Active Experimentation
Sunset Shimmer stared as Ice Storm’s coat began to change before her very eyes. The gentle aquamarine became blindingly bright, then shifted into…
Scales?
The filly let out another shriek of panic as she clawed at her changing coat.
That’s impossible! There was nothing in there to cause transfiguration!
Professor Crystal Clear was there first, her horn blazing as she tried a counterspell. But nothing happened. The filly kept screaming as the changes engulfed her legs and moved up her body. Sunset’s heart tried to seize.
But… they all checked it! Nothing could have happened! This is impossible! I’m Sunset Shimmer, I would never make a mistake like—
Another yell came from the opposite side of the room. Sunset’s head snapped to see a colt kicking and shouting as his mane suddenly exploded into something resembling seaweed.
No. This isn’t happening.
She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. She could only stare.
“Move!” Slate shouted and shoved her to the side. Sunset tripped and crashed against the cauldron, sending its leftover contents spilling to the floor in a rushing swirl of color. Slate didn’t notice as he was followed by Written Record. He was too busy getting to the colt who was now growing fins on his flanks.
A filly two seats away from Moon Dancer let out a yelp as her magic ignited and she was suddenly sent flying into the air.
Professor Polish instantly snapped her up in a field of her own magic, but the filly’s own aura refused to fade. Sunset could see the professor straining against the magic pouring from the horn of the sobbing filly.
Another colt let out a howl of terror as his horn doubled in size in a few seconds and he let out a magical flash of energy that shattered one of the windows. A second later, another streak of red and gold light streaked through the window.
Sunset’s eyes darted around the classroom from her prone position on the floor.
A colt screamed as batlike wings three sizes too big for his body erupted from his back.
A filly’s head suddenly sprouted deer antlers and she squealed as her legs doubled in length.
Another…
And another…
And another…
Half the class.
Three-quarters.
Sunset looked at Moon Dancer. For some reason… she was the only one glowing. But she also was staring at Sunset with enormous eyes. Two emotions registered on her face.
Horror and betrayal.
She thinks I did this.
In a second, all the little slips of time rushed back to her.
…Did I?
Cinnamon Tart let out a squeal as she floated in the air for a moment before a ball of pink appeared around her. The bubble popped and sent her crashing to the floor. She was now a bright bubblegum pink from the tip of her muzzle to the end of her tail.
A sobbing pony Sunset vaguely remembered as Twinkleshine suddenly found herself bouncing up and down as if her hooves were miniature trampolines.
“Professor Clear! Professor Polish!” Dean Slate shouted as he tried to hold down another filly who had suddenly thrown off the laws of gravity. “Starswirl’s Nullification Matrix! Now! Record, keep her there!”
A silver beam of pure magic erupted from Slate’s horn, coalescing into an enormous ball of strobing light above the center of the room. A few seconds later, it was joined by two more beams of magic, each the color of the other two professor’s auras.
Then, Dean Slate fired off a spell that sent him soaring into the air. At the apex of his leap, he jabbed his horn into the spherical magic construct.
It promptly exploded.
The violet shockwave sent Sunset flying backwards to crash against her own desk. She managed to duck just in time as the cauldron nearly took her head off. Every window in the class shattered outward. Alchemy equipment erupted into glass shards as it fell. Papers were sent flying all over the room. Sunset felt her ears pop as she blinked away the afterimages of the explosion and tried to see what was going on.
Soon, the colts and fillies were slowly getting back to their hooves, each of their transfigurations counteracted by the force of the faculty’s spell. In reality, the chaos had lasted less than sixty seconds. Almost the entire room was still crying or shivering in fear.
Professor Clear, who had been directly beneath the construct, was crumpled on the steps, gasping for breath. However, her eyes were open and she was definitely aware of her surroundings. Specifically Sunset Shimmer.
Professor Polish stood at the top of the room, looking down at Sunset with an expression of infinite disappointment.
Dean Slate, looking only slightly disheveled, galloped down the side stairs, murder in his eyes. His secretary raced beside him, a cruel grin on her face.
In a heartbeat, Slate's magic yanked Sunset into the air. She let out a squawk as she felt the magic tighten around her throat for just a second before it released. Slate’s eyes could have drilled a hole through the entire world, and they were focused entirely upon her.
“What?” Slate demanded. “No sarcastic comment? No snarky remark?”
He dropped her with a snarl.
“Look around you, Sunset Shimmer. I said look around!”
Sunset did as she was instructed. The rest of her mind dimly informed her that the odd pegasus had vanished before informing her it was clocking out early for the day.
All around her were fillies and colts with tear-stained cheeks, red eyes and looks of terror, fury or hatred etched on their faces.
“What did they do to deserve this? What did they do?”
Sunset didn’t answer. There was no answer. This simply couldn’t be happening.
“I’d rather like to know how she did it,” Professor Clear muttered as she finally got to her hooves and headed for the cauldron. “After all, we all checked the potion.”
“I saw her!” A normal-colored Cinnamon Tart said, pointing a hoof at Sunset. “Right at the beginning! She dropped something in the cauldron!”
“That was just a quill,” Dean Slate said with a wave. “I snatched it only a second after it landed.”
“Then why was she by the alchemy rooms earlier this morning?” Tart demanded. “I saw her there too when I came early to study with Ice and Rain! I saw her sneaking around the storage rooms!”
Professor Polish let out a sigh Sunset could hear from her spot on the floor.
“She threatened to transfigure me into a newt if I told anypony but…” Ice Storm looked everywhere but at Sunset. “I saw her experimenting with a bunch of potions a few weeks ago. She forced me to take one. I turned black and red for the rest of the day! I had to go home early!”
What? That… that didn’t happen! Neither did the… thing at the storage room…
… Right?
Other voices piped up. All shouting the things Sunset had done to them. A few of them were true… but so many of them Sunset didn’t remember.
Sunset could feel a pounding in her skull that was growing by the second.
