My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 9

Chapters

S2 E23: Ponyville Confidential (What If?)
S4 E4: Daring Don't (What If?) (Bonus Chapter)
S6 18: Dungeons and Discords (What If?)
S7 E21: Once Upon a Zeppelin (What If?) (Bonus Chapter)
S8 E1: School Daze, Part 1 (What If?)
S8 E2: School Daze, Part 2 (What If?)
S8 E3: The Maud Couple (What If?)
S8 E26: School Raze, Part 2 (What If?)
S2 E8: The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (What If?) - Redo
S8 E25: School Raze, Part 1 (What If?)

S2 E23: Ponyville Confidential (What If?)

The ringing of the bell signaled the end of yet another day of school at the one room schoolhouse in Ponyville. Lots of excited ponies were rushing out the door, eager to see the newest member of their class to obtain their cutie mark. A pegasus colt with tiny wings named Featherweight.

Featherweight had a light yellowish gray coat, eyes a lovely moderate orange in color, a brown mane and tail with a lighter streak in the middle, and most noticeably of all a cutie mark depicting a feather (supposedly it indicated his talent as a writer).

"Hey, nice cutie mark you got there!" Snips happily exclaimed.

"Looking good, buddy!" Snails added in encouragement. And several other school aged ponies said similar things as Featherweight basked in their praise.

Not everypony was satisfied with this development though. For two particular not cutie marked ponies, Featherweight's new cutie mark was not a source of great joy for them. In fact, it only served to remind them that they were now among the only members of their class who still didn't have those symbols yet.

Sweetie Belle observed the whole thing with her light green eyes and sighed, looking across to Scootaloo. "Can you believe it? Featherweight of all ponies got his cutie mark. Featherweight, before us!"

"And he can fly too, which is just great," Scootaloo sarcastically remarked. "I'm so sick of being a late bloomer!"

Sweetie Belle tried to reassure her pegasus friend. "Hey, I'm sure you'll be flying circles around Featherweight before long. I can't even do magic, and my sister won't let me take lessons."

Scootaloo just sighed. "You know, I'm starting to wonder if we're ever going to get our cutie marks. We've been at it for what, half a year now? Maybe a year? We've tried everything and no cutie mark. I'm starting to run out of ideas."

"Same here." Sweetie remarked in an unhappy tone of voice.

But at that moment, Apple Bloom came trotting eagerly out of the schoolhouse with a bright grin on her face and a piece of paper clutched in her hooves. She tossed it to her friends as she proudly declared. "I got it, Crusaders! The answer to all our problems!"

Sweetie and Scootaloo eyed the paper that been tossed to them, a quick glance across the top revealed the words: The Foal Free Press. "That's the school newspaper, Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle commented in confusion. "How's that supposed to help us?"

"Well you see-" Apple Bloom began.

But just then, the familiar voice of Applejack called out. "Hey, Apple Bloom! Get a move on, will ya?! We ain't got all day!"

Apple Bloom frantically called. "Comin', Applejack!" And then she said to her friends. "No time to explain, just meet me in the clubhouse later and bring the paper." Then she left to meet up with her big sister.

Her fellow Crusaders eyed the paper quite curiously, wondering what their friend had meant when she said the school paper was the answer to their problems. "Maybe we're supposed to do something with it?" Scootaloo wondered aloud.

Sweetie shrugged her hooves. "Can't hurt to try. Come on!"

The two fillies set off with the paper in tow, and they tried as many different activities as they could think of with it. Paper mache, recycling, bird nesting (in which the scraps of paper served as a make-shift bird's nest), even paper hats and a paper boat (which they rode on down a river). But in each activity they checked their flanks only to end up disappointed, no cutie marks appeared.

Frustrated, the fillies marched up to the clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres to vent their frustrations with Apple Bloom. They were covered in mud and scraps of paper that clung to their wet manes. "Apple Bloom, your newspaper idea was nothing but a big bust!" Sweetie Belle complained. "We did everything we could possibly do with it, and no cutie marks. So, you got any other bright ideas we should know about?"

Apple Bloom was silent for but a moment before she threw back her head and laughed. "Oh girls, you're so silly sometimes," After she had regained her composure she explained. "I meant we should write for the school paper as journalists, we could get our cutie marks in journalism." But what Apple Bloom couldn't have suspected at the time, was that her idea for cutie marks was going to set off a chain of events that would put the school paper's reputation in danger, and rile up the entire town of Ponyville.

The very next day the CMC stayed after class, remaining in the classroom as Cheerilee dismissed the last of her students and then shut the door. "Now then, I assume you're all here to apply for the school newspaper: The Foal Free Press. But the first order of business will be to introduce you all to your editor in chief."

Sweetie Belle immediately shot up a hoof and shouted over and over again. Cheerilee noticed the display in an instant. "Yes, Sweetie Belle?"

"Uh, what's an editor in chief? And what does it do, exactly?" Sweetie Belle questioned.

The teacher flashed a smile. "That's a good question, Sweetie Belle. I like those reporter instincts, it shows you're thinking!" And she proceeded to explain. "Although I am currently presiding over this meeting of the school paper, I don't actually wield any kind of real authority, except for emergencies. The editor in chief is head of the entire paper and is in charge of every aspect of it: From determining what gets printed, to making sure the paper hits the stand on time."

The rest of the colts and fillies all nodded their heads in agreement, but said nothing else.

Cheerilee continued. "Now, as I was saying: Our previous editor in chief graduated last year. So it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you all the new editor in chief, Diamond Tiara!"

As if on cue the classroom door swung open, and the familiar magenta coated filly trotted in with a rather smug look upon her face. "Thank you, Miss. Cheerilee for your wonderful introduction. Couldn't have done a better job myself."

Several students let out a groan, they were not pleased to see Diamond Tiara at all. By now the rich filly had a rather... infamous reputation for causing trouble and picking on others.

Cheerilee moved quickly to dispel any tensions lingering in the air. "Yes, yes, I know Diamond Tiara can be... difficult," Her pause did not go unnoticed by the students. "But I assure you she's highly skilled and can be an effective leader. So I trust you will all do your best to get along with her." In her mind however she was thinking. "If only her mother didn't hold so much sway over the school board. If not for her insistence, I would never put a pony like Diamond Tiara in charge of anything."

"Thank you for that, Miss. Cheerilee," Diamond said with a bright smile. "If anypony wants to leave now, I won't blame them. I know I don't have the best reputation. But I believe that if we can come to an understanding, we can all make this school newspaper something truly wonderful."

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked across to each other and Scootaloo whispered. "We should get out of here, now. No way am I working for that stuck up, rich filly!"

"My thoughts exactly." Sweetie Belle whispered in agreement.

But Apple Bloom whispered back. "This may be our best chance to get our cutie marks. And if we do, isn't it worth puttin' up with a little bit of Diamond's behavior? Who knows, maybe this won't be as bad as we think?"

Diamond didn't seem to pay the noticeable whispering any attention, she simply motioned for Cheerilee to leave. "I think everything's going to work out just fine, Miss. Cheerilee. No need to worry yourself, you can leave."

"Very well, but I'll be keeping an eye on you." Cheerilee cautioned to the rich filly and then departed the classroom.

It wasn't long after Cheerilee had left that Tiara started to assert her newfound authority. She even kicked the desk she sat at, bringing down several posters of herself. "Alright, everypony, listen up! Let's face facts, this school paper is an absolute joke! Nopony, and I mean nopony takes it seriously! But that's all about to change, I'm taking over and I'm going to make sure this paper succeeds," She gave a whistle. "Where's that photographer?"

A nervous looking Featherweight raised his hoof and stepped forward.

Tiara immediately shoved the colt out the door while telling him. "Document everything! I'll decide what's good enough!" She then turned to the other colts and fillies. "As for the rest of you, I want hard hitting news and exciting developments. No more namby-pamby stories like last year's editor."

Ruby Pinch immediately protested. "But Namby-Pamby was a great editor, probably the best we ever had."

"Well that was then and this is now!" Diamond declared. "So all of you get out there, and bring me some juicy stories! The juicer the better!"

Everypony in the room immediately rushed out, mostly so as to not have to spend another moment in the room with the rude, rich filly. Tiara didn't mind, this just gave her a chance to reflect back to what had motivated her to take up the position of editor in chief in the first place. And it wasn't just because her mother wanted her to.

The event in question that Diamond was reflecting back on took place several months prior, just after Apple Bloom had brought Granny Smith in for Family Appreciation Day in fact. Tiara had been most surprised to find her fellow rich filly was the first one to applaud when the elderly earth pony had finished her story.

"Silver Spoon, don't tell me you actually liked that crazy old coot's stories." The magenta coated filly frowned.

Silver Spoon simply folded her hooves and turned her head. "Come on, Di, they were great stories and you know it."

"She was making them up!" Tiara growled. "And I expected you to support me on that, not leave me hanging!"

"Well sorry, Di, but I'm not always going to be following in your hoofsteps. I'm tired of just being your lacky." Silver Spoon bitterly remarked.

At that Tiara blinked her cornflower blue eyes. "Silvy, don't say such silly things. You know you're not my lacky. The two of us, we're special. Gal pals forever!"

"Funny, it seems like you're always the one calling the shots when we get together," Silver commented. "Maybe it's because I did something nice for two of those blank flanks and invited them over for a sleepover. But I don't see why you have to keep picking on them. Are you really that mad that they stole the show at your cute-ceañera? Because I still had a good time."

Diamond frowned again. "Of course you'd say that, Silver Spoon. You're my oldest and bestest friend. You've stood by my side through thick and thin. I'd give anything just to not lose that."

"Really? And when was the last time you ever did anything that I wasn't a part of? You know, besides picking on those blank flanks?" Silver Spoon questioned. All she got in response was silence and she gave out a snort. "As I expected."

Frantically trying to avoid being put on the spot, Tiara insisted. "Silvy... I can totally do something without you! Something that'll make even you admit you were wrong about me!"

Silver arched an eyebrow upward. "Oh really? And that would be what, exactly?"

"W-well... I-I... uh..." Diamond started to stumble and stutter, trying frantically to think of an idea. Suddenly, looking down at the ground, it came to her. A light bulb went off inside her head and the gears in her mind began to turn. "You know The Foal Free Press, right?"

The glasses wearing filly nodded her head, noticing a discarded copy of it laying on the ground of the playground. "There's not a pony in the entire school who doesn't. What's your point?"

A rather large smile (almost sinister looking you might say) began to form on the pink coated filly's face. "I bet you that I can not only become the next editor in chief of it, but I can turn it all around. Make it into a newspaper even greater than those fancy magazines Mother always like to read."

What seemed like a frown formed upon Silver's face as she retorted. "I don't know, Diamond. My mother and father say those magazines don't have the best reputation. I hear they can be pretty sketchy and underhoofed sometimes."

"There's always at least a nugget of truth in them somewhere," Diamond thoroughly insisted. "Mother said so, and Mother is always right!" If one had looked closely they might have briefly seen her shudder.

Silver Spoon was not convinced the idea was a good one. But she knew that when her friend set her mind to something in such a way as she did now, it was almost impossible to talk the headgear wearing filly out of it. "Very well, Tiara. But if you fail, you have to admit that I'm right. You're changing, and not for the better."

"You've got yourself a deal, Silvy!" Tiara vowed.

The flashback ended and Tiara fought back a lone tear that had formed in her right eye. "Now's not the time to get sentimental. My friendship with Silver Spoon is on the line, and more importantly my family's reputation. I must not fail! I will not fail!" She mentally vowed.

Meanwhile, the CMC had departed from the classroom, eager to get started on their own ideas for what they thought would be compelling stories. "Mine's going to be an exclusive interview with Ponyville's top fashion designer." Sweetie Belle explained. It didn't take a genius to realize she meant her big sister, Rarity.

Scootaloo declared. "I saw a nest of baby birds yesterday, I'll bet our readers would eat up a story like that!"

And Apple Bloom announced. "Granny Smith's got a ton of stuff about Ponyville's olden days. I reckon I'll do a story on each of the books she's got."

They split off to pursue their respective stories, though each was not without setback. Rarity decided to use Sweetie Belle to model her new hat (which was very big and made up of feathers), Scootaloo slipped off a branch and fell into a mud puddle while trying to observe the bird's nest, and Apple Bloom found that Granny Smith was more interested in showing off old baby pictures (including one of Apple Bloom as a foal, where Winona had pulled down her diaper by accident).

Still they each got what they had come for, and delivered them to the basement printing press that The Foal Free Press operated out of. Diamond Tiara sat at her desk as they entered the room and spun around to greet them. "Oh, it's you three," She briefly, bitterly remarked before she changed her tone to a more professional and less hostile one. "Well I hope you've got some actual good stories. Because everything else that's been submitted has been garbage!"

One by one each Crusader deposited their chosen story onto Diamond's desk. The filly examined the headlines of each one, reading them aloud. "'Rarity's Hot New Hat'? 'Baby Birds Born'? 'Ponyville the Early Years'?" She made a gag face and knocked all the submitted stories aside. "Get this junk off my desk!" She jumped down a moment later and told the Crusaders quite bluntly. "I don't know what you call this, but it certainly isn't news! Not as far as I'm concerned, and since I'm editor in chief, what I say goes!" She paused and sighed. "But since I am trying to be professional, I'm going to give you three another chance. Get something else on my desk by the end of the day. And remember, it better be juicy!"

Tossed out of the basement, the three fillies found themselves in a bit of a dilemma. "Well, now what are we gonna do?" Scootaloo questioned. "Do you have any idea what I had to do to get my story?"

Apple Bloom looked rather embarrassed. "Oh, you don't even wanna know what I had to sit through to get mine! I think maybe we bit off more than we could chew with this one, Crusaders."

But Sweetie Belle wasn't listening to her friends' concerns, she was listening to the sounds of a struggle that were going on a short ways away.

"Get it off me, Snails! It's sticky!" Snips could be heard complaining.

"Eh, you get it off me, huh Snips?" Snails questioned. "This is the last time I listen to you."

Snails growled. "Hey, it's not my fault we're stuck in this mess. Now hold still, you're making it worse!"

Sweetie Belle crept closer, finding that the source of the disturbance was Snips and Snails. The two colts had somehow gotten bubblegum all over them, and were currently trying unsuccessfully to remove it. Their struggle went on and on, but they only ended up getting more and more of the gum stuck to them.

Sweetie watched with interest and giggled. Then she whispered as she motioned for Featherweight to come over. "Take a few pictures of this, then meet me during lunch, okay?" Featherweight nodded.

Sweetie then turned back to her friends with a smile on her face. "Girls, I think I have our story!"

The very next day, foals all over the playground were eagerly reading The Foal Free Press. More specifically a rather interesting article that had caught their attention.

One eager filly read it aloud to her classmates during recess. "'Snips and Snails in Bubblegum Veils!' And that's when the biggest jokester in the whole schoolyard really stuck his hoof in it – literally!"

Another filly commented. "You know The Foal Free Press is usually just boring old school news. This is so much better."

"Yeah, and so funny!" A colt chimed in.

Snips and Snails, meanwhile, were delighting in the attention they were receiving. They didn't seem to care that it was because their classmates were laughing at their misfortune from the day prior. "Our mothers always told us we'd end up in the papers someday. And they were right." Snips proudly declared.

"And look!" Snails shouted. "We finally got all the gum out!" He and Snips proceeded to show spots on their coats where their fur had come off, along with the bubblegum.

No one was more delighted by this turn of events than Diamond Tiara, however. She even held a copy of The Foal Free Press which displayed the prized headlining article, while she spoke to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Congratulations, girls! You've managed to exceed my incredibly low expectations for you."

"We'll take that as a compliment." Scootaloo remarked.

Diamond grinned. "You should, because I rarely give them," Then she changed the subject. "Your column is a sensation! I don't want you girls doing news anymore. I want more columns like this," She turned and looked out the window. "Columns about ponies and their private lives, the things they do when they think they're alone. There's a gold mine of untapped potential there," She proceeded to spin around to face the CMC. "You three are now officially my new gossip columnists! And I love the way you signed it! 'Gabby Gums'," A happy sigh escaped her lips. "That was a stroke of genius, not even I could've come up with something like that."

Apple Bloom explained the origins of the pen name. "We couldn't fit all of our names, so we decided to create one for all three of us. Granny Smith says a lot of famous authors and writers do stuff like that, don't remember what she called it though."

Tiara happily pounded a hoof on her desk. "Well I don't care about that, but I do know that I want more Gabby Gums! Nice work, girls. Keep it up. You're ensuring the success of The Foal Free Press. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got business to tend to elsewhere."

The Crusaders chatted among themselves after Diamond went off to focus on other things. "You know, we sure do seem to have a knack for gossip. Almost a gift, you might say." Scootaloo commented in observation.

Sweetie Belle eagerly added. "If we can write a few more of these Gabby Gums columns, we'll earn our cutie marks for sure! Let's do it!" And the Crusaders all high-hoofed each other.

But unfortunately, the fillies soon found themselves facing a problem. Namely the fact that they had no idea of what else they could write about for a gossip column. Not even some hot chocolate, freshly poured, could get their creative juices flowing. An impatient Scootaloo twiddled a pencil on a bench as she and the other Crusaders debated what to do.

Sweetie Belle looked at the pegasus as she asked. "Scootaloo? Do you have anything? Anything at all?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "Nope."

"Apple Bloom?" Sweetie asked.

The earth pony filly shook her head too. "Sorry, got nothin'."

Scootaloo sighed, putting her head down on the bench. "Let's face it, girls. Nothing very juicy happens at this school. Well, aside from Snips and Snails. But nopony's gonna keep reading the same thing over and over again."

"We're doomed." Sweetie Belle declared, before she packed up her things and left for Carousel Boutique.

Later that same day, Rarity happened to be walking around on the ground floor of the boutique when she suddenly and unexpectedly tripped over something. She soon found the source, Sweetie Belle's blue saddlebag that had been carelessly discarded on the floor. "Oh, that Sweetie Belle. What am I going to do with her?" Rarity complained. "Honestly, was she raised in a barn or what?"

Suddenly, something caught Rarity's eye as she used her magic to pick up the saddlebag. She tried to stop herself. "Oh, you really shouldn't be snooping, Rarity, it's a bad habit..." Unfortunately, the urge to snoop was too strong and try as she might the fashionista could not avoid succumbing to it. "Oh, but it's so much fun, Rarity. And what Sweetie Belle doesn't know won't hurt her."

The fashionista quickly found the object that had so fascinated her. It appeared to be an old newspaper of some sort, but not one that she recognized. "Hello... what's this?" It didn't take long before she was bursting into fits of giggles, delighting in the story. "Gum on their bum! Oh, too rich!"

All that laughing had an unintended effect, it brought a rather irritated Sweetie Belle downstairs. "Can you please keep it down with all the laughter?" She demanded. "I'm trying to– hey!" Her eyes immediately fell upon her open saddlebag, held aloft by her sister's magic.

Rarity, realizing she'd been caught in the act, tried to hide the evidence of her wrongdoing! "Bleh! Sweetie Belle?! I, I was just–"

Sweetie Belle growled. "Are you seriously snooping through my saddlebag?"

"Er uh... no, why would you ever think that?" Rarity answered with a nervous laugh and tried to conceal the bag behind her back with her magic.

Frustrated, the younger unicorn (who could not yet do magic) reached out a hoof and lightly smacked her sister's horn. This temporarily disrupted its magic, causing the saddlebag to drop to the floor. "How dare you!" She squeaked in protest.

"Guilty as charged, Sweetie Belle. But you must forgive me," Rarity apologized to the best of her ability. "This Gabby Gums column is so funny! I simply couldn't help myself."

Sweetie blinked in surprise. "You actually like the school paper? The Foal Free Press?"

The fashionista nodded. "It's simply so much juicer than anything in the boring old Ponyville Express. Almost nothing of substance gets published in that paper anymore," And she turned to her little sister. "Could I maybe borrow this to show my friends? I think they'd very much like to read this too."

"Seriously? You'd all wanna read The Foal Free Press? It's the school's newspaper, not Ponyville's." Sweetie commented with concern.

"I know, but I'm sure everypony would just love Gabby Gums!" Rarity happily exclaimed. "Who is she, anyway? I've never heard of her before. Is she a new–" But the rest of her sentence was cut off, for when she turned to look she discovered that her little sister had disappeared.

Sweetie Belle had rushed back to the school grounds to inform her friends of the recent development. "We're not done yet, Crusaders! We gave up too quickly, girls. Forget about trying to squeeze stories out of this school. We need to think bigger, we need to expand!"

"Heck yeah, what a great idea!" Apple Bloom commented. "Can't believe I didn't think of it. We can find all kinds of great gossip out there in Ponyville! That'll definitely get the papers sellin', and our cutie marks will surely follow!"

Sweetie nodded. "I knew you'd see it my way. We'll need to tell Featherweight to start working overtime, that camera's gonna get a good workout."

"Sweetie Belle, you're a genius!" Scootaloo proudly declared. "And I think I know just the place we can check for juicy stories!"

"Honey bun, have you seen the twins anywhere?" Mrs. Cake called from the upstairs nursery of Sugarcube Corner.

Mr. Cake answered from downstairs. "No, I thought they were with you, sugar plum."

Mrs. Cake gulped. "I was afraid you'd say that. The twins aren't in their nursery."

"W-well, maybe Pinkie Pie took them somewhere?" Mr. Cake suggested.

Mrs. Cake shook her head. "Pinkie Pie hasn't been here all day, too busy working on a top secret project," And then she frantically declared. "We need to find my babies! They might be in danger!"

Suddenly, the sound of pots and pans crashing came from downstairs! Afraid of a disaster, Mrs. Cake rushed downstairs and met up with her husband! The two entered the kitchen, and they couldn't believe what they saw.

There were Pound and Pumpkin Cake, covered in flour and cake batter. The entire kitchen was a mess, and several baking tools (including pots and pans) lay scattered all over the place. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened.

The twins babbled something at their parents, not seeming to notice how messy they were.

Mrs. Cake trotted over, picking up the twins. "Oh, my little angels. It's nice that you wanted to help Mommy, but you really should leave the baking to her, Daddy, and big sister Pinkie Pie."

Mr. Cake sighed. "I'll get a bath started, sugar plum. I guess we can't always rely on Pinkie to keep an eye on the twins when we're too busy."

What neither earth pony seemed to notice, was the faint sound of a camera clicking from one of the kitchen windows. The next day, Diamond Tiara was eagerly reading the headline of The Foal Free Press "Pound and Pumpkin Cake: Future Bakers Create Culinary Chaos".

The headgear wearing filly grinned. "Nice work, girls. This is just what I like to see. Now if only the rest of the staff around here would learn from your example."

Just then, Truffle Shuffle came rushing into the printing press room, nearly out of breath. "Chief, great news!" He declared while panting. "The Ponyville news stand said it wants to carry The Foal Free Press. They say ponies keep coming by and asking for it. We're gonna be famous!"

"You're darn right we are, all thanks to my leadership!" Tiara proudly declared and then shouted. "Send 'em twenty copies, and if they run out of those, we'll send 'em twenty more! And make sure we get paid, this is our big break!" Then she turned to the Crusaders. "Keep those columns coming! Gabby Gums is gonna be a star!"

Scootaloo smiled. "Cutie marks, here we come!"

It wasn't long before The Foal Free Press was on every new stand in town, with ponies buying up copies as soon as they hit the streets. Gabby Gums' stories continued to keep them interested, and they would buy up new edition after new edition just to catch up on the latest gossip.

Cheerilee watched the whole thing unfold with quiet concern. She knew she was powerless to intervene in this situation, so far there was nothing that warranted concern from the school board members. But privately she was rather worried. "The school paper shouldn't be devolving into tabloid journalism. It was meant to teach students the hard work that goes into managing a business." She thought, but in public she said nothing. All she could do was hope that ponies would eventually grow tired of the gossip columns of Gabby Gums, and the paper would go back to selling only on school grounds.

Alas, that seemed to become increasingly unlikely as days turned into weeks, and The Foal Free Press and Gabby Gums only continued to rise in popularity.

Of course, there were some growing concerns about the paper. One story in particular that stayed in circulation for quite a while (before complaints forced it aside) involved Mayor Mare. The article read: "Mayor Mare's Mane Not Naturally Gray" and revealed that Mayor Mare was not in fact gray maned, her mane was actually pink and she was using dye to make it look gray.

During one of their spa date get togethers, Twilight voiced her concerns to her friends. "Look, girls, I'm all for a little gossip. But don't you think stuff like this is going a little too far? Don't you think maybe Gabby Gums needs to learn to respect other ponies' privacy?"

"Darling, if I didn't know better I'd swear you were upset just because Gabby Gums printed an article on Princess Celestia the other day," Rarity commented. "Hardly seems worth making a fuss about if you ask me."

Twilight frowned. "I read that one: 'Celestia Just Like Us'," She held up a picture of Princess Celestia eating a slice of cake. "This kind of stuff could ruin a pony's reputation."

"Okay, so she's a bit nosy, but that's part of the job," Applejack commented while she was getting a massage from one of the spa workers. "It ain't anythin' life shatterin', and it's all true. I'm sure even Gabby Gums knows there are some lines you don't cross, even in journalism."

"And her stories are so juicy! Who wouldn't wanna read them?!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "Who knew a school paper could be so exciting to read?!"

Just then, Rainbow Dash swooped in with a copy of The Foal Free Press clutched firmly in her hooves. "The new Gabby Gums just came out! 'The Great and Powerful Trixie's Secrets Revealed! Elusive Magician Spotted Near Canterlot!'"

Rarity waved a hoof. "We already read that one, Rainbow Dash. Come on, relax, why not have a hooficure? It feels so amazing."

Rainbow swallowed hard. "Uh, did you forget who it is you're talking to, Rarity? The day I get a hooficure is the day I turn in my daredevil license. Besides, I haven't read this Gabby Gums yet."

"Whatever, just do it quietly," Spike grumbled. "Some of us are trying to unwind."

Rarity then insisted further. "Rainbow Dash, darling, please take my advice. Join me in one of these relaxing hooficures. Trust me, you'll feel much better."

The brash speedster seemed to hesitate, looking all around as if she were afraid of being caught. "It's that good, huh? Well, maybe just one little hoof," She lay down on one of the spa beds, and watched as one of the workers got close to her with a filing tool. But before it could touch anything, Rainbow leaped up and yelped! " Forget it, I don't like ponies touching my hooves. It's nothing personal," With a longing sigh she then declared. "Man... I'd sure love it if Gabby Gums did a story on me."

"Well she did one on me."Spike happily admitted.

"What?!" His friends all exclaimed and immediately gathered around him, hoping to hear more details!

Indeed it was true, Gabby Gums had done a story on Spike. But it wasn't the usual gossip kind of stuff, it was something different. Apple Bloom proudly presented it to Diamond Tiara. "'Exclusive! Local Dragon Tells All!' Spike opens up about Canterlot, naps, and his favorite jams!"

"It's our best column yet!" Scootaloo declared.

Diamond Tiara didn't think so, she immediately tossed it aside. "You're joking, right?! This is bar none your worst column yet! I can't believe you're gonna do this to me, Crusaders! You're going to sabotage the paper's success, and my reputation, all because you suddenly don't wanna do gossip anymore! Well I hate to break it to you, but Gabby Gums didn't become the biggest thing in Ponyville with namby-pamby stories like this! So either come up with a juicy Gabby Gums gossip article, or leave the paper!" She trotted away, the door slamming shut behind her.

The Crusaders were quick to feel the effects of the rich filly's put down. "Yeah, she's right. This column is a little softer than our usual gossip." Apple Bloom admitted with a sigh.

Sweetie Belle looked nervously at her friends as she asked. "Were you girls feeling guilty about all the gossip too? Like... maybe we could be hurting other ponies' feelings?"

"Well... yeah," Apple Bloom unhappily confessed. "I mean, I didn't wanna say anythin' because everypony loves Gabby Gums so much, but... I was sorta hopin' that we could start writin' more stories like this one. And maybe we could leave the gossipin' behind."

Scootaloo nodded. "Me too, this doesn't feel right anymore."

Sweetie Belle went over, picked up the discarded story, and dropped it into the wastebasket. "Look, girls, if we're gonna get our cutie marks, then we've got to give the ponies what they want," She declared. "I don't like it any more than you do, but this is the price we need to pay to get our cutie marks. Nopony said it would be easy."

And so the fillies reluctantly went back to their usual gossip columns for the paper. Unfortunately, it wouldn't take long for things to gets worse.

Gabby Gums started to get more and more vicious, and ponies were starting to take notice. During a meeting at Sugarcube Corner, Applejack was furiously venting about a story Gabby Gums had made out of her sleeping in the orchard. "'Applejack Asleep on the Job!' Can y'all believe this?! I was only restin' for a minute, it was a long day and I felt tired," She turned the page, showing Big Macintosh holding onto a stuffed doll that had clearly seen better days. "'Big Macintosh-What's He Hiding?' Just who the hay does this Gabby Gums think she is?!"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Twilight observed. "That looks like my old Smarty Pants doll! Applejack, has your brother been hiding my foalhood doll from me?"

"I swear I don't know where he got it from," Applejack insisted. "I keep tellin' him to give back the doll, but he says it's his now and he ain't givin' her up. But that's not important, what is important is that now everypony's makin' fun of him and sayin' he sleeps with dollies. I know he doesn't, but nopony will believe me!"

Twilight frowned. "That's the least of our problems, it looks like Gabby Gums has gone too far! Listen to this: 'Twilight Sparkle: I Was a Canterlot Snob'. A certain well-placed scaly source close to the prissy pony says that Twilight Sparkle thinks Ponyville is nothing but muddy roads and low-class rubes. I know I never said anything like that, which means only one thing. Spike!" She turned to face the dragon.

A horrified Spike belched out a flame that burned his paper to a crisp! "I didn't say that, Twilight! I swear! Gabby Gums made that up! Okay, so maybe I did talk about how you first thought everypony in town was crazy, but that's nowhere close to what Gabby Gums made up."

"Not that I mean to interrupt, but have you maybe considered that you ponies are blowing this just a teeny bit out of proportion?" Rarity suggested. "This gossip is mild compared to the tabloids you can find in cities and towns. If ponies actually believe that stuff is true, perhaps that says something about what they like."

Twilight shook her head. "But it's all lies, Rarity! Even you can't defend that! Gabby Gums prints whatever she wants, and she doesn't care whose reputation she ruins," She proceeded to read through a few other articles of Gabby Gums. "'Fluttershy Has Tail Extensions: Her Ponytail Is Just a Pony Tale', we both know tail extensions aren't a thing."

Fluttershy gulped. "Um, I've been told my tail is kind of long, n-not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Oh, get a load of this," Twilight sarcastically declared. 'Pinkie Pie Is An Out of Control Party Animal'."

Pinkie Pie snatched up the paper in shock! "What?!" Sure enough, the image was of her with a lampshade on her head and standing in a punch bowl. "Oh no, it's true! I do have a problem! I'm a mess!" She admitted and the party pony started to bawl her eyes out.

"And get this," The unicorn drummed on. "Apparently, the Cakes are breaking up."

Mrs. Cake came rushing out of the kitchen upon hearing the news. "Wait, we are?! But how?!"

"Sugar plum, we're not breaking up. I don't know where Gabby Gums got such a ridiculous idea." Mr. Cake reassured his wife.

Just then, Rainbow Dash came rushing in with several copies of The Foal Free Press in her hooves. "Well, my life is officially over. It was nice knowing you all, but Gabby Gums has made it to Cloudsdale."

Twilight examined the headline attached to a rather suspicious looking photo of Rainbow Dash from when she had attempted to sit for a hooficure. "'Rainbow Dash: Speed Demon or Super Softy?' She didn't!"

Rainbow dramatically exclaimed. "She did! I tried to snatch up as many copies as I could, but there were too many of them! I'm a laughing stock!"

Now all eyes turned to Rarity, who simply remarked. "Well, Rainbow Dash, you did say you wanted Gabby Gums to do a story on you."

"I know, but not like this! This isn't the Gabby Gums I got hooked on!" Rainbow complained. "Now she's destroying reputations left and right!"

Nervously, Rarity commented. "Okay... so maybe Gabby Gums has gotten kind of malicious in the past few days, but surely if we just give her time she will..." But then Rarity gasped as she turned the page and saw that the next headline involved her on her fainting couch! "I'll destroy her! 'The Drama Queen's Diaries'! I... I don't believe it! Gabby Gums reprinted my diary! How could she do that?!"

"There's only one way I can think of, and you aren't gonna like it," Twilight suggested to Rarity. "You wouldn't leave your diary lying around where anypony could get at it. Somepony had to know where to look for it and give it to Gabby Gums. Sweetie Belle first introduced us to her, so maybe Sweetie Belle knows who this Gabby Gums is."

The fashionista let out another gasp, putting her hooves to her mouth! "Twilight, I can't believe you! My sister would never associate with anyone as beastly as Gabby Gums! I resent you even suggesting such a thing! Why, she's the most innocent, most lovely–"

But when Rarity inspected Sweetie Belle's saddlebag later, she was shocked to find her diary resting comfortably inside the carrying device. "–most evil pony in Equestria!" She exclaimed to herself as realization set in. "How could my own sister steal my private diary like that? How could my own sister be... Gabby Gums?"

A short time later, Rarity kicked in the door of her workshop where Sweetie Belle currently resided. She glared at her little sister and declared. "Et tu, Gabby Gums?!"

Sweetie stumbled back and jumped in shock as she gasped! "You know?!" She didn't realize until too late that she'd given herself away. "How'd you find out?!"

"The gilded pages of your betrayal, of course!" Rarity explained, holding up her diary. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice when you reprinted my diary?"

"Uh, if I say yes, will you be less upset with me?" Sweetie hopefully inquired, only to receive a glare that could've given Fluttershy's patented stare a run for its money.

Rarity simply sighed, adopting the best lecture face and voice that she could manage. "Gossip can be a very hurtful thing, Sweetie Belle. In some cases it is an invasion of privacy, just like when I snooped through your saddlebag. You didn't like that much, did you?"

Sweetie shook her head. "Well, no."

"Exactly," Rarity declared. "So what makes you think it's okay to do the same to others?"

The filly gulped as she confessed. "I didn't think I was really hurting anypony, it was all just supposed to be a harmless little thing. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were in on it too."

"Well, at least now you understand how other ponies feel, and how much you've been hurting them." The elder unicorn scolded quite sternfully.

"That's the thing, I do understand," Sweetie confessed to Rarity. "We've all been feeling guilty, but we just want our cutie marks so badly!"

It was then that the fashionista proposed an important question to her little sister. "Do you really think that writing nasty things and making everypony feel horrible is your destiny? What you're meant to do with your life?"

"Well, when you put it that way..." Sweetie began.

Diamond Tiara did not take the news of Gabby Gums' planned retirement well. In fact, she all but blew a fuse! "No! I won't let you quit! Not after we've come so far! You won't sabotage my success, blank flanks!"

"And now we're back to square one, guess the truce was nice while it lasted." Scootaloo commented.

Tiara growled. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Crusaders! Here I try to be nice and give you a chance, and you insist on betraying me the moment you get cold hooves!"

"But don't you see?" Sweetie Belle commented. "The gossip we've been writing is hurting everypony's feelings, we can't keep doing it."

At that Diamond became indigent, stomping her hooves down. "Feelings?! Since when did you three start caring about feelings?! After all the stories you've printed, suddenly now you think you've gone too far?!"

"We're sorry, Diamond Tiara, but we have no other choice," Apple Bloom declared. "Find somepony else to keep Gabby Gums goin' if it's that important to you."

"Besides, you can't force us to keep up the gossip," Scootaloo added with a smirk. "We're done fearing you!"

Diamond's cornflower blue eyes suddenly lit up as she spun around. "You shouldn't have said that, girls. Here I was hoping we could settle this peacefully, but you leave me no other choice. When you see these..." She ominously held up three envelopes. "You may not want to quit after all."

The envelopes' contents spilled out, revealing a series of embarrassing photos of each of the Crusaders from when they had been trying to find stories for the paper. Tiara explained. "I told that Featherweight to document everything, and that's just what he did. At least he was useful."

"Why you little... gimme those!" Scootaloo growled as she lunged at Diamond Tiara.

But Diamond moved to quickly snatch them all up. "Sorry, girls, but they're not yours. They're official property of The Foal Free Press, which means as editor in chief I can use them as I see fit."

"You can't do that!" Sweetie protested.

Tiara smirked. "I can, and I will! So if Gabby Gums really does go into early retirement tomorrow, I'll need something to fill that empty column space. If you don't wanna have your names and faces plastered all over town tomorrow, I suggest you bring me something I can use. And don't even think about giving me something that's not gossip, because I'll know! Good day, girls!"

"Well that's just great," Scootaloo remarked as the Crusaders left the basement printing press. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"Don't worry, we'll... we'll think of something, I'm sure of it!" Sweetie Belle declared. "Diamond won't get away with this!"

"In the mean time, we'd better find somethin' to keep Diamond off our backs." Apple Bloom suggested.

But at that very moment, Rainbow Dash came flying past and frowned. "Don't even bother, girls."

Scootaloo tried to fight back a gulp. "Uh, h-hey Rainbow Dash. Got any... interesting stories to tell us?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Nice try, kid. Everypony in town knows who Gabby Gums is now, your little secret is no more! So don't even think about trying to get more stories out of them, you'll be lucky if anypony even talks to you three again."

"But Rainbow, you don't understand!" Scootaloo pleaded.

The brash pegasus simply sighed as she flew off. "Sorry, Scootaloo, but this is one mess I can't bail you out of. You and your friends dug yourselves into this ditch, now you're gonna have to dig yourselves out."

And indeed Rainbow was telling the truth. All throughout town, everypony either avoided the Crusaders or shooed them away. None were harsher though than Applejack and Big Macintosh, who ended up swapping roles.

"Ah c'mon, Applejack!" Apple Bloom pleaded with her big sister. "You're not mad at us too, are you?"

"Eeyup." Applejack bluntly replied.

Apple Bloom blinked in surprise. "You're not even gonna talk to us?"

"Eenope." Applejack answered and turned her head.

Big Macintosh then sternly spoke up with a glare in his eyes. "Y'all oughta be ashamed of yourself, Apple Bloom! Humiliatin' your sister 'n' me like that. Frankly, we don't really wanna talk to any o' y'all right now so kindly take your little gossip column and your embarrassin' photographs and just go away!"

"Well, this stinks," Apple Bloom commented as she and her friends left Sweet Apple Acres. "Our friendships are ruined, our families won't even talk to us, and worst of all we don't even have our cutie marks. Some idea this turned out to be."

"What are we going to do?" Sweetie Belle wondered. "Even our clubhouse isn't safe now, everypony's sure to be expecting that."

It was then that Scootaloo commented. "Well, there is one place where we can be safe while we think of a way out of this mess."

Said safe place turned out to be Scootaloo's house, marked by the Cloudsdale like pillars at the front entrance. And an amber coated pegasus mare was there to greet them, Dizzy Twister, Scootaloo's mom.

"Hey, Mom," Scootaloo nervously greeted her female parent. "Is it okay if my friends and I crash here for a few hours, maybe overnight? We really don't have anywhere else to go."

"As long as you promise to clean up after yourselves," Dizzy Twister commented as she ushered the fillies inside. "May I ask what brings you here? You don't seem to be very cheerful today. Has somepony been giving you three a hard time?"

Scootaloo gulped. "Well, kind of. It's really our fault," She proceeded to ask. "What do you know about Gabby Gums?"

Dizzy shook her head. "I was never into that sort of stuff, far too distasteful and exaggerated for my tastes. Call me old fashioned, but I much prefer Ponyville Express and I try to avoid gossip. Never does me any good," Then she questioned her daughter with her rose colored eyes. "What does that have to do with any of this?"

Sweetie Belle confessed. "Uh, because we are Gabby Gums. Or at least we were, now we're kind of in a bind."

Dizzy gasped as her wings (previously folded against her back) spread outward in shock! "My goodness! You three fillies have been causing so much of an uproar?!"

Apple Bloom nodded. "We didn't mean for it to get so out of control, Mrs. Twister. We're really sorry."

The amber coated pegasus just sighed and shook her head. "Well it's not enough to just say you're sorry, girls. When you're sorry, you have to mean it. And that usually means you have to fix the problem you caused."

"But how are we going to do that?" Scootaloo questioned. "The whole town's against us, and for good reason, we treated them pretty badly. We should've drawn the line much sooner, but we didn't and now we're in a real pickle."

Dizzy Twister simply commented. "Well, I can't say that it will work for your situation, but often I find that when a publisher or writer in a paper wants to apologize, they put out a note in the next paper. A letter, you might say."

"You mean, like the friendship reports Twilight and her friends always send to the princess?" Sweetie questioned.

"Something like that," Dizzy replied with a nod. "But I can't write that for you, you three need to figure out what you're going to say, and how you'll get out to the public."

Apple Bloom gulped. "We'd better be fast, we've only got until tomorrow before it's too late!"

The next morning dawned, and Diamond Tiara was waiting in the basement printing press for the Crusaders. But even as the birds sang, the three fillies did not show. Diamond grumbled. "That's it, they forced my hoof! Sorry, blank flanks, but Gabby Gums just ran out of time," She barked out orders to an ink covered colt manning the printing presses. "You there, run these photos instead!" She tossed over the envelopes. "And I want this paper on every street corner in Ponyville, ASAP!"

But before the envelopes could be set down, Sweetie Belle threw open the door and declared. "Stop the presses!"

"Uh, they haven't started yet." The ink covered colt responded.

"You're too late, Crusaders!" Tiara bitterly remarked. "I gave you time, and you blew it off!"

"Hold on a minute, Diamond," Scootaloo declared. "We've got a Gabby Gums article. It's our best column yet."

Diamond's eyes lit up like stars! "Really?!" But then the look faded as she thought about something. "Wait a minute, how do I know you're not trying to pull a fast one on me? Let me see that article."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "Ya want this paper to get out to the street corners in time for the mornin' rush, right? Well there's no time to read over it, 'cause it's a doozy! Either ya print it and all's well, or you run those embarrassin' photos and we rat you out to Miss. Cheerilee. I doubt she'll be pleased to hear what The Foal Free Press has gotten involved in."

The pink coated filly folded, any desire to check the story faded away. She didn't dare risk calling the Crusaders bluff now. "You're lucky I'm nice," She told them. "But don't test my patience like that again, or else you know what will happen!"

A little later, Tiara was strolling through the playground and admiring her leadership skills that she had displayed. "Ah, well done, Diamond Tiara," She gave herself a pep talk. "Mother would be so proud of you. You've averted yet another crisis with your amazing diplomatic skills," She giggled. "And any day now, Silver Spoon is gonna realize I was right and she was wrong. I told her I could pull it off!"

However, to the rich filly's surprise Silver Spoon came rushing up to her with a copy of The Foal Free Press in her hooves. "Diamond, you are never gonna believe what Gabby Gums just did!" The glasses wearing filly declared. "I never imagined you could stoop so low!"

"What do you mean?!" Tiara demanded as she snatched up the paper, and gasped at what she read! "'An Open Letter to Ponyville by Gabby Gums: Mysterious Gossip Columnist Reveals Shameful Secrets Behind Paper's Success'?!" She threw down the paper in fury, her face turning bright red as steam billowed out of her ears. "Ooh, those sneaky Crusaders! They're not gonna get away with this! I'll publish those photos first thing tomorrow! They messed with the wrong pony, and they're gonna be sorry!"

"Di, you're scaring me... I don't think I like it," Silver Spoon commented. "This definitely isn't you. I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but I'm putting a stop to it! Miss. Cheerilee has to know about this!"

While Silver Spoon rushed away to notify Cheerilee of the developments, the rest of Ponyville was waking up to Gabby Gums latest column, which read something like this:

To the citizens of Ponyville,

For some time now, you've been reading this column to get the latest dirt and the hottest buzz. But this will be my final piece. We want to apologize to you for all the pain and embarrassment that we've caused.

Yes, that's right. We. For in truth, I'm actually three little fillies, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo.

As the popularity of our column grew, we got swept up in the hype. We knew that what we were doing didn't feel quite right, but we ignored the guilt because everypony seemed to want to read what we were writing. And maybe they were, until we started making things up to lure readers in.

Don't worry, from now on, we promise to respect everypony else's privacy, and we won't engage in hurtful gossip any more.

All we can do now is ask for your forgiveness, Ponyville.

Signing off for the very last time,

XOXO, Gabby Gums

Cheerilee learned of the developments soon enough, and the very next day she was in the basement printing press and an unhappy looking Diamond Tiara stood beside her. "I guess I should've seen something like this coming," She commented to herself. "It's a pity, I guess I put a little too much trust into a first time editor, and gave her too much authority," With a growl she added. "Diamond Tiara, I'm afraid I have to strip you of your title. Be thankful I don't kick you off the paper all together."

Tiara said nothing, she just looked shamefully at the ground while deep in thought. Where had she gone wrong? Where had she slipped up and cost herself so much?

"And now, it gives me great pleasure to announce our next editor in chief," Cheerilee proudly declared. "I give you, Featherweight!"

Everypony clapped and cheered, except for Diamond Tiara. "But what about me?" She reluctantly asked. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Here you go, you can have my job," The ink covered coat told her. "Our new editor in chief says I get to take his old job as head photographer. Mind the presses, they tend to get a bit messy."'

Sure enough, Diamond ended up covered in ink completely, much to everypony's else amusement. But poor Diamond wished nothing more than to disappear at that moment. "Father's not gonna be happy about this, and even Mother's probably going to have a few choice words for getting demoted like this," She thought. "And I can't even begin to think of how I'll win back Silver Spoon's friendship. If I ever even get the chance."

Author's Note

This rewrite has definitely been a long time coming. "Ponyville Confidential" seems to be among those episodes that gets a lot of flack for not entirely undeserved reasons, even though many people say it's at least a decent episode.

It's kind of hard to go back to this episode in hindsight considering all the developments that have occurred in the world of news, and changes in the show. This was Diamond Tiara's first solo appearance, and not only was she willing to use blackmail to get what she wanted but she outright said she didn't care about feelings. Her actions here definitely made her redemption in "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" hard to sell.

But the mane six in this episode also tend to catch a lot of flack, as do the townsponies. When they learn about the true identity of "Gabby Gums" they react by basically shunning the CMC entirely and refusing even to talk to them, despite the fact that they all relished in the gossip "Gabby Gums" offered until it happened to them. A hypocrisy that only Rarity acknowledged. Though I think the problem with that is that we saw the whole thing unfold from the CMC's perspective, and they never told anyone what we knew. If we the audience didn't know the CMC were being blackmailed we would not sympathize with them continuing their gossip column.

To fix some of these problems, I took the suggestions of long time series indirect contributor Comickook, who has offered suggestions for many other rewrites. He suggested specifically that Silver Spoon's absence be explained as a bet with Diamond Tiara, and include a nod to Spoiled Rich to foreshadow some of the later developments of Diamond's home life.

The mention of Silver Spoon's sleepover can be traced back to my redo of "Look Before You Sleep", which can be found here.

~~The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (Redo)~~
~~Ponyville Confidential~~
Daring Don't (Bonus Chapter)
Dungeons And Discords
Once Upon a Zeppelin (Bonus Chapter)
School Daze Parts 1 and 2
The Maud Couple
School Raze Parts 1 and 2

S4 E4: Daring Don't (What If?) (Bonus Chapter)

Author's Note

This bonus chapter is based on an idea from Josh Scorcher (a.k.a The Firey Joker)'s review of "Rainbow Falls". More specifically a comment posted when the review was uploaded.

The comment stated that this episode was originally meant to be Rainbow Dash's key episode, and "Rainbow Falls" was ordered and written as a last minute replacement. When pressed for confirmation, the commentor's original poster revealed that it was actually just speculation based on a fan review. As far as I know, this episode was never at any point considered to be a key episode. But I felt like the idea was worth exploring here, and it needed surprisingly little tweaking to make it work.

The biggest issue was cutting out the rest of the mane six who contributed nothing after arriving at Daring Do's cottage. Many Season 4 episodes had a tendency to shove the whole mane six into episodes they didn't need to be in, and sometimes (such as in "Rainbow Falls") it could really show.

There is also the matter of Daring Do being real, which was and still is a dividing point within the fandom (even though I seem to recall many fanfics being written on the idea of Daring Do being real long before the show ever did it) and her behavior towards Rainbow Dash. Intentional or not, she ended up making Rainbow doubt herself and never really apologized for being so cold when Rainbow legitimately wanted to help. Which is what I tried to fix here, along with some other details.

~~The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (Redo)~~
~~Ponyville Confidential~~
~~Daring Don't (Bonus Chapter)~~
Dungeons And Discords
Once Upon a Zeppelin (Bonus Chapter)
School Daze Parts 1 and 2
The Maud Couple
School Raze Parts 1 and 2

S4 E4: Daring Don't (What If?) (Bonus Chapter)

Fluttershy was taking advantage of a beautiful, peaceful day to teach some baby birds how to fly. Since their parents had gone off to fetch food, the pegasus with a lovely yellow coat had volunteered to do it. She had set up a small chart explaining how flight was achieved and was now in the process of trying to coax the baby birds out of their nest.

Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash decided that this was the perfect time to fly past. And she seemed to be even more excited than usual as she was heard exclaiming to herself! "Four more months, four more months, just four more months!" Then she turned to face Fluttershy. "I bet you're excited, huh? Tell me you're excited!"

"Oh, my. I, uh, I could be excited. I don't really know. I wasn't really think—" Fluttershy commented in bewilderment, she was at a complete loss as to what her friend was talking about.

Fortunately, she needn't have bothered. Rainbow was all too happy to fill Fluttershy in on her train of thought. "Come on, you gotta be excited! Everypony who's anypony is excited! It's something we look forward to all year round!"

Fluttershy still didn't quite understand what was being discussed. "Oh, well, I guess maybe I'm a little kinda sort of excited. I think."

Rainbow took that as a sign of confirmation. "Ha! See?! I thought so! I knew you'd be excited!"

"Yeah," Fluttershy began, before realizing she still had no clue. "So, um, why am I excited, again?"

Rainbow's light purple eyes lit up like stars in the night sky! "I'll tell you why! Because the next Daring Do book is coming out exactly four months from today! That's how exciting it is! So what amazing, incredible, awesome adventure do you think Daring Do will have in her next book, huh, Fluttershy?"

The animal loving pegasus mare simply replied. "I don't know, I don't really follow exciting stuff like that. But I'm glad you're excited about it."

The cyan coated speedster beamed. "Oh, just thinking about Daring Do's adventures has me all warm and tingly inside!" She began to imagine what kind of crazy, death defying adventures Daring Do might get into in the next book. And as such as she wasn't paying attention to anything else. "Will Daring Do at long last stalk the Fortress of Talacon? Only to be forced to contend with its dreaded and impenetrable arrow defense? And if so, could her skill, quick wits, and courage possibly carry the day against such odds?" She paused briefly in her thinking. "Ooh, or will her next adventure bring her face to face with the vast and horrible Ahuizotl himself?! Her arch nemesis?!"

Rainbow imagined Ahuizotl letting out a roar before she continued fantasizing about Daring Do. "Would she cower, turn tail and run? Or would she fly at him, full bore, knowing full well against all odds that the greatest challenge she ever faced was still surely no match for—"

But Rainbow's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Fluttershy shouted! "Look out!" Alas, Fluttershy's warning came too late for Rainbow Dash to hear, or to react to what her friend was trying to warn her about. The brash speedster crashed right into the bird's nest, as the baby birds circled around her while her head spun.

Fluttershy commented with concern. "Oh, I'm not so sure she's gonna last another four months at this rate..." But she needn't have worried, Rainbow Dash wasn't going to have to wait that long for the next Daring Do book. An unexpected development was going to speed up the book's deadline in a way that even Rainbow would've never imagined.

A few days later, Rainbow Dash was still thinking nonstop about the Daring Do books, and when the next one was scheduled to come out. She was in such an excited state that nothing else really mattered to her, even as she was dropping by the Golden Oak Library to chat with Twilight (the only other pony who shared her love of Daring Do).

"Heya, Twilight! Aren't you excited that—" Rainbow began as she entered the library.

To the pegasus' surprise she was greeted by the sound of Pinkie Pie blowing a party horn, and party music blaring from a record player. Not to mention the sight of all her friends gathered in the library and wearing party hats.

Twilight smiled as she turned to greet Rainbow Dash. "Ah, Rainbow Dash, good. So glad you've finally made it! I was wondering when you'd show up."

"Uh, what's everypony doing here? Did I miss something?" Rainbow questioned.

"Nope," Pinkie Pie happily replied. "We're having a holiday party!"

The brash pegasus questioned further. "And what holiday would today be, exactly?"

Pinkie Pie stopped briefly and explained. "National Random Holiday Party Day! Woo-hoo! Come on, join the fun!"

Rarity trotted over, a glass of punch held in her magic. "Don't worry, Rainbow Dash. I've never heard of it either, but the punch is simply divine."

"Yeah," Pinkie declared. "You might even say the secret ingredient is," She whispered quite loudly into Rainbow's ear. "A secret!" Then she squeed with delight.

The cyan coated mare was puzzled, she'd never heard anything about any of this before. "And why am I the last pony to find out about this? Did nopony think to invite me?"

Applejack frowned as she trotted over. "It ain't like that, sugarcube. I came by your place to invite you personally, but it seems you were a speck too busy reading the last Daring Do book again, for the twelfth time."

Rainbow blushed and quickly defended herself by saying. "Yeah, well that's because in only three months and twenty six more days, I'll be able to read the next one. I wanna be all caught up by then."

But Twilight brought up some bad news. "Oh, haven't you heard, Rainbow Dash? The release of the next book got pushed back another two months. It was in all the papers."

Upon hearing that, Rainbow spat out her punch in shock! "What?! Two more months?! Are you kidding me?! I've been waiting so long already! I don't think I can take another two months! I'll never make it!"

Fluttershy spoke up. "I can personally vouch for that, I'm afraid."

Rainbow flew closer to Twilight, hoping for more information. "Uh, did they give a reason?"

