> Flash Sentry Chronicles: School's in Session
>  by Banshee531
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The new students at the School of Friendship were beginning to get settled in. After Twilight made her announcement, a green earth pony with a mane and tail that were two shades of blue and a triple turtle cutie mark trotted along until he accidently bumped into somepony, or a some-griffon. A blue griffon that had arrived earlier turned to glare at him. "Whoa, sorry! I'm Sandbar. Are you a student here, too?"

"No," the griffon sarcastically replied with a roll of the eyes. "I just figured I'd randomly stand here and see how many ponies would walk into me." He blew upward, causing the feathers that were currently covering his eyes to be pushed upward.

"GALLUS!" The griffon suddenly froze, his head dropping low as he turned to the voice. It was an old griffon that had the balding head of a buzzard and was half blind with a scar over his eye. Rainbow, having also heard the voice, flew over and went wide-eyed.

"Grandpa Gruff?" Her friends remembered her and Pinkie telling them about this griffon, being one of the few remaining authorities in Griffonstone that they had met during a Friendship Mission there. "What are you doing here?"

The griffon flexed his wings, "Flew all the way from Griffonstone to introduce Gallus." He pointed at the young griffon, who looked up at Rainbow and raised an eyebrow.

"Rainbow Dash, right?" She nodded, "Gilda told me about you. You're a teacher?" She nodded again, a smile of pride on her face. "Huh. Thought you'd be...cooler." Rainbow's eyes went wide, looking as if someone had just insulted the latest Daring Do book. But before she could argue back, the doors to the school slammed open.

"PONIES!" They all spun around to see a familiar yak squeezing his way through the door.

"Prince Rutherford!" Pinkie cheered as she leapt over a bunch of annoyed defenders while Rutherford made his way over to the younger member of his species.

"This Yona Yak. She come to pony school. Hah! Make it better!"

Yona smiled and started running around, "Yak can't wait to meet ponies and tell all about Yakyakistan!" She was barreling around so fast that the ponies screamed and leapt out of the way to avoid getting flattened. Yona didn't seem to notice, only to trop over one of her extremely long braids and slam into a nearby column. She then staggered over and almost knocked a bust of Flash Magnus off a pedestal and pulled down a banner. Wild barely had enough time to catch the two while Pinkie grabbed a potted plant that had been on a shelf connected to the column.

As this happened, Applejack trotted over to her. "Why don't ah show yah around before you destroy the place?"

Yona nodded and the two walked off. As they did this, the rest started to focus back on what they were doing, only for another voice to call out, "But dragons are better than this!" They turned to see the Dragon Lord Ember, pulling a shorter orange dragon through the school. She then pulled her arm free and crossed them, "Why am I here?!"

Ember growled at her, "Because as Dragon Lord, I'm ordering you to be here!" She then turned her head to another dragon in the school, "Hey! Spike! Come meet Smolder." Spike quickly ran over with a big grin, running over to hug her, Ember patting him on the head as he pulled away.

"Great to see you, Ember!" He then saw something behind her and blinked, "Uh, which one is Smolder?" Ember spun around and went wide-eyed when she saw another dragon standing beside the one Ember had brought that was lankier and looked terrified.

Smolder looked her over, raising an eyebrow until they heard another voice, "Ocellus!" The lanky dragon shrunk back at the voice as Thorax walked up to them. "What did we talk about?!" The dragon glanced down before suddenly transforming into the changeling from earlier. Smolder slowly stepped back at this as Thorax glared at her, "I told you, stay in your own form! It's the polite thing to do." He then looked up at the rest and smiled. "Sorry. She's shy."

Spike was about to tell him it was okay, but someone else spoke up first. "What is that?!" Ocellus shook at the voice and morphed into a pony, running off as the voice's owner's flew after her. Silverstream looked amazed as she watched Ocellus hide under Fluttershy's mane.

"You weren't kidding about the shy part," Flash joked as Ocellus made the ponies Fluttershy was talking to walk away. "It's like Fluttershy version two point five."

As he said that, Silverstream flew up and looked Ocellus over. "No way! I didn't know ponies could turn into...um..." She pulled Fluttershy's mane away to get a better look, "What are you?"

"A changeling," Thorax chimed in.

"Ponies can turn into changelings?!" Silverstream asked, Fluttershy shaking her head.

"No," she stepped back so Ocellus wasn't hidden by her hair and patted her on the head, "But changelings can turn into ponies."

"Huh...I don't get it." Silverstream replied as an older hippogriff flew down, Ocellus slowly backing away until she was hidden under Thorax. Only then did she turn back.

"I am General Seaspray of Her Majesty Queen Novo's navy," the older hippogriff proclaimed, "I would like to introduce the queen's niece, Silverstream."

The young hippogriff continued to fly around ecstatically. "This place is amazing!" She went on and on about her life under the sea while Ace and Mira walked around as well. "Ooh!" Silverstream flew over to them, "What are you? I've never seen anything like you before!"

The pair backpedaled at this, only for Soul to walk over, "This is Ace and Mira. They're jakhowls."

"Oooooh," Silverstream's eyes went wide, "What's a jakhowl?"

At the same time this was happening, Heart was trying not to itch his hoof. As he did this, he almost flew into Smolder. "Whoa!" He pulled back, "Sorry." Smolder turned to glare at him, only for Heart to go wide-eyed, "Hey...have we met before?"

"I don't think so," she replied with crossed arms.

"No, I definitely remember you. Where was it...?" He rubbed his chin with his good hoof, only to go wide-eyed, "Oh yeah! We fought against one another." Smolder raised an eyebrow at this, "Oh...right. You probably don't remember because you were...brainwashed." Smolder began to glare at him again, making Heart gulp, "Sorry. Probably shouldn't talk about something like that."

"You think?!" Smolder hissed. "Who do you-"

"Everyone!" Twilight spoke up, making everyone stop and turn to her, "Thank you so much for supporting the grand opening of our school. I hope you'll all join us for Friends and Family Day to see the amazing progress your students are making."

Almost all cheered in excitement, Silverstream louder than most before beginning to head off to their living quarters. "Well," Flash flew over to her, "Things seem to be going well. Though I guess there's still time for everything to go pear-shaped."

"Nothing's gonna go wrong," she assured him while holding up the EEA guidebook. "School is now session!"





Heart and Ace both found they were roommates, though that was likely on purpose, the pair running into their room that was already decorated with everything they need. Since they lived right next to the school, it had been an easy task to move their stuff, though they didn't bring everything over, but enough to entertain themselves when they weren't in class or training with their mentors.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Heart cheered, "I call top bunk!"

"Hey!" Ace moaned, but didn't argue. He just sauntered over to a nearby beanbag and plopped himself down. "Eh, this isn't so bad." He looked over at the other side of the room, where a second bunk bed was located. The pair were going to have another two roommates.

It was here that the door opened to reveal Sandbar, "Hi there. Are you two my roommates?" The pair nodded with a wave as he laughed, "That's awesome!" He noticed they had already claimed one of the bunk beds and moved over to the other one, wondering which bunk he would have.

"Great." He turned to see Gallus step into the room, "You guys are my roommates?"

"Hey bro," the earth pony waved as Gallus rolled his eyes. "You want the top of bottom bunk? Guess the top since it's easier to fly up to it with wings." Gallus didn't reply and took to the air, landing on the top bunk and sitting in it like it was a nest. He then noticed Heart's bandaged leg.

"What happened to you?" Heart rolled his eyes, wondering how many times he was gonna have to explain this.





Over in the girl's room, Soul and Mira had also been made roommates with the pony taking the top bunk while the jakhowl was sitting on the floor, writing in her diary.

Suddenly, the door opened and Silverstream leapt inside. "WOO-HOO!" She exclaimed, "So this is a dorm room!" She then noticed the two and gasped, "And you're my roommates!" She flew over and picked them both up, hugging them super tightly.

"Ahhh!" Soul cried, "Glad to have you here too."

"But..." Mira could barely speak, "Need...air!"

"Oh!" Silverstream let them both go, the pair falling to the floor, "Sorry...still getting used to life out of the water. When you let something go, it usually floats there, you know?"

As she said that, Ocellus stepped into the room. "Hell...hello," she nervously waved. The other three waved as Silverstream landed on the top bunk, Ocellus moving to the bottom. She found the place was just the right size for her, though she might need to find a way to make more space if she had a book she wanted to read.

"So this is it?" Mira asked getting onto her bunk opposite of Ocellus. "The four of us are gonna be living together for the next few years."

"Sounds like fun!" Silverstream cheered, the others nodding. Things were definitely gonna get interesting.





Twilight was making her way through the halls of the girl's dorms when she heard a voice. "Help!" She gasped and turned a corner, only to come face to face with the rear end of a yak. "Yona stuck!"

"Great!" She heard another voice say from outside. "Those windows better open." It was Smolder, who by the sounds of it, didn't intend to help Yona.

"Is everything okay in there?" Twilight asked, making Yona turn to look back at her.

"Head-mare Twilight, Yona stuck in door!" Twilight quickly used her magic, causing Yona to glow before she was teleported inside the room. "Oh!" She smiled back at her, "Thank you!" Twilight nodded before activating her magic again, causing the door to grow a little, the surrounding walls changing to accommodate the size shift.

"There, that should prevent any more mishaps!" Yona smiled again while Smolder rolled her eyes. Due to Yona's size, Twilight had decided to put her in a bedroom that only had two beds. The room was slightly larger than the others, but enough to add one other creature so Yona wasn't lonely. "Well, I hope you two enjoy being roommates."

"Whatever," Smolder let out a thin burst of fire. "Just as long as she doesn't roll over in her sleep and fall on top of me." Yona grew somber at the statement as Twilight frowned.

"That's not a very nice thing to say," she told the dragon. "I'm sure you two will find living together to be great as long as you respect one another." Yona smiled and nodded as Smolder didn't reply, the dragon simply letting out another burst of fire as she laid down. Twilight let out a sigh and left, glad she had decided to put a fireproofing spell on all the dorm rooms. "Hopefully things will pick up tomorrow and everybody will start getting along."





The Next Day...

Flash had no idea he would be so excited for his first day of class, but there he was, getting to his classroom early to make sure everything was ready. And when the bell rang, he sat at his desk and stared at the many desks that would be filled, the sight making him chuckle since he actually never did any classes back in the day.

The door soon opened, students walking in, including Gallus, Silverstream, Yona, Ocellus, Smolder and Sandbar, along with several other ponies. Heart, Soul, Mira and Ace were all in another class, but he knew this class would be interesting given the many creatures there. "Hello class," he announced as they all sat down. Gallus and Smolder sat at the back of the class while Ocellus and Silverstream were at the front and Yona appeared rather worried that the chair she was on wouldn't hold her up long. "Welcome to Courage One Oh One." He got off his chair and flew on top of his desk, "I am you teacher, Flash Sentry, the Knight of Friendship."

"This is so lame," he heard Smolder mutter, though not quiet enough that he didn't hear.

"Smolder," she froze and sat up straight. "Why don't you come share your thoughts with the rest of the class?" The dragon frowned but got up and flew up to him, the pegasus waiting patiently with a smirk, "Well?"

"I said this is lame," Smolder grumbled with crossed arms. "I don't need to attend some silly pony class about courage." She thrust her thumb into her chest, "I'm a dragon. I'm fearless."

"Oh..." Flash chuckled, "So you're an idiot?"

This statement made everyone go wide-eyed, including Smolder, "What did you just say?!"

"You're an idiot," Flash repeated. "Either that, or a complete liar." Smolder's eyes narrowed at this, about to yell before Flash hopped off his desk, "You see, there are only two types of creatures that believe they have no fear. Those who are lying to themselves and hiding their fear, or those who are so stupid they can't see the danger of a situation right in front of them." He glanced back at Smolder, "So if you're really fearless, you're either a liar, or an idiot." He slowly leaned up to where his face was inches from hers, "Which is it?"

Smolder glared back at him, only for nothing to come out of her mouth. Instead, she simply looked away and crossed her arms. "That's what I thought." Flash told her to sit back down and when she did, he stared back at the class. "Here's lesson number one about fear: It's okay to have it." The class all blinked at this, making Flash chuckle, "I know it sounds confusing, but hear me out. This world can be a scary place. There's danger practically around every corner. If we didn't have fear, ponies, hippogriffs, dragons and every other race would have been wiped out long ago. Being scared of something means you know it's dangerous. You know it could hurt you if you're not careful. That keeps you on guard and ready to act if you need to."

"So then why do we need to learn about courage if being scared's okay?" Ocellus asked, Flash smiling at the question.

"Being scared is perfectly fine. It's allowing your fear to control you that you need to learn to overcome. Courage isn't the absence of fear, but being scared of something dangerous and still doing what you must to help those you care about. When my friends and I faced off against Nightmare Moon for the first time, we were all scared. But we knew that if we let that fear stop us from fighting against her, Princess Celestia would be forever trapped and the sun would never rise again."

"Oh!" Silverstream held up her claw, "Oh, oh, oh!"

"Yes Silverstream?"

"Is that why the Element of Courage exists?" She replied, "Because you courageously fought against Nightmare Moon?"

Flash shook his head, "Kind of, but it's more complicated than that. Friendship and courage are linked together in a way. Having those you care about, like friends and family, can give you the courage to do anything that you might have been too scared to do before. Likewise, friendship is something that requires courage to do. After all, the other Elements of Harmony all require courage in order to exist." He looked over at the class, "Who here can tell me what those elements are?" Nopony raised a hoof at first, but then Ocellus slowly did so. "Yes?"

"Magic," she started, "Along with laughter, honesty, kindness, loyalty and generosity."

"Very good," he nodded, "And each of those qualities is something that you need for courage." He then flew around the class. "It takes a lot of courage to stick with your friends through thick and thin, even if abandoning them would be easier. Sometimes telling a lie might seem like the better situation, so it'll take a lot of courage to be honest and accept the consequences of doing so. When things get hard, you need to be brave and laugh those hardships away long enough to overcome them. And being both kind and generous to others also requires courage, especially if you're scared they'll use those qualities against you. If you let your fear of the bad things that'll happen when your kind, loyal, generous, honest and laughter control you, then those qualities will disappear forever." He landed back on his desk and smiled at them. "That's why courage is such an important part of the Elements of Harmony. It's the shield that protects them and what allows you to use them in your everyday life."

"Wow..." Sandbar gasped, "I never thought about it like that. It's kinda cool."

"Maybe," Gallus added, actually sounding interested, "But how the heck are we supposed to learn courage? Isn't it something we're supposed to just have?"

"You're not wrong." Flash nodded. "Every creature has courage. All you need to do is find it. And that's what we're here to do. For the rest of the year, I'll be coordinating with the rest of your teachers to make exercises designed to use what you've learned at the school and apply it with practical application."

"Prac...tick...cull?" Yona asked, "What that mean?"

"It means using what we learned in real life situations," Smolder chimed in, "Like being told how to fly and then actually doing it." Flash nodded as he jumped off his desk, "But how the heck are we supposed to do any practical exercises in this stuffy classroom?"

Flash laughed at this, "It would be pretty hard to do that in a classroom, wouldn't it?" He flew above his desk again, "But luckily, we're not in a classroom." This made everyone tilt their head at the pony, only for Flash to touch the middle of the desk. When he did, the desk glowed before it disappeared and a floating crystal appeared, which also glowed as Flash touched it. The light spread out and everything in the room aside from the inhabitants were now glowing before vanishing.