“Silver,” Clear said from behind Sunset. “You need to see this.”
The dean the levitation field and Sunset crashed to the ground. He snarled out a word and in a second, Sunset was surrounded by a cylindrical forcefield of silver energy. He narrowed his eyes at her and then marched toward Clear.
She turned and watched as Dean Slate knelt by the cauldron. His entire body tensed with rage at the sight of something, but Professor Clear put a hoof on his shoulder and whispered something to him. It took a few moments, but Slate finally stood and marched over to Sunset.
“Do you deny that you sabotaged this exam?”
“I… I…” Sunset’s heart felt like it was going to burst from panic. She could barely breathe. “I don’t… I don’t remember doing… doing anything… I didn’t do anything!”
“Then explain this.”
A feather slammed into the forcefield.
It was amber.
“Oh Sunset…” Professor Polish sighed.
“Let’s see here. We have a small weight enchantment designed to make it stay on the bottom of the cauldron. I can see a broken bubble rune etched into it, probably used to shield it from our magic.” The dean studied the feather with a critical eye. “Oh, here’s something fancy. You attached a small spellstone to the end of it. With a disintegration rune. Trying to cover your tracks, I see. Too bad our nullification matrix destroyed the rune before it ignited.”
“I… I didn’t put that there. It wasn’t there before!”
“Shimmer, I am so very sick of your lies. After everything you’ve done, it wasn’t enough. All this year, you’ve been waiting for this single moment. A moment where you could finally pull off your grand heist. Even there, you got sloppy! I'm guessing you were running out of time trying to find the cores and that's why you destroyed the room. Or maybe as a distraction? But worst of all, this… this was the cover. This disaster! Well, you screwed up. You got caught in Alchemical Storage and I know that this feather is the feather you got from Professor Polish just yesterday! The transfigured one!”
Heist? Cover? What… what is he talking about?
Sunset shook her head, but the dean wasn’t listening. It wouldn’t have mattered if he had been. Sunset felt like a ship without an anchor in a raging sea. She couldn’t do anything but be battered into splinters.
“And you knew perfectly well what happens when you introduced a non-stabilized transfigured object to any sort of combination system like alchemy! Chaos magic.”
“No, I swear! I didn’t even know what happened to the feather! I had forgotten all about it!”
“Seriously?” Slate screamed. “That’s the best you can come up with? And here I thought you were one of the best manipulators in the school, Shimmer. Looks like you got sloppy for your big job.”
I should have stopped this. I should have forced Professor Polish to do something else, but she was misguided enough to believe you were a better pony than you are. We received tips you were planning something. We should have acted. We didn’t. Now the students have suffered."
He slammed his hooves down in rage, though Sunset couldn’t tell if it was all directed at her or the smallest bit directed at himself.
"However, it will be the last time they suffer because of you.”
The dean took a deep breath and Sunset caught a glimpse of true malice behind those eyes.
The entire room jumped as the double doors at the top of the classroom crashed opened and the Princess herself strode in with the inevitability of a glacier. A single spark of hope ignited inside Sunset… only to die, cold and alone the moment Celestia’s gaze fell upon her.
It was the same expression as the pegasus observer.
Oh by Harmony… she was here. She was here the whole time…
Silence reigned as the entire room stared up at the Princess of the Sun.
“I apologize for the interruption,” the Princess said quietly. “However, it has come to my attention that a matter here may ...require direct intervention. Namely regarding a pony to whom I entrusted with a great responsibility.”
Celestia took a long, deep breath.
“It seems I made an error.”
The voice was calm, cool and collected, as if she was discussing the weather or a new statue being put up in the garden, and not the complete destruction of Sunset’s entire world.
“Dean Slate, I believe you were in the middle of something. Please continue.”
Not you… please, not you…
The weight of that stare sent Sunset to her knees.
Dean Slate rounded on Sunset. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this, Shimmer. Reckless endangerment. Intentional use of chaos magic on the student body. Breaking and entering. Blackmail. Destruction of school property. Theft of four priceless experience cores! And a lot more that we’ll find out in due time, I’m quite sure.”
Experience cores? They… they were in the destroyed...
“Please, this wasn’t me!” Sunset shrank back, more from the Celestia’s gaze than Slate’s rage.
Slate’s disdainful laughter echoed around the classroom. “Polish has abandoned her foalish ideas of your reformation, and the Princess has finally woken up to the snake in her midst. There is nopony to save you, not anymore.”
“I— I—”
Slate glanced at Celestia. But Celestia wasn't looking at him. Instead, she just looked at Sunset.
Sunset thought of all the times she’d seen twinkles and sparkles in Celestia’s eye. All the warmth. The pride.
And occasionally… the hope. The one emotion that always confused her.
Those times were rare and Sunset suspected that Celestia had been in control of herself at every moment. She had always allowed Sunset to see what Celestia wanted Sunset to see and nothing more.
She was sure now.
Because now, there was no twinkle. No sparkle. No warmth.
Just sadness and pain.
Finally, the Princess tore her eyes from her student and looked to the dean.
Celestia nodded once and lowered her head with an almost silent sigh.
Slate was an exact opposite to Celestia. He drew himself to his full height, and loomed over Sunset.
“Sunset Shimmer, by my authority as Dean of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, you are hereby expelled from this institution. You are banned from ever stepping hoof on this campus again. You will remain here until escorted from the premises by the Royal Guard. The faculty of this school will press criminal charges on you for what you did to these students. Your reign has ended, Sunset Shimmer. May we never see the likes of it again.”
“You have to believe me! This is all a mistake!”
Slate shoved his face into hers, dropping the forcefield. “You’ve made everypony at the school miserable for years. Why should we believe you?”
Two possibilities existed.
Either she had really cracked and had done all of these things without remembering or knowing about them, maybe because of something to do with those experience cores.