Twilight shook her head. "The publisher just said author A.K. Yearling won't be able to finish the book for another two months. I actually found out first because my mom actually serves as Yearling's publisher. A.K. figured it takes a writer to know a writer. Plus, my mom's got lots of contacts in Canterlot, she knows all the best publishing companies."

"I can't believe it, you knew something like that before I did!" Rainbow growled. "I'm the series' biggest fan!"

The young alicorn scoffed at the suggestion. "I'm just as big a fan as you! In fact, I'm the one who first introduced you to the books, remember?" Rainbow blushed and nodded her head in realization, Twilight then went on speaking. "A.K. Yearling just might be my favorite author of all time. I know everything about her. Where she grew up, where she studied literature, where she wrote the first Daring Do book..."

"Even where she lives?" The brash pegasus inquired.

Twilight shook her head again. "Actually, no, but if I contact my mom I think she could provide a location. Why does that matter?"

Rainbow stomped her hoof down as she explained her argument. "Don't you get it? The new book is obviously delayed because A.K. needs help dealing with whatever everyday nonsense is distracting her from spending her every living breathing second writing! So I– I mean, fans like me, can get to read the new book ASAP! Think about it! We could help her with her laundry, buy her groceries, cooking her meals, whatever! Now, who wouldn't appreciate that?"

Twilight wasn't so convinced. "I don't know about that. I think what A.K. would want most is respect for her privacy."

The brash speedster simply added. "She can always say no."

"I... guess that's true," Twilight considered and sighed. "I suppose I'll write to my mom and see if she can give A.K.'s address. But no promises, A.K. tends to be a very reclusive author from what I hear."

"If it's all the same to you, sugarcube, I think the rest of us will take a pass on that adventure," Applejack commented. "We ain't as big a fans of Daring Do as you and Rainbow Dash are."

"Not to mention that some of us have rather important business projects to tend to, and we simply can't drop them for what may well be a wild goose chase." Rarity added.

Fluttershy also added. "Besides, somepony will need to house sit for you while you're away, and make sure Spike behaves himself."

"Yeah, gotta make sure he doesn't burn the house down or something." Pinkie Pie teased.

From upstairs came the reply. "I set the curtains on fire one time!"

Thanks to her mom, Twilight was indeed able to obtain the address of A.K. Yearling. It was for a rather worn down old shack in the middle of a dense forest where only the faintest rays of sunlight seeped through.

"You see what I mean? Why would she live in this remote part of Equestria except to keep folks from intruding on her privacy?" Twilight commented as she and Rainbow Dash approached the location. As the two drew closer they could see that the shack appeared rather beaten up and tarnished, as if there had been an attack there not too long ago. "Wait! Oh no. What happened? Somepony really trashed the place!"

"Or it could just be that A.K.'s a real slob," Rainbow commented as they trotted inside. "Maybe that's why she pushed the book back? So she could clean up? You'd be surprised how easy it is to forget to do basic household chores."

Twilight shook her head. "This doesn't look natural, not at all. I think somepony else has already been here and made a mess of the place. What if something terrible happened to A.K. Yearling?!"

Rainbow gasped in shock, putting her hooves to her face! "I know! There might be no more books!" When Twilight glared at her she quickly added. "Uh... But, of course, I'd be worried about her, too. Heh."

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice called out to the two ponies. "What are you doing here? What have you done to my house?" Both mares spun around to look, and they saw a mare with a light gold coat. They couldn't tell if she was a pegasus, unicorn, or an earth pony though, because she wore a reddish-purple robe that covered her body, a large gray hat with a light brown bow, and moderate rose eyes hidden behind a pair of thick, red glasses. Her mane seemed to be almost black. In short, she almost looked like Daring Do herself.

"Uh... A... K-K... Yearling...?" Rainbow remarked as she morphed her face into a most unusual expression.

"Yes, that's me," A.K. Yearling remarked. "But as you can clearly see I'm not in the mood for guests, go away!"

Twilight quickly protested. "We didn't do this to your house if that's what you're thinking, A.K. We thought something awful might have happened to you."

A.K. just grumbled. "Well I'm perfectly fine, thank you for caring. Now get out, and don't tell anypony about this!"

Rainbow Dash retorted. "But we came all the way out here to find you, A.K. Yearling. I've just gotta say how much Twilight and I really love your books..." A nervous laugh escaped her lips.

A.K. paid no attention, she was too busy inspecting a think, binded book that she had brought with her. She jammed her hoof into the horseshoe mark, undoing the binders and pulling out a golden ring as she breathed a sigh of relief. "It's safe, thank goodness."

"Great!" Rainbow declared. "So you can put that... whatever it is away, and then maybe we could talk about helping you move your next Daring Do book along, Miss Yearling. Chop chop!"

The author only grumbled. "Didn't you read the papers? I'm busy at the moment! I don't have time to be writing books!"

"But A.K.-" Rainbow began to plead.

A.K. grumbled. "I said leave me alone, both of you! I appreciate the concern, but my life is none of your business!"

Twilight proceeded to pull Rainbow Dash outside with her magic as she told A.K. Yearling. "That's fine, we were just leaving anyway. Seems you've got everything under control."

Once outside, Rainbow Dash immediately grumbled. "Twilight, why did you do that?! Can't you see A.K. needs help? Her place is a mess!"

Twilight simply growled. "A.K. Yearling has made it pretty clear that she wants to be left alone. We need to respect her wishes! Don't you remember the Gabby Gums incident and how everypony in town made a big deal about it? If A.K. doesn't want to see anypony, that's her business and not ours. We can't just upend her life like that."

However, Rainbow's attention was draw to the roof of the house. "Uh, maybe you oughta be telling it to those guys, Twilight?" She suggested.

The alicorn spun around and nearly gasped when she saw a trio of stallions go inside through a window! "Oh no, those guys look nasty! What are they doing here?!"

"I don't know, but we'd better warn A.K. before it's too late!" Rainbow vowed.

Meanwhile, inside her worn down cottage, A.K. Yearling was looking at her reflection in a mirror. It also alerted her to the presence of three rather bulky stallions, all three of which looked rather unhappy.

A.K. spun around to face them. "Can I help you with something, boys?"

"You know what we're here for, Miss Yearling!" One of the stallions growled. "Hoof it over!"

A.K. smirked. "Oh, so that's how it's gonna be, huh? Well okay. Just remember, you asked for this," She proceeded to remove her glasses and toss away both her hat and her robe. In the blink of an eye, she sported a pith helmet. And a few other features about her now stood out: Her mane and tail had several shades of dark and medium gray, she had wings, and her cutie mark was a compass rose.

There was only one pony who fit all that criteria. Twilight and Rainbow Dash could hardly believe their eyes! "A.K. Yearling is Daring Do!" They said together, as Daring Do prepared for a fight.

Daring backed away from the mirror, clutching the golden ring from earlier in her teeth as the stallions tried to corner her. Meanwhile, Twilight and Rainbow Dash could only watch with amazement. Any notion of joining in hadn't yet crossed their minds.

"Wow! A.K. Yearling and Daring Do are one and the same! Who'd have guessed?!" Twilight commented with delight. " My mind is officially blown!"

Rainbow simply ribbed Twilight with a hoof. "Aw, come on, Twilight! I knew it all along. It was so obvious."

Twilight and Rainbow proceeded to watch with amazement as Daring Do fended off her attackers with the greatest of ease, even tossing the ring into her fireplace when they tried to snatch it away from her! She quickly pulled it out with a lasso and knocked over a liquid that cooled the ring back down, as if she'd done it all before.

Eventually though, Daring seemed to slip and stumble, as if she'd misjudged her next move! Rainbow cried out in horror! "Daring Do!"

The unexpected cry caught the adventurer by surprise, and that moment of confusion was all it took for the ring to be knocked out of her possession and into the waiting hooves of an earth pony stallion that had managed to slip in during the scuffle. The stallion had a brownish gray coat, a very dark gray mane and tail, grayish green eyes, and a cutie mark depicting a gold skull with a red jewel in its right eye. He wore a light brown jacket with a red and white polka doted tie, and had a noticeable five o'clock shadow around his muzzle.

The stallion simply picked up the ring and twirled it around. "Many thanks, Daring Do," He declared with a smile. "As you've probably surmised, our earlier search for this treasure was... unsuccessful. So kind of you to find it for us."

Daring grunted, trying to break free of the hold of the stallion's henchponies. "Give it back, Caballeron!"

"That's Doctor Caballeron to you, Miss. Do!" Doctor Caballeron bitterly corrected.

Twilight was frightened, but that didn't stop her from reciting what she knew about Caballeron (though until now she'd assumed that he too was fictional). "Book four: Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams. He wanted to partner with Daring Do on her adventures, but she refused. I can't believe it! The real Daring Do and the real Caballeron!"

Meanwhile, Daring was arguing with Caballeron. "So let me guess: Ahuizotl has put you up to this, huh, Caballeron? You're stealing the ring to give to him so that his hold on the Fortress of Talacon will be good for eight centuries as foretold by prophecy! I never thought you could stoop so low!"

Doctor Caballeron snapped back. "Close, but... not quite. I'm simply going to sell the ring to him, make a quick bundle, and retire from archaeology in splendor. You really shouldn't have snubbed my offer, I told you I could be a valueable ally, but you turned me away."

"Because you only cared about the money, not about protecting the ancient civilizations and their treasures!" Daring growled. "Don't be a fool, Caballeron! You know what that ring will do if Ahuizotl gets his paws on it! You're dooming the whole valley to eight centuries of unrelenting heat! Even Princess Celestia won't be able to stop that!"

Doctor Caballeron simply laughed. "You worry too much, Daring Do. That's not my problem now is it?" He gave a whistle. "Come, my fellow stallions! To market! We must hurry!" He and his henchponies soon departed, passing right by Twilight and Rainbow Dash without even noticing them.

It was only after the fact that the two mares outside realized they should probably go in and make sure Daring Do wasn't hurt.

Indeed Daring wasn't. She slowly stumbled to her hooves, and despite a groan she was able to stand without trouble.

"Are you alright, Daring?" Twilight asked the pegasus. "Does anything hurt?"

Daring growled and gritted her teeth. "I'm just fine, a little soreness in the wings but I'll manage. No thanks to the likes of you." She narrowed her eyes at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow quickly defended. "I was only trying to help, Daring. You could stand to not be such a grouch all the time."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but this isn't some game! This is real!" Daring retorted. "I'm Daring Do, I don't need help! I can handle my problems on my own, thank you very much. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a certain doctor to chase after before he gets away." She quickly departed her shack, leaving Twilight and Rainbow alone to discuss what had happened.

"She's in over her head, we've gotta help her! That's what we do!" Dash insisted.

Twilight shook her head. "You heard what Daring says, she prefers to solve things on her own. It's best if we leave her to it, for all we know we lead Caballeron right to her."

"We can't help that, we had no way to know he was looking for Daring Do," Rainbow protested. "And how can we stand by at a time like this? You know what's at stake here! Ahuizotl has sought control of the Tenochtitlan Basin since book three!"

Twilight nodded her head. "True, but in book four, Daring defeated Ahuizotl and secured control of the Amulet of Atonement, dispelling the dark magic of the Ketztwctl Empress, and thus protecting the basin with the Radiant Shield of Razdon!"

Rainbow shook her head. "But the Radiant Shield of Razdon is vulnerable to the dark enchantment of the Rings of Scorchero!"

Twilight argued back. "Are you forgetting that the Rings were scattered to the four corners of Tenochtitlan, thus rendering the dark enchantment powerless?"

Rainbow protested. "Only if you assume that the rings have yet to be retrieved, and that the ring Caballeron just stole isn't the last one needed to completely restore the dark tower and its cruel hold on Tenochtitlan! Did you ever think of that, Twilight?!"

The young alicorn gulped hard. "W-well, no, actually I hadn't. But that's still a very big if."

"Sounds like it's a reality from the way Daring was talking earlier!" Rainbow declared. "I'm not gonna sit around and let Ahuizotl win! We gotta help Daring Do retrieve the ring for safekeeping before it's too late!"

Twilight sighed. "Well, okay, but it sounds like we're in way, way, way over our heads. We're going to need a plan!"

"You come up with one then, and I'll scout ahead and look for Daring!" Rainbow declared. "Now's the time for action! Hold on, Daring Do, I'm coming!"

Twilight groaned as she watched her friend take off into the distance. "That's not an actual plan!" Under her breath she muttered. "And not all of us can fly like you, you know."

Rainbow Dash was soon high in the sky, looking for any trace of either Doctor Caballeron or Daring Do. After a great deal of searching, she found Daring by herself in a section of the forest. Rainbow swooped closer, ready to join the adventurer! "Here I come, Daring Do! Ready to join an adventure with the greatest, bravest, coolest, most incredible hero I could ever–"

But before she could land, Rainbow halted in mid-air and tried to collect her thoughts. She was starting to lose sight of what was important because of the excitement of working with Daring Do. "Okay, maybe I just need a sec... Just another adventure. No big deal. I can handle this," Then she smacked herself. "Come on, get a grip! Play it cool! You can do this. Although... the idea of doing it alongside Daring Do... Wow! Maybe I could get my picture taken with her afterward, or maybe an autograph, or-" She smacked herself again. "There you go again, letting your thoughts get the better of you. She's just a pony like any other pony. A pony who stops entire armies of bad guys with nothing more than her bare hooves, and an attitude, and—!"

Another smack stopped Rainbow's train of thought. "Ow... That's starting to hurt. Gotta stop doing that."

Meanwhile, Daring Do was walking by herself and did not seem to be aware of Rainbow's presence, that is until she heard a shout and found herself face to face with the pegasus who looked so much like her. "Oh, it's just you. What do you want?"

"Please, let me help you, just this once," Rainbow desperately pleaded. "I am suuuuuch a huge fan." And she gave a nervous chuckle.

Daring sighed. "I don't have time for this. I'll say it once and only once. I. Work. Alone. Got it?!"

Rainbow whimpered, crawling over to Daring Do. "But why won't you let me team up with you? I promise I won't get in the way."

The adventurer only shook her head. "They all say that, they all think they have what it takes to be a partner to me. But in the end, they always end up getting hurt or worse. Others, like Caballeron, they only care about themselves. In the end, trusting others only gets you into more trouble. And in my line of work I've come to learn a hard truth: Since you can't tell who you can trust, it's far better to trust no one, not even yourself."

The cyan coated speedster protested. "So you had a few bad experiences, who hasn't? Just because you can't trust some doesn't mean no one can be trusted. Having others you can count on isn't always a bad thing."

Daring wasn't convinced in the slightest, but she also sensed something that she was absolutely fearing. "You're not taking no for an answer, are you?"

"Nope, I'm sticking with you whether you like it or not," Rainbow Dash pleaded. "I've read all your books, I know all your tricks. And not that I mean to brag, but I've had a couple of life saving adventures myself. You need me."

Daring let out a long, painful sigh. "Alright, fine, if it'll get you off my back!"

"Yay!" Rainbow cheered and leaped into the air.

Daring quickly threw up a hoof. "But only on one condition: You do as I say. I'm in charge, and what I say goes. Is that gonna be a problem?"

"No, I'm used to taking orders. After all, I trained at the Wonderbolts Academy, and even Captain Spitfire said she was impressed." Rainbow Dash commented.

"I'm sure that's very interesting, but I don't really care about that. Now come on, I've wasted enough time here," Daring grumbled. "And remember what I told you."

Hours passed uneventfully for the two pegasi, and Twilight did not catch up to them at any point. Rainbow worried briefly about that, before assuming her friend was simply following their hoofsteps a ways back.

At last, as night came and Luna's moon rose high into the sky, they came upon a small camp set up by Caballeron and his henchponies. "As I figured," Daring whispered. "It's a long way to the market, Caballeron and his men decided to stop for dinner."

"Great, time for an ambush!" Rainbow declared as she put her hooves together. "I'm itching for action! Just say the word and I'll pounce!"

Daring Do shook her head. "No, we're going to play this safe. We're doing things my way, remember?"

"Oh, right," Rainbow realized. "But what are you gonna do?" Her question was soon answered as she saw Daring pick up some leafs from the ground, folding them into a beard before she put on her A.K. Yearling hat and a head band, pulling it down so her face was concealed.

Rainbow grinned with excitement. "Oh, I see. You're gonna ambush them like in book four at the Horavian caves! Or maybe, that neat trick you did in book three, where you swoop in and knock three guys down with one swing! Or maybe- "

Daring moved to silence Rainbow. "Just stay here, this won't take long," She produced a sack of bits before trotting forward in her disguise, plopping them down in front of Caballeron without looking at him. "Excuse me, good sir," She spoke in an exaggerated voice. "I have been led to believe that you have in your possession an item of significant importance that might be... for sale. I don't suppose you'd be willing to part with it? I can meet any price."

Caballeron eyed the sack of bits. The gold coins were sorely tempting him. "W-well..." He began, unable to take his mind off of the bits. "I... did have another potential buyer lined up, but... he's not here at the moment. And I always say 'My policy is: First come, first serve'."

But all of a sudden the ground began to shake and the trees started to sway! And then, who should emerge from some of the nearby trees but the mighty Ahuizotl himself?! "Caballeron, you fool!" He growled at the top of his lungs. "How dare you try to double cross me!"

Caballeron screamed and whimpered. "A... a thousand apologies, your badness. I didn't think you'd get here so soon."

"Spare me the lies, Caballeron! You are too easily tricked!" Ahuizotl growled again. "Leave my sight at once, I won't let you mess this up for me!" Caballeron and his henchponies reluctantly obeyed, and Ahuizotl saw through Daring Do's disguise in an instant. "So we meet again, Daring Do."

"For the last time, Ahuizotl! You're never getting your paws on the ring!" Daring Do vowed as she grit her teeth.

Ahuizotl just laughed. "Oh, but I always get what I want in the end, Daring Do. You're the only pony in my sights now, and this time you won't escape!" Then he crept closer to her as he pleaded. "The ring, Daring Do! Give it to me, now!"

Daring Do leapt backwards, fully shedding her disguise as she kept the ring around her neck. With a teasing smirk she replied. "Now Ahuizotl, you know I love you. But I'm afraid I can't give you the ring until I've properly proposed."

Ahuizotl snickered as he said with a grin. "Interesting, Daring Do. Because my little friends here have a proposal of their own," He snapped his paw like tail, and several cats surrounded him, all hissing and growling. "Get her! But bring the ring to me!" He instructed.

Daring narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth. "Bring it, Ahuizotl! You're going down!"

"It's your funeral, Daring Do." Ahuizotl replied as he sicked his army of cats on her.

Rainbow reluctantly watched as Daring Do tussled with the various cats Ahuizotl had brought forth. She would've jumped right into the fray already if not for Daring's insistence that Rainbow stay out of sight.

"Come on, Daring, you've got this!" Rainbow Dash nervously commented, observing the scuffle from a safe distance. A series of punches, kicks, growls, and even a scream or two could be heard as the fighting raged on.

Suddenly, the cyan coated mare noticed something that Daring didn't seem to be aware of due to the scuffle. It was the adventurer's famous pith helmet, which had apparently been knocked loose. "Daring Do! I've got your hat! You want me to toss it? Daring Do! Daring Do!" She shouted, a bit too loudly.

The shouting drew the attention of Ahuizotl, who decided to turn his attention to what he assumed was Daring Do's new partner. Without warning he lunged at Rainbow and snatched her up, holding her with his tail! "Oh Daring Do, look who I have!" He taunted, holding his captive up for Daring to see.

Rainbow growled and groaned, kicking about. "Coward, put me down! I could totally take you in a fair fight!"

Daring was horrified! "Rainbow Dash?! Let her go, Ahuizotl! It's me you want!"

"Ah, clearly you value this mare a lot. She must be important to you," Ahuizotl grinned. "I'll let her go, if you agree to give up the fight and turn the ring over to me!"

"Don't do it, Daring! You've got this! Show this clown who's boss!" Rainbow demanded of Daring.

But Daring dropped the ring and stopped fighting. "You've got me, Ahuizotl. You can have the ring, just don't hurt Rainbow Dash!"

Ahuizotl smiled. "Excellent! See what happens when you stop trying to fight me, Daring Do? We could've saved all this trouble, but you had to play the hero. Oh well." He dropped Rainbow Dash and moved to quickly tie up Daring, dangling her in a rug with his tail paw.

A horrified Rainbow could only watch as Ahuizotl carried his prisoner away! "Daring! Don't panic, I'll... I'll come and rescue you!" She insisted even though the tone of her voice betrayed her intentions.

Daring simply called back. "Don't even bother, kid. Ahuizotl's won. Forget about me, save yourself since that's all you care about!" And soon she and Ahuizotl were out of sight.

Distraught, Rainbow Dash looked down at the ground in shame. "What have I done?!" She thought out loud. "Of all the times to mess up, it had to be now."

It was morning when Twilight finally reached Rainbow Dash's location, panting up to the pegasus with every last breath she had. "There you are," She declared, pausing to catch her breath. "I've been trying to find you for ages! Quick, where's Daring Do?! What happened?! Are you hurt?!"

"Just in here," Rainbow motioned to her heart. "I thought maybe I could show Daring Do how awesome it was to have a partner, how cool it can be to have others backing you up. But I failed. Now, thanks to me, Daring Do has been captured by the evil Ahuizotl."

Twilight let out a gasp and struggled to regain her composure. "Rainbow, I'm sure that whatever you did was an honest mistake."

"No, Twilight, Daring Do made it perfectly clear from the start. She didn't want my help and she didn't need my help," Rainbow weakly muttered. "All I ever did was get in the way. You were right all along, we should've never come here. Let's just go home and wait for Daring Do to free herself. I'm sure she's got it all under control somehow."

"Have you lost your mind?! Just yesterday you were all but begging to help her, even before you knew Daring Do and A.K. Yearling were the same!" Twilight protested.

"But don't you see, trying to help was what got me into this mess in the first place," Rainbow whimpered. "If I'd just stayed in Ponyville and minded my own business, the ring would be safe, Daring Do would've prevailed, and her secret wouldn't have gotten out."

Twilight shook her head. "There's way more going on here than meets the eye, Rainbow Dash. There always is in every Daring Do book, and it's not over 'til it's over. But we can't turn our backs on her now, not when she needs our help the most!"

Rainbow wasn't convinced for a second. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, Twilight, I really do. But you can't cheer me up. Daring Do doesn't need or want my help. My hero's far better off without a partner like me around to hold her back."

At that, Twilight pulled Rainbow close with her magic so that the two were snout to snout. "Come on, Rainbow Dash, you've gotta pull yourself together! This isn't you! Where's the Rainbow Dash who would help anypony at the drop of a hat? Where's the Rainbow Dash who would rush off to adventure at the first sign of trouble? Where's the Rainbow Dash who never let anything rattle her?"

The cyan coated pegasus weakly replied. "She's out here, in the middle of nowhere, where she's got no business being. She should be at home. And you should too, Twilight."

Twilight sighed again. "Look, it's fine to look up to Daring Do, Rainbow Dash. But can't you see? You've put her so high up on a pedestal, you can't even see your own worth anymore!"

"No offense, Twi, but that sounds a lot like you and Princess Celestia. It's no secret you look up to her more than anypony else." Rainbow commented.

The young alicorn tried not to blush. "Okay, you're right about that. I do admire Princess Celestia a lot. I've been trying to work on it. Which is why I can't stand to see one of my friends fall into the same trap. Whatever happened before I got here, it's in the past. Daring Do's in that fortress, and we're out here," She firmly declared. "We wouldn't be who we are if we didn't go in after her! And neither would you! But this time, we're going to come up with a plan."

Rainbow paused, deep in thought. And while she was looking she could've sworn she saw the sun's rays catch Daring's pith helmet just right, causing a rainbow reflection in her eyes. She couldn't explain why, but suddenly she knew what she had to do. "You're right, Twilight! Daring Do is in danger, and we're going to save her no matter what it takes! Because that's what we do!"

"I knew you'd see it my way." Twilight smiled.

Ahuizotl had chained Daring Do to a wall in a deep chamber of the temple, preventing her from flying. Beneath her was a small pool of water, and Ahuizotl rested off to the left side with a pull chain nearby. "It's the end of the line for you, Daring Do!" He taunted.

Daring groaned, trying to fight back against the confines of her prison. "Surrender now, Ahuizotl, or I'll be forced to take you down! You'll be sorry!"

Ahuizotl simply laughed. "Oh, Daring Do, I shall so miss your jokes and laughter. But now I must leave to commence the ring-placing ceremony to unleash eight hundred years of unrelenting, sweltering heat!" He proceeded to pull the chain. "Goodbye, Daring Do!" Water began to rapidly fill up the pool below, the water level rising fast.

Daring Do groaned. "I can get out of that, you know."

Ahuizotl only snickered in reply. "I'm sure you can, but by the time you do it will be too late to stop me. Besides, if the water doesn't get you, those piranhas well." And then he departed as it was possible to see some piranhas leaping out of the water for a brief moment.

Not long after Ahuizotl's departure, Daring Do was able to pull out the stones holding the chains to her hooves. They weighed her down though, which made flying difficult.

Fortunately, Rainbow Dash quickly swooped in and carried Daring to safety! "I gotcha!" She exclaimed, before groaning. "Hey, you can flap too, y'know! You're not exactly a paperweight!"

The two pegasi quickly landed in the safety of a nearby tunnel within the temple. Daring looked across to Rainbow Dash. "What are you doing here? I didn't need your help, you know."

"Yes, you made that crystal clear," Rainbow commented. "But I wasn't gonna take any chances. Besides, I just figured you might need this." She slid over Daring's pith helmet while Daring Do was busy smashing the stones that bound her hooves captive.

The adventurer eyed the pith helmet and seemed to have an annoyed look on her face. "Have I mentioned yet that I work alone? How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

"And how many times do you need to hear that you're lucky I don't work alone?" Rainbow retorted. "Maybe sometimes it's better do things on your own, but other times you've got be able to trust others to help you out. And this looks like one of them."

Daring sighed. "Fine, I guess you can help me. I just hope you've got a good distraction for Ahuizotl while we slip the rings off the stand."

Rainbow snickered. "Don't worry, Twilight's got that covered. Ahuizotl's no match for her quick wit and brains. He's never met an egghead before."

And indeed, Twilight was giving Ahuizotl and the ponies he was working with a run for their money. She repeatedly kept the ring out of his paws, teleporting as needed to avoid his clutches.

Ahuizotl was growing steadily more frustrated. "You're making me angry, puny pony!"

"That's the idea!" Twilight taunted. "I gotta say, Ahuizotl. Meeting you up close and personal, you're nowhere near as threatening as the books make you out to be."

"Books?! What books?!" Ahuizotl growled.

Twilight only laughed and winked. "I'm not telling if you don't know. You really should though." Then she teleported again.

Ahuizotl gritted his teeth. "Where did she go?! Curse that pony!"

Ahuizotl worried so much about this that he failed to notice as Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were lifting the heavy rings off the stand one by one. Daring Do was explaining everything. "If we can remove that giant ring at the bottom, the whole fortress will collapse!"

"Wait, you mean you planned to be captured?!" Rainbow questioned in surprise.

Daring confessed. "Well, I had to find a way to bring down the fortress from the inside, and Ahuizotl's arrival gave me the opportunity I needed. I couldn't risk you sabotaging it."

"You didn't have to be nearly that convincing, Daring. A simple wink would've sufficed." Rainbow complained.

Daring tried to apologize. "Hey, in my defense, I'm new to this whole partner thing. But you know, maybe it's not as bad as I thought. I guess maybe you just need somepony on your level, somepony who knows you properly and knows what you need most."

"Glad to hear you're seeing it my way, Daring! Now come on, let's get that last ring removed!" Rainbow declared. But by now several of Ahuizotl's ponies had taken notice. They were poking and proading at the two pegasi with their spears!

"Hey, you can flap too, y'know!" Daring shouted at Rainbow as they strained and struggled. At last, the heavy ring rose all the way to the top, and tumbled off. The temple began to shake and rumble!

"Twilight! Run! This place is goin' down!" Rainbow called to Twilight. Twilight didn't need to be told twice.

The entire temple ended up collapsing not long after Twilight, Rainbow, and Daring had all made it to safety. But when the rubble cleared Ahuizotl poked his head up from the remaints of the temple and declared. "You haven't seen the last of me, Daring Do! You will rue the day you crossed paths with the great Ahuizotl!"

"Heard it all before, Ahuizotl!" Daring taunted and flew away, shattering the ring for good measure. "There, that should put an end to Ahuizotl's plans for this valley," She turned to Rainbow Dash. "I never could've accomplished this without your help, Rainbow Dash. Thanks a bunch."

"Just doing my job, Daring." Rainbow blushed.

Daring pulled something out from her hat. "Well still, I think I owe you something. I treated you horribly even though you were just trying to help me," She hoofed over a small trinket. "A little souvenir from one of my earliest adventures. Speaking of which, I've got a book to write!"

"Uh, about that," Twilight commented. "How exactly are you going to work around the fact that Rainbow and I were a part of it? Ponies are gonna know, and they're gonna start asking questions."

Daring winked. "I'll change some names, wouldn't be the first time I've had to do that," And to Twilight she added. "Be sure to tell your mom thanks for not ratting me out."

"Wait, my mom knew about your secret identity the whole time?!" Twilight gasped in surprise.

Daring nodded as she admitted. "Kind of had to have her in the know so she wouldn't get suspicious when stuff like this came up. But remember, this is top secret. No one else can know about this." And then she flew away.

When Twilight and Rainbow Dash returned to Ponyville the next day, Rainbow immediately took the friendship journal she and her friends had started keeping per Twilight's request. And the entry Rainbow wrote went a little something like this: Just had the coolest adventure with the coolest pony ever. Came this close to blowing it though because I got so wrapped up in how awesome she was, and so I almost forgot about how awesome I was. Good thing I didn't, 'cause it gave me a chance to show her how important it is to put your trust in somepony else. Plus, I taught her that sometimes it's not always a bad thing to put your trust in others. Just have to make sure they're the kind you can trust to back you up.

Shortly after she'd finished writing the entry, there came a knock at the door. A mail delivery pony arrived, clad in a blue uniform. "Package from a Miss A.K. Yearling." He declared.

Rainbow eagerly grabbed the aforementioned package, she knew what it was! "Sweet, the new Daring Do book a week before anypony else gets it!" She ripped open the package and her eyes were greeted by the cover of the book, which depicted Daring Do facing down the tower, with a pony looking suspiciously similar to Rainbow Dash standing besides her. Rainbow smiled.

Unknown to the pegasus, the trinket Daring had given her admitted a rainbow glow for a brief moment.

S6 18: Dungeons and Discords (What If?)

Fluttershy was busy packing up things for a trip, a trip she'd just found out about a short time ago. As such she was most surprised when Discord of all creatures happened to drop by for one of his unscheduled visits. "Tea?" He offered, producing a gasp from his oldest and closest friend.

Discord quickly scanned over the various objects strewn about the cottage. "Trendy coats? Bedrolls? Saddlebags? Oh! A surprise vacation just for the two of us? How thoughtful of you, Fluttershy. May I make a suggestion? I hear Puerto Caballo is lovely this time of year. Sand like powdered sugar." He picked up some sand while dressed in an outfit one might expect if you were going to the beach, complete with sunglasses. He then blew the sand, causing Fluttershy to cough.

Fluttershy tried to put what she was about to say as delicately as possible. "Um, it's not for the two of us, Discord. Princess Celestia's taking the six of us on an overnight goodwill tour of Yakyakistan. I actually just found out."

Discord frowned. "Really? You're not taking Spike with you? Or what about that new friend of yours? Starlight what's-her-face?"

"Starlight Glimmer, and she wasn't interested. Neither was Spike," Fluttershy explained. "I'm really sorry you had to find out like this, Discord."

The spirit frowned anew and shrank down briefly with a gasp. "So what you're saying is 'no tea'? Ugh," He cleared his throat and returned to normal. "Er, that's... fine. I wasn't really thirsty anyway."

As Fluttershy resumed packing she suggested to her friend. "If you're looking for something to do, you could spend the evening with Spike and Big Macintosh."

Discord laughed. "Oh, that's a good one! You had me going there for a moment!" When Fluttershy didn't laugh with him he slowly realized that she was being serious. "Oh, you're not kidding. You actually think I'd do that?"

"Why not, it would be a nice change," Fluttershy suggested. "Give you a chance to make some new friends. Heck, Spike and Big Mac, they've got their own 'top secret' thing they like to do whenever the rest of us leave Ponyville," Then she giggled. "Although if we're being honest, everyone knows about it so it's not really a secret. We just like to humor them."

The spirit only remarked. "So I see."

Fluttershy added as she finished packing. "You should give it a chance, I think you'd have fun."

At that Discord remarked quite stubbornly. "Fun? With sidekicks? Oh, you must think that we're in a dimension where everything is opposite," He proceeded to snap his paws, bringing about just such a dimension (which also had an echo to it). "Da-dee-la! I'm Opposite Discord, and I want to hang out with Spike and Big Mac! I'm sure I'd have fun!"

Fluttershy suddenly fluttered up and shouted. "Oh yeah?! Well, guess what, Sassafras?! I'm Opposite Fluttershy, and I'm sick of being nice and quiet all the time!"

Discord proceeded to snap his paws again and bring everything back to normal. Fluttershy seemed surprised by her sudden outburst. "Look, Fluttershy, I appreciate the gesture but it's all I can do just to be friends with the rest of your pony friends. I haven't even really gotten to know Starlight," He explained. "Spike and Big Mac? I don't even know the first thing about them, other than the fact that they're guys, and that one of them doesn't talk much, and the other is Twilight's adopted son."

Fluttershy smirked. "Seems like you already know a lot about them, Discord. I really do think you'd like their 'top secret' event," Then she added. "Unless you're afraid they won't like you?"

The spirit groaned. "Oh, please. Don't stoop to tedious reverse psychology. You're better than that."

"What can I say? I learned from the best." The pegasus replied with a giggle.

Discord simply sighed, his entire body starting to droop. "Oh, all right, if it'll make you happy. Consider it considered."

"Great!" Fluttershy declared. "I'll let them know. Make sure to show up at Twilight's castle at sundown, don't be late."

"'Twilight's castle, sundown'," Discord wrote down the details on a small sketch of paper. "Hm, interesting, I think I can make room in my schedule for... whatever it is." He proceeded to toss out a random book full of pages, on it was written the names of various ponies and included some unusual nicknames for the princess "'Little Lulu' for Luna and 'KK' for Celestia".

But no one could've imagined that Discord's personal invitation to Spike and Big Mac's 'secret' would not only add to it but also bring it to life in a way no one could've imagined. And by the time it was over, all three were going to be drawn closer together.

The six mares boarded the train for Yakyakistan and departed with little fanfare, despite a bit of not so subtle teasing from Twilight and Applejack about Spike and Big Mac's 'secret' get together.

"Well, guess we'd better get everything ready for tonight," Spike told Big Macintosh after the train left. "Just hope Discord doesn't mind the activities."

Hours quickly passed, and as the sun set off to the west Spike and Big Macintosh had gathered in Twilight's castle. Starlight yawned as she trotted past them. "Think I'll call it an early night, Twilight says my studies are suspended while she's in Yakyakistan." She commented. Of course, Spike and Big Macintosh knew that this was her not so secret cue for them to start holding their "secret" get together.

Spike rushed to a nearby window, watching as the last of the sun's rays disappeared into the gleaming twilight. "3, 2, 1, and... we have sundown. Repeat, we have sundown," He rushed back to the main hallway of the castle. "I hereby declare tonight's guys' night ceremonies officially open!"

"Eeyup!" Big Macintosh happily shouted. And he and Spike began to chant (or rather, Spike chanted and Big Mac just said "Eeyup."): "It's guys' night, oh yeah! Havin' fun now, oh yeah!"

But just as they had finished their chant, the sound of trumpets blaring in dramatic fanfare caught their attention. They ran to the front of the castle, where the sound was coming from. And they could not believe the sight that greeted their eyes. "Uh, what the hay?" Spike commented out loud. Big Mac said nothing.

As the trumpets ceased their playing, a miniature version of Discord came running up with a scroll in his paws. After taking a moment to catch his breath he declared. "Fillies and gentlecolts! Announcing the much anticipated arrival of the spirit of chaos and disharmony, the purveyor of pandemonium, lord of lawlessness, earl of turmoil, bringer of bedlam... etcetera etcetera. Dun, dun, a dun, a dun dun! Discord!"

The miniature Discord quickly vanished as a poster of Discord dressed in some kind of sports jersey appeared in its place. Music started playing and spotlights shown as Discord emerged from the poster, bouncing a basketball around and throwing it into the air where it exploded into confetti! "Tada!" He proudly declared. "See guys? That's how you make an entrance!" And then with a smile he declared. "So, guys' night is it? Well why didn't you just say so?! Shall we hop to it? I made a list of the rowdiest establishments in Ponyville to visit," He unfolded a small sheet of paper which showed only two names. "It's rather short. Maybe you can help me expand it."

Spike blushed. "Uh, we're staying here. I don't think Twilight would really approve of me sneaking out to clubs after dark. And even if she doesn't find out, I'm pretty sure Starlight will," A sigh of regret escaped his lips. "Having a big sister can really stink sometimes."

"Oh, I see, Twilight keeps you on a short leash doesn't she?" Discord commented.

"Hey, exny on the leashy!" Spike warned as he blew smoke from his mouth.

Big Macintosh promptly whispered to Discord. "He doesn't like to talk about it, won't even tell me why it gets him all riled up," Then he changed the subject. "We don't need to go out to have a good time. We've got an awesome game we like to play."

"A game? Ooh, I do like a good game!" Discord commented in amazement. "I still fondly remember the days of trapping best friend ponies in hedge mazes and turning them against each other. I wonder if I could turn it into some kind of game show?"

Spike quickly spoke up. "Uh, I'm talking a real game. I'll go get it! Trust me, you're gonna love it! It's awesome!" He rushed away to retrieve it.

Discord watched Spike disappear and called into the distance. "Whatever it is, it can only get better by adding me to the mix."

Only a few moments later Spike called out to Big Mac and Discord. "Okay! Ready!" Big Mac headed the call, leading Discord to a dark room in the corner of the castle.

Spike clicked on a flash light and began to announce. "In a world where evil reigns supreme, a small band of warriors stands tall against the darkness. This is... Ogres & Oubliettes!" The lights flicked on a moment later, revealing a game made of cardboard cutout figures, a paper map, and lots of dies. And it was all set up on the magic table throne that often sent Twilight and her friends off on friendship quests!

Discord locked eyes on the game and let out a gasp! Whatever he had been expecting, it was most definitely not something like this. "Oh my... this looks like..."

"-The best game ever?! Well, you're right!" Spike giddly replied. "This isn't just any tabletop game, oh no! This is the king of them all!"

"Yes, I can see," Discord remarked and under his breath he added. "A game that makes you build it all yourself, I guess that's one way to make a living."

Spike could sense that his new guest wasn't exactly thrilled with the game and quickly tried to cheer him up. "Oh come on, Discord! Ogres & Oubliettes is a fantasy role-playing adventure game," He fondly added. "Shining Armor taught me how to play it when I was but a hatchling, and sometimes Twilight would join in."

"We were gonna let Shining Armor join in," Big Macintosh commented. "But he's too busy takin' care of his daughter, and lots of other times he's had to take a rain check 'cause of his wife. A shame, I hear he's really good at this game."

Spike nodded, puffing out his chest. "He taught me all the ins and outs, all the best tricks and tips! But now, I think it's safe to say that I'm the Ogres & Oubliettes champion of the Sparkle family!" Then he sat down in Twilight's throne, explaining the basics of the game. "Our goal, defeat the evil Squid Wizard, or... " He stiffled his share laugh with Big Mac. "As we like to call him... the Squizard!"

Big Mac laughed, pounding the table. "Ya gotta admit, it's a clever play on words. And boy, doesn't it just crack ya up?"

"Ah yes, how very creative of you." Discord sarcastically grumbled.

Spike, unaware of Discord's comment, cleared his throat and regained his composure as he went on explaining the game. "The Squizard has laid siege to the last free city in Spiketopia. That's the name of the land. And he's kidnapped a beautiful unicorn princess named Shmarity," Realizing what that sounded like the dragon quickly added. "Er.. which is like a normal name in Spiketopia, so, you know, don't think about it too much. It means nothing."

Discord moved a zipper across his mouth. "Not to worry, I heard nothing. Your romantic 'fantasies' are safe with me," Then he remarked. "But why do you think I'd be interested in something like this? It doesn't sound very appealing."

"Come on, you haven't even tried the game yet," Spike insisted. "Trust me, it's tons of fun once you get the hang of it," He pulled out a book and a character sheet. "Okay, first thing's first, you've gotta make your own character. It can be anything you want, within reason of course."

"Oh, okay, what about... Discord?" The spirit immediately proposed.

Spike shook his head. "You can't play as yourself, that defeats the whole point of the game. The fun comes from creating your own custom character, and emersing yourself in the rich world you've created," Then he explained. "Take me, for example. In this game I'm not Spike the Brave and Glorious. I'm Garbunkle, a famous magician. Everyone treats me with the utmost respect. Oh, and don't get jealous but I happen to be a level 30 Enchanter with major skill points assigned to Intellect and Perception. After all I have been playing this game for a long time."

Discord tried his best to feign interest. "Yeah, sure, go ahead."

Spike gestured a claw over to Big Macintosh, seated in Applejack's throne. "Big Mac's character is Sir McBiggun, a level 27 Black Knight Unicorn from Castle Chadwick! His skill with a sword is without equal."

Discord still pretended to care about the game. He was convinced that if he just sat through Spike's long dribble he could kindly bow out and have some fun on his own. "I see. I suppose that counts for something."

"Oh it does!" Spike proudly explained. "For you see, when his king aligned himself with the Squizard, Sir McBiggun would not besmirch his honor. Thus he met Garbunkle, and the two formed an alliance of their own."

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh proudly nodded. "I'd sooner be buried with my sword than give myself to some evil wizard."

"And so it came to pass!" Spike declared in a dramatic tone of voice. "The magician and black knight vowed to rid Spiketopia of the evil Squizard. And today, it just so happens that a new traveler has joined their group. And his name is..."

Discord frowned. "Oh, we're still doing this? I already have the best name in the universe. Why would I change it for something like... I don't know... 'Captain Wuzz'?"

"Ah, Captain Wuzz it shall be," Spike wrote down the name on a character card. "You'll start at level 1, that's how it works for all newcomers. You'll level up the longer you play and the more battles you partake in, some on your own and some with your allies. Now, there's still the matter of class. Choose wisely, once you've chosen one there's no take backs. There's a whole bunch of classes, but for a beginner might I recommend something simple? Archers, Mages, Rogues..."

The spirit rolled his eyes out of his head, pulled them up from the ground, and put them back in as he groaned. "Honestly, those classes all sound lame. Can't I just leave? This really isn't my kind of game."

Spike shrugged off the complaint. "Come on, Discord. Give it a chance," And he settled on a character for Discord. "Well, how about an archer? They're great at ranged attacks, and we could certainly use that to cover our flanks. Magicians are support based and Black Knights fight up close and personal."

"Ugh, fine, I'll be an archer. But only for this game, after that I'm never playing again!" Discord vowed.

The little dragon laughed in his throat. "That's what they all say, but after one game they're hooked. I've got character sheets of all sorts of players to prove it. I've even played it with my dragon sitter, Princess Luna. And let me tell you, she sure knows how to get into character," After regaining his composure he turned to Big Macintosh and asked. "Sir McBiggun, are you prepared to enter the world of Ogres & Oubliettes?"

"Eeyup." Big Macintosh firmly nodded.

"Captain Wuzz," Spike turned to Discord. "Are you—"

"Yes, yes, just get on with it!" Discord impatiently declared. "The sooner this game ends, the better."

Spike rolled the dice and then picked up the game book, reading aloud from one of its passages. "Ah, what an interesting predicament. We find our heroes trapped in the dungeon of the evil Squizard. The bars are locked tight," When Discord noticed the lack of actual bars, Spike explained. "The bars exist in our imagination."

"Oh really? So we just pretend things are real now?" Discord complained.

"They are real, Discord, in our imagination," Spike quickly replied. "I'll let you take the first move since you're new to the game. So, Captain Wuzz, what do you want to do?"

Discord grumbled. "Does it matter? I'd like to curse myself for deciding to come to this meeting," Then he realized. "Oh, you meant the game. Well, what can I do, exactly?"

Spike told the spirit. "Almost anything you'd like, really. Then I just roll this twenty sided die and see if you're successful. However, certain things are harder for you as an Archer. And likewise, some things are ease. But more on that when we get to it."

Discord poofed up a set of bars and stuck his head out from them as he declared. "How's this? I stick my head through the bars and demand for the immediate release of the Lord of Chaos. Which Captain Wuzz just happens to be, just so we're clear."

"Not in this game he isn't, there's no class for Lord of Chaos," Spike replied. "Persuasion's not your strong suit as an Archer. You're taking a big risk, you'd have to roll a seventeen or higher. Better hope lady luck's on your side," He picked up the die and rolled it, looking down at the number. It was an eight. "Ooh, bad idea. The guard gets mad. Perhaps Captain Wuzz would like to have one of his teammates take over?"

But Discord growled. "No, Captain Wuzz has a trick up his sleeve!" He looked down at a book nearby, eyeing the things written on it and then declaring. "Ah, here we go! This spell here. I cast it and turn him into a parsnip. I can do that."

"Actually, you'd need eleven Intelligent points to cast a Transform Into Root Vegetable spell. Maybe you should've picked a Mage," Spike told Discord. "Mages are great at spell casting and healing. But maybe you'll get lucky?"

Discord scoffed at the notion. "Luck has nothing to do with it. How could I not be intelligent? This game makes no sense. I cast the spell anyway because this game is stupid."

Spike rolled the die again, watching as it landed on a nine. "Ooh, not quite, Captain Wuzz! The spell backfires. So," He had to pause due to fits of laughter that were erupting from him. "Your claws grow leaves and transform into parsnips!"

"What?! Are you for real?!" Discord growled.

Big Macintosh just started laughing hysterically. "Parsnips!"

The spirit found himself growing steadily more frustrated by the second as the fits of laughter grew into loud howls. "Don't you dare laugh at me! Do you even know who you're dealing with?!" But his angry remarks only fell on deaf ears, neither Spike or Big Mac acknowledged a word of what he'd said.

Suddenly, something inside Discord snapped! His eyes burned with a fire he had experienced only once before, when Fluttershy had invited Tree Hugger to the Grand Galloping Gala instead of him. "Ooh, that's it! I've had it up to here with this game, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs. "I seal Sir McBiggun in a magic bubble until he stops laughing!" And he did just that!

Big Macintosh found himself suspended in a bubble that he couldn't break out of it no matter what he did. Spike angrily turned to Discord. "Cut it out, Discord! You're ruining the fun!"

"What fun could be had in a game that says I'm not intelligent enough?!" Discord snorted. "I'm intelligent! With a snap of my paw I can turn the world upside down, and with another snap I can bring it right side up again! I know magic that even Celestia and Luna don't know! I'm capeable of bending the laws of time and space to my every whim if I so choose!" Then in a low, growling tone of voice he added. "And if the Tirek incident should've taught you anything, it's that you don't want me to be the bad guy."

"Look, Discord, you had your chance and you chose to be an Archer!" Spike retorted to Discord. "I told you the things you were trying to do were risky, it's your own fault they backfired! Maybe if you'd listen to me, I could've helped you pick a class better suited to your style of gameplay."

Discord scoffed at the very notion. "Please! You call this a guys' night? I can show you a real guys' night!"

"But we don't want a real guys' night, not your version anyway," Big Mac protested. "We much prefer Ogres & Oubliettes."

It was then that Discord got an idea, a rather sinister idea at that. "Oh, you really like that game, huh? Well what if I told you, I had a way to make the experience more 'lively'?"

"What do you mean by that?" Spike nervously questioned with a gulp.

Discord flashed a toothy smile. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Garbunkle! Sir McBiggun! Are you ready to enter the world of Ogres & Oubliettes?!" As he spoke dark clouds ominously gathered around him, and then he held out his paws and shot two bolts of magic at Spike and Big Macintosh, making them disappear!

When Spike and Big Mac came to, they found themselves looking around at an unfamiliar landscape. It looked almost like it was comprised of colored dies, cardboard cutouts, and paper figures. And it seemed they were dressed in the outfits that matched their characters from the game of Ogres & Oubliettes. Spike had a gray wizard's robe and hat, along with a beard and a wooden staff. And Big Mac had a horn, a black mask that concealed all but the eyes on his face, and a sword that could be tucked into a small holding on his back.

"Sir McBiggun?!" Spike exclaimed, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't imaging things.

Big Mac took one look at himself and nodded. "Eeyup."

"And I'm... Garbunkle?" Spike commented as realization slowly began to sink in. "Then that means that... Sweetness! We're in the game! Check this out! Ka-zam!" He fired off a beam of magic from his staff, shattering one of the nearby dies.

Delighted at this development, Spike and Big Mac began to chant again: "It's guys' night, oh yeah! In the game now, oh yeah!"

Spike then marveled at the real life game world Discord had created. "Oh man, if only Shining Armor could see this now. He'd be begging to join in!" The little dragon looked all around, but he didn't see any sign of Discord anywhere. Either as himself or as his character: Captain Wuzz the Archer. "Discord? Hey, Discord, you there?! I know you didn't like playing the game with us, but we still owe you for bringing it to laugh like this."

From afar, Discord's voice could be heard and it sounded like a laugh. "Oh, no need to thank me. Aren't games fun when you get to be a part of the action?"

At that, Spike let out a gulp as he looked at Big Mac. "Er, you think we should worry that he's using his scary voice?" But he needn't have bothered asking, for at that moment there came the sound of an army marching.

The horrified heroes turned around to look, and found themselves staring down a paper cutout of a giant squid with magic wands and a sorcerer's hat. The creature cackled as he declared. "Behold, I am the Squizard! Cower you fools, cower before my awesome power!" Then he added. "And look at the fine prize I picked up. Your precious Princess Shmarity is mine!"

A couple of paper skeleton warriors held a tied up Starlight Glimmer, who was dressed in a long, flowing princess robe and a crown. As she struggled in vain to break free she complained. "For the last time, I'm not Rarity!" And then she looked at Spike. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, mister!"

"Discord!" Spike growled.

Discord's voice only laughed. "You're welcome."

Spike and Big Mac immediately opted to flee from the Squizard, knowing they couldn't hope to take him head on with his army of skeletons. But they could only run so fast, and suddenly several arrows filled the sky!

But before the arrows could impact they stopped midair. Amidst the silence, Discord's voice narrated. "Oh my, what a predicament you're in, brave heroes. You find yourselves on the battlefield, right in the thick of it, as a barrage of arrows rains down on you. If you roll a fifteen or higher then the shield holds against the attack. Roll a fourteen or lower and, well..." The spirit paused in his narration to laugh. "You get the idea. Better hope lady luck is on your side."

From up above, a huge die came down and rolled around. It eventually stopped, landing right side up with the number seventeen showing. Discord continued his narration. "Ooh, seventeen! Lucky you! The shield holds and you manage to withstand the aerial bombardment, for now." Sure enough, the arrows bounced harmlessly off a magic bubble before they could touch either of the heroes.

Having been spared from what would've been a painful fate, Spike and Big Mac wasted no time and resumed fleeing. They tried to take shelter in a nearby cave to rest and hopefully find a way to survive.

Alas, it seemed Discord was already there. "Boo." He cried, before several skeleton warriors suddenly appeared.

"Discord, stop it!" Spike demanded. "This isn't fun anymore."

"Oh, but I thought you liked living the game. I thought I was doing you a favor," Discord remarked. "Isn't it more fun when I'm the game master? The one who determines whether you succeed or fail?" Then he looked down at the two heroes. "Speaking of which, I'd cover that entrance if I were you, Sir McBiggun. You don't want the Squizard's forces to get in and ambush you."

But Discord's warning came too late. The Squizard himself closed in on the heroes, and some of his skeleton warriors drew close enough to attack. Garbunkle and Sir McBiggun fought bravely, repelling many of the attackers. But the Squizard himself was too powerful, one blast from his magic wands was enough to bring them both to their knees.

And when the attacks connected, Spike and Big Mac felt a sharp, stinging pain. "That hurts! That actually hurts!" Spike realized. "Discord, are you crazy?!"

"Of course I am, Spike, it comes with the job," Discord retorted. "So maybe I forgot to mention that the game will be real in more ways than one. Can I help it if that detail slipped my mind?"

"Discord, what were you thinking?!" Spike snapped at the spirit. "This isn't fun! This is awful!"

The Squizard simply laughed in his throat. "Of course it's awful, foolish fools. Spiketopia will be mine! And Rarity shall be my bride!" After a second of silence he quickly corrected himself. "Er I mean, Shmarity."

Another zap connected, and Spike and Big Mac nearly crumpled to the floor from pain. "Why are you doing this, Discord? You're the worst!" Spike complained as the spirit finally appeared in the game world in full.

Discord simply retorted. "Really? I go out of my way to do something nice for you even after I didn't like your stupid game, and now you say I'm a horrible guy? If you really think that way, why did you even invite me to guys' night in the first place? I could've stayed in my dimension, doing whatever I felt like doing. But I decided I'd give your 'top secret' gathering a chance."

"Because we felt sorry for you, Discord! That's why!" Spike explained. "We thought maybe you'd appreciate the chance to try something new, make new friends."

The spirit stopped the game, snapping his paws and bringing everyone (including Starlight) back to the throne room. Starlight took a moment to catch her breath, then departed without saying a word.

As for Discord he just blinked his eyes but did nothing else. "You felt sorry for me?" He remarked, as if offended by the very notion. "That can't be! I'm supposed to feel sorry for you because I'm me and you're you."

"It's not always about you, Discord. Did you ever think of that?" Spike bitterly remarked. "We thought we'd be nice, Fluttershy kept mentioning how lonely you are whenever she and the girls are out of town. So Big Mac and I thought we'd invite you over out of the kindness of your hearts. Because we were trying to be nice to you, you... weirdo!"

Big Mac nodded his head in silent agreement.

