The Three Strange Ponies

by Kama and Hallie

Chapter 9: The School of Friendship

The Crusaders and the three strangers have decided to visit the School of Friendship, and the six of them all trot excitedly to their destination...well, four of them are, Doofus was pretty indifferent and mostly just curious, same with Question Mark, who seemed to be conflicted between not wanting to go a public place to see anypony or any creature and forcing himself to follow the others for an important purpose. The Crusaders felt happy at the fact they had new friends to talk to about what they do and show them around town, though it was mostly Smiley Face they talked to since she seemed to be the only one interested in talking and befriending the fillies, Doofus was just too awkward to talk to, not to mention the stuff he did talk about was boring and none of the fillies got what he was talking about, while Question Mark was listening and seemed to keep what they told him in mind, but he wasn't really...listening. Like he doesn't really care about what their accomplishments meant. It was kind of funny to Sweetie Belle since she heard from Rarity that usually it's the stallion who rambles on about uninteresting things while she and a lot of other mares just sat there pretending to be interested, this time it was the other way around.

It was a good thing the pink teenage filly was as talkative as she was compared to her two friends, otherwise, the walk would've been awkward.

"So basically, you three go around helping others find their talent and true calling in life?" Smiley asked in awe.

"Yep, one time me, Sweetie, and AB got together everypony and every creature we've ever helped to convince my parents not to take me away from Ponyville. It filled up the entire town square." Scootaloo said.

"Wow, that's pretty amazing. And you three are still so young, I never got to help as many people like you three, and God knows our home could use more kids like you. Everyone I see back home is just so sad and lost all the time." Smiley Face said praising the Crusaders to no end.

"Do you also discourage talent, because we sure need to tell a lot of individuals back home that they don't have any talent despite how famous they think they are...you know which ones I'm talking about." Question Mark added, then spoke to his two friends specifically at the end.

"Of course not, ev'rypony has a talent within them waitin' ta be used but jus' hasn't been found yet." Applebloom responded to the older colt's mocking statement.

"Trust me, you three haven't witnessed the horrors I've witnessed. Not a single shred of talent, dignity, or purpose on those guys." Question Mark spoke as if remembering a traumatizing event.

"He's got a point, I mean, look at me, I don't have a single special talent in anything at all. I'm pretty much useless in every way. I mean, what can I do? Change the channel? Browse the internet? Work as a cashier on the lowest wage? Set up a world record for most failed dates and social interactions?" Doofus said, hammering down on himself.

"Hey, don't say that. Everypony has a special talent, even when they don't realize what it is yet. We all get our cutie mark sometime, except for you...what's going on with your mark anyway? I've never seen a grown-up pony without a cutie mark before." Sweetie Belle asked.

"Good question, I have no idea. It's probably what I just said." the stallion answered.

"Yeah, better believe him, Stay Puft. The only use this guy is to me is that he's the only one out of the three of us old enough to get us places we can't go on our own, other than that...nah." the colt added.

"Use? That sounds really demeaning. It sounds like you're talking about him as more of a lackey or a tool than your friend." Sweetie Belle said, a little weirded out by how the colt talked about the stallion.

"I mean, that's 'cause he kinda is. Nobody in our town wants to be this loser's friend, let alone me." Question Mark responded.

"It's true, and honestly, I can't really blame them, I wouldn't wanna be my friend either." Doofus said.

"Don't say that! Every creature deserves a friend! In fact, if Question Mark isn't gonna be a good friend to you, I'm gonna be your friend right now! I promise you, I will find you friends, as many special someponies as you want, your own herd, and I will help you get your cutie mark!" Sweetie Belle said confidently.

"Uh...gee, thanks, I guess." the tall skinny stallion blurted out, not knowing what to say after the small filly talked about helping him out so openly and genuinely, it was clear most ponies just said things out of pity to him, or out of mockery.

