As one, the rest of the group was eager to encourage Yona on her personal quest to discover yak magic. The next week was spent in a flurry of activity, writing in books, working at rocks, and several attempts to learn something new about yak smashing. Yona crashed into things, tried lifting things and slamming them down, even experimented with stomping on different things. She hadn't found something that worked yet, but she still had her own book to read through and learn from.

"Yona have look far find this." She tapped at the book. "Yaks not write lots. This yak history."

Smolder leaned over Yona's shoulders. "Huh. Why is it, uh, a bunch of nonsense?" Despite her attempts to follow it, she couldn't understand a single character in it. "Seriously."

Yona crossed her arms, sitting up on her haunches. "Written in Yak not Pony. Not all Pony." She fell back to all fours and nosed to the next page. "Written by important yak!"

Gallus chuckled at that. "If you say so. What's it even saying?" He fanned his feathers out slightly at the question. "Something helpful, I hope?"

"Maybe helpful." Yona's eyes went down to the book. "History not same as magic." As simple as her words were in Ponish, she could understand yak fully. She read each page intently, looking for any hints at what her people's magic could look like. "We try, try, try. Take forever."

Silverstream leaned over Yona's head. "What about your magic?"

Yona shrugged, turning pages. "Find hint."

Ariel tapped at Silverstream's shoulder. "Let's let her read. I think this is a great idea, but you can't hurry up and read a book. Not if you want to get it all in properly."

Smolder laughed softly at that. "I was wondering if Silverstream had a magic trick to speed reading."

Silverstream looked bedazzled by the idea. "No, do you? That would make some assignments a lot easier!"

Smolder snorted flame. "I wish." She shook her head. "But it doesn't work that way." She waved it off. "Let's get going. I'll tell Professor Applejack why you're busy."

Yona nodded once and went back to her book. "Go, Yona read."

Smolder led the group onward to their class. They entered to find themselves a bit behind schedule, as Applejack was already in the process of setting up something new.

Applejack smiled as they entered. "What timin'! Get over here." She waved them closer. "As ah was jus' sayin', we're going a class project, in groups. And lookie there, here's a group right now."

Smolder chuckled and shrugged at that. "Close enough. What's the project?"

Applejack pointed off to the side at the blackboard at the front of the class. "Buildin' a house fit fer somecreature to actually live in. It'll be the biggest project y'all done." She nodded at the late group. "Now, there's a reason ah'm singlin' y'all. Yer a lot of different creatures. Ya gotta make a house that'll make all of y'all happy to be in. It'll take compromise and listenin' to get it done."

Gallus grinned and gave Applejack a quick nod. "I think we can manage that. So, what comes after we build it?"

Applejack blinked at that jump. "Whoa, ya gotta get it done afore ya go wonderin' what comes after that. Jus' gettin' it up'll take up plenty of time. Now, c'mon! Ah'll show where all of y'all'll be working." She trotted for the exit.

The group of friends fell in behind her. Silverstream leaned in to whisper. "What do you think she's going to say if we finish first?"

Smolder snorted with a smirk. "She'll be impressed. Look, all dragons need is a nice cozy cave. I doubt I'll complain much about whatever you dream up so long as it isn't, uh, too girly."

Gallus considered that. "Well, it'd need to be tall, with plenty of room to fly around, a place to store food, and lots of room to just spread out."

Applejack arrived at a clearing not far from the school. She waved around with a hoof. "Went and got permission to use this space right here. We do it right and yer homes may be used by new Ponyville residents that arrive in need of a place to be. That'll be when you pass, when Mayor Mare's inspector looks it over and gives a hooves up."

The clearing was large, with a vast open space, and sturdy trees to either side. A large mound rose up from one section, while a sizable pond occupied another. Silverstream pointed at that mound. "I could imagine a dragon cave right there. Rawr!"

Smolder snorted flame gently. "No problem with my claws, but can we just go wherever?" She looked to Applejack, who was already shaking her head.

"That'd get the groups fightin' first thing. Nothin' doin'." She took out some chalk and got to marking out lots for each group to work with. "Get movin' on yer own plots of land and figure somethin' out. Work it out as ah know y'all can."

Smolder threw up her hands. "Well, we didn't get the mound, oh well." She chuckled at the thought. "Just as well. The way Gallus was describing it, a mound wouldn't do well for a griffon anyway."

Gallus gave a quick laugh at that. "Well, I mean, if we could just make my kind of house, I wouldn't have any problem living in a cave."