Discord's mouth all but dropped open at the statement. "I ruined your night, and you don't even think I'm cool? Ugh, how embarrassing," Then he remarked. "Great, now I feel guilty. Why do you do this to me? Did Fluttershy tell you how much of a softie I can be at heart?"

"Come on, Discord, you need to lighten up a little," Spike insisted to the spirit. "You're reformed now, and just because you're Discord doesn't mean you have to always be so mean to everyone all the time. Even Starlight wasn't as defensive as you are now, and she had a hard time fitting in."

"Really? Seems like you've accepted her with open arms. I didn't even get an invitation or a heads up when Twilight took her on as a student." Discord complained.

"Because Starlight didn't want or need some big ceremony, she needed time to get used to her new life," Spike explained. "But now she's settled in, and she's become a part of the circle of friends. Heck, she's even made a few friends of her own. If she can do it, why can't you?"

Discord stuttered and twiddled his paws, a tell tale sign that something was troubling him and that he didn't want to admit it to it. "W-well..." After a moment of hesitation he sighed and confessed. "Oh, what the heck? I can't keep anything a secret from you, can I? I suppose I have to tell someone," He cleared his throat. "Ever since Tirek's defeat I started thinking. I tried to put it all out of my mind, but a part of me felt like he was right about one thing. About how I had to change who I was to fit in with ponies."

Spike shook his head. "Come on, Discord, that's just nonsense. Tirek was only trying to plant seeds of doubt in your mind so he could control you. Princess Celestia says he always prided himself on that silver tongue of his."

"But think about it, Spike, in a way he was kind of right," Discord commented. "When ponies see me they think 'Ah! Help! Run away! It's Discord, come to turn my life upside down for no good reason!'. Even Twilight still sometimes thinks I'm up to no good, like I'm a bad influence best kept to a minimum. I guess I just miss the days when I could cause chaos and not have to worry about cleaning up afterward. Not that I'd want to go back to those days, I wouldn't want to be without friends and be trapped in stone again."

Spike simply reached out a claw to the spirit. "Well you don't need to act like a jerk just because you're unhappy. Besides, even if you've changed you're still the same old Discord deep down. You're still the spirit of chaos and disharmony, and that doesn't magically change just because you made friends. For a creature who claims to have been around for eons, it's surprising how much there is that you don't know."

Discord found himself blushing for some reason. "Let it be known that age doesn't necessarily equal wisdom. I suppose even a creature like me is never too old to learn."

"Eeyup." Big Macintosh nodded his head.

Spike nodded too. "Couldn't have put it better myself," And then he turned to Discord. "So, whaddya say? Feel like giving Ogres & Oubliettes another chance? I'm kind of hoping you'll say yes, because I've got a little proposition for you."

"I'm all ears!" Discord said with a grin as he turned himself into a giant ear.

The little dragon grinned. "What if we forgot the board and the pieces for a minute? I mean, the whole game coming to life was completely terrifying, but also kind of the best thing ever! So, uh, Big Mac and I were wondering... What if you toned it down just a teensy bit? You know, maybe get rid of the whole 'the pain is real' thing."

The spirit grinned again. "Hm, I think I can make that work. It'll take some effort though and I can't exactly guarantee it'll be exactly the same as before."

"Hey, we're not asking for perfection," Spike declared. "So why don't you get it set up while I go check on a certain somepony?"

Spike raced out of the throne room and trotted down a couple of hallways to Starlight's bedroom. He knocked on it a few times but there was no reply.

That was until a sharp voice called out. "Go away! I'm trying to sleep!"

"Aw come on, big sis," Spike playfully pleaded. "I'm sorry Discord kidnapped you like that. I already made him promise not to do stuff like that again."

Starlight simply replied from the other side of the door. "I don't care. I don't want to be a princess. All I want to get a good night's sleep," And she groaned. "I swear, it seems like every time I'm with you something crazy happens."

"Alright, your loss." Spike replied and returned to the throne room, deciding that Starlight was a lost cause.

Discord had just finished setting up the real life game world, and had slipped into his character costume of Captain Wuzz. "Ah, there you are, Garbunkle. Are you ready to enter the world of Ogres & Oubliettes?"

Spike nodded as he rushed onto the game world, changing into his character costume. "I'm ready!"

"Sir McBiggun," Discord turned to Big Mac. "Are you ready to enter the world of Ogres & Oubliettes?"

"Eeyup!" Big Mac declared as he changed into his character costume too.

"Okay, let's begin!" Discord declared. "Our heroes decide to confront the Squizard directly, and so they go to his castle. But the Squizard's army is there to greet them." As he spoke, a massive paper castle rose out of the ground, and several cardboard cutout skeleton warriors appeared.

The voice of the Squizard taunted the heroes. "You will never defeat me, fools! My army will make mince meat out of you!"

"In your dreams, Squizard! You're going down!" Garbunkle taunted as he swung his staff, shooting out several blasts of magic that brought down many skeleton warriors.

Sir McBiggun swung his sword around, slicing apart many skeleton warriors as well. And Captain Wuzz's well aimed arrows brought down countless more. But it seemed like no matter how many were defeated, the skeleton warriors continued to pour in.

The heroes didn't care, they were having the time of their lives. The skeleton warriors fell easily against their weapons.

At last, the Squizard himself emerged from his castle just as the heroes reached the top of it. "You've made a foolish mistake! I'll defeat you all myself, and then I'll rule Spiketopia forever!"

Captain Wuzz aimed another arrow as he instructed. "Garbunkle! Follow my lead! We'll take him down together!" He shot off an arrow in a far off direction.

"Fool! Mere arrows can't harm me!" The Squizard declared. "And you missed by a mile!"

"Oh, it's no ordinary arrow, Squizard!" Garbunkle vowed as he aimed his staff at the arrow as it bounced off the castle walls, encasing it in ice. "Let's see how you like this!"

The ice arrow soon pierced the Squizard from behind, causing him to let out a squeak! "You'll pay for that! You haven't seen the last of me!" He vowed as he ran off, trying to get the arrow out of his rear.

"Bulls-eye!" Garbunkle declared.

Captain Wuzz nodded and smiled. "Nice one! Garbunkle! I knew I could count on you!"

Then all three heroes started to chant together: "It's guys' night, oh yeah! Havin' fun now, oh yeah!"

Suddenly, they were snapped out of their game by the sound of hoofs clapping. The heroes spun around to see Twilight and all of her friends had come back to the castle, still dressed in their attire for Yakyakistan.

"Mom!" Spike blushed. "H-how much of that... did you see?"

Twilight snickered, trying (and failing) to cover her look of amusement. "Only the last little bit, Spike. Looks like you're having fun."

"W-well, yeah... all thanks to Discord," Spike declared. "But uh... we should probably pack it up now, guys' night is over."

But Rainbow Dash protested. "What are you talking about? It doesn't have to end yet! I want in!" And she happily exclaimed. "Did you see Big Mac's sword? That's awesome!"

Pinkie Pie added. "Yeah! I don't know what it is, but it looks like super duper fun!" She chased after Rainbow Dash as they stepped into the gaming world, obtaining in game costumes (Rainbow was dressed in a dark gray hooded robe, and Pinkie had a multicolored vest and a purple band that made her look like a fortune teller). "Guys' night rules!" They both declared as they rushed to join in on the fun!

Author's Note

First and foremost, two things I want to clarify for those who haven't followed the series: Luna as Spike's dragonsitter is a headcanon borrowed from yodajax10, who I have written many collaborations on exploring the concept more in depth. And second, ever since my rewrite of "Owl's Well That Ends Well" I have written Twilight and Spike as having a mother and son relationship (this obviously predated any developments in "Sparkle's Seven" when Spike was confirmed as Twilight's little brother).

Now as for the episode itself, the biggest problem is that it teases us with the idea of a real life tabletop RPG, and then it only shows a little bit of it. Much of the remaining time is devoted to the Discord plot, and how once again he has to learn not to be so self-centered. Which by this point was starting to get just a little bit old.

Starlight Glimmer was also absent from this episode, even though it was Discord's only appearance prior to "To Where and Back Again" and by that point it seemed that she knew who Discord was and apparently recognized him. A bit of a distraction since she had at least interacted with Thorax and Trixie before. As a result of my headcanon mentioned above, I've written Starlight as being like a big sister to Spike in these stories.

~~The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (Redo)~~
~~Ponyville Confidential~~
~~Daring Don't (Bonus Chapter)~~
~~Dungeons And Discords~~
Once Upon a Zeppelin (Bonus Chapter)
School Daze Parts 1 and 2
The Maud Couple
School Raze Parts 1 and 2

S7 E21: Once Upon a Zeppelin (What If?) (Bonus Chapter)

Author's Note

If you're wondering about Diamond Tiara being Twilight's student and why that's a thing, it all stems back to a writing decision made at the end of my rewrite of "Celestial Advice" in which I turned it into a two parter. That rewrite can be found here.

Now the episode proper is a bonus chapter because of two big details: The first is Spike being a part of the zeppelin cruise since in the original episode he was acknowledged as family by Twilight, but then stayed behind and that was the last we saw of him throughout the episode. And I feel like it missed out on a golden opportunity to show him interacting with Twilight and Shining Armor's parents.

The second and more glaring is the return of Iron Will, who serves as the antagonist for this episode. Which is quite jarring considering the worst he did in "Putting Your Hoof Down" was give Fluttershy bad advice that he wasn't around to witness. He even politely went away when Fluttershy told him she wasn't going to pay him for his services (even though he was well within his rights to demand so and admitted that Fluttershy was overdue). So I decided to borrow inspiration from my other long term rewrite of the series, My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition in which the ship captain is not an antagonist and it's an honest misunderstanding that results in Twilight's family getting roped into the princess themed cruise.

I also took the advice of Comickook who suggested the appearance of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia to confirm that the cruise's theme was being looked into and that they were aware of similar themes. Not to mention the idea of Starlight watching Diamond so Spike could go on the cruise.

I decided to replace Cadence's advice to Twilight with Celestia and Luna, since Princess Cadence ultimately suffers from the expanded media suggesting she isn't happy with her job. And I also took out the air sickness jokes with Shining Armor, which quickly stopped being funny.

~~The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (Redo)~~
~~Ponyville Confidential~~
~~Daring Don't (Bonus Chapter)~~
~~Dungeons And Discords~~
~~Once Upon a Zeppelin (Bonus Chapter)~~
School Daze Parts 1 and 2
The Maud Couple
School Raze Parts 1 and 2

S7 E21: Once Upon a Zeppelin (What If?) (Bonus Chapter)

Twilight was hard at work in her study in her castle. Sometimes the life of Equestria's youngest and most popular princess could be quite demanding. Lots of ponies wanted her to sign things for a variety of reasons. And Twilight just never had the heart to turn anyone away, no matter what.

She only stopped signing when her quill broke, causing her to let out a groan. Fortunately, Spike was on the scene within seconds to deliver a new quill.

But then suddenly the little dragon felt an ominous rumbling in his stomach. Without warning he let out a huge belch, then promptly breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought I had too many deep fried gems for a moment."

"I told you not to eat those, Spike," Twilight lightly scolded and then read over the scroll that had been belched up from Spike. When she had finished reading it her eyes lit up and she started to happily prance in place. "Spike, great news! It's from my parents! They just won a free zeppelin cruise and get to take the whole family!"

"Whoa! Awesome!" Spike fondly exclaimed. "So when do we leave?"

But Twilight only frowned and sighed, before sitting down at her desk. "We can't go, Spike. I wish we could, but I'm far too busy. The first annual Friendship Festival will take place in just a few weeks, and I'm up to my neck in important responsibilities. There's just too many princess duties I need to take care of."

Spike groaned as he walked over to Twilight, trying to persuade her. "Come on, Twilight. Even Princess Celestia takes a break sometimes, and she raises the sun. Surely you can do the same. Heck, if anyone needs a vacation it's you!"

"But if I did, who would take over my responsibilities on such short notice?" Twilight commented. "Don't forget that Diamond Tiara's staying the weekend here again as part of her studies."

Spike rolled up his non-existent sleeves as he declared. "I'm not taking no for an answer, Twilight! You're gonna go on vacation and you're gonna like it! I can keep track of the friendship log, boost community morale, and answer fan mail for a few days. Okay?"

Twilight remarked. "But, Spike, you're as much a part of my family as anypony. I can't just leave you here to do all that work. You're my son, and this vacation is for the whole family!"

Starlight trotted into the room at that very moment. "Not to worry, Twilight, I'll take care of everything. I'm sure I can also keep Diamond Tiara under control until you get back."

"Yeah!" Diamond Tiara cheered. "You're lucky, you know. I can't remember the last time my whole family went on a vacation together, and liked it," She looked up at Twilight. "I promise I'll behave. I won't sneak treats from the pantry, I'll make sure to be in bed at my assigned time, and all that stuff."

"You and your son go on that zeppelin cruise and have a good time," Starlight declared. "If you need to reach me, we can just use the enchanted locket we used when you were in Canterlot."

Spike eagerly scooted close to Twilight as the young alicorn commented. "I guess I could use a little time off from being a princess. You're the best, Starlight!"

Starlight smiled. "Hey, what are friends for? Now get packing, that zeppelin's not gonna wait forever!"

"Okay," Twilight declared as she trotted away. "I'm gonna go pack everything neatly into one suitcase!"

As Twilight left to do just that, Spike looked across to Starlight and Diamond and told them. "Wait for it..."

Almost as if on cue, Twilight shouted out from the hallway. "Cruises have activities, right?! I should probably make a schedule?!"

Spike grinned. "And, there it is." Needless to say, he was looking forward to the cruise. But neither he or Twilight were prepared for what was to take place on it. The theme of the cruise especially was going to take them by surprise.

Twilight and Spike met up with the rest of the Sparkle family (including Cadence and Flurry Heart, the latter of whom was stored safely in a mobile basket that was held by Cadence's magic) at the zeppelin's dock in Canterlot. Lots of ponies waited to get onboard the moment the ramp was lowered.

Amidst the happy chatter of excited cruise ponies, Twilight Velvet fondly exclaimed. "Oh gee, it sure feels nice to get away from it all. Feels like it's been forever since I left my writing desk, even though I'm now semi-retired. I for one am just looking forward to a nice, relaxing vacation."

Night Light giggled as he whispered to Twilight (who happened to be within ear shot). "Better watch out. She'll never admit to it, but I know my darling Velvet better than anypony. And when she says 'relaxing vacation' what she really means is doing something completely crazy. On our last vacation she ended up bungee-jumping over Luna Bay! Oh well, you can't help who you marry. And Velvet's thrill seeking nature is just what I like about her."

"What was that, hon?" Velvet called, apparently not having heard (or maybe she had and she was just feigning ignorance).

Night Light quickly (and nervously) replied. "O-oh, nothing, dear. I was uh... just telling Twilight here about my new bingo strategy book! It's a, heh, real page-turner!" Then he gave a knowing wink to Twilight.

"Well I think it'll be nice to have the whole family together on this vacation," Velvet commented. "Having Spike along for the ride sure brings back memories. Oh, just thinking about it makes me feel old."

Night Light retorted. "What are you talking about, darling? You haven't aged a day since I met you, and you're still as beautiful as ever."

"Oh stop it, you. Not in front of Spike and the little one." Velvet playfully teased.

Spike just grinned. "I'm not that young anymore, Twilight says I'm a big boy," Then he looked at Flurry Heart. "Besides, I'm sure she's heard stuff like that all the time from her parents. Isn't that right, Flurry?" The infant alicorn just giggled, wiggling her tiny hooves.

Shining Armor proudly declared. "Well I can't wait to get onboard this zeppelin and fly like a pegasus!"

Twilight looked at her brother and teased. "Oh really? Because I seem to remember you getting airsick on Admiral Fairweather's Wild Ride at Pony Island."

Shining was quick to counter. "You must be imaging things, Twily. Besides, I outgrew airsickness a long time ago. And even if I did still suffer from it, which I don't, I could always just take medicine or use a magic spell."

Princess Cadence spoke next as the family boarded the zeppelin. "I just hope Flurry Heart behaves herself. She's only been outside the Crystal Empire once before."

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Cadence. Sunburst made sure to get her up to date on all her spells," Shining reassured his wife. "There'll be no magic outbursts here."

Then suddenly the loudspeakers on the zeppelin crackled to life. "Mares and gentlestallions, colts and fillies of all ages. On behalf of Royal Airlines, your captain would like to welcome you all aboard!" A moment later, the ramp was withdrawn and the ropes that held the zeppelin to the dock were pulled up. The zeppelin's engines whirred to life, and the mighty machine was soon cruising above the clouds as it departed Canterlot.

The Sparkle family decided to go straight to their assigned cabin so they could unpack. They were most surprised to find out that they had gotten a royal suite, and that it only cost them a bit to pay the bellhop who showed them the way.

"So this is what it feels like to be big-time contest prize winners," Night Light commented in amazement as he surveyed the room. "Color me impressed. But it's funny, I don't remember signing up for any contests with a zeppelin cruise involved. Do you, Velvet?"

Twilight Velvet shook her head. "I'm sure I'd remember something like that. Oh well, I'm not complaining. An opportunity like this doesn't come often."

Twilight blinked upon hearing the pair of statements from her parents. "Wait. You don't know where the prize comes from?"

Velvet eagerly replied. "This is a gift horse that's not worth looking in the mouth, Twilight. When somepony offers you a free vacation, you just sign the papers on the dotted line and don't ask questions!"

Spike then commented. "Seems like there's no catch so far, the tickets were valid and everything."

"Exactly, and now we all get to fly off together!" Night Light proudly declared. "Gosh, feels like it's been forever since the whole family was together like this. What should we do first?"

Twilight grinned. "Funny you should mention that. I did a little bit of research into the cruise and found a list of potential activities: So I took the liberty of organizing all the different things there are to do, creating a schedule organized by each of our interests. It's even colored coordinated," She pulled out a long sheet with various colored bars, each with a different name written on them, as well as a pointer that she directed to the first colored bar. "Dad, you're easy. Bingo tournament right here."

Night Light fondly declared. "You know your old stallion well. I never was into games like Dragon Pit or Ogres & Oubliettes. Give me a bingo sheet and I'm good to go," He let out a happy sigh. "Ah, bingo. I just love how the numbers and letters are organized in their little boxes. It's so satisfying."

Twilight directed the rest of the family to the next colored bar. "Shining Armor, they've got a tiny boat race in a tiny pool here. We can race each other."

Shining Armor briefly looked at his daughter, before he smiled at Twilight. "Aw, sis. Only you would remember I love tiny things. But don't think I'm gonna go easy on you because of that, that's not how I roll."

Flurry Heart babbled as Cadence smiled. That brought Twilight to her next item of importance, the next bar on her chart. "Cadence, there's a Peewee Princess Playtime here that Flurry's gonna love!"

"Oh, how wonderful!" Cadence exclaimed. "My daughter will finally have a chance to make some friends."

Twilight Velvet eyed the schedule next, and an unmarked colored bar caught her attention. "Hmm, this here barrel ride at Neighagra Falls sounds interesting. I don't suppose I could do that?"

"Figured you'd say that, Mom. Even when you were raising Shining Armor and I, you always had a love for adventure reflected in your stories. I still remember the ones you used to tell about Meghan and the Rainbow of Darkness," Twilight smiled, before pinning the schedule to a wall in the room. "Spike can spend time exploring the zeppelin, there's tons of other activities I couldn't squeeze in with our schedule. Though while I do want you all to have a good time, this actually works out perfectly because it means we'll have room for the one thing I wanna do!" She pointed to the last colored bar of the chart and happily explained. "Our ship passes the Frozen North at sunset, which is the only time you can see the astrological phenomenon known as the Northern Stars. It's like the stars are shooting out of the setting sun!"

The rest of the Sparkle family (except for Spike who had learned of Twilight's intentions earlier) all oohed in amazement. The Northern Stars were a rare phenomenon, something that only a few ponies had ever seen with their own two eyes.

Cadence simply commented. "Well, we definitely don't want to miss that. Better make a note of it now."

"No worries, I've got it covered. I'm pretty much used to taking notes for others by now, even on vacation." Spike explained as he jotted down the time the Northern Stars would be visible, attaching it next to the chart for all to see.

"Good, it's settled then," Twilight happily declared, before eyeing her schedule more closely. "Although it seems like we don't have anything to do right now. The bingo tournament isn't for another half hour or so. Anypony have any ideas on what we should do until then?"

As if in answer to that question the loudspeakers crackled to life again, and the voice from before announced. "Hey there, cruise ponies. Here's a friendly little travel tip for you all: Don't let this zeppelin cruise be a bore. Why not leave your rooms and try the tour? Satisfaction is one hundred percent guaranteed."

"Well, I guess it can't hurt to take up that suggestion," Spike commented to the others. "Wonder what'll be on the tour?" He and the rest of the Sparkle Family promptly left their room, even Flurry Heart came with them.

Once out on the deck, Shining Armor stuck his hooves out to feel the wind as it whistled past him. "Hey, look at me! I'm flying! I'm—" He began, only to suddenly feel his stomach lurch and his face turn at least two shades of green.

Cadence quickly approached her husband and gave him a knowing wink. "Hey, dear, I'm afraid Flurry might be airsick," She spoke with trained precision. "Since I know that isn't a problem for you, would you mind taking her below for me?"

Shining happily accepted his wife's "excuse" and after picking up Flurry Heart he quickly went below deck to recover. No one said a word.

Spike, meanwhile, was enjoying his time with Night Light and Twilight Velvet. He hadn't seen them in a long time, and neither had they truly seen him. The last time any of them could remember being together was during Twilight's coronation.

Velvet happily stroked the little dragon's chin as she cooed. "Oh, just look at you. You're definitely not the same little dragon who would crawl all over the place and make messes for me to clean up. I remember my husband and I would watch over you every day while Twilight was attending Celestia's school."

Night Light chuckled. "Don't forget the time he ate one of your necklaces, and Twilight tried to make him cough it back up. Or how he always kept calling her 'Mama' even though she'd insist she wasn't because she didn't lay his egg."

"Oh, it was just so adorable. It always melted my heart!" Velvet fondly exclaimed. "I just hope Flurry Heart doesn't grow up as fast as little Spikey-Wikey did."

Spike blushed, even though he adored the attention and affection he wasn't exactly thrilled with the embarrassing nature of it. "Come on, you guys. You're embarrassing me."

"All part of what parents do when their children have children," Velvet cooed. "If someday if you have kids of your own, you'll understand."

Cadence simply smiled as she trotted over. "You've definitely grown into a handsome young dragon, Spike. Sometimes I forget that the same Spike the Brave and Glorious who saved my empire, is the same Spike I'd help Twilight take care of whenever I foalsat her. Not that I minded, it gave me another 'excuse' to get close to Shining Armor," And she playfully ribbed Twilight. "And you always thought we were gross just for making out."

"I was just a little kid, I thought romance was mushy stuff that belonged in fairy tales." Twilight sheepishly replied as she threw up her wings to cover her blush.

But just then, Twilight overheard parts of a conversation going on between her and her parents. More specifically, her father.

Night Light was talking to a random cruise pony and appeared to be smiling as he told the pony. "Well, 'Royal Grandparents' sounds a little too fancy for my tastes, but of course you can take our picture." And that was exactly what happened as Twilight heard a camera click.

"Wait a minute, what was that all about?" Twilight questioned her parents. "Who said anything about 'Royal Grandparents'?"

Velvet chuckled. "It seems words got out that there's a princess on board, though some of the information is a bit... mixed up. Probably just some over eager tourists."

"But how could anypony know about that?" Twilight pondered aloud. "Something's not right here."

As if to confirm Twilight's fears, Cadence tapped a hoof to the shoulder of her fellow princess. "Uh, you might not wanna see this... but..."

Against her better judgement, the young alicorn spun around. To her shock and horror she saw several cruise ponies wearing tacky masks of her and Princess Cadence, which were defined by their hideous buck teeth that were supposed to resemble smiles! However, rather than freak out, Twilight took a deep breath and calmed herself. Still, she was anything but pleased with the sight. "Okay, that does it. Something funny's going on here, and I'm gonna get to the bottom of it. Does anypony where I can find the captain? He or she has a lot of explaining to do."

Twilight soon made her way up to the captain's deck and threw open the door. She couldn't quite make who was at the wheel though, the glare of the sun blocked her vision. Even so she wasn't going to leave without getting some answers. "Excuse me, captain," She commented in a stern tone of voice. "What's the big idea?"

The captain turned quite suddenly, as if not expecting to hear another voice. It was revealed to be a unicorn stallion of medium build. He sported a gleaming white coat, a dark blue mane and tail styled into waves, eyes that seemed an innocent ruby red in color, and a cutie mark depicting an anchor. He was decked out in a white captain's hat and matching uniform that had blue on the sleeves. "P-Princess Twilight!" The stallion nearly jumped in surprise. "What are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be with your family?"

"Well I was, until somepony let it slip that a princess was onboard," Twilight frowned. "Just what do you think you're doing selling a princess themed cruise to my parents without them knowing about it? Did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

The captain nervously replied. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Princess Twilight. Your family should've gotten a form in the mail telling them all about the new Cruise of the Princess Experience. We already run themed cruises based on Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," Then he added. "You can call me Captain Anchor, by the way."

"Well, Captain Anchor," Twilight frowned anew. "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to pull the plug on your little princess cruise scheme. My family was promised a free zeppelin cruise, and you 'conveniently' left out what it would involve."

But Captain Anchor gulped as he answered. "What do you mean? Your family should've known ahead of time about the cruise. A form was supposed to go to them to pass on to you and Cadence. Unless... oh dear!" He put his hooves to his face in horror! "I must've gotten the forms mixed up by accident, and sent the 'prize winner' form to them by mistake!"

"You're saying you didn't mean to trick my parents?" Twilight questioned the captain.

Captain Anchor firmly nodded as he used the soft golden glow of his magic to produce a long form. "This was the one I meant to send to your parents. But as you can see it uh... kind of looks similar to the form informing ponies they've won the free cruise. I am really sorry, princess. Royal Airlines has been going through some tough times lately, and as you might have guessed we're a bit short staffed at the moment," He set the form down as he sighed. "I think we'd better talk to your family and try to clear everything up. Oh, I'm going to be fired for this for sure!"

After setting the ship on auto-pilot (and instructing a crew member to stay by the wheel in case anything should come up) Captain Anchor followed Twilight back to her family, and then everyone went below deck to the royal suite where Shining Armor and Flurry Heart were waiting. They soon learned what had happened.

Captain Anchor was beside himself with grief. "Again, I'm really sorry about this, Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle. And you too, Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. I never meant for any of you to get mixed up in something like this."

"It's really our fault," Twilight Velvet reluctantly admitted. "But in my defense, as I always say: 'When somepony offers you a free vacation, who reads the fine print?'"

Captain Anchor put a hoof to his head. "Doesn't anypony read the fine print?!"

Night Light gulped. "I suppose that's a lesson we'll need to remember for next time. But what are we going to do now?"

"We'd better think of something, it looks like there's a lot of ponies out there eager for a chance to mingle with a princess. And I think I know which one they want." Spike nervously observed, looking out the suite windows to see the faces of several ponies pressed up against them.

One pony even shouted! "I love you, Princess Twilight! I'm your number one fan!"

Cadence reluctantly commented. "Well as much as I want and would enjoy a family vacation, I don't think I could entertain all these cruise ponies. My hooves are pretty full taking care of Flurry Heart. And I think Shining Armor feels the same way."

"Yeah. Nothing personal, but this just isn't for me. I need some quiet time, and I don't think I'm gonna get it on a vacation like this." Shining nodded his head in agreement. Although he'd gotten over his airsickness, he was still feeling a bit weak.

Velvet spoke next with a noticeable frown on her face. "I guess we were just so excited by the idea of a family cruise. We should've been paying attention to what we were getting into."

Captain Anchor simply hung his head. "I promise you'll be greatly compensated for this."

Night Light then sighed quite heavily. "There's no need for payment, this cruise was free. But all the same, I suppose we'd better get this ship turned around and head back home. So much for our vacation."

But Twilight quickly threw up a hoof and locked eyes with Captain Anchor! "Wait a moment! It's not fair that everypony should be denied a vacation over a misunderstanding!" And she suggested. "Captain Anchor, what if we made a deal?"

"A deal, princess? What are you proposing?" Captain Anchor questioned.

Twilight quickly explained her proposition. "It's me the cruise ponies came all this way to see, so why not give them what they want? If I agree to do whatever princess activities you want, will you promise that my family gets to do all the activities they want?"

Captain Anchor put a hoof to his chin. "Well... I suppose that could work. You sure that's what you want, though? I don't want to pressure you into bailing me out for my mistake."

Shining Armor quickly spoke up in protest. "Sis, you don't have to do that! Everyone wants you to be happy and enjoy yourself too. You should get to do the things you want to do too."

Spike nodded his head as added. "Come on, Twilight. I'm sure we can just do a smaller scale Sparkle Family get together at some point in the future. Maybe after the Festival of Friendship?"

Even Flurry Heart seemed to be concerned if the nervous babbles she was giving off were any indication.

But Twilight shook her head. "This whole thing is one giant misunderstanding, but I don't want the vacation to end now or let down all these ponies who were looking forward to seeing us. This way, everyone gets what they want. You all get to do your activities, the cruise ponies get to see me, and Captain Anchor doesn't have to lose his job."

"But what about what you want?" Spike protested. "It's not a bad thing to think about yourself for once. The cruise ponies will understand."

Alas, Twilight had made up her mind. "What I want isn't important, I didn't become a princess because I put myself before others. And I'm not about to change that now!" She looked at Captain Anchor as she asked him. "So, Captain Anchor? Do we have a deal?"

There was a moment of silence as all eyes fell upon the captain, waiting to see what he would do. The moment soon passed and everyone got their answer as he stuck out his hoof. "We do, princess! You have my word, your family's activities will not be disrupted and we'll make any and all accommodations necessary to ensure that."

"Great!" Twilight beamed. "So it looks like we have some time before Dad plays Bingo at the tournament."

"Which means there's just enough time for the first princess activity of the cruise," Captain Anchor declared. "The winner of the grand-prize raffle. Come on, everything should already be set up!"

Twilight was ushered away as she nervously commented to herself. "O-oh, well who doesn't like prizes?"

The raffle took place on the main deck of the zeppelin. Ponies of all sorts gathered as Twilight and Captain Anchor stood on the upper deck with a huge barrel full of slips of paper.

Captain Anchor proudly declared. "Alright, cruise ponies! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! As the zeppelin flies, it's time for somepony to win a prize!" The gathered crowd burst into thunderous applause and deafening cheers as Twilight approached the barrel.

"Thank you all so much for being so gracious and respectful to me and my family," Twilight briefly spoke to all the cruise ponies, before turning her attention to the barrel. "And now, without further ado, the winner is..." She pulled out a slip of paper, unfolded it, and read the name aloud. "Star Tracker! Congratulations, and I hope you enjoy your prize!" Then she turned away. "Okay, Dad! You've got a date with the bingo board!" But as she walked away she bumped straight into a grayish blue coated earth pony stallion. Said stallion had a light gold and very pale green mane and tail that seemed to be in a most unusual curl, brilliant light blue eyes, and a cutie mark involving a couple of upside down horseshoes beneath a star.

"Uh, hi, I'm Star Tracker. And... I'm here for my prize." The stallion introduced himself, getting a little too close to Twilight in the process.

Twilight blushed as she stepped back a bit. "O-oh. I'm sorry, but I don't actually have the prize on me."

Star Tracker just giggled. "Uh, you are the prize. Or rather, your family is."

"What?!" Twilight blinked in surprise.

Captain Anchor took hold of a microphone as he announced to the cruise ponies gathered below. "Congratulations to Star Tracker, who wins the grand prize – spending the day with Twilight as an honorary member of her family!" A series of fireworks shot off and several ponies cheered!

Twilight was speechless for a moment, before she found the words to express her shock! "That's the prize?! How that is even possible?!"

Star Tracker just laughed. "Hey, it's okay, I won't get in the way of you and your family. Although now I'm kind of part of your family." He said that last part with a nervous chuckle.

"I... see. Well... I guess you should come along with us then, honorary family member." The young alicorn reluctantly commented.

Night Light trotted up and put his hoof around Star Tracker. "Couldn't have put it better myself! Come on, there's always room at the bingo table! I've got a good feeling about this!"

As it turned out the bingo tournament was princess themed. That was to say, Twilight as princess was the bingo caller. "Is everypony ready?!" She called into a megaphone. She could just barely make out the presence of her dad and Star Tracker, even as Spike was close to her.

"You bet we are, sweetie!" Night Light eagerly called! "Go ahead and give that bingo cage a whirl!"

But Night Light was too far away for his daughter to hear him properly. "What did you say, Dad?" She asked through the megaphone.

Star Tracker suddenly appeared next to her. "He... He said to, uh, uh, give it a-a whirl. Heh. Just uh... just thought you should know that."

"Oh. Um, thanks. I think." Twilight blinked in surprise.

"Come on, Twilight, bingo is still bingo," Spike commented. "Even if you're the caller," Then he suggested. "Maybe you could get your dad a microphone so he can hear you?"

But a nearby cruise pony shouted in protest! "Hey, that's not fair! How come the princess' dad gets his own microphone and we don't?!" An uproar soon started.

Twilight simply sighed. "Well, Spike, why don't you see if you can find enough microphones for everypony. And in the meantime I'll... try to make do with what I've got."

"You sure you don't want me to go over to your dad and keep you informed?" Spike suggested to Twilight. "Maybe some kind of spell?"

But Twilight shook her head. "No, Spike, that would be cheating. I have to set a good example for all the cruise ponies, and that means not giving my dad special treatment," She shooed him away. "Just go fetch those mics."

Spike reluctantly obeyed, not one to disobey an order from Twilight.

As for Twilight, she occupied herself in the role of the caller. Unfortunately, without any mics it was impossible for her to determine if her dad was getting any of the numbers and letters she was calling out. And it didn't help that Star Tracker seemed to take it upon himself to inform her if he did. At one point he even told Twilight to her face. "Twilight is my favorite time of day. And it's also your name," He delivered each sentence with a laugh. "So I just thought that was cool."

The bingo tournament lasted for a while, and Twilight did feel a little bit better when she saw that her dad won the whole thing. She wasn't quite as thrilled with the prizes he got for doing so: A matching set of Princess Twilight and Princess Cadence calendars. It seemed like the princess theme even extended down to the prizes for the various events.

The young alicorn quickly tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind as she headed off to the next activity she'd planned for her family: The tiny boat in the tiny pool, which took place near the rear of the zeppelin.

Shining Armor was already there, looking just the faintest bit queasy for a second before he seemed to light up his horn.

"Well, I'm here now," Twilight commented as she plopped down into the other tiny boat. "You ready to do this, B.B.B.F.F?"

Shining nodded his head very slowly. "Yeah, I am. I just hope you're ready to lose!"

Twilight snickered. "I don't plan to lose either. And it's a good thing Flurry Heart's not here to see my whip your sorry flank."

Twilight Velvet quickly came up to the two and politely but firmly told them. "Now now, you two. That's enough trash talk. It's not whether you win or lose, what matters most is having fun. This isn't like your sibling supreme contests, there's no crown waiting for the winner."

But Captain Anchor spoke up. "Actually, Mrs. Sparkle, Princess Twilight is only supposed to officiate the princess paddle boat races. Every last one of them."

Velvet didn't take kindly to that idea and she quickly voiced her disapproval. "I'm sorry, Captain Anchor, but I can't let you do that. Twilight will gladly officiate every other race held in this tiny pool, but she owes her brother a boat race. It shouldn't take long. And a demonstration might be just the thing to get the cruise ponies excited."

Captain Anchor sighed. "Very well, if that's what Princess Twilight wants she shall have it. But make it quick, we've got at least ten heats lined up!"

"Not to worry, I've got it!" Velvet declared as she took hold of a flag and excitedly declared! "Racers! On your mark, get set, go!" And she waved the flag!

The two boats quickly whirred to life, splashing through the pool! In a matter of seconds though it was all over, and Twilight won. "Haha! Looks like I win again, big brother." She couldn't resist flaunting her victory just a little.

"What are you talking about, Twily?" Shining commented as he slowly stepped out of his boat. "I... I let you win. I couldn't let the princess lose in front of all her fans, could I?"

Twilight couldn't help but rib him. "You sure you're not still airsick, even just a little bit?"

"Of course I'm not!" Shining protested. "Now I think I'm just gonna head back to the cabin and get some rest."

"Why don't I come along?" Spike suggested. "We can play Ogres & Oubliettes together, and I can finally show you all the new tricks my character's mastered."

Shining grinned. "It's like you can read my mind, Spike. Come on!" He and Spike promptly left the tiny pool.

Captain Anchor, meanwhile, approached Twilight. "Okay, princess. You had your fun. Now you need to keep your word and officiate all ten heats!"

Star Tracker giggled with excitement. "Ooh! I'm gonna write about this in my journal tonight! This is great!"

Cadence wasn't really aware of any of the developments that were occurring after Twilight made her deal. She did learn about a couple of things after the fact from the rest of the Sparkle family. But her biggest focus was on caring for Flurry Heart, until it was time to take her to the Peewee Princess Playtime.

However, Flurry Heart's idea of fun at the playtime seemed to involve stacking other foals on top of each other like blocks. This frightened Cadence a great deal, but none of the other parents seemed to share her concern. Not even when the pile of foals toppled over and Flurry tried to pick them up again with her magic.

Cadence moved to block Flurry's horn with a wing, just as Twilight arrived wearing a ten gallon hat. "Cadence, I'm so glad you got into the Peewee Princess Playtime!"

Cadence smiled. "Flurry is having a wonderful time. Although I do wish she'd play a little less... rough with the other foals."

"Oh, I'm sure she doesn't mean any harm, Cadence. Not with you around to keep an eye on her," Twilight reassured her fellow princess and sister-in-law. "Glad to hear you're having a good time as well. I'm just on my way to take some old-timey Appleloosan photos!"

Star Tracker appeared, wearing a ten gallon hat as well. "Themed photo shoots are the best!" He declared, unaware of the look Twilight seemed to be giving him.

Twilight waited for Star Tracker to disappear and then resumed talking. "I wish he'd stop doing that, it's getting annoying," Then she changed the subject. "Anyway, after the photo shoots I just need to do a quick question-and-answer session on becoming an alicorn, before Mom's barrel ride at Neighagra Falls! I really hope I don't miss that."

Cadence frowned upon noticing the distraught look on Twilight's face. "Twilight, are you sure you don't mind doing all of these princess activities? You're not invincible, you know. You can't make time in your schedule for everypony who might need or want you."

"Cadence, I already told you, what I want isn't important. Besides, everypony else is having fun and that's what counts, right?" Twilight asked with a nervous giggle. Then she sighed. "I have to make sure these cruise ponies are happy if I want to be a good princess. I promised them a princess themed vacation."

"No, Twilight, the cruise promised them a princess themed vacation," Cadence corrected. "You're already a good princess, Twilight. You don't need to prove it by throwing away your own happiness. I know how you feel, you tend to internalize these things a lot. But if there's one thing I've come to learn since Flurry Heart was born, it's that sometimes even a princess needs to take a little time for herself."

Twilight was quick to reply. "Which is why as long as I get to see the Northern Stars tonight with everypony, I'll be happy."

"Hey, Twilight, you'd better hurry up!" Spike called from afar. "I think Star Tracker's getting impatient."

The young alicorn sighed. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go take some pictures. See you later!" And she sped away without saying another word.

Cadence sighed and shook her head. "Twilight." She unhappily remarked despite knowing that her sister-in-law was too far away to hear her.

And the princess of love soon had her attention drawn to more urgent matters. One of the mothers in the playtime was pushing her foal close to Flurry Heart while suggesting. "Why don't you play and make a princess friend?" Several other parents proceeded to shove their foals directly into Flurry Heart's face.

Cadence quickly came over and picked Flurry Heart up with her magic. She'd had enough. "Uh... I am so sorry, everypony, but it looks like Flurry needs her nap. Pronto." She declared and trotted away with a most concerned look on her face. "Treating my own daughter like some kind of zoo animal. What's this world coming to?" She thought to herself, before her thoughts turned to Twilight. "Twilight, I don't think you realized just what you've gotten yourself into. You made a promise you couldn't keep."

The zeppelin had been docked at Neighagra Falls for quite a while when Twilight came rushing down the ramp! "Oh, why did that last question have to be a two-parter? I just hope I have time for one barrel ride with Mom!" She commented to herself as she made a mad dash to the barrel loading dock.

Alas, Twilight was too late. She arrived just in time to see the last barrel plunge over the falls and for her mom to poke her head up from said barrel a few seconds later. Velvet's mane flopped around due to all the water from the barrel, but her face reflected a look of sheer amazement! "Oh! Neighagra Falls was amazing!" She happily exclaimed while rocking back and forth in the barrel, causing her mane to flop into her face. "The endless open air, the water in my mane! Oh! The small confines of the barrel! What more could a mare ask for?!"

Night Light came trotting up, a camera clutched close to his chest as he gave his wife a knowing wink and laughed. "Another 'relaxing vacation' in the books, hon."

"Really? Look who's talking, Mister Bingo Tournament Winner," Velvet teased. "I still think we're gonna have to give those matching calendars away," Her barrel tumbled to its side and she spilled out a second later, coming face to face with her daughter. And she knew from experience just by looking at the face what was troubling her daughter. "Oh, honey, I know you're disappointed, but we waited as long as we could. This zeppelin can't stay docked here forever. You know, maybe you should take a break from all of these princess things. We've barely seen you all day."

Twilight tried to defend herself as best she could. "Me? Disappointed? No! I've just been answering some detailed questions about alicorns is all! You know how much I love details!"

Velvet stood up as she declared. "Well I just want you to remember, it's your vacation too. Even Spike seems to be having more fun than you are. And he's been playing Ogres & Oubliettes with Shining Armor."

"Which means it's a totally successful vacation for everyone, just as I planned." Twilight asserted even as her lips quivered ever so slightly.

Night Light reluctantly commented in response. "All right. Well, uh, we can't wait to see those Northern Stars tonight!" And then he and his wife went back up the ramp to the zeppelin.

Twilight came back onboard a moment later, and Captain Anchor was waiting for her when she did. "Okay, princess, this cruise has been going great so far. I kept up my end of the bargain and ensured your family got to do all the things they wanted to do," He declared. "Now all I need to ask of you is just one more favor, and then you're free for the rest of the cruise."

"And that would be what?" Twilight innocently questioned.

In response, Captain Anchor set down a booth and declared. "Okay, everypony, this is your last chance! Please, get in line if you want the princess to sign! Books, calendars, socks! You name it, she'll sign it!"

Twilight tried to get through the long line of ponies as quickly as possible, but it seemed to take forever for the line to shorten. Night was starting to encroach on the cruise as the last ponies left the line after getting their princess signature.

But Twilight was most indignant when she saw Star Tracker, who she could've sworn hadn't been in the line when it first opened! "How long have you been waiting in line? Couldn't you have just asked for my signature at any point before this?"

"Sorry, never crossed my mind," Star Tracker apologized. "Uh, might wanna make it quick though. I think the Northern Stars are about to start."

"Oh no!" Twilight gasped in horror as she rose from her desk, hastily signing Star Tracker's journal. She arrived just in time to see a distant flash of light, and a couple of stars whiz past the zeppelin! She had managed to catch only a faint glimpse of what she'd been looking forward to all day. "I missed them? I missed the Northern Stars?" She said to herself as the tears started to roll down her cheeks.

Her family was nearby and heard the sobs, so Twilight quickly spun around to avoid looking at them. She didn't want any of them to see her upset.

"Twilight, is everything okay?" Spike asked the pony he looked up to so much and felt so strong a connection to. "I'm sorry, we meant to check on you sooner but we were all having so much fun that we forgot."

Night Light spoke up next. "The Northern Stars sure were something. We really wish you'd been here to see it with us, sweet-pea. But we're sure you were busy making a whole bunch of cruise ponies happy."

With tears in his eyes Star Tracker commented. "I'm so happy, I could cry! This has been the best day of my life!"

That comment caused something to snap inside of Twilight as she dried her eyes and spun around, glaring at her family. "Oh, yeah," She bitterly remarked. "The cruise ponies are happy. My family is happy. Even the captain is happy."

Spike gulped. "Twilight, please don't get upset. You're scaring Flurry Heart."

But Twilight simply trotted forward as she declared. "Well you know who isn't happy? Me! That's who!" She turned around, stepping right onto Star Tracker's front right hoof by accident.

Star Tracker yelped as he held his reddened hoof. "Augh! My hoof!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, really," Twilight replied, still in her angry tone of voice. "But maybe that wouldn't have happened if you weren't practically standing on my tail! Not even my real family stands so close to me! It's been getting on my nerves!" Then she groaned and walked away.

No one knew quite what to say, but if they had been looking closely they might have seen Spike writing something down on a scroll. In his mind he was thinking. "There's only one pony I can think of who could help Twilight now. I just hope she's available on such short notice."

Twilight was alone on the top deck of the zeppelin, looking out over the night sky.

Suddenly, there came a brilliant flash, and the familiar form of Princess Luna descended from above. "Greetings to you, Twilight Sparkle." She warmly greeted as she flew close to the zeppelin (but did not land on it).

"Princess Luna!" Twilight gasped. "What are you doing here? Spike doesn't need his dragon sitter this time, he's been having the time of his life on this zeppelin cruise."

The princess of the night simply shook her head. "I'm not here for Spike, Twilight. His dragon sitter is here because his mom is the one in need of support. He told me everything."

Twilight sighed. "Of course he did, that's my son for you. I really raised him well, didn't I?"

Luna nodded her head. "Indeed you did, Twilight. He's a fine young dragon, and I couldn't be prouder of him if I tried," Then she changed the subject. "I know about the deal you and Captain Anchor made, about the... theme of the cruise. He wasn't kidding when he said they do cruises like this based around my sister and I. Which is news to us considering we never show up for them."

"Well, he had to have your permission somehow." Twilight commented.

"Oh, we always suspected such a thing, we just didn't feel it was right to drop our royal duties. Even for something like this," Luna explained. "But tell me, why did you make that deal even though it cost you your happiness?"

The young alicorn sighed, looking at the princess of the night. "What I wanted was for everypony to be happy, to enjoy their vacation. They didn't deserve to have it ended prematurely because of a mistake."

"But in trying to correct it, you made a much bigger mistake. You made a deal you couldn't commit to fully," Luna told Twilight. "This feels not unlike when you didn't want to say anything to my sister and I about our quarrel. And we all know how that turned out."

"Really, Luna? You know I can hear you, right?" The familiar voice of Princess Celestia commented.

Twilight looked around. "Princess Celestia?! Is that you?! I can't see you!"

The voice of Celestia just chuckled. "I'm not actually here, Twilight. I'm speaking to you telepathically, only you and Luna can hear me," Then she asked Luna. "So, what's this all about, exactly? I was just on my way to bed."

"Apparently, Twilight Sparkle got roped into a princess themed cruise vacation, and tried to please all the cruise ponies because of a misunderstanding. At least, that's what I got out of it." Luna explained to her older sister.

The voice of Celestia commented. "Twilight, it's nice that you wanted to please so many ponies. But sometimes, even as a princess, other ponies can ask too much of you. Asking more than you can hope to give. It can be hard to draw the line, it's something that takes time to learn."

"Even I've struggled with it from time to time," Princess Cadence spoke up as she came trotting up to Twilight. "Forgive me for intruding, Aunt Luna and Aunt Celestia, but this has been troubling me all day."

"Oh, hey Cadence," Twilight greeted. "Let me guess, you're here to offer your advice too."

Cadence nodded. "Advice I gained first hoof when Flurry Heart was born. I couldn't spend as much time as I used to be able to with my subjects, Flurry kept demanding more of mine and Shining Armor's attention, even after Sunburst more or less became our go to foalsitter. I had to learn the hard way that you will always have obligations as a princess, but you also have an obligation to yourself."

"Couldn't have put it better myself, Cadence," Luna commented. "Well, I think I'd better go now. I've been away from the dream realm long enough."

The voice of Celestia added. "And I'm heading off to bed. Twilight, I hope you and Cadence enjoy the rest of your vacation." Then Princess Luna disappeared as mysteriously as she'd come, and the voice of Princess Celestia could no longer be heard by Twilight.

Back in the suite, Velvet was tending to Star Tracker's injured hoof by levitating over an ice pack. "Aww, how's that, dearie?" She asked in a gentle tone.

"Much better. Thanks, Mrs. Sparkle," Star Tracker commented, before he heard the door open and into the room trotted Twilight. Star Tracker nervously gulped. "Uh, I think I should go! Bye!"

But Twilight quickly prevented Star Tracker's escape. "No, Star Tracker. You should stay. I have something to tell you. All of you," She paused to take in a deep breath. "Listen, I'm glad you all got to do the things that you wanted to do, but I should have stood up for myself so that I could do what I wanted to do, too," To Star Tracker she added. "It wasn't fair of me to lash out at you. Regardless of how felt about you standing so close, I didn't have any right to treat you so bad. I wasn't even really mad with you, I was mad with myself because of the deal I made with the captain."

"Hey, you were only doing what you thought was right." Spike told Twilight.

Twilight trotted over and nuzzled Spike. "But thanks to a certain dragon, I realized that I messed up," She turned to face her family as she apologized. "I'm sorry you all to had see that on the deck. What do you say we do something off the schedule for a change?"

Everyone in the room gasped, and Star Tracker commented. "Who are you? You're not Twilight Sparkle, she always does things by a schedule."

Twilight just giggled. "Don't worry, it's me. We're gonna do something I want us to do, as a family. Honorary members, too."

Star Tracker protested. "No, princess, you wanted a vacation with just you and your family. I've already intruded on that enough, I really should go. I'm glad I got to meet you though."

But Twilight firmly insisted. "You're part of my family until this cruise ends, Star Tracker. Now come on, we're going for ice cream. My treat."

However, when the family got to the front deck, they were shocked to find a mob of angry passengers all swarming around Captain Anchor! "Where's the princess?! We want the princess!" They demanded and shouted.

Captain Anchor nervously protested. "J-just hold on a second, folks. I-I'm sure the princess will be here any minute."

Twilight flew over to the distressed captain and grabbed his mic as she told him. "It's okay, I'll take care of this," Then into the mic she told all the gathered cruise ponies. "It's okay, everypony," She cleared her throat. "First of all, I want to thank all of you for coming. It means a lot that you'd spend your hard-earned bits just to be with a princess. I'm sorry that there was a mix up, and my family accidentally got drawn into something they didn't know about. But I honestly came on this cruise to take some time off from being a princess. I'm just a pony, too, after all. And even though I want everypony here to be happy, I'd really like to spend the rest of the cruise relaxing with my family. If that's okay with all of you."

"Of course, princess," A cruise pony declared. "We've already asked so much of you today. You deserve some time off."

Twilight then added. "Well if you ever want to see me, you don't need to go on a zeppelin cruise. You can always come to Ponyville, my door is always open. And it's the same for Cadence in the Crystal Empire."

Captain Anchor took back the mic and announced. "You heard it here, folks. This is the end of princess involvement on this princess cruise. On behalf of Royal Airlines, I wish to sincerely apologize for the abrupt cancellation. You're welcome to request refunds upon our return to Canterlot in the morning," He proceeded to turn to Twilight. "There, now we're even, princess. You did me a favor, and I did you one."

Twilight nodded. "Thank you, Captain Anchor." And she watched as he left to return to the captain's quarters. The crowd dispersed a short time later, which meant there was no line for ice cream. Everyone got their favorite flavors and sat down to enjoy the tasty frozen treats.

Velvet smiled as she took her husband's camera and snapped a picture of everyone huddled together on the front deck. "Now this is what I call a relaxing vacation." She said with a grin, as the zeppelin flew back towards Cantelort with the rising sun.

S8 E1: School Daze, Part 1 (What If?)

Despite a surprise invasion by an evil creature called the Storm King, the first ever Festival of Friendship was a roaring success! And the joint kingdoms of the hippogriffs and seaponies had been added to the list of Equestria's allies (after some tense negotiations between Princess Celestia and Queen Novo).

Afterward, Twilight's thoughts turned briefly to Tempest Shadow. The very pony to whom Equestria unknowingly owed a great deal of thanks for ultimately bringing down the Storm King for good. "It's probably for the best she doesn't come to Ponyville right now," Twilight thought to herself. "She needs time to get her life back on track and make amends for all the wrong she's done. Besides, I already have two students, I don't know if I can handle three all at once."

It was on the subject of students that Twilight started to think. True, she had dipped her hooves into the water with teaching a few times before. Twilight Time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been a success, but after a while she had ended the sessions as she sensed the fillies no longer had anything they could learn from her (and given that they had turned their club into a business per Diamond Tiara's suggestion, that seemed to be the case). And Diamond Tiara had been an enjoyable, eager student despite still sometimes getting into trouble.

And the recent journey outside of Equestria's borders to uncharted territory had given Twilight room to think. It seemed like friendship could do a lot for so many civilizations if they only knew of the magic behind it. The elements that went into making it work.

However, it wasn't until Twilight arrived home that she truly had a chance to consider her next step. She, Spike, and Starlight Glimmer were all amazed to discover that the throne room's table map had expanded considerable. A fact that did not go unnoticed by the others.

"I can't believe it! This happened while we were gone?!" Applejack remarked. "Just when I think I've seen it all, somethin' like this comes along and proves me wrong."

"But why would the map choose to expand now of all times? We've been outside Equestria several times before." Rarity pondered aloud.

"I guess maybe it decided that the Storm King's invasion was a wake up call," Rainbow Dash declared. "Which means we're gonna get called on even more adventures!"

Fluttershy shook her head. "I for one certainly hope not. After everything we went through during the invasion, I think we could all use a break."

Starlight sighed. "Ain't that the truth? I can't believe we survived that. I'm gonna have nightmares about the invasion for weeks."

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie had picked up a hard hat and some measuring tape as she commented. "You know, it seems like the map gets bigger every so often because of what we do. At this rate, how many more friendship missions do you think we'll need to go on before we have to expand the throne room?"

"What are you talking about, Pinkie? And we're not expanding the throne room, it's in my castle after all." Twilight quickly shot down the idea.

