A green earth pony, an orange dragon, a blue and yellow griffon, a large brown yak, a cyan and red changeling and a lavender pink hippogriff.
No one knew, or even thought, that these six very different creatures would ever find themselves meeting each other, and especially not even considering the possibility of them ever becoming friends with each other.
But that idea soon came when the princess of friendship, Twilight Sparkle herself, decided to open a brand new school in Ponyville to teach the magic of friendship to these once seperate creatures, and these six eventually became students at this new school.
During their first day of school, they met each other for the very first time...
...And a very special friendship finally began to take form. A friendship that would finally unite the six races of Equestria: Ponies, Griffons, Dragons, Changelings, Yaks and Hippogryphs. It was a brilliant idea...
...But as with all ideas and friendships, they did not start out very well.
Sandbar fought back a yawn as he made his way through the school hallway. It was Friends and Family Day at school, and his parents would possibly take part as well if they weren't busy with work, but he wasn't thinking about it now. He was still thinking about something else that had happened earlier.
Earlier, he had tried to stop a brief fight between his fellow classmates.
It all started when he had first decided to enroll after being encouraged to by his parents. He knew he would be meeting other ponies that would be studying there, but did not expect to meet a griffon, dragon, yak, changeling and hippogriff as well, and neither did he imagine they would become his fellow classmates.
But they did, and they would be studying friendship together.
The griffon's name was Gallus, and Sandbar had actually bumped into him before at the school's opening ceremony. Yona, the large yak, was rather clumsy and prone to tripping on her braids, but made up for it with her pride and friendliness. Then there was the dragon called Smolder, who was not happy to be in the school at first, and rather abrasive too, but deep inside she wasn't actually like that. Ocellus, the changeling, was shy but sweet, and very smart with her vast knowledge of all of the lessons she took part in. And finally, there was the hippogriff Silverstream. She was bubbly, cheerful and instantly happy to be in school outside of her home under the sea.
At first, it went off to a good start, and Sandbar actually got to befriend his new fellow students as strange as they were. But then the lessons gradually became boring. Before, they were fun and interesting, but soon it got to the point where he actually fell asleep in class a few times along with the other students. Sandbar guessed that it had something to do with the E.E.A, but never felt any need to question it.
Eventually, he and the other five students became distant and stressed out with each other. Tensions between two of them nearly boiled over, and they broke out into a thankfully short-lived fight. They had been excited to be a part of the school, but now they were wondering if they shouldn't have bothered at all.
Sandbar was thinking about everything, hoping to find a way to salvage their brief camaraderie, when he was snapped back to reality by the sight of Gallus and Smolder heading in the opposite direction of the hallway.
"Hey! Professor Dash's class is this way." Sandbar called to them.
They ignored him, and kept going. Sandbar trotted after them as they met up with the other students who were just walking down the hallway too.
Ocellus was surprised to see the duo. "Where are you going? You're not...skipping are you?" she gasped.
"That's exactly what we're doing." Smolder bluntly announced.
Silverstream was shocked. "But Friends and Family Day-"
"Is AFTER class." Gallus cut off her protest with a wicked grin. "Relax. This is just a quick..." He pointed one of the many dark blue feathers on his wing to his head, "mental health break."
Ocellus, Silverstream and Yona took a moment to privately discuss the idea. Eventually, Silverstream smiled excitedly. "That sounds legit! We're in!" she declared.
Sandbar wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with it. What would his parents think if he skipped class? But then again, the lesson he should be going to would be boring anyway. A quick break would be nice.
"I guess i'll tag along too," Sandbar shrugged. "Make sure you don't get into... trouble."
(Later...)
The six students had made their way out of the school, narrowly avoiding getting caught by Professor Fluttershy with the help of Ocellus, and were soon walking along the beautiful spring fields. It was a very lovely day to be outside, and so they decided to go and check out a nearby lake.
No one said anything for a while as they walked to the lake. Finally, they all gathered together on the bank, looking off into the distance. "So...how is everyone doing?" Gallus asked awkwardly as he finally broke the silence.
The others replied with a "Good, thanks."
"Okay." Gallus smiled as he lay down on the sandy beack next to the lake. Soon, the others lay down next to him.
