Twilight looked on with a smile on her face, proud at what she had created. The School of Friendship, which glistened well in the light of the new day. Its doors were open, and already the students were entering, ready for another day of eager learning and spending time with their friends. It had been given a rough start in life, but now, the school was serving as a beacon of friendship, not just for Equestria, but to all the world. Twilight's chest swelled up with all the good feelings she now felt as she started to happily trot towards the font of learning that she and her friends had forged together. Everywhere she went, she could see ponies and a variety of other creatures all smiling to her, even waving as she passed them by. It was a good day, and the young Princess had every intention of starting things off right. But, for now, she first needed to get important things going, and so began to look for her friends. Strangely, she couldn't find them in any of the classrooms. But, after a while, she did see somebody she knew walking the halls.

"Spike!"

The small dragon halted at the voice of his carer, turning to smile at her while carrying a large box of pencils.

"Hey, Twilight."

Reaching him, Twilight looked around briefly before regarding him yet again.

"Have you seen Applejack or Fluttershy or any of the others around?"

Spike thought on that, then looked to her with a nod.

"Yeah. I think I saw them all heading to the lake. They looked pretty excited about something."

Twilight tilted her head in confusion, unsure of why her friends would have done such a thing. Still, she nevertheless smiled to her number one assistant, giving him a quick pat on the head in appreciation for his help, before promptly starting to run off in the direction he'd given. There was still plenty of time before classes began in earnest, so her friends not being here wasn't too much of a problem right now. Still, it would probably be better for them to be gathered up all the same. Knowing the lay of the land fairly well by this point, it took little time for Twilight to make her way over to the lake Spike had spoken of, and sure enough, she saw her friends there. But, bizarrely, she saw them all huddled together behind a large series of bushes, looking out to the water. Curiosity came to her, and she slowed her pace as she drew nearer.

"Um...hi?"

All eyes turned to her, but as she once more opened her mouth to speak, every single one of them raised a hoof to their lips.

"Shhhh!" they hissed in unison.

Naturally, Twilight was a little taken aback by this, but then noticed Rarity gesturing for her to come closer, looking quite giddy as she did so. Though Twilight still had no idea what was going on, she approached them all the same. Getting to her knees, Twilight herself was now part of the same huddle as everypony else.

"Um...what are we doing?"

Pinkie, doing her best to stifle a giggle, answered her by pointing to something through the bushes. Twilight, raising an eyebrow, let out an exasperated sigh before peeking through the gap in the plants her friend had pointed out. And it was here that Twilight finally discovered what it was they were all looking at. For there, sitting just on the shores of the lake, were two of her students; Sandbar and Ocellus. Twilight blinked a little at this before yet again looking to her friends.

"You're spying on those two?"

Rainbow chortled.

"Heck yeah we are! This is some juicy stuff right here, Twi!"

Twilight looked to her with confusion.

"Juicy? Two friends spending time with each other? I mean, I'm as happy as anypony that a pony and a Changeling can be friends like that these days, but..."

However, before she got another word out, Rarity let out a sigh od her own, shaking her head slightly.

"Oh, Twilight, you naïve mare."

Twilight looked to her, arching an eyebrow, which prompted Fluttershy, smiling widely, to finally just spell it out for her.

"They're on a date!"

Of course, to words like that, Twilight was rather taken aback.

"A...a date?!”

Her friends all nodded in unison, leaving Twilight to once more look to the young couple far away. She stared at them for a long while, considering what she'd learned, and after some time, she started to nod and smile to herself.

"Yes...yes! This is good! The Friendship School is succeeding! Not only are people of different species learning to co-exist, but now they're starting romantic relationships with one another! This is truly a sign that what we’re working for is, well, working!"

She clasped her hooves together happily.

"This is so great!"

Applejack let out a chuckle.

"Eyup, they make a pretty cute couple over there."

Rainbow leaned over to her farmer friend.

"Can you guys make out what they're saying?"

The other mares all shook their heads, with Rarity speaking up first.

"I'm afraid not, darling. But I would like to know what they're talking about. The poor dears are clearly new to this sort of thing. Who knows how awkward this is for them."

Pinkie snorted to that.

"Relax, Rarity! They're doing fine! Look at them! They're smiling, laughing, that's a good time right there. And I know good times!"

Rarity opened her mouth to respond, only to stop when Twilight, right out of nowhere, let out a loud gasp.

"Oh no!"

Her friends all looked to her.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight looked to them all.

"Don't you see what this could mean?!"

Applejack shrugged her shoulders.

"Well...yeah. It means that those two friends are a couple now, or are tryin’ ta be. Seems pretty straightforward ta me."

But Twilight shook her head to that.

"No! This could be bad, you guys! As in, really bad!"