Pinkie, undeterred, kept pressing. "Whaddya mean? Of course we can expand the throne room. It's easy! Just gotta knock this wall down, get some paint..." She brought over a jack hammer and a bucket of paint.

But Twilight shook her head. "No, no, no. What I mean is, it would be foolish to try and go all over Equestria and beyond to solve every friendship problem that comes our way. What if there was a way we could bring the friendship to the problems and fix them before they start?"

Spike looked at Twilight, observing the grin on her face. "I know that face, Twilight. Just what are you thinking about this time?"

Twilight gestured to a spot on the map not far from her castle. "I was thinking, we could open our very own School of Friendship, right here in Ponyville! After all, I've always wanted to be a teacher." Everyone reluctantly agreed to the idea of a school. Not one of them suspected that the school was going to become a magnet for trouble, as a foe long thought defeated would return to cause havoc.

Even though it was her dream, Twilight knew that she couldn't just open a school overnight and expect everything to work out. And as luck would have it there was already a pony with lots of teaching experience in Ponyville that Twilight could call on for free advice. A pony whose students Twilight had already tutored on a few occasions (at least a couple of them anyway). None than Cheerilee.

The mare was quite delighted to have a one on one audience with the alicorn, which took place the day after the Festival of Friendship. Cheerilee took the news of Twilight's planned school quite well. "A School of Friendship? I must say, that sounds like a promising idea, Twilight." She happily commented.

Twilight nodded her head. "I know, at long last my dream can come true! But there's so many things I never realized went into the planning of a school! Even to an organized pony like me it's a lot to take in! And I have so many questions! That's why I wanted to talk to you, Cheerilee. I figured if anypony could give me the advice I need on how to run a school properly, it'd be you."

Cheerilee blushed ever so faintly. "I'm flattered you think so highly of me, Twilight. I like to think I've been a great teacher in the time I've been at this schoolhouse," She took a moment to compose herself before she added in a serious tone of voice. "But if I'm being honest, it's really your teachings and your friends who've made such a big difference. Not to mention the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they were the ones who got through to Diamond Tiara and got her to change. I only regret that I didn't do more to stand up to Spoiled Rich, that I let her and her daughter gain so much control over me."

"You were only trying to keep them on your side for the sake of the school," Twilight replied to Cheerilee. "Besides, Diamond's a much better pony now and Spoiled's been kicked off the school board. Though I have to ask, do you think my school is going to end up competing with your school for students?"

Cheerilee shook her head. "Your school seems more specialized and advanced, a way for ponies to continue their education even after I've taught them all I'm allowed to teach."

"That's good to know, I really don't want to make you into an enemy." Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.

"Twilight, this schoolhouse was around long before I ever started teaching here. It's almost as old as Ponyville itself," Cheerilee commented. "It was already up and running for countless years when I became the next teacher. I'm afraid that I can't offer much advice on how to get a school up and running. There's an entire process that every school in Equestria has to go through, but I know nothing about it. Princess Celestia might know though, after all she has a school in her name."

Twilight's face morphed into a smile. "I'm already looking forward to going there!" She quickly regained her composure. "But I wanted to talk to you first since you're here in Ponyville, and you've got more hooves on experience as a teacher. Princess Celestia only taught a few classes whenever she could find the time, mostly on magic," Then she offered. "Would you be interested in working at my new school, once I get it up and running of course."

Cheerilee shook her head. "Oh no, I couldn't possibly find the time for it. Being a teacher is a very big responsibility, Twilight. Even bigger than being a princess. You're responsible for shaping hundreds if not thousands of young minds, and ensuring their safety and well being. And as I can personally tell you, sometimes it's a thankless job," Then she offered. "Still, if you should ever need my advice, I'm always available for a chat. And who knows? Maybe if I'm lucky I could find time in my schedule to be a substitute teacher?"

"I'll consider that. But right now, I need to focus on finding out what I need to do to make my dream a reality!" Twilight declared. "Thanks for the talk though, Cheerilee. You've been a big help."

"Don't mention it, Twilight. That's what friends are for." Cheerilee insisted.

The very next day, Twilight was in Canterlot to meet with Princess Celestia and get some more advice on her dream school. Princess Celestia was quite impressed by the idea and expressed her support in no uncertain terms. "A school of friendship sounds like a wonderful idea, Twilight! And if there's anypony who could it pull it off, I'm sure it would be you. I'll be glad to help you any way I can."

Twilight immediately gestured to Spike to start taking notes, and she began to fire off all sorts of questions. "What time does school start every day? What's the ideal length for class? Do you test regularly? What about class projects? How do you do seating? Are you involved with meal planning? Do you give hall and bathroom passes?"

Celestia couldn't help but giggle at her fellow alicorn's enthusiasm. "Twilight, relax. I know you're really excited about opening your own school, but these are all questions that I can't really give the answers to. Besides, you were my star pupil and in many ways you've learned more than I could've ever imagined you would learn. I'm confident you have what it takes to run a school and do it your way."

Twilight shook her head. "I may have attended your school, and I may have tutored students from another school, but that's not the same thing as running an actual school. And after I just got through an entire experience of learning I don't always know what's best for everyone, I don't wanna make that same mistake again if I can help it. Besides, it's not like there's a rule book I can follow," She gave a nervous laugh. "Because if there was it would probably help me a lot."

However, Princess Celestia chuckled a bit before she explained. "Actually, Twilight, there is a rule book. More specifically, the EEA guidebook. It has specific instructions on how to run a school successfully. I'd be happy to loan you a copy."

Twilight blinked. "Wait, there's an actual rule book? And more importantly, what is the EEA? I don't believe I've ever heard of that before," She gulped. "Should I have?"

Celestia lightly shook her head. "Of course not, you've never had to run a school before so you and the EEA have had no reason to cross paths," She displayed a symbol depicting three horseshoes inside a circle seal. "The Equestria Education Association is a board of learned ponies that oversee every school in Equestria. If you want to make your school a reality, it's the EEA you should focus on and not me."

"Really? Even your school is ruled by the EEA? But it's in your name, and I thought you were a princess." Spike commented in astonishment.

Princess Celestia simply replied. "Not even a princess can do whatever she wants, Spike. No one is ever to meant hold absolute power. And when it comes to things like shaping young minds, many ponies feel it's best if princesses like me stay out of decision making. 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 standards. They'll need to approve your plan before you can move forward," She paused and seemed to hesitate as she nervously cautioned. "The EEA obtains a new head every so often, some are more... difficult to work with than others."

"And I'm guessing the current head is one of them?" Spike questioned.

The princess of the sun let out an unhappy sigh. "I'm afraid so, Spike. Currently, the EEA is headed by Chancellor Neighsay. And let's just say that he has a very 'specific' way in which he sees the world," She turned to Twilight. "Your school isn't going to be for ponies only, is it?"

"How did you know? I haven't even told my friends yet, I didn't want to get their hopes up or risk rumors spreading." Twilight commented in surprise.

"I suppose I've been thinking the same way you have since the Storm King's invasion," Princess Celestia explained. "We have gained many powerful allies, but there is much about the world that they don't know. And just as we can learn from them, so too can they learn from us. The magic of friendship is what brought us all together, and it shouldn't be something confined to us ponies. Even if some feel it should be that way."

"Then I guess we'll need to make some adjustments to the presentation." Twilight looked across to Spike.

Spike waved a claw and scoffed. "After everything we've been through, how hard can that be? Even Neighsay couldn't possibly say no to something like this, right?"

The presentation to the EEA took place a few days later, in a massive domed building in Canterlot. There were few lights, and all the board members sat high above in desks, looking down at all potential applicants.

A lone spotlight shone down on Twilight as she tried not to be intimidated. She cleared her throat, preparing to make the best pitch she could. "Hello, distinguished members of the EEA. My name is-"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle. Yes, we know," A voice spoke up and Twilight's attention was soon drawn to a tall, lanky unicorn stallion clad in a dark red robe. He had a very light grayish-white coat, a dark gray mane and tail, and stern moderate turquoise eyes. "Now please allow me to introduce myself. I am Chancellor Neighsay, head of the EEA. Equestria owes you and your friends a great debt of thanks for your many acts of heroism and bravery. Including the recent defeat of the wicked Storm King and his army."

"Well, I can't take all the credit," Twilight blushed. "We had help from some very unexpected allies. Which brings me to the reason for my visit."

Chancellor Neighsay spoke up. "There is no need to beat around the bush, princess. We all know the reason for your visit, Princess Celestia sent word this morning that you would be here," Then he cautioned. "But regardless of the reputation of you and your friends, the EEA does not do favorites. And princess or not, we here at the EEA expect you to do things by... the... book! No excuses, no exceptions!" He slammed down a heavy rule book to demonstrate his point.

Twilight was deterred but for a moment before she levitated over her own heavy book. "I think you'll find my curriculum meets all your requirements, Chancellor. Even if it is a School of Friendship and not a traditional school."

The board members examined the detailed notes within the pages of the book, and all nodded in approval. It seemed to have been thoroughly crafted and written by an expert on the subject material. "Seems to be in order," Chancellor Neighsay commented. "But can we trust you to follow through on this detailed plan of yours? Can we trust that you and your friends will be available to teach with your busy schedules? I hope you don't plan to leave the school unattended to go galloping off on your little... 'adventures' as it were. Because if so, I'm afraid I cannot grant approval."

"I'm well aware of those concerns, the thought definitely lingered in my mind as I considered the school," Twilight reassured the chancellor. "But I've already lined up several candidates to serve as substitute teachers for any and all classes. The map has been quiet and even if it should flare up again, I've got provisions in place to handle any emergencies. I even hired a vice headmare to take over for me if necessary."

Neighsay nodded his head. "Ah, you've clearly done your homework, princess. I like that. If there's one thing I despise, it's those who come here without a plan and expect me not to notice," Then he questioned. "But why, may I ask, are you so interested in opening a School of Friendship? Especially in Ponyville of all places considering there's already a suitable EEA certified school there?"

"The Storm King's invasion was a wake up call, Chancellor," Twilight warned him. "In order to repel him, my friends and I were forced to travel beyond Equestria's borders to recruit allies. The journey taught me many things, one of which is that the threats out there are greater than we imagined! Who knows how many other threats like the Storm King are lurking just beneath the surface?" Several members of the EEA started to speak in hushed and frightened tones of voices as Twilight continued. "If we want to keep our land safe and create a friendlier tomorrow, we need to teach the Magic of Friendship far and wide. Expand it, rather than keep it to ourselves."

Neighsay grinned. "Ah yes, a school for ponies to learn how to protect themselves. I like the way you think, princess."

But Twilight protested. "It's more about respecting differences and fostering healthy relationships, not to mention establishing communications with the outside world. We can't risk being caught off guard again, next time we may not be so lucky," She concluded her pitch by calmly but somberly stating. "My school is what is needed to ensure the future well being of Equestria. I know it's a risk, there's never been a school like it. But it's a risk I think is worth taking."

There was a long and uncomfortable pause as Neighsay let the words slowly sink in. After glancing around the room, the chancellor finally spoke up. "Very well, princess. You make a fine point, and the EEA concurs. Every pony should be prepared to defend our way of life. And what better way to do so than by teaching the very values that hold our society together? So, if your work is all in order, provisional EEA approval is hereby granted. We will need to observe your school up and running before it can be fully accredited, however. Note the date and time, and I shall come round to see the final product for myself."

Twilight bowed her head as she offered. "Then please, join us for Friends and Family Day. It'll be the perfect time to see our progress! And I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you see." And with that, the EEA gave its stamp of approval, allowing for construction of the school to commence.

But as Twilight and Spike left the building, Spike looked at Twilight and commented. "I don't think Chancellor Neighsay was pondering what you're pondering, Twilight. He had a very 'strange' appearance about him, and I don't like it."

"I know, Spike. And I feel guilty for tricking him like that, but he'd never approve of the school if he knew what it involved," Twilight confessed. "I can only hope that when he visits on Friends and Family Day, I can convince him to accept the school for what it is. Not what he wants it to be."

Construction of the school was started soon after Twilight returned from Canterlot. It actually took less time to build than Twilight had been expecting, within half a year the school was finished. It was built into a nearby mountain with a waterfall that cascaded down and split apart, gathering into a large pool. It consisted of two towers and an entire upper level, and hung high above was the symbol. It depicted the six gems that the Elements of Harmony had originally been, all inside of a shield. The inside was a relaxing bluish-green in color for the walls, and an earthly light brown for the floors.

The school was ready to open. But not everyone was excited about it. "It's too much! Too much!" Rainbow Dash complained.

"Ugh, you really think so?" Rarity replied. She wore a modest reddish-brown gown and a pair of dark blue glasses, making her look not unlike a teacher. "I had hoped that dressing the part would help me feel the part."

"No, not your dress, Rarity," Rainbow protested. "This! Us! Teaching?! The Wonderbolts are gonna think I'm an egghead!"

Applejack seemed to share Rainbow's concerns. "Ya know, this time I think you've got a point, Rainbow Dash," And she turned to Twilight. "Not that we aren't grateful, sugarcube, but are you sure you really want us to be teachers? We've never exactly been in a classroom before, well aside from you and Rainbow Dash."

"And I hated it! Teaching is not my forte!" Rainbow grumbled as everyone around her blinked. "What? Twilight's rubbed off on me, the more I hang around her the more I start copying her."

Pinkie Pie just grinned. "Hey, cheer up, Rainbow Dash! Teaching could be fun! In fact, you might say it's a blast!" A shower of confetti poured out of her party cannon.

But Twilight frowned, looking at Pinkie. "Sorry, Pinkie, but the EEA rule book is very clear. No party cannons in class!"

"Awww. Not even a teeny-tiny cannon?" Pinkie commented as she held up a miniature party cannon in her hoof.

"Not even that," Twilight insisted. "If we're to get this school EEA accredited, we need to make sure we follow their guidelines."

"Uh, but those guidelines don't sound like they're a lot of fun." Fluttershy nervously remarked.

Twilight sighed. "I know they aren't, but this isn't like one of our big, world saving adventures. We're not doing this for our sakes, we're doing it for the sake of every young mind that walks in through these doors. I promise, once the EEA signs off and makes the school accredited, we can make whatever changes are necessary. In the meantime, we need to do our best to follow the EEA's rules and guidelines."

Spike blinked as he looked at Twilight. "Really? You're gonna suggest that? And you're not the least bit worried? Okay, that does it, just who are you and what have you done with Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight giggled. "Come on, Spike, you know it's me," She proceeded to tell her friends. "None of you have to teach if you want to, once the school is up and running we can hire ponies to take your place. I've got plenty of notes from Cheerilee and Princess Celestia, but I know they can't make up for hooves on experience. I don't want to pressure any of you into doing this, but it would mean a lot to me if you stayed on. 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. So, are you in?"

"Certainly, darling," Rarity declared. "Mother always said it's healthy to be open to new experiences. Who knows? I might come to like teaching even more than sewing."

Rainbow sighed. "Oh, what the heck? Call me Professor Egghead. I'm in!" Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

"Good," Twilight smiled and then started to pace the floor. "Now where is that photographer? It's not like her to be late."

"Photographer?" Starlight Glimmer questioned.

Twilight nodded her head. "I invited the Canterlot Historical Society to take pictures so the school's opening is well documented. I also needed somepony to take yearbook pictures," She glanced up at a clock. "They said they'd send somepony over, and they said the photographer would be here by now. I hope whoever it hasn't gotten lost, I gave them very specific directions to follow."

"Well until the photographer does get here, I suppose now would be a good time to ask why you chose me to be vice headmare?" Starlight asked her former teacher. "I thought I was just gonna be guidance counselor."

"I had planned to give the vice headmare job to Spike, but he refused. You were the next best candidate, Starlight," Twilight reassured her former student. "I know you'll make me proud. Even though you're not technically my student anymore, you never cease to surprise me with all the progress you've made."

Before Starlight had a chance to reply, the front doors to the school burst open and the familiar form of Photo Finish came panting up. "Ach, Princezz Twilight and her friendz. I, Photo Finish, have arrived!" She declared with dramatic fanfare.

"Photo Finish? I didn't know you were with the Canterlot Historical Society." Rarity blinked in surprise.

Photo Finish shook her head. "Ze Canterlot Historical Zociety wishes to apologize for ze absence of their head photographer. They zent me in her place so zat that I could create 'Da Magics'!"

Twilight wasn't concerned, she just motioned for her friends to come closer. "Okay, everyone, let's try to look our best. This is gonna be on record for all time."

But Photo Finish frowned as she stepped forward. "No no, nine! You are ruining 'Da Magics'!" She proceeded to push all the mares around, occasionally yanking on a strand of mane hair (in Fluttershy's case even causing her mane to briefly turn curly and poofy like Pinkie Pie's). "Zere we go!" She declared at last. "Not a hair out of place! Now, zay 'Cheese'!"

"Cheese!" The seven mares (and the dragon) all said at once as the camera flashed.

Photo Finish smiled and bowed her head. "I zhall be back later for ze yearbook photos. But for now, I go! These photos vill not develop themzelves!" She then left as quickly (and mysteriously) as she had arrived.

Rarity couldn't help but be perplexed slightly by this. "I don't know why, but Photo Finish didn't seem to be herself. I don't remember her being quite so... pushy."

"We can't worry about that right now, Rarity. It's the first day of school and we need to be ready to greet our new students!" Twilight firmly insisted.

Unknown to anyone inside the school, "Photo Finish" was actually just a disguise. A disguise that a certain former queen had used to get close to her sworn enemies. And now that she was safely out of harm's way, her eyes glowed green as she dropped her disguise. "Excellent! All too easy!" Chrysalis boasted with a cackle. "I've got everything I need! Soon and very soon, I will have my revenge! And I'll make Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, and all their friends rue the day they ever crossed my path!"

Back at the school, the bell rang to signal the start of the school day. And countless ponies and other creatures poured through the doors. Excited chatter could be heard among the young and old alike. All amazed by what they saw.

Twilight quickly flew to the front and cleared her throat, speaking to the gathered crowd. "Welcome to the School of Friendship, students! I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I'll be your headmare," She gestured a hoof. "Please follow Guidance Counselor Starlight to sign in and get your class assignments. Then we can show you your living quarters. Please remember to work hard and not pick fights with other students. Together, we can make this environment a place to learn and a place to have fun."

It didn't take long for the students to get in line, but it also didn't take long for some of the foreign students to run into problems. The first of them was a blue feathered griffon with a light yellow underbelly, hints of green on the top of its head, moderate cerulean wings, and moderate azure eyes. "Can't believe I have to be here," He grumbled as ponies stared at him. "What? What are you looking at? You've never seen a griffon before?"

"Gallus? What do you think you're doin'? Stop slackin' off, sonny!" The familiar, raspy voice of Grandpa Gruff called as he walked up to the young griffon, a cane clutched in one of his claws. "These ponies wouldn't shut up until I let one of our own attend this here school, and this way I don't have to watch over ya. Ain't runnin' a daycare center, you know."

Rainbow Dash quickly flew over, greeting the griffon. "You must be Gallus."

Gallus remarked. "You call me that if you want, every griffon in Griffonstone does. I didn't really wanna be here, but Grandpa Gruff made it clear I don't have a choice," He looked up at Rainbow Dash as he commented. "So, you're Rainbow Dash, huh? Gilda told me about you. I gotta say, I kind of thought you'd be... cooler."

Rainbow just groaned. "Very funny, Gallus. Now come on, stop making a scene and get in line."

Just as that crisis was dissolved, the doors swung open with a loud slam! Prince Rutherford eagerly shouted! "Ponies! Prince Rutherford graces you with yak's presence!"

Pinkie Pie rushed up to meet Prince Rutherford. "Hiya, Prince Rutherford. Long time no see," Then she eyed a female yak with moderate olive eyes and pink bows in her long, flowing hair. "Ooh! Who's this?!"

Prince Rutherford smiled as he gestured a hoof. "The pride and joy of Yakyakistan! Prince Rutherford pleased to present, Yona Yak. She come to pony school, eager to make new friends and make school better."

Yona had a bright smile on her face as she stomped forward! "Oh boy! New place! Yak can't wait to meet ponies, and tell all about Yakyakistan! Yona have so much to talk about!" Unfortunately, her long hair proved to be a problem as she tripped over it and started to tumble, knocking a few statues loose. Fortunately, Pinkie was there to snatch them all up before they could fall and shatter.

Yona blushed as she stood up. "Yona need to work on that. But Yona not clumsy."

"Of course you're not," Pinkie grinned. "Now come on, Yona. Classes are about to start. Just watch your step, and try not to break anything."

Pinkie led Yona away just as Ember came by, dragging with her an orange scaled and winged dragon that looked to be the same size as teenage dragons like Garble. Said dragon had moderate orchid spines, and moderate cyan eyes. "But Ember, I don't want to go here! This school is lame!" The dragon frowned.

Ember just groaned as she tugged the dragon along. "For the last time, I'm Dragon Lord and you will do as I say! You're the only dragon I can trust not to burn the whole place down!"

"Don't give me any ideas. Besides, you're not my mom." The orange scaled dragon protested as she blew smoke out of her nostrils.

Ember just sighed. "I'm the closest thing you have to one and you know it," Then she called out. "Oh, hey Spike. Sorry you have to see this. I was hoping for you and Smolder here to meet on nicer terms, but Smolder just wants to be difficult."

"This place stinks of ponies! I don't like it!" Smolder complained.

Spike simply came over and offered a claw to the dragon. "Hey, don't be like that. I've been raised by ponies my whole life. Heck, the headmare of this school's my mom."

Smolder blinked in surprise. "Wait a second, how does a dragon have a pony for a mom? I thought ponies didn't lay eggs."

Spike just giggled as Ember blushed. "Smolder, you've got a lot to learn about ponies. No wonder you're coming here to this school. You're exactly the kind of creature who could benefit from our classes," He gestured a claw. "If you'll kindly step this way."

"Whatever, just don't get all 'touchy feely' with me. You're not my type." Smolder frowned.

"Great!" Spike spoke up, before he noticed what appeared to be another Smolder. "Uh, am I seeing double? Did you clone yourself somehow?"

But at that very moment an angry Thorax bellowed. "Ocellus, what did we talk about?!" A flash of magic caused the imposter Smolder to disappear, replaced by a grayish-green coated changeling with moderate cyan eyes, a glossy light pink mane, and wings a beautiful two shaded red that were currently tucked to the sides. "I told you to stay in your regular form, no copying other creatures!" Thorax arrived on the scene a moment later, introducing the changeling. "Sorry for the confusion. This is Ocellus, my new student. She's really shy."

"Why? Everyone knows the changelings are nice now, or at least most everyone." Spike questioned.

Thorax explained. "Ocellus was one of the few changelings who actually stood up to Chrysalis when she was our queen. Because of that, Chrysalis did... things to her, things no child her age should ever have to be subjected to," He stood beside Ocellus. "Still, give credit where credit is due, Ocellus didn't give in."

Ocellus nervously greeted. "Um... h-hi. I... uh... don't feed off of love if that's what you're worried about."

Just then, a shrill cry of joy split the air! "Oh my gosh! What is that?!" A light grayish-pink coated bird/pony hybrid creature with a light blue and light grayish-blue mane and tail, and moderate blue violet eyes flew towards Ocellus, prompting the changeling to transform and hide behind Thorax. "Ooh! I didn't know ponies could turn into... um... What are you?"

"A changeling." Thorax told the creature.

"Wow! I didn't know ponies could turn into changelings, I thought it was the other way around!" The bird/pony hybrid exclaimed! "The name's SIlverstream, Queen Novo's niece! Long story short, I'm a hippogriff who used to be a seapony but now I'm a hippogriff, and... oh my gosh, everything is so new and exciting! Are those stairs?!"

A creature similar to Silverstream came walking forward, except he was taller and had a pale, light grayish-indigo coat, a light and pale opal mane and tail, and light aquamarine eyes. "Silverstream, behave yourself! Your Aunt Novo wants you to be on your best behavior!" Then he put a paw up to his chest. "I am General Seaspray of Her Majesty Queen Novo's navy. And as you've just heard, that is Silverstream, the queen's niece. She has never left the confines of her coral reef home before and is quite curious to learn how the surface world works. Please do your best to ensure she stays out of trouble," He glanced at Silverstream. "Not that you ever get into trouble, Silverstream."

"Who me?! Nah, you've got it all wrong! My brother's the troublemaker." Silverstream insisted as she waved a paw.

Twilight simply smiled, watching all the students come forward. "Well I can assure you, they'll be all provided for here and we'll do our best to teach them," To the leaders she suggested. "I hope you'll all join us for Friends and Family Day to see the amazing progress your students are making. Looks like school's in session!"

A month and a half passed, but not at all quickly for the students. While Twilight and her friends tried to find a good middle ground between following the EEA's guidelines and doing their own thing, more often they found that friendship and its values weren't really something that could be taught in a traditional classroom setting. And when the teachers couldn't be bothered to get invested in what they were teaching, the students were all but falling asleep.

It didn't take long for complaints to start seeping out, and the five foreign students (who had more or less started bonding over their mutual distaste for the classes) did so in a way that was going to guarantee they'd be overheard. And not by someone they would've expected to ever run into.

Silverstream was the first one to speak out. "Is this some kind of punishment because I spilled squid ink on Aunt Novo's desk one time? This school is so boring!"

"You mean to tell me that these are the same ponies who defeated the Storm King? The heroes of Equestria?" Smolder questioned. "Color me not impressed."

"Given the choice I'd rather be back in Griffonstone, fending for myself on the streets all day. At least then I'd have something to do." Gallus grumbled.

Ocellus nervously commented. "Our teachers are a little bit... different than I expected. I mean, I like to learn, but I don't see how this is supposed to help me 'come out of my shell' as Thorax would say."

Yona loudly complained. "Ugh! Pony school is waste of time, Yona not belong here! Yona should be in traditional yak school! Yak school teach how to braid yak hair! Braiding yak hair is best!" But as soon as she finished speaking she lost her balance and tumbled forward, knocking into Smolder.

Smolder wasn't hurt, but she was annoyed. "Watch it, Yona! Are you always this clumsy?"

"What did dragon say to yak?!" Yona bellowed at the top of her lungs! "Dragon take back what she say about yak this instant!"

"Uh, guys, I don't think we're supposed to be fighting. Our professors wouldn't like it." Gallus nervously commented as he looked all around, afraid of being caught.

But Smolder pressed forward. "So, Yona. Can I ask you something: Is there anything in Yakyakistan that isn't the best?"

"Yes!" Yona shouted loudly, before realizing what she was implying and she quickly tried to correct. "Wait, yak mean no! Er, yak mean... yaks best!"

Smolder laughed. "Really? You got no wings, no claws, and no fire. So tell me, what exactly is it you're proud of again?"

"Whoa, dude, that's not cool," A male voice unfamiliar to the group spoke up. "No need to be harshing on Yona's love for he heritage. What's wrong with being proud of where you come from?"

"Ocellus? Was that you?" Smolder questioned. "Is this another one of your disguises?"

"Uh, I'm over here." Ocellus blushed, revealing that she had not transformed.

The rest of the group, meanwhile, turned to look as an earth pony colt who seemed to be roughly their age appeared before them. He had a pale grayish-yellow coat that looked like sand on the beach, light sea green eyes, a shaggy mane and tail that was a two shaded blueish-green in color, and a cutie mark depicting three turtles.

"You a new student or something? Or have I seen you somewhere before?" Gallus questioned the colt.

The colt blushed as he sheepishly admitted. "I've been here since day one. My name is Sandbar, this is actually the first time I've been to any kind of school."

Everyone else blinked in surprise as Yona commented. "But Sandbar pony, why Sandbar not go to pony schools before?"

Sandbar seemed to nervously massage the back of his neck with a hoof. "I've had a hard time fitting in, it's hard when you don't know anypony. I've mostly just been home schooled, but my parents felt this was the perfect opportunity for me to meet new faces and make some friends," He smiled a tiny bit. "I've been watching you all from afar. I gotta say, you're all quite interesting."

Smolder just frowned. "Well, Sandbar, no one asked you to intervene. Yona and I were just having a little talk. We're both tough creatures."

"Yaks tough, just not nasty. Not like certain other creatures." Yona snarled as she glared at Smolder.

Sandbar stepped forward. "Whoa, whoa, easy! I don't like seeing anyone fight, especially not creatures who are supposed to get along."

"And who says we want to get along?" Smolder snorted. "Maybe dragons and griffons are too tough for friendship? Maybe we're just not friendly enough for your tastes, pony."

The earth pony colt wasn't deterred by Smolder's behavior. "You like to act tough, Smolder, but the truth is you're actually a sweet gal underneath those thick scales. Why do you like to act the way you do? Is it really gonna hurt you to lower your guard?"

"I'm a dragon, it's in my nature to be tough. And since when did you know so much about me?" Smolder protested.

Sandbar grinned. "Like I said, I've been watching you and the others from afar. I think you'd all make good friends if you could learn to not always be so hostile and different to each other," He commented. "I especially think you and Gallus would get along pretty well, Smolder. Same goes for Yona and Silverstream, you're both so much alike. It's almost like looking in a mirror."

"Sandbar really think Yona could be friends with other creatures despite her clumsiness?" Yona questioned.

"They say friendship is one of the most magical things in all of Equestria, so I don't see why not," Sandbar declared with a faint blush. "Now come on, you're all gonna be late for Professor Dash's class. It's gym, the only class in this entire school that isn't boring! I heard we're gonna play buckball today!"

But as Sandbar was leading the other creatures along, they rounded a corner and happened to bump right into Starlight Glimmer. Or at least, it looked like Starlight Glimmer. Her coat color seemed dulled a bit, and her cutie mark appeared to be upside down. "Oh, there you are you..." Starlight paused. "Six?"

"Uh, Counselor Starlight?" Sandbar waved a hoof. "You okay? Did something happen to your cutie mark?"

Starlight nearly jumped back in surprise! "Er... uh, yes. A slight magical mishap, nothing any of you need to worry your little heads over," She spoke in what sounded almost like a condescending, sinister tone of voice. "Now why don't you all come with me?" She gestured a hoof down the hallway.

"Uh, classes are that way." Sandbar corrected as he pointed a hoof in the opposite direction.

Starlight snarled and grit her teeth for a few seconds, then her face slowly morphed into what seemed like a smile. "Yes, I know that. But what you don't know, is that there's a secret short cut that I happen to know about. You don't wanna be tardy for your next classes, do you?"

Ocellus shuddered and her wings bristled. "Guys, I think something's wrong. This doesn't feel right."

But before any of the students had a chance to react, they were suddenly surrounded by a wall of green flames that encircled and ensnared them! Then, who should step forward but Queen Chrysalis herself? "Well done, Starlight Glimmer. It seems I made the right choice cloning you first."

Ocellus let out a gasp! "Chrysalis! I should've known!"

"No! Not the Chrysalis!" Sandbar gulped! "I heard stories about her, but I thought Headmare Twilight and her friends defeated her. Twice no less."

Chrysalis snarled and grit her teeth. "They may have knocked me down, but I'm not out! And you six will play right into my plan to humiliate Twilight, Starlight, and everyone else who dared to humiliate me! You'll make fine prisoners!"

"And you think we'll just go along with you? Because if so you've got another thing coming, Queen Cheeselegs!" Smolder declared as she took a deep breath and unleashed a breath of fire! But although it made Chrysalis jump back, it didn't do anything to stop the green flames that held the six students and prevented them from escaping.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I've wasted enough time here!" Chrysalis firmly insisted. "You six are coming with me whether you like it or not!" She proceeded to make the green flames envelope them, forcing them down through the ground before she sank into as well and disappeared. "Come and get me, Twilight Sparkle! I'm waiting for you!" She thought with a sinister grin.

But Twilight was currently facing her own problems. It was Friends and Family Day, and just as he had promised Chancellor Neighsay had shown up to conduct his inspection for EEA accreditation. His calling card was a magic portal of what appeared to be blue flames. And in the tangelo glow of his magic he held a clipboard and a quill.

Twilight nearly jumped in surprise. "Chancellor Neighsay! You're here! Er... I mean, of course you're here!"

The chancellor nodded. "Indeed I am, princess, as we previously agreed upon. And you seem rather unprepared, not a good first impression," He wrote a few things down on his clipboard. "I couldn't help but notice you were unusually vague about the nature of your school. That doesn't fit with your detail oriented nature. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Who me? What would I have to hide? Everything is being done in accordance with EEA guidelines, I assure you." Twilight insisted with a nervous laugh.

"It had better be for your sake, princess," Neighsay cautioned. "I have no patience for those who waste my time."

Twilight waved a hoof. "Relax, Chancellor, everything is under control. I can't wait to show you around. If you'll kindly follow me," She led Neighsay along on a tour of the school, taking great care not to elaborate on who was attending. But she was surprised when Rainbow Dash suddenly came flying up to her. "Rainbow Dash! Why aren't you in class teaching?"

The brash pegasus spoke up! "Because some of my students are gone!" But when she saw Chancellor Neighsay, she quickly corrected herself. "Er I mean g-gone somewhere else. You know, loyalty lesson. A sort of field trip. And-and I was just going to grab, uh... this pencil! Because they need it. Wherever they are. Which I know, 'cause... I'm the teacher! Nothing to worry about."

"Yes, I see," Twilight nervously replied and turned to Chancellor Neighsay. "Well, Chancellor, we have lots of other classes on other aspects of friendship. So why don't we just-"

But Neighsay, sensing that something was up, simply protested. "By all means, let's follow the professor wherever she may be headed. I'm quite curious about this lesson in loyalty she spoke of."

"Right..." Twilight slowly commented and turned to Rainbow Dash. "Uh, lead the way."

Rainbow gulped (a detail that did not go unnoticed by Neighsay). "Uh... sure... this way, please."

Twilight, meanwhile, opted to explain more about the school to Neighsay. She didn't yet know about the missing students or where they were, but she knew that if one of her friends couldn't find them it was going to look bad in the eyes of Neighsay. "Of course, we want to instill a sense of loyalty towards others. We encourage acts of generosity and kindness, so that students can work together and learn to get along. Laughter and magic are key classes as well, a good learning environment needs to educate the students and make sure they enjoy their time here. And of course, we strive to teach them that it's important to be honest in any situation."

Neighsay looked up from his clipboard. "Yes, honesty is one of the most important virtues. So tell me, princess, are we going in circles? It feels like we are."

"Oh, would you look at the time?" Twilight quickly answered, avoiding the chancellor's question. "Let's just head out to the lake for Friends and Family Day. I'm sure all the students and faculty will be there."

But when Twilight arrived at the lake, she found all the leaders of Equestria's allies yelling and shouting all at once at her friends. Even Sandbar's parents did not look happy. And soon Twilight knew why. "Our student is gone!" They all said at once!

"What?!" Twilight gasped in horror.

"It's true," Starlight glumly confessed to Twilight. "I've looked all over the school and I can't find a trace of them anywhere. Those six students have vanished."

Twilight's eyes grew wide! "But, how?! How could that happen?! Who could've done such a thing?!"

Meanwhile, Neighsay's eyes fell upon the leaders of the other nations, and he was anything but pleased! "What is the meaning of this?!" He bellow at the top of his lungs. "What are you all doing here?! I thought school was for ponies only, as it should be!"

The young alicorn rushed up to the chancellor, hoping to calm him down. "I invited them, Chancellor Neighsay. My school never was just for ponies. A school of friendship should be open to everyone and anyone, not just those who share our thoughts."

"You lied to me!" Neighsay accusingly gestured a hoof.

Twilight stomped her hoof down and glared into Neighsay's eyes! "You're right, I did! Because I knew you would never sign off on the school if you knew from the start what it involved! I couldn't let you ruin my dream, my chance to make a lasting contribution to Equestria!"

"And yet you've invited these dangerous creatures here, to our very doorstep!" Neighsay snorted as steam billowed out of his nostrils.

"Dangerous?! Do you even hear yourself, Chancellor?!" Twilight questioned. "Have you forgotten all they did for us?! The hippogriffs came to our aid when the Storm King attacked, the yaks and the griffons are some of our best trading partners, and the dragons and the changelings have given us valuable information we never could've achieved on our own."

Neighsay wasn't convinced. "Yet it was the changelings who attacked us not once but twice! The yaks and dragons have threatened to go to war with us in the past! Even the griffons and the hippogriffs never lifted a paw to help us until we begged and pleaded for them to do so! You claim your school teaches friendship, so answer this, princess: How do you know that these creatures won't take what they have learned here and use it against us?"

"Because that's not how friendship works!" Twilight protested to the chancellor. "Friendship isn't just for ponies!"

Neighsay simply snorted. "It should be. If it were up to me, it most definitely would. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are fools to trust these nations, because I certainly don't."

The stallion's comments were, needless to say, not received well by the leaders. Prince Rutherford was the first to voice his displeasure. "Unicorn think yaks no need friendship? Well maybe yaks no need pony school! Maybe Yona better off without pony school, when ponies find her!"

"Then perhaps maybe you should return to your kind." Neighsay insisted as he pushed Prince Rutherford away.

Ember's eyes narrowed. "'Your kind'?! That's it, I'm officially pulling Smolder out of this school when you've found her! She's better off at home, at least the other dragons wouldn't tell her she doesn't belong here."

Grandpa Gruff walked away next. "Well this place seemed lame anyway. When you find Gallus, make sure to tell him he's to come right home to Griffonstone. No ifs, ands, or buts."

"Mark my words, ponies, Queen Novo will hear about this!" General Seaspray angrily cautioned. "And she'll be anything but pleased. We entrusted you with ensuring her niece's well being, but it seems you have again betrayed our trust."

Thorax was the last to depart. He said very little, but his look of shame and sorrow spoke volumes. "It's okay, it was probably asking too much for everyone to accept the changelings so soon," He sighed. "I hope you find Ocellus. But I think she's going to come home with me, that way I can make sure she's safe."

Twilight immediately spun around to face Neighsay when all the leaders had left (Sandbar's parents didn't speak a word, but it was clear from the looks on their faces that they were not pleased). "Princess Celestia helped me reach out to all of those kingdoms, Neighsay. And now you and your big mouth have ruined years of carefully crafted diplomacy. She won't be pleased."

"I simply stated what many ponies besides myself believe," Neighsay declared. "If Princess Celestia has a problem with that, she can take it up with me. The same goes for any other princess. I didn't get to where I was because I played nice and bent to the will of princesses," Then he added. "Besides, even if we put aside who was attending your school, the school itself was a disaster! I've seen some sorry excuses for public education in my time, but yours takes the cake!"

"Neighsay, I think you're being a little too harsh." Twilight pleaded.

Neighsay was not persuaded for even a second. "Am I? It occurs to me that even though you did talk with Cheerilee, you made little effort to consult with her after constructing this school, and the same goes for Princess Celestia. Your friends are not qualified in the least to be teachers, despite the experience you think they have. Even your former student is ill fitted to serve as a vice headmare, let alone a guidance counselor. And not only did six of your students vanish, one of whom happens to be a pony, but you did not know about this. Nothing is more important in the world of academia than ensuring the safety and well being of the students, which includes knowing where they are at all times!"

"But Neighsay-" Twilight protested.

The chancellor shook his head. "I've seen enough, princess. Not only will your school not receive EEA accreditation, it will not be allowed to continue to operate," He lit up his horn after touching a brouche on his robe. A series of magic, blue colored chains enveloped the school, with a magic padlock appearing on the front doors. "By the power invested in me as head of the EEA, I, Chancellor Neighsay, am shutting this school down!" He stomped his hoof down as he finished that sentence.

All Twilight could do was gasp and whimper, her dream had been shattered before her very eyes. And all she could think was. "Where did I go wrong?"

Author's Note

Now we're into the Season 8 rewrites, and coincidentally four of them involve the season premiere and season finale.

"School Daze" is definitely a hard to defend premiere in light of all the missteps of Season 8. Many people still say the school was a terrible concept that never should've been implemented. And the student/young six are lackluster replacements for the mane six/seven/eight that we've come to focus on.

Admittedly, this two parter did seem like it was addressing (or trying to address) a lot of complaints people had about the concept going into it. But there are still problems with it beyond what it leads into. The biggest of them is Twilight glossing over her friends concerns and insisting they do things by the book, even after she's told that this isn't working. While it's a nice change up from the usual two parter formula of Twilight freaking out or becoming obsessed, it doesn't paint her character in the best light.

The student six's introductions are alright, but Sandbar is just thrown in without any establishment before hand and it would take until "The Hearth's Warming Club" to even reveal where he lived or that he had a family. And even then we still never learned why he's attending the school.

I decided to introduce Sandbar later on, and implement the very first thing of Season 8 that was shown to fans: Queen Chrysalis in disguise. I'll explain more in part two, but I have a sneaking suspicion that her return in Season 8 was originally meant to be in the season premiere, before the school was ever dreamed of (of course it's all just speculation, I have no sources to confirm or deny this).

S8 E2: School Daze, Part 2 (What If?)

The last time we left Twilight Sparkle and her friends, they were facing a dilemma that was unlike anything they had ever encountered before. And it had all sprung up from a development that occurred after the Festival of Friendship.

"This happened while we were gone?!" Applejack had exclaimed upon seeing the table map in the throne room had expanded to include locations outside of Equestria.

That prompted Twilight to make an unusual suggestion. "It would be foolish to try and go all over Equestria and beyond to solve every friendship problem that comes our way. What if there was a way we could bring the friendship to the problems and fix them before they start? We could open our very own School of Friendship, right here in Ponyville!" And her friends had all agreed.

Unfortunately, getting the school up and running was a challenge. Twilight had to impress the EEA, headed by Chancellor Neighsay. "I am Chancellor Neighsay, head of the EEA. Equestria owes you and your friends a great debt of thanks for your many acts of heroism and bravery." The chancellor had introduced himself.

Twilight was able to get the chancellor to approve of the school's construction, even though she didn't tell him that the school would be open to creatures besides ponies.

However, Twilight and her friends were not the only ones with plans for the school. Queen Chrysalis, posing as Photo Finish, had slipped in and stolen mane hairs from each of the seven mares. "I will have my revenge! And I'll make Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, and all their friends rue the day they ever crossed my path!" To that end, she created a clone of Starlight Glimmer to trap six students.

Those six students included Smolder the dragon, Gallus the griffon, Silverstream the hippogriff, Yona the yak, Ocellus the changeling, and an earth pony colt named Sandbar. "I think you'd all make good friends if you could learn to not always be so hostile and different to each other. They say friendship is one of the most magical things in all of Equestria." Sandbar had suggested, before Chrysalis sprang her trap.

"Come and get me, Twilight Sparkle! I'm waiting for you!" Chrysalis had thought to herself as she vanished alongside the students, intending to hold them as prisoners.

Meanwhile, an unaware Twilight Sparkle was facing her own problems dealing with Chancellor Neighsay. Who was anything but pleased to find out the true nature of the school. "You lied to me!" He'd bellowed at the top of his lungs, and then proceeded to insult the leaders of Equestria's allies.

When Twilight had pressed him on this, Neighsay simply retorted. "I simply stated what many ponies besides myself believe. Besides, even if we put aside who was attending your school, the school itself was a disaster!" And he listed several griveances, ending with calling her out on the missing students. "Nothing is more important in the world of academia than ensuring the safety and well being of the students, which includes knowing where they are at all times!"

"But Neighsay-" Twilight had pleaded.

Alas it was all in vain. Neighsay used his magic to surround the school with magical chains and a lock. "By the power invested in me as head of the EEA, I, Chancellor Neighsay, am shutting this school down!" And just like that, Twilight's dream had been crushed. And she had no idea what she could do to change Neighsay's mind.

It all felt like a bad dream to Twilight. A school of friendship that she had worked so hard to make a reality was now in chains, everyone bared from entering. Empty spots where the leaders of Equestria's allies had stood only moments prior highlighted the grave concern for the missing students, and the international turmoil that would erupt if they were not found.

Twilight's friends all huddled around her for support, many of them casting harsh glares at Chancellor Neighsay who remained unrepentant even in the face of so much hostility.

In fact, the lanky stallion simply snorted as he coldly remarked. "Well, princess, I wish I could say it's been an honor. But we both know better than that. Despite all you've done for Equestria, it seems you still have much to learn. And your leadership skills still pale in comparison to your fellow alicorns, who are much older and much wiser."

"Neighsay, this isn't about me! This is about the well being of Equestria!" Twilight retorted as she felt something boil over inside her. "Your thoughtless actions and words have put us all in danger!"

Neighsay only snapped back. "You already put the lives of six students in danger! How can you be trusted to run a school if your students could just up and disappear?! This is for the greater good of all."

"More like the greater good for you," Starlight protested with a glare. "What's your problem with the other nations anyway? What did they ever do to you?"

The chancellor only shook his head. "Don't try to change the subject, Miss. Glimmer. I already told you my reasons, they don't deserve to be our allies after the way they've treated us. Let them clean up their own messes instead of dragging us into conflicts we aren't prepared to deal with."

"But you don't see?" Spike pleaded with Neighsay. "That's exactly what this school was aimed at doing. The whole point of it was to inspire the other nations, cement our new alliances and encourage them to open up and make friends."

"Yet it was not my decision to bring them here when their safety could not be guaranteed. Now was it?" Neighsay corrected.

Twilight simply sighed. "Look, Chancellor, I get it. I messed up. You have every right to be mad with me for the things I said and did, regardless of whether they were right or wrong," Then she stood up as a fiery determination was reflected in her eyes. "But you owe it to me and to Equestria to give me another chance. Those students are still out there, and right now every moment we spend arguing is a moment we could spend trying to find them. Allow my friends and I to search for the missing students and bring them to safety."

Neighsay appeared skeptical of the proposal if his arched eyebrow was any indication. "Are you simply trying to trick me again, princess? I won't be fooled so easily a second time. Unlike you, I don't make mistakes."

"Wow, and I thought Cranky was a grouch. You really take the cake, Neighsay," Pinkie stuck out her tongue. "You and your rules are the whole reason this school wasn't working. We tried to do things your way, and the students hated every minute of it!"

"The EEA rules exist for a reason, Miss. Pie. And I would advise you to watch how you talk to me!" Neighsay snapped back, before turning his attention to Twilight. "You do make a good point about the students. Their safety should be a top priority, regardless of what kind of school you're running."

"So that's it, you'll give me a chance to fix the school?" Twilight hopefully pleaded.

The chancellor shook his head. "Not on your life, Princess Twilight! Your school is still a disaster and always will be as far as I'm concerned!" Then he paused, before he added. "But regardless of how I may feel about those... creatures it certainly won't look good if they were to remain missing, or worse. You and your friends may have time to look for those six students," Lighting up his horn, Neighsay brought forth a magical hourglass similar to the chains and the lock. "I will give you twenty four hours to locate the missing students. No more, no less. If time passes and they are not back here safe and sound, you'll leave me no choice but to go directly to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and have them call out the royal guard."

"Don't worry, Neighsay. That won't be necessary. We'll find those students, you can be sure of that!" Twilight declared. "My friends and I haven't met a problem yet that we couldn't solve."

"Then let's hope this is not the first such 'unsolveable problem' for your sakes," Neighsay cautioned. "But don't get any ideas. If you find the students, you are to return them to their leaders. It is for the greater good that they remain with their kind."

Applejack protested. "Uh, don't forget that one of them's a pony."

Neighsay replied. "You need not worry too much about him. He is free to return to his family and attend any EEA school of his choosing. He is still a child, in time he will understand why the other creatures had to be sent away," Then he conjured up a portal with the tangelo glow of his magic. "I'll return to Canterlot to make my official report to the EEA. See that you make the most of the time I've given you. And don't make me question my decision." He subsequently walked through the portal and disappeared.

Fluttershy was the first one to speak up after the chancellor had left. "No wonder he's called Neighsay. How could a pony like him ever become head of the EEA?"

"Who cares? We've got more important things to worry about!" Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Like how the hay we're supposed to find our missing students when we don't even know where they went!"

Miles and miles away from the school, Chrysalis held the six students within cocoons. It didn't take long for her to notice that one of them was a changeling, and she knew who that changeling was. "Ah, Ocellus. I didn't know Thorax had taken you under his wing," She commented with a fiendish cackle. "How fun, I can add him to the list of creatures I'm going to get my revenge on!"

Ocellus pounded on her cocoon. "Leave Thorax out of this! The only thing he did was get me away from you, free me from your control!"

"Only after he and that goody two-horseshoes Starlight Glimmer turned the hive against me!" The disgruntled former queen hissed. "But now, the foolish Princess Twilight Sparkle has given me the means by which I can have my revenge! I'll turn her own strength against her!"

"H-how are you gonna do that?" Sandbar gulped. "I don't think Headmare Twilight even knows you took us yet."

Chrysalis just grinned. "But she will in time. And her friends will surely come rushing to her aid, including that meddlesome Starlight Glimmer. And when they do, they'll play right into my hooves!"

Smolder rolled her eyes. "Big deal, Queen Cheeselegs. You don't scare me. I could totally take you! In fact, watch!" She took a deep breath and tried to burn her cocoon, but it didn't work.

"Those cocoons are indestructible," Chrysalis taunted in reply. "You really think I'd bother to take you all prisoner, just so you could escape? This time, I'll ensure I account for every potential threat!"

"And you think just holding us captive is gonna solve anything?" Gallus remarked as he too rolled his eyes. "Some of us have leaders who wouldn't take kindly to finding out we'd been kidnapped."

Yona eagerly declared. "Chrysalis wait until Prince Rutherford and yaks find out Yona missing! Yaks destroy anyone that threaten other yaks! Chrysalis not stand a chance!"

Chrysalis only snapped back. "Let them all come! Let them try to stop me!" She floated over the strands of hair she'd picked up from each of Twilight's friends (and Twilight herself). "I'll have an army at my disposal! And soon all will bow before me!"

Silverstream was the last one to speak up as she nervously questioned. "What are you gonna do with those hairs?"

"As if I'd tell the likes of you!" Chrysalis coldly hissed. "Though if you're really so curious to know, I suppose there's no harm in showing you. You won't be escaping to warn anyone anyways." She then walked away from the cocoons and over to some nearby trees, all lined with photos of the ponies whose hair strands she matched. Then she lit up her horn, casting its sickly green glow as it surrounded all the nearby trees. The six students watched with horror as one by one, duplicates of Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, and finally Twilight Sparkle all took shape.

The duplicates did have a couple of details that did not match the ponies they were supposed to look like. Their coat colors were dulled a bit, some of their cutie marks were wrongly colored or upside down, and most noticeably their personalities were nowhere close to the ponies they were supposed to represent. "Ugh, why did we have to be created? This is so boring." The imposter Pinkie Pie complained.

The imposter Fluttershy just looked around as she grumbled. "There's nature everywhere... and I hate it! Everything's so nice and peaceful." She stuck out her tongue, pretending to gag.

"Ooh, so many valuable objects!" The imposter Rarity exclaimed, rushing all about. "It's mine! All mine!"

"Gosh, it sure has been a long time since we came into existence." The imposter Applejack lied.

"I'm just glad to be free again!" The imposter Starlight Glimmer declared and ominously warned. "The next creature who does anything to me is getting trapped in crystal!"

The imposter Rainbow Dash simply flapped her wings. "I don't care about the rest of you losers. I'm getting out of this dump."

But the imposter Twilight moved to pull the imposter Rainbow Dash close. "You're not getting away, fool!" She turned to Chrysalis with an evil gleam in her eyes. "Why have you created us, your majesty?" She delivered the last line with a noticeably sinister undertone. The venom in it was clearly registered.

"One of the downsides to mass cloning, some details have to be sacrificed to ensure success," Chrysalis thought to herself. "Although if I'm being honest, the Starlight clone is a marked improvement over the original counterpart." But she didn't bother to say such things out loud. Instead, she cleared her throat. "Listen, you seven. I created you for one purpose and one purpose only: To destroy Twilight Sparkle and her friends, forever!"

"Then do it yourself, this is so boring!" The fake Pinkie Pie complained.

Chrysalis shook her head. "I've tried twice to do so, and twice they have bested me. I believe it's because they stick together somehow. That's where you seven come in. I want you to infiltrate their circle of friends, discover the source of their power, and take possession of it so that I too might wield it."

"Not a problem! I'll do it myself!" The fake Rainbow Dash insisted.

But the fake Twilight protested. "No, her majesty wants us to work together. If the ponies we're clones of could defeat her, they could easily defeat us if we take them on one at a time."

The fake Starlight added. "Yeah, we need to be super sneaky about it. We'll replace them one by one until one of them tells us how to defeat them. And that's when we'll pounce!"

"Ooh, an ambush! Now that sounds positively fiendish!" The fake Fluttershy said with an evil grin. "Count me in!" And the other clones nodded in agreement one by one.

Chrysalis smirked, rubbing her hooves together with glee. "Excellent! Now go, my clones! Failure is not an option, and any who come back without results will answer to me! And don't forget that I brought you all into this world, I could easily destroy you all and start again! So don't make me have to do so."

The fake Twilight bowed her head. "Not to worry, your majesty. We won't let you down. You can depend on that." But in her mind she was thinking. "You may have created us, but I for one don't intend to keep taking orders from you. Once I discover what makes those ponies so powerful, I'll use it against you!"

Back at the still shuddered School of Friendship, Twilight and her friends began their search. Unfortunately, they had no real leads to go on.

That wouldn't be the case for long though, as suddenly a rather exhausted looking Photo Finish came running up. "Ach, Princess Twilight Sparkle. My zincerest apologies for ze delay."

"What delay? There's not going to be a yearbook, Chancellor Neighsay closed the school." Twilight glumly remarked.

Photo Finish seemed alarmed and surprised by this. "Vat?! Vat yearbook?! I do not recall accepting zuch an offer!"

Starlight blinked as she turned to the photographer. "Uh, you came by when we opened this school? Said you'd come back for the yearbook during Friends and Family Day celebrations. And you insisted on getting a strand of mane hair from everypony."

"Not to mention the fact that you were being rather pushy," Rarity commented. "Almost as if you couldn't stand to be in the same room as us."

Photo Finish shook her head. "Zat vas not me. Ze Canterlot Historical Society, zheir photographer she called in zick with ze flu. I had to fill in for her before zey could send me here to Ponyville," And she declared. "But now I am here, I vish to create 'Da Magics'!"

