Days began to pass by in Ponvyille, with Twilight’s contractors and teachers beginning to make the journey to the formerly small village that was now bustling from all those who had moved there during the last year to begin planning for the Princess’s future school.

To her, Ponyville would always be a wonderful and magical place for their ability to quickly accept others as one of their own. There had been different species moving in, from gargoyles to wolves, from griffons to minotaurs, from hippogriffs to harpies, Abyssinians to ahuizotls, and many, many more, with promises of further ones coming - even Princess Ember and Prince Rutherford had both written to say they’d be bringing students for her school. There was even one changeling family that treated Twilight like family due to how her mom had bonded with them, though their daughter Ocellus was still very shy.

Twilight was in the midst of those who’d already arrived to start going over potential lessons as well as working on getting the rights to use the former training fields for the school, sitting at her breakfast table with Spike finishing putting down plates for everyone gathered when there was a knock on the door.

Trixie, who was reading a book on wagon construction and repairs, shared a look with Moondancer, who was reading one of her own books. Both mares were sitting about equal distance from the door and with a quick look between them, they decided to settle the matter maturely.

“Three, two, one-shoot!” Trixie and Moondancer both said with their horns glowing to create constructs, with Trixie earning the task of answering. “Should have known Moondancer would go for paper,” she grumbled to herself while the other mare cheerfully calling out And I know you always go for rock, Trix’s! before the stagemare stood upright and opened the door. “Welcome to the Great and Knowledgeable Golden Oaks Library, home to her wise and powerful Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she said with a flourish to reveal a very sour looking stallion dressed in high ranking Canterlot attire.

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he sneered at Trixie. “I do believe there was a poster talking about your location in Manehatten for something or another.”

“Trixie does not have anything to say on that matter as those charges are fraudulent,” Trixie said quickly enough that it seemed to be a reflex response. “Now, if you would pleas-”

“I have important business with her highness, so I would appreciate if you would stop wasting both our time here and direct me towards her now,” the stallion said, stepping into the library.

Trixie seemed ready to snap, either shooting her mouth or her magic but was prevented by Moondancer grabbing her and pulling her back.

“You will explain who you are this instant and why I should not have you leave my library for how you treated one of my friends,” Twilight said as she stalked towards the door separating the kitchen and the library, frowning in displeasure.

“I am Chancellor Neighsay, head of the Equestria Education Association. We are a board of scholars who oversee all schools in Equestria. And quite frankly, from what we have been hearing about this one you seek to open, it does not meet our standards!” he snapped.

“On what grounds?” Twilight snapped back. “I have sent the EEA invitations to attend the meetings for my school and I had yet to hear anything back until now.”

“We were waiting to hear more before we made our judgment and what I have heard so far is completely against all the standards and guidelines we have for our schools in Equestria.”

“Please,” Twilight said, teleporting back to her seat, moving another out for him to take at her table. “Tell me what the EEA finds in my proposals to be against educational standards and guidelines.”

The stallion simply chose to remain standing before responding. “Princess Sparkle, we of the EEA expect things to be done by the book. That means properly accredited teachers, students who will not endanger ponies by using what they learn against us…”

“All the teachers I’ve found are properly accredited,” Twilight said, doing her utmost to remain calm. “While the teachers I have contacted so far may not all have the EEA seal, each has years of educational teaching behind them with thoroughly examined background checks for each potential teacher.” She leaned inwards. “Are there any other serious complaints that the EEA has to address to me?”

“You are endangering Equestria with this,” Neighsay snapped. “What is to stop these creatures from taking what they learn and using it against us?”

“So no then,” she said, tilting her head towards him. “You are dismissed.”

“Ex-excuse me?” Neighsay stuttered, looking torn between infuriated and confused at her words. “You have yet to answer my questions, Princess.”

