Questions and Answers with House Path

Chapters

1
2
3
4
Its been a long time...
7
Old Building, New News!
8
9
Meeting in the Friendship Castle

1

There was a large crowd in the large amphitheater – ponies, griffons, changelings of various hives, even a few zebras and dragons. In the middle of the stage there were two chairs, one of which had the dean of the journalism department in the University of Canterlot, and in the other there was a rather plain-looking earth pony with a green mane, but everyone knew who it was – Lord Long Path.

Clapping started as Path looked and waved to them all rather excitedly. The dean stood up and motioned for them all to quiet down as he started to talk, the collar he was wearing amplifying his voice so all could hear.

“I am glad you could all make it tonight. We have a very special guest tonight: a pony who has worked to do what most have thought impossible, building bridges in days that others could not in years. I give you Lord Path!” The dean motioned to path as he slowly stood up and smiled, people clapped for a few moments before the stopped.

Path tapped the collar as his voice was amplified.

“It is nice to meet everyone. I’ve actually decided to change up the format of this interview if that’s okay, Dean?” Path just grinned as the unicorn blinked a few times and nodded to the earth pony. They both shut off their collar mics and talked as the crowd looked on. He nodded after a few moments.

“This is going to be a highly unorthodox interview. I will go into the crowd, pick a person who wants to ask a question. They will ask the question, and after receiving the answer, they will take the collar and pick somebody else!”

The crowd started to murmur and talk amongst themselves before the dean stated to walk into the crowd. They quieted down as they looked to see who he picked. It took a few moments before he handed the collar to what looked like a filly earth pony; maybe a freshman in college, if that.

“Mister Lord Path?”

Path chuckled. “Just call me Path. I’m not one for titles unless it’s for something fancy.”

The pony nodded. “Path, how do you do your thunderhoof technique? Can anybody do it?”

The crowd started to talk again, as Path quieted them down.

“As of right now, I can tell you that you need to be at least a significant amount earth pony to be able to learn it. For example, one of your parents is an earth pony. I know this because other earth ponies can do it, and my daughter can do it but only from her back hooves, not her front talons. I’m full earth pony, Lucida is a hippogriff, so she’s half, and Twilight Sparkle can do it because alicorns embody all three pony types including earth. I tried to teach Free Agent, and I tried to teach Warfist, but it is outside of their capability. I hope that answers your question.”

The filly nodded before she got up with the collar and started to look around… she moved up one isle and down the other until she handed it off to a rather stern looking Unicorn. Path looked to the unicorn and he internally groaned. A loyalist… great… He took it and started to talk.

“Path, you have been to so many countries – tell us why Equestria is the best country on Equus.”

Path just blinked while others looked at the Unicorn.

“I can’t tell you that… because it’s not…”

The crowd gasped and started to talk again.

“For a country to be the best, it has to be better than all of the other countries in every category without exception, and that’s just not the case. Every country has their pros and cons. To compare it on some kind of ranking chart isn’t fair. That’s like asking what city is the most beautiful… it’s entirely up to personal interpretation.”

Path started to walk toward the front of the stage.

“I can say this though: Equestria is the best country, in your opinion.” Path smiled at the unicorn who looked even more angry than before.

“Okay, okay… then… in YOUR OPINION… what is your favorite country, Lord Path?” The unicorn grinned as Path rolled his eyes.

“Well, the answer is simple but not what you would expect. My favorite country is the moon.” Path smirked.

“The moon is not a country!” the unicorn snapped!

“Actually… the funny thing is that it is. I’ve read the historical documents, and while there may not be any inhabitants of the country right now, it’s still a valid autonomous region.” Path just grinned as the unicorn passed the collar to his left… to another unicorn loyalist. Path rubbed his eyes; this was going to be a long meeting.

“So you say your favorite country is the moon…does that mean you are a Lunarian?” the unicorn practically growled out.

Path sighed. “Talking about one’s beliefs without an open mind is the best way to close doors, but I said I would answer every question. I am a Logicist variant of a Discordiant… one who uses science, logic, and reason to guide their life, but also realizes that in order for the closed system to remain dynamic, chaos on some level is required.”

The unicorn loyalist was about to say something before a yellow aura grabbed and pulled it away.

Path breathed a sigh of relief as a yellow changeling started to talk.

“What was it like, going up against the Mad Queen?”

A few people looked at the changeling and then back to Path.

