It was a big summer break for everyone and the group seemed to meet up to talk about what they did over the summer.
"What an adventurous summer, but we gotta go back to school..." Cherry said. "What did you guys do?"
"I invited Lucky and Colette to come over and see the farm where my family lives." Patch smiled.
"That's nice." Atticus smiled back.
"I just liked spending time with Gloriosa and Timber..." Mo smiled. "They're really cool."
"My family and I had a great time in Atlantica." Atticus smiled.
"What did you do, Cherry?" Patch asked.
"Oh... Uh... You know..." Cherry said, seeming to hide a note that had a Cat imprint on it in her pocket. "Just read books in my room... Nothing special."
"Oh, come on, Cherry; you can't honestly have us believe that lie." Mo said.
Cherry looked away innocently.
"What's this?" Patch asked before taking the note out of her pocket.
"Hey, stop!" Cherry told him. "Atticus, your dumb dog is getting his nose into my personal business!"
"What's this note?" Atticus asked after seeing the note.
"Does no one care about my privacy anymore?" Cherry groaned.
Atticus opened the note to see an invitation for Cherry who soon looked back, a bit anxiously, and to his surprise, it seemed to be from Catwoman inviting her to join her side away from Batman.
"You've been invited to join Catwoman?" Atticus asked out of confusion.
"Can I have my note back now?!" Cherry begged.
"'I know you'll make a good choice... From your favorite aunt'?!" Atticus continued.
"Aunt?!" Patch asked.
Cherry took the note back and glared to them slightly. "Alright, I went to visit Bruce for a while, then we met Selina Kyle at the Bachelor Auction, and Catwoman is actually my aunt," she then admitted. "There. Are you happy?!"
"Catwoman is your aunt?!" Mo asked out of shock.
"Yes, I didn't want anyone to find out," Cherry replied. "She's apparently my mother's biological sister."
"How many biological sisters does your mom have?" Patch asked.
"It's complicated since her parents aren't interested in meeting me..." Cherry replied as she took the note back.
Suddenly, their medallions began to glow.
"Oh, sure, now you come..." Cherry said as she held hers.
"Let's go see what's up." Atticus said.
A portal soon came and they went inside, but Cherry hesitated at first. Cherry soon took a look at her note as she thought long and hard about her discovery in Gotham this summer. After some time, she soon went through the portal and wasn't too sure about the offer since her aunt was a villain.
In Equestria...
Twilight paced around slightly until a portal opened up and Cherry, Atticus, Mo, and Patch landed by the table which had grown in size since the last time they had seen it.
"Whoa!" The group yelped as they saw how big the map/table was now.
"Is it just me or did this table get bigger?" Mo asked.
"We were just as surprised as you are." Twilight replied.
The group came towards the table which looked a lot like the map from where they had gone on their big adventure against the Storm King.
"This is so surprising." Atticus said as they got off the table.
"I had to show you all when I stayed behind during your big adventure." Starlight told the group.
"Ugh! There's that horrid town where we were almost sold!" Rarity reminisced.
"The pirates! They were pretty awesome!" Rainbow Dash added. "Uh, once they decided not to throw us overboard."
"Yeah, and thank goodness for that." Mo said.
"And Mount Aris! Ooh, Starlight!" Pinkie Pie beamed. "Did you know we made seashell necklaces for aaaaaaaaaaall the seaponies?"
"I... You... Really?" Starlight smiled sheepishly before looking curious. "What about that unicorn? The one who attacked Canterlot?"
"Fizzypop Berrytwist." Cherry snickered.
"And there was also her Pegasus friend." Mo smiled.
"Tempest and Thunder Cloud!" Twilight smiled to that in memory. "I invited them to come to Ponyville, but they wanted to spread the word of the Storm King's defeat and share what they learned about friendship."
"And a good thing they did." Atticus nodded.
"Y'all think that's why the map grew? Friendship quests beyond Equestria?" Applejack wondered.
"I hope not," Fluttershy said. "I've had quite enough life-threatening adventures, thank you very much."
Suddenly, a tape measure came out towards the table.
"What the-?" Mo asked out of confusion.
"How many friendship quests do you think we need to go on before we have to expand the throne room?" Pinkie Pie asked, now dressed like a construction worker.
"We can't do it all alone." Twilight replied.
"Sure we can!" Pinkie Pie smiled. "We just need to knock this wall down, get some paint-"
"Pinkie Pie, I don't think that's what she meant what you think she meant." Patch said.
"It isn't," Twilight replied. "What I mean is 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."
"Perhaps, but where does one go to learn about friendship?" Rarity agreed, though pondered.
"Here," Twilight smiled, pointing to her hoof to a spot. "They can all go here! Because we're gonna open a school!"
"Do humans count?" Cherry asked.
"Don't y'all already go ta school even though we finish school earlier than you do?" Applejack asked, a little confused.
"Well, yeah, but I mean for those that are going to be graduating." Cherry said.
"That's actually pretty smart." Mo smiled.
Cherry smiled a little bashfully.
"Anyone else you would like?" Twilight asked.
"Well... You don't suppose it'd hurt if my little sister tried this out with her friends, would you?" Atticus suggested.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Twilight smiled.
The others smiled to each other as this was going to be an interesting an adventure, a school of friendship, would they be able to handle it?
