Twilight could barely believe what she was seeing, or how horribly this day had gone. First, she had to fire Flash, then Chancellor Neighsay showed up without warning to evaluate them, and now the Friends and Family Day party had been ruined by an accident mistaken for an attack. She looked over at where the non-pony students had all fallen, the seven letting out moans as they picked themselves up and saw that everyone was staring at them.
"Um..." Silverstream gulped as Sandbar joined them, "Maybe skipping class wasn't the best idea?"
"How dare you!" They all turned to a glaring Neighsay, "This act of aggression against ponies-"
"I-I'm so sorry, Chancellor." He spun around to Twilight, "We clearly had some students get a little carried away."
But as she said that, Neighsay's anger exploded as he turned back to the students. "Those are students?" He asked, spinning back to glare at Twilight. "But you said you were opening this school to protect Equestria!" He trotted past her and toward the group of non-pony creatures, which happened to also include Springer. "To defend ponies from...dangerous creatures who don't have our best interests at heart!"
The five leaders, plus Springer, frowned at this while Twilight looked shocked. "My school teaches for all of us to work together through friendship."
Neighsay glared at the six, then back at Twilight. "And how do you know these creatures won't take what they have learned here and use it against us?"
"Hey!" Springer yelped, "I'm a citizen of Equestria. And the dragons and changelings have a peace pact with the kingdom."
"Yeah," Flash nodded, "We were hoping this school would lead to the other nations joining the peace pact."
"Peace pact?!" Neighsay scoffed at this. "Clearly just a ploy to lead us into a state of lower guards, giving them to opportunity to strike!"
"Friendship isn't just for ponies!" Twilight barked back.
"It should be." Neighsay hissed, Rutherford then stepping forward.
"Unicorn think yaks no need friendship?" He rushed over to glare at Neighsay through his hair, "Maybe yaks no need PONY SCHOOL!"
"Well," Neighsay pushed him away, "Perhaps you should return to your kind."
"Your kind?!" Ember cried, Thorax looking horror struck. "Smolder, let's go!" She took off, the students turning to Smolder as the young dragon frowned before following her Dragon Lord.
"Queen Novo will want to hear of this!" Seaspray stated before he marched off, Grampa Gruff nodding.
"Well, this place seemed lame anyways." He motioned for Gallus to follow, the griffon following him as the other students headed over to their guards and left with them. Thorax and Springer were the only ones left, Springer glaring at Neighsay down as Thorax stepped over to Twilight.
"It's fine," he told her despondently. "We know not every pony sees us the way you do." He and Ocellus began to fly off. "We're used to it."
Twilight watched them all leave, then spotted Flash as the pegasus looked away from her. Springer also grabbed Ace and Mira to pull them away, not wanting Neighsay to say anything else that might upset the pair as Twilight turned to glare at him. "Princess Celestia helped me reach out to all the kingdoms! When she hears you closed the school because-"
"Because you failed to meet the EEA's standards?!" Neighsay interrupted, shocking her.
"What?!"
"Irresponsible teachers, students skipping class, endangering ponies! Your school is a disaster! Perhaps if you had had higher standards for who was admitted, this could have been avoided." He trotted passed her and up to the school, "Regardless..." He pressed his EEA badge and it unleashed a burst of magic that flew into his horn before he fired it at the school. Twilight and the others watched in horror as a magical chain appeared to wrap itself around the building and morph into a barrier that prevented anyone from entering. At the front door, a padlock appeared with the EEA symbol on it that unleashed chains to keep it shut. "By order of the EEA, I am shutting this school...down!"
He stomped his hoof at this while Twilight let out a horrified gasp. The others flinched at this, remembering how much time and effort they had put into this school. They might not have enjoyed teaching, but seeing it closed still hurt. And none seemed more hurt than Twilight, who quickly ran to Neighsay's side. "Please! Give us another chance!"
"To what?!" He spat, getting right in her face. "To put ponies in harms way?! To try and teach dangerous creatures how to destroy and conquer us?!"