Ocellus looked ahead from where she sat. "This lake is actually peaceful. Peaceful and beautiful, that is!"
Smolder flopped onto her back, spread her wings out, and let out a sigh. "Woo, i really needed this."
Sandbar sat down on the sand next to Ocellus with his legs facing forward and his front hooves holding his body up. "Just like back on the beach." he smiled.
Silverstream gasped excitedly as she lay down on the sand beside Gallus. "You love the beach too!?" she happily asked.
"Yeah. I live close to the sea with my parents, so i regularly go for walks along the beach. I also like to go swimming in my spare time when the waves aren't too rough." Sandbar explained.
"Huh, so that's what the turtles were all about." Gallus contemplated to himself.
"This lake, Yona like it. Yona lay down with dragon!" The yak promptly proceeded to do just that, lying down next to Smolder and Sandbar.
Surprised, Smolder quickly let a smile cross her face as she accepted Yona's company. "If you say so," she shrugged.
It was very peaceful indeed. Outside of the boring classroom, the students no longer felt stressed. Instead, they simply relaxed together as the gentle breeze swept over them, and the hot sun shone over the crystal clear surface of the lake. In fact, they were beginning to enjoy each other's company for the first time since school had begun.
After a while though, Sandbar noticed that Gallus was looking forlorn about something. "Gallus?
Gallus turned his head to look at the laid-back earth pony. "What is it, Sandbar?
"You've been rather quiet. Is there anything bothering you Gallus?" Sandbar asked.
"Actually, i was thinking about something i wanted to say to you guys, and what i want to say is..." Gallus lowered his head. "I'm sorry."
The group looked confused. "What for?" Yona asked.
Gallus sighed, then looked at Sandbar and Yona as his face became sad. "About what i said this morning... i'm sorry. I shouldn't have been nasty to you. Especially not to you two, Sandbar, Yona."
Everyone was stunned. No one had ever heard Gallus sounding so sincere before. Sandbar and Yona looked at each other, then back to Gallus. "Hey, we were tired. It happens to the best of us."
"Still, you were trying to be the peacekeeper. Maybe i'm not as sweet as other ponies are, but it isn't an excuse for my behaviour toward you," Gallus sadly admitted, "It wasn't your fault that school was boring."
Sandbar just smiled at him. "It's okay Gallus. I know you didn't mean it."
Gallus smiled back at Sandbar. Perhaps the pony wasn't really that bad after all.
Yona smiled sadly at Gallus, and let out a sigh of her own. "Griffon right about one thing: Yona was klutz."
"Yeah, but i was nasty too! I'm really sorry Yona, honestly. You're not really as bad as i thought you were." Gallus said with a gentle smile.
"I'm really sorry too, Yona. Maybe there is something you aren't best at and maybe there isn't, but i shouldn't have snapped either." Smolder sadly admitted.
"Yona sorry too. Yona forgive griffon and dragon," Yona smiled.
Smolder cheered up at that. "Just call me Smolder, and him Gallus. You don't need to say the name of our species when referring to us."
Yona frowned. "But that Yak way of referring to others! Also, for record, Yak best at everything!" She then blushed embarrassingly as she pointed at her braid. "Except tripping over hair."
"Yep, that's the only thing you aren't really good at," Smolder giggled in response.
"But still, every creature has things that they are good at and things they aren't," Ocellus finally spoke up.
"Like how you helped us to get here? That was a surprise, changing into Professor Rarity to save us from getting caught by Professor Fluttershy! How do you do it?" asked Silverstream, who had also joined in the conversation.
"Like i said, that was cool!" Smolder said proudly.
Ocellus blushed, and looked away quickly. "Um... that's actually the first time anyone here ever asked me that. Because..." she trailed off as she looked at the sand, before looking back at the others with a sigh. "You know."
The others were silent for a moment as they thought about her words. It was true that the changeling hive had once been an enemy of Equestria, but everyone had hoped that they would be accepted more now that King Thorax was leading them. It sounded like Ocellus had been having a hard time making friends even before coming to school.
Ocellus felt her eyes blurring as tears came to them, but a single hoof reached over and gently rubbed them dry before they could fall out. Surprised, she looked over to where it had come from.
It was Sandbar's hoof.