“They do not merit answering,” she said sharply, moving to stand once more. “I am uncertain-no, I am uncaring to how you missed what happened last year and what was done by the world but allow me to illuminate you. The nations of the world came together in unity and harmony against a foe that wished to destroy everything we believed in for his own selfish gains and desires. I spent the last year reaching out to nations that closed their doors to us and countries that did their best to hide from us as they feared us. I worked to ensure that our people’s beliefs and values, the ones that Equestria were founded on, were remembered and brought back to the light.” She stared at him, moving to stand face to face with the stallion. “Friendship and harmony, the twin qualities that were the building blocks of Equestria when it was founded and that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ensured would continue to be a part of our culture when they took the thrones, are among the best qualities in the world but they ring hollow and false if we try to withhold them from others.” She narrowed her eyes. “They cannot be limited to one tribe, or one species, alone; they must be shared with all. If the Equestria Educational Association has issues with that then so be it; my school will do without such an organization’s approval.” She used her magic to open the door to the library. “Now if you would, Chancellor Neighsay, can you please remove yourself. Right now, I am in a meeting with my partners and future teachers while sharing breakfast with them and the library is currently closed.”

The stallion stared hard at her, his eyes nearly bulging with his teeth clenched hard before he very reluctantly bowed his head and walked out the door, with Twilight closing it behind him.

“Wow.” Moondancer shook her head. “You go Twilight.”

“Trixie concurs,” Trixie said from where she was standing. “That is one of the best performances she has ever seen, and she is not saying that just because she knows every word of it to be true.”

“And if he tries to say otherwise, I have a recording of everything that happened,” Spike said from the table. “Good thing I decided to record this meeting for you as well as take notes, Twilight.”

“If I had thumbs, I’d give you two of them up,” Moondancer said. “Both of you.” She then trotted over to give Spike and Twilight both a hug which they returned happily.

“Though we will have to deal with their complaints, I don’t think Ponyville will suffer all that much,” Mayor Mare said as she put down her fork. “I quite agree with you on this matter, and while I do have one minor concern, it is one that I am certain can be easily handled.”

“Oh?” Twilight asked.

“Do you have someone officially placed to fill in as Headmare for those instances when you and your friends will be out of town on other business?” the mayor asked.

Twilight smiled. “Absolutely,” she said. “I have a few in mind who’ve already promised to fill in, including Moondancer.”

“Excellent,” Mayor Mare said. “Now, another thing. I understand that your school is an alternative one, designed to help students learn more specialized courses. Were you planning to include our school’s students, if they wished? Perhaps consolidate the two?”

Twilight considered. “Well… I wouldn’t mind inviting them over to attend certain events, if they so chose,” she said. “And any student who wants to switch is welcome, though they’ll have to get permission. But I won’t force anyone who wants to stay at the Ponyville Schoolhouse to come here.” She put on a stern look. “One thing though that I will not tolerate is members of its school board attempting to interfere or influence our decisions; I understand that one of them is notorious for that over there.”

Mayor Mare nodded, somewhat resigned. “The pony in question has been rather quiet since the day the good ambassador visited classes there,” she said. “Word got around over how you had words with her.”

“I was doing what any reasonable adult would,” Twilight said. “Her daughter was clearly scared and needed help.”

“Well, you did a good job of helping her,” Mayor Mare said.

Twilight smiled before widening her eyes. “Spike, can you remind me to ask Cheerilee to meet Mr. Rivet?” She turned to face the Earth pony stallion, who was lead builder for her school. “Anything she wishes to have done to her school, I would appreciate it if you could find time in your schedule to make it happen or contact those who could help instead.”

“Consider it done, Princess,” Rivet replied. “Was already sorta planning it for Cheerilee.” Twilight raised an eyebrow before the stallion chuckled. “This isn’t the first time I’ve worked in Ponyville, far from it - hay, I was here on a project durin’ that whole Mare-Do-Well thing. I came back here durin’ the war, helping build the walls and met Cheerilee,” he paused before shaking his head. “Cheerilee and I got to know each other. She’s a great gal, and we started datin’ after that. An’ when the school closed for the summer, she asked me to help with fixin’ up some of the parts that needed it.”