But Twilight seemed to be deep in thought. "Wait a minute, something's not right with this picture," She turned to Photo Finish. "Pardon the joke."

Photo Finish simply shrugged her shoulders while setting up her photography equipment.

Twilight took the time to think more, pacing about. "Two Photo Finishes, the first one was acting odd. The second doesn't remember anything about a yearbook. The first shows up just before the students go missing, the other arrives just after the school's been shut down."

"What are you thinking, Twilight?" Spike questioned as he reached out a claw toward her.

Suddenly, a look of realization flashed in Twilight's eyes as she let out a gasp! "Of course! Why didn't I think of it sooner?! There's only one creature that cause all of this: Chrysalis!"

Twilight's friends all gasped! "Chrysalis?!"

"But I thought she was driven away from her hive in shame!" Fluttershy exclaimed with fright.

Applejack just groaned, kicking at the dirt. "Yeah, but she still got away. Should've figured she'd rear her ugly head again at some point."

Rainbow simply waved a hoof. "No big deal! We've beaten her before, and we can do it again!"

The young alicorn shook her head at the notion. "Chrysalis has to be behind the students' disappearance. We'll need to rescue them before we do anything else."

"But what if the students manage to escape while we're out looking for them and come back here?" Fluttershy nervously inquired. "They don't know the school's closed."

Spike immediately rose to his feet and declared. "Leave it to me! Besides, I know how to contact some ponies who might wanna know what the not so friendly chancellor's been up to. It's better than having a bunch of angry leaders come storming in to confront them."

"Good idea, Spike. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will know how to handle Neighsay." Twilight nodded her head.

"Which means the rest of us can focus on teaching that no good ex-queen a lesson!" Rainbow vowed as she pounded a hoof. But then she hovered close to Twilight and asked. "Uh, how are we gonna do that, exactly?"

"In a situation like this it's best not to take any chances. I know it's been a while since we've used them, but I think we're going to need the Elements of Harmony again." Twilight suggested.

Pinkie Pie leaped up and shouted. "Woohoo! Another world saving adventure! Now this is more like it!"

Meanwhile, Starlight nervously backed away. "Uh... I think I'll just... stay here with Spike. You know, since I can't use the Elements of Harmony."

"That didn't stop you with the Pony of Shadows. And we never would've freed Stygian without your help," Twilight reassured her former student. "We're all responsible for ensuring the safety of our students. And since you played a big role in defeating Chrysalis last time, you're exactly the kind of pony whose help we may need the most."

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess I really can't say no," Starlight commented. "Alright, I guess I'll tag along. Just give me a minute to get ready. This time I want to be prepared." She trotted away to the nearby castle to pack.

Unknown to the mares (and dragon) the evil clones Chrysalis had made of them lurked nearby, hiding in the bushes. "Now's our chance!" The fake Twilight grinned and shoved the fake Starlight forward.

The fake Starlight trotted up to Twilight and the others, who didn't seem to be any the wiser (though they did take notice of Starlight's changed appearance). "I'm here, let's go!" She declared in a rather impatient tone of voice.

"Wow! Already?! You're an awfully fast packer." Rainbow Dash commented in amazement.

The fake Starlight just grinned. "Well, my time is short. Er... I mean our time is short. Now come on! I know a shortcut!"

Applejack eyed the fake Starlight skeptically, her eyes gazing deep into the clone's. "Really? First time I've ever heard ya mention it."

The fake Starlight struggled to keep from breaking out into a nervous sweat. She knew the pony she was based on would come back at any minute. And if that happened she'd be exposed and likely destroyed. "W-well... it's a... shortcut I just found not too long ago. But we need to hurry if we're gonna take it and rescue the missing students!"

The imposter's argument was able to convince the others, particularly Twilight. "She makes a good point. It can't hurt to try this shortcut, we've already wasted a good deal of time." She gestured a hoof to the magic hourglass, a few strands of sand had already moved from the top half to the bottom half.

Reluctantly, the rest followed. But Applejack could be heard whispering to herself. "Somethin' ain't right about Starlight. She ain't actin' like herself."

Miles and miles away, Chrysalis had left with her clones to await any information about the weaknesses of her sworn and hated enemies.

As a result she had left the six cocoons with the captive students unattended, convinced that there was no way they could escape. She'd made the cocoons from the finest materials known to a changeling on the run, and if her cocoons could hold even alicorn princesses then what chance did considerably less powerful creatures have of breaking free?

Well, Smolder didn't know about those details. And if she had she wouldn't have cared. She continued to breath fire as best she could in her confined prison. But the best she could mention was a puff of smoke and several coughs.

"Give it up, Smolder. You'll never break the cocoon like that," Ocellus unhappily replied. "Face it, we're stuck here. Probably forever."

"What?! No, no, no! I can't be stuck here! There's so much I still want to see, so much I want to do!" Silverstream protested as she wiggled about in her cocoon.

And Gallus was shaking about. "Will you cut it out?! I can't stand small spaces, and your comments aren't helping!"

Sandbar, meanwhile, was just commenting. "Come on, guys. There's no need to worry. I'm sure Headmare Twilight and her friends will find us and rescue us soon."

"Yeah, and then what? We'll just all go back to our leaders, probably. There's no way I'm going back to that boring old school, and Ember can't make me!" Smolder protested. "The only thing I hate more than it, is being trapped in this stupid cocoon with no way out!"

Yona complained. "Cocoon too small, Yona can't move. Otherwise Yona could probably break free. Why this have to happen to Yona? Yona just want to tell others about Yakyakistan, share what make Yakyakistan great."

Ocellus simply hung her head, unable to even look at the other creatures. "At least you'll all come out of this with your reputations intact. Now I'm gonna have nightmares, and everyone's going to say that changelings can't be trusted. It took so long for Thorax to convince the other nations otherwise, and Chrysalis had to come along and ruin it."

"Hey, I don't have anything against you or any other changeling, Ocellus!" Smolder glared. "Right now the only changeling I don't like is that annoying Chrysalis. Her voice is so annoying, she never shuts up, and it looks like she has more holes in her than there are craters in the dragon lands. And if I could find a way out of here, I'd catch up to her and give her a piece of my mind!"

It was then that Sandbar suggested. "You know, maybe since Ocellus is a changeling herself, she could tell us how to get out of these cocoons?"

Ocellus nervously answered. "Well, I don't know if it'll work. But maybe if you use your sharp claws, Smolder, you could make an opening and crawl out."

The orange scaled dragon took Ocellus' advice. It took some effort, but eventually Smolder was able to free herself. "Ew!" She gagged, observing the slime that clung to her scales.

"Don't worry, it's easy to remove," Ocellus insisted to the dragon. "Now come on, you need to get the rest of us out."

"Maybe she doesn't want to," Gallus remarked in a noticeably unhappy tone. "Anyone else in this situation would get the heck out of here while they still could."

But Smolder instead set to work on freeing Gallus. "I'm not that kind of dragon, feathers for brains. You're gonna help me free the others."

"Yeah!" Sandbar eagerly declared. "We've gotta get back to our professors and warn them! They'll be charging right into a trap!"

Sandbar was right. The fake Starlight led the ponies she was supposed to be friends with on a long and winding path through the Everfree Forest. She didn't actually know where the Elements of Harmony were located.

"Starlight, is this some kind of joke?! If it is, it's not funny!" Twilight protested while panting. "Our students' lives could be in danger!"

"Trust me, I know where I'm going! This is a shortcut!" The fake Starlight insisted while looking around at the bushes, as if expecting something to emerge from it at any moment.

Rarity shook her head. "Darling, do you think we're so easily fooled? You've been acting just as weird as that fake Photo Finish. And is it a trick of the light, or have you done something with your cutie mark?"

Applejack stomped her hoof down. "I keep tellin' ya, somethin' ain't right with this girl. This ain't the Starlight we know!"

"I knew that too, Applejack," Twilight declared as she stopped in her tracks. "I didn't want to say anything at the school because I didn't want to alarm Spike and Photo Finish," She glared at the fake Starlight. "But nomore! You've been leading us on a wild goose chase! Who are you, and what have you done with the real Starlight?!"

At that very moment, an exhausted looking Starlight with a very frazzled mane and tail came panting up. "Twilight! Thank goodness! Spike told me you'd already gone ahead with a fake me!" She declared, before pausing to catch her breath.

The fake Starlight stepped back in horror when she saw the real Starlight! "You! You weren't supposed to follow me!" Then she snarled before turning to the bushes. "Oh well, now's as good a time as any for this," She gave a whistle. "Okay girls, let 'em have it!"

Suddenly, amidst a rustling of bushes came a series of screams and battle cries! The evil copies of Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack all emerged from hiding. The evil Starlight laughed wickedly. "That's right, you fools. I've got back-up! Now I know the source of your power!"

"Very well done, you played your part well," The fake Twilight said to the fake Starlight. Then an evil grin formed on her face as she added. "But I'm afraid your services are no longer required. After all, only six of us can actually wield those elements." Lighting up her horn, she directed a blast at magic at the fake Starlight.

The fake Starlight screamed! But before she could say anything in protest, she was turned into a pile of wood with Starlight's grayish-purple coat color and purple and white star with a gleaming stream of two-toned blue printed on it! The real Starlight and her friends were horrified!

The fake Twilight just laughed and brushed aside the display, blowing the smoke from her horn. "You six think you're so clever. But you're weak! This time, your friendship will be your demise!"

"Don't count on it, evil me!" Twilight declared. "If you're working for Chrysalis, my friends and I will show you no mercy!"

"Good," The evil Fluttershy remarked with narrowed eyes. "Because we won't either." And then the six clones and the seven real mares charged forward, each preparing to face off against the opposition.

Smolder and Gallus worked hard and fast, eventually managing to free all of the other entrapped students. Ocellus then showed them all the fastest way to remove the left over goo that clung to them.

"Okay, so we're free of those cocoons and that angry bug lady isn't here. Now what are we supposed to do?" Gallus questioned.

"We gotta find a way back to our professors of course!" Sandbar declared. "If only we knew where we were."

"Actually, I think I might have an idea," Ocellus commented. "I kind of paid attention during Headmare Twilight's class of pre-Equestrian friendships. If I'm right, we're somewhere within the heart of the Everfree Forest."

"Forest?" Yona gulped. "That mean spiders and other insects?"

Ocellus nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think we'll run into any dangerous creatures like that. It's not star spider season."

"Okay, but just how do we get out of here?" Smolder inquired of Ocellus. "In case you haven't noticed, we don't have a map!"

But Sandbar put a hoof to his ear. Closing his eyes, he tried to concentrate on what he was hearing. At last he declared to the others. "Actually, I think I have an idea of where we are. My parents used to take me camping out to the Everfree Forest, and they had a special place they'd love to go to. It was right by a stream that runs close to the Castle of the Two Sisters."

"That leads to the Tree of Harmony!" Ocellus realized with a gasp! "We could get there before the clones and stop them!"

"Ooh, that would be totally great!" Silverstream cheered in delight. "Just point me in the direction of that stream, Sandbar!"

Sandbar happily nodded. "Okay, just stay close to me. I can hear the stream from here." The colt proceeded to lead his friends through the forest, past thick, tall trees that all but blocked out the sunlight despite it being day.

Eventually, the rag tag group of self-liberated students pushed past some stray branches, and they came to a small clearing. Just as Sandbar had said, there was indeed a small stream.

Even so, the mere presence of it excited Silverstream and made Yona nervous. In contrast to her usual self-confident persona, she now seemed to shrink and step back. "Yak not like water. Yona can't swim."

"Don't worry, Yona, it's not that deep. You can practically wade through it," Sandbar insisted as he stepped into the stream to prove his point. "See? You'd barely even get your hooves wet."

Yona wasn't convinced. "Yona not want yak fur to get wet. Other creatures go on, leave Yona behind."

But Sandbar protested as he stepped out of the stream. "Yona, we're not gonna leave you behind. We're not leaving any creature behind," He sighed. "We'll just have to build a raft and ride it down the stream."

"Ooh, better yet!" Silverstream declared, clutching the necklace that hung around her neck and flying over the water. In a flash of light she transformed, her claws and wings being replaced with fins. "I can totally power that raft! Now I have a chance to show off my seapony side."

"You're a seapony? I thought you were a hippogriff." Gallus questioned.

Silverstream giggled. "I'm both you big silly goose," She gestured a fin to her necklace. "This is a fragment of the Pearl of Transformation. It was split up among our kingdoms when the Storm King was defeated."

"Wait? Kingdoms? I thought all the hippogriffs went home to Mount Aris," Sandbar pondered. "At least, I think that's what Headmare Twilight said. Probably should've been paying more attention to her class."

The seapony just giggled again. "It's okay, I get that a lot. Long story short, not every seapony chose to turn back into a hippogriff and go back to Mount Aris. Some, like my mom, decided they liked being seaponies and they decided to stay in Seaquestria. So we split up the Pearl of Transformation necklace and Seaquestria is ruled as a joint kingdom with Mount Aris, though my mom usually leads Seaquestria if Aunt Novo's not around."

Smolder snorted. "Well that's... very fascinating, Silverstream. But we need to focus on building a raft."

"Oh, that's easy! All you need is some logs and some vines to hold them all together." Sandbar declared.

As if on cue, Yona stomped about and brought down some trees. "Yak love to smash things!"

Gallus sighed. "I guess I'll get some vines. Am I the only one who thinks we should just stay here until everyone gives up looking for us? Seems like we're having more fun here than we ever did in school."

"You know, he makes a good point. I never thought I'd say this, but hanging out with other creatures is actually... not bad." Smolder commented.

"Our professors might be in danger because they went out to look for us!" Ocellus protested. "We owe it to them to warn them. They'd do the same for us. Now hurry up with those vines, it'll be night soon!"

The struggles between the six clones and the seven mares raged on, the six clones alternating between attempted attacks and retreating deeper into the Everfree Forest.

Even with the aid of Starlight, it was still a tough battle. The evil clones may not have had the same personality as the originals, but when it came to skills and abilities they were able to match the originals almost perfectly.

The passage of time became almost an afterthought as the clash continued.

Eventually though, the six mares found themselves nearing the site of the Tree of Harmony, the resting place of the Elements of Harmony. And the last gleams of twilight were giving way to the rising moon as the stars came out.

The clones reached the same location at about the same time. A fact that did not go unnoticed by the evil Twilight. "Excellent," She whispered to herself. "Now you just need those other five imbeciles, and your plan will be a success."

"Uh, what was that about 'your plan'?" The evil Applejack questioned.

The evil Twilight seemed to hesitate before she answered. "I mean 'The plan'. You know, the bidding of 'her majesty'."

"Oh, okay." The evil Applejack replied.

The evil Pinkie Pie simply complained. "Do we have to keep her in the dark? I'm so bored of pretending."

The evil Twilight just grinned. "Don't worry, soon we'll have everything we need. Once the elements are under our control, not even 'her majesty' can tell us what to do."

"You'll never get to the Elements of Harmony! This is as far as you go!" Twilight declared, swooping down in front of the clones.

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie added as she and the rest of the mares surrounded the clones. "The party's over, you meanie pants!"

Applejack declared. "You made a mistake tryin' to outsmart us."

But at that moment the sound of an approaching raft caught everyone's attention. All turned to look, and saw that the students who were supposed to be missing were on it. Silverstream (as a seapony) and Ocellus (having transformed into a sea creature) were pulling it, and Sandbar, Yona, and even Gallus and Smolder were on it (the latter two resting their wings).

"Headmare Twilight! It's a trap! Chrysalis wants the Elements of Harmony!" Sandbar warned as he and the other students departed the raft (as it drifted ashore), and then Ocellus and Silverstream transformed and left the raft behind to join their friends.

Seeing an opportunity for a distraction, the evil Fluttershy just grinned before she gave a whistle. "You might wanna get to your students soon. Because otherwise, things are gonna get ugly for them."

Just a second later, a few stray hedgehog like creatures in various colors appeared. Sandbar yelped and stepped back just before his hoof would've landed right on one of them! "What is that thing?!" He questioned in fright.

"It's a puckwudgie!" Ocellus realized. When the other students looked at her she added. "Am I the only one who didn't sleep through Professor Fluttershy's 'Critters of Comfort and Conflict' class? Maybe I can make friends with them?" She turned herself into a puckwudgie that had the same pale green coat as her, approached the other puckwudiges, and garbled something.

The puckwudgies growled in response as Ocellus nervously transformed back to normal! "Oops!" She apologized.

"What did you do?! And should we be concerned?!" Gallus questioned the changeling.

"Well I either asked nicely if we could be friends, or said their mothers are ugly beasts," Ocellus explained. "Considering their reaction, I think it's not the first option. And yes, we should definitely be concerned."

"Puckwudgies' quills are sharp enough to pierce metal!" Fluttershy gasped. "We've got to protect those students, their lives are in danger!" She flew over as the puckwudiges prepared to fire off their quills!

"Uh? Guys? Not that I mean to panic, but they're getting closer!" Sandbar shouted in fright as he dove for cover behind a tree.

"Yona not scared, Yona have friends," Yona declared. "Yak fur will stand up to spikes!"

But Fluttershy swooped forward, pulling Yona down as quills rained down around them. "Yona, if those quills touch you you'll barely even notice the pain before it's too late! Even yak fur won't protect you!"

Reluctantly, the rest of the mares all rushed over to protect the students from the puckwudgies. Twilight and Starlight touched horns to generate a magical barrier to keep the puckwudiges and their sharp scales at bay.

"Don't hurt them!" Fluttershy pleaded. "Just ask them to leave nicely."

"No worries, I'll round 'em up!" Rainbow Dash declared. "Pinkie, you get your party cannon ready!" A short time later, all the puckwudgies were deposited into Pinkie's party cannon and launched into the sky. Fortunately, they were given parachutes.

While the seven mares were busy protecting the students, the clones seized their opportunity to approach the Tree of Harmony. The Elements of Harmony were finally within their reach.

However, the evil Rarity was drawn to the shiny nature of the elements. With a cackle she declared. "Ooh, that one there is mine! And that one too! I want them all! I'll add them to my collection!" The Element of Generosity flashed black as a result, but no one paid it any attention.

The evil Fluttershy tripped up the evil Rarity a moment later. "Oops. I'd say sorry, but I'm not!" She sarcastically declared, causing the Element of Kindness to flash black.

And the evil Rainbow Dash just yawned and lay down. "Call me when it's my turn." The Element of Loyalty flashed black.

"Stop it, you fools!" The evil Twilight protested to the others, watching as the evil Pinkie gave up and lay down too, and the evil Applejack just shook the tree over and over again. "You're going to ruin everything! We'll need those elements to take out Queen Chrysalis, she's the only one who stands in our way!"

At that moment, who should come upon the scene but Queen Chrysalis herself?! She'd been observing the behavior of her clone creations from afar, and had suspected something was up. Now she knew what that something was. "Of all the nerve! I created you six! I shouldn't have had to grubsit you to make you obey!"

"Well that's where you made your mistake, Chrysalis," The fake Twilight remarked with dripping venom in her tone of voice. "We were never going to be your obedient creations! You may have created us, but did you really think we'd let a two time failure like you lead us?"

"If you say yes, you're a bigger liar than I am. And I never lie." The fake Applejack declared.

Chrysalis just hissed. "It is you six who are the fools! From the moment you destroyed the Starlight Glimmer clone, I knew you were up to no good! Servants always fail you in the end." She shot out a beam from her horn, clashing with the fake Twilight.

The fake Twilight just laughed, effortlessly pushing back against Chrysalis. "Even you can't stop us anymore, your majesty. Soon, the Elements of Harmony will be under my control, and I will reign triumphant!"

However, at that moment, Twilight and her friends came up to join the fight. "Don't count on it! The Elements of Harmony will never work for creatures that don't understand how friendship works!" Twilight told her clone.

Chrysalis looked across to Twilight. "Much as I'd like to be rid of you and your pathetic friends, it seems we have a common enemy. If you help me dispatch these rebellious, ungrateful grubs, I'll leave your students alone."

"Why should we trust you, Chrysalis? How do we know you won't go back on your word?" Starlight Glimmer questioned. "This has your hoof prints all over it."

The ex-queen simply replied (while continuing to fight the Twilight clone). "You're right, you can't trust me. But if you'd rather not take my help and try to fend off these powerful clones on your own, be my guest."

"We'll deal with you later, Chrysalis," Twilight protested and then motioned to her friends. "Come on, let's show these imposters what happens to those who mess with the Tree of Harmony!"

Starlight joined Twilight and Chrysalis in the magic beam struggle, while the rest of the mares took advantage of the conflict to pin down their respective clones.

Suddenly, the Element of Magic flashed black, and the Tree of Harmony seemed to react. Pure white magical vines shot out from it, ensnaring all the clones one by one and pulling them close to its trunk!

One by one they were turned into colored pieces of wood. The evil Twilight was the last one to disappear. "Imbeciles, you've ruined everything!" She shouted, before a flash of magic made her disappear. Just like that, the changeling clones had vanished.

"Whoa!" Gallus commented in amazement, having watched the whole thing. "You know what? I take back all the things I said about our professors before."

Sandbar couldn't help but rib the griffon, as well as the other creatures. "And you all had your doubts. Is it any wonder why I look up to those girls? They sure are something."

"Okay, so they're awesome when they're out saving the world and fighting evil. Why can't they be like that all the time?" Smolder grumbled. "It'd sure make classes more interesting."

But Ocellus just gulped. "Um, it's not over yet. Chrysalis is still unaccounted for. Our professors will have to deal with her."

And that's exactly what the seven mares did as they eyed the colored logs that had previously been evil clones, created by an evil former queen.

"Alright, Chrysalis," Twilight sighed. "What are we gonna do with you? That's three times now you've threatened Equestria."

But the crafty ex-queen simply replied. "Princess, you saw what happened. I'm just as much a victim in this as you, your friends, and your students. My own creations turned against me. And I certainly didn't tell them to sic those nasty puckwudgies on the students. I assure you, my methods would've been far more direct."

"Even so, you can't be allowed to slip away again," Twilight declared with a glare. "After all the trouble you've caused, I have half a mind to blast your sorry hide halfway across Equestria."

"Uh, Twilight, not that I mean to interrupt but we've got bigger problems to worry about." Starlight gestured a hoof to the students nearby.

Starlight didn't need to speak a word. Twilight remembered the deadline Chancellor Neighsay had given, and much time had passed already. She reluctantly turned back toward Chrysalis. "Consider this your lucky night, Chrysalis. Since you did sort of help us, my friends and I won't use the Elements of Harmony against you."

"Oh thank you, Princess Twilight! And you too, Starlight Glimmer," Chrysalis delivered the lines with a noticeable hint of malice. "How can I make it up to you?"

Starlight glared into Chrysalis' eyes. "Run as far away from here as you can! And don't even think about showing your face anywhere near here, the school, or anywhere else in Equestria."

"After all, next time we may not be so generous." Rarity added.

Chrysalis gulped. "Very well, you win this time, ponies. But don't think this is over, we'll meet again someday." She proceeded to scoop up the log with the same color as Twilight's coat, and then took off.

With Chrysalis defeated, Twilight and the others trotted over to the six students. "Thank goodness you're all okay!" Twilight declared. "I thought for sure something awful had happened to you!"

"Ah, we were fine, Headmare Twilight," Sandbar replied as he waved a hoof. "I suppose you've come to ask us all to come back to school." His question was confirmed with a nod.

Smolder let out a sigh as she explained. "Look, Headmare Twilight. If it's all the same to you, we'd rather not go back to school. School was boring."

"Yona not really like school, but Yona like new friends!" Yona declared as she hugged the other students tightly!

Smolder choked out. "Smolder... like breathing."

Twilight felt pride well up inside her as she looked over the six students. They definitely seemed closer together. "I'm glad you're all safe, and that you've started learning friendship without your professors. But there's only so much you can learn on your own. We'd be happy to share all that we know about friendship... if you're willing to come back to school with us tomorrow."

"Wait, you're not going to send us back to our leaders?" Gallus questioned.

Twilight shook her head. "The school isn't going to be run like a traditional EEA school. We tried the EEA's way, and for a friendship based school those guidelines just weren't working. If you come back with us though, we can all show you how different the school will be. You'll like the changes."

Rainbow Dash added. "Trust me, with me teaching class my way, you'll all agree that classes are two hundred and twenty percent cooler!"

"Not to mention it'll be much friendlier and inviting." Fluttershy declared.

"But we don't want to force you back if you'd rather not attend," Twilight told the students. "It's your choice. And whatever you choose, we'll respect."

"You kidding?! We'll be more than happy to give your school another chance!" Sandbar happily declared as he kicked his legs. "I've already made several new friends, and we've all learned so much from each other. If school is like this, it'll be a blast!"

Pinkie Pie cheered! "Great! Now let's get you out of this forest! And then tomorrow, your leaders hopefully won't be angry with us anymore."

Everyone returned to the school the next morning, even the leaders of the other nations had been brought back. As it turned out, this was because of Princess Celestia. "Spike has told me everything," She told Twilight. "And I can assure you, I'll be having a long talk with Chancellor Neighsay about his conduct when this is all over," A sigh escaped her lips. "It's a pity, I had hoped he would be better than his reputation would have you believe."

"Well there won't be much he'll able to do," Twilight replied to the sun princess. "When he finds out this is no longer an EEA school, he'll have no real authority over it."

"And how are you even going to get inside?" Ember questioned to Twilight. "The door's locked."

Twilight grinned. "Just watch," She used her magic to remove the lock and chains that prevented anyone from accessing her school. "I'm proud to declare that school is now officially back in session!" She declared.

But the announcement was premature as the familiar form of Chancellor Neighsay emerged from a portal. "Who has dared remove my magic seal from this accursed school?!"

Twilight cleared her throat. "I did, Chancellor Neighsay. And now I'm going to have to ask you to stand aside, or else classes will start late. You don't want that, do you?"

Neighsay growled. "Classes will never start! I stand by what I said, this school is a disaster and cannot be allowed to operate! The EEA has spoken, and none shall pass!"

"Yaks pass if yaks says so! Pony no tell yak what to do!" Prince Rutherford declared.

But Princess Celestia threw up a wing. "Everyone, please, let's at least try to be civil about this. It might be best if we let Princess Twilight explain before someone says something they'll regret."

Neighsay wasn't deterred in the slightest by the presence of Princess Celestia. "Princess Celestia, you don't realize that you're on the wrong side. I'm simply using the power bestowed upon me as head of the EEA to ensure all schools in Equestria meet only the highest of standards."

"EEA standards, or your standards, Chancellor?" Celestia questioned. "It seems to me that you're opposed to this school because of what it dares to be, not because of any actual faults it has."

The chancellor only hissed. "Princess, this is exactly why the EEA was created in the first place. You haven't seen the things I've seen. Anypony in my situation would've said the same. How could I overlook disorganized classes, unqualified teachers, and students lives being put in danger?"

Twilight simply replied. "Chancellor, you're not even giving me a chance to make amends. I know my school isn't the greatest, but it's full of potential. I can make changes. I'll overhaul the lesson plans, modify class sizes, and line up better teachers to coach my friends and I."

"It doesn't matter. Your school will never be EEA accredited," Chancellor Neighsay stubbornly declared as he stomped a hoof. "And it will never be a school at all."

But Twilight smirked. "Maybe it won't be an EEA school, but in this case I'd say it's for 'the greater good' as you put it. A school of friendship is an experiment that has never been done before. Regardless of well I try to follow the EEA's guidelines, it will never be exactly what they or you want it to be," Then she gestured a hoof. "These students reminded me that every friendship is special, so the way we teach it has to be just as unique. My school is going to do things differently. And I hope you'll understand why."

Neighsay didn't, he snapped. "You can't possibly expect that to work! I can't even begin to count the number of ways it could go wrong! Changing the rules for these new creatures, shutting the EEA out of the classroom all together, running it your way, it simply won't work."

Princess Celestia couldn't help but smirk as she sarcastically remarked. "Oh really? I've never heard that one before," Then she adopted a sincere tone as she explained. "When you're as old as I am there's a lot of things you tend to remember. And one of the things I seem to remember, is a lot of opposition similar to yours when it came to the idea of teaching all three kinds of ponies together, under one roof. Heck, when I wanted to open my own school to teach students advanced magical spells and abilities, I remember an EEA head who told me it would never work. You wanna know what happened to that pony? They ultimately came around and admitted they were wrong."

Twilight proceeded to plop down her own rule book. "Chancellor Neighsay, I assure you that despite your concerns my school will help protect Equestria."

"Or destroy it!" Chancellor Neighsay hissed. "But it seems you're intent on defying me no matter what!"

Princess Celestia spoke up. "Chancellor, you've already caused enough of a scene here. And you're making a lot of these 'dangerous creatures' very unhappy with you," She cautioned him. "If I were you, I'd leave before I could no longer hold back these leaders and one of them decides to give you a lot more than just a piece of their mind."

If that comment was enough to unnerve the chancellor, he didn't show it. The stallion simply turned very slowly toward Twilight and told her. "It seems you've won this round, Princess Twilight. But as far as I'm concerned your school is still a disaster waiting to happen. You'll see me again, even if I have to come back tomorrow, or the day after that."

"And just what will you be doing tomorrow, oh Chancellor?" Twilight innocently questioned.

Neighsay growled. "The same thing I'll do every day from now on, princess. Try to get this school shut down for good!" Then he leaped through a portal and disappeared, to a chorus of cheers from all gathered.

Grandpa Gruff still had his doubts. "How is this school going to be any different from last time?"

Twilight grinned. "Oh, I'm sure you'll see." And it wasn't long before she, her friends, and their new students all began to sing.

The song lasted for quite a while, and by the time it had ended many of the leaders were convinced one way or another. Ember in particular had gotten quite fed up with the song. "Ugh, fine! You win!" She complained as she put her claws to her ears. "Smolder can stay here! Just please, nomore singing! I can't take any more of it!"

Smolder cheered! "Woohoo! Thank you, Ember!"

Prince Rutherford spoke next. "If dragon is staying, then yak stays too. It not right for prince to take young yak away from friends."

"Yona love friends!" Yona happily declared. "Yona can't wait to meet more friends!"

Thorax stroked Ocellus with a hoof. "You'll grow into a fine young changeling, Ocellus. I look forward to hearing you progress, my student."

"Thanks, Thorax," Ocellus smiled back. "I'll do my best, and try to come out of my shell a little."

General Seaspray didn't need much convincing. "Silverstream, your Aunt Novo says you can stay as well. Just be sure to stay safe and out of trouble."

Silverstream smiled, happily shaking Seaspray's paw. "Oh, thank you SO much, Seaspray! Now come on, there's a lot of things I gotta show you! Wait until you see this thing they call a sink, it'll totally blow your mind!"

Sandbar looked up at his parents, who gave him a confirming nod. "Okay, Mom and Dad. I'll stay here too. And I hope you'll let me bring my friends over to my house sometime."

"Oh we'd like that, honey," Mrs. Sandbar told her son. "But I think we'll need to prep the house a bit before that can happen."

Mr. Sandbar laughed. "Yeah, I don't think our house is exactly 'Yak proof' or 'Dragon proof'."

"Alright, well let me know when it is," Sandbar commented and then looked around. "Hey, where's Gallus?"

Gallus was trying to stay hidden, hoping to avoid being seen by Grandpa Gruff. It didn't work, the older griffon spotted Gallus from a mile away. "What? Why are you looking at me, sonny? It was a mistake to let ya come here. You belong at home with me, not halfway across the world. You'll make poor Gabby work herself to the bone with all the letters we'll have to share," Then he coldly added. "Besides, you think I care if you made new friends?"

Gallus adopted the best pleading face possible as he got down on his knees and held up his claws. "Please, Grandpa Gruff? I promise I won't write to you very much. And didn't you once say you weren't running a chicksitting service?"

Grandpa Gruff couldn't resist the pleading look Gallus gave him. "Ugh! Alright, alright, you can stay! But don't come crying to me if it doesn't work it. You're on your own, sonny!" And with that he flew away.

A joyous celebration soon erupted as Gallus' friends all rushed to surround him, glad to know that he was staying.

The seven mares and Spike smiled as they observed the whole thing. "You know, I have a feeling this school is going to work out just fine." Twilight commented.

Starlight nodded. "I think it's safe to say, with this you'll definitely leave your mark on the future of Equestria," Then she commented. "Now, about the staff..."

But unknown to everyone, the celebration was being watched from afar. By who, you may ask? Why, by none other than a still very revenge minded former queen. Chrysalis' eyes narrowed as she looked at the school. "Celebrate while you can, ponies! When you least expect it, Chrysalis will strike again!"

Author's Note

The second half of the original two parter kind of loses momentum when it devolves into another Twilight freak-out plot that was a staple of several other two parters and episodes. While it's a great deal bigger than her usual freak-outs, Tara's performance undersells it. And then there's the resolution to it where Twilight doesn't listen to her friends, but listens to Starlight who gives her tough love and tells her to forget about the EEA.

The student six's plot also undercuts a lot of tensions because when we know they're safe and sound there is no urgency to the search for them. And it only shows that Sandbar existed simply because the writers needed a character to pick up cupcakes and lead the mane six to the other students. They didn't bother to include any family for Sandbar even when the other students had leaders worried about them.

To fix that, I decided to more or less weave the events of "The Mean Six" into this two parter. I imagine "The Mean Six" was planned early on to be the season eight premiere, then got shelved when the school took center stage. And that episode suffered from feeling almost like an afterthought, plagued with cliches and reducing Chrysalis to the level of an 80's cartoon villain.

I also wanted to flesh out Sandbar more, give him more of a reason to be in the group. And as for Chrysalis at the end, well for those who saw my previous rewrite volumes you'd know that I wrote Cozy Glow as Chrysalis in disguise (this was before any knowledge of Season 9 or its events cropped up, though Cozy Glow still remains an engima in regards to the villains because there's still much we don't know about her).

And yes, I had to make the obvious reference with Neighsay at the end given who voices him. And I want to apologize for the way the songs are integrated into this rewrite. "Friendship Always Win" and "The School of Friendship" are songs that are hard to write from a narrative stand point even when they're acknowledged in universe. That also is what gives me trouble with the "Previously on" recap at the beginning of the second part of a two parter.

~~The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (Redo)~~
~~Ponyville Confidential~~
~~Daring Don't (Bonus Chapter)~~
~~Dungeons And Discords~~
~~Once Upon a Zeppelin (Bonus Chapter)~~
~~School Daze Parts 1 and 2~~
The Maud Couple
School Raze Parts 1 and 2

S8 E3: The Maud Couple (What If?)

A frantic Pinkie Pie was bouncing all over town, searching desperately for somepony. In this case that somepony was her older sister, Maud. Maud hadn't come to breakfast with Pinkie as had become the habit now that the elder Pie sister lived in Ponyville (or Ponyville adjacent to be precise).

"Maud?! Where are you, Maud?!" Pinkie loudly called. "Are we playing a game of hide and go seek?! You're supposed to tell me when it's my turn to be seeker!"

Pinkie kept on bouncing, not really paying attention to where she was going. As a result, she almost didn't notice when she bumped into a very familiar earth pony mare.

"Hello, Pinkie Pie." Maud Pie greeted in her usual flat tone.

"Hi, Maud. Can't talk right now," Pinkie answered her sister. "I have to go and find you!" But as she was about to bounce off again the pink coated earth pony realized what she had previously not noticed. She quickly spun around. "Maud, there you are! I've been trying to find you all morning!" Then she giggled. "I guess it's my turn to go hide! Start counting."

But Maud shook her head at her sister. "I'm not playing, Pinkie. I want to apologize for not being around this morning."

Pinkie simply waved a hoof. "Oh, pssh. What are you apologizing to me for? I'm not upset, you silly-willy. Though a little heads up would be nice."

"I'm sorry, I forgot to leave a note," Maud apologized. "I've been kind of busy lately."

The party pony nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, too busy. It seems like you're almost never around anymore, no matter when I drop by. Don't you like living in Ponyville?"

"It's great, lots of rocks to keep me busy," Maud answered. "The reason I've been so busy is that I have a boyfriend now."

At that, Pinkie blinked in surprise! "A whaaaaa...?!"

"A boyfriend, Pinkie," Maud answered. "We just met not that long ago. It just sort of happened."

Pinkie grinned! "Ooh, that's so exciting! My sister, in love with another pony! Now I totally understand you being busy these past few weeks. You can be with the pony you love, you just gotta let me throw a party to celebrate."

"I'm not sure if parties are really his thing, I never asked him," Maud commented even though her expression did not change. "But technically, we're in 'like'. Love is a little premature."

Pinkie waved a hoof. "Nonsense! If you say you're in love, you're in love! Now tell me everything!" She started happily bouncing all about. "Who is he? What's his favorite color? Does he like ice cream? Oh! I don't know, because you haven't told me anything yet!"

Maud's expression seemed to change ever so slightly into a smile as she answered. "Well you'll like him. We have a lot in common."

The pink party pony happily declared. "Well, I love you, so I know I'm gonna totally love your boyfriend! Oh, I can't wait to meet him!"

"Good, because you don't have to." Maud declared as her attention was drawn to a nearby rock.

Pinkie assumed the obvious as she gasped. "Of course! He's a rock! And you love rocks, so it's perfect!" Another gasp escaped her lips. "Is Boulder jealous?"

But Maud corrected. "No, he's not a rock. He's behind the rock," And she called out. "Mudbriar? Are you back there? Please come out if you are."

From behind the rock emerged an earth pony stallion with a grayish coat, moderate green eyes, a light and medium brown mane and tail, and a cutie mark depicting a stick in a mud puddle. "Technically, I was but not anymore."

As soon as Pinkie laid eyes on Mudbriar, she gasped loudly and jumped back in surprise! "A wha-whaaaaaaaaa?!" As it turned out she had already met her sister's boyfriend. And this unfortunate, unplanned meeting was going to make the task of getting along with him rather difficult for the party pony.

Despite her sister's shocked reaction, Maud decided to press forward with her planned introduction of her boyfriend. "Pinkie Pie, meet Mudbriar. Mudbriar, meet Pinkie Pie, my favorite little sister."

Mudbriar spoke up in a rather blunt manner. "Technically, we've already met. This formal introduction is not necessary."

"Yeah. It wasn't intentional or anything, Maud. You didn't even tell me you were seeing anypony." Pinkie Pie commented in what sounded like a hurt tone of voice.

"I did try to tell you a few times, Pinkie. But you were always busy with something else, so I didn't feel like speaking up." Maud explained.

Pinkie sighed. "It's not your fault, Maud. Twilight's new school has been keeping me awfully busy. Between that, baking, and saving the world, lots of little things slip through the cracks. I'm even starting to feel like a stranger to the Cake Twins, I can't believe they're almost old enough for kindergarten. Feels like only yesterday Mr. and Mrs. Cake were bringing them home for the first time."

Maud hated to see her sister so down in the dumps, she quickly trotted forward and lifted Pinkie's chin up. "It's alright, Pinkie. I know how important that school is to Twilight, and you make a good teacher. I probably should've introduced you to Mudbriar sooner."

"It could not be helped. Our prior meeting was a chance encounter, what you might say 'A fluke'," Mudbriar declared as he looked at Pinkie Pie. "I assume my manner of speaking needs no re-introduction." To which Pinkie nodded her head.

Maud immediately questioned the two. "So, how did you meet if I may ask?"

At that Pinkie started to massage the back of her neck with a hoof. "Well, it's kind of a long and funny story, Maud. I don't think you need to hear it."

"I always have time for you, sis," Maud commented as her expression seemed to morph ever so slightly into a smile. "But you could probably just give me a shortened version."

"That would be preferable. There's no need to repeat every detail." Mudbriar insisted.

The pink party pony sighed. "Well, okay, you asked for. It was actually earlier today, that's the funny part." And she began to flash back to the events that had led to her unexpectedly (and unknowingly) meeting her sister's boyfriend earlier than planned.

It was just after sunrise as Pinkie bounced happily into the beautiful little cave that Maud had made her own. It was always nice to have her amazing big sister living so close to Ponyville. And today was a special day, a day Pinkie had been looking forward to for weeks. "Who's ready for some fun times at Sugarcube Corner?" She called to her sister, assuming the earth pony was still in bed. "The answer is 'You'!" She declared as she trotted up to the bed. "I would also accept 'Maud.'"

But when Pinkie pulled back the covers she found that Maud was not in her bed. There wasn't a note, and neither was there any indication that the mare had wandered off or left to conduct a study on a rock formation. Naturally, Pinkie began to worry. "Maud?" She called. There was no reply. "Maud?!" Again there was no reply, only the sound of flowing water as it pooled into the small pond.

Panic took hold of the party pony as she rushed away! She had to find her sister! Without even thinking she dashed straight out of the gem caves and to the School of Friendship! Classes had yet to begin for the day, so the students were currently just huddled about in the hallways and talking to themselves.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie came bursting through the front doors, almost out of breath! "Maud?!" She called, bouncing from place to place and checking every nook and cranny of the school!

"Professor Pinkie?" Sandbar questioned as he noticed the usually cheerful party pony looking rather concerned.

"No time to talk, students! I have to find my sister!" Pinkie Pie shouted back. "You haven't seen her anywhere, have you?!"

"Wait, you have a sister?" Gallus questioned.

"Three sisters, including a baby sister who's only a few seconds younger than me! But that's not important!" Pinkie protested with a shake of her head, displaying a picture of Maud. "This is Maud Pie, my big sister! She lives in Ponyville adjacent and looks like this! Have you seen her anywhere?! Please say yes, please say yes!"

Alas, the students all shook their heads and Sandbar reluctantly answered. "Uh, sorry. I guess your sister's somewhere in Ponyville."

"Oh, but she could be anywhere right now!" Pinkie groaned, before an idea struck her! "Hey, I know! You can all help me! You can form search parties!"

Ocellus seemed to shrink back a bit. "Headmare Twilight says we're not supposed to leave the school until classes are done for the day."

Pinkie quickly protested. "No worries, I'll just say it's a friendship emergency! Now come on, get yourselves organized and start searching! And if you find Maud, tell her that it was supposed to be my turn to hide!" Then she bounced away again, leaving the students bewildered.

A short time later, an unaware Starlight Glimmer was still sleeping as Pinkie bounced in. The unicorn was mumbling to herself in her sleep, not yet knowing of Pinkie's dilemma. "No, Dad, it's not a phase. I like flying kites and shredding guitars." Starlight murmured in her sleep.

Pinkie immediately hopped up on the bed, waking Starlight as shouting loudly! "Starlight, wake up!"

Starlight shot up in her bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she yawned. "What is it, Pinkie Pie?" She looked at a nearby alarm clock. "It's too early, classes don't start for at least another hour. I'm trying to get some sleep so I'm well rested for my work as a guidance counselor."

But the pink party pony protested. "There's no time! Maud is missing! I can't find her anywhere, Starlight! Unless... she came here! I've already checked everywhere else: The school, Discord's dimension, you name it."

Starlight yawned again. "Forgive me for asking but why's it so important you find Maud? I'm sure she just forgot to leave a note, and you'll probably bump into her."

Pinkie groaned. "But Starlight, I was gonna go birthday cake shopping with Maud today. Since she's living in Ponyville, I can't get it from Sugarcube Corner, the Cakes will blab for sure."

The unicorn suddenly remembered. "Oh yes, her surprise birthday party. But Pinkie, if you're shopping with her, how is it a surprise?"

The party pony giggled. "I'm not gonna tell her who the cake is for, silly. But now I can't even find Maud. And I didn't know we were playing hide and go seek."

Starlight stretched a bit before she got out of her bed and shook the cobwebs from her mind. "Tell you what, Pinkie. I'll look for Maud, you take care of the cake. It'll be easier for me since I can teleport."

"Thanks, Starlight! I owe you big time for this!" Pinkie declared. "Now I'm off! Oh... and if Twilight asks, the students are missing class because of a friendship emergency." But she left without explaining what that meant.

So it was that Pinkie made her way to a small cake shop in Ponyvile. There was a mare behind the counter, and Pinkie bounced right up to her. In a whisper she inquired. "Can you help a mare out? I've gotta get some very important ingredients for a very important pony's cake. And it's gotta be tippy-top super-duper secret. Okay?"

But a voice protested. "Technically, it's not your turn yet. I was here first."

Pinkie blushed as she took notice of an earth pony stallion with a grayish coat, moderate green eyes, a light and medium brown mane and tail, and a cutie mark depicting a stick in a mud puddle (at this moment in time she didn't know who he was). "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there. Well, don't mind me, go ahead."

The stallion didn't move or say a word, though. He just stared at the mare behind the counter, his eyes barely even blinked. Pinkie found this most odd. "Um, whatcha doin'? You gonna order something or not?"

The stallion simply replied. "Patience, please. What I'm doing is simple. I am currently speaking to a pony at this local cake shop two minutes before it closes for lunch."

Pinkie couldn't hear any traces of a conversation. "Really? Don't take this the wrong way, but if you haven't decided what to order then could you move aside? I'm trying to plan a party here, and the clock is ticking, while you, uh... What are you doing anyway if you're not ordering?"

"I told you," The stallion impatiently corrected. "I am currently speaking to a—"

Pinkie interrupted. "I mean, can I help you move this along? What are you looking for? Whadya wanna order?"

But the stallion only answered. "Goodbye." And then he turned and trotted away from the counter.

Needless to say, Pinkie was annoyed. "That's what you've been standing here all this time to say? What a waste of time!"

"It's not a waste. I was trying to decide how to end the conversation when you so rudely interrupted me," The stallion explained. "I was torn between whether I should say 'Goodbye' or 'See you later'."

At that the pink party pony blinked, more in annoyance than anything else. "But they're the same thing."

The stallion shook his head at the comment. "Technically, they're very different. You see 'See you later' implies an event in the near future wherein we see each other. Whereas 'Goodbye' expresses good wishes where parting or at the end of a conversation. Hope that clears it up for you."

But Pinkie only proceeded to shove the stallion towards the door while gritting her teeth. "Like I said, same thing. Now will you please leave?"

The stallion simply declared. "I know my manner of speaking is off putting, but I will not apologize for speaking with precision. You should try it sometime."

"Whatever, apology not accepted," The pink party pony snapped as she pushed the stallion out the door. "Goodbye, later, see ya—same thing!" She turned and trotted back inside the shop. "Can you believe that guy?" She was just in time to see the mare hang a notice on the counter. "'Out to lunch'?! Oh come on! That stallion didn't even order!"

A rather frustrated Pinkie bounced away a moment later, grumbling to herself. "No Maud, no cake, no anything! And how annoying was that pony? Who takes so long to say goodbye? Or was it 'See you later'? Ugh, great! Now he's even got me doing it!" And with that she resumed her search for Maud, which led Pinkie to where she now was at the present moment.

"Ugh! Maud!" Pinkie complained as she finished telling her story. "How could you like somepony who's so rude all the time?"

Maud simply turned to Mudbriar. "Mudbriar, I think you owe my sister an apology."

"I did not mean to offend her with my way of speaking." Mudbriar apologized.

Pinkie Pie simply gritted her teeth and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mudbriar. We got off on the wrong hoof. Here, let's start over. Hi, I'm Maud's sister, Pinkie Pie."

Mudbriar corrected. "I know, as I said we technically already met."

Pinkie simply gritted in reply. "Yes, you know that and I know that. But let's pretend it never happened," She extended her hoof. "One more time: Hi, I'm Maud's sister, Pinkie Pie."

Mudbriar extended his hoof out and shook Pinkie's. "I'm Mudbriar, your sister's boyfriend. A pleasure to meet you," Though he couldn't resist adding. "Even though we technically already met."

The pink party pony was desperate to change the subject from Mudnriar's annoying way of speaking. "So, Maud," She questioned her sister (at least Maud didn't get on your nerves when you tried to talk to her). "How did you and Mud Briar meet, exactly? And how long have you two known each other?"

"It was a couple of weeks ago, maybe a month. And we met at a rock show." Maud answered in her usual flat tone.

"Oh! So you're into rocks too?" Pinkie eagerly asked Mudbriar.

Mudbriar shook his head. "No. I'm more of a stick pony. By that I mean I like sticks, not that I'm a pony made of sticks."

Pinkie blinked in surprise. "Then what were you doing at a rock show?"

Mudbriar gave the answer. "It was a petrified wood show, which technically makes it a stick show. Such was how I met your sister."

Maud's face morphed into a rare smile as she fondly recalled her experience. "Except that in the per-mineralization process of petrification, all organic material is replaced with silicates – i.e., rocks."

Mudbriar stroked Maud's mane while adding. "While retaining the original structural elements of wood – q.e.d., it was a stick show. I did not anticipate meeting the love of my life at it, though."

Maud lightly replied. "Stop it, you'll make me blush." But her actual expression didn't change.

Pinkie quickly spoke up. "Well you know what, Mudbriar? You seem like a nice pony. Hey, did you know I like sticks too? They're great for hitting piñatas! Watch!" She pulled out a stick and a pinata and prepared to hit said pianta!

That is, until Maud stopped her sister. "Pinkie..."

The pink party pony stopped mid-swing, turning to the couple as she offered to Mudbriar. "Oh, did you wanna go first?"

Mudbriar frowned and shook his head. "No. That is stick abuse."

A disappointed Pinkie put the stick away. "I'll bet this guy is a total party pooper. What does my sister even see in him?" She thought to herself. But she quickly dispelled the idea. This wasn't about her, it was about Maud. And besides, Mudbriar was a pony Pinkie had never met before. And that meant she'd have to get to know him if no other reason than because he was her sister's boyfriend (and also so she could throw a party for him). "I'm sorry, I'm not being a very good sister today," She apologized to Mudbriar. "Why don't we start over again?"

Maud then suggested to Mudbriar. "You should introduce Pinkie to your pet, Boulder has a new friend."

Mudbriar pulled out a stick, which got Pinkie excited! "Ooh! So your pet likes fetch?"

Mudbriar shook his head. "No, this is my pet. His name is Twiggy," He set the stick on the ground as Maud took out Boulder. "Twiggy, play nice with Boulder. No rough housing." Mudbriar instructed.

The rock and the stick just lay on the ground as the two ponies observed the scene. They didn't seem to care that neither object was alive. Maud even happily commented. "Aw. Look at Twiggy and Boulder playing together." Speaking in a tone one would expect to see from owners of a dog or a cat.

Mudbriar shared in the tone as he nodded. "They're adorable. It's as if they were meant to be."

Pinkie, however, just blinked while leaning close to Maud and whispering. "It's just a stick."

Maud only scolded. "Pinkie, don't be rude. You'll hurt Twiggy's feelings."

Mudbriar nodded as he added. "Twiggy is not just a stick. He comes from the finest species of trees in all of Equestria and has been carefully preserved and maintained. He is every bit as real as you and I."

Maud smiled, looking across to the stallion. "You complete me, Mudbriar."

Pinkie, however, just nervously backed away. "Well, I'm very happy for you, Maud. Now uh.... I um... need to go do something not top secret somewhere! Bye!" She sped away, only to come racing right back a second later as she whispered to Mudbriar. "Oh, and exny on the birthday cakeay."

Mudbriar just blinked and whispered back. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I shall honor your wish." He didn't even notice as Pinkie disappeared. He was far too observed in watching Boulder and Twiggy play, and occasionally glancing at Maud with a smile on his face.

Later that same day, Starlight was surprised to find Pinkie Pie visiting her in her office after classes had ended for the day and all the students had left. She was even more surprised by what her friend started venting about.

Pinkie put her hooves to her head as she seemed to struggle to hold back her emotions. At last, like a spring that had been wound too tight the party pony snapped and flailed her hooves in the air. "Daaah! I don't get this guy! I don't get him at all!"

Starlight took the news surprisingly well. "Wow. Maud has a boyfriend? Color me surprised."

Pinkie groaned again, flopping down onto the comfy couch Starlight provided. "I don't get it. How in the wide world of Equestria could Maud ever like a pony like Mudbriar? He's so weird, and he's not like Maud at all. Trust me, I know."

"Really? How so?" Starlight questioned.

Pinkie Pie groaned anew. "Oh, where to even begin? He has an inanimate object for a pet!"

Starlight just blinked. "Well so does Maud."

"Puh-lease!" Pinkie growled back. "Boulder has ten times the personality of some random stick from the woods, Mudbriar too for that matter. I swear, he's practically a literal stick in the mud. His way of speaking is off putting, and does he have to be so literal minded?"

But Starlight simply replied. "You know, that's kind of how most ponies see your sister. Even I still sometimes can't tell what Maud is thinking."

The pink party pony only growled further. "Maud and I are best sister friends, Starlight. How could we ever be that if we had nothing in common? Mudbriar is absolutely nothing like Maud!" She rose from the couch while explaining. "Maud is hilarious, friendly, caring, and easy to talk to! But this guy is awkward, quiet, and kind of... strange. I want to like him, but the more I try the more he gets on my nerves."

"Well, Maud obviously likes something about him," Starlight commented. "Look, Pinkie, I'm not much of an expert when it comes to a pony's love life. I didn't know Maud was seeing somepony either, I was just as in the dark as you were. Why are you talking to me about this instead of anypony else?"

Pinkie sighed, laying back on the couch. "All my friends are busy with classes or lesson plans, and Twilight's got a new student coming that requires a lot of extra paperwork for some reason. The Cakes are always busy, and I can't tell Maud I don't like her boyfriend. That's going to make me look bad."

A moment of silence fell over the office before the unicorn found the words she wanted to say. She wasn't used to this sort of thing despite being appointed a guidance counselor. "Look, Pinkie, you two got off on the wrong hoof. But from what I hear this isn't the first time that's happened. You're Pinkie Pie, you don't give up the first time you strike out. Maybe you just need to spend more time with him. Find out what you have in common."

"That's easy, Starlight, nothing! We have nothing in common!" Pinkie protested.

Starlight hesitated as she tried to explain. "Well... you both obviously care about Maud and value her happiness. At least, I'm pretty sure Mudbriar does if he's her boyfriend."

"He'd have to be as nasty as that no good Chancellor Neighsay to not care about Maud," Pinkie commented. "Never thought I'd say something like that."

Starlight proceeded to gently coax the conversation towards a suggestion. "Well you know what, since he's so close to your sister and he kind of knows about your surprise party, why not bring him onboard? He could help you plan."

