S8 E13: Ail-icorn (The Mean Six) (What If?)
It was well into the night, yet Twilight Sparkle was not asleep. In fact she was wide awake. She'd been this way ever since her decision to open a School of Friendship in Ponyville, one that bore her name no less. Running the school on top of all her other duties was a challenge, one that led to more than a few sleepless nights for the young alicorn.
Twilight was currently facing down a dilemma, namely in what she had to go through in order to get the Cutie Mark Crusaders officially onboard as friendship counselors and tutors. Their contributions to the school were undeniable after they had helped Cozy Glow. But giving them such important positions within the school meant a lot of paperwork had to be filed and a lot of important ponies needed to approve.
By the time Twilight finally got everything sorted out and climbed into bed, it was very late indeed. She didn't sleep for very long either, constantly waking up in the night when she became convinced she'd forgotten something or worried herself about something at the school.
Twilight's sleep deprived nature was becoming a matter of concern to Spike despite how well he knew Twilight was trying to hide it. And it only got worse when he began to notice some other worrying signs as well, such as a stuffy nose and a cough. "Twilight, this can't go on!" He protested at last one morning. "Just look at yourself! You're about ready to fall apart!"
A rather groggy Twilight just downed an entire mug of coffee and shook herself awake. Her mane and tail looked a bit disfigured and there were noticeable bags under her eyes. "I'm sorry, Spike," She apologized in between occasional coughing fits. "Really, I am. It's just, this school is proving to be more of a problem than I anticipated. A happy problem, mind you, but a problem nevertheless."
"So, why not just call in sick for a day or two and let somepony else take the reigns?" The not so little dragon suggested as he unfolded his new wings courtesy of the molt. "It's for your own good."
The young alicorn protested with a shake of her head. "Absolutely not! No way am I pushing that responsibility onto anyone else! That's not how I got to where I was, Spike," And she puffed out her own wings. "This school was my idea, so I should be able to put up with all the hard work it's given me. I knew there'd be challenges. If I had someone else take over for me I'd only be proving that I was in over my head, and I can't allow that. I won't give potential critics like Neighsay anymore ammunition if I can help it." Then she let out a sneeze, a rather audible one at that.
Spike quickly brought over a tissue for Twilight to blow her nose. "Twilight, you're really not looking so good. You've been getting worse and worse these past few days. Far worse than you usually get for this time of year."
Twilight sniffled a bit. "What do you mean, Spike? Spring allergies have never been much of a problem. And I don't have time to get sick."
"Twilight, please, you've been down this road before!" Spike protested as he quickly pleaded! "You need to put your own needs first for a change. It's not a bad thing to do that sometimes. If not for your sake then surely for my sake, the sake of your only son."
The young alicorn with a light purple coat then pressed a hoof up to her forehead. "Well... now that you mention it... I do seem to feel a bit warm..." And that was the last thing she said before all of a sudden her strength gave out, she fell to the floor with a thud!
"Twilight?! Twilight!" Spike gasped in horror as he rushed to her side and struggled to help her up! "Oh, I knew something like this would happen. Of all the times for spring allergies to strike, it had to be now when we're not prepared!" And he hurriedly guided the mare he'd come to see as his mother back to bed for some much needed rest.
As for Twilight, all her concerns and fears about the school were now running wild. She had barely any sort of system in place for this kind of occasion. And she had no way to know just how much this was going to cause a problem, not only for herself but for all the students and staff at her School of Friendship!
Although confined to her bed, Twilight was anything but willing to rest. It didn't matter that her forehead still felt warm or that she was sneezing and coughing a great deal. "I just need to take some medicine to get my allergies under control," She decided aloud. "Yeah, that's it."
Yet as soon as the alicorn rose from her bed and tried to stand, Spike immediately pushed her back onto the sheets. "Absolutely not, Twilight! You're not going anywhere in your condition. You're sick, don't you realize that?"
The young alicorn nearly shot up from her bed in surprise! "What?! Me?! Sick?! No no no, I can't be sick! I just can't be! I've got too much to do!" But then she let out a mighty sneeze as her horn ominously unleashed sparks from its tip!