Ariel considered the two ideas. "A cave with a tall ceiling and little subcaves around it for storing stuff and a big center room? That could be cozy, but we're not making that here." She tapped a hoof down on the fairly flat land they hand. "Smolder, what makes a good dragon home, besides the rock?"

Smolder's tail swished behind her as she considered the question. "Well, dragons like a lot of room, since we get really big."

Gallus fired a thumbs up. "We're in agreement there. One big center room, smaller rooms for storing stuff."

Silverstream bobbed her head. "Oh, oh! What about an indoor waterfall? That would be pretty and a nice water source." She clapped her hands imagining it. "We're pretty close to the pond here, we could use that!"

Ariel gasped with a sudden idea. "A lake at the center? You know, a big pool to swim around in?"

"Pass." Smolder waved the idea off. "A big pool in the center is the opposite of what I'd want. You want a pool, you go outside." She hiked a thumb at the pond. "Like right there, it isn't even far away."

Ariel sighed and nodded. "Alright, fine, but I'm not letting that idea go. We'll just use the pond instead."

With a splash, Silverstream dove into the water and came up as a seapony. "Beat you to it!" She splashed some water towards Ariel with rolling giggles.

Smolder chuckled as she circled around their flat lot. "I'm not against close water to drink from, so that little waterfall isn't an awful idea, it just needs to not be a big pool in the end."

Gallus had fingers at his beak as he nodded. "That sounds good. Some water close at hand is nice. Ocellus, you want anything?"

"I'd be fine in any of your rooms." She rubbed the side of her head. "I guess I am on the project though. Hm. Tricky part about changelings is we can fit in, um, almost anywhere." With a rush of flames, she became a griffon. "We could enjoy a place to roost." Then a dragon. "Or a cave to brood in."

"We do not brood." Smolder shoved Ocellus, laughing. "Not everything has to be high ceilings and wide spaces." She pointed at Ariel. "How big would the space have to be for you and Silverstream to feel right?"

Ariel paused in her game of splashing. "Oh, what you're describing sounds good to me. Silver?"

"I want to live here!" Silverstream giggled from the pond. "I can already tell you how great it's going to be to go to sleep and wake up here."

Gallus fired two finger guns at the hippogriffs. "Alright, not picky so long as we're near the water, which we are. Sounds like we're getting somewhere. Let's get started!"

Applejack chuckled off to the side, where she'd been watching the group discuss. "Sounds like you'll all figure this out jus' fine." She went to assist a pony group that was doing more arguing than building.

***

At the end of the class day, they returned to their dorm to find Yona still reading her book.

Smolder flopped onto her belly on a rug, giving a sigh of content. "Well, I think we all did really well. Yona, any progress?"

Yona shook her head, nose still in the book. "No. Yak not have magic."

"That's not exactly true, is it?" Ariel sank down next to Ariel. "Yaks do a lot of amazing things. I know you do."

Yona gave a huff. "Yak not magic." She flipped with her snout. "Yak hero. Save town. Stood strong. Keep snow back. Whole moon!" Her ears folded back in a frown. "Not magic."

Ocellus crawled onto Yona's back. "That sounds pretty amazing."

Gallus clicked his tongue on his beak. "What else have yak heroes done?"

Yona frowned more and flipped more pages. "Kill big monster. Tame angry spirits." She sighed.

Ariel blinked as she sat up. "Tame angry spirits? How do you do that without magic?"

"Yak smash spirits. Angry spirits go away!" Yona pounded the air for emphasis.

Smolder chuckled. "Of course it comes back to smashing. Still, Ariel has a point. If they were spirits, just hitting them wouldn't work. Smashing a spirit? Pretty magic."

Gallus leaned over her shoulder. "So, how did they do that? What was different?"

Yona stroked over her chin. "They do it. They had to. Call and do it."

Silverstream inclined her head sharply as only a bird could. "Call? Call what?!"

Ocellus nodded slowly. "It sounds like they were calling for something, but not naming it."

Yona waved that away. "Sorry. Call old yaks. Come before?"

Ariel raised a finger. "Ancestors?"

"That word!" Yona slammed the ground with a huge smile. "Sorry, forgot. Call ancestors, do what must."

Smolder's snout scrunched. "How do you call on your ancestors?"

Yona curled up in place and closed her eyes. "Yona not do before." She flipped through the book and pointed a cloven hoof at the writing. "This say. Recite and call."

Ariel clapped eagerly. "Then you found yak magic."

"Yona did?" Yona sat up, confusion clear on her face.

Silverstream threw her arms wide. "Sure! You have to call your ancestors to help with the smashing, so the way to perform yak magic is to call them."