“Well, for lack of a better word, it was terrifying. A lot of the stories that I’ve read make it seem like we all beat her in five minutes and it was easy. Let me tell you that it was not. Not only did our plan A fail, but so did our plans B, C, and D. We had nothing left. The improvised magical relay Twilight created barely supplied enough power to beat the queen, and in the process I was killed, it took them five minutes to revive me and I’m still recovering now. We won, but it took everyone to just barely do it. I hope that answers the question?”

The changeling nodded before he handed it over to a griffon male a few rows back.

“Rumors are floating around that you eat meat. Is that true?”

Again the room started to murmur before Path cleared his throat.

“Yes, I am an avid meat eater. What most don’t realize is that ponies are actually omnivores. While they are designed to eat primarily plants, they can also consume meat, as long as there’s not too much fat, and let me tell you – meat tastes really, really good.”

Path sat down as he started to smile.

“Actually I remember when I first went to Griffonia. I ate with all of the dignitaries, and they put meat in front of us as a joke. Then they watched on as I picked up a slab of meat, and then ate it. I overheard one betting ten crowns that I couldn’t finish it. They lost that bet.

The audience laughed a bit as the griffon passed the collar over to a zebra.

“At work I sometimes overhear my coworkers talking about the time they felt you in the hive mind; how did you go into the hive mind? Did they kidnap you?” The Zebra seemed to be nervous, but as Path started to laugh, he started to calm down.

“First off let me tell you that they felt me in the hive mind, because I was in the Green Hive’s for about fourteen hours.”

A few people’s eyes went wide.

“However… a non-changeling getting connected to a hive network takes a lot of time and energy, and the person being linked has to consent. Also it can only be done by royalty, so in short, no, they don’t kidnap ponies and turn them into changelings. I really thought we moved on from silly rumors like that.”

The zebra wilted slightly and Path started to backtrack.

“But it is still a good question if we expand on it a little – what is it like to be connected to a hive network?”

Path paced for a few moments.

“It’s not something that a pony can accurately describe. The best thing I can do is say that it’s being able to see everyone and everything at once, and being able to shift perspectives at will. It’s very disorienting, and very addicting if you have a passion for academics. In the fourteen hours I was in there, it felt like minutes. Free Agent had to come in and get me, or else I would have been lost.”

Path just smiled a bit and sat back as the dean started to talk.

“We are going to have a short recess before we continue the questions from the audience!”

Author's Note

Hey everyone!

So since the first book is now finished and Gold is going to be taking a break for a while (After writing over 200k words anybody would need a break) so I came up with this idea. Something that I can do to keep things going. In this scenario Path is holding a Q and A in the canterlot university. But since word spread that the Q and A was about to happen several hundred more people showed up. So here is the rules.

Anyone can msg me a post of their character taking the voice amplification collar and asking the question. Any race any gender can msg me a question post, There are three exceptions: No Alicorn OCs ( Cogsverse is Gold's Universe and he has set how many alicorns there will be.) No Doctor Hooves (He has a part to play later on) and it has to be in the MLP universe (No Anthro's, Humans, Chakats) Any question or answer can be removed at Gold's request since it is his universe.

I hope everyone has fun with this!

--AIC

2

When everyone came back, Path blinked a few times; they were all wearing “Hello my name is:” stickers. He chuckled slightly and mumbled to himself. “Well, at least I’ll know whose questions I’m answering, hah!”

He watched a light blue aura wrap around the collar as this time a unicorn with a brown mane and orange coat cleared his throat. As he spoke Path’s eyes moved downward to his name sticker.

“Besides your “Thunderhooves” technique, can you cast any other spells?”

He lowered the collar and looked at Path before the earth pony stood up and walked to the front of the stage again.

“Good question, Gizmo Gears. Well, right now I can’t cast any spells without the help of a magitek assistance device. In the fight with the mad queen, I lost everything.” He turned to the side to show off his blank flank. “But before that event, there were two spells I had in my arsenal: Thunderhooves and Grounding Shield. One lets me bottle up the earth pony variant of magic and then release it out in one massive concussive wave. The other connects me to Equus so when a magical attack hits me, it’s channeled around me and into the ground. I used the first technique quite often, but the only times I’ve used the second was when I had to deal with a certain love-drunk changeling. There was a third spell that I was starting to develop, but now that I can no longer do magic, I am going to have to transfer my notes to another earth pony that is magic sensitive.”

The collar was handed off to a cream-colored unicorn. He started to speak as Path looked to his name sticker with a smile.

“Will you seek to regain your magic and cutie mark?”

Once the topic of magic was brought up, quite a few more unicorns looked and started to pay attention to what the earth pony had to say.

