> School Recruitment
>  by Calliope Pony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight had asked her friends to meet her at 10:00 sharp. A strict believer in punctuality, she had herself, Spike, and Starlight ready and waiting at a quarter of the hour. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy all wandered in over the next ten minutes and took their seats.
“Hey there, Twilight,” greeted Applejack. “What’d you call us down here for? More plannin’ fer this school you’re gonna open?”
“Yes, that’s exactly why I asked you to come this morning, but let’s wait until everypony’s here to get started.”
“To get started with what?” Pinkie Pie burst into the room. “A party? A cupcake eating contest? Ooh! Ooh! A Let’s-invite-everyone-over-to-Twilight’s-castle-to-play-guessing-games-and-see-who-can-come-up-with-the-most-ideas-of-things-to-get-started competition?”
“Er… no. It’s just planning for my new school. I’ll tell you my latest progress as soon as Rainbow Dash gets here.”
Rainbow Dash appeared to be taking her sweet time. The ponies relaxed and chatted as the minutes ticked by. Finally, a streak of rainbow light swooshed into the room.
“Nice of you to join us, Rainbow,” Applejack smirked.
“Hey, it’s not my fault. I was very busy.”
“Busy doin’ what? Oversleepin’?”
“Ye- I mean, NO!”
“Girls.” Twilight’s voice held a mild reproof, and both mares rolled their eyes at each other before quieting down. “I have something very important I want to discuss with all of you, and we’re already seven minutes late, so let’s get started.”
Rainbow joined the others. Spike took that as his cue to set a sheaf of notes on the table in front of Twilight. Then he got a fresh scroll and held his quill ready to take notes on the meeting. Seeing that everything was in order, Twilight began.
“As you all know, I’ve decided to open a school of friendship, where ponies and lots of other creatures can come to study harmony and learn the magic of friendship. Things are progressing very nicely so far. I’ve been studying the EEA handbook and preparing a curriculum, and construction on the school building is nearly complete.
“However, there is a crucial component which has yet to be addressed: students! We are at a point in my schedule where we need to begin recruitment efforts.”
“Well that makes sense,” remarked Rarity dryly. “You can’t exactly have a school without students.”
“Exactly! Which is why I need all of you to help me with recruitment. Spike, Starlight, and I have already begun. Show them, Starlight.”
Starlight picked up a pile of brochures and passed them out. Twilight waited for a few minutes for them to look through and give their opinions. The mares admired the pictures of the new school building and grounds, and they read the neatly lettered paragraphs detailing the anticipated charms of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship.
After a careful perusal Rarity gave Twilight a delighted smile. “These brochures are simply lovely, darling. The new building looks stunning in these pictures, and I love the font you chose. It’s elegant yet perfectly legible.”
“And you did a good job describin’ the school, “ Applejack chimed in. “Nice and clear about all the great stuff you’re plannin’ fer yer students.”
The others nodded and murmured their agreement.
“I’m glad you all like them. But of course printing up brochures is just the first step. Now we need to spread the word. Distributing the brochures within Equestria is easy. The challenge will be recruiting in foreign lands. A crucial component of the school will be building international relationships.”
“So, you want us to go out and try to recruit students from other countries?” asked Rainbow.
Twilight nodded. “I’d like to get at least one student each from the hippogriffs, the changelings, the dragons, the griffons, and the yaks.”
At the word “yaks” Pinkie Pie let out a huge gasp.
“TWILIGHT!”
Twilight nearly jumped out of her seat.
Pinkie pulled the ambassador ribbon Twilight had once given her out of her mane and waved it in the air. “As the official ambassador to the yaks I’m going to be the one to officially recruit in Yakyakistan, right? Officially.”
“Yes, Pinkie, I was already planning to send you to Yakyakistan to speak with Prince Rutherford and see if there are any young yaks who would like to attend the school.”
“SQUEEEE!” Pinkie squealed in jubilation and fired off her party cannon.
As the confetti settled Spike puffed his chest up proudly. “And as official ambassador to the dragons, I’m going to meet with Dragon Lord Ember. And Twilight’s tagging along with me.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled affectionately at Spike. “I thought it would be a good idea if we both went together. I don’t know if there are any schools in the dragon lands, so I thought that if Ember had any questions about Equestrian education I would be able to answer them. And I would love to find out how dragons educate their young.”
Starlight grinned at her mentor’s barely-contained excitement before adding her two bits to the conversation. “Twilight already asked me to go to the changeling hive to meet with Thorax. I haven’t been there since Trixie and I helped Pharynx, and it will be nice to see how he’s doing.”
Twilight glanced down at her notes before turning to face Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, I’d like you to go to Griffonstone. I’m sure Gilda will be able to recommend any young griffons who are interested in helping to spread friendship.”
“Sure thing, Twi. Gilda and I have been penpals, but I haven’t seen her in person in a while.”
Next, Twilight turned her attention to Rarity. “Rarity, I was hoping you would go visit Queen Novo of the hippogriffs.”
“Why darling, I’d love to! The underwater city was simply spectacular, and we didn’t have any time to look around when we were there. It would have been so nice if we could have spent some time there to explore. You know, ever since then I’ve been considering a new line with an ocean motif. Underwater themes were very popular some years ago, and I would love to bring it back properly.”
Applejack glanced around the table. “Seems like you’ve got all those countries you were talkin’ about covered, Twilight. What about me ‘n Fluttershy?”
“I haven’t forgotten you, Applejack. But I do need some ponies to stay here. Like I said before, I’ll be distributing these brochures through Equestria, and I was hoping the two of you could be available to respond to ponies who want more information. Besides, I know that between your farm and Fluttershy’s animals it’s hard for the two of you to take time for travelling.”
“Thanks, Twilight.” Fluttershy smiled gratefully. “I’m happy to help when we have friendship quests, but Angel really does hate it when I have to be away for long periods of time. Besides, I have an injured turtle I’m tending in the sanctuary, and I’d rather not leave him right now.”
Applejack grinned. “You can count on us. If any ponies come askin’ Fluttershy and I’ll tell ‘em all about the school.”
Twilight looked around the room at her friends, all ready to help her make her school a success. “Thank you all so much, girls. I know that with your help we’ll recruit a fantastic freshman class.”
> Recruiting in Griffonstone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash made good time getting to Griffonstone. She threaded her way up the mountain, watching eagerly for the ancient griffon city to come into view. When she had last visited it had been kind of a dump, but Gilda’s letters had said that they were starting some renovation projects.
It wasn’t long before she caught sight of buildings, and from there it was just a few short minutes before she arrived at the entranceway. She flew eagerly into the city before landing to take a look around.
At a glance it didn’t look too different from how she remembered it. High mountain breezes wove through thatched cottages and scattered trees. Looking more closely though, she could see that many of the cottages appeared to have had recent repairs done, and the streets were much tidier. The biggest change, however, was in the griffons walking and flying around.
True, most of them still looked grumpy and standoffish. But here and there she could see pairs and small groups who looked like they were getting along well together. They weren’t playing games or singing songs, but they appeared to be enjoying each other’s company, more or less. Gilda must have been doing a good job teaching them about friendship.
And with that in mind, Rainbow Dash flew off toward Gilda’s house. When she arrived her hoof beat out a quick rat-a-tat-tat on the door. From within she heard Gilda’s voice call out, “Hang on, I’m coming.”
When the door opened Gilda’s face lit up. “Dash! Good to see you! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
The next thing Rainbow Dash knew, she was being pulled inside and shown where to dump her saddle bags. In short order tea and scones were set on the low table, and they were filling each other in on all the odds and ends that didn’t fit into letters.
It wasn’t until the scones were nearly gone that Rainbow pulled a brochure from her bag and showed it to GIlda, explaining about her mission.
“So Twilight wants to try to find students from all these different places we’ve visited, and she sent me here to see if you know any young griffons who would want to come study in Equestria.”
“You mean like how I went to an Equestrian flight camp to work on my flying?”
“Yeah. Only this would be to learn about making friends and solving problems and… uh…” Rainbow sneaked a look at the way Twilight had worded it on the brochure. “Working together to form bonds to make a brighter future for everycreature.”
“This sounds like a great idea, Dash. Going to Equestria for flight camp was one of the best things I did as a grifflet. Griffonstone’s doing better than we were, but there’s still not a lot of chances to get out into the world.”
“So, can you think of any young griffons who’d like to go?”
“Well, there’s Gabby. She’d probably jump at the chance to go to school in Equestria. But then again, she jumps at pretty much anything.”
“Gabby? She’s the mail griffon who delivers your letters, right? The one who likes to hang out with Scootaloo and her friends when she’s in Ponyville?”
“That’s her. I’m sure she’d like to go, but…” Gilda’s voice trailed off.
“But what?”
“Well, this brochure says that it’s for creatures to learn how to make friends. Gabby’s already good at that. Like you said, she’s made friends with the fillies she visits in Ponyville. And besides that, she does more than anygriffon to help me out here. She’d be really happy to go, but, well, I think there’s probably others who need it more.” Gilda seemed unusually quiet and solemn.
Rainbow wasn’t sure what to make of Gilda’s sudden shift in mood. “Hey, are you doing okay?”
Gilda shook herself and gave Rainbow a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“All right. Did you have any other griffons in mind?”
“I wasn’t really thinking of anyone in particular.” Gilda thought for a moment. “How about we go see Grandpa Gruff? He might have some ideas.”