The students all yelped as their chairs disappeared and they fell to the floor while the room reshaped itself to look like a blue grid lined dome. "What the heck?!" Gallus exclaimed, "What is this place?!"

"This is the school's training room," Flash chuckled, "I had a friend of mine in Canterlot finish it up and install it when Twilight wasn't looking." He patted the crystal, "This is a perfect copy of a gem that's in the castle of friendship. With it, we can make this room look like anything we want, which means you can be put into any situation I can think of that'll help you practice what you learned in the other classes."

"Cool..." Smolder whispered.

Flash smirked and pressed the crystal. "Maybe we'll be practicing kindness." In the blink of an eye, they found themselves in Manehatten and spotted an old lady having trouble crossing the road. "Or maybe we'll be practicing loyalty." Another flash had them all on a ship that was broken in half and sinking, one pony trapped and about to go under on one end and the other end having a mountain of gold that would be lost forever. "Or maybe we'll be practicing doing something goofy." The place changed to look like a game show stage with the six that had already spoken behind the contestant podiums. "There we are," he finished as the place returned to normal. "This crystal will allow me to control the environment and situations, plus it can store the programs for you to practice with at a later date."

"Okay," Smolder chuckled, "That's pretty cool." She rubbed her claws together, likely imagining all the fun she could have with it when nopony was around.

"I'll also be checking its logs frequently," Flash instantly chimed in, "It can also record all of its uses and play them back to show you what you did wrong, which also works as an excellent way to find out if any creature was playing with it when they shouldn't have." Smolder sunk back at this and crossed her arms, making the others giggle, "Now, let's get started with the first drill of the year. You all ready?"

"Ready for what?" Ocellus asked, "I thought you said you were gonna use what we'd discussed in our other classes to make the exercises. We haven't had any other classes."

"True. So for now, I'll be seeing how well everypony here can work together on a crisis. See what areas we need to improve on." As he said that, the room transformed again. This time, it became an open field with no end in sight. A moment later, a lake appeared a few hundred meters away with a few buckets beside it before a pair of houses formed behind them...and then both burst into flames.

"FIRE!" Yona cried before leaping behind Sandbar, trying to hide despite the fact she was twice his size.

"Relax," another pony told her before moving over to it. "This isn't real." To prove his point, he pushed his hoof into the flames and didn't feel a thing. "See." But when he pulled it back, nothing came out. Everything up to his knee was gone. He gasped and looked ready to start panicking, but Flash pressed the crystal again. After a second, his hoof reappeared.

"Yes, none of this is real. But if the fire touches you, that part of you will disappear for the rest of the exercise. And yes Smolder, I've taken into account that dragons are fireproof." The dragon smirked at this, only for a pair of voices to start screaming.

"Somepony in there!" Yona cried, Flash nodding.

"Just an illusion. But that is your task." He pointed his hoof between the group, "We'll be splitting into two groups." The class split at the point he was pointing at, with one group being made of the five non-ponies and Sandbar, while the rest of the class made up the second group. "Good. Now the object of this drill is simple. Work together and put the fire out, then save the pony inside. Everybody understand?" They all nodded, "Then let's get going! And...BEGIN!"

With that, the two groups ran to the lake. "So what do we do?" Ocellus asked, "Just fill up the buckets and use them to put out the fire?"

"Can't be that simple," Gallus replied as he looked over at the other group and saw the single unicorn there using his magic to fill up the buckets, the two pegasi taking one each and flying above the house while the three remaining earth ponies took the other buckets and rushed back to the house in order to splash it onto the bottom of the house.

"We've gotta work together!" Sandbar chimed in, "We gotta use what we can do and find a way to save the pony inside the house!"

"Then let's hurry!" Silverstream cried as she grabbed all the buckets and dived into the water, a flash of light coming next. Moments later, she appeared out of the water in her seapony form, the hippogriff laughing as she swam around and splashed the water.

"How'd you do that?" Ocellus asked, only for a scream to remind them what they were doing.

"Doesn't matter!" Gallus grabbed one of the full buckets and flew over to the house. Smolder and Silverstream, who quickly changed back to a hippogriff, followed him and they got to work pouring the water onto the house as fast as they could.

Ocellus, Yona and Sandbar did the same, Yona's horn proving quite useful at carrying multiple buckets of water. But whenever they splashed an area with water and put out the fire, they had to go back to the lake to refill, giving the flames time to heat the wet areas and dry them out. So when they all got back, they found the spot was again aflame.

"This isn't working!" Gallus yelled after the fourth bucketful, the flames not looking a bit weakened.

"To heck with this!" Smolder threw her bucket away, "I'm fireproof. I'll just go in and get them."

She then dived down into the building, Ocellus exclaiming, "Wait! We don't know how structurally secure that place is!"

But Smolder didn't listen and crashed through the window, the flames not affecting her at all. "Hey!" She looked around, "Pony! You in here?!" A cry of help made her turn to see a pony currently trapped under some fallen rubble. The dragon tan over to free him, only for the ceiling to suddenly break apart and collapse on top of her. "AUGH!" She yelped as the heavy wood and stone pinned her to the ground, "Can't...move."

Her teammates watched and waited, Flash frowning when he saw this before shaking his head as Sandbar asked, "What's taking her so long?"

"Smolder!" Ocellus yelled, "Are you okay in there?"

After a few seconds, Smolder's voice called out. "I'm...fine!" Flash frowned at this and used the crystal to create a screen that showed the inside of the house, Smolder still trapped inside.

"Damn dragon pride." Smolder couldn't get hurt, but this was gonna make her team's task a lot harder.

After another half minute of doing nothing, Gallus chimed in, "What the heck are you doing in there?" Smolder was still under the debris, squirming as she refused to explain what happened. In that moment, Ocellus morphed into the dragon form she had pretended to be the previous day.

She flew up to the window and spotted Smolder, gasping as she flew inside. "Hold on," she grabbed some of the debris and started lifting it off her. "I'll get you out."

Smolder growled at this, "I don't need any help!" Her cry made Ocellus gasp and pull back as Smolder tried to pull herself free. "I'll get out on my own. Just...save the pony or something." Ocellus turned to the trapped pony and was about to save him, but then more of the house began to collapse between them.

The changelings cried out and flew out the building, "I can't." She flew down to the others, "Smolder's trapped and I can't get to the pony."

"Then free Smolder!" Sandbar added.

"I don't need anyone to free me!" Smolder roared from within the house, "I can save myself!"

"Yona bring more water!" The yak used her horns to pick up all the buckets and rush back to the lake, filling them all up in one go before heading back to her team. But as she got closer, she slipped on her braids, "WHOA!" She cried as she went barreling, her teammates gasping and leaping out of the way. She smashed into the front of the house, causing the already structurally impaired building to break apart, the flames now spreading to Yona until she smashed out of the back of the house. Though all that was left when she did was her head that was rolling around.

"Yona no like this!" She cried as she came to a stop upside down. As she did this, the house began to crumble and collapse in on itself. Inside, Smolder was actually scared she was about to be crushed.

"I've seen enough," Flash sated as he pressed the crystal. Doing so caused the entire house to vanish, Smolder now falling onto soft grass with a loud 'umph' escaping her mouth. Yona's body reappeared and she was able to roll back to her hooves, she and the rest of her team all frowning at the failure. "Can any of you tell me what you did wrong?"

"We let the house fall apart?" Sandbar replied while slowly looking back at their teacher, Flash then telling him to keep going. "And...we didn't save the pony."

"That was the consequence," he responded, "But what caused the house to fall apart and prevented you from saving the pony?"

None of them answered, Flash's eyes then drifting over to the other team. They followed his gaze and saw the pegasi quickly flying back and forth from the lake, the unicorn giving them a newly filled bucket while taking the empty ones to fill back up. And at the same time, the earth ponies were digging up the ground around the house and throwing the dirt onto the house to keep it from catching back on fire.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Smolder yelped, "We don't have magic!"

"No," Flash shook his head, "But you all have your own skills you could have used if you worked together." The fire was almost completely out and the pegasi took this chance to fly inside. A moment later, they flew back out with the pony they needed to save. "But you all did your own thing and that caused you to fail."

"How exactly could working together had made things easier?" Gallus asked next.

Flash did a small sigh before turning to Ocellus. "Could you possibly turn into something that would have made refilling the buckets quicker, or something that could have stored a lot more water?" Ocellus blinked at the suggestion, only for a second later, transformed into an elephant. She dipped her trunk into the lake and after a few seconds, pulled it back up and sprayed water at where the house had been.

"Well, how were we supposed to know that?" Sandbar asked, "We didn't know she could turn into an elephant!"

"Neither did I," Flash pointed out. "All I did was ask her if she could become something that might help out."

"Sorry," Ocellus turned back to normal, "I should have thought of that from the start. I'm not used to changing into things that could help me like that. I probably wouldn't have turned into a dragon if I hadn't seen Smolder do it."

"Hang on there Ocellus, its not just you who's at fault." Flash chimed in, "The point is, you all should have worked together and asked about one another's abilities and skills. But instead of trying to mix and match your skills, you did everything on your own. Smolder, you shouldn't have just rushed in there, and you should have let Ocellus help you." The dragon frowned and looked away, crossing her arms, "Silverstream, playing around in the water during an emergency isn't a good idea." The hippogriff flinched at this, "Sandbar, you said what you were supposed to do but didn't make any suggestions on how to do it." Sandbar blushed at this, "Gallus, you barely did anything, and when you did do something, you barely put any effort into it."

"Whatever," the griffon huffed, glancing away as Flash moved over to the yak.

"And Yona," he held up her braid. "I know having long braids is a yak tradition, but you should really try to find a way to make sure they don't get in the way. Constantly tripping over them is gonna cause major issues to not just you, but those around you too."

"But Yona can't cut braids!" she gasped, "Braids super special!"

Flash stared at the hair, only for nothing to come to mind. "Well...I'm not the pony for that. Maybe you could talk to Professor Rarity. She's bound to have a way to fix them up without cutting them." He turned to the others. "I want you all to think about what happened here today and how you might be able to improve the next time you do something like this. And try to remember, don't just think about what you can do when it comes to a problem. Think about what you and those around you can do."

With that, he stepped over to the other group to go over what he noticed with them. And as he did this, the six students all looked away from one another. Some sad that they had failed, others looking angry while the rest were unsure. As this happened, Flash glanced back at them, only for the defender to sigh, "We've got a long way to go..."

The School of Friendship's first lesson hadn't exactly gone well, but it was a start. Hopefully, things would improve as the school year went on. Because if they didn't, the school would never get approval.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bell rang, signalling the end of Twilight's lecture. She smiled as she watched the students pick up their books and head for the next class, which included Heart, Soul, Mira and Ace. The four frowned as they walked out of the classroom, "I can't believe that was only an hour," Ace moaned as he cricked his back. "Twilight's lectures feel like they last a whole day."

"It wasn't that bad," Soul replied, remembering that she had sat through quite a few of Twilight's lectures, the filly used to the alicorn's drawling speeches.

"So what's the next class?" Mira asked, Heart pulling out his schedule.

"Alright...courage with Flash!" The others took out their's and saw they all had different classes, with Ace being in the Honesty class while Mira and Soul were in Laughter. "Guess I'll see you all later," he waved and they all did the same before heading off down different hallways. The colt smirked as he flew, a couple of ponies in front and behind him. But as he made his way through the school, his bandaged leg started itching again. "No," he moaned while trying to fight the urge to scratch. "Must...resist." But every second he did, the itch got more intense. "Ahhh!" He cried, turning the corner as he was about to start scratching.

But as he did this, he suddenly slammed into somepony. "AUGH!" They both cried as they fell, Heart letting out a moan before sitting himself up. He then saw he had hit a pink pegasus filly with a curly blue mane and tail that had white ribbons in them and a chess piece cutie mark.

"Sorry," he pulled himself up and offered a hoof to her, "I wasn't looking where I was going." The filly blinked at him, an annoyed glare on her face quickly changing into a smile.

"It's okay," she said with a rather cutesy sounding voice as she took his hoof and was pulled up. "Just be more careful from now on."

Heart chuckled at that, "I wish I could say I will be." His smile faded to an almost insane twitch as he glared down at his hoof, "But this bandaged leg is driving me nuts."

"Oh no," her eyes went wide. "What happened?"

"I was fighting against this super evil guy and had to use a magical attack so strong it burnt my entire leg," he stated with a smirk. "It was cool and all, but now my leg and hoof are always itchy." He pulled his other hoof away and tried to think of something else to do with it, only to hold it out, "I'm Heart by the way. Fire Heart."

The filly smiled and took the hoof, "Cozy Glow. Wait..." she looked him over, "Fire Heart? Flash Sentry's apprentice?"

"The one and only," Heart grinned before his eye twitched. "Ahhh!" He clutched his leg, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "I don't think I can take it anymore! I've gotta scratch it!"

"Don't do that," she replied in a worried tone. "That'll do more harm than good." Heart looked up at her, puppy-dog eyes begging her to do something about it, the filly blinking before smiling, "I know something that might help." She took his bandaged leg and pulled the section just before his knee up, creating a gap that she blew into.

Heart suddenly found himself giggling at the sensation, Cozy blowing again and again into the bandage. As she did this, the itchy sensation began to die down. "Ahhhh," he sighed in relief, "So much better."

Cozy giggled at this, "Glad I could help." She let the bandage go and it snapped back into place, the pegasus beginning to pick up her books. "I know how bad you feel. I broke my wing once and had to have it in a cast for three weeks. It was so itchy that I could barely sleep, but then my guardian showed me how to blow some bellows into the cast to stop the itching."

"Guardian?" Heart asked, Cozy looking down.

"Yeah. I don't have any parents...or any actual family. I'm been shuffled around from one foster home to the next. That's why they sent me here, hoping to keep me out of the way."

"That can't be right," he responded, "I'm sure they just sent you here so you can have a great education. Trust me, Twilight teaching you is gonna open a lot of doors for you when you're older." As he said that, a bell rang out, signaling the start of their next class. "Oh no!" He started picking up the books he dropped, "Though neither of us are gonna graduate if we're late on the first day." He began to fly off, disappearing down the corridor before Cozy could say anything. "Bye, and thanks for the itching tip!" With that, he turned a corner and vanished.

"Um...bye," she waved before smiling. "Fire Heart...Flash Sentry's apprentice. Hmmm..."





And so the school's first term had begun and things seemed to be going good...at first.

Rainbow, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity all felt a little out of their depths at first, forced to try and teach their lessons the way the EEA intended. But just as Flash had guessed, learning friendship couldn't be done EEA approved. But that didn't stop them, as much like Flash, they slowly began to change how their classes worked.

Fluttershy started bringing her animals in to show them how to care for certain creatures, which helped the students lower their guards. Even Smolder and Gallus began to start opening up, it's hard to stay cool when you had a cute cat trying to rub itself against you.

Pinkie realized the best way to teach laughter was to make the students laugh. So every class was something different and fun to do, like making party poppers and firing cannons in the classroom. The students loved this and soon enough, they were all laughing and telling jokes and even doing stand-up routines.

Rainbow turned her lessons into a physical education class, teaching the students a bunch of different games that required working together and being loyal. The students soon realized that working together was a lot more profitable than trying to do everything alone, such as when they were playing soccer. Smolder was blocked by another player and Ocellus was open, Smolder seeing this as only a few seconds were left, and passed the ball to her and the changeling scored the winning goal.