“Well Sanmer, I could’ve regained my magic if I had taken Discord up on his boon, but honestly, I believe that I can do what I need to do without magic, and there are a few countries that I have visited that tend to frown upon the use of magic. So in that case it is actually a plus that I can no longer cast my spells. That’s not to say that I’m weak; actually without the use of magic I’ve become stronger in other ways.” Path smiled a bit as he saw the collar get passed off yet again.

When a tan-colored unicorn grabbed the collar with his blue magic, Path again looked down to his name sticker.

“I would like to ask a few questions of Free Agent, if that’s okay?” Traveling Soul asked.

Path looked up at the clock – barely five minutes had passed. Path started to laugh as he looked back to the dean.

“I told you they would ask for you within ten minutes. You owe me dinner!” Path pointed with his hoof and grinned widely.

The dean rolled his eyes as he was covered in a green fire and in his place a red griffon stood.

“You know I figured it would’ve at least taken fifteen minutes, but a bet is a bet,” Free said. As he walked by path, it looked like the hoof/claw bumped before Path sat back down and Free looked at Traveling Soul.

“Ask away my lovelies!” Free waggled his eyebrows and looked at some of the mares, hens, stallions, and cocks.

“I actually have two questions. Number one: We know your favorite form is a griffon, but what is your second favorite form and why? Number two: What is your personal opinion of the other known changeling queens in Equestria?”

Free just blinked a few times. “Okay wow… I was not expecting it to get so heavy so soon. Okay so yes my favorite form is my griffon form, because it’s me, however when I need to go to super posh meetings in Canterlot I tend to use my second favorite form.”

Free flashed in green fire before a red alicorn stood on the stage. “All will swoon before the ravishingly good looks of the Alicorn of Awe…” Free was stopped mid speech when Path clipped him behind the ears. “Er… yes… this is my second favorite form.” Free nodded before going back to his preferred griffon form.

“Now for your second question… well it’s not going to have an exciting answer. This is because for three of the five Equestrian hives my overall opinion is ‘meh’. They do their things; I do mine. For the most part, we don’t ever talk to each other, except for when we have meetings with Celestia and Luna.” Free sighed a bit.

“However the Red and Green Hives I do have an opinion on. I personally don’t like queen Carpacia, and this is something I’ve said to her face several times. She’s way too uptight, blah blah protocol, blah blah honor, blah blah fight to the death blah… she really needs to cut loose and relax. Shining however loves her. They go on and on, talking about war tactics and military strategies for hours; it’s so boring really. On the other hand there is the Green Hive – I really like their queen. Not only is her daughter helping me run the Blue Hive, which is such a pain, but Dianthia has even gone out with me for a night out on the town once or twice. Of course we were disguised at the time… and I might be lying.”

He looked back and forth before whispering loudly to the crowd. “If you ever see a tipsy lime-green unicorn slurring out the words to “Sweet Home Appleoosa” in a karaoke bar with a deep blue pegasus cheering her on… well… you didn’t hear it from me…” The griffon grinned.

Path rolled his eyes with a grin and walked back up to Free as he talked to those that were assembled. “Yeah, Free always tries to get visiting dignitaries to relax and calm down. It doesn’t matter what country we happen to be in at the time; if it’s not the Club District in Canterlot, then it’s Pub Row in Griffonia, or The Crystal Haus in the Crystal City. He does whatever it takes to make people just relax; it’s easier to talk and make progress when one isn’t so tense.

Path looked to Free who was still posing and grinning. Path facehoofed.

Path watched as the collar was passed to… wait, what? The pony, at least it was part pony. Its front half was a pony with an eggshell coat and blonde mane, but its rear half was that of a giant snake with pearly scales and a pattern of golden brown diamonds running along its back. When he looked at the sticker it said ‘Sergal’.

“Missster Path,” the deep rumble of its... his... voice marking him as a male. “Are you not ssspiritually linked to both an alicorn princesssss and a changeling queen? Can't you sssimply borrow their magic asss Free Agent did to return sssome of your abilitiesss?”

Path thought for a moment before looking at free.

“Well… it’s not that simple… it’s hard for me to put it into words, but alicorns have a lot of magic. I mean a LOT. A normal pony such as myself can’t handle channeling that much power. So it’s not that I just have my magic drained. In the process my magic, as well as the mana channels that carry it were permanently burned out. It’s why I’m now basically magic-inert.” Path motioned for Free to grab something out of the bag. Free put what looked like a strange clear crystal on Paths back, and then clipped a horn onto his forehead.

“This is actually something that House Path’s R&D department is working on. It’s a way to give magic back to unicorns that have been in terrible accidents… it just also happens to work with earth ponies.”

