• Published 26th Apr 2022
  • 1,661 Views, 58 Comments

Flash Sentry Chronicles: School's in Session - Banshee531



To spread the Magic of Friendship far and wide, Twilight and her friends have opened the School of Friendship. But they'll soon learn that learning friendship and teaching it are two very different challenges.

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Chapter 1

Author's Note:

And we're back with another story. Been a whilst since a season opener got its very own story, but here we are. How will things work out differently here. Only time will tell.

Canterlot had recovered surprisingly well in the few weeks after the Storm King's invasion. The ponies of the capital were all getting back to their normal lives, including the ones that worked and attended Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. And it was here that Princess Twilight Sparkle, Sir Flash Sentry and the Mystic Flame Dragon Spike, were sitting in the school's reception, hoping to have a meeting with its principal. Flash and Spike were both sitting back and waiting patiently for the meeting to start while Twilight was shaking like a leaf.

The princess had a bunch of different cards floating in her magic along with a three foot long scroll with an abridged version of her plan. A plan to open a School of Friendship, which would help foster friendship all over Equestria and to the many lands both near and far. But before she could start the plan, she needed to get it approved by the country's lead ruler, the thought making her vibrate the bench so much that Flash and Spike were almost shook off the ends of it. "Twilight," Flash told her, "You need to relax." He jumped off the bench, "This is gonna go fine."

"Relax, he tells me." Twilight let out an almost insane laugh, "How can I relax?! If I don't impress Celestia with this idea, my plan for the School of Friendship will never come about!"

"I think you might be overthinking this," Spike pointed out. "Why would Celestia say no to such a great idea?"

"She might not think it's important if I butcher the presentation. Oh..." She looked down at her notes, "Maybe I should have waited another week to do this presentation so I could iron out more details. Or maybe a month. Do you think she'd be willing to resched-"

"Twilight!" Flash interrupted while grabbing her cheeks, "Relax. Take a breath." Twilight breathed in, her chest expanding outward, Flash waiting five seconds before saying, "Now let it out slowly." She did so, her stress appearing to leave her body along with the air. "Now, you don't need more time. You've done plenty of work, and Celestia will be more than impressed by your idea. Just remember, you're a princess too. So don't talk to Celestia like you're still her student. You're her equal, and you want to do this."

Twilight continued to take several more deep breaths before nodding, "Okay. You're right. I am a princess, and I can do this. I just have to be confident and not let my nerves get the best of me." As she said that, the receptionist got a magic message and turned to Twilight.

"Princess Celestia will see you now." Twilight's calm demeanor instantly vanished and she started screaming and going through all her notes, Flash and Spike both sighing before pushing the alicorn through a hallway, going to a class that several younger ponies started running out of. When they saw Twilight, they all gave her a bow, the action doing little to stop her near hyperventilation.

Celestia was the final pony out of the hallway, smiling when she spotted them. "Twilight! Flash and Spike too. It's good to see you all." She then noticed Twilight's pale face and notes, "Okay, I can tell this isn't a social visit. What can I do for you?"

"Well..." Twilight shivered, "I had an...I mean...I have an idea that should...my plan is..." Celestia rolled her eyes and took the scroll from her fellow princess, Twilight squeaking as the mare read through it. And as she did, a smile slowly formed on her face.

"You want to make a school where ponies can learn about friendship?" Twilight nodded. "Twilight..." She closed her eyes, clenching in response, "That's a brilliant idea." Twilight's eyes shot open, jaw dropped as she stared up at the alicorn, "I see your reasoning. Let those that are interested in learning about the subject, but don't know where to start come to you so you don't have to find them. Brilliant."

Twilight sighed in relief, "You...you really like my idea for a School of Friendship?" Celestia nodded and began to march down the corridor, the trio following as Twilight put her scroll and notes away while taking out a notepad and quill.

"I think a school of friendship is a wonderful idea, Twilight! I'll help in any way I can." They reached another class and Twilight looked inside, seeing many young unicorns practicing with their magic to lift apples. She wrote something in her notepad as Celestia trotted away, then quickly running up and jumping in front of her.