Before he could say anything else, Flash appeared and pushed him away from her. "You know, I'm getting pretty sick of you badmouthing other creatures. Especially the ones that have saved our flanks. Equestria would still be under the Storm King's reign if the changelings, dragons, hippogriffs and jakhowls hadn't helped us. If you're so worried about them attacking us, maybe you should stop saying things to make them mad."
"I am merely stating the facts," Neighsay screeched, "Equestria has survived for a long time without the help of those savages, and it will continue to survive without them, as long as ponies are taught how to best them."
"The way you talk, it's like you wanna put up some kind of wall around Equestria," Heart added from his and Soul's spot with the others.
"Not a bad idea."
"There are non-pony Equestrians you know," Flash pointed out, "Like Springer said, he's lived in Equestria his whole life. And there are others, like the buffalo in Appaloosa. What gives you the right to decide who deserves to be friends with us?"
"The EEA," he instantly replied, "It might not give me full control over the kingdom, but it does allow me the ability to decide what will be taught in it! And as long as I am chancellor, no school in Equestria will teach the disastrous and idiotic ideology of trying to make friends with creatures other than ponies!" With that, he created a portal and stepped through it.
"WAIT!" Twilight cried, but Neighsay just vanished along with the portal. With that, the ponies all stood there in shock and silence...only for Grand, Lightning and Iron to arrive.
"We heard there was a commotion!" Grand yelled as they looked around, spotting the destroyed tower and damaged party supplies. "Looks like we were told right. What happened?"
"Who did this?" Iron asked, but then noticed the somber expressions on the pony's faces. "Are we missing something?"
"It's over," Twilight sighed, "The school's been closed." The defenders went wide-eyed at this as tears began to stream down Twilight's face. Flash stared at his girlfriend, only to see her look away, "Please, I...I just wanna be left alone for now." With that, she teleported away.
Flash sighed as he glanced back at the school, Starlight walking up to him as he said, "Maybe I shouldn't have fought against Twilight's way of doing things."
"You mean the EEA's way of doing things," Starlight corrected. "And no, you were right to stick by your ideals. Even if this hadn't happened and Twilight's school got accredited, the students wouldn't have learned anything and likely would have all flunked out. Then word would have gotten around about how horrible the place was, and nopony would have applied for the next year. This whole thing was a disaster waiting to happen."
"Yeah," Flash nodded, "Its too bad...I really enjoyed teaching all those classes. Which is weird coming from me, who didn't even go to school."
"I guess...we'll just have to wait and see what Twilight does next."
Springer was in his room, Mira and Ace sitting on his bed, pacing as they told him what had actually happened. "So...you decided to skip class, get Twilight in trouble, mess around and put ponies in danger?" He turned to see them both grimacing, the older jakhowl feeling a lot of fear coming off them.
"We're sorry," Mira sighed.
"We didn't want to cause trouble," Ace added, "But...those lessons were a total waste of time. We weren't learning anything. Heck, we learned more about Gallus and the other creatures in that one hour than we had in the weeks we spent at that school. We were just...having fun."
Springer shook his head, "I...understand. Having fun is one of the most important things about friendships."
Mira looked up at him, "Are you mad at us?"
Springer rubbed his face with his paw, "No...I'm just sorry Twilight's school was shut down. And that that Neighsay pony got to say all those things about us."
"How is something like that allowed?" Ace asked, "He should be locked up for saying that."
"It's the double-edged sword of freedom," Springer grumbled, "Freedom of speech is a great thing to have, but there are those that use it as a defense to push their agenda and make those different from them feel bad just because it makes them powerful. It's not a perfect system, but we can't go arresting ponies just because they say a bad thing."
"Well, we should," Ace crossed his arms and leaned back, Springer shaking his head again.
"I'm gonna go see how things are going with the others. You two stay here and think about what you've done. I might not be mad, but you still cut class and caused a lot of trouble for Twilight and the others. Think about that while you're in here." The pair moaned as he left, Mira jumping off the bed and moving over to the window.
"This bites," she moaned. "School might not have been great, but sometimes it was fun. Like the nights me, Soul, Ocellus and Silverstream spent doing our homework together."