Or somepony had set her up so thoroughly and so masterfully she had been completely outmaneuvered.
Neither option led to an escape.
“B-but… But I didn’t…”
“Oh, spare us. Your reach has finally exceeded your grasp, and now your little schemes and machinations are finally at an end. Again, I ask you… why should we believe you?”
Sunset stared into the cold eyes of the dean... but nothing came to her.
“Because she didn’t do it.”
Dead silence.
Sunset and Slate turned to face the pony who had spoken.
She was glowing. She was the only glowing pony in the room. She was missing her glasses. Her hair was a mess. Her sweater was torn and her topknot had come undone.
And she looked peeved.
“She did.”
The silence deepened as Moon Dancer stabbed a hoof at the pony beside her.
“Who do you think you are accusing my granddaughter of something like this, young filly?” Slate shouted.
Cinnamon Tart on the other hoof, just sputtered.
“Who am I? I’m the one who let this happen.” Moon Dancer walked forward, her eyes never leaving Slate. “I recognize that feather. Professor Polish gave it to Sunset after the transfiguration demonstration. Sunset dropped it when Cinnamon Tart knocked her over at the end of class. And I saw her friend Rain Check snatch it up.”
Slate sputtered and growled incoherently.
“That’s… that’s crazy!” Cinnamon Tart cried. “That was just an accident!”
“Why the hay would I want a damn feather?” Rain Check shouted, as the accused fillies’ words tumbled over each other.
Moon Dancer’s eyes fell on Sunset. Sunset just stared back.
“You all wanted to beat Sunset at her own game.” Moon Dancer looked like she was ready to throw up. “But that’s not the worst part. The worst part is I let it happen.”
“What are you talking about, young lady?” Professor Polish asked as she slowly walked down the stairs.
“I’m such an idiot,” Moon Dancer said in a brittle voice. Tears were in her eyes. “They told me all the stories of what Sunset used to do… and how she was really just using me the entire year. That’s why I went off on her when she just dismissed me like I was a waste of her time a few days ago... and that’s why I asked Cinnamon this morning if there was some way I could get back at her.”
“You barely spoke to me! We don’t hang out, everypony in Equestria knows that,” Cinnamon protested. “What the hay is wrong with you, Moon Dancer?”
“Horseapples!” Moon Dancer spat. “You just grinned like mad and told me you and your friends already had everything in place. I even asked why Rain Check needed the feather, but you said that would spoil the surprise.”
Sunset’s eyes slid to Dean Slate. His left eye was twitching as he stared at Moon Dancer. Briefly, his eyes flicked to his granddaughter.
Sunset’s heart skipped a beat and she glanced up to see Celestia’s calculating stare upon the dean.
Slate’s gaze darted from Cinnamon to Celestia, and back to Moon Dancer.
Pieces started coming together in Sunset’s head. The little voice of Yellow was slamming them together with enough force to rattle Sunset’s brain.
“I’m sorry, Miss Dancer,” Dean Slate said in a shaky voice. “But I’m afraid you must be mistaken. The evidence is overwhelmingly against Shimmer here. You are welcome to put in a report if you want, but frankly, you have the entire faculty against you, plus the entire student body and the Princess herself. Sunset Shimmer’s fate is sealed.”
“I’m afraid that’s not your decision to make, Silver.”
Sunset held her breath, unwilling to hope, unwilling to even think.
“Princess?” Slate cried. “What are you doing?”
The Princess of the Sun cocked an eyebrow. “Last time I checked, this was my school, Dean Slate.”
“I mean… that is to say…” Slate backpedaled quickly. “I’m just surprised to see you taking the word of Miss Dancer here seriously. Clearly, Sunset failed your test.”
Test? What test?
“I’m not so sure.” Her words were casual, but her face held the menace of an Everfree storm on the horizon. “Tests can take many forms. Academic tests can often be quite entertaining. However, one particular kind of test interests me above all others. Tests of character.”
Princess Celestia took flight and landed in the center of the room before Sunset. Sunset shrank further into the hard stone beneath her, her dignity lying in tatters around her as she wrapped herself in her own tail. Her voice wasn’t working, but her brain was still whirling, desperately trying to put the puzzle together. There were still a few pieces missing.
Celestia turned to Moon Dancer, who was staring at her with wide eyes.
“A test Moon Dancer passed with flying colors when she sent me a letter a few days ago, asking for help with Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset’s eyes drifted over to Moon Dancer and she managed to find a few words to string together.
“You… sent a letter… about me?”
Moon Dancer swallowed and nodded. She didn’t look away. “They all told me so many stories about what you used to be. Stories from her sister and other students, my own experiences, there were so many… I needed to know. I had to know if you had actually changed. Despite what I said earlier… I wanted to believe you had.”
And just like that, Sunset’s voice left her once more.
“Which is precisely why I decided I should look in on you today,” Celestia said. “When Dean Slate informed me of the theft, I sent Philomena to find the missing cores. I suspect they will tell us the truth.”
On cue, Philomena herself soared in through the window with a musical cry before landing on Princess Celestia’s back. She held a single saddlebag in her beak… one with Sunset’s own sunflare mark on it.
Where did she get…
Celestia lifted the bag away from Philomena and glanced inside. With flash of magic, she lifted a small packet labeled ‘Earl Grey’ from it.
With a second flash, she lifted four orange crystals from the bag.
Slate stabbed a hoof at Sunset. “Those are the missing experience cores! That proves it! She only drinks Earl Grey! Everypony knows that! She forces others out of the lower teacher’s lounge all the time, so she can drink there in peace!”
Celestia turned towards Professor Polish. “Is this true?”
Polish cleared her throat. “Well, yes. It has been an issue in the past. However, this morning I smelled coffee coming from her desk. Come to think of it, I don’t believe she’s had tea for the last few days.”
