It's a Strange Life

by nobody495

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Profanity, Violence, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Young Six
Length: 5389

When Twilight wants some help, six famous students get involved, only to end up somewhere they don't belong.

After Twilight's coronation, she's still at work with her magic. She requires a certain few students to enact one spell, only for things to go wrong. Suddenly, the students find themselves in a world where species like theirs don't belong. And they're going to have a lot more fun than one'd expect.

Commissioned by viken666

Published 2020-07-31 03:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-07-31 03:20:00 UTC

A World Without Yourself

It’d been a short while ago since Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow attempted to overwhelm Equestria with disharmony. Fortunately, at the time, the many ponies, changelings, gryphons, yaks, sea ponies, and dragons had worked together to get stop them. Since then, Celestia and Luna had given their throne to Twilight Sparkle, she’d moved into the castle, and the whole of Equestria was looking to be in a better state than ever before, what with ever creature working together in harmony. Now, all that’s left for the land is progress. Speaking of…

One day, six students were given a letter, requesting they arrive at the castle. These six were some very interesting individuals in Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship, then placed under Starlight Glimmer’s leadership. They each served as delegates of the many races to help learn and understand friendship, slowly but surely opening the way to further harmony among each other. These six were as follows: Sandbar, an easygoing earthpony, Yona, a cheerful yet slightly dim yak, Silverstream, a fairly excitable sea pony, Gallus, a pretty sarcastic griffon, Smolder, a rough and tough dragon, and Ocellus, a pretty shy changeling. They each were involved in many a misadventure, from simple mishaps to world-saving ventures. They weren’t quite sure if anything could quite measure up to what could’ve been the complete subjugation of everypony, but they couldn’t quite ignore a royal order.

The two made their way to Canterlot, assisted by a train. Each of the students were, of course, very curious about whatever Twilight would ask of them, and so their trip would mainly consist of discussion of such a thing. Is there something dangerous? Something related to the Tree of Harmony? Or could it in actuality be dull?

“Eh, there’s no way anything’ll measure up to before,” Smolder said while resting the back of her head on her hands.

“You never know, there could be some undiscovered magic at her hooves,” Sandbar said. He was seated next to Yona, the two having developed feelings during their time in the School of Friendship.

“Oh, I’d be fine with a more easygoing mission,” Ocellus said. “We could use some time to wind down.”

“Yeah! Would be nice to help Twilight with something easy!” Yona declared.

“Eh, it could help us to get a royal favor, am I right?” Gallus remarked with a shrug. The six would juggle ideas among each other in discussion, unable to really settle on just what the new Equestrian Princess wants. Soon, they arrived in Canterlot, a few ponies actually apparently waiting for their arrival at the station. Upon spying the students, they’d go on to escort them out of the station, through the streets, and to the castle’s front gates, where other guards would escort them through the halls. As the six progressed, they could see, in addition to the former princesses’ imagery, they could see imagery of the mane six set around, some of it bearing Twilight in her royal regalia. Soon, the guards would make it to the doors before the throne room. It had two guards in guilded armor on either side, awaiting their arrival.

They each nodded, before spreading the doors open and unveiling the throne room. The room bore the familiar stained glass windows, each brandishing the achievements of the many important ponies. A long, velvet carpet ran from the doors to the… lack of thrones. Once there stood two, one for either sister. However, they’ve been removed, leaving only Twilight and Spike to stand there while a pair of formal-looking ponies darted around them, getting their measurements.

“Hi there!” Spike greeted, either arm forced to extend perpendicular to his body as the ponies seemed to be measuring the space between his arms and his torso.

“Oh hi-! I mean, greetings!” Twilight also greeted. So nice for you to show up so quickly!”

“Eh, not like we had that much else going on,” Gallus admitted. “Either way, what’re you up to?”

“Yeah, is everything right?” Yona asked.

“Oh, don’t worry, there isn’t anything going on that we can’t handle,” Twilight assured. “Though, I feel that our discussion will have to take place elsewhere.”