"Let's tell Princess Celestia." Twilight suggested.
"I'm sure she'll be delighted to hear this." Mo smiled.
Eventually, word got out to the ones they wanted to share this with. Darla soon came with Amber and Annabelle into Equestria as they were going to help try out The School of Friendship with the new students.
"Ooh, this is so exciting." Darla smiled.
"I-I'm a little nervous..." Annabelle said, rubbing her front hoof against her other, almost like Fluttershy would. "I always get scared whenever I go to a new school. You guys saw what happened when I first came to your school... And of course, that time when I tried to fix Murray's wand and everyone laughed at me."
"Well, this is the School of Friendship, so you won't have to worry about being laughed at." Amber assured her.
"If anyone does though, I'll give them a taste of Moon Tiara Action." Darla smirked.
"Darla..." Amber replied.
"What?" Darla smiled sheepishly.
"You know that you're supposed to only use your attacks against evil." Amber said.
"Bullies are evil." Darla pouted.
"Yeah, but there won't be any bullies at the School of Friendship." Amber said.
"Okay..." Darla replied. "But... I'll keep it on standby."
"No!" Amber declined.
"You girls ready then?" Atticus chuckled to them.
"We sure are." The girls smiled.
"Come on then, let's go." Atticus smiled back.
They then followed Atticus into the castle to see the high and mighty Alicorn Princess of the Day and they discussed the idea with them.
"I think a school of friendship is a wonderful idea, Twilight!" Princess Celestia smiled. "I'll help in any way I can."
"Is there anyone-I mean, anypony we need approval from first?" Atticus asked her.
"Well... There is someone you should see..." Princess Celestia replied. "Also, you must read the EEA Guidebook."
"The EEA Guidebook?" Darla asked out of confusion. "Is that like a book for schools to follow?"
Twilight flipped out on the other 'hoof'. "The EEA? I've never heard of that. Should I have heard of that?!"
"Of course not. You've never run a school before," Princess Celestia told them both, answering Twilight first and then Darla. "The Equestria Education Association is a board of learned ponies that oversee every school in Equestria."
"Whoa," Darla said. "Did you have to get their approval before opening your school?"
"Oh, yes, everypony does, even me when I opened up my own." Princess Celestia nodded.
"Even your school? But you're you!" Spike replied as he helped Twilight take notes on the unicorn students in Celestia's special school.
"Not even a princess can do whatever she likes when it comes to shaping young pony minds," Princess Celestia clarified. "The EEA ensures that whether it's unicorns studying magic, Pegasi learning weather, or Earth ponies researching agriculture, all schools are held to the same high standard. They'll need to approve your plan before you can move forward."
"How hard can it be to convince them?" Atticus asked.
"After everything we've been through, how hard can that be?" Spike scoffed with a smirk.
"It can't be harder than when we first met Sabrina and we had to help her with a spell to get permission from The Witch's Council." Cherry muttered in the same way.
"Besides, it's not like the head of the EEA is evil or anything." Darla smirked.
They were soon in a dark room surrounded by older ponies who glanced down at them and a rather intimidating looking unicorn seemed to be in charge. Cherry swallowed thickly as she tried to keep calm as they were there to help support Twilight and Spike.
"Uh, hello. My name is-" Twilight began.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle," The unicorn stallion replied, rather coldly. "I am Chancellor Neighsay. Equestria owes you a great debt. But princess or no, we expect you to do things by... The... Book!" He then levitated a thick book with his horn and placed it on the floor before them.
"Whoa..." Atticus said.
"This is heavier than a Harry Potter book." Cherry commented as they looked through the book's numerous pages.
"I think you'll find my curriculum meets all your requirements, Chancellor." Twilight replied bravely.
"That's right." Atticus nodded.
"And can we trust you to follow through with this plan?" Chancellor Neighsay then asked. "Will you leave the school unattended to gallop off on your... 'Adventures'?"
"My journey beyond Equestria showed me firsthoof that the threats out there are greater than we imagined!" Twilight replied.
"And how better to learn about friendship then from a school about friendship?" Cherry spoke up.
The EEA Members soon shared some hushed whispering about this.
"If we want to keep our land safe and create a friendlier tomorrow, we need to teach the Magic of Friendship far and wide." Atticus decided to say.
"A school for ponies to learn how to protect themselves." Chancellor Neighsay replied strictly.
"Um, yeah..." Cherry said, unsure why he didn't say ponies and other creatures.
"More like respecting differences and communicating." Twilight added.
Chancellor Neighsay looked to them before discussing this with the other members.
"He scares me~..." Annabelle whimpered about Chancellor Neighsay.
"I have a bad feeling about him..." Darla whispered to her friends.
Amber and Annabelle nodded.
"The EEA concurs. Every pony should be prepared to defend our way of life," Chancellor Neighsay soon spoke again. "So, if your work is in order, provisional EEA approval is granted. We will need to observe your school up and running before it can be fully accredited."
"Then please, join us for Friends and Family Day," Twilight invited with a smile. "It'll be the perfect time to see our progress!"
Chancellor Neighsay soon stamped the approval so that they could open the school. Atticus was confused with most of the others when they only heard Chancellor Neighsay only say ponies and not every creature.