"I just have a few questions."

"Here we go," Flash sighed as Twilight took out the notes from earlier.

"What time should school start each day?" Twilight asked with Celestia smiling.

"It really d-"

"What's the ideal length for class?" Twilight asked, cutting her off. She was about to ask another question, but Flash used his tail to cover her mouth.

"One question at a time Twilight." he deadpanned, the gesture making Twilight blush as Celestia giggled.

"Oh, Twilight." She took Twilight notes at this, "You were my star pupil. If anyone knows how to run a school, it's you."

She gave Spike the notes as Twilight went wide-eyed again, "There's a big difference between attending a school and running one! It's not like there's a rule book to follow!"

"Actually, there is." This statement made them all raise an eyebrow, "The EEA guidebook is very specific about how to run a school."

"The EEA?" Twilight asked, "I've never heard of that. Should I have heard of that?!"

"Of course not. You've never had to run a school before." Celestia chuckled, "The Equestria Education Association is a board of learned ponies that oversee every school in Equestria."

"Even a small one like Cheerilee's?" Flash asked, getting a nod from Celestia.

"What about your school?" Spike asked, getting another nod from Celestia. "But you're you!"

"Not even a princess can do whatever she likes when it comes to shaping young pony minds." As she said that, her horn glowed as a hologram of the EEA's symbol appeared. "The EEA ensures that whether it's unicorns studying magic, pegasi learning weather, or earth ponies researching agriculture, all schools are held to the same high standard."

"Wait...does that include my training of Heart?" Flash added, "I don't remember having to go through any hoops when I started teaching him."

"That's different," Celestia replied, "The training that Heart's undergoing under you is a private affair, okayed by Heart's guardian...you. Grand was only allowed to train you after getting Velvet and Night Light's approval. It's no different from when Twilight took Starlight under were wing." She then grew serious and turned back to Twilight, "But this is different. Since this will be a publicly opened school, open to anypony that wishes to attend, the EEA must be made aware of it. They'll need to approve your plan before you can move forward."

Twilight blinked at this before turning to her assistant. "Okay Spike, looks like we have a presentation to make."

Spike scoffed, "After everything we've been through, how hard can that be?"


"I'm gonna go with 'really hard'." Spike corrected himself as he, Flash and Twilight stood in the EEA's main presentation room. It felt more like a trial than a presentation as they were surrounded by three sets of multi-row seats that had ponies staring down at the trio like a bunch of judges ready to send them to prison. Not a single smile could be seen, making them all shrink back at the sight.

Spike hid behind the large stack of brown binders they had prepared while Flash nodded at Twilight, the alicorn taking a deep breath and turning to them. "Um...hello. My name is-"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," a lanky white unicorn stallion with a black combed mane and goatee spoke up. He was wearing a purple robe and giant frown, "I am Chancellor Neighsay. Equestria owes you a great debt, but princess or no, we expect you to do things by...the...book!" His horn glowed reddish orange as it picked up a large book from his desk and floated it down, the book hitting the floor.

Twilight picked up the document and started flicking through it, trying to read as much as she could before closing it with a smirk. "I think you'll find my curriculum meets all your requirements, Chancellor." She lifted up the stack of binders and distributed them to everypony in the room, Neighsay flipping through it and reading almost as fast as Twilight.

"And can we trust you to follow through with this plan?" He shut the binder and glared at her, "Will you leave the school unattended to gallop off on your...adventures?"

Twilight stood tall at this, "My journey beyond Equestria showed me first-hoof that the threats out there are greater than we imagined!" This statement was met with many hushed whispers from the other ponies in the room, Twilight continuing to explain. "If we want to keep our land safe and create a friendlier tomorrow, we need to teach the Magic of Friendship far and wide."

"Yeah," Flash added, "Look what happened with the Storm King's invasion. We were completely outmatched when they first arrived. If it hadn't been for the changelings and the dragons, our friends never would have been able to save us and Equestria would be under a tyrant's rule."

