The Calm Before The Storm
There was nothing Sunset quite liked more than sleeping in on a Saturday morning. She snuggled deeper into the covers as the patter of rain tapped against the window, clueing her in on the day’s forecast without needing to open her eyes. She had been having a dream about something pleasant which she vaguely remembered involved lollipops and when she shifted her head, Sunset realized with mild dismay that she had drooled all over her pillow.
“Ick.” Sunset said blearily as she sat up and pushed the pillow to the floor.
Sunset rolled out of bed and into her slippers, shivering as the blankets slid off her shoulders. Another chilly day. She pulled off the pillowcase and dragged it into the bathroom with a towel, taking a look at her wall clock on the way. It was twenty past ten.
Well, that was plenty of time for Sunset. She switched on the heat lamp in her bathroom and after tossing her pajamas into the same basket as her soiled pillowcase, Sunset was soon basking in the refreshing caress of a hot shower.
She was just washing the shampoo and soap out of her hair when the monotone sound of rushing water was broken by a series of sharp trilling sounds from her bedroom.
Sunset paused and poked her head out of the shower, still blinking suds out of her eyes. It was her phone. It was lying on her bedside cabinet, still plugged into the charger from last night and warbling to notify her of an incoming call.
She sighed, almost considering letting the caller get redirected to voice mail, but relented and tiptoed over to the bedside after drying her feet on the mat. Careful not to let her hair touch the phone, Sunset tapped ‘answer’ and help it up to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Hiya Sunset!” Rainbow Dash’s voice blared into her ear. “Am I interrupting something? Took you a while to pick up.”
Sunset shook her head even though she knew Rainbow couldn’t see her. “No, I wasn’t doing anything much. What’s up?”
“Just wanted to know if you were free later today. I just got done with my morning run and since Flutters and AJ are busy, I wanted to-“
“Rainbow. We have a heap of homework to do, remember?”
“But that’s exactly it!” Rainbow said, sounding exasperated. “Apart from you, they’re the only people I know who take AP Lit! I need your help or I’ll never get this report done on time!”
So that was it. Sunset grimaced ruefully as she remembered the extra chapter of reading the Mr. Cranky Doodle had assigned them and sighed. That old coot never did let up.
“Fine. Where do you want to meet?”
“Awesome!” Sunset moved the phone further from her ear as Rainbow’s voice cracked with happiness. “Can we meet at noon, my place? I can come over and pick you up if you want.”
“Uh, it’s ok. I’ll walk.”
“Look, I swear my driving’s improved from last time,” Dash persuaded. “and it wasn’t my fault that the flagpole happened to be in the way.”
“We’ve gone over this.” Sunset said flatly. “I’ll see you at noon. Bye, Rainbow.”
“Bye, Sunset. Thanks again!”
By now, Sunset was standing in the middle of a sizable puddle on the floor and her nose was starting to run from the cold. Tossing the phone unceremoniously onto her bed, she hurried back into the bathroom and finished up her shower.
The rain had stopped by the time Sunset left her apartment. The air had that peculiar smell that comes from rainwater meeting asphalt, one that she found strangely enticing. Her backpack hung from one shoulder as she strolled the relatively short distance to her friend’s house, one which would take little less than fifteen minutes to cover.
In addition to her leather jacket, Sunset had elected to don some leggings and wrap a scarf around her neck, a decision which she was took pride in, because even with them on the air was as Pinkie had once called it, ‘bum-chillingly cold’. She snickered at the fitting description and walked on.
A few turns and zebra crossings later, Sunset was still ten minutes away from her destination when she spotted something that made her take out her earbuds and slow down.
“Principal Celestia?” Sunset said under her breath. She couldn’t recall ever seeing them outside of school hours, but those clothes and hairstyles made it impossible for her to mistake them for anyone else.
The spectral haired principal and her younger sister were walking toward her, both on either side of a tall, formal looking man who was wearing a familiar looking trilby, though this time the tinted glasses were missing. Looking behind them, Sunset also spotted the stranger’s black car parked on the street corner. The three adults were apparently deep in conversation, because it was only when Sunset walked up and said hi that they noticed her presence.