Free shifted into his alicorn form and put his horn against the crystal as it slowly started to glow.

“This device lets me use others’ magic to do small tasks and abilities. I won’t be able to do major magic like teleporting, but I can lift small things like chalk and forks.” Path demonstrated by lifting up a piece of chalk and drawing a little doodle on the board. “So while I don’t have any magic of my own, and I’m unable to hold magic inside myself, there are other ways for me to accomplish things that most don’t really consider a task.”

When the collar was passed to another unicorn, Path again looked down to see the name, ‘Jodie’. He smiled at the pink Pegasus and listened to her question.

“I have a question about pronouns. There are many species in our world, many of them living side by side. However when a pony wants to address a crowd they will say 'everypony' even if there are griffins, dragons, et cetera in the crowd too. I'm not singling out ponies here, as most species do this, with terms like everygriff, everydrake, everyling, and so forth. My question is: do you think this is a specist way of excluding other races, or a harmless method of being proud of one’s heritage?”

Path grinned a bit at this one. “I always find myself tripping up on these pronouns. Everypony, or everygriff or everyling, or everyzeb. I don’t think that they are specist at all; it’s just that when these words were being created, very few ever ventured out of their homelands. The term ‘everypony’ was created because all there were in Canterlot at the time were ponies. Same thing with the other terms. Generally though at the campuses of House Path, because there are so many different groups, I tend to encourage the use of ‘everybody’ or ‘everyone’ since it is gender neutral and not species specific. But honestly it’s not really what’s being said as much as it is the context of how it is being said.”

Path grinned as he watched the collar move to another pony. He really liked how everyone was getting into the whole townhouse Q&A session.

A light grey pegasus was given the collar next. Once he had it, he put it on and adjusted the brown glasses he was wearing before looking up at Long Path with a warm smile. “First, allow me to thank you, Lord Path, for opening the question session to the public.” He cleared his throat and continued. "Now, I am a resident of Ponyville and also a writer, and I've been told that the Blue Changeling Hive, which is being established near Ponyville, is specialized in finding that which is previously unknown. Would they be willing, as a member of your House which promotes universal learning and sharing of knowledge, to work with ponies such as myself as a resource for research and source material for books? Non-fictional or otherwise?"

Path looked to Free and motioned for him to come up front. “I could answer that but I think Free here is more qualified.”

Free rolled his eyes with a grin as he changed into his changeling queen form, towering over everyone that happened to be in the large room, she looked down to the pegasus in the front row.

“While you are right that my hive’s purpose is to uncover what is previously unknown, that primarily has to do with science, technology and innovation. When it comes to biology and medicine that tends to fall under the purple hives area of expertise. I think that written works would be covered by the Green Hive. However, if you still want to talk to my hive or with me, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. I am your neighbor so to speak, so come on over!”

Free started to give the pegasus bedroom eyes before a rolled-up newspaper was brought down on his nose. He flashed back into his griffon form.
“Really, Path – a rolled-up newspaper again?” Free held his nose with a hoof.

“Don’t make the audience members swoon!” Path scolded him.

Most of the audience started to laugh as the collar was passed yet again, this time to a green-coated unicorn stallion. It took a few moments before he nestled it on properly. “So, all things considered, after the battle against the mad Queen, the fruit-bearing peace negotiations between Griffonia and Equestria... what will be next? What kind of legacy do you hope to leave behind?”

Path started to grin and Free groaned. “He’s going to get all preachy again.”

Path rolled his eyes. “I could go on for hours about that one question.” He looked at Free. “But I’m not! The short answer is education, understanding and exploration. I want everyone to be educated and well-traveled, to increase their world view. This is why education at our campuses is free, and it’s also why we will require that the students pick three other campuses to transfer into during their high-school years in order to gain a broader understanding of various cultures. It’s our aim that everyone that graduates is fluent in at least three languages. In the long run… well, we have some ambitious plans that would be a bit premature to discuss right now.”

Path nodded as the collar was transferred, this time to an earth pony with a tea leaf cutie mark. He smiled as he started to talk.

“Lord Path, you've stated before that you went to the Green Hive. Have you visited other changeling hives? Do you intend to visit the remaining hives in the future? And for my last question, do you know if changelings drink tea in abundance?"

