front and behind him. But as he made his way through the school, his bandaged leg started itching again. "No," he moaned while trying to fight the urge to scratch. "Must...resist." But every second he did, the itch got more intense. "Ahhh!" He cried, turning the corner as he was about to start scratching.
But as he did this, he suddenly slammed into somepony. "AUGH!" They both cried as they fell, Heart letting out a moan before sitting himself up. He then saw he had hit a pink pegasus filly with a curly blue mane and tail that had white ribbons in them and a chess piece cutie mark.
"Sorry," he pulled himself up and offered a hoof to her, "I wasn't looking where I was going." The filly blinked at him, an annoyed glare on her face quickly changing into a smile.
"It's okay," she said with a rather cutesy sounding voice as she took his hoof and was pulled up. "Just be more careful from now on."
Heart chuckled at that, "I wish I could say I will be." His smile faded to an almost insane twitch as he glared down at his hoof, "But this bandaged leg is driving me nuts."
"Oh no," her eyes went wide. "What happened?"
"I was fighting against this super evil guy and had to use a magical attack so strong it burnt my entire leg," he stated with a smirk. "It was cool and all, but now my leg and hoof are always itchy." He pulled his other hoof away and tried to think of something else to do with it, only to hold it out, "I'm Heart by the way. Fire Heart."
The filly smiled and took the hoof, "Cozy Glow. Wait..." she looked him over, "Fire Heart? Flash Sentry's apprentice?"
"The one and only," Heart grinned before his eye twitched. "Ahhh!" He clutched his leg, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "I don't think I can take it anymore! I've gotta scratch it!"
"Don't do that," she replied in a worried tone. "That'll do more harm than good." Heart looked up at her, puppy-dog eyes begging her to do something about it, the filly blinking before smiling, "I know something that might help." She took his bandaged leg and pulled the section just before his knee up, creating a gap that she blew into.
Heart suddenly found himself giggling at the sensation, Cozy blowing again and again into the bandage. As she did this, the itchy sensation began to die down. "Ahhhh," he sighed in relief, "So much better."
Cozy giggled at this, "Glad I could help." She let the bandage go and it snapped back into place, the pegasus beginning to pick up her books. "I know how bad you feel. I broke my wing once and had to have it in a cast for three weeks. It was so itchy that I could barely sleep, but then my guardian showed me how to blow some bellows into the cast to stop the itching."
"Guardian?" Heart asked, Cozy looking down.
"Yeah. I don't have any parents...or any actual family. I'm been shuffled around from one foster home to the next. That's why they sent me here, hoping to keep me out of the way."
"That can't be right," he responded, "I'm sure they just sent you here so you can have a great education. Trust me, Twilight teaching you is gonna open a lot of doors for you when you're older." As he said that, a bell rang out, signaling the start of their next class. "Oh no!" He started picking up the books he dropped, "Though neither of us are gonna graduate if we're late on the first day." He began to fly off, disappearing down the corridor before Cozy could say anything. "Bye, and thanks for the itching tip!" With that, he turned a corner and vanished.
"Um...bye," she waved before smiling. "Fire Heart...Flash Sentry's apprentice. Hmmm..."
And so the school's first term had begun and things seemed to be going good...at first.
Rainbow, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity all felt a little out of their depths at first, forced to try and teach their lessons the way the EEA intended. But just as Flash had guessed, learning friendship couldn't be done EEA approved. But that didn't stop them, as much like Flash, they slowly began to change how their classes worked.
Fluttershy started bringing her animals in to show them how to care for certain creatures, which helped the students lower their guards. Even Smolder and Gallus began to start opening up, it's hard to stay cool when you had a cute cat trying to rub itself against you.
Pinkie realized the best way to teach laughter was to make the students laugh. So every class was something different and fun to do, like making party poppers and firing cannons in the classroom. The students loved this and soon enough, they were all laughing and telling jokes and even doing stand-up routines.