***


As they made their way to Grandpa Gruff’s house Gilda pointed out places where she had persuaded the Griffons to come together to work on improving Griffonstone.
“That house is the new library. No one wanted to spend the time or gold on rebuilding the old library, but with the weather coming in the books were likely to get ruined. So we just moved them into an abandoned house and fixed it up a bit. Grandpa Gruff was actually the one who took the lead on that. Most of the younger griffons aren’t interested in history, but it’s really important to him.”
“So I guess maybe he’s not as gruff as he seems.”
“No, he is. But he still cares a lot about passing on griffon stories and culture to the next generation. That’s why I thought he might have some ideas for your school. That’s his house up ahe-”
CRASH!
Gilda’s voice cut off as a sudden burst of noise and the sound of things breaking shook the house she was pointing at. A moment later they heard Grandpa Gruff’s creaky old voice raised in fury.
“GALLUS!”
The door swung open, and a small blue griffon darted out. He rushed past them muttering, “Hi Gilda. Bye Gilda.”
And then he was gone.
Grandpa Gruff appeared in the doorway yelling, “Gallus, get back here and clean up this mess! You better listen to me, young griffon!” He shook his clenched talon.
Gilda ran over to him. “He’s gone, Grandpa Gruff. He just blew past us.”
“Good-for-nothing young scallywag. He just knocked down a whole shelf of dishes. Then he ran away. No respect for his elders at all.”
Rainbow gave him her best smile. “Well, we’re here. How about we help you clean up?”
Grandpa Gruff’s bleary eyes focused on her. “Oh it’s you. One of those ponies Gilda likes to hang out with. Rainbow Rush? What are you doing here?’
“It’s Rainbow Dash, Grandpa.” Gilda corrected him. “She came to tell us about a school that’s opening in Equestria. They’re looking for griffon students, and she wanted to see if we could let her know about anyone who’d like to go.”
“Send that young rogue Gallus. Get him out of my feathers for a while and see if a proper education can knock some sense into his head.”
Gilda considered for a few moments.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea. Gallus has been getting into a lot of trouble lately, but he’s not a bad kid. Going to your friend’s school might be good for him.”
“Great! Let’s go talk to him!”
Rainbow would have flown off after Gallus, but Gilda held up a talon to stop her.
“Actually, Dash, it might be better if I go talk to him alone. He’s kinda headstrong, and if he feels like we’re ganging up on him he’ll just refuse to go.”
Rainbow flapped her wings indecisively for a few moments before shrugging and settling to the ground. “Okay. Let me know if you need any of the brochures or anything.”
“Will do. In the meantime, why don’t you stay here and help Grandpa Gruff clean up?”
Grandpa Gruff pulled Rainbow toward the door. “You look strong enough to do some good work. And while you’re cleaning up Gallus’s mess I’ll tell you about the history of Queen Gwendolyn and how she developed the recipe for the first griffon scones.”
Rainbow’s smile was frozen in place. “Sounds great.”


***


Gilda found Gallus sitting in a tree on the outskirts of town.
“Hey, Gallus.”
“Did Grandpa Gruff send you to find me and drag me back so he can give me a lecture?”
“Well, he is pretty mad, but no, he didn’t send me after you. I want to talk to you about something else.”
“I didn’t do it.”
“Didn’t do what?”
“Whatever it is you want to yell at me about.” He scowled deeply, almost daring her to challenge him.
“Look, Gallus, you’re not in trouble, and I don’t want to yell at you for anything. Can we just talk for a minute?”
Gallus huffed and rolled his eyes but relented. “Fine.”
Gilda flew up to perch next to him on the tree. For a few moments they sat in silence. Gallus seemed to be pretending that she wasn’t there. Gilda watched him thoughtfully before speaking.
“You know, Gallus, when I was your age I hated living in Griffonstone. I probably would have done just about anything to get out and see the world.”
“Yeah, who wouldn’t? This place stinks.”
“What if I told you there was a chance for you to leave for a while?”
Gallus immediately perked up. “What kind of chance?”
“There’s a school opening in Equestria, and they’re looking for griffon students. You could go there, board at the school, meet lots of creatures from all over the world.”
Gallus’s signs of interest vanished as quickly as they came. “A pony school? That sounds super lame.”
“Not just ponies. Yeah, it’s run by ponies, but they’re looking for students from all over. There’s probably going to be dragons and hippogriffs and who knows what else.”
“I guess going to school with dragons might be cool.” His voice was still indifferent. “So exactly what’s the deal here? Why are you looking for students for a pony school, and why me?”
“You’ve heard me talk about my pony friend Rainbow Dash. She’s the one who told me about the school and asked me to help find students.”
She didn’t say any more, and Gallus gave her a suspicious glare as he repeated the last part of his question. “Why me?”
“Grandpa Gruff suggested you.”
“Well, that’s great. I make one mess in his dusty old house and he’s ready to banish me to live among the ponies! Does he already have a bag packed to ship me off?”
“It’s not like that, Gallus. He thinks it would be good for you. I think so too.”
“I’m not interested in being carted off to live with a bunch of stupid ponies. Why don’t you send Gabby if someone has to go? She’d probably love it, and she’s so annoying it would be good to get a break from her.”
Gilda almost snapped at him, but she had gotten much better at reining in her temper since reconnecting with Rainbow Dash. She took a deep breath and tried again.
“I did think of Gabby at first, but I decided she wasn’t right for it. Or maybe I should say it’s not right for her. She wouldn’t get much out of it. I think you would.”
Gallus just rolled his eyes again.
“Look, Gallus… okay, you remember what I said before about how much I hated living here when I was younger? Did you know that I went to learn in Equestria for a while?”
That got his attention. “You mean you went to a pony school?”
“Not a school exactly. I went to a pony flight camp to work on my flying. Not many griffons went there, but my parents were convinced I was really good, good enough to train with pegasus coaches. They teach stuff about speed flying and aerial acrobatics that we just don’t have here. And my mom and dad thought I should go and learn from the best.
“When they told me about it I didn’t know what to think. On the one claw, I wasn’t happy here. I didn’t like any of the grifflets I went to school with. I got picked on a lot, and when I tried to fight back I got into trouble. I was desperate to break free.
“On the other claw, I didn’t want them telling me what to do or where to go. And, even though I didn’t want to admit it, I was terrified at the thought of going to a strange place with strange creatures.
“But in the end I went. And at first it seemed like a disaster. When I first arrived everything seemed to come crashing down on me. I was alone. I was scared. Everything looked and sounded and even smelled different than what I was used to. And to top it all off, right after I arrived a group of bullies started making fun of me. I thought it was going to be like school here all over again except that now I didn’t even have the home turf advantage.
“But then I met Rainbow Dash. She stood up for me against the bullies. She practiced flying with me. She was just the… the nicest person I’d ever met. In fact, she might have been the first nice person I ever met.
“I was… I was happy at the Equestrian flight camp. Happier than I’d ever been. When camp ended I didn’t want to come home. When I did come home I missed Equestria. I missed the friend I’d made there.
“I’ve had some bad times since then. Once I had a big fight with Rainbow Dash, and we went a really long time without speaking to each other before we made up. And even since we’ve been friends again I’ve had problems to deal with.
“What I’m trying to say is that going to learn in Equestria was one of the best things I ever did. It made a difference for me. And I really needed that, even though I didn’t know it then.
“That’s why I don’t want to pick Gabby to send to this school. She’s already happy. She doesn’t need it. I want to pick someone who’s having a rough time like I did. I know you don’t like talking about it, but I know you’ve been getting into trouble a lot. You’re not happy.”
Gallus hadn’t said a word throughout her speech. Now he was looking sullenly at the ground, deliberately not meeting her gaze.
“Just give it a try, Gallus. You might be surprised.”
Gallus took a long breath. “Okay, I’ll go, but I’m not promising that I’ll stay. If I don’t like it I’m gonna get out of there.”
“Fair enough. Just give it a few weeks before you make up your mind.”
“Deal.”