Ace turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "You and I have very different ideas about what's fun." He then let out a sigh, remembering the nights in his room playing cards with Heart, Gallus and Sandbar. "I'm really gonna miss those two."
Mira nodded as she looked out the window at the now locked up school of friendship. "I just wish we could have seen them one more time."
They stayed like that for a minute or so before a voice spoke up. "Mira?" Her head shot up at this, "Ace?" Ace sat up at this, "Are you in there?"
"Ocellus?" Mira asked, the pair looking around the room. "Where are you?"
"Right here." They turned back to the window and saw a lizard with Ocellus' color scheme poking its head up in front of the window. Mira quickly opened it up and the lizard crawled inside before transforming into the changeling.
"You're here!" The jakhowl cub pulled Ocellus toward her, "But how? Thorax..."
"We might have given them the slip," she replied.
"We?" Ace asked as Ocellus turned to the window.
"They sent me to get you. Come on." She transformed into a bee and flew out the window, Ace and Mira sharing a glance. The last time they had snuck out, things didn't go so well for them. But the thought of seeing their friends again had them quickly leaping out of the window and carefully climbing down the castle's side.
Heart and Soul were both somberly making their way through the town, Heart sighing, "Maybe it's for the best." The two then bought a piece of fruit from a stand. "Now we can focus on our goals. You can continue mastering your magic, and I can focus on becoming a Royal Knight."
"I guess so," Soul added before taking a bite out of her peach. "But what if Twilight gets so depressed after this that she starts thinking she can't teach anypony and just gives up on my lessons?" Heart opened his mouth to reply, only to feel a certain itch and began blowing into his bandage, "What are you doing?"
"It's something I learned from another student," he responded, "Blow a bunch of cold air into a bandage and it stops it from itching."
"Huh. That's...neat. Where'd you learn that?"
"Another student at school showed me it," he explained as his gaze mindlessly drifted away from her. "She was a pegasus filly who-hey, that's her there!" Soul turned and saw the filly flying through the market, the alicorn then looking past her.
"Looks like she's heading for the train station."
"Why would she go there?"
"Well, I've never seen her at Ms. Cheerilee's school or around town. Guess she came from another town and now that the school's closed, she's heading home." Heart's eyes went wide at this and he quickly spread his wings to give chase, "Hey!" Soul flew after him and the pair followed the filly as she arrived at the train station.
"Cozy!" He called out, making the filly spin around.
"Heart?"
He landed in front of her. "You're leaving?"
Cozy frowned, but nodded. "I'm afraid so. Since the school's been closed, I have to go back to my foster home." She sighed, "My guardians aren't gonna by happy that I'm back."
"I'm sure they'll be overjoyed that you're home," Soul added, Cozy turning to stare at her.
"Oh, uh..." Heart pulled Soul closer to him, "This is my sister."
"The filly turned alicorn?" Cozy guessed. "I've heard of you." She looked down as a train whistle blew to signal the approach, "But I'm afraid you're wrong. I'm not gonna be in for much of a warm welcome when I get back." The train arrived and the passengers were let off, Cozy flying up to board, "Well, I guess this is it." She turned to smile at Heart, "It was nice seeing you again. Maybe we'll meet back up one day, hopefully."
Heart frowned at this as the train doors closed before the engine began to pull away. Heart watched it disappear into the distance, sighing once it was out of sight. "Bye."
"You okay?" Soul asked, Heart just frowning in response, "You didn't seem this upset when the other students left."
"Yeah...I don't know. Just...seeing her go really hurts. We didn't know each other very long, so...I don't know. I just really liked having her around, you know?"
Soul blinked at him, only to shrug, knowing that friendship was something that could happen with just five words between two ponies. "Well, you know what? Maybe she's right and you will meet again someday."
"I guess so..."
Ace and Mira has managed to get out of the castle without anypony seeing them, quickly running after the Ocellus bee and frowning when they saw what they were heading towards.
"The Everfree Forest?" Mira asked as they reached the first line of trees. "Please tell me you all didn't go in there."
