Eric Sparkle and the Mysterious Filly

It has been a week since the Friendship Festival and the Storm King’s invasion. The Mane 7, Starlight, Spike, and Eric gathered around the cutie map table to see that the map expanded more of the placed beyond Equestria that they went to.

“So, this happened while we were gone?” Twilight asked.

“Wow! Those are all the places we want to when we left to save Equestria!” Applejack said.

“Ugh! There’s that horrid town,” Rarity remarked.

“The pirates! They were pretty awesome! Once they decided not to throw us overboard,” Rainbow Dash said.

“And Mount Aris! Ooh, Starlight! Remember when we made seashell necklaces for aaaaaa...” Pinkie Pie inhaled and then continued, “...aaaaall the seaponies?”

“I... You... Really? What about that unicorn? The one who attacked Canterlot?” Starlight asked.

“Tempest! I invited her to come to Ponyville, but she wanted to spread the word of the Storm King’s defeat and share what she learned about friendship,” Twilight replied.

“That and she’s also trying to keep a low profile since Glacio put a price on her head. He probably has informants in a lot of places and if Tempest is spotted, she’s a dead mare,” Storm added.

“Does this we won’t be seeing Tempest for a while?” Eric asked.

“I’m afraid so, sweetheart,” Twilight said.

“So, y’all think that’s why the map grew? Friendship quests beyond Equestria?” Applejack asked.

“I hope not. I’ve had quite enough life-threatening adventures, thank you very much,” Fluttershy said.

“How many friendship quests do you think we need to go on before we have to expand the throne room?” Pinkie Pie asked, wearing a hard hat as she took out a tape measure.

“We can’t do it all alone,” Twilight said.

“Sure we can! We just need to knock this wall down, get some paint...” Pinkie replied as she took out a jackhammer and a jar of pink paint.

“No, I mean the world is filled with so many different creatures who know nothing about friendship. We need help if we’re gonna teach them all about friendship. Lots of help,” Twilight said.

“Perhaps, darling. But where does one go to learn about friendship?” Rarity asked.

“Here! They can all go here! Because that’s why we’re going to open a school!” Twilight replied.

“Good thinking, Twily,” Storm said, “We might want to go to Canterlot and discuss it with Princess Celestia.”

After discussing their idea with Princess Celestia, Twilight, Storm, and Spike were finally at the Equestrian Education Association (EEA) building and proceeded to present their idea. There were some lights, and all the board members sat in their desks high above, looking down at all potential applicants. A lone spotlight shined down on Twilight and Storm as they tried to stay calm.

“I’m gonna go with ‘really hard’,” Spike said.

“Uh, hello. My name is—“ Twilight tried to introduce herself.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle and Prince Storm Blade,” a voice spoke up. Their attention was quickly 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, “I am Chancellor Neighsay. Equestria owes you two a great debt. But princess and prince or no, we expect you to do things by... the... book!”

He threw down a heavy rule book to prove his point. Twilight and Storm were deterred at first before she levitated over their own heavy books. “I think you’ll find our curriculum meets all your requirements, Chancellor,” she said.

“And you’re sure we can trust you to follow with this plan? Will you leave your school unattended to gallop of on your... “adventures”?” Chancellor Neighsay asked.

“Regarding that concern, we already lined up several candidates to fill in as substitute teachers for the classes, in case any of us are sent to solve friendship problems or are unavailable for other reasons, and we’re planning to put provisions in place to handle any emergency,” Storm explained.

“I see you’ve done some research, I like that you two came here with a plan,” Chancellor Neighsay replied.

“Our journey beyond Equestria showed us firsthoof that the threats out there are greater than we imagined!” Twilight said.

“Especially with Glacio trying to make allies with others who dare to threaten us since the Alicorn Amulet was destroyed,” Storm added.

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!”

“A school for ponies to learn how to protect themselves!” Chancellor Neighsay replied.

“Uh, more like respecting differences and communicating,” Twilight said.

“I agree. This school shall teach the values that hold our country together,” Storm added.

There was a long pause as Neighsay let the words slowly sink in. After looking around the room, the chancellor finally spoke up, “The EEA concurs. Everypony should be prepared to defend our way of life. 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.”

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!” It was then that the EEA gave its stamp of approval, allowing for construction of the school to commence.