“Good afternoon, Miss Shimmer.” Greeted Celestia warmly. “I’m sorry I didn’t see you; my sister and I were just talking to Mr. Wolfgang about his role at Canterlot High.”
The man from yesterday, who was apparently Mr. Wolfgang, gave her a nod and shook her hand. “We’ve met. Miss Shimmer was the student who directed me to your wonderful school yesterday. My thanks.” He tried to smile, but his face somehow couldn’t quite manage it. His eyes remained calm and analytical no matter how many teeth he showed.
“You’re a teacher?” Sunset asked.
“In a manner of speaking.” Vice Principal Luna said. “Mr. Wolfgang is an inspector from the board of education. He’s going to be attending classes at CHS for the rest of the semester and sending reports back to his superiors in Manehattan.” Luna put a slight emphasis on the word reports that made Sunset suspect that perhaps Luna wasn’t very happy about this.
“I’m sorry to have come at such short notice.” Mr. Wolfgang said with a regretful smile. “The inspector who was supposed to be doing the job was, ahem, killed during a business meeting in Trottingham. I’m sure you saw that on the news.”
“Killed? Oh, how awful!” Celestia exclaimed.
“Gang violence, I’m afraid. These things happen…young ones who have too much pent up energy often try to expend it in ways that aren’t socially acceptable. I trust that Canterlot is better in that regard?” As he spoke, Mr. Wolfgang reached into his pocket and extracted a stubby cigar which he inserted between his thin lips but did not light.
Vice Principal Luna crossed her arms and gave the inspector a cold look. “Of course. We do not tolerate such behavior at Canterlot High.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Now, you have quite a few forms to work through before Monday, so I think we should get started right away.” Mr. Wolfgang’s eyes roved over Sunset’s body once more before he took up his stride down the street again, the two staff members following closely. “I’ll see you on Monday then, young lady. Do stay out of trouble.”
Sunset watched the three until they were out of earshot, but what she did hear was all administrative mumbo-jumbo that did nothing to ease the feeling of apprehension that was building up in her chest.
First a new student, and now an inspector? Something here just didn’t add up.
One thing Sunset would never quite understand about Rainbow Dash was how she could catch on to the tiny nuances and foreshadowing the A.K. Yearling put into her novels with no problems at all, but struggled to even grasp the simplest metaphors in the assigned reading.
“Ok, so when the poet says the sky is blue, she meant that she was tired of living inside all the time?” the athlete tried, her worksheet covered in whiteout and scratched out ideas.
Resisting the urge to groan, Sunset gritted her teeth and shook her head. “It means that the poet’s heart is full of sorrow, but looks forward to a bright future with freedom. It alludes to that in lines sixteen and fifty-four.”
“How the hay am I supposed to know that?!” Rainbow cried, throwing her arms up in the air and nearly spilling her drink. “Why can’t she just come out and say that instead of dancing around it for seventy-four stanzas?”
For the hour and a half, the two girls had been hacking away at a particularly thorny poem written during the classical era which their stubborn mule of a teacher seemed to be convinced was the greatest expression of thought of all time. He had made it no secret that he assigned this piece of reading every year, and those who had taken his class had an endless collection of stories to tell about how they got told off when they interpreted it incorrectly.
“And this is going to be on the midterm!” moaned Rainbow Dash into her knees. “I’m so doomed.”
“Well look at it this way,” Sunset said jokingly as she patted her friend on the back. “at least if the class does badly, Mr. Cranky’ll be forced to change the syllabus for next year.”
Rainbow gave Sunset a sidelong look.“Why’s that? He hasn’t changed it in years. He’s in love with that poet Matilda, I tell you. If they lived in the same time period, they’d probably be a couple.”
“Because,” Sunset said patiently. “this year there’s an inspector from the board of education coming to check on the staff or something. I met him on the way here.”
Rainbow Dash sat up in her chair and shook her hair out of her face. “What’s he like?”
Sunset frowned. There wasn’t much she really did know about Mr. Wolfgang, but what she did know was hardly going to fill Rainbow with confidence.