Rainbow turned her lessons into a physical education class, teaching the students a bunch of different games that required working together and being loyal. The students soon realized that working together was a lot more profitable than trying to do everything alone, such as when they were playing soccer. Smolder was blocked by another player and Ocellus was open, Smolder seeing this as only a few seconds were left, and passed the ball to her and the changeling scored the winning goal.
Rarity started teaching the students all about clothing designs and how to stitch and sew certain fabrics together. Surprisingly, learning color coordination and when to give a certain fabric the time to shine helped the students learn what it meant to be generous. When Gallus snapped his quill, Sandbar happily lent him one of his, the griffon slowly starting to accept others.
Applejack had also fallen back on what she knew, farm work. She started teaching her lessons by showing off different farming techniques, believing that nothing built character better than an honest day's hard work. The students were all amazed by this, none of them having ever done any farm work before.
The only one who didn't need to change how his class worked was Flash, his method already working. Every single class, he put the students through a series of exercises, some involving building something together, others transporting something from one area to the other while being tied to one another. One class simply had them sitting back to back with one student explaining a picture that the other one had to copy without looking. The defender was impressed with how well things were going, the students were doing better every class. The ones that were most improved were Sandbar and the non-pony students, who were slowly beginning to build a kind of comradery with one another.
"Let's do this!" Gallus cheered as they did the burning building exercise again.
"Yeah!" Sandbar added, "Gallus, Silverstream, what if you used your claws to dig up the ground and throw mud onto the areas we put out?" The griffon and hippogriff smirked at the idea while Ocellus turned into an octopus.
"Alright!" She exclaimed as she picked up the buckets and started using her many long legs to fill them up and bring them over to the house as Smolder started throwing the water over the top while Yona and Sandbar did the same with the bottom sections of the building.
Flash watched as the six became a well-oiled machine, whose teamwork was putting the flames out quickly. "It's starting to tip over!" Silverstream cried as Yona threw her braids over her back and ran to where the wall was tipping. Before it could fall over, she slammed her head into it, pushing it up straight again.
"Yona have this!" The others smiled at the sight, only for Smolder to fly up to the window and saw the terrified pony.
However, she also saw that the roof would give out at any moment before turning to the octopus that was still filling buckets. "Hey, eight arms!" Ocellus turned to her, "Mind giving me a claw?" Ocellus nodded and turned into a dragon, flying up to Smolder as the two flew inside. Ocellus grew in size so she could lift the ceiling up without it collapsing, allowing Smolder to fly in and grab the pony.
Throwing him over her shoulder, Smolder flew him out with Ocellus turning into a fly to quickly escape the roof before it fell. Yona leapt away next, allowing the burning building to collapse with no casualties. The students all cheered at their victory, Flash smiling and nodding in approval.
Yes, the school really was coming into its own. The teachers were becoming more confident in how they wanted to teach their students, while the students themselves were learning the importance of the seven elements. Everything was going well...until Twilight got involved.
The alicorn princess had begun inspecting the classes, and when she found how things were being done, she quickly put a stop to them. Apparently, the ways her friends were teaching their lessons weren't EEA approved. So, completely forgetting what Flash had suggested back when the school was approved, she forced the classes back to their original way of study. Her friends were once again stuck teaching off a blackboard, which only resulted in boring the students.
There was only one lesson she didn't change, though that wasn't by choice.
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's Go!" Flash cheered as Gallus, Sandbar and a pegasus pony had their back and front legs tied together. They were on an obstacle course, needing to jump from one pole to another without falling into the pool of goo below them. The other students all laughed seeing the three trying to synchronise their movements.
Flash smirked, but then frowned and took something out. A device he had asked Time Turner to make for him, which was a short range homing device that let out a loud beeping noise when the homer was within a hundred feet of it.
"Hello Head-Mare Twilight," Cozy waved at the alicorn as she flew into the courtyard the filly had been studying in. She then noticed a flower clip in Twilight's mane, "That's pretty."
"Thank you," Twilight replied, "Flash gave it to me the other day."
"He's so sweet," Cozy giggled as Twilight nodded and began to fly toward Flash's class to check to see how things were going.