"Twilight, please, don't make this any harder than it needs to be," Spike pleaded. "After all the times you wouldn't let me work for you or help you while I was sick, you should follow your own advice. You need to rest and let this illness run its course. You're not gonna be a help to anyone like this."
"I just don't understand, how could this have happened?" Twilight questioned as she lay upon her bed sheets, the reality of her situation slowly settling in. "I know I've had bad bouts with allergies before, but they've never been this bad."
The light purple scaled dragon just put a claw to his chin in deep thought. "Must be because you've been working yourself to the bone night after night. You've never given your body time to rest, and that wore you down and left you vulnerable. And it's gone from allergies to a straight up flu."
"That's just great," Twilight sarcastically complained as she let out a long, unhappy sigh. "Now how am I going to ensure my school doesn't fall apart without me? End of the quarter finals are only two weeks away, and Cozy Glow wasn't the only student struggling. Plus, I don't have anyone to cover my classes and I'm not about to cancel them."
"Starlight can easily fill in for you there, you've taught her well," Spike insisted. "And I'm sure she can pull double duty as guidance counselor."
The young alicorn sighed anew. "I guess so," But then another thought struck her. "But what about Diamond Tiara? Even though I'm running the school I still occasionally have friendship lessons with her on the side."
Spike only shook his head. "Well, her lessons will have to be put on hold. If she caught anything from you her parents would never let you hear the end of it," And he then promised. "And don't worry about those important documents and paperwork you were working on. I can handle them. The only thing I won't be able to do is sign them, but you should be able to put your signature on them once you're feeling better. It'll be just like when Starlight filled in when we went on that zeppelin cruise together."
Twilight blinked briefly before commenting. "You really have thought of everything, Spike. You're so organized it's scary."
Spike grinned. "Well, I learned from the best, Mom," And then he left the bedroom. "You just rest and get back to your old Twilightly self as soon as possible. You have plenty of good friends who'll be ready to help keep things running smoothly," Though under his breath once alone he added. "I hope." For he knew that keeping a school organized and properly running without its headmare would be no easy task. And this was very much uncharted territory, Twilight had never planned for something like this.
Spike soon delivered the unfortunate news to Starlight Glimmer, who in turn informed the rest of the group as well as all the students attending the School of Friendship. "And so, until further notice, Headmare Twilight's classes will be under new management," Starlight announced as she stood before the students on a podium in the main hallway. "I shall be taking over and running the classes in accordance with her wishes. But I will still be your guidance counselor, so if you don't see me in the classroom be sure to stop by my office and check there."
"Does this there won't be any tests?" Gallus hopefully asked as he raised a claw.
"I'm afraid not, Gallus. Tests and quizzes will still be given as planned," Starlight replied. "Study groups will still be provided for anyone who wants to make use of them."
Ocellus then questioned. "But when will Headmare Twilight be back? I mean, she has to come back eventually, right?"
Starlight quickly reassured the anxious changeling. "Twilight will come back once she's gotten over this flu and is certain she isn't contagious. Until then, she asks that you all be respectful and leave her to rest," Looking out towards the student body as a whole she was quick to add. "And she also told me to tell you that she wants you all to be on your best behavior. All your other professors will still have authority to dish out punishment as necessary, detention included. Now, are there anymore questions?" Not a single hoof, claw or other like minded appendage shot up. And with that the students were dismissed.
But Twilight's absence was felt immediately among her friends, all of whom began to worry. "Can we really keep this school running without Twilight?" Fluttershy questioned. "It was her idea and she oversaw most of it. In fact, she still oversees most of it."
Applejack stomped a hoof down. "We've already dealt with a lot in the time it took to get this school up and runnin'. We'll carry on as best we can and find a way, we always do."
"Maybe, but I can't help but feel like we're in way over our heads this time," Rainbow Dash gulped. "Why couldn't this have held off until the next break? Is every season going to be plagued with some kind of hiccup? Fall was consumed by Neighsay and Chrysalis, winter was a fiasco and now this!"
"We'll just have to survive, somehow," Rarity insisted. "And perhaps this could be the perfect opportunity to expand the staff ranks."
Pinkie Pie grinned. "And it also means we have free range to start running classes our way! I've got a ton of ideas that Twilight never got around to approving, but I'm sure she would've said yes," And she promised. "We'll make learning so much fun the students will hardly notice Twilight's absence."