“What, is what you said just a cover up before your subjects?” Smolder asked.

“Oh, nothing like that,” Twilight assured. “Hey, how’re your guys’ measurements coming along?” The ponies measuring them each nodded, before drawing away and flipping their measuring tape onto their backs. And then, they walked away, leaving the six students alone with Twilight and Spike. “Come with me, I’ll show you what’s going on.” She turned and began walking towards one of the doors behind where the thrones once stood. The six followed behind them, each uncertain about what’s going on. They didn’t quite expect to be led this deep into the castle, and hadn’t actually had the chance to see this part of it.

“So, what is going on?” Sandbar asked.

“I decided to do some magical experimenting,” Twilight explained. “Though, I wanted to keep the exact details a secret until the full results come to fruition, just in case.”

“Oooo! Whatcha cooking up, Twilight?” Silverstream asked excitedly.

“Well, it’s a bit of a tricky business,” Twilight started. “To this day we have to worry about deliverers and letters in order to communicate with other ponies. And a lack of communication made things significantly harder during our last brush with disharmony. So, I thought to organize a means of communicating with anypony across the world!”

“O-oh my! Global communication?” Ocellus gasped, the changeling being at the far back of the group.

“Hm, now that does sound like somethin’,” Gallus responded. “Though, what’s it got to do with us?”

“Well, with the way my spell’s currently working, I figure that I’ll have to establish a path from the origin point to the respective kingdoms. You all come from your respective kingdoms, so I think that if I can channel my magic through you six, I should be able to establish communication points at each kingdom.”

“Hang on, haven’t your other friends been a round Equestria often?” Smolder asked.

“Well, sure,” Twilight admitted. “But if I can trace your paths all the way back to your birthplaces, where you spend more of your lives, I might be able to find more and more spots to establish communication points! It’s simply more practical for you six to assist!”

“Plus, it’d kind of feel weird to just have five of you guys in one place at a time,” Spike admitted with a shrug. Sandbar rose a brow at Spike’s words, but those in the hall brushed off that little statement. They traveled more and more, before eventually arriving at a room filled with books, which also had a purple gem in the middle of it that seemed to spark with magical energy, it levitating in the air.

“Here, we have our nexus point,” Twilight said. “If my hypothesis is correct, then this should be able to maintain multiple points of connection, and allow ones words to travel from one magical channel to another. It may be a while before we establish a means of singling out mono-connection to keep the lines organized, but if this succeeds, this should be a major breakthrough!” Spike crossed his arms and nodded approvingly, while the six students lauded in the explanation.

“O-oh, that does sound interesting,” Ocellus remarked.

“I guess we can try out this business,” Smolder said.

“Oh, I can’t wait to be able to talk with anyone anytime!” Silverstream squealed excitedly while hopping in place. Twilight and her assistant, meanwhile, tried to wave her down.

“Ok, ok, settle down, you six,” Twilight said. “I need you six to be still so that I can use my magic more effectively.” At her urging, the six of them reoriented themselves and made sure to stand still. Twilight, meanwhile, walked around to a desk nearby, where she reread the page real quick. She then stepped towards the six students, and rubbed her hooves expectantly. “Alright, now I have the spell fresh in my head, so I should be able to do this.”

“Should?” Smolder asked.

“Aw, the spell doesn’t sound that bad,” Spike said. At least, Smolder thought it was Spike, she couldn’t quite see him. She peered around, before seeing him hiding behind the corner of a bookshelf. Smolder glowered at her, when a flash of magic flew out of Twilight’s horn. It struck the levitating gem, which began shining with multi-colored light. While it was lit up, Twilight turned her head to the rest of the group, before firing a similarly-colored beam at them! And once it was struck, a line formed between the six students and the gem itself.

As a massive lightshow filled the room, Twilight held her horn out and kept on working on the magical flow. She seemed to be hard at work tracing the students’ steps around Equestria, working hard to get back to their homelands. However, as she struggled, the gem began to vibrate. The students looked towards it curiously, and Twilight side-eyed it as it began to hum.