“Good to know,” Twilight told him. “And congratulations.”

Rivet tipped his helmet to her.

The meeting continued on for most of the morning, before finally breaking up around the lunch hour. Twilight thanked everyone for coming, with the plans nearly reaching their completions. While Spike went to prepare lunch, Twilight went to oversee how Trixie and Moondancer were doing with the library, and was pleased to find them doing well, having long since finished putting everything away that needed it and found something of their own to read while she was otherwise preoccupied.

“Trixie could not help but overhear some of your comments on a certain mare on the school board,” Trixie remarked as she looked through her book. “Trixie thinks you did well on her, she sounds like a truly unpleasant individual. Actually, she sounds like one of Trixie’s old teachers from her hometown - Mrs. Hydia was one of those types that makes you wonder why she went into teaching if she didn’t like being around foals. One of the reasons I went to Canterlot for the School for Gifted Unicorns was to get away from her.”

“Believe me, Spoiled Rich is one of the least friendly individuals I’ve ever had cause to meet,” Twilight said. “I don’t know what her husband sees in her, he’s normally fairly reasonable.”

“Maybe their parents set it up?” Moondancer suggested.

“Could be,” Twilight said. “I haven’t asked.”

“Can we change the subject?” Spike asked as he came in. “Thinking about her gives me indigestion, and lunch is ready.”

Twilight nodded, and the trio followed him in to the dining room.

Talk soon turned to other things, such as the upcoming weddings.

“Has Princess Luna told you about any specific plans they have?” Trixie asked.

“Mostly just the guest list and who’s in charge of certain parts,” Twilight said. “We’re all coming up the day before the ceremonies to make sure everything’s ready. Oh, and Wise-Mind should be coming in the same day, and he’s bringing Slice and her brothers, and the Crusaders, back with him - they’re going to be the flower fillies again. And after the ceremonies are done, Mac and Applejack will be going with them all back to Slice’s farm for a while, while Luna and Pharynx go off on their honeymoon, and Swift-Pad and Maxilla have their own. I think they said they were going to Ornithia - my talk about the food there intrigued them.”

“Your talk about the food there intrigued me,” Moondancer said. “I didn’t used to go for meat of any kind much, but after what you said, I actually kind of want to try some.”

“What about you, Trixie?” Spike asked. “You ever had fish before?”

“On occasion,” Trixie said. “Trixie has traveled extensively, after all. Speaking of, are you planning to include the more exotic cuisines in your school’s cafeteria?”

“That’s one of the things I’ll be seeing about when we get back,” Twilight told her. “All part of the process of learning about other cultures. Did you hear the part where I mentioned the students doing a hooves-on project about a country of their choice at some point during the year?”

“I did,” Trixie said. “What about it?”

“Well, one of the examples I set up was how they could use local ingredients to make something edible for the rest of the class,” Twilight said. “Like making a pan of brownies that were decorated to look like one country’s flag.”

“Extra credit they can eat,” Moondancer said, nodding approvingly.

“Trixie would gladly sit in on that class,” Trixie said. “It sounds like fun.”

“That’s one of the whole points,” Twilight said. “I read through the EEA’s rulebook, and really, some parts of it were pretty stuffy. We all have our own tastes, and we learn differently, which is something teachers have to be sensitive to with mixed classes.”

“Twilight learns best from sticking her nose in a book,” Spike joked.

“There’s nothing wrong with that!” Twilight said indignantly. “But yes, that is how I learned best, and from watching and listening.” She sat back. “I did talk to Cheerilee on some points last week, for how she helps her students have fun learning.”

“You’re really putting in all the effort possible Twilight,” Moondancer said.