At that, a familiar voice called out. "Golly. Headmare Twilight's sick?" And soon, a very familiar pegasus filly with a pinkish gray coat, eyes an moderate scarlet in color, a beautifully curly mane and tail that was a pale, light grayish arctic blue and light arctic bluish gray in color and a cutie mark depicting a rook appeared before the mares.
Reluctantly, Applejack confessed. "Yes, Cozy Glow, she is. Counselor Starlight just explained everythin'."
"Oh, sorry," Cozy Glow innocently blushed. "I was in the library, wondering why she wasn't there to supervise me. She said that because I'm such a model student I could work as a book stacker before class. She even says she may take me under her wing someday like she did for Counselor Starlight and Diamond Tiara."
"Well you needn't worry yourself about Twilight," Applejack firmly insisted to the filly. "You just focus on keepin' those grades up. And don't forget that the Cutie Mark Crusaders aren't just there to help you now. Even if they ain't official friendship tutors yet, their services are extremely important to lots of students."
The pegasus filly nodded. "Don't worry, I'll remember. But I won't need their help or anyone else's." She began to trot away while thinking to herself. "It's all of you who will need help. Twilight's absence is gonna play right into my hooves! Oh, if I'd have known it was this easy to fool these ponies I would've disguised myself here years ago." And the gears in her mind began to turn.
The first school day without Headmare Twilight around came and went mostly without fanfare. But for a particular group of students, the absence of their school's headmare was hard not to notice. Of course, other things occupied their attention as well, namely the fact that study sessions were occurring with increased frequency in light of the fast approaching end of the quarter exams.
"Oh, there's so much to study I can barely keep track of it all!" Silverstream declared as she and her friends gathered in the library after classes had let out for the day. "Outside of Professor Pinkie Pie's laughter classes and Headmare Twilight's friendship classes I'm not doing too hot. My grades are starting to slip."
"You're lucky," Smolder protested with a snort. "I don't know if my grades are going to ever go above average before the tests. I feel like I get the homework down pat, but every time I have to demonstrate something I just mess up."
Sandbar, for his part, simply commented. "I just hope Headmare Twilight's okay. I remember the last time I got the flu, it was so bad I had to stay in bed for a week. And it was right in the middle of summer vacation too."
Yona then remarked. "Yona think Headmare Twilight try too hard to keep school going. Headmare Twilight not seem focused, school look disorganized."
Sandbar replied. "Now now, I'm sure she's doing the best she can. She did say she was looking into hiring more teachers on a full time basis. We could have new professors in time for the next quarter, hopefully."
Ocellus protested. "But I like our current professors, they're nice! Why do they need to be replaced?! It just isn't fair!"
Gallus only sighed, tapping his claws against the desk. "Doesn't matter, really. New professors, old professors, either way we're all supposed to go back to our home lands and apply what we've learned. That's what Headmare Twilight's been saying from day one. She clearly expects a lot out of us."
"And why shouldn't she? She's our headmare," Silverstream pointed out. "She's done so much for so many creatures. And this school is her legacy, her dream."
Yona commented with concern. "Yona fear Headmare Twilight's dream turn into nightmare and Headmare Twilight not realize it."
Sandbar quickly intervened to break up the arguing. "Guys, come on. We're all just a little frustrated because of Headmare Twilight's absence. But we came here to study, so let's study! We can worry about that other stuff later."
Unknown to the six creatures though, their conversations were being overheard by Cozy Glow and the filly's eyes were glowing a sickly shade of green. No one but her knew that in actuality she was not Cozy Glow, that Cozy Glow in fact didn't even exist. Not even Ocellus had suspected that Cozy Glow was just a front for the disgraced and exiled former queen of the changelings: Chrysalis.
Chrysalis knew she had to be careful not to drop her disguise now. Her plan to infiltrate the school and discover a way to carry out her revenge against both Twilight and Starlight was working well, she wasn't about to let it all go to waste. However, she was quietly taking in every bit of information she could. "So this school is Twilight Sparkle's dream, huh? Well too bad for her it's about to be crushed!" She thought to herself, rubbing her hooves together. "And I know just the way to do it. I won't even have to lift a hoof."