"One...two...THREE!" Gallus yelled as the three leapt up and grabbed the three ropes hanging over the goo. Gallus and the pegasus grasped the rope, but then Sandbar's slipped out of his hooves.
"WOW!" He yelped, only to stop when the ropes tying him to the other two went tight. He looked up and saw his partners groaning as they tried to hold him up while gripping the ropes with their untied limbs. Sandbar smiled back as they began to pull him up.
Flash smirked at this, but then heard a beeping sound coming from the device. "Uh-oh."
Twilight arrived at the door seconds later and opened it up, smiling when she saw Flash standing at the front of the classroom pointing a stick at something on the blackboard.
"And as you can see, the true measure of one's courage-" He stopped when he spotted Twilight, blinking at her, "Oh, hey babe. Problem?"
Twilight shook her head, "No. I'm just glad to see you doing things by the book. The others all had these silly ideas of going against it and doing things their own way."
"Gasp!" Flash exclaimed while putting his hoof to his chest, "What were they thinking?!" The students all stifled laughter at this while Twilight smiled and looked around the room. Though she couldn't be sure, something seemed off about Gallus, Sandbar and Sky-Writer. After a moment, she shrugged and turned away, the three started flickering before solidifying again.
"Well, keep up the good work. The EEA will be very impressed." With that, she shut the door, Flash breathing a sigh of relief and turned the tracker back on before activating the crystal again. In the blink of an eye, the three illusion students vanished and the classroom returned to the assault course that had the real version of Gallus, Sandbar and Sky-Writer hanging above them, trying not to make a sound.
"Nice work," Flash commented, "That probably took a lot of will." The three sighed in relief, then felt their grips slacken enough that they let go of the rope and fell into the goo.
Time passed with Friends and Family Day drawing closer and closer. Alas, the stipulations Twilight was forcing on the classes had taken everything that made of the School of Friendship special to begin with. Day after day, the students had to sit through one boring lesson after another that they couldn't find the strength to endure. Nine times out of ten, most of the students found themselves falling asleep in class. And that tenth time resulted in the teacher falling asleep.
The only class the students looked forward to was Flash's, but even that had its limits, especially when Flash was constantly on edge, trying not to get caught by Twilight. As such, tempers were slowly beginning to fray. The seeds of friendship that had started blossoming between the new students were slowly withering away. As evident when Sandbar and the five none-pony students stepped out of Fluttershy's class.
"Is this what boring is?" Silverstream asked as they death marched through the halls, "Am I bored?"
"Ugh..." Smolder groaned, "Please. These ponies are the heroes of Equestria? I can see Professor Flash as one, but Professor Fluttershy?"
Sandbar slumped down at this, "Listen, these ponies saved all of us from the Storm King and many other villains before then."
"How?" Gallus asked, "By boring them into surrender?"
"Our teachers are a little different than I expected."
"That's because they're stuck trying to teach the way that doesn't so off how awesome they are." They turned to see Ace and Mira both holding their own books.
"Sorry," Mira waved, "We couldn't help overhearing your conversation. But Ace is right. Our teachers are awesome when they're allowed to be themselves. It's those stupid guidelines they have to follow."
"I doubt it's that simple," Smolder replied, "You expect me to believe that Professor Fluttershy, who shrank down to the size of a mouse when somepony sneezed, can be awesome?"
Mira giggled at this, "One time, Fluttershy was able to talk down a giant dragon that was about to roast Flash and the rest of her friends." Smolder went wide-eyed at this, only for Yona to let out a grunt of annoyance.
"Pony school waste of time!" She yelled as they turned a corner. "Yak school teach how to braid yak hair! Braiding yak hair is best!" She would have gone on, only to trip on her braids. "Whoa!" She yelped while rolling into Smolder, knocking her to the ground.
"Oof!" The dragon pushed herself back up and glared at Yona, "Is there anything in Yakyakistan that isn't the best?"
"Yes!" Yona instantly replied, only to blink, "Wait. No! Yaks best." Smolder raised an eyebrow at this, Ace and Mira realizing a fight was about to break out.