"So your first true friend is a little girl pony that helps other ponies get their ass branded? Well, that's weird as shit, I'll give you that." Question Mark said, this being the first time he addressed the stallion in a non-mocking tone.

"Yeah, it really is. But considering everything that happened to me, this is a pretty good headstart." Doofus replied.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Question Mark replied back in a surprisingly sincere tone.

"Look, guys! I think this is the place!" Smiley Face called to her two friends, pointing to the building in front of them.

The six of them arrive at the School of Friendship which rested on a hillside and its entrance surrounded by two waterfalls and a large body of water with three different passages leading to it. The school was primarily purple in color and had a lot of star emblems covering it to signify Twilight's ownership of the school before she became princess of all Equestria. It had a lot of flags and towers as well, it looked like what most ponies would think of when they hear the word castle more than the Castle of Friendship did.

"All this just to teach friendship? Jesus, man. I could understand Hogwarts, but this?" Question Mark exclaimed in disbelief at the structure before him.

"What does hog warts have ta do with a school?" Applebloom asked.

"It's uh...never mind, forget I said anything." Question Mark brushed off what he said earlier as the six of them walked on the bridge atop the lake toward the front doors.

When the six of them crossed the bridge and opened the two front doors, they have officially entered the School of Friendship. The entrance hall was filled with students walking around, relaxing as it was the weekend and they got to spend the entire day spending time with their friends and schoolmates. Over the past few years, more non-pony students started to attend, the fillies heard they just got a kirin student recently. Smiley Face stared in awe and excitement, Doofus stared in confusion and bewilderment, Question Mark had a look of confusion on his face but in a different way...a less positive way.

Ever since the Crusaders first met Question Mark, the colt always looked like he had two opposing thought processes and emotions constantly in conflict with each other every time he reacts to something new. On one hoof, he looked amazed at the school and its students and is eager to know more, but on the other, he seemed to always have a disdainful feeling to everything around him, which caused him to frequently look confused as to how to react, sometimes his internal conflict could be present on his face once in a while.

"So, whaddya guys think of the place?" Scootaloo asked happily.

"It's cooler than I thought it would be, it really is like a real-life Hogwarts like you said!" Smiley exclaimed in her usual excited tone as she spoke to Question Mark at the end.

"I didn't exactly say that." the colt pointed out monotonously, but Smiley wasn't listening. Applebloom wanted to ask again what this 'hog warts' deal was but decided not to ruin the moment. The little farm filly then noticed the colt's face.

"Um...Question Mark? What's wrong?" Applebloom asked.

"I just don't understand this place, man. Look at it, this school better be free, 'cause I can't imagine parents having to pay God knows how much for their kids to learn a bunch of 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' basics." Question Mark annoyed, gesturing to the school.

"Who's Clifford the...?" Sweetie Belle was about to ask before Question Mark cut her off.

"Do not interrupt my rant with unimportant questions, this is important scientific observation!" the white teenage colt exclaimed at Sweetie Belle dramatically.

"Anyway, as I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted..." Question Mark glared exaggeratingly at the unicorn filly. "I mean, look at those students going to the library to study, what could they possibly be so excited about? 'OMG, girl! I just studied the curriculum on how to talk without getting an anxiety breakdown!', 'Hey, hey, dude! I just passed the final test on how to say 'please' and 'thank you' and stuff!', 'Hey, look, mom! I don't need to not take schizophrenia pills anymore!'" Question Mark said every line with a different voice, all of them exaggerated and said in a mocking tone.

"Hey! That's not nice! And this school ain't like that either!" Applebloom scolded as she and the Crusaders and even Smiley Face eyed him angrily, while Doofus just stood where he was bored with what was going on.

"Yeah, maybe if you actually look around and see what's going on instead of automatically resorting to saying bad stuff all the time, you'd understand why this is a good school!" Scootaloo added.

"Hm, you've got a point there. So go ahead, show me around, enlighten me." Question Mark said, the first part sounding sincere but the latter part sounding sarcastic and mocking.