“Honestly? I don’t know. Vice Principal Luna doesn’t seem to like him very much though.”
“Do you think he knows about…you know, all that other stuff? Princess Twilight and the Dazzlings and, uh, you?”
That was a good question, and one that Sunset found more than a little sobering. It was unrealistic, once she thought it over, to expect people to stay quiet about the magical happenings at CHS. After all, giant rainbow waves, a flaming she-demon blowing up the front of the school, and the astral forms of ancient monsters appearing during a concert weren’t the kind of thing people could be trusted to keep quiet about. In fact, it was probably a miracle that no one had come to investigate sooner.
“Principal Celestia did say that she wouldn’t tell anyone…” Sunset began.
“Yeah, but this is the board of education we’re talking about.” Rainbow twirled her pen around her fingers, something that Sunset knew she did when she got nervous. “She might lose her job if she doesn’t tell the truth.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that.” Sunset couldn’t imagine a Canterlot High without Principal Celestia. “They just said he was going to be dropping by classes to make sure things were going fine.” She stared morosely into her glass of soda at the thought of it.
They returned to work, but soon realized that neither of them was able to concentrate any more on the assignment.
“Look, why don’t we go for a walk or something?” Sunset suggested, closing her textbook and binder. “I think we both need a break from this.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t need any further encouragement. Slamming shut her own book, she and Sunset were soon bundling up and heading off to a nearby café, a moderately sized establishment with good food and indoor heating called The Silver Reins. After being shown inside by a waiter who Sunset suspected was not really French but only putting on an accent, the girls placed their orders and sat down to wait.
“Not too many people here today.” Commented Rainbow Dash. It was true. The Silver Reins was usually packed with people from a nearby law firm, but today it was unusually desolate. Only two other booths were taken up, one by two women in frilly dresses and the other by…
“Principal Celestia?” Sunset muttered, her eyebrows threatening to jump off her face. “Again?”
The principal had a small explosion of important looking forms spread out over her table and was sucking on the end of her pen, looking majorly bothered. An empty plate and a tall mug of coffee had been pushed aside to make room for a laptop computer and she would look over at the screen occasionally, tapping a key or two.
Her curiosity piqued, Sunset nudged Rainbow and pointed. Rainbow’s laid back expression rapidly gave way to a look of vague surprise.
“What do you think she’s working on?”
“Maybe those forms that the inspector mentioned…he did say there was a lot to get through.”
Rainbow gave a low whistle. “That’s a lot of forms for just one guy. Maybe she is in trouble for all the crap the CHS went through.”
“Maybe.” Sunset slowly got out of her seat and walked the short distance to her principal.
“Oh, hello again, Sunset.” Principal Celestia looked startled but covered it with a smile. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“Where’re Vice Principal Luna and Mr. Wolfgang?”
Principal Celestia pursed her lips and gave the nest of papers a gaze of distaste as she answered. “My sister is currently showing Mr. Wolfgang around the campus and helping him to get an office set up. I…decided to stay here so I could complete the paperwork in peace.” She finished her explanation with a mouthful of coffee that did nothing to alleviate the tired look on her face.
“Look, if the board of education’s on you because of...because of the Fall Formal, maybe I can tell them that you weren’t involved in all that.” Sunset said hopefully. “I mean, maybe I can change their minds.”
But Principal Celestia simply gave Sunset a wan smile and shook her head. “That won’t be necessary, Sunset. Mr. Wolfgang did ask about the Fall Formal as well as about the Battle of the Bands, but only because he needed a complete list of all the school events. No, this is just a routine inspection…one that came out of the blue, but it’s nothing. Every school gets them from time to time.”
“Oh.”
“Besides,” the principal continued. “not all this paperwork is about the inspection. There’s still the matter of Miss Breeze’s enrollment. Luna was supposed to take care of that, but as she is busy, I volunteered to do it.”
Sunset Shimmer sat down across from Principal Celestia, who didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the woman’s face seemed to grow warmer as she beheld the girl in front of her. With a pang, Sunset realized that the position was strikingly familiar; she and Princess Celestia in Equestria had used to sit like this when she was still her student. A ball of nostalgia rose up in Sunset’s throat as she wrenched her mind back to the present.