Twilight and Storm immediately recognized one of the council members, who was none other than a former magic school professor of theirs, Crimson Mystic. The council-stallion in question returned to his office, where he took out a crystal ball. It was then that Glacio appeared on it.

“My lord, Princess Twilight and Prince Storm are opening up a school of friendship,” Crimson said.

“This could be a problem for my plans. Make sure that it doesn’t open up,” Glacio replied.

“That won’t be a problem, given how speciesist Chancellor Neighsay is. If he finds out that other creatures are attending, he’ll shut it down for me,” Crimson said.

“Good,” Glacio replied as the crystal ball deactivated.

Construction of the school began soon after Twilight and Storm returned from Canterlot. It surprisingly took less time to build than Twilight thought. Within eight months, 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 was made up of two towers and an entire upper level. The symbol hung above depicted the six gems that the Elements of Harmony had originally been, inside a shield. The inside had relaxing bluish-green colored walls and earthly light brown floors.

Eric and his friends were attending the grand opening as a show of their support. It wasn’t long before Twilight and Storm went up to give their announcement.

“Everypony and everycreature? Can we have your attention please?” Twilight asked, as the students stopped talking and listened to Twilight before she continued, “Welcome to the School of Friendship! I’m your headmare Twilight Sparkle.”

“And I’m your vice head-stallion Storm Blade. These are your teachers, Professors Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. We promise that we’ll make sure that you’ll have the first best year here in your lives,” Storm added.

“Please follow Guidance Counselor Starlight to sign in and get your class assignments, then we can show you your living quarters,” Twilight finished.

It wasn’t long before King Aspen showed up with Prince Bramble.

“Princess Twilight and Prince Storm, I’d like to enroll my son, Prince Bramble at the school,” King Aspen said.

“Good to see you again, King Aspen. We’ll be honored to have your son as a student,” Storm replied.

“Mommy, my friends and I are gonna go check out the school,” Eric said.

“Alright, just make sure you get to Cheerilee’s class on time,” Twilight replied.

“Understood,” Eric said as he and his friends walked through the hallways.

They were in awe as they admired the interior design.

“Wow, this place is amazing,” Pincer said.

“My big brother, Zippy would love it here,” Zuni added.

“Maybe you should tell him about it and find out what he thinks,” Eric replied.

Once they finished checking out the classrooms, they had a look at the student quarters.

Back near the main entrance, Ember came in pulling a younger dragon by her wrist into the school.

“But dragons are better than this! Why am I here?“ the younger dragon complained.

“Because as Dragon Lord, I’m ordering you to be here!” Ember replied sternly, before turning to Spike, “Hey, Spike. Come meet Smolder.”

“Great to see you, Ember!” Spike greeted, running to her for a hug, as Ember hugged him as well.

Soon enough, Eric and his friends were finished checking out the school as they returned to the main entrance. They gave everyone a wave as Twilight and Storm came up to them.

“Eric, we’d like you to meet some of our new students. Sandbar, Yona, Gallus, Smolder, Ocellus, and you remember Prince Bramble,” Twilight said.

“Sandbar, Yona, Gallus, Silverstream, Smolder, and Ocellus, you probably already know who this is,” Storm added, pointing to Eric.

“Good to meet you all. Good to see you again, Bramble,” Eric replied.

Once Eric and his friends left the School of Friendship, they rushed to Ponyville Grade School. Once there, Nightshade teleported back to Canterlot so he could get to magic school. Eric and the others went inside to start the school day.

Several days passed and it was now Friends and Family Day, and just as he had promised Chancellor Neighsay had shown up to conduct his inspection for EEA accreditation. Meanwhile, the other Mane Five, Eric, and everyone else was outside chattering with each other. Prince Rutherford laughed after another of Pinkie Pie’s jokes, Ember and Spike clinked their glasses together.

“What is that?!” Ember asked in shock.

Everyone looked up and saw Silverstream and Smolder carrying Yona, along with Gallus carrying Sandbar, and Ocellus disguised as a giant blue-green weevil-like monster with a stinger, carrying Prince Bramble. Everyone panicked, screaming at the sight of Ocellus’ monstrous disguise as the Student Seven returned from their ‘mental health break’.

“Aah! The school is under attack!” Chancellor Neighsay said.

