Shining Armor drove past his target. "Are you sure you don't want me to hang around? I don't want you to get talked into something you don—"
"Shining Armor, stop." Twilight cut in on her brother, and when the car jerked to a stop she wished she hadn't. "I mean with that line of thought. I can take care of myself, and besides, my friends will be there."
She was wearing a short skirt, white top, and had a hat and sunglasses in her bag in case she needed them later. "I'm not stupid. I'm going to make that college literally pay for my entire tuition, and get the promise of a research program after I graduate."
Pulling his attention back to the road, Shining let out a long sigh. "I've gotta get my head out of the military. Hey, you've known Mi Amore Cadenza…" He trailed off at Twilight's confused look. "Principal Cadance? Crystal Prep Academy?"
"Oh!" Twilight Sparkle let out a nervous chuckle. "I guess I didn't know her full name. Wait, she's principal now? What happened to Cinch?"
"Someone's mother contacted the school board and said not only was she already pulling her student out of CPA, but she was considering legal action. A mother who's a donor to the school. A mother who's also a partner at Velvet and Pants." He shook his head and looked at Twilight for just a moment before Shining returned his eyes to the road. "Whatever you told Mom, she was looking for blood. Cinch's neck was already stretched out from budget issues. How do you think I got the job there?"
Twilight tilted her head to the side and straightened her glasses. "Wait. So your new job is—"
"Dean at Crystal Prep." Shining let out a long sigh. "Mom doesn't pull strings, she hooks a hummer up to a tow-chain and drops the hammer."
"Huh. So what did you want to know about Dean Ca—Principal Cadance?" Twilight felt her phone buzz and reached for it from her backpack.
"Is she still single?" The moment he asked, Shining Armor believed he wouldn't get an answer. Twilight's mouth turned into a big smile that he had to fend off somehow. "I just need some intel. Ugh, I don't want to date her! I need to know everything about her."
—Where R U?—
The message was from Rainbow Dash. Twilight's thumbs moved quickly on the screen.
—OMW—
"She's single. She's pretty." Twilight couldn't stop her grin from spreading wide. "Do you want to know what books she likes reading?"
Shining would have face-palmed, but wanted to keep both hands on the wheel. "We had a thing in high-school, but went to different colleges. I'm not looking for—"
"This is my stop. Thanks, BBBFF!" Twilight leaned across the center console of the car and hugged her brother. "She really likes expensive chocolates, too." With that, Twilight disembarked the car and left Shining to his shock and blush.
Once his sister was out, Shining breathed a sigh of relief. "Damn it, Twily…" Even drill sergeants hadn't gotten under his skin as easily as Twilight Sparkle, his sister, did.
Shining flicked on his indicator, turned around, and drove to Crystal Prep. The staff car park was practically full. Shining already knew how things went for Crystal Prep and Canterlot High. Canterlot High had their college fair on the first week after school finished, and had all the local state colleges in attendance for the first two days, while Crystal Prep had their marking and graduation in the first week. They swapped for the second week after class finished.
Stepping out of his car, Shining closed and locked it, then advanced on the back door of the school. It opened, and he could easily follow his ears to where all the noise of the teachers was coming from. Rounding a corner, Shining Armor stepped into the staff room.
His arrival was like a pebble being dropped into a still pool of water, but instead of waves of motion, Shining Armor created waves of silence. Yup. When he told his mother that he was coming home to Canterlot to make sure Twilight was okay, Shining Armor was catapulted ahead of the teachers who were eligible for promotion.
"Shining Armor!" Cadance saw her new dean and smiled. "Everybody, this is Shining Armor, our new dean of the school. Shining, this is your faculty." Those who were in line to vie for the position of dean were obvious in their subdued greetings. Cadance loved the school, loved what students learning meant for her, but there were still some hold-outs of Abacus Cinch's rule. "Let me show you to your office."
Backing out of the staff room, Shining Armor let Cadance lead him the ten steps to his office. Already, behind him, he could hear soft voices murmuring gossip. "I'm sorry about this. I can't believe—" Shining was dragged into his new office by a surprisingly strong, pink arm. The door slammed behind him.