***


“...and that’s how we griffons became famous for our scones. Mind those cups!”
Rainbow Dash had a slightly glazed look on her face. She had just learned far more about Griffonstone’s culinary history than she had ever wanted to know. The lengthy story had been punctuated with sharp comments about the quality of her housework. She thought she might crack up soon. She wished that she had traded places with Twilight and accompanied Spike to the Dragon Lands. Twilight would have loved cleaning up a mess while getting a history lecture.
It was with a great deal of relief that she heard Gilda return.
“Well, Dash, you’ve got a student.”
“All right!” Rainbow Dash’s lethargy was shaken off immediately. “So Gallus is going to come to the school?”
“Yeah. He’s not too keen on the idea, but he’s willing to give it a chance. That’s probably the best we can do.”
“Great! Let’s head back to your place to celebrate.”
A wicked smile spread across Gilda’s beak. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to stay and hear some more of Grandpa Gruff’s stories?”
“Well, uh, if I hear them all now then there won’t be any more for next time.”
Grandpa Gruff waved them off. “You girls go on. I’m late for my afternoon nap. And, Gilda, when you talk to Gallus make sure to tell him to come spend some time with me before he leaves. There’s some advice that a young griffon needs to hear before he sets off into the world.”
“Will do, Grandpa. I’ll see you later!”
Rainbow Dash breathed a deep sigh as they flew back to Gilda’s house. “I thought he wouldn’t tell stories unless you paid him. What happened?”
“I’ve been trying to tell him about how ponies will trade favors instead of paying for them. He probably figured that cleaning up Gallus’s mess was fair trade for telling the story. Looks like I’m getting pretty good at teaching these friendship lessons, huh?”
> Recruiting in Seaquestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Rarity approached Mount Aris she considered what her best options might be to alert the seaponies to her presence. Last time they had been lucky that Princess Skystar was at the water’s surface. If they were all deep underwater on this occasion it might simply be a matter of waiting for somepony to surface. Perhaps she could wrap a message around a rock and drop it into the water?
Fortunately, however, all these considerations became moot as she came nearer to the mountain. On her previous visit the city had been nothing more than a ghost town, its inhabitants vanished beneath the waves. Now she could see colorful forms flying around the mountain. With the Storm King gone the hippogriffs must have returned to their former home!
At the city’s gate she was greeted by a tall, handsome hippogriff guard.
“Greetings, Miss. Will you please state your business at Mount Aris?”
“Good day to you, sir. I am Rarity. Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria has sent me as a diplomatic envoy. I wonder whether you would be so good as to let me speak with Queen Novo or Princess Skystar please?”
“Certainly, Miss Rarity. Princess Skystar has spoken very highly of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Please come with me.”
As he led her through the winding streets Rarity turned her head side-to-side trying to take in as much of the view as she possibly could. Everywhere she looked teams of hippogriffs were repairing and restoring buildings, cleaning away accumulated rubble, and tending the plants which grew in profusion. The hippogriff architectural designs were lovely, and she was itching to pull her sketchpad out of her saddlebag. Still, business first! She only hoped that once her mission was completed she might be granted a tour of the city. Or even both cities! She could see definite similarities in the building designs both above and below the water’s surface. How fascinating to see the same styles adapted to different environments! Perhaps she could use it as inspiration for a line of swimwear which could be used for both swimming and for everyday use!
So caught up was she in the aesthetic possibilities that she was caught by surprise when her guide stopped. She looked up to see Princess Skystar zipping from side to side as she directed hippogriffs in various tasks. The young princess was clearly having the time of her life. She didn’t seem to notice the visitor until the guard spoke.
“Princess Skystar, may I present Miss Rarity of Equestria on a diplomatic visit from Her Royal Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” He bowed low, and Rarity followed suit.
Princess Skystar whirled around to stare at Rarity for a moment before letting out a gasp worthy of Pinkie Pie.
“AHHH, Rarity! It is so good to see you again!” She swooped down to hover right in front of Rarity’s face. “How have you all been doing!? How’s Princess Twilight? How’s Pinkie Pie? How’s everypony in Equestria? Are you all doing well since the Storm King’s gone? We’re doing great here! We’re repopulating Mount Aris! Well, duh, obviously you can see we’re repopulating Mount Aris. It was such a mess when we first came back up, but so many of us wanted to fix it up! And guess what? Mother put me in charge of rebuilding! Squeee! Most of the population is still living underwater in Seaquestria, and Mother is mostly staying down there, at least for now. She comes up now and then to see how we’re doing, but so far everything’s going really well. Just see how great everything looks!”
Rarity was grateful for a long association with Pinkie Pie which allowed her to follow Princess Skystar’s extremely fast speech.
“The city is looking truly remarkable, darling. Why, if I didn’t know it was the same place I saw before I simply wouldn’t believe it. You’ve done wonders in such a short time. I do hope that after we’ve had a chance to talk you’ll give me a tour.”
“I’d love to! What do you want to talk about? You said Princess Twilight sent you?”
“Indeed.”
Rarity drew a brochure from her saddle bag and told Skystar about the school and Twilight’s wish to recruit hippogriff students. Skystar’s reaction was encouraging.
“A school of friendship? That sounds like so much fun!  I’m sure there’s plenty of young hippogriffs who’d love to go! Come on, let’s show this to mother!”
Without further ado, Princess Skystar grabbed Rarity by the hoof and started pulling her down toward the coast. She called back over her shoulder, “I’m going down to see the Queen! Salina, you’re in charge until I get back!”
They trotted quickly to the water’s edge. Skystar went in up to her fetlocks and turned to face Rarity. “I can turn us both into seaponies to go under. Are you ready?”
Rarity adjusted her girth strap and made sure everything was secure. Twilight had thoughtfully placed a water-proofing spell on her saddlebags and all their contents. Both the brochures and Rarity’s sketching supplies would be fine underwater, but it wouldn’t do to have things accidentally floating off.
“I’m ready. And I would like to tell you how pleased I am to see you find the school so favorable. We are so looking forward to having your students with us.”
“Of course! This sounds like a great idea! And I know mother will think so too.”


	***


“Absolutely not.”
Queen Novo had greeted Rarity politely and had listened with courtesy as Rarity pitched the school. But when the unicorn had asked for assistance in recruiting young hippogriffs to come to Equestria the queen’s reply had been immediate and firm.
“But, Mom, why not? The Storm King is gone, so it’s perfectly safe!”
“One threat is gone, Skystar, but that does not make the world perfectly safe.”
Rarity cleared her throat and made a little bow before speaking.
“If I may, Your Majesty. I can assure you that Princess Twilight will have the students’ safety as one of her highest priorities. We would be as distressed as you if anything were to happen to them.”
“I don’t doubt your sincerity, but I have serious concerns. Equestria is a dangerous country. There have been many attacks there by vicious creatures. Furthermore, the Hippogriff kingdom is still weak from the Storm King’s attacks. As you saw above, we are in the middle of a difficult reconstruction. I am already dealing with having my population split between Seaquestria and Mount Aris. I cannot, in good conscience, send some of our youngest and most vulnerable civilians to a foreign country without supervision at this time.”
“I do understand your concerns, Your Majesty. But might I suggest that that is precisely why this would be an opportune time to send students abroad? Princess Twilight has started this school in the hopes that it will strengthen international bonds which will lead to greater unity between nations. Surely this goal is in line with your reconstruction efforts?”
“It is an admirable goal, but the concerns for the fledglings’ safety-”
Queen Novo was cut off as two young seaponies swarmed into the throne room. The filly was pearly pink, and the colt was the color of sea foam. As soon as they saw Skystar they doubled back towards the entranceway and hollered, “Dad! She’s in here!”
A periwinkle stallion swam in followed by a light yellow mare. The mare quietly scolded the two while the stallion apologized.
“Sorry, Novo. I asked them to help me find Skystar, but they should have known better than to interrupt you while you’re with a guest. Kids, say you’re sorry.”
“Sorry, Aunt Novo,” they responded in unison.
“It’s all right,” Queen Novo said. “This is Rarity, an envoy from Equestria. Rarity, this is my sister, Ocean Flow; her husband, Sky Beak; and their children, Silverstream and Terramar.”
Rarity made another little bow. "It is quite an honor to make your acquaintance."
"Likewise." Ocean Flow gave her a warm smile.
Sky Beak offered a much wider grin and said, "I hope you're enjoying your visit, Miss Rarity. And I hope you'll come back again when our rebuilding is complete. Mount Aris is going to be more wonderful than ever by the time we're done. Silverstream, Terramar, say hello to our guest."
The filly and colt were staring agog at Rarity. She was starting to feel just a little bit awkward when they pounced.
"You're from Equestria?"
"Are you really a unicorn as a surface-dweller?"
"Do you know the princesses?"
"Were you there when the Storm King was defeated?"
"What's it like living on the surface?"
"Why are you visiting Seaquestria?"
"How long are you staying?"
Rarity was trying to figure out what to say when Sky Beak came to her rescue. "Kids, kids! She's a guest, not a subject for interrogation. Let the poor mare breathe!"
"Thank you, Sky Beak." Rarity recovered herself quickly. "I'd be quite happy to answer their questions." She turned to the wide-eyed children.
"I am indeed a unicorn from Equestria, and I was present at the defeat of the Storm King. Princess Twilight sent me to Seaquestria, though I don't know how long I'll be here for. Once I have finished my business with the Queen I would be most grateful for the opportunity to visit for a short while."
"Why did a princess send you here?"
Rarity wasn't sure if it would be diplomatic to tell them about the school when she had not yet finished discussing it with the queen. Fortunately, she was spared making a judgment call when Princess Skystar answered the question for her.
"Princess Twilight is starting a school in Equestria to teach about friendship, and she's inviting students from lots of different countries. Rarity's here to convince Mom to send hippogriffs to go there!"
Terramar merely looked curious at the mention of the school, but Silverstream's eyes grew large as saucers. She immediately turned to her parents.
"Mom, Dad, could I go to an Equestrian school?"
The two of them glanced uncertainly at each other. "Well, honey, we'd need to learn a bit more about it before making a decision."
Queen Novo had a fin raised to her eyes as she groaned, "I've just been telling Rarity that I don't feel it would be wise to send our children abroad at this time. We don't know how dangerous it might be."
Silverstream whirled around and practically threw herself at the queen.
"Please, Auntie Novo? We're finally allowed to go to the surface, and it's so amazing, and there's so much to explore, and Skystar told me about Equestria, and it sounds awesome, and I'd love to go and see what it's like, and school here is boring, and going to a friendship school sounds like fun, and I'd get to meet so many other creatures, and maybe I could be an envoy to the ponies like Rarity is to us, and I really, really, really, really want to go!"
Rarity could see the family resemblance between Skystar and Silverstream.
Ocean Flow gently pried her daughter away from Queen Novo and turned to look inquisitively at Rarity.
"Before we make any decisions could you tell us more about this school of yours?"
Rarity gave her best salesmare smile as she levitated some brochures out of her saddlebag. "I'd be delighted."