Path thought for a few moments. “So far I have only been to three hives, the Green, the Red, and of course the Blue. I would like to visit them all at some point in the future, but since Free is now at all of the queen-princess meetings, there isn’t really a reason for me to go to their hives. Well, no other reason than because I’m curious and want to see what their hives are like. As for tea, I have never seen Free drink tea in my life because he personally hates the stuff. However, I know for a fact that three of the queens LOVE tea. Most of their hives drink the stuff like its water, but the way they prepare it is different. Instead of sugar they stir in a teaspoon full of distilled love. I haven’t tasted it, but they all tell me it’s very good. Also that brings me to another point. The distilled changeling love is a food source for the hive, but for any other species it can be very damaging. If you are not a changeling you should never EVER ingest it.”

Path looked around as the collar was handed over to another participant…

Author's Note

I like how this is going!
It takes me a while but I figure that ill make a post every four to five questions.
So keep on asking!

3

Path watched as the collar was passed to yet another person.

“Here's one: just how will the chapter houses in other countries work? And how will joining them work?”

Path looked over to Hewolf as he asked the question, and it took a few moments to come up with a response. “We are actually still working on that, to be honest. We only have one fully-established House in Griffonia, although construction has begun on House chapters in the Crystal Kingdom and Ponyville. Twilight, Techbird, and Free have been working on breakthroughs in real-time communication to facilitate this. We are already starting to build a framework – the Griffonia House has a slightly greater focus on the physical, while the Ponyville house will have a stronger focus on the academic. As for how you can join, it will vary from House to House and depend on the age of the applicant, but generally there is an interview with the heads of the House, then some academic testing, and finally a physical assessment. Overall it takes nearly a full day per applicant. We take the time to really get to know them to see if the House would be a good fit for them.”

He watched as the collar was passed to a green changeling with a lime-green carapace, wings, and eyes, with a name-tag that read ‘Twitch’.

“Um, Lord Path, I believe? What is the most interesting aspect about us changelings? And may I inquire as to which species you prefer? Mine is griffon, they’re awesome!”

“Hmm, good question, Twitch. The most interesting aspect of changelings… well, it has to be their hive network. I have been nagging Dianthia and Free all the time about it. Apparently they can transmit information across vast distances, but there is a drop-off that increases as the distance from the hub increases.” Path looked at Free who just rolled his eyes. “As for your second question…” Path mused.

“Here we go again,” Free groaned.

“What is my favorite species? Well it could be the griffons; they hold honor above all and it shows in their culture. Or it could be one of the kinds of ponies. The magical unicorns, the acrobatic pegasi, the strong earth ponies, or the crystal ponies and the thestrals, who are reemerging onto the main stage for the first time in years – I could pick any of those, but there’s one species that is more important than all other species in Equestria.”

A few others started to look intensely at Path, curious as to what his answer would be.

“My favorite species… is grass.”

Free blinked a few times at Path in surprise and started to laugh.

“What? I’m serious! Without grass, the most abundant food on Equestria, ponies would have never created the complexity needed to build a civilization. This is true for nearly all herbivores. As for the carnivore species, how could they live if what they preyed on had nothing to eat? Without those complex civilizations being created, the changelings would have had a much harder time existing, if they would have evolved at all. Nearly every species directly or indirectly owes their existence to the grass. And that is why grass is the most important and my favorite species.” Path grinned a bit, looking at the shocked faces of those in attendance.

This time when the collar was passed, he was looking at a dark blue thestral with a blue and gold mane. Path’s heart started to sink when he started to as his question and his ears drooped.

“How are talks proceeding with the deer-folk? What sort of interesting things have you found out about them? Have you been able to make much in the way of connections with them?”

After a few moments thought, Path started to speak. “Well, Midnight Star… the talks are going as well as one could expect. Progress is slow. They actually don’t like talking to me very much; they prefer to talk to Twilight and my son Blue Streak than me. We have been working on purchasing more land so that their traditional roaming range is protected, but since we have to do a careful balancing act with the budget it is slow going.” Path looked somewhat sad when he talked about the cervine clan.

When the collar moved to what looked like a small brown earth pony by the name of "Stalwart Guard" on his sticker path started to smile again.

“I was wondering... you talked about magitek… what is it?”

Path’s grin returned and he looked over to Free who rolled his eyes again. Looking back to Stalwart, he said, “The short answer is that Magi-tek is the name of the fledgling think-tank that was founded by Techbird and Twilight in the new field of the fusion of magic and technology. The Blue Hive has recently joined the think tank as well. They have already created a few inventions so far. We are working on refining them so they can be released to a wide audience.”

The next stallion to take the collar was a slate-gray unicorn with a charcoal black mane. His cutie mark appeared to be a warm burning ember with an orange hue that matched his eyes. However, the most interesting detail was that the stallion had one forehoof clasped around the talons of a very beautiful and very pregnant griffon hen.

