Celestia was happy that Halloween was finally finished. Luna and Chrysalis forced her to partake in haunted houses, corn mazes and horror movies. Only one of which she was alright with, she honestly thought corn mazes were fun. She’d seen Sunset and her friends walking down the street and was glad to see her laughing and having fun like a normal teenager.
It was now Monday once again and she had received a message from Sunset saying she wanted to talk to her and she was more than happy to oblige. Still, Celestia wanted to do more for her but that wasn’t going to happen as soon as she’d like.
***
To Sunset, the morning seemed to drone on forever. Fellow classmates still gave her dirty looks and the odd snide remark but it seemed to be a little less…violent now. Sure, a few students purposefully bumped into her but Sunset was surprised that no one attempted to shove her in a locker or knock books out of her hands. Though it might have something to do with her current demeanor.
Her dream from Halloween still weighed heavily on her mind. ‘Can you feel it?’ her demon-self had asked, ‘magic’. Sunset wasn’t sure how to make of it; This world doesn’t have magic. Twilight took it back with her when she took her crown back to Equestria. She mulled it over for the majority of her class but then, her thoughts returned to the last thing the demon had told her ‘save them’.
When the lunch bell rang she shoved her thoughts aside, looking forward to her chat with the Principal. She chuckled to herself, said no one ever.
Overall, Sunset had a good weekend with her friends had decided she needed to make an actual effort to get along with them. They can only be patient for so long. Sunset surprised all five of the girls by stopping at the wonder colt statue in the morning and actually talked with them until the bell rang for class.
Since coming to Canterlot High, Sunset took to eating her lunch alone on the top floor of the library. It was the same space she had fled to the day before Halloween. Today though, as a part of her making an effort, she found herself standing at the doors of the cafeteria. Sure, she ate lunch there on Halloween, but she still felt nervous, not of the five girls, but the other students. It was the one place, even when she was a bully, that Sunset left everyone alone.
Come on, Sunset, she told herself, if you want to make an effort, you have to brave the cafeteria. Sunset shook her head and sighed, I’m being really stupid about this.
Without so much as a second thought, she opened the doors to the overcrowded room. Students were talking amongst their friends; having foregone the class system she’d created. It actually made her happy, seeing the other students hanging with who they wanted without fear.
She stood in line and grabbed her lunch then scanned the cafeteria, quickly spotting her friends and walked over. Sunset could feel the hard stares of the students but she did her best to ignore them. Once she approached the table, Rarity and Applejack smiled and waved her over.
“Sunset!” Rarity said with glee, “I’m so glad to see you’re finally joining us!”
Sunset smiled at her, “Me too.” She said, taking an empty seat next to Applejack.
“Are you feeling any better, sugar cube?” Applejack asked her.
She sighed, “About friendship? Yes. About my dream? Not so much. I can’t stop thinking about it!”
“I do wish that you would share it with us, Sunset.” Rarity said, “I understand that you have always been a private person, but we just want to help.”
“I know, Rarity.” Sunset smiled, “I really appreciate you giving me this chance. I just… I don’t know, let me talk with Principal Celestia about it first. I promise, I will tell you when I’m ready.”
Or if magic really does start to show up in this world. Sunset thought.
They turned the conversation to something more upbeat. Mostly, they were asking Sunset a few questions about herself, everyone was careful to avoid asking her about Equestria, unsure how the girl would react to bringing up her old life.
When the lunch bell rang, the six girls exited the cafeteria together, splitting off from the group as they reached their classroom or hallway. Fluttershy and Pinkie walked with Sunset to the office where, surprisingly, Principal Celestia was waiting for her. Usually, she would wait for her inside her office.
“Sunset,” Celestia greeted with a smile at seeing her with the other two girls, “It’s nice to see you with friends.”
All Sunset could do was smile sheepishly.
“Sunset is actually really fun to be around!” Pinkie said excitedly, “Even though she’s still all secretive!” Pinkie leaned over to whisper to Principal Celestia, “I’m wearing her down though.”
Principal Celestia chuckled, “I’m glad to hear it.” She turned to Sunset who was off to the side, smiling, “Sunset, are you ready?”
She nodded and started to follow Celestia into the office.
“We’ll wait for you out here.” Fluttershy said, just loud enough for the other three to hear.
“Thanks, guys.” Sunset smiled, then disappeared in the office.