"Oh." Yona was still, processing that a moment. "Oh! Yona get it." She inclined her head. "But they only do when need. You do magic when want."

Ocellus raised a finger. "But some of us have trouble with our own magic." She smiled. "You have to practice, just like us. Your ancestors, um, will understand, right?"

"Yona call?" She tapped the book. "Ancestor say okay?"

Ariel beamed as she hopped upright. "Exactly. Ask them." She trailed off. "I was going to say nicely, but that isn't the yak way. Tell them. You are going to be a yak magician. You need their help, and you will have it. No questions. They'll be proud and uh, help, hopefully."

Yona stood tall. "Yak not ask." She raised her hooves up. "They do because Yona tell them to!"

The room became a communal cheer, all of them applauding for Yona's breakthrough. She smiled with a faint blush a moment. "Oh, did Yona miss lots today?"

Gallus grinned. "It was pretty cool. We all got along great, even if we haven't actually done much in the way of building yet."

"Building?" Yona tapped one of her great horns. "Build what?"

Ariel hugged her friend from the side. "We'll tell you all about it, and you can join our group. Some Yak Strength will help!"

Yona gave a firm nod and slammed one hoof into the other. "Yak Strength build great!"

***

The next day, Yona stood in front of the start of the house. "Yona ask." She took a slow breath, body swelling a moment with the soft sigh. She called, just as she said, speaking in Yak that none of the others understood.

Ariel shivered gently, hands clasped together. "Wow, it's, actually, a lot like I'd expect magic to be, crazy words included." She smiled wide as she looked at her friends. "I think she's getting through."

Silverstream nodded sharply, bouncing on her toes.

Yona smashed the ground, faint wisps of energy trailing from her eyes. "Yona build. Protect others." She slammed the ground again. "Yak Strength!" With that, she rushed over towards the house and dug in deep. The building seemed to fly together under her guidance, boards joining swiftly and strongly.

Gallus's beak fell open. "I, wait." He lifted a shaking finger. "Is she just doing it for us?"

Smolder shrugged with a chuckle. "I'm not gonna stop her. Getting in front of a charging yak? No thanks."

Ocellus leaned over to Smolder. "This counts as practicing magic, right? She's going to be amazing at this."

"Going to be?" Ariel laughed, watching Yona's manic spree. "She already is. Yak magic is pretty great."

As if she jinxed it, Yona crashed to the floor, heaving for breath. The others ran over and checked on her.

"You okay?" Silverstream put an arm around her shoulders. "Slow breaths. Big ones."

Yona took Silverstream's advice, easing herself up after a few moments. "Yona, do it." She smiled through her fatigue. "Yak magic!"

Ariel clapped eagerly. "That was amazing! You didn't finish, but that's okay. We should do our part too. What you did do was just, wow."

Gallus chuckled as he gave her a wing around the shoulders. "You were doing all the work, Yona. It was pretty great, but we should be helping out too."

Ocellus grinned brightly. "That's at least a quarter of it done in no time. Let's do our part."

With a shared cheer, they got to work on their project.

Over the coming days, the house took shape. They worked out some of the kinks in design as they went, and Applejack kept them moving along swiftly, but they built higher and higher, making a two story dwelling that didn't look ready to fall over. Though it was tall, it had no actual second story, just one big one for flyers or dragons big enough to want that space to enjoy the room in.

Yona tried her magic several times more, getting a little better each time at handling her request of her ancestors. "Yona learn. Use for others, easy. Use for selfish, hard. Ancestor help because helping."

Ariel chuckled as she slid a board into place. "It's still magic, even if it isn't easy." She reconsidered that. "It's magic because it's hard. If it was easy, everycreature would just do it."

Gallus flew up with a heavy box in hand, placing it onto a shelf with a heavy thud of weight. "I'm pretty sure we're going to be the first to finish building, but there's no rush. It isn't a contest."

Smolder slammed down some boards, putting them into place before she started to bind them. "You say that, but you're doing great work to get this thing done."

Applejack whistled as she circled around their assembled home. "Lookin' mighty good! You'll want to get some plumbin' in there. Ain't a pony gonna wanna be in there without a sink and workin' outhouse, be that on the inside or not." She considered a moment. "Since yer all goin' so fast, ya could even consider if ya wanna put in 'lectricity. That'd be somethin'. Most houses in Ponyville don't have that."

Smolder chuckled and gave an eager nod. "We're already ahead. Might as well keep the momentum going!"

