Chapter 1: The Quest Begins
The bell rang loudly throughout the schoolyard, signaling all the fillies and colts to head inside and start the school day.
“Good morning, Scootaloo! Same to you, Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle bounced up to her friends as they entered the building. “How are you guys this morning?”
“Ugh, I swear, you are way too chipper for this early on a school day,” Scootaloo said, wiping some leftover sleep from her eyes.
Sweetie rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Well, maybe if you tried sleeping earlier instead of reading sports magazines all night, you’d feel better. How about you, Apple Bloom?”
“I’m doing alright,” she replied, letting out a deep yawn. “How ‘bout you, Sweetie Belle?”
“I’m doing great! I got a new, hay stuffed mattress yesterday and I slept better than I have in forever last night. I am ready for whatever this day has to offer.
The three fillies strolled into the classroom and after a quick round of hellos to their friends, took their seats next to each other. However, something was off.
“That’s weird,” Scootaloo said, motioning towards the front of the class. “Where’s Cheerilee? Normally she’s already here and has our morning assignments already up on the board.”
Instead of their usual assignments and teacher, before them was simply a blank chalkboard and an empty teacher’s seat.
“That is strange,” Apple Bloom said with a nod.
Before they had any more time to ponder over what was going on, the classroom door flew open.
“Good morning, class!” Cheerilee shouted out. “Or perhaps I should say, bienvenidos y buenos dias!”
The class all shared a brief stare at their teacher before erupting into a small fit of giggles.
“Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond Tiara said. “What are you wearing?”
As opposed to her usual professional standard of appearance, Cheerilee was dressed in a large, colorful dress and had her mane pinned up with some rather exotic looking mane pins.
“Was today dress up day?” Scootaloo asked. “If so, I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t paying attention when you made the announcement.”
Cheerilee shook her head and let out a small chuckle as she took her spot in the front of the classroom. “No, boys and girls, don’t worry. It’s not dress up day. However, today does mark a very special day. Who can tell me what today is?”
Snails rose his hoof. “Umm,Friday? Right? Or is it Tuesday? I forget.”
“Well, yes, it is Friday,” she replied, earning a bright smile from her student. “But, even more specifically, today is Equestrian History Appreciation day!”
Cheerilee’s excitement was followed by a series of questioning glances and shrugs from her students.
“Equestrian History Appreciation day?” Sweetie Belle asked. “What’s that?”
“I’m glad you asked, Sweetie.” Cheerilee walked toward the side of the classroom and pulled down a colorful map of Equestria. “Today is a special day dedicated to the many wonderful different species and cultures that exist across the entire land of Equestria. Besides ponies, this land is home to many other species, each with their own unique culture, history and way of life. As Equestrian citizens, it’s important we learn as much as we can about others and learn to appreciate their customs so we can all continue to see this land as a home, together and united!”
The fillies and colts all looked around at each other with excited glances and smiles. Special events like this usually meant one thing: a fun project!
“Now children,” Cheerilee said. “Even in our small town of Ponyville, we have many different creatures that we call family and friends. Ponies, Donkeys, Zebras and even a Dragon call this town home. So, in an effort to do our part in learning as much as we can about our varied society, I have a fun project planned for all of you.”
The announcement triggered a series of hoof bumps and excited shouts from the classroom.
“What’s the project, Miss Cheerilee?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Is it a group one, maybe?” Sweetie followed up, eyeing her two friends.
“No, it’s not a group project. It’s individual for each one of you.” Cheerilee reached behind her desk and grabbed a small box with her mouth and placed on her desk. “Inside this box, I’ve written a different species’ name on blank sheets of paper, one for each of you. One by one, you’ll come up and choose one at random. Your project will be to spend the weekend doing research on your selected species and deliver a report to the class Monday morning on something you learned and why we should all appreciate it. Everyone understand?”
The class all shook their heads in agreement.
“Now, it is a solo project, so it’s important that you do your own research and find something that you in particular find interesting about your assigned species. My suggestion would be to start at the library, which will have more information than you’ll know what to do with.” Cheerilee stood up and motioned for her class to stand as well. “Now, one at a time, come up and select a slip of paper from the box.”
As per request, each of the students got up and picked their assignment at random and returned to their seats. Instantly, a mess of chatter started amongst the students as they all shared what they got.
“I got Griffins. Cool!” Scootaloo smiled and turned to her friends. “What’d you get Apple Bloom?”
Apple Bloom looked at her paper. “I got… Buffaloes. Hmm, I kind of forgot we even have them around seeing as how they keep to themselves, usually. How about you, Sweetie Belle?”
Sweetie opened her paper. “I got... dragons?”