"No claws, no wings, no fire. What is it exactly you're proud of?"
"Um...Smolder?" Sandbar spoke up before the jakhowls could, "Cool it please. No need to harsh Yona's love for her heritage, okay?"
"Awww," Gallus grumbled, "Are we not being sweet and friendly enough for you, pony?"
"That was sarcasm, right?" Silverstream asked. "Because you weren't being sweet or nice!"
"Okay," Mira chimed in, "Let's cool it. Remember, this is supposed to be the School of Friendship."
"Ha!" Smolder laughed as she leaned against Gallus. "Maybe dragons and griffons are just too tough for friendship." They fist pounded as Yona frowned at them.
"Yaks tough, just not nasty."
"Who you calling nasty, klutz?" Gallus growled before the pair glared at each other, soon pushing each other as Ace and Mira gulped at the sight. But before they could do anything, Rainbow, Applejack and Starlight ran in, having overhead the argument.
"Okay, break it up!" Rainbow tried to push the two apart. "Break... it...UP!" In that moment, Applejack grabbed Gallus in her lasso and pulled him away as Starlight did the same to Yona in her magic.
"What is going on here?!" Starlight asked.
Gallus smirked and crossed his arms, "Just a friendly discussion about the magic of friendship amongst friends." Applejack glared at him, knowing he wasn't telling the truth as she pulled her lasso off of him.
"Everypony-" she shook her head, "Ah mean, everyone, go to your next class!" The students all glared at one another and left, the adults all sharing a worried look. "Ah just can't believe it. Fights breakin' out when they're supposed to be learnin' friendship?"
Starlight let out a long sigh, "Things definitely aren't going as 'by the book' as Twilight planned."
"That's because we're terrible teachers!" Rainbow cried, "Face it. This school isn't gonna work."
Friends and Family Day Had arrived, and today was the day the EEA would come to inspect how the school was running. In her office, Twilight was busy preparing everything for her next lesson, only for Flash to walk in with Springer. "Hey you two. Come to see how well the School of Friendship is doing?"
"Yeah..." Springer responded while cross his arms, "I don't think it's doing well." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "Considering all the negative emotions I've been picking up whenever I'm close to this place, I'm getting the feeling that the students here aren't having a great time."
"Don't be silly," Twilight replied while waving a hoof, "The students are loving it here."
"Twilight..." Flash sighed, "You're in denial. When the students walk into my class, they're all barely conscious after being bored half to death. And they've barely learned anything. I should know, my classes are all about taking what they've learned and putting it into a real world situation. But they haven't been able to do that because they've got nothing to learn from us."
Twilight frowned for a moment, her eyes glancing at the EEA book, only to declare, "It's the first term. Of course it's gonna take a while for them to get into the swing of things. Just be patient and you'll see, everything's gonna turn out fine." But as she said that, the doors of her office flew open before Starlight the rest of the Mane Seven ran in.
"Twilight, we've gotta talk!" Rainbow cried as they crowded around her desk and started complaining about the many problems with the school, surprising Twilight and trying to avoid Flash's smug grin.
As Pinkie fell asleep from remembering her boring lessons, Twilight remained calm and spoke. "I get it." They all quieted down as she continued, "Things are getting off to a rougher start than expected." She kept smiling as Spike climbed up onto her desk, "But that's okay!"
Spike, ever the loyal assistant, grabbed Twilight by the cheek and pulled her face into his. "Who are you, and what have you done with Twilight Sparkle?!" Twilight glared at him and levitated the drake away from the desk while taking out the guidebook.
"Every school in Equestria follows these rules. As long as we do too, we'll be fine."
"Ahh!" Flash screamed, "I am so sick of that book. It's...not...working!"
"Your class seemed to be having a good time when I check in on you," Twilight pointed out.
Flash wanted to bite his tongue and not tell her, only to sigh, "That's because we weren't doing it by the book!"
Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "What do you mean? I've seen you-"
"I haven't." Flash interrupted, "I've been doing things my way since the start, like how the others were starting to do things until you forced them back to the EEA way. My classroom isn't even a classroom. I had Trixie install an illusion crystal when you weren't looking. My classes have all been doing practical applications of the lessons the others have been teaching...but the only problem is there's nothing for them to do because they can't learn anything this way!"
The girls, Springer and Spike all stared at him in shock after his little rant, Twilight now looking horrified before glaring at the defender, "We'll be talking later about going behind my back...but for now, we need to focus on showing off everything we've accomplished since opening the school."
"BUT WE HAVEN'T ACCOMPLISHED ANYTHING!" The rest of the Mane Seven screamed.
"I'm with the others on this one Twilight," Starlight added, "If this school's ever gonna be a successful one, then maybe we should...try something new?"
Twilight shook her head. "The EEA will be here this afternoon for Friends and Family Day. They need to see a school that follows their guidelines."
"Even if those guidelines aren't working?" Fluttershy pointed out.
"Well, then we have to try harder and make sure they do!" The forcefulness of her voice made everypony realize Twilight was starting to get stressed, Springer frowning at the sight. Twilight would have said more, but in that moment the bell began to ring. "Another morning, another chance to inspire our students!" She smiled, but the others just sighed before leaving. The only one who didn't was Flash, Twilight now glaring at him as she said, "You need to get that illusion crystal out of your classroom, and fast."
"No," he told her with crossed arms.
"Excuse me?!" Twilight yelped, getting off her desk. "Are you trying to sabotage this school?!"
"The only one sabotaging this school is you," Flash replied, "I don't care what that stupid book says, I'm not going to change how I teach my class. When I agreed to do this, I knew this was the only way to help the students master courage, and I'm not gonna change it."
"If the EEA sees your class the way it is-"
"They'll see the students actually learning something," Flash pointed out. "And if they really care about the education of Equestria, they'll realize this school is the exception to the rule." He let out a sigh, "Listen Twi, you know I don't know how regular schools work...but this isn't supposed to be a normal school." He pointed his hoof at her, "I don't want to get into a fight with you...and it's your choice Twilight. You can either trust me, or fire me. Whatever your choice, I'll accept it."
Twilight blinked at this, a full frown on her face before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry Flash, but I can't let this school fail. I'm afraid...I'll have to find somepony else to teach your class from now on."
Flash shrugged at this, "I understand. Just...don't come crying to me when the exact thing you're trying to prevent happens." With that, he spun around to leave, Twilight slumping down in her desk, the alicorn letting out a whimper.
The school day was in full swing and like every other day, it was completely boring. Even more so since Flash's lessons had apparently been cancelled. "I can't believe this!" Ace cried, "I was really looking forward today's lesson."
"We all were," Mira added as they headed for Rainbow Dash's class besides Sandbar. But as they passed a corner, Smolder and Gallus stepped out from around that corner and began heading in the opposite direction.
"Hey!" Sandbar called out to them, "Professor Dash's class is this way." The two didn't reply and just kept walking as Yona, Ocellus and Silverstream appeared at the end of the hall and noticed them as well.
"Where are you going?" Ocellus asked, "You're not-" She let out a gasp, "skipping, are you?"
"That's exactly what we're doing," Smolder smirked as she and Gallus bumped fists.
Silverstream looked horrified. "But Friends and Family Day-"
"Is after class," Gallus reminded her, "Relax. This is just a quick...mental health break." The three whispered to one another while Mira and Ace stepped up to them.
"That sounds legit!" Silverstream giggled, "We're in!" They turned to the two jakhowls, as if asking if they were gonna bust them. Ace turned to Mira, showing he was totally in. Mira was about to reply, only to remember that Rainbow's class was next...and how boring it was going to be.
"I...I'm in."
Ace lightly punched her in the arm, "Atta girl."
"I guess I'll tag along, too," Sandbar added, "Make sure you don't get into...trouble."
"Whatever makes you feel better," Ace laughed as they began to run off. But before they could even take three steps, a voice around the corner caught their attention.