"Yup," Ocellus laughed as she flew into the treeline and turned back to normal. "Come on!" She ran ahead and the two stayed outside the forest, remembering what happened last time when they entered the woods on their own.
"We can't just stay out here," Ace pointed out, "And we do know what's in there, so we might be able to help them not get eaten."
"I guess," Mira gulped. "And we are a lot stronger than we were the last time we came in here." Ace nodded and they stepped into the woods, still cowering as they made their way through the trees. "But if I see a single cragadile, I'm running the other way faster than Heart eats a donut."
Ace nodded again, following after Ocellus until they arrived at a small clearing within the forest that had no deadly animals, killer plants, or poisonous bogs. It looked just like any other meadow one would find in a forest. There they spotted Smolder, Yona, Silverstream, Gallus and Sandbar sitting around, Ocellus now joining them.
"Hey!" Mira cheered as they ran over, "What are you all doing here?"
"Well duh!" Silverstream laughed, "We came because we didn't wanna stop hanging out with each other. At least...that's why I came."
"Yona came to pony town to learn friendship," Yona added, "And yaks no give up until task is complete."
"Nah," Gallus shrugged, "This place might be lame, but it's a hundred times better than Griffonstone. I'd rather hide out here then have to listen to Grampa Gruff constantly complaining about every single little thing."
"Same," Smolder nodded as she laid back in the grass. "This place needs a dragon's touch to keep it from getting too boring, so just be thankful I decided to stick around."
"Well, it's great you're all here," Ace finished before glancing around, "But this place isn't really a great spot to hang out in."
"He's right," Sandbar nodded. "The Everfree Forest is one of the most dangerous places in Equestria. It's not safe to stick around here, especially when it gets dark."
"So what do we do?" Gallus asked, "We can't go home, and we can't stay here. Where else can we hang out without getting caught?"
They all shared glances, only for Ocellus to let out a gasp, "I know just the place! Come on!" She flew off and the others followed suit, wondering just where they would be going.
Two days had passed since the school's closing and in that time, Twilight hadn't left her room once. She refused to come out no matter what anypony said or did, Flash choosing to sleep in his personal room to give her some more space. But it was here that her friends decided enough was enough and Spike stepped up to the door and pushed it open.
When he did, the first thing he noticed was the somber music playing from a record player...and a giant mountain of pillows piled on top of Twilight's bed, which he assumed the alicorn was hidden under. "Twilight?" He asked, "You feeling okay?" Twilight let out a muffled groan, which Spike translated into her saying no.
He moved through the dark and gloomy room toward the record player, pulling the needle off before yanking one of the pillows away to reveal a tear drenched Twilight, surrounded by soggy tissues. She let out another groan and pulled the pillow back to cover her face, causing Spike to sigh.
"Look on the bright side." He said as he climbed onto the bed, "Sure, the EEA closed your friendship school. But now you've got time to do other stuff! It's like being on vacation!" In that moment, the mountain exploded and Spike was sent flying. "Whoa!"
He hit the ground as Twilight sat up in her bed. "A failure vacation!" She yelled as Spike pushed himself back up. "I'm supposed to be the Princess of Friendship and all I did was make enemies with Equestria's allies, upset my friends, possibly ruin my relationship with Flash and get my school..." Her eye twitched, "...unaccredited! There is no bright side!" She fell back on the bed, grabbed a tissue and blew her nose.
"Okay then..." Spike turned to door with a smirk, "I'm gonna need backup. Operation Cheer-Up is a go!" Moments later, Rainbow Dash shot into the room and threw the curtains open. The sunlight burst into the room, making Twilight hiss like a vampire, covering her face with her wings.
"Come on, Twilight!" The prism maned pegasus called out, "You can't sit around in the boring dark all day!"
"Exactly!" Applejack added as she, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Heart and Soul walked into the room. "What you need is a double dose of Granny Smith's apple mash." She was carrying a belt with a jar of the mash on it, the earth pony scooping some up to give to Twilight, but the alicorn refused to even sniff it.