“Impossible!” Slate shouted. “Everypony knows—”
Celestia cut him off with a glare. “Dean Slate, I would thank you to keep a level head in front of the student body. Professor Polish, please check her mug and pass it to Professor Clear. If you both agree on the results, share them with us, if you don’t mind.”
The two professors nodded, and set to their new task.
“Princess,” Moon Dancer said quietly as Slate tried to regain his composure. “You never answered my question. Is she a different pony now than the one I met two years ago?”
“You tell me, Moon Dancer,” Celestia replied. “You’re the one who just stood up for her before the entire school.”
Moon Dancer looked into Sunset eyes. Sunset couldn’t find any words. As she looked into Moon Dancer’s face, answers finally startled to tumble out of her jumbled brain and a tiny spark of Sunset Shimmer reignited.
I couldn’t have done this. This was too far, much too far. Fear is one thing. Stark mad terror is another. Unwilling transfiguration is practically torture, and even at my worst, I never would have forced random chaos magic on ponies.
Which meant… somepony got to me so badly I started to doubt my own sanity.
But that didn’t explain this… thing about the experience cores.
“No.” Moon Dancer’s jaw tightened. “Sunset might not be a very good pony, but this is too far, even for her.”
“You can’t actually believe that!” Dean Slate shouted. “Miss Dancer, my granddaughter told me you were sobbing your eyes out for the rest of the day after what she said to you!”
“Yes! I was!” Moon Dancer finally whirled on Slate. “But did you ever think why? I cried because I thought she thought I was special. That I had value. That I was worth something! Only a few ponies have ever made me feel that way. Sunset did. And this morning, before this whole mess happened, she told me she did think I was special. I was too angry to believe it then. But I believe it now!”
Moon Dancer’s horn flared to life as she lifted the battered waterwalking potion out of her saddlebags, and brandished it like a talisman. “Look! She taught me how to brew this, and then smashed all but one.”
“Sounds exactly like her,” snorted Dean Slate.
“Shut up!” The pale unicorn shouted. “Look closer! She took care of this one! No matter how much she might deny it, she understands why she was wrong!”
“This is just another one of her acts!” Slate shouted, pushing the flask aside with a burst of magic. It shattered on the cold classroom floor. “You have to see that! This pony has been nothing but a force of destruction in my school!”
“I believe it is my school, Dean Slate.” Princess Celestia stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. “That’s the second time I’ve had to remind you of that.”
“You know what, Dean Slate?” Moon Dancer advanced on Slate now and Slate was actually backing away. Sunset would have laughed if she wasn’t so stunned. “You’re right. She was a force of destruction. Sunset Shimmer isn’t a saint. She isn’t perfect. In fact, she’s screwed up a lot!”
Um… Moon Dancer… I think they get it…
“But you know what? She did tutor me. Actually tutor me. She stuck by me to help me get over the hard parts of this school. In fact, we’ve actually spent time together outside of class! She actually took me to do things that had nothing to do with the lessons! Nopony’s ever asked me to do things with them before! And only one other pony was there for me when Sunset wasn’t: her!”
Moon Dancer turned and stalked toward Cinnamon Tart. Her friends, Ice Storm and Rain Check, stood beside her, looking furious.
“And what did Cinnamon Tart do? She used me. She told me everything I needed to hear to turn against Sunset. She didn’t try and comfort me. She just added fuel to the hate. I barely know anything about friendship, but I’m pretty sure real friends tell you to support your other friends. Help them! Not hate them! Now you’d better sit your tails down and stop lying about my friend before I knock you on your tails!”
Cinnamon and the other two just gaped at her.
Professor Polish coughed as she returned to the discussion. “I’m afraid that doesn’t explain why Sunset broke into Alchemical Storage.”
Polish stepped away from Sunset’s coffee mug and passed a small scroll to Celestia, sealed with the sigil of the school. Celestia wrapped the scroll in her magic and glanced over to Professor Clear, who had started her analysis. Then she looked down at Sunset, who was still on her knees before her.
“It might,” Celestia mused.
“Princess, we have clear evidence of Sunset’s break-in!” Slate cried. “The experience cores were gone! Everything was destroyed! Gem dust, herbs… they were all over! We’ve done a thorough inspection of the image captured by the wards. It was definitely her. Sunset Shimmer was in Alchemical Storage B this morning! See for yourself!”
His secretary passed him a clipboard which he floated over to Celestia. Sunset looked at the clipboard and noticed a bit of emerald dust where Written Record had been holding it. Sunset’s eyes flicked over to the secretary’s hoof, but it looked clean.
Another half of the puzzle suddenly slammed into place.
Sunset slowly got to her hooves. Dean Slate stumbled backwards, his hate pouring off of him like a dark sun. But what was more telling was the expression on the secretary’s face. Sunset knew she had only seen this pony in passing. She’d never done anything to this mare. But Slate’s secretary was looking at her with eyes that dripped with loathing.
Sunset closed her eyes and focused. Her head was throbbing. Her thoughts were muddy. But she could do this. She couldn’t handle everything. Tartarus, it felt like she could barely handle anything.
But she was still Celestia’s student in the art of magic.
There you are…
Sunset’s horn suddenly burst to life.
“Stop her!” Slate shouted.
She unleashed the magic in a faint teal wave toward the dean and Written Record. Both of them tried to move, but it was like they were tied by an invisible cord. They ended up jumping in opposite directions and slammed to the ground with a thump.
“Sunset what are you—” Celestia began, only to suddenly go quiet.
Sunset collapsed again to her knees. That simple bit of magic had taken up almost all of her reserves. She had spent too much. Unicorn magic was powered by life. To recharge, a unicorn needed time and real rest. She hadn’t had any in ages. But as she looked up, she knew she had been right.
There was a thin tendril of magic flowing between Dean Slate and Written Record. It glowed bright green, a bit like the one that had been between Sunset and Polish yesterday. Only this one was the color of an illusion thread.
Celestia stepped forward and tapped her horn on Dean Slate’s head and did the same for his secretary.