"Oh, we will! You'll be eating your words later!" Scootaloo said. The fillies then gestured to the three strangers to follow them so they can show them around the school.

They first headed toward Pinkie Pie's class which taught laughter, while they walked there the three strangers gained a few curious and weird looks from the students they passed, they did stand out in every crowd they were in.

"This is Pinkie Pie's Laughter Class." Sweetie Belle introduced the room, which had some students in it finding new games to play with each other.

"So you have a class just to teach kids how to laugh? That sounds really depressing." Question Mark said while staring into the class with a look of confusion.

"No, it's not! This class is used to teach kids how to have fun and spread happiness to others!" Sweetie Belle said.

"Still sounds really depressing." the colt said again.

"A class that teaches how to have fun?! Man, if my schools were like this I would've actually been able to go to college!" Doofus said happily.

"No, you wouldn't." Question Mark said plainly.

"Yeah, you're right." Doofus blurted out, immediately giving up on what he said a second ago.

"You know, this should really be a real lesson to teach in school back home. I can't stand seeing so many depressed young people all the time." Smiley Face said sadly.

"I know, right? They really get on my nerves, every time they talk about themselves they always have to say stuff like: 'Uh, god...my depression is killing me from doing stuff.', 'I cry three times a day, in the shower, on the computer, and before bed', 'I look at memes to make sure I don't kill myself', or 'my family is bad'. Like shut up, man, I'm tired of hearing these kids complain about the same shit all the time." Question Mark said in exaggerated voices and in a mocking tone again.

"Hey! You shouldn't make fun of them like that, and that's not what I meant." Smiley Face said angrily.

"Yeah, I know. Just wanted to share my thoughts on the subject." the white colt smiled smugly.

"Uh...let's move on to the next class." Sweetie Belle said awkwardly.

They moved on to the rest of the classes, where the Crusaders did all the explaining. Smiley Face still hasn't rid herself of her awed expression, while Question Mark had suddenly decided to finally stop talking and listen to the fillies, while Doofus didn't really have a comment on anything. After a long tour of the classes, they bumped into the six top students of the school, Sandbar, Gallus, Yona, Smolder, Ocellus, and Silverstream, who were walking down the hallway to spend some time outdoors.

"Applebloom? Oh, wow, it's been quite a while." Sandbar greeted, shaking the yellow filly's hoof.

"Nice ta meet ya too, Sandbar." Applebloom greeted back.

"Who've you got with you?" Sandbar stared at the three strangers behind the fillies.

"Oh! Sandbar, everycreature, Ah'd like ya ta meet some three newcomers ta Ponyville. This here's Question Mark, this is Smiley Face, and that's uh...Doofus Dweeb." Applebloom introduced the three strangers, hesitating at the end. The three of them just stared in shock at the students, as though they'd never seen creatures beside ponies before.

"Jesus, what was God smoking when he made these guys?" Question Mark whispered to himself under his breath.

"Hello, nice to meet you all!" Smiley said happily.

"Um...hello." Question Mark said monotonously.

"Hi....guys?" Doofus greeted awkwardly and confused.

"So, um...what're your names?" Smiley Face asked.

"Hi, I'm Sandbar."

"Me Yona!"

"Hey, name's Smolder."

"Um...Hi, I'm Ocellus."

"The name's Gallus."

"I'm Silverstream! Ohmygosh, you're so adorable, and you're purple too!" the young female hippogriff exclaimed excitedly.

"Well, I think I'm more pink than purple." Smiley Face smiled nervously.

"Oh, yeah, right. I was about to say I could make 'purple twins' seashell necklaces for us. I did that with Princess Twilights and Headmare Starlight." Silverstream said awkwardly.

"You make seashell necklaces? Oh my gosh, I used to do that when I was little whenever me and my family went to the beach!" Smiley Face said happily.