“Uh, should it do that?” Gallus asked, pointing.

“N-no, it shouldn’t!” Twilight said. She broke her pose and reared back, only to see the magic continue to flow. Her jaw dropped as she watched the magic continue to flow.

“Uh, Miss Twilight?” Sandbar asked, raising his hand as if he were trying to get a teacher’s attention. “Shouldn’t that be stopping now?”

“We really shouldn’t be standing around like thi-“ Smolder started. However, she’d be swiftly cut off as a powerful, radiant beam shone through the gem and towards the many students, who couldn’t even scream out in time before the pillar of light enveloped them!
…

“Eeyah!” much of the students screamed out, alarmed by the sensation. They’d each shut their eyes as the conglomeration of magic flew at them, and could only muster out pure alarm in reaction to whatever Twilight’s experiment brought on. And then, there was silence. Had they not heard each other screaming, they would’ve thought that that magical beam was some malicious spell that’d claim their lives. Soon, the moment of stress would pass, and the six of them would begin to blink their eyes open. And when they did, they’d soon find themselves… in the same place?

They’d see Twilight looking on the six of them with surprise. They were still in a book-filled room with a purple gem levitating in the middle of it, except it appeared to be without magic right now, save for whatever is keeping it afloat. The six students would rub at their eyes and their foreheads a little bit.

“Ugh, what the hay was that, Twilight?” Smolder asked.

“Yeah! Did communications plan work?” Yona asked. Twilight, meanwhile, looked over the lot of them in confusion and shock. The six of them could swear they could see gears grinding in her head.

“Who… what…?” Twilight muttered out. “H… How do you know my name? And how do you know about the communications plan?” The six students rose their brows in shock at her explanation.

“Uh… Are you pulling our legs, princess?” Gallus asked.

“Y-yeah, you told us about the plan,” Sandbar said.

“A-and we knew you ever since we got in the Friendship School,” Ocellus said.

“Why… why do you know about that stuff?” Twilight asked. The six students were still confused. “In fact… wait a minute… I-I thought that guys like you were extinct!”

“What?!” the six said in alarm. Twilight, meanwhile, would rush to one of the bookshelves, before drawing out a book titled “Species Past”. She flipped it open, and began looking through it.

“Dinosaurs… dodos…” she muttered as she flipped through them. And then, she found five pages, where she put her bookmarks. She then stepped closer to the six students, before setting it down and flipping the pages to one of the bookmarks, this one listed as “Yak”. And there, the six students could see that yaks were not only seen as a barbarian race, but also as no longer existing. The students each seemed alarmed, while Yona leaned in close to read.

“Yaks… hamful? Violin? Bull?” Yona repeated as she read out a few words. Sandbar leaned in to see that they were instead “harmful”, “violent”, and “bully”, though he felt like explaining that to Yona would only make things worse.

“And apparently extinct!” Smolder declared as she picked up the book next. “What the hay kind of trick is this!” She flipped to another bookmarked page, this one depicting “dragons”. She read through the section a little, and rose her brow at a few words. “Divinity? Akin to alicorns? Immortal blood-? That last one doesn’t even make sense, they’re extinct!”

“Oh, me next!” Silverstream declared, snatching up the book next. She began scanning around, and found one page marked “Sea Pony” and one marked “Hippogriff”. This one appeared more factual in comparison to the others, Sea Ponies being seen as ponies that swam through the seas via fish-like tails and bodies, while Hippogriffs were kinda eagle-like, what with their claws and wings and beaks. What interested her, more, however, was that… “They’re separate?”

“What do you mean they’re separate?” Twilight asked.

“You only bookmarked Hippogriff,” Silverstream explained. “But seemed to neglect to point out Sea Ponies!”

“What’re you talking about, those two are very clearly different species!” Twilight declared. Silverstream seemed ready to rebut, though, an idea crossed her mind, and she stroked her chin.