"Yes..." Neighsay grumbled at Flash's words, "Needing the help of other creatures because we couldn't protect ourselves. Clearly an issue with Equestrian military and the Royal Knights." Flash frowned at this, "And you think this idea of yours will make sure something like this will never occur again?! A school for ponies to learn how to protect themselves?!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow as she tried to determine the best way to explain it. "Well...its more like respecting differences and communicating."

Neighsay turned to the ponies on another row, the group nodding. He did the same with the other row, getting the same result. He looked back and Twilight and, after holding his chin up to look down his nose at her, spoke up. "The EEA concurs. Every pony should be prepared to defend our way of life." The ponies in front of him nodded. "So, if your work is in order, provisional EEA approval is granted." The three all smiled at this as Neighsay continued, "We will need to observe your school up and running before it can be fully accredited."

"Then please, join us for Friends and Family Day. It'll be the perfect time to see our progress!" Neighsay nodded before lifting up a stamp and slamming it down upon the binder, imprinting a red version of the EEA sigil on it.

"Very well," he stared down at the princess as she smiled. "But be aware princess that when I inspect your school, it had better be perfectly up to EEA standards. If I find even one thing out of place, I will not hesitate to bring the full force of the Equestrian Education Association down upon it."

"Don't worry," Twilight responded, "Everything will be just as you want it. And when you see how well we're teaching the Magic of Friendship, you won't be able to give us full accreditation fast enough."

"We shall see," Neighsay slowly replied before opening up the binder again. "Remind me, where do you plan on building this school?"

"In Ponyville," Twilight chimed, "I've already got agreement from the mayor to purchase the land and build upon it. Plus, I've got some of the best builders in Equestria at the ready to start construction." Neighsay nodded and waved them off, the three giving their thanks before heading out the room. Once they were in the hallway, Twilight let out a girly squeal. "We did it!" She ran on the spot in excitement, "The school is gonna become a real place!"

"Yeah..." Flash added, "But I'm not so sure about this."

"Why?" Spike asked, "You were all for the school before."

"I'm still on board for opening a school," he shrugged, "I'm just worried this whole EEA approval thing isn't gonna work. If we're forced to do thing by the book, we might not be able to properly teach the lessons we want."

"I'm sure we'll be able to do things that are EEA approved and still teach," Twilight assured him. "The EEA have been helping guide Equestrian education for centuries."

"But that doesn't mean their ways of teaching are gonna work this time," he pointed out. "Nopony's ever tried to make a School of Friendship, so there's no guarantee this stuff will work. And even if it does, how can we be sure all our students will be able to learn this way? Remember, one pony's study habits aren't the same as another's. Remember Rainbow Dash's history test? EEA ways didn't help her at all."

Twilight put a hoof to her chin, "So what do you suggest? If we don't do this the EEA way, they'll shut us down."

"Still do it their way, but be ready to adapt if it doesn't work. That way you can tell them you did it their way, but had to change things up a bit to make it work. They can't complain if we did things by the book and it failed." Twilight nodded and the three began to make their way back to the castle for the Rune Gate back to Ponyville. They had a lot of work to do if they wanted the school built and ready to open before the start of the new school year.


It turned out to be more work than they thought. Despite having the entire McColt clan agreeing to help build it, landscaping and construction was still a daunting task. But as they did this, the school was soon built and two months after the construction started, Twilight, Flash and their non-Mane Seven friends were all staring at the School of Friendship.

"Well..." Twilight asked, "What do you think?"

Having been built right next to the Castle of the Friendship, the lowest sections of the building were built within a large hill while the higher sections were sticking out the top. It almost looked like a miniature castle, with several towers and bridges between them. At the base of the hill, surrounding the entrance, was a large lake that was being fed a series of waterfalls that flowed through areas of the castle. There was one large waterfall flowing out the very front of the hill, flowing into the lake and feeding a river that connected to the other ones that flowed through Ponyville.

"It looks amazing," Shining Soul whispered as she, her brother Fire Heart and everypony else stared at it.