	***


Rarity felt the discussion had gone very well. She had given them the full sales pitch, and they had seemed moderately interested. Ocean Flow and Sky Beak had taken the brochures and promised to talk it over and give their decision in a day or two. In the meantime she was free to explore, and Skystar was eager to act as a tourguide.
Skystar spent the next day showing Rarity the sights in Seaquestria. She was happy to stop anytime Rarity wanted to pull out her pad to sketch a building or the landscape. In the afternoon duties called Skystar to the surface to supervise the workers, and Rarity was free to explore Mount Aris. It was a lovely day.
When evening drew near Rarity made her way back to where Skystar was working. As she approached the princess she was surprised and pleased to see the family (now all in hippogriff form) coming from the opposite direction. When they saw Rarity Silverstream ran ahead to greet her.
"Rarity! Mom and Dad said I can go to the school!"
Rarity beamed at Ocean Flow and Sky Beak as they came up to her.
"I am so pleased to hear that! I know Princess Twilight will love having your daughter as a pupil."
Skystar flew over to join them. "How did you get Mom to agree to let her go into the big, scary world?"
Ocean Flow gave a little smile that might almost be described as a smirk. "Novo may command all the seaponies and hippogriffs, but she's never commanded her baby sister. She's insisting on sending a royal escort to take Silverstream to the school, but aside from that she'll trust our judgment.
"Now it's getting late. Skystar, why don't you and Rarity join us for dinner?"
"Sounds good, Aunt Ocean. Come on, Rarity!"
As they all made their way down to the water Rarity chatted a bit with Terramar.
"Are you at all interested in coming to school with your sister?"
The colt looked a little bashful as he replied, "I'm just starting to explore Mount Aris. I mean, visiting Equestria might be fun, but there's so much right here, and it would be so far away from home…"
He trailed off. Rarity laid her hoof reassuringly on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, darling. I completely understand. I do hope you'll come to visit us sometime, though."
"That would be fun. And I bet Silverstream will really like it. She's already looking forward to going."
As they stepped into the water and transformed Ocean Flow gave a little sigh. "That's better. I just can't seem to get used to walking on four legs again after swimming for so long."
> Recruiting in the Changeling Hive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight made her way towards the Changeling Hive, picking her way among the now-lush vegetation. Not too far away, the mountainous spire rose into the sky, looking even more beautiful than the last time she had come.
Her saddle bags sagged slightly to one side, and she paused to adjust them. In addition to the school brochures and travel supplies she had packed some books to read if she had the time. She removed one book from the left bag and moved it to the right, balancing the load better.
WHUMPH!
Starlight froze in panic as the world turned almost dark. Fuzzy spots of light filtered through the rough burlap that threatened to smother her.
Her panic only lasted for a few moments, however. She relaxed and even rolled her eyes upon hearing a familiar raspy voice.
"Hey, there Starlight. Long time, no see."
"Hello, Pharynx. Is the bag really necessary?"
"How else am I supposed to greet an old friend?"
A moment later the mouth of the bag opened, and she was released. Before her stood a tall, dark green changeling with a teasing smirk.
"What brings you all the way out here?"
"I have a message for Thorax from Princess Twilight. Can you take me to him?"
"Sure. Do you want to walk or should I drag you in the bag?"
"I'll walk."


	***


Thorax was in his throne room when Pharynx led Starlight into the hive.
"Starlight! It is so good to see you!"
"It's good to see you too, Thorax. And it's good to see that Pharynx is taking his guard responsibilities seriously. He met me on the way here."
"Did he put you in a bag?"
"Only for a minute."
"Pharynx…"
"What? I let her out."
"It's fine, Thorax. At least my arrival wasn't boring."
"Well, I guess there's no harm done." Thorax smiled. "So why are you here?"
"I'm bringing a message from Twilight." Starlight levitated a brochure from her saddle bag and held it out for Thorax to see. "She's starting a new school to teach about the magic of friendship, and she's opening enrollment to creatures from all the countries Equestria is allied with. She sent me here to tell you about it and see if there are any young changelings who would be interested in attending."
Thorax grabbed the brochure, and read it over with an eagerness that surprised the unicorn.
"Starlight! This is the perfect answer to a situation I've been trying to solve!"
"What situation?"
"Ocellus!"
This answer didn't really provide Starlight with any information, so she inquired further. "Ocellus?"
"Ocellus is a young changeling who's been having some trouble lately. This school would be perfect for her. Don't you think so, Pharynx?"
Pharynx snorted. "Sure, if you could actually get her to go. She scarcely ever goes outside the hive. Do you really think you can convince her to leave the country?"
"I can try," said Thorax determinedly. "Starlight, come with me."
As they walked through the meandering corridors of the hive Starlight questioned Thorax. "Why do you think Twilight's school would be perfect for Ocellus? What problems has she been having?"
"She's smart, Starlight. She's already surpassed all the other changelings in her age group. Her teachers are running out of ways to challenge her."
"Is she getting into trouble?"
"No, she's really quiet and well-behaved. No disciplinary problems. But she's becoming more and more withdrawn. She doesn't mix much with the other changelings in her class. She's very sweet, but she's also shy. I think she gets scared to talk to the others, especially when she's so far ahead of them in their work."
"Have you tried moving her into an advanced class? Giving her more challenging material to work with?"
"Unfortunately, we don't have much more for the students to work with. Revamping our education system is just one thing on a long list of projects I've been working on. For most of them it's been working out all right since the instructors have been given the freedom to be creative in how they teach. And to be honest, we don't have much advanced material that would be appropriate for her. Our library is… limited."
"Limited how?"
"I haven't had an opportunity to add to the library since I became the leader of the hive; it's been fairly low on the list of priorities. So it's the same library as we had under Chrysalis. It mostly contains information on deception and conquest."
"Yikes."
Thorax nodded. "I know. Ocellus reads every book that her teachers will approve. She's so curious. She wants to learn, and she remembers what she learns. But right now we just can't meet her needs. That's why Twilight's school looks like it would be just right for her."
"If she wants to learn and is having trouble making friends it really does sound like a perfect fit."