"Really?! Oh my gosh, we could be the 'seashell maker sisters'!" Silverstream exclaimed happily again as she and the pink filly held each other's forelimbs and jumped around and squealed excitedly.

"Oh god, please no. It's already tiring dealing with one idiotic hyperactive girl, I don't need another." Question Mark said in a dreadful tone.

"So, uh...what are you guys supposed to be?" Doofus asked, confirming the fact they've never seen non-pony creatures before.

The six students just stared in surprise at the young stallion who was around their age, maybe a little older. "Um, what do you mean?" Gallus asked.

"Oh yeah, we forgot to mention...these guys are apparently suffering some kind of amnesia, that's why they don't know anything." Scootaloo explained.

"Amnesia?!" the six students exclaimed, all in different tones, some out of worry, others out of curiosity.

"Oh, jeez, that's terrible." Ocellus said.

"Aww, you poor things! Don't worry, it'll be alright." Silverstream pulled Smiley Face into a dangerously tight hug.

"Uhm...don't worry too, we're fine...other than a little confusion, there's nothing wrong with us..." Smiley attempted to speak through a throat tightned by the hippogriff's embrace.

"Let go of the filly, Silvy. You're gonna suffocate her." Smolder told the young purple hippogriff.

"Oh, right...sorry, heheh." Silverstream finally let go of the younger pink filly from her grasp.

"So, uh...Doofus, was it? You asked what we were? Well, I'm a..." Gallus attempted to answer before the white colt interrupted him.

"Wait, wait! I think I know what you guys are. Let me see if I can remember. Let's see...you're a griffin." Question Mark pointed at Gallus. "You're obviously a dragon." he pointed to Smolder.

"Heh, yeah, obviously. I mean what else would I be? A pigeon?" Smolder chuckled.

"You're a...yak, I'm guessing?" the colt then pointed to Yona.

"That right! Yona yak!" Yona announced proudly, as well as saying it like a teacher awarding her student.

"You're a griffin too, I think...oh, wait, no. You're a hippogriff!" the colt then pointed to Silverstream, correcting himself when he noticed her hooves on her hindlegs.

"That's right! I almost corrected you back there." Silverstream said.

"You...well, no confusion with you." Question Mark said when he pointed at Sandbar, causing the young stallion to chuckle. "And you...actually, I don't know what you are. What are you supposed to be?" the colt said when he pointed at Ocellus.

"Oh! Me? I'm a changeling." Ocellus answered with a smile.

"Changeling? You? I thought changelings were evil creatures who kidnapped babies and switched them out for themselves or something like that. I don't know, I never really researched them." Question Mark said.

"Haha, well we did use to kidnap other creatures and replace them in order to infiltrate their territory, but we don't do that anymore, so you don't need to worry about anything." Ocellus explained and reassured.

"Ah, okay, that's nice to know." Question Mark said, not in a relieved way, more just like 'quick fact check' way.

"So, what brings you to our school?" Sandbar asked.

"Oh, nothing much, really. We're just taking a look around this...lovely little town. You know, introducing ourselves to our new environment." Question Mark answered.

"New? Are you guys not from around here?" the yellow young stallion asked.

"Eh, no. We came from somewhere else, we just can't remember where." the white colt answered again.

"Well, if you guys have amnesia, there's probably a chance you're from around here and just don't know it." Gallus suggested.

"Ah don't think so, if they were Ah would've seen them before. Ah've never seen them around these parts in mah life." Applebloom shot down Gallus's suggestion.

"Oh, yeah, good point." Gallus said, rubbing the back of his head.

"So you guys are like...the star students here? Well, what a...wonderfully diverse group you have." Question Mark said, attempting to say anything that doesn't make him silent the whole time.

"Uh, thanks, haha." Sandbar chuckled. "I think our friendship did help set an example to Equestria and the other kingdoms that we're stronger together."

"Yes, yes, very nice. By the way, you said you're a changeling, right? Can you actually do some changing? Transforming? Shapeshifting? You know." Question Mark ignored what Sandbar said and immediately shifted his focus to Ocellus.