The next morning, before classes were even close to beginning, Diamond Tiara came rushing frantically up to the School of Friendship to look for the Cutie Mark Crusaders! She had urgent news that she'd overheard and needed to share it with ponies she could trust! "Cutie Mark Crusaders! Cutie Mark Crusaders!" She called out in desperation!
The three founding members of the CMC were inside of the headmare's office when their honorary member approached them, looking as if she'd just seen a ghost in the process! "What's wrong, Diamond Tiara?" Apple Bloom was the first to speak up and ask. "Everythin' okay?"
The headgear wearing filly immediately shook her head. "No. But never mind me, we've got bigger problems on our hooves here!" She paused briefly to catch her breath, having worn herself out almost completely from all the running she'd done. "You'll never g-guess what I h-heard this morning."
"What? Your parents finally getting a divorce or something?" Scootaloo questioned. "Because if they are I'd say it's about time."
Diamond gulped. "It's not that. I overheard my mom mentioning it, and when I asked her she said it was absolutely true. Chancellor Neighsay's coming to visit the school next week! And by visit, I mean he's going to do an inspection!"
All three Crusaders gasped together in collective dismay! "WHAT?!"
Sweetie Belle then protested. "But that can't be! Twilight specifically made it so this school wasn't an EEA school. How can Neighsay inspect it if the school doesn't have to meet EEA standards?"
"Even if it doesn't have to get EEA approval or accreditation, it still has to follow some basic guidelines in order to operate," Diamond explained as best she could. "Father even said that Neighsay could have the school shut down if it's found to be run improperly, regardless of whether it's EEA approved or not. Somepony or someone must've tipped him off about what's going on here now that Twilight is sick."
"You mean, Neighsay's got help on the inside?" Apple Bloom pondered. "Who could that be? Who here would ever want this school to be shut down? Everyone who comes here seems to love this place."
Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah, and even our classmates have gotten jealous that we get to work here as friendship tutors on occasion."
Sweetie Belle then asked Diamond. "Does Twilight know about this?"
The magenta coated filly nodded her head. "What do you think the first thing I did upon finding out this horrible news was? I rushed right over to Twilight's castle to tell her all about it. I was hoping she'd know what to do. But..." She trailed off as the memory of her earlier visit to the castle was still fresh in her mind. And she could still remember how it had all played out:
It was just after the crack of dawn. Celestia's sun was still low in the sky, giving a lovely orange glow to the horizon and surrounding objects and locations.
Diamond Tiara was frantically rushing up to the front steps of the castle and was soon pounding her hooves on the door in rapid succession, hoping for a reply! "Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Not normally one to make a scene, the rich filly really didn't care who saw her like this at this moment. She had important news that she was desperate to share with a pony she was convinced would know what to do!
But to the filly's surprise, the door was opened not by the princess but rather by her number one assistant and officially adopted son, Spike. It was still hard to believe that he used not to be so tall, that his molt that had gifted him those wings and that new body was still less than half a year old (although it would fast be approaching that passage of time). "Diamond Tiara?" He questioned the easily identifiable young earth pony. "Why have you come here? Twilight isn't seeing any guests, and your studies have been placed on temporary hold."
"But I need to talk to her!" Tiara pleaded in desperation! "It's urgent! Really urgent! I just heard the worst news I've ever heard and she needs to know about it too!"
"Well I'm sorry," Spike insisted while firmly shaking his head from side to side. "But for the near future, Twilight has been confined to bed while she battles a rather nasty flu. The only reason I'm allowed to be near her is because ponies can't infect dragons. If she got you or anypony else sick, she'd never be able to live with herself."
Diamond was frantic! She hadn't come all this way here just to be turned away. "But... but..." She struggled to find the words she wanted to say. She was always supposed to be good at getting others to do what she wanted. "But the princess has to know about this! Her school's in danger of being shut down by Chancellor Neighsay!"
If Spike was surprised by the statement he did his best not to let it show outwardly. He insisted simply shooed his charge away. "Well I'm afraid the best I can do is rely that information to Twilight," And he then suggested. "Try bringing this up with Starlight and the others at the School of Friendship, they should be able to sort this out." And with that he closed the door.