	***


At last, they reached an archway where Thorax peeked through and nodded.
"She's right through here. Just one other thing, Starlight. I mentioned she's shy. Well, she's really shy. She might be scared to meet you."
Starlight waved her hoof confidently. "I'm friends with Fluttershy. I'm sure I can get along with Ocellus."
"All right, then."
Thorax led Starlight through the archway. Seated near some bushes, reading a scroll, was a petite, pale teal changeling. Thorax greeted her cheerfully.
"Good morning, Ocellus. I want you to meet my friend, Starlight-"
Ocellus took one look at Starlight, and her eyes widened fearfully. There was a flash of bluish light and she… vanished? Starlight couldn't tell where she had gone.
Thorax sighed and walked over to bushes. He prodded one bush gently and spoke in a soft voice. "Come on, Ocellus, that's no way to greet a guest. Starlight is nice."
There was another bluish flash, and this time Starlight could see the bush turn back into the little changeling. She kept her head down, eyes averted. She bashfully rubbed one hoof against the opposite leg.
Starlight put on her best smile. "Hi, Ocellus. It's really nice to meet you. Thorax was just telling me about you. He said you're really good in school."
Ocellus just glanced up at her and pressed against Thorax's side. Thorax smiled down at her.
"Ocellus, Starlight is my friend from Equestria. She came to tell me about a new school that's opening up there. It sounds like a really nice place, and I wanted to show you the brochure."
Thorax spread the brochure out in front of Ocellus and gestured for her to read. Ocellus's eyes flicked between him and Starlight before beginning to read.
Starlight felt the minutes dragging on as Ocellus slowly read through the information. She shifted impatiently but heeded Thorax's warning glance to not rush the little changeling.
At last, Ocellus finished reading and looked up at Thorax.
"Well?" he asked, "What do you think of it?"
"It looks… nice."
That was the first time Starlight actually heard Ocellus's voice.
"Do you think you would like to go there?"
Ocellus's eyes widened at the suggestion, and she visibly trembled.
"You mean… leave? Leave home?"
"Only for the school year. You would come back home at the end of term. And of course you could come whenever there's a vacation."
Thorax's words didn't seem to provide her much reassurance.
"But… go away? To another country?"
"Equestria's a really wonderful place, Ocellus. I have lots of friends there besides Starlight. You've heard me talk about Spike and Princess Twilight, right?"
Ocellus just nodded. Thorax seemed to decide to try another approach.
"Princess Twilight is a fantastic teacher. She has an amazing library with books on every subject."
At last, at last, that seemed to catch Ocellus's interest. "Really?"
"Oh yes. When I visited last time I had a tour of her castle. Her library is much bigger than ours, and the books are much better than what we have."
"What kinds of books?"
Starlight thought this would be a good chance to step into the conversation.
"I have some books from Princess Twilight's library with me. Would you like to see them?"
Ocellus hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Starlight levitated two volumes from her bags. "This one is a history book. It tells about unicorn societies of the pre-classical era. And this is a botany book about fruit plants."
"Like these?" Ocellus pointed at the bushes she had hidden among. They were dotted with purple berries.
Starlight flipped through the book until she found a picture which matched the bushes. "Yep. Here they are."
Ocellus held up the scroll she had been looking at when they found her. "I was working on my report. We were each supposed to pick a plant that grows around the hive and study it. I picked these bushes, but our library doesn't have much information, because there didn't used to be much plant life around here."
Starlight offered her the open book. "Here. You can borrow this and use it for your report."
The little changeling reached out for the book, then hesitated for a moment before glancing uncertainly at Thorax. He nodded encouragingly, and she took it. Right away, she began poring over the page.
Thorax saw that Ocellus was becoming immersed in the book and thought it would be best to let her continue studying.
"You go on with your report now, Ocellus. We can talk more about the school later."


	***


"I think that went rather well." Thorax smiled.
"Really? She didn't seem too keen on the idea, except for getting to see Twilight's library."
"You can't rush Ocellus. Let her have a little time to sit with the idea, and I think she'll come around.
"In the meantime, they should be getting set up for our weekly potluck. Why don't you join us?"
Starlight's stomach growled at the mention of food. "Lunch sounds like a great idea."


	***


After lunch Thorax got Starlight set up in a guest room where she could stay for a night or two. She freshened up and went out to tour the hive. Many of the changelings greeted her and stopped to talk. She spent a very enjoyable afternoon. In the evening she went back to her room. She was brushing out her mane when she heard a light tap on the door.
She opened the door, and there was Ocellus.
"Um… thank you for lending me the book." Ocellus held it out. "I finished my report, so I came to bring it back."
"Oh, thank you. If you want to read more of it, you can borrow it for a bit longer."
"Really?" Ocellus looked eager.
"Sure. In fact, you can borrow the history book too if you want to."
Ocellus smiled at Starlight for the first time as she took the second book. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome." Starlight paused for a moment. "Have you given any more thought to the school Thorax told you about?"
Ocellus  swallowed nervously. "Well, um, I'm not really sure. It does sound nice, but…" She trailed off.
"Hey, I understand. Leaving home for the first time can be scary. But it's not like you're leaving forever. You'll be able to come home whenever you want."
"That's true…"
"Plus, you might find things you really like in Equestria. If you're interested in plants like you were writing about earlier, then you should meet my friend, Applejack. She's a farmer, and she knows more about fruit than anypony I've ever met."
"Really? What about history? This book looks really interesting."
"Then I'll introduce you to Twilight. Not only does she know all about history, she's made some special studies of the pre-classical era." Seeing the growing interest on Ocellus's face, Starlight kept going. "And my friend Rarity also knows a lot about history. She's a fashion designer, and she's studied all sorts of historical clothing styles to use in her work. There's also Fluttershy who's an expert on all kinds of animals. If there's anything you want to know about zoology she's your pony."
Starlight studied Ocellus's increasingly rapt expression before adding carefully, "They'll all be teaching classes at the school if you're interested."
Ocellus seemed to be seriously mulling it over. "Would there be… would there be a lot of people at the school?"
"Well, it's a new school, so I don't expect our inaugural class will be very large. It takes time to build up a student base. Plus, I know Twilight wants to keep class sizes small. So no, I don't think you'll be overcrowded if that's what's worrying you."
Ocellus was quiet for a few moments. "Some of the other students in my class… they think I'm… weird. I don't know… if…" She seemed to struggle for words.
Impulsively, Starlight laid a gentle hoof on Ocellus's shoulder. "Thorax told me you're shy. I know it can be hard to make friends when you're shy, especially if you really like to learn. When I was a filly I had a hard time making friends because of that."
"You did?"
"Uh-huh. I liked to spend a lot of time learning, and I had a hard time talking to other ponies. My best friend also liked to learn, so we had a lot in common, and we would study together. But otherwise, it was hard for me.
"But that's one reason why Twilight is starting this school. It's not only for studying. It will be a place where ponies and creatures from different backgrounds can get to know each other and find things they have in common. If you go, you'll be able to meet others who like to learn and who have interests in common with you. You'll learn things from them, and they'll learn from you."
"What if no one likes me?"
"I like you. And I'll be at the school, so you already have one friend there."
"Would… would I be able to see the princess's library?"
"If you want, I'll give you a personal tour."
Ocellus stared thoughtfully down at the books Starlight had lent her.
"Well, I guess I could give it a try."
> Recruiting in Yakyakistan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie Pie bounced into Yakyakistan wearing her official honorary yak horns on her head and her official ambassador ribbon over her heart. She didn't have to search for Prince Rutherford. He was standing in the town square, and she sped over to greet him.
"Prince Rutherford!"
"AH! YAK HAPPY TO SEE PINK PONY! HORN BUMP!"
They bumped horns. The force knocked Pinkie to the ground.
"Eh heh heh. Maybe I'll leave the horns in the balloon for a while. They are really heavy."
"Pony head is very small," Prince Rutherford remarked gravely. "Not big and strong like yak head."
"Right." Pinkie dashed out to her balloon, stowed the horns away, and zipped back. "There we go. I'll just wear the horns for special occasions."
"That is smart decision. Now tell Yak, why Pink Pony visit?"
"Pink Pony has exciting news for Yak! Pony Princess wants to invite yak students to attend a new school in Equestria! It'll teach all about the Magic of Friendship!" Pinkie pulled a brochure from her mane and held it out for Prince Rutherford to see.
The prince didn't seem very interested as he gave the brochure a cursory glance.
"Feh! That is pony school. Yaks have best school. Yak school teaches all sorts of important lessons: yak history, cooking yak recipes, yak music, special stomping techniques. Yaks not need pony school."
"That does all sound super interesting, Prince Rutherford! I would love to see a yak school!"
"Pink Pony come. Yak will show why yak school is best."
Prince Rutherford led the way through the winding streets of Yakyakistan. He stopped in front of a large building.
"This is yak school! All yak calves come here to learn everything they need to know to grow up as strong, proud yaks!"
Stepping inside, Pinkie saw that the building was divided into smaller areas inside. At the first room they looked in to see a group of very young yaks practicing their smashing techniques on small sticks.
"Yak must use whole body, not just leg," the yak teacher corrected one of the calves. "Throw weight into it!"
The little yak reared back and brought its whole weight down on the middle of the stick. The dry wood split apart with  a sharp snap.
"Very good! Yak shows much improvement!" The teacher patted the little yak on the head. The calf beamed with pride.
Further along they passed a room where slightly older calves were taking turns reciting a story. They stopped to listen.