"This way, Angel!"
"Professor Fluttershy!" Silverstream gasped, "We're busted!" But to their amazement, Ocellus stepped up and morphed into a perfect copy of Rarity. Seconds later, Fluttershy walked out from around the corner with Angel by her side.
"Oh, my!" She looked at them all, "What are you all doing?" She turned to 'Rarity' and pointed behind them, "Aren't classes that way?
"Ah-" The disguised changeling thought before clearing her throat. "A generosity field trip, daaaaarling." She threw her mane back and let out a giggle, "I'm taking the students to the lake to look at our divine reflections." The other students look at her in utter gobsmacked while Fluttershy smiled.
"Oh, that sounds nice. Have fun!" She walked off but Angel remained where he was, noticing how worried the others were. He gave them a growl and a judging look, but then followed his owner.
Once she was gone, Ocellus returned to normal and they all started laughing as they ran through the halls. "I take back everything I said about you!" Smolder giggled, "That was cool!"
"Thanks!" Ocellus chuckled as Smolder ran past her, only to ask, "Wait, what did you say about me?" They all laughed some more as they reached the exit and managed to get out of the school before any-creature else could see them.
"You fired Flash?!" Starlight yelped as she and Twilight trotted through the halls, making sure everything was ready for Friends and Family day along with the EEA inspection.
"I had too," she sighed, "Flash refused to do things by the book, and if Neighsay saw what he was doing, he would have shut us down on the spot." She let out a moan, "But now I need to find somepony else to teach his class. Maybe Springer would be willing to do it. Or Grand...Iron...Lightning...Derpy?"
Starlight rolled her eyes, "You'll probably run into the same problem. They're all gonna agree with Flash about how the lessons should go. And really...Derpy?" Twilight sighed as they reached the courtyard and began to make their way over one of the bridges that ran over the small rivers that fed the waterfalls.
"I need to find somepony and fast. If Neighsay sees one of the classes is teacherless, he'll shut us down for sure."
Starlight wanted to give her some comfort, but decided she need to tackle a bigger problem first. "You're sure sticking to the book is gonna work?"
Twilight nodded. "My friends can handle anything. They'll have these problems turned around before we know it."
"Problems?" The mares gasped at the voice, only to slowly turn around to see Neighsay stepping out of a portal behind them.
"Chancellor Neighsay!" Twilight gasped, "I uh...you're here!"
"Yes," Neighsay took out a quill and a clipboard as he started scribbling. "And you seem unprepared. If there are problems-"
"Problems?" Twilight asked, "Ha! Of course not!" She and Starlight shared a nervous glance, "We can't wait to show you around!" Neighsay didn't look convinced and kept scribbling away, Twilight letting out a nervous laugh as she tried to think of a way to bluff her way out of this problem.
As this was going on, the eight young students of the school were all at the nearby lake. Ace was currently skipping rocks while Gallus was taking advantage of Silverstream's lack of above water knowledge. "And that's why griffons breathe fire when we get mad."
"They do not!" Silverstream asked in amazement before thinking, "Wait! Do they? No! Really?!
Yona smiled at the others, "Griffons just full of hot air!"
They all laughed at this as Smolder turned to her. "And yaks are actually good at jokes. How about that?"
"I guess there's more to a race than what you see on the surface," Mira giggled as Ace skipped a rock six times and celebrated a personal best.
"So, what can jakhowl's do?" Ocellus asked, the others turning to the duo. Ace and Mira shared a smirk, both bringing their paws together before a sphere of blue energy appeared.
"Wow!" Silverstream's eyes went wide, "What's that?!"
"An Aura Blast," Ace replied before turning to the lake. He threw the sphere like a bowling ball and it skimmed along the top of the water before reaching the center, exploding and sending water flying everywhere.
"Awesome," Smolder added as she stood up, "What else can you do?"
Mira dissolved her sphere and held up her paw, which glowed as an energy construct formed around it in the shape of claws. "This is Steel Paw. Pretty cool, huh?"