"I'll say," Springer nodded. "This place looks awesome."

Heart stared at it for a moment, the colt hovering in place since his right leg was still bandaged up from what had happened three months ago, "How are the non-flying students supposed to get in?"

"Oh," Twilight sparked her horn, "This is how." In a flash of light, a stone bridge lifted out of the lake and connected the shore to the waterfall at the front. Seconds later, the waterfall split in two and revealed a large door with a round glass window that had a stain glass depiction of Twilight. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah," Heart nodded as he started scratching at his bandage. That was until Soul slapped his un-bandaged hoof with her tail, "Ow!"

"Stop scratching."

"It's itchy," he whined. Even after three months, he still wasn't allowed to take the bandage off. It was bad enough that he had to wear a plastic bag over it when he took a shower.

"Come on everypony!" Twilight excalimed, "We'll give you the full tour so you don't get lost." They nodded and began to make their way across the bridge, the door soon opening. Twilight showed them all the classrooms, the library, the dinning hall and the dormitories.

"I must say," Grand commented, "You've certainly built an excellent looking school. I look forward to seeing it open and ready to start educating the masses."

"Even though all the extra ponies that'll be living here will make our jobs a heck of a lot harder," Iron grumbled, "Hope you're ready to give a serious lecture the first time I catch somepony causing trouble."

"It'll be fine," Twilight replied as they headed to the main hall. "The students will be so busy studying that there won't be time to cause trouble."

"Keep telling yourself that," Lightning chuckled.

Ace turned to Springer, "We don't really have to attend this place, do we?"

Springer shined a grin at this, "Absolutely. It'll be good for you two...and it'll keep you both out of trouble while I'm on patrol."

"Awwww..."

"Oh, don't be such a foal." Mira chimed in before turning to smile at Soul, "I'm looking forward to this."

"Me too," the alicorn filly nodded. She and Heart were also going to be transferring out of Cheerilee's school to attend the School of Friendship, since it would make things easier for Flash and Twilight to continue their studies.

And as they arrived back at the main hall, they heard Rainbow's voice call out. "It's too much! Too much!" They all glanced inside, now seeing Starlight and the rest of the Mane Seven getting everything ready for the opening day. Rarity, who was dressed like a traditional teacher, frowned as she looked her outfit over.

"Ugh, you think so? I had hoped dressing the part would help me feel the part."

"Not your dress!" Rainbow yelled, "This! Us! Teaching?! They're gonna think I'm an egghead!"

"Hey!" Flash exclaimed, "I've been teaching Heart and I'm hardly an egghead." Rainbow glared at him, making Flash roll his eyes, "And doesn't Spitfire teach at the Wonderbolts Academy? You never call her an egghead."

"That's different!" She barked, "That's physical training! If anything, you and Spitfire are coaches, not teachers. The last thing I want is to put teacher on my resume!" She spun around, only to come face to face with a cannon barrel. She pulled back as Pinkie's head popped out the cannon.

"Well, the students are gonna love my confetti cannon class." She pulled out a helmet, "It's gonna be...a blast!" The cannon fired and she shot out of it, a bunch of confetti flying into the air behind her. As it rained down, Iron moved over to Fluttershy, the mare practicing her lessons with her animal friends.

"Um, hello there," she said barely above a whisper. "I'm your teacher. I hope you enjoy class. But if you don't enjoy it, that's okay too." The animals just blinked at her, all but Angel leaving as the bunny slapped a paw into his face. Fluttershy frowned at this, shrinking at the sight.

As Iron patted Fluttershy on the back, Applejack turned to Starlight. "Ah don't know about all this."

"It's going to be fine," Twilight assured her as she took out the EEA rule book. "Everything about this school feels right."

"See?" Starlight added as she finished organizing the school pamphlets. "If Twilight isn't stressed, you've got nothing to worry about."

Applejack just tilted her head at this, "And you're sure you want us to be teachers? In classrooms?"