“Principal Celestia acts differently with Sunset, doesn’t she?” Fluttershy questioned.
“Yeah! She’s super nice to her. She looked so proud when she mentioned ‘friends’!” Pinkie replied, “Oh! Do you think Principal Celestia took on some sort of motherly role for Sunset?”
Fluttershy sat on a nearby bench to think, “Well, she does seem to care about her well-being. It’s possible I guess. Sunset’s situation is complicated enough.”
“Yeah, Principal Celestia probably knows she doesn’t have any parents in this world. I mean, why else would she insist on being her emergency contact? Besides, the synopsis clearly mentions something about her possibly getting a family!”
Fluttery looked at Pinkie, clearly confused. “Synopsis?”
Pinkie suddenly turned serious; “You heard nothing.”
The author sighed; Pinkie Pie really needs to stop doing that.
***
Sunset sat in Principal Celestia’s office while the older woman had gone to get them some tea. As soon as Sunset mentioned that she had a nightmare that was bugging her, Celestia immediately suggested the hot drink, claiming it would help her relax. Honesty, Sunset was grateful, she preferred tea over coffee sometimes.
Once she returned, she set the tray on her desk and gestured for Sunset to take a cup.
When she did, she took a small sip, “Chamomile.” Sunset stated.
Celestia raised a brow, “You’re familiar with the brew? Honestly, I took you for more of a coffee drinker.
Sunset shook her head, “I really only drink coffee in the mornings and when I’m up studying.” She explained, “If I want something hot or to relax; I usually drink tea. Chai is my go to.”
“Interesting.” Celestia hummed. “Now, tell me about this dream you had.”
Sunset took one more sip from her cup and placed it on the desk, “It was that demon again, from the formal but this was different. She asked me if I could feel it. Magic.”
“Oh?” Celestia questioned, “Didn’t Twilight bring the magic back to…um…”
“Equestria.” Sunset offered.
Principal Celestia nodded.
“Yeah,” Sunset looked uneasy, “At least that’s what I thought.”
“What do you mean?”
Sunset bit her lip, “Magic can leave remnants of itself everywhere. Even so, the portal on this end still activates so there has always been a sliver of magic in this world. It’s possible, that in me bringing the crown here, I exposed this world to it.”
Celestia took a moment to process. She was no expert in magic. Up until almost a month ago; she didn’t even know it existed. She studied Sunset’s expression; she seemed to be internally panicking.
“Sunset,” Celestia got her attention, “At the present moment, I believe you’re over thinking things. It was just a dream and though maybe there might be some truth behind it, you need to focus on the present.”
Sunset sighed, “Honestly, I would usually think that too but...” She trailed off.
Celestia raised a brow, “There’s something else?”
“Yeah…” She ran her fingers through her hair, “Ever since the formal, I felt something… off. I’m not sure how to explain it but something changed, not just with me. This world feels different. Originally, I thought it was the fact that I was seeing things in a new light. Now, I’m not so sure.”
“So, you’re saying that you think your dream was trying to tell you something?” Celestia asked.
Sunset nodded, “Only, I just don’t want to be right. In Equestria, there are three species of ponies; unicorns, Pegasus ponies and earth ponies. They each had their own magic; earth ponies were strong and had what you would call a green thumb. The Pegasus ponies control the weather, fly and walk on the clouds. The unicorns, through their horns, could control the raw magic floating around in the atmosphere. Unicorns are the only types of ponies that can use magic directly other than the Alicorn princess.”
“If that’s true,” Celestia replied, “Why are you so concerned of magic coming here? We don’t have any of those. Well, we do have regular ponies but they don’t have wings or horns.”
“Because I don’t know anything about humans!” Sunset threw her arms up in the air, “I mean, I’m a unicorn but here I’m human. Princess Twilight was an Alicorn but she ended up turning human here too. Not to mention the fact that Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow were all able to use magic against me at the fall formal! I used magic at the fall formal!”
Celestia looked at Sunset once she finished her rant. She sincerely wanted to help her with this situation but wasn’t sure how. From what she could deduce though, it wasn’t really the magic itself that scared her.
“Sunset,” Celestia said, finally, “What is it that is really bothering you about this.”
“I just-” Sunset tried but Celestia stopped her.
“Don’t tell me it’s because of what it might do if regular people were to use it, I already know.” Celestia told her, “What is it, Sunset?”