"There's other stuff we should be able to do," Ace continued, "But we haven't learned how to do it yet. You should see Springer when he's in a fight. He's like an unstoppable force."
"So what is that Springer guy?" Gallus asked, "I've seen him around school some times, but he's never in any classes. Why's he here and not wherever you jakhowls live?" Ace and Mira frowned at this, "Did I say something wrong?"
"No..." Mira shook her head, "It's just...Equestria is where we live. The three of us are the last jakhowls left alive. The rest of our species were wiped out centuries ago. The only reason we're alive is because we were all placed in a time lock when we were eggs."
"Oh," Silverstream muttered, "That's so sad."
The others nodded, not sure how they would feel if they were the last of their kind in Equestria, only for Ace to wave his paw, "Eh, it's fine. We might be the last, but we're not gone yet. As long as we're around, the jakhowls are standing strong."
"So...what does your dad do around here?" Gallus asked next, the pair going wide-eyed.
"He's not our dad!" they said together before pointing at each other, "You think I'm related to him/her?!"
The others laughed at this as Sandbar decided to explain, "Springer's a Defender of the Peace. He, Flash, Iron Core, Lightning Blitz and Grand Hoof all protect Ponyville."
"From what?" Gallus asked, "What could be so dangerous around here that you need five ponies to protect it?"
Sandbar and the jakhowls shared a look, then burst out laughing as the others wondered what was so funny. "Well..." Sandbar got his laughter under control, "Let's just say that if it wasn't for them, Ponyville would probably be a crater or something."
Ace laid back with his arms behind his head at this, "Yeah, and Springer's the one who's saved the day more than anypony."
Smolder smirked at this, "I guess we've found another thing Jakhowls are good at: Boasting."
They all laughed again as Ocellus turned to her. "What are dragons good at?"
Smolder shined a big grin, spreading her wings, "Competition!" She pointed at the path around the lake, "Who's up for a race?" She flew off before they could answer, the others jumping to their feet and running after her while laughing their heads off.
Back at school, Twilight and Starlight continued to show Neighsay around. "As you can see, the building is up to code and has been fully furnished with all the required safety precautions placed." Twilight smiled back at Neighsay, but he was still frowning, "We've also taken all healthcare needs into consideration, and have all the student's dietary requirements and allergens on record."
"Yes," Neighsay nodded, "You seem to have everything under control in that department." Twilight sighed, "But that'll be meaningless if the curriculum isn't up to snuff. I would like to see one of your classes in session and see how well the teacher is performing their duty. How about...courage?"
Twilight's eyes went wide at the moment, Starlight quickly chiming in, "Aw...shoot. I'm afraid the last courage class of the day ended already." Twilight sighed in relief again, Neighsay turning to her as she stood up straight. "I'm sure there's another class we can watch. I think Rainbow's Loyalty Class should be about halfway through."
Twilight nodded and they started heading in that direction. But as they drew closer to the classroom, the teacher of the class suddenly flew around the corner, "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight glanced by at Neighsay, who didn't seem to realize this was the very teach her planned to evaluate. "Why aren't you in class teaching?"
"Because my students are gone!" She yelped, only to see who was behind the magic wielders as Twilight motioned for her to stop talking. "Uh..." Neighsay slowly lowered the clipboard to stare at her, "G-gone somewhere else! Doing a loyalty lesson! And-and I was just going to grab, uh...this pencil!" She grabbed the pencil off a nearby hall table, holding it up for all to see. "Because they need it. Wherever they are. Which I know, 'cause...I'm the teacher!"
"I see," Twilight laughed as Starlight facehoofed. "Well Chancellor, we have other classes. We can just-"
"Let's follow the professor." Neighsay turned to Rainbow, giving her a narrow glare, "I'm quite curious about this lesson in loyalty." Rainbow's eyes shrunk at this, the pony slumping over as Neighsay added, "So...tell me. What exactly does your Loyalty Lessons require?"
"Um...er..." Rainbow gulped at this, sweat now pouring down her face.