"I can't believe this bullshit! The school council has no right to impinge upon my control and management of the school! I don't care who you're friends with, you are unofficially on probation! The moment you so much as think of doing something against me, you're fired! Do you have that in your thick skull?!" Cadance, while she very vocally chewed Shining Armor out, had a big grin on her face and held a single finger up before her lips. "I said, 'Do you understand?!'"
Confusion was the order of the day. Shining Armor wasn't quite quick enough to catch onto what Principal Cadance was up to, but her parade-ground voice was absolutely on point. "Yes ma'am!"
This time Cadance winked and waggled her eyebrows. "I have a stack of paperwork for you, and I'm only going to show you how to do it once! Screw up, and I go to the parents committee and tell them how much of a screwup they chose! Got it?!"
"Yeah…" Shining looked at the foot-high stack of paper on his new desk and sighed.
"Perfect," Cadance said, sotto voce, "now they think I'm showing you the ropes, and that I have you under my thumb. It's been a while, Shiny."
The change in tone, volume, and demeanor rattled Shining Armor's brain around in his head, but information and misinformation had been his job in the Navy. He quickly caught on to the deal. "So you chew me out, put me in my place, and everyone is both in awe of you and terrified of pushing for my job?"
"I didn't become Dean, and Principal, by just doing great work. I started work in Canterlot High, but Crystal Prep Academy is my school. Now, how've you been?" Cadance sat down in the chair before the desk, and gestured to the one behind it for Shining.
Crap, she thinks like an officer, Shining thought. Finding his seat, he folded down into it. "Not the nerdy little kid anymore, if that's what you're wondering."
Cadance wished she had brought her coffee with her—all she had to contemplate was her hands or Shining Armor. "I saw that when Abacus was bullying Twilight into going to the Friendship Games. You seemed busy. Weren't you in the military?"
"Navy. I quit to—" Shining Armor bit back his reply, then remembered who it was he was talking to. Former girlfriend, boss, ally, and maybe one of the few people at this school who cared for his little sister. "I wasn't proud of what I did. I shouldn't have pressured her. When I heard what happened, I put in for a discharge for family reasons. They bought it."
"You quit your career to take care of your little sister?" The news actually shocked Cadance. She knew he loved Twilight, but this was intense levels of brotherly-awesome.
"Yeah." Reaching to the computer keyboard on his desk, Shining poked at the Ctrl key a few times out of habit. "Turns out she has a pile of friends who have crazy powers. Two of them can fly, one can juggle cars, another can pluck thoughts out of your head with a touch, and then you have one fashionista who can make bulletproof walls appear wherever she wants."
"You missed one."
"Oh yeah. Weapons-grade cute girl who can turn anything into an explosive. And another who—although I don't have this one verified completely—can mind-control people with her voice." Then Shining remembered the last bit of crazy. "Oh, and the one who makes the explosives? Her sister is the hardest grunt I've met with shoulders on her like a boxer's. I'm less worried Twilight will get into something too heavy for her and her friends to take on, and more worried that the authorities will just lock them all up on principle."
"You could go and ask them." All Cadance got in reply to that suggestion was a soft grunt. She studied Shining Armor and tried to find all the similarities to the young man she'd dated in high school. He was still Shining Armor, she decided, but he had a hardening over the top of his former self. "Well, in the meantime, why don't I show you what I want to do with Crystal Prep. You're going to be a big part of this."
Shining was wary. He'd already seen that Cadance could play a tricky game of politics, and he just hoped to never be on the wrong side of her hardball. "Okay, so explain it to me."
"Everything Abacus Cinch strived for needs to be undone. For every ten students who are competitive and outgoing enough to survive her methods, there's one Twilight Sparkle who falls through the cracks. So, no more. Students will have the chance to be competitive, but I want the emphasis to be on inclusionist groups. With her system there could only be one winner, but I want a whole school of winners." As she spoke, Cadance could almost feel that same energy come over her—the same as had affected her at the concert.
"Then let's do it." Shining Armor had had his fair share of charismatic commanding officers, but Cadance took the cake in this regard. She was beautiful, smart, and had a heart big enough to take care of every student in the school. "What do you need me to do?"