“Hello, Lord Path.” His voice was coarse but every bit as warm as his cutie mark. “My name is Ash Rain. First, let's take a break from the hard questions. So how are you enjoying fatherhood?”

Path sat down a bit and started to smile as he looked at the happy couple. “Being a father… Well, I have two kids actually – Blue Streak and Lucida Path. Blue Streak is a handful as he keeps moving faster and faster in comparison to everyone else, but he is helping Lucida learn how to fly. He plays a game called kite with her. Lucida is very young and still learning how to fly. Twilight and Rose are trying to educate her early but I think two is a little too young for their advanced concepts. I just take it day by day and deal with issues as they come up. Last thing that happened was when Blue was playing kite with Lucida again and he got her stuck in a tree.” He paused to chuckle.

Ash said, “I hope it goes well for us as well. I am looking forward to it as we are just a month away. Anyway, for my last question, and forgive me if this too forward, but is your House interested in adding geology to its curriculum? If so, how do I submit my application?”

Path started to grin. “If you can make it to Ponyville, we will be holding instructor interviews in a few weeks once the House is mostly constructed.”

He nodded a few times to Ash Rain before the collar was passed over to a green unicorn stallion. His sticker said ‘Fink’. “You said that being without magic has made you stronger in certain ways. How so?”

Path sat back down again as he thought a bit to himself. “Without the normal magic powering me, my body has had to learn how to do things the hard way. It took me nearly a month after the battle before I could walk normally again without tiring, but soon I became stronger and stronger. Right now I am stronger than I ever was before when I had earth pony magic. Twilight is actually trying to figure out how that’s even happening.

Path stood up and shook his head a few times before he suddenly tensed up, the muscles underlying his fur tensing up to the point of which their outlines were visible. “But then again… if you have a griffon like Warfist ‘encouraging’ you, anything is possible.” Path chuckled.

4

A thestral named Hazy Mountain, with a striped coat of black and dark grey, black mane and tail, and dark grey wings was next.

“This question is on behalf of my colony. I was sent here to request a meeting with you, but this seems like as good a time as any. When do you intend to visit the thestral colonies? We have heard that you have worked closely with our brothers in the pony cities, and would like to know if you have any plans to open a chapter house within our region? Also a more personal question: I heard that in the fight with Chrysalis, you used a magical suit of armor that let you fly like a thestral and cast spells like a unicorn. Was it weird? All the earth ponies I know don't like heights and don't trust magic.”

Path looked to the Thestral and grinned a bit. Free groaned as he knew this was going to be another long-winded answer.

“Actually, once I established the House in Griffonia, I started to come up with a plan on how to set up the House structure. I figure I could show the basic plan right now.”
He picked up some chalk and walked over to the board and drew a small circle. “So this is the main Griffonian house.” He drew three lines out and then three other circles. “Now this is where it starts to get interesting.” He motioned at two of the circles. “These are the campuses in Ponyville and the Crystal Kingdom. They are the first satellite campuses but the real interesting thing is this third smaller circle. This is what I call my Pilot Program Hub. Right now there is nothing there, but I am currently working with one of the changeling queens to develop a short-term cultural exchange, limited to only about ten students. This hub is where a lot of my pilot programs will go.”

Path started to draw other circles further out from the Ponyville and Crystal Kingdom circles. “I also have plans to begin talks with the Thestral Grand Colony, the United Zebrica Clans, and The Roaming Dragon Packs. The Thestral Grand Colony is among the first I plan to talk to actually.”

Path drew a series of other circles, some in different colors and sizes. “The good thing about this system is that it's open ended. As more civilizations are encountered, more can be added to the college system if they choose.”

Path then addressed the second question. “Now, about the armor – I'm not going to lie. At first I was terrified of flying. It took pretty much everyone helping me to get over that fear. Even though the magitek exists for me to do so, I still only fly if I have to; I like walking more. As for magic, I grew up in Canterlot, so I've always been around it, and so it's never really bothered me at all.”

A yellow pegasus colt, with a messy black mane, golden eyes, and a crossed swords and a lightning cutie mark, named Aguion said, “I have questions for both of you. Path, do you know how to use some kind of special weapon, like a sword or a spear? And my question for Free is: what's the best prank you ever pulled on Path?”

Path looked at the pegasus. “Actually I don’t really use any weapons. Early on when they were figuring out the extent of my magical disability, they realized that I couldn’t hold onto anything without the use of a tekhorn. So I learned martial arts. It's a grapple-less variant of a Griffonian fighting style. So it’s pretty much all strikes and blocks. I train on a daily basis, but I’m glad that I have never had to use it before.” Path turned to Free. “Your turn.”