The dean didn’t change.
Written Record was another story entirely.
In an instant, the illusion vanished, leaving behind a willowy mare a couple years older than Sunset with a two-toned purple mane and a dusky brown coat. But what was more telling… was the faint glitter of green dust on her hooves and chest.
“Raspberry Tart?” Professor Polish asked. “What… what are you doing here?”
Moon Dancer was faster than anypony.
“It was you,” she whispered as she stared at Slate. “It’s been you the entire time. You were the one orchestrating this. No student could have ever pulled off those spells on that feather. Disintegration magic isn’t even taught at post-graduate levels.”
Moon Dancer’s eyes went wide as she put more pieces together as Sunset’s brain tried to keep up.
“Raspberry’s talent was transfiguration magic. She made you look like Sunset and then you… or maybe both of you… wrecked the storage room! I’ll bet she cast the spell on you, but you powered it! But you couldn’t let her be seen there, so you disguised her as your secretary.”
“Raspberry Tart has been filling in for Written Record for the last few weeks since Written Record had to deal with a family emergency,” Slate sneered. “She’s the one who actually found the damage to Alchemical Storage B. She was under an illusion spell so she could do the work without being interrupted by her classmates. I also didn’t want her to be subjected to any further harassment by Shimmer.”
“Silver…” Polish said slowly. “Only faculty can access the wards to that room. Raspberry could never get in alone. Even Written Record couldn’t get in without one of us. In fact, that only raises the question how did Sunset get in in there?”
“Well obviously, Shimmer broke the wards. She’d do anything to—”
Profession Clear stomped a hoof in triumph. “Princess, I believe we’re done here.”
Celestia took her results, popped the seals on both scrolls, and read them side-by-side.
The silence coiled around them like smoke from a bad invisibility potion. Eventually, Celestia set the scrolls aside, and stared at Slate for a long time. Suddenly, she turned to face Cinnamon Tart, Ice Storm and Rain Check. All of them quickly paled and dropped to their knees.
“The truth,” Celestia commanded in a voice that made the very stones around them shake. Philomena let out a squawk and for a second, the sunlight in the room seemed to fade. “Now.”
“Okay!” Rain Check squealed. “I gave the feather to Dean Slate! Cinnamon said it was time for Sunset to get what was coming to her!”
“I yelled out her name in the hallway to distract her so she’d run into Cinnamon!” Ice Storm cried. “And I talked Twilight into asking about transfiguration!”
“Fine!” Cinnamon screamed in panic. “It was Pappy, Raspberry and me! We were so angry! We wanted Sunset gone forever! We wanted her to know what it felt like to be manipulated, humiliated and destroyed in front of everypony! Just like she had done to us! Since Pappy said you’d never actually punish your prized student, we needed to do it for you! Show you just how bad she was! So I made sure everypony remembered the pony she was! The pony she still is! The pony who ruined my sister’s life! The pony who tormented me all last year! She’s a monster!”
Celestia’s face was an impassive mask. She could have been a statue for all the emotion she showed.
“Is she?” Moon Dancer growled. “Because if she is, you just made yourself a monster by using everypony in this room to get back at her. So who’s worse?”
Cinnamon completely broke down and started sobbing incoherently, blubbering and wailing into her hooves.
“Thanks to the analysis from Professors Crystal Clear and Apple Polish, it has been determined that no Earl Grey tea, nor water from the lower teacher’s lounge has been in Miss Shimmer’s mug for the past seventy-two hours,” Celestia said. “Professor Clear, I would appreciate it if you escorted these three and Raspberry Tart out. Please keep them in your office until I come for them.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” Professor Clear bowed. She shot the silent Raspberry Tart a glare, who quickly got to her hooves and hurried up the stairs. Clear shoved the three fillies up after her.
Sunset watched with a strange sort of detachment. She knew she should hate them. Want to make them suffer for what they did. But… what was the point?
Where would it end?
A voice inside her head breathed a sigh of relief while the other raged in fury.
“This is wrong!” Dean Slate shouted. “You are letting her get away with everything again! She’s a monster!”
Celestia slowly and deliberately turned to face the dean of her school. There was a scrape of glass on stone as she lifted the pieces of the shattered flask from the ground.
“Did it ever occur to you I have my own methods of teaching, Silver?” Celestia said. “Did you ever stop to notice Sunset indeed was different this year, as Moon Dancer surmised? Or were you so blinded by hatred that you couldn’t see a pony trying to be better, even if she had to fight for it every day?”
“You can’t do this. I’ll bring it up to the Board! She—”
“She did nothing!” Celestia thundered. The room shook and a few of the students yelped. “This is you. It’s always been you. In all your attempts to have Sunset Shimmer removed from this school, you never once asked why I kept her here. I knew about her behavior. I knew about her attitude. I knew, Silver. I am the Princess of Equestria. There is little that goes on in my own school of which I have no knowledge.”
Celestia’s eyes fell to Sunset, who cringed at the gaze. There, in her eyes, was that same shame Sunset had seen what felt like several lifetimes ago.
She’s not… She’s not ashamed of me. She’s ashamed of herself.
“I did it to give her a chance. Many chances. In the hope that somepony would finally show her there was another way. There are many things you cannot teach in a class, Silver Slate. There are many things which one must experience personally. Unfairness is one of them. Friendship is another.”
“I won’t let you get away with this! Not after what she’s done to my family!”
“Your granddaughters were warped by your own hatred. Sunset Shimmer hurt both of them, yes. But as Moon Dancer so well put it, a true friend is one who promotes reconciliation and forgiveness. They do not feed hatred with hatred. That goes for family as well.”
She held the shards of glass before him, still dripping with the remains of Moon Dancer’s potion. “You wanted to show her at her worst, and you have. You’ve become her.”
Sneering, he stomped his hooves on the debris-strewn floor. “This is a mistake. A mistake you’ll live to regret.”