“Y’know, you might be right…” Silverstream said. Gallus, meanwhile, rolled his eyes and took the book himself.

“Alright, let’s see what kind of leg you’re pulling with me, Princess Twilight,” Gallus said as he flipped towards one of the bookmarks. He’d soon find the griffon section, and began reading. As he did, his grin began to widen. He didn’t verbalize what he read, unlike the rest of the students, who each waited curiously.

“Well?” Smolder asked. Gallus, with a cocked eyebrow, angled the book towards her without breaking his smirk. The dragoness, meanwhile, took up the book and read, her eyes getting wider. “Pure?!” she gasped out. “What the hay-?!” She looked up at Gallus, who crossed his arms like he just won some argument. Smolder huffed before facing the Changeling. “Come on, you’re the only one that hasn’t read,” she said while holding the book towards her. She then carefully took it, before looking down at the pages and turning carefully. Eventually, she flipped to her appropriate bookmark, only to find… very little.

“The changelings were a mysterious species that didn’t have much of a chance to strike out?” Ocellus read aloud. “They had the ability to impersonate others, hence the name ‘changeling’, but not much else is known. Though some argue that it’s possible others linger among modern-day ponies, the sighting of a civilization’s-worth of aged carapaces seemed to suggest the species had disappeared, not to mention the overwhelmingly chilly air of their living space…” Suddenly, whatever good-will was supposedly gathered from them reading out this weird “all your species are gone” was gone.

“Ok, this isn’t funny anymore, Twilight!” Smolder insisted.

“Yeah, jokes are supposed to be at the victim’s expense,” Gallus said with a laugh.

“What’s gotten into you?!” Smolder asked the alicorn. Twilight, however, brought up her hooves to try and wave the six down.

“Hang on, hang on,” Twilight said. “Clearly there’s been some weird magical anomaly. Either you’re my students transformed, or you and them are in different spots-“

“Your students?” the six students asked in confusion.

“Ok, there’s still a lot I need to understand here,” Twilight said. “Like, the little information there is on Changelings described them as black with green eyes and green magic. Meanwhile, you,” she extended a hoof towards Ocellus. “appear to be sky blue with blue eyes,” she continued.

“Oh, it’s a long story, there,” Ocellus said.

“The six of you could be a major development in modern Equestria! Hold on, I’ll have to show the five of you off!” Twilight then began to move forwards, ushering the non-ponies forwards while Sandbar stepped aside, looking on curiously. He rose a brow and looked around.

“Spike? You can tell us if she’s pulling our legs, right?” Sandbar asked to whatever could hear in that library…
…

It took the students a while, but eventually Twilight was able to march them out through the castle halls, and out towards the front gates. Throughout, the group would pass by the many guards within, and would notice they’d have reactions similar to Twilight’s, some of varying levels of uncertainty and surprise. More and more the lot of them walked, until they eventually got to the front gates, which opened up and allowed each of them to exit. Twilight and those students stepped out into Canterlot, allowing many ponies the chance to see them, and each were surprised at the sight before them.

A few would merely gawk from afar, while others would step down from their houses and approach wearily. They’d approach the group with weary steps, as if trying to look for any flaws to their vision by peering closer. Still, they’d each have the chance to look over five of the six students, and confirm that they were, indeed, non-ponies. Twilight, of course, would notice this, and decide that she’d have to address the elephant in the room.

“Hello, ponies of Canterlot!” Twilight declared. “Your eyes do not deceive you! Today, we can see Yaks, Griffons, Hippogriffs, Changelings, and Dragons walk among ponies! Worry not, for they show no ill will!”

“Oh I’m feeling real welcome right now,” Smolder said with an eyeroll.

“O-oh, it could be worse…” Ocellus said. She motioned towards Yona, who was greeted with fearful stares. The yak seemed incredulous to their reactions, though would take the time to wave towards them. However, at her slightest movements, those onlookers would rear back in terror, and bolt away.