The griffon walked up to the front of the stage.

“The biggest prank… I can’t tell you about because it’s still happening.”

The audience oohed, as Path blinked and looked at Free. The changeling just smiled.

“Next Question!” Free proclaimed!

The next to be granted the collar is a dragon, coated in soft, carmine fur, almost the size of a draft stallion. Her name tag is written in draconic runes with a marker of the same vibrant green as her eyes. When she's given the collar, she merely holds it in her forepaws, before opening a temporary telepathic link with the whole room, and asking so everyone can ‘hear’, “Is your house open even to those who are rejected by their own kind?”

Path thought for a few moments before he smiled.

“Our House admissions are very personal. There’s only one form to fill out, and that’s for the very basic data such as name, species, age, gender, and so forth. You are more than a name on a piece of paper though, and the actual admission application is when we all talk to you in a personal meeting. This is why there are admission seasons. Everyone who is currently a student has talked to me, Free, Roseclaw, Twilight, and Techbird. Your personality and emotions are acutely monitored during the interview. But if your motives and heart are true, then the interview is actually rather easy. It’s when you try to lie, and use deceit or join the House only for status and personal gain that you are weeded out. So, to answer your question, yes, we are open to all.”

Its been a long time...

Just an author note.
Now that all of the growing years is finished, and we are working on the next main story.
Would anyone want to do this again, but this time have it with blue/cinder/lucida/pif/destined?

7

Lucida smiled as she saw a gryphon grab the ball, but once she looked back at Cinder to answer the question, she frown when she saw that the dragoness was still dozing. The hippogriff cleared her throat loudly, but Cinder didn’t move an inch.

Lucida then said loudly. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, Moira! How are you?”

At the name “Moira”, Cinder’s eyes shot open and she flared her wings, looking back and forth for the one who tried to take the most prized item in her horde. Before she was able to do anything else, Lucida spoke up again.

“So glad you woke up, Cinder! Ms. Giselle had a question for you. Can you tell her three things that are unique only to dragons?” The hippogriff made a motion toward the audience staring at her, waiting for an answer.

“I…uh...what? Yes, of course I can!” She folded her wings back up and sat on her pillow. “Well, the first thing I can think about us which is different from most is the altitude that we fly at. All things being equal, most ponies like to cruise at a relatively low altitude. Griffons tend to cruise at medium altitudes, while dragons cruise at the highest altitudes. This is because we are able to retain warmth and require less oxygen. Granted this is a broad generalization. Ponies like Rainbow Dash can actually break free of the atmosphere and go higher than almost everything… In fact about a year ago when Rainbow Dash and Blue Streak raced from the Macintosh Hills to the Crystal Kingdom to raise money for the Equestrian orphanages, that was how she won. Blue Streak’s magitek wings could not hold up under the strain. Rainbow Dash peaked at Mach 5.99 and Blue trailed at 5.41.”

Blue huffed a bit. “Straying off topic, hon….” He did not like being reminded of his losses.

Cinder blushed a bit. “Ah, sorry. Okay, item number two. We can glide the longest out of the five flying species. This is because we usually go very vast distances, which makes us the slowest fliers usually.
The final thing would be how we use magic. Changelings and unicorns use magic from the self, using their horns. Pegasi, gryphons and thestrals use ambient magic though their wings, while earth ponies and crystal ponies use magic through their hooves. But dragons and zebras are different. We end up acting a lot like a conduit. The magic of the area around us flows through us, and then we change it as it exits. I’m not a seer – I don’t have a lot of information on this topic, I’m sorry.”
Lucida nodded as the ball was tossed and yet another gryphon caught it, then looked at Cinder. “My name is Nanak, and I was wondering what your thoughts are on Dragonlord Ember.”

The dragoness grinned slightly. “Dragonlord is kind of a misnomer really. There are various groups of dragons. She would be the leader of the Equestrian Dragons, which is different from the four Cardinal Clans. I would be the heir to the Western Clan. But yes – back on topic. I’m glad that somebody suitable was able to take control and organized them so they aren’t causing problems. There is no reason why dragons cannot get along with other species if they really try.”

The ball once again was tossed, and this time it was a dark purple pony that caught it. He looked up at Blue Streak and asked, “Did your exposure to dragon magic have any lasting effects?”

Blue streak frowned a bit. “Well… yes and no. I mean the initial instance when they used it to heal me did cause a few effects, but the vast majority of them were short-term. However there is one little quirk I have at times. Cinder thinks it’s funny, but it can get really annoying. Sometimes I have the urge to horde, although just not like gold or jewels.”