Applejack frowned at this as Fluttershy stepped up next. "Whenever I'm sad, a hug from Angel Bunny always makes me feel better." Her ever-faithful pet popped his head out of her saddlebag and gave her a look, Fluttershy motioning him to do it. He let out a squeak and jumped onto the bed, pulling Twilight's wing away and hugging her tightly. But Twilight didn't even seem to notice and Angel just whimpered. "Oh dear..." Fluttershy grabbed him off of Twilight before the bunny could go into vengeance mode. "Uh...maybe it's just me."
"Now dear, I find that nothing brightens my mood like a new ensemble!" Rarity chimed in as she pulled out a dress, which looked more like a jester's outfit than anything, and threw it onto Twilight before she could refuse.
Twilight looked herself over and continued to tear up. "Thanks, Rarity. It's a great dress..." She sobbed, "For somepony who knows how to run a school!" With that, she blew her nose into the fabric and Rarity almost had a heart attack at the sight.
"You didn't tell me this was a pity party!" Pinkie whispered to Spike as she gestured to some cupcakes she brought, "I would've brought ice cream!"
"I appreciate you trying to make me feel better," Twilight replied, "But not everything can be fixed with dresses and cupcakes."
"WHAT?!" Pinkie screamed as Rarity gasped.
Twilight pulled the dress off and jumped down, heading for the door. "I just need some time to be alone and think."
"Isn't that what you were doing for the last two days?" Heart asked, Soul whacking him on the head as Twilight left the room. She trotted through the halls, aimlessly wandering her castle as she remembered everything bad that had happened during the school's brief time open. The teachers hating their jobs, Flash refusing to do things the EEA way and getting fired, students skipping class and accidently destroying school property. Where had it all gone wrong?
"Hurry!" She suddenly heard, making her turn to see the door to Ace's room was wide open. A moment later, he and Mira ran out with their backpacks, but as soon as they left, they spotted Twilight and instantly froze. "Oh..." Mira gulped, "Hey Twilight." They both looked down in shame. "Listen...about what happened at the school-"
"We're really sorry about that," Ace interrupted, "We didn't mean to cause trouble. It's just...we couldn't take any more of those boring classes that weren't teaching us anything."
Those words stung Twilight's heart like a knife. "So...you really didn't learn anything at my school?"
She looked ready to start crying again as Mira responded, "We did. When the classes weren't just us sitting in a classroom listening to the teachers halfheartedly drone on about the subject. When they started doing things their way, I think we learned a lot. Especially in Flash's class."
"Yeah," Ace nodded. "You should have seen some of his lessons. They were awesome and we learned so much."
Twilight just stared at them, only to sigh as she spun around walked away. They watched her go, both glancing at each other, wondering if they should have been quiet. As this happened, Twilight left the castle, her eyes slowly pulling themselves over to where her condemned school was located. She knew doing so would probably just hurt more, but she began to make her way over to the building. Once she was across the bridge and stared at the padlocked building, she let out another disappointed sigh.
"I wondered how long you'd take to get tired of pillow-fort pouting." She spun around at this, now seeing Starlight standing with a smirk on her face.
"Everypony's already tried to cheer me up," Twilight moaned as she looked back at the school, "It won't work." But this statement was met with a short laugh from the unicorn.
"I'm not gonna cheer you up. I'm gonna tell you what you did wrong." This statement made Twilight glance back at her.
"What?"
"You gave up too easily." Twilight glared at her as the unicorn shrugged. "Hey, you made me a guidance counsellor. That means tough love." She poked Twilight in the chest, but the alicorn pushed that hoof back.
"Neighsay was right. I failed. The school was a disaster." She tried to walk away, but Starlight leapt in front of her.
"So was I when you met me." She pushed Twilight's chin up, "But you showed me that when you know in your heart that something is right, you stand up for it. You did that for me." She gestured to the school, "Why not for this?"
"I can't just go against the EEA!" Twilight replied, "They're in charge of all the schools in Equestria!" Starlight trotted up and poked her in the chest again.