Pinkie sighed as she sat up on the couch. "I guess it's worth a try."

Starlight beamed. "Excellent! So tomorrow you can do that, and I'll keep Maud busy while you two plan the best surprise birthday party ever. Sound good?"

Pinkie nodded her head. "That I can do!" Then she rose from the couch and departed Starlight's office, though not before saying. "You know, Starlight, you actually make a pretty good guidance counselor."

The very next day, Pinkie brought Mudbriar to Sugarcube Corner and led him upstairs to her bedroom. "Okay, Mudbriar, here's the deal. Maud's birthday is tomorrow, and there's no time to waste," She whispered to the stallion. "Starlight thinks you can help me plan for the party. But first, quick question: You're not afraid of slides, are you?"

"No," Mudbriar answered as Pinkie reached over to press a button on what looked like an ice cream cone. The floor gave away a few seconds later as a trap door opened up. "Whyyyyyyyyyyy??!" He screamed as the unexpecting stallion slid down a slide and into the darkness of the party cave.

Pinkie slid down behind him, landing right on top of the stallion. "Here, I'll get the lights," She told Mudbriar as she got off him and flicked on a switch. Light flooded the cave, illuminating several drawers and cabinets. "Welcome to my party planning cave, Mudbriar! This is where the magic happens!"

Mudbriar's eyes scanned his surroundings. He was quick to point out. "Technically, due to the speleothems growing from the ceiling, this is more of a cavern than a cave. Maud taught me that."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Pinkie replied, trying not to pay Mudbriar's remark any mind. "I call it a party planning cave, and I'm the party expert. So what I say goes. Now come on, are you gonna help me or just keep making technical comments all day?"

"I didn't wish to offend you. I only wished to correct what your sister says is a very common mistake." Mudbriar explained as he trotted over to Pinkie's location.

Pinkie just dove into one of the filing cabinets, rummaging around to the sound of squeaks. "No, no, no. Come on, where'd I put it?!" She complained to herself. It took a few seconds of searching to find what she wanted. "Ah, here it is! I really should re-organize these files. Guess I'll do that when I add you to the 'M's, Mudbriar," She pulled out the file and set it down on a table, reading it aloud. "Okay, tell me what you think. Here's what I'm thinking we do for her surprise party – edible rock candy plates, gem-shaped ice cubes, a pebble piñata," When she noticed Mudbriar wince she scribbled something out. "Okay, maybe we can skip that one."

Mudbriar didn't stay silent for long as he observed the file and all that Pinkie had described. "Might I make some suggestions?"

"Oh, sure. Go ahead and suggest away," Pinkie reluctantly nodded. "I mean, that's what you're here for. You and I, the two of us! Planning together as..." The last word was slow to leave her mouth. "Friends."

The stallion quickly pointed out. "If I may, I have a vision board of everything Maud that loves, and I'm afraid none of those things are on it."

The pink party pony spun around and glared at the stallion. "Really? Let me see this 'vision board'."

Mudbriar explained. "It's not a physical thing, you see. I call it a vision board because I'm envisioning it. Watch," He shut his eyes and began to murmur softly to himself. "I come in through the large door of my mind palace and enter to the back, where I keep all of my books and possessions, and what do I encounter? The Maud Room. None of those things are there," Then he opened his eyes. "Just as I expected, Maud doesn't like surprises."

"Ha! And you call yourself Maud's boyfriend!" Pinkie shouted as she pointed a hoof. "Maud's never told me that, and I've known her a lot longer than you have. So I know you're lying."

Mudbriar shook his head. "If she never told you, it's probably because she was trying to protect your feelings. She's very caring that way. I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

At that Pinkie growled. "You're lying, Mudbriar! Stop acting like you know my sister better than me, because you don't!"

"Technically, I never said that. You just assumed." Mudbriar innocently protested.

But an irritated Pinkie only growled and gritted her teeth. "Well, technically, I don't care! And since I've been best sister friends forever with Maud my entire life, I think I'm the expert here! So don't tell me how to do my job!"

"I thought you said you were a teacher?" Mudbriar questioned.

"I'm both, and I'm more than that! But if you really knew my sister like you say do, you'd know all there was to know about me!" Pinkie complained.

Mudbriar simply answered. "How do you know Maud likes surprises? Did she ever tell you otherwise?"

"And how do you know she doesn't?!" Pinkie stubbornly protested. "I've got half a mind to throw you out of this cave right this instant!" When Mudbriar opened his mouth to speak she added. "And I don't care what you wanna call it, if I say it's a cave then it's a cave."

"Perhaps we could ask Maud what she thinks? It's her party after all." Mudbriar suggested.

At that, Pinkie's eyes lit up. "Great idea, glad we finally agree on something!" But she proceeded to whisper. "But it's still a surprise party, so that means we have to be super-sneaky about asking."

"How sneaky, exactly? Could you be more specific?" Mudbriar asked.

"No!" Pinkie snapped and began to push him away. "Just leave the talking to me so you don't spill the beans, I'm not picking them up!"

They found Maud with Starlight on a hill near Ponyville, the two mares were currently flying kites.

Starlight was the first to spot the approaching duo, and she waved to them. "Oh, hello," She eyed the stallion. "You must be Mudbriar, Maud's told me a lot about you," Mudbriar remained silent. "I'm Starlight Glimmer, nice to meet you," Still, Mudbriar said nothing. So Starlight turned to Pinkie. "I'm so glad the two of you are spending time together. So... how's it going?"

Mudbriar looked like he was about to say something, but Pinkie spoke up first. "Oh, it's going great! Just great! Yup, nothing to worry about here! Mudbriar and I have just spent the best time bonding! And we're really starting to make some headway becoming besties, except for one teensy-weensy little disagreement that maybe you could help settle, Maud."

Maud turned to face her sister. "What would that be?"

Pinkie spoke up again. "Mudbriar here seems to think that you don't like surprise parties," She paused as a series of snickers escaped her lips. "Isn't it funny how wrong he is?!" The last part of her sentence sounded noticeably angry. "So go ahead, tell him what I told him. He's wrong."

Maud seemed to hesitate as she looked at the ground, before at last she founds the words she wanted to say. "Well, I do like surprise parties..." She began.

"See?! Told you so!" Pinkie glared at Mudbriar. Mudbriar said nothing.

But Maud threw up a hoof. "I'm not finished, Pinkie. I like surprise parties, because I know they make you happy when you throw them for me."

"Wait, what?!" Pinkie gasped in surprise. "Okay, Maud, that's very funny. You had me going there for a moment."

"I'm serious, Pinkie," Maud protested as her tone of voice shifted ever so slightly. "I'd rather just do something small with you, Starlight, Boulder, and Mudbriar for my birthday."

"What?! No party? No party?!" Pinkie growled before gesturing a hoof to Mudbriar. "Did he put you up to this?! Maybe you should consider, I don't know, taking things just a little less serious with Mudbriar because he's kinda sort of, completely impossible to like!" She shouted. "I've tried and I've tried, but I can't find anything to like about him, Maud! Tell her I'm right, Starlight. Even you have to admit Mudbriar's unlikeable."

However, Starlight simply turned to Mudbriar as she offered him the string of a kite. She didn't even acknowledge Pinkie's comment. "Hey, Mudbriar, have you ever flown a kite? Let me tell you all about it." And she motioned for him to come over.

Pinkie, meanwhile, was snout to snout with Maud. "How could you lie to me for so long, Maud?! Why didn't you ever tell me you didn't like surprise parties?! I though they made you happy!"

"They did make me happy, because you were happy." Maud explained.

Pinkie growled back. "That's not what I wanted, Maud! I wanted a party where we'd both be happy, not a party where we're happy for the other! You should've told me!"

Maud sighed. "I wanted to tell you, Pinkie. But you always seemed so happy planning and throwing those parties. I didn't want to make you unhappy. I'm sorry you had to find out like this."

The pink party pony only growled further. "I just can't believe it, Maud. What else have you been lying to me about? Do you not like my pies?" And then she added. "Well, now I guess I don't need to ask if you want to choose between sitting around with that boyfriend of yours, or having a party with your own sister. I know what you want."

"Pinkie, I never wanted to choose. I don't want to choose even now," Maud tried to explain. "Technically, I said I wanted to be with both of you. And Starlight too for that matter."

Hearing the same word Mudbriar was so fond of did nothing to soothe Pinkie's hurt feelings. "'Technically'? Ugh, you even like the way he talks?"

Maud looked to Mudbriar as she smiled. "Everything about him makes me happy. I'm sorry you and him don't get along, I was really hoping you would," Then she suggested. "You can still throw a surprise party for Mudbriar, his birthday's coming up in a few weeks. I can tell you what he likes, and I think that'll be the fastest way for you two to get to like each other."

But a downtrodden Pinkie just hung her head. "No, Maud. You seem happy with Mudbriar, too happy. I guess now that you have a boyfriend, you don't need a best sister friend forever anymore."

"Pinkie, wait..." Maud called as her sister turned to leave.

Starlight, having overheard, joined in as well. "Listen to your sister, Pinkie. I'm sure if we just talk about this, we can work something out."

Pinkie brushed Starlight's hoof away. "It's too late for that, Starlight! Maud's made it clear who she likes, I can't take away her happiness with Mudbriar. Especially not when I don't even know what makes my own sister happy anymore! It's like everything I've known is a lie!" And she ran away, sobbing to herself quite loudly.

"See you later!" Mudbriar yelled as Maud and Starlight turned to look at him. He didn't seem to be aware of anything that had just transpired.

Pinkie kept on running, not even bothering to look where she was going. She didn't stop until she had run fill tilt into Sugarcube Corner, up the stairs to her bedroom, and plopped down onto her bed. "I don't understand. How could this happen?" She thought out loud. "Have I really misjudged everypony? Do I actually not know anything about any of them? Are they only pretending to like me to make me happy?" She paused briefly in her thinking. "Well, maybe not that last part, but still." She buried her face into one of her pillows and started sobbing loudly.

"Pinkie, is everything alright up there?" Mrs. Cake called a short time later, knocking on the bedroom door.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie yelled, not even lifting her head from the pillow. "Just leave me alone, I don't want you or anypony else to see me like this," She sniffled a bit. "Were all my years of throwing parties to spread laughter a waste?"

Mrs. Cake called back. "Pinkie, I don't know what would make you think that. You're the finest party pony Carrot Cake and I have ever known. Please, whatever it is that's bothering you, I just want to help. You're like family to me, and I can't stand seeing you so upset."

Pinkie only yelled. "Just go away, Mrs. Cake! I want to be alone!"

Mrs. Cake reluctantly sighed. "Alright, Pinkie, you win. But sooner or later, if you don't come out I'm coming in. And then you and I are going to have a little talk." Then the sound of hoofsteps signaled her departure, leaving Pinkie alone.

As the party pony sulked to herself, wondering just what she was going to do, she started to remember something from long ago. A memory from when she still lived on her family's rock farm.

The memory in particular she was recalling had occurred not long after she'd gotten her cutie mark. When she'd thrown that first party in the silo, and had made her whole family smile.

The four Pie sisters were hard at work in the fields, tending to the various rocks that lay scattered about the drab environment.

Suddenly, Limestone gave a whistle. "Hey, everypony," She called with a rare smile on her face. "I've got something I wanna show you. I found it just the other day in the mine."

The other sisters all trotted (or in Pinkie's case bounced) over to Limestone. She led them down the enbankment towards the crystal mine that the Choosing Stone was located in. But Limestone herself stopped a short distance from the mine entrance, gesturing a hoof to what looked like an ordinary rock. "I'm looking at a sparkling bright blue and white rock. See it?"

"That's just a lumpy grey rock," Maud flatly answered. "We have lots of those in the fields."

"And the rock gardens too, don't forget those!" Pinkie chimed in.

Limestone sighed, trying not to lose her temper. "Yes, I know it looks like an ordinary rock. But it's not an ordinary rock," She turned to Marble. "Show 'em!"

"Mm-hmm." Marble nodded and picked up a pickax. She tapped it against the rock, causing it to crack open. The fillies' eyes all fell upon the dazzling, sparkling gems that shone on the exposed interior.

Limestone proudly displayed it. "See?! It's a geode! I found one just like it in the mines, I bet there's a lot more of them buried around the farm! The outside looks like a regular rock, but the inside is filled with beautiful gems."

"Hey, we should totally crack open all the rocks in the mine, I bet they might be geodes!" Pinkie encouraged. "We could sell them for a fortune!"

But Maud questioned. "Why would you show us this, Limestone? Won't Mother and Father be mad if they find we're not in the fields?"

Limestone waved a hoof. "We're taking a work break, Ma and Pa will understand. Now tell me, does this geode remind you of anypony?"

Marble snickered and teased. "Is how you like to pretend you're always miserable, but on the inside you're a totally softy?"

Limestone growled as her face blushed bright red. "Marble, how could you?! Er... I mean... no, it's a metaphor! Just because you can't see past a pony's dull exterior, doesn't mean they don't have a shiny interior. You may see them as a plain old rock, but if you look closer you might realize why others see them as a gem," Then she added. "Now come on, break time's over!" Her yell put an end to any of the other fillies' ideas about continuing to make fun of her.

As the memory ended, Pinkie began to wonder. "Is Mudbriar who Limestone was referring to when she was explaining about the geodes?" She shook her head. "No, Limestone couldn't have known. And the only way I could ask her is if I went back to the rock farm. But that would take all day, and maybe half the night too."

Suddenly, Pinkie's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Pinkie?" Mrs. Cake called from the other side. "There's somepony here who wants to talk to you. Somepony very important."

"Technically, I'm not that important," The familiar voice of Mudbriar also called. "But I would still like to see you. If you'll allow me."

Surprised at this, Pinkie forgot all about being upset and unhappy. She sprang from her bed and opened the door as Mudbriar trotted in. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Maud, getting ready for her birthday tomorrow? There's not gonna be a party."

Mudbriar corrected. "Technically, there's not going to be a surprise party. But there will still be a party," He trotted closer to Pinkie, offering her what appeared to be an olive branch. "Here. I know it's technically not an olive branch, but it is a quercus. And I do love a good quercus."

"But, I don't understand, I treated you so horribly. I blamed you for stuff that wasn't even your fault." Pinkie blinked in surprise.

Mudbriar answered to Pinkie. "I never meant to take your place in your sister's heart as her best friend. There's room in her heart for a boyfriend and a best sister friend. And I think that should be more than enough for the two of us to get along. After all, I did say 'See you later' which if you'll recall implies that we see each other."

"Well, I accept your apology. But I think you're owed an apology too," Pinkie told Mudbriar as she accepted the olive branch. "I was really unfair to you, and I'm ready to listen to your ideas for Maud's birthday, if you still want to plan it together."

Mudbriar smiled. "That's good, because I think I'm going to need the help of a party pony. My birthday present for Maud is already prepared, but I need help wrapping it."

Pinkie grinned as she pulled Mudbriar close. "Well, you've come to the right place, Mudbriar. And while I help you wrap, you can tell me if you have any ideas for the party."

The next evening, many ponies (and even some of the students from Twilight's school) had gathered near town hall as the sun began to set. Suddenly, the doors swung open and a cardboard cut out of Maud appeared as everyone yelled out! "Surprise!" Spike even took the liberty of dancing with the cardboard cut out, which Starlight was holding aloft with her magic.

From a nearby hill, Pinkie Pie, Maud, and Mudbriar watched the fake surprise party while under the shade of a tree. Maud smiled. "This has to be my favorite party ever."

Pinkie simply gestured to Mudbriar. "It was all your amazing boyfriend's idea, Maud. He said the best present would be me throwing you a surprise party you didn't have to go to. And from now on, we can just do something smaller at your place for your birthday, and I promise I'll try to do a better job of listening to you."

Maud smiled again. "I'd like that very much, Pinkie. I'm glad you and Mudbriar are getting along."

The two sisters hugged each other for a moment, before Maud turned around to do the same with Mudbriar (and even kiss him). Then Pinkie Pie spoke up. "Hey, Maud, you know what this means, right? Now that you've introduced to Mudbriar, you need to introduce him to the rest of the family. After all, they're gonna be coming here to Ponyville for Hearth's Warming."

Mudbriar seemed to suddenly gulp. "What exactly are your parents like?" He asked Maud.

Maud just replied with another smile. "Don't worry, Mudbriar. If my sister could accept you for what you are, I don't think you'll have any problem with my parents," Then she added. "Though, I may have to explain why I didn't use the Choosing Stone to find you."

Pinkie Pie just grinned. "Hey, that's no problem. It's not like Limestone's in any hurry to use it," Then she looked down at the party. "Huh, I wonder where Twilight is. It's not like her to miss a party, even if it's a fake surprise party."

The answer was simple. Twilight was currently at her office in the school, looking over the files for a particular pony that she was considering whether or not to admit. It was a pegasus filly with a pinkish gray coat, eyes an moderate scarlet in color, a beautifully curly mane and tail that was a pale, light grayish arctic blue and light arctic bluish gray in color, and a cutie mark depicting a rook.

"So let me see if I get this," Twilight questioned the filly. "Your name is Cozy Glow, your cutie mark is in leadership, and you want to come to my school because you're convinced it's the best place for you?"

Cozy Glow nodded her head. "Golly, I still can't believe I'm actually talking with the real Princess Twilight Sparkle! This must be a dream come true!" Then she eagerly asked. "So when do I start classes?"

Twilight threw up a hoof. "Just a moment, Cozy Glow. I still have to decide whether to take you on. The school is already all but full as it is, and it's not like the semester just started either. You'd have to work really hard to catch up to where everyone else is."

"I know, I know," Cozy replied. "But I'm ready to learn! Just say the word!"

However, Twilight commented. "There's just one thing that worries me, Cozy Glow. You didn't mention any kind of parents or guardians on your entry form. But somepony had to sign off on this. Don't you have any kind of family or relatives?"

Cozy gulped and the pegasus struggled to hold back tears. "No, because the truth is, I'm not supposed to be here. They want me to attend a boring old, stuffy border school in Las Pegasus. So I ran away from home after tricking them into signing this form," She then pleaded. "Please, don't send me back! You don't know how mean my parents are, how mean my family is! I might as well be an orphan!"

"Well... I don't know," Twilight commented with a gulp. "I can't just bend the rules for you, it wouldn't be fair to the other students who came here fair and square."

"Please, princess?!" Cozy pleaded as the tears started to flow from her eyes. "I'll do whatever you want me to do, I'll take extra classes, do more homework, anything! I'll be the best student you've ever had! A role model for everyone else!"

Twilight looked deep into the filly's eyes, and something inside her melted. "Alright," She reluctantly told Cozy. "I suppose you can come here. But don't expect any kind of special treatment, you're going to have to work just as hard as your fellow students."

Cozy nodded her head and then hugged Twilight tightly. "Oh thank you, princess! You won't regret this! I'll go get my stuff so you can show me to my room!" She flew away a moment later, and only when she was certain that she was alone did the filly start to talk to herself. Her eyes glowed green as a similarly colored magical flame surrounded her.

Chrysalis cackled with glee. "Foolish, princess. You've led me right to your doorstep," She declared. "I'll find the source of your 'friendship' and use its power against you. Just you wait and see!"

Author's Note

While definitely far from the worst Pinkie Pie focused episode of all time, this episode does have a great deal of problems, many of which can be traced back to the fact that at times it feels like it's retredding ground from "Rock Solid Friendship'. It doesn't help that lots of scenes just feel dragged on or tacked on to pad out the run time (such as the beginning with Maud's stand up comedy, and the rule of three with Pinkie having to be told Maud has a boyfriend and trying to start over with Mudbriar).

Mudbriar is also a point of major contention, with some people comparing him to Sheldon from "Big Bang Theory" (which I haven't seen so I can't attest as to whether or not the connection is true) and others saying he's an offensive autistic stereotype (I don't really think he is, he has no trouble expressing himself he just seems to be rather set in his ways and unaware of how annoying he is). They point out that he never apologizes to Pinkie for his behavior, and while Pinkie definitely isn't acting the greatest in this episode Mudbriar does still get annoying after a while. Especially when he gets technical over Pinkie's peace offering.

But the detail of Maud only liking surprise parties because they make Pinkie happy really makes Maud look selfish, especially since they never tell or show that she tried to let Pinkie know she didn't enjoy them. It's fine to go along with it the first time, but pretending to like them every single time is lying. Pinkie would be upset, but lying to her instead of telling the truth makes it worse. So I wanted to address that along with Mudbriar's behavior.

Lastly, since I wrote the last rewrite volume prior to any knowledge of Season 9, my rewrite of "Marks for Effort" made Cozy Glow actually a disguise for Chrysalis. And if there's one thing that irked me about Season 8 besides the school, it's that Cozy Glow could've been established at any point prior to the finale since there was no twist to her identity. And putting this establishment into "Marks for Effort" just made the episode a waste since Cozy's introduction could've come at any time prior. And episodes like this were never clear on whether they took place before or after the school was established (despite this being the episode where the next version of the theme song debuted).

Now there's only two rewrites left, but since they're two parts of a two parter, I intend to wait and publish them when both parts are done. Hopefully, that will be by the end of this week, definitely by this time next week unless something unexpected pops up.

S8 E26: School Raze, Part 2 (What If?)

When last we left off the ponies were facing a crisis that seemed to get worse and worse with each passing minute. It had all started when a field trip to Cloudsdale ended with Starlight's cloud walking spell mysteriously failing. A dramatic rescue had been necessary to save the lives of the students who couldn't fly.

"Magic is disappearing from Equestria again." Rainbow had commented in alarm, bringing the news to Twilight.

It was confirmed a short time later by an emergency meeting in Canterlot. A letter from Starswirl the Bearded made it clear to all what was happening, for the wizard had written:

I can't explain it, but all of the magic in the land of Equestria is vanishing at an alarming rate! If my estimations are correct (and they usually are) then by sundown at the end of three days all of our magic will be lost forever!

You must act quickly! Find the source of the magic theft and stop whoever or whatever is behind it within the three days I've mentioned! Otherwise, our magic will cease to exist, and Equestria will be left defenseless forever.

Twilight's attention immediately went to Tirek, thinking he might still be in Tartarus. "Has anypony checked on Tirek lately?" She'd asked, to which she was told that nopony could be sure.

It was then that the young princess decided to take matters into her own hooves. "It's too risky to go all the way to Tartarus with me. I'll go alone. The rest of you need to stay and keep an eye on the school." She'd told her friends, before announcing her intent to travel to Tartarus with Discord.

Alas, Twilight's friends did not suspect that this was when Chrysalis would choose to reveal herself. She first did so to Starlight on the first night. "Oh, what I'm gonna do to you." The former queen had cackled after easily overpowering the unicorn.

The next night, it turned out that she had made a deal with Chancellor Neighsay while disguised as Cozy Glow. But Neighsay wasn't as easily fooled. "You've given me everything I could hope for on a silver platter. I've had far too many ponies try to butter me up like this not to grow wise. What is your real reason for luring me here like this?!"

Yet it was at that moment that Sandbar, Gallus, Smolder, Ocellus, Silverstream, and Yona accidentally revealed themselves to the two. And that caused them to be locked up and imprisoned.

"Until I can figure out what's going on I refuse to take any chances. You will all remain here." Neighsay told the six students.

But Sandbar managed to convince Neighsay to let him go, claiming in front of all his friends. "I don't want anything to do with creatures that could threaten Equestria!"

However, it was all a ruse so the colt could slip away and get help. Said help was in the form of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "If the Cutie Mark Crusaders can distract Neighsay, I can rescue my friends and we can all get to the bottom of this." He'd explained to Apple Bloom, who quickly promised to help.

Meanwhile, Twilight made it all the way to Tartarus, only to realize too late that it was a trap! The gates slammed shut on her, leaving her stuck there with no way out!

Tirek delighted in the princess' dilemma. "All I had to do was stall you long enough for the key to expire. You're now stuck here with me, forever," He'd told her and then laughed while he explained. "It's funny, I never actually met her. But when she started writing to me, offering to be my pen pal. Well how could I say no? The one responsible for the magic theft is none other than Chrysalis, former queen of the changelings."

And that was the discovery that Sandbar and the Cutie Mark Crusaders had found out upon entering a series of crystal catacombs beneath the school.

"All the pieces are falling into place. Soon, all will bow to me, Chrysalis, the Empress of Equestria!" Chrysalis had vowed while placing a crown on her head. Meanwhile, above her rested the imprisoned Starlight Glimmer, suspended in a magic bubble over a magic vortex. And there was now only one day left before the magic would disappear from Equestria forever!

Chrysalis didn't stay in the catacombs for very long, the sun would be rising shortly and she still had a particularly nosy chancellor to take care of. "It won't be long now, Starlight Glimmer," She taunted her victim one last time. "Now I'd better make sure Chancellor Neighsay knows just who he's up against. See you soon." And she stuck out her tongue before morphing back into her disguise of Cozy Glow, departing the catacombs without further fanfare.

The silence in the catacombs was soon broken as Diamond Tiara found the courage to speak out only seconds after Chrysalis had left. "I should've known Cozy Glow was up to no good. She reminded me way too much of how I used to be," The headgear wearing filly shuddered at the image she conjured up. "It's like looking in a mirror. A really ugly mirror."

"How did Chrysalis even manage to get her slimy hooves on those artifacts? I thought Twilight kept them in a secure room in the school?" Sweetie Belle questioned.

Scootaloo groaned. "Chrysalis probably learned the combination, just like she learned how to conduct the spell to drain all the magic from Equestria. She's one persistent bug."

Apple Bloom, meanwhile, declared. "That's enough talk. We gotta get Starlight out of here before Chrysalis comes back! Starlight'll warn the others!"

But Sandbar eyed the six artifacts in the circle around the vortex and gulped. "Uh, I don't think that's a very good idea, Crusaders. Shouldn't we tell Professor Applejack or one of the grown-ups?"

"We can't wait around for them to find out they've been duped! This is a time for action, not words!" Apple Bloom declared. "Besides, if we free Starlight we're freein' the grown-up who can put a stop to Chrysalis' plans before it's too late!"

Taking Apple Bloom's advice, Sweetie Belle rushed forward to grab the first artifact within her reach: the Crown of Grover!

Suddenly, the voice of Starlight Glimmer cried out! "Sweetie Belle, don't!" But her warning came too late! A magical hand reached out from the bubble and grabbed hold of the filly, prompting a scream!

"Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo cried in horror and rushed to try and grab her friend!

"Help! Save me, please!" Sweetie Belle pleaded.

Scootaloo reached out a hoof to grab Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara quickly grabbed onto Scootaloo's back hooves! All three pulled together, and with their combined strength they seemed to make some progress. But it wasn't until Sandbar joined in that they were all able to successfully yank Sweetie away from the bubble's grasp.

Starlight spoke up again once the fillies and Sandbar were all safe. "Listen to me, all of you!" She commanded. "It's taking everything I've got just to be able to speak to you like this! There's enough magic in the bubble for one low level spell, and a communication spell is the best I can do," She proceeded to explain. "You need to get out of here! Those artifacts aren't going to budge unless they're touched by someone worthy."

"You mean, like the bearers of the Elements of Harmony?" Sandbar questioned.

"Maybe," Starlight considered before she unhappily sighed. "But Twilight raced off to Tartarus, which is just what Chrysalis wanted. Without Twilight, the Elements of Harmony won't work."

Sandbar reluctantly spoke up. "Then what can we do, Counselor Starlight? We can't just leave you like this."

Starlight shook her head. "You don't have a choice! Get back to your friends, Sandbar! Find a way to stop Chrysalis before it's too late!"

"How are we gonna do that? There's no way to get word out to Princess Celestia, or anypony else. Especially not with Chancellor Neighsay in charge." Diamond Tiara protested.

"Please, Starlight, you have to help us. You and Twilight always seem to know just what to do." Scootaloo nervously whimpered.

Starlight only shook her head. "This time I'm afraid you're on your own. But if you can defeat Chrysalis, her imprisonment spell should break. That should give me a chance to at least buy us time. I'm sorry I can't help you anymore, but you can do this. Sandbar, you and your friends are special, even Twilight thinks so. And the Cutie Mark Crusaders, you've solved problems and done things even the best of ponies would've been stumped by. If anyponies can figure out how to save the day, it's all of you. Now go, quickly!"

And so the ponies reluctantly did just that. Though Sandbar was quick to insist. "We're not leaving you behind, Counselor Starlight! We'll be back for you, I swear!" Then he followed the Crusaders as they all left the catacombs.

Even once they were safely back in the library, the ponies had little time to rest. "I'm going to rescue my friends!" Sandbar told the Crusaders. "You need to find Chancellor Neighsay before Chrysalis does! He has to know what's going on, he might be our only hope."

"And you think you'll believe us?" Sweetie Belle asked in a hopeful tone of voice.

"Probably better if he hears it from you fillies rather than me. He probably still doesn't trust me even though I pretended to be on his side." Sandbar explained and then rushed away.

The other Crusaders gulped, but Diamond Tiara looked at them and declared. "You heard what Sandbar said! He's counting on us, and we're not gonna let him down!"

The other creatures weren't taking their imprisonment lying down. They'd been trying ever since Neighsay, Cozy Glow, and Sandbar had left them earlier in the night.

Gallus was now currently slamming his weight against the door, trying to make it budge. But despite his best efforts, the door rattled only slightly yet did not open.

"Still locked, huh? Figures." Smolder quipped in a defeated tone of voice.

"Come on, we have to at least try to escape!" Gallus protested. "After all we've been through, you really think I'm gonna let some arrogant chancellor tell me what to do? I think not."

Smolder sighed. "What's the point, Gallus? Even if we do escape it's our word against Cozy Glow and Neighsay."

Ocellus sighed too, looking down at the ground. "And if Sandbar's turned his back on us, then everypony else has probably done the same as well. Even our professors probably think we're guilty."

But Yona furiously stomped a hoof down in protest. "No! Sandbar not turn his back! Yona not care what others think, Yona have faith in Sandbar! Sandbar is our friend!"

Smolder rolled her eyes at Yona's statement. "Yona, why do you stick up for Sandbar so much? Can't you take a hint? He chose the winning side, and it's time we all did the same. He clearly said he wanted nothing to do with us."

Yona protested. "Yona not believe Sandbar mean that! Sandbar not betray us after all we go through as friends!"

Silverstream nervously suggested. "But why did he say what he said? If was just an act, why was it so convincing?" She began to wonder. "Maybe he only said that so one of us could be free to snoop around and figure out what's going on?"

Just then, a lock on the nearby window became unlatched. Sandbar grinned as he climbed in through a ladder and boasted. "I dunno. That sounds too clever for a pony to come up with."

Everyone in the room was glad to see Sandbar, but none more so than Yona! She rushed right up to him and tackled him into a big hug! "Yona knew Sandbar was still our friend! Yona knew Sandbar not betray us!" She laughed.

"O-okay, okay, Yona! Now can you get off me, please? You're crushing me!" Sandbar pleaded as he tried to escape the smothering hug. Yona obeyed, blushing a bit as she did so.

"So, I guess you're not slumming it up with Neighsay and Cozy Glow," Gallus commented to Sandbar. "For the record, the next time you decide to put on such an act, don't make it too convincing."

Now it was Sandbar's turn to blush. "Sorry, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. Professor Rainbow Dash always taught us to think on our hooves or whatever we have. Always worked well for her," Then he commented. "Besides, I found out that Cozy Glow is not who we thought she was."

Smolder rolled her eyes again. "We already know that, Sandbar. We know she's in cahoots with Neighsay, she makes Headmare Twilight go away and Neighsay gets to take over the school and run it his way."

"Except there's no actual Cozy Glow," Sandbar explained. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders and I discovered that she's actually Chrysalis, and she's the one responsible for Counselor Starlight's disappearance and the magic theft."

Ocellus shuddered. "I should've known it was her! How could I not sense it?!"

"Hey, she sure had me fooled! I never would've guessed Cozy Glow was a ruse," Silverstream declared. "But what are we supposed to do now?"

Gallus grinned as he fluffed up his feathers. "What do you think we do? Since our headmare isn't here and Counselor Starlight's out of commission, it's up to us. We'll teach that former queen a lesson she won't forget!"

"Bring it on! I smell a barbecue!" Smolder roared as she blew flames out of her mouth.

However, at that very moment an echoy voice called out to the six. "I am afraid that will not be enough. You are not yet ready." Without warning, an ominous wind blew and a blinding flash lit up the room! The six students shielded their eyes!

When at last the flash faded and the six opened their eyes again, they saw a sight that they almost couldn't believe. There stood what appeared to be none other than their headmare, Twilight Sparkle. But she appeared to be glowing rather brightly, a fact that did not go unnoticed.

"Headmare Twilight? But I thought you were stuck in Tartarus." Sandbar questioned.

Silverstream, however, gulped. "Guys, should we be worried that our headmare is all glowy and sparkley? Is that a thing ponies do, Sandbar?"

Sandbar nervously shook his head. "No... a-at least, I don't think we do. But if that's not Headmare Twilight, then who is it?"

"And what does it mean by 'You are not yet ready'?!" Smolder demanded of the glowing projection.

The glowing projection of Twilight only vaguely replied. "You six are ill prepared to face Chrysalis. You have come far and learned much, yet there is still one lesson you have yet to master. You are not yet one. And until you are, victory will never come to you."

"Listen, Headmare Twilight," Gallus growled as he stepped forward. "If this is some kind of test, we're not buying it. After everything we've been through, do we really need another test to prove we're good?"

The projection simply answered. "A test? Yes, of course," The ominous wind from before began to blow. "You shall each be tested one by one. You must overcome your greatest fears. If you can pass the test before the sun sets on this coming day, you will be ready to face Chrysalis and save Equestria. Fail the test, and you will remain lost and forgotten. Let us begin."

Before anyone could say even a syllable in protest, they were all whisked away by the projection! The room they were in became empty, as if though the six had never been there to begin with.

Just a short time later, the sun rose on what was now the third day since magic had begun to disappear from Equestria. By sundown it would be gone forever unless the source of it could be located, and the one responsible for it defeated.

The third day dawned at the school as the Cutie Mark Crusaders were rushing to the headmare's office to warn Chancellor Neighsay. But they found themselves only halfway there when the stallion began to speak to a gathered crowd in the front hallway of the school.

Neighsay cleared his throat. "Students, by now there's no use in trying to conceal the truth from you all. Magic has begun to disappear from all over Equestria, and has been doing so for two days straight," Amidst the collective gasps of the crowd he added. "Today is the last day it can be stopped! By sundown this evening, all magic shall be gone forever unless we locate the creature responsible for this mess and put a stop to their evil plan!"

A voice called up from the crowd. "What are we going to do, Chancellor?" And all eyes fell upon Neighsay.

Neighsay didn't hesitate for a moment before he declared. "I want to assure you that this institution is safe, despite the absence of your headmare. As your guidance counselor is also unavailable and the rest of your professors have classes to teach, I hereby appoint myself to lead the school. As your new headstallion, let me be the first to say that the reign of Princess Twilight is now over! From now on until further notice, this school will adhere to EEA doctrine, as it should have from the start!" He threw down a massive book of rules. "There will be no more mistakes! Together, we will do what Princess Twilight failed to do! Bring safety and stability to Equestria, and ensure our values are protected!"

Several students began to murmur angrily to each other. But to the surprise of everyone it was the sound of clapping that got their attention. And the clapping was coming from none other than Cozy Glow, who appeared to have a smile on her face. "Thank you, Chancellor Neighsay, for that rousing speech. I know you're a stallion who truly believes what you say."

The chancellor suspected nothing as he eyed Cozy Glow. "Indeed I do, Cozy Glow. Though I hope you realize that there will be no more favors granted to you. Since you are here under false pretenses, I see little choice but to have you expelled!"

But Cozy Glow only replied. "Golly, you wouldn't do that. Not to a sweet, innocent little filly like me? Especially when I'm not one of those dangerous creatures you just locked up last night."

One student suddenly gasped! "He did what?!"

Cozy Glow smirked as she trotted closer to Neighsay. "Oh, didn't your chancellor tell you? He arrested six students who he believed were a danger to Equestria and responsible for the magic theft. And you should probably know, one of them was a pony. Just like you and I. A pony whose only crime was associating with those other creatures."

"What is she talking about?" Another student whispered to the first student.

Cozy trotted closer, now in front of the crowd. "It's time you told them the truth, Chancellor Neighsay. You wanted Headmare Twilight out of the way so you could take over. So that you could run the school the way you've always wanted. So when you say there won't be any more lessons from the Princess of Friendship at the School of Friendship, I guess you mean that, too."

Neighsay gulped, suddenly finding himself on the defensive. "That's not true. I never said that!" He insisted. "Students, pay this child no mind. She speaks nothing but lies!"

But the filly continued to press, continued to whip the crowd into a frenzy. "Really? You locked up a pony just because of who he was friends with. How can we be sure you won't do the same to any of us?" She turned to the students. "Are we going to give the pony who already tried to wreck Twilight's school once another chance to do it? Are we really going to let him rule over us with an iron hoof instead of a velvet glove like Headmare Twilight did? Or are we going to stand up to a pony who thinks he knows what best for us, as long as we agree with him and don't ask questions?"

Several of the students shouted back. "Down with Neighsay!"

The chancellor tried to reassure the students as he suddenly found himself surrounded. "This is an outrage! I won't stand for it! All I want is what's best for Equestria, and for young minds to have a safe place to learn!"

"So does Headmare Twilight, but I guess that wasn't good enough for you!" Cozy taunted. "You only wanted an excuse to get this school shut down! But I guess you forgot that Twilight had the backing of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Or were you planning to get rid of them too?"

"No! Never in a million years!" Neighsay protested, and pleaded with the students. "You must listen to me! The magic in Equestria is failing! We're all in terrible danger!"

"You bet we are, we're in terrible danger from you!" Cozy roared as she accusingly pointed a hoof. "How can we be sure you didn't set up this whole thing just so you could take over? You've already told so many lies, how can we be expected to believe anything you say?"

Try as he might, Neighsay was unable to say anything as he found himself overwhelmed by the angered students! They rushed toward him and carried him away, shouting and jeering the whole time!

Cozy snickered, rubbing her hooves together as her eyes glowed green. "Well, that's one less problem I have to deal with. Better luck next time, Chancellor. Assuming there is a next time."

Cozy trotted away a second later, feeling quite pleased with herself. She didn't realize that from the safety of a nearby closet, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had seen everything.

"So much for gettin' through to Neighsay," Apple Bloom commented. "Where the heck did Sandbar and his friends go?"

Sweetie Belle gulped. "I don't know, but now I think we're truly on our own! It'll take a miracle to save us now!"

Deep in the crystal catacombs beneath the school, the six students all came to their senses one by one. They quickly noticed that they were all separated from each other, with no sign of each other anywhere in sight.

Silverstream was the first one to spot what appeared to be a way out. In the distance she could see a waterfall, and it looked like there was something on the other side of it. The pink coated hippogriff rushed through. But when she came out on the other side she was surprised to find herself in very familiar territory. "Mount Aris? How did I end up back here?" She leaped over and perched on a rock. "Wait a minute! Headmare Twilight sent me home? But why? What did I do? Am I suspended?" She called, only to hear no reply. "Hello? Anygriff here? Mom? Dad? Terramar? Aunt Novo? Seaspray?"

There was no reply, and the hippogriff became the slightest bit unnerved. The silence was very uncomfortable, it felt like something was wrong. "Maybe they're all just topside?" She thought to herself, trying to hide how nervous she was. "I-I'll... I'll check."

But as Silverstream flew into a nearby cave, suddenly she heard a growl. "What was that?" She wondered and looked behind her. That was a mistake, her eyes caught sight of an ominous shadow. And it filled her with dread! She transformed into a seapony and dove for cover in a nearby pond, quickly cowering behind a rock!

The shadow grew in size, standing up on two legs. And a pair of brilliant opal eyes suddenly appeared. At once, Silverstream recognized who it was. "No, it can't be! You... you were destroyed! Shattered into a million pieces!"

The shadow only laughed and growled. "Oh foolish child, I cannot be destroyed so easily. And this time, there is nowhere you can hide. You and all the hippogriffs will bow to me!"

"Never!" Silverstream roared, trying not to cower. "We'll never let you rule over us, Aunt Novo will stop you!"

The shadow of the Storm King only laughed again. "Such bravado, but it can't hide your fear. And I see much fear in your eyes."

Gallus was the next one to find himself in a tough place. He was in what appeared to be a small cave made up of crystals, and several lights shone through the cracks in alternating hues of purple and white.

The griffon found himself a little bit unnerved, but he tried not to show it. "Okay, so I'm cut off from my friends and I'm in a room with no exit," He took a couple of breaths, inhaling deep. "No big deal. I'll just find the exit and get out."

But just after Gallus spoke he moved one of his paws, tripping one of the lights. The cave he was in rattled and contracted, the sharp crystals pressing closer!

Gallus backed up and began to hyperventilate! "Okay, big deal! Totally not cool!" He panted as he broke out into a nervous sweat. "I've gotta figure a way out of this mess before I become a griffon pancake!"

Yona was having problems of her own. She was alone in a dark cave that was only light periodically. And ominous creaking sounds could be heard.

Still, the yak stepped forward one hoof at a time. She tried her best not to look frightened. "No big deal, nothing for yak to be afraid of," She told herself. "It just empty cave. Yona is alone. Nothing here can ever hurt-"

But Yona's conversation to herself was suddenly interrupted as she heard a chittering sound coming from somewhere behind her. It sounded ominously close. She spun around, only to come face to face with her worst fear! An army of spiders that weren't even half her size! And they all appeared to be looking right at her!

Yona gulped and backed up as she began to stutter! "S-s-spiders!" Then she screamed in horror and began to run, the spiders following her as if she were their prey!

Compared to her friends, Smolder wasn't having a tough time. She'd quickly come to her senses and decided it was best to focus on getting out of the caves. Even so, the dragon couldn't help but comment to herself. "These past few days have been really strange! Things like this just don't happen in the Dragon Lands. Not with Ember around."

Suddenly, ahead Smolder could see a light. She flew towards it, hoping it was a way out.

It wasn't, instead two earth ponies in fancy dresses and incredibly girly shades of pink were talking to each other. They seemed to be having a tea part of some sort.

Smolder skidded to a halt. "What the-" She began, speaking a little too loudly. The dragon gave away her presence.

The two ponies turned to look at her with bright smiles (creepy smiles in Smolder's case). "Ohhh! Hello there!" The first pony spoke up. "Well aren't you just the cutest little thing I ever did see? Come join us. You must be thirsty, so how does tea sound? Don't worry, there's plenty to go around."

But Smolder rejected the offer, she wanted nothing to do with tea parties or pretty ponies. "No. On so many levels. No," She flew away, trying to get as far away from the ponies as possible. But no matter how many times she tried, she always ended up back in the same place. "You've gotta be kidding me. What are you ponies, anyway? Are you ghosts or something?"

"Ghosts? Us?" The other pony replied. "I don't think so. We're just here to hang out and enjoy this tea party," Then she motioned to a seat next to her. "Come on, dragon. Come sit by my side and let's compliment each other. It'd be a shame to let all this tea go to waste."

"Yeah," The first pony insisted. "Don't you want to be cute and pretty like us?"

"No, never!" Smolder roared. And in her mind she was thinking. "This is my worst nightmare come to life! What do I have to do to make these ponies go away?!"

Ocellus, much like Smolder, wasn't easily frightened. She was already walking around the cave she was in, trying to find a way out. But she found it odd that the surrounding landscape looked more and more like the changeling hive from when Chrysalis had been queen.

Suddenly, two black changelings appeared before her, which prompted Ocellus to gasp! "Why do you look like that?! King Thorax says that's not how we're supposed to look anymore."

The first changeling only replied. "What are you talking about? We don't have a king, and I don't know who this 'Thorax' is you speak of. We've always been this way. What's the matter, did you hit your head or something?"

Ocellus whimpered. "What's wrong with you two? What are you talking about? I don't look like you at all."

The other changeling simply nodded his head. "Well duh. Of course not you... your majesty."

Ocellus blinked in surprise! "Wait, what?! I'm... your queen?"

The second changeling happily confirmed with a nod. "Yup. Always have and always will be," Then he turned to the other changeling and added. "It's okay, some days you get like this. We'll go and drain the love from all of those pathetic, pipsqueak ponies in Ponyville just as you ordered. That'll make you feel like your old queeny self again."

Ocellus happened to turn around and saw a reflection of herself in a mirror! But to her horror, she only saw the form of Queen Chrysalis staring back at her! "Noooo!" She cried in horror! "I'm not Chrysalis! I'm NOT!" But try as she might, she found that she couldn't shed her transformation. She was stuck in Chrysalis' body!

As for Sandbar, he was alone. But not for long, he suddenly found himself greeted by two of his professors: Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

"Oh Sandbar, thank heavens we found you!" Rarity exclaimed as she rushed over to him. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"Well, I'm here. Sorry to make you worry," Sandbar apologized. "Uh, but what about my friends? Have you seen them?"

Rainbow Dash only replied. "There's no time for that, kid! The other students will just have to take care of themselves! With Twilight gone, we need somepony to take her place so we can use the Elements of Harmony!"

Sandbar gasped in astonishment, those words were like a dream come true to him! "You mean, it's my first friendship adventure?!"

Rarity nodded. "Absolutely, darling. Now come on, time is running out!"

Sandbar was about to take a step forward, before his thoughts turned to his friends. "But I can't just leave my friends. It was the strangest thing. We saw this glowing version of Headmare Twilight, and then we were all whisked away."

But Rainbow rolled her eyes. "That's quite the imagination you have, kid. But we don't have time to be playing games. This is serious! Are you in or out?!"

Reluctantly, Sandbar stepped forward again. "I'm in! I want to help!" He insisted, even as he couldn't stop thinking about his friends. "I'm sure we'll find them in due time. There's no way our professors would abandon them, right?"

Gallus wasn't having any luck on his end, especially now that the crystal walls of his cave were closing in. And they seemed to be reflecting the face of Chrysalis, as the changeling taunted him. "A mere griffon is going to challenge me? That's a joke if I ever heard one. A puny little chick like you could never hope to defeat me. And now you'll pay the price!"

"Stop mocking me!" Gallus roared. "How do I get into these situations?! Come on, Gallus! Think, think, think!"

But all that accomplished was kicking up dust, causing Gallus to sneeze and fly backward! He blew past several lights, causing the crystals to further contract!

The griffon immediately began to panic, breaking out in a sweat! "I'm too young to die!" He whimpered. "I've gotta out of here!" But he then brought a paw to his face and slapped himself. "Come on, man! Keep it together! You've got this!" he started thinking to himself. "There's got to be some way out of here. What would the others do if they were in this situation?"

Gallus started thinking about his friends, but none of them would be particularly helpful. Smolder would just start eating her way out, Ocellus would probably transform into something that could crawl out, Yona would probably smash the crystals and free herself, and Silverstream would've probably discovered the solution by accident while flying around. The only one he could think of who might actually be helpful at this moment in time was Sandbar. "Sandbar always plays it cool," The griffon thought to himself. "If he were here, he'd probably tell me to stay calm and find out the solution. If he can do it, so can I!"

It was then that Gallus noticed something he hadn't before. The white lights hadn't been touched, only the purple ones. And it seemed the purple ones made the crystal wall contract. So maybe the white lights would do the opposite? Well there was only one way to find out.

Curiously, the blue feathered griffon reached out a paw to touch one of the white lights. Just as he thought, the moment his paw touched the light the walls expanded a little. Now his tight spot didn't seem nearly so tight. And that gave him a chance to pause and take a deep breath. "Okay, no big deal. You can handle this, Gallus. It's a puzzle... a puzzle that can squash you if you get it wrong," He told himself. "But you know what to do, right?"

He proceeded to touch several more white lights, creating an opening that grew wider and wider. But every so often he would slip up as his tail would touch one of the purple lights and the walls would contract again. He just barely managed to crawl out through the small opening he'd given himself, and pulled his tail free just before the crystals closed in so tight that the opening ceased to exist. Then Gallus flew away, breathing a sigh of relief. "That was close!"

Smolder tried in vain to get away from the pretty ponies for a little bit longer. But at last her frustration reached its peak. She snorted and blew smoke from her nostrils. "Okay, ladies, you win. I know you're part of that test Headmare Twilight set up for me. So tell me what I have to do, and I'll do it. I'm not afraid of anything."

The first mare simply eyed Smolder and commented. "You sure about that, cutie? Everyone's got something they're afraid of," She turned to the other mare. "It sounds to me like someone here is afraid to ever be seen as cute and adorable. Am I right?"

The second mare only declared. "Or maybe, she's just afraid to admit to herself that she actually likes being cute and adorable."

"She may be a dragon, but she sure is a tomboy," The first mare commented in observation. "A girl who's too afraid to let her girly side show, because she's afraid of what others might think."

"Well that's okay, I'm sure her true friends won't judge her for who she is or what she likes. We certainly won't tell." The second mare said with a wink.

Smolder reluctantly sighed. "Oh, alright, if it's for the test. But let's keep this between ourselves, okay?" Then she cleared her throat, adopting the most polite tone of voice she could muster up under the circumstances. "Ladies, may I have some tea, please?"

"Aw, of course you can, cutie," The first mare replied with a smile. "But not until you're dressed for it. You know what that means."

A short time later, Smolder was dressed up in a fancy dress and even had some make-up over her eyes. She sat at the table with the two mares, sipping tea and giggling to herself. "You know what? This isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to me." She commented to herself.

Poor Yona tried her best not to show how frightened she was of the spiders. After all, she was bigger than them. Though it seemed like the spiders didn't care. "O-okay, spiders," Yona nervously declared while stepping back. "You making Yona angry, and you not want to see yak when yak get angry. Spiders leave Yona alone, right?"

The spiders didn't care, more of them descended in front of Yona who let out a yelp and ran away! "Get away, scary spiders!" She screamed at the top of her lungs! But the spiders won't go away, they kept on chasing her!

"Why spiders? Why it have to be animal Yona no like?" Yona whimpered. "Why can't spiders leave yak alone?"

The spiders only kept on coming, closing in all around Yona. "Ah! Yona need help!" The yak screamed. "Where Yona's friends when Yona need them?! Yona not afraid when friends by her side! Yak not like being alone!"

But then suddenly the spiders stopped in their tracks, they didn't come any closer to Yona. It was as if they were afraid of her. One of them started to chitter, and Yona was somehow able to hear what it was saying. It said something about how Yona's screams frightened it and its kind.

Yona blinked. She couldn't believe this was happening. "Y-Yona no mean to scream so loud," She apologized to the spiders. "Yona love to make new friends. Spiders friends?" She proceed to hold out her hoof.

One of the spiders crawled right up to it as Yona carefully pulled her hoof back, bringing the spider close. "Yona call you Spindle!" She told the spider. "Maybe Yona come back and take Spindle home as pet?"

Then Spindle began to chatter, prompting Yona to pull the spider close. "Wait? What little spider say? Little spider and friends know the way out? Spindle show Yona if Yona follow? Very well, Spindle lead the way!"

Smolder wasn't alone for very long before she found herself in a change of scenery. It looked like the changeling hive the way Ocellus had described it, to an extent anyway. Some details were clearly different.

Suddenly, the dragon's ears heard the distant but growing sound of sobbing. And the sobbing sounded familiar. "Ocellus?" She called. "Are you there?"

"Go away!" Ocellus cried from the distance! "I don't want you or anyone else to see me like this! I'm hideous!"

Smolder wasn't convinced, she continued to fly forward. "Come on, Ocellus. It can't be that bad. I just wanna talk to you so we can get out of here," But as she rounded a corner she was shocked to come face to face with Chrysalis! "Chrysalis?! How did you end up here?! Where's Ocellus?! What have you done with my friend?!"

But the voice of Ocellus cried out from Chrysalis' body! "It's me, Smolder! I told you, I'm hideous!"

"What in the world are you talking about?" Smolder questioned. "How come you look like Chrysalis but sound like yourself? When Chrysalis disguised herself, we couldn't hear her voice at all."

Ocellus explained. "I guess it's a part of what made me feel different from the other changelings. Besides, if we're really stressed or upset, our true voice can slip out," She broke down into tears. "Now I understand what Chrysalis was doing to me all those years ago. She was creating a link, a way to transfer herself to me so that I could continue her legacy."

"So? Just change back," Smolder demanded of her friend. "You've always been able to do that before. Why can't you do it now?"

Ocellus tried to do so right before Smolder's eyes, but her form didn't change at all, it remained Chrysalis. "It's hopeless, Smolder! I'm stuck like this forever!" And she sobbed louder. "Maybe Neighsay was right after all. Maybe the changelings really haven't changed all that much. Maybe my past was so horrible that it's still inside me just waiting to come out again."

Smolder shook her head. "That's just nonsense, Smolder. You've changed! I know you have, and so do you! Besides, when did you care what some blockhead like Neighsay thinks? He doesn't know the changelings more than you do."

But Ocellus just whimpered. "Maybe we really can't change that much, though. Maybe our past always haunts us no matter what we do."

"No, that's not true!" Smolder protested, and then her voice trailed off as she started to say. "I... I sort of..."

Ocellus put a hoof to her ear. "What was that?"

A raging blush broke out across Smolder's cheeks as she loudly proclaimed! "Ugh, this is so lame! I like cute, silly stuff!" Then she explained. "So you see, Ocellus? If even a dragon like me can admit to... that, then that's proof that we can change. Ever since I met you and the others, I've come to realize that I don't necessarily mind being cute sometimes. You know, I was thinking about inviting you to a top secret tea party with me. But if you'd rather stay down here..."

"N-no no!" Ocellus insisted. "I... want to come!" A moment later, the changeling finally morphed back to her original self. "Thanks, Smolder."

The dragon smiled. "Hey, what are friends for? Now come on, we're getting out of here!"

Gallus was flying along through a cave, when suddenly he found himself being tackled in mid-air by Silverstream! He felt a fin be put in front of his face as he was brought to sea level behind a rock!

"What's going on?! What's the big idea, Silverstream?" Gallus questioned the seapony.

But Silverstream only shushed Gallus again. "Not so loudly, the Storm King will hear you. He hears everything!"