Gallus threw Sandbar onto the ground, which led him to inadvertently bowl over Prince Rutherford, King Thorax, and General Seaspray. Silverstream, Smolder, and Yona crashed into the snack stand, causing a cake to splat into Grandpa Gruff’s face. Ocellus then flew out of control and bumped into part of the school, causing it to collapse before turning back into her normal form. She and Prince Bramble went down to the ground as the tower collapsed, the dust cleared making the leaders cough. Grandpa Gruff wiped the splattered cake off his face and ate it.

Twilight, Storm, and Chancellor Neighsay got up on their hooves as Ocellus and Bramble touched back on the ground.

“Uh, maybe skipping class wasn’t the best idea?” Silverstream asked.

“How dare you! This act of aggression against ponies—!” Chancellor Neighsay shouted.

“W-We’re so sorry, Chancellor. We clearly had some students get a little carried away,” Twilight said.

“Those are students?” Chancellor Neighsay rudely asked, “But you two said you were opening this school to protect Equestria! To defend ponies from... dangerous creatures who don’t have our best interests at heart!”

“Our school teaches for all of us to work together through friendship,” Twilight said.

“Dangerous?! Do you even hear yourself, Chancellor?!” Storm questioned, “Have you forgotten all they did for us?! The hippogriffs came to our aid when the Storm King attacked, the yaks and griffons are among our best trading partners, and the dragons and changelings have given us valuable information we couldn’t have gained on our own. They’re also helping us in our struggle against Glacio and his forces.”

“And how do you know these creatures won’t take what they have learned here and use it against us?” Chancellor Neighsay asked harshly, pointing at the leaders.

“Friendship isn’t just for ponies!” Twilight said.

“It should be,” Chancellor Neighsay retorted.

“You’re wrong, Chancellor!” Eric spoke up, “I agree with my parents. Everyone deserves to learn about the magic of friendship, pony or not, and you have no right to say such mean words about other creatures, you disrespectful jerk!”

“How dare you speak to me like that, Eric Sparkle?! You don’t belong here among ponies like us, you filthy two-legged, flat-faced brat and pathetic excuse for a prince!” Chancellor Neighsay shouted in his face.

Eric suddenly began shaking as he was whimpering over the chancellor’s hurtful words, tears were coming out of his eyes as he began to cry. Twilight hugged him close to her chest as he kept crying.

“Chancellor, don’t ever to our son like that! He is a well respected member of royalty and a hero!” Storm said.

“Unicorn think yaks no need friendship? Maybe yaks no need pony school!” Prince Rutherford hollered.

“Well, perhaps you should return to your kind,” Chancellor Neighsay said rudely.

“‘Your kind’?! Smolder, let’s go!” Ember said angrily.

“Queen Novo will want to hear of this!” General Seaspray said angrily.

“Well, this place seemed lame anyways,” Grandpa Gruff said.

“Come, my son,” King Aspen said.

The other Young Six left with their escorts.

Thorax then sighed despondently, “It’s fine. We know not every pony sees us the way you do. We’re used to it.” He and Ocellus then left.

Twilight got angry at the chancellor until she walked over to him, “Princess Celestia helped us reach out to all the kingdoms! When she hears you closed the school because—!”

“Because you two failed to meet the EEA’s standards?” Chancellor Neighsay asked, cutting her off.

“What?!” Twilight asked.

“Irresponsible teachers, students skipping class, endangering ponies! Your school is a disaster. Perhaps if you had had higher standards for who was admitted, this could have been avoided,” Chancellor Neighsay remarked.

“With all due respect, Chancellor! We tried very hard to follow the EEA guidelines by the book, but we and our friends are still new to the whole idea of teaching and they were underprepared! Our students only skipped class because we found it difficult to find middle ground between your EEA guidelines and our own methods, leading them to not be engaged in their classes!” Storm explained angrily.

“That may be, but I will not let this incident slide! Regardless…” Chancellor Neighsay then touched his medallion and then casted a spell, conjuring up rattling blue chains and a huge EEA printed lock on the front doors of the school.

“By order of the EEA, I am shutting this school... down!” Chancellor Neighsay said with a stomp on the hoof. Twilight, Storm, Eric, and their friends gasped sadly. The chancellor continued, “In addition, Eric Sparkle, along with the ones called Pincer, Holly, Marina, Slapstick, and Zuni are all expelled from Ponyville Grade School!”

“What?! You can’t do this to them! They’ve done nothing to deserve this!” Storm replied in outrage.

“My decision is final!” Chancellor Neighsay said as he left.