Rarity started teaching the students all about clothing designs and how to stitch and sew certain fabrics together. Surprisingly, learning color coordination and when to give a certain fabric the time to shine helped the students learn what it meant to be generous. When Gallus snapped his quill, Sandbar happily lent him one of his, the griffon slowly starting to accept others.

Applejack had also fallen back on what she knew, farm work. She started teaching her lessons by showing off different farming techniques, believing that nothing built character better than an honest day's hard work. The students were all amazed by this, none of them having ever done any farm work before.

The only one who didn't need to change how his class worked was Flash, his method already working. Every single class, he put the students through a series of exercises, some involving building something together, others transporting something from one area to the other while being tied to one another. One class simply had them sitting back to back with one student explaining a picture that the other one had to copy without looking. The defender was impressed with how well things were going, the students were doing better every class. The ones that were most improved were Sandbar and the non-pony students, who were slowly beginning to build a kind of comradery with one another.

"Let's do this!" Gallus cheered as they did the burning building exercise again.

"Yeah!" Sandbar added, "Gallus, Silverstream, what if you used your claws to dig up the ground and throw mud onto the areas we put out?" The griffon and hippogriff smirked at the idea while Ocellus turned into an octopus.

"Alright!" She exclaimed as she picked up the buckets and started using her many long legs to fill them up and bring them over to the house as Smolder started throwing the water over the top while Yona and Sandbar did the same with the bottom sections of the building.

Flash watched as the six became a well-oiled machine, whose teamwork was putting the flames out quickly. "It's starting to tip over!" Silverstream cried as Yona threw her braids over her back and ran to where the wall was tipping. Before it could fall over, she slammed her head into it, pushing it up straight again.

"Yona have this!" The others smiled at the sight, only for Smolder to fly up to the window and saw the terrified pony.

However, she also saw that the roof would give out at any moment before turning to the octopus that was still filling buckets. "Hey, eight arms!" Ocellus turned to her, "Mind giving me a claw?" Ocellus nodded and turned into a dragon, flying up to Smolder as the two flew inside. Ocellus grew in size so she could lift the ceiling up without it collapsing, allowing Smolder to fly in and grab the pony.

Throwing him over her shoulder, Smolder flew him out with Ocellus turning into a fly to quickly escape the roof before it fell. Yona leapt away next, allowing the burning building to collapse with no casualties. The students all cheered at their victory, Flash smiling and nodding in approval.

Yes, the school really was coming into its own. The teachers were becoming more confident in how they wanted to teach their students, while the students themselves were learning the importance of the seven elements. Everything was going well...until Twilight got involved.

The alicorn princess had begun inspecting the classes, and when she found how things were being done, she quickly put a stop to them. Apparently, the ways her friends were teaching their lessons weren't EEA approved. So, completely forgetting what Flash had suggested back when the school was approved, she forced the classes back to their original way of study. Her friends were once again stuck teaching off a blackboard, which only resulted in boring the students.

There was only one lesson she didn't change, though that wasn't by choice.

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's Go!" Flash cheered as Gallus, Sandbar and a pegasus pony had their back and front legs tied together. They were on an obstacle course, needing to jump from one pole to another without falling into the pool of goo below them. The other students all laughed seeing the three trying to synchronise their movements.

Flash smirked, but then frowned and took something out. A device he had asked Time Turner to make for him, which was a short range homing device that let out a loud beeping noise when the homer was within a hundred feet of it.





"Hello Head-Mare Twilight," Cozy waved at the alicorn as she flew into the courtyard the filly had been studying in. She then noticed a flower clip in Twilight's mane, "That's pretty."

"Thank you," Twilight replied, "Flash gave it to me the other day."

"He's so sweet," Cozy giggled as Twilight nodded and began to fly toward Flash's class to check to see how things were going.





"One...two...THREE!" Gallus yelled as the three leapt up and grabbed the three ropes hanging over the goo. Gallus and the pegasus grasped the rope, but then Sandbar's slipped out of his hooves.

"WOW!" He yelped, only to stop when the ropes tying him to the other two went tight. He looked up and saw his partners groaning as they tried to hold him up while gripping the ropes with their untied limbs. Sandbar smiled back as they began to pull him up.

Flash smirked at this, but then heard a beeping sound coming from the device. "Uh-oh."





Twilight arrived at the door seconds later and opened it up, smiling when she saw Flash standing at the front of the classroom pointing a stick at something on the blackboard.

"And as you can see, the true measure of one's courage-" He stopped when he spotted Twilight, blinking at her, "Oh, hey babe. Problem?"

Twilight shook her head, "No. I'm just glad to see you doing things by the book. The others all had these silly ideas of going against it and doing things their own way."

"Gasp!" Flash exclaimed while putting his hoof to his chest, "What were they thinking?!" The students all stifled laughter at this while Twilight smiled and looked around the room. Though she couldn't be sure, something seemed off about Gallus, Sandbar and Sky-Writer. After a moment, she shrugged and turned away, the three started flickering before solidifying again.

"Well, keep up the good work. The EEA will be very impressed." With that, she shut the door, Flash breathing a sigh of relief and turned the tracker back on before activating the crystal again. In the blink of an eye, the three illusion students vanished and the classroom returned to the assault course that had the real version of Gallus, Sandbar and Sky-Writer hanging above them, trying not to make a sound.

"Nice work," Flash commented, "That probably took a lot of will." The three sighed in relief, then felt their grips slacken enough that they let go of the rope and fell into the goo.





Time passed with Friends and Family Day drawing closer and closer. Alas, the stipulations Twilight was forcing on the classes had taken everything that made of the School of Friendship special to begin with. Day after day, the students had to sit through one boring lesson after another that they couldn't find the strength to endure. Nine times out of ten, most of the students found themselves falling asleep in class. And that tenth time resulted in the teacher falling asleep.

The only class the students looked forward to was Flash's, but even that had its limits, especially when Flash was constantly on edge, trying not to get caught by Twilight. As such, tempers were slowly beginning to fray. The seeds of friendship that had started blossoming between the new students were slowly withering away. As evident when Sandbar and the five none-pony students stepped out of Fluttershy's class.

"Is this what boring is?" Silverstream asked as they death marched through the halls, "Am I bored?"

"Ugh..." Smolder groaned, "Please. These ponies are the heroes of Equestria? I can see Professor Flash as one, but Professor Fluttershy?"

Sandbar slumped down at this, "Listen, these ponies saved all of us from the Storm King and many other villains before then."

"How?" Gallus asked, "By boring them into surrender?"

"Our teachers are a little different than I expected."

"That's because they're stuck trying to teach the way that doesn't so off how awesome they are." They turned to see Ace and Mira both holding their own books.

"Sorry," Mira waved, "We couldn't help overhearing your conversation. But Ace is right. Our teachers are awesome when they're allowed to be themselves. It's those stupid guidelines they have to follow."

"I doubt it's that simple," Smolder replied, "You expect me to believe that Professor Fluttershy, who shrank down to the size of a mouse when somepony sneezed, can be awesome?"

Mira giggled at this, "One time, Fluttershy was able to talk down a giant dragon that was about to roast Flash and the rest of her friends." Smolder went wide-eyed at this, only for Yona to let out a grunt of annoyance.

"Pony school waste of time!" She yelled as they turned a corner. "Yak school teach how to braid yak hair! Braiding yak hair is best!" She would have gone on, only to trip on her braids. "Whoa!" She yelped while rolling into Smolder, knocking her to the ground.

"Oof!" The dragon pushed herself back up and glared at Yona, "Is there anything in Yakyakistan that isn't the best?"

"Yes!" Yona instantly replied, only to blink, "Wait. No! Yaks best." Smolder raised an eyebrow at this, Ace and Mira realizing a fight was about to break out.

"No claws, no wings, no fire. What is it exactly you're proud of?"

"Um...Smolder?" Sandbar spoke up before the jakhowls could, "Cool it please. No need to harsh Yona's love for her heritage, okay?"

"Awww," Gallus grumbled, "Are we not being sweet and friendly enough for you, pony?"

"That was sarcasm, right?" Silverstream asked. "Because you weren't being sweet or nice!"

"Okay," Mira chimed in, "Let's cool it. Remember, this is supposed to be the School of Friendship."

"Ha!" Smolder laughed as she leaned against Gallus. "Maybe dragons and griffons are just too tough for friendship." They fist pounded as Yona frowned at them.

"Yaks tough, just not nasty."

"Who you calling nasty, klutz?" Gallus growled before the pair glared at each other, soon pushing each other as Ace and Mira gulped at the sight. But before they could do anything, Rainbow, Applejack and Starlight ran in, having overhead the argument.

"Okay, break it up!" Rainbow tried to push the two apart. "Break... it...UP!" In that moment, Applejack grabbed Gallus in her lasso and pulled him away as Starlight did the same to Yona in her magic.

"What is going on here?!" Starlight asked.

Gallus smirked and crossed his arms, "Just a friendly discussion about the magic of friendship amongst friends." Applejack glared at him, knowing he wasn't telling the truth as she pulled her lasso off of him.

"Everypony-" she shook her head, "Ah mean, everyone, go to your next class!" The students all glared at one another and left, the adults all sharing a worried look. "Ah just can't believe it. Fights breakin' out when they're supposed to be learnin' friendship?"

Starlight let out a long sigh, "Things definitely aren't going as 'by the book' as Twilight planned."

"That's because we're terrible teachers!" Rainbow cried, "Face it. This school isn't gonna work."





Friends and Family Day Had arrived, and today was the day the EEA would come to inspect how the school was running. In her office, Twilight was busy preparing everything for her next lesson, only for Flash to walk in with Springer. "Hey you two. Come to see how well the School of Friendship is doing?"

"Yeah..." Springer responded while cross his arms, "I don't think it's doing well." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "Considering all the negative emotions I've been picking up whenever I'm close to this place, I'm getting the feeling that the students here aren't having a great time."

"Don't be silly," Twilight replied while waving a hoof, "The students are loving it here."

"Twilight..." Flash sighed, "You're in denial. When the students walk into my class, they're all barely conscious after being bored half to death. And they've barely learned anything. I should know, my classes are all about taking what they've learned and putting it into a real world situation. But they haven't been able to do that because they've got nothing to learn from us."

Twilight frowned for a moment, her eyes glancing at the EEA book, only to declare, "It's the first term. Of course it's gonna take a while for them to get into the swing of things. Just be patient and you'll see, everything's gonna turn out fine." But as she said that, the doors of her office flew open before Starlight the rest of the Mane Seven ran in.

"Twilight, we've gotta talk!" Rainbow cried as they crowded around her desk and started complaining about the many problems with the school, surprising Twilight and trying to avoid Flash's smug grin.

As Pinkie fell asleep from remembering her boring lessons, Twilight remained calm and spoke. "I get it." They all quieted down as she continued, "Things are getting off to a rougher start than expected." She kept smiling as Spike climbed up onto her desk, "But that's okay!"

Spike, ever the loyal assistant, grabbed Twilight by the cheek and pulled her face into his. "Who are you, and what have you done with Twilight Sparkle?!" Twilight glared at him and levitated the drake away from the desk while taking out the guidebook.

"Every school in Equestria follows these rules. As long as we do too, we'll be fine."

"Ahh!" Flash screamed, "I am so sick of that book. It's...not...working!"

"Your class seemed to be having a good time when I check in on you," Twilight pointed out.

Flash wanted to bite his tongue and not tell her, only to sigh, "That's because we weren't doing it by the book!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "What do you mean? I've seen you-"

"I haven't." Flash interrupted, "I've been doing things my way since the start, like how the others were starting to do things until you forced them back to the EEA way. My classroom isn't even a classroom. I had Trixie install an illusion crystal when you weren't looking. My classes have all been doing practical applications of the lessons the others have been teaching...but the only problem is there's nothing for them to do because they can't learn anything this way!"

The girls, Springer and Spike all stared at him in shock after his little rant, Twilight now looking horrified before glaring at the defender, "We'll be talking later about going behind my back...but for now, we need to focus on showing off everything we've accomplished since opening the school."

"BUT WE HAVEN'T ACCOMPLISHED ANYTHING!" The rest of the Mane Seven screamed.

"I'm with the others on this one Twilight," Starlight added, "If this school's ever gonna be a successful one, then maybe we should...try something new?"

Twilight shook her head. "The EEA will be here this afternoon for Friends and Family Day. They need to see a school that follows their guidelines."

"Even if those guidelines aren't working?" Fluttershy pointed out.

"Well, then we have to try harder and make sure they do!" The forcefulness of her voice made everypony realize Twilight was starting to get stressed, Springer frowning at the sight. Twilight would have said more, but in that moment the bell began to ring. "Another morning, another chance to inspire our students!" She smiled, but the others just sighed before leaving. The only one who didn't was Flash, Twilight now glaring at him as she said, "You need to get that illusion crystal out of your classroom, and fast."

"No," he told her with crossed arms.

"Excuse me?!" Twilight yelped, getting off her desk. "Are you trying to sabotage this school?!"

"The only one sabotaging this school is you," Flash replied, "I don't care what that stupid book says, I'm not going to change how I teach my class. When I agreed to do this, I knew this was the only way to help the students master courage, and I'm not gonna change it."

"If the EEA sees your class the way it is-"

"They'll see the students actually learning something," Flash pointed out. "And if they really care about the education of Equestria, they'll realize this school is the exception to the rule." He let out a sigh, "Listen Twi, you know I don't know how regular schools work...but this isn't supposed to be a normal school." He pointed his hoof at her, "I don't want to get into a fight with you...and it's your choice Twilight. You can either trust me, or fire me. Whatever your choice, I'll accept it."

Twilight blinked at this, a full frown on her face before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry Flash, but I can't let this school fail. I'm afraid...I'll have to find somepony else to teach your class from now on."

Flash shrugged at this, "I understand. Just...don't come crying to me when the exact thing you're trying to prevent happens." With that, he spun around to leave, Twilight slumping down in her desk, the alicorn letting out a whimper.





The school day was in full swing and like every other day, it was completely boring. Even more so since Flash's lessons had apparently been cancelled. "I can't believe this!" Ace cried, "I was really looking forward today's lesson."

"We all were," Mira added as they headed for Rainbow Dash's class besides Sandbar. But as they passed a corner, Smolder and Gallus stepped out from around that corner and began heading in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" Sandbar called out to them, "Professor Dash's class is this way." The two didn't reply and just kept walking as Yona, Ocellus and Silverstream appeared at the end of the hall and noticed them as well.

"Where are you going?" Ocellus asked, "You're not-" She let out a gasp, "skipping, are you?"

"That's exactly what we're doing," Smolder smirked as she and Gallus bumped fists.

Silverstream looked horrified. "But Friends and Family Day-"

"Is after class," Gallus reminded her, "Relax. This is just a quick...mental health break." The three whispered to one another while Mira and Ace stepped up to them.

"That sounds legit!" Silverstream giggled, "We're in!" They turned to the two jakhowls, as if asking if they were gonna bust them. Ace turned to Mira, showing he was totally in. Mira was about to reply, only to remember that Rainbow's class was next...and how boring it was going to be.

"I...I'm in."

Ace lightly punched her in the arm, "Atta girl."

"I guess I'll tag along, too," Sandbar added, "Make sure you don't get into...trouble."