The mares all looked to one another, clearly having no idea what she was talking about, which led to Twilight starting to explain things.

"Sure, things are good now, but what about later? What happens if this doesn't work out? Their friendship might be in jeopardy! If they break up, they might avoid each other in future! Or worse! What if their group decides to split right down the middle because of this? Gallus might not spend time with Smolder because the latter hangs out with Ocellus, and he doesn't want Sandbar to think he's siding with his ex-girlfriend! And if things keep escalating after that, we could well have another near-war on our hooves!"

Rainbow looked to her with some incredulity.

"Er...I think you're over-reacting, Twi."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement with her childhood friend.

"Rainbow's right, Twilight. They may be young, but I'm confident that they know how to be careful with this. If they do break up, it may hurt, but I'm sure they'll find a way to make it work and stay friends afterwards."

Twilight considered that, seeing the looks of certainty on her friends' faces. After a while, she let out a sigh, calming herself down, before regarding them all with a smile.

"You're...you're right. I was...just being worried for no reason."

Pinkie giggled.

"Hey, don't sweat it, we're used to you going nuts over stuff like that, remember?"

Twilight frowned to her over that, then turned again to look to her two students.

"So...when did this happen, anyway?"

Her friends all shrugged their shoulders.

"Dunno, Twi. Ah reckon' it were bout a week ago maybe?" Applejack answered.

"Well, whenever it happened, they do look rather sweet together," Rarity added.

Fluttershy nodded.

"They do. And who knows? Maybe this could last a really long time? Maybe it could end in marriage even?"

Twilight considered that prospect with a smile.

"Hehe, marriage? Wouldn't that be something? Just a few years ago, Changelings were this new race we didn't even know about, then whoosh, onto the scene they came to attack Canterlot. And now? Now, we're considering the long-term relationship between one of them and one of us!"

The mares nodded together, silently acknowledging that dramatic shift in feelings between the two groups. Twilight, for her part, pondered it further.

"Besides, we know romantic feelings between differing groups is no rare thing. I mean, just look at how Spike feels about you, Rarity."

A fond smile came to the fashionista at that.

"He's a sweetheart to feel that, to be sure. But this right here? That's a proper relationship. Oh, I just imagine all the sweet nothings they might be whispering to each other by the time this is over. So cute!"

Twilight looked like she wanted to say something further, only to stop when Fluttershy let out a gasp. Everypony looked to her slightly startled.

"What is it, Flutters?" Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy looked to her friend with a wide smile.

"If...if they stay together after this...if they even get married...maybe they'll even have children one day!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes at her friend's remark.

"Er...don't you think it's a bit early to be thinking about kids? They haven’t even held hooves yet!"

Fluttershy frowned in response.

"It's never a bad time to think about adorable little babies!"

Then, Twilight chimed in, seemingly sharing her friend's excitement.

"Oh! I could write a whole book on the prospect of inter-species offspring! Think of the literary acclaim!"

Rainbow slapped her forehead in frustration.

"Guys...can we just appreciate seeing those two being sweet with each other for now? I mean, I now it's me saying that, but still..."

"You said it, Teach."

At the arrival of the second voice, all eyes turned, and they saw that it was not one person standing close by, but four. Gallus, Yona, Smolder and Silverstream. The Hippogriff in particular seemed utterly giddy at the romantic scene unfolding on the shores of the lake, all while their Professors regarded them with both surprise and a little sternness.

"Um...aren't you supposed to be getting ready for class?" Twilight asked.

Gallus looked to her, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Aren't you?"

Silence was the Griffon's only answer, as all of the mares looked to each other. Finally, after letting out a sigh, Twilight shrugged her shoulders to her feathered student.

"...Touché, Gallus...touché."

Gallus, naturally, enjoyed his moment of victory with a smirk, and shortly afterwards, every single one of them turned their attention yet again to the happy-looking couple by the lake. Silence passed between them all for some time, and at the end of it, Rainbow finally spoke up again.

"So...how do you think this is gonna...?"

But then Silverstream leapt out of the bushes and, to the horror of all of them, called out.

"JUST KISS ALREADY!!!"

Immediately, Sandbar and Ocellus snapped their heads in the direction of the bushes, and as soon as they saw their large audience, they erupted into blushes so fierce that it looked like they had bright red tomatoes for heads. Silverstream, meanwhile, suddenly found herself being started at by everyone with gaping jaws, completely disbelieving what she'd just done. As it finally dawned on her the error she'd just made, she giggled nervously, before speaking up in an uncharacteristically meek fashion.

"Um...to answer your question, Professor Dash...I guess...that’s how it's gonna end. So...yay?"

Next Chapter: Get-Away for the Students Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 7 Minutes