Ariel leaned over from the edge of the roof. "I'm not against the idea, but do you have a book with tips on that?" Her dim human memories didn't feel near enough to guide how to wire a building. "That isn't something you want to do blind."

Silverstream pumped a hand into the air. "Hey, if you get us supplies, I'll dive down and see about getting some pipes in place for us."

Smolder chuckled at the notion. "You'll dive through the wood and dirt? Nope, this one goes to you." She pointed at Ocellus. "You can get the pipes where they need to be."

Ocellus was engulfed in flames, becoming a mole. "Ready!"

Gallus gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze. "You know you're amazing, right?"

The changeling mole blushed and nodded. "Um, just doing what a changeling does."

Applejack let the electricity idea quietly die, moving on to look at the other houses.

Ariel hopped off the roof and landed with a soft thump. "So, the next thing we need are the water pipes, then?" She looked around and spotted a small pile of them. "Well, Applejack was ready for this part."

Yona trotted over and grabbed a great armful of pipes to bring next to the house with a crash of metal as they fell. "There."

Silverstream splashed through the water, getting it all over herself. "I can still help! I can start from the wet side." She waved a hand excitedly.

Gallus passed a pipe over to her. "Here you go." He landed next to Ariel. "You sounded like you knew what electricity is, so, what is it?"

Ariel's ears drooped. "It's just, something useful. Um." She worried her fingers together, talons clicking. "It can make light, or heat up a stove, or do a lot of things if you know what you're doing. I haven't seen it used much around here."

Smolder looked up from sorting pipes with Ocellus. "Huh. Sounds like yet another kind of magic. We're already learning enough magic right now, I say. Let's stick to finishing what we got."

Silverstream called up. "I have a hole here! Ocellus, aim for my voice!"

Ocellus started to dig, dirt flying out from behind her as she went down, then at an angle towards the pond. She emerged a moment later, soaking wet and sputtering. "G-got it."

Ariel laughed lightly at that, leaning down and patting Ocellus's shoulder. "Good job!" She dashed to find a towel for the wet mole. "We have a lot of different talents, and that's good."

With Ocellus dry, Silverstream returned to the surface. The seapony took a slow breath and began to focus on the gemstone. She lifted into the air, back to being a hippogriffon. "How's the pipe on the inside looking?"

Ocellus nodded sharply. "I can see it just fine! I think it goes all the way through."

They got the pipe going up a bit and put a nice handle at the end. With a twist, they could summon or banish the stream of water that fell on a grate that led right back into the pond it all came from originally. Water flowed freely, and there were cheers all around at their success. A second pipe was added for the toilet, which drained off into the ground below in a similar manner, but they didn't make that one come out the pond.

Applejack swung back around as their cheers got her attention. "Ya got a roof, an' pipes. Y'all feelin' ready with what ya got?"

Smolder put a claw to her chin. "Well, we should probably check and make sure there are no gaps in the walls or roof, but I think we're ready."

Gallus fired a big thumbs up. "Call that inspector. They'll be blown away by what we made!"

Applejack smiled broadly at that, and gave a nod. "Ah'm real proud of ya, and ah will send an inspector yer way."

The next day, that pony arrived with a stern suit on his front and a clipboard balanced on a crossed hoof. "Hm. Looks like you built a house alright. I need to see inside." His voice was clipped and proper, and he looked over the top of his glasses.

Gallus threw open the door and bowed. "Welcome."

The inspector nodded and entered. He looked over every surface, tapped at walls, moved along each inch with care. Silverstream gave a nervous shiver, but Smolder sat relaxed. He came to the handle on the wall and inclined his head left and right. "Hm?" He reached a hoof and turned it. Water spilled out just in front of him, almost catching his clipboard. "What an unusual design." He made a few quick notes.

Smolder chuckled as she stood up. "Well, we have our own way of doing things. What did you think?"

"I think it doesn't break any codes." The pony tapped at the toilet, gave it a test flush, and made a few more notes. "No draft, the construction seems solid enough. Though I'm not sure what pony would enjoy the particular details of your design, it's all in code." He drew out a big stamp and brought it down on the board. "I can approve this building."

There were cheers all around, the whole group celebrating their success. Applejack smiled at that, trotting over to them. "Congratulations. Y'all did it, got a whole house up, an' it took all of ya workin' together to do it. Mighty proud of the lot of y'all. Now, ya need ta go show the others how it's done."

Yona smiled gently. "First we need celebrate."

Applejack chuckled at that. "Well, don't let me get in the way of that, but first done means first helpin' the others. Ah 'xpect y'all to lend them a helping hand or hoof."