"Whatever makes you feel better," Ace laughed as they began to run off. But before they could even take three steps, a voice around the corner caught their attention.

"This way, Angel!"

"Professor Fluttershy!" Silverstream gasped, "We're busted!" But to their amazement, Ocellus stepped up and morphed into a perfect copy of Rarity. Seconds later, Fluttershy walked out from around the corner with Angel by her side.

"Oh, my!" She looked at them all, "What are you all doing?" She turned to 'Rarity' and pointed behind them, "Aren't classes that way?

"Ah-" The disguised changeling thought before clearing her throat. "A generosity field trip, daaaaarling." She threw her mane back and let out a giggle, "I'm taking the students to the lake to look at our divine reflections." The other students look at her in utter gobsmacked while Fluttershy smiled.

"Oh, that sounds nice. Have fun!" She walked off but Angel remained where he was, noticing how worried the others were. He gave them a growl and a judging look, but then followed his owner.

Once she was gone, Ocellus returned to normal and they all started laughing as they ran through the halls. "I take back everything I said about you!" Smolder giggled, "That was cool!"

"Thanks!" Ocellus chuckled as Smolder ran past her, only to ask, "Wait, what did you say about me?" They all laughed some more as they reached the exit and managed to get out of the school before any-creature else could see them.





"You fired Flash?!" Starlight yelped as she and Twilight trotted through the halls, making sure everything was ready for Friends and Family day along with the EEA inspection.

"I had too," she sighed, "Flash refused to do things by the book, and if Neighsay saw what he was doing, he would have shut us down on the spot." She let out a moan, "But now I need to find somepony else to teach his class. Maybe Springer would be willing to do it. Or Grand...Iron...Lightning...Derpy?"

Starlight rolled her eyes, "You'll probably run into the same problem. They're all gonna agree with Flash about how the lessons should go. And really...Derpy?" Twilight sighed as they reached the courtyard and began to make their way over one of the bridges that ran over the small rivers that fed the waterfalls.

"I need to find somepony and fast. If Neighsay sees one of the classes is teacherless, he'll shut us down for sure."

Starlight wanted to give her some comfort, but decided she need to tackle a bigger problem first. "You're sure sticking to the book is gonna work?"

Twilight nodded. "My friends can handle anything. They'll have these problems turned around before we know it."

"Problems?" The mares gasped at the voice, only to slowly turn around to see Neighsay stepping out of a portal behind them.

"Chancellor Neighsay!" Twilight gasped, "I uh...you're here!"

"Yes," Neighsay took out a quill and a clipboard as he started scribbling. "And you seem unprepared. If there are problems-"

"Problems?" Twilight asked, "Ha! Of course not!" She and Starlight shared a nervous glance, "We can't wait to show you around!" Neighsay didn't look convinced and kept scribbling away, Twilight letting out a nervous laugh as she tried to think of a way to bluff her way out of this problem.





As this was going on, the eight young students of the school were all at the nearby lake. Ace was currently skipping rocks while Gallus was taking advantage of Silverstream's lack of above water knowledge. "And that's why griffons breathe fire when we get mad."

"They do not!" Silverstream asked in amazement before thinking, "Wait! Do they? No! Really?!

Yona smiled at the others, "Griffons just full of hot air!"

They all laughed at this as Smolder turned to her. "And yaks are actually good at jokes. How about that?"

"I guess there's more to a race than what you see on the surface," Mira giggled as Ace skipped a rock six times and celebrated a personal best.

"So, what can jakhowl's do?" Ocellus asked, the others turning to the duo. Ace and Mira shared a smirk, both bringing their paws together before a sphere of blue energy appeared.

"Wow!" Silverstream's eyes went wide, "What's that?!"

"An Aura Blast," Ace replied before turning to the lake. He threw the sphere like a bowling ball and it skimmed along the top of the water before reaching the center, exploding and sending water flying everywhere.

"Awesome," Smolder added as she stood up, "What else can you do?"

Mira dissolved her sphere and held up her paw, which glowed as an energy construct formed around it in the shape of claws. "This is Steel Paw. Pretty cool, huh?"

"There's other stuff we should be able to do," Ace continued, "But we haven't learned how to do it yet. You should see Springer when he's in a fight. He's like an unstoppable force."

"So what is that Springer guy?" Gallus asked, "I've seen him around school some times, but he's never in any classes. Why's he here and not wherever you jakhowls live?" Ace and Mira frowned at this, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No..." Mira shook her head, "It's just...Equestria is where we live. The three of us are the last jakhowls left alive. The rest of our species were wiped out centuries ago. The only reason we're alive is because we were all placed in a time lock when we were eggs."

"Oh," Silverstream muttered, "That's so sad."

The others nodded, not sure how they would feel if they were the last of their kind in Equestria, only for Ace to wave his paw, "Eh, it's fine. We might be the last, but we're not gone yet. As long as we're around, the jakhowls are standing strong."

"So...what does your dad do around here?" Gallus asked next, the pair going wide-eyed.

"He's not our dad!" they said together before pointing at each other, "You think I'm related to him/her?!"

The others laughed at this as Sandbar decided to explain, "Springer's a Defender of the Peace. He, Flash, Iron Core, Lightning Blitz and Grand Hoof all protect Ponyville."

"From what?" Gallus asked, "What could be so dangerous around here that you need five ponies to protect it?"

Sandbar and the jakhowls shared a look, then burst out laughing as the others wondered what was so funny. "Well..." Sandbar got his laughter under control, "Let's just say that if it wasn't for them, Ponyville would probably be a crater or something."

Ace laid back with his arms behind his head at this, "Yeah, and Springer's the one who's saved the day more than anypony."

Smolder smirked at this, "I guess we've found another thing Jakhowls are good at: Boasting."

They all laughed again as Ocellus turned to her. "What are dragons good at?"

Smolder shined a big grin, spreading her wings, "Competition!" She pointed at the path around the lake, "Who's up for a race?" She flew off before they could answer, the others jumping to their feet and running after her while laughing their heads off.





Back at school, Twilight and Starlight continued to show Neighsay around. "As you can see, the building is up to code and has been fully furnished with all the required safety precautions placed." Twilight smiled back at Neighsay, but he was still frowning, "We've also taken all healthcare needs into consideration, and have all the student's dietary requirements and allergens on record."

"Yes," Neighsay nodded, "You seem to have everything under control in that department." Twilight sighed, "But that'll be meaningless if the curriculum isn't up to snuff. I would like to see one of your classes in session and see how well the teacher is performing their duty. How about...courage?"

Twilight's eyes went wide at the moment, Starlight quickly chiming in, "Aw...shoot. I'm afraid the last courage class of the day ended already." Twilight sighed in relief again, Neighsay turning to her as she stood up straight. "I'm sure there's another class we can watch. I think Rainbow's Loyalty Class should be about halfway through."

Twilight nodded and they started heading in that direction. But as they drew closer to the classroom, the teacher of the class suddenly flew around the corner, "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight glanced by at Neighsay, who didn't seem to realize this was the very teach her planned to evaluate. "Why aren't you in class teaching?"

"Because my students are gone!" She yelped, only to see who was behind the magic wielders as Twilight motioned for her to stop talking. "Uh..." Neighsay slowly lowered the clipboard to stare at her, "G-gone somewhere else! Doing a loyalty lesson! And-and I was just going to grab, uh...this pencil!" She grabbed the pencil off a nearby hall table, holding it up for all to see. "Because they need it. Wherever they are. Which I know, 'cause...I'm the teacher!"

"I see," Twilight laughed as Starlight facehoofed. "Well Chancellor, we have other classes. We can just-"

"Let's follow the professor." Neighsay turned to Rainbow, giving her a narrow glare, "I'm quite curious about this lesson in loyalty." Rainbow's eyes shrunk at this, the pony slumping over as Neighsay added, "So...tell me. What exactly does your Loyalty Lessons require?"

"Um...er..." Rainbow gulped at this, sweat now pouring down her face.

Twilight put her hoof in front of Neighsay, "You see, we want to instill a sense of loyalty towards others and..."





Back at the lake, the students continued to race around, laughing their heads off at the same time. Yona then tripped on her braids again, but instead of falling Sandbar, Ace and Mira caught her and pushed her back to her hooves before they started running again.





"We encourage acts of generosity and kindness..."





Silverstream looked down at the pair and smirked before whispering to the others, all nodding as she pointed at the ground forces before they all dived. Gallus grabbed Sandbar while Silverstream and Smolder grabbed Yona before they pulled them into the sky. Ocellus offered a hoof to the jakhowls and they smiled, grabbing the hoof and being lifted into the air as Gallus told them, "Figured we shouldn't be the only ones enjoying the view."

"Awesome!" Ace cheered as Yona looked down.

"Waaaah!" She cried while shutting her eyes, "Yak not best at flying!





"And appreciation for the value of laughter..."





After a few moments, Yona's eyes slowly opened and she saw how amazing the world was from this angle...and how small everything looked from up high. "Flying is best!"

"Congratulations, Yona!" Silverstream cheered, "You are officially the weirdest thing I've seen so far!" Yona smiled as they all laughed, Smolder turning to the changeling as she pulled Ace and Mira along.

"What do you say Ocellus? Can you be weirder than a flying yak?" Ocellus put a hoof to her chin, only to smile as her body burst into flames.





"...and to always be honest in any situation." Which was exactly what she, Rainbow and Starlight weren't being right now, given they had just been leading Neighsay around for several long minutes.

"Honesty is imperative." He looked around before turning to Twilight, "Princess, are we going in circles?" Twilight gulped at this, quickly pulling out a pocket watch.

"Uh...look at the time! We'd better head to the lake for Friends and Family Day." She again began leading the examiner away, "I'm sure all the students and faculty will be there." Neighsay didn't seem convinced, but followed her anyway while Rainbow quickly flew off to try and find her lost students. "Oh...I hope nothing else goes wrong." Twilight whispered as she kept moving.





Outside the school near the newly dug out waterfall fueled lake, the friends and family of the many students were all gathered around a small party Pinkie had managed to set up with cake, snacks and drinks. The four remaining teachers were already there, as were Flash and Springer that had taken up position in a nearby corner.

"She actually fired you?" The jakhowl asked Flash, who nodded. "Ouch. Surprised you'd wanna be here."

"I might not agree with Twilight's methods, but I still wanna support her when I can." He sighed before taking a sip of his drink. "Besides, I'm Heart and Soul's guardian. Why wouldn't I be here for Friends and Family Day?"

"Fair enough," Springer nodded as he saw Spike bring Ember, Thorax, Gruff, Rutherford and Seaspray over to the teachers.

But as this happened, Ember saw something in the sky, "What is that?!" He followed her claw and saw a giant bug creature that had Mira and Ace riding on its back. The other students were flying with in front of it and as they saw it, the group quickly panicking and running for cover.

Flash was about to take to the air, but Springer stopped him. "Wait!" He yelled, "It's that changeling filly!"

"Ocellus?" Flash asked as more and more ponies screamed and ran. As they did this, Neighsay and the mares arrived and when the unicorn saw Ocellus, he gasped.

"Aah!" Jumping behind Twilight, he sank to the ground, "The school is under attack!" One pegasus flew into the pair and shot past Gallus, causing him to accidently drop Sandbar. This sent him rolling into Rutherford, Seaspray and Thorax, knocking them both down. The girls holding Yona were also knocked for a loop and crashed into the snack table while Ocellus was doing her best to avoid the fleeing ponies and accidently crashed into one of the towers. The building broke apart and fell toward the grounded party guests, only to be obliterated by Springer's Aura Force as Ocellus accidently transformed back to normal and fell to the ground with the jakhowls.

Every-creature not scared off by the 'attack' moaned as they picked themselves up, all trying to recover. Flash blinked at the sight, only to sigh again, "This...is gonna take some explaining."
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight could barely believe what she was seeing, or how horribly this day had gone. First, she had to fire Flash, then Chancellor Neighsay showed up without warning to evaluate them, and now the Friends and Family Day party had been ruined by an accident mistaken for an attack. She looked over at where the non-pony students had all fallen, the seven letting out moans as they picked themselves up and saw that everyone was staring at them.

"Um..." Silverstream gulped as Sandbar joined them, "Maybe skipping class wasn't the best idea?"

"How dare you!" They all turned to a glaring Neighsay, "This act of aggression against ponies-"

"I-I'm so sorry, Chancellor." He spun around to Twilight, "We clearly had some students get a little carried away."

But as she said that, Neighsay's anger exploded as he turned back to the students. "Those are students?" He asked, spinning back to glare at Twilight. "But you said you were opening this school to protect Equestria!" He trotted past her and toward the group of non-pony creatures, which happened to also include Springer. "To defend ponies from...dangerous creatures who don't have our best interests at heart!"

The five leaders, plus Springer, frowned at this while Twilight looked shocked. "My school teaches for all of us to work together through friendship."

Neighsay glared at the six, then back at Twilight. "And how do you know these creatures won't take what they have learned here and use it against us?"

"Hey!" Springer yelped, "I'm a citizen of Equestria. And the dragons and changelings have a peace pact with the kingdom."

"Yeah," Flash nodded, "We were hoping this school would lead to the other nations joining the peace pact."

"Peace pact?!" Neighsay scoffed at this. "Clearly just a ploy to lead us into a state of lower guards, giving them to opportunity to strike!"

"Friendship isn't just for ponies!" Twilight barked back.

"It should be." Neighsay hissed, Rutherford then stepping forward.

"Unicorn think yaks no need friendship?" He rushed over to glare at Neighsay through his hair, "Maybe yaks no need PONY SCHOOL!"

"Well," Neighsay pushed him away, "Perhaps you should return to your kind."

"Your kind?!" Ember cried, Thorax looking horror struck. "Smolder, let's go!" She took off, the students turning to Smolder as the young dragon frowned before following her Dragon Lord.

"Queen Novo will want to hear of this!" Seaspray stated before he marched off, Grampa Gruff nodding.

"Well, this place seemed lame anyways." He motioned for Gallus to follow, the griffon following him as the other students headed over to their guards and left with them. Thorax and Springer were the only ones left, Springer glaring at Neighsay down as Thorax stepped over to Twilight.

"It's fine," he told her despondently. "We know not every pony sees us the way you do." He and Ocellus began to fly off. "We're used to it."

Twilight watched them all leave, then spotted Flash as the pegasus looked away from her. Springer also grabbed Ace and Mira to pull them away, not wanting Neighsay to say anything else that might upset the pair as Twilight turned to glare at him. "Princess Celestia helped me reach out to all the kingdoms! When she hears you closed the school because-"

"Because you failed to meet the EEA's standards?!" Neighsay interrupted, shocking her.

"What?!"

"Irresponsible teachers, students skipping class, endangering ponies! Your school is a disaster! Perhaps if you had had higher standards for who was admitted, this could have been avoided." He trotted passed her and up to the school, "Regardless..." He pressed his EEA badge and it unleashed a burst of magic that flew into his horn before he fired it at the school. Twilight and the others watched in horror as a magical chain appeared to wrap itself around the building and morph into a barrier that prevented anyone from entering. At the front door, a padlock appeared with the EEA symbol on it that unleashed chains to keep it shut. "By order of the EEA, I am shutting this school...down!"