“Ok! Yona see you later!” Yona said, still waving. Smolder shrugged in response to this display. The dragoness, meanwhile, peered back over her shoulders, where she could see a few ponies linger behind her. She’d also notice them patting at patches of the road. Smolder rose a brow and decided to pay special attention, before realizing that they were touching the patches of road she stepped on. She groaned and shook her head before continuing on forwards. Gallus, meanwhile, would notice the many ponies look at him with a certain reverence, including a few mares. He couldn’t hide his smirk as he walked, and even brought up his forelegs to give them a photo-winning grin and finger guns. The mares each swooned and fell onto their backs.

“Now this is something!” he declared to nopony in particular. The six students kept on heading forwards, led by Twilight, while Sandbar, who couldn’t help but feel slightly out of place, which was ironic, considering that all of the attention was on the five that, according to Twilight, shouldn’t be here today. As he walked, a few of the ponies looked at him curiously.

“Who’s the green colt?” one of them asked.

“He was with the other creatures!” Twilight declared. “He seems to be a close friend!”

“A friend to a dragon?” several ponies declared.

“And a friend to a griffon?” a few mares nearby declared. Either way, those ponies suddenly grew more interested in Sandbar, not that he totally cared. Soon, though, Twilight would bring the six of them near Canterlot square to brandish them. She motioned for them to stand still, before she tapped her chest and cleared her throat.

“For those of you that have not heard,” she started. “We have, with us, a historic moment we may not encounter again! By a magical miracle, five of Equestria’s felled races have appeared in my castle! Today, we all have a chance to learn the secrets that even scholars couldn’t uncover! Come forth, and you can speak!”

“Oh, so we’re here to be shown off,” Smolder said with an eyeroll while Twilight spoke. Those in the square turned and noticed the lot of them, including Sandbar, who certainly didn’t look like anypony they know. They could only assume that he was a patron to these new arrivals. Sandbar felt kind of weird about suddenly having so much attention on him, when he heard Smolder sigh. “I’ll be somewhere.”

“Huh?” Ocellus asked. “Smolder, there’s still so much we don’t know about this place!”

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Smolder said with a wave of her claw. “I’ll tell you when I find the punchline to this joke.” She then stepped away from the group to head down the streets. The yak, seeing her leave, would turn to the rest of the group.

“Yona’ll keep eye on her!” Yona declared. Faster than any of the remaining students could talk, she suddenly raced after the dragoness. The remaining students each seemed confused, when Silverstream spoke up.

“You should look after them,” Silverstream said. “You’re the one pony that’d blend in here.”

“Y-yeah,” Sandbar agreed. “You guys stay right here!”

“Oh I’m not going anywhere,” Gallus said dreamily as he looked over the crowd slowly gathering. Sandbar nodded, and began to gallop in the direction those other two ran off to. Silverstream, meanwhile…

“Hm… I wonder how I can use that separate species thing to my advantage?” Silverstream muttered to herself as she slinked off.

“S-Silver?” Ocellus asked as the hippogriff snuck into an alley. She didn’t feel too prepared to follow after her, and Gallus didn’t seem to be willing to lift a leg. “Oh dear…”
…

Smolder, meanwhile, was in the process of searching Canterlot for any contradictions to the story she was presented thus far. Maybe there was some other dragon, some yak or changeling… Maybe she could find a path to the Crystal Empire, surely those ponies wouldn’t have been able to get rid of the Spike statue, right? As she walked, though, several ponies would begin to congregate behind her, again, literally, following in her footsteps. As the group grew, Smolder could ignore them less and less. She glowered, before pivoting around and waving her arm to the side, as if she were shooing away a bug.

“What, do I need a restraining order on you lot?!” Smolder asked. The ponies, however, bowed in reverence as she addressed them.

“O, glorious dragon!” a sea-green pony said. “Please grace us with your divinity!”

“My dear sister is sick!” a hot pink mare said. “Please, offer to us your scales so we may make an all-curing elixir!”

“Wh-what!?” Smolder gasped out in alarm. “That’s not how it works at all!”