“I imagine it must be a lot of work for you.” Sunset managed to croak. “I wish I could help.”
“You can help by being on your best behavior in the coming three weeks. I don’t know if you noticed, but Mr. Wolfgang doesn’t seem to be the kind of man who enjoys levity. In fact, he seemed most interested in our disciplinary procedures, but I digress. It’s really not as serious as it seems.”
As airy as Principal Celestia was trying to sound, Sunset noticed that the smile on her face seemed rather forced. There was more at stake than was being said, but past experience with both principal and princess had taught Sunset that anything they wanted to say, they would say when they were ready and not a moment before.
Nodding, Sunset was about to go back to her own table when something Rarity had said from lunch yesterday crossed her mind.
“Principal Celestia?”
“Yes, Sunset?”
“If I’m not being too nosy, where did Velvet Breeze transfer in from? I didn’t get the chance to ask her yesterday.”
“Well, I don’t see any harm in telling you that…” Shuffling through the morass of forms scattered across the table, Principal Celestia fished out one sheet with Velvet’s name printed on the top and read over it. “Here we go…Velvet Breeze is from Trottingham.”
“No school name?” Sunset knew from various unsolicited trips to the principal’s office in search of blackmail material in the past that student profiles usually detailed what school they had attended beforehand, if any.
“I’m afraid not. All it says is-” Catching herself, the principal chuckled to herself and began rearranging her documents into less of a mess while checking something on her laptop. “Well, you can probably ask her yourself. As a member of the staff, there are some things I’m not really at liberty to share.”
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll need to get back to CHS before Luna does something she’ll regret. She’s even less happy about this inspection than I am, though I suspect for very different reasons. See you on Monday, Sunset. Say hi to Rainbow Dash for me.”
Shuffling the last of the papers into her bag, Principal Celestia made her way to the cashier and then out the door, disappearing into the afternoon crowd.
Rainbow Dash looked up from her game of Flappy Pegasus as Sunset returned to their table.
“So? What’s the deal?”
“I’m not sure. Mr. Wolfgang’s arrival has definitely ruffled Vice Principal Luna’s feathers, but Principal Celestia seems to be ok with it for the most part.”
“So is this about the Sirens? Principal Celestia only looks that grim when talking about stuff like the Fall Formal. No offense.”
“None taken.” Sunset found it amusing how her friends still felt like they had to apologize for mentioning the Fall Formal around her. “But I think we should warn everyone else about this inspection. Give them time to prepare themselves.”
“Good idea." Rainbow agreed. "Especially Pinkie; can you imagine the kind of heat Canterlot High would get if she tries to prank the inspector?”
Sunset and Rainbow both resolved to text as many people as they could about Monday, but Sunset also made a mental note to write to Princess Twilight on this as well. If anyone could help her find out just what was going on, it was Princess Twilight.
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This is good.
Can't wait for more!
First thought when talking about the blue sky
leavingcertenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/what-the-author-meant.jpg
Well, that's one way for this RD to crash more than her equine counterpart. That, and…
7329255 This is unsurprisingly accurate. And also regretably so. Lit would be much more fun if we didn't have to interpret things the exact way the teacher does. (honestly, IDR which poem it was, but I interpreted a line to mean something like "I miss my friends more during certain days than others because of how we use to do certain things on those days." (again, IDR the exact details) And my teacher was like "NO! It means that The author missed his Dog on mondays and his cat on fridays because those days rained the most." The result was a very confused me.
7329255
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Slaanesh's sweet titties. That kids is the reason why I absolutely do not miss lit class.
So, in this version of the EqG world Canterlot High is somewhere in the UK? (or England, since they're totally different places now.) Interesting, I don't think I've seen that done before
When I read his name, my brain went to Baron Strucker from Marvel, who's a part of HYDRA, and HYDRA and the Templars are similar.
Let's see. NS+CAFI/N=???
Eh, it's drive. I think.
Yeaaah! Not a good thought.
Haha! LOL.
I understand Rainbow. I hated poetry too.