“I’ve made many mistakes in my lifetime, Silver Slate,” Celestia said. Her voice was hard as iron now. “The belief you would be able to put aside your own anger is apparently one of them. So, as of now, you are hereby relieved of your post as dean of my school.”
Sunset gaped at her even as Celestia’s horn began to glow. A brief pulse of magic leapt from her and sped out the window.
“You can’t—”
“Please stop with these foalish protests, Silver Slate.” Celestia shook her head. “I believe you intended to press criminal charges against Sunset Shimmer for her actions today. As the oldest member of this… conspiracy, for lack of a better word… you will be held accountable for those acts. You’ll find that I tend to deal rather harshly with those who knowingly and willing subject my students to dangerous magics.”
Six Royal Guards stepped into the room. Slate’s eyes bulged. Students whispered and chattered as they approached the former dean. Professor Polish just stared at Silver Slate, her mouth hanging open in shock.
Slate looked ready to start screaming obscenities, but a single piercing glare from Celestia silenced him before he ever began. He left with the guards, never meeting Sunset’s stare.
“Whatever you’re going to do to Cinnamon and the others, Princess...” Moon Dancer said, staring at her hooves. “You should do to me.”
“And why is that, my dear little pony?” Celestia asked. She looked genuinely curious.
“Because I should have stopped this.”
“Yes, you should have,” Celestia agreed. “You let it go far enough to scare a lot of ponies. But more importantly,” she paused as she floated the shards over to Sunset’s desk. “You decided to stand up for Sunset Shimmer when she had nopony at all. She was alone and you risked much to help her. That is an action of a friend. A very loyal one indeed. So, I’ll only ask one thing of you today.”
“Anything, Your Majesty.”
Celestia’s eyes shifted over to Sunset and they twinkled. It seemed… it seemed like a happy twinkle.
“Keep being her friend.”
“I’m not sure she wants me to. Not after what I did.”
“Then I think you should ask her.”
Moon Dancer slowly nodded and approached Sunset like a terrified animal.
“Sunset, I’m sorry.” Tears streamed down her face. “I… I screwed up. You’re not the best of ponies. But… you’re better than that. And you’re better than me. So, would you please forgive me?”
Sunset tried to open her mouth, but her brain informed her in no uncertain terms that it was still out of service and had decided to use up all of its sick and vacation leave at once.
“And… would you take me back as a friend?”
“Uh…” Sunset muttered. “Well… uh…”
“Please?”
Sunset had never had anypony ask to be her friend before. This whole thing was surreal. No, it was insane. This couldn’t be happening. Shy little Moon Dancer couldn’t have just stood up to Dean Slate or Cinnamon Tart. And there’s no way she could have just said that to Princess Celestia. It was impossible.
So, maybe I have really gone insane. Sunset blinked a few times. Ayep. Only thing that makes sense.
“Sure?” The last coherent part of Sunset murmured.
Then, Sunset fell over.
She could have blamed lack of sleep, emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue or a dozen other things.
But even as she hit the floor, she knew it was just plain old shock that simply shut down her brain.
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Not much I can say other than, once again, excellent job on the exchanges, emotional content and general story wrap-up in all the right places. I particularly liked seeing Moondancer stick up for Sunset and put the pieces together as to who was framing Sunset. I'll definitely be looking forward to more of your work as soon as time and inspiration will allow.
What a TWIST!
... Could we have figured it out before hand? I guess not?
HeWhoFightsMonsters or something! Woah.
Redemption and stuff!
And it's not over! Epilogue, or still more chapters?
I expected that, and at the same time I didn't. I applaud you for confusing me so wonderfully.
And so the conspiracy ends. Now former Dean Slate at full speed has crossed straight into the Abyss.
It is most ironic that Silver Slate specifically took on the form of the "monster" he hates so much and didn't notice what exactly it means for him. And all of this is inspired by hate. Hate indeed breeds hate. And monsters never notice their reflections in the mirrors.
Frankly, he has outdone Sunset in the monster department.
It's been a long time since an antagonist made me furious enough to really want to punch him, or better throw him out of the window. His hate and hypocrisy, the manipulations, impeccable acting and most importantly his willingness to subject fillies and colts, his students (as a Dean they are his responsibility), and even his own granddaughter to chaos magic to get what he wants is the most terrifying aspect of what he has become.
Don't worry Dean Slate, you'll have your just dessert. Princess Celestia knows how to make those well.
As for Sunset, well it's a scary thought what would happen to Sunset if Moon Dancer didn't intervene. i doubt that any princess off friendship would be able to overcome the distrust Sunset would feel and help her along in life as we see in EQG.
The scene at the end, instead of tears, brought a smile of joy to me, Sunset will be okay, she finally has an equal and a friend who cares about her and Sunset herself cares about too. Yeah, little, but immensely confident and very bright Moon Dancer, who calls out deans and stands up to Celestia like there's no tomorrow. Sunset is now in good hoofs.
Well done, Novel-Idea, well done.
Awww :)
Slate should be dealt with harshly. Because everything that he did and dragged others into doing?
That's how you get windigos.
Yay, early chapter! Wasn't expecting this until tomorrow. Figures that a scheme this complex would be the Dean's plan. Rumors are one thing, but faking a break-in and transfiguring somepony else to pass as Sunset, wow, he covered almost every base. Just a good thing Sunset's been busy drinking coffee to stay awake rather than her normal Earl Grey tea. Great moment when Moon Dancer stood up for Sunset and cleared things up. Otherwise... I would hope Celestia wouldn't be quite so easily fooled, but there was a lot of evidence against Sunset. Wonder if Sunset's exhaustion was part of the plan too (though all faculty are busy at that time of year too). I do still wish Sunset had been a bit more active, but at least she contributed to solve the mystery too.