He stomped his hoof at this while Twilight let out a horrified gasp. The others flinched at this, remembering how much time and effort they had put into this school. They might not have enjoyed teaching, but seeing it closed still hurt. And none seemed more hurt than Twilight, who quickly ran to Neighsay's side. "Please! Give us another chance!"

"To what?!" He spat, getting right in her face. "To put ponies in harms way?! To try and teach dangerous creatures how to destroy and conquer us?!"

Before he could say anything else, Flash appeared and pushed him away from her. "You know, I'm getting pretty sick of you badmouthing other creatures. Especially the ones that have saved our flanks. Equestria would still be under the Storm King's reign if the changelings, dragons, hippogriffs and jakhowls hadn't helped us. If you're so worried about them attacking us, maybe you should stop saying things to make them mad."

"I am merely stating the facts," Neighsay screeched, "Equestria has survived for a long time without the help of those savages, and it will continue to survive without them, as long as ponies are taught how to best them."

"The way you talk, it's like you wanna put up some kind of wall around Equestria," Heart added from his and Soul's spot with the others.

"Not a bad idea."

"There are non-pony Equestrians you know," Flash pointed out, "Like Springer said, he's lived in Equestria his whole life. And there are others, like the buffalo in Appaloosa. What gives you the right to decide who deserves to be friends with us?"

"The EEA," he instantly replied, "It might not give me full control over the kingdom, but it does allow me the ability to decide what will be taught in it! And as long as I am chancellor, no school in Equestria will teach the disastrous and idiotic ideology of trying to make friends with creatures other than ponies!" With that, he created a portal and stepped through it.

"WAIT!" Twilight cried, but Neighsay just vanished along with the portal. With that, the ponies all stood there in shock and silence...only for Grand, Lightning and Iron to arrive.

"We heard there was a commotion!" Grand yelled as they looked around, spotting the destroyed tower and damaged party supplies. "Looks like we were told right. What happened?"

"Who did this?" Iron asked, but then noticed the somber expressions on the pony's faces. "Are we missing something?"

"It's over," Twilight sighed, "The school's been closed." The defenders went wide-eyed at this as tears began to stream down Twilight's face. Flash stared at his girlfriend, only to see her look away, "Please, I...I just wanna be left alone for now." With that, she teleported away.

Flash sighed as he glanced back at the school, Starlight walking up to him as he said, "Maybe I shouldn't have fought against Twilight's way of doing things."

"You mean the EEA's way of doing things," Starlight corrected. "And no, you were right to stick by your ideals. Even if this hadn't happened and Twilight's school got accredited, the students wouldn't have learned anything and likely would have all flunked out. Then word would have gotten around about how horrible the place was, and nopony would have applied for the next year. This whole thing was a disaster waiting to happen."

"Yeah," Flash nodded, "Its too bad...I really enjoyed teaching all those classes. Which is weird coming from me, who didn't even go to school."

"I guess...we'll just have to wait and see what Twilight does next."





Springer was in his room, Mira and Ace sitting on his bed, pacing as they told him what had actually happened. "So...you decided to skip class, get Twilight in trouble, mess around and put ponies in danger?" He turned to see them both grimacing, the older jakhowl feeling a lot of fear coming off them.

"We're sorry," Mira sighed.

"We didn't want to cause trouble," Ace added, "But...those lessons were a total waste of time. We weren't learning anything. Heck, we learned more about Gallus and the other creatures in that one hour than we had in the weeks we spent at that school. We were just...having fun."

Springer shook his head, "I...understand. Having fun is one of the most important things about friendships."

Mira looked up at him, "Are you mad at us?"

Springer rubbed his face with his paw, "No...I'm just sorry Twilight's school was shut down. And that that Neighsay pony got to say all those things about us."

"How is something like that allowed?" Ace asked, "He should be locked up for saying that."

"It's the double-edged sword of freedom," Springer grumbled, "Freedom of speech is a great thing to have, but there are those that use it as a defense to push their agenda and make those different from them feel bad just because it makes them powerful. It's not a perfect system, but we can't go arresting ponies just because they say a bad thing."

"Well, we should," Ace crossed his arms and leaned back, Springer shaking his head again.

"I'm gonna go see how things are going with the others. You two stay here and think about what you've done. I might not be mad, but you still cut class and caused a lot of trouble for Twilight and the others. Think about that while you're in here." The pair moaned as he left, Mira jumping off the bed and moving over to the window.

"This bites," she moaned. "School might not have been great, but sometimes it was fun. Like the nights me, Soul, Ocellus and Silverstream spent doing our homework together."

Ace turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "You and I have very different ideas about what's fun." He then let out a sigh, remembering the nights in his room playing cards with Heart, Gallus and Sandbar. "I'm really gonna miss those two."

Mira nodded as she looked out the window at the now locked up school of friendship. "I just wish we could have seen them one more time."

They stayed like that for a minute or so before a voice spoke up. "Mira?" Her head shot up at this, "Ace?" Ace sat up at this, "Are you in there?"

"Ocellus?" Mira asked, the pair looking around the room. "Where are you?"

"Right here." They turned back to the window and saw a lizard with Ocellus' color scheme poking its head up in front of the window. Mira quickly opened it up and the lizard crawled inside before transforming into the changeling.

"You're here!" The jakhowl cub pulled Ocellus toward her, "But how? Thorax..."

"We might have given them the slip," she replied.

"We?" Ace asked as Ocellus turned to the window.

"They sent me to get you. Come on." She transformed into a bee and flew out the window, Ace and Mira sharing a glance. The last time they had snuck out, things didn't go so well for them. But the thought of seeing their friends again had them quickly leaping out of the window and carefully climbing down the castle's side.





Heart and Soul were both somberly making their way through the town, Heart sighing, "Maybe it's for the best." The two then bought a piece of fruit from a stand. "Now we can focus on our goals. You can continue mastering your magic, and I can focus on becoming a Royal Knight."

"I guess so," Soul added before taking a bite out of her peach. "But what if Twilight gets so depressed after this that she starts thinking she can't teach anypony and just gives up on my lessons?" Heart opened his mouth to reply, only to feel a certain itch and began blowing into his bandage, "What are you doing?"

"It's something I learned from another student," he responded, "Blow a bunch of cold air into a bandage and it stops it from itching."

"Huh. That's...neat. Where'd you learn that?"

"Another student at school showed me it," he explained as his gaze mindlessly drifted away from her. "She was a pegasus filly who-hey, that's her there!" Soul turned and saw the filly flying through the market, the alicorn then looking past her.

"Looks like she's heading for the train station."

"Why would she go there?"

"Well, I've never seen her at Ms. Cheerilee's school or around town. Guess she came from another town and now that the school's closed, she's heading home." Heart's eyes went wide at this and he quickly spread his wings to give chase, "Hey!" Soul flew after him and the pair followed the filly as she arrived at the train station.

"Cozy!" He called out, making the filly spin around.

"Heart?"

He landed in front of her. "You're leaving?"

Cozy frowned, but nodded. "I'm afraid so. Since the school's been closed, I have to go back to my foster home." She sighed, "My guardians aren't gonna by happy that I'm back."

"I'm sure they'll be overjoyed that you're home," Soul added, Cozy turning to stare at her.

"Oh, uh..." Heart pulled Soul closer to him, "This is my sister."

"The filly turned alicorn?" Cozy guessed. "I've heard of you." She looked down as a train whistle blew to signal the approach, "But I'm afraid you're wrong. I'm not gonna be in for much of a warm welcome when I get back." The train arrived and the passengers were let off, Cozy flying up to board, "Well, I guess this is it." She turned to smile at Heart, "It was nice seeing you again. Maybe we'll meet back up one day, hopefully."

Heart frowned at this as the train doors closed before the engine began to pull away. Heart watched it disappear into the distance, sighing once it was out of sight. "Bye."

"You okay?" Soul asked, Heart just frowning in response, "You didn't seem this upset when the other students left."

"Yeah...I don't know. Just...seeing her go really hurts. We didn't know each other very long, so...I don't know. I just really liked having her around, you know?"

Soul blinked at him, only to shrug, knowing that friendship was something that could happen with just five words between two ponies. "Well, you know what? Maybe she's right and you will meet again someday."

"I guess so..."





Ace and Mira has managed to get out of the castle without anypony seeing them, quickly running after the Ocellus bee and frowning when they saw what they were heading towards.

"The Everfree Forest?" Mira asked as they reached the first line of trees. "Please tell me you all didn't go in there."

"Yup," Ocellus laughed as she flew into the treeline and turned back to normal. "Come on!" She ran ahead and the two stayed outside the forest, remembering what happened last time when they entered the woods on their own.

"We can't just stay out here," Ace pointed out, "And we do know what's in there, so we might be able to help them not get eaten."

"I guess," Mira gulped. "And we are a lot stronger than we were the last time we came in here." Ace nodded and they stepped into the woods, still cowering as they made their way through the trees. "But if I see a single cragadile, I'm running the other way faster than Heart eats a donut."

Ace nodded again, following after Ocellus until they arrived at a small clearing within the forest that had no deadly animals, killer plants, or poisonous bogs. It looked just like any other meadow one would find in a forest. There they spotted Smolder, Yona, Silverstream, Gallus and Sandbar sitting around, Ocellus now joining them.

"Hey!" Mira cheered as they ran over, "What are you all doing here?"

"Well duh!" Silverstream laughed, "We came because we didn't wanna stop hanging out with each other. At least...that's why I came."

"Yona came to pony town to learn friendship," Yona added, "And yaks no give up until task is complete."

"Nah," Gallus shrugged, "This place might be lame, but it's a hundred times better than Griffonstone. I'd rather hide out here then have to listen to Grampa Gruff constantly complaining about every single little thing."

"Same," Smolder nodded as she laid back in the grass. "This place needs a dragon's touch to keep it from getting too boring, so just be thankful I decided to stick around."

"Well, it's great you're all here," Ace finished before glancing around, "But this place isn't really a great spot to hang out in."

"He's right," Sandbar nodded. "The Everfree Forest is one of the most dangerous places in Equestria. It's not safe to stick around here, especially when it gets dark."

"So what do we do?" Gallus asked, "We can't go home, and we can't stay here. Where else can we hang out without getting caught?"

They all shared glances, only for Ocellus to let out a gasp, "I know just the place! Come on!" She flew off and the others followed suit, wondering just where they would be going.





Two days had passed since the school's closing and in that time, Twilight hadn't left her room once. She refused to come out no matter what anypony said or did, Flash choosing to sleep in his personal room to give her some more space. But it was here that her friends decided enough was enough and Spike stepped up to the door and pushed it open.

When he did, the first thing he noticed was the somber music playing from a record player...and a giant mountain of pillows piled on top of Twilight's bed, which he assumed the alicorn was hidden under. "Twilight?" He asked, "You feeling okay?" Twilight let out a muffled groan, which Spike translated into her saying no.

He moved through the dark and gloomy room toward the record player, pulling the needle off before yanking one of the pillows away to reveal a tear drenched Twilight, surrounded by soggy tissues. She let out another groan and pulled the pillow back to cover her face, causing Spike to sigh.

"Look on the bright side." He said as he climbed onto the bed, "Sure, the EEA closed your friendship school. But now you've got time to do other stuff! It's like being on vacation!" In that moment, the mountain exploded and Spike was sent flying. "Whoa!"

He hit the ground as Twilight sat up in her bed. "A failure vacation!" She yelled as Spike pushed himself back up. "I'm supposed to be the Princess of Friendship and all I did was make enemies with Equestria's allies, upset my friends, possibly ruin my relationship with Flash and get my school..." Her eye twitched, "...unaccredited! There is no bright side!" She fell back on the bed, grabbed a tissue and blew her nose.

"Okay then..." Spike turned to door with a smirk, "I'm gonna need backup. Operation Cheer-Up is a go!" Moments later, Rainbow Dash shot into the room and threw the curtains open. The sunlight burst into the room, making Twilight hiss like a vampire, covering her face with her wings.

"Come on, Twilight!" The prism maned pegasus called out, "You can't sit around in the boring dark all day!"

"Exactly!" Applejack added as she, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Heart and Soul walked into the room. "What you need is a double dose of Granny Smith's apple mash." She was carrying a belt with a jar of the mash on it, the earth pony scooping some up to give to Twilight, but the alicorn refused to even sniff it.

Applejack frowned at this as Fluttershy stepped up next. "Whenever I'm sad, a hug from Angel Bunny always makes me feel better." Her ever-faithful pet popped his head out of her saddlebag and gave her a look, Fluttershy motioning him to do it. He let out a squeak and jumped onto the bed, pulling Twilight's wing away and hugging her tightly. But Twilight didn't even seem to notice and Angel just whimpered. "Oh dear..." Fluttershy grabbed him off of Twilight before the bunny could go into vengeance mode. "Uh...maybe it's just me."

"Now dear, I find that nothing brightens my mood like a new ensemble!" Rarity chimed in as she pulled out a dress, which looked more like a jester's outfit than anything, and threw it onto Twilight before she could refuse.

Twilight looked herself over and continued to tear up. "Thanks, Rarity. It's a great dress..." She sobbed, "For somepony who knows how to run a school!" With that, she blew her nose into the fabric and Rarity almost had a heart attack at the sight.

"You didn't tell me this was a pity party!" Pinkie whispered to Spike as she gestured to some cupcakes she brought, "I would've brought ice cream!"

"I appreciate you trying to make me feel better," Twilight replied, "But not everything can be fixed with dresses and cupcakes."

"WHAT?!" Pinkie screamed as Rarity gasped.

Twilight pulled the dress off and jumped down, heading for the door. "I just need some time to be alone and think."

"Isn't that what you were doing for the last two days?" Heart asked, Soul whacking him on the head as Twilight left the room. She trotted through the halls, aimlessly wandering her castle as she remembered everything bad that had happened during the school's brief time open. The teachers hating their jobs, Flash refusing to do things the EEA way and getting fired, students skipping class and accidently destroying school property. Where had it all gone wrong?

"Hurry!" She suddenly heard, making her turn to see the door to Ace's room was wide open. A moment later, he and Mira ran out with their backpacks, but as soon as they left, they spotted Twilight and instantly froze. "Oh..." Mira gulped, "Hey Twilight." They both looked down in shame. "Listen...about what happened at the school-"

"We're really sorry about that," Ace interrupted, "We didn't mean to cause trouble. It's just...we couldn't take any more of those boring classes that weren't teaching us anything."

Those words stung Twilight's heart like a knife. "So...you really didn't learn anything at my school?"

She looked ready to start crying again as Mira responded, "We did. When the classes weren't just us sitting in a classroom listening to the teachers halfheartedly drone on about the subject. When they started doing things their way, I think we learned a lot. Especially in Flash's class."

"Yeah," Ace nodded. "You should have seen some of his lessons. They were awesome and we learned so much."

Twilight just stared at them, only to sigh as she spun around walked away. They watched her go, both glancing at each other, wondering if they should have been quiet. As this happened, Twilight left the castle, her eyes slowly pulling themselves over to where her condemned school was located. She knew doing so would probably just hurt more, but she began to make her way over to the building. Once she was across the bridge and stared at the padlocked building, she let out another disappointed sigh.

"I wondered how long you'd take to get tired of pillow-fort pouting." She spun around at this, now seeing Starlight standing with a smirk on her face.

"Everypony's already tried to cheer me up," Twilight moaned as she looked back at the school, "It won't work." But this statement was met with a short laugh from the unicorn.