"What are you talking about?" Gallus questioned further. "The Storm King's long gone and he's never coming back! It's probably just your imagination, Silverstream."

Silverstream was anything but convinced. "It's not, I know it's not! I know he's real, I can feel it! We thought we were rid of him, but we were wrong!" She whimpered as she clutched a fin close to her heart. "I'm never gonna see another sunset or fly through a cloud bank or study plumbing or do anything of those cool things! He's gonna take away everything that I love! I'm gonna be trapped down here forever!"

The griffon immediately confessed. "I know what that feels like. I'm afraid of being trapped too."

"Really? You're afraid?" The seapony replied. "But I thought griffons were always fearless."

Gallus shook his head. "It's just an act, there's a lot that scares me. But nothing scares me more than being trapped in tight spaces," Then he explained to his friend. "I was stuck in a room that kept shrinking. But I realized I had to face my fear, and I found the way out," He promptly deduced. "I'll bet this is your test, Silverstream. You've got to face your fear if you wanna get out of here!"

Silverstream gulped. "But the Storm King might hurt me, just like he'll hurt anyone who opposes him."

"He can't hurt you on my watch! I'll make him regret it in an instant!" Gallus vowed. "Now go on, tell that overgrown beast what you really think of him."

Silverstream gulped as she turned into a hippogriff. "H-hey, Storm King!" She called out.

The shadow of the Storm King turned to look at Silverstream. "Ah, so you've finally stopped hiding."

"Y-yeah," Silverstream tried not to whimper. "Because... we're done fearing you! We'll never let you control us again, Storm King! And do you know why?"

"Not really, but I could use a good laugh." The Storm King's shadow shrugged its shoulders.

Silverstream plucked up courage, swallowing a lump in her throat. "Because you're just a big, ugly... bully! There, I said it! You're a bully! You're not even a real king, you just pretend to be one because you think it makes you sound important! But it doesn't! Together, we hippogriffs learned that we're stronger than you, and try as you might you can't get rid of us! And guess what, your phoniness? Now I've got friends, something you'll never have! And unlike you, I don't need to control them with fear! You don't even deserve to linger in my mind, you're a bad memory that I don't need anymore!"

"Insolent child!" The Storm King's shadow snapped. "How dare you defy me like this! Maybe I need to teach you a lesson!"

But Silverstream only roared! "No, Storm King! It's you who needs to learn the lesson! You can rule with fear all you want, but when others stop fearing you you'll lose power much faster than you would've otherwise!" And just like, the Storm King's shadow vanished, never to be seen again.

Gallus had watched the whole thing, and he clapped his paws in approval. "Very well done, Silverstream."

Silverstream rushed over and tackled Gallus into a hug. "Ooh! I sure told him, didn't I?!"

Gallus nodded and tried not to blush. "Y-yeah, you sure did. But let's focus on getting out of this cave, shall we?"

Sandbar still hadn't seen any of his friends as Rarity and Rainbow Dash led him along. And as time passed he grew more and more worried about the whereabouts of said friends. "Professors," He finally spoke up. "We need to stop. I have to find my friends!"

"Look, Sandbar, the other creatures can take care of themselves," Rainbow insisted. "We didn't come all this way just to be told you didn't want to be rescued."

Rarity added. "It was certainly nice of you to try and befriend those other creatures, but for once you need to think about yourself. This is your big chance. Do you really wanna blow it to play the hero for your friends?"

Rainbow chimed in. "Where are your loyalties, Sandbar? It's us or your friends. And it's time you decided who matters most!"

That caused Sandbar to stop in his tracks, he couldn't believe what he'd just heard! "How could you?! How could you say such horrible things?! All my life I've looked up to you girls, wanted to be just like you! And now that I finally made friends, you want me to throw them all away to please you?"

Rarity simply scoffed. "Really, darling? You're going to insist on siding with your friends at a time like this? Such a disappointment."

But Sandbar felt something rise inside of him as he stomped a hoof down. "Well it doesn't matter to me. I didn't get to where I am by turning my back on my friends when they needed me most. So it doesn't matter if you say I'm a disappointment, because I know you're not the real Rarity and Rainbow Dash. And you disappoint me!" Just as he spoke those words, Rarity and Rainbow Dash disappeared completely.

Unbeknownst to Sandbar, his friends had all gathered and caught up to him. And they had heard everything. "Did you actually just tell our professors you were disappointed in them?" Silverstream questioned the colt.

Sandbar shook his head. "They weren't actually our professors. Besides, I'd never let them or anypony get between my friends and I!"

Smolder simply commented. "Well that's nice and all, but can we please get out of here?"

The six students, now reunited, raced back to the cave entrance. They saw what appeared to be some kind of vent, but it was blocked off by a series of crystal branches.

Suddenly, the ominous wind from before blew once again. And the glowing projection of Twilight Sparkle appeared before them in all its glory. "You have all passed your tests. Good. I believed you would." It told them.

"Enough talk! Who are you?!" Sandbar questioned. "You're not Headmare Twilight, are you?!" To which the projection shook its head.

Ocellus let out a gasp! "You're the Tree of Harmony! You took on this form so you could speak to us!"

The Tree of Harmony nodded. "Correct. I knew that you six possessed the power to defeat Chrysalis. But not until you learned how to act one. In order to do so, your bonds of friendship had to be tested. I wanted to see how you would fare if push came to shove, and each of you passed with flying colors."

Gallus gulped. "Uh, so what if one of us had failed? What would've happened then?"

The Tree of Harmony explained. "I would not allow harm to come to any innocent creatures. Had you failed you would have been returned to the school with no memory of this encounter. It would be as if you went to sleep and suddenly woke up," Then it added. "However, had I told you from the start you would not have had the courage to overcome your struggles and help each other out."

"So, we're ready to take on Chrysalis, then?" Smolder asked, hopefully.

The Tree of Harmony shook its head. "Not quite, there is still one thing you have yet to do. One pony who could help you is currently at Chrysalis' mercy. You must free him and show him that he is wrong."

"Chancellor Neighsay?" Sandbar questioned. "You really think he'll listen?"

"He has already been deposed by Chrysalis. If you do not hurry, it will be too late," The Tree of Harmony warned. "His help will be needed to ensure Chrysalis does not escape again," Then it began to shudder violently. "My time grows short. As promised, I will let you all pass back to the school. Hurry and rescue the chancellor! Then you can take down Chrysalis." And just like that, another blinding flash came and the students were whisked away again!

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were just wondering what they were going to do now that Neighsay had been deposed, when a blinding flash made them all shield their eyes!

The flash faded as quickly as it had arrived, and the four fillies were greeted by the presence of the six students all together!

"What the hay was with that flash?" Apple Bloom questioned. "And where in tarnation did you all disappear to?"

"There's no time to explain, where's Chancellor Neighsay?!" Sandbar frantically insisted.

Diamond Tiara gulped. "I'm sorry, we were too late. Chrysalis got to him first. He's been deposed."

"Yeah, we know," Smolder grumbled. "Long story, don't really have time to explain. But we need to talk to Neighsay, he's our only option."

Scootaloo blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Are you out of your mind?! You think Neighsay will listen to anything you have to say?!"

Sandbar reluctantly confessed. "Maybe not, but he's the only one who contact the princesses and get help. We at least need to get that magical medallion he has around his neck."

"Good luck getting it with Chrysalis around," Sweetie Belle commented. "She's used Cozy Glow to get the entire school to rally around her. They think she should be in charge."

"Then it looks like we need a new plan." Ocellus suggested.

Sandbar shook his head. "No, the old plan will still work. We just need to keep Chrysalis distracted until Neighsay is freed."

Apple Bloom reluctantly spoke up. "Well, if it's a distraction y'all want I guess the Cutie Mark Crusaders can fill the role."

Chrysalis (as Cozy Glow) had decided to keep Neighsay locked up in the headmare's office. It seemed like a fitting place for the chancellor to be held.

Cozy Glow couldn't help but smirk the whole time. "Tight enough for you, Chancellor? Wouldn't want you to break free and spoil all my fun."

Neighsay groaned, struggling in vain to break free of the chains. He suddenly had a new perspective on the very students he'd treated so poorly the night before. "Why are you doing this?" He demanded of the filly, unaware of her true nature. "I thought you just wanted someone to take over the school? Someone like me."

Cozy looked around, scanning to see if anyone was around. When she was certain there wasn't her eyes glowed a sickly green as she dropped her disguise. "Because you see, Chancellor, you're not dealing with an ordinary little filly. You're not even dealing with a pony."

Neighsay gasped! "I should've known! No wonder you were so secretive about your family, you had none! Cozy Glow was your disguise!"

Chrysalis smirked as she trotted close to Neighsay, poking at his robe with a hoof. "Ooh! Look at the big brain on you, oh Chancellor!" The last part of her sentence was dripping with venom and malice. "You're not the only one who can change the terms of the deal. I should've known you wouldn't be content just having Twilight Sparkle out of the way."

"If I'd known your true nature, I never would've accepted your offer, fiend!" Neighsay growled. "You're the real culprit behind all of this, aren't you?!"

"And what if I am?" Chrysalis teased. "What are you going to do about it? You have no magic, and nopony is going to believe you now. For you see, when you decided to make yourself the new headstallion, you made one fatal mistake: You took away what was rightfully mine! And if there's one thing I can't stand, it's those who dare to betray me!" A maniacal laugh could be heard in her echoy tone as she continued to taunt the powerless chancellor. "You ponies will soon learn the hard way what I learned long ago. Friendship is meaningless: It's better to be feared than to be loved. And once I've taken away all the magic of Equestria, not even your precious 'friendship' will be able to save you. Then I'll crush all who dare to oppose me. And all will learn to rue the name, Chrysalis!"

Neighsay just gulped, unable to say anything else.

Chrysalis just laughed, before she transformed back into Cozy Glow. "Well, I've got to go now. It's almost time for my coronation. But I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of each other. You can just stay there until I think about what to do with you." And she left the headmare office's seconds later, giggling to herself at how easy everything seemed to be.

That was when the Crusaders made their move. They approached the disguised filly, innocently striking up a conversation as if they had no idea of who she really was. "Hey, Cozy, what's so funny?"

"Huh? Oh... uh, nothing... nothing," Cozy quickly insisted and eyed the approaching Crusaders. "What do you want?"

Diamond Tiara stepped forward. "Well, Mother always taught me the importance of making the right connections. And you seem like a pony who's on her way to bigger and better things. If she were here, I'm sure my mother would want me to befriend you. And as much as I may hate my mother's influence, I won't deny she has a point."

"And since Diamond Tiara's one of us, we figured that if she's gonna be your friend the three of us might as well do the same." Apple Bloom explained, pointing a hoof in turn to herself, Sweetie Belle, and finally Scootaloo.

"Is there anything we can do to help you? You know, as a way of thanks for getting rid of that no good Neighsay?" Sweetie Belle offered. "Or we could just hang out together."

Cozy reluctantly replied. "Oh, very well. I guess it can't hurt to make more friends. I don't suppose any of you know about the magic theft or who's behind it, do you?"

Apple Bloom shook her head, as did the other fillies. "Sorry, ain't see hide or hair of the culprit. But I'm sure they'll reveal themselves, and Twilight and her friends will save the day."

"They always do, even when things look their bleakest." Scootaloo innocently commented.

Under her breath, Cozy muttered to herself. "Not this time."

Meanwhile, the six students took advantage of Cozy's distraction to slip into the headmare's office undetected. They quickly spotted Chancellor Neighsay, tied up in the chair usually reserved for the headmare of the school.

Neighsay spun around to eye the six creatures. His mood sank. "Oh, it's you," He unhappily commented. "I'm not even going to bother asking how you escaped, it won't do me any good at this point. Surely, you've come to gloat. To mock me and get your laughs in while you still can. Go ahead, do whatever you want to me. I don't care."

"Well actually, Chancellor," Silverstream commented with a smile. "We didn't come here to gloat. We came here to free you from those chains."

"Really? But... but why? After how horrible I treated you six?" Neighsay questioned.

"Chancellor rotten, nasty pony. But now that he meet even nastier creature, maybe pony learn not to be so nasty," Yona explained. "Now pony hold still, let yak free pony."

"Besides," Smolder chimed in. "As Dragon Lord Ember would say: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'."

Neighsay found it hard not to wiggle as Yona trotted right up to him with her sharp horns. She could've easily gored him with them if she wanted to. But instead she used them as a lock pick, finally producing a clicking sound as the chains fell from the stallion's waist.

Sandbar spoke up once the chancellor was freed. "Neighsay, you've got to help us stop Chrysalis! She's draining all the magic in Equestria, and if we don't stop her by sundown it'll be too late!"

Neighsay only sighed. "I wish I had known sooner. Alas, I fear it is too late even for me."

"No way!" Gallus insisted as he put his paws together! "We're not giving up without a fight! We'll put that overgrown bug in her place!"

But the stallion shook his head as he looked down at the floor towards his medallion. "No. You six are powerful, I'll give you that. But even with your combined strength it won't be enough. Chrysalis has already eluded capture twice, and she'll do so again. You'd need an army to stop her for good."

"But without magic it'll take forever to get the word out to anypony." Sandbar commented with concern.

Neighsay picked up his medallion, putting it back on his robe near his chest. "It's true that unicorns have lost their ability to cast spells, but the most potent magic in Equestria is housed in our... artifacts. The EEA medallion allows me to travel throughout all of Equestria at a moment's notice. Its magic worked when Chrysalis chained you up last night. Perhaps it still has enough to send me to the princesses."

And indeed it did. The medallion was able to conjure up a portal to Canterlot, which Neighsay proceeded to trot through. "Don't wait for me to show up. Even if I alert the princesses it will take hours to reach you. Do whatever you can to prevent our magic from disappearing forever. You six are our last hope, much as it pains me to say it." Then he disappeared and the portal vanished behind him.

"Well, now what?" Gallus questioned.

Smolder growled. "What do you think, feathers for brains? We're not gonna sit here and hold claws and hooves while we think happy thoughts. We've got to warn our professors while we still can!"

The six students didn't have to wait long to run into their professors. Pinkie Pie happened to bump into them just as they left the headmare's office. "Hey! Have you all been playing hide and go seek today?! We've been trying to find you for hours!"

"Professor Pinkie Pie, we weren't playing," Silverstream protested. "Please, you have to believe us. Cozy Glow isn't who she says she is. She's really the evil Chrysalis, and we have to stop her before it's too late!"

Pinkie didn't giggle like the students expected her to do. She was surprisingly serious for once. "I like to laugh as much as anyone else. But there comes a time when the laughter has to stop," She told them. "For once, even I'm stuck without a joke to crack."

"But Professor, we're serious! You have to believe us!" Sandbar desperately pleaded! "We don't have much time left! You need to notify the other professors so we can stop Chrysalis!"

Pinkie shook her head. "I don't know why you brought up Chrysalis. It's not like she's Cozy Glow in disguise, because that would mean there's a real Cozy Glow imprisoned somewhere."

"There is no Cozy Glow," Ocellus commented. "Please, you have to believe us! We're not making this up!" Then she got an idea! "The library! There's a vent in the library that leads to some catacombs! That's where Chrysalis is holding Counselor Starlight captive, and where she's keeping all the magic!"

"Gee, that was awfully specific," Pinkie pondered. "How do I know you're not making this up?"

"Please, just round up the other professors and tell them to meet us in the library! I promise, everything will make sense!" Sandbar pleaded. "With Headmare Twilight gone, we're the only ones left who can stop Chrysalis!"

The pink party pony paused for but a moment. "Well... I guess I can try to talk to the others. But this better be good. I'll try to laugh along with you either way, but it won't look good if you're playing games at a time like this." She bounced away to warn her friends.

Unfortunately, that bouncing caught the attention of Chrysalis. When she saw Pinkie bouncing away, she quickly looked back at the Crusaders and realized that she'd been had! "No! I won't be cheated out of what's rightfully mine!" She vowed, shedding her disguise! Then she used her magic to throw the fillies into a nearby broom closet! "Since you're allying yourselves with those students, you can just stay in here! Be thankful I don't make you suffer the same fate as Starlight or Neighsay." She slammed the door shut on them and quickly departed!

Apple Bloom sighed, kicking a bucket. "Well, I guess that's that then. We did our best, but it's up to those six students now."

But Diamond Tiara shook her head, rushing over to the nearby window. "No way! We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders don't give in!"

"Face it, Diamond Tiara. It's hopeless, there's no way out of here." Scootaloo commented.

Diamond just grinned. "Not if I can help it. I'll be darned if I didn't pick up a thing or two in the art of escape after Mother kept grounding me for hanging with you girls all the time. We're not beaten yet, we're just getting started!"

Twilight wasn't aware of anything that was going on back in Ponyville, but she did know that she had been trapped in Tartarus for a very long time. She'd tried everything to get the gates to open, but nothing worked.

"Come on, come on! There's got to be a way out!" Twilight said to herself, all but pounding on the door that refused to open.

Tirek simply called back. "It's hopeless, princess. Just give up already! If Chrysalis has followed my instructions to the letter, then by sunset tonight, every last vestige of Equestrian magic will disappear forever!"

It was then that Twilight got an idea. She'd been observing all the strange creatures within Tartarus, and how they didn't seem to be affected by the magic drain that was going on. In between her many escape attempts (which had all failed) the princess had begun to wonder about something. What if there was some way to get the magic from those creatures, temporarily? Would it be enough to power up her horn and open the gates?

Well, in order for her plan to work she would need the magic of every creature in Tartarus. And there was one creature she knew would need convincing. Fortunately, a smirk formed on her face as she started to realize just how that might be possible. "That's an excellent plan, Tirek. Or rather it would be, if you hadn't overlooked one not so small detail."

Tirek spun around, glaring at the princess. "And what would that be? What could I have possibly failed to consider?"

Twilight's smirk grew wider. "Well, think about it, Tirek. If all the magic from Equestria disappears, then that means I'm stuck here with you."

"Exactly, just as I planned from the beginning!" Tirek gloated. "My most hated enemy is trapped in the one place she can't escape, so she gets to experience exactly the same torment she's put me through!"

"Except I'll be stuck here forever," Twilight went on. "Everyday for all eternity!"

Tirek gulped. "Uhhhh... I hadn't thought of it like that," He quickly tried to save face. "But it'll be worth it to see you slowly driven mad."

"Assuming I don't drive you mad first," The alicorn grinned as she trotted up to Tirek. "I haven't been hanging around Pinkie Pie all those years for nothing, you know. And I've learned a few of her methods. Would you like me to demonstrate?"

But the centaur growled and threw up his arms. "No, NO! Please, anything but that!" He started banging his arms against the bars of his cage! "Curses! I can't win against you ponies no matter what I do! Fine, you win! Get out of this accursed place, if you can!"

"Then you won't mind if I borrow some of your magic?" Twilight questioned. "Much as I might like to hold onto it, I'm not a hoarder like you."

Tirek reluctantly consented. "Oh fine, take my magic for the good it'll do you! You're still too late to stop Chrysalis!"

Twilight simply turned back to Tirek. "We'll see about that," She told him, before she gave a whistle. "Okay, everyone. Now's your chance to potentially have your sentences reduced. You know what I want." As soon as she'd finished speaking, huge amounts of magic surged into her horn, almost overwhelming her!

The alicorn shot the powerful magic coursing through her veins into the door, prompting it swing wide open! She quickly rushed through it, not wanting to wait! The door slammed shut the moment she was on the other side of it!

Discord was waiting outside, and he couldn't believe it when he saw Twilight come running up to him! "No time to explain!" She told him as she shot a beam of magic at him! "Take this! Do you think you can get me back to the school before sundown?"

"The School of Friendship? It's a pretty big jump, and even with the power boost it'll take everything I've got," Discord warned. "You sure picked a heck of a time to take a vacation."

"I didn't plan to get stuck there for so long. But Tirek was more of a help than we might have realized," Twilight declared. "Now come on, time's almost up!"

The spirit pulled Twilight close. "Alright, princess. But this is gonna be dicey, no guarantees." A loud pop and a flash signified the departure of the two from the entrance to Tartarus.

Despite Chrysalis catching on to the ruse, the six students were able to get enough of a head start on her to elude her as they ducked into the library! Their professors were already there, waiting for them.

"This better be good, we're talkin' about a crisis even bigger than anythin' we've faced before!" Applejack warned.

"You know where Starlight Glimmer is?" Fluttershy questioned the students.

Sandbar nodded. "Just follow us, hurry!"

The students led their professors to the back of the library, through the air duct, and deep into the crystal catacombs. They soon reached the clearing where Starlight was held prisoner inside the magic bubble. The vortex seemed to be swirling more ominously than it had before, a reflection of how little time there was left to stop what was happening!

"Well fancy that, they were tellin' the truth after all." Applejack commented in amazement.

"Okay, so we found the source of the magic drain. Now how do we stop it?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "Anyone got any ideas?"

Starlight spoke up. "You'll have to pull the objects out, it's the only thing I can think of that'll cancel the spell! Please, you must hurry, Chrysalis will be here any minute!"

But as Ocellus eyed the objects she commented. "But if we take away the objects, we could create a magical feedback loop that could destroy the entire school!"

"We don't have any other choice, there's no time to come up with another plan!" Starlight insisted. "Quickly, before Chrysalis comes back!"

"You fools!" The voice of Chrysalis hissed, quickly revealing the changeling in all her evil glory. "It's already too late! The magic is almost gone for good! I didn't come all this way just to be defeated by the likes of you."

Rainbow Dash only growled. "You and what army, Chrysalis? You don't have any servants left to do your bidding."

But Chrysalis smirked. "Oh, I don't know about that," She lit up her horn, revealing a mass of brainwashed ponies that were pushing back against the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Boy were you dumb to let your most hated enemy in on the secrets of your success."

"Don't worry about us!" Diamond Tiara called as she tried in vain to hold back the crowd! "Stop Chrysalis no matter what it takes! You can't let her win!"

"Hurry, big sis!" Apple Bloom pleaded. "Before it's too late!"

"But without Twilight, we're not gonna be able to do anything." Fluttershy nervously commented.

Rarity concured. "It'll be up to our students, they'll have to use the artifacts that are tied to their species."

Just then, however, Twilight appeared with a loud pop. "Looks like I got here just in time!" She declared, briefly eyeing Chrysalis as she told the changeling. "I won't allow you to defile my school with your presence!"

"It's too late, princess!" Chrysalis hissed again and gave the order to her mind controlled ponies. "Stop them all costs!"

Thinking quickly, Twilight used what magic she had left in her to throw up a shield. Then she turned to her friends and her students. "Quickly, we must use them in pairs! Each student take the artifact from your tribe!"

The students did so, and one by one as they grabbed them they began to glow. The glows took on particularly noticeable colors. Gallus glowed pink, Silverstream glowed blue, Sandbar glowed red, Smolder glowed purple, Ocellus glowed orange, and Yona glowed yellow. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the colors meant.

So Twilight rushed to help Gallus wield the Crown of Grover. Pinkie Pie aided Silverstream with the the Amulet of Aurora. Rainbow Dash flew over to aid Sandbar with Clover the Clever's Cloak. Rarity joined Smolder in wielding Knuckerbocker's Shell. Applejack and Ocellus worked together to use the Talisman of Mirage. And Fluttershy and Yona teamed up to control the Helm of Yksler. "Ready?!" Twilight called, and her friends and students nodded. "Now!" They all said together!

Magic began to surge ominously as the twelve were lifted into the air! Chrysalis realized at once what was happening! "Nooooooo!" She bellowed at the top of her lungs! "This can't be happening! I was so close to finally ruling all!"

A deafening boom shook the ground beneath the school as the colors of the rainbow started to flash in the catacombs! There was indeed a magical feedback loop, but the school was thankfully not destroyed completely (though the top half of it was blown off!).

All over Equestria, ponies suddenly felt something wash over them and the next thing they knew their magic was fully restored. Neighsay and the princesses, along with the royal guards, took advantage of the opportunity to teleport to Ponyville!

When the dust settled, Starlight was freed from her bubble and the glow surrounding the students had faded completely. Yona was the first one to bounce over to the liberated unicorn. "Counselor Starlight!" She happily cheered.

Starlight quickly used her magic to halt Yona in her tracks, before she would've become the next victim of the yak's crushing hugs. "It's good to see you again too, Yona. Thanks for all you and your friends did."

Spike flew close to Twilight, hugging her! "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay! I thought for sure I'd never see you again!" He buried his face into her chest, sobbing heavily.

Twilight just lightly stroked Spike's scales. "Sorry to make you worry, Spike. Thanks for being such a big boy for your mom. I promise, the next time I embark on a life threatening adventure, I'm taking you with me."

Meanwhile, Fluttershy commented. "Does anyone know what happened to Chrysalis? Do you think she survived?"

"I have a feeling she did, and that we haven't seen the last of her," Starlight nervously commented. "And if my hunch is right, she should be popping right about... now."

As if on cue, Chrysalis poked her head up from beneath some of the rubble from the destruction of the school's upper half! Her hold over the ponies had faded completely! "You pathetic fools! I'm still standing!" She hissed again. "You may have won this time, but I will have my revenge one of these days!"

But as Chrysalis turned to flee, she suddenly found her path blocked off by Celestia, Luna, and Cadence. Then Shining Armor. And then even the royal guards and the pillars. Every possible escape route was blocked off. And when she tried to light up her horn, she found that she had no magic left to call upon. "This is... this is impossible!"

Twilight simply declared. "Face it, Chrysalis. It's all over! You're not getting away again!"

The beaten changeling growled as she looked around. "Curses! To come so close, only to fail! Why couldn't you ever let me win?!"

"Because as long as evil forces like you exist, there will always be those who stand ready to oppose you!" Starswirl the Bearded declared. "That is the true power of harmony that you have long denied!"

"Darn it! Darn it all!" Chrysalis roared in defiance, slamming her hooves into the ground. "Well, that's it then," She turned to Twilight. "Go ahead, finish me! You know you wanna."

All eyes fell upon Twilight as the alicorn approached the disgraced former queen, now beaten and at the mercy of Equestria's youngest princess. She took a good long look at Chrysalis, and told the changeling. "No, Chrysalis. I won't do it. That would be the easy way out. Even a monster like you doesn't deserve that."

"Ha, you weak minded fool!" Chrysalis sneered. "I knew you didn't have the guts!"

Twilight threw up a hoof. "I'm not done, Chrysalis. You're still going to be punished for what you've done," She then added. "There's a place in Equestria, even for irredeemable monsters like you," With a smile she turned to Princess Luna. "I believe you can take it from here, Luna."

The night princess grinned as she approached Chrysalis. "Thank you, Twilight," Then with a smirk she declared. "Guards, take this prisoner away! Ensure there is a cell within Tartarus for her and see to it that her key is thrown away."

Twilight was quick to add. "And Chrysalis, when you get to Tartarus, be sure to say hello to Tirek for me."

"No! Not Tartarus! I don't belong in that horrid place!" Chrysalis insisted as she was carried away.

A few weeks later, the School of Friendship was repaired and classes resumed with little fanfare. But miles away in Canterlot, a new development was unfolding for a pony who had brought Equestria to the brink of collapse, albeit without knowing the role he was playing.

Chancellor Neighsay stood before members of the EEA with a glum and somber look upon his face. The words he spoke next had been on his mind for a long time. "I know that nothing I say or do can even begin to make up for my actions. I know that I've caused considerable, perhaps irreparable damage to the EEA's reputation. I treated creatures... no, non-ponies like they were inferior and beneath notice. I even assumed I knew better than the Princess of Friendship herself and tried to send her away forever. As such, I allowed myself to be mislead by an enemy bent on bringing Equestria to its knees. And while I did play a role in ensuring her capture, I know it does not make up for the horrible things I did while claiming to be part of the EEA," He paused considerably, before finally continuing. "That is why, effective immediately, I hereby resign my post as head of the EEA. I'm Chancellor no longer, simply Neighsay." And with that he took off his medallion, setting it down on a desk as he turned and trotted away, rather than wait for any kind of reply.

Needing some time to think, Neighsay went out for a walk. It wasn't long before his thoughts turned to the repaired School of Friendship. And the six students who had given him a second chance that in his mind was not deserved. "Have they already graduated? Or are they still taking classes?" He thought to himself. His curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to teleport to the school.

But upon arriving, Neighsay was overcome with guilt for the role he'd played in nearly destroying it and Equestria. He couldn't bear to look anyone there in the eye. So he retreated to a rock on a hill overlooking the nearby pond.

The stallion was not alone for long. "Chancellor Neighsay?" A voice called. Neighsay turned to see the six students he'd once despised looking at him.

Gallus was the first one to speak up. "What are you doing here, Chancellor? Don't you have to be inspecting schools in Equestria or something?"

"Or maybe you're here to enroll in classes?" Sandbar suggested. "I think Headmare Twilight could make an exception just this once."

But Neighsay shook his head as he confessed. "I'm no longer a chancellor. That title belongs to my inevitable successor. I couldn't live with the guilt over how I'd treated you six, how badly I mismanaged Princess Twilight's school in her absence. So rather than inevitably be fired, I chose to resign. From this moment onward, I am simply Neighsay."

A series of collective gasps escaped the six students' mouths! It was Yona who first spoke up afterward. "Chancellor pony quit being chancellor?"

Neighsay reluctantly nodded his head. "It's what I deserved. Resigning at least means the EEA can move on without me, as can the rest of Equestria," He sighed and turned his head. "I know I can't hope to ask you six to forgive me, especially not so soon after everything that happened. Just forget you ever saw me and go back to your classes. I just want to be alone with my thoughts."

However, Sandbar trotted up to the ex-chancellor as he told the stallion. "Well I don't know if I can vouch for everyone here, but Headmare Twilight always told us that everyone deserves at least a second chance. No matter how vile they might be. Because that's what friendship is all about."

Smolder sighed. "Yeah, what Sandbar said. I mean, sure. You were kind of rotten, and you wrongfully imprisoned us for something we didn't do."

"Smolder, you're not helping!" Ocellus scolded.

Smolder massaged the back of her neck with a claw. "Sorry, I'm not the greatest at these kind of sappy speeches. That's not really a dragon thing. I mean, I'm trying to work on it and I think I'm getting better. But it hasn't been nearly that long since we all started coming here."

Ocellus was quick to change the subject. "You were a big help in ensuring Chrysalis didn't get away. It's not just ponies who owe you a great debt of thanks. Even Thorax thinks you're worth praising."

"Chancellor pony help to catch nasty changeling pretending to be pony!" Yona eagerly commented. "And because of that, chancellor pony become better pony than he was before!"

Neighsay seemed to be moved ever so slightly by the display of warm affection from the students. "You... really think that? Even after all I said and did?"

"Well, yeah! No one's perfect," Gallus replied to Neighsay. "Now stop looking so glum, dude. So you messed up, it happens all the time. If you're truly sorry for what you've done, you've just gotta work extra hard to make up for it."

Silverstream then commented. "And maybe you need a couple of new friends to help you out. It's never too late to start over. We're living proof of that."

Neighsay was silent for several minutes as his eyes gazed down at his own reflection. But just before the students prepared to leave he broke the silence and said to them. "I... would appreciate that. Friends?"

"Friends!" The other students cheered.

And Silverstream then cried out! "You know what this calls for, right?! Hugs!"

Neighsay suddenly flinched and tensed up as the students all huddled close to him. "N-no! There's really no need for any of that, please..." He pleaded. But after a moment he found that any will to leave the hug had left him completely. It felt warm, inviting, and most of all forgiving.

Unknown to either the ex-chancellor or the students, Twilight and the others were watching the whole thing from afar. "Aw, how sweet!" Pinkie Pie cheerfully commented. "They've really learned a lot since they came here, haven't they?"

Twilight nodded. "And that's partially because we've been such good teachers. I know this school had its problems, but I think we've really made a difference. Not just in the lives of those six, but in the lives of countless others." And everyone nodded in agreement.

Author's Note

Well, this rewrite was a long one. But that's because there were so many things I knew I wanted to include in it. Including this fan comic.

Yet again, I want to apologize for the format of the beginning. I'm still not the greatest at figuring out how to do a "Last time on" narration from a writing perspective.

Now as for the episode itself, there are several problems with it that needed to be addressed. The first is how despite the synopsis claiming otherwise, the CMC NEVER play any kind of important role in the finale. They just show up, get tricked by Cozy Glow, and locked into a broom closet, and that's it. There's also the fact that the entire mane six and Spike don't really do anything for the entire two parter. They just go to Tartarus, get trapped there, and get out.

All of this was clearly done to make it a student six finale, but not only were the student six underdeveloped by the time of this finale, but we'd already had one season finale that was all about sidelining the most important characters so that a secondary cast could shine. And it's telling that this was the only two parter finale since Starlight's debut that couldn't find something for her to do other than just be defeated off-screen. Her not being able to talk was a contrivence done solely because of how much of a villain sue Cozy Glow was.

And Chancellor Neighsay, even though he got deposed by Cozy Glow, never faced any kind of punishment on-screen (or even had one implied off-screen) for what we saw him do. That's why the fan comic was incorporated into this rewrite. I also wanted to ensure that the pillars were not forgotten, especially when "A Rockhoof and a Hard Place" established some of them as living close to Ponyville (or in Rockhoof's case, likely in Ponyville).

Lastly, though it's a personal decision, I feel like Sandbar, Yona, and Ocellus got the wrong elements assigned to them. And yes, I did incorporate elements of "What Lies Beneath" into this finale. I felt like Sandbar's test and his "betrayal" revelation had more to do with loyalty than kindness. Yona always felt like the heart of the team, especially with how she believed in Sandbar when no one else would (plus making her the new Element of Kindness would probably justify her being able to talk to spiders), and Ocellus getting honesty would be a bit of irony similar to how Smolder is generosity being dragons being known for being greedy.

There'll probably be a Volume Ten sometime in early 2020, which will allow for Season 9 episodes to be included. And there might be a Volume Eleven in either 2020 or 2021, we'll have to see.

S2 E8: The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (What If?) - Redo

Author's Note

I started doing these in Volume 7. "Redo" basically means I take an episode I'd already previously rewritten, and do it again. The attempt is to try and address criticisms I either didn't know about or didn't consider when doing the original rewrite. Or an attempt to make the episode fit better with what it was trying to do.

Like I always do with each rewrite I'll explain my reasons for doing what I do. "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well" needs no introduction, it is one of the most infamous episodes of the show and for good reason. I can't think of a single episode that was so reviled upon its debut quite like this one (at least until "Newbie Dash" in Season 6 and then "Non-Compete Clause" in Season 8).

Complaints about this episode seem to fall into two camps: Rainbow Dash is way too out of character and unsympathetic with her constant bragging, boasting, and hogging of the attention she gets. And the rest of the mane six look like hypocrites when they complain about Rainbow's boasting, but then decide to teach her a lesson by creating a hero that can do everything Rainbow can do and more, and talk about it in public. In recent years people have started coming to this episode's defense, saying that it was trying to teach Rainbow a lesson the way she learns best (through direct experience).

However, there are still problems such as Rainbow Dash being too sympathetic when we're not supposed to root for her, and the episode ending without making it clear that she's learned her lesson. My original rewrite had Twilight as Mare-Do-Well the whole time, using magic to copy the abilities of her friends on a temporary basis. But I feel like that kind of made Twilight a little too Mary Sueish, so I decided to change it to somepony else here. And change up the premise, eliminating the other Mare-Do-Wells.

And yes, I know now that Scootaloo has actual canonical parents. But since I already gambled on the comics design of her aunts (which turned out to be inaccurate to what they would look like in the show) I figured that it wasn't worth ripping up all my continuity just to try and mesh with the show's canon. Of course that means "The Last Crusade" will need rewriting since I obviously can't use Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood as Scootaloo's parents, but that's a bridge I'll cross at a later date (I intend to keep this series alive for at least one more volume after the show ends).

Because it would take up even more space, I'm not going to list every episode I've rewritten since I started this series. You can check the previous volumes to find out, and if there's a particular rewrite that's relevant to the one I'm currently doing I'll try to link you to it. The only episodes that are listed below are the ones I'm rewriting in this volume.

~~The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (Redo)~~
Ponyville Confidential
Daring Don't (Bonus Chapter)
Dungeons And Discords
Once Upon a Zeppelin (Bonus Chapter)
School Daze Parts 1 and 2
The Maud Couple
School Raze Parts 1 and 2

S2 E8: The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (What If?) - Redo

When it was not in use as the headquarters for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres fell under the control of whoever needed it most. And today that was none other than Scootaloo, presiding over a fanclub of her very own and dedicated to a pony she looked up to.

Everypony gathered at the clubhouse was decked out in Rainbow Dash memorabilia. Rainbow Dash hats, Rainbow Dash t-shirts, Rainbow Dash flags, you name it. And of course, Scootaloo was presiding over the gathering as the club president, proudly banging a hoof down on her desk. "Attention, attention everypony!" She declared while trying to mimic Mayor Mare. "This official meeting of the Rainbow Dash fan club will come to order."

Everypony in the clubhouse fell silent, all turning their attention to Scootaloo.

The eager tomboyish filly cleared her throat and smiled. "Good. Now then, first order of business is to come up with a new word to describe Rainbow Dash. Because let's face it, there aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe her, there's nopony else in town like her. So, any ideas? The floor is open, whatever that means."

"Ooh, ooh! I got one!" Snips declared. "I was thinking fantastic!"

Another filly suggested. "How about amazing?"

Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. "I'm liking these ideas, but I feel like they could use a little more flair. You know, something awesome! Something that truly puts the Dash in Rainbow Dash if you know what I mean!"

All of a sudden, as if in response to the filly's concern, a voice called out from above. "How about the super fantastically amazing and awesome?"

If anyone knew that the voice belonged to Rainbow Dash they didn't acknowledge it. They all just began to discuss what she had just told them as Scootaloo banged her hoof down on the desk. "Alright. All in favor of calling Rainbow Dash... whatever it was that was just said, say 'Aye'!"

"Aye!" Everypony shouted all at once and the motion was settled.

Meanwhile, from outside the clubhouse, Rainbow Dash watched the whole thing with a smile on her face and a chorus of giggles. "Wow, it's like they think I'm some kind of superhero or something," She thought out loud. "Having ponies that look up to you and admire you on a daily basis? I think I could get used to that." But over the next few days, the unaware brash speedster was going to find her popularity threatened by an unexpected pony.

A day or two after the meeting Rainbow had eavesdropped on at Sweet Apple Acres, the pegasus was laying on her back and floating carefree amongst a sea of clouds. It had been only a few weeks since she'd gotten her pet tortoise, Tank, and she was starting to see the benefit of just relaxing and not really going anywhere.

Suddenly the peace and quiet of what had been a carefree summer day was interrupted, as a cry for help could be heard from down below!

The sharp, high-pitched cry reached Rainbow's ears and within seconds she sprang into action! Leaping off the clouds and flapping her wings fiercely, the normally brash mare didn't think twice about flying off to the rescue! She swooped down from her perch, soon finding out the problem. A filly had fallen down a well and was stuck!

Rainbow Dash swooped down into the well before anypony else could react. The darkness of the well didn't frighten her, and she quickly scooped up the filly and brought her back to safety, setting her down on the ground. By now a small crowd had gathered to watch the rescue, and they all burst into applause!

"Rainbow Dash, you're my hero." The filly (an earth pony) declared as she hugged the cyan coated mare tightly. Aside from being covered in leaves and branches due to her fall, the filly was unharmed.

A faint blush formed on Rainbow's cheeks and she tried to play it off. "It was nothing, I'm just glad you're okay. I did what I think anypony would've done in my situation."

But with an eager grin, Pinkie Pie declared. "Are you kidding?! This calls for a hero party, hosted by yours truly! I'm not taking no for an answer!"

And true to her very word, Pinkie set up a hero party for her friend that was held the very next day at Sugarcube Corner. Lots of ponies from the Rainbow Dash fan club lined up to talk with her, and even some who had previously not been members of said fan club were now singing Rainbow Dash's praises.

"Goodness, I certainly can't remember the last time any of us got this much recognition for something so mundane," Rarity commented as she and the rest of Rainbow Dash's friends watched the whole thing from afar. "But Rainbow Dash saves one filly from a well, and suddenly the whole town thinks she's a hero."

"Eh, I think RD's playin' this up a little, and the crowd's just happy to oblige," Applejack remarked with concern. "I've seen this before. We'll be lucky if Rainbow's head doesn't get all swelled up from this."

But Fluttershy shook her head. "Now girls, we shouldn't make such assumptions. Let Rainbow Dash enjoy the spotlight. I'm sure this will all be a fond memory in a week or two, and everything will be back to normal."

"Even so, you think Rainbow Dash knows that a true hero doesn't just rescue others for the praise and glory?" Twilight comments. "When I was growing up, my parents always taught me that you don't need to do good deeds to get rewarded. The good deed is a reward in and of itself."

Pinkie Pie just grinned. "Well, one thing's for sure, Sugarcube Corner's never been this crowded! Which is a good thing, because Mr. and Mrs. Cake could use the extra money. I don't wanna jinx it, but apparently Mrs. Cake is gonna have a baby. She's already getting a nursery set up, and I can't wait until the foal arrives!"

"Oh my! After all this time?!" Rarity exclaimed with surprise. "Well I certainly hope they're up to the challenge. When Sweetie Belle was a little one, goodness was she ever a hoofful."

Meanwhile, Scootaloo was approaching Rainbow Dash with a massive grin on her face! True, she'd met the elder pegasus before, but this time Scootaloo had something very special she wanted to share with her idol and honorary big sister.

Rainbow Dash was in the middle of signing autographs and thus she didn't notice as Scootaloo approached her. In fact she was not aware of Scootaloo's presence at all until the filly tapped a hoof on Rainbow's back. The mare spun around, finding herself snout to snout with her number one fan. "Hey, kid, you need something?" She asked.

Scootaloo, for her part, was all but bouncing up and down with excitement! "Oh my gosh, Rainbow Dash! I've been waiting a long time for this!" Without bothering to explain she grabbed her idol by the hoof and led her away, soon directing her to a pegasus mare about the same size as Rainbow Dash. But this pegasus mare had a coat of pale amber. Her eyes were a moderate rose in color. And her mane and tail were curly, the mane was pink as was the tail (which had pale raspberry highlights). Her cutie mark consisted of three tornadoes. "Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo eagerly commented as she gestured a hoof. "Meet my mom, Dizzy Twister. Mom, meet Rainbow Dash."

Dizzy Twister flashed a cheerful smile as she extended a hoof to Rainbow Dash and shook it. "Ah, so you're the Rainbow Dash my daughter's been talking about so much. A pleasure to finally meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine, Mrs. Twister," Rainbow commented as she returned the shake full force. "Uh, you are Mrs. Twister, right?"

Dizzy nodded her head in confirmation. "My husband is Quick Shot Twister, maybe you've heard of him? He likes to play hockey, and in fact he's the star goalie for the Cloudsdale Windigos," A slight frown formed on her lips. "Unfortunately, that means he's often away from home."

"That's okay, that means I get to spend all my time with you," Scootaloo nuzzled into her female parent. "You're the best mom in the history of Equestria!"

Dizzy blushed and waved a hoof. "Well, I wouldn't say that. I try my best. It probably helps that you're a pretty well behaved filly. Isn't that right, my little future Wonderbolt?" She proceeded to stroke Scootaloo's mane with a hoof a couple of times.

The tomboyish filly groaned lightly as she adjusted her moderate purple mane. "Mom, not in public, please! You're embarrassing me!" And then she spoke to Rainbow Dash. "Sorry about my mom, she has a tendency to get a little overly affectionate. I think it's cause she gets lonely whenever Dad's not home."

Rainbow just chuckled, the display kind of reminded her of her parents. But that was not something she really felt like sharing, the relationship with her parents was... complicated. One that she didn't want to let others in on if she could help it.

Dizzy cleared her throat, snapping Rainbow out of her brief mental pondering. "My daughter certainly seems to be a big fan of you. You've really imprinted on her, now she can't stop singing your praises all day long." She commented.

"Well it's to be expected when you're a big hero like I am!" Rainbow Dash proudly declared. "I mean, that's part of why I rescued that filly from the well. Sure it was dangerous, but danger is my middle name: Rainbow 'Danger' Dash!"

"Goodness, you certainly are... boastful to put it delicately," Dizzy remarked with what appeared to be a frown. "Small wonder I much prefer The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well."

At the mention of that Rainbow blinked her moderate purple eyes. "Who?"

As if in response to the question, Pinkie Pie bounced over and presented a poster of a pony clad in a dark purple outfit, a similarly matching hat and cape, and blue goggles that concealed the eyes, as well as a huge "M" attached to a belt that spanned the lower regions of the outfit. "Mare-Do-Well. Have you been living under a rock, Dashie? Everypony who's anypony knows about Mare-Do-Well."

The pegasus mare snatched up the poster and blinked in surprise. "What?! No way! This can't be real!"

Dizzy tried not to giggle. "Oh it's real. Mare-Do-Well's been a town hero for quite a long time, since Twilight moved to Ponyville in fact."

"Mare-Do-Well's just as cool as Rainbow Dash! I wish the two of them could meet someday!" Scootaloo fondly exclaimed. "The two most awesomest ponies in all of Equestria, in the same place, it'd ne a dream come true!"

"You're not jealous are you, Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie inquired of her prankster partner in crime.

Rainbow quickly shook her head. "Me? Jealous? Why would I be jealous? There's room for two heroes in town." But in her mind she was thinking. "Mare-Do-Well will just have to accept that there's a new hero in town, and that's me! If she's smart, she'll stay out of my way!"

But only a few days later, Mare-Do-Well would make herself known to Rainbow Dash, much to the dismay of the pegasus.

It happened on another otherwise uneventful summer day. Rainbow was busy signing autographs again and delighting in all the attention she was getting from ponies far and wide.

Suddenly there came a shriek! Everypony looked up, and gasped in horror at the sight that greeted their eyes! The hot air balloon that was often used in town had sprung a leak! And to make matters worse there was a pony inside the basket, trying desperately to prevent her perilous plunge out of the sky!

Rainbow heard the cry, and after signing one last autograph she unfolded her wings. "Sorry, folks, duty calls!" She took off at a speed faster than even lightning, much to the amazement of the gathered crowd. And as Rainbow flew off to the rescue she shouted. "Never fear, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here!"

All of a sudden though, who should emerge from literally nowhere but the very figure that Rainbow had seen a picture of at her hero party? It was The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well!

Everything seemed to happen at once, Mare-Do-Well was perched on a rooftop but quickly leaped from one rooftop to the next with the greatest of ease. Then he, she, or it (whatever Mare-Do-Well was) leaped off of the last rooftop and into the air! The balloonist pony had no time to react as she was snatched up, just seconds before the balloon hit the ground and crashed!

Rainbow hadn't noticed, the whole time she'd been focused solely on the balloon and catching up to it. She thought the balloonist was still trapped inside somehow. "Where is she?!" She commented over and over again in a desperate search. A search that only ended when she heard a series of cheers and whistles coming from only a short ways away.

The brash speedster turned to look, and that was when she saw Mare-Do-Well with her own two eyes. Mare-Do-Well spoke not a word though, before whoever it was took off and disappeared as mysteriously he, she, or it had appeared.

"I've never seen such bravery in all my life!" The balloonist pony exclaimed. "Mare-Do-Well saved my life!"

Mayor Mare seemed to nod her head in agreement, she had seen everything. "It seems we owe Mare-Do-Well another great debt of gratitude for again saving the day. Whoever this mare of mystery is, I hope we have not seen the last of her. For it is my great honor to announce the first ever 'Mare-Do-Well Appreciation Day', to be commemorated with a Mare-Do-Well parade!"

"A Mare-Do-Well parade?" Pinkie commented as she came upon the scene. "Shoot! Don't tell me I missed seeing Mare-Do-Well in action again!"

"I almost couldn't believe it when I saw it for myself," Twilight commented in reply. "It was like one moment she was there, and the next she wasn't."

Rarity blinked. "Do you mean to say she teleported, darling? That's not something a unicorn can just pull off, that takes skill."

"It didn't look like a teleportation spell to me. But it all happened so fast I couldn't be sure what I saw," Twilight declared. "Mare-Do-Well is indeed mysterious."

A frustrated Rainbow Dash trotted over to her friends, grumbling audibly. "Yeah, well if you ask me she's just some upstart who's lucky she hasn't gotten herself hurt, or worse. Just who does this Mare-Do-Well think she is? Showing up to steal my thunder when I had everything perfectly under control!"

"Didn't look that way to me, you looked like you were almost not going to make it in time. Mare-Do-Well obviously decided it better to step in rather than take a chance," Rarity explained. "It's almost like she knew this would be happening."

Pinkie giggled and waved a hoof. "Come on, Rarity. Even I can't predict the future like that. Nopony has that kind of power."

Spike just grinned. "Well, nopony until now it seems. Man, I hope they make a Mare-Do-Well comic, I'd totally buy it!"

Fluttershy, meanwhile, was reassuring Rainbow Dash. "For what it's worth, Rainbow, you did great. Perhaps you and Mare-Do-Well should team up sometime, they always say two heads are better than one."

Rainbow retorted with a slight spit. "Pah! Me?! Team up with Mare-Do-Well?! That'll happen, Fluttershy. When pigs fly!"

For a couple of days after that there were no more disasters or emergencies, and no sign of Mare-Do-Well anywhere. Rainbow took that as a sign of good news, that Mare-Do-Well had gone away and would never bother her again.

But she was proven wrong when the string of disaster free days came to a sudden and abrupt end, at a construction sight of all places. Various worker ponies were overseeing construction of a new high-rise building, which was to be part of a works project to build more houses to meet demand for the increased population of Ponyville.

Without warning, one of the cranes that was used for lifting heavy beams stopped working. Its arm swung round rapidly, knocking several beams loose as the whole structure threatened to collapse! The foreman immediately gave the alarm! "Everypony evacuate, pronto!"

But in the ensuing panic several ponies soon became entrapped or blocked off by falling debris!

Rainbow was on the scene as soon as she became aware of it, but even her incredible flying speed couldn't keep her ahead of the falling beams and timbers that threatened to crush anything in their path!

As Rainbow was dodging and weaving rapidly around the remaints of the structure as it fell apart, who should appear but Mare-Do-Well?

"You again?!" Rainbow Dash growled, but Mare-Do-Well did not acknowledge her or give any sort of reply. Instead, Mare-Do-Well opted to focus her efforts on saving the construction workers. Specifically the ones that her "rival" hadn't reached yet.

In fact it was thanks to Mare-Do-Well that Rainbow had to only rescue one pony, a construction stallion. The stallion barked out orders to Rainbow, instructing her to dodge left and right as more beams fell. And when he was finally brought to safety the shock of the close call caused him to faint.

Many of the other construction workers were singing Mare-Do-Well's praises. "You've saved our lives, Mare-Do-Well! We'll never forget you!"

Mare-Do-Well just gave a salute and then disappeared again rather than wait around. That left the brash speedster competing against the masked mystery most puzzled. "Why's Mare-Do-Well so afraid of being around other ponies? What's she hiding?" Rainbow pondered aloud.

After that, Mare-Do-Well's hypothetical identity was all Rainbow could think about. It nagged at her mind and would not leave her alone no matter what she did or what else she might try to think about.

And so it was that, just a day before the big parade for Mare-Do-Well, the pegasus mare was sulking about in Ponyville. "That Mare-Do-Well. Why does she always have to show up to the scene when I'm trying to being the hero? Can't she be out chasing bad guys, or rescuing ponies from burning buildings, or doing anything that doesn't involve crossing my path?"

True, Mare-Do-Well hadn't actually affected Rainbow Dash's popularity in any meaningful way. She still had many of her loyal fans. But it seemed like Mare-Do-Well was all but the talk of the town, and Rainbow's heroic exploits had been forgotten completely.

Which wouldn't be a bad thing if not for the fact that now the athletic pegasus couldn't seem to find any emergencies or impending disasters to respond to. The town seemed to be quiet, and she didn't like it all as she darted about from place to place.

"I swear, just last week it seemed like this town couldn't go a day without some big disaster. And now suddenly there's nothing out there. Nopony who needs saving," Rainbow sulked about. "Of all the times for the town to go quiet, why did it have to be now?!"

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye Rainbow spotted an opportunity to be noticed. And a chance to get some well deserved (in her opinion) recognition as a hero. Granny Smith was on her usual walkabout, but she seemed to be having trouble.

Without even bothering to see if her help was actually needed, Rainbow swooped down in front of the elderly earth pony. "Don't worry, ma'am! Your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here to help you!"

Granny Smith scoffed at the suggestion. "I don't need your help, whippersnapper!"

"Oh yes you do," Rainbow said with a grin. "Don't worry, I'll help you across the street. You old ponies can sure be stubborn sometimes."

Granny Smith protested and dug in her heels, but she was no match for Rainbow Dash. After a great deal of struggling, the elderly mare found herself all the way on the other end of the street.

With a satisfied grin, Rainbow told Granny Smith. "No need to thank me, it was my pleasure."

But Granny Smith's response was not at all what the pegasus mare was expecting. It came in the form of a slap across the face with a purse. "I said I didn't need your help! I wasn't tryin' to cross that street!" She angrily remarked and turned around and left. "Go find a tall buildin' to leap over or somethin', and leave me alone!"

The speedy pegasus blinked her eyes in surprise, rubbing a hoof over the spot on her face where she'd been slapped. "Man, that purse packs a wallop."

Rainbow was still rubbing the wound and trying to work through the pain when she suddenly and unexpectedly bumped into the last pony she had ever expected to run into. Mare-Do-Well herself. Rubbing her moderate purple eyes, Rainbow blinked. No, she wasn't seeing things, Mare-Do-Well was indeed standing before her.

"Oh, it's you," Rainbow groaned as she eyed the mysterious superhero. "What do you want now? Come to stick the knife in some more? Don't you have your big parade to get ready for tomorrow or something?"

To the surprise of the pegasus, Mare-Do-Well suddenly spoke up. The voice that was heard sounded feminine (which was to be expected from Mare-Do-Well) but it was not a voice that the cyan coated mare had ever heard before in her life. It sounded alien in more ways than one.