"And you're in charge of all the friendship in Equestria. Why should you let somepony else stop you from doing your job?" Twilight's answer was to pull out the giant book that had been the bane of her school before it was even a building.
"But the EEA rulebook-" Starlight suddenly slapped the book out of Twilight's magic, causing it to hit the water around them and sink like a stone as Twilight watched in horror.
"Doesn't matter!" As the book vanished and Twilight's reflection appeared, Starlight's did the same as she continued talking, "You can write your own rules because you're doing something new! Something important!"
Twilight continued to stare at her own reflection, letting Starlight's words sink in. Her face began to change as a smile appeared on her face, "You're right! Why we're doing this is way more important than how we're doing this! And we are doing this!"
"Now, that's the Twilight I know. How can I help?"
Twilight smiled back at her, "You already have." They began to hug, only to then hear Flash's voice above them.
"Figures I'm late." They glanced up and saw Flash hovering above their heads. "I wanted to be the one to give the rousing speech that made you buck up and try again." The mares laughed as he landed, "Oh well. As long as you actually are bucking up and trying again."
"Yes, I am," Twilight nodded before staring at the defender, "Listen...Flash. About what happened before." She rubbed one of her hooves, "I...I just wanna say...well...you know?"
"Know? Know what?" Flash shook his head as he started to form a certain grin on his face, "I don't. Please tell me."
"Yow wore why," Twilight mumbled under her breath.
"What was that?" Flash replied, Twilight now growling.
"I said you were right!" Flash chuckled at this as she continued, "I shouldn't have tried to make you change how your classes were run. From what I heard, those were the only ones that students actually learned something in."
"I had a feeling my method was right." Flash laughed while crossing his hooves, "And that's coming from somepony who didn't even go to school."
"Yeah...I know." Twilight sighed, "So...listen. When I reopen the school, I'm gonna need somepony to teach my students about the Element of Courage. You up for it?"
"Well...I don't know," Flash rolled his eyes at this, "I mean...I heard you weren't that nice to the last teacher of that subject." The pair then locked eyes and after a few seconds, both started laughing as Twilight hugged him and he wrapped his wings around her. Starlight smiled at this before the three headed back inside, only to find the rest of the Mane Seven in the throne room.
"Guess what?" Twilight asked, getting all their attentions. "The School of Friendship is back in business!" Flash and Starlight looked into the room and saw that the girl's expressions were less then ecstatic.
"What?!" Was Rainbow's reply.
"But why?!" Rarity asked.
"Oh, no." Fluttershy gulped.
"Bad idea," Applejack added.
"Do we still get to guess?" Pinkie finished, making Flash laugh.
Rainbow poked her hooves together before speaking up. "No offense Twilight, but teaching at that school was the most boring, horrible, awful thing ever."
Twilight flinched at that as Applejack whispered to the pegasus. "Uh, pretty sure she's gonna take offense to that."
"No," Twilight sighed again as she stepped up, "Rainbow Dash is right. I owe you all an apology. I was so focused on doing things the EEA way, I didn't listen to any of you. I'm sorry." Starlight and Flash walked up to her side, "I promise, this time, we'll run the school the way friends should...together."
"So," Rarity clarified, "We'd be allowed to teach however we want to?"
"No more scary pop quizzes?" Fluttershy asked while clapping her hooves together.
"Confetti cannons for every-creature?" Pinkie asked as a bunch of cannons decorated in each pony's style appeared besides them.
Twilight slowly nodded, "Whatever you need to teach the Elements of Harmony."
"Yippeeeee!" Pinkie cheered as the cannons fired, shooting the confetti. And as it rained down, they all leapt off their thrones and moved to stand beside Twilight.
"Well in that case, we're behind yah one hundred percent, Twilight." The others all nodded at Applejack's statement, only for Spike to clear his throat and get their attention.
"Just two small problems," he began to point out, "The school is still unaccredited..." Twilight's eye twitched at that, "...and we don't have any students."
"We've got four of them right here in this castle," Flash chimed in, "I'm sure Heart, Soul, Ace and Mira will be happy to go back. Not that they'll have any choice in the matter."