"I'm not gonna cheer you up. I'm gonna tell you what you did wrong." This statement made Twilight glance back at her.

"What?"

"You gave up too easily." Twilight glared at her as the unicorn shrugged. "Hey, you made me a guidance counsellor. That means tough love." She poked Twilight in the chest, but the alicorn pushed that hoof back.

"Neighsay was right. I failed. The school was a disaster." She tried to walk away, but Starlight leapt in front of her.

"So was I when you met me." She pushed Twilight's chin up, "But you showed me that when you know in your heart that something is right, you stand up for it. You did that for me." She gestured to the school, "Why not for this?"

"I can't just go against the EEA!" Twilight replied, "They're in charge of all the schools in Equestria!" Starlight trotted up and poked her in the chest again.

"And you're in charge of all the friendship in Equestria. Why should you let somepony else stop you from doing your job?" Twilight's answer was to pull out the giant book that had been the bane of her school before it was even a building.

"But the EEA rulebook-" Starlight suddenly slapped the book out of Twilight's magic, causing it to hit the water around them and sink like a stone as Twilight watched in horror.

"Doesn't matter!" As the book vanished and Twilight's reflection appeared, Starlight's did the same as she continued talking, "You can write your own rules because you're doing something new! Something important!"

Twilight continued to stare at her own reflection, letting Starlight's words sink in. Her face began to change as a smile appeared on her face, "You're right! Why we're doing this is way more important than how we're doing this! And we are doing this!"

"Now, that's the Twilight I know. How can I help?"

Twilight smiled back at her, "You already have." They began to hug, only to then hear Flash's voice above them.

"Figures I'm late." They glanced up and saw Flash hovering above their heads. "I wanted to be the one to give the rousing speech that made you buck up and try again." The mares laughed as he landed, "Oh well. As long as you actually are bucking up and trying again."

"Yes, I am," Twilight nodded before staring at the defender, "Listen...Flash. About what happened before." She rubbed one of her hooves, "I...I just wanna say...well...you know?"

"Know? Know what?" Flash shook his head as he started to form a certain grin on his face, "I don't. Please tell me."

"Yow wore why," Twilight mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Flash replied, Twilight now growling.

"I said you were right!" Flash chuckled at this as she continued, "I shouldn't have tried to make you change how your classes were run. From what I heard, those were the only ones that students actually learned something in."

"I had a feeling my method was right." Flash laughed while crossing his hooves, "And that's coming from somepony who didn't even go to school."

"Yeah...I know." Twilight sighed, "So...listen. When I reopen the school, I'm gonna need somepony to teach my students about the Element of Courage. You up for it?"

"Well...I don't know," Flash rolled his eyes at this, "I mean...I heard you weren't that nice to the last teacher of that subject." The pair then locked eyes and after a few seconds, both started laughing as Twilight hugged him and he wrapped his wings around her. Starlight smiled at this before the three headed back inside, only to find the rest of the Mane Seven in the throne room.

"Guess what?" Twilight asked, getting all their attentions. "The School of Friendship is back in business!" Flash and Starlight looked into the room and saw that the girl's expressions were less then ecstatic.

"What?!" Was Rainbow's reply.

"But why?!" Rarity asked.

"Oh, no." Fluttershy gulped.

"Bad idea," Applejack added.

"Do we still get to guess?" Pinkie finished, making Flash laugh.

Rainbow poked her hooves together before speaking up. "No offense Twilight, but teaching at that school was the most boring, horrible, awful thing ever."

Twilight flinched at that as Applejack whispered to the pegasus. "Uh, pretty sure she's gonna take offense to that."

"No," Twilight sighed again as she stepped up, "Rainbow Dash is right. I owe you all an apology. I was so focused on doing things the EEA way, I didn't listen to any of you. I'm sorry." Starlight and Flash walked up to her side, "I promise, this time, we'll run the school the way friends should...together."

"So," Rarity clarified, "We'd be allowed to teach however we want to?"

"No more scary pop quizzes?" Fluttershy asked while clapping her hooves together.

"Confetti cannons for every-creature?" Pinkie asked as a bunch of cannons decorated in each pony's style appeared besides them.

Twilight slowly nodded, "Whatever you need to teach the Elements of Harmony."

"Yippeeeee!" Pinkie cheered as the cannons fired, shooting the confetti. And as it rained down, they all leapt off their thrones and moved to stand beside Twilight.

"Well in that case, we're behind yah one hundred percent, Twilight." The others all nodded at Applejack's statement, only for Spike to clear his throat and get their attention.

"Just two small problems," he began to point out, "The school is still unaccredited..." Twilight's eye twitched at that, "...and we don't have any students."

"We've got four of them right here in this castle," Flash chimed in, "I'm sure Heart, Soul, Ace and Mira will be happy to go back. Not that they'll have any choice in the matter."

Twilight laughed at this and nodded. "I'll take care of the first part if you six can round up our class."

"Totally!" Rainbow cheered, only to then ask, "Uh...how?"

"Roundin' up the pony students ain't gonna be an issue," Applejack commented, "But..."

"The creatures from the other kingdoms seemed pretty upset with us," Fluttershy gulped as Rarity pffted.

"Nonsense!" She told her, "I'm certain we can win them over with our charm and style!"

"Let's split up and do this quicker," Flash added, "Pinkie, you have an in with Rutherford so you should go get Yona back."

"Got it," Pinkie saluted as Twilight nodded.

"Rarity, do you think you can talk Ember into letting Smolder return?"

"I'll see what I can do," she nodded.

"Fluttershy, you go talk to Thorax. You're both caring and calm individuals. I'm sure you can convince him that Ocellus would have a great time here."

"Okay Twilight. I'll do my best."

"What about us?" Rainbow asked, pointing to Applejack and herself as Twilight smiled.

"You head to Griffonstone, since Grampa Gruff should listen to you...for a price." Rainbow slumped as Applejack nodded.

"Guess that means ah'm heading for Mount Aris?" Twilight nodded, then turned to Flash.

"A couple of students live in Ponyville. Can you talk to them about coming back?" Flash nodded, also planning to talk to Springer about the kids returning as well. "Then let's get this done." She brought her hoof in and they all did the same, "Time to open a school...the right way."

"YEAH!" They all cheered as they all threw their hooves upwards, then each headed off to their respective destinations. Luckily, a train line had just been built between Equestria and Mount Aris, meaning Applejack didn't have to spends days travelling through a blazing sun. Rarity and Fluttershy used the Rune Gate to head to the changeling and dragon territories while Pinkie headed for the Crystal Empire.

Since he didn't need to travel long distances to talk to his student's parent, Flash was able to leisurely stroll through town as he headed for the first house: Sandbar's. As he did, he sent a psychic message to Springer and the jakhowl quickly caught up to him in town.

"Hey!" He called out, "Something happen?"

"Yup. The School of Friendship is back and better then ever!" Springer's eyes went wide at this, "So I hope you didn't move Ace and Mira's things back into their rooms yet, because they'll soon be back in their dorm rooms, ready for class."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Springer asked. "The whole school thing didn't turn out so great last time."

"That's because Twilight was doing everything the dumb EEA way. This time thing's will be better. Twilight's agreed to let us teach our own way, so the students are gonna be able to enjoy school life the way it was intended."

"Oh...if you say so," Springer replied, "I'll let Ace and Mira know as soon as I see them." He the scratched the side of his head, "Actually, I haven't seen them much over the last few days. As soon as they're awake, they're up and out the door before I can ask where they're going."

"Can't you just track them through their aura?" Flash asked as Springer rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you put a tracking chip on Heart to keep him out of trouble? It's called respecting boundaries."

"Oh. Yeah, that's a good point and well made."

"Exactly." Springer responded, "So uh...you sure it'll be okay for them to return to the school? What if that Neighsay jerk shows up again?"

"it'll be fine," Flash replied, "He can't really do anything but say some harsh words, and you know it'll be nothing but nonsense. And if he actually tries to remove the kids by force, then I can intervene and arrest him...is it wrong that I now want him to try that?"

"Probably," Springer replied as they arrived at Sandbar's house. Flash knocked on the door and a few moments later, it opened to reveal a yellow earth pony mare with a wavy pink mane and tail.

"Hello?" Shea asked, only to recognize the town's two biggest heroes standing on her doorstep. "Oh, Mr. Sentry and Mr. Springer. What can I do for you?"

"Hello ma'am, is Sandbar home?"

"No, he went out somewhere this morning. Why?"

"Well, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that the School of Friendship is reopening." The mare went wide-eyed at this, "I know it's a surprise after the...incident, but trust me when I tell you things will be different this time. When Sandbar returns, he'll be able to properly learn about the Magic of Friendship and all its amazing qualities."

His mother hummed at this, stepping aside to let them in so they could talk properly. Inside, they found a green earth pony stallion with a wavy blue mane and tail, feeding a green foal with pink and blue in its mane and tail. The stallion turned to them as they all sat down, the mother telling the pair to explain. Flash told them about the issues the school had faced which had caused the school's shutting down, which they promised was going to be dealt with.

"Sandbar has a lot of potential," Flash commented, "In the short amount of time he was in my class, he grew a lot and was showing a lot of traits the school was trying to teach. He was kind, generous and loyal. I'm sure that with the school's help, he'll be able to learn to use those qualities to make Equestria a better place."

"I don't know," the mother replied, "What if what happened before happens again? Our son was almost crushed under a tower that another student knocked down."

"That was an accident. One that could have happened at any school."

"But what about the things we heard?" the father chimed in, "Undisciplined teachers and students from other nations causing problems."

"The teachers will be able to teach better this time. And as for the students from the other kingdoms, Sandbar actually grew quite close with them from what I could see. I think he'll be happy to see them again." The parents shared a glance and after a few more minutes of Flash explaining how the school was gonna change, they promised to talk to Sandbar about possibly trying the school again. "Thank you. That's all we ask."

After Sandbar's house, Flash and Springer visited the remaining students in Ponyville. Luckily, they were all home, so they could talk to them directly. The students weren't thrilled with the idea of returning to that school again, but Flash had to promise on his honor as a knight that things would be different this time. Eventually, they all agreed to return, but told him they would leave again if things turned out the same as last time.

With that done, Flash and Springer headed back to the castle to give Twilight the good news. But when they got there, they only found a note stating she had gone to Canterlot in order to talk to Celestia. And so, the pair used the Rune Gate to get there as well, only to be greeted by several Royal Guards who stood to attention as they trotted past. And as they arrived at the throne room, they heard Celestia's voice echo through the doors. "You realize what you wish to do is something that's never happened before." They opened the doors and spotted the two princesses and Spike, standing together with Celestia looking concerned. "The EEA won't take a school operating outside their jurisdiction lightly."

"I know," Twilight nodded, "But this is too important to give up on. And if the EEA won't let me teach friendship the way it needs to be taught, I have no choice but to do things without them. And honestly, if teaching other species the value of friendship is all it takes to get..." Her eye twitched, "Unaccredited, then I don't want the EEA's help."

"Very well," Celestia nodded, "I promised to help you in anyway I could, and I stand by that promise. And honestly, after what I heard Neighsay tell the other leaders of Equestria, I'm more than happy to do something that makes him unhappy. Your school might not have the EEA approval, but as long as it helps foster friendship through the many kingdoms, it has my approval and support."

"Thank you princess," Twilight smiled before noticing Flash and Springer. "Did you get them?"

"Sandbar's parents said they'll talk to him about it," Flash replied, "But the others agreed to come back as long as the school is actually going to change. They all said if they felt like the place was wasting their time, they were gonna leave without a moment's notice."

"Then we have to get this right," Twilight responded, "Hopefully Rainbow and the others will have gotten our non-pony students back."

As she said that, Spike started gagging before he coughed up a bunch of smoke. It quickly formed a scroll that he caught and read, "It's from Rarity." He gave the scroll to Twilight, who quickly skimmed through it before her eyes went wide.

"What?!"

"What's wrong?" Flash rushed to her side as Spike started gagging again before unleashing another scroll. Twilight didn't even let him grab it, pulling it over in her magic and reading it through.

"Ocellus too!" Twilight gasped, and before anypony could ask what was up, something shot in through an open window and slammed into Twilight's head. "Ow!" She then saw it was a pink paper aeroplane, which unleashed a puff of confetti when she unfolded it to read. "And Yona."

"What's going on?" Springer asked, Twilight turning to them.

"Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie all met with the leaders and discovered that...their student is missing." They all went wide-eyed at this, the group soon learning that those three weren't the only ones. Both Gallus and Silverstream would also be reported missing, a situation that could result in war between the five non-pony races.

"This...is bad," Flash gulped.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flash was really taking his own lessons about courage to heart as he watched the five other species' leaders rush into the throne room with fury on their faces. One wrong word said by any of them, and all-out war was gonna break out...and Flash knew it was gonna be their fault.

"WHERE YONA?!" Rutherford roared as he reached the throne first.

Celestia was about to speak up, but Ember then interrupted, "You're pretty quick to blame them!" She pointed at Rutherford, who turned to glare at her as they locked heads to push. "What are you hiding, yak?!" Rutherford snorted at this, while Thorax stepped over to try and separate them.

"C-Can we just focus on finding our lost students?"

"Nice try!" Grampa Gruff growled at him, "You grubs are probably hidin' the whole lot of 'em!"

"Please, every-creature!" They turned to Celestia chimed in, "If you can just explain what happened-"

Seaspray stepped up next, "The students left us notes before they disappeared. When the school closed, they didn't want to say goodbye to each other and they claim they ran away to stay together."

Hearing these words, Twilight gasped. "I can't believe it! They did learn friendship!" She shined a smile at this, only for the leaders to glare at her. "Oh...right. Sorry."

"The students couldn't have done this by themselves," Seaspray continued before glaring back at the others. "Some creature is hiding them!" The others now glared at him, the hippogriff growling, "If the niece of our queen is not found soon, I promise there will be retribution!"

"Oh yeah?!" Ember barked back, "Well, my dragons will burn every kingdom until we find which of you is hiding Smolder!"

"Tell it to the griffon army!" Gruff yelled, looking ready to start boxing.

"Yaks fight griffons and dragons!" He then turned to Springer, whose arms were currently crossed watching. "You! Doggy thing! You had students at school! Yak see Yona with them when school closed!"

"Yeah," Springer nodded, "But Ace and Mira aren't missing."

"How can you be sure?" Ember asked, "When was the last time you saw them?"

"This morning," Springer instantly replied.

"Oh," Gruff grumbled, "So then maybe they're the ones hiding Gallus! What, did they tie him up and lock him in that big castle you have?!"

"Hey! I resent that!" Springer growled, Luna quickly flying over to him.

"Calm yourself," she told him before turning to Gruff. "I assure you, Ace and Mira wouldn't do such a thing. Jakhowls are a peaceful race. Kidnapping is beneath them."

Springer nodded, still looking upset as Thorax chimed in, "The Changeling Empire can't afford an international incident. If any creature blames the changelings for this-"

"What are you up to, shapeshifter?!" Ember pointed at him, making Thorax look heartbroken.

"B-But we're friends!" This didn't stop Ember from glaring at him, the leaders now bickering amongst themselves.

As this happens, Celestia quickly leaned over to Flash and Twilight, "Find the students quickly Twilight, or I fear our world will be at war!" Twilight didn't need to be told twice as she and Flash took flight, shooting toward the exit out of throne room with Spike jumping on her back. Flash glanced back at Springer and saw he was still trying to convince some of the leaders of Ace and Mira's innocence, Flash hoping the two young cubs really weren't involved in this situation.