"Oh! Uh...yes, I can, actually. I think we can change into almost anything we want." the young blue changeling answered.

"Well, then show it to me! Verbal explanation isn't enough, you know?" Question Mark said.

"Um, okay, what do you want me to change into?" Ocellus asked.

"I don't care, anything." the colt said plainly.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can you change into a stallion-sized chinchilla?" Smiley Face requested.

"That's a pretty random request." Question Mark thought out loud.

"Alright, then." Ocellus said, then her body was covered by a swirling circle of blue flame-like magic, then in the place of the young blue changeling was now a giant chinchilla the size of Big Macintosh. The three strangers just stared in shock at what took place before their eyes.

"Oh, Celly, you never fail to amaze me." Silverstream said in admiration for her friend.

"Cooolll." Smiley Face gasped out in disbelief.

"Woah, very nice. Very nice indeed." Question Mark said, nodding his head. "Y'know, I'm more surprised you guys haven't taken over the world at this point. 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' type shit, y'know."

"Ooh! Change into me!" the pink filly requested again. Ocellus accepted her request and changed into the pink filly in front of her, imitating her every move like she was a mirror, which caused Smiley Face to laugh.

"Now turn into him!" Smiley pointed at Question Mark. Ocellus took a few steps to the filly's right to be right in front of Question Mark then transformed into him, having the same lowered-eyelids expression as the white colt, but also putting up a smile that the colt was lacking most of the time.

"Oh God, is that really what I look like?" Question Mark said at Ocellus's imitation of himself.

Before Smiley could voice her request, Ocellus already knew what she would say and moved on to the scrawny stallion, again changing into him.

"Wow, I already thought I looked pretty bad, but this is worse than I thought." Doofus said looking at himself.

"Ooh! Now turn into...!" Smiley Face exclaimed before Question Mark put a hoof over her muzzle.

"Enough! You're gonna tire the poor thing out." Question Mark shouted then forced a smile and spoke in a quieter tone at the end.

"So, uh...I keep hearing about this 'herd' thing where a bunch of ponies like... gets into a relationship with a lot of others. So, are you guys like...together or something?" Doofus asked, which caused the six students to look at each other awkwardly.

"Well...not really, not yet anyway, but Sandbar has been suggesting the idea for a while, and we've sort of been considering it. But so far, it's mostly two of us with each other. Sandbar and Yona, Gallus and Silverstream..." Ocellus explained.

"So, are you with the dragon chick?" the stallion asked again.

"Yep!" Ocellus answered happily.

"Nah." Smolder shrugged off.

The dragon and the changeling stared at each other in shock. "Smoldy, you...don't wanna be together with me?!" Ocellus asked, sadness creeping into her voice.

"We were together?" Smolder asked, legitimately confused. Luckily, Question Mark spoke up before any arguing could happen.

"Wait, so a pony with a yak, a griffin and a hippogriff, and a dragon with a...weird shapeshifting bug horse thing? And a chance they're all gonna get together into one couple orgy? What the hell is this madness?" Question Mark asked himself.

"Why? You got a problem with that?" Gallus asked threateningly, he and Smolder glared at the colt.

"Now, now, guys. He has amnesia, remember? He probably just still doesn't understand..." Sandbar tried calming the two of his most headstrong friends doing anything rash.

"Of course I have a problem! I mean, you're all different species, which means whatever offspring you guys'll produce will be a hundred percent deformed and brain-damaged." Question Mark said angrily, which caused a loud gasp from the six students and the three fillies.

"What'd you just say, ya little...?!" Smolder yelled as she tensed into fighting position followed by Gallus. Smolder, who came from a mostly male-centered society, wasn't afraid to get physical with a male as the ponies would, which caused the Crusaders and some of the dragon's friends to grow worried.