Twilight laughed at this and nodded. "I'll take care of the first part if you six can round up our class."
"Totally!" Rainbow cheered, only to then ask, "Uh...how?"
"Roundin' up the pony students ain't gonna be an issue," Applejack commented, "But..."
"The creatures from the other kingdoms seemed pretty upset with us," Fluttershy gulped as Rarity pffted.
"Nonsense!" She told her, "I'm certain we can win them over with our charm and style!"
"Let's split up and do this quicker," Flash added, "Pinkie, you have an in with Rutherford so you should go get Yona back."
"Got it," Pinkie saluted as Twilight nodded.
"Rarity, do you think you can talk Ember into letting Smolder return?"
"I'll see what I can do," she nodded.
"Fluttershy, you go talk to Thorax. You're both caring and calm individuals. I'm sure you can convince him that Ocellus would have a great time here."
"Okay Twilight. I'll do my best."
"What about us?" Rainbow asked, pointing to Applejack and herself as Twilight smiled.
"You head to Griffonstone, since Grampa Gruff should listen to you...for a price." Rainbow slumped as Applejack nodded.
"Guess that means ah'm heading for Mount Aris?" Twilight nodded, then turned to Flash.
"A couple of students live in Ponyville. Can you talk to them about coming back?" Flash nodded, also planning to talk to Springer about the kids returning as well. "Then let's get this done." She brought her hoof in and they all did the same, "Time to open a school...the right way."
"YEAH!" They all cheered as they all threw their hooves upwards, then each headed off to their respective destinations. Luckily, a train line had just been built between Equestria and Mount Aris, meaning Applejack didn't have to spends days travelling through a blazing sun. Rarity and Fluttershy used the Rune Gate to head to the changeling and dragon territories while Pinkie headed for the Crystal Empire.
Since he didn't need to travel long distances to talk to his student's parent, Flash was able to leisurely stroll through town as he headed for the first house: Sandbar's. As he did, he sent a psychic message to Springer and the jakhowl quickly caught up to him in town.
"Hey!" He called out, "Something happen?"
"Yup. The School of Friendship is back and better then ever!" Springer's eyes went wide at this, "So I hope you didn't move Ace and Mira's things back into their rooms yet, because they'll soon be back in their dorm rooms, ready for class."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Springer asked. "The whole school thing didn't turn out so great last time."
"That's because Twilight was doing everything the dumb EEA way. This time thing's will be better. Twilight's agreed to let us teach our own way, so the students are gonna be able to enjoy school life the way it was intended."
"Oh...if you say so," Springer replied, "I'll let Ace and Mira know as soon as I see them." He the scratched the side of his head, "Actually, I haven't seen them much over the last few days. As soon as they're awake, they're up and out the door before I can ask where they're going."
"Can't you just track them through their aura?" Flash asked as Springer rolled his eyes.
"Why don't you put a tracking chip on Heart to keep him out of trouble? It's called respecting boundaries."
"Oh. Yeah, that's a good point and well made."
"Exactly." Springer responded, "So uh...you sure it'll be okay for them to return to the school? What if that Neighsay jerk shows up again?"
"it'll be fine," Flash replied, "He can't really do anything but say some harsh words, and you know it'll be nothing but nonsense. And if he actually tries to remove the kids by force, then I can intervene and arrest him...is it wrong that I now want him to try that?"
"Probably," Springer replied as they arrived at Sandbar's house. Flash knocked on the door and a few moments later, it opened to reveal a yellow earth pony mare with a wavy pink mane and tail.
"Hello?" Shea asked, only to recognize the town's two biggest heroes standing on her doorstep. "Oh, Mr. Sentry and Mr. Springer. What can I do for you?"
"Hello ma'am, is Sandbar home?"
"No, he went out somewhere this morning. Why?"
"Well, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that the School of Friendship is reopening." The mare went wide-eyed at this, "I know it's a surprise after the...incident, but trust me when I tell you things will be different this time. When Sandbar returns, he'll be able to properly learn about the Magic of Friendship and all its amazing qualities."
