Friendship gets Schooled?

A day with such warm and sunny weather; a somewhat uncommon event this late in the summer, but that is what made it all the more special. Since the age of weather control by the Pegasus had long passed, a day free of rain or unpleasant heat was an unpredictable event in this sleepy little community. So the ponies of Ponyville took any opportunity they could to enjoy the rare gift of such a beautiful day.

But it was up to Ponyvillers to make up their own amusement, for the most part. Once, in the heroic age of the harmony bearers long ago, excitement and this could be found around every corner in Ponyville. But now, Ponyville was simply a small boring little community at the edge of the old forest. The inhabitants of the town, nearly all of them earth ponies, were busy about the town at work and at play. While some mares watered their flowers or baked pies, two particular ponies were enjoying the beautiful day with an amusing pastime.

"Hey, Loop De La! Toss the Frisbee over here!" Desert Rose called out, standing on her back hooves excitedly. "I'm wide open!"

"Okay, Rose!" The light green mare with a purple mane replied, winding up the Frisbee with her hoof. "Look out, here it comes!"

The two mares were in Ponyville park, in the shadow of the rainbow waterfall, playing a spirited game of Frisbee toss. It wasn't the most exciting thing one could be doing on such a lazy day, but it was certainly an activity that could keep the two ponies busy. The mares went about their play, totally unaware how their day was about to become a whole lot more interesting.

"Wheeee!" Loop leaped into the air, tossing the Frisbee to her friend. the white mare with a pink mane barely missed the disk, which immediately fell into the pond at the base of the rainbow falls.

"Awww, it went into the water!" Desert Rose smiled, diving into the pond. "Don't worry, I'll get it!"

Rose dove in the water after the Frisbee, and swam out by the waterfall. Unbeknownst to the paddling mare, her hoof hit a hidden switch in the stone wall while she was kicking, and suddenly everything around them started to rumble.

"Hey, what is that?!" Loop De La called out from the shore, pointing her hoof. "What's going on?!"

As Desert Rose quickly leapt out of the water, the two mares could hear the sounds of giant clockwork gears turning, as a giant stone wall opened behind the rainbow waterfall. there, the pair of ponies saw a large pink building, with four towers and a large balcony on it's front, a small waterfall flowed over the front entrance, and several ramps and staircases ran to every floor of the building.

"What... what in the heck is that?!" Desert Rose asked in shock. "It looks like some kind of castle or something."

Seeing a sign that had mysteriously popped up on the shore, Loop De La trotted over and read the faded print on the petrified piece of wood.

"I can barely make it out, Rose." She told her friend, squinting to see the writing. "But I think it says Princess Twilight Sparkle's school of Friendship"

"Oh, wow! An old abandoned school, right here in Ponyville?" Desert Rose squealed in excitement, as she and her friend galloped back into town. "Wait until the others hear all about this!"

******

"Come on, you two! Hurry up!" Alphabittle called back to the other two mares, as she trotted up to the ancient structure. "I really want to see what will find in this place!"

"Yes, I can see that you are quite eager my friend." Kimono told the overly eager yellow earth pony mare with the rainbow-colored mane. "But this is a very old building, and could have broken floorboards, or other structural hazards. We should proceed with caution as we enter."

"Aww, don't worry so much, Kimono. It doesn't look that dangerous to me." Minty replied, laughing at her friend's obvious nervousness. "Frisco already looked the outside of this place over, and he said we could go in and explore without getting hurt!"

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine!" Alphabittle laughed, waving a hoof dismissively. "I don't think there's anything inside of an old school that could hurt us."

"So says the teacher, who is most eager to see how previous generations of Ponyville fillies and colts learned." Kimono sighed. "I just wish Spike weren't away in Canterlot, so he could help us explore this strange place."

"I just cant' believe our ancestors hid a giant school in the side of a mountain." Minty giggled. "I mean, what were classes like? What did they study there? It's all so exciting!"

"Yes, nothing excites me more, than exploring an old abandoned school with Minty." Kimono laughed softly. "Still, I have to wonder... this place was called a 'school of friendship'. Why did our forebears need to teach friendship in a school, like they would math, science, or magic? Was the concept so poorly understood, that they had to teach it to fillies and colts? What kind of a society would be that messed up, and... disturbing?"

"I don't know, maybe the ponies taught courses on the finer points of friendship." Alphabittle speculated. "Or perhaps they simply called it the friendship school, and taught other subjects. We won't actually know, until we explore the school, firsthand."

The three mares all trotted up towards the boarded-up door together, stepping across the small stone path that magically rose out of the water as they approached. Reaching up with her hooves, Minty began to fiddle with the chain lock, until her supernaturally bad luck finally broke the locking mechanism, and the chain simply slid off the door onto the ground. Now, with a clear path in front of them, the three Ponyville ponies all put their hooves on the ancient door, and slowly pushed it open on it's rusty hinges...