Yeti swiped its long, sharp claws
Through the cape Yak's wife had made
Yeti opened slobbering jaws
But brave yak fighter was not afraid

Yak dodged fangs in his torn cape
Yeti fell with thunderous crash
Now yeti foe could not escape
From yak fighter's mighty smash!

A tear rolled down Prince Rutherford's cheek. "Yak loves this story. Was favorite bedtime story when Yak was a calf."
"It's very exciting!" Pinkie pulled a box of popcorn out of her mane and munched on it as she heard how the yak warrior vanquished the yeti and was celebrated by his village.
Next they visited a kitchen where calves were baking cakes. A yak teacher carefully supervised them as they measured out the ingredients. When they saw Prince Rutherford and Pinkie Pie the calves offered them samples of their work.
Pinkie gulped down a small cake with gusto. "Mmmm! It's delicious!"
Prince Rutherford chewed his deliberately before making a solemn pronouncement. "Is very good, but Yak must learn not to be so heavy with the vanilla extract. Proper flavor balance is very important."
"Yak will do better next time!" The calf promised Prince Rutherford cheerfully.
"Good! Yak will make us proud!" The prince nodded approvingly at the calf.
After the baking class they came to a room with tables full of yarn, cord, and ribbons. Here adolescent yaks were divided into pairs and were practicing braiding different patterns in each other's hair.
They entered the room, and Prince Rutherford led Pinkie over to meet a young female yak who was weaving colored ribbons into her partner's hair.
"Pink Pony, this is Yona: top yak student! She is top of her class in smashing, music, and hair braiding. See five-strand braid with ribbons. Is perfectly even! Well done, Yona!"
"Thank you! Yak proud of braiding!" Yona gave them a broad smile.
"Wow!" Pinkie examined the braid in Yona's partner's hair. "That's amazing! We don't have anything like this at our school!"
"Your school?" asked Yona.
"Pink Pony has come to ask for yak students to go to pony school," Prince Rutherford explained. "We show her why yak school is better than pony school."
"Yak school is best!" Yona asserted confidently. Then she thought for a moment before asking, "What is pony school like?"
"Pony school is awesome!" cried Pinkie. "This is a school of friendship. It's a place for ponies and yaks and lots of other creatures to come together and learn about friendship and have fun and throw parties and eat cake and teach each other about different cultures!"
"Teach about cultures? Ponies want to learn from Yona?" Yona seemed surprised.
"Yup! Other creatures will learn from you, and you'll learn about their cultures from them. That way everycreature will learn a whole lot of things they didn't know before! And then we'll all be best friends!"
Yona thought carefully before replying. "Yona would like to teach other creatures about all wonderful things in yak culture. And would be interesting to see how ponies are different." She turned to look inquisitively at Prince Rutherford. "What Prince think?"
Prince Rutherford made a great show of giving weighty consideration to the matter. "Yak say… is good idea. Yona teach other creatures about yak culture. Yona be yak representative at pony school."
Yona bowed respectfully to him. "Yak proud to represent yaks in foreign country."
Pinkie gasped and grabbed a hooful of ribbons from the table. Before they could ask what she was doing she tied them into a decorative bow similar to the one she wore.
"Here!" she exclaimed. "When Twilight appointed me official friendship ambassador to the yaks she gave me this ribbon. Now that you're the official yak representative to the ponies you can have one just like it!" She fastened it on Yona's chest. "We can be ribbon buddies!"
Prince Rutherford nodded. "Yak will wear pony ribbon for special occasions, when Pink Pony wear yak horns."
"Okie-dokie-lokie! You're going to have so much fun at school!"
> Recruiting in the Dragon Lands
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight's saddlebags bulged, not only with school brochures, but with a generous supply of parchment, ink, and spare quills. She didn't often get an opportunity to visit the dragons, and she wanted to be prepared to take as many notes as possible.
Spike sat on her back as she flew down towards the mountain where Dragon Lord Ember lived. She banked to the right as the entrance came into view, flanked by two guards. The guards glared intimidatingly as she came to land.
"Good afternoon, sirs. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, here on a diplomatic visit to Dragon Lord Ember."
The guards only continued to glare at her. One snorted a puff of smoke.
Feeling awkward, Twilight tried again. "Could one of you please let Ember know that I'm here?"
The guards' stony expressions didn't change.
Twilight heard a small sigh from her back, and Spike hopped down. He strolled casually forward and greeted the guards. "Hey, Sulfur. Hey Char. Is Ember here?"
"Hi, Spike. She's here. Come on in."
As one of the guards led them inside Twilight bent her head to whisper, "How do you know Ember's guards? How'd you get them to let us in?"
Spike just smiled smugly. "There's a lot you don't know about me."


	***


Ember sat on a massive and impressive throne that had been formed from glassy volcanic rock. The cavern that served as her throne room was very warm, and the edges were ringed with little streams of lava. The ceiling soared high above in a spacious dome. Large torches were mounted on the walls around.
The Dragon Lord looked pleased to see them as they entered. She jumped down from her seat and flew forward to greet them.
"Hi, Spike! It's great to see you. Hello, Twilight."
"It's great to see you too, Ember!" Spike hugged her. She gave a weak smile and patted him on the head.
"Hello Ember." Twilight bowed her head respectfully for a moment before stepping  forward.
"So what brings you guys to see me? Are things all right in Equestria?"
"Things are fine, thank you for asking. In fact, I'm starting up a new school, which is why we wanted to come talk to you."
"What's a school?"
Spike knew immediately that that had been the wrong question for Ember to ask. Twilight's eyes grew wide.
"A school is an institution where students go to be educated by teachers or professors according to a predetermined curriculum in accordance with district and federal regulations regarding educational standards. The student body is typically divided into classes by age, aptitude, and/or area of study. Testing-"
Ember cut off Twilight's explanation by calling over her shoulder to another dragon, "Coal! Get some food for me and my guests. Make sure you bring something ponies can eat. I feel like we're gonna be here for a while."