Ariel grinned as she bowed. "You're absolutely right about that, Professor. We're a team, and so is the rest of the school." She squeaked as Gallus grabbed her in an unexpected hug. "A warning!" But she relaxed quickly, returning the hug with a giggle. "Good job."

Smolder chuckled and hugged Yona around the neck. "I am proud of you." She lifted her head with a grin, and looked at Silverstream and Ocellus.

As if to not be left out, Silver pounced on Ocellus to hug tightly. "I wonder if a creature will move in and use it, now that we made it."

Ocellus laughed and returned the hug. "Maybe, maybe it'll stay empty. I hope somecreature enjoys it."

The team broke up, each heading to another group to help the other teams along. Though the rest were ponies, the students had enough understanding of construction to help the other groups get going. They stayed mostly together, drifting between groups to encourage them to go forward.

It took another few days, but the clearing was full of finished houses at the end. They even had a new pony wandering them with amazement. "I get to pick any one of them? They're all amazing!"

Ariel smiled up at that. "Yep! You can live in any of these."

The new mare nodded and looked over the dwellings. "I think that one looks like it's just for me." She trotted into one with a big skylight. "It's so nice and bright." She circled around to the window in the front. "It lets in the light from everywhere. I love it!" She bounced happily.

Applejack smiled warmly. "That's all mighty good work ya did there." The teacher turned as Princess Celestia approached. "Oh! Princess! Weren't 'xpectin' ya." She bowed properly, as did much of the class.

Ariel and the others did not, but she wasn't technically their princess. She didn't look upset at that. "What lovely work. I heard some young creatures made an entire new block of homes and I had to come see for myself. I'm amazed at the wonderful work here." Her smile only grew as she walked from house to house, looking each over. "The work here is incredible. I can feel that youthful energy, and the willingness to press in new d—" She trailed off as she reached the one the gang had made, two stories tall, but with just one large story in it. "Hm."

She poked her head inside and stepped in. Unlike the others, she could fit in easily, even spread her wings without immediately bumping into things. "This... Did you build this for me?" She turned to look back out the door she just came through.

Smolder chuckled and shrugged at the same time. "Well, I mean, it was supposed to be for anycreature. But we were trying to make it good for a griffon, hippogriff, or dragon."

"Or an alicorn," added Celestia with a pleased smile. "If it isn't already claimed, I would take it as a vacation home, for when I visit Ponyville. I could even bring my niece and sister, there is room enough for us to share."

Gallus clicked his claws together. "You have a niece? I never heard of that."

"I do." Celestia emerged from the spacious home. "Princess Cadance. And a nephew as well, Prince Blueblood. He doesn't get along with his cousin, but it's a matter of them being too different to be friends." She rolled her eyes, thinking of the two. "They have very different ways, but I love them both, in equally different ways."

Ariel waved at the tall home. "It's all yours. Nocreature has claimed it so far. Just be sure to tell them so they don't send anycreature out to look at it."

"Of course. I will make arrangements right away. I'm pleased with this, and you should all feel proud." Celestia turned to regard the other buildings. "Yours shines with many different ideas, and the compromises you made to fit them all in one building. Fortunately, I happen to be that mixture, and it's perfect. Applejack." Applejack perked at being called. "You are teaching an excellent class. Learning to work together with such varying ideas is a skill that will serve them well."

Applejack gave a nod of agreement. "It sure will. They can go far, do good things in the world." She took off her hat to press to her chest. "Won't take all the credit. All the teachers at the school're workin' hard to teach them how to get 'long with their fellow creatures."

Celestia nodded at that with a warm smile. "As I would expect from Twilight Sparkle, and your efforts are just as appreciated. You're all doing quite well." She nodded to the students she could see. "I expect we'll be hearing much about you all when you venture forth from this school. Now, I must go and speak to Mayor Mare."

Smolder watched Celestia depart. "It's nice to be noticed by royalty." She snickered softly. "Pony princess approved." She nodded at the house they had built. "I'll take it."

Applejack chuckled, tapping her hoof on the ground before her. "Now y'all get some time off. Won't throw another big project at y'all fer a while. Hope yer ready to do some class learnin'!"

Yona threw up her hooves. "Yona ready!" After all, what could be more challenging for Yona than doing magic? Feeling invincible, she charged back into the school.

Author's Note

4k month, 4k month! Shoot, I hit 2k, realized I was only halfway done. 4k 4k! We ended up at 4.5k :D Hope y'all like.

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