"So what's the plan?" He asked Twilight as they quickly made their way to the Rune Gate, but she didn't say anything. "You do have a plan, right?"

"Honestly...I have no idea what we're gonna do." They then activated the Rune Gate, instantly traveling back to Ponyville. In a flash, they were in their castle and marching through the halls, only for Heart, Soul and Starlight to spot them.

"Hey!" Starlight waved, "How'd things go in Canterlot?"

"Horrible!" Twilight responded, "If we don't do something, war could break out!"

The three's eyes went wide at this. "Because of a school?!" Heart yelped, Twilight shaking her head and explaining the situation. "Okay, that doesn't sound good. We gotta find them."

"But we don't know where they are," Soul added.

"Let's get the others first and see what we can figure out," Twilight sighed, the others nodding as they split up, Twilight, Soul and Starlight going to get Fluttershy and Rarity while Flash and Heart headed off to find Rainbow and Applejack.

"You'd tell me if you knew anything about this, right?" He asked his student, who shook his head furiously.

"I would, I swear it. The only non-pony students I've seen since the school closed are Ace and Mira. Although...those two have been acting weird over the last few days."

"Okay...let's just go find Rainbow and Applejack."

They found the pair at the train station, not looking happy about the whole situation. He quickly explained the problem and the pair looked shocked, the four then going to Sugarcube Corner. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Soul and Starlight were already there, with Pinkie having gotten back before all of them.

"Okay..." Twilight stated as Flash and the girls sat down. "Let's review what we know." They all turned to Spike, who had somehow made a chart with the five missing student's face and names on it.

The dragon pointed at each face as he lifted them all. "Smolder, Ocellus, Silverstream, Yona, and Gallus disappeared together." He turned to the others, who were expecting more, while Twilight told him to keep going. "That's all we know."

"They're probably just off hidin' somewhere," Applejack commented.

Starlight grimaced at this, "Unless they used some kind of spell to disappear."

"None of them have any magic except Ocellus," Flash pointed out, "Do you really think she would know something like that?" Starlight shrugged back, making Flash shake his head, "I'm with Applejack. They're hiding somewhere they think we won't be able to find them."

"Ooh!" Rainbow raised her hoof, "Or they went undercover!"

"Maybe they were attacked by a ferocious shrimp!" Pinkie gasped as she turned to Fluttershy, "Nopony ever expects that!"

The pegasus blinked at her, "Shrimps can attack?"

"Nope! That's why nopony expects it."

"Can we focus please?" Soul asked Pinkie, "I really don't want to have to live through a war...again, if I can help it."

The others grimaced at this, and before they could start thinking of actual solutions, the store's bell rang as somepony stepped inside. It was Sandbar, who trotted inside with an order slip in his mouth. But as he walked in, his eyes saw the chart with the other student's names on it, making him go wide-eyed as his slip almost fell out of his mouth. The others turned to him and he blushed, slowly making his way to the counter with an awkward smile.

"Hi, Sandbar!" Pinkie appeared behind the counter and grabbed the slip he had just put down, running into the kitchen and returning a moment later with a bunch of boxes. "Are you having a party?"

"No!" He yelped, "I'm just uh..." Sweat started pouring down his face, "Really hungry? Yeah...really hungry!" Pinkie gave him a smile as he headed for the door, hearing the others talking.

"We need to think like our students," Rarity commented as the shaking earth pony teen accidently dropped several cupcakes while Pinkie opened the door for him. "If someone told us we would never see each other again, what would we do?"

"Go someplace we could all hang out and eat lots and lots of cupcakes!" The others turned to Pinkie, who shrugged. "What?"

"She might have a point," Flash nodded, "Though maybe with less cupcakes."

As he said that, Fluttershy thought about what they just saw. "Sandbar was friends with all of the missing students...and he just got plenty of cupcakes."

"Huh," Applejack added, "He was at the farm this mornin' pickin' up a wagonload of apples..."

"And I saw him in a shop buying pillows and blankets!"

Rainbow gasped, "He must be taking all that stuff to the other students! We've gotta follow him!" The others nodded and ran for the door, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie all getting stuck in the door thanks to their haste.

"Err...girls?" Flash spoke up as they finally pushed themselves free and splatted onto the ground outside. "I get you don't wanna lose him, but if he sees us acting like that, he might realize we're onto him."

"Flash is right," Twilight nodded as the rest stepped outside. "This mission...requires stealth."

"I wonder where he's going," Heart asked as he flew up, "Ponyville's not that big, and we would have known that a yak and dragon was hiding here."

Soul hummed as she joined him in the air, "Is there someplace around here that not a lot of ponies go too?"

The older ones all heard this and slowly went wide-eyed as Twilight did a small gulp, "Oh dear..."





The Castle of the Two Sisters hadn't had any visitors in a long while, but now the place was alive with excitement as Gallus flew around, laughing his head off before diving down through a hole in the roof. Inside, Ace and Mira were sliding down banisters while Smolder was eating the gems off of some of the old armor. Silverstream and Yona were wandering around, and Ocellus was sitting on some of the steps, surrounded by books.

"Huh," Gallus chuckled, "This place is way cooler than I thought it'd be." Silverstream nodded as Yona ran down the stairs, only to trip on her braid and fall the rest of the way. She didn't let this get her down however, smiling as Ace and Mira slid down the banisters and landed on top of her.

The three laughed as Smolder kept eating, "Even I'm impressed. What's it called again, Ocellus?"

"The Castle of the Two Sisters," the Changling smirked. "I remembered it from class. Princess Twilight's 'History of Pre-Equestrian Friendships.'"

"Yeah," Mira leapt off Yona. "I remember Springer telling Ace and I about this place. Apparently, there's a cave under it that houses the Tree of Harmony."

"That sounds familiar," Gallus raised an eyebrow as Ocellus smiled.

"It was another lesson Princess Twilight told us about. The Pillars of Equestria planted a crystal seed that grew into a tree with the powers of the seven Elements of Harmony."

"Huh," Gallus landed on the steps behind her, "Who knew? School was actually good for something."

"Yona not really like school," the yak grumbled as she stood up. She then smiled and grabbed them all, pulling them into a tight hug. "But Yona like new friends!"

They all groaned as they tried to escape, "Smolder...like breathing!"

"Hey, you guys!" They looked up to see Silverstream looking out a window. "Sandbar's back!" They all headed for the door, soon spotting the earth pony pulling a trio of wagons.

"Cupcakes are best cakes!" Yona cheered before running at full speed, Sandbar screaming in fear of getting run over. Luckily, Gallus flew in and threw one of Yona's braids until her hooves. This caused her to trip over and roll to a stop right in front of Sandbar, the little yak sitting and panting like an expectant puppy.

Sandbar sighed in relief, "Thanks for the assist, Gallus."

Gallus scoffed with a 'too cool for school' look on his face. "I was just saving the cupcakes." They opened the boxes with Gallus and Yona stuffing as many cupcakes as they could down their gullets. Ace joined them as Ocellus flew over to the next wagon and smiled when she saw what was in it.

"Pillows!" She dived into it as Mira leapt on top, the pair sighing as they enjoyed the softness. "How nice! The castle is gonna be so much more comfy."

"And fun!" Smolder laughed as she grabbed one, "Pillow fight!" She threw it at Sandbar, knocking the earth pony down for a moment. She then grabbed another and charged, Sandbar smirking as he grabbed the first pillow and used it to defend himself. The pair laughed at this as Gallus, Ace and Yona watched, only for a buzzing sound to make them look up to see an Ocellus colored bugbear holding a bunch of pillows.

She dropped the pillows on top of the two before body slamming down, the pillows keeping her from crushing the two. They all laughed at this as Mira grabbed a pillow, the others following suit until Silverstream's voice called out to them.

"YOU ALL!" Ocellus turned back to normal as they glanced over at the hippogriff, who had a starry eyed look on her face. "I just found...STAIRS!" She pointed as said pieces of architecture, the others blinking at her.

"I...see." Ace said slowly.

Gallus continued, "Aaaand we care because...?"

"Stairs are awesome!" Silverstream yelled, smiling at her friends. "We don't have anything like 'em underwater, 'cause you know..." In a flash of light, Silverstream suddenly morphed into her seapony form and landed on the stairs. "...no way to climb 'em!"

"Ohhhh," they all realized what she was getting at. They kept forgetting that stuff they take for granted, probably didn't or couldn't exist in the underwater realm she grew up in.

Silverstream transformed back into her normal form and cheered, "This place has everything!" She then showed a frown, "If only my family back home could see it..."

The others grimaced at this, only for Smolder to throw an apple at her, the seapony catching it as Ocellus spoke up, "I wish the other changelings could meet you all. You're not nearly as strange as the stories say."

"Gee, thanks." Smolder chuckled before looking away. "But yeah, hanging out with other creatures is actually...not bad." But as she said that, a rustling sound filled the air, making them turn to a bush. Moments later, an orange creature shot out. One that Sandbar recognized and made him gulp.

"Uh..." Ace scratched his head, "What's that thing?"

"A puckwudgie!" Sandbar yelped, leaping behind Yona. "They're bad news! A bunch of them attacked Ponyville a while back. I was pulling their spikes out of my flank for days!"

"A what now?" Mira asked as Ocellus sighed.

"Am I the only one who didn't sleep through Professor Fluttershy's 'Critters of Comfort and Conflict' class?"

"Not our fault," Ace replied, "Fluttershy's got a very soothing voice. Combine that with a seriously boring lecture and it's a miracle you stayed awake."

The others nodded in agreement as Ocellus turned back to the puckwudgie. "Maybe I can make friends with it!" She transformed into a blue copy of the creature and walked up, making several weird noises. The creature looked at her in confusion, then growled before letting out a horrifying cry as several more puckwudgies shot out of the bushes. They all hissed and prepared to fire their spikes while Ocellus moved back to the others.

"What did you say to them?" Mira asked as Ocellus transformed back to normal.

"Oops."

"Yak plan better!" Yona yelled before letting out a mighty battle roar and charged, only for the creatures to simply spin around and fire their needles into the air. Yona saw them and stopped in her tracks, only for Silverstream to grab the empty pillow wagon and lifted it up above her. It blocked the spines, Yona smiling at the hippogriff before a puckwudgie leapt onto the weapon, Silverstream looking at it curiously, only for Yona to pull her away seconds before she could get a face full of needles. Ace fired an Aura Blast next, knocking the puckwudgie off the cart.

The others tried to back away, but quickly found more of the creatures jumping out of the bushes. The eight terrified students all found themselves getting backed up, the group grabbing the wagons and pulling them together to make a barricade. As they did this, the puckwudgies spun around to point their spines at them before advancing.

"We could use a few more Aura Blasts!" Gallus told the jakhowls.

"We're not as strong as Springer!" Mira barked back, "We can't make more than three or four Aura Blasts at a time right now!"

"That definitely won't be enough to take these things down," Ace added as Smolder threw a pillow at them. But the thing was soon shredded by the needles flying through it, Smolder turning to her changeling friend.

"Think Ocellus! Did Professor Fluttershy say anything about how to beat puckwudgies in her lecture?!"

"Uh..." Ocellus rubbed her hooves onto her head, "I'm sorry, I can't remember!"

Gallus gulped as he picked up a cupcake. "I'm gonna go ahead and guess it's not pillows, apples-" He lifted the dessert up and seconds later, brought it back down to show a bunch of needles sticking out of it. "...or cupcakes."

"Wouldn't class have been about how to make friends with them?" Silverstream asked as Sandbar looked over the wagon.

"Uh...they're getting really close." They looked over the wagons and saw that they were seconds away from being in firing range.

"Yona not scared!" The little yak told them, a smile adorning her face. "Yona have friends!" She held out a hoof and the others nodded, putting their hooves, paws and claws in with hers'. They then looked back at the creatures, now feeling Flash's courage lessons going through them.

Two of the puckwudgies leapt at them, ready to sink their large teeth into the kids. But before they could reach, a rainbow colored blur shot past them, and the puckwudgies were gone. The students blinked and caught sight of the blur, following it as it shot past some trees and pinned the puckwudgies to the trunks. The blur then came to a stop in the air, making Gallus yelp, "Is that Professor Egghead?!"

It was Rainbow Dash, staring down at the creatures as the puckwudgies began to attack her, only for two pegasi to shoot down from the sky. "Armorize!" Flash's voice filled the air as he and Heart appeared as the golden armor materialized onto him. "Flash Cutter!" The pegasus swung his sword and unleashed an energy blade, which smacked the puckwudgies flying.

"Wow!" Smolder's eyes went wide, "Didn't know he could do that." As she said that, another puckwudgie leapt up at them, only for Heart to appear in front of them.

"Fire Smasher!" He swung his bandaged hoof as it suddenly set ablaze, hitting the puckwudgie in the chest. The students gasped at this, only to notice the bandages were now burning. "Ooh, ahh, eey!" He yelped as he pulled the bandages off before turning back to the fight as more puckwudgies appeared.

But as this happened, Flash and Heart stood still, only for the beasts to start glowing and were soon lifted off the ground. Twilight and Starlight galloped in front of the students and brought their horns together, the light of their magic exploding out in a dome-like shield that only effected the puckwudgies and sent them flying. The other teachers of the school soon followed suit, Spike at the front as he breathed fire into his claws and threw them forward. Giant fire claws shot out and grabbed several puckwudgies, lifting them up and sending them flying as well.

"Aw, yeah!" he cheered, only for a few more to leap at him just as Applejack appeared and snagged them in her lasso. She swung them around, narrowly missing Rarity as she was busy tying the puckwudgie's needles up in ribbons and giving them a makeup makeover. One puckwudgie tried to flee, but was then grabbed by some of Fluttershy's bird friends.

"Oh!" She told the birds, "Don't hurt them!" They dropped the creature into her hooves, "Let's just ask them to leave nicely." She hugged the beast as it continued to snarl and roar, the others being distracted from seeing how this ended when Pinkie suddenly appeared while pushing a large cannon. She pointed the cannon up as Rainbow dropped several puckwudgies inside, Flash doing the same. Twilight and Starlight grabbed the rest to place inside as Heart flew over and lit the fuss. Everypony watched as the cannon exploded with a loud and exciting bang, sending a burst of confetti into the air alongside the puckwudgies. The creatures were blasted all over the forest, each equipped with a parachute to ensure a safe landing.

The students were all completely gobsmacked by this, Yona being the one to break the silence. "Not bad!" She then quickly corrected herself, "For pony."

"Wow!" Ocellus whispered, "They're amazing!"

Gallus nodded as Flash dispelled his armor, "I had no idea our teachers were actually cool."

This was met by a chuckle from Sandbar. "I've been trying to tell you!"

"That's nothing," Ace added, "Wait until you see what Springer can do. You'll faint just watching it."

"Did you see that?!" Silverstream cheered, "Rainbow Dash was like voooooom and then werrrrr, and the puckwudgies went flying! And then the birds came and-"

"Yeah," Smolder stopped her, "We all just lived it. But you're right...that was pretty amazing. Even by dragon standards."

"Is every-creature alright?" Twilight asked as she and Soul flew over to them.

"Anyone need some medical attention?" This was met with yeses to Twilight's question and noes to Soul's, Spike panting as he spoke up next.