"Okay, I think it's best you get out of here right now." Smiley Face chuckled nervously as she pulled her colt friend away toward the opposite direction and spoke through gritted teeth at the end. They were followed by Doofus and the Crusaders who all had angry looks on them.

"Yeah, let's just ignore them and get on with our day, Smolder." Sandbar said nervously as well, holding back his dragon friend with Ocellus. He avoided calling her any pet names at the moment since he knew that would only cause her to get angrier.

"They'll turn out retarded, I swear to you!" Question Mark shouted to the six young creatures once he was far enough from them, Smolder tried to fly towards him but got held back by her friends. "God, they just let anyone be parents these days."

Smiley smacked Question Mark on his poll while scowling, letting him know she was not happy at all. "You just broke your promise, you jerk!" she scolded. Smiley said she doesn't really use words like 'jerk' too often when addressing her friend, she usually only used it when she's really unhappy with his behavior.

"What promise?" Question Mark asked.

"That promise of not acting like an asshole to others so you can, y'know, learn stuff from them?!" the pink filly continued, she was joined in by the Crusaders who also wanted to glare at the older colt.

"Oh, that one? I thought that was only meant for those three." Question Mark pointed at the Crusaders. "Besides, you know I don't really do promises."

"That is still not an excuse to behave like that!" Applebloom joined in on the scolding.

"Yeah! You know, it's a miracle that Smiley still wants to be your friend after everything you've done!" Scootaloo also joined in.

"Hey, man, believe me, I'm also confused as to how this girl still wants to be around after all this time." Question Mark said.

"You know what? I hope that you don't find a special somepony and form a herd with her! Because you'll be a terrible coltfriend!" Sweetie Belle scolded as well.

"Good! One girl is already gonna be a pain in the ass to deal with, I don't need an entire harem of them on my ass!" Question Mark shouted back.

"What's going on here?!" a voice shouted, the six of them turned to see Starlight and her herd walking down the hallway to see what all the commotion is. "Oh! It's you three. So you've decided to take a look at the school, did you enjoy it." Starlight asked happily when she saw who the ones making the noise were.

"Oh yeah!... I forgot you guys existed." Question Mark said with fake enthusiasm at the beginning but devolving into disinterest at the end.

"And I see you've made some new friends!" Starlight noticed the Crusaders in front of her, pretending not to hear Question Mark's comment.

"We're certainly friends with Smiley and Doofus!" Sweetie Belle proclaimed happily. "Question Mark? Not so much." the filly said grumpily.

"Oh, well...that's kind of a shame." Starlight said, trying to hide any tone that suggests that she doesn't blame them, seeing the colt's behavior.

"Hey, Headmare Starlight!" Starlight heard six voices from the other end of the hallway, she saw it was the six creature students, who seemed to have noticed her and decided to greet her for a moment.

Smolder noticed the white colt standing next to the headmare and immediately shifted to anger. "You're still here, are ya?!"

"Here, there, and everywhere, man." Question Mark said deadpan.

"Ah, I see you three have also met this school's star students." Starlight chuckled nervously, trying to make sure nothing ugly happens.

"Unfortunately, I have." the colt said in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, I'm sorry, students, but I don't have time to talk right now. I need to speak with these three with Vice Headstallion Sunburst and Counselor Trixie, so I guess I'll see you around later?" Starlight explained.

"Fine by us, Headmare Starlight. C'mon, guys." Gallus signaled his friends to continue with what they were doing.

"You three should probably get home, your families might be looking for you." Starlight said to the crusaders.

"It's fine, Starlight. Our families know we're goin' 'round town today. Hey, let's tell them about what happened!" Applebloom suggested, then the three of them ran out the front doors.

"So, uh...what are we doing now exactly?" Doofus asked.

"We're going to discuss your stay here in Ponyville and what we're gonna do with you three." Starlight answered in a serious tone.

"Uh-oh." Question Mark said quietly, feeling something bad is going to come out of this.

Comments

[AmlpfanREADER]

I can't wait for more