His mother hummed at this, stepping aside to let them in so they could talk properly. Inside, they found a green earth pony stallion with a wavy blue mane and tail, feeding a green foal with pink and blue in its mane and tail. The stallion turned to them as they all sat down, the mother telling the pair to explain. Flash told them about the issues the school had faced which had caused the school's shutting down, which they promised was going to be dealt with.
"Sandbar has a lot of potential," Flash commented, "In the short amount of time he was in my class, he grew a lot and was showing a lot of traits the school was trying to teach. He was kind, generous and loyal. I'm sure that with the school's help, he'll be able to learn to use those qualities to make Equestria a better place."
"I don't know," the mother replied, "What if what happened before happens again? Our son was almost crushed under a tower that another student knocked down."
"That was an accident. One that could have happened at any school."
"But what about the things we heard?" the father chimed in, "Undisciplined teachers and students from other nations causing problems."
"The teachers will be able to teach better this time. And as for the students from the other kingdoms, Sandbar actually grew quite close with them from what I could see. I think he'll be happy to see them again." The parents shared a glance and after a few more minutes of Flash explaining how the school was gonna change, they promised to talk to Sandbar about possibly trying the school again. "Thank you. That's all we ask."
After Sandbar's house, Flash and Springer visited the remaining students in Ponyville. Luckily, they were all home, so they could talk to them directly. The students weren't thrilled with the idea of returning to that school again, but Flash had to promise on his honor as a knight that things would be different this time. Eventually, they all agreed to return, but told him they would leave again if things turned out the same as last time.
With that done, Flash and Springer headed back to the castle to give Twilight the good news. But when they got there, they only found a note stating she had gone to Canterlot in order to talk to Celestia. And so, the pair used the Rune Gate to get there as well, only to be greeted by several Royal Guards who stood to attention as they trotted past. And as they arrived at the throne room, they heard Celestia's voice echo through the doors. "You realize what you wish to do is something that's never happened before." They opened the doors and spotted the two princesses and Spike, standing together with Celestia looking concerned. "The EEA won't take a school operating outside their jurisdiction lightly."
"I know," Twilight nodded, "But this is too important to give up on. And if the EEA won't let me teach friendship the way it needs to be taught, I have no choice but to do things without them. And honestly, if teaching other species the value of friendship is all it takes to get..." Her eye twitched, "Unaccredited, then I don't want the EEA's help."
"Very well," Celestia nodded, "I promised to help you in anyway I could, and I stand by that promise. And honestly, after what I heard Neighsay tell the other leaders of Equestria, I'm more than happy to do something that makes him unhappy. Your school might not have the EEA approval, but as long as it helps foster friendship through the many kingdoms, it has my approval and support."
"Thank you princess," Twilight smiled before noticing Flash and Springer. "Did you get them?"
"Sandbar's parents said they'll talk to him about it," Flash replied, "But the others agreed to come back as long as the school is actually going to change. They all said if they felt like the place was wasting their time, they were gonna leave without a moment's notice."
"Then we have to get this right," Twilight responded, "Hopefully Rainbow and the others will have gotten our non-pony students back."
As she said that, Spike started gagging before he coughed up a bunch of smoke. It quickly formed a scroll that he caught and read, "It's from Rarity." He gave the scroll to Twilight, who quickly skimmed through it before her eyes went wide.
"What?!"
"What's wrong?" Flash rushed to her side as Spike started gagging again before unleashing another scroll. Twilight didn't even let him grab it, pulling it over in her magic and reading it through.
"Ocellus too!" Twilight gasped, and before anypony could ask what was up, something shot in through an open window and slammed into Twilight's head. "Ow!" She then saw it was a pink paper aeroplane, which unleashed a puff of confetti when she unfolded it to read. "And Yona."
"What's going on?" Springer asked, Twilight turning to them.
"Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie all met with the leaders and discovered that...their student is missing." They all went wide-eyed at this, the group soon learning that those three weren't the only ones. Both Gallus and Silverstream would also be reported missing, a situation that could result in war between the five non-pony races.
"This...is bad," Flash gulped.