“O glorious dragon, I wish to see my family grow!” an elderly stallion said. “Please, offer me your blood so that I can live long enough to see my grandchildren grow into great ponies!”

“My blood!?!?!?” Smolder asked even more weirded out. She took a few steps backwards, her hands waving frantically between her and those ponies in hopes that that’d hammer the message into their skulls…
…

Meanwhile, Yona was still trying to follow the dragon. You’d think a crowd would make it easier to get close to her, but when they began lining up hip-to-hip, to the point where they threatened to fill the roads, it got a little tricky. So, Yona instead decided she’d take another route. She’d look down a nearby alley, only to find that it ended in a dead end. What she did see, however, was a door opened just enough, almost to invite her in.

She then began stepping forwards, gently nudging the door forwards while she squeezed her hips through the doorframe. Meanwhile, Sandbar was finally arriving on the scene, in time to see the crowd cutting him off from Smolder… and Yona’s tail end make its way into a house. Sandbar clasped his cheeks in worry, before galloping after her. Meanwhile, Yona was trying to carefully maneuver through the inside of that house while a dating pair reared back, wailing at the appearance of this yak.

“Pardon Yona,” Yona said as she shuffled through the inside of the ponies’ house. “Finding path to alley.” She kept on trucking forwards, and though she’d try to evade anything important, she’d end up smacking a table over or bumping into a bookshelf. Sandbar was at the doorway, and his jaw was slack as he watched the yak at work. He entered the house and would rush to try and limit Yona’s damage, from scooting a table out of her path, to rushing to hold up the bookshelf she’d keep swinging into, only to say “excuse Yona”.

“Really sorry,” Sandbar assured.

“Get out of here, you beast!” the mare clinging to the stallion said.

“Yona will do best!” Yona said, not quite understanding the venom in her voice. Either way, the two were able to keep on going forwards, arriving at a kitchen. Sandbar’s eyes widened as he looked over what appeared to be several dishes left about, from being stranded on counters to being left on the table in the middle of the kitchen. There was a door out, but it was pretty close to those plate-ridden landscapes.

“Why-?!” Sandbar muttered out while peering back at the ponies and motioning towards the kitchen. However, Yona was already on the move, so the earth pony would shake off his stupor before rushing in to try and keep those plates safe. Yona would end up knocking a few plates off of the table, prompting the pony to dive under the table so that his soft body could catch them. He placed them back on the table, and saw Yona getting closer to the backdoor. He raced towards the edge of it, before her side could shove into the counter. He’d end up sandwiched between her and the counter, but he lightened the blow to those plates. He had to use one of his hindlegs to catch a few falling ones, but Yona was able to get out through the backdoor with much less damage than there could’ve been.

“Ugh…” Sandbar groaned after she shoved past him.

“Sorry,” Yona said after squeezing past him. Then, without a word towards the pony couple, the two continued out and into the alleyway. And as soon as they were gone, the two ponies raced to either door to lock them tight. Meanwhile, Yona and Sandbar were progressing through the alleys, while glancing sideways to look for a good angle to get to Smolder.

“You should really be more careful,” Sandbar said. “Whatever’s going on here, it means that the five of you guys stick out like a pimple.”

“Ponies love crowd!” Yona said. “You saw how they cheered for Smolder and Gallus!”

“It’s…” Sandbar started. As much as he’d like to try and explain the issue, he felt like it’d just hurt the yak if he were to elaborate. “Let’s just get Smolder and go back to Twilight.” Yona nodded excitedly, and the two kept on traversing the alley. Eventually, they were able to make it to the head of the crowd, before finding the ponies breaking into a bow. The lines upon lines of ponies went into a bow like a wave, except going forward to back. Sandbar and Yona stepped around the corner to make it to the dragoness.

“You two!” she declared. “Come on and talk some sense into these morons!”

“Come on, we’ve gotta find a way back to the square,” Sandbar said, reaching to grasp Smolder’s hand. And when they did, a few ponies noticed that the dragoness actually let this pony touch her. On top of that, beside him is a yak, who’s looking awfully patient for, well, a yak (as the books described).