The memory faded rather quickly as Tiara continued to explain to the Crusaders. "So please, you have to help me! We've got to warn everyone! If Chancellor Neighsay sees the school like this... well... I'm sure he'll shut it down! And if that happens Twilight's legacy will be ruined."
"Then there's only one thing to do!" Apple Bloom boldly declared. "We'll have to tell Starlight, then she can tell the others and they can all pitch in to make sure Chancellor Neighsay doesn't get his way."
"Hey, we'll do our part too!" Scootaloo firmly insisted. "We're a part of this school now too. No way are we gonna let it be shuddered by that no good Neighsay! Not on our watch!"
Diamond breathed a small sigh of relief. "Oh thank you, Crusaders! You don't know how grateful I am that you're here. You three really are the best."
"Solving problems is what we do," Sweetie nodded in agreement. "Now come on, we need to tell Starlight as soon as we can!" And all four fillies rushed away to find the mare.
Unknown to all of them, however, the disguised Chrysalis had been watching the whole scene from afar. She was smirking with certain triumph. "Fools! You can try all you want but it won't matter. This school will never be able to recover in time," She thought to herself. "Not if I have anything to say about it. And in fact I do. It's time to put 'Cozy Glow' to good use."
Since Starlight wasn't in the headmare's office, the four fillies quickly concluded the best place to look for Starlight would be in the guidance counselor's office.
"Starlight?! Starlight!" They all shouted at once, hoping to catch the mare's attention from afar. The sooner they had a chance to inform her the better.
But when the four fillies reached the guidance counselor's office and burst through the doors, they were dismayed to find Starlight was busy talking to none other than Cozy Glow. "What are you doing here?!" Diamond gasped in disbelief as she eyed the filly. Something about Cozy Glow had always seemed off to her, although she couldn't quite put her hoof on the reason why.
Cozy replied with the most innocent looking face. "I had something very important I needed to talk to Counselor Starlight about, and I couldn't wait around all day to tell her," She explained. "I'm sorry, did you need to talk to her? None of you actually attend classes at this school like I do."
"Please, it's an emergency!" Tiara desperately pleaded as she dropped to her hooves. Normally, begging would be beneath her even as her old self, but in this situation she was willing to sacrifice a bit of dignity if the situation called for it. "It'll only take a few minutes tops!"
However, Starlight only responded. "Unfortunately, Diamond Tiara, Cozy Glow got here first. And my policy is: First come, first serve. Cozy Glow got here first, so I have to hear her out," She quickly reassured the rich filly though. "If you'd like, you can come see me after classes are done for the day. I should be free then."
"But... but... but it's urgent! You have to know about this!" Diamond insisted to the best of her ability!
"Please, Starlight, you gotta listen!" Apple Bloom pleaded. "It's about Chancellor Neighsay and about what he's gonna do to the school!"
Cozy Glow simply protested. "I don't know where those fillies get such a crazy idea, Counselor Starlight. What could that old windbag Neighsay possibly do to a non EEA school?"
Just then, the bell rang to signal the start of classes for another day. Upon hearing it, Starlight rose from her desk. "Well, I'm afraid I have to run Twilight's classes now so my office is officially closed until lunch," And she shooed all five fillies away, "Cozy Glow, if you still need to talk to me, please come see me at lunch," Turning to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Diamond Tiara she added. "And you five need to run along now. Classes will be starting soon at the school house. The deal was you can spend as much time after school as you want here, but during school hours you must be in your own classes since you're not students here."
And so it was that Diamond and the CMC now found themselves in a dilemma as they saw Starlight abruptly teleport away, and Cozy Glow trotted off towards her first class of the day.
However, Sweetie Belle got an idea! "Diamond, you go right to the school house and tell Miss. Cheerilee we'll be a bit late," She then firmly declared as her eyes narrowed a bit. "If we can't tell Starlight and we can't tell the teachers, we'll just have to tell someone who can tell them."
The headgear wearing filly quickly realized what Sweetie's idea was. "You sure they'll listen? They've got a lot on their plate as it is."
"Don't know about all of them, but Sandbar and Silverstream at least will listen," Scootaloo declared. "Just leave it to us."