“Well of course I am, I couldn’t just announce I was planning to open a school with just the girls and myself out of the blue, could I?” Twilight replied. “They all have their own lives and responsibilities, I can’t expect them to suddenly start doing double-duty by teaching full-time too. Though I have invited them to give the occasional guest lecture.”

“That would have been a very dumb idea, Twilight,” Spike said as he began to set the table. “The first part, not the asking if you could have them be guest speakers.”

“Exactly,” Twilight said. “Neighsay may be a racist jerk, but the EEA rules about requiring accredited teachers and background checks on any staff members do make sense. Our friends are a lot of things, but accredited teachers is not one of them.” She looked around. “Though there is one potential staff member I was thinking of who probably wouldn’t pass any background check they could come up with. He has my trust though.”

“I think I know who you mean, but what on Equus would you possibly have him doing?” Spike asked nervously.

“Head of Security,” Twilight told him. “This way he’d be included, and it is something he’d be good at.”

Just then, a scroll popped into the air above them, which Twilight accepted and unfurled.

“Dear Princess Twiggles,” she read. “Respectfully, I must decline, but I appreciate the thought. On a related note, see me after the weddings - there is a comparatively minor issue that can wait until then to be handled. No lives are at stake, or I’d do something about it myself. Yours, Discord.” She rolled it up. “Well, I guess I have that answer.”

“Did you think he would actually take it?” Moondancer asked.

“I’d hoped,” Twilight said. “We do need a security force, and I wanted to include him. He’s my friend too, after all - one of my more eccentric friends, but still a friend. And he’d be good with watching out for external threats. They still haven’t been able to catch that bugbear that escaped Tartarus; it’s like Caballeron - sneakier than you’d think. Or that other thing that got out at the same time.”

“Have they been able to identify it yet?” Spike asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Princess Celestia’s team tried to get in, but for some reason the gates of Tartarus were shut tighter than that Top Jewel’s bank account was when charities were asking for donations. They weren’t able to get through it, and Celestia thinks maybe the one that got out did something to make it harder on us.”

“That’s worrisome,” Trixie muttered.

“I know,” Twilight said with a sigh. “She’s been looking into finding a way to get past it, but no luck yet. At least we know a few things that it’s definitely not though.”

“Like what?” Trixie asked curiously.

“You’re familiar with the story of Gusty the Great, right?”

Trixie nodded. “A foal’s tale,” she said. “Entertaining, but just a story.” She looked at Twilight, almost hopefully. “Right?”

Twilight shook her head. “Grogar is real,” she said. “I’ve been to his prison. He’s sealed inside a giant crystal, a mile thick, and with more security spells on it than I can count. I even added my own.”

Two sets of eyes, both as wide as dinner plates, met hers with stunned shock.

“How many ancient evils sealed away are there?” Moondancer asked, almost faint.

“More than I care to think about,” Twilight told her. “There’s also Squirk, a monstrous octopus who used to rule what’s now Aquastria; he’s locked up tight there, I saw him myself.”

“I’ll vouch for her,” Spike volunteered. “His cell’s clear enough that you can see him just fine.”

“Trixie is suddenly very frightened by the idea of all these ancient evils still out there,” Trixie said. “Trixie would like to not be afraid anymore.”

“That’s one of the reasons we’re checking up on these things,” Twilight told her. “So you know they’re handled and aren’t a danger anymore.”

Suddenly, Trixie let out a yelp.

“What happened?” Moondancer asked her.

“Cold! Cold-cold-cold in my ear!” Trixie took a few deep breaths. “Trixie is fine, just startled. But Trixie would swear she just felt a cold snout right in her ear!”

A pink hoof passed her a piece of paper. “And now you’re not afraid anymore,” she read. “Who…”

Then she turned, coming face to face with a grinning Pinkie. “Hi!”

Trixie let out a resigned groan, but she had a faint smile on her face. “Trixie appreciates that,” she said.

“No problem!” Pinkie chirped before pronking off towards the door and heading back out.

