Chancellor Neighsay did the best he could to keep a straight face as he stood before the gathered group, the esteemed members of the EEA. The very organization he was head of, for now anyways.
It still pained the stallion greatly to think about what had gone so wrong. Of the role he'd played in almost making the draining of Equestrian magic permanent. True, part of it was because he had been deceived and betrayed by of all things a filly. Never would he have suspected that a child could've been the culprit, at least not a child who was a pony.
Neighsay knew that other creatures being children hadn't stopped him from accusing them without evidence. And while he had simply intended to send them home to their leaders, he had still seen fit to lock them up with magical chains while not giving them a chance to plead their case. Yet those same creatures had ultimately been the ones to set him free when the true mastermind revealed themselves.
So it was that the chancellor was here now, before the EEA members. There was something he needed to do, something that they needed to be present for. Taking a deep breath, Neighsay let out a sigh as he locked eyes with the members. "There's no easy way for me to say what I'm about to say." He began and then paused. His next words would be of utmost importance, not just to himself but to the whole EEA.
After a long silence where nopony else said a word, the chancellor opted to continue with his speech. "My... conduct as head of the EEA as of late has undoubtedly attracted unwanted attention," Pausing once again, he struggled to find the words he wanted to use. But he found them before long as he went on talking. "I treated creatures... no, non-ponies in ways that they should've never been treated. I thought that I knew better than even the princess of friendship herself and tried to take advantage of her absence to take over her school. A school that was outside my jurisdiction since it was not an EEA school."
Pausing again, Neighsay struggled greatly with what he said next as he fought to hold back tears. He didn't want to seem like he was trying to emotionally manipulate anypony. "My conduct was unbefitting of a pony who represents the EEA. And as such there is but one action I can think to take that will hopefully repair at least some of the damage I've no doubt inflicted on this very institution," With that, he moved a hoof up to his medallion and removed it, setting it down on a table in front of him as he declared. "That is why I, Neighsay, do hereby offer my official resignation from not just the role of chancellor but also from the EEA itself. A resignation that is effective immediately. My decision is final."
Just like that it was all over, the unicorn was no longer in a position of power. He could already hear the various members of the EEA talking amongst themselves about what he had just done. No doubt they were already discussing what to do next and who they would appoint to succeed him at his post. But that was something he would not be around for, he wanted no involvement in the process. Whoever did succeed him, Neighsay hoped they would be up to the task of fixing the damage he had done.
With his moderate turquoise eyes overcome with sadness and sorrow, the now ex-chancellor turned and departed the room. He would be with the EEA no longer. And for the first time in his life, the stallion with an almost complete black mane and tail that hung limp found himself uncertain of what to do next.
Neighsay decided to give himself time to think as he strolled out into Canterlot with no particular destination in mind. It was a kind of day where the temperature was just right and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. A day that almost seemed to taunt the stallion with how nice it was compared to how downtrodden he was feeling.
After wandering around for a while, the stallion found himself growing hungry and decided to stop for lunch. He wasn't sure how many ponies would recognize him since he still had his robe on, but he didn't really care. His resignation would become public news soon enough and he would let that speak for itself. The guilt he housed within was already almost too great to bear.
Lunch fortunately came and went for the now ex-chancellor without fanfare or incident. If anypony had recognized him, they didn't acknowledge it publicly or come up to him. They paid him no mind and let him go about his business.
Strangely enough, as Neighsay finished his lunch and paid his bill, he found his thoughts turning to the very source of his great shame: The School of Friendship. He wasn't sure why. He knew it was still standing and that everything had gone back to normal there after Cozy Glow had been arrested. The students had no doubt by now had time to process the shock that one of their own was a traitor.
So why was it that the unicorn found himself unable to stop thinking about the school? "Are they doing alright? Have classes resumed without incident?" He thought to himself over and over again. "Everything happened so fast there, it must've been a lot to take in. And those... six students, how are they handling the fact that they're now big heroes more or less?"
He knew it was silly to think so much about a school, especially a school that he'd once despised and tried to shut down (on top of trying to support a school that would rival it but only teach its subject material to ponies). Yet try as he might, Neighsay could not shake the thoughts and feelings in his mind conjured up by the school. And that meant there was only one thing to do. He would have to pay it a visit.
A quick lighting up of his horn and a subsequent flick was all it took for Neighsay to teleport to Ponyville and more specifically to the school. There it stood in all its glory, just as the unicorn remembered it. You would never be able to tell just by looking at it what had transpired there just a few short weeks ago. But the painful memories conjured up by it still held sway in Neighsay's mind. In a flash it all came back to him. Every little word that he'd said during his two visits to it while chancellor. Every single action he'd taken in his indignation and perceived insult of what the school was and how it was being run.