By a stroke of luck, Sandbar just happened to cross paths with the Crusaders out in the hallways enroute to his first class of the day. He took the news pretty well. "Whoa! You sure Diamond Tiara wasn't exaggerating just a little bit?" He asked them.
"No way was she making it up, she looked pretty serious," Sweetie commented with concern. "Please, you and your friends need to pass word along to all the teachers and staff here. They have to know what's going down so they can be ready," Then she sheepishly added. "But if they ask, you didn't hear it from us. We were never here."
Sandbar gave a salute. "Don't worry, Crusaders, once I tell my friends there's no way the professors won't know. Silverstream alone is too much of a chatterbox to let it stay a secret."
And indeed, once Sandbar told his friends what he'd learned word of Neighsay's sudden visit and "inspection" spread fast. By the end of the school day, all the professors were aware of it and Starlight was too.
"That Neighsay never lets a good crisis go to waste," Starlight Glimmer lamented as she grabbed her face with her hooves. "We're just barely keeping it together as it is without Twilight around, and I don't know if she'll be better in time to help see us through this."
"Then we're just gonna have to take care of business ourselves!" Rainbow Dash vowed! "If Neighsay thinks he can just march on here and shut this place down, he's got another thing coming!"
Rarity, however, shook her head. "Even if we can pass this inspection there's nothing stopping him from coming back for another, or another. The fact is, even with Twilight this school has been largely getting by with just the seven of us."
Fluttershy gulped. "But Twilight said she was going to hire more staff. She always said more help was coming."
"Most likely, with all that's been going on around here and with all the work the school has brought with it, hiring substitutes has slipped onto the backburner," Rarity concluded. "It's only now that Twilight is indisposed that the need for more teachers and even some substitutes has become apparent."
Pinkie Pie just bounced up and down in excitement. "No problem! I'm sure there's tons of ponies around here who would love to volunteer their time to help us out."
"But will the students accept them?" Applejack questioned. "And more importantly, how are we gonna find the right ponies to recruit? A school like this needs extra special care. And let's not forget we've got end of the quarter exams comin' up fast."
Starlight then turned to Spike, who had arrived just after classes had let out for the day. "Spike, you'll have to rely this information to Twilight. If she has even the faintest idea of who to hire or who to recruit for this school, we need those suggestions right now!"
"Well, I can try. Might take a while to find them in all that paperwork," Spike replied. "Twilight's getting a little better now that she's had time to rest, but I don't think she'll be getting back on her hooves anytime soon."
But before anyone could even think of doing anything, six very familiar creatures came rushing into the headmare's office! Gallus was the first of them to speak up. "Let us help too!"
Silverstream all but pleaded! "Come on, we can totally help! If you're gonna let Cozy Glow stack books in the library, there's no reason why we can't do the same."
"That's nice of y'all to offer," Applejack kindly told the gathered students. "But I'm afraid somethin' like this is beyond your capacity to handle. There ain't a whole lot you could really do even as a group besides be on your best behavior."
"But we want to help! We can help!" Smolder insisted. "This school has come to mean so much for so many of us! Let us at least have a chance to prove we're learning what we're supposed to be learning."
The mares were all still rather hesitant, Fluttershy even commented. "Well, I don't know..."
Ocellus spoke up. "Please?! It wouldn't even need to be extra credit or anything if that's what you're worried about. We could just do it before and after classes."
Yona stomped a hoof down. "Yona not want school to close down because of pesky Neighsay! Yona not want to say goodbye to new friends after just getting to know them."
And Sandbar then concluded. "Let us help, or if the school shuts down because of Neighsay, we'll all run away together!"
At that, recalling how the different leaders (and in Sandbar's case his parents) had reacted upon learning that their designated student representative had gone missing during Friends and Family Day, the mares began to feel a sense of dread. They didn't want a repeat and risk the possibility of a war.
Yet what could these students do that would make a difference? They wouldn't be able to help much with recruiting new teachers or preparing papers for tests, exams and other assignments. And since they were still children it wouldn't be a good sign if they were doing physical labor, even of their own free will and without compensation.
Suddenly, however, Starlight seemed to get an idea! A light bulb went off inside her head! "Well, if you really want to help, I think I know how you can," She told the six students. "However, I'll need to make sure Twilight's onboard with it first. After all, it's her school. It won't look good if decisions are being made behind her back," And she instructed to Spike. "Spike, take a letter, please."