Ah, Sunset.exe has crashed, time to reboot. Hope she gets enough sleep this time, after all the exhaustion and the shocks. It is telling what someone will do to get back at someone, and while Sunset was... uncaring towards her fellow ponies, usually she wouldn't have focused quite that much hate on anyone specific. Looking forward to the next (final?) chapter. Wonder if we'll find out just how close Celestia was to expelling Sunset.
I think you accidently some words!
7787122
Thanks for the catch!
We did!
So, will Raspberry or Cinnamon become Sunset´s nemesis in the future? It´s tradition heroes create their own villains after all.
GOOD SHIT!!!!!! GOOD SHIT !!!!!!!!!!!!
*breathes*
Good shit.
You... that....
I think this is the point, Sunset. If nothing else, change your path for Moon Dancer's sake.
7787225 Well, those two just tried fighting Sunsets hate with their own. Didn't work out too well for them i think. Sunset might actually get that point and ignore them in the future.
Hey look! You pulled an Anon-A-Miss style plot without actually referencing that comic! Bravo!
7786920
i mean...if we looked back and stuff maybe.
A big thing in ANY story is action.
If there was an action that SEEMS arbitrary there is a reason for that action.
WHY would someone call out to Sunset just for that person to not want anything, and why did anyone bump into her.
Maybe someone could have figured something out.
I mean i was sure someone that was not sunset messed up the lab.
I mean there was an ENTIRE lesson about how any creature could transform into another creature when Sunset transformed into a griffon
IF a unicorn could turn into another creature and identity entirely, how possible would it be for a Unicorn to turn into another Unicorn.
So, Slate actually has a point. Celestia has treated Sunset differently to the others, and she's continuing to do so. However you turn it, Celestia failed somepony.
It remains to be seen if she can apply the same standards of forgiveness to herself; the same standards she decried with Slate.
A question I wonder is...SHOULD Sunset forgive them? Pretty much everyone had clearly long since given up on her by that point. Even Celestia.
Good story, I'm glad I didn't give up on chapter 1 ^^
7786920 I loved this almost sputtering comment. So many good things.
7786925
image.spreadshirtmedia.com/image-server/v1/compositions/1007533815/views/1,width=190,height=190,appearanceId=386,version=1461139005.png/chekhov-s-gun-shop_design.png
Then I did exactly what I intended to do. Confirm and surprise at the same time! ./triple-word-score
7787061 Dang skippy! Hate leads to suffering. Mmm. ./yoda
7787097 Yeah... almost every base. Almost.
7787122 Hey, didn't you help read this thing?
7787225 Maybe. Maybe not. Tune in next time!
7787238 Yeah. Breathing is good. You should do it.
7787262 Why do I love sputtering comments so much? Why?
7787329 While I've read that comic (because it was an awesome comic), that storyline actually never occurred to me while writing Alchemy! It probably should have too. I'm sure it influenced this anyway... though the scheming was freaking hard.
7787820 If there's one thing MLP has made clear... forgiveness is always a far better path. Trust isn't the same as forgiveness though. You can forgive someone without allowing them to hurt you anymore. Because not forgiving them... well, we've seen what anger and hate turn into when you're in Equestria.
7791840 That makes two of us!
Alright.
I saw Slate framing her, but that was moderately obvious. The transfiguration being used to fool the ward was also obvious, if for no other reason than it being the only way introduced in this story to obtain that result from the wards. And there was no other indication I saw that someone was controlling her, or sleepwalking.
I should have seen the Raspberry helping part, because I remember you saying she was good at transfiguration. The quill falling in and corrupting the potion was an obvious red herring. (In many other authors, I would have expected that to be the actual reason, but I have more respect for your storytelling ability than that. :D and I was not disappointed.)
I did not see the quill being stolen by the other fillies at all, but it is concievable. I did think it was strange when someone called Sunset's name in that way, but I forgot about it soon afterward. Did she ever say or think anything about the feather being missing or gone?
Overall as far as foreshadowed twists in fanfics I give this an 8/10. There were enough things that made sense after the reveal that it made me feel like I could have figured out most of it. Well done sir. You continue to be an extremely enjoyable author to follow.
ALSO I LOVE THIS SUNSET SOOOOOO MUCH
7819155
First, I should really trust a Ladrian? After all, I don't know if you're closer to Wax or closer to Breeze. Breeze soothes without even thinking about it after all. At least I got the shield of the internet to save me.
While I not surprised most people got Slate, not a lot of folks called out the transfiguration bit. I guess I should have thrown in a few more obvious "How'd I get here?" moments to get you to really doubt her sanity.
Awesome! Raspberry was my little ace in the hole and I'm glad to see she worked. And yes indeed, the quill was a red herring. But a better question might be... was that a red herring from me or from somepony else?
i.imgbox.com/Bi0ai7Ua.jpg
Actually, one of the conspirators enchanted the quill to resist levitation. It's also why Slate directed Sunset onto that side... only to have him dismiss it later. The pony loves his mindgames. I'm also quite pleased you have higher expectations from me (I just hope I can live up to them!)
+10 to Chekhov's Gun Skill
I intentionally had Sunset forget about it entirely. She's holding it when Tart slams into her, but in her state, Sunset just spaces on it entirely.
I'm more than happy with an 8/10. I like stories where you can see all the pieces in hindsight and there's at least one "OH YEAH!" moment!
How did Celestia end up with such an idiotic asshole for a principal in the first place? Other than that I've liked pretty much everything about the story so far.
And Moondancer to the rescue!
Also, we see why you shouldn't piss off Celestia. The part about the sunlight dimming when she turns to the kids who were in the conspiracy was a great detail.
Great job with the set-up and foreshadowing; I'd forgotten about the feather, just as Sunset did, so when it popped up at the bottom of the cauldron, I was first surprised, then realized we hadn't seen it in a while... Where did it go? Clever work, I got to say.