Moondancer shook her head. “Every time I see her, she does something even more surprising than before,” she said.

“That’s our Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said with a chuckle.

It was far later in the day, just a few hours after Blueblood had returned home during his own trip around the world due to the upcoming nuptials of Princess Luna and her chosen consort when his butler came to his study’s door.

Biting back a sigh, he turned to the stallion and asked, “Who is actually bothering me now?”

“A chancellor Neighsay, your highness,” the butler responded with all the decorum his line of work had instilled into the stallion. “A matter he wishes to bring up with you privately.”

“Neighsay?” Blueblood mused to himself in confusion. As far as he could recall, the stallion was a minor figure in the grand political scene, though the chancellor had been sending complaints that Blueblood’s secretaries had been dismissing as not to waste his own time on which underscored the lack of potential threat that the leader of the Equestria Education Association's agenda possed. Perhaps they were actually worth his time to investigate the stallion’s plan though he’d expect to get a taste of it now that Neighsay was in his home to talk to him unplanned. “Send him in.”

“As you wish sir,” the butler said, bowing his head as Neighsay stalked into the study room and Blueblood was already disliking him. He had a true arrogant unicorn Canterlot noble air about him that had created a very poor image for Canterlotians and made most think unicorns were tribalist if not worse.

“Ah, Speaker Prince Blueblood, how good to see another proper noble of Canterlot among us once more,” he said, moving straight to his desk while his magic went to his wine cabinet and began to pull out a bottle and a pair of glasses. “You would not believe the atrocious morning I have had; I was forced to deal with who should have been one of the very best of us, considering this is her home and her high rank.”

“Neighsay, I will be blunt and ask you to be direct with me here,” Blueblood said biting back a snarl of annoyance as the stallion had opened up a formerly priceless three hundred year old bottle. “What do you want from me.”

“To the point, that is the proper way,” he said, tilting his head with a smile-like sneer on his face, suggesting the chancellor actually believed Blueblood was being encouraging to him. Taking a sip of his wine, the chancellor continued. “No doubt you have heard of the farce of a place her other highness wishes to open to outsiders. Despite me informing her that such thing cannot be allowed under the Equestria Education Association, she had the gall to dismiss me as if I was her servant and go so far as to reject my organization’s authority as she plans to continue to open her… building.” He spat out the word, a glop of wine smacking against his desk, which had been in the family for nearly five hundred years. “I will need your help to gain the proper backing in Canterlot to force her to quit this misguided mission of hers and to properly apologize to me for insulting the EEA and thinking she could talk to me as if she were above me.”

Blueblood stared at him in disbelief, his mind struggling to choose one point to address first before his training kicked in. “You must believe I am a greater fool than you are, Neighsay,” he said, using his magic to hold the stallion's mouth shut. “The fact you came to me already says you know that you’ll be laughed out of Princess Celestia’s court at best if you brought this up to her, fired if not worse if she were to take you seriously in your demands. So you came to believe I would be idiotic enough to go against the former personal student of Princess Celestia, whom the princess views as her own daughter no less, on your behalf.” Blueblood stood up now, narrowing his eyes. “Furthermore, you are a servant, as we all are. Princess Twilight Sparkle is a Princess, one of the rulers of Equestria. Though she might not dwell in Canterlot anymore, I still accept her authority and pledge myself to her rule as I do for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and you should have done too if you were truly loyal to my nation.” He began to stalk around his desk, letting his anger build up. It was a privilege he had due to the persona he had let others see, the rude and arrogant prince now being used in an actually effective manner. “If what my secretaries and assistants have been telling me is true, then her school is meant to capitalize on what she spent the last year doing; reconnecting our country to the international community which, due to citizens like you, saw us as a preening arrogant xenophobic imperialistic civilization that would never bother to help another who was not us. It is because of Princess Twilight that we were able to prevent the Storm King from bringing down war on our heads. Princess Luna might have laid down the plans for our victory, but it was Princess Twilight that first brought the warning and made it possible for us to actually count on our allies to aid us as Princess Twilight showed them we were not like you and your ilk.” He was staring the stallion in the face who was looking just as furious as Blueblood was. “She might have decided to be merciful and just let you be as she has yet to learn how poisonous the political scene could be but I am not as kind as her nor disloyal as you are.” Blueblood took the wine glass from his magic and pointed a hoof towards the door. “Get out of my home this instant and you best prepare yourself because I am going to inform Princess Celestia personally of what just happened and she will be even harsher than I as you tried to use people she cares about against each other and those she considers family.”