Twilight put her hoof in front of Neighsay, "You see, we want to instill a sense of loyalty towards others and..."
Back at the lake, the students continued to race around, laughing their heads off at the same time. Yona then tripped on her braids again, but instead of falling Sandbar, Ace and Mira caught her and pushed her back to her hooves before they started running again.
"We encourage acts of generosity and kindness..."
Silverstream looked down at the pair and smirked before whispering to the others, all nodding as she pointed at the ground forces before they all dived. Gallus grabbed Sandbar while Silverstream and Smolder grabbed Yona before they pulled them into the sky. Ocellus offered a hoof to the jakhowls and they smiled, grabbing the hoof and being lifted into the air as Gallus told them, "Figured we shouldn't be the only ones enjoying the view."
"Awesome!" Ace cheered as Yona looked down.
"Waaaah!" She cried while shutting her eyes, "Yak not best at flying!
"And appreciation for the value of laughter..."
After a few moments, Yona's eyes slowly opened and she saw how amazing the world was from this angle...and how small everything looked from up high. "Flying is best!"
"Congratulations, Yona!" Silverstream cheered, "You are officially the weirdest thing I've seen so far!" Yona smiled as they all laughed, Smolder turning to the changeling as she pulled Ace and Mira along.
"What do you say Ocellus? Can you be weirder than a flying yak?" Ocellus put a hoof to her chin, only to smile as her body burst into flames.
"...and to always be honest in any situation." Which was exactly what she, Rainbow and Starlight weren't being right now, given they had just been leading Neighsay around for several long minutes.
"Honesty is imperative." He looked around before turning to Twilight, "Princess, are we going in circles?" Twilight gulped at this, quickly pulling out a pocket watch.
"Uh...look at the time! We'd better head to the lake for Friends and Family Day." She again began leading the examiner away, "I'm sure all the students and faculty will be there." Neighsay didn't seem convinced, but followed her anyway while Rainbow quickly flew off to try and find her lost students. "Oh...I hope nothing else goes wrong." Twilight whispered as she kept moving.
Outside the school near the newly dug out waterfall fueled lake, the friends and family of the many students were all gathered around a small party Pinkie had managed to set up with cake, snacks and drinks. The four remaining teachers were already there, as were Flash and Springer that had taken up position in a nearby corner.
"She actually fired you?" The jakhowl asked Flash, who nodded. "Ouch. Surprised you'd wanna be here."
"I might not agree with Twilight's methods, but I still wanna support her when I can." He sighed before taking a sip of his drink. "Besides, I'm Heart and Soul's guardian. Why wouldn't I be here for Friends and Family Day?"
"Fair enough," Springer nodded as he saw Spike bring Ember, Thorax, Gruff, Rutherford and Seaspray over to the teachers.
But as this happened, Ember saw something in the sky, "What is that?!" He followed her claw and saw a giant bug creature that had Mira and Ace riding on its back. The other students were flying with in front of it and as they saw it, the group quickly panicking and running for cover.
Flash was about to take to the air, but Springer stopped him. "Wait!" He yelled, "It's that changeling filly!"
"Ocellus?" Flash asked as more and more ponies screamed and ran. As they did this, Neighsay and the mares arrived and when the unicorn saw Ocellus, he gasped.
"Aah!" Jumping behind Twilight, he sank to the ground, "The school is under attack!" One pegasus flew into the pair and shot past Gallus, causing him to accidently drop Sandbar. This sent him rolling into Rutherford, Seaspray and Thorax, knocking them both down. The girls holding Yona were also knocked for a loop and crashed into the snack table while Ocellus was doing her best to avoid the fleeing ponies and accidently crashed into one of the towers. The building broke apart and fell toward the grounded party guests, only to be obliterated by Springer's Aura Force as Ocellus accidently transformed back to normal and fell to the ground with the jakhowls.
Every-creature not scared off by the 'attack' moaned as they picked themselves up, all trying to recover. Flash blinked at the sight, only to sigh again, "This...is gonna take some explaining."