Yes, Sunset was a terrible Bully, but more than that, she did it because she thought she deserved greatness. Now, after working on the school she has doubts and we have seen that Sunset suffers everyday with that voice, telling her to go back to the way she was, it is not something nice.
What Slate did on the other hand, that is something truly terrible. He used students who trusted in him and let his own anger blind him, putting others in danger just so he could 'teach' someone a lesson. That was truly a terrible pony and I feel no pity for him.
7876938 Does the motive matter?
As for Slate, Sunset was ruining the lives of his grandfillies. I could see myself going to some pretty serious extremes to protect my children (granted, not this bad). Everyone has reasons for what they do, even if the result is good, bad or indifferent.
At least, they should if I'm doing my job right.
Unexpected. I made the wrong call. It wasn't a red herring- Slate really was the bad guy, and his nepotism was the enemy. I knew Cinnamon was going to be a problem somehow, but I didn't think the Dean would go to such lengths. It's a good thing Moondancer said something... and it's an even better thing that she stopped the madness as late as she did, so that the Dean would actually get into trouble for what happened. He trashed the storage vault, after all, and conspired to really hurt a bunch of innocent ponies just to pursue revenge against a teenage girl who made his granddaughter cry. That's not right, even if Sunset didn't do the right thing by Cinnamon.
7927810 Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. When I read this for the first time, I did a total fist pump. Yeah, Slate definitely went too far... yet in his mind, he had a damn good reason for the things he did. And as someone with kids... if someone screwed with them...
Yeah. Let's just say his point of view isn't as far as some might think.
Dean Slate was so blinded by rage that he did something worse than Sunset Shimmer ever did and hurt a group of innocent foals just to get revenge on one teenage mare. He who fights monsters should take care that he himself does not become a monster. The worst thing is that Slate still believes that he did nothing wrong when he did the exact opposite of what he was supposed to do.
Honestly, the conspirators have a point. Celestia was willing to allow a sickening level of collateral damage over the course of Sunset's tuition. However necessary Celestia's gambit may end up being, it doesn't make what she and Sunset did any less terrible.
That was a ride. You had me guessing all sorts of things that ended up being wrong. I like that in a story.
I will say, though, that I'm not quite fond of the blubbering idiot sort-of trope that happened with Slate. It made him feel sort if strawman-ish, like you tried extra hard to give him his just desserts. They were quite just, but I think a little more tact to how he handled the situation might have mitigated that feeling.
<“I’ve made many mistakes in my lifetime, Silver Slate,” Celestia said. Her voice was hard as iron now. “The belief you would be able to put aside your own anger is apparently one of them. So, as of now, you are hereby relieved of your post as dean of my school.”>
GET REKT! Holy cow that was satisfying, and there wasn't even that much build up to what Slate had been conspiring. This is one of few times I've ever read a fic of this length from start to finish in 2 days. Now onto the conclusion, this has been truly magnificent! 8D
8687488
Celestia's smackdown of Slate remains one of my favorite moments, especially considering it's a character development moment for her by admitting that she does, in fact, make mistakes.
I'm totally thrilled you've enjoyed it so much! I hope you give me your thoughts on the whole story when you're done!
Wow what a total douchebag.
8720679
Yeah... Slate's got issues.
You know what this reminded me of? 'Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up'. That one episode of The Twilight Zone. It was written in a way so that no one suspected the loudest, wealthiest, angriest man in the room of being the alien, while casting suspicion on just about everyone else. Right up until it was ultimately revealed that the man who talked the loudest and stood the highest, thus making himself the most visible, was indeed the alien. No one noticed because everyone kept jumping at shadows, and didn't notice the threat hiding in plain sight.
Guessed most of it pretty easily, but I didn’t even consider the feather theft.
Slate is presumably right about the long torment endured by many during Sunset’s reign of terror while Celestia played for time enough for her to improve. Though if she was shuffled to some other school, she just would have become somepony else’s problem (and maybe never changed). Not knowing what kind of disciplinary consequences (if any) Sunset did face during those years makes the plot feel a little biased in her favor, however, as compared to canon.
8883211
Whatever consequences she faced in the past will likely pale in comparison to the future. Tia knows her student well.
Good work Moondancer
Anypony has the ablity to be a monster or a hero, the choice is yours and nopony has to stay on either path forever, hero can be courrupted by hatred, a villain can be healed by kindness, nopony becomes bad without a reason.
Not to mention reckless endangerment so of one of your peers
Princess Twilight would beg to differ on that Friendship one.
9788486
It took a while to reach that point. A very long while.
You and me both, Princess.
For one reason or another I had a Phoenix Wright theme playing for this chapter. Cornered, I believe. X)
So Celestia knew the whole time Sunset was being set up, and allowed this farce to carry on. She allowed her to be scared, threatened, and ultimately back into a corner where she had to depend on others. And she apparently had no intention of stopping things and would have let the dean get away with it. Once again Celstia uses fear to manipulate Sunset into being forced to accept friendship instead of just talking with her.
I knew she would faint sooner or later
11009052
Even if Celestia knew was a set up, how could she prove that Sunset Shimmer is innocent without concrete evidence? Of course you can't talk things out when there are witnesses and evidence that proves that she's guilty.
Sunset physically and mentally abused other ponies in the past and even if Princess Celestia didn't expell her, the board and other higher ups would look into it.
You're pointing out that Celestia is doing something wrong when nothing is clearly her fault, she's even so understanding and hopeful to Sunset.
And how would a prideful, self-absorbed, condescending, manipulative, and dishonest mare listen to someone?
HECK IF SUNSET WAS IN OUR SCHOOL SHE WOULD'VE BEEN SUED AND EXPELLED FOR BULLYING EVEN IF HER Mother IS A PRESIDENT OF A COUNTRY
She's just barely getting a slap on the wrist compared to what she did to others, bullying them physically and mentally, stealing, blackmailing and traumatizing "CHILDREN"
I just don't clearly see your entire point here dude, Celestia isn't the one to blame