Cheerilee, overhearing their conversation, chimed in. “Ooh, that’s a good one, Sweetie Belle. Dragons are probably the most interesting of all the assigned species I selected. Of all the creatures, dragons are actually the most mysterious to ponies given how secretive they are. I very much look forward to your presentation tomorrow in particular.”
Sweetie Belle sighed. “Oh great. I got a hard one.”
“Dragons?” Scootaloo said. “That’s so cool! Actually, if you think about it, that’s gotta be the easiest one.”
“Easy? How do you mean?” Sweetie replied.
“Well, for everything you need to know, you could forget about all the books and just go ask our local town dragon,” Apple Bloom said, joining in.
“That’s right!” Sweetie Belle said. “I bet Spike knows everything that’s anything about dragons and their history and customs. Great thinking, girls.”
“Alright, class,” Cheerilee said. “Did everyone get an assignment?”
The entire class nodded in unison.
“Well then, class, to give you all a bonus head start, school is dismissed for the day. Go out and research your project, and I can’t wait to hear all of your reports first thing Monday morning! Have a great weekend!”
The students in class let out a cheer and shot out the door, ready to begin their projects.
“So, girls, what’s your plan for the project?” Apple Bloom said to her two friends. “Anything in particular?”
“Well, my first order of business is to go back home and catch up on some sleep,” Scootaloo said, trying to hold back a yawn. “I plan to use this extra time off of school to full advantage. What about you, Sweetie? You gonna go see what you can dig up from Spike over at the castle?”
“Yep, I plan on heading there right now, actually! With his help, I should be able to get this done in no time and have a homework free weekend.”
“I’m probably gonna head home to the acres and see if Granny knows anything about Buffaloes. She knows a little of everything, so I imagine she can give me a few ideas for my project.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie said. “Anywho, I’m heading off the castle to get started. I’ll catch up with you all later!”
“See you later, Sweetie,” Scootaloo said. “Have fun!”
“You too!”
Sweetie trotted off in the direction of the castle. With any luck, this would be an easy A and a ticket to a great weekend
Chapter 2: The First Step
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
Sweetie rapped her hoof against the giant doors of the castle. After a few moments, the door swung open, revealing a rather frazzled looking Twilight Sparkle.
“For the last time, Trixie, I appreciate that you found a new purpose, but I don’t have time to read your religious handou- Oh, Sweetie Belle!” Twilight grinned and immediately tried to straighten her mane out and look presentable. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were coming today. You didn’t hear what I said, did you?”
“It’s okay,” Sweetie said. “Miss Cheerilee had to ban her from the school the other day when she tried to take over the class with a Scientology course. It happens.”
“Very true. I’ll have to have Celestia look into the religious tolerance principals Equestria has… Anywho, what brings you here today? Did we have something scheduled? I’m so sorry if I forgot.” Twilight scooted aside to let Sweetie in.
“Don’t worry, Twilight, it’s nothing like that,” Sweetie said. “I was actually hoping I could visit with Spike if he was available. I have a school project on dragons I think he could help me with. Is he around?”
“Oh, absolutely! He should be hanging out in his room upstairs. Seeing as how it's ten AM, he should be taking his mid-morning nap right about now.” Twilight chuckled and pointed a hoof toward behind her. “Take the left staircase up and it will be the third door on right. Just knock loudly if the door is shut. He needs to get on a better activity schedule anyway.”
Sweetie nodded. “Thanks, Twilight!”
She dashed up the stairs and made her way down the hall. She’d been in the castle plenty of times before, but she still had trouble finding her way around.
“Alright, third door, third door… Was it on the right or left?” Sweetie scanned the hallway before she was instantly alerted to the right door. “Something tells me it’s this room.”
She trotted up to a door sporting a very large picture of a Coltland Raiders cheerleader on it. Boys will be boys.
She knocked several times, waiting for a response from the other side. It was to no avail. After several more attempts, Sweetie was about to give up before a voice from behind her stopped her in her tracks.
“You’ll never get him up that way.”
Sweetie Belle flipped around and was greeted by a chuckling unicorn.
“Oh, hey, Starlight. I’m trying to talk to Spike about a school project I need help with, but he must be busy. You think I should try again later?”
Starlight shook her head. “Absolutely not. He’s not busy, he’s just sleeping off the butt-whooping he got last night. I challenged him and Discord to a game of Marenopoly and it lasted until about three in the morning when Spike went bankrupt and tried to barter with his actual gems to get property back. Then Discord forcefully held up the bank and the game got shelved by Twilight for the next month. That little guy is competitive.”
“I can tell,” Sweetie said with a laugh.