The dragon fluttered his wings. "Haven't heard that in years, but I'm still ready to write," He pulled out a scroll. "Go ahead, Starlight. I'm ready when you are, big sis."
The mare with a grayish-purple coat did her best to hold back a chuckle. "Some things never change." She thought to herself.
The next several days passed ominously quickly, perhaps due to the sense of urgency that hung overhead with Neighsay's visit. All were certain that the chancellor would be looking for even the slightest of technicalities on which to shudder the school: Be it the staff, the students, the building, the classrooms, the subject material or even something else altogether if possible.
And all of this occurred while Twilight continued to be confined to bed, fighting off the flu and her usual spring allergy symptoms. There was not much she could contribute besides the letters she spent back and forth through Spike, hoping that her wishes would be carried out as best they could and that her friends were doing everything they could to keep things running smoothly.
At last, the dreaded day of the inspection arrived. Chancellor Neighsay arrived, still clad in that dark red robe with that golden amulet resting in the center of it. The lanky stallion strolled right up to the school's front steps, surprised to find that somepony was waiting for him.
"Greetings, Chancellor Neighsay," Starlight greeted with what she hoped was a sincere smile. "Sorry to spoil your 'surprise' but we knew you were coming. Still, I know better than to interfere with you even if this isn't EEA business."
The chancellor nodded his head, doing his best to hide his discontent. "So you were informed ahead of time and did some cleaning up. I suppose we can't always get everything we want," He then trotted inside. "But from what I can recall this school was hardly functional the last time I saw it," Looking all around the stallion added. "Where is Princess Twilight? It's her school, why isn't she running it like she should be?"
"She's being confined to bed for over a week now with a very nasty flu, on top of her annual spring allergies," Starlight explained. "Naturally, for the safety of the students and staff she chose to quarantine within her castle."
Neighsay stepped back a bit, blinking slowly while jotting some notes down. "Ah, how... unfortunate," The last line left his mouth rather slowly. "Well, I do wish her a speedy recovery. Regardless of our past disagreements I'm not so cold as to speak ill of her suffering," Then he declared. "But do not take that as a sign that I'll be lenient, for I will not be. I intend to inspect this school quite thoroughly from top to bottom. And I hope no one will attempt to interfere in that or try to mislead me like before."
"Not at all, Chancellor," Starlight reassuringly nodded. "You're welcome to look around to your heart's content and observe any classroom or any office."
The stallion bowed his head. "Then don't mind if I do. For your sake, you'd best hope things are up to code."
Neighsay inspected the school to his heart's content. But he was surprised by what he discovered! Not only were the students behaving themselves far better than anticipated (especially considering that there were creatures like dragons and yaks among them), but several classes were being covered by a wide range of instructors: Big Macintosh, Spitfire, Maud (along with her boyfriend Mud Briar), Dr. Whooves, even Cheerilee was assisting.
All around him, the chancellor's moderate turquoise eyes took in a sight he could barely comprehend: A School of Friendship that was that running and functioning better than it had ever operated before! It was a far cry from what it had been like when he'd visited it for the first time during that fateful Friends and Family Day, and what he'd been told about from his unknown informant (who had not disclosed their name).
"No, it can't be!" Neighsay declared when his inspection ended at last. "I've heard so many stories about how poorly managed this school was, about all the things that were going wrong. A prankster on the loose, a clash over who was supposed to be the acting headmare, staff having to juggle their obligations between the school and their personal lives. How is it possible this school has become so efficient so soon?"
At that, a very familiar voice (though one that sounded a bit stuffy all the same) responded. "Because, Neighsay, much like friendships grow and change, so too did this school."
Neighsay spun around in time to see none other than Princess Twilight herself trotting up on the scene! She seemed to be none the worse for wear despite what he had been told. "Princess Twilight!" He gasped and stepped back. "You should be resting. I heard you were sick."
"Well I'm mostly over that flu by now, it has run its course," Twilight explained while sniffling a bit. "I can't quite say the same for my allergies, but they can be treated with medication and bed rest. As for my school, what you're seeing is really quite simple. I didn't want to admit it at first, but you were more right than you thought when you called my school a disaster."