Maybe some of the complaints had been valid, but Neighsay knew he hadn't given Princess Twilight a proper chance to plead her case. Heck, in her absence he had made a blind assumption without bothering to consult any of her friends who were also serving as teachers. And that assumption had led him down a path he now regretted, a path that had blinded him to a threat that had been right in front of him all along.
"Coming back here was a mistake!" The ex-chancellor thought to himself as the guilt welled up inside of him. He couldn't bear to look at the school for even another second. So overcome was he with the emotions caused by his behavior that he was all but ready to teleport away. Rather than do so, however, the stallion simply opted to walk away and stand on a nearby hill. He soon found a lone rock to sit down on, believing he would be left alone with his thoughts.
But Neighsay was wrong. He would not be alone for very long.
"Chancellor Neighsay?" A familiar young voice called out, prompting the stallion to slowly turn around. He needn't have bothered though, he knew in his head who that voice belonged to and what it was almost certain to ask next.
Sure enough, an instantly recognizable earth pony colt with a sandy yellow coat, a yak, a blue feathered griffon, an orange scaled dragon, a pink coated hippogriff with a necklace containing a fragment of a pearl and a bluish-green coated changeling could all be seen nearby.
Neighsay greeted his young guests as best he could under the circumstances. "Oh, it's you six," He tried to sound happy but his tone of voice betrayed that. "What are you all doing out here? Shouldn't you be attending classes at that school?"
The colt quickly explained. "We're on lunch break. In fact, we were just heading to the cafeteria when Silverstream happened to spot you from one of the school's windows."
The hippogriff excitedly chirped! "Yeah, and we just had to come and see you! We still owe you a big debt of thanks for alerting the royal guards and the princesses to Cozy Glow! Without their help, there's no way the six of us could've stopped Cozy Glow from running away."
"But we wanted to know why you're here, Chancellor Neighsay," The changeling questioned with concern. "Are you here for another unannounced inspection?"
At that Neighsay let out a long sigh. "No, Ocellus. No inspections this time. And it is just Neighsay, thank you. I've officially resigned from the EEA as of just a few hours ago."
That prompted a gasp from the six gathered creatures with the yak exclaiming! "Wait, chancellor pony not chancellor pony anymore?"
"Indeed I am not, Yona," Neighsay explained as best he could. "It was the only thing I could think to do that would restore some semblance of the EEA's reputation. A reputation that I tarnished with my actions, not only against you six but against Princess Twilight and the very school she created."
The hippogriff scratched her head with one of her paws, trying to understand. "So, if you're not the chancellor then why did you come all the way out here?" Suddenly, an idea seemed to come to her as she gasped anew! "Of course, you must be here to see about enrolling in classes! Oh, that would be so cool! And kind of weird too. But mostly cool!"
The earth pony colt couldn't help but giggle. "I don't know, you're probably a bit old to be attending school, chance... I mean Neighsay. But maybe Headmare Twilight and Counselor Starlight could make an exception for you. After all, Counselor Starlight apparently used to be Headmare Twilight's student."
But Neighsay shook his head. "I didn't come here to enroll in the school, Sandbar. The very idea would be hard for me to entertain when it's this very school that brings back so many bad memories."
The griffon proceeded to ponder aloud. "Then what, you just came all the way out here for no reason other than to sulk? Sounds like a pretty crummy reason if you ask me."
"I merely wanted to see how you were all doing. Seems like I needn't have bothered though, you all seem to be carrying on well," The stallion confessed as he found himself unable to continue looking at the gathered creatures. "It amazes me that you can carry on so effortlessly after all you've been through. One of your own tried to take over Equestria and trap your headmare in Tartarus forever. But here you all are, attending classes and going to school like it's no big deal. Heck, you don't seem particularly bothered by what I said and did towards you."
The dragon quickly commented. "Well, you were pretty mean to us, not gonna lie. I mean, you did falsely accuse us, and lock us up and hold us against our will..."
"Smolder!" The changeling sternly scolded. "Not helping!"
The dragon shrugged her claws in response. "Sorry, I'm still getting kind of used to friendship stuff like this. I was just trying to make a point," And she then corrected herself. "What I was trying to say before I was interrupted is, you're not that pony anymore. I mean you aren't, are you?"