“Hey, you’re the kid that came with the new creatures,” a pink pony at the front said. “Are you perhaps…?” Sandbar rose a brow curiously as that pony spoke up. Other ponies began to mutter in a slowly dawning understanding. A few of them stood up, before bowing to the pony himself.

“A revered high priest to the old ones!” several ponies said, answering that pony’s initial question.

“…What?” Sandbar and Smolder asked in confusion. Yona, meanwhile, seemed excited at the attention her friends were getting.
…

“…And that’s when I lifted up the mountain with one wing!” Gallus explained to a questioning pony, who was writing down all of what he said. Twilight, meanwhile, was grasping her temples in horror as she looked over the young students, or lack there of.

“How long ago did they leave?!” Twilight said.

“U-uh, how long has Gallus been answering this question?” Ocellus asked. Twilight grunted in annoyance at this development and paced around.

“Oh no oh no… I can’t just leave here, I need to make sure nopony tries anything with the two of you,” Twilight muttered as she walked around. “Oh why didn’t I grab a few guards…?” She then peered back towards Gallus, who was now talking about how his “feathers shielded him from the noxious breath of a dragon”. “Maybe they’ll be too distracted…?” Her horn glowed with purple, before she suddenly vanished, surprising the changeling. And then, just as suddenly as she blinked away, she returned, forelegs over the backs of a couple of surprised-looking, spear-wielding guards. “Make sure those ponies keep away from these two!”

And then, faster than they could ask him to elaborate, she vanished. They took stock of the situation, before finally understanding what was going on. They were still surprised, but they made sure to form a wall between the ponies and the two students.

“And then, I was able to snatch the treasure from his cave, and-!” Gallus said, only for the pony he was addressing to speak up.

“C-can we put a pin in it?” she asked. “I’m running out of notepad.”

“Oh, alright,” Gallus said. That pony stepped away, when a gray pony with a bowler hat on stepped forwards.

“Now, mind if we hear a word or two from the lass?” he said in a thick accent. Gallus stepped down, and Ocellus would replace his spot, looking over the crowd with a shiver.

“O-oh, where are the rest of you…?” she muttered…
…

Near the castle, several ponies congregated around a fountain. A moustache-bearing, glasses-wearing pony would step up to the edge with a satchel of bits hanging off his hips. He drew a bit off of it and began to lean in to the fountain, when he noticed an odd shadow. He rose a brow and leaned closer to try and get a read on it. And then, he’d rear back as the shadow suddenly splashed up from the surface, him surprised.

“Hiiiiiii!” the owner cheered out in an excited face. The pony’d fallen onto his rump, knocking his glasses off center a little. He muttered in confusion and adjusted, the currently blurry vision now adjusting to something more palatable, but unfamiliar. Before him was a magenta, fish-like creature. She had a scaly body ending in a fish tail, with a pair of flippers, and yet a horse-like face and a sea-like mane. “Oh, I’ve been waiting to express my wisdom after so long!”

“Huh? Who’re you?” the pony asked.

“I’m…” the sea pony started, trying to think of a good name. “Cubic River. I’m a sea pony, a magical being of the lake that harbors wisdom the sea can only offer.” The pony was still confused and finally climbed to his hooves, before walking forwards. He brought up a hoof, and decided to tap right between her eyes. “Ohp!”

“Sorry,” the pony said. “I wanted to make sure I could see what I believe.”

“Aw, I understand!” Silverstream, er, Cubic River said. “It’s not every day an extinct species comes to life!”

“Hm…” the elderly pony muttered. “You said you had wisdom, yes? What is your wisdom?”

“It may be called a sundae, but did you know you can have it any day?” the sea pony said. The pony let out a “hm” of curiosity as he stroked his chin.

“I’ll have to see about that…” he said. He then began to walk away, Silverstream looking on happily. Once he was out of view, she dove back underwater, ready to spread some “sea pony wisdom”.