"A statement I still stand by to this very day!" Neighsay firmly insisted. "Had it not been for circumstances beyond my control I would've never allowed you to reopen the school in the first place. But what does any of that have to do with this?"
The young alicorn just continued to explain while smiling. "Believe it or not, it took my recent illness that forced me to step away from the school that did the trick. It allowed me to see just how much needed to improve. I could see and hear what was happening while I was away. I began to realize that if my school could fall apart so easily without me there to oversee it, it wouldn't last long. So it became necessary to make some overdue changes."
Starlight trotted up to Neighsay a second later. "While some of the staff we have here may not be able to serve full time, they'll still make good substitute teachers. And all our students can agree that they'll be fantastic additions to the school, help to make it feel like more of a home away from home."
Twilight then put a hoof to her chin. "Come to think of it, this school feels more like a friendship embassy. A cultural outreach program that gives us a chance to better develop our bonds with our allies, and in turn allow them to experience the magic of friendship like never before. It may well be what I'm remembered for the most. And I think even the EEA would be hard pressed to justify its closing now."
At that, a furious Neighsay growled ever so faintly. "So I've been outsmarted once again by you, Princess Twilight. You really are clever. I can see now why it is that no force of evil yet has been able to take you down, why it is that we in Equestria owe you a debt of thanks," He forced himself to smile. "So it seems your school will continue to operate, for the time being. Make no mistake though, you'll slip up sooner or later. And when you do I'll be there. No school has ever long survived by defying the EEA completely, your school will be no exception." And with that, he tapped into his amulet to conjure up a portal. He stepped through said portal a moment later and was gone.
Immediately, a chorus of cheers erupted! Pinkie Pie even declared! "We did it! The School of Friendship is here to stay!"
However, there was one "pony" who was not excited by this development. And with the celebration that soon unfolded, no one noticed as she quietly slipped away. Only once she was certain the coast was clear did this "pony" shed her disguise.
A furious Chrysalis hissed and snapped! "Curse you both, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer! Why do you continue to fight so hard for this stupid school?! Why can't you ever let me win?!" Then, suddenly, out of the corner of her eyes she spotted something. A strange glow coming from a vent nearby. Peering down into it, the former queen got an immediate sense that something was down there. Something magical.
At that, a new idea began to form inside of Chrysalis' mind. "Perhaps I need to go to the source of all this 'friendship'," She thought to herself. "My old plan may have been thwarted, so it's time to come up with a new plan. One that'll make use of this magical source that even Twilight Sparkle doesn't know about yet." She made a mental note to come back later and try to investigate her new discovery further. If she was going to use it to her advantage, she'd need to understand how whatever it was behind the glow worked.
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Great job on this latest chapter/episode. I particularly appreciate you liking one of my episode ideas enough to use something based on it. Once again, really good job on the exchanges, characterizations, general wrap-up and future "episode" set-up in all the right places. At least Spike had an easier time getting Twilight to listen about needing to stop and rest as well as get help than Twilight did getting Applejack to listen in "Applebuck Season" (though that's not saying much). And, yeah, really good job explaining how Twilight got sick in the first place and using this for an explanation for how Diamond and the Crusaders knew they had a spy in the school (even though they don't know who the spy is yet at this point). And, yeah, Twilight taking the opportunity to figure out exactly where the School needs improvement was another great detail and I loved how much help she got in keeping the school running while she was recovering.
Definitely looking forward to the final two re-writes in this volume as well as the entirety of the future Volume Thirteen (and, of course, ESPECIALLY looking forward to the eventual volumes for the "Equestria Girls" franchise AND the comics [the upside to having to wait until you've run out of main episodes you want to rewrite is that, well, we can be sure that those Editions will be much better because you've had that much more thinking time]).
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So what's the plan for The Beginning of the End parts 1and 2? And what other episodes are next for Volume 13?
10735755 You'll see what the plans are for "The Beginning of the End" soon. As for what episodes will be covered in the next volume, as of yet I haven't definitively committed to them, and the next volume won't even be until at least September or October to coincide with the G5 movie's debut on Netflix.
10735758
Oh. Well I can wait for it, also give me a buzz if you find out some episodes, something tells me it's gonna be a little while until September and October