Cinder started laughing. “Last time he started to horde mangoes! Once Nox, a thestral by the way, found out, there was an all-out war in the mess hall. Warfist had to head-butt them both to get them to calm down!”

Blue rolled his eyes. “So yes, there are some lasting effects. After my training with Princess Luna, we discovered that if I take enough of one kind of energy, I can gain little quirks. Ofttimes it doth happen ere I am cognizant of my folly, and then I bestow voluminous jocularity ere I must endure thy mocking explications… and why art thou staring so avidly at me?” Blue blinked and then groaned.

Cinder and Pif pointed at him while shaking with repressed laughter. “Hah! He did it again!”

The ball then moved to a familiar face and Pif smiled in recognition. “I remember you! You were around to ask Free and Path a question years ago!” She puffed out her chest. “Free forgets, but the hive never loses information!” Pif chuckled to herself before indicating to Traveling Soul to ask his question.

“Blue Streak, do you and Cinder plan to ever have a child? If yes, do you want to adopt or do you plan to have one naturally?”

Cinder pouted and ruffled her wings a few times. “Blue isn’t a spring buck anymore. I really wish he would step down as leader from the Rapid Deploy Tactical Strike Team, but it seems like whenever there is an assignment, he immediately takes the lead, even when he doesn’t need to.”

Blue cleared his throat pointedly and Cinder calmed down. “Actually, I have been thinking about it, and maybe I could rearrange my priorities. I mean, there’s a whole new generation of House Path students, and they could use a good trainer. Despite how strong Warfist is, he can’t head-butt people as fast as he used to. Maybe I could take over as the primary trainer? I’m just past thirty, and I think it’s time to move onto the next phase of my life. I think it would be nice to have a dragon foal or three, maybe get a cottage out on some of the Griffonian outskirts with lots of space to run and a garden to work in on the weekends. I can still work with the House while trying to build a family right? Hmm, maybe just one last hurrah before I have to start pulling a cart?”

Blue started guffawing. “Sorry – I just can’t keep a straight face anymore. I have no intention of stepping down from my warrior duties, but it isn’t as if there’s a battle to be fought every week. I’ve already taken on some instructor duties because with the growth of the House, it’s more than Warfist can cope with by himself. However,” Blue turned to Cinder with a tender look on his face, “if my beloved really wants a child, she has but to ask, and I would be proud to sire a dracopony with her.” Blue turned back to Traveling Soul and said, “But to answer the second part of your question fully, we would certainly be trying to have a natural foal, but speaking as an adopted orphan myself, if the right child came along, I would not hesitate to bring him or her into the family.”

Cinder regarded her mate with barely restrained love and lust even as the audience gawked at them for a few moments. Eventually though, the ball was thrown to another person….

Old Building, New News!

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

8

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

9

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Meeting in the Friendship Castle

Author's Note

So this intro chapter has no proof reading or editing done to it.
Gold and I are working on releasing the first chapter of Quantum Gallop soon.
So pretty much all of our energy is being put into that.

FYI: The Meeting at Friendship Castle takes place one week before the events of " The Calm before the Storm"

Meeting in the Friendship Castle

The event was in the college and house path newspapers for weeks:

“Q & A with the Second Generation house leaders!

All day Thursday at the Friendship Castle Amphitheater!

All are welcome to ask BlueStreak, Epifany, Lucida, Destined and Cinder any questions!”

For those that investigated further they would know that there have been talks for some time of Path and Free stepping down from the head of the house’s main affairs, shifting the lead toward their two kids Lucida and Destined over the next few years.

When questioned why Long Path stated that “House Path is not a government, It is a moderating body, a source of innovation, and a force for good! As the ideals of the world grows so must the house and the leaders that control it. Do not worry, we are not disappearing. Rose, Twilight, Free and Myself are falling back to advisory positions. But really you should all divert all questions to them since they will be hosting a Q & A session in about a month.”

At around seven in the morning is when the event started. A clearly exhausted Bluestreak was dragging a still sleeping cinder into the main room and he plopped her down on the large pillow in the room. Blue then moved to his own pillow, from the other side of the stage Destined, Pif and Lucida came out and sat own on their own full sized pillows.

Lucida grinned as she pulled out a ball from one of her side packs.

“So this is how its going to work. I’m going to toss the ball out and whoever catches it can ask a question. Then once they are done they toss it back into the air for somebody else to catch it.”

Lucida took the ball in her talon and tossed it into the group of assembled attendees