"You're lucky we got here in time!"

Starlight nodded. "You know, this probably isn't the safest place for a camp-out."

Ocellus grimaced at this, "Um...does that mean you're going to send us back to our homes?"

The others all went wide-eyed at this, Flash rolling his eyes. "Oh, don't give us that look. I invented that look. And no, actually."

"We have another option in mind," Twilight added, the students sharing glances before Gallus asked what they were all thinking.

"We're listening."

"It's pretty clear you've already started learning friendship without your teachers. But we'd like to show you even more...if you'd come back to school." The students grimaced at this, the group sharing another look as they knew they didn't want to be separated again, but the idea of being forced to sit through those boring lessons again felt like an even worse torture than not being able to see each other.

"Not much of a choice," Smolder muttered.

The others smiled at each other before Applejack took off her hat, "To be honest, we felt exactly the same way when Twilight told us she was reopening the school."

Rarity nodded. "But this time, we guarantee it shall be different."

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow cheered, "With class run my way, it'll be two hundred and twenty percent cooler."

Fluttershy nodded and held up her copy of the accursed rule book. "And without the EEA..." She threw the book away, unknowingly knocking out a puckwudgie that had been planning a sneak attack, "...it'll be much friendlier."

The students let these words sink in and still showed frowns on their faces...until Pinkie spoke up. "Plus, all your nations won't go to war if you come back with us! That's a bonus!"

This made the student's go wide-eyed again as Sandbar yelped, "Wait, what's happening?!"

"It's a long story," Flash chimed in, "We'll tell you all about it on the way. That being said, even if you don't come back to school, there's no way you're staying out in the Everfree Forest. Ace, Mira, I'm a little disappointed you didn't tell them how dangerous it is here."

"We did," Ace looked down. "But we thought the castle might at least be safe. It's got the Tree of Harmony super close to it."

"This castle might have been safe once, but that was a long time ago." Twilight took out a piece of paper and a quill, writing on it as she spoke. "And the Tree of Harmony might be a living thing, but I doubt it would intervene in a monster attack." She finished her letter and gave it to Spike, the Mystic Flame Dragon sending it to Canterlot with a single breath while Twilight wrote another one for Queen Novo.

As they walked, Ace noticed Heart's leg and remembered what happened. "Heart, your leg okay?" He turned to him, "We saw the bandage burn off. Hope it didn't do any extra damage to your wound." Heart lifted his hoof up in response, only for everyone to gasp. Heart's fur had grown back, but his hoof now had a scar running down one side and along the top and then up the other side a few inches. Most of them hissed at the sight of the injury, but Flash, Twilight and Spike's eyes went wide and they all shared a glance. They had seen that scar before.

"Ouch," Gallus gulped, "Doesn't that hurt?"

"Uh..." Heart swung the hoof around and stomped it on the ground a few times, every-creature flinching as he did so. "Nope. Can't feel a thing."

"By can't feel a thing..." Soul chimed in, "You mean you can't feel any pain or you can't feel anything period?"

They all grimaced at this, Ace then pinching his hoof, "Ow!" Heart pulled away and glared at Ace, but everyone else breathed a sigh of relief.

"I think that's as healed as its gonna get," Twilight sighed.

"So Heart's gonna have that for the rest of his life?" Soul asked, Heart staring at his new marking.

"Congrats Heart," Flash chuckled as he pointed to his own scarred chest, "You got your very own battle scar. Wear it with pride and try not to get another one. I know I don't want another one." They all laughed at this as they continued their march through the forest, eventually arriving at the edge and back in Ponyville. Soon enough, they were back in front of the still locked up school, Twilight's eyes falling onto the padlock keeping it shut. She sparked her horn, ready to open it back up, but Celestia's voice stopped her.

"Twilight!" They turned to see Celestia leading the other species to them. "I was so relieved to get your letter!"

"As was Queen Novo," Seaspray nodded. "Oh, we're just glad you're alright Silverstream!" Suddenly, Gruff flew up in front of Gallus and pointed his talon at him.

"Don't expect a welcome party from me, sonny! It's time you got home!" He reached over and grabbed Gallus' head feathers in his beak, trying to pull him away, but Gallus slapped him away.

"I'm not leaving."

"Whaaaat?! Gruff yelled as Ocellus spoke up.

"None of us are." She then noticed her leader's raised eyebrow and hid behind Smolder. "Sorry, Thorax."

"Yak not understand." Rutherford scratched his head and turned to Ember, "This pony joke?"

"No," Smolder responded, "We're going back to school."

"How?!" Ember asked, "You can't even get inside!" She soon got her answer when Twilight unleashed a burst of magic, hitting the padlock sealing the building up until it completely shattered. As it did this, the magic covering the school faded away and she turned to smile at them all.

"School is back in session!" The students cheered, but that joy quickly vanished when a familiar looking portal appeared in front of the door.

Twilight stepped back as Chancellor Neighsay trotted out of it, the unicorn turning to the remains of his magical seal. He glared at the non-ponies, "Who dared remove my seal?!"

"I did, Chancellor Neighsay!" He shot a glare at the alicorn, but Twilight didn't even flinch and gave him her own stern expression while Flash and the others stood behind her in a united front. "And I respectfully ask you to step aside, or classes will start late."

"Classes won't start at all! The EEA has spoken, and none shall pass!" He slammed his hoof into the ground, actually causing a shockwave.

Yona growled back at him, "Yak pass if yak say! Hmph!" She tried to charge at him, but Ace and Sandbar stopped her.

"This is for the greater good!" Neighsay yelled before pointing at Twilight, "The school was disorganised, the teachers unqualified! And those dangerous and unpredictable 'students' put ponies' lives in danger!" He pointed to the still destroyed tower while the leaders all glared at him.

"I'll show you unpredictable!" Ember hissed before all except Springer marched up, Neighsay flinching from the 'deadly monsters' until Celestia stepped between them.

"Hold on, please!" They all stopped and turned to her, "I'm sure Princess Twilight Sparkle has a good explanation for all of this."

"I do!" Twilight assured her, "It's true that my School of Friendship is EEA-unaccredited-"

"Look!" Spike cheered, "She said it without doing the eye thing!"

"Then it is not a school!" Neighsay got right in her face, but Twilight just smiled and pushed him back.

"It's not an EEA school. It's a friendship school with its own rules. I should know. I wrote the book!" In a flash of light, a giant purple book three times the size of the EEA Guidebook appeared at Neighsay's hooves. The unicorn gasped at this, Twilight then turning to the others. "These students reminded me that every friendship is special, so the way we teach it has to be just as unique." The students all smiled at this as their leaders looked down at them with pride, "My school is going to do things differently."

Neighsay still looked un-stirred by Twilight speech. "Allowing all of these creatures to attend your school, changing the rules for them...it simply won't work!"

Twilight was about to speak up, but Celestia did it for her, "I seem to recall something about earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi doing something similar, don't you?"

Neighsay's face twisted at this, only for Twilight to add, "I promise you chancellor, my school will help protect Equestria."

"Or destroy it!" With that, he leapt back through the portal and they all cheered as it closed.

"Hmph," Gruff crossed his claws, "How is this school going to be any different from last time?" Twilight just giggled as she opened the door, their inbuilt music players began to play. And so, Twilight, Flash and all the others at the school began to sing. It was a song that would explain how different the school would be, about how it would be a safe place for creatures of all different shapes, sizes and traditions to come together and learn about one another. The leaders listened to this and while some were a little uncomfortable with the whole singing thing, they could all see the value of it.

And when the song ended, the point was made. "Ugh, fine!" Ember whined, covering her ears, "If you promise to stop singing, Smolder can stay!"

"Wahoo!" The younger dragon cheered.

"Ugh..." Rutherford sighed, "If dragon stay, yak stay." Yona smiled as Thorax rubbed his charge's head.

"I know you will make the changelings proud, Ocellus."

"You belong here," Seaspray told Silverstream before she hugged him. "Now," she pulled away, "Can you show me those stair things you mentioned?" This question resulted in Silverstream letting out an incoherently excited noise, the young hippogriff pulling him toward the nearest set.

"Springer?" Mira asked.

"Please?" Ace went on as the pair gave him the puppy dog eyes.

"Quit it," the older jakhowl crossed his arms. "I was gonna let you come here before the song anyway."

"YES!" The pair cheered, high-fiving...only for Springer to grab both by the shoulders, making them slowly look back up at the jakhowl, seeing a death stare from him.

"Now...what did I tell you about not going into the Everfree?"

"Uh..." the duo gulped, sweat now going down their heads. "We're sorry?"

As the jakhowl began to lecture them, Gallus smiled at his friends, then noticed Grampa Gruff still flying above him. "What?" The old griffon asked before pointing at him, "You belong at home! You think I care if you've made friends?!" He looked away, but Gallus still had a trick up his claw.

"Please, Grandpa Gruff?" Gruff looked back and saw Gallus give him his own puppy dog eyes, something he had learned from his friends. He let out several whimpers, making Gruff flinch.

"Alright, alright!" He grumbled, "Stop doing that!" Gallus pumped his arm before the students all rushed inside, cheering along the way. Twilight watched this with a giant grin as Starlight stepped up to her.

"Guess I make a pretty good guidance counsellor, huh?"

"Yes!" Twilight nodded, "Writing the rule-book was the most fun ever! I can't wait to start working on the new lesson plans!" A throat clearing from Applejack made her look over at her friends, the princess blushing at them. "...with some help from my friends."

Celestia giggled at this before turning to the other leaders. "Well, I hope this school works, and is proof of how our kingdoms can work together."

"I hope so too," Thorax nodded before turning to the other leaders. "Who knows, you all might want to join the C.D.P.A along with our three kingdoms."

"C.D.P.A?" Gruff asked, "What in the blazes are you talking about?"

"The Changeling, Dragon, Pony Alliance," Celestia replied, "It's a promise between our three nations that if any of them ever need help, the other two will be there when called."

"I was skeptical about it," Ember told the others. "But it sure came in handy when the Storm King guy showed up and caused problems."

"Yes," Seaspray nodded, "I remember Queen Novo telling me about it. I'm sure we of the hippogriffs would love to be part of your alliance."

"Yaks no need help from ponies when trouble show face," Rutherford declared, "But if ponies need yak's help, yaks be there."

"That's great," Twilight cheered while turning to Flash. "The alliance is gonna grow! Isn't that amazing?"

"Yeah," Flash nodded as he turned to see Heart talking to Ace and Gallus. He then saw the scar on the colt's leg and remembered something. "But...maybe they shouldn't join the alliance."

"WHAT!?" Every-creature yelled, all looking at him with wide eyes.

"What are you talking about?! Of course they should join!"

"Just hear me out," Flash responded, "What if instead of them joining the alliance and adding a bunch of new letters to it, we all come together and create something new. Something more than just a promise the help when it's need. A way for the many kingdoms to truly bond with one another."

"What are you talking about?" Ember asked, as Flash trotted around them all.

"Ever since I first came to Ponyville, I've seen time and again things that prove a fundamental fact about the world. Every living thing, be it pony, dragon, yak, jakhowl or anything else, have both strengths and weaknesses." They all raised an eyebrow at this. "Some creatures have a lot of strengths and a few weaknesses, while others have a few strengths and a lot of weaknesses. And I've seen those weaknesses, however small they might be, can get somepony into a lot of trouble."

"Is there a point to all this?" Gruff asked, Flash shining a smirk.

"I've also seen something else. When creatures with different strengths work together, those strengths are made stronger and their weakness almost completely disappear. It's what's allowed my friends and I to all save Equestria so many times, using our strengths to help other's weakness by working together. And that's something I know our kingdoms can do as well." He pointed to the school and the students from all the different kingdoms. "I've seen their strengths and their weaknesses in action." He turned to Ember, "I've seen first hand what Smolder's biggest weakness is. When she's on her own, that weakness will grow and eventually lead to her getting into serious trouble." Ember frowned at this, "But when she works with Ocellus, or Sandbar, or any creature who has different strengths to her, those weaknesses completely vanish."

"Very true," Celestia nodded, "Uniting those with different skills to work for a better future, that's what allowed Equestria to be born."

"So then let's do that," Flash replied, "Instead of simply making an alliance, but remain separate, let's find a way to share everything that's good about our nations and learn from one another. You never know, there may one day be a changeling that wishes to live the way of the yak, or a yak that enjoys the life of a hippogriff or dragon. Let's make a world that doesn't just celebrate multiple different cultures, but a single culture comprised of all the best parts of each kingdom. Instead of having an alliance, let's create..." He gave another look at his apprentice, "A...United Federation...of Creatures."

Those words rang in every-creature's heads, the leaders blinking at the suggestion, only to smile and nod, Gruff even doing so.

"A United Federation of Creatures?" Celestia repeated, "I like the sound of that." The others all nodded in agreement.

"Why don't we wait and see how well this whole school thing works out?" Seaspray suggested. "If at the end of the year, if our students have proven how well they work together, I'm sure Queen Novo will be more than happy to join this United Federation."

"I'm up for that," Ember added.

"Count me in," Thorax raised his hoof.

"Don't think you'll be leaving the jakhowls out," Springer laughed.

"Yaks in!"

They all looked towards Gruff, the griffon rolling his eyes and crossing his claws. "Fine, whatever. If Gallus graduates from this silly school, I'll agree to have the griffons join this silly federation." They all cheered at this, Flash and Twilight high-winging.

"United Federation, huh?" She smiled as Flash shrugged. "I wonder, did you think of this yourself?" Her eyes shifted to Heart, "Or did somepony else give you the idea for it?"

Flash chuckled at this, "I like to think I'm just helping give life to something that would have inevitably happened anyway." They both smiled and looked up at the school, looking forward to when the rest of the students returned, and their lessons could truly begin. A new era for Equestria was just on the horizon, and it would all start with this amazing school.





A few days later...

Heart had just gotten out of his last class of the day with Ace, Mira and Soul. They were gonna join up with Gallus and the rest of their new friends to finish their homework for Pinkie's Laughter Class: Design a party for somepony else in the class. True to Twilight's word, the school really had changed for the better. The classes were truly teaching them important lessons about friendship, each done the teacher's own ways. Flash's Courage Lessons were still a favorite of many students, but now they looked forward to Applejack's woodworking and apple bucking classes, Rainbow's sports theme classes and even Rarity's textile classes.

Every class now had at least one or two students that called it their favorites, but no class was ever called boring or a waste of time.

"Who did you pick out of the hat?" Heart asked his sister as she took out a slip of paper.

"Raspberry Raindrop," she replied, "That should be fun to come up with."

Heart nodded as they stepped around the corner, only to almost bump into somepony. "Whoa!" He pulled back just in time, only to see who it was. "Cozy!"

"Oh," Cozy Glow looked up at him and smiled, "Hi Heart. It's nice to see you again."

"Same here," Heart nodded, "You enjoy being back at school?"

Cozy nodded. "Yup. It's a lot more fun now. I hope I get to stay for a while." The others saw the looks Heart was giving Cozy and smirked at one another, wanting to giggle as his obliviousness.

"Hey," Heart pointed in the direction of the courtyard, "We're about to meet up with our friends and work on some homework. Wanna join us?"

"Sure," Cozy replied as the pair continued. The others followed after them, all smirking as they wondered how life at the School of Friendship was gonna be from now on...and the many adventures that await them.


The End.