“Yeah, no doubt,” Starlight replied. “Anyway, you’ll never get that sack of scales out of bed that easily. Watch and learn, my friend, watch and learn.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Starlight slammed the door with her back hooves, knocking it open. She ran over to where Spike was curled up on a heap blankets and gems. Sweetie Belle followed behind at a distance, trying to avoid tripping over the obscene mess of junk Spike had lying around.
“Spike, time to get up,” Starlight shouted out, nudging his shoulder. “You’ve got a visitor.”
Spike mumbled and rolled over, exposing his belly. “No Fleur, I can’t. I’m already in love. Maybe next year things will be different…” He let out a loud snore and rolled back into a ball.
“You see what we have to deal with here?” Starlight said, glancing at Sweetie Belle. “Enough playing around, Spike.”
Starlight’s horn lit up and she lifted Spike into air before dropping him onto the floor between her and Sweetie. Spike immediately twisted around in a panic.
“Ahh! Where… Who?” Spike looked around, taking stock of his surroundings. “Wait a minute, you’re not Fleur.”
Starlight rolled her eyes and whacked his back with her hoof. “Come back to the real world, Spike. Sweetie Belle is here to visit you.”
Spike turned his head toward Sweetie. “Oh, hey, you’re here.”
“I’ll let you two talk now,” Starlight said, walking toward the door.
“Thanks for the help, Starlight!” Sweetie said, waving goodbye.
“Anytime, Sweetie. Oh, and Spike? Next month, Marenopoly. You’re going down ever harder. Count on it.”
With a flourish, Starlight exited the room.
“That mare scares me sometimes,” Spike said, staring at the door. “Anyway, what can I help you with, Sweetie Belle? I assume you came for a reason?” Spike stretched out and stood up.
“Oh, yeah,” Sweetie said. “I need your help with a school project I got assigned today. Do you have some time?”
“Well, I was planning on sleeping until at least two in the afternoon today, but I suppose I can make some time. When it comes to schoolwork, you came to the right place, Sweetie. I had to study under Twilight and Celestia my entire life, so there’s nothing I can’t handle”
“Perfect!” Sweetie squeaked. “So, all I need help with is figuring out some unique things about dragon culture I can present for my report on Monday.”
“Unique things? Like, anything in particular?”
“Yeah, stuff about your culture. Beliefs, history, politics. Anything of that nature.”
“Hmm,” Spike scratched his chin. “Actually, Sweetie, I don’t really know anything about that stuff.”
“What?” Sweetie asked. “What do you mean?”
“Well, outside of some basic stuff I’ve learned from going to the doctor, I really don’t know anything about dragons. Sorry.”
“How can you not know anything about dragons, Spike? You are a dragon, aren’t you?”
“Last time I checked,” Spike said. “But, yeah, I really don’t know much. Nopony really does.”
“But didn’t you just go visit some dragons for a competition or something just a little bit ago? You had to have learned something.” Sweetie sat back on her haunches.
“Not really. It was pretty much an in-and-out kind of thing. Not to mention I was distracted by this girl dragon named Ember for most of the journey. She was pretty cool, not gonna lie.”
Sweetie groaned in frustration. “You spent time you could’ve been using to discover your heritage to hit on a girl. I should’ve figured.”
“What can I say? It’s nature’s design.”
Sweetie Belle shook her head and looked toward Spike. “Spike, on a serious note, don’t you think it’s kind of sad you don’t really know anything about your species? Haven’t you ever wondered more about where you came from or what dragons believe in?”
Spike let out a sigh. “To be honest, I’ve always had some curiosity about it. But, growing up with ponies since I was born, I never really had the opportunity or the encouragement to look into it. For one thing, I grew up with learning about pony culture and history, and second, even if I did decide to pursue more information, it’s not like there’s really any information out there to go on. There’s so little about dragons recorded that there’s not really anyone to even ask about it.”
“Does Twilight know anything?” Sweetie asked. “She studies about new stuff all the time, so maybe she knows something that can help.”
“That’s pretty doubtful. She would’ve told me if she learned anything. But, there is one thing we can try.”
Sweetie’s eyes lit up. “There is? What do you have in mind?”
“We can try the library. There might be some kind of weird tome or something that has some information that’s been passed up. Even if it’s just something small, you could probably still get an A on your report with it.”
“True. But it’d be cooler if we could find something actually useful, so that way we could get some information for your sake, too.”
“If that happens, we’ll just consider it a bonus. But for now, let’s just see if we can find anything at all. Sound good?”
“Sounds good to me,” Sweetie replied, following Spike out the door. “So much for my plan, though. Looks like I’ll have a long weekend after all. But, just as long as this doesn’t turn into some crazy expedition, I think I’ll be fine.”
“Nah, I’m sure it’ll be smooth sailing.”
With that, the two were on their way to the library to continue the hunt for knowledge. Little did they know the next direction this hunt would take them.