	***


Twilight talked at great length about the Equestrian education system as well as schools in general and the history of formalized education. Ember thought the concept of a place devoted solely to learning was interesting, but she tuned out for most of Twilight's detailed explanations and descriptions. She was relieved when the pony's speech finally wound down and ended with a question.
"And dragons don't have anything like that?"
"Nope. We have some old dragons who are respected for their wisdom, but they don't have students like the teachers you were talking about."
Before Ember had finished answering the question a quill and parchment roll had levitated out of Twilight's bag, and the alicorn was recording the new information.
"Then how are young dragons taught?"
Ember shrugged. "Parents teach their kids about pretty much everything they need to know."
"Ah. That's called homeschooling. Some ponies do that, though the practice isn't very common in Equestria. So homeschooling is the norm for dragons?"
"I guess so."
"Would you be willing to try sending some young dragons to a school?"
"It does sound like an interesting idea, but we don't have anything like that here."
"But remember I told you that I'm starting a new school. That's why Spike and I came to see you. This school is going to be open to students from many different nations, not just Equestria. I'm hoping that by having young creatures from different backgrounds learning together we can foster international friendships and greater understanding of different cultures. Our curriculum will be specially geared toward lessons in friendship."
Spike asked, "So do you know anyone who could come to the school?"
Ember shrugged again. "There are plenty of dragons the right age that could go. I don't know how much good this school of yours will be, but I'd be happy to send someone to help you out. The problem is that most of them just won't be interested. I can order them not to make any trouble for you, but that doesn't mean they'll want to cooperate with what you're trying to do."
"Can you think of anyone who might be willing?"
Ember considered carefully, running through candidates in her head. At last she smiled and nodded. "I'll send Smolder."
Twilight could barely contain her excitement at the prospect of a dragon student hand-picked by the Dragon Lord herself. "Who's Smolder? Does she want to learn about friendship? Does she like to study?"
Ember snorted. "No and no. She's a quick learner, but I don't think she'll have much interest. I picked her because of all of them she's the least likely to cause you any problems. She's pretty non-confrontational as dragons go. She's small for her age, and she's smart enough not to pick fights she can't win. Actually she reminds me a little of myself at that age."
"Oh." This wasn't as good news as Twilight had hoped for. "Well, we can tell her all about the school and what a great time she'll have. I'm sure she'll come around and be willing to give it a try."
Ember wasn't listening to Twilight. The Dragon Lord flew up the throne where the Bloodstone Scepter was held securely in a bracket from which only the Dragon Lord could remove it. As she lifted the scepter it glowed momentarily. She placed it back in its bracket and rejoined Spike and Twilight.
"Smolder should be here soon."
Indeed, they had only a few minutes to wait before an orange dragon, not much bigger than Spike, flew into the throne room with her scales glowing.
"You wanted to see me, Dragon Lord Ember?"
"Yes, Smolder. This is Princess Twilight of Equestria, and this is Spike, the dragon-pony ambassador. Spike, Twilight, this is Smolder."
Smolder looked unimpressed. "Hey," she said flatly.
"Hello, Smolder." Twilight had to exercise all her self-control to keep from gushing. "It is so good to meet you."
"Smolder," Ember spoke in a commanding voice, "Twilight and Spike are opening a school in Equestria."
"What's a school?"
"It's a place where young creatures go to learn new things. Twilight's school is going to teach creatures from different countries about friendship in order to build stronger international relationships."
"So what does that have to do with me?"
Twilight stepped forward. "Smolder, please let me tell you about-" Spike elbowed her hard in the ribs and gestured to not interrupt.
"You're going to be the dragon representative at the Equestrian school. You'll live there for several months, listen to what they teach you, and you're not going to make trouble for anyone there."
"What! No way! Why should I go to some stupid pony place?"
Twilight tried again. "I'm sure if we sit down and talk about it-" Spike silenced her again. This time he hissed under his breath, "Don't interrupt the Dragon Lord when she's making a proclamation."
Ember ignored Twilight. "As Dragon Lord, I command you to go study at the pony school!"
Smolder opened her mouth, closed it, glared at Ember. She flexed her claws and ground her teeth. Finally she stamped her foot on the floor. "Fine! I'll go." And with that she stomped out of the throne room.
Ember smiled at Spike. "There you go. One dragon student for your school."
Twilight was still staring after Smolder with a dazed look on her face. "Well… umm… that was… efficient."
> Recruiting in Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack carefully arranged the pies on her stand so passers-by could see the tempting display. The marketplace was just opening, and already some early shoppers were out browsing the stalls. She stepped back to look and nodded her head in satisfaction. She had plenty of experience selling her wares, and she knew a good-looking apple stand when she saw one.
The final addition to the display was a new one. Ever since the meeting at Twilight's castle Applejack had set a rack full of school brochures on the stand and had given them out to anypony who showed a passing interest. She wasn't sure how many would actually enroll, but every little effort to get the word out helped.
Soon the market was filled with ponies doing their weekly shopping. Sales were good. Ponies stopped to buy apples and pies and fritters. Most were regular customers, well known to Applejack, and they usually stopped for a few minutes to exchange greetings and inquire after Granny Smith and the other Apples. Applejack responded in kind, asking how they'd been, how their foals and friends were doing.
A few ponies took school brochures. One mare who had asked about the school the week before now took two or three brochures to send to her nieces in Fillydelphia because she thought they might be interested.
"If'n they have any questions just ask!" Applejack grinned. "I'll be happy to tell 'em anything they want to know."
As the day wore on Applejack's display stand grew satisfyingly emptier. Ponies walked away with their saddlebags full. She was starting to debate with herself how much longer it would be worth staying. She would wait at least until Fluttershy came to pick up the cartload of bruised apples she had ordered for the animals in her sanctuary. The critters didn't mind bruises, and the Apple family was able to give Fluttershy a good discount on the fruits that weren't nice enough to sell at the stall.
Just as Applejack was looking around to see if Fluttershy was coming a new customer approached the stall. He was an adolescent colt with a light green coat, a few years older than Apple Bloom by the look of him. He was notable only in that Applejack had never seen him before. She knew almost everypony in the market by sight if not by name, but here was a complete stranger.
"Howdy there," she greeted him with a friendly wave of her hoof. "What can I do ya for?"
The colt looked over the display before pointing."I'll have one of the fritters, please."
"Here ya go. That'll be two bits."
The colt paid, received his fritter, and sampled it. At the first bite a smile crossed his face.
"This is really good!"
"Best apples in all of Equestria are in that there fritter." Applejack declared proudly. "Don't think I've seen you around here before. You new in town?"
"Yeah. My family just moved here from the west coast. We've only been here for a couple days."
"How're you liking Ponyville so far?"
"It seems nice. I haven't really had a chance to get to know anypony yet. Still, I think I'm gonna like it. When Mom and Dad said we'd be living near the Castle of Friendship my little sister and I were really excited. Princess Twilight is amazing!"
Applejack couldn't help giving a joyful laugh at the colt's admiration. "She sure as sugar is! Say, did you know she's startin' up a school to teach other ponies about friendship?"
"Really?"
"Yep! In fact-"
Applejack cut herself off mid-sentence as she saw Fluttershy trot up pulling an empty cart behind her.
"Oh, hey there, Fluttershy! Here to pick up them bruised apples fer yer critters?"
"Yes. I'm sorry I'm so late getting here, Applejack, but I was reading a story to some of the animals at the sanctuary, and I'm afraid time just got away from me."
"No problem! I got the apples here all ready to load up. Oh, by the way, this here fella's new to town. Sorry, I don't think I caught your name bef-"
Applejack cut herself off a second time as she saw the colt staring at her and Fluttershy with slack-jawed amazement. "Uh, you okay?"
"Fluttershy? Applejack?" He could barely squeak out the words. "You're Princess Twilight's friends? The Elements of Harmony?"
"Uh, heh, yeah." Applejack rubbed the back of her head, feeling a little awkward. "Sorry, I guess I didn't properly introduce myself when we met. Well, you know who we are. What's your name?"
"Sandbar. I'm Sandbar. I can't believe I'm meeting two of the Elements of Harmony! You two are incredible!"
"Take it easy there, Partner. Yeah, we're Elements, but we're just ponies like everypony else." Applejack chuckled and held out a hoof. "It's nice to meet you, Sandbar."
Sandbar still had a look of awe on his face as he shook her hoof, then Fluttershy's. He seemed to be at a loss for words, so Applejack tried to get a conversation back on track.
"Fluttershy, just before you got here I was startin' to tell Sandbar about the school. He just moved to Ponyville and hasn't had a chance to meet anyone yet."
Fluttershy gave Sandbar a gentle smile. "If you want to meet new friends in Ponyville I'm sure Twilight's school would be a wonderful opportunity for you. She's so excited to teach colts and fillies about making friends."
"Princess Twilight would actually be my teacher!?"
"We're all gonna be teachin' at the school," answered Applejack. "Twilight, me 'n Fluttershy, and Pinkie, Rainbow, and Rarity."
"All the Elements of Harmony?"
"Yep."
Sandbar looked so starstruck that he didn't seem to know how to respond.
"I understand if this seems a little overwhelming." Fluttershy spoke in her most reassuring tone. "To tell the truth, we can hardly believe that we'll be teaching in a school too. But I'm sure it will be worth it if we can help teach wonderful young ponies like you. That is, if you would be interested in enrolling. I remember how hard it was to meet new ponies when I first moved to Ponyville."
"I- of course I would be interested but- wow. I never even thought I would have a chance to learn from a princess! I- could you tell me more about it?"
"Of course, Sugarcube! What do you wanna know?"
"Um, well, I'm not really sure." The poor colt seemed flustered. "I mean, I'd like to know everything. And of course I'd have to talk to my parents about it."
"Here's a brochure with all the details. You can show it to yer folks, and if they have any questions they can talk to us about it."
Sandbar mumbled his thanks as he took the offered brochure and looked down at it. Just then Applejack's eye fell on Fluttershy's empty cart.
"Shoot! I almost forgot about yer apples! Here, let me load 'em up." Applejack pulled out the bushels she had stored behind the stand and started putting them in the cart. She soon found, however, that she didn't have enough space.
"There's still a bit more here, Fluttershy, but I'm afraid if I pile 'em any higher they're gonna go flyin' off if'n you hit a bump."
"Oh dear, I didn't realize the cart was too small. Would you mind holding those? I'm sure it won't take me too long to drop these off and make a second trip."
"I'll help!"
Sandbar blurted out the words and then seemed intensely embarrassed as they both turned to look at him. "I mean, I'm not doing anything right now, so I could carry the extra apples for you, if you want."
"Why thank you, Sandbar. That's very kind of you. I would really appreciate the help."
Applejack gave an approving nod as she dumped the extra apples in a sack and slung it across Sandbar's back. "There ya go. Not too heavy?"
Sandbar shook his head resolutely. "No, I'm fine."
"All right then. Like I said, you show that brochure to yer folks. We'd all be real happy to have yeh at the school if you want to come."
As Fluttershy set off with Sandbar following close behind Applejack tossed another fritter to the colt.
"On the house for helpin' out with haulin' them apples!"