Those words came as quite a shock to Neighsay, prompting him to freeze on the spot as he struggled to find the words he wanted to say. "I'm... not so sure, Smolder. I'm not really sure of anything anymore if I'm being honest. What I did to you six was horrid and inexcusable. But nothing I say or do can make up for it, I can't take back what happened no matter how much I might want to. You were only children and yet because of who you were I treated you as if you were beneath me. As if I was right and you were wrong no matter what. Yet you mean to tell me that you wish to forgive me for all of that?"
The blue feathered griffon immediately replied. "Well, yeah, dude. Of course. Forgiveness is a very big part of friendship after all. Headmare Twilight and Counselor Starlight say so. It's even part of our curriculum."
The yak stomped a hoof down as she declared. "Chancellor or no chancellor, Neighsay different now than he was when he lock us up. Neighsay new pony now. And new pony is worth forgiving, because Yona believe new pony is sorry for what he did as old pony. And so do Yona's friends."
"And part of forgiveness means learning how to forgive yourself," The changeling explained as she approached the stallion. "That's something I've struggled with since before I came to this school. Coming here has helped me to learn a lot about how we can change both ourselves and the way others think about us. But it all means nothing if we don't learn how to forgive ourselves. Sometimes we make mistakes, sometimes small ones and sometimes big ones. And when we dwell on those mistakes, we allow them to define us."
The hippogriff added as she flew closer to Neighsay. "It's not just mistakes that can hold us back either. Sometimes it's our fears, either of ourselves or of others. But we gotta learn to get past all that if we ever want to truly experience life to the fullest. Many of us had to do that when we came here. And I'll bet you can do the same if you just try."
"So, what do you say?" The colt questioned the ex-chancellor. "We'd be happy to consider you a friend. And we all want what's best for our friends. If even we can forgive you for what you did in the past, then can't you learn to forgive yourself? Maybe even just a little bit?"
Neighsay remained hesitant for quite a bit, unable to think of what to say or how to respond. He just sat there in silence for the longest time while he thought about everything he'd just heard.
Rather than wait for a reply, however, the six creatures just moved closer. "Come on," The griffon all but groaned. "You gotta be able to forgive yourself, dude."
"Don't rush him, Gallus!" The earth pony colt protested in reply. "Ignore him, Neighsay. If you need time to think, that's totally okay. Our lunch break will be over soon, but we can come back after school's done for the day if you're still here." And then he and the rest of the group turned and prepared to leave.
Just as they did so, Neighsay called out to them. "Wait!" And all eyes fell upon him as he slowly looked up, still deep in thought. "What you've all said... it means a lot to me. Somehow, I can tell that it comes from your hearts. That it's not just empty words."
"It's what Headmare Twilight taught us," The changeling happily explained. "We're just putting it to good use."
The stallion smiled. "I can see that now. And I can see that she has taught you well. She was right all along when she said that friendship wasn't just for ponies," Looking over the six creatures he managed to finally find the words he wanted to say, and so he said to them. "I would be... delighted to be part of your circle of friends. If you... really want me, that is."
The colt immediately let out a happy whiny as he declared! "Are you kidding?! We thought you'd never ask, Neighsay! We're always happy to make more friends."
And the yak then excitedly declared! "New friend mean new friend get to be part of traditions!" She proceeded to shout! "Group hug!"
Neighsay immediately winced, particularly because of the yak in the midst of the group and how strong she was. He nervously tried to insist. "N-no no, that's.... really not necessary. We don't need to..." But the rest of his words never managed to escape his mouth as he was pulled into the embrace all the same. He expected it to hurt, but strangely enough he found that it didn't (not even a little). It felt... welcoming for lack of a better term.
"Welcome to the group, Neighsay," The colt said with a smile as the hug slowly ended. "We're glad to have you."
"I... am glad to be your friend too, all of you." Neighsay replied with a sincere smile, looking around at the six creatures that stood before him. They weren't just creatures anymore though, they were now his new friends. And already they had done so much for him. They'd done something he would've thought impossible: They had given him something he'd never known he needed before but now he could never imagine being without. And that something was friendship.
But unbeknownst to the circle of friends, their little meeting was not entirely taking part in secret. From a balcony at the School of Friendship, a certain somepony was watching the whole thing unfold. And she had a big smile of her very own plastered across her face as she observed everything through a telescope lens.
Twilight could take pride in the fact that her school was successful, and that some of her students were already applying what they had learned to the real world.
Author's Note
Quite honestly, something like this should've been the epilogue to Season 8 instead of what we got. It seems like a more fitting conclusion.
Much like "When The Tree Talks", the fan comic that inspired this fic is something that had been on my radar for a very long time. And considering I wrote a fanfic bashing Neighsay in the midst of Season 8 before the events of "School Raze", I figured it was only fitting to give his redemption a bit of the spotlight.