Neighsay stared at him in stunned disbelief, then turned around and left without a word, though Blueblood didn’t have to be a changeling to tell he was inwardly seething. Returning to the far side of his desk, he collapsed into his seat. “That,” he remarked to nobody in particular, “Was a thoroughly unpleasant experience.”

“I quite agree,” a voice said as one of his ornaments turned to face him. “With somepony like that gunning for her, it’s no wonder Twi-Twi’s plans involved hiring security guards for her school.”

“Discord,” Blueblood acknowledged. He and the draconequus had spoken rarely, but he knew better than to underestimate or antagonize the being his aunts considered an ally. “I trust you heard all that?”

“Absolutely,” Discord said. “And our dear Princess Twiggles will be quite pleased to know you support her in this, if she’s told.” He narrowed his eyes. “That fool is one of the worst examples of Order I have ever seen; insistent on having things in precisely the right way and believing his way is the only right one. It should be interesting to see how he reacts when it’s pointed out just how wrong he is.”

“Indeed,” Blueblood said dryly. “As much as I appreciate your input, I must speak with my aunts on this matter.”

“Care for a lift?” Discord asked.

“I would…” Blueblood considered. “Appreciate it, and thank you,” he said.

The possessed ornament nodded and snapped its claws, and Blueblood vanished from his office.

Neighsay, despite what many thought and told him today, was not a fool. He had gambled on Blueblood helping him convince Princess Celestia to make the young Princess see reason and it had backfired horribly. He knew now that there was no longer a future for him in Canterlot and his time as Chancellor of the Equestria Education Association was over.

He had managed to make it back to his apartment and take all that he would need for a life far from the shining capital of Equestria before the Princess’s wrath cooled, though he doubted she would ever truly forgive him. Her fondness for her former student was well known, as was her protectiveness.

It was why he had chosen to take the back streets and alleys to make his departure of Canterlot, avoiding all that could spot him and report back to the castle where the Princesses dwelled. He was nearing a small bolthole that offered a passageway through the walls of the city when a cloaked figure stepped out from the shadows, breathing heavily.

“Who are you?” Neighsay demanded. “Get out of my way!”

The cloaked being laughed. “'Is he friend or is he foe?' the pony wonders. I can assure you... I am no friend... and I will take what should have been mine long ago.”

Then the being, whatever it was, opened its mouth and began to draw magic from Neighsay, pulling it out through his horn.

The last thing he heard before he fainted was a cruel, mocking laugh.

He smiled as he watched the fool drop to the ground before snapping his fingers and his minions came forward. It had taken him time but even in this blasted so called enlightened era, there were still the downtrodden, resentful at those at the top and he had been working to get them behind him.

As his minions went to drag the stallion away so he couldn’t run back and inform others of what just happened, he turned his head towards the castle where the Princesses now called their home and a sneer of hatred crossed his face.

“Soon you will pay for everything you have taken from me,” he vowed his revenge again before turning his back on the castle and following his men into the mountain wilderness to continue to grow his power, until he was ready to defeat his enemies once and for all.

He frowned; hiding his magical presence was not easy, especially from a certain old acquaintance of his family, but the steps he’d taken to ensure he stayed hidden even from Discord were well worth it in the long run.

Still… he had full confidence that even the draconequus was unaware of his location, until he wished it.

And then all would fall into place.