Sunset gripped her knees; “I know if anyone here had magic they could probably handle it but…” She sighed, “What if I try to use it to my advantage again? I could turn into that demon again! Then what? I hurt even more people? I don’t know if, even as I am now, I can restrain myself!”
“Now, Sunset,” Celestia said in a stern tone, one that surprised Sunset, “We’ve been over this before. You are not the same person you were a month ago. I cannot just sit here and watch you tear yourself apart for something that I, and your friends know you won’t do.”
Sunset was frozen, unsure of how to respond. She was trying to place the tone in Principal Celestia’s voice. It wasn’t her voice though, it’s not a voice she’d ever heard Princess Celestia use. It was…a softer kind of stern. Like she was genuinely concerned and a little upset.
Then it hit her, She sounds like… my Mom when I was a filly.
It made Sunset upset. Not because of the memory itself, but because it was just that; a memory. It reminded her just how alone she was now.
“How do you know?” Sunset snapped, raising to her feet, “How could you possibly know that? You don’t know me! No one does! Not really. The formal was a month ago! That isn’t enough time for any normal person to change! For all we know, I could be back to my regular demonic self tomorrow! I’m a monster! You know it, I know it, the entire school knows it!”
There were angry tears in Sunset’s eyes, she wasn’t thinking, just angerly yelling at the Principal.
Celestia however, remained calm. On the outside, at least. Inside, though, she was desperately trying to figure out how to calm Sunset down. Was I too stern? No. I’ve been frank with her before. Something has changed.
Sunset gritted her teeth, unable to stop all of these seemingly random emotions from spilling out. When she looked Principal Celestia in the eyes, her expression was angry but her eyes were almost… sad.
Celestia got up from her desk to walk around and place a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, “Sunset, listen to me. You are not that demon from the fall formal. You are the beautiful, smart and artistic girl that has been coming to me since I offered to council you. Trust me, Sunset, I know how you’re feeling right now but you must know, you are not that person anymore.”
Sunset looked up to Celestia and had a small memory flash in her mind of her mom and the Princess. She didn’t know why this was upsetting her so much but she also didn’t mind the comparison. It gave her a warm feeling.
“How would you know how I’m feeling?” Sunset asked, looking at the ground.
“You remind me a lot of myself and Luna at your age.” Celestia said, “We eventually changed too.”
Sunset smiled. She could tell that was the truth. Celestia never lied to her and if a subject was touchy, she would say so.
At that moment, Sunset really wanted to hug Celestia but for some reason, she wasn’t sure about it.
Celestia saw the look on Sunset’s face and understood what she wanted, pulling her into a hug that Sunset immediately returned.
“Thank you.” Sunset said quietly, squeezing a little tighter, “Sorry I yelled, I just felt really lonely all of a sudden.”
Celestia kept her arms around the girl, “Why’s that?”
Sunset bit her lip debating on whether or not to tell her but resolved to do so, “It was the tone you were using, it kind of reminded me of my adoptive mom.”
Celestia froze for a moment, I reminded her of her…mom?
When Celestia didn’t respond, Sunset pulled out of the hug and managed to play it cool, “Sorry, I guess you’re the first adult that’s actually cared about me in a long time.”
Celestia gave her a warm smile, “Don’t be. Anyone would be lucky to call you their daughter.”
Sunset could feel herself blush but she smiled.
After another few minutes of talking, Sunset left the office, and walked off with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. All three girls were chatting happily.
Celestia watched them, particularly Sunset, and smiled.
“I heard a lot of yelling.” Celestia turned to see Luna standing beside her. The younger sister smiled, “You really do care about her, don’t you?”
Celestia sighed, “I just want to see her succeed. She’s so smart and creative. I’m just afraid she’s going to focus on just surviving out of high school. She has to know she can’t stay in that building much longer, so that means she’s probably going to get a full-time job right out of high school. She won’t even consider collage.”
Luna rolled her eyes, “Is that all.” Celestia glared at her. “I’m sorry. I think you’re right though, without the proper assistance, she is going to end up throwing away the bright future she has.”
Celestia looked at her sister, “Do we really need to wait an entire month?”
Luna sighed, defeated but smiled, “To make it legal? Yes. It depends if you want to chance her saying no and running off.”
Luna wouldn’t admit but she and Celestia both shared the same thought.
They need to get Sunset out of her living situation as soon as possible.