Twilight nodded. "The EEA is very clear on how schools should be run," she gestured to the book in question. "Flash was right that the EEA's methods might not work, but we still have to try it this way. We can iron out the details once the school has full certification." The others frowned at this, the mare shaking her head, "We have a huge responsibility, and I need you all to do this by the book." She shut the book and gave one mare a particular stare, "That means no cannons in class, Pinkie."

"Awww," Pinkie moaned as Wild and his puppets gave her a pat on the back. She then took something very small out to show her, "Not even a teeny cannon?" The cannon was the size of a marble and fired a practically invisible blast of confetti, Twilight giving her a look that told her the answer.

"Well, this suddenly got a lot less fun," Wild sighed as the puppets repeated the word 'fun' several times.

"Yeah," Heart crossed his hooves, "If I wanted to sit around all day being super bored I think I'd prefer to be in Cheerilee's class. At least Button and Rumble would be there to hang out with."

Soul shrunk back at this, the thoughts of losing her connection to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon now going through her head. But before she could comment, Twilight put the EEA book down and turned to them all. "I know it's not some big adventure against the forces of evil, but this could be the most important thing we've ever done. I can't run a school of friendship without my best friends. Can I count on you?" Flash, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy all shared a glance, then smiled before turning back to the alicorn.

"Of course you can, darling."

"Call me Professor Egghead," Rainbow sighed before holding out a hoof. "I'm in!" One by one, the Mane Seven all brought their hooves together. As they threw them all up in cheer, the bell rang and Pinkie let out a scream of excitement.

"First day at school! So many new ponies!"

"About that..." Twilight added, "One thing I forgot to mention." Her horn lit up along with the door, which swung open. "It's not just ponies." They turned to see behind the doors a bunch of different creatures. There were a few ponies, two of which rushed inside first, but there was also an orange dragon, a mainly blue griffon, a blue and pink changeling, a yak and a hippogriff that looked familiar to two of the ponies.

Everypony except Flash and Twilight stared at the non-pony students in amazement. "That was unexpected," Pinkie commented as the others nodded.

They watched as the students filed into the school. Aside from the five non-pony creatures that had originally come in, the rest were all ponies. "Ooh!" Rarity whispered, "Students certainly travelled from far and wide to attend our school!"

Twilight nodded, "Princess Celestia helped me reach out to all the kingdoms. After all, friendship is something that needs to be shared with every...creature."

"Maybe," Lightning chimed in, "But are sure this is a good idea? I mean...I'm not against having non-ponies here. But this whole school is a working progress already. You really wanna add a wild card into the mix like this?"

"It'll be fine," Flash replied, "This is just what we need. It's no different from having Ace and Mira here."

"And I'm sure we can handle it," Springer crossed his paws. "What's the worst that could happen?" Iron, Grand and Lightning turned to give him a look, "I know, I shouldn't have said that. But as long as we keep ahead of things, it'll be fine."

"If you say so," Iron sighed, "Just as long as the yak doesn't smash anything important and the dragon doesn't try eating the castle."

Heart and Soul stared at the new students, only for a voice to ring out, "Heart? Soul?" They looked up at a hippogriff, "Is that really you?"

Heart raised an eyebrow, "Do we know you?"

"Silverstream?" Soul gasped.

"YAY!" She flew down and hugged them, "It is you!" She then let them go, "So this is what you really look like?" They nodded and she clapped. "Wow! This place is so amazing! I can't wait to start classes!" She then pointed at Heart's leg, "What's that? Some kind of fashion statement?"

Heart raised an eyebrow at this. "No, it's a bandage. To heal my leg." Silverstream went wide-eyed at this, the colt soon explaining what had happened.

And as this went on, Twilight stepped up to the front of the group. "Welcome to the School of Friendship! I'm your head-mare, Twilight Sparkle." She then gestured to Starlight and Spike, the dragon holding a scroll in his claws. "Please follow Guidance Counsellor Starlight to sign in and get your class assignments. Then we can show you your living quarters." And thus, the first day of the new school's first year began. Only time would tell if this would be a success...or a failure