"I don't think you're a bad creature at all. If you were, you wouldn't have helped us out back there. You're an amazing friend Ocellus, and it isn't fair that everypony thinks of you as the opposite."
Sandbar then reached out his hoof again, this time giving Ocellus a soft bump on her muzzle. She smiled at her new friend's kindness, and her cheeks flushed a bright red. "Thank you, Sandbar."
Gallus watched the two with a small smile. Yes, Gilda didn't make a good impression either, but before Gabby came and showed that there were griffons who cared about others and not gold, ponies didn't really think much about griffons at first.
Then again, the same could be said about their other species. School was boring now, but if it wasn't for it, they would have never known about, or met, each other. At least that was something he could give it credit for.
Gallus continued to smile warmly at the rest of his fellow students... no, his new best friends, as they happily chatted to each other about what their species were good at such as Ocellus being able to become different creatures at will by focusing her magic, Silverstream revealing that her necklace was made out of the pearl that allowed them to transform into seaponies, which meant she could transform freely to explore sky and ocean, and Sandbar explaining his turtle mark as being part of his dream to become a deep-sea diver like his grandfather. Eventually, he began to wonder about something on his mind.
"Guys?" Gallus asked. The others stopped talking for now to listen to him. "I just wanted to tell you all... this is actually the most fun i've ever had with you, or any other creature for that matter."
Everyone smiled at each other. "I think so too. No one i'd rather be with than you buddy," Sandbar chuckled.
"I love being with you guys!" Silverstream happily said.
"Me too," smiled Ocellus.
"Yona three!" You know who declared proudly.
"I don't know why, but... yeah. Just seeing you all and hearing your voices makes me... feel happy to be alive." Smolder admitted.
Everyone grinned at Smolder, who then blushed. "Yeah, that technically sounds cheesy, but i'm saying it like it is!" she said.
Gallus was done thinking about it. "So... uh..." he looked everyone in the eyes, before finally letting the question out, "what do you guys say to keeping on hanging out with each other?
There was silence. Gallus watched as the others took a while to process what he had just asked, and lowered his head. "Just... you know..." he then raised his head again to look at his friends, this time with a small smile on his beak, "trying to read the room."
"Gallus..." The brief look of shock on Ocellus's face was soon replaced by one of joy as she cried, "I think that's a wonderful idea!"
Smolder agreed, "Ehh, what the hay. Count me in too!"
"Yona ready to smash..." she smiled and triumphantly raised her hooves to the sky, "WITH FRIENDSHIP!
Silverstream immediately flew into the lake, surprising the group, and transformed into her seapony form as she energetically swam through the water. "Ohmygosh i am SO EXCITED! I can't WAIT to make you all bracelets! It'll be my first time doing that, because bracelets don't really stay on underwater, but..." she dove underwater, and only a second later she shot out of lake like a rocket ship, "HOORAY!!!" Finally, she transformed back into her hippogriff form and flew back to her spot on the beach with Gallus as she attempted to catch her breath.
Sandbar had never felt so happy in his whole life since his little sister was born. "Heheh... Yeah! It's just like Princess Twilight keeps saying: "Friendship isn't just for ponies!"' He looked at his new friends with a warm smile, "And i'm real glad it's for the six of us, too."
Everyone shared a big smile with each other and even had a good laugh together. Their friendship may have gotten off on a rocky start, but now there was nowhere they would rather be than with each other, at this very spot. It was clear that they belonged together after all.
After their laughter had died back down, Gallus once again gained a smug smile on his beak as he decided to have some more fun with his friends. "Hey... i almost forgot to tell you all what griffons are good at, didn't i?"
Everyone's interest was quickly caught again. "Oooh, what ARE griffons good at?" asked Silverstream.
"Yeah, let's hear it buddy!" cried Sandbar happily.
"Well then, prepare to have your turtle mark blown off," grinned Gallus.
Sandbar looked amused. "Uhm, it's actually called a cutie mark?"
"Man, ponies have a really funny way of naming their marks, don't they?" Gallus asked his friend. Sandbar could only chuckle at the comment as Gallus cleared his throat, "Now, about griffons..."
The story about how griffons breathe fire when they get mad is a story for another time.
The story that happened afterwards, however, was about these six students...
...and how their friendship inspired a new generation of harmony in Equestria.