	***


Fluttershy and Sandbar walked in silence as she led him down the road, out of town, and up to the entrance of the animal sanctuary. Sandbar still seemed to be feeling awkward and embarrassed.
"Here we are, Sandbar. This is Sweet Feather Sanctuary, where I take care of my animal friends."
"Wow, it's beautiful!"
"Yes. I had some trouble starting it up, but everything came together in the end, and the animals just love it here."
Animals ran up to the ponies, looking eagerly at Fluttershy.
"Here you all go. Applejack had a wonderful store of apples for me to share with you. Now don't push each other. There's plenty for everyone."
Sandbar watched as Fluttershy took apples from the cart and distributed them among an amazing variety of fauna. There were a lot of common animals, like rabbits and squirrels and raccoons. There were also some exotic creatures, like a sloth and a toucan.
"Sandbar, would you like to help me feed them?"
"Oh, uh, sure." Sandbar opened his sack and started pulling out apples. A rabbit looked up at him expectantly. "Here you go, little guy." The rabbit nuzzled Sandbar and began happily munching the apple.
After a few minutes Fluttershy started gently turning the animals away. "There now, you've all had a nice snack, but that's enough for now. If you eat too much it'll give you all stomach aches. Besides, I have to take some of these to our friends who are in recovery."
One little white rabbit scowled, but most of the animals wandered back to whatever they had been doing. Fluttershy started pulling her cart further into the sanctuary, and Sandbar followed after her.
"What do you mean about recovery?"
"Oh, many animals come to the sanctuary after they've been sick or injured. Some of them need a lot of extra care."
Fluttershy led him to a place where the river passed by some caves in the hillside. The water moved slowly here, and the trees growing all around provided a lot of natural shelter.
"This is where the animals who need the most care rest. See this poor groundhog hurt his foot, and this blue jay sprained his wing."
Sandbar's attention, however, was on an animal resting in the shallow water.
"Is that a Southern Luna Sea Turtle? I didn't think you could find them inland."
"You can't. This is a Saddle River Turtle. The two species do look very similar, but the Saddle River Turtle is a bit smaller and lives in freshwater instead of salt. You can also see the pattern on the shell is slightly different. This poor little guy hurt his flipper, and he won't be able to swim very well until it's healed."
Sandbar gently petted the turtle's head and offered it an apple. The turtle bit into it and chewed slowly.
"I used to love seeing the sea turtles when my family lived on the coast. My sister and I used to go down into the ocean, and the turtles would come in and swim all around us. I even got turtles for my cutie mark. They're what I miss most about my old home."
"It must be hard moving away from the animals you love. I grew up in Cloudsdale, and there were very few birds that flew that high. I moved to Ponyville in order to be closer to the animals."
Sitting among the recovering animals in the peaceful sanctuary with Fluttershy close by, Sandbar finally seemed to relax.
"I feel really dumb about how I acted before. I've looked up to the princesses and the Elements for a long time. And when I finally got to meet you and Applejack I acted like a total idiot."
"Don't feel bad. I know what it's like to have a hard time talking to other ponies, especially when you care about what they think of you. I've gotten much better, but I still find it easier to talk to animals a lot of the time."
"Yeah, me too. I mean, I don't usually have a hard time talking to ponies, but animals are nice. I like hanging out with them. I just got all flustered when I realized who you were."
"Well, like Applejack said, we're really just like any other ponies. There's no need to feel awkward around us."
"Thanks. You really are kind."
"You seem like a very nice colt yourself. I can see that my animals like you. I'm sure you'll be able to make lots of friends in Ponyville in no time. Still, if you do want to enroll in the school we'd love to have you."
Sandbar petted the turtle again and offered it another apple. "I think I'd like that."
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack met Fluttershy at the entrance to Twilight's castle. All their friends had returned to Ponyville, and Twilight had called another meeting so they could update each other on their recruitment efforts.
"Hey there, Fluttershy! All set fer the meetin'?"
"Hello. Yes, and I have some good news. Sandbar stopped off at the sanctuary earlier today to give me his enrollment form, so he's definitely coming."
"That colt we met at the market? Glad to hear it! But we better not stand out here gabbin'. Twilight and the others'll be waitin' for us."
They went inside and saw Starlight and Spike entering the hall from the side. Spike was speaking.
"I'm so happy things are going well for Thorax now. If I hadn't had to go see Ember I would have liked to have gone to the hive with you."
"You can come next time I visit. I know Thorax would love to see you. Oh, hey, girls!"
"Hey, Starlight. Hey, Spike. I hope we're not late."
"No, Spike and I are just on our way to the meeting now. Come on."
Their other four friends were already present. Pinkie was listening with rapt attention as Rainbow Dash spoke authoritatively.
"It's not about the size of your head. It's about the strength in your neck and back muscles! I can teach you some exercises Gilda and I learned back in flight camp. If you just build up some muscle you'll be wearing those yak horns in no time!"
"Ooh! Ooh! Teach me!"
Twilight was seated at the table, looking at Rarity's open sketchbook.
"Wow, Rarity. These sketches are beautiful. And you're right about how the architecture was adapted to different environments."
"I got such wonderful inspiration there. I can't wait to incorporate it into next summer's line."
"I've got some architecture books that might help if you want to borrow them."
Twilight looked up from the book and saw that everypony had arrived.
"Oh, good, you're here! Looks like we're a little early this time, but let's get started!"
The seven ponies and the dragon stopped talking and gathered around the table.
"Thank you all for coming. I can't wait to hear how everypony's trips went. Spike, would you like to start off by telling them about our visit to the Dragon Lands?"
"Sure, Twilight. We went to see Ember, and she decided to send a dragon named Smolder to the school. Smolder doesn't want to come, but she's following Ember's orders. Also, dragons don't have schools, so Twilight spent over an hour lecturing Ember on the Equestrian education system."
"I wasn't lecturing her Spike. I was merely… informing her of the proposal so she could make a knowledgeable decision."
Rainbow grinned slyly. "Did she fall asleep while you were 'informing' her?"
The others laughed as Twilight denied Rainbow's remark.
"Anyway," Twilight pushed forward, "We enrolled one dragon student. As Spike said, she doesn't seem like she wants to attend, but I'm sure she'll come around. Starlight, would you like to go next?"
"Okay. Things went really well at the Changeling Hive. Thorax had a student who's not being challenged in her lessons, and is having trouble making friends with her classmates. She seems like a perfect fit. Oh, and I promised that when she comes I'll give her a tour of your library."
"She likes libraries? Ooh, maybe we should plan a school field trip to the Canterlot library! Or even the Crystal Empire!"
"Uh, Twilight?" Rainbow cut in, "Students first, field trips later?"
Twilight blushed. "Right. So, Rainbow, why don't you go next?"
"Well, it was great to see Gilda again! She arranged for a kid named Gallus to come to the school. She said he's been getting into some trouble, and she thinks coming here will be good for him. Oh, and by the way, Twilight, you should definitely visit Grandpa Gruff sometime. He can 'inform' people almost as well as you can."
"Rarity, please tell us about Seaquestria."
"It was simply spectacular! Now that the Storm King is gone the hippogriffs are rebuilding Mount Aris. The mountain is so lovely, and I got some wonderful sketches for my portfolio. I was also able to take a tour of the underwater city, and it was just gorgeous! I'm already planning a line centered around aquatic themes-"
"I meant tell us about looking for students in Seaquestria."
"Oh. Of course. Queen Novo's niece, Silverstream, will be attending the school. She seems quite enthusiastic about the idea."
"That's great!"
"Yes, but I must warn you Queen Novo had some reservations. She is concerned about student safety and will be sending a royal escort to bring the filly here."
"I understand, but we can assure them that we'll do all we can to keep our students safe."
"That's just what I told her, darling."
"Perfect. Now let's see… Pinkie, how did it go with the yaks?"
"It was great! I got to see a yak school, and eat traditional yak cakes, and hear a yak bedtime story! I also met a super-awesome yak named Yona who's one of their best students, and she's going to come here! As official pony ambassador to the yaks I welcomed her as the official yak student to the ponies! She even braided my mane for me! She said that my curly pony mane was too bouncy to braid very well, but it was super fun anyway. Ooh, and after school they took me to a concert of traditional yak music. It was so amazing I wanna learn how to play it!"
"This is incredible!" Twilight beamed. "We succeeded in getting students from all five allied nations! I'm so excited. Applejack, Fluttershy, how did things go here while we were gone?"
"Went just fine, Twilight. I put them brochures out on the apple stand at the market, and plenty of ponies took 'em. Not sure how many'll enroll, but some said they'd pass the word along. We know one who'll come fer sure, right Fluttershy?"
"Yes. He's a very nice young colt that we met at the market. He already gave me his enrollment form."
Twilight was practically glowing with happiness. "Fantastic. Spike and I also got a letter from Princess Celestia after we got back. She's spreading the word in Canterlot, and she said there are already some ponies there who have enrolled. Out first class might be a little small, but it definitely looks like we'll have enough students to move forward."
The Princess of Friendship looked around the room at her friends. "I couldn't do this without all of you. I'm so glad we're going to do this together!"