But Mare-Do-Well was indeed speaking. And the words she spoke with shocked Rainbow to her very core. "I'm not here to compete with you, Rainbow Dash. I'm here to ask for your help."

"My help? You must be joking!" Rainbow scoffed at the notion. "You're Mare-Do-Well! You can do it all! You're the hero everypony keeps talking about."

Mare-Do-Well shook her head. "You shouldn't doubt yourself Da... er Rainbow Dash," She quickly corrected herself. "No one is ever meant to do everything by themselves. There's a lot we could do if we worked together."

"Well in case you haven't noticed, there's nopony who needs saving. And no disasters that need responding to," Rainbow growled. "So I appreciate the gesture, Mare-Do-Well, but you're barking up the wrong tree."

The masked heroine protested the very idea. "I say I'm barking up the right tree, you just don't seem to realize it yet. But you will in time."

Now Rainbow was puzzled and perplexed, such a statement had taken her by surprise. "What are you talking about, Mare-Do-Well? What could you possibly know that I don't?"

Mare-Do-Well grabbed Rainbow by the hoof, pulling her away and into a back alley. "I've been working overtime to prevent disasters. But I can't do it alone. I figured that with your super fast speeds, you could cover more ground."

"You mean you can't teleport?!" Rainbow realized as her eyes widened in realization.

Mare-Do-Well lifted her hat, revealing that underneath it lay no horn. But even then she chose not to take it all the way off, as if afraid to be seen even by Rainbow Dash. "This is the only part of my identity you're allowed to know about. Now we must hurry, I have sensed that we'll be needed very soon!"

Before the cyan coated speedster could press for further details, there came the sound of frantic screams from far away! But Rainbow's trained ears were able to pick up the sound of wheels, wheels that were going too much fast! A gasp escaped her lips as she realized what that sound meant! A runaway carriage!

Mare-Do-Well took off without saying a word, and Rainbow followed! Any prior concerns or frustrations she might have had about having to share the spotlight with Mare-Do-Well had vanished. All she could think about now was getting to the scene of that out of control carriage before it was too late!

The pegasus' high rate of speed meant that it wasn't long before she came upon the scene. Mare-Do-Well was there too, running alongside the carriage as it rolled helplessly along, unable to stop!

Worse was to come, for in the distance lurked a steep slope that led to a steep cliff! If the carriage wasn't stopped soon, it would roll down the slope and plunge off the face of the cliff! And the carriage was moving too fast for anypony to think of bailing out.

Mare-Do-Well immediately and instinctively leaped in front of the carriage and reared her back hooves! The carriage rolled right up to them, and Mare-Do-Well dug in as her front hooves touched the ground. She put every ounce of weight and strength she could muster against the speeding carriage. But it seemed to be a losing battle! The carriage just kept on rolling despite Mare-Do-Well's best efforts, and the slope was drawing closer and closer with each passing second!

"Mare-Do-Well! Hang on, I'll help you!" Rainbow declared. "We'll stop this carriage together!"

But through gritting teeth, Mare-Do-Well forced out a protest. "No... get the passengers off! I don't know if I can... stop it in time!"

"Please, let me help you! The two of us can stop this carriage in no time!" Rainbow pleaded.

Mare-Do-Well still refused. "You handle the passengers, I'll handle the carriage! Quickly! We're almost out of time!" And she was right, the slope leading to the cliff was fast approaching! In a matter of seconds it would be too late.

The brash speedster quickly zoomed back to the carriage. "Sorry folks, everypony off! Emergency stop!" And without waiting for any sort of comments she snatched up the ponies in the carriage one by one, depositing them on the ground and out of harm's way. The last passenger was brought to safety just as the front wheels of the carriage, despite Mare-Do-Well's best efforts, slid down the embankment toward the cliff!

The passenger could only watch on in horror, watching Mare-Do-Well in what seemed to be a futile struggle to stop the carriage in time!

Rainbow swooped out in front of Mare-Do-Well, shouting down at her. "That carriage isn't gonna stop, we need to go!"

"I've almost got it!" Mare-Do-Well insisted as her teeth gritted anew. "You just need to find a way to slow it down."

"But what can I..." Dash began, before realization struck her as she eyed her own two wings. "Oh yeah!" She flew out and in front of Mare-Do-Well, positioning herself in just the right place. Then she flapped her wings over and over again as hard as she could, eventually generating a small breeze.

By itself the breeze probably wouldn't have accomplished much of anything, had it been attempted further back it could've stopped the carriage successfully. But Rainbow knew her breeze alone wouldn't do the job, and she didn't care. This was no longer about her. The breeze proved to be the extra bit of stopping force needed, the wheels of the carriage slowed right down to a stand still just before Mare-Do-Well's front hooves would've gone over the edge of the cliff.

At last the carriage had stopped.

Rainbow swooped down to check on Mare-Do-Well, and she almost gasped in surprise when she saw that Mare-Do-Well's hat had been knocked off in the resulting chaos. Unfortunately, her gasp alerted many ponies, including the passengers she'd just rescued a short time ago. And many of them had cameras.

Thinking quickly, Rainbow snatched up the hat and then swooped in front of Mare-Do-Well and threw up a wing, thus blocking the masked heroine from the eyes of curious ponies and their cameras (which clicked and flashed rapidly, hoping to snap a picture of what would surely be the scoop of the century).

Mare-Do-Well eventually retrieved it and fixed it back on. "Thank you, Rainbow Dash," She commented, adjusting the hat to ensure it wouldn't be knocked off again. And then she insisted. "You saw nothing!"

But the brash speedster shook her head. "I saw a glimpse of something, Mare-Do-Well."

Mare-Do-Well began to back away very slowly. "You're imagining things! You can't tell anypony! My identity must remain a secret!"

However, a smirk crept onto Rainbow's face. "Oh no, I think you've stayed a mystery for long enough: Mysterious Mare-Do-Well," She was quick to add. "This isn't just for fun and games you know, somepony could get hurt."

"You won't tell anypony! I won't allow it!" Mare-Do-Well declared. "If you talk, it's the end of me!"

"Come on, what have you got to hide?" Rainbow questioned as she crept closer. "Let's see just who it is under the mask. Unless, you're afraid, Mare-Do-Well."

Mare-Do-Well's response was to rise to her hooves and take off at a dizzying speed! A speed that even Rainbow Dash found impressive.

And Mare-Do-Well's abrupt exit only prompted a flurry of questions that were soon directed at her. Questions such as "Are you Mare-Do-Well's new sidekick?" "Did you discover Mare-Do-Well's secret identity?" and even "Is Mare-Do-Well retiring?" and "Are you Mare-Do-Well's replacement?"

Rainbow brushed off all the questions. "No autographs, please! I mean it this time!" She insisted quite audibly and then flew up into the sky, hoping to give the gathered crowd the slip.

However, while perched atop a cloud and trying to sneak away unnoticed, Rainbow happened to look down and spot the familiar form of Mare-Do-Well as she was just walking about.

"Now's my chance! I'm not gonna let her slip away this time!" The speedster declared and swooped down from her cloud!

Mare-Do-Well was ready though and quickly took off, ducking into a nearby ally. Undeterred, Rainbow gave chase after the masked mare of mystery. She pursued Mare-Do-Well through a series of alleys and narrow passageways, down flights of stairs and around corners lined with barrels and buildings.

Despite this, Mare-Do-Well seemed to have given Rainbow the slip as the pegasus stopped in her tracks to catch her breath. "Where'd she go?! I thought I had her!" She complained. "Leave it to Mare-Do-Well to be a slippery one."

But then suddenly, Rainbow spotted Mare-Do-Well out of the corner of her eye. She appeared to be exhausted, which gave Rainbow the perfect opportunity to sneak up and tackle the unsuspecting mare. "Now let's see who you really are underneath that mask!" She proudly declared.

Mare-Do-Well weakly protested. "Please, don't!"

The plea was ignored by the pegasus, who grabbed the mask with her teeth and yanked it off. "Mystery solved!" She proudly declared even though no one was around to hear her. But then she nearly doubled back in shock and surprise at the face that greeted her!

Staring straight back at Rainbow Dash was a very familiar pink coated earth pony mare with innocent (almost playful, you might say) blue eyes. Her mane and tail were also pink, and her mane (which was visible with the removed mask) was styled into a poofy set of curls. Only one pony Rainbow knew fit that description. "Pinkie Pie?! You're The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well?!" She exclaimed.

Pinkie gave a half nervous, half excited smile. And seemed to giggle. "Aw, it looks like you caught me, Dashie. And here I was hoping to keep you guessing for a little bit longer."

"Don't tell me, you created the whole idea of Mare-Do-Well just to get back at me for boasting!" Rainbow bitterly remarked.

But Pinkie shook her head as she stood up, adjusting her costume. "Dashie, were you not paying attention? Mare-Do-Well's been a town hero for a long time. I didn't create her to compete against you, just as I'm sure you didn't mean to compete against me."

"Then why all the mystery? Why the chase?" Rainbow questioned of Pinkie. "I thought we were friends. Have you been keeping this a secret from all of them?"

The pink party pony nervously twiddled her covered hooves. "Well... yeah, more or less. I didn't think they needed to know," And she proceeded to explain. "Ever since I came to Ponyville, and ever since I started understanding my 'Pinkie Sense', I started to realize that I could predict when bad things were going to happen. It made me think about the stories my Nana Pinkie and my Granny Pie used to always tell me, about a masked mare who would show up to town to save the day and then vanish as mysteriously as she came."

"I... I don't believe it," Rainbow commented to her prankster partner. "You've been playing superhero all this time, and I never knew," Then she added. "But we're already heroes, Pinkie. You saw the display in Canterlot. Ever since we fought against Nightmare Moon, we've kind of become super heroes who beat the bad guys."

Pinkie sheepishly admitted. "Yeah, I noticed that too. But it just felt right to keep acting like a hero behind the scenes here in Ponyville. And it gave everypony a good mystery to talk about," She proceeded to confess. "I never meant for it to all get so out of control though. For ponies to start throwing an appreciation day and a parade. But I just didn't have the heart to give it up. I thought that as long as I continued to do good, that was all that mattered," A sigh of longing escaped her lips. "But I guess in the end I was wrong. I just turned out to be a grown mare playing pretend, thinking I could change the world."

However, Pinkie was quite surprised to have Rainbow pull her into a tight hug and declare. "Pinkie, you didn't do anything wrong. It's sweet of you to want to do something like this. The world needs more ponies like you, ponies who want to make a difference," Then she added. "But you don't need to dress up in a cape and give yourself an alter ego to do that. If there's one thing I've learned from the brief time we worked together, it's that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Real heroes don't need elaborate costumes, real heroes show up when they're needed. And that's what we are every day when we answer the call."

"The call to what?" Pinkie questioned.

"The call to action, the call to save the day," Rainbow explained. "It's not just when we're fighting evil forces from long ago either. It can be when we do things we didn't even think were heroic, like helping somepony in need or just taking time out of our day to spend it with others."

Pinkie Pie seemed to realize what her pegasus friend was saying as she commented. "Ooooh!"

The cyan coated mare nodded. "If you still wanna dress up as Mare-Do-Well, that's fine. But maybe you should hang it up and stop always looking for problems to solve. Sometimes, the most heroic thing you can do is leave the heroing to actual heroes. You know, not running into burning buildings or throwing yourself in front of speeding carriages."

"Isn't that more your thing?" Pinkie questioned Rainbow.

Rainbow blushed, massaging the back of her neck with a hoof. "Okay, you got me on that, Pinkie. And I guess maybe I could have toned down the bragging just a teeny tiny bit."

With a grin the party pony declared. "Sounds like we both learned something today. You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"A visit to Twilight?" Rainbow guessed. "I'd be up for that."

But Pinkie Pie shook her head. "No, silly. I'm talking about you appearing at the Mare-Do-Well parade tomorrow, alongside yours truly. It'll be a way for Mare-Do-Well to officially pass the torch if you know what I mean," And she gave a knowing wink. "Though you never know, there may still be a day when the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well is needed once again!"

S8 E25: School Raze, Part 1 (What If?)

The day started out like any other for the School of Friendship, with the delivery of mail. And it came courtesy of a very familiar, wall-eyed pegasus mare with bubbles for a cutie mark.

Despite her condition, the mare had little trouble finding the school. And aside from crashing into the front door, she landed without incident. She found it quite odd that she'd been delivering so much mail to this school lately, but then again there wasn't a place in Equestria quite like it.

The mare trotted past, not noticing as a certain pegasus filly snatched up one of the letters from the sack and smirked as she read it to herself. If anyone had been watching, they might have seen the filly's eyes glow green.

But the pegasus mare kept on trotting, finally reaching her destination as she knocked on the door to the headmare's office.

"Come in," Twilight called, using her magic to open the door. "Ah, Bubbles, so nice to see you again."

"Bubbles" set the mail sacks down on the floor as she groaned from the weight of them, breathing a sigh of relief once they were all set down. "Twilight, you know that's not my real name. Nopony calls me that."

Twilight simply replied. "Well I think your name is kind of mean. You're not really clumsy or stupid. You mean well."

"Bubbles" simply chuckled. "Oh, I know I do. But I learned long ago not to let what others ponies think of my name get me down. I've always been what I've always been, and that's not going to change," Then she cleared her throat. "Anyway, I got all the mail for you. Even Grandpa Gruff's letters to Gallus."

"Really? I thought that was Gabby's department." Twilight commented.

"Bubbles" just laughed. "She's the mail carrier for Griffonstone, silly," She booped Twilight's snout. "There's only one top mailmare for Ponyville, and that's me!" She proceeded to open the sacks. "You can make sure all the mail gets to whoever it's supposed to go to. I'd love to stay and help, but that post office isn't going to run itself you know," Then a thought came to her. "By the way, where are your students?"

Now it was Twilight's turn to smile. "Oh, Rainbow Dash is taking them on a field trip. Cozy Glow arranged for her to cover for me, wasn't that nice of Cozy?"

"Where is Rainbow Dash taking all the students? Maybe I could fly by on my way back and say 'hi'?" "Bubbles" suggested as she turned to leave.

Twilight simply replied. "I believe Rainbow Dash mentioned something about Cloudsdale. And if I know her like I think I do, she's probably taking the students on a sightseeing tour."

And that was just what Rainbow Dash was doing as she led the students along. "Ta-da! The Pegasus Weather Factory! Every drop of rain or flake of snow from Cloudsdale comes from there. And did I mention that yours truly used to work here before she became a Wonderbolt?" She told the students.

The students all awed in amazement. Even Sandbar (who had been to many Wonderbolts shows) and Gallus (who was the best flyer among his friends) were impressed.

Rainbow smiled. "I know, right? But we're just getting started, the coolest stuff's over there!" She gestured a hoof to a nearby stadium. "You're looking at the one and only Cloudiseum, it's the place to go if you wanna see the best sports and shows in all of Cloudsdale!"

Ocellus, meanwhile, was taking in the view of Cloudsdale as she felt her hooves touch the clouds. The cloud walking spell had sounded rather scary, but the feeling of the clouds underneath her took any worries she might have had away. "Wow! I've never stood on a cloud before!"

Rainbow simply commented. "Thank Counselor Starlight, it was her idea to cast the cloud walking spell on the lot of you."

Starlight nodded. "And be sure to thank Headmare Twilight for teaching it to me. I owe just about everything in my life to her."

Gallus, meanwhile, stood on the edge of a cloud as the wind whistled past. The griffon soon got a rather mischevious idea. It was no secret that Yona was easily goaded, and that she didn't like to admit to being afraid of anything. "Hey, Yona," He called in an innocent tone of voice, trying his best to hide a teasing smirk. "Why don't you come over here and check out the view? Unless you're too scared."

Through chattering teeth, Yona walked slowly towards Gallus. "Y-Yona not scared!" She protested. But then suddenly, Yona felt one of her hooves slip! Her body began to sink through the cloud! "Now Yona scared!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as several students turned to look, and gasped!

At the moment, no one knew that what they were witnessing was a warning sign that something was wrong in the world of Equestria. Something that would threaten its existence yet again, but not in a way anyone could've imagined!

Immediately, Rainbow Dash and Starlight leaped into action to try and catch Yona before she could plummet to the ground! And it seemed like several other students who couldn't fly were having the same problem!

Rainbow Dash barked out an order to all able bodied flyers. "Come on! We gotta catch 'em before it's too late!"

Working quickly, the flyers rounded up everyone and brought them all to the ground safely. Gallus and Ocellus were able to catch Yona. "It's okay, Yona. I gotcha," Gallus told the yak even as he groaned. "Although, would it kill you to lose some weight?"

"Yak not heavy, Gallus just out of shape," Yona snorted as her hooves touched solid ground. "Worst field trip ever."

"But I thought you liked flying, Yona?" Ocellus questioned.

Yona snorted again. "Flying, not falling. Yona no want to end up yak pancake." Then she started kissing the ground repeatedly, glad to be safe.

With all the students safe, attention immediately turned to Starlight. No one had to say a word for her to realize what they were all thinking. "I don't understand, that shouldn't have happened. It-It's like my spell just stopped working all of a sudden! But that's impossible, that's never happened before."

Rainbow Dash gulped. "Should we be worried?"

Starlight nodded. "I think so. We should probably tell Twilight before word of this gets out and ponies start to panic."

A short time later, a panic stricken Rainbow and Starlight came rushing into Twilight's office. They panted, nearly out of breath. "Twilight, we have an emergency on our hooves! I don't think we even have a code or a number for it!"

"The students... they just dropped out of the sky!" Starlight exclaimed with fright.

Twilight spun around. "Slow down, one at a time," And she motioned for the two mares to take some deep breaths. "Now tell me, what happened?"

Starlight spoke up first. "I'm not sure. We were on the field trip to Cloudsdale and I cast the cloud walking spell just like you taught me. But it failed. Or rather, my magic failed. It was the weirdest thing. It was fine one moment, and the next it just stopped working."

"The good news is, we were able to get everyone safely to the ground," Rainbow Dash added. "The bad news is, Yona's probably gonna have nightmares... again. Some professors we turned out to be."

Twilight threw up a hoof, she didn't want to hear such an argument. "If no one got hurt then that's the most important thing. I'm glad you're all safe, and I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

"Really? And why is it not?" Starlight questioned. "If there was ever a time to freak out, this would be it."

"First of all, panicking won't solve anything," Twilight explained to her former student. "And second, maybe you just did your spell wrong, Starlight. It can happen more often than you think, even I still mess up sometimes. Why don't we take another look? Maybe your magic's just on the fritz today for some reason?"

But when Twilight lit up her horn to pick up a book, she only managed to surround it with a reddish-violet aura for a second before it hit the ground with a thud. Just like Starlight, Twilight's magic had inexplicably failed.

Starlight couldn't resist making a sarcastic remark. "Gee, maybe you just did your spell wrong, Twilight?"

Before Twilight had a chance to answer, there came a thud at the door. Followed by a cry of pain from Rarity before the door opened. The fashionista came bursting in with tears in her eyes! "Oh Twilight, it's horrible! My magic is go-o-o-one! I even had to use my hooves to coif my tail! Oh the shame of it all!"

"Still think this is nothing to be worried about?" Rainbow questioned Twilight. "Magic is disappearing from Equestria again."

"But that can't be!" Twilight protested. "Magic doesn't just vanish, and alicorn magic was the one thing that didn't fade the last time around. Something about this doesn't seem right."

Rainbow Dash suggested. "You don't suppose it's Tirek again, do you? This has his name written all over it."

Fluttershy (who had followed Rarity inside) spoke up. "Isn't he still trapped in Tartarus though?"

"Well, we never did find out how he escaped the first time. Even so, it seems odd Tirek would strike again now. Discord would surely sense his presence and track him down." Twilight nervously commented.

Just then, the door opened and in rushed Spike who seemed to be gagging on something! Twilight immediately rushed to the dragon, hoping to pin down the source of his distress! "Spike, what's wrong?! Spit it out!"

But Spike couldn't do so no matter how hard he tried. That is, until Rarity gently but firmly pressed on his back with a hoof. That made the dragon spit out the scroll that had gotten stuck in his mouth. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. Looks like I owe you one, Rarity," Then he turned to Twilight. "I've never had a letter get stuck in my throat before. This is definitely a magic theft we're talking about. And Princess Celestia's already aware of it, she's calling us all to an emergency meeting in Canterlot."

"Pretty sure I know what it's about," Twilight commented as she looked at the scroll. "It looks like classes will have to be cancelled for today."

Sometime later, the seven mares and one not so small dragon had all gathered in the throne room of Canterlot. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were noticeably stricken with concern. That was a sure sign that something was wrong, the princesses usually remained calm even in situations when the well being of all of Equestria was at stake.

Yet as Spike looked around he saw that someone was not there. Someone who had been there the last time he'd come to Canterlot. "Where's Singe?" He questioned upon seeing no sign of his birth mother.

"She left for the dragon lands just yesterday," Princess Celestia explained. "A shame, we could use her help at a time like this," The sun princess gave a heavy sigh and paused for a moment. "By now you must've noticed that magic is failing. It's not just unicorn magic either, pegasi, earth ponies, and even alicorns like my sister and I have become afflicted."

"I'm afraid that this isn't just a problem in Ponyville or Canterlot," Princess Luna added. "Cadence has reported that even the Crystal Empire is feeling these effects. Though the good news is that the Crystal Heart is still functioning, for now."

Just then, a pony clad in a blue mail worker uniform came rushing in. The stallion held a letter in his hooves as he panted. "Letter for the princess from Starswirl the Bearded! It's urgent!"

Princess Celestia picked up the letter with her hooves and read it aloud. The words that were heard made everyone gasp as their hearts became filled with dread. The letter read as follows:

Princess Celestia,

By the time you receive this letter you'll probably already be aware of what is happening, but I can't take the risk that you might remain uniformed until it's too late. The same holds true for your fellow princesses, wherever they may be.

On the first day, as is probably already happening, spells will fail along with unicorn magic. On the second day all creatures shall lose their magical abilities. Pegasi will be unable to walk on clouds, control the weather, or even fly. And earth ponies will no longer be able to tend to the soil or use their strength to move heavy objects. And on the third day, even magical artifacts will fail completely.

I'm well aware that some of my fellow pillars live close to a princess: Flash Magnus and Stygian in Canterlot, Mistmane in the Crystal Empire, and Rockhoof in Ponyville at Twilight's School of Friendship. But I must leave at once to recruit Somnambula and Mage Meadowbrook, for I sense our help may be needed to combat the evil force responsible for this magic theft. Alas, these old bones can only move so fast, and without the aid of teleportation it will take me a considerable amount of time to recruit all the pillars and deploy to wherever we are needed.

Sincerely,

Your very concerned former teacher,

Starswirl the Bearded

"Well, does anypony have any leads?" Princess Luna suggested once her sister had finished reading Starswirl's letter. "Time is already starting to run out, the first day will soon turn to night. We have but two days left to save Equestria from a terrible fate."

Twilight put a hoof to her chin, deep in thought. "Has anypony checked on Tirek lately? Are we sure he's still in Tartarus and not running loose?"

Princess Celestia reluctantly shook her head. "It's been a while since we conducted any sort of security sweep around Tartarus, or done a head count."

"And you think that big, scary, centaur might be roaming loose?" Pinkie Pie wondered.

"It's a possibility, he's the only one I can think of who knows how to drain magic. Even if he's not behind it, I'll bet he knows something about who or what is," Twilight explained and then declared. "I have to get to Tartarus! If Tirek is there, he might be able to tell me who the culprit is. And if he's not, at least I could try to track him down."

"We'll all go with you, Twilight," Rarity declared. "We weren't there for you the last time you faced Tirek, and we won't let history repeat itself."

But Twilight shook her head. "No, girls. It's too risky to go all the way to Tartarus with me. I'll go alone. The rest of you need to stay and keep an eye on the school."

Everyone gasped as Spike rushed forward and protested. "But Twilight, don't you see?! That's what Tirek wants you to do! He wants you to go alone to Tartarus so he can trap you there! Please, at least let me come along with you! I won't be much help without my fire breath, but I don't wanna be separated from you again!"

"I'm sorry, Spike, but even you must stay behind. We don't know for sure Tirek's in Tartarus, and if he isn't it won't do us any good to all go to Tartarus," Twilight explained. "Assuming it is a trap, the best option in this case may be to spring it. It might even be enough to lure Tirek or whoever the culprit is out of hiding."

"But Twilight!" Spike began.

Twilight shook her head again. "No buts, Spike. You're a big boy now, and I'm not always going to be there for you. You need to be brave and do whatever you can to help the others," Then she added. "And if worse comes to worse and I don't make it back, I want you to stay strong. You're a fighter, and the best thing you could do for me in that situation would be to keep fighting. To work to ensure my sacrifice isn't for nothing."

Starlight nervously gulped. "Twilight, you're not gonna do something drastic, are you? You're making it sound like you're already writing yourself off."

"I have to be prepared for any and all possibilities, Starlight," Twilight firmly replied. "As a princess, it's my responsibility to put myself out on the line if necessary, no matter what the risk might be. But I don't expect to be gone forever. I may not be able to see the future like Celestia or Luna, but I have a feeling that this isn't the last time we'll see each other."

"Okay, so I guess you want me to take over the school while you're away," Starlight reluctantly commented. "But how are you going to get to Tartarus in the first place? You can't teleport, and Tartarus is a long way away."

Twilight grinned. "Not to worry, I've already thought of a solution," She looked across to Fluttershy. "You know what to do."

Fluttershy put her hooves to her lips and gave a whistle. Suddenly, with a loud whooshing sound, Discord appeared! "You called?" The spirit spoke.

Fluttershy gestured a hoof to Twilight, and Twilight spoke up. "Yes I did, Discord. Magic is disappearing from all over Equestria, and I need your help to get to Tartarus to check on Lord Tirek."

"Oh my, how very brave of you, princess," Discord commented, dawning a cape. "But don't expect me to go into Tartarus with you. I don't think Tirek would be happy to see me after I kind of... well, you know."

Twilight nodded. "Just be careful, we don't know for sure Tirek's still there. He may have already escaped. So be ready to teleport anywhere else on my command. But for now, let's just get to Tartarus and see for ourselves if he's there or not."

Discord obeyed. "Very well then, one trip to Tartarus coming right up," Snapping his paws, he teleported towards Twilight and dawned the appearance of a flight attendant. "Thank you for flying Air Discord! Please enjoy your flight!" Another snap of his paws caused him and the alicorn to vanish.

After Twilight and Discord had departed for Tartarus, the others all returned to Ponyville and back to the School of Friendship.

"Do you think Twilight will be alright with just Discord?" Fluttershy nervously wondered. "Even his magic will eventually cease to exist by the end of the third day. It'll be just like the time he tried to be normal."

"Well, knowin' Discord I reckon we won't have too much to worry as long as he doesn't cross paths with Tirek," Applejack commented. "But if you ask me, somethin' about this doesn't feel right. Why'd Tirek choose now to strike, and yet not make sure we knew it was him?"

Starlight tried hard not to gulp. "Are you suggesting that Twilight and Discord are on the wrong path? What are we supposed to do about that?"

Applejack shook her head. "Honestly, I don't know. For now it's probably best if we don't say anythin' about what's goin' on. That way we won't risk potentially lettin' the culprit know we're onto 'em. We'll just have to keep an eye out for anythin' out of the ordinary. And hopefully, by the time Twilight comes back we'll at least have a better idea of what we're dealin' with."

"Wait, Headmare Twilight is gone?" Cozy Glow innocently questioned as she came walking up to the others. She didn't seem to be particularly concerned.

A reluctant Starlight confirmed the filly's question. "She had to leave for a matter of extreme importance. But I'm afraid I can't give away any details, Cozy."

Cozy frowned. "Well, golly, who's going to take her place as headmare of the school?"

"Who do you think?" Starlight commented in response. "Twilight already planned for this, and she made it very clear she wants me to be Acting Headmare in her absence."

Cozy Glow didn't seem to be thrilled by the news if the pronounced frown on her face was any indication. But she walked away without saying a word, she just glanced back to Starlight as if she suddenly viewed the mare with hostility.

But that evening, as Starlight was closing up the headmare's office for the night and preparing to leave, she was surprised to receive a visit from Rockhoof. The once proud pillar was all but out of breath. "I was sharpening my tools so I'd be ready for whatever danger the pillars and I will have to face, when I saw one of the wee ones sneakin' off by themselves. Looked like it was Cozy Glow, lassie was mumbling somethin' to herself."

"Did you see where she went?" Starlight inquired of Rockhoof.

"I think I saw her head off towards the library, not sure why she'd be there though." Rockhoof answered.

Starlight put a hoof to her face. "Oh, I knew I was forgetting something! She's supposed to be on book stacking duty! Guess I'll have to find something else for her to do until Twilight gets back."

The mare trotted away, making an immediate beeline for the school's library. Her blue eyes scanned the murky darkness for any trace of Cozy Glow.

But when she entered the library, she was surprised to find Cozy sneaking past all the bookshelves. It appeared that she was heading to the very back. Starlight called out to the filly. "Cozy Glow?!"

Cozy Glow stopped in her tracks and spun around, finally noticing Starlight's appearance. "Golly, Acting Headmare Starlight! What a... surprise to see you here."

"I could say the same about you, Cozy," Starlight commented as she trotted up to the filly. "What are you doing here? Classes are done and the school is closing for the night. You should be in your room, not wandering the school."

But Cozy Glow only cackled as her eyes glowed a sickly green in color. Her body was surrounded by similarly colored magic flames. "Oh Starlight, you weak, pathetic pony. You have no idea what you're up against."

Starlight nearly jumped back in surprise as the familiar form of Chrysalis appeared! "Chrysalis?! What have you done with the real Cozy Glow?! How did you get in here?!"

Chrysalis only laughed. "There is no Cozy Glow, Starlight! She's simply a disguise, a means to an end! You foolish ponies would never suspect one of your own. But I'm afraid I can't simply leave you to muck up my plans. And this time, no one is here to save you."

Starlight tried to fight back, but without magic she was no match for Chrysalis and the changeling easily overpowered the unicorn. Chrysalis smirked. "Oh, what I'm gonna do to you."

Meanwhile, thousands upon thousands of miles away, a loud popping sound could be heard in what was otherwise a remote and uninhabited part of Equestria. In the distance stood a massive gate of dark red and black, with a seal over the entrance and two guards (one clad in the armor for Celestia's royal guard and the other clad in the armor for Luna's night guard) kept a silent vigil over the landscape. Surrounding them were a series of pillars similar to those found in Canterlot or Cloudsdale. But judging by the marks, cracks, and vines, they were much older and very worn.

The popping announced the arrival of Twilight Sparkle and Discord to the front gate of Tartarus, the very place where the worst criminals in Equestria were confined for all their days. A place that few would dare to enter.

Even Discord seemed to be shaken with fright as he eyed the ominous gate and the guards that kept watch over it. "Well, here we are, princess. This is as far as we go, I'm afraid." He told Twilight.

"That's alright, Discord, I'll be fine on my own. If Tirek is in there, he won't get to me like he did you," Twilight reassured the spirit. "You just stay put out here and be ready to teleport to wherever I tell you to."

The spirit nervously questioned. "How are you going to get inside? It's not like we can just waltz up there and pretend we're delivering a pizza. The guards will surely pounce." He briefly dawned an outfit similar to ones worn by pizza delivery ponies, before throwing it (and a pizza box) away.

In response, Twilight pulled out what looked almost like a kaleidoscope except for the noticeable seal on the top that matched the seal of three upside horseshoes on Tartarus' front gate. "I made sure to plan ahead. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna keep the key to Tartarus heavily guarded. But after Tirek's rampage we agreed that if the need should ever rise one of us could take the key. The guards will make sure that no one gets in or out besides me."

"Couldn't we just ask the guards if they saw Tirek?" Discord hopefully inquired.

Twilight shook her head. "The guards themselves don't go into Tartarus unless a princes is accompanying them to deliver a new prisoner. And the last headcount was conducted weeks ago, Tirek could've slipped out while they were distracted," She proceeded to trot up to the front gate with a smile on her face. "Hopefully, I won't be long," As the guards looked down at her, the young alicorn simply informed them. "Permission to enter Tartarus."

The guards spoke not a word, they gave silent nods and let Twilight pass. She inserted the key into the gate and an audible click could be heard that echoed everywhere. It was a sound that could've unnerved even the bravest of hearts.

The gate swung open and without hesitation, Twilight trotted in. The key remained stuck in the gate all together. But unknown to the alicorn, as she walked past the opened gate and into Tartarus itself, a timer appeared on the key. As soon as she entered Tartarus itself, the timer started counting down.

Discord took notice and he did something he rarely did, he gulped and seemed to break out into a nervous sweat. "Uh-oh, I don't think that's a good sign. We may have less time than we hoped."

The next morning, Spike was the first to notice that the headmare's office was left vacant. There was no sign of Starlight Glimmer anywhere. "Starlight? Starlight?" He called while flying around the school. "Where are you? If this is one of your 'big sister pranks' it's not funny. With Twilight away, you're the one who's supposed to keep everything running smoothly."

Spike's flying and calling soon caught the attention of his friends, and the five mares immediately rushed to him. "Starlight is missing?" Rarity questioned the dragon, hoping beyond hope she was wrong.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since last night when she went to lock up the school," Spike explained while flapping his wings. "I already checked the castle, her bedroom is untouched so she couldn't have gone back there at any point."

"Maybe she went to go help Twilight?" Pinkie Pie suggested. "I heard she didn't exactly enjoy her last romp as Acting Headmare, she got all super competitive with Discord."

"But wouldn't she leave a note or come to tell us if that was the case?" Rarity pondered. "This is starting to sound an awful lot like the time Rainbow Dash was framed for trying to poison Spitfire. Shadow Spade doesn't believe in coincidences, and neither do I."

Fluttershy then commented. "Um, not that I mean to interrupt, but has anypony noticed that Cozy Glow is absent too?"

"That's funny," Rainbow Dash remarked. "Rockhoof says he saw her last night, and told Starlight about it. But that was the last time he saw either of them. He was in the gym all night, preparing for battle. And he was still there this morning."

"I don't like the looks of this, y'all," Applejack glumly commented as she swallowed a lump in her throat. "First Twilight leaves for Tartarus and we don't hear from her. And now Starlight and Cozy Glow are missin'. And we've only got until sundown tomorrow to stop the magic theft."

"But what about the students?" Fluttershy spoke up with concern. "We can't just shut down the school and send them all away, with magic failing all over Equestria there'd be nowhere safe for them."

Spike then declared. "I do know one thing, someone's going to have to step in and be the new Acting Headmare," He quickly added. "And it won't be me!"

The dragon's declaration took all of his friends by surprise. Rarity was the first to ask. "Whyever not, Spikey Wikey? You've spent a lot of time with Twilight and Starlight, they're practically family to you."

Spike shook his head. "It just wouldn't feel right to take their place, even if it's just temporary. I tried filling in for Twilight once, and I hated the way it turned out. Why else do you think I gave the Bloodstone Scepter to Ember? I don't trust myself to be in charge without someone I trust to hold me back. And I want a position of power that I've earned, something that suits me. Taking somepony else's place wouldn't work," He sighed and came down to the ground, ceasing his wing flaps. "I know it sounds really stupid and childish. If Twilight were here she'd scold me for still thinking like that."

However, Rarity simply nudged the dragon with a hoof. "Darling, that is incredibly mature of you. Nopony should ever force you into something you're not ready for. There is nothing wrong with waiting until you're ready. In a time of crisis, we all have a duty to appoint the most capable creature to lead us."

"And would that be?" Pinkie Pie questioned. "Classes are going to start soon and it's going to look weird if there's nopony there to guide the students."

Applejack sighed, removing her hat from her head. "Well, I don't like it, but since Twilight and Starlight aren't around and Spike doesn't want the job, I reckon I'm the next best choice we've got. I'll lead us until we can figure out what the hay's goin' on around here," And stomping her hoof down she declared. "So all of y'all better stay alert! If ya see anythin' that don't look right, you bring it my way! And whatever ya do, don't go off by yourself! We ain't gonna lose anyone else!"

Back in Tartarus, Twilight's eyes took in the sights and sounds of the massive prison. It was a dimly lit place lined with prison cells and worn columns. All sorts of shadowy creatures could be heard but not seen, prowling around and lurking about in their cages.

The princess ignored all of them, even the likes of Verto and the scale traders (those who had survived Tempest's assault on their hideout had been turned over to Princess Celestia, who had seen fit to promptly banish them to Tartarus). She wasn't interested in any of them. There was only one prisoner who she needed to check up on. And as luck would have it, his cell rested at the far end of the complex.

The pathway to said cell was guarded by the three headed dog named Cerberus. His spiked collar made him easily identifiable. But all it took to distract him was a bone pulled out from Twilight's saddlebag.

Walking up the countless steps seemed to take an eternity to the young alicorn, who wished more than anything that she had the aid of her magic at the current moment. Alas, she had to make do with walking at a time when it was most inconvenient to her.

At last, however, she reached her destination. There stood the cell that was (hopefully) the resting place of the two time threat to all of Equestria, Lord Tirek.

Twilight carefully crept closer, unable to see into his cage fully from her current position. "Tirek, are you there?" She called into the darkness, hoping for a reply.

Her response was a pair of glowing yellow eyes that soon gave way to the familiar form of the centaur. Except he did not look at like the hulking beast with massive horns that Twilight had encountered all those years ago. He looked considerably weaker, and where his horns used to be there were only two little stubs. He clutched the bars of his cage, glaring at his visitor. "Princess Twilight? My my, how funny to see you in an accursed place like this," He spoke in a raspy voice. "So, what are you in for? What law did 'Little Miss Perfect' here break?"

Twilight frowned as she stomped a hoof down. "You know why I'm here, Tirek. Assuming that is you and not a well placed projection."

Tirek growled but it soon turned into a raspy cough. "Why, princess, where's your sense of humor? It's about the only thing I have left since you returned me to this horrible prison," He grinned a bit as he added. "I assure you, I'm quite real. You really think I would steal all of that delicious magic, and not make sure you knew it was me?" As he spoke he noticeably licked his lips.

"So you're saying you're not responsible for all the magic in Equestria disappearing?" The princess questioned the centaur further. Her questioned was answered by a nod. "But you're the only one who even knows how to drain magic."

Tirek just laughed. "I have ways of sharing my knowledge, Princess Twilight. As Discord will tell you, I am more than happy to make a new friend when one shares my thoughts. Of course, I also have a tendency not to trust anyone. When you've been betrayed as much as I have you'll understand."

Twilight blinked in surprise. "Wait? You'd actually tell me who is stealing the magic from Equestria?! Why would you do that?!"

Tirek just grinned as he rubbed his paws together. "Why not? You won't be able to use the information, you'll be stuck here in Tartarus with me! Or did you forget that the key to Tartarus operates on a time limit?!"

"What?!" Twilight gasped in surprise.

The centaur only laughed further. "This coming from the same pony who once nearly bested me. You are far too easily tricked, princess. And to think, you don't even realize the real culprit's been hiding under your nose this whole time!"

Night was falling in Ponyville as the second day drew to a close, the cause of the magic theft had still not been discovered and neither was there any clue as to the whereabouts of Starlight Glimmer or Cozy Glow. Things didn't look good for the ponies, or for Spike. Try as they might to pretend otherwise, they were deeply worried that this time things weren't going to work out.

Of course not everyone was upset about the fast approaching deadline. There was one creature who quite enjoyed it. Chrysalis. That night, she carefully poked her head up from beneath an air duct in the back of the library. A quick scan indicated that no one was around. So she emerged fully, quickly dawning her disguise of Cozy Glow. There was somepony she needed to meet with right away, somepony who she'd entered into a secret agreement with. And she knew that it was somepony who didn't like to be kept waiting.

So the disguised changeling snuck away, making sure not to be spotted. Unaware to her, however, six students happened to catch her leaving the library. Rather than call out to her though, they decided to follow her. They'd suspected something was off about the filly, though none knew what that might be.

Cozy Glow at last reached the headmare's office, which was supposed to be abandoned. She entered and shut the door tightly behind her, just as a tall, lanky unicorn stallion clad in a dark red robe spun around to greet her. It was Chancellor Neighsay, and his stern moderate turquoise eyes immediately locked onto Cozy. "Ah, you've arrived just in time," He commented, and then questioned. "So, is Twilight Sparkle... out of the picture as it were?"

Cozy Glow smirked as she rubbed her hooves together. "That pathetic princess took the bait, hook, line, and sinker! By the time she realizes the truth, it'll be too late!"

Neighsay simply nodded his head. "Good. And it seems you took care of all opposition, meaning I can now take over this school and run it my way. There will be changes, but for the greater good they must be imposed."

At that, Cozy Glow jumped back in surprise! "What?! I thought we had a deal, Neighsay?! I'd get rid of Headmare Twilight and Vice Headmare Starlight, and after you took over you'd let me run things!"

"Well things change," Neighsay coldly replied. "You're just a child, nopony in their right mind would be dumb enough to let you run a school. I don't care how smart you are. Besides, the magic thief is still on the loose. And if it's not in Tartarus then I have a hunch that whoever it is is somewhere within this school. Desperate times call for desperate measures," He proceeded to growl at Cozy. "Now out with it! What are you hiding?!"

Cozy was surprised to find herself on the defensive, she tried her best not to let the chancellor rattle her. A feat that was easier said than done. "W-who me? I-I'm not hiding anything," She stuttered. "I'm just an innocent little filly, what would I have to hide?"

Neighsay hissed. "I'm not stupid. I can smell the set-up a mile away. You've given me everything I could hope for on a silver platter. I've had far too many ponies try to butter me up like this not to grow wise. There is always a catch. And after Princess Twilight tricked me, I won't be taken by surprise ever again!" He gestured a hoof down to the filly. "Now out with it! You know something, and I wanna know what it is! What is your real reason for luring me here like this?! And just what did you do with Starlight Glimmer?!"

Before Cozy had a chance to answer, however, the doors to the headmare's office suddenly swung open! Sandbar, Gallus, Smolder, Ocellus, Silverstream, and Yona all came tumbling out and landed before Neighsay and Cozy! it didn't take a genius to figure out what they'd been up to!

Neighsay gasped! "This was a trap! You're planning to rat me out!" He shouted at Cozy Glow! "I knew you were up to no good!"

"Neighsay, what are you doing?!" Sandbar demanded of the chancellor. "What do you have against Headmare Twilight?! She didn't do anything to you to deserve getting trapped in Tartarus!"

The chancellor simply snapped back. "Young colt, you should learn to respect your elders! I won't be spoken to in such a manner! As for Princess Twilight, she will be fine. I simply needed her gone so that I could finally get this abomination of a school shuddered! I will find the magic thief and restore order to Equestria!"

Meanwhile, Cozy turned her attention to the six students as she suddenly shouted! "Neighsay, it's them! They're the ones responsible for the magic theft! You have to arrest them!"

"What?!" The six students all gasped at once! None of them even knew until just a moment ago that magic from Equestria was disappearing.

But Neighsay seemed to suddenly become paralyzed. "I-I can't!" He told Cozy. "Magic theft or not, I can't simply lock up these students! There are rules that have to be followed, guidelines that must be obeyed. If not, I'll get in trouble! I'll lose my title!"

The irritated filly simply growled as she flew up and snatched Neighsay's medallion off his robe. "Fine, I'll do it myself! Seems like I have to do everything around here!" She touched the center of the medallion, and a series of magical chains surrounded the six students, thus preventing them from moving.

Even Smolder's fire breath couldn't do a thing to the chains. And the dragon was quick to glare at Cozy. "You know what? From day one I had a feeling you were trouble. That sweet and innocent look was just a little too sweet for my taste."

"Well guess what, dragon?!" Cozy Glow taunted as she flew back down to make eye contact. "You just messed with the wrong filly. And you're gonna be sorry!"

Cozy Glow and Neighsay proceeded to lock the students away in one of the rooms on the upper level of the school. "Stop struggling, you'll never break free of the chains," Neighsay instructed. "You will remain here until your guardians can be contacted, and you can explain to them what you refuse to explain to me."

"For the last time, Chancellor, we didn't do it! You've got the wrong guys!" Gallus protested. "Let us go, we're innocent! Don't trust a word that pegasus says!"

But Cozy Glow snapped back. "Be quiet, griffon! You don't talk back to the chancellor like that!" And to Neighsay she encouraged. "Don't listen to them, I know they stole the magic! Don't forget, they're all dangerous creatures who would do anything to hurt Equestria!"

"But I'm a pony! Why would I betray Equestria?!" Sandbar protested to Cozy. "This is all a big misunderstanding!"

Neighsay refused to listen. "I'm sorry, but until I can figure out what's going on I refuse to take any chances. You will all remain here. And Sandbar, though you may be a pony, since you ally yourselves with those creatures I must assume you're part of their plan," He stomped a hoof down. "I will contact your parents, and I can imagine they won't be pleased. But perhaps it will teach you to be more careful about who you choose to befriend."

However, as the magical chains faded away, Sandbar stood up and declared. "Wait, Chancellor! I've changed my mind! You were right about them from the beginning, I see that now. I thought I was being kind and generous by befriending them, but all I was really doing was putting Equestria in danger."

Silverstream let out a gasp! "Sandbar?! How could you?!"

Ocellus pleaded. "Do you even realize what you're saying?! You can't leave us!"

"Yona no want Sandbar to leave! Yona thought Sandbar friend!" Yona desperately pleaded.

Sandbar only replied. "I'm sorry, guys, but this is for the greater good. If siding with you means I get into trouble, then I don't want any part of it. I don't want anything to do with creatures that could threaten Equestria!" He turned to Neighsay. "Let me out, and I promise to help you."

Against Cozy's protests, Neighsay accepted Sandbar's offer. "You've chosen wisely, young stallion. Everyone will come to their senses eventually. Now tell me, what do you know about the magic theft?"

Before Sandbar could say anything though, Applejack happened to come trotting up on the scene. "What in tarnation is goin' on here?!" Then she locked eyes with Neighsay. "What are you doin' here?! Twilight made it clear you ain't welcome around here!"

Neighsay only replied with a smirk. "But Princess Twilight isn't here, now is she?"

"Because she's off tryin' to solve the disappearance of our magic," Applejack insisted as she stomped a hoof down. "And I'll be darned if you think I'm gonna let you sabotage her legacy!"

"Who said anything about sabotage?" The crafty chancellor said with a smirk. "I'm trying to save her legacy and her reputation from a costly mistake. This school has been nothing but a disaster, and my only mistake was ever allowing it to open."

"You can't just come in here and take over!" Applejack stubbornly protested.

Neighsay just answered. "I can now. From this moment onward, this school is under EEA control. And as head of the EEA, that means what I say goes! If you have a problem with that, well you know who you can take it up with. But I doubt even you would want to interfere with my work at a time like this."

Sandbar finally spoke up. "Please, Professor Applejack. Neighsay's just trying to do what he thinks is best for Equestria. Headmare Twilight was wrong to fight against him. Let him take over the school, it's for the best."

"You see, Applejack?" Neighsay smirked anew. "Even your students support me. Now, are you going to back down and let me do my job?"

After a moment of staring at the chancellor, Applejack reluctantly conceded. "Fine, you win this time, Neighsay. But this won't be forgiven. Mark my words, you'll pay for this." Then the farm mare turned and angrily trotted away.

"Alright then, Sandbar," Neighsay commented as he turned to the colt. "Let's resume our previous conversa-" But it seemed that the colt had slipped away while the chancellor was distracted.

Cozy Glow growled. "I told you he was with them!"

But Neighsay shook his head. "Let him go, he's no danger to us. Earth pony magic has already all but faded away. In time he'll come to his senses and tell us what he knows."

Sandbar rushed straight to Sweet Apple Acres. He ran faster than he'd ever run before. All the while he was thinking to himself. "I hope my friends can forgive me for what I did. This was the only thing I could think of."

Apple Bloom awoke a short time later to the sound of thuds against the farmhouse windows. "What in tarnation?!" She wondered and leaned out her bedroom window to see what was going on.

Sandbar stood down below next to a series of objects he'd found around the farm. "Sorry, I ran out of apples," He apologized. "I was trying to get your attention."

"What's the matter, Sandbar? Why aren't ya with your friends?" The farm filly questioned.

Sandbar replied. "My friends are in trouble, Chancellor Neighsay locked them up. Cozy Glow made him believe they're responsible for the magic theft."

"Why'd you come to me, then? Why not get Applejack or one of her friends?" Apple Bloom questioned. "This sounds like somethin' right up their alley."

The colt shook his head. "They can't do a thing to Neighsay, not when they've got classes to teach. Besides, I don't think any of them even know Cozy's been working for Neighsay this whole time," He then pleaded. "You and your friends are the next best thing. If the Cutie Mark Crusaders can distract Neighsay, I can rescue my friends and we can all get to the bottom of this. Will you help me?"

Apple Bloom smiled. "Do mulberries have seeds?"

Sandbar blinked and said nothing.

The farm filly groaned as she explained. "That's a yes. You just wait there, and I'll get the Crusaders. Honorary members and everythin'!"

Miles and miles away, Discord was unaware of any of the developments occurring back in Ponyville. And he also wasn't aware of what was happening inside of Tartarus.

What the spirit did know though, was that the timer on the key was about to expire. He started to grow anxious. "Come on, Twilight. Of all the times to sight see, you had to pick the one time when it's not actually important."

He ran right past the guards, trying to reach the key to see if he could somehow prolong the time on it. But alas he was too late, the timer ran out. The key expired. And with a loud clang, the gates of Tartarus slammed shut! "Uh-oh! Equestria, we have a problem. Repeat, we have a problem!" Discord commented to herself.

Twilight heard the clang of the shutting gates from inside Tartarus! She ran right towards them, momentarily forgetting about her lack of magic! The gates slammed shut right in her face, leaving her trapped inside!

Tirek had seen the whole thing, and he laughed. "Just as planned, princess. All I had to do was stall you long enough for the key to expire. Congratulations, you're now stuck here with me, forever!"

Twilight growled. "So this whole thing was just a ruse to lure me down here?! Just when I thought you couldn't get more despicable, Tirek!"

"Guilty as charged, princess," The centaur smirked. "But now I suppose I should keep up my end of the bargain. I did promise you answers, after all. And it's not like you'll be escaping to warn anyone," A laugh formed in his throat. "It's funny, I never actually met her. But when she started writing to me, offering to be my pen pal. Well how could I say no?"

"Her?" Twilight wondered as she turned toward Tirek. "You don't mean..."

Tirek just laughed. "I do! The one responsible for the magic theft is none other than Chrysalis, former queen of the changelings. And the soon to be ruler of all of Equestria!"

Back at the school, Sandbar and the Cutie Mark Crusaders (including Diamond Tiara) were shocked to discover what looked like a series of crystal catacombs, hidden beneath a seemingly ordinary air duct in the floor at the back of the library.

"What is this place? It's like nothin' I've ever seen before!" Apple Bloom commented.

"There's no time for that!" Sandbar protested. "I swear I saw Cozy Glow come down here when she left the office. She was the one who got Neighsay to lock up my friends."

Suddenly, in the distance the ponies saw what appeared to be a small clearing. They rushed towards it, and as they drew close they swore they could see bright lights and strange sounds.

At last, the clearing came into view! What they saw shocked them to their very core!

There was Starlight Glimmer, suspended in a magic bubble over a huge vortex! The six artifacts on loan to the school had been placed in a circle around the vortex, each encased in its own magic bubble.

Before anypony could think to do anything, they heard the sound of approaching hoofsteps and dove for whatever cover they could find. They were just in time to see Cozy Glow come trotting in. "Well, golly, this is certainly unexpected," She cackled with glee, before a series of sickly green flames surrounded her and her true form was revealed. "Who would've ever guessed that a sweet, innocent little filly would actually be the true mastermind?"

Chrysalis smirked, talking to herself as she surveyed her work. And her attention quickly turned to her prisoner, Starlight Glimmer. "Enjoying yourself in there, Starlight Glimmer? At least this way I can make sure you won't escape and foil my plans again! I told you I'd have my revenge someday, and I meant it!" She paused briefly before adding. "You may get some company in there soon though. If I can't get that annoying Chancellor Neighsay to back off!" She paused again to catch her breath. "Sorry, I'm usually more composed than this. I just hate it when others come along and try to ruin my work."

The changeling queen then bent down to pick up a crown. "It won't be long, though. Just one more day and all the magic in Equestria will be gone, trapped forever in another dimension! And the best part is, you'll be trapped there too, Starlight Glimmer. Just like how your mentor is stuck in Tartarus for all eternity!" As she fixed the crown on her head she declared. "All the pieces are falling into place. Soon, all will bow to me, Chrysalis, the Empress of Equestria!" And she burst into fits of maniacal laughter. It truly seemed like this time she was going to succeed.

Author's Note

This finale has definitely not withstood the test of time, and even to this day most fans regard it as a mess. Among the biggest problems are how the story tries to juggle the many characters of focus, but characters like Spike and Starlight seem to be all but forgotten.

There's also the problem of how all the mane six decide to go to Tartarus even though there's no need for them to do, Starlight being defeated off-screen with no fanfare, and everyone but the student six believing that Cozy Glow is in charge of the school in Starlight's absence.

In other finales it was understandable why Discord was absent since it either didn't affect him or the setting was one in which he didn't exist as an ally. But in this finale his absence felt truly startling since they never specified whether he would be affected by the disappearance of magic. And I feel like that along with the pillars not even getting a mention (aside from Starswirl) was a missed opportunity.

Of course, since I didn't know about Season 9's plans when I rewrote "Marks for Effort", I had to stick with what I'd written of Chrysalis as the true form of Cozy Glow. Of course, Cozy's appearances in Season 9 so far still leave her exact role a mystery (she only works if no one is aware of who she is, and she still seems to view friendship as a selfish thing that only she gets a benefit from). I'll cover more about the rest of the failures in part two.

Lastly, Diamond Tiara's inclusion here isn't just pointless fanservice. Rest assured that she will play a role in the finale alongside the CMC (who in the original version were unfairly shunted aside even though the synopsis falsely claimed they were going to help save the day). And as for Singe, she is from my rewrite of "Father Knows Beast" in which she is Spike's biological mother (you can check out